#he can fix her heart

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

D'Arce S Ending: "As soon as I can revive him from the dead, the wedding is BACK ON!"

[perenians]

oh merrill...

[unholy-boi]

deeply underrated duo. i think they should have hung out

[roseworth]

part of the appeal of a jason & rose team up to me is that they are so similar personality-wise but they are soooo different in their approach to crimefighting in the sense that jason is a meticulous planner and rose does not plan more than 10 minutes ahead. jason spends weeks putting together every aspect of their plan and backup plans in case something goes wrong just for rose to ruin it by going "im gonna kick down this door and see if anyones behind it"

[slightly-hellish]

So my hot-take fanon of the week is this.

A lot of people say Dabi/Touya does not want kids, because ✨daddy issues✨

I honestly believe the opposite, I think the compulsion to out do Endeavor includes the idea of having kids, he knows it’s not a good idea, but that doesn’t stop him from wanting it.

To be the dad he never had. He doesn’t know the first thing about parenting (obv) but he does know what not to do.

Not saying he would be the best Dad in the world but he would try his damndest. He would do everything he wished he could’ve done with his dad, giving his kid(s) a fun time while healing his own inner child.

He’d definitely be one of those dads that is like the wife/baby mama/ s/o has a adult child. He’d be just as dumb as the kids, and they’d all get in to trouble like ‘fuck mom is gonna kill me’ causing the kid(s) to giggle themselves half to death.

He wouldn’t care about how powerful their quirks were, or if they even had any, he’d love them no matter what and would in a second jump to burn the world for his family. The family he chose and that chose him.

just my two cents tho.

smutty p.s : totally has a breeding kink, man stuffs you like a Twinkie and you can’t tell me otherwise. possible breastfeeding kink, cus you know mans also has mommy issues. (same tho)

i’d literally die for him.

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

"His hand so calloused from his pistol softly traces hearts on my face"

... His hand is calloused from his pistol because he's a professional gunslinger and shooting to kill is his expertise. She may be the object of his affection in his crosshairs the moment but eventually he'll take aim at her like he has all his other targets.

Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead? Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed?

[atopvisenyashill]

do love how this is an asoiaf blog but i did not put either show in my top 10 this is the world we live in

[good-beans]

You talked a little while ago about why you don't think Shidou would make a good father to Amane (agreed) and proposed the idea of Mahiru adopting Amane. That's cute but I want to tell you about my post-MILGRAM headcanon:

Amane joins the Kajiyamas

Not Fuuta specifically adopting her, but like him taking her back to his family's house. I'm sure they'd have a spare room

I think people don't think about Fuuta's homelife much, or if they do they take Fuuta's one interrogation question where he calls his dad an old fogey and assume its like, abusive

And don't get me wrong, I don't think the Kajiyama household are perfect. Fuuta' beautician sister surely hasn't helped when it comes to Fuuta's body image issues and I'm betting they're all a bunch of tsunderes too embarrassed to say they love each other

But in a series where most of the abused characters are still convinced their abuser loved them/acted out of love. Seeing a guy not be afraid to call his dad a loser is almost a green flag

I think it'd be good for Amane to not necessarily be adopted as the lone child to a single parent but get to be introduced to a very different style of family unit from her own One where its normal to express different opinions or disagreements or even have arguments and not have it be the end of the world

Amane already has a snarky side to her, I bet it'd flourish in a brash household like the Kajiyama's (or at least how I imagine them to be)

OOHHH wait I love that so much! >:O

I agree -- I never interpreted Fuuta's family as abusive or harmful, just not super close and struggling a bit after his mother left. (And yeah, all as openly emotional as him😭) They seem stable and very capable to taking in a extra, very well-behaved child. Assuming Fuuta is the way he is because of them, that atmosphere of being very honest and forward would work well for her. They say things as they are, little by little pointing out the harmful parts of her worldview. Like you said, none of them make excuses about harmful behavior stemming from love, so she'd get a really healthy dose of truth in that area. She never feels coddled or treated like a baby. They care for her while treating her very maturely.

I absolutely love how well she and Fuuta get along, with that snarky side to her that you mentioned. It would allow her to fit in well in the new household, getting the sense of belonging she'll lose after leaving the cult. Also, seeing how Fuuta and his sister let things slip and aren't perfect sons/daughters, she'll be able to relax about earning a parent's love through perfect behavior. She'll probably stay exactly the same, but her stress about it will fade <3

I doubt Fuuta's father can ever replace the hole she'll have from her own father, but the addition of an older sister will be huge. Amane will never get the feeling her mother is being replaced, but the woman will still fill the gap of the older, same-gender role model she needs. Her beautician job may throw Amane at first (being an indulgence in vanity), but it isn't as in-your-face as other careers. I think she could definitely ease Amane into accepting it, and over time, accepting her own personal "indulgence."

Plus, her moving in would also be really good for Fuuta! I think he'd recognize there's a ton of fun things she missed out on, and that heroic side of him outweighs the part that cringes: he gripes and groans about going to "kid places," but he's always the one to announce "I can't believe you've never been to __, we're going right now!!" This allows him to touch grass leave the house and experience his own life to the fullest. He's able to channel his desire to help society into a healthier outlet. Also, seeing her studying habits and plans for the future might even inspire him to do the same. (might.) He becomes the stereotypical good big brother, though of course he denies it viciously...

I have recently been going insane over their friendship so I'm completely taken with this idea OUGH thank you for telling me ;-----;

[antaripirate]

i award this trophy to Casero Delilah Bard

[skyland2703]

If Baby Pacha was in FFTD. That. That’s it.

All I’m certain about is that she would’ve probably gone berserk on sight.

Evil Ollie would’ve decapitated her without blinking tho.

[felikatze]

dark road's side cast. vor's arc of feeling like a dead weight to her friends so she forges her own path with the upperclassmen and come back to her friends a keyblade master - but it is her new confidence that spells her downfall, as she throws herself into a battle she could never win.

vidar starting the same as baldr, hoping for kingdom hearts to save his friend. but he realizes his mistake, that this cosmic force will not solve a personal conflict without dire consequences, and he course corrects - too late. his hesitation and his mercy have set free what he sought to defeat and doomed him.

character arcs, offscreen - felt only in echoes. never to be seen, and cut short. the tragedy of lost potential.

[yellowocaballero]

so claude is byleth and byleth is claude. what a fun and weird ending!

Thank you for the message! A lot of the fic is about how Khalid is a unique person in his environment, a perpetual outsider, and his struggles to carve out a place to belong. I think both he and Byleth begin their stories as people who are very different, unable to be fully understood by others, but where Byleth is always reaching out a hand in an attempt to understand, Khalid (and Yuri) locked themselves down tight and tried to hide. Hiding's safer, but it's lonelier, and once you are shown warmth the cold becomes intolerable. You start to chase that feeling, that person, and you find yourself opening up your walls and pursuing belonging. It's definitely much scarier and a little humiliating, but confronting that fear is a major part of growing up.

Khalid grew up a lot over the course of the story, and that growth was motivated by wanting to become more like Byleth - and more like Hilda, Yuri, and Dimitri. Separating yourself from others keeps you intact and perfect, but it bars all possibility of change. Relationships with others invariably change us, and some people - no matter how briefly they were in our lives - leave the largest of impacts. A good teacher especially.

The second act of the story is just really sad, because it's about a bunch of impressionable and lonely kids struggling to accept death. Byleth dies in this story, and although I wanted a hopeful ending it would always have to be hope despite that death. The person Khalid loved is gone, but somebody who needs him is still here, and because of the person who is gone he can become the person who is needed. It doesn't bring her back, but it's what moves him forward.

Some of my favorite fictional depictions of love identify it as giving all of yourself to somebody, who gives you all of themselves in return, and in doing so you both gain something more than the sum of your parts. I think it's how two lonely characters like Khalid and Byleth finally find understanding and acceptance. And it's not a kind of love that dies when once person dies. It grows you, whether or not the other person is still here.

Um. When somebody in my life leaves or dies, I pretty much start pretending that they don't exist and have never existed. I avoid thinking or talking about them, looking at anything that reminds me of them, completely. It's like I draw out a nuclear waste zone in my mind, and I place the person as far away as I can. I'm jealous of Claude. I would like to see the world as somebody who was changed irrevocably by somebody who's no longer here - to feel comfortable with that fact, and honored by it, through becoming the person who changes others as you were changed.

In a stupid metaphorical sense, Byleth has passed the game to Khalid and asked him to become a player - an active participant in his own life, somebody who seizes his moment. Byleth is, of course, the avatar: they are you. The player is Byleth. So when Khalid becomes the player, that means that he's becoming Byleth too. That's the role of a teacher, and a player.

Very grateful to everybody who read & enjoyed that very weird and niche story. Thanks for the ask!

[killuaisaprincess]

kiss it better

Killua’s small fingers grab his shirt, and he sobs.

“I-I’m sorry…”

Gon shakes his head and carefully kisses Killua’s wrist.

“No, I’m sorry, Ki.”

He lifts Killua’s chin.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you, okay? You’re my world.”

Killua stops and hiccups, eyes wide.

“H-Huh?”

[captsharonstark]

“You look…”

“You look incredible.”

[sage-nebula]

I've decided to make my own post because I am not an idiot, but full disclosure that this post is 50% based on thoughts I was having while I was driving home from the auto repair shop yesterday and 50% a response to a post I saw just now that conflated "redemption arcs" (things fictional characters go through in fictional stories) with "community support" (things real life people offer to other real life people in real life) and how this relates to "fixing people" (making someone who mistreats or abuses themself or others not mistreat or abuse themself or others anymore).

Read my words very carefully.

In fiction, it is more than okay to like whatever type of toxic or fantastical relationship you want. If you like to read stories about toxic, codependent people who are absolutely horrible to one another and will never, ever change, you read those stories. If you like to read stories about a tortured man who just needs The Right Person to teach him to be better, and then he is, sometimes exclusively only to them though, then you read those stories. Sometimes you want to read stories where the main character says "I can fix him" and fails spectacularly, and sometimes you want to read stories where the main character says "I can fix him" and succeeds spectacularly, and either way, you read whatever stories you want, whatever makes you happy, I'm sure it's somewhere in this vast Archive that we call Our Own.

However, in real life?

First of all, "arcs" aren't things real life people have. An arc is something that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Real life people don't have those, because our stories don't end until we die. Unlike a character, whose life presumably continues even after their story ends (except in circumstances where they die at the end but you know what I mean), we have to keep living day by day, with all the rises and falls that come with it. Now, this does not mean that a person cannot change, or that a person can't get better and learn from their mistakes; but it DOES mean that we can't have a "redemption arc" where we complete a checklist of story beats and then suddenly we're a better person who has experienced the necessary growth to be forgiven. First off, no amount of growth or change ever requires any victims to forgive. And second, that's just not how life works. That's not how change works. Change and growth are baby steps taken each day, and sometimes you go backwards, and you get angry with yourself, but then you pick yourself up and you try again the next day, and the next, and the next. It's an ongoing journey that does not end until you die. That's life.

But second and more importantly, the real idea that I think the original post was trying to get at, but missing the mark on was . . . okay.

So, the original OP of the post (and the person who replied to OP) got angry at the idea that the strawman they had invented (the person who had theoretically said "you can't fix him!") would deny support to someone who needs that help to grow and change as a person. The person who had replied in support of OP added that the strawman clearly believed in punitive justice over rehabilitative justice as well. On the surface, I can see where they are coming from. After all, on the whole humans are a social species and do need support networks in order to not only thrive, but survive. People such as drug addicts need support and assistance in order to get into better places in their lives, and the prison system has been proven to be far less effective at preventing repeated offenses than rehabilitative programs. This is all true.

However.

The reason why "you can't fix them" is still true, and needs to be said and understood particularly by those who are susceptible to falling into abusive relationships (e.g. people who have been abused before, particularly in childhood or adolescence) is because of free will. Specifically, the free will that each of us has, but specifically the other person. Person A can want so, so, so badly to "fix" Person B so that they stop being an abusive alcoholic 75% of the time. But if Person B doesn't actually want to stop being an abusive alcoholic (even if they say they do during the 25% of the time they aren't smacking Person A around), and refuses to put in the work that it takes to become sober and be a better person, then guess what? Nothing Person A does will ever make them be a sober, non-abusive partner. They will be unable to fix Person B. It doesn't matter how much time, energy, money, or commitment they pour into that person. It doesn't matter how much they genuinely, honestly, earnestly love them. Because unless Person B wants to change, and will put the work into doing so, then they will not change, and Person A, for their own health, safety, and sanity, needs to exit that relationship.

Now, does that mean that if, ten years down the line, Person B decides they are ready to put in the work to get their alcoholism under control, no one should help them? Of course not! They should absolutely be put in touch with sober counselors, support groups, medical professionals, friends and family who can help them. Person A could potentially forgive them, if Person A chooses. But that willingness to change and put in the work has to come from within Person B first.

I've been in the position where I've seen people in awful situations just tanking their lives, people I loved and cared about, people I begged to just listen to me and get help, only for them to not . . . and ultimately I had to accept that I couldn't fix them. I could be there to offer support when they were ready to fix themselves, but the core work that needed to be done had to come from within themselves. I couldn't provide that. Not because I was inadequate, not because I didn't love them, but because I couldn't force them to do anything they didn't want, or weren't ready, to do.

So at the end of the day, "you can't fix them" isn't about not giving support. It's about recognizing your limitations as a human being. It's about knowing that:

You cannot force someone to do something they do not want to do.

You cannot force someone to do something they are not ready to do.

Not being able to help or save someone is not a moral failing of yours.

Not being able to help or save someone does not mean you do not love or care about them.

Providing support should never come at risk of your own health and safety, physical or otherwise.

When you love someone, it can be really hard to accept this. You think, "I know I can make them want to try. I know I can inspire them to want to change. I know they love me, so if I just love them a little harder, they will want to change." Nine times out of ten, though, that is just not true. And if someone is abusing you, it is not worth the literal risk to your life to keep trying. You are worth more than that. You are more than just someone else's band-aid.

Keep yourselves safe in 2024.

[phantajam]

my hot take about descendants is that NONE of the core four were ready for a relationship until maybe like, the third movie (rant in tags)