#i love this show immensely i really do

[ouatsqincorrect]

i’m studying film and sometimes my professor will tell us what not to do when making movies and tv. and it’s so funny because nine times out of ten, once upon a time did whatever he says you should never do

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

WAKE UP!

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[sollucets]

Why do you have to manage everything by yourself?

[makotonaegiunderstander]

something I’ve been thinking abt is how many people think Makoto is immune to despair. I don’t think he is. I think becoming the ultimate Hope was BECAUSE he felt despair. He wouldn’t have fully reached that point without Junko. Makoto becoming such a beacon was his last attempt to avoid completely falling and it wasn’t because he didn’t feel despair, it was because he was too damn stubborn to allow everything to go to waste and he refused to sacrifice his beliefs for someone else’s. His inner monologue tells me he DID experience the same new low the other suvivors did in the final trial, but at the point where he had the choice to give up and die, he looked at the others and he looked at Junko and he couldn’t allow it to happen, not out of self preservation, but because the idea that Junko would have control over their lives made him FURIOUS. and that utter refusal to die kicked in, wether luck or otherwise, and he made the concious effort for one last push while something in him was breaking. He had to be broken in order for the Ultimate Hope to come through so aggressively, bc it could only exist in the face of the Ultimate Despair. He snapped the same way she did, but in the other direction. In what could have been his final moments he chose to embody everything Junko wasn’t, and every single optimistic and luck fueled ideal in him suddenly charged forward and pushed him. It was a combination of the final straw and a choice. Makoto isn’t immune to feeling despair, he’s just too stubborn to fall into it of his own volition. I think that’s why I like that scene in DR3 so much. People were SO SHOCKED Makoto actually fell for the tape, that he actually became despair for a moment. I saw people getting mad or disappointed, saying it was pathetic and Makoto seemed to fall from some sort of pedestal for them. Honestly part of me wonders if that sort of mentality, which clearly people had in universe, affected Makoto a bit. Like he started to see himself as less of a person, subconsciously. Prompting him to take more risks, less self preservation, act way more bold. It seems he has to be reminded a lot not to put himself in danger by his friends, to not do something too reckless. All over the place I would see in regards to that scene either this frivolous ‘oh this was just angst drama with no meaning behind it’ or ‘he can do better than that. he’s so weak’ or ‘come on, there’s no way he’d fall into despair, he’s the Ultimate Hope!’ This kind of mentality, which was kind of ironic considering Ryota was there the entire time saying the same thing and treating Makoto the same way. Like Makoto was superhuman. Like Makoto didn’t feel despair the same way ‘normal people’ did. In a way that was also how Munakata saw Makoto. Makoto stopped being a PERSON to the world when he became Ultimate Hope, he became a concept, a belief system, much the same way Junko ascended beyond herself. But the difference is that treating Makoto that way is the opposite of the reason Makoto became such a representative for hope. He wasn’t doing something no one else could. He was doing something everyone had the chance to, he just… was a little more optimistic, a little more stubborn, a little more ‘gung-ho’ about things. He just took the lead where no one else did, where no one else knew they even COULD in the face of Junko’s unstoppable force. She had overcome the biggest threats and obstacles in the world, what could one person do? And the answer Makoto found was, anything. Everything. It doesn’t all rest on Makoto, he’s just the one that was inspired to try to do what seemed like the impossible. But as evidenced by the change in his friends after that trial, it’s clearly not something only Makoto is capable of. The others pulled out of despair thanks to Makoto, but it was their choice to do so.

“But… this world is so huge, and we’re so small. What can we do…? No, we can probably do anything. Yeah! We can do anything!”

[luck-of-the-drawings]

IMAGINE. working at ur stupid uhhh job or whatever. pulling into your drive way and ready to work on some crazy project in your garage. opening the door to the most unfamiliar silence. did your wife and kid leave for something? could you imagine knocking on your kids door, hardly getting an answer, and opening it to find the splattered remains of your wife across his room your child is scared! hes hardly consolable, in a state of shock and terror. you are too, but youre the adult here. you need to take charge. you need to protect him. you need to do something. you need to do something.

[yuurivoice]

Tomorrow Has To Wait, a Cloud & Aerith One-Shot

A FFVII Rebirth Cloud & Aerith fic. Contains spoilers through Gongaga (and beyond tbh). Cloud slips away into the night to be alone with his thoughts. How can he protect the ones he cares for most if he cannot even trust himself?

Aerith Gainsborough brought me out of fic writing retirement. You ever been down so bad that you got in touch with your inner child, your first dreams and aspirations, and a craft you've long left on the shelf? I have, and it got about 2.8k words and a long afternoon outta me.

Be kind, it's been a long time for this old boy.

Read on AO3 here. Snippet beneath the read more.

Gongaga nights were humid, the dense kind of humidity that clings to however much exposed skin it can find, and sleeping in it was no easy task. However, up above the trees standing at the top of a mostly ruined observation tower, Cloud was breathing in the crisp breeze and gazing up at the stars.

“It’s not so different from Nibelheim.” He recalled kicking his feet off the edge of the water tower, looking through the window of the cute girl next door and then desperately trying to look anywhere but there to avoid being weird. That was so long ago, but nowadays he felt more in touch with the awkward, silent kid than a seasoned SOLDIER.

Even with Tifa’s forgiveness for what happened at the reactor, Cloud couldn’t find enough quiet in his mind to rest. He was anxious. How in the hell was anyone supposed to trust him if he couldn’t trust himself? Despite their party growing stronger and more determined than ever, the war waging on in his mind was one he had to fight alone. The migraines, the memories, the uneasy feeling lingering in his chest any time they encounter another one of the robed men. If he shared his concerns, those little moments where he lost himself, there was no chance they’d keep him around. Barret wouldn’t let anything put his mission to save the planet at risk, not when Marlene was back home waiting to live a long happy life on a planet that hasn’t been sucked dry of its essence.

There was a pounding in his chest, a part of him that shouted that his honor wouldn’t let him fail those he cared about the most. So why did it feel so right killing those Shinra bastards? Why did his blade flow so effortlessly as he danced through them like the evening breeze? 

Why did he love the warmth of their blood on his cheeks?

You know why, Cloud…

“Shut up.” Cloud lifted the Buster Sword from his back and held it upright before him, staring at the hilt as his hands gripped it tight. His knuckles cracked as the leatherbound hilt groaned in his palms. This blade was held in this position many times before to remind the wielder of his honor as a SOLDIER, but those days were long past.

You can’t deny it forever. They’ll understand. They already know. You don’t belong with them…

Tighter. Cloud’s muscles tensed as his eyes shut tight, begging for this creative imagination of his to let him see his hands wrapped around Sephiroth’s throat. 

You will fail them again…

Cloud’s chest heaved with raspy breaths, as if it were his own throat he was clutching. Squeezing. Tighter. Tighter goddammit. He wanted to feel the grip of the sword snap in two. He wanted something to break. Anything. Everything.  

Then, silence. 

Gentle hands rest on top of his, joining him in holding the sword, now wrapped in a warm embrace from behind. There was no breeze, no wildlife, and no voice in his head.

There was only Aerith.

[shesmore-shoebill]

will it be too fucked up of me to think of a fic/scenario where gracie gets turned and in her devotion/codependence savannah instead decides to lock gracie up in a room instead of killing her. because. –baflegacy

OOOH. WHAT a concept ... I mean I think its an excellent level of fucked up 👀 like hey listen fun characters are the things you are supposed to put into fucked up fiction/fictional scenarios!! And its just so juicy conceptually.... Like obviously we probably need to see more of these characters to really get the depth of Whatever The Fuck is going on there. But this idea alone has SO much potential. Devotion and codependence twisted beyond recognition and persisting anyway (just. like gracie). Love, or some poor imitation of it that is deeply passionate and all-encompassing and also steadily rotting.

Gracie as an ambling husk of herself, all of that power and poise gone. She tries to hurt Savannah anytime she gets too close or makes the slightest misstep but Savannah keeps tending to her anyway, because how different is that from their regular dynamic? (Or maybe its worse, that Gracie is almost easier to handle this way?) Gracie dead but how much of Savannah's treatment and view of her was her, aa a person, anyway? Not just a figure or a symbol, or something that Savannah's whole life and purpose was structured around. She's dead but in some ways its the same. She's dead and Savannah is still taking care of her because whats left for her if she doesn't. Gracie is dead but you can't expect Savannah to kill her. Or to leave her. So instead she locks her in a room and even though she's the one with the key and the world has ended and Gracie is. literally. a zombie. some things still havent changed. anyway. sorry i got lost in the sauce a little bit there. delicious concept. fucked up. delighted to see if you write something about this @baflegacy 👀

[hephaestuscrew]

The most dramatic action that Minkowski takes towards Eiffel in the finale (sending him back in the Sol) is going against Eiffel's choices in an attempt to prevent him coming to harm. In contrast, the most dramatic action that Hera takes towards Eiffel in the finale (the memory-wipe) is causing him to come to harm in order to enact a choice that he's made.

In a sense, these actions are conceptual opposites. But they are both taken with love and respect for Eiffel. They are both extremely selfless actions which Minkowski and Hera find painful to take.

They are also both actions which could be considered to be harming Eiffel. Both of these actions involve doing something to Eiffel that Minkowski/Hera would hate to have done to them. And both of those actions are taken with the awareness that they are fairly likely to result in losing Eiffel in a sense (either because he's headed back to Earth while Minkowski is on the Hephaestus, or because he's losing part of what makes him him). That's part of what makes those acts painful and complicated and significant.

Minkowski and Hera both care about Eiffel so deeply, and their care often expresses itself in contrasting ways because they are very different people. The finale emphasises these different manifestations of their care. Love can be 'I will do whatever I can to keep you safe, even when that's not what you want'. Love can also be 'I will support the choices that you make to bring about our common goal, even when that causes you harm'. The way Minkowski's care for Eiffel manifests is tied up in her sense of responsibility for her crew's safety. The way Hera's care for Eiffel manifests is linked to how she's had to fight for her own autonomy.

Neither of their actions in the finale are perfect or typical expressions of love, but in their very different ways, they both act with love, and that's important to me.

[carcarrot]

OLD MEN WERE TEMPTING ME...........

[moeblob]

i've been getting a lot of fomo of seeing all my friends and mutuals playing baldurs gate 3 and was tempted to buy it. then seeing you drawing fanart and seeing it on my dash made me look inside myself and acknowledge my true self and desires... so i bought pioneers of olive town. its in the mail, but im excited for it to arrive. :)

YEAH ITS SUPER CUTE IMO !!! I don't even have a console/PC capable of BG3 so I totally get the thought of 'oh im missing out' but I really enjoy the relaxing farming games... I'm super flattered to hear my love of these games influences people to try em out - that my love shows enough to make people curious. Thank you anon for sending this (I immediately screamed at three people on discord after seeing this bc holy moly truly high honors here).

[thedevotionaltour]

i love writing an extremely sleep deprived rushed essay on the insane interest of my mind. through the power of love I Won. she also loved my essay on black cartoonists last semester she put up with two semesters of my comics in my fine art history classes. love her forever. "your catalogue was a bright light in the grading pile and i am sincerely grateful for it" I WON.

[curiouschaosstarlight]

person #1: "[character i really love] should die violently!"

me: okay, bye

person #2: "i love this character!"

person #2: "[other character i really love] should die violently!"

me:

[smalleevee]

having an existential crisis because i can't decide if i should drop an irresponsible amount of money to meet some internet guys i've been fixated on since i was a teenager or be normal

[daydadahlias]

samesiesss i just wasnt sure bc i *think* i've seen u post about lashton b4 but whatever-

that was years ago, my friend, I've since outgrown my lashton phase ✋

[cinnaminsvga]

ZEE OHHH MY GOOOD, i loved it. will vampire yoongi be a series?? it was so good and the way it ended was such a cliffhanger and i wanna know more about yn and i wanna know more about yoongi and the bet and seokjin and the ghosts concept its sooo uniquely done and I LOVED IT ugh zee i mISSED YOU!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU!!!!! idk if vampire!yoongi will be a series but i did enjoy writing him :0 im in the middle of writing something else, so i may perhaps work on a full length vamp!yoongi thing if i get the itch for him again... idk im in a REALLY yoongi mood if anyone can notice... i think its bc ive been wanting to write and i tried doing it for other fandoms but like nothing hits quite like the tangerine man ;w;

GHOST MAKNAE LINE THO MY BELOVEDS!! such silly creatures... love having the trope where theres tired/pessimistic father figure surrounded by carefree/fun-loving kids... SERIOUSLY an amazing trope like why hasnt hybe made bangtan do a run ep at a daycare yet i am Sick... when 2025 comes they must accept their Destiny...

[thebirdandhersong]

songbird's season of general sadness/first real grief/sorrow is coming to an end: (in chronological/journeying order) songs and poetry that helped my heart a lot these past few months :)

Always Good, Andrew Peterson / Marjorie, Andrew Osenga / Ask Polly article I read on a whim: 'My Boyfriend Refuses to Change' / You're On Your Own, Kid, Taylor Swift / One Foot in Front of the Other, Griff / Heavy, Mary Oliver / Monday by @madamescarlette / The Letter, Linda Gregg / Summer's Retrospective by @madamescarlette / Ode to Some Lyric Poets, Gregory Orr

(bonus--from the scraps of writing that came out of this chapter of life, which are slowly being assembled into a more coherent story:)