#i love tragedy <3

[bladesmitten]

The people I'm sworn to protect will see only an illithid. They would cower in fear - or worse yet, try to fill you with arrows and daggers.

[friendlyneighbourhoodelf]

have some unorganised tragic codywan thoughts because they’ve taken over my brain <3

thinking about duty as almost akin to a fatal flaw - not as in their loyalty/duty is necessarily a bad thing, it’s a key part of both their characters and i think it’s something they both value/at least respect. anyway, duty is not a bad thing, but in terms of codywan it is (to me) what dooms their relationship, because ultimately when forced to choose, i think both would choose duty over their feelings and it is this that ultimately prevents any serious romantic relationship from occurring during the war. however, i also think that in a situation where they’re both aware of their feelings and at least address them to an extent, there’s a hope/expectation that there will be a time after the war in which they are (less) bound by duty (i very much believe that both would still have a strong sense of duty to the jedi/clones respectively, but without the context of the war they would be free from having to lead it, obviously). so they both have a hope that after the war they would be able to explore their feelings freely. so it’s the fact that they never get this chance, that from the beginning this would always be the case, that they never really had a chance to fight for it because no one knew there wouldn’t be an after, that makes the whole thing so tragic.

i was also thinking about ideas of fate/destiny in tragedy more broadly, and how it is very much a theme in star wars, particularly around anakin. but i also think that by extension particularly obi-wan’s character is very much shaped by ideas of fate/destiny. i don’t really have a point here i just think it’s interesting. (star wars as happening a long time ago and so the outcome was already decided, there was never anything that could be done to change it etc etc).

i think there’s also something to be said about the fact that tragedies (often, but certainly not universally) happen over a relatively short period of time, in part to signify a protagonists uncontrolled fall (that post about how revenge of the sith takes place over a few days/a week very much highlights this in relation to anakin). but for codywan their tragedy lasts for perhaps the entire war, because their tragedy is not an uncontrolled fall, but rather a continual and conscious choice to place duty above their feelings. i think the fact that they simultaneously have so many chances to choose their feelings, but would never really make that choice because of their duty/loyalty adds to the tragedy of their relationship. the tragedy as occurring over months and years as nothing changes even though time gives you every chance. etc etc

anyway i feel like this reads a bit like a very disorganised english essay, so sorry about that !! i don’t have an excuse, but tragic codywan does something to my brain. many thoughts etc etc.

[elissastillstands]

Never even in death will you lose your fame, but you will be in men’s thoughts, your name ever immortal... (Theognis 245-246, trans. Gerber 1999).

Sometimes, the niche crossover urge takes over. This is based on Greek red-figure vase paintings of kithara players (specifically the ones here and here). If you want to hear a little about how the kithara is played and a little sample of improvisation on the instrument, check out the video here!

[usaigi]

Gamora not ending up with Peter subvert our “soul-mate” expectations. In another life, Peter and Gamora were soulmates. They grew and made each other better and their love was sincere. But that Gamora is gone.

2014!Gamora isn’t Peter’s Gamora. Just because she could find happiness with him doesn’t mean she should. She found love and happiness with other people and we can’t hold it against her.

[carrioncider]

I am not immune to his rollerskating disco swag (and neither are you)(design by @marblegroves)

[fen--harel]

they're like siblings arguing and im 110% here for it

[post-it-notes7]

Please tell me this will be a happy ending

dearest anon, only time will tell

[0ccams-chainsaw]

feeling very soft for them lately

[fumifooms]

Firefly Wedding is so…

It’s so

It’s them. It’s "It’s just a firefly, they’re meant to die soon. Why should I care about the sick, or the poor?"

It’s "I was purposely trying to scare you and push you away to see how far you were willing to go with your act, how desperate you were to play with my feelings as if I was a fool, but it didn’t work."

It’s "I know you’re just using me but now I care. Please keep using me. I need you to need me."

It’s choosing to give her her freedom anyways. Because your love is no longer all about you, no longer selfish. Because this love isn’t just a shallow balm to soothe your complexes anymore.

It’s being betrayed, finally facing the lies and no longer pretending you both don’t know that this is a farce, but desperately wanting to keep it going anyways. It’s "I should hate you now. Why don’t I? Hey, tell me we’ll go through with the plan, tell me you’ll marry me after all. Otherwise, why am I still here? Why don’t I want to leave? You act like you don’t need me but I still need you."

Like that’s so revolutionary for a yandere story. The self-delusion is strong, denial that things have changed despite it being impossible to truly believe, BUT HE STAYS. It’s no longer selfish 😭😭

"I don’t care about you anymore, I won’t help you. Get yourself killed for all I care." <- Jumps to her rescue 3 milliseconds later when she almost falls down a ladder/roof. It happens twice. The ‘lying and trying to emotionally distance yourself from something to protect yourself and not get hurt’ defense mechanism is blatant and it’s failing really bad.

It’s "My sense of duty and goals to have accomplished something useful in my short life are making me do this, but I do want you to stay with me." The yandere stuff here gets turned on its head because what he says is empty where it matters and meaningful where it matters. It’s knowing that if Satoko asks him not to kill anyone he won’t, but knowing that he won’t give up on her no matter what, even if she’s unattainable, even if she’s sickly, even if she pushes him away like just before. It’s so thinly veiled for "I’m determined to see my goal through, but that’s not what I want. If you just so happen to take me away and I don’t try to run away hard enough then we can elope and be free. I want to have an excuse to leave with you. Please give up on marrying me. Please don’t. I want that, but I can’t."

It’s "If I didn’t burn brightly in my short firefly life, then what was the point?"

Except that burning brightly doesn’t have to mean making big achievements, or being useful to your family.

It can be living happily, living for the ones you love, fighting for them. It can be worth to risk it for things that actually matter to you.

It’s giving your heart to someone, figuratively and literally. To lend it to them even if it might get used or battered, for as long as it beats to use your body to protect them, even if you have to sacrifice yourself. A love that burns bright into a bonfire before they both turn to ashes. Unwise but wholehearted.

It’s despite even that, needing grandiose gestures to be able to trust that this is real. It’s needing external cues that prove it to feel safe in their love existing, other people to confirm that he’s not crazy, that this is happening and this is how they both feel. Their love has been fake, both being a warped love and being a lie, only being out of necessity or because the other was the only one willing to offer it to them, offering comfort, safety, support and care. And showing that they care is the most loving of all. It’s despite everything falling back into old habits that "Oh if she was miserably worried for me then that means she’s not indifferent to me! That’s good!" And then once again being taken aback by her, by her earnestness and by her will. Because oh, no, this goes deeper than that. She cares. It’s love.

It’s opening your heart up to love, and both being punished and rewarded for it.

But most of all it’s

And it being the most loving thing he’d ever heard

Firefly Wedding is so…

And yet it’s also

The complicated and hurtful nature of love and the joy and light it brings are two sides of the same coin, because that’s what inevitably happens when you care about something. But caring about a firefly isn’t a waste even however short lived it is, or how hard the loss will inevitably hit you. Isn’t their light just such a wonder to witness?

[ruporas]

soft (and some bittersweet)

[deimcs]

You don't unsettle me, you know that. (x,x)

[cool-thymus]

Today i finished watching Naruto! And i found this gem in the ending credits: one pure team Minato hug! 💜🧡🩶

[rocketbirdie]

heard it's rare pair week, so here's one of the rarest of them all! <3

[fist-of-vengeance]

so what do we think fiddleford saw when he looked into the gremloblin's eyes? dude was so traumatised that stanford "oblivious to my assistant's emotional turmoil" pines took notice. it's what motivated him to INVENT THE MEMORY GUN IN THE FIRST PLACE. I'm honestly surprised i haven't seen more speculation about this

[sparksly-mage-of-light]

"Oh no, Astarion's romance could be really heartbreaking and traumatic!"

veteran Solasmancers:

[lloydfrontera]

i can't get over how cute javier is when he introduces himself to ppodong. he's so serious about it that lloyd thinks he's about to question his cover story for how ppodong was summoned but no. he was just thinking really hard about how he should call him or if he had a name. and then when lloyd gives him the go ahead to call ppodong however he wants he just. calls him sir ppodong and fucking shakes hands with him. he introduces himself and shakes hands with the hamster like c'mon that's so fucking cute i cannot stop thinking about it just look at him

it's adorable.

and it's also one of the first times in the novel that you get the sense that 'oh. that's a kid.' it's subtle and lowkey but you can kinda feel that javier is actually excited about ppodong, he's curious about him and really gentle when he meets him. like. he's just a kid. a kid that probably never had a pet before and is now in close proximity with a cute and fluffy little hamster and just. wants to know his name.

it's just. it's very cute.