#unconditional trust

[comradeboyhalo]

bads psyche is so fascinating to me. i saw twt say "aw baghera is the only one bad trusts" and it shocked me that people would interpret such a distrustful character like that. bad told dapper to trust baghera because he loves and respects that baghera is dapper's chosen mom. and even then he phrased it with reluctance. i dont think bad (deeply) trusts anyone.

[drasadonbrown]

“All children should be taught to unconditionally accept, approve, admire, appreciate, forgive, trust, and ultimately, love their own person.” ~ Dr. Asa Don Brown

[loveyhoneydovey]

18+ mdni, age gap and smut (this one is a little different and possibly ooc but it’s one of my fave tropes ever so i hope you enjoy it anyway. and ofc it’s a little messy)

michael robinavitch who assumed he was destined to spend the rest of his life alone. it’s not like he thought he’d be celibate till the end of his life or anything, but after a few relationships and tons of life experience, he made peace with the fact that maybe “happily ever after” wasn’t for him, that his relationships weren’t meant to last, but they brought him happiness nonetheless.

so imagine his surprise when he finds himself drunk on an impromptu vegas trip with a gorgeous giggly young thing sitting on his lap in a little corner booth, looking at him with heart eyes. the feeling that seeps through his chest combined with the quickening of his heart rate have him panicking for a brief moment, was a heart attack in the middle of a vegas club the way he’d go? he could already picture abbot standing on his grave laughing. but as you lean in closer and he gets a whiff of your perfume, (was that pistachios and cherries? his mouth was already watering), his drunk brain finally catches onto the fact that he wants to devour you. and when your hands come to rest against the roughness of his stubble so your soft lips can finally press against his chapped ones, he’s a goner.

and when he wakes up the next day it’s to the sound of soft snores and an oddly comforting weight on his chest. he looks down to find your body subconsciously wrapped around him like he’s the single most important thing in your universe. it’s not like he’s any better though, his arms are securing you tightly against him with an almost desperate grip. it takes him a second to recall the memories from the previous night. the details are slightly fuzzy, but he’s never been one to forget anything, even when drunk to point of passing out (mostly during his college days, he doesn’t think his body could take that type of abuse anymore).

so imagine his face when the moments of rough (borderline animalistic) fucking and soft tender love making come rushing back to him. when he remembers the cheshire cat like smile on your lips as you kissed and sucked on his freckled neck until you reached his grinning lips, your nipples rubbing against his hairy chest, his hands possessively gripping your ass. when he remembers being captivated by the blissed out look on your face, a look that had him puffing out his chest in pride as he kept pounding you into the hotel room mattress, your pussy gripping him like a vice, completely drenching him. when he remembers the way you reverently whispered his name over and over, while he held onto you like you were the only thing capable of bringing light into his gloomy life. not “dr. robinavitch” or “robby”, but “michael”.

and imagine his face when the most important part of last night makes it back to the surface of his mind as his eyes zero in on the glimmering rock resting on your ring finger. when the delicate whispers of you two vowing to love each other until death do you part suddenly have his chest feeling uncomfortably tight. and when the sight of your ring starts to blur with unshed tears because he swears he’d never know what peace felt like until that moment when he was in your arms last night. like nothing could get to him here, like he was safe and loved.

[starrynightarchive]

hi guys on today's episode of "vi can't be normal about one piece" we are talking about the insane parallels between zeff and sanji and luffy

guys. guys this is happening exactly as both zeff and (adult) sanji give up on their dream. zeff is at this point all but given up on the all blue and sanji now has resigned himself to the fact that he has to die to save the crew.

enter: the ones that fight for their dreams kicking screaming. stubborn and relentless.

look at this scene. this fucking scene. the blood in sanji's face and how stubborn he is about not giving up on his dream. he will not let it end here. he will weave the strings of fate himself if he has to. he will drag himself through hell. he will not give up. it doesn't end here.

this is so fucked up. luffy is fighting for his dream when he has given up on it. he is thinking "sanji can't be strong for himself now, so i will be strong for him. i will save him. from everyone waiting to harm him and from himself." sanji has buried the kid in him that longs to find the all blue and here we see luffy dig the ground the child lies in with bare hands. he will not let it end. not here. not now.

this is what kept him alive. zeff's sacrifice. zeff's gamble and belief that this kid that he doesn't even know will find the all blue. that he will do what he couldn't. now what makes this scene so important is the two ways this can be seen. in zeff's eyes, it's his choice. he chose to save sanji with no prior knowledge about anything about him because whatever he saw in sanji at that moment in the ship, he wanted to keep alive. it is an ultimately selfish motive. is it kind? yes, definitely. but it's not selfless. the other way you can see this through sanji's eyes. sanji, who has been told all he is is a burden and that his life is worthless is now being kept alive by a man who he doesn't even know. he has thrown his life away for sanji. sanji looks at it like this: "zeff is a kind man. he helped me because he couldn't let a child starve. what he did for me is an obligation where he was forced into a corner." sanji interprets this as an altruistic action and that he is now indebted to him forever.

luffy didn't sacrifice a leg for sanji, but he was ready to die. he KNEW he wouldn't, though. because he knows sanji and his bleeding heart and his love. once again, sanji and his dream is saved by another person starving for him. the main thing that distinguishes this scene from the zeff one is that this was a choice, without doubt. luffy KNOWS sanji. he has seen the ugliest parts of sanji and he still loves him. he is ready to give up his life for sanji with no ulterior motive. he doesn't want sanji to carry on his dream or do anything for him. he knows what sanji wants, but after this scene, he still asks. "what does sanji want?" he pulls the truth out of the hollows of his chest. he doesn't flinch at what he sees there. he sees sanji's hunger, want and kindness so vast that it can even be considered naive. he doesn't flinch. he simply smiles.

[ae-cha08]

Unconditional love is a gift from God that surpasses our understanding. It is a love that knows no bounds, that remains steadfast through every season of life. 💙

[nemo-of-house-hamartia]

Please, someone stop me from listening to Josh Groban, because otherwise I will end up DRAWING ANOTHER "MOTTIE AT BED" ARTWORK.

Like seriously, I cannot.

When I hear him sing "You have no idea" all I can hear is Mathias singing to Dorothea AND MY HEART CANNOT TAKE IT.

IT'S EXPLODING WITH SOFT TENDERNESS.

(and I have become the joke of my own household, because my husband, loving Josh as much as I do, now DOES IT ON PURPOSE OF PUTTING HIM ON OUR SPEAKERS, especially when he sees that I am busy working on something not Mottie-related. He knows how my brain works. HE KNOWS IT. So if sometimes you see me derailing, IT'S MR. NEMO'S FAULT AS WELL).

[sassywiththesas]

Love is just a word. But actions can prove it's worth.

[angelsdean]

dean and cas love and trust each other unconditionally. they give and they forgive easily. there is never a debt to settle. never a score to keep. i'd rather have you, cursed or not. i prefer trusting, less dumb less ass. i'll go with you (again and again and again). i forgive you, i need you. of course i forgive you. of course i wanted you to stay. i've got you. i love you. etc etc. they are best friends first and foremost. they can talk to each other and be real. they know when the other is lying about being "fine" and they call each other out on it. and then they listen. they get angry sometimes, and miscommunicate often, but they are always approaching everything with the desire to understand, to work together. they worry. they make bad choices sometimes out of a desire to protect the other. keep each other out of a situation and out of the loop. take on the burden for the other. all these flaws and wrong choices are still rooted in love and care. they care SO much. that love and care is at the center of everything they do.

[breadandlottery]

I think I'm going to make people upset but let's go Do you think Gi Hun has grown in terms of character development? In my opinion, what bothers me most about round 6 is the lack of significant growth in gi hun because he doesn't seem to have lost several people in the first season he remains naive I expected an improvement or development from a person who has already won the games. I would like you to answer me, I love your analyses.

My dear anon, apologies in advance for what is sure to be a very lengthy response…

I would like to say first that this is a tough question for me to answer with confidence since we haven’t seen season 3 and because it feels a little like a season 2A and season 2B situation. 

I’ve been working through scenes that I’m flagging in my mind for moments that should have raised red flags for Gihun but, from what we’re shown, didn’t. As I often tag ramble about, I do hold out some hope that he had legitimate suspicions of 001 and a loose backup plan. I have also noted that, interestingly, s2 does not have any of the flashback/realization scenes we were given several times in s1 and honestly, that feels very intentional? Like we’re supposed to notice it’s missing (I also have thoughts about ADHD Gihun, but that may just be me projecting because I’m real familiar with the exact kind of lightbulb moments he has, lol). My hunch/hope is that the show has been misdirecting us to make us believe everything you just said about the apparent lack of character development.

Now, I do think there has absolutely been character evolution. I can understand fans not seeing it as “development”, because I think we tend to think of character development as positive growth, but honestly, it doesn’t have to be… like a villain arc is still character development (just an example, I do not think this is a villain arc situation). I think instead of a lack of character development, I’d be more apt to call it a lack of “learning his lesson” or a lack of apotheosis (the point of realization/epiphany).

If we view squid game as monomyth/hero’s journey, he’s kind of not to the point yet where that would have happened (because the end of S2 would be the abyss?). Now, am I certain that the story being told is a hero’s journey? No, although I am somewhat confident.

So— I'm working under the assumption that we have a hero’s journey told in trilogy format. We have a LOT of comparison media out there… the Matrix, Star Wars, LOTR, among the most popular. What does the end of the middle installment of all of these have in common? They’re bleak af. 

Matrix: Neo unconscious, Agent Smith breaking into the real world

Star wars: Luke battles  Vader and loses his hand/almost dies, Han encased in carbonite

LOTR: Gollum’s betrayal, battle of Helm’s Deep (a win but with an ominous warning accompanying it)

The psuedo trilogy structure is where I do feel slightly perturbed at netflix for passing off a split season as 2 separate seasons. With a “real” trilogy, each component should be able to stand alone (like with 3 act structure-- set up-> conflict -> resolution) which is true of the examples above because the primary narrative conflict is actually resolved but super not true of squid game s2. Which means s2 and 3 combined could be the middle of the trilogy, with the mystery future season being the final part, but I don’t know that that’s in the cards. 

As an aside, we could just be totally wrong about the direction this is going in. Narrative arcs that involve the protagonist “learning a lesson” isn’t a universal concept. I always think of James Bond movies (especially the older ones) as an example of a “flat arc” character, because like, if you sleep with her she’s probably gonna die James, didn’t you learn this last time? If you’re too reckless there will be consequences, didn’t you learn this last time James? Like. That guy never learns. Not every character learns from their mistakes. Do I think Gihun is ultimately gonna be a flat arc character? No. Is it possible? I guess, man, look at the world, anything’s possible!!

So, ugh, sorry that’s a ton of speculation and uncertainty that isn’t directly answering your ask, but I do think that any of these possibilities can explain what we’re calling a lack of character development because we’re just not at that point in the story yet.

NOW.

Personally, I do think that Gihun is very perceptive, and I hold out hope that he wasn’t as trusting and oblivious as we’re made to think. I also believe that even if that is the case, he’d still have further to go/more development needed before he could actually reach the end of his journey. The reason for this (and I think one of the reasons people sometimes think of him as not smart) is the narrowness of his worldview. Not narrowmindedness, just literally not having broad knowledge about the world. Like not knowing where Pakistan was. Or not really getting that neither he nor the Frontman have the power to end what's happening because it is a symptom of a much larger, systemic problem. And in complete fairness to this sweet man, lack of perspective and a narrow worldview is an incredibly common flaw in people. 

So a few things that can be interpreted as Stagnation or Lack of Development:

Still a gambler: as seen in Russian Roulette and in going back into the game. Definitely risky, definitely reckless. He is like kinda suicidal though, so I don’t know that the underlying cause of this behavior is the same as it was in s1.

Still just out here trusting everyone: Yeah. That’s what he does, though. He came right out and said it, he doesn’t do it because he thinks people are trustworthy, he does it because what else is he gonna do? Is this a dumb-as-shit approach that should be “character-developed” out of him? Or is it a very important key defining feature of who he is as the hero of the story? I could go either way on that, tbh.

Naïve/easy to fool: I don’t think he ever was all that easy to fool, I think he consciously chose to let a lot of things slide and/or second-guessed his intuition because people called him stupid and slow all the time. 

Things that I think are Character Development

Ability to Focus: Maybe I’m ADHD projecting again, but this guy was all over the place in the beginning of s1, now he’s running a whole ass operation (maybe the medicine Mr Kim brought over was secretly adderall lol).

Leadership: I’ve said all along he just naturally exudes leadership, but he wasn’t really aware of it or comfortable with it in s1. In s2 he’s really embracing decision-making (even if they’re bad decisions) and seems comfortable being the one planning and leading, which is impressive.

So. To sum up a very very long answer:

I do see character development, if not the “hero finally learned his lesson” kind

I do still think it’s possible that Gihun wasn’t quite as clueless as we’re shown, and I’ll cling to this delusion until at least June 27th lol

I think it’s possibly too early in the narrative for his full revelation, anyway, but-

Part of why that feels “off” is because s2 is missing the “last Act” of the story it was telling (like don’t split a sequel in 2 and try to shoehorn it into a trilogy if it’s not an actual trilogy please for the love of god it throws off the balance)

[drasadonbrown]

I am always honored when my work is shared, but more than that, I am touched that my work has made such an impact on the life of another.

“All children should be taught to unconditionally accept, approve, admire, appreciate, forgive, trust, and ultimately, love their own person.” ~ Dr. Asa Don Brown

The “Brother’s Keeper” Film will be distributed by Alchemy Entertainment for our DVD and Blu-Ray release on August 4th! You can go ahead and pre-order on Amazon.com!

#unconditional #love #friendship #brothers #forgiveness #loyalty #BrothersKeeper #DesertWind #AlchemyEntertainment #approve #acceptance #admire #appreciate #forgive #trust #asadonbrown

[libraryofjupiter]

quotes that are stobotnik. to me.

(chateau lobby #4 by father john misty, you had me at hello by mchairi mcfarlane, the lost future of pepperharrow by natasha pulley)

[urloveangel]

I always receive what I want or better ✨

[can-i-get-a-yippee]

Eddie Diaz being able to smile and kiss his mom’s forehead and say that he’ll call her later after everything she put him through because at the end of the day, he realizes that his son trusts him more than any other person on this planet and no amount of time or distance can change that

[lu-sn]

Arm has a top-secret file that he keeps on a separate partition of his hard drive, locked behind three different password walls. It’s a list of all of the main family’s bodyguards, ranked by how likely they are to be the mole.

(It’s top-secret because he’s not supposed to be looking into this. Chan explicitly ordered him not to.)

There’s a handful of people Arm doesn’t even bother putting on the list. Pol, for one. Pete. Erika. Chan.

By contrast, every single one of Kinn’s personal bodyguards, past and present, is a prime suspect. Kinn’s had a notorious streak of bad luck lately. Four murder attempts in four months cannot be a coincidence.

Ken is just aloof enough that nobody seems to know what he’s up to on his off-days. This rockets him straight to the top of Arm’s list, tied with Big, who has fallen so far out of favor with Kinn that Arm can’t help but wonder if Kinn is doing it on purpose.

And then there’s the name directly under those two.

“Be honest,” he says to Pete one day. They’re sequestered in his armory, but he keeps his voice low: there’s no harm in being careful with matters like this. “Do you think there’s any chance Porsche is the mole?”

Pete is silent for a good, long moment.

“You live with him,” Arm says. “You’ve been on more missions with him than me. If anyone here knows him best, it’s you.”

“There are reasons to suspect him,” Pete says slowly. “A lot of his missions have gone wrong. He didn’t stop that girl from attacking Kinn in the bathroom. The casino stakeout was a mess. The diamond auction was worse.”

“But…?”

Pete sighs. “I don’t know. He’s young. He’s made a lot of mistakes, but he’s improving.”

Arm stares forlornly at his list, cursor blinking innocently next to Porsche’s name. “Pete, I can’t clear his name just because he’s young.”

“No,” Pete concedes. He leans back in his chair, arms crossed behind his head. “But he’s kind, too. He’s principled. He won’t betray people he cares about.”

“And that’s enough? You trust him?”

“I do.”

The knot in Arm’s chest jerks tighter. “But… he’s so likable.”

“Ohhh, right, he’s nice. Never mind. Death by firing squad.”

Arm smiles, sheepish.

“Okay,” Pete says. “So you think he’s tricking us?”

“Shit, Pete, I don’t know,” Arm splutters. “Isn't it possible?”

“I don't think so. Porsche isn't like that.”

Arm considers this, then plops his face into his hand.

“Did you want me to say something else?” Pete says, faintly amused.

“Yes,” Arm groans.

“Why?”

“Because…” Arm trails off.

Because the security of the main family rests on his shoulders. Arm cannot afford to be anything other than objective; he needs to leave Porsche on his list.

But the problem is that Porsche barreled into their lives and immediately made Khun Noo happier than Arm had ever seen before. The problem is that Pol hasn’t been this comfortable around someone since Arm himself. The problem is that Arm vaguely remembers being carried home from Hum Bar by an equally drunk Porsche, who took off his shoes for him and tucked him into bed and grinned brightly over his shoulder before staggering out the door.

The problem is that Arm is biased.

Pete, on the other hand, is the most level-headed person Arm knows. Leaving Porsche’s name on his list wouldn’t feel so terrible if Pete agreed with it.

“I wanted you to give me a reason to keep him on here,” Arm mumbles. “I feel bad. He’s our friend.”

“You’re doing your job,” Pete says sincerely. “There’s no shame in that. But…” He reaches over to pat Arm on the shoulder. “There’s nothing wrong with trusting your gut. If you think he’s innocent, leave him off.”

Arm mulls over this. Then he pokes Pete in the side. “I think I trust your gut more than mine.”

Pete lets out a laugh, incredulous, and pokes Arm back.

-

Later, Arm highlights Porsche’s entry with his cursor and drags it to the bottom of the file. Then he pauses. His hand hovers over the delete button.

He thinks about Pete saying, I trust him. He thinks about what Pete didn’t quite say: you should trust yourself, too.

He hits delete.

-

#kpanniversary2024 episode 9 + prompt 9: trust

[nenoname]

seeing discussions on whether bill could trick stan and yeah it is pretty akldhkasjdha to think stan is untrickable when the last regular ep is him getting tricked by darlene (and we know that eda/"marilyn" stole his stuff/almost got his car by tricking him with a vegas marriage)

[mapicccc]

goly shit she really is just trying to get what devotions have out of zam