#forgive me tohru
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gifti3 · 7 months ago
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If solomon asked me to be a defender of humanity, i dont think i could look him in the eye and say yes
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universestreasures · 11 months ago
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@thcsevoices Sent: A THE LITTLE MERMAID ( 1989 ) SONG STARTER (Accepting!)
❝ The human world? It’s a mess. ❞ (Inuyasha @ Tohru)
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The sudden comment startled Tohru, almost making her drop her chopsticks as she was eating her lunch ontop of the school building alongside the half-demon. Where did that come from? Inuyasha was always the type of guy to say brooding things like that, but...she thought they were having a nice lunch together.
Seems like even though she's gotten closer to him, it seems that darker outlook of his was still present. That sort of thing didn't change overnight, after all.
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"W-Why do you say that?" She replies, still a bit startled by the tone shift. "S-Sure the world isn't perfect, but it's filled with so many amazing, beautiful things! You just...You just need to find them, like diamonds in the rough. The same goes for your world, too."
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~
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starrynightkyoru · 11 months ago
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Tohru being friends with Akito was one of the worst endings Takaya could have given her. And Takaya will always be hated by me for that.
It is disrespectful and insulting not only to Tohru's character but to the beautiful friendships she builds with the zodiacs. That plotline is deeply damaging to her character and that is why I don't consider it canon it adds nothing but negatives to Tohru and fuck Akito anyway she didn't deserve a friendship with someone who she treated so poorly she was straight up homicidal to her. What a beautiful friendship you crafted there Takaya.
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koganeirou · 2 years ago
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No worries, I agree with your rant! I'm not sure if Takaya hates women though but other than that I agree. I think Kisa's abuse and hospitalization is deliberately brushed off by the other characters because the family is so resigned to dealing with Akito and violence at her hands is something that's been normalized by not just Akito but the maids as well. Not excusing it, but maybe Akito's violent offenses are so frequent that no one cares to stand up to it anymore and they're so used to it.
I definitely agree that there's a ton of enabling going on with Akito and it infuriates me how, just like with Akito, the story ends without ever holding any of the adults (high mabudachi trio) or maids accountable for how much damage they could have mitigated but chose not too 😂. I'm personally not very satisifed with how the manga ended because I just feel like there were way too many loose ends that never really get addressed in a satisfying manner, both with Akito's individual actions herself, as well as all the abuse enabling and apologism that all the adults take part in.
Thank you for the response and I agree with your rant, though I'm not sure if Takaya hates women. Other than that, you have the problem with Akito nailed down and exactly, why does Rin never get to lash out at Akito and say the most hurtful things in response to what she did to her? She never gets personally called out by her victims and she should've had to hear what she did from them personally. Some part of me hates Tohru and feels like she doesn't deserve Rin.
I definitely feel you on Tohru... definitely the biggest pitfall of her character writing imo, wtf is this garbage of her becoming besties with her friends' and future husband's abuser and going on lunch dates with her? 😭 If i were Rin, I would straight up cut Tohru out of my life lmao, this as bad as befriending your bff's rapist imo. People defend it as "oh well Tohru and Akito are narrative foils and they relate to each other!" but imo it doesn't excuse Tohru committing the most blatant violation of trust and respect in a friendship ever. I guess everyone's personal values on friendship is different, but I personally take friendships very seriously and would not respect someone like Tohru if she was real. I firmly believe there are just people you do not go out of your way to befriend or make life long associations with if you have any amount of respect for your friends, and someone who caused your friends' life long trauma and committed violent, bodily crimes on them is mayhaps one of them. Obv it's good to show compassion and kindness to someone who desparately needs it in the moment, but it's weird af how Takaya has her entire story revolve around friendship and relationships, then have her MC, whos characterized as a kind and loyal person, not even respect the most BASIC requirements of it.
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antiomnia · 1 year ago
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A few months ago, I was Going Through It, so I did what any sensible adult would do to process my circumstances: I binged Fruits Basket.
I couldn't help but notice similarities with Mystic Messenger, another piece of media that helped me in the same way before.
So I wrote this post, and forgot about it in my drafts. There must already be several posts like this, but here's my Mystic Messenger x Fruits Basket character comparison, and why they're the same people, imo.
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Zen x Ayame: The dramatic "narcissistic" white haired sexyman with brother issues
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Seven x Kyo: The redhead catboy, who doesn't open up to others because he thinks he's doomed
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Yoosung x Momiji: The cute blonde boy with underlying abandonment issues
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Jumin x Hatori: The emotionally unavailable fan of three-piece suits
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V x Shigure: The gaslight gatekeep girlboss man
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Vanderwood x Kazuma: The catboy's long haired mentor/protector
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Rika x Akito: The pick me girl with god complex
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MC x Tohru: The WAAAAAAAAY too forgiving main character
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Saeran x Yuki: The traumatized boy who was once kidnaped by the one with god complex
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Jaehee x Mitsuru: The "I'm not paid nearly enough to deal with this bullshit" worker woman
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Bonus: Seven x Mine the white haired man's maid fantasy
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pollen-blogs · 4 months ago
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Rants from a tired writer: Tragic Backstories
Dear writers and readers/viewers (depends on medium), for the love of everything please PLEASE understand how to use tragic backstories for antagonists properly!!!
An antagonist's traumatic past is an EXPLANATION for their poor behaviour, not an excuse!! That kind of backstory is here to show that it's rare for someone to do bad things just for the sake of being bad; a lot of the time, antagonists have a reason for behaving antagonistically (or you could have someone like Emperor Belos who has a reason for behaving antagonistically but also does bad things just for the sake of being bad, which is awesome).
That's why sometimes it rubs me the wrong way when fans of a certain piece of media dislike an antagonist's redemption arc just because they felt like the show was throwing them a pity party. Of course, there are times where writers are guilty of doing that, and I'm criticizing them here as well. The antagonist's traumatic past is here to humanise them, to remind the audience and characters that in spite of it all, they're still a person. In cases where the antagonist is redeemable, this can make the audience and characters sympathise with or even relate to them.
A lot of people hate her but I don't care, I'm going to use her as an example anyway: Akito Sohma is one of those redeemable villains that gets humanised through her and Tohru's shared experience of being ostracised and abandoned.
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No, you're not supposed to feel bad for Akito because she cried and said she felt lonely. You're supposed to feel bad for Akito because Tohru is the first person to treat her as a human being and not as a God, as well as validating her fear of being left behind by saying that she feels the same way. + You're supposed to feel bad for Akito because she is denied the right to be herself in every single way possible, including, but not limited to, her gender.
Akito getting redeemed does not take away all the pain and trauma that still affects the members of the zodiac that she hurt. In fact, not all of them forgive Akito, and that is okay. Akito herself states that she would have been fine not being forgiven at all, she just wanted to better herself. Her apology wasn't even done through words, but actions; she could not bring herself to say "I'm sorry" to all of her family because she didn't want them to think she was apologising just to make herself feel better or to gain their forgiveness. Anyway, I love Akito so much and I will write love letters to her in my analyses every time I have the opportunity to do so, you're welcome.
However, there are times where writers really do mess up and just want you to feel bad for their poor little moral scapegoat. I have not made a She-Ra critical post in so long, but who else fits the bill more than Catra? Her traumatic past does explain her resentment and violent tendencies towards Adora, but the show lost me the second they tried to make it into an excuse. Not only that, but making Adora "leaving" Catra a central point of the tension in their relationship when Catra was given multiple chances to leave just made me want to bash my head into the nearest wall.
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The big problem with Catra is that she does not change, nor is she held accountable for her actions for longer than one episode. The only thing that did change is that she does not physically abuse Adora anymore, but the verbal and psychological abuse does remain. And lastly, the viewers and characters are considered objectively wrong for not trusting or liking her even though they have legitimate reasons not to. Of course, I'm not saying that the characters are not allowed to forgive her, but forgiveness is earned not owed, and Catra has done nothing to earn it, and it would have been nice for at least one character like Adora, Entrapta, Scorpia or anyone to have said "I'm glad that you're trying to become a better person, but I don't have to be there to witness that. I wish you the best but I don't want you in my life anymore."
Well, I have said my peace. I might start posting more writing takes on here while still talking about my favourite shows/books by using them as examples, let's see how it goes! I love writing so much so I'm very glad to be able to express that on my socials :)
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cinderella-ish · 5 months ago
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How Labeling Characters "Good" or "Bad" Misses the Point of Fruits Basket
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A few years ago, I decided to remove the words "good" and "bad" from my vocabulary as much as possible.
Why? Because I have OCD, and I was struggling with something called "splitting," more commonly known as "black-and-white thinking."
Beyond the benefits it would have for my mental health, I wanted to challenge myself to be more precise with my commentary, whether appreciative or critical. "Fruits Basket is soooo good!" may be a true statement (in my completely objective, unbiased opinion lol), but it doesn't actually say anything meaningful about what makes the story so "good." I'd rather say how it affected me, why I think it's absolutely worth watching or reading, what it made me think about, etc...
Something I see in a lot of Furuba fan spaces is a desire to label characters or relationships as "good" or "bad," and letting that be the focus of the commentary. This even happens without necessarily using those exact words; people will talk about whether Akito "deserved" redemption/forgiveness, whether certain relationships or even crushes are "okay," whether a certain character was "abusive," etc... and sometimes even more subtle ways of labeling characters "good" or "bad," but I think this entirely misses the point of the story, and beyond that, it's just not a helpful way to go about discussing media in general.
The thing that prompted this post was one of those much more subtle cases: a comment I saw claiming that it was out-of-character for Tohru to support Arisa and Kureno's relationship. My first reaction was, "are we talking about the same Tohru here?" because the Tohru I saw in Fruits Basket would absolutely support Arisa and Kureno's relationship. But my next thought was to wonder why that commenter would feel that way, and here's where I've landed on that:
In that commenter's mind, Tohru is "good," and the relationship between Arisa and Kureno is "bad," so it doesn't make sense that a "good" person would support a "bad" relationship.
But what a wildly simplistic take! It's one that misses so much nuance of Tohru's character; her personal history, her ways of relating to her friends, etc... To me, there's absolutely no way Tohru as she's written would ever not support that relationship, and here's why:
First, Tohru is rarely assertive, and when she is, it's in situations where one person is clearly being hurt and it must be addressed immediately. She almost seems to run on instinct in those situations. I'm thinking of when she pushed Akito away from Yuki, or when she told Akito to stop hurting Momiji, or when she told Kyo she would go against her mother, or when she chased after Saki and expressed a desire to remain friends.
On that note, with regard to Arisa and Kureno, the thing that stood out to Tohru was Arisa's heartache. She wanted to do whatever she could to soothe her friend's heartache, and that meant reuniting her with the man she'd fallen for.
It's also unclear whether Tohru knows Kureno's age, but even if she did, her own parents had a massive age gap, and she doesn't seem to be aware of the problematic power dynamic between them whatsoever. If anything, she seems to romanticize her parents' relationship.
Additionally, Tohru is basically the least judgmental person alive. I don't think she would have strong convictions about whether age gaps are "okay" even if her parents hadn't had a similar gap. Again, her primary concern would be whether her friend was happy, and if not, what she could do to make her friend happy.
In short, Tohru is not one to label things as "good" or "bad" and use those labels as a guide for her actions, but is more likely to try and understand people's motivations and work toward their happiness. This is central to her personality as an Enneagram SX 9w1/INFP.
And that last point is honestly the approach I think is most useful when it comes to critique and discussion of fiction. Rather than trying to delineate what's "good" or "bad," I find it much more meaningful to try and understand the creator's reason for depicting something a certain way, and how those creative choices support their overall creative vision (or don't).
So, with that in mind, I guess I'm going to start a series looking at the "why" behind the characters and relationships who are most often called "problematic," "bad," "abusive," or "not okay." Feel free to request topics!
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ofoceansandtombsanew · 8 months ago
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What are some of your favorite manga of all time?
Oh this will be one of the easiest asks I've ever received! You've got me all hype, anon!
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Fruits Basket
Wanna get me to talk for hours? Mention Fruits Basket. This was the first manga I ever read back when I was still in elementary school and I've never grown out of my love for the series. I will always have a spot for this manga but it's honestly perfection to me.
I love the characters, the messages, the themes and the emotional depth this manga has made me feel over the years? I honestly wish I could experience Fruits Basket all over again. This is without a doubt my favorite shoujo manga of all time. I love all the characters, I love all the ships. Some of my favorite characters off rip have to be Tohru, Shigure, Hatsuharu and Arisa and Saki. But make no mistake I adore Yuki and Kyo and so on and so forth.
This series does such a great job in such a complicated subject matter concerning neglect and abuse in a way that humanizes the abuser without using said humanization to justify their shitty actions. You leave those moments understanding how that person became how they are but can still completely acknowledge how terrible they are. How you don't have to forgive that person for what they did. And that, if you do forgive that person, that doesn't mean you're just letting bygones be bygones and being kumbaya with them. You can forgive and forget or you can forgive and never forget and that's okay. Your forgiving and moving forward for yourself, not them. And that's one of the things I really liked in the series.
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Fullmetal Alchemist
Another series you can get me talking for hours about. You will catch me watching video essay after video essay analyzing this story. I was so into FMA during middle school, one of my moms even bought me the games and made it habit to occasionally buy me the volumes! This is without a doubt, the best shounen has to offer. Quality female characters? Amazing action scenes? Stunning romance? Banger after banger with so many panels I can still recall perfectly.
My favorite volume is definitely volume 15! Because of the manga, Brotherhood is my preference when it comes to the anime adaptations. It has all the homies in it. Another series I wish I could just start from the beginning again with no memory of the source material. These brothers and their friends have altered the chemistry of my brain.
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NANA
Still believe that one day Yozawa will grace us with her beautiful art and storytelling all over again. NANA was my first ever jousei read and my dive into jousei as a whole. Until that point all I had consumed were shounen and shoujo so the maturity of the series was one I wasn't expecting. I consumed this series when I was about in early to late middle school and it was so much fun to read.
Now that I'm in my late 20s, holy hell is this hard to binge the way I used to because the themes, the struggles of the character and the realism of those struggles are hitting a little too close to home now. So I can only do NANA in small doses now haha. I even got both of my moms into NANA. Which isn't too impressive when one of my moms has watched the anime of every manga I've mentioned on this ask, but my other mom is NOT an anime fan and she loves NANA so much.
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Children of the Sea
Oh my goodness, you definitely oh it to yourself to read this manga. It's not a long a read by any means with only 5 volumes and 43 chapters but it was such a pleasure to read. Maybe this bias comes from someone obsessed with the ocean (which my url definitely implies) and the life teeming underneath the surface but wow this was truly an experience. I watched the movie first and then read the manga, and I'm not sure if that'll shape anyone's viewing experience differently but I do wish I had read the manga first. But both are truly great to check out.
If you want a story about a girl meeting two boys raised by dugongs, this is the story for you. One of my favorite aspects of this read were the side stories labeled Testimony of the Sea. It adds so much to the story without even directly influencing the plot as you see all the strange phenomena that take place in the sea leading up to this mysterious event drawing in our protagonists and what will continue well after its conclusion.
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Skip & Loafer
Currently ongoing and a series I was not expecting to like as much as I did. I'm one of the people who got into sukirofa after the anime dropped. 2 episodes in and seeing the absolute beauty and grace of how the staff handled the protagonist's transgender aunt, I had to give this a read and I do not regret in the slightest. This is such a great series and a perfect example how one utilizes 'don't judge a book by its cover'.
Characters you meet at first glance? It only takes a chapter or two before their layers are peeled back and you see how much went in to crafting them and making them more complex than meets the eye. A perfect example of this is the character Mika.
But my favorite chapter has to be ch 29 where you learn what made Nao decide to come out and transition. If you haven't read this series, I won't spoil it, you have to read it for yourself. Prepare for a monthly update schedule, because once that day of the month pops up, it's amazing to see how the sukirofa fandom comes together to scream on twitter and tumblr.
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JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
The series that gave birth to the greatest hater in anime history. Araki truly drinks and leaves no molecules every time a part comes out. Another ongoing series I didn't expect to like as much as I did. But it's become a series close to my heart since diving into it after I got over my initial hesitance with the art style. Honestly JJBA's art style really grows on you, especially as you see Araki's art and writing develop so spectacularly.
You get equal parts continuous story and standalone adventure. You do need other pieces of the pie, but each part still feels so rich and in-depth and bright and colorful. You don't feel like the new JoJo and characters introduced are extensions of previous existing ones or usurpers that have stolen the panels away from other characters. It's like watching a torch be passed down from JoJo to JoJo, generation to generation (which it technically is since this story follows the descendants of the JoJo that started it all, Jonathan Joestar).
Araki's biggest source of writing inspiration came from how he felt watching Prince concerts. How the story of the concert would suddenly flip and give you a whole new experience. I feel he truly has that down with JJBA.
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Concubine Walkthrough
Can't believe I even forgot to add Concubine Walkthrough, so take this quick addendum. This is one of the best manhwa I've ever read in my life and not enough people talk about it. I'm working on a post right now all about why I recommend it.
If you're a fan of sci-fi, romance and want to read an otome isekai romp that subverts your expectations? Please read this manhwa. It's The Matrix mixed with historical Korean fiction (and of course, otome isekai at its finest).
I loved loved LOVED the philosophy behind the story, the themes. The discussion of what reality is and choosing what reality means/is to you. Just because your entire life is a simulation, does that make your entire life up until that point irrelevant? Simulated it may be, your joy, your pain, your love, all of that still felt real, right? There were so many things I never considered about that very topic until I read this series and I feel like more people should give it a go. It's not that long a read (only 128 chapters for the main story with some extra bonus content on the side), please please PLEASE read Concubine Walkthrough if you haven't already.
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gietterbug · 3 months ago
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Fruits Basket (2019-2021) - Thoughts! ✨
I have just finished watching Fruits Basket from the 1st Season to the Final Season (+ Prelude), and it has left me feeling empty... So here's a thing or two of what I think about the series!
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Fruits Basket was BEYOND my expectations! It taught me many things: perseverance, forgiveness, acceptance, and kindness. Everything about this series was AMAZING! I hate that I used to think it was just a typical, overrated romance anime when I now have grown emotionally attached to it.
For a show remade & readapted from the older version, the animation team did an incredible job recreating Fruits Basket (2019-2021).
The fluid plot, the complex characters and their backstories & relationships, the bitter conflicts and final resolutions… everything was just excellent!
Tohru Honda was easily the most beloved protagonist, because who wouldn't love her when she emits all the good things a character can do. Her existence in the series was like a ray of hope. And this is significant for other conflicted & traumatized characters around her.
She's such a wonderfully written character, and I love her so much! ❤
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Other characters—Kyo, Yuki, & the Sohmas—had their own shares of struggles. It's painful to see, and my heart wrenched upon learning their pasts that made them the way they were.
Even Akito had a deep-rooted trauma of his (?) own. Being special since born apparently was not a privilege; it's a burden. Akito may be twisted in the mind, but he was also deeply wounded on the inside, and I couldn't bring myself to hate him.
All in all, Fruits Basket was a very delightful, and peak Shoujo anime. I enjoyed it through and through! I hope to see more shows as amazing as this one in the future! ☺🌸
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momoliee · 11 months ago
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Watching, fruits basket, i surprisingly didnt have a favorite ship or care for the romance at all.
rather, i was more invested in the toxic abusive family and all the ways the characters dealt with their trauma and how they’ve overcome it at the end.
starting with the more ‘obvious’ trauma, aka kyo, basically being the black sheep of the family and dealing with it by becoming someone who constantly runs away, only sees himself, and whose whole survival revolves around protecting himself first and foremost even if his methods were harmful to others. which is, obviously, understandable and valid considering how no one was there for him and everyone was against him, so whom does he have but himself? if he wont fight tooth and nail to protect himself then who will?
then there’s yuki, whose trauma was on the very opposite extreme end of the scale. he was placed at higher threshold than anyone; however, he enjoyed none of the supposed benefits as he was isolated and abused and tortured in private without anyone knowing. he wasnt allowed to have any friends, he wasnt allowed to associate with anyone, and he was the one closest to the abuser and was the abuser’s main vessel of venting, a literal punching bag. he bore most of the bruises in the family, and as a result, became distant and cold and a bit dissociated. his healing arc honestly healed me personally, seeing him get comfortable with being vulnerable, opening up, reaching out and most importantly, forming meaningful bonds with those around him. it was very precious.
there were characters like rin, who couldnt handle any of it and crumbled more easily than the rest of the characters, who at the end, wasnt able to forgive their abuser even when everyone else did. and there were characters like momiji, who were stronger than the rest, who bared with it all head on and as bravely as possible, who broke away first with their strong will and resilience, who forgave fastest too. there were characters like a-ya, who just wanted to escape and leave and be free even if it came at the expanse of others, even if someone else had to take their place and suffer in their stead. which again, is valid, but i loved that he grew stronger and felt guilty with time, and made sure to come back and atone for his actions even if it was too late, he still wanted to give it a go. and of course, there were characters like haru, who were the naturally kind and noble heros, ready to suffer at other people’s stead, ready to fight for others even if they’ll receive a backlash, ready to take care of others even when they’re receiving the same abuse. there were characters like hatori, who became totally apathetic and uncaring, easily accepting and passive, and on the opposite end there were characters like shigure, who developed a fucked up complex and codependent attachment to their abuser. there were characters like kureno, whom even tho they had the choice to leave, they still stayed out of pity and kindness, and characters like hiro, who gave no fucks from the beginning and wanted to leave cause what’s wrong is wrong, pity or no pity.
what im trying to say is, they were all stuck in the same abusive family, they were all VICTIMS of domestic violence and terror, yet they all took it differently, coped with it differently, and healed from it differently. and what makes this even more interesting, is how accurate each character depiction was, and how all these personas really do exist in real life. other than haru, none of them helped each other or stood up for the other, but then again, they were all victims doing their best to survive a terrifying environment. they were all very brave for doing so.
im happy that torhu gave them a healthier home where the idea of family was safer and more fun, where they could have fun together instead of dreading seeing each other. i do believe that each and every single one of them saved their own self, but tohru definitely gave them the space and place to do so, which was exactly what they needed
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moltensmusings · 10 months ago
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Finished fruits basket and genuinely, probably one of my favorite shoujos of all time. I enjoyed every minute of it, the emotional moments hit with me every time. This will be a bit long so under the cut let me ramble about my love for it.
Only a series as well written as that could make me cry during a scene of a character like Akito reaching out to Tohru without malice.
I think something that makes the ending work so well, is the knowledge that ultimately we don't really find out if everyone ends up forgiving Akito. I'm sure in the sequel series they reveal it, but we're left with the knowledge that some of that hurt is too great. That Akito herself is aware of this and willing to accept whatever comes with it.
I really did enjoy the characters and couples we got, it's a series that mixes realism with fantasy well enough that even for the ones I'd normally dislike I was willing to give into the romance.
Kyo and Tohru for very obvious reasons will always have a special place in my heart. Seeing Kyo go from a brooding teenager to one who openly expresses his love for Tohru with genuine smiles and tears was amazing.
I haven't actually gone out looking for it, but I also know Kureno is a divisive figure in the fandom because to some people I think they viewed the series as almost completely absolving him of any blame. I think a major part of his story involved the fact that he was self sacrificial to a fault and it was a bad thing. He made mistakes like everyone else and it led to pain. His guilt and pity kept him locked in place and I feel like one of the major messages is that love out of Pity can be so incredibly damaging. I viewed his character as someone who got suspended in that time of when he was a teenager just barely free of his curse, incapable of moving forward for fear of hurting someone. Unaware that staying was hurting more than leaving ever would.
Ultimately I have no doubt this is going to be a series I revisit regularly to watch. Tears and all it was a wonderful experience and I adored every second.
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randoimago · 1 year ago
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hi! could I request enemies-to-lovers “Can you ever forgive me?” “I forgave you the second you walked through the door.” for Adachi? thanks.
"Can you ever forgive me?"
Fandom: Persona 4
Character(s): Tohru Adachi
Type of Request: enemies to lovers
Warning(s): Emotional Manipulation, Toxic Relationship
Note(s): Adachi is still one of my favorite plot twists in video games
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Adachi
He was annoyed with you. Adachi had asked you to do something for him and you told him no and he's been giving you the silent treatment. Adachi would be more mean, but he doesn't want his cover blown if others found out.
And so he just kept being the neglectful boyfriend. Pretending that he's too busy with work and can't see you. It isn't until he's sitting at his office desk, exhausted from dealing with idiots, that he sees you come in giving him a sad look. Adachi doesn't get to say anything before you apologize saying, "Can you ever forgive me?"
A smile slowly crosses his face as he gives you the attention he's neglected you. He pulls you into a hug so you get that affection you've been craving. "I forgave you the second you walked through the door," he murmurs, pretending to be the affectionate boyfriend just to keep you by his side.
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hot-take-tournament · 1 year ago
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HOT TAKE TOURNAMENT
PRE-PRELIMINARY #19
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Submission 55
Tohru Adachi is a better character than Goro Akechi
[SUBMITTED JUSTIFICATION UNDER THE CUT]
Pre-preliminaries will be used to determine what qualifies as a hot take. Propaganda is encouraged!
Also, remember to reblog your favourite polls for exposure! (exposure like when your exposed to critical levels of radiation)
They're both terrible people but P4 doesn't try to justify Adachi's actions even if you pick the accomplice ending and side with him, meanwhile P5 constantly goes 'but he was sad tho :( his daddy doesn't love him so he's allowed to kill ppl' after the reveal that Akechi's the traitor. Also I did the math and in the cutscene where the train gets derailed alone Akechi killed at least 100x more people than Adachi did in the entire game. There's nothing wrong with liking evil characters (IMO) but acting like they're sweet innocent babies is lame
Adachi and Akechi have similar roles in the story. They’re both the subject of the main mystery of their respective games, the killer and the traitor, and in order to hide their involvement, they have fake detective personas (lowercase p personas not Personas). The issue is that while Adachi’s fake personality is a lovable dork who goofs off work by hanging out in the lobby of a department store, “accidentally” leaks critical information about the case to a bunch of teenagers, and has a weird friendship with an old lady who thinks he’s her son, Akechi's is just generic “crime bad, criminals bad” detective man with zero substance to any of his interactions with the main cast outside of literally all of them fucking hating him (the correct and morally right response to Akechi talking to you). But that’s just their fake personalities, right? It’s totally fine for a completely false, constructed persona to be a little shallow, right? Well Akechi’s real personality is just as bad. I already mentioned how his entire motivation is “Waah my dad doesn’t love me so I’m gonna help him achieve his goals then kill him” which is completely fucking stupid by the way just kill the dude and be done with it if thats what you’re gonna do anyway man, but his personality boils down to ‘generic angsty villain whos gonna get a completely undeserved redemption arc’ (thankfully cognitive Akechi killed him before that could happen, the one good thing he did and it wasn’t even really him). Adachi’s real personality is completely unhinged, his big motivation speech can be summed up as “ACAB!” “But you’re a cop!?” YEAH AND I’M A TOTAL BASTARD WHAT PART OF THAT DON’T YOU GET!?” You love to hate him, and that’s what makes a good antagonist, not feeling sorry for him because his dad doesn’t love him. Guess what Akechi, a lot of people's dads don’t love them and none of them became domestic terrorists to try to regain his love and respect!
And you might think that I’m exaggerating with how the player is supposed to sympathise and eventually forgive Akechi, but after he explains his awful motivation, the first person to extend a hand of sympathy is Haru, the girl who’s father Akechi murdered in front of her like two months prior. The second person is Futaba, who spent her entire adolescence traumatised because she thought she was such a shitty daughter that it drove her mother to suicide BECAUSE AKECHI KILLED HER MOTHER IN FRONT OF HER (the dude’s consistent I’ll give him that.)
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festivalofthe12 · 6 months ago
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mannnnnnnn IDK if it's just because I never fully finished the manga myself (sorry everyone;;) but I just. don't. really understand how Akito being just another one of Tohru's friends is supposed to. work. in practice. with Yuki.
Not because Akito is an ~irredeemable person who never earned her redemption~ or whatever. People being good is good!!! If Akito is legitimately a better person now, that's awesome!!! And frankly I love stories where legitimate kindness breaks through to save people who are shitty but also deeply deeply sad!!!!!
But to most of the cast, Akito was a pretty distant enemy. Yes, she'd show up in person now and then to be chilling and mysterious, but her primary source of contention was Being God. The way she ran the family and the rules she set up around it. Other characters might have spent a lot of time seething at her, but mainly to blame her for indirectly causing things to happen in their lives. Apart from a very small number, most have never actually had much experience just... talking to her.
Which is not true for Yuki.
Yuki has spent more time with her than almost anybody. By the end of the manga, she's still probably the person he's spent the most time in contact with, total, over his life. He literally could not get away from being in the same physical space as her.
His reactions to Akito aren't based on him blaming her for what she did to the Sohma family. His reactions to Akito are based on a very simple 'if I can see her, things about about to get very bad very quickly for me personally.'
At that point, it's not even really about whether he blames or forgives her, or what he thinks she 'deserves'. It is an immediate anxiety (let's be real: PTSD) trigger. It's neither conscious nor logical. He spent endless amounts of time waiting with horror for her to show up, unable to know or control when that would happen, and then having that horror fully justified. He was trained on it, endlessly.
I fully believe that Yuki would want to trust Tohru and respect her friendship with Akito and believe that everything has changed and it's all good now. But I just can't see him being him able to actually... act on that. In practice.
He never even really properly got to process it. Ayame did the classic oblivious parent thing of trying to override Yuki's negative emotions with happy ones before he was actually ready to move on. (Not critiquing Ayame; he's just a flawed human being in his own right!) Tohru comforted him and told him he didn't deserve it, and now she's friends with his abuser asking him to say everything's fine. If Kakeru ever fully found out what happened, it was off-screen, and not all that much time before this all went down.
I just. Really think that what Yuki needs is at least some time to just be better and angry, or at the very least openly mourn his lost childhood. And he needs to be able to do that without those constant triggers of anxiety from interacting with Akito. All things being equal, I think it would be for the best if he could just tell Tohru straight-up that he's fine with their friendship and he's not going to intervene but he just does not want to be in the same room with Akito ever again.
And... if I were to stretch this a bit further, and potentially really betray my unfamiliarity with endgame canon........... it is kind of hard for me to imagine Akito being okay with that.
Yes, Akito has changed. But surely she still needs time to grow and learn and figure out her new place in this world? And Yuki deliberately avoiding her would... be a difficult thing to accept. Firstly because she's still getting used to giving up that selfishness (especially towards Yuki), but also because it's a reminder of some of the awful shit she did. Which, if she's a changed person, should make her feel bad. Which again, she isn't qualified to process!!
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Akito twisted it around in her head to where Yuki really was her friend. Like they were in this together and Akito didn't always handle it well but at the end of the day, they're the only two who can really understand each other. Because Akito really didn't have that, either. (Kureno being... idk man he always seemed more like a guardian, or at least older brother figure than someone who was 'in the trenches' so to speak with her.)
Either way, it'd all place Tohru in such a deeply complicated position. Akito is hurting badly and needs Tohru to be on her side if no-one else is, because to be fair, that's not all wrong? (Kureno has always been there, but Tohru is her saviour.) But she can't really do that if she's enforcing Yuki's boundaries for him. I feel like Akito would really want Tohru to tell her that she's forgiven and that everything's good now, and if she hesitated even a little, it wouldn't go well. Because Akito only knows how to understand two things: obedience and manipulation. So having others set healthy boundaries - and dealing with the resulting feelings of rejection and shame and guilt - is something she still has to learn how to do.
It just sounds. A bit like a clusterfuck tbh. A clusterfuck that could, eventually, turn out okay!!!!!! But one that would take a LONG time and continued process of reflection and self-awareness (and, ideally, HEAVY THERAPY, but of course we all know nobody in the Fruits Basket universe ever gets that, so). Obviously like that's the happy ending and we don't need to extend it out for four more volumes of like 'Yuki and Akito undergo cbt separately via Tohru's infinite patience' lmfao but. Idk. It just seems to imply a lot in that happy ending that has not really set up by the story to be all that easy.
Unless I'm completely wrong and the last volume or two does in fact set this up perfectly. In which case never mind!!!!!!!!!!
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chuthulhu-reads · 9 months ago
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[ID: A panel from Fruits Basket. Tohru and Kyoko are walking hand-in-hand, holding groceries and talking. They're facing away and the panel is covered in grey textures, so their expressions can't be seen. Kyoko is thinking, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Tohru. Did I... love you enough? Tohru." End ID.]
Oh no oh no I'm going to cry again. The fear of not doing enough is so pervasive for me personally that I'm so broken to think of Kyoko feeling that way while dying. She doesn't know how core she is to a whole story that she died before the beginning of! She doesn't know how much her love guides not only Tohru, but Uo, Hana, and the entire Sohma family for years to come! Generations! She shaped so many lives and she will never get to know Q_Q
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[ID: Two panels from Fruits Basket. The first shows Kyoko, on the ground and dying, with tears in her eyes and blood on her lips, thinking, "If you... don't pay your tab..." The only words she manages to say are, "I won't... forgive you..." The second panel shows Kyo, hearing these last words, his eyes widening and filling with tears. End ID.]
And Kyo will never know that Kyoko never hated him, because she couldn't manage to say all of her last words aloud. Even though they hadn't spoken in a long time, she trusted him with the most important person in the world to her, arguably still loved that kid she used to know... and he'll never be able to know. No matter how much both he and Tohru think Kyoko wasn't like that, they'll never know how much Kyoko not only didn't hate Kyo, but trusted him with everything she had, and that he's actually fulfilled her dying wish.
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[ID: A beautiful, full-page panel showing clouds and a light sky over a calm sea. In the centre of the panel are the words, "You did good". End ID.]
I am SOBBING even just looking at this panel now. What a simple but important sentiment. I'd love to sum up my life with this, at the end of the day. You did good. You did, Kyoko. You'll never get to know how much, but you really, really did.
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callgespenst · 6 months ago
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thoughts on tohru furuya that probably work best longform:
It's fucked up and awful. Furuya was manipulative and abusive to a woman his daughter's age.
I didn't even know he had a daughter before now, tbh. Regardless as to whether he had any children, that's a woman half his age he knocked up!
I hope his wife, daughter, victim, and anyone else in his immediate circle find the support they need.
His actions are absolutely inexcusable, but I hope his apology and expressed desire to do better are genuine. I don't know if I want to hear him in any new projects going forward, though.
There's calls to replace him in ongoing projects, which I'm all for. But for First Gundam, like with the recent Doan's Island movie, he and Ikeda were the only ones from the original cast still hanging around anyway. Conan, however, is probably going to be a trickier story. And for Super Robot Wars, they'll probably keep the voice clips he's got, and just, not get any more. He probably hasn't had to record anything new for them in a while anyway.
Only semi-related but why the fuck is Takahiro Sakurai still employed in any meaningful way. That bastard was possibly even more manipulative and awful and I still hear him in a bunch of new stuff.
I'm kinda burying the lede here, and I want to restate, I absolutely don't think what Furuya did is forgiveable. But the man's been in show business for almost his whole life, which demonstrably fucks you up. Being famous just does that to you. Then he was surrounded by young women who really liked his characters. There was a line in the interview about wanting to prove he was still a man. What he did was unforgivable, but fame and toxic masculinity can't have helped, is what I'm saying, I guess.
I went to a panel at ANYC '18 where he mentioned how he liked being on twitter because lots of young women were following him because of his role as Tooru Amuro in Conan and that's, going to upset me from now on. Even, especially maybe, if that was before he started his affair.
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