#not just in a romantic sense btw

[spacedustmantis]

being in a relationship for almost a year now and yeah, i keep getting reaffirmed in my belief that the key to a good relationship is literally just open communication

[vaguely-concerned]

on the one hand I think inner demons could stand to have a bit more romanced rook specific content, but on the other hand the underlying in-built implication that 'yours is the one true voice of comfort and safety in my inner world' is a sentiment and intimacy so way beyond the romantic or the platonic or any secret third thing you could care to name that it makes me lose my entire poor little mind a bit. it's so big and fundamental — near-existential — that in that exact moment at least the distinctions kind of seem irrelevant.

all the people lucanis' mind conjures up along the way are relationships he has that are unavoidably mixed and fraught in some ways even when they're also full of love (they are fraught BECAUSE they're full of love) — the good in them inseparable from things that hurt him at the same time. (it's about: the basic disorganized attachment patterns this poor guy is dragging around with him. careful with those, they're dellamorte heirlooms. what you love also inevitably hurts you and you won't be allowed to have one without the other, you have to surrender parts of your soul to hold on to what little you have left: this is the story up until now.) and the idea that rook isn't that to him — that beneath the fear of wanting them when romanced (which is more its own separate thing because within this psychology, actively wanting something and not just clinging on for dear life to even a meager status quo lest you lose it is in itself dangerous bordering on catastrophic), this is a relationship where there isn't resentment, or guilt, or shame, or dread, or rage, or self-hate, or any of the other emotions that keep him paralyzed, unable to move this way or that. no debts, nothing owed of yourself and your soul's substance except what you can freely and safely and happily give. love and freedom don't coexist — but, I mean, you're almost starting to make me think........... unless...👀👀👀. the unconditional and undramatic 'you are here and I am here with you, you can be exactly how you are right now with me and it's safe for us both even though you're afraid it won't be, I'm not going anywhere' acceptance rook shows him here that he returns to them in the big romance scene, when it's rook who needs it. the way he's just. standing there in the center of it all, like a child desperately helplessly waiting to be found, hiding in the place he hopes you'll know to look first. (rook does know. it's one of the first things they say in there.)

in short the most important room in his little mind palace for the romance is the very first room — the one where rook isn't. where, in fact, rook cannot be, because they disprove the entire structure of the place with their existence and presence in his life. with everyone else he's putting words in their mouths about what they think of him, and rook is the one who actually gets to come in to speak their own words to him — and have him listen. ('he'll listen to you, he always listens to you', 'your voice is a comfort'.) of course rook isn't present anywhere else in there — at the risk of stating the obvious to a tedious degree, they aren't one of the locks, they're bringing the key. in the very finest 'the messenger and the message' sort of way.

[beanghostprincess]

I will forever love seeing Luffy and Nami holding Zoro's swords. He's so protective of those three but it's not even because he fears something might happen to them, but because he's scared something might happen to the crew and himself if he doesn't have them with him. They're like extra limbs. The ones he uses to fight and protect and breathe. He feels uneasy whenever his swords aren't around him, and that is just a fact. You can't deny that he feels comfort in having them by his side at all times, knowing that he'll be able to protect the crew from any dangers. They're tied to his heart and soul in a way that if he loses sight of them he might actually lose himself too. So he does not enjoy seeing his swords in somebody else's hands. They can disappear, he will find them. They can run away, he will follow. They can break, he trusts them not to but if they do, he will keep going carrying their bond with him still. But he doesn't like seeing them in somebody else's hands because those are his swords. His limbs. His heart. His soul. It's just not right. It never feels right. But.

But.

But sometimes Luffy acts like he knows what he's doing and actually asks for permission instead of just taking what he wants. As if crossing Zoro's boundaries would be unforgivable, when he knows Zoro would give him anything he wanted to take from him. But he asks. He asks, with a careful, polite, deep voice Zoro isn't used to hearing. But it always ends with the softest of smiles and the petition reaches a place inside of Zoro's heart that he just knows has also touched his swords. So he lets him, because how could he not, and he runs his fingers through all of them. Amazed. Astonished. Respectfully talking to them as if they could hear him. And they can. Zoro knows they hear and feel and love and crave and long for his captain's touch. He knows, because he does too. Because who wouldn't? Luffy holds them in a way he never holds anything else- Carefully. Like they aren't his. Like befriending somebody he fears might reject him. Like taking hold of Zoro's heart and holding him so gently in case he might break him. He worships them as if he weren't the god in this relationship. He looks handsome, too. Not pretty. Not cute. Handsome. Mature. His hat covers his adventurous gaze but leaves his mischievous grin for the whole world to see. And yet, the swordsman trusts him enough. Without any look or any word. He knows Luffy's face by heart, he realizes, now that he can picture his eyes quite too perfectly under his hat. His skin glistens under the sun and his tender fingers hold the sword with so much clumsiness it looks dumb. He doesn't know how to hold them, yet they don't want to move away from him. It's clumsy but it takes over them. Maybe it's his haki. Maybe it's the effect the future king of the pirates has. Zoro thinks it's just him. Luffy. And his heart stops the second Luffy smiles, as if he had just heard the sword respond to him. He wants to kiss him. Bite him. Let him bite back and draw blood and eat him. Let him hold him the way he holds the swords but tighter. Closer. Maybe he's in love. Zoro. With Luffy. It's not a maybe. Who is he trying to trick? He knows he is in love. With the way he smiles and the way he holds and the way he wants but respects and loves. It's funny like that, the fact that Luffy keeps being so careful when Zoro would let him tear his heart apart and eat it if he so desired. It's funny that the swords love him with such gentleness when they often demand power. Perhaps kindness is the most powerful weapon of all or, at least, Luffy's most powerful skill. Zoro hates it when somebody else holds them because they don't own them. They don't own him. He doesn't even own his swords, anyway. Nobody can. They're his the same way he's theirs, just with a bit more dominance and respect. But Luffy isn't owning them. He's praying to them. Talking to them. Befriending them. Loving them. And they would bow to him if he so desired. Zoro knows they would, as fierce as they are and violent as they seem and as sharp as they cut. They'd bow to him because Zoro would too. The uneasiness does not exist when Luffy is the one to hold them because, if Zoro had to give out his soul for somebody to take care of, that would be Luffy. And if he has to be unprotected. Naked. Bare in front of a thousand soldiers. He will if it's Luffy the one fighting instead.

Sometimes Nami wants to hold them just to feel what it's like to be in Zoro's shoes. It's a stupid reason. He refuses to let her do it as an instinctive reaction at first. She doesn't seem as interested in following the protocol as Luffy is, but she knows where to stop and she knows what to say to get on Zoro's nerves, anyway. She's equally as fierce. Equally as sharp. He won't let her hold any cursed sword, but it's not like she wants to. She's smarter than that. Careful and respectful but not that interested in the swords and what they mean, more in how they feel. Zoro gets it. Kind of. Somehow. She says something about always letting them eat her precious tangerines, so he should humor her by letting her hold Wado at least. She isn't pushing him. He knows she wouldn't. She's just teasing because she knows. She always knows. She knows he will say yes. Because he always does what she says, although he keeps demanding a bit of respect to not be treated like a dog. But Nami never forces him to do anything. He could refuse. She would give up at some point. But there's just something about her- Stubbornness. Strength. Love. So much love and care and worry and anger. And Zoro likes her. She's selfish, too, like a pirate should be. Stronger than Zoro in the ways that matter. Smarter, too, even if he wouldn't admit it out loud. But she leads the way and he follows, not because that's a dog's job, but because he wants to. He trusts her. Something he never thought he would. But he does. She's smart. She leads the way. She knows where they're going. They somehow are the same and totally different at the same time. Zoro grounds Luffy when he gets lost. Nami leads them both so they won't. So there's something about her curiosity that makes him soften. He never knows exactly why he does what she says. Why he indulges her like that. But it's satisfying, for some reason he refuses to read within himself, the satisfactory and pleased grin on her face when he hands her Wado. She's careful with her. Awful at holding her. Bad posture. Great smile. Horrible movements. Beautiful eyes. It's okay, though, he thinks. Wado likes her because Zoro likes her. Nami loses interest within a minute, complaining about the weight and the sudden realization of "you always have this thing in your mouth" which makes her want to give her back. But she stares at her for a whole minute. It isn't her thing, but her eyes spark when the sword is returned to Zoro. Trust. A smile. Thankfulness. Her bangs are getting a bit longer and one strand of hair gets in the middle of her teasing smirk. She says she prefers her clima-tact, but swords are fine, "I guess". "She's pretty" she says. Zoro thinks she is pretty. Nami. In a way he can't quite describe because he has never really been good at that. But she is. Like a blade. Sharp. But in the right hands this time for her not to cut the ones she loves anymore. She hands him a tangerine next, every time he lets her hold his sword. An exchange. "I give you something that matters. You give me something that matters". Zoro wants to say it's not the same, but the tangerine is sweet. Juicy. His fingers then smell strongly of citrus. Almost as similar as steel. If he can feel Nami's heartbeat in every bite, he wonders if she has been able to hear his in the hilt of his sword. Calm. Peaceful. Safe.

Zoro doesn't like seeing his swords in somebody else's hands because those are his swords. His limbs. His heart. His soul. It's just not right. It never feels right. But.

But sometimes it does.

[triplea-vt]

still thinking about this tweet i made few years ago

[lunalikestowriteanddraw]

So I was scrolling through the LOA tag on ao3 the other day, and I saw a couple fics with the “Skrimm/Daisy” ship tag. And I thought “okay, to each their own ig”, since I was only on episode 8 or 9 at that point and haven’t seen much of their dynamic in full

Anyway I’m not even 30 minutes into episode 13 and not only have I seen a bit more of Skrimm and Daisy’s dynamic, but also now she’s telling him they have to do a sort of fake dating situation to make dealing with the ogres easier, and yeah no now I completely understand why that’s a ship tag.

[postmail]

this was supposed to be a sketch of what ishmael might look like if he grew his hair out post-canon and i blacked out and woke up to this on my computer. help where have the past two hours of my life gone

no tattoos yet because he's fresh off the sea and in nantucket again for the first time since the pequod. i don't think he's happy to be back guys

[girlmetalsonic]

something that is like the baseline of amys entire character to me is that shes lonely. shes clingy and physically affectionate in a way none of her friends really are, shes always getting pushed aside and left behind. yeah, she helps out people she doesnt know because shes a nice person, but also, she sees part of herself in them. she wont leave someone else behind because she knows the feeling —and more importantly, hates the feeling. if she doesnt have somebody to stand by her and be there for her, then shes going to be that person for everybody else. something something her obsession with sonic is really just like a manifestation of that desire for closeness with someone, and she thinks that romance is the only way to get that. idk... this hedgehog can have so many abandonment issues.

[sxlver-raven]

Nono, you see, it's logical to say character A is in love with character B, even when the setting doesn't allow them to be. And it's also logical for them to only have a close friendship. Both interpretations work, but why does romantic always seem to be the preferred choice?

It has nothing to do with the 'I love you' s vs the 'I'm in love with you' s, it's not even about whether or not there's kissing. With real people, even when you're incredibly close with someone, you can still tell the difference between a platonic and romantic relationship, although that line can often get blurry and hard to see. And yet, how could someone who'd go to hell and back for their friend still see that line so clearly and decide they're not in love with anyone?

It's because they know they aren't attracted to that person in that way. You want to kiss them, you want to tell them you're in love with them, or you don't.

Characters don't have that consciousness. The only thing that guides them is our consciousness and ideas.

Characters are fluid in that way.

But, no, sit down, I'm not done--two things: characters exist within a limited time frame and, oftentimes, romantic relationships are seen as superior to platonic relationships. Bc you only get one soulmate, right? While friendships happen all the time.

Now, I'm not gonna get into whether that should be the status quo, but nonetheless, it's that way for many people, myself included.

And when you see a character being so close with another one--whether it's because they're willing to die for each other, because they trust each other so much more than anyone else, or because they went through traumatizing events together, etc.--then obviously, your mind will guide them to a scenario where they're in love, where they're soulmates, regardless of what the author wanted. You see that special connection and want to differentiate it from all the friendships. "It's more than that. More than friends." And you can't really agree with the story writer bc that character only gets so many chances at having a soulmate. You won't see who character A will meet in 20 years. You won't see it if they miraculously meet their soulmate the day right after the epilogue.

So, you want them to be in that special relationship that's much more than the friendships with the other characters, you can give those characters that because it's not like they'll tell you, "hmm, I don't actually think about kissing B all the time,", and your characters exist within one story, within one limited time frame. Character B might as well be their soulmate, bc as far as anyone knows, there is no one else they could be closer with.

[zaacataac]

I need to go to bed but I was struck with a Percy Reed headcanon and I need to write it down lest I go insane. (The post ended up being pretty long so I put it under a cut)

Percy's aromantic. He's not aware of this, and honestly, he probably would have trouble accepting it if he was. This can partially be attributed to the fact that he deeply craves romance. But also he grew up in an extremely amatonormative environment and generally believes, because of this, that the most prominent relationship that someone can have in their life is a significant other and eventually spouse. He wants to be someone else's most important person, and believes that in order for that to happen, that relationship, by default, has to be romantic. This also works in the inverse, so when someone is very very important to him, more so than the rest of his friends, that relationship by default has to be romantic. It's also pretty apparent that he didn't have any super meaningful (and healthy) relationships before he died.

All of this combined is what led to his relationship with Diggory. He felt an attachment to them that felt deeper than how he'd felt with other friends in the past because it was actually substantial, so naturally assumed that his feelings for them were romantic. Additionally, he wanted to establish the relationship that he had with them as the most "important" relationship that they're in, because they were the only person that he felt truly saw him for who he was. In his eyes, he had to be their boyfriend because if he wasn't, they might develop a relationship with someone else that was closer than the one he had with them and then that would mean that the only person that he'd felt a deep connection with didn't actually care about him as much as he did about them, because they're his most important person, but he wouldn't have been theirs. Obviously, the best way to prevent this is by achieving boyfriend status.

Now, I'd like to restate that he's not aware of all this going on under the surface. He doesn't know that he thinks of relationships like this, it's pretty subconscious and he fully believes that his feelings for Diggory are romantic because he doesn't really have anything else to compare them to.

[dootznbootz]

This might be my asexualness speaking but simply putting your faces together, nuzzling, and quick pecks on cheeks/forehead/nose/etc. will ALWAYS be more loving/intimate than kissing on the lips.

To me, those "smaller" acts of affection are more intimate as it's simply a physical reminder of "Hey, I care about you" and/or "I love being close to you".

I've seen so many people make out just to make out even with folks they don't know (Good for them! I do not care what others do as long as everybody involved is okay!) and I think for Allos, the act of kissing each other's lips is a way to gain physical "pleasure" as well as there are a lot of nerves on the lips.

But lil kisses elsewhere? Your skin isn't touching their skin enough to GAIN any pleasure for yourself other than a happy "I'm just letting you know I care" sorta thing you know? And if it is prolonged nuzzling/closeness, it's still just very "soft". You're doing a small physical act of affection for THEM. And idk I just really love that. Little reminders of love for THEIR sake, you know?

[beanghostprincess]

When you think about it the stage of Sanuso not standing each other was very short because when the strawhats entered the grand line they were already pretty clingy to each other. So imo they pretty much started enjoying each other's company after the Arlong park arc

Yeah!!! I mean. I believe Sanji and Usopp didn't like each other at all at first because. Well. It's for obvious reasons. They might have similar experiences with their insecurities and trauma and way of coping, but that's hidden deep, deep down and they don't find out about that bit and their strengths until later. Without that, they're extremely different. Like, extremely.

And if the first thing a waiter in a restaurant does is flirt with the girl and treat all the others like shit, well, of course Usopp isn't going to like him. And if Sanji is trying to be polite and flirty to a gorgeous girl but some guy gets in between, of course he's not going to like Usopp. It's sort of that their personalities do not match at all at first, but then they see how they truly are and they start to get along.

The thing is-- They don't ever leave that dynamic fully, and I adore that. Despite getting along and being protective of each other, Sanji and Usopp still argue a lot over the stupidest things and they keep yelling at each other for stuff that doesn't matter because they're both morons and stubborn and I swear we don't talk enough about them constantly getting irritated by the other's shenanigans while also sacrificing their life for each other constantly. It makes their relationship so human, realistic, and genuine... It's one of the things I adore the most about this ship!

[romavitae]

Me on my way to Lucasfilm offices if they make din and bo a couple because all I ever wanted was din to be aroace 

[tragicotps]

Modern Masriel AU in which Marisa regrets giving up her child 12 years prior and not raising her with Asriel.

[timeskip]

Oh Beatrice DEFINITELY likes Battler now. She's still trapping him in a murder timeloop but everything about how upset she got when Battler didn't want to see her backstory, and being happy when he returned to their game after storming off... She really likes him, even if she's good at pretending she doesn't. She's still really fucked up though LIKE LMAOOOO SHE'S GOING TO MOCK AND TORTURE HIM FOREVER STILL. ENJOYING BEING AROUND HIM DOESN'T CHANGE THAT. But I wonder if she's noticed yet that she likes him, more than just liking the GAME with him, and wants to continue to spend time with him

[agalychnisspranneusroseus]

Thank god Sasha was confirmed bisexual, otherwise people would hc her as lesbian solely and exclusively because she's kind of a bitch.

[empyreansentinel]

......do I dare say r/hack for the ask meme

(head in hands. dejected.) bingo...