#the joy in being the same but different

[skylordhorus]

i cant believe there are ppl who genuinely think that diversity is a detriment

[fluffypotatey]

To be honest I am a huge Nalu shipper. But the thing is I want to know the difference between the way Natsu cares about his guildmates and Lucy. Like what is the obvious difference since that boy sees every as Nakama so how can we say that the wag he cares about Lucy is different?

Like even when Erza passed away? (All the way back in first season there was a segment where the guild was gathered at her grave and all) Natsu was still very reactive. Plus he was also said to be depressed even when Lisanna passed.

What's the difference between all of them and Lucy?

the fact that he stayed. the fact that before he met Lucy, Natsu wasn't one to stay in a group or even want to work with anyone besides Happy at the start of the story. hell, he was ready to just file Lucy down as "New Guildmate" once they reached Fairy Tail

but then, Lucy doesn't leave. she follows him on his mission to save Macao despite her not needing to or even really understanding everything about it. she stays and then fights with him and saves him. it's no secret that Natsu is strong and can take care of himself really well. he's been going on solo missions for years now, and no one has really stopped him, but that means he's been in a lot of sticky situations where he and Happy are on their own and have no backup. and yet, without asking, Lucy offers it

and i think this is the moment when Natsu considers that maybe it's okay to have someone there to have his back (sans Happy)

"but Natsu only needed Lucy for the next quest because of the requirements," well, Natsu also wouldn't have taken or even considered that quest if it weren't for Lucy, yeah? he was not a team player (in the picking job's sense) or really wanted other people to help him on his quests sans Happy. and then he goes and picks a job that caters to their team whilst ensuring that Lucy can't say no

or maybe i'm reading too much into it 🤷🏻‍♀️

or maybe Natsu's got horrible abandonment issues that he will latch onto people so fast (Igneel & Lisanna) but also cause him to distance himself so far when left behind (his 1st time at the guild, Lisanna's death). Erza and Gray are Natsu's closet friends after Lisanna and yet they cannot reach him when he closes himself off. and then we have Lucy, who stuck by and had his back, so who is to say Natsu didn't make some contingencies to ensure whether or not she'd join him?

but maybe it's the rose, colored ship glasses i have on

because yeah, Natsu cares for all of his guildmates. the power of friendship is his biggest motivator. when we meet Natsu, our first introductions of him is defending his guild's reputation from Bora (who was using it as a guise for human trafficking) and saving Macao. and our 1st big arc (Galuna Island), where Natsu adamantly refuses to allow Gray to use Ice Shell and sacrifice himself despite how antagonistic they've been to each other. we get Natsu 100% at Erza's defense throughout the Tower of Heaven and he is even ready to defend Wendy though they only met hours ago

Natsu is a character with a bleeding heart and cannot help but wear it on his sleeve, but we don't really see him allow others to fight his battles or have his back until Lucy comes in. to be honest, i don't even think he had his heart on his sleeve until Lucy. he still has a bleeding heart (i don't think anything could stop that), but he was not ready to be open in receiving company because he was so used to it being ripped away from him

that being said: of all the characters he interacts with, he finds Lucy to be someone compatible enough for him to start going on team missions and inviting her on them (for example, his 1st S-class mission, which he stole, he went to her house to show it to her. the fact that part of the reward was a celestial key might be a coincidence, but i wouldn't doubt it as Natsu and Happy's trump card in case she refused)

but yeah, the difference is that he stayed and didn't push her away at the beginning, but instead continued to invite her along with him to the point that doing a mission without Lucy wasn't his regular anymore. compared to the rest of the guild, of whom he spent most of his childhood with, even if he spoke to no one, they would still be around and talk to him anyway. he might not invite them on job and only challenge them to fights, but the guild is his home and a constant in his life, a constant he needs (bc heavy abandonment issues).

"okay, but he still pushed her away after he watched Igneel die right in front of him. and he left the guild for a whole year, too. so what's the difference there?" you may ask.

so 1) Natsu never thought the guild would disband. he returns to Fiore after a year and is the last to know that they disbanded. he assumed, like all the other times before and while he and others were sealed for 7 years, that Fairy Tail would still be there when he returned. he assumed that his disappearance would not impact so hard because the guild would still be around and Lucy would have the others with her

which, did not happen :)

and like, so many guild members go off on jobs, quests, or even just leave for an indiscriminate amount of time (which i, personally, believe was his rationality for leaving), so him being gone for a year was nothing! right? no harm, eh? his plan was never to be gone forever :))))

2) he just watched his father die and lose any chance of having some semblance of a long term reunion with Igneel. he literally lost one of his main driving motivations for getting stronger and taking jobs. before Fairy Tail, before anyone, it was Igneel. and to learn that a) Igneel was always with him to begin with and b) he only got to see him for less than a day after 14 years of nothing......i would feel lost too ngl

man's needed space from everybody. and he also needed comfort, but Natsu has been shown not to really be the character who asks to receive comfort (and when he does receive it, it's usually when he's already emotionally compromised). he is in the habit of shutting people out after being abandoned or losing someone close to him, with his next rationale being to "get stronger" in order to prevent what happened in the past to ever happen in the future.

anyway

what makes this different? well for one, he sent the letter only to Lucy (or it's implied since no one else is shown getting one) because of how the two spend most of their time together. even the line that goes with the panel makes it sound like Natsu is unsure on how the note will be received (maybe even hesitant? but that could be my own hopes)

and one of the 1st people he reunites with after a year is Lucy and we get such a similar parallel to the first chapter of Fairy Tail between the two as if the narrative itself is slotting them together to say "ah yes, now everything is back to normal and new journeys can begin"

but yeah, this is just a long way of saying, that Natsu does love his friends and guildmates but even when he is close to them, he kept to himself (and Happy) and sort of stayed in their orbit but always with some emotional distance because of his fear of abandonment. and then you have Lucy where he will stay for and allow her to orbit around him and he will invite to new adventures no questions asked

that's the difference

[silkjade]

i haven’t been here much recently, and i’m sorry i’ve only been negative on the off chance i’ve been online, but let me just say one last piece before the end of this month, so that maybe the next might be better….

[cantagirldrawinpeace]

Been reading Law Novel 👍

(super legally and not at all from a Google Docs English fan translation 👀)

WOLF ONE PIECE I KNOW YOURE NOT CANON BUT YOU REMAIN FOREVER FAMOUS TO MEEEE!!!

(Handwriting translations under the cut)

1-

Law: Junk-ya this is Bepo. He’s a polar bear and he’s going to live with us now. Be nice

Bepo: He brought me here without explaining anything..sorry….

2-

I like this sad old man :)

3-

Wolf: I swear, I let ONE kid stay - out of pure convenience - and they just kept multiplying!

Dadan: Tell me about it…

Both of them, thinking: I LOVE MY FUCKIN KIIIIDDDDSSSS!!!!

[torchstelechos]

Do you think there was ever a moment post-canon where the party looked over at Siffrin and went, "this fucker met god and is a wishcraft user, what the fuck" like not even in a let's all come to terms with Siffrin's mental illnesses and disorders moment but in a holy shit our bestie is literally so fucking strong and cool what the fuck am I doing with my life??? Like sure the trauma and awfulness of how that happened, but I think I'd be a lil in awe of my buddies capabilities if they did that for me.

[velvetjune]

Spoilers for the Lake House DLC trailer (alan wake 2). I am! so! excited! Something I’ve loved about the Alan Wake games is its portrayal of different art forms and how they impact real life through the dark place, and the artists’ mindset. Cant wait to see how this expansion will include paintings, especially after how striking the paintings were in the first game from a patient at Hartman’s facility. All the blood and bodies in the hallway with the blue paint mixed in. chefs kiss. that’s art

[posletsvet]

Given all the alternatives and original-divergent takes presented throughout Trigun's different versions, sometimes trying to wrap my mind around its complicated timeline gets my thoughts tied into a tangled knot of confusion. But I also appreciate the freedom it gives to reshape the order of pivotal events and stick to the telling which you find to your personal liking -- since they all are equally canon. However, there's one instance where I prefer to stray from each version, and that is the circumstances under which Knives crosses paths with William Conrad again.

As Trimax has it, Knives goes on his search for Conrad after he and Vash fall apart in that village where Knives cuts his brother's arm off. But for such a climactic episode in both of the twins' stories, it's always seemed to me a bit underwhelming. And why would Knives team up with a human after cutting ties even with Vash, anyways? So I found myself gravitating towards how this scene is written in Tristamp as it raises the stakes significantly, with Vash opening his gate for the first time and Knives hurting him in an attempt to stop the chaos it causes from spreading. One other difference from Trimax this scene presents is that at this point in the Tristamp's narrative Knives has already met and joined forces with Conrad.

I like to intertwine both versions in my mind, creating a single sequence of events, and that's how I personally see it. Vash and Knives separate under the circumstances described in Trimax. For decades after the Great Fall they only have each other, building no connections with humanity; not falling apart, but not growing any closer to each other, either. It ends with Vash straightforwardly sacrificing his well-being for the sake of the people he doesn't even know -- the choice that gets him chained to a metal pole as a hostage. Knives without any hesitation massacres the whole village and forces a gun into Vash's hands so that he can defend himself. But instead of much-expected gratitude he faces Vash's shock and disbelief and sees that very gun pointed at him. In the heat of it Vash accidentally opens the gate. Knives slices his left arm off. They separate. And only after that Knives proceeds to search for Conrad, seeking answers for what was that power he witnessed. He knows Conrad was among those at least partly involved in a research that Tesla was a subject for, and therefore Conrad might have some insight into independents' abilities. He might have something that Knives himself doesn't. Knowledge.

When the twins meet again years after that, Knives already displays full understanding of how his gate works, and he uses that knowledge to forcibly activate what power lies dormant in Vash, causing Lost July.

Of course, it's just a personal interpretation and I'm very well aware that in some ways it fails to align with what's canonically confirmed, but I guess it's just the reading that paints the most meaningful picture for me.

[kindlythevoid]

Pinterest // A Phone Call by Lang Leav // From Finner by Of Monsters and Men // Homesick by Beau Taplin // @mrsfallontimberlake // Pinterest // @chaosofbattle // Pinterest // @the-haiku-bot // Techboomers // There and Back Again by @anoraborialis // Me and @gemmaisabelle

Long Distance

This is just a little thing I put together. I started it awhile back after getting off a long weekly call, and then finished it while anticipating another (so when the texts say today-- they really mean it!). I definitely added a few more cities to my weather app after making this. I think the merging phone calls is for conference calls, but considering that this weekend I answered a call only to discover it was the techie of the family trying to link calls between apple and android so we could hear each other right, and then proceeded to talk for at least a good hour, I feel like it had to go on there.

So, yeah, not really an analysis or anything, just vibes and feelings. :)

[befuddled-calico-whump]

How do the t$$ crew stay in shape? Like what do their diets look like and their workout routines?

Joy is a powerlifter. Before she was arrested she had a gym membership and would hit the weight racks 4-6 times a week. Despite her overactive mind, it's a kind of therapeutic thing for her and would help burn off excess energy after a day in the gun shop. She's not a huge fan of cooking (and usually doesn't have the time), so she'd usually exist on chicken, rice, and canned or frozen veggies. Anything else she'd just eat out or visit home for

Jericho also enjoys weight lifting, but didn't have nearly as much time as Joy to get after it (family time comes first), and would usually manage to get in 3-4 hours of gym time a week, tops. He'll usually just do protein powder and almond milk for a recovery snack, and otherwise eats a lot of meals that are fairly easy to throw together and make leftovers out of (like stews, casseroles, etc)

Benji doesn't work out on purpose. He finds it both boring and intimidating. Cardio through dancing? He's all about it. He'll also go on walks if he feels like he's been too stagnant, and has a stretching routine he'll try to do every morning. He hates cooking and eats out whenever he can, but prefers lighter stuff like soup and sandwiches. Dishes that are too meat or dairy heavy just make him feel icky

Kaius used to do fencing, archery, and karate, (and has some shoulder strength built up because of those), but constantly moving from place to place makes it difficult to build a routine, so it's been a few years. The one thing he tries to do consistently is run, and that's out of practicality. (He has to run for his life a lot.) He generally eats whatever he can when he has time (and remembers to do it), and since he avoids meat that ends up being a lot of peanut butter sandwiches and microwave rice. Despite this, he still enjoys good food

Hunter doesn't have a routine. He just does what he wants when he feels like it, and since he's a restless person, he feels like it a lot. He'll go for a really long walk, or just run somewhere as fast as he can for the hell of it, or mess around with weights if he's somewhere that has them. (He'd also do a lot of cardio via fist fighting and running away from things, but that's a lifestyle issue lol) He's also in the "oh shit did I eat today" boat most of the time

[chevelleneech]

@felixdoriga

You are pretending like I’m telling people to expect a bro-tastic hand shake and nothing else, which tells me our conversation is over.

Enjoy the show when it drops, I know I will!

[dragon-swords-prophecies]

OC not so nice ask game if you’re taking asks for that!! I would love to know about wound + alone for anyone from Herald

hello!! i'll do these for amelia (alex's sister who has suddenly made herself much more plot relevant) (selected via wheel spin)!

wound: How does your OC handle being wounded? Are their wounds mostly physical? Mental? Emotional? What's the worst wound your OC has ever experienced?

Amelia's wounds are pretty much entirely emotional. her father got sent off to fight a war when she was 6, almost died, came back as an entirely different person when she was 8, partially vanished from her life when she was 18 and then up and fucking got murdered when she was barely 20. her mother retreated, cut off her only support system (amelia's biological father and her dad's best friend), and focused more on amelia's younger sister than on amelia herself because amelia was an adult (which is understandable, because alex was 11, but also amelia's a little fucked up about it) which is. all of that taken together is probably the worst wound she's ever experienced.

alone: How does your OC deal with loneliness? Have they ever been completely alone before? How do they act when there's no one around to see them?

Amelia has spent a lot of her life partially alone. She absolutely hates it. When she's not around anyone she gets very quiet, which she's not normally a loud person but she gets even quieter than normal. She also relaxes, a little bit, because she's not putting up the facade of being the normal, well adjusted, put together older sister without a death wish (Alex doesn't have a death wish either, but given what happened to her father she might as well have one. pissing off powerful/rich people & getting in major trouble about it is genetic, apparently! (joking) ).

[itmightaswellrain]

keep hearing Janice (muppet) and thinking "what's scooter doing here?" THEY HAVE THE SAME MUPPETTEER. hitting my head on a table

[bibstirs]

I will draw the things that make me happy I will draw the things that bring me joy even if it's the same fictional character over and over again, even if it might be considered "cringe" by others or myself, even if I don't think it'll help me improve my skills, even if no one else will see it, even if everyone else will see it, I will draw what makes me happy I will draw what makes me happy I will draw what makes me happy

[reiverreturns]

bizzare being in fandom when you think about it. we decided from different corners of the globe one day that we wanted to write some silly little stories or draw some silly little pictures and now suddenly BAM we’re friends and you’re never getting rid of me.

[litres-of-cocaine]

okay as much as i agree that groups under the lgbtq+ umbrella are stigmatised by other people in the community please be so fr and stop calling it ‘double discrimination’ you just want to say ‘monosexual privilege’ but are aware people get kind of mad about that

[terrainofheartfelt]

Okay so the thing about Sally Rooney is she is so good at third person limited unreliable narrator and sitting in the complexity of people and letting them be ambiguous and messy and imperfect and then she’ll hit you with a line of prose that butterflies you open like a shrimp