Today’s been a sad yet happy day

sabo never met ace as an adult.  the last time they saw each other they were ten years old, and sabo was being taken away by his dad, and ace was yelling at him not to go.  we know this.

but consider again- that sabo never met ace as an adult.  he doesn’t know ace’s post-puberty voice sounded like.  if people mention to him how polite ace was, he’s probably like ?????? because he never saw that side of him.

when he pictures ace, he pictures him as a kid.  when he has nightmares about ace dying, ace is always a child in them, even though he knows that’s illogical.

there’s almost a distance it creates.  it doesn’t hurt him as much to see pictures of ace’s corpse (and for some sick reason, there were plenty of those after the war) or to look at his wanted posters because there’s some part of sabo that doesn’t register that person, that adult man, as being his ace.  the same ace he ran through the woods with for years.  the same ace that shared so many laughs and tears with him.

and it’s for that reason that when he goes to visit dadan and she shows him her scrapbooks of ace, he very nearly breaks down completely.  there they are, pictures of ace as a child, the ace that sabo knew, the ace he keeps dreaming about.  

and as he flips through the pages, he gets to see the ace that he knew grow up, slowly transform into the man whose corpse he’s seen in the newspaper, and it hurts so badly, because it’s so goddamn real.  the kid that he knew, the brother that he loved, really is the same person who was murdered on that day.  and he knew that.  of course he knew that.  but it feels different now.  the loss somehow feels even heavier.

that kid he knew is gone.  that kid he knew is never coming back.  that kid he knew grew up into a man and then he died and that’s the end of it and it goddamn hurts.

Well now I’m sad

“Ace, it’s me” “I told you, my brother died a long time ago” “You are looking for the wrong..”

“Do you recognize me, now?”

it must be hard to heal from the death of a loved one when even the happiest of your memories with them hurt you

[x]

"But I knew him."

So much I can say about this, oh god.

I’ll just start with the sentence itself. It’s a short one, there are really only two things I can think of:

1) “But” - in itself an opposition or contradiction. He’s opposing what Pierce has to say. Bucky says “I knew him”, then Pierce gives him this whole speech, and he doesn’t care. His response to this speech is “But I knew him.” It’s all he cares about, that man on the bridge. He doesn’t care if his work has been a gift to mankind. This man, Steve, is the most important thing in Bucky’s mind right now.

2) “Knew” - “knew,” not “know.” You could make the argument that he’s saying that simply because the event was in the past, so grammatically it makes sense. But I think it’s more than that; I think he’s saying “knew” and not “know” because he doesn’t know, not anymore. He’s confused and alarmed and taken aback by what happened. You can see this immediately after the “Bucky?” “Who the hell is Bucky?” exchange, and the expression on Bucky’s face for a moment or so before he goes back to fighting. He’s so baffled by the idea of knowing someone who doesn’t work for these guys. He doesn’t know what to think.

Even so, he’s so sure that he knew Steve. He repeats the sentence twice, and his face says everything.

That thing he does with his mouth after speaking. He’s so absolutely confident in what he has to say, and he’s so determined. And yet look at him—look at the distant look in his eyes before he speaks. His mind is at a different point in space and in time. And then look at his face shift. Watch the determination and the pure tragedy on his face when he’s doing the mouth thing. Watch his eyebrows furrow.

He knows what’s about to happen. They’re aware that he knows too much, and they’re going to wipe his memory again. It’s happened enough times before.

He’s not exactly at peace with it, but he understands that there’s nothing he can do about it. He can’t fight these people; he’s tried before, to no avail. Even if he’s physically stronger, their manipulative and controlling actions have rendered him emotionally weak. There’s nothing he can do.

The overall tragedy of this scene is so beautifully executed by Sebastian Stan. The emotions he’s able to convey with just this single sentence are so powerful and they linger for a very long time in the viewer’s mind. In my opinion, this is one of the most poignant parts of the entire film. I’m so incredibly happy with how this scene turned out, and it’s so heavily influenced by just these four words.

Stay strong, my captain…

ZoLu Week Day 4: Loyalty

“What good is my ambition if I can’t even save the life of my captain? Luffy… is the man who will become King of the Pirates!!”

if sirius black loved his brother more than he hated his family:

Okay but imagine this:

Regulus gets sorted into Gryffindor.

As he steps up to the stool, all he can think about is his parents’ scolding Sirius into oblivion, and how he can’t have that, not ever. But as the hat is placed on his head, he can see himself in the house of the lion, not caring about his parents opinion, and not having to worry. The word is said before he has a second to think: “GRYFFINDOR!” The hat shouts, followed by utter silence. For a good five seconds, no one moves, not even the Blacks themselves. And then the Gryffindor table erupts in cheers, and Regulus isn’t paralyzed in fear anymore as he takes off the hat and runs into his brother’s arms. Sirius is almost sobbing, Regulus is on the verge of hysterics, and James, Remus, and Peter are visibly tearing up. The Slytherins are, as expected, outraged that yet another has chosen to defy their ranks. Letters are sent home immediately, so word reaches the household quickly, making the next few days a living hell for the Black children.

Their friends try to help. Anytime a howler (noticeable by its folds) tries to make its way to their table, a lone spell manages to shoot it into a nearby trashcan. But the nonchalant looks of the Gryffindors suggest nothing happened. If a Slytherin tries to come over and attack the two, he/she is dragged into another hallway while someone else creates another route for them to take to wherever they need to be. But of course, it’s just because Remus found an interesting historical bit or something. At least once a week, a Slytherin can be found in detention for bullying, but it definitely wasn’t Peter who told a teacher about it. And when the Slytherins try to complain, Professors say they didn’t notice, but will keep a lookout for any bullying, adding in a suggestive glance towards the complainer.

Amidst all of this, Regulus is welcomed into the house like he’s been there all along. The Marauders let him into some of their meetings, and he even thinks of some pretty cool pranks (“He gets it from me, obviously.” “Shut up, Padfoot.”). Lily lets him study with her, and even offers to help him with some homework assignments (because defense against the dark arts mainly consisted of him getting scolded by the head of Slytherin, and therefore extra homework). Sirius manages to memorize both of their schedules, just in case, and so he can walk with Regulus as much as possible to reduce the amount of black (pun not intended) eyes per year.

By the end of the school year, James has already told his parents, and now the two Blacks have a place to stay if their house doesn’t feel like a home. This ends up in weekly visits from Sirius and Regulus, and they become full-time residents after nasty beating in Regulus’s third year (which is James and Sirius’s fifth). Eventually, the Potters host holiday meals for all of their friends, and the Tonks family are frequent visitors.

At the end of his seventh year, Sirius asks Regulus if he ever regretted choosing Gryffindor. His only reply is, “I think I would have regretted choosing Slytherin, it would have made Hogwarts a living nightmare.”

Way to break my heart even more by unintetionally reminding me of one of the most emotional goodbies of my childhood.

Oooh or imagine this.

So Harry’s in the crystal cave with Dumbledore right? And Dumbledore just sent out a wave of fire to destroy the Inferi. Only Harry still sees a body crawling out of the water. And it doesn’t look like an Inferi. In fact, it looks like a boy. Maybe a year or two older than him.

And the boy coughs and splutters before looking up.

And his face melts with relief and he cries,

“James! Thank you! I know, I know, you’re going to yell at me. Save it for Sirius. Where is he? I thought he’d be the one to bring me out? Ingenius, isn’t it? The lake, I mean. The Dar-Voldemort put a spell on the entire body of water. It traps and preserves anything that enters it. The boat. The Inferi. And me, I suppose. It keeps us from decaying. It keeps us from escaping. Only way out is if someone summons us. Honestly, thank you. Hey, why are you staring at me like that? It’s okay, really. I’m fine. Knock it off, mate. You’re scaring me. Look, is Kreacher still here? He has the real horcrux. I told him to – is that Dumbledore? Why would you bring Dumbledore? I thought you and Sirius hated him? Where is my brother anyway? What - what’s wrong? Why do you look so s - James - James, what on earth happened to your forehead?”

[good grief]