#Pose Tools solved

[manyblinkinglights]

Yesterday I NEEEEEEDED to finish my ignore-offsets function, and I got that done today. v_v and I hung out with top tier friends, that I don’t have to be polite and self-effacing and gentle around. And tomorrow… TOMORROW… Pose Tools

[arolesbianism]

I love drawing Aris as sif so much she's so cutsies. It almost makes up for the horrors of having to draw her as sif. Almost.

[kaijutegu]

Alligator Body Language and You, or: How To Know When An Alligator On Social Media is Being Stressed for Views

Alligators are wild animals. Despite the idiotic claims of animal abusers like Jay Brewer, they cannot be domesticated, which means they are always going to react on the same natural instincts they've had for millions of years. Habituated, yes. Tamed, yes. Trained, definitely. Crocodilians can form bonds with people- they're social and quite intelligent. They can solve problems, use tools, and they're actually quite playful. Alligators are also really good at communicating how they're feeling, but to somebody who doesn't spend much time around them, their body language can be a bit mystifying. And it doesn't help when social media influencers are saying shit like this:

That is not what a happy gator looks like.

That's a terrified, furious gator who isn't attacking because the ogre handling her has her in a chokehold. She's doing everything she can to express her displeasure, and he's lying about it because he knows his audience doesn't even know how to think critically about what he's doing. He knows that because his audience doesn't know anything about these animals, he can get away with it. This I think is why I hate him so much- he deliberately miseducates his audience. He knows what he's doing is factually inaccurate, he just doesn't care because attention means more to him than anything else in the world.

Let's change that! Here are two really important lessons for understanding alligator body language on social media.

Lesson 1: Alligators Don't Smile (in fact, most animals don't)

So what's going on in this video? Jay Brewer is aggressively choking his white alligator Coconut while scrubbing algae off of her with a toothbrush. And make no mistake, he is digging into the creature's throat while she is visibly distressed. He claims she's happy- but she's not. He is willfully misrepresenting what this animal is feeling. That's a problem, because people... well, we actually kind of suck at reading other species' body language. The reason for this is that we tend to overlay our own responses on their physical cues, and that's a problem. For example, let's look at an animal with a really similar face to ours, the chimpanzee. Check out Ama's toothy grin!

Wait, no. That's not a happy smile. That's a threat display. When a chimpanzee "smiles," it's either terrified and doing a fear grimace, or it's showing you its teeth because it intends on using them in your face.

How about a dog? Look at my smiling, happy puppy!

Oh wait no, this is a picture of Ryder when he was super overwhelmed by noise and people during a holiday party. He'd hopped up in my sister's lap to get away from stuff that was happening on the floor and was panting quite heavily. See the tension in the corners of his mouth and his eyes? A lot of the time when a dog "smiles," the smile isn't happy. It's stress! Why Animals Do The Thing has a nice writeup about that, but the point is, our body language is not the same as other species. And for reptiles, body language is wildly different.

For instance, look at these two alligators. Pretty cute, right? Look at 'em, they're posing for a Christmas card or something! How do you think they're feeling?

Well, I'll tell you how the normal one is feeling. He's annoyed! Why is he annoyed? Because the albino just rolled up, pushed another gator off the platform, and is trying to push this guy, too. I know this because I actually saw it happen. It was pretty funny, not gonna lie. He's not gaping all the way, but he was hissing- you can actually see him getting annoyed in the sequence I took right before this shot. Look at him in this first shot here- he's just relaxing, and you can see he isn't gaping even a little bit.

By the end, he's expressing displeasure, but not enough to actually do anything about it. He's annoyed, but he's comfy and that's where one of the best basking areas is, so he'll put up with it.

Reptiles open their mouths wide for a lot of reasons, but never because they are actively enjoying a sensation. Unless they're eating. No reptile smiles- they can't. They don't even have moveable lips. If a reptile is gaping, it's doing so because:

It is doing a threat display.

It is making certain vocalizations, all of which are threats. Alligators are one of the rare reptiles that do regularly vocalize, but most of their calls aren't made with a wide open mouth.

It is about to bite something delicious or somebody stupid. Check out this video- virtually all of the gaping here is anticipatory because these trained gators know darn well that the bowl is full of delicious snacks. (I have some issues with Florida's Wildest, but the man knows how to train a gator AND he is honest about explaining what they're doing and why, and all of his animals are healthy and well-cared for, and he doesn't put the public or his staff at risk- just himself.)

It's too hot and it has opened its mouth to vent some of that heat and thermoregulate. This is the main reason why alligators will often have their mouths part of the way open, but sometimes they'll open all the way for thermoregulation. This is what a thermoregulatory gape looks like- usually it's not all the way open, kinda more like < rather than V, but you can't say that 100% of the time. Additionally, a thermoregulatory gape... typically happens when it's hot out. If they're inside, maybe they've been under their basking light for too long. Heat's the dominant factor, is what I'm getting at.

There is another reason that a captive crocodilian might be gaping, and that's because it's doing so on command. Some places have their gators trained to gape on cue, like St. Augustine Alligator Farm and other good zoos. They have the animals do this in presentations that are genuinely educational. They ask the animals to open their mouths so that they can show off their teeth and demonstrate how their tongues seal off the back of their mouth. They'll also do it as part of routine healthcare, because looking at their teeth is important.

In this case, the animals aren't gaping because they're stressed, they're gaping because they know they're gonna get a piece of chicken or fish if they do it. And what's more, they're doing it on cue. They have a specific command or signal that tells them to open wide. It's not an instinctive response to a situation. It's trained. If the animal provides the behavior after a cue, the situation is much less likely to be negatively impactful.

It's also important to remember that there's a difference between a partially open mouth and a gape! As discussed above, alligators will often have their mouths a little bit open just to maintain temperature homeostasis. It helps them stay comfy, temperature-wise. These guys are all doing thermoregulatory open-mouthed behavior- that slight open and relaxed body posture is a dead giveaway. (That and it's the hottest spot in the enclosure.)

Lesson 2: A Happy Gator Is A Chill Gator

So if alligators don't smile or have facial expressions other than the :V that typically signifies distress, how else can you tell how they're feeling? One way is stillness. See, alligators subscribe to the philosophy of if it sucks... hit da bricks.

Basically, if they hate it, they'll leave. Unless, y'know, somebody has their meaty claws digging into their throat or is otherwise restraining them. (Restraint isn't always bad, btw. Sometimes the animal is going through a medical thing or needs to be restrained for their safety- which a responsible educator will explain.)

Let's look at a very similar scenario, in which a captive alligator is getting his back scrubbed.

As you can see, it's quite different. First, he's not being restrained at all. Second, look at how relaxed he is! He's just chilling there vibing! He could simply get up and leave if he wanted to, because he's not being held. Towards the end of the video, as he lifts his head, you can see that his respiratory rate is very even as his throat flutters a bit. I'm not sure what this facility is, so I can't comment on care/general ethics, but like. In this specific case, this is an alligator enjoying being scrubbed! And you can tell because he's not doing anything. A happy gator is content to be doing what they're doing.

Why Should I Listen To You?

Now, you should ask yourself, why should you listen to me? Why should you trust me, who does not own an alligator, versus Jay Brewer, who owns several?

Well, first off, there's no profit for me in telling you that what you're seeing on social media is in fact not what you're being told you're seeing. I'm not getting paid to do this. That's the thing with people who make social media content. The big names aren't doing it just for fun. They're doing it for money. Whether that's profit through partnerships or sponsorships, or getting more people to visit their facilities, or ad revenue, you can't ignore the factor of money. And this is NOT a bad thing, because it allows educators to do what they're passionate about! People deserve to be paid for the work that they do!

But the problem starts when you chase the algorithm instead of actually educating. A "smiling" alligator gets the views, and if people don't know enough to know better, it keeps getting the views. People love unconventional animal stories and they want those animals to be happy- but the inability to even know where to start with critically evaluating these posts really hinders the ability to spread real information. Like, this post will probably get a couple hundred notes, but that video of Coconut being scrubbed had almost 400,000 likes when I took that screenshot. Think about how many eyeballs that's reached by now. What I'm saying here is that it's just... really important to think critically about who you're getting your information from. What do dissenters say in the comments? What do other professionals say? You won't find a single herpetologist that has anything good to say about Prehistoric Pets, I can tell you that right now.

Another reason you can trust me is that my sources are not "just trust me bro," or "years of experience pretending my pet shop where animals come to die is a real zoo." Instead, here are my primary sources for my information on alligator behavior:

Dragon Songs: Love and Adventure among Crocodiles, Alligators, and Other Dinosaur Relations- Vladimir Dinets

The Secret Social Lives of Reptiles- J. Sean Doody, Vladimir Dinets, Gordon M. Burghardt

Social Behavior Deficiencies in Captive American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)- Z Walsh, H Olson, M Clendening, A Rycyk

Social Displays of the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)- Kent Vliet

Social Signals and Behaviors of Adult Alligators and Crocodiles- Leslie Garrick, Jeffery Lang

Never smile at a crocodile: Gaping behaviour in the Nile crocodile at Ndumo Game Reserve, South Africa- Cormac Price, Mohamed Ezat, Céline Hanzen, Colleen Downs (this one's Nile crocs, not American alligators, but it's really useful for modeling an understanding of gape behaviors and proximity)

Thermoregulatory Behavior of Captive American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)- Cheryl S. Asa, Gary D. London, Ronald R. Goellner, Norman Haskell, Glenn Roberts, Crispen Wilson

Unprovoked Mouth Gaping Behavior in Extant Crocodylia- Noah J. Carl, Heather A. Stewart, Jenny S. Paul

Thank you for reading! Here's a very happy wild alligator from Sanibel for your trouble.

[thethronezone]

Oooooh can I ask for the primarchs and how they will play with my child!?

Mortarion - So damn awkward. Like, he gives his kid a ball and is like "Go play" and then when they try throwing it to him he's like "???" because do they not want the toy? It takes him a while to realize that they want him to play with them and while he does oblige, he's so befuddled the entire time. Played fetch with his kid for the longest time before someone pointed out that that's something you do with a dog and he got very embarrassed and ashamed (and quite furious because that's what his adoptive father did with him sometimes).

Fulgrim - Arts and crafts with dad! Music-time with papa! Fencing lessons with father! Whatever activity Fulgrim performs with his child, he tries to impart some kind of lesson unto them. For him, play-time is not just for fun, it's also a very important development tool so he's very meticulous about what they do.

Angron - Mostly just supervise but sometimes he does join his kid if they ask him or he's feeling particularly stable at the moment. Let's his kid decide what to do and just follows along with whatever they want. Playing pretend? Sure. Racing? He'll jog so they'll have a chance at keeping up. Just happy with whatever and really treasures these moments and tries to make them last as long as possible.

Magnus - Puzzles, puzzles, puzzles. These games require a mixture of intelligence and psychic skills to solve. Magnus tries so hard to let his kid solve them on their own and not railroad them into the solution. Also likes playing catch with his kid but with a psychic twist on it, as they can only catch the ball with their powers and are allowed to use them to add momentum to the throw.

Perturabo - Acts like he doesn't care, sitting at his desk working while his kid play in the corner, but he will be lowkey watching the entire time and making notes of everything. He's also the kinda guy to tell his kid that they are playing wrong, those aren't the rules, but only because he deep down wants them to have fun and thinks his way is better than theirs.

Alpharius - Let's go to work with dad! Takes the child with them on safer missions or includes them in the prep for minor missions. They pose this as playtime but really it is also a way for them to indoctrinate and teach their kid about the work they one day expect them to fully join them with.

Lorgar - Loves loves LOVES reading his kid books or telling them stories. Has the best narrator voice and will often include his kid in the storytelling, changing the story and injecting their own characters into the story. Also likes playing pretend with them.

Horus - The type of dad who loves to play catch with his kid. It allows them to do something together while also letting them talk. Also takes his kid out hunting from an early age (with the prey getting bigger as they get older). Just loves hanging out with his kid, doing stuff together and talking about whatever.

Konrad - Hide-and-seek, which sounds cute until you realize that this is the Night Haunter we're talking about and they are playing in almost complete darkness and oh god, he's in the walls. Still, his kid is having fun and that's what counts, right? The serfs find this terrifying though. Also plays pretend with them but his little stories and scenarios always have a macabre twist or something. Again, his kid is having fun but any serfs that happen to overhear the story find themselves deeply disturbed.

Sanguinius - Loves playing pretend with his kid and finds it super endearing when they are the brave astartes sent to rescue the captured princess from some evil xenos (yes, Sanguinius is the princess in this scenario). Also loves to take his kid out flying and teaching them various aerial maneuvers and playing catch or tag in the air.

Corvus - Hide-and-seek version 2.0 and this time it's... slightly less terrifying for the onlookers. Mostly because this version of the game is all about hiding from the serfs/space marines and while looking for the other person. Also the master of quiet parallel play. He'll be doing paperwork or whatever and his kid is right next to him, doing their own thing. They both see this as playing together and it works perfectly well for them.

Ferrus - Really enjoys doing puzzles with is kid. He does take a backseat and mostly just observes (or else the puzzle would be solved in ten seconds flat) but he makes sure that he stays involved by talking to his kid, subtly guiding them and asking them just how they solved that part. Makes his own puzzles for them so that he knows it's the right blend of challenging and entertaining.

Rogal - Building with blocks except he's 1000% serious. "That building block should be five millimeters to the left for optimal stability." God forbid his kid ever wants to build a tree house because Rogal is going to railroad the whole thing and in the end that thing is going to be able to withstand orbital bombardment.

Vulkan - Picture this; Vulkan, lying on his stomach so he can play with his baby at their own height. Smiling goofily as he plays with them, talking and narrating with his softest voice. When they are very young and small, he is so very careful with them and it's only as they get a bit older and more durable that he does things like play catch.

Lion - The type of dad to let his kids crawl and climb all over him while he works and he's completely stone-faced the entire time. Child is tugging his beard? No reaction. Showing paper in their mouth? Gently pries it from their hands. But whenever no-one is looking, he will make a slight face at his kid so they will laugh. Also takes them out hunting when they get older.

Leman - Lots of playing in the snow (snowball fights are RUTHLESS) and roughhousing aka wrestling is the all-time favorite. Wresting in the snow? Now THAT'S how they do it on Fenris! WILL pick his kid up by the ankles and toss them in the snow to start shit THE instigator. Will play tug-of-war, catch and fetch too.

Jaghatai - Tag, archery, riding horses, ball-sports. These are all activites that Jaghatai likes doing with his kid. When he plays with his kid he makes it a whole-day thing because this is also a very important bonding opportunity. Instills in his kid a healthy sense of competition but also teamwork.

Roboute - Lots of physical activities like playing catch or various sports. Guilliman draws a lot of inspiration of how to play with his kid from his own childhood and as such, most games are from Macragge. He also feels like, since he spends a lot of his time doing stuff like paperwork, it would be a shame and a waste to spend the time he has together with his child sitting down.

[b1asho]

A bunch of random people from what's widely considered to be the most dangerous and uninhabitable area on the planet have been asked to pose for a camera.

Some rambling:

Masks and goggles are a lot more popular in the SEZ due to high likelihood of particulates in the air (while the habitable zones have been deemed, well, habitable, there’s still a chance that rust, dust, and worse can blow in over the walls.) Daily weather updates are advisories are in place to keep people updated in case there’s a bad air quality day. Kixeli are particularly affected by this due to their permeable and sensitive skin, which is why many wear more coverage in the form of “wetsuits” that both protect them and hold moisture when outside of their communities. Wetsuits are found outside the SEZ too, but don't normally do fullbody coverage. Potentially hazardous conditions are also the reason behind many SEZ resident’s fashion sense including a lot of protective suits and gloves, though that’s also because many of the people there work as dredgers (where that’s the uniform standard ). Muttreazik and Conduits are a lot more common, with many intentionally flocking to the SEZ from the neighboring DRSS to get away from isolating and negative views on them.

From the top left:

A bunch of Kixeli show off a fish they caught. Due to the encapsulated and contained nature of current Kixeli communities in the SEZ, they can only really be self-sufficient to a certain point and often need to look to the outside for certain resources. This normally puts them in a difficult position where they need to interact with the outside with money that they dont actually use within the community itself. To solve this, many try to barter as much as possible rather than giving/getting money for their goods.

A group of dredgers, two Flickers (denoted by their yellow jumpsuits with an orange diamond) and one of their agency’s mancers (dressed in red to show their propensity level.) they prolly just got back lol.

A lone Dorest just kinda staring at the camera. Probably running an errand for his unit.

The Cerest-host muttreazik who’s next is a spear fisher. Cerest-host muttreazik are a rarity to see anywhere, both due to the small population of Cerest outside of the Empire and also their high host- rejection rate (aka they’re often kicked to the street or taken out as eggs). There is relative cultural freedom found in the SEZ resulting from the sheer amount of weird stuff going on in there, you just have to accept it at some point. As a result, you can find all sorts of muttreazik there who would not be around elsewhere, as well as a lot more non-congruent muttreazik whove ended up there as a refuge. Side note, ,weapon laws are veryyyy strict in the DRSS for anyone that isn’t law enforcement/military. The strongest thing the average civilian is allowed to have is a taser (and a weak one at that.) this spills over into the SEZ, but due to high crime rates and the general dangers of going out into the Wreck, many people in the SEZ are allowed to carry weapons that someone in the DRSS would not be allowed to have (such as a knife or bow, real gins are still a no no). That speargun is considered a tool, tho.

Another dredger, this one older. She’s a type 3, which her agency shows with her green uniform color and patch. Scarring, loss of limb, etc is a common trait for many Conduits (in general and in the SEZ, due to the nature of their affliction and many of their more dangerous jobs) but her arm has been like that from birth.

On a related note, next is a Rossetian who’s somehow lost most of his tail. It’s also worth noting that everyone has just gotten out of a period of warfare, which is another reason behind injury aftermath being a common sight worldwide.

This next guy is an alius-class with a human host, on their way to class. In the DRSS, the Tank system (where muttreazik are removed from hosts and grown artificially) usually limits traits that would make a muttreazik alius (such as the significant changes to the human body plan shown here) so they’re pretty rare. When they do happen, they have a very hard time living in their host society (which is why they might come to the SEZ instead).

Another muttreazik up next, this one doing a fun trick with a bunch of silverware he has for some reason. Reds like him can’t really do a lot more than that, but the control exhibited here may mean he’s trying to progress to orange.

Lastly, a Prectikar and his son (or just some other middling from his family, as Prectikar households are pretty much exclusively multigenerational). Luckily he’s more or less capable of hauling whatever that is by himself, since getting a personal vehicle is very hard and they don’t make many in kar size anyway. The piercing in his speaking nostril is for aesthetics and to help him speak human languages better (often known as a tongue or tooth piercing depending on the shape.) the speaking nostril only really has the “lips” and a bump at the middle to control airflow for speaking, and their mouth’s layout also isn’t super good for mimicking humans (the tongue/lips are very long and relatively clumsy, and they can only do short bursts of very low, hard to control sound from the air sac. ) this works just fine for their own languages, but greatly affects their communication if they’re trying to switch away from one of the ‘bridge’ dialects everyone uses to talk to each other) With the piercing, the muscular upper wall of the nose channel can be trained to press the piercing against the sides or bottom to produce more humanish noises. To avoid compromising or blocking the airway, these are normally minimal in size etc (which also makes them different than a cybernetic vocal implant, also since there’s no electricity involved lol. )

[essence-inked]

So I’ve been thinking about rational vs. irrational character decisions.

An irrational decision is great when your story is driven by your character’s personal flaws and struggles, and for crafting situations where your audience knows that these decisions are unavoidable because they are perfectly in character. Having your characters be perfectly able to solve their problems if they weren’t, y’know, themselves, is so very hard-hitting, and can be a fantastic part of a narrative.

The downfall with irrational decisions is that it can make situations seem less dire or make your antagonists seem less dangerous. If your characters are falling over themselves and their own personal issues, then it’s hard to show how the external problems in your story pose a serious threat, because you can’t demonstrate how they’re hard to deal with if your characters aren’t making solidly competent attempts in the first place.

Rational decisions are great for stories where most of your problems are external, like your characters trying to build a spaceship or infiltrate the bad guy’s lair. It’s also key to any horror writing, where you need your characters to be competent in order for your danger to be credible; if your audience spends the entire time wondering why your protagonists aren’t doing very obvious things to solve their problems, it’ll be a lot harder to get a properly spooky atmosphere going. But if your characters are only ever making the most optimal, logical choices without ever struggling, they won’t be very compelling, so just like with irrational decision-making, there’s a time and a place for this.

Ideally, you want some combination of both rational and irrational character choices. And maybe even more importantly, whatever choice a character’s making needs to be one that makes sense for them given everything you’ve already shown in the narrative so far. If the decision feels forced or contrived, then it doesn’t matter if it’s rational or not, because it’s not a choice that fits with the rest of the story.

But, yeah, ultimately, both types of character decisions are useful tools, and it’s less about one or the other being right, and more about both of these tools being useful for different types of situations.

[yandereonepieceimagines]

If it's okay can I please request yandere sir crocodile, who's who, Jack, denjiro, and katakuri with a reader who is like baby 5 and is always falling for people's traps even when they're obvious.

-----------

Haha, I kind of love the idea. And if you also mean like Baby 5-level falling too easily, especially for people who aren’t even them, that just makes it even funnier. I can totally see Katakuri and Who's-Who internally going like: “Girl… I’m literally right here.”

Still, for this to work the way I think you meant, the reader basically has to be yandere-proof when it comes to these fine gentlemen. Otherwise, they would've been married off to you ages ago. And even though every single one of them can still beat her in a one-on-one, I've written them in such a way that they want her to be willing to their advances. And kidnapping is supposed to be a last resort.

----------

Charlotte Katakuri

Totto Land wasn’t what you expected.

You’d come by accident, more or less. A failed navigation with a New World Log Pose, a rerouted current and a surprisingly unhostile welcome from a candy-colored dockmaster who offered you tea before questions.

You were used to chaos. Scarred coasts and crumbling towns. Droughts, revolutions, pirates howling for tribute. You were built for that. A lone explorer who would have a bounty high enough to make the World Government sweat a bit if it was ever assigned. You’d wandered the Grand Line and beyond helping where you could, rarely stopping to breathe.

You weren’t supposed to stay here.

But... Totto Land was strangely, stubbornly peaceful. Almost too peaceful.

You found yourself solving arguments over missing pets, pulling pranksters from trees, and, more often than not, walking straight into obvious scams from sobbing citizens pretending they’d lost a favorite teacup, blanket or gardening tool.

And despite your sharp instincts in battle, you always fell for it. You believed everyone. Gave away food, bandaged small injuries, handed out supplies like you were made of them. And the people? Well, they adored you. Even some of the homies started to follow you like loyal pets.

You were a walking contradiction: strong enough to level a ship, gullible enough to get scammed by a child in a mud costume.

You told yourself you’d leave tomorrow. Or the next day. Or after helping just one more person.

And then there was him.

Charlotte Katakuri.

You hadn’t met him right away. Just the whispers. Big Mom’s strongest Sweet commander. A future-seer. Stoic, undefeated and terrifying.

You thought you were under his radar.

You were wrong.

He noticed you immediately. He saw you. Every act of kindness and every moment of naive courage. He watched from a distance with unnerving stillness, reading the ripples you left in their territory. The precision of his Observation Haki turned inward.

And before he realized it, he was planning around you. Not for strategy, but proximity.

He didn’t understand it at first. The need to be close. To see your hands move. To hear you laugh, even if it was at him. Something about you bypassed the usual silence he kept between himself and the world.

You felt... real. Like something he hadn’t known he missed until it was suddenly in front of him every other day.

Marriage.

That word had never meant much to him before. Not in the halls of Whole Cake Chateau. Not in the way his family used it, tossed around at lavish tea tables or woven into political schemes- a matter of bloodlines, leverage and territorial ambition. It was a concept treated like a business merger, a footnote in the narrative of power.

He had never once paused to consider what it could mean outside of those expectations.

Until you.

You made it feel like an actual goal. Like something to earn. A milestone, not a tradition.

He tried to approach it respectfully. To observe. To allow you some space. To calculate a path that wouldn't corner you.

But it became clear. You were somehow resistant to him, of all people. Ironically immune to the very presence most others found crushing, or admirable.

It unsettled him more than he let on, especially after what had happened at some point in time. A traveler, bold and ridiculous, had asked for your hand in marriage right in the middle of a village square. You'd laughed, kindly, and actually said yes. Not sarcastically. Not to humor them. Just yes. Cheerful, amused and utterly unbothered. Like it was the most natural thing in the world.

The onlookers had cheered. The traveler beamed. And Katakuri stood frozen, unreadable behind his scarf. He didn’t interfere. Not then. But his silence held weight. Not jealousy, or at least, not that alone, but confusion, frustration. Hurt that came without warning. One that he was forced to witness twice without revealing his cards.

Hours later, that same traveler found themselves sealed into a prison book, thanks to Katakuri and Mont-d'Or. The charge was vague; disruptive behavior, false claims, perhaps a hint of trespass. Enough to justify it, but not enough to convince anyone truly paying attention. Mont had blinked at him once, lips twitching like he wanted to ask why. But he didn’t. Katakuri didn’t explain.

Not out of jealousy, or so he told himself, but out of... principle. That same principle he leaned on like a shield, one that frayed at the edges every time he remembered how easily you'd accepted that stranger's proposal. No hesitation. No caution. Just yes. Just laughter.

But never his. Never him.

You never mocked him. Never feared him. But every time he offered something; a gesture, a gift, a question too carefully phrased, to marry him, you blew it off with practiced ease. Called him reliable. Called him busy. Called him by his title, not his name.

You smiled at him like someone smiles at the sun. Distant, warm and unreachable.

You respected him. But it never went further.

And no matter how often he rehearsed the words in silence, they never made it to air. Not because he feared rejection, but because he feared you’d simply nod and say, "That’s nice," and carry on helping someone out instead.

So he broke his own rule. Because you had started pulling away on top of that. Not out of fear, but caution. You'd grown more skeptical of his presence, your normally boundless kindness sharpening just enough to draw a line around him.

The more he lingered, the more you distanced yourself. And that distance; slow, polite, but deliberate, rattled something deep inside him.

He asked two of his youngest siblings- twins, to stage something. A soft crisis. Something small. Children missing some of their most favorite balloons. Something Katakuri could fix in ten seconds.

But instead, he stood back, pretending helplessness.

You showed up immediately. Tools out. Warm words afloat in the air. And then...

You paused. Just for a second.

Your eyes narrowed.

And for the first time, you didn’t fall for it.

You turned around slowly. Looked over the scene. Looked at him.

"They could’ve asked you, couldn’t they?"

He had no answer. Not right away.

You sighed, brushing your hands on your coat. "Next time you need help, just say so directly. I don’t mind lending a hand. Even to someone as high-ranking as you. But don’t waste your family’s breath."

You turned to leave.

But before you could take a full step, his voice stopped you.

"I wasn’t trying to waste anything. I was trying to ask you to come with me."

You paused.

"Come with you where?"

He took a slow breath. "To the outer islands. There are small scuffles happening near the edges of Totto Land. Conflicts with other emperors. Territory disputes. Civilians are getting caught in it. People are scared. I’m not asking you to fight. But I could use someone like you. Someone who protects and makes people feel safe."

You blinked, surprised.

"Why not just say that?"

He looked at you then, as if seeing you for the hundredth time. "Because I didn’t want you to feel obligated. I just wanted you there. With me."

You didn’t speak.

You stayed another day.

He watched the horizon that night, still and quiet, doughnuts untouched beside him.

You hadn’t said yes.

But you hadn’t said no.

And that, somehow, was enough for now.

Denjiro

You had no business being in Wano. The country was sealed, impenetrable to outsiders. Wrapped in mists and monsters, hemmed in by rough currents and waterfalls that would crush the unprepared.

But then again, you were rarely prepared. Just determined.

The ascent up the waterfall had nearly destroyed your ship. You’d lost your sails, cracked the hull and nearly drowned twice. Still, when you washed ashore on Wano’s isolated coast, bruised and exhausted, you had looked up at the fog-shrouded mountains and whispered: “Worth it.”

Because this place... This place had stories.

You were an explorer, after all. Not by trade, but by obsession. You’d wandered through ancient cities swallowed by the Grand Line, danced through New World storms and had fought your way through more than one corrupted kingdom. If the Marines could catch you in the midst of a crime long enough, they'd pin a very high bounty on your name.

But strength didn’t mean wisdom.

You had a tendency to believe people. Dangerous ones. If someone wept, you helped. If someone begged, you trusted. You were like a more dangerous, less filtered Baby 5- if Baby 5 could bench press a sea king and blast through steel doors.

And somehow, your heart still cracked for every sob story.

Wano was full of them.

It was supposed to be a quick venture. In, explore, out. But you found hungry villages, children hiding beneath floorboards and ghost towns haunted by silence. You stayed. You fought. You healed. You vanished into the myths, and they began calling you "The Wandering Flame."

Denjiro noticed immediately.

He didn’t move on you with hunger, or like a storm. He watched, patiently, with the gaze of a man who had waited twenty years to make a single move.

At first, he admired you.

Then he worried.

You fell for everything. A merchant claimed he was robbed. You rebuilt his entire stall for free. A group of thugs posed as rebels. You gave them supplies. An old woman sobbed about her missing cat. You got bitten three times trying to rescue a gigantic boar.

You were chaos wrapped in sincerity, a force of nature with no filter, no brakes.

Denjiro had seen fools. Had watched Orochi play a nation like a shamisen. But you? You were a new kind of madness.

Still, you were careful around him. That was the most infuriating part.

You’d bow respectfully, always with the same poised elegance you offered elders or suspicious allies. Smile with just enough distance to remain warm but never vulnerable. When he offered protection, you declined politely with the practiced ease of someone who’d had to refuse too many hands with hidden knives. When he teased you, which he did, often and expertly, you laughed, but your eyes never softened, and you never leaned close. Not once.

Even as Kyoshiro- flamboyant, inebriated, and ostentatiously loud, he couldn’t sway you. You simply watched him like one might watch a storm from a covered porch: curious, alert, and entirely unwilling to step into the rain.

You didn't do this with another man. Someone who'd... Eventually disappeared underneath mysterious circumstances.

He still didn’t try to force it. Not because he wasn’t tempted, but because he respected you more than the ache he carried.

Because Denjiro had already done the manipulation thing. He’d lied for twenty years. Played loyal hound to a tyrant. He wasn’t going to taint you with those shadows. You deserved better. So instead, he helped. Quietly. He sent guards to follow you when you wandered off. He redirected real threats. He intercepted the assassins you never knew were coming.

He became your shadow. Not because he needed control. But because you were the first thing in years that made him feel something real. Not duty, not rage, not vengeance. Something soft. Something that made him forget how long he'd been pretending.

Every time he saw you darting into another village, speaking to another stranger, falling for another story that had more holes than netting, he felt it again. That ache. Not of longing, but of hope. That maybe there were still good people like you. People who didn’t need disguises or plots to matter.

He’d fought beside noble samurai. He’d killed men with names and legacies. And yet the one who stayed in his mind was you. A wandering firebrand who couldn’t stop helping.

The day he confronted you, it wasn’t under a mask or a fake name.

It was on the broken bridge between Ringo and Kibi, where you stood tossing rocks into the river, your coat tugged by the breeze and a quiet hum slipping past your lips like you didn’t carry half a country’s attention in your shadow.

"You’re going to get yourself killed," he said calmly, arms folded, blue hair swaying in the breeze.

You blinked. "You always start conversations like this?"

He didn’t smile. Not this time. His voice carried a weight, the kind born from watching good people fall to bad odds one too many times.

"You don’t know who to trust."

"Sure I do." You tossed another rock. "I trust people until they prove me wrong."

"That’s not trust. That’s gambling. And you’re staking your life on liars."

You looked at him then, expression unreadable. "Then what are you doing here?"

"I’m betting on you."

Silence fell. Thick. Meaningful. The kind that wrapped around a truth neither of you were ready to name out loud.

A quiet chuckle slipped past your lips. “That’s dangerous. I’m bad luck.”

“I’ve survived worse.” His voice was steady, the wind stirring his cape just enough to frame him like a man standing at the edge of something deep. It wasn’t arrogance. It was experience.

You stared at him longer than you’d meant to. And for once, you didn’t look away first.

He didn’t touch you. Didn’t close the space. He just stood there and let the moment breathe. Like he was offering you the choice, and that choice alone meant more than any act of possession.

“You don’t have to stay in Wano, though I sincerely hope you do,” he said at last, softer now. “But if you do, then let me keep you safe. No secrets. No schemes. Just me. And only if you’ll let me.”

You tilted your head slightly, watching him with the sort of curiosity that came just before trust. You could feel the shift in the air, something delicate unspooling between you.

“That almost sounds like a confession.”

He smiled. Not the charming grin of Kyoshiro, not the mask, but something small. Something real. “Maybe it is.”

You didn’t answer.

But you didn’t walk away either...

Jack the Drought

You had climbed the waterfall with a cracked mast and stubborn hope.

It wasn’t smart. It wasn’t safe. But that had never stopped you before.

Wano had been a mystery. The kind that called to you like gravity. You were an explorer, a wanderer. A woman with a tendency to throw herself into lost causes with a grin and zero hesitation. Like a storm in delicate silk.

You could knock down walls, tear through lies and still fall for every sob story like it was the first. If someone cried, you helped. If they begged, you believed. You didn’t ignore red flags. They may as well just look like party banners to you.

And Wano was a festival of false alarms.

You weren’t supposed to stay long. You came for whispered legends. A quick look. But then there were the villagers with empty bowls. Smiling orphans who pretended not to be hungry. The quiet corners no one cared to save. And you couldn’t leave.

Jack noticed you the second you entered the country.

You didn’t exactly notice him. Not really.

He was used to terror. Used to being a shadow that made strong men sweat and children scream. When he walked into a village, it went quiet. When he made demands, things broke. Jack wasn’t elegant. He was a disaster in mammoth’s skin, and he liked it that way.

But you? You treated him like static.

At first, it made him curious. Then furious. Then obsessed.

He had seen you rip through ambushes like they were practice drills. Seen you shield strangers from blade and flame without flinching. And worse… He’d seen you fall for obvious cons. People faked injuries. Lied about lost children. Pulled tricks a toddler could spot. And you still walked right into them.

Only to punch through the roof five minutes later when the trap sprung.

You were chaos. And Jack couldn’t stop watching.

So he tried. He tried baiting you himself, dressing his men in tattered cloaks, staging desperate cries from forests and alleyways. But you never responded when he was near. You helped others. You followed false leads. But if he was too close, you hesitated.

You weren’t afraid. Just... aware. Of something wrong.

And that burned.

Jack wasn’t subtle. He didn’t do subtle. But behind your back? He learned restraint.

When a merchant tried flirting with you, Jack broke his entire body in at least six places, out of sight and just somewhere out of town. When a Beast Pirates officer offered you “shelter” during an inspection, Jack fed him to the Wano wolves. Quietly. Cleanly. You never saw the blood. Never noticed the silence that followed.

Because Jack wanted you willing.

He could level cities. Torture warriors. Rip a battlefield in half. But he couldn’t get you to look at him like anything more than a humongous hazard sign.

Not because you didn’t fear him. But because your instincts, your gut- the same one that betrayed you in every other direction, only sharpened around him.

And it drove him insane.

The day you finally spoke to him- really spoke to him, you were standing beside the ruins of an old farmhouse you’d helped rebuild the week before in Kuri.

He cornered you directly- approaching with the towering presence of a behemoth, his steps heavy yet eerily quiet, like a landslide building momentum in complete silence.

You didn’t run.

But you did pause as you looked up to the eight meter tall man. And for the first time since arriving in Wano, your hands curled tighter at your sides.

"You’ve been following me," you said simply, your voice steady despite the tightness in your chest.

He didn’t deny it. He didn’t even blink.

"And some people disappear when you’re close," you added, sharper now, every syllable laced with the suspicion you tried so hard not to trust.

Still, he said nothing. His silence was a weight that pressed down against your ribs.

Your jaw clenched. "You think I haven’t noticed? You think I don’t see what’s happening around me? The way paths close, the way voices go quiet when you’re near?"

Your instincts were blaring now. Louder than they ever had around the lies you willingly chased. But Jack? Jack felt wrong. He didn’t move like someone with nothing to hide. He moved like someone who’d already buried the evidence.

You stepped back slightly, your eyes narrowing. "I think I’ve stayed long enough."

That hit him hard. Not in the chest, but in the spine. Like something ancient inside him snapped taut.

You were going to leave.

So he spoke. Fast, rough, but with just enough calculation to hold you still.

"You want to help them? Then help me."

You blinked, caught off guard, the words hitting harder than any threat. "What?"

"You want supplies? Access to the people who need it most? Then you’ll need someone like me to open doors on this island. Doors that won’t even budge for anyone else."

You frowned, uncertain. The way he said it wasn’t boastful. It was matter-of-fact.

"The others here... They don’t listen to outsiders. But I can make them listen. I can make anything move. People, shipments, even silence when it’s needed."

He leaned down just slightly, just enough that you could feel the absolute weight of what he meant. "You don’t have to like me. But if you want to save Wano’s bones, you’ll need leverage. Let me be that. In exchange, you get what you want. Food. Resources. Access to every hidden part of this island that would slam its gates in your face."

He paused. Then added with strange clarity: "The freedom to keep helping."

You stared for a long moment, studying every line of his face, every scar that twisted across his features. Your gut still clenched. Something in you still warned… This is dangerous. But the offer was too precise. Too purposeful. And deep down, you knew the alternative meant turning your back on people who didn’t have the luxury to run.

Eventually, you sighed. "Fine. But the second you lie to me-"

"I won’t," he cut in sharply, with the kind of crushing force that made it feel like a vow.

You looked up at him again. Searched for something human in all that mass. And for just a second, you thought you saw it. Something raw beneath the fur.

And though your spine still whispered run, your heart, foolish as ever, decided to try.

"Then help me carry these tree logs. If you’re going to follow me around, you might as well be useful."

He moved without another word.

And for the first time in his life, Jack didn’t destroy something to feel powerful.

He just followed you.

Sir Crocodile

The desert sun is merciless, bearing down on the golden sands of Alabasta like a divine punishment, but Crocodile sits untouched by its fury. Cool shadows cloak the upper floors of Rain Dinners, shielding him from the heat and noise of the casino bustling below.

A cigar smolders lazily between his fingers, its scent mixing with the dry air. His golden hook taps a slow, methodical rhythm against the carved armrest of his throne-like chair. He isn’t pacing. He never paces. But that hook tapping means something. Irritation. Anticipation.

"She walked right into another trap," Miss All Sunday says flatly as she steps into the room. "A fake 'Help Us' poster set by a group of common bandits."

Crocodile’s jaw tightens. "And she's still alive?"

"Of course. They didn’t stand a chance. She broke the ringleader’s jaw with a rock and tied them all up before carrying them to the nearest town."

Of course you did. No matter how foolish the trick, no matter how exaggerated the lie, you fell for it. And then flattened your would-be captors like a natural disaster. That woman. That infuriatingly compassionate, absurdly strong, maddeningly unpredictable woman.

His golden hook pauses mid-tap.

"Did she say anything afterward?"

"Something about hoping that kindness will turn them around," Robin replies, her voice tinged with an unreadable note; part amusement, part warning.

Crocodile’s lip curls into a bitter smirk. "Tch."

It’s always the same. You- the wandering, reckless, overly forgiving creature, leave a wake of ruined traps and stunned enemies, never once realizing just how close the danger truly is or who exactly is pulling the strings. And despite your sheer strength, your reputation, your undeniable presence… You still fall for every plea, every fake cry, every trap... But his...

You should be smarter than that. Your name, whispered in the New World before you'd even set foot back on Paradise, should have commanded caution and fear. If the Marines caught wind of you crossing a line, they’d slap a four hundred million belli bounty on your head in an instant. And yet, you have the emotional defenses of a soap bubble.

He’s seen the picture of you tearing through a sea king as if it was cooked meat, its massive jaws crushed under your Armament Haki alone. He’s watched you walk out of an ancient ruin that crumbled beneath the ocean waves, a storm of traps and collapsing corridors barely slowing you down. You’d survived that place where many seasoned pirates would have drowned and Marines vanished, all because someone claimed there was a missing child inside. And when a new Vice Admiral tried to take you in; miscommunication, they said, you nearly crushed his ribs with a single strike before realizing he was on your side.

But he’s never seen you question a sob story. Never seen you second-guess a plea. You always believe. Always say yes. No matter how flimsy the excuse, no matter how obvious the setup, your heart leans forward before your head can intervene.

You throw your strength at problems that never needed solving, offer comfort to liars and con men, all because someone looked at you the right way. The fact that you’ve survived this long is less about instinct and more about brute force and stubborn hope.

And through all of that, you never say yes to him. To everyone but him.

You should know by now that he’s in love with you. And you do not seem to care.

That, more than anything, infuriates him. It eats away at him in moments of silence and solitude, in the weighty hush between plans and calculated victories. You, the one person who’s now seen him at his most composed, his most vicious, his most transparent, and you remain utterly unmoved.

He still remembers how his affection curdled into obsession the moment you laughed off one of his carefully measured threats, mistaking it for sarcasm. He had tested your fear, but instead, you waved him off with a lopsided smile and a shrug. As if he were nothing more than a man with bad manners and a worse attitude. You brushed past him with no reverence, and most insultingly, without the warmth you seemed to offer everyone else so freely.

You're immune to him. He’s sent subtle threats and confessions alike. Taken out a man you’d fallen for. "Fallen" being a strong word for "agreed to marry within five minutes of hearing his sob story." You attended his funeral, placed flowers, and then said with a gentle smile, "He must’ve gotten in trouble with someone scary. I hope his spirit is at peace."

That someone was him. And you didn’t even notice. Hell, something similar happened again, and you reacted in a similar fashion, too.

Never once did your eyes narrow in suspicion. Never once did your fingers point back toward him directly.

Even now, he imagines you walking through Nanohana, handing out medicine to children, smiling at every stranger who tells you their sob story. You give them your supplies. Your time. Your faith. Things he would burn kingdoms for.

The sound of his fur coat shifting is the only warning before he rises. His golden hook gleams under the soft lamplight as he turns toward Miss All Sunday.

"Send Mr. 2. I want her brought to Rain Dinners. Now."

"Under what pretense?" Miss All Sunday asks, lifting a brow. Her voice is calm, but there’s a note of resignation beneath it.

Crocodile doesn’t hesitate. His smile is slow and deliberate.

"Tell her a child is trapped upstairs."

You arrive like a storm. Boots caked in dust, cheeks flushed, a water jug slung over your shoulder. The heat from the desert still clings to your clothes and you’re already half-preparing yourself to hoist a crying child from some cramped storage room. Mr. 2, in a perfect disguise as a weeping little boy, grabs your hand and leads you past the casino floor.

"The child’s up here?" you ask, breath catching, your instincts prickling with doubt.

"Yeah," he replies sweetly, with a sniffle and wide, innocent eyes.

You follow, wary now. The silence is unnatural. The marble floors too spotless, the air too still. The deeper you go, the more it feels like walking into a mausoleum dressed as a palace. You’re led to a tall, ornate door. It creaks open slowly into a spacious, dim room. Tall windows cast amber light across the floor, curtains drifting slightly in the hot breeze.

As the door shuts behind you with a soft but final click, you whip around.

"Wait-"

Crocodile is already there.

He stands like a statue cut from obsidian, framed by the glow of the setting sun, his golden hook resting just below his chest and his hand curled on top of it. He says nothing at first, just stares, unreadable.

"There is no child," he says finally, his voice quiet and unrepentant.

Your stomach drops. You glare at him, fury quickly rising to your cheeks. "You lied to me. Again."

You already turn to leave, anger rising, but his voice catches you.

"Alabasta is dying."

The words hang heavy in the still air, too sudden to ignore.

You hesitate, frozen with your fingers brushing the doorknob.

"This kingdom is falling apart," he continues, stepping forward, his voice low. "The droughts, the unrest, the civil war… It's all spiraling. People are starving. Children are crying themselves to sleep. Whatever's behind it all… it doesn’t change what they’re living through now."

He meets your eyes. "If you really care about saving them, then help me do it. Don’t let them suffer because you chose to walk away from me."

You look away, uncertainty creeping into your anger. It’s like sand slipping through your fingers. You want to hold on to your indignation, your outrage, but it’s eroding quickly under the weight of what he’s saying.

"You want to help people, don’t you?" he says, taking another step toward you, his voice dropping to something almost gentle. Almost. "Then help them. I can get you where others can’t. I know the smugglers’ routes, the hidden bandit camps, the underground shelters no one else can access. The places where the real suffering lives. But I need you to stay. Not for me. For them."

His eyes bore into yours, searching for that inevitable flicker of compassion. And he finds it. He always does. It frustrates him how easily it comes. That softness. That instinct.

"This country will burn," he continues, with the solemn certainty of someone who’s already laid the kindling. "But maybe, just maybe, we can save some lives before it does. If you’re so set on being a hero, then here’s your chance."

Your hands tighten into fists at your sides. He’s manipulating you. Every word is laced with intention, wrapped in half-truths. And yet… If even half of what he said is true, if even one of those children is crying in the dark tonight…

You close your eyes, inhale deeply despite the cigar smoke, and let out a long breath as you lower the jug to the floor.

"Fine," you mutter. "I’ll stay and help you out. But only until the worst is over. I’m not here for you."

Crocodile says nothing, but the way the one corner of his mouth lifts ever so slightly tells you more than words ever could.

He’s already planning how to make you stay properly. And this time, he thinks he’s finally found the key.

Who’s-who

You shouldn’t have been in Wano.

No one should’ve.

The country was sealed off from the world, hidden above waterfalls and whirlpools, its borders drawn with blood and fear. But curiosity had always outweighed common sense in your case, and when rumors of ancient traditions reached your ears, you’d slipped through the cracks. Literally. The falling currents nearly crushed your ship on the way up, but somehow, you made it, alone.

You didn’t mean to stay. Truly. But Wano bled beneath its mask of beauty.

Villages burned in silence. Children starved behind smiling teeth. And your heart, as recklessly soft as ever, couldn’t bear to leave.

What began as a brief expedition turned into months.

You fought bandits, snuck medicine into flowerless towns, and patched up rebels who dared not speak their own names aloud. You became a ghost. Powerful, kind and always moving. The people started calling you “the Wandering Flame.”

And that's what caught his attention.

Who's-Who didn't like mysteries.

He especially didn’t like your kind of mystery. Someone stronger than you looked, with too much compassion and too little caution. He watched you from a distance at first, amused. Then irritated. Then… obsessed. He’d seen it one too many times: some fool luring you into an abandoned building with an obviously fake cry for help, only for the entire roof to explode moments later as you punched them clean through it. You never hesitated, never questioned whether it was a trap. You simply reacted. And somehow, it always worked in your favor. That recklessness, that insane trust... It infuriated him. He adored it.

You were impossible. He wanted you.

You ignored all of his advances; direct and indirect.

He eventually tried cornering you with false leads and staged ambushes himself. You slipped past.

He tried sending spies pretending to be injured villagers. They were deliberately bruised and bloodied just enough to sell the lie, though never as badly as they claimed. You healed them anyway, saw through the exaggeration with a look, then vanished before the trap could spring. And worst of all?

You'd chosen some poor sod over him. He disappeared in three hours time after he'd confessed to you, and after you'd said yes...

You were Who's-Who-proof.

It grated on him.

Everyone feared him. Revered him. Even the other Tobiroppo tread lightly enough around his snarling moods and lingering grudges. But you? You smiled politely when he eventually tried to intimidate you into his arms instead, cocked your head when he spat threats, and once… Just once… You told him he was being "weirdly dramatic for a fearsome pirate."

It haunted him.

Today, he waited atop the cliffs that overlooked the village of Ebisu, pacing like a caged sabretooth tiger. The sun dipped red against the mountains, casting long shadows over the dried fields below.

“She’ll come,” he muttered, though no one asked. “She always comes.”

And you did.

You moved quickly over the brittle earth, your coat flaring behind you, a basket of herbs in your arms. There had been a small fire in the village earlier. A real one, and he knew you wouldn’t ignore it.

He stepped out from behind a dead tree near the base of the hill, the cracked ground shifting slightly beneath his sharp dress shoes. He stood tall, over three meters, with long legs carrying his lean, powerful frame with a predator’s grace. A mane of wavy, pink hair trailed down his back, swaying with the wind. Smoke curled from the cigarette perpetually stuck in the corner of his mouth.

He loomed in front of you like a warning. All height, muscle and menace wrapped in crimson. The golden hoops in his ears swung faintly in the breeze, cigarette smoke curling around his horns and the heavy red mask that hid everything but the square of his jaw and the cruel twist of his mouth. His presence was thunder in slow motion, tense and boiling beneath the surface. That mouth grinned now, jagged and crooked.

"You're late," he said, voice nearly gravel-dry, smoke slipping past his teeth.

You stopped mid-step, one brow raised. "Didn’t realize I had an appointment."

He tilted his head slightly, cigarette bobbing. His teeth flashed again in a grin that didn’t reach the yellow lenses of his mask. "You’re always late when people need you most."

You sighed, exhaling a breath heavier than the moment deserved. "Funny. I was just thinking you were always early when no one asked you to show up."

Then you maneuvered to walk past him, the basket of herbs still balanced easily in your arms.

"Still following me around like a lost cat? Shouldn’t you be terrorizing someone who actually cares what you think? Or are they all tired of your mask routine too?"

That hit a nerve. You heard it in the hiss of his breath, the barely perceptible twitch of his fingers.

He moved, fast and silent, and grabbed your wrist, fingers firm and unrelenting like a trap springing shut.

But you didn’t flinch. You didn’t even blink. That blank, effortless steadiness of yours… That refusal to react to him always twisted something deep in him.

You looked down at his hand, then back up at his mask, unimpressed. "Let go," you said, your voice a low hum. Your tone didn’t waver, not even a fraction, and your eyes didn’t betray even a flicker of tension. It wasn’t just bravery. It was indifference. And to someone like him, that was worse than fear.

"They don’t deserve you," he hissed, his voice rising with intensity. "These people. You patch up their wounds and then what? They send you chasing another sob story. They make you run until you bleed, and when you fall, they’ll find someone else just as stupid to replace you. They use you. They all do."

You tugged your wrist free with a sharp jerk, eyes narrowing. Not in threat, but in mild annoyance. "Maybe. But at least I’m helping someone," you said. "That’s more than you can say."

He hated how calm you were. How you never yelled back. How nothing he did could get in. You didn’t rise to his threats, didn’t coil with fear or spit back rage. You treated his anger like background noise. His obsession like background wind. Like a gust that stirred your coat but never touched your spine. And it was driving him absolutely mad.

“I know what you are,” he growled, voice tightening into something venomous. “You think you’re better than us. That you can wander in here, untouched, above it all. You act like you're saving them, but you just want to feel important.”

His hands twitched, the grip on the cigarette between his teeth tightening. He was spiraling. And you just watched him do it.

“And I think you’re just lonely,” you said, cutting cleanly through the resulting silence.

That stunned him.

You didn’t say it like an insult. You said it like a fact. A quiet, almost regretful observation. The kind that pierced deeper than any blade.

He stepped back without realizing it, the dry earth crunching under his shoes. His yellow lenses flickered toward you, but he didn’t speak.

You kept walking, basket swinging gently at your side. “And angry. And clinging to the past so hard, it’s strangling you.”

The wind picked up, catching the edge of your coat, making it ripple behind you like a cape.

You didn’t look back.

He watched you vanish into the village light, your shadow trailing behind like smoke- impossible to pin down, impossible to contain.

Who's-Who didn’t move for a long time.

The wind shifted around him, dry and sharp, tugging faintly at the edges of his jacket. Smoke from his half-burnt cigarette spiraled lazily around his mask, glowing faintly in the evening light. The place felt empty, like his chest.

Behind him, one of his subordinates stepped out, hesitant. “Should we still tr-”

“No.” The word was a snarl, a jagged edge of frustration wrapped in finality. But there was a gleam behind the yellow lenses now. A dangerous kind of calm. His grin had returned. Wide, deliberate and full of teeth. Not triumphant. Calculating.

He’d tried charm. He’d tried force. He’d even tried fear. Nothing worked. But he wasn’t finished.

He would find a way into your heart. Not with chains. Not today. He wouldn’t try to cage you anymore. Not until you walked into the trap willingly. He had time. He always did.

You had a weakness. And it wasn’t just sentimentality. It was conviction. The belief that every whisper of pain was worth chasing. That every cry was real. That everyone, even strangers, deserved saving.

And soon… Some would be.

A whisper you couldn’t ignore. A cry folded inside a half-truth. Something believable. Something cruel.

He wouldn’t need to lift a hand.

Not when rumors would begin to spread. Carefully placed, whispered on wind and ash that a group of orphaned children had somehow crossed the perilous waters to Onigashima. Alone. Starving. Desperate. Trapped among monsters. You wouldn't question it at all.

He didn’t need to watch to know your steps would lead there. He knew you’d go, even if you knew he would be there.

You always walked into fire for someone else.

And this time, he’d be waiting in the smoke.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Scientific Inquiry

Scientific Inquiry - a form of problem-solving and questioning that helps people come to a greater understanding of observable phenomena.

An understanding of this style of scientific reasoning forms the basis upon which the nature of science itself rests.

Once you become familiar with scientific inquiry, you can use it for specifically science-related study or as just one additional tool in your arsenal of critical thinking skills.

Core Elements of the Scientific Inquiry Process

From encouraging scientific questions to facilitating well-reasoned conclusions, the scientific inquiry process helps illuminate our understanding of the world. Here are 7 core elements to the scientific inquiry process:

Asking constant questions: At the center of both the scientific method and general scientific inquiry lies the ability to ask questions well. Make observations about a particularly interesting phenomenon and then pose questions about why such a thing happens. Let preexisting scientific theories guide your questioning, but keep in mind every theory continues to be just that—a theory—until scientific inquiry definitively proves or disproves it.

Testing your inferences: Scientific progress hinges on your ability to experiment and test inferences about evidence. To do so, you need to set up an independent variable (something you will use to test) and a dependent variable (the thing or things you are testing). Seeing how well your inferences or predictions match up with the reality of a given experiment is essential to scientific inquiry.

Making connections: As you make observations about a specific phenomenon, make connections with every other relevant topic you can remember from your past science lessons or research. Scientific knowledge is as much a result of old realizations as it is of new discoveries.

Seeking evidence: As you seek to understand the natural world, there’s no substitute for hard evidence. Collect data and gather evidence relentlessly throughout your scientific investigations. The more evidence you have to answer your initial questions, the more ironclad your ultimate case will be when you draw conclusions.

Classifying data correctly: Science is as much a process of data collection and classification as it is of asking and answering questions. This means knowing how to elucidate or graph out your discoveries in a way other people can understand. It also means using citations from other scientific journals and texts to bolster your ultimate argument as to why a particular phenomenon occurs.

Drawing conclusions: Eventually, you need to draw conclusions from the data you collect. After you’ve made an exhaustive study of your specific focus, use inductive reasoning to make sense of all the new evidence you’ve gathered. Scientific ideas are always malleable and never completely concrete—alternative explanations are always possible, and new evidence should lead to new questions and conclusions.

Sharing findings: Science is an innately group-centered discipline. The more people interpret data, the better chance there is to ensure there are no loopholes in new research. No one person’s understanding of science content is infinite, so it’s important to let other qualified people ask questions of your conclusions. Natural science is more of a never-ending collaborative process than one with a concrete point of termination.

Teaching science means ensuring learners understand how to conduct qualitative and inquiry-based learning.

Science teachers must utilize a pedagogy that foregrounds hypothesizing, experimenting, and drawing on other scientific knowledge in both theoretical and practical ways.

Educational research indicates that it can help students see the correlation between scientific inquiry and everyday life, whether in elementary school or high school.

This sort of analogization helps people understand that a scientific frame of thinking is quite intuitive when you observe it within more commonplace parameters.

As a simplistic example, imagine a student has a hard time understanding the effect of heat as an abstract force.

Allowing them to observe the degree to which bread burns at different temperatures in a toaster would help make the point clear in a more hands-on way.

Source ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[herecirmsims]

Solo Horse And Rider

Nine poses for a solo rider and horse, plus all-in-ones. There are some issues with clipping reins (when using posed versions) and floating feet - please see details beneath cut!

You will need: - Pose Player - Teleport Any Sim - Horse Ranch EP

Useful, but not required for the poses to work: - Iberian saddle and Medieval Engraved Bridle With Reins - Reins For Posing Bridle

Download here (always free) SFS | Patreon

TOU: you may adjust for personal use to avoid clipping etc., but please do not reupload/paywall/claim as your own.

Other CC used: Leg bells and braided mane/tail/forelock by SchrodCat | Default replacement horse skin by @minervamagicka | Celebrimbor armour by @plazasims | a slightly edited version of Apricot Blossom Preset by Simsboo

I'd love to see them used! You can tag me on Twitter, Instagram, or Tumblr. I repost. ❤️ Thank you @ts4-poses and @alwaysfreecc!

You can easily browse more of my posepacks using my Ko-Fi gallery. Tips are appreciated but never required!

Details of known issues under cut to save your dash:

These poses have been annoying me for months lmao. I made them last year but ran into a couple of issues: at the time, all-in-one horse and rider poses posed out of alignment when placed off-lot with TOOL, and I also couldn't stop the reins from clipping in game (they are posed, and don't clip in Blender). I specifically wanted poses with reins because I have a hard time drawing them in, as I only have a mouse.

My off-lot bug seems to have been solved, and although I still haven't figured out why the reins are slightly off in game, I figured it probably doesn't matter: in the time Horse Ranch has been out, I've noticed most people draw reins in themselves.

I adjusted them slightly to work with the gorgeous new medieval saddle and stirrups by @morningstarequestrian , since that's what I'd be using my poses with, but although the rider's feet are resting on the stirrups in Blender, in game they hover. I don't know why and by this point I don't care enough to find out LMAO.

I've kept the original placement of the rider's hands and the reins on the horse rig, so you can use it with the LeiaMaria bridle for posed (but occasionally clipping) reins, or with any other bridle and draw the reins in yourself. In medieval art, most horses are shown to have two reins (one decorated, one 'normal') so I think using it with Morningstar's Medieval Bridle like this works fine (I would have drawn reins in myself if I wasn't lazy). The poses work with EA saddles, but I don't have other CC saddles-with-stirrups so can't say if the placement is off for others. 

[existentialarcade]

Day three of Hermit-a-day May! Tango!!

Rambles under the cut :D

i LOVE drawing tango, I don't do it enough! No crazy design notes, though I can say his design has mostly stayed the same ever since I first drew him, which is not common with me lmao!

Fun fact: A lot of my pieces this year use heroforge for reference, because its such a good tool for custom pose reference! This one I wasn't sure what to do pose-wise or even drawing-wise, so I just messed around with the posing tools until I came up with something cool, and from there, inspiration struck, and I decided to make it Tango caving!

I think it's cool, even just looking at what I have prepared for this month so far, and what I've been making in preparation, I'm definitely learning about myself and how to problem solve certain issues I run into often. I'm also trying to get better at full bodies and different perspectives, and doing these poses is helping a lot!

The learning aspect is part of why I like big month long challenges like this! It requires you to make a LOT of art, and if you do art, you're going to learn, y'know? And I like learning and improving on what I do, so I think it's cool to get the opportunity to do so, especially with fun characters like the hermits!

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

So I know you’ve given the old black dragon from Dungeons and Dragons a redesign in the pats but I thought I would ask for your thoughts in the redesign coming soon in the new handbooks. There is a video on YouTube where one of the designers is interviewed about the new dragon designs. He says they designed the dragons more as characters then creatures which likely influenced a lot of the design choices. They want this thing to look evil. Do you think the design has improved? I also want to know if there any major changes you would make. I know in the past you had issues with the horns.

comparison time! old and new!

(image description: a side by side look at the old DnD 5e black dragon design and the new black dragon design. the old one is more multi colored and shows a variety of design choices that are common for making dragons look "cooler" but have no real function. the new design is more cohesively colored a very matte black with a white face and is anatomically more similar to a giant crocodile with long legs. end description)

I absolutely think the new design is so much better. the horn problem has been solved!!! my issue with the horns in the previous design was mostly that they just overlap the mouth! even taking into consideration how wide they might be, they line up directly with the open mouth and extend further forward than the mouth, making them a pretty huge impediment! but now the horns curve below the jaw and don't extend beyond it, so they're a lot less cumbersome! overall, this design and posing also makes so much better use of illustrative shape language, look at how little the body parts overlap each other! much cleaner. I appreciate the bony looking spines with minimal membrane between them, as opposed to the old version that just had the big sail fin on the neck for no reason. I kinda miss the striped coloration of the old one, but this new design is far more cohesively colored and so much more focused on really making it look like a black dragon, with nice subtle greens on the underside for that good ol fashioned countershading. I also like that the face is white to give it that skull-like vibe instead of shrinkwrapping the face to make it look like the underlying skull. overall, there is way less shrinkwrapping on the new design, it no longer feels like the skin has been vacuum sealed to the skeleton and musculature.

That said though, even considering the intention of making it look evil more than making it look like a real creature, why in the year 2024 are we still skimping on dragon wing membrane near the torso, making the wing fingers extend so far beyond the membrane, and adding random wing holes instead of making use of more interesting battle scars all over the body?

here is a very quick paint over to alter that and show how the design could just be tweaked a tiny bit and not lose any of its coolness while adjusting the things i have a pet peeve for

(image description: same as above, but now on the new black dragon design I have colored in the random holes in the wings, erased the overly extended wing fingers, and added more surface area to the wing membrane where it meets the body. end description)

could absolutely be done better, this was just my quick sloppy solution. even just adding a little more wing membrane would be good enough, I don't know why there is still this insistence on leaving such a massive gap between the body and the nearest wing finger. or leaving so much finger extended past the membrane. what are those fingers there for. why do they still have big claws. these dragons have proper forelegs, they clearly aren't using those big cumbersome wing hands for anything other than flying, and the thumb is perfectly useful as a gripping tool all by itself. the fingers only get extended like that for the Look, but i think there are other ways to make the wings look cool. like giving them interesting colors and patterns on the membrane! why not extend the facial coloring here to the wings? enhance the skeletal vibe by making the underside of the wing arms all pale, maybe put some striping on the membrane? that would be neat!

[eroticomens]

kraken/krakenpool lore dump under the cut :) 🩷🖤 i am not a marine biologist im just pulling shit outta thin air here

Species anatomy 

siphons vent underneath on either side to provide propulsion. They also serve as gills, so injuring them is a big risk 

Lungs much smaller than a humans used to quickly oxygenate blood when needed & allow them to survive in oxygen poor water/out of water

Two hearts to compensate for thick blue blood

anus is located in the center of the tentacles where a beak would be on an octopus

Cold blooded: body temperature depends on their environment/conditions. They retain heat from the sun or warm water for hours, but grow cold quickly 

Tentacles are highly sensitive and are capable of reacting without needing input from the kraken’s brain

Tentacles are used to investigate most things because they’re so sensitive to touch and taste

three fingers and one opposable thumb, stretchy webbing between each 

can survive any climate easily as long as there is food & water

They require high salinity to stay healthy. they can survive in freshwater, but not thrive

kraken can survive out of water for long periods of time if they’re kept damp, but will die within hours if left out to dry 

Squishy bodies, smooth but textured skin, very strong muscles 

Skeleton is similar to a human’s, with cartilage taking the place of many bones to allow greatly enhanced flexibility 

Capable of changing color and texture rapidly 

It's easy to tell when a kraken isn’t doing well because their colors will be pale and muted

Specialized organs in the throat that create unique and hypnotizing sounds, also capable of mimicking the cries of other creatures (including humans)

When it's unsafe to use sound, bioluminescence in the song organs and in a thin line along each tentacle can be used to communicate to others of its species, ward off predators, or lure prey in complete darkness 

“Siren song” is sort of like mind control or hypnotism 

Capable of regenerating whole limbs and surviving injuries that would be fatal to many creatures. Can be killed by severing the head, being left out of water, or destroying both hearts 

they are apex predators when fully grown, only humans pose a true threat to them 

can grow up to around 50 ft long, but it’s very rare that a kraken lives long enough and gets enough nourishment to grow this large. typically they don’t make it past 20 ft. 

The exact lifespan is unknown. the small number that make it to adulthood live about 50 years on average, but it is estimated they could survive hundreds of years in the right conditions

different adaptations can be observed based on where a kraken lives and its parents genetics 

behavior 

Fiercely territorial with large areas they patrol and defend

a single kraken can have multiple territories and may migrate between them based on the time of year or availability of food

Too competitive for their own good: they are not above cannibalism, and will often eat the young of other kraken if they find them to prevent others from passing on their genes 

calm creatures most of the time, but extremely violent when provoked (which isn't difficult due to being so territorial) or hunting

solitary creatures, they prefer complete isolation 

they do not have any sort of society or culture

extremely intelligent, capable of complex planning, using tools, and problem solving 

Capable of reaching speeds of around 40 MPH, perhaps even faster in very short bursts 

they prefer clear open waters paired with areas to hide when they want to

diet

Teeth are designed to shred muscle and saw through bone

Stomachs are designed to break down any organic material with strong stomach acid. They have a thick lining to prevent perforation by bones or spines

Carnivores, requiring raw protein to stay healthy 

They prefer large meals, sea mammals like seals are their favorite due to the high fat content 

They don’t seek people out but will eat them if the opportunity presents itself

They need to eat about the equivalent of their body weight in meat every week to stay in top condition, but can survive on far less

Young kraken rely heavily on ambush hunting, utilizing their camouflage and are often scavengers because they cannot afford to be picky eaters 

if young inexperienced kraken eat too many items that can’t be digested or passed through the digestive tract (such as human garbage), they could starve 

reproduction 

Very few kraken exist, maybe only a couple hundred or thousand 

All kraken are intersex

Internal genitals (penis) normally needs to be coaxed out with stimulation and the fold of the cloaca will open slightly when aroused sufficiently to reveal a deeper opening (vagina) 

There is no mating season, they are able to reproduce any time 

When two kraken run into each other, it’s either fuck or fight on sight

There is no romance, and courtship is often violent 

The stronger member of a mating pair will fertilize the smaller or less aggressive one

kraken will usually couple more than once 

on rare occasions a mating pair will switch positions to double the number of fertilized eggs but the more dominant of the pair normally isn’t willing to do this

2-3 weeks after fertilization, eggs are laid

Young are about the size of a baby mouse when soft eggs are laid, attached to a rock or other protective structure 

A parent will lay a hundred eggs or so, depending on the quantity and quality of sperm that fertilized them

The egg-laying parent will defend the eggs for a month or two, giving them the best chance at hatching that they can before abandoning them 

On occasion an egg-laying parent will stick around until the eggs hatch, normally if they’re large and strong enough to do so without worry

The fertilizing parent doesn’t feel any connection to its young and leaves shortly after mating, but will hang around and “cuddle” or tend to the wounds of the fertilized parent for up to a week. this is the most intimate thing they do

Young kraken often end up meals for other creatures before they even hatch because the eggs typically take over a year to hatch (12-16 months)

Young kraken are about the size of a newborn human when they hatch, often smaller

The young have to learn everything on their own. with no parents to teach them, they often don’t make it very long 

sharks and other large carnivores are a threat until the kraken are large and smart enough to defend themselves

Wade!!

Weirdly friendly and social for his species

neurodivergent, brain works very differently from the rest of his kind 

Suffers from extreme loneliness

Wants to be a mommy/daddy soooo bad like you have no idea

taught himself to speak by observing humans, mostly by listening to the radio 

speaks chunks of different languages, only picking up whatever he overhears, mostly from seafaring men 

Prefers to hunt humans, often luring people to their deaths just because he wants company 

Will sometimes initiate intercourse before eating his victims (it’s about a 50/50 chance)

Prefers warm water

Moods can change rapidly 

Plays with venomous creatures and gets high off the toxins because he is resistant to most

completely obsessed with the radio

Collects things from his kills that he finds interesting such as clothes, jewelry, and weapons 

Loves sparkly things, especially gold

Plays dress-up with his treasures 

Favorite part of a meal is bone marrow

Would be killed on sight by one of his own kind if they saw him with a human

Used to be bullied when he was smaller, but becomes a fierce predator 

20-ish years old when he’s chased up the river

about 10 feet long at his longest point (hunting tentacles) / about 18 ft long after he escaped the river and bulks up & becomes “The Kraken” (he is just below average size but makes up for it with attitude)

Will NOT submit willingly due to insecurity. If you wanna top him you’re gonna have to fight him about it. He would secretly like to be topped though :(

all accounts of kraken sightings by humans are probably Wade, seeing as others of the species don’t really care about humans 

amasses huge chunks of territory, clearly marked with clusters of shipwrecks along the ocean floor

[agoddamn]

Tales of Duviri is a storybook written by Euleria Entrati for the purpose of teaching children how to handle the manic flood of emotion that comes with Void exposure.

I pose a question: why does Euleria feel so strongly about this?

Her interactions with her own children are... let's call them wanting, and dialog implies that the negative aspects of their relationship--her denigrating, controlling nature, the distrust, etc--did not begin only after the Infestation brainrot set in.

We also know that she holds her father in extremely high esteem, but Albrecht did not think much of Tales of Duviri (see: him talking about his previous disdain for it in his own Duviri notes). Euleria put resources into writing Tales of Duviri instead of more traditional science, and Albrecht did not think much of it.

So why did Euleria write Tales of Duviri?

Let's rewind a step. Void exposure-induced mania, the whole thing Tales of Duviri is written to help manage.

How was that discovered and studied? It clearly was studied, enough to be a recognized condition and for the Orokin to build the iso vaults and for Euleria to write Tales of Duviri. But who would they have observed this mania in if Void research was an abandoned dead-end line of study?

Perhaps...the man obsessed with the Void who'd survived an unshielded Void dive?

Euleria had patient zero of Void mania sitting at her dinner table. Albrecht is the character who's undoubtedly had the most Void exposure.

Albrecht himself must have exhibited the Void mania and mood swings that Tales of Duviri exists to teach caution of.

And that's why Euleria wrote it; she had this gyroscope of a mood swing at home. She admired Albrecht too much to consciously deride his lack of control as irresponsible and so she channeled her energy into writing Tales of Duviri instead.

The emotion spirals of Duviri are loosely based off of what Euleria witnessed in the Entrati household and particularly Albrecht himself.

I don't believe that any courtier is a 1:1 translation of a member of the Entrati household, but more that their toxic interactions and dramatic heights reflected things that Euleria herself saw--or lived.

This reading of the Duviri characters and story--that they mean things to Euleria specifically--gives us a fun new lens to look at all of the chapters with.

For example, Mathila.

"Two children, and no memory of her husband. Poor Mathila."

Two children like Euleria herself, eh?

Mathila loved her husband. He also textually does not exist. He's not on the screen or in the text. He is a memory, and one that Mathila herself cannot even remember. There is no portrayal of their love.

Pivot to a writer's perspective. You need to write a loving relationship. You look to real life for inspiration, right? If you're a married woman needing to write a married woman in love, you naturally look to your own relationship.

And if you can't find anything to base that love off of? Well...move that character offscreen. Just tell about the loving relationship, don't show. Actually, do you even have anything to tell about? Well. Move the entire loving relationship offscreen, then. She's got amnesia. Nobody needs to talk about the love to sell it or make it feel real now. The narrator can simply mention it as a fact and it need not be challenged. Euleria doesn't have to imagine a loving family life between a husband and wife and their two children and question why that's hard for her. There. Problem fucking solved.

Another parallel that fairly started screaming at me once I started considering that the Duviri courtiers had meaning to Euleria specifically: Luscinia.

"I was created to be Sorrow, written into being, to serve as a lesson... can that change?"

Luscinia knows that she is a tool. As much as she dreams of being more, she knows very well that she is a tool--both a literal narrative element to teach a lesson and within the story itself Thrax's servant (his personal songbird).

Is there anyone in Euleria's life who might have some angst over their position as a tool? A servant who wants to escape the limited definitions of their role?

And so... here I am, back to my old role. The diligent servant. Albrecht would have smiled at that, I think.

Loid. It's Loid.

Luscinia: "This structure and I share much. Both of us once useful, both of us discarded, both of us now derelict. Both forgotten." Loid: "How might this relic make himself useful today?"

Both Luscinia and Loid are also capable of surprising amounts of ruthless violence. Luscinia has no hesitation telling you to kill the Dax or otherwise wreak vengeance on her jailers. Loid's Necramech lines feature him ranging from being excited for ensuing violence to coldly promising the Murmur regret.

The Duviri Tales were a subconscious form of therapy for Euleria herself as well, allowing her to write a story where emotional explosions were a problem that must be addressed rather than a social struggle to be suffered through at the whims of the more powerful.

[themusicintrovert]

Locked in Eternal Battle

Transcript: You can do this forever...

My favorite part of my art process is the color. Color can bring a piece to life, make it feel full. But...

It's hard to do that with a character that's just black and white! Since I've been mostly drawing Siffrin, my usual coloring process has become boring. Though, on the plus side, this makes me want to experiment more. I've been messing around with the tools in my art app (Infinite Painter) during my art process recently. That's how I got this piece. I used one of the charcoal tools for the shadows. I think it's called Glazed Vine. I don't remember what tool I used for the values on the cloak. It might have been the same tool, but I think it was different.

With using absolute black for Siffrin's design and the background, I had to outline the blacks with thin white line art. Though, with the lines being so thin, they were somewhat translucent. Whenever I had to use multiple strokes for a connected line, you could see everytime I lifted up my stylus. I tried to fix this by inking the lines multiple times. That fixed the problem, but that made the lines way too bright. So I looked at one of the lines that didn't need multiple attempts of line art, and I used my color picker on the line to get a light gray. Then I used the light grey to redo the bright white line art, and viola. Problem solved!

I had difficulty figuring out the pose and anatomy for this artwork. I probably should have searched up a reference, but meh. I think it turned out pretty good, anyways. I think I struggled with making the feet look like they're touching the ground, though. I suppose there could be more anatomy mistakes, but hey! Siffrin's cloak does a fantastic job at hiding any mistakes I could've made. Speaking of the cloak, I really like how it turned out! I think I did a good job with the cloak folds.

And that's basically all I have to say about this piece. Though, I want to mention that, for some reason, it's easier for me to draw anatomy and poses on paper than on my phone. I don't really know why that is. Maybe it's because I have more surface to draw on with my sketchbook?

Anyhow, I'll go ahead and add the initial sketch and a screenshot of my artwork in the middle of the coloring process.

I was originally planning on this piece being about Siffrin sacrificing himself for their friends, but I ended up changing that. I also had to change the hands. You can see that the hand holding Siffrin's dagger is wrong.

I added the mid-color screenshot because I just think it looks cool. It kinda reminds me of something that Julia from Drawfee would paint.

[toyota12]

Steven Universe Future: Volleyball (Monkey Morality Pose) Revisited (Part 1)

After gaining more perspective, I've decided to revisit my first post on this episode, and how it captures themes of generational trauma caused by the inability to step outside your own perspective to truly see yourself and others.

To start off, this promotional poster shows how Steven and the Pearls' coping mechanisms are failing themselves and each other. Pearl's attempts at suppression are blinding her to the pain Steven and Pink Pearl are going through. Steven's desperation to fix everything and avoid his own pain is causing him to hurt the very people he wants to help. Pink Pearl's attempts to downplay and focus on pleasing those around her have left her unable to truly see the distress of others. This also ties into why each character needs to break away from their own perspective in this episode. Not only can their survival strategies no longer hold, they are also hurting themselves and each other in the process.

Right away, the episode opens with a sequence of Steven healing the cracks of gems, while dressing up as a doctor.

(It's later revealed in "Snow Day" that this is the Kiss-It-Better clinic, where gems can go to Steven to fix the cracks on their gemstones)

This scene not only establishes how Steven has built his entire identity over being able to "fix" everything, it also shows how he unintentionally dehumanizes himself and others. By viewing himself in this way, Steven sees himself more as a tool whose only purpose is to solve others' problems, and others as the ones who only recieve his help, and not as those who can help him out too. Also, this sequence of Steven healing the cracks on gems presents the conflict of the episode, he doesn't know how to address internal wounds (which take a longer time to process and heal from), only external wounds (ones that have a quick and simple fix through his powers).

Pink Pearl's arrival after Steven heal the cracked quartzes serves to both demonstrate and challenge this idea, showing up on Steven's porch after hearing he could help her with the scar on her face.

(However, as the episode goes on, it's revealed that Pink Pearl is suffering through the same issue Steven is: A sense of self-worth that is tied to pleasing and trying to be perfect for others, even if it means undervaluing her own struggles.)

After Steven's first two initial attempts to heal the crack prove ineffective, he immediately goes to test his healing powers on a nearby bouquet to see if they still work.

This moment also shows how fragile Steven's identity has gotten by this point. Because he now sees himself as only a fixer, and not a person anymore, anything that challenges that notion would begin to unravel him since he doesn't believe he has any purpose or identity outside of this now self-imposed role.

Since Steven's can't use his healing power on Pink Pearl, he tries to find out how she was even scarred to begin with. He automatically assumes White Diamond must've done something to her (because at this point, he sees White as solely a villain, an external threat, someone to easily blame rather than the gem that shaped the entire system and toxic conditioning Steven and the gems (including his mother) have in the first place. Thus, it would be easier to accept her as the one to blame). However, when she reveals Pink Diamond was the one that had caused the scar, Steven (now in a state of panic) begins to glow pink, and Pink Pearl, who had been talking about her pain in a dismissive sort of way gasps in shock. This passage from Maya Petersen further explains, Pink Pearl's psychological state in the episode:

"The damage to Volley (or Pink Pearl) was accidental, but the pattern of behavior was something [Pink Diamond] consciously chose to repeat. You ever, like, live in daily fear of someone whose anger is really destructive? Maybe they haven’t attacked you in a long time - maybe they haven’t even directed their rage at you directly yet - but they yell and break enough stuff in your vicinity on a regular basis. Eventually, that perpetual state of alarm your body and mind are in, wondering when they’re eventually gonna come for you or hurt someone else, can take a psychosomatic toll."

In this moment, (while Steven was already not seeing other gems as those with own agency) both of them can no longer see each other as anything other than a projection of their own struggles.

(This ties into the theme of being trapped in your own perspective and not seeing others or yourself. Steven and Pink Pearl not only fail to see each other, but also fail to see themselves as people in pain). This idea is further compounded by their responses to each other immediately after this moment. While Pink Pearl tries to comfort Steven, and in a sense, try to keep him from being too stressed out (which would guarantee her safety), Steven shifts the focus back to her, now completely determined to fix her scar (which is his attempt to not only prove he can, but also how he's now incapable of just letting pain exist without opting to try and "fix" it, be it others' or his own, especially if it concerns his mother). And all this shows how both characters are now viewing each other only through a lens of what will help themselves, not selfishly, or apathetically, but out of fear.

Since both are too caught up in their own fears, they don't realize that what they're doing is only going to cause further harm not only to each other, but also themselves. And the transition to the beach where the titular game is being held shows that they won't be the only characters to not fully see each other or themselves.

As soon as Pearl notices the two, especially Pink Pearl, her response, is to percieve Pink Pearl as a threat. Not an actual one, but as a threat to what she believes to be true about herself, just like Steven (although both are doing this unconsciously rather than conciously acting on that perception), in this case, Pearl views Pink Pearl's presence as confirmation of the idea that she wasn’t the only Pearl to Pink Diamond, and therefore wasn't anymore special to than Pink Pearl. Due to this, the first thing that pops into Pearl's mind upon seeing Pink Pearl is to compete to prove she was special to Pink Diamond, losing sight of the help Pink Pearl (and Steven) need.

Though, like them, she tries to hide this under the guise of referring to the volleyball tournament, and deflecting to the dilemma that has been brought up: Steven's self-appointed mission to heal Pink Pearl's scar.

Before getting into that, Steven struggles when it comes to introducing the Pearls to each other due to how both of them are known as "Pearl" and suggests that they should give Pink Pearl a nickname to avoid confusion. When he suggests this however, Pink Pearl is reminded of her former diamond, again showing how she's seeing Pink Diamond reflected in Steven, though she means both the negative and positive aspects. (this also showcases how Pink Pearl is latching onto an incomplete interpretation of Pink Diamond, as the latter appears in silhouette rather than in her physical appearance).

This is further compounded when she tells Steven that he's just like Pink Diamond after he nicknames her "Volleyball (which Pearl snickers at).

Speaking of nicknaming Pink Pearl "Volleyball," this again, is due to Steven's problem of wanting to rush straight to the "solution," not wanting to stop to process anything, even for a moment. He chooses "Volleyball" as nickname simply because one hits him in the head, showing how it's given without any thought put to the matter. This scene also helps showcase how Steven doesn't realize his mindset is doing more harm than good, as he (without even realizing it) unintentionally named Pink Pearl after her situation with Pink and White Diamond (two Diamonds that hurt Pink Pearl due to being so focused on themselves to consider the impact they had on her, which can also describe Steven's own dynamic with Pink Pearl as well).

Going back to Pink Pearl telling Steven he's just like Pink Diamond and him denying it, it again showcases the flaws of both characters at the same time, and how neither are truly seeing each other or their problems. Pink Pearl is too caught up in her nostalgia of Pink Diamond to consider that she might be triggering Steven's identity crisis and fear of repeating his mother's mistakes, and Steven is too caught up in trying to rush a "solution" to Pink Pearl's scar that he brushes past how uncomfortable that comparison makes him feel and goes right into why he and Pink Pearl came to Pearl in the first place, not realizing that feelings of discomfort or fear are healthy to express.

Though, after Pearl assumes White Diamond was the cause for the scar (much like Steven had done earlier, which also showcases that much like with Steven, blaming White Diamond for causing harm like that is easier because both still see her as a villain and the source of harm (which White technically is), but becomes much harder to accept that Pink Diamond, someone who both know was capable of harm, but ultimately wanted to be different from the Diamonds, could leave lasting damage like that.), Steven glows pink for the second time in the episode, because he knows for a fact that Pink Diamond was the one that did it. During this moment, Pearl expresses concern for Steven, much like Pink Pearl had tried to do earlier. Even more telling is the fact that Steven only appears to come to himself after one of the uncorrupted quartzes goes flying across the area, which may either indicate how it's becoming harder to pull him out of this state, or that his pain is only growing to the point of overtaking him the longer he continues to suppress it.

Even after this, Steven is still determined to brush past it and jump into "fixing" Pink Pearl as he believes that's what will make everything better, a sentiment which he echoes later on in The Reef, though now, Steven is more noticeably agitated and frantic, which already shows how his attempts to keep himself together are failing, even before his breakdown in the Care Center.

Though, before heading to the Reef once it's brought up, Pearl and Pink Pearl have a passive aggressive exchange with each other, showing how they are each starting to have a breakdown of their own as well, which they do in front of Steven. Already showing how they've come to see each other not as Pearls who were hurt by the same Diamond, but as rivals who must compete to prove who knew Pink Diamond (which will later devolve into who's traumatic experience and pain from Pink Diamond is more real), and how they don't see how the impact of their actions on Steven would further drive him to assume that going going to the Reef and "fixing" their pain and his own is going to make everything better.

As soon as the group arrives at the the Reef, Steven does take a moment to inquire about it being the place where Pearls are made. Though, after Pink Pearl mentions how it served as a place to refurbish and repair Pearls, Steven jumps back into "fixer" mode and goes to activate the Reef without a second thought upon hearing the word "repair." This creates a particular problem though, Steven is latching onto the idea that the Reef could "fix" Pink Pearl's scar like it's a lifeline to grap onto (because to Steven it is. "fixing" her is what Steven believes is going to fix himself, again showing how he views pain of any kind as a problem to be solved, not something to embrace or sit with (which the audience will get hints as to why that is the case even though the characters, including Steven himself, won't)), again not stopping to consider that he's activating the very system that hurt them all in the first place.

This moment also hints at the Pearls' passive aggressive rivalry as well since both of them explain to Steven their knowledge on the Reef (which Pearls seem to pride themselves on, being the gems who can serve as informational guides to others, especially their superiors), not stopping to ask if whether they should actually use it, or even if it can actually help due to being so caught up in their rivalry, much like how Steven is caught up in his idea of what healing should look like to pause (so really, no one wants to take a moment to pause and assess the situation they're walking into), which is going to be what nearly does them all in as the episode goes on.

As soon as Steven activates the system, it initially recognizes him as Pink Diamond due to Steven being the current possessor of her gemstone. Steven, visibly uncomfortable by this, corrects it by telling it his real name. This is done not only because Steven's annoyed by the comparison, but again, he doesn't want to think of himself as someone who could cause the kind of damage Pink Diamond did. (It also foreshadows very early on, that it can't really help the group with their problems, be it Pink Pearl's scar, the Pearls' rivalry, or Steven's identity crisis. Only they can help themselves because the Reef was built for cosmetic fixes, not addressing psychological problems).

After the correction, the system introduces itself as Shell (an AI designed to guide higher ranking gems and the Pearls through the Reef. After Steven explains that the group had come in search of a solution to Pink Pearl's scar, which Steven refers to as a crack, Shell guides them towards the direction of the Care Center.

Before going in, Pink Pearl (again trying to keep Steven from being too stressed out and not wanting to impose a burden on him, due to how gems, Pearls especially, are supposed to be selflessly devoted to their superiors, which both she and Shell see Steven as), downplays her own pain, calling it a trivial concern Steven shouldn't have to waste his time with. However, Steven (still wanting to prove to himself that he can fix anything and again showing his unwillingness to let pain be, be it his own or others) tells her that it's not trivial and that they will soon be able to put the past behind them, showing how he still believes that this is going to make them feel better.

However, the fact that Pearl takes Pink Pearl's hand and condescendingly tells the latter that she'll be holding it as soon as Steven heads in, as if Pink Pearl hadn't already expressed that she's older than Pearl, and the fact that Steven and Pink Pearl have this exchange at all already shows again that this approach was never going to actually to help anyone, not the Pearls, not even Steven himself. (It should be noted that at this point, all three of them are now clinging onto the roles they believe they still need in order to cope. Steven as the fixer, Pink Pearl as the pleaser, and Pearl as the superior one, which also reveals another reason why no one can really connect with each other in this moment. They are all, in a way, putting an emotional barrier between each other out of fear that is disguised as selflessness).

As the three head into the Reef. Pink Pearl wanders off to explore the accessories on display. Meanwhile, Steven asks Pearl if she has any nostalgic feelings of her own, which she denies not only out of discomfort, but out of fear of vulnerability, which Steven also tries to do by inquiring of Pearl's feelings about being in the Reef rather than questioning that maybe they're not on the same page as each other as they would like to think. Which is further visualized as both Pearls briefly separate from Steven during this scene.

The Pearls' rivalry, as well as everyone's coping strategies, intensify as Pink Pearl's attention is drawn to a ribbon wand Pearl notices in the scene. Upon seeing it, Pink Pearl summons her own and reveals it as gift from Pink Diamond. She then asks Pearl what Pink Diamond gave her, likely as a point of comparison or to point out how Pink Diamond never gave Pearl anything like that (it also showcases, much like Pearl and Steven, Pink Pearl is also looking for validation that the type love she recieved from others in the past wasn't transcational on what she could do). Visibly annoyed by this and still trying to come across as the superior pearl, Pearl tries to snatch it out of Pink Pearl's hand saying that there's no need to hold onto things like that. Meanwhile, Steven, still trying to maintain his self-imposed role as the fixer and not wanting to sit with this discomfort (again locked into the mindset of fix instead of feel), walks up and asks if they can just go on into the Care Center. Speaking of the aforementioned part of Pink Pearl struggling to be seen as who she really is and masking it behind a performative role, Steven and Pearl, struggle with the same issue, but the reason none drop their defenses is because they believe they're alone in the struggle, further showcasing how the inability to see each other is becoming a prison that's trapping them into assuming they have to keep playing their parts in order to survive with each other.

Pearl agrees, not only because she's fed up with being in the Reef, calling a "circus of objectification," but also calling attention to how suffocating playing their roles have become without realizing it. Believing that if they just get the situation over with, everything will be over soon. Again, the real source of conflict between them is that they don't have to keep playing their roles to begin with, only that they think they do, calling attention to why the episode is called "Volleyball" in the first place, aside from Steven nicknaming Pink Pearl that. Steven and the Pearls are playing this metaphorical game with each other, thinking that one of them has to win out in the end in order to survive (also deconstructing the game in the first place since it requires teamwork to win) when what they really need is to stop playing altogether. However, the exasperated expression Steven has on face shows how he believes he's above this "game" in terms of who's perspective is going to win out, not in an arrogant sort of way, but due to genuinely believing this is the case. Steven thinks he's caught in the middle of the Pearls' conflict over their differing perspectives when he's really just as desperate to have his perspective win out as they are.

As Steven and Pink Pearl move to follow Pearl into the Care Center, their facial expressions change from genuine glances to performative smiles. This calls back to their interaction at the beginning which called back to why Steven wanted to "fix" Pink Pearl in the first place, they can't see each other as anything other than a projection of their own internal struggles. Steven still sees Pink Pearl's scar as everything he fears about himself (he can't fix everything, maybe he's not enough on his own if he can't, and he's not so different from his mother as he would like to believe). Meanwhile, Pink Pearl still sees Steven as a reflection of everything she adores and fears about Pink Diamond (seeing Pink Diamond's powers, her knack of nicknaming things, and her volatile emotions in him). What neither realizes is that this is going to build to a point where it will be made undeniably clear that they were never truly seeing each other at all.

The group finally arrives at the Care Center to complete their objective of "fixing" Pink Pearl's scar, and this is where everything that has been building up during the episode (the Pearls' rivalry, the groups' collective coping strategies by playing their roles, this game between them, their collective inability to pause and assess the situation they're walking into, their need to a rush a solution, and the inability to truly see other or themselves) comes to a head.

To start off, as soon as Pink Pearl steps on the platform in the center of the room and the system scans her, Shell tells them there's nothing she can do to help with Pink Pearl's scar. The moment begins to unravel Steven as he tries to protest in desperation, pointing how Shell explained that she could fix any Pearl. However, Shell goes on to explain that Pink Pearl's problem isn't a physical ailment, but rather a symptom of psychosomatic trauma (as in mental harm manifested as a physical scar).

Pink Pearl's reaction switching from confused to devasted shows how much like Steven (and very soon after this, Pearl), Pink Pearl doesn't want to accept that Pink Diamond left lasting damage on her psyche. This is further demonstrated when she turns towards Steven and Pearl and insists that she's fine. However, as she does so more cracks spread on her face, making it clear that she's not.

As this happens, Pearl, repeating her assumption that White Diamond was responsible for scarring Pink Pearl, wonders aloud how she could be so careless when it came to Pink Pearl being damaged. However, when Pink Pearl tells Pearl Pink Diamond hurt, Pearl in a state of disbelief approaches Pink Pearl to confront the latter on what she just said, leaving Steven alone on the side of the room while Steven himself (still in fixer mode) tries to stop Pearl, and it's at this moment where all three characters begin to unconsciously mirror the very dynamic that caused Pink Pearl to be scarred in the first place. This is because none of three engage emotionally with the implications of the story Pink Pearl is about to bring up, not even Pink Pearl herself.

Pink Pearl: It's a funny story, really. Once, Pink got tired of asking Yellow and Blue for her own colony, so she went straight to White. Of course, White told her she wasn't fit to run one, and, well, that set her off.

To fully understand this dialogue, it's worth taking into account that Pink Diamond's constant requests and pestering the other Diamonds for a colony wasn't because she was entitled or even that she really wanted a colony, rather it was her way of articulating that what she really wanted was to be treated like she was an equal among the other three Diamonds, which both she and they never understood as such, especially White Diamond (who viewed Pink Diamond as nothing more than a tantrum throwing child). When White told Pink Diamond she wasn't fit to run a colony, it was because White genuinely believed that to be the case rather than it being cruelty for its own sake, as the problem with White Diamond is that she believes her perspective on reality is the only correct one. As such, she never stopped to consider how she came across to Pink Diamond when she said that.

The reason to bring this up is because this is exactly what occurs throughout the scene, once again someone assumes that wanting something external is going to fix their internal problems and focus so much on that and themselves that they inadvertently hurt someone in the process: in this case Steven assumes if he can just fix everything concerning his mother for the Pearls, he'll not only prove to himself that he is different, but also how he'll be shown as the perfect savior for them due to having ridden himself and them of their pain. However, what he really needs is to seen for how flawed and vulnerable he really is and know that he doesn't have to perfect to be worthy of their loved (nor does he have to try to fix their problems for them). Meanwhile, once again, the elders in the situation ignore what the younger figure is really trying to express due to trying to assert their perspective as being correct, and not seeing them. In this case: the Pearls ignore Steven to argue about whose experience with Pink Diamond was more valid or more true. (The reverse can also apply where what each of the Pearls really want is to prove their pain was valid and externalize that desire through the argument they have, but Steven, caught up in the desire to help everyone stop hurting, unintentionally invalidates their experiences and pain, as well as his own, with the promise of fixing it due to taking that desire to an unhealthy extreme.)

Another thing to bring up about this scene is, given the insight from Maya Petersen that Pink Diamond vented her emotions in a destructive way around Pink Pearl on a regular basis and Pink Pearl's own description of Pink Diamond doing so as well, Pink Pearl may been a lot like Steven himself. She, like him, may have tried to maintain this image of being fine around Pink Diamond and prioritized her feelings out of combination of a genuine desire to please her former Diamond and also, again, because it's what gems (Pearls especially) are expected to do for their superiors. The scenario Pink Pearl's describing may been the last time Pink Diamond reacted in a such a destructive way because that was the point where she could no longer keep up the facade of being fine since her physical form could no longer take internalizing her struggles for others no matter how much Pink Pearl wanted to do so (again, much like Steven himself will showcase seconds after this). This is also shown with the way the scar or the "crack" spreads throughout this scene as she talks about her story.

Altogether, this scene is a warning of what happens when people fail to consider the impact their actions have on others due to focusing on their intentions. (Steven's intention to fix is causing him to invalidate the Pearls' pain without realizing it, Pearl's intention to defend Pink Diamond are causing her to ignore the suffering Steven and Pink Pearl are currently experiencing, and Pink Pearl's intention to paint a rose-tinted version of Pink Diamond is causing her to ignore the uglier parts of who her Diamond was, which is why Steven and Pearl are greatly distressed in this scene). There is also a warning to be had if one assumes their perspective defines reality without taking into account that one is not an informed as they like to think they are (Steven sees every new piece of information he learns about Pink Diamond as a reason to prove he's better than her, Pearl sees the fact that Pink Diamond wanted to be different than the other Diamonds a reason to defend her against what she assumes are Pink Pearl's accusations, and Pink Pearl herself sees the fact that Pink Diamond didn't intend to hurt her as a reason to deny how she never felt safe around her Diamond during her own outbursts, and altogether, everyone's own perspectives of Pink Diamond are causing them to deny the equally valid parts of her that the other brings up).

Steven, overwhelmed not only by the conflicting narratives of his mother the Pearls have, but also by his own pain, which he's been ignoring and trying to suppress up until this point, begins to glow pink for the third time during this episode. This is also the ultimate embodiment of the idea of what it means to be trapped in your own perspective in addition to it being a trauma response: You can't see others clearly and you can't even see yourself clearly anymore. In this case, Steven has internalized the Pearls' perspective of his mother, not as a fragmented version of their experiences, but as an indictment of him since he doesn't understand they're fragmented and during this scene the only thing Steven can focus on is his intense overwhelming need to make the pain stop, and is now trying to force a fix to the situation, which ultimately explains why he wanted to "fix" Pink Pearl in the first place (aside from genuinely wanting to). Steven believed if he did so, it would also "fix" his own identity crisis (going back to the idea where he believes something external is going to fix internal problems, much like how his mother thought having a colony would fix hers).

This is also the culmination of the "game" Steven and the Pearls have been playing with each other up until this point. The argument itself was the Pearls' way of trying to have one of their perspectives win out to hold onto their version of Pink Diamond, while Steven's breakdown and drive to "fix" everything in this scene is his way of trying to have his perspective win out to not only prove he's not like Pink Diamond, but that he's ultimately better than her.

However, after everything explodes (both literally and metaphorically), everyone is forced to come to terms with the truth that not only do none of them fully understand who Pink Diamond was or even the fact their experiences are filtered through their unresolved emotions about her, their actions have caused them to hurt each other without intending to, much like how Pink Diamond had done to Pink Pearl in the first place.

Furthermore in this context (going back to what each character hoped to happen through their actions), this is also moment where Steven and the Pearls lose the "game" they've been playing up until this point, and the first "crack" in Steven's belief that he can see things or others objectively.

(Continued in Part 2)

[avesgrayson]

I think it'd be so funny for Damian to have a pet crow. That shit would be amazing

Ever heard the stories of people befriending crows who them proceed to bring them gifts and/or attack perceived threats? I imagine that Damian would have a fuckin blast with that. Plus, crow friends!! They're super smart!!!!

Just imagine him hiding a whole flock in a barn or something, maybe opening his window a few times a day to allow them in/out of his room. Alfred is fully aware of their little friends, how could he not? The mass amounts of caws and wing flaps are pretty obvious. (He takes to preparing small treats for the birds with Damian's help, teaching him how to properly make them and what is/isn't safe for them to eat)

Batman and co. are just wondering if it's some kind of omen that Robin patrols with a steadily growing flock of birds around him. And why sometimes it sounds like there are multiple Robins laughing at once (mimicry my beloved)

As for the crows, I'm abt to be an animal nerd below real quick. It includes some fun fact about corvids abilities if anyone is interested in writing something lol (if you do and need someone to help do research PLEASE LMK!!!)

So, first things first is that birds are smart. A lot smarter than people people tend to give them credit for! When people think smart animals they don't immediately think of birds. (Well, okay, more people are slowly learning how smart they are)

They think of primates and maybe the octopus studies about them being super smart. Of course people know some birds are smart, at least enough to be able to mimic voices and sounds. But not many realize that birds often actually understand the meaning of what they're saying. They learn association, risk and rewards based on various tasks, they learn and remember.

Corvids in general are one of the smartest species of bird! They're able to construct TOOLS!! This is something only ever seen in humans and great apes¹ (e.g. gorillas). Not just that, but they can remember people who are safe versus those that pose a threat,² and can remember peoples faces³. They're super fucking smart, and can be mean little bastards when they want to.

Crows are able to communicate through social means about safe people versus threats⁴, which is why some people start off feeding one or two crows and it turns into a whole murder of them. It's been shown that they're smarter than some minor primates, and can problem solve successfully!!

It's not a far stretch to assume one can teach them tricks. Fuck, dude, people forget crows and ravens are able to mimic sounds! [Here] is a fun little blog post that goes into more depth about corvids mimicry.

Sources:

¹Bayern, A.M.P.v., Danel, S., Auersperg, A.M.I. et al. Compound tool construction by New Caledonian crows. Sci Rep 8, 15676 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-33458-z

²John M. Marzluff, Jeff Walls, Heather N. Cornell, John C. Withey, David P. Craig. Lasting recognition of threatening people by wild American crows. Animal Behaviour, Volume 79, Issue 3, 2010, Pages 699-707, ISSN 0003-3472, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.12.022.

³John M. Marzluffa, Robert Miyaoka, Satoshi Minoshima, and Donna J. Cross. Brain imaging reveals neuronal circuitry underlying the crow’s perception of human faces. PNAS, vol. 109, no. 39, 2012, pages 15912–15917, http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1206109109.

⁴Heather N. Cornell, John M. Marzluff, and Shannon Pecoraro. Social learning spreads knowledge about dangerous humans among American crows. 29 June 2011. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.0957