#listen. Listen.

[demaparbat-hp]

Izumi of Jang Hui died young. She was sixteen and unwed. A kind child, protective and lonely—thus unfit for this world.

Izumi of Jang Hui was murdered. The Painted Lady was born out of hatred and grief. Her skin is painted red with the patterns of her scars. Her home is the river where the Dark Water Spirit dwells—he who found her, drowned and beautiful.

Build shrines by the river and pray for her good will. Harm her land or people and pray for mercy.

[miniimerry]

I know people looooove to insinuate that Zoro doesn’t like Usopp because of Water 7, but I am coming to Zoro’s defense on this (not how you think!). Usopp and Luffy were both acting and reacting based on very heightened emotions. Usopp was utilizing a very common tactic— hurt before you get hurt. Not his best moment, but I think it’s understandable under the circumstances. Luffy, because he’s stubborn and also a little bratty, then countered with a classic baby brother tactic— when they go low, you go lower. The problem with this is that they aren’t just playing in the backyard. People have left their homes and families to follow Luffy. They’re fugitives. The government wants them dead. In normal circumstances, they’d fight and ignore each other and make up. But they can’t do that in this situation because it’s not a game. Zoro was trying to get the two of them to see that. Luffy may be silly. He may be lighthearted and carefree, but he is the captain on their very real pirate crew. There is no time for petty strife. If you quit, you have to mean it. If you remove someone, you also have to mean it. By the time their fight comes around, both Luffy and Usopp already regret their choices and want to just move on, but Zoro forces BOTH of them to face this discomfort and play through it so that they both understand the weight of their choices.

THAT BEING SAID!!!!!!!!! It’s not like Zoro was like “and FUCK that Longnose”… he was the first one of the Romance Dawn trio to ask Usopp to join them. He knows Usopp’s got a big heart. He knows what Usopp brings to the table, even if Usopp doesn’t. He was LIVID when he saw what Franky had done to Usopp!!! But he’s also been around. He’s a famous bounty hunter. For quite a while he was the most famous person on the crew. He’s probably seen tons of crews and watched their dynamics and understands that hierarchy exists for a reason. If you’re following someone without conviction, you’re risking your life every day for someone who can’t stand on his own morals. They can’t afford to do that. And it seems like in these ‘Zoro Hates Usopp’ arguments, they very often leave out the fact that Zoro told Luffy that if he didn’t stand by his choices, he’d leave the crew, too. He was just telling them to stand on the business they’d put out into the world, which I think is a perfectly fair stance to have. We all know that Zoro takes the words he says and the words others say very seriously. This is an extension of that. But it doesn’t mean he hates Usopp or Luffy. He just recognized that if they’re all allowed to hop on and off the crew, and if they’re not able to articulate their feelings without being mutinous, they were doomed to fail.

(I’m going to pause here to acknowledge that Zoro treated Sogeking in the same way that he’s always treated Usopp. They cut up together and he still takes care of him in his own weird way and he trusts him as a crew member. Think about how he treated Robin when he wasn’t sure about her. He didn’t do that here!! It was like “old times”. He still viewed him as a member of the crew.)

And THEN!! AND THEN!!!!! When Sanji tells everyone that he overheard Usopp’s rehearsals and that he intends to come back to the crew, Zoro still says that Usopp needs to apologize to their captain. Because he’s. You know. The captain. Mutiny is a serious action. You can’t just not acknowledge it. It needs to be faced. And Zoro is all hardass about it like “if the first thing he says isn’t an apology we’re leaving him” and then what does he do? He pretends he can’t hear him not apologizing. Usopp goes on for a while, and he pretends he can’t hear anything. And then as soon as Usopp apologizes, he smiles!!! Because he knows it means Usopp is coming home!!!!!!

And I know. I can already hear it. “Well, why didn’t he just not insist on that stuff???” Because the crew needed to figure out that behaving that way had the potential to cost them in ways that are uncomfortable! Yes, we don’t see Luffy doing the same. But I think it’s important to note that they are a crew and there’s essentially only one actual assigned role and that’s Luffy’s role as captain. Even if his decision is stupid they need to follow it. That’s the choice they’ve made. And they can be kind of loosey goosey in every regard except that one. Because if his final say means nothing, that could have catastrophic consequences for everyone. Plus, as readers, we get to see Luffy’s discomfort and remorse plenty. He weeps and tells Zoro that accepting the duel is hard and he hates it and Zoro basically tells him he has to lie in the bed he’s made for himself or he isn’t fit to be captain. And Luffy clearly felt very uncomfortable with the fact that his knee jerk reaction may have cost him his bestie/brother/playmate. He couldn’t even smile convincingly about the prospect of leaving Usopp behind. He felt a level of regret that I’m not sure we see him feel again. I think Zoro put them through their paces pretty equally. Zoro saw Luffy regret his choice and forced him to stand by it, which is his job as a captain. And he insisted that Usopp apologize for his choice, which is his job as a crew member.

Zoro’s intent wasn’t to take sides. He wasn’t operating under the belief that the captain is the only one that can be right. He was trying to get all of them to understand that exploding, quitting, and coming back without acknowledging the source of strife is not a sustainable method of communication for a crew. If they can’t hash it out and own their mistakes or mean what they say, they can’t fully trust each other. And they need a captain with a clear vision. There’s no room for wavering unless they’re ready to lose their lives.

And Usopp comes back and he’s still clinging to Zoro and climbing on him and using him as a shield, so I think they’re just fine.

[sassypantsjaxon]

Sometimes I think about the sun god finding Law alone in the cold

[beannoss]

Hmmm

114.1:

and 114:

and also 103:

Still fully anticipating a Yor arc upcoming and the maths are mathing, is what I'm saying

(More seriously, it gave me vibes from 58.2 when Twilight and Bond save Daisy the pup from the fire, and Twilight gives his "You have to take care of yourself because there's someone waiting for you at home" speech - more specifically to the theory that 58.1-58.2 are the concluding chapters for the Cruise Arc*, and so is in direct dialogue with Yor's speech "Even if it means living a life that could end at any moment... even if it means leaving the Forger family," recommitment to self-sacrifice... Do you see the dots?)

*I alas don't have access to this theory: I read it summarised somewhere (reddit?) that it's a popular theory on the Japanese side of fandom and haven't been able to shake it since. But if anyone has links, pls drop 'em!

[sheepdotpng]

peepaw jogo ft. baby mahito (they found him in a wet cardboard box all alone)

[feddy-34]

[atthebell]

i just think that

[sci-the-superb]

its almost 3am

[a-guy-named-e]

sometimes. sometimes. an aroace character in a loving and fulfilling relationship with an allo partner. where they do all the normal intimacy and its okay because they know each other and they care about each other and they are so deeply familiar with each other's needs and wants and boundaries and they just. they trust each other over and over again. is a thing that can be so personal actually.

[somegrumpynerd]

I’m a responsible adult who’s good with money

[shivunin]

Hey! 7 or 16 for the Rook story time prompts!

Hey! Thank you so much!!

For 16. Rook falling in love for the first time:

(prompts)

On Love and Its Definitions

(Rook Ingellvar/Lucanis (and past Ingellvar/OC) | 1,248 Words | CW: Mention of corpses, suggestive intro)

The heat always took her by surprise—the heat of a living person’s skin against her own, hands lifting to touch her, lips against her cheek. 

Ingellvar had grown too used to the cold rigidity of corpses, the waxy sheen their skin took on when they’d been dead too long. But this—for someone who had gone most of her life without being touched by anybody, this was a revelation. 

Edeline was already unbuttoning Lenore’s shirt, nimble fingers dancing over her starched shirt and below, tracing the edge of her underthings with the tip of her fingernail. Lenore couldn’t pull her mouth away long enough to speak, but if she’d been able to she might’ve told the other woman to slow down. They had all night, after all. They slept only a few feet and a thin wall apart from each other and nobody was going to interrupt.

There was no need to rush; they could’ve made it to one of their beds instead of doing this on the settee. Edeline never seemed to care about these facts.

“You were late again,” she said, mouth dragging over Lenore’s lips and lower, where her throat met her jaw. “I was waiting for hours.”

“I—have my practical Tuesday,” Lenore said, and parted her legs readily when Edeline pressed her knee between them. “Had to finish—I needed to—mph.”

Heat—skin touching her skin. Ah, she never felt as alive as she did when this was happening. It was foolish, she knew; the late nights, her increasing lack of focus on her coursework, and—and everything else. She was putting her future at risk by doing this, but it felt so good. She was drunk on it, tilting her head away so Edeline could press her teeth into the soft skin of her throat. 

Touch me, she wanted to say, touch me, touch me—but she was already being touched, hands sliding over her ribs to her hips, sliding off her shirt until it trapped her shoulders in place. 

“I was all alone,” Edeline went on, drawing back to tie her long hair back, “waiting for you.”

She was beautiful. Disastrous, but beautiful. Lenore stared up at her for a moment, eyes wide, and wondered: Is this love? It was difficult to know. She’d never loved anything but the Necropolis, had never been loved by anybody but Grief, so much as the embodiment of mourning could love somebody it hadn’t lost. 

“I want you,” Edeline went on, bending once more to her. 

Was it love? She didn’t know. The heat against her skin, the breath catching in her lungs—that had to be love, didn’t it?

Yes, she decided as she lifted her head to kiss her roommate again. This is probably love. 

|

“Rook? Do you need to go?” 

Lucanis’s soft voice roused Lenore, who sat on the cot in his room. His hand brushed her elbow, finding bare skin at her forearm below. If he had touched her arm with lightning, it would not have electrified her more. 

“No,” she told him, dragging her eyes open. “No. I’m awake.”

“It isn’t the best place to sleep,” he told her, the corner of his mouth lifting. “Not that I have tried to do so very often myself. You would be tired in the morning.”

Lenore smiled and stretched her neck one way and then the other. Dozing in this position had been a dreadful idea. Her neck already hurt from a few minutes of it; surely a whole night of it would make tomorrow a nightmare. Still…it was tempting, just to have an excuse to stay. 

“I will still be here in the morning,” he told her, his voice still soft. 

His eyes lingered on her face, her mouth. She wondered what it would be like to kiss him. They hadn’t done that, though he’d made his interest clear. Their near-kiss in this room was the closest they’d gotten. She found she didn’t mind as much as she might’ve expected. Something about being near him made it difficult to question. 

“Promise?” she asked. 

“You have my word,” he told her, the corner of his mouth twitching again. Leaning back against the wall while they’d been talking had mussed the back of his hair slightly. It was…endearing, she decided. She’d never seen his hair messy like this before. 

“You will sleep better in your own bed,” he added after a moment. They were so close. She could kiss him right now. She could lean forward right now and—

“It’s generous to call it a bed,” she told him and stood, stretching her back, “but I take your point.” 

“I will walk you to the door,” he said. 

“Bodyguard duty now, too?” she asked, opening the door to the pantry. Nobody was in the dining room beyond. Fortunate. “Overachiever.”

“Yes—I won’t charge you extra for it.”

Lenore laughed. She might’ve thought of something to say in response to that, but his hand found hers as they passed the table and any thought fled immediately from her mind. 

His hands were so warm. That made sense, of course. She’d felt his hands before. He’d helped her up when she’d fallen in combat and passed her dishes at the table, among other things.

But he hadn’t ever held her hand before. He held it loosely now, as if ready to let go at any moment. It was difficult to hold very still and walk at the same time, but she tried it anyway. Anything to hold onto this moment a little longer. Could he tell that she’d slowed down? It was such a short distance to the door. She didn’t think she could drag it out terribly long, but…

“Thank you,” she told him. “For spending time with me tonight, I mean.” 

“I could say the same to you.”

Drat. Here was the door already. 

“Here,” he said, swinging the door open.

Beyond, the Fade looked more or less like it always did. There was no night here. That had certainly taken some getting used to. 

“See you in the morning?” she said. His thumb ran over her knuckles, touching each in turn. 

“Mm,” he said, and lifted her hand to his lips. 

Lucanis kissed her, lips brushing against the scar over her third knuckle. It was hardly any contact at all, but he may as well have driven a blade through it for all the shock she felt. 

Oh, she thought. Oh, dear. 

“Goodnight, Rook,” he said, and she took three steps through the open doorway before she could think of anything to say in return. 

“Goodnight, Lucanis,” she told him. He ducked his head and closed the door behind her. She was left blinking at the too-bright world beyond. 

Before her, skeleton lovers embraced, the statue towering over the courtyard. The Caretaker had replaced a wolf statue with it one day when she’d been sleeping. It was almost precisely the same as the one she’d tended for years in the Necropolis. It seemed like a sign somehow that it was standing before her now. 

No matter how long Lenore stared at the statue, it offered no guidance. 

“Oh, dear,” she said, because it was all she could think. 

Exhaling shakily, she raked her shorn locks back from her face and stumbled down a set of floating stairs toward her room. A fierce fullness in her chest, a song under her skin, a heat in her cheeks—that’s what love felt like. 

If nothing else, she supposed it was good to finally know.

[starheirxero]

Multiverse's most mentally stable Sun

He's fine 😁 (lie)

[riveracheron]

as above, so below

[ladysqueakinpip]

have some leo and splinter memes in these trying times

the last 4 pics are based on [this video] where this news reporter's supposed son kisses him on air

do not tag as ship ~ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

[a-drama-addict]

me dragging this drawing along with me: THIS TOO IS YURI