#this is such a fun topic though

[remnantofstars]

Would love to know more about how the apparanticeships work. Well the education system in general and what changes uve done. I don't mind waiting if ur planning to elaborate on it later :D

Hehe hiii here to answer your question! Here's what I mentioned about it in the chapter, just to do a small recap.

Apprentices can be like TA’s. Either they’re trying to get an extra study in, get tutelage under a specific teacher’s expertise for their own study, want to become a teacher for that specific class and or become an official teacher’s assistant.

Apparently the boy was really into spell research, and he was good with defensive magic and attacking magic. He was considering going into dueling, and maybe doing an apprenticeship under Filius next year for it. Since the dueling environment was competitive and strict he needed more experience. But it wasn’t the only thing he was considering doing, the kid was so very ambitious.

He wanted help developing, researching and making spells. He wanted to help tutor the younger students or take over classes, not first years, Kent admitted that younger kids were oftentimes a bit intimidated by him so he’d rather work with second or third years. He also confessed he felt a bit terrified to be an adult influence on small kids like that, and second and third years weren’t so green eared, and most would at least be a bit familiar with him now. He wanted to see if he could get extra credit for university so that if he settled on going there first he’d at least have what he needed for it.

This was all on Apprenticeships, which kinda lets it show it's literally whatever the student needs it to be. It's an extra year someone can choose to do to either study more on the subject from a specific teacher, get more knowledge in, get points for doing it for uni, helping them with their own independent research, or becoming a TA/get experience in teaching in case they want to become a professor in the chosen subject. Apprenticeships are discussed between the professor and the student and made into whatever is needed, hence why Dakota had to sit down with Kent for an entire year syllabus and why its still flexible in case the student changes their mind on what they need! They get two hours a week to sit down with a professor to do what is needed and then have their own schedule, some people take classes at uni, some use that time to research on their own or work on their own projects, or just do TA stuff. This wasn't really something mentioned in canon, I think at least haha. Further changes! Well,, I can't spoil much but there IS an extra class (and a future one hehe but not relevant right now) based on helping every first year with getting familair with the wizarding world, its laws and stuff like that. This gets optional AFTER the first year. More on the introduction class! Mentioned in chapter 10 I believe.

He thinks he remembers someone mentioning there was an introduction guide class to wizarding society? But it was open to all houses and mainly for first years? He’s not sure. He doesn’t remember it from canon, and Tom certainly didn’t seem to know about it. Maybe it was a newer class? If it even was a class. Someone definitely mentioned it, but he doesn’t quite remember when, so it was probably at one of the breakfast’s he had attended and before he had his coffee.  He thinks he remembers it was someone’s job? It wasn’t his and that’s all he knew about it. 

Also what Dakota had to say about it in chap 12

There was a lot of shifted education because of everything, almost all students went into apprenticeships to get where they needed to go. University was for those who wanted to have a mastery in a subject, not necessarily work in the field. Magical universities were also open to the world, most British students went abroad to study in the university suited to their chosen mastery. 

Which yeah we got uni's! Sooo fun hehe. Uni's really for mastering stuff. Hogwarts is right now too underfunded to get any more classes unfortunatly </3 but that's also kinda why Apprenticeships and uni's exist! Apprenticeships also exist outside of Hogwarts! Not that Dakota knows that XD but it's very common! Any student can ask anyone who is a master at their craft to study under them for a specified amount of time, unfortunatly this doesn't mean that the person would accept. This is why Apprenticeships are more common at Hogwarts! Since the professors don't really refuse any students that want one. It's still not very common for students to chose a Apprenticeships at Hogwarts though, most people immediatly dive to whatever job they want or directly go to uni abroad. Or other boring things I won't mention :D

That's all for now hehe >:D

[gothtarrare]

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!

We, collectively as a society, NEED to return to making weird freak ass goth girls and overall weird girl characters!!!

We must return to the age of drawing weird little girls with knives and edgy sayings that belong on a 90s Hot Topic shirt!!!

THESE ARE THE TYPES OF OCS I WANT TO SEE FROM NOW ON, DAMNIT!!!!

I WANT TO SEE BLINGEE STYLE GIFS OF SAID OCS ON YOUR BLOG LIKE ITS YOUR FUCKING 2005 MYSPACE PAGE, GOD DAMNIT!!!

🗣🗣🗣AND YALL BETTER BE DESIGNING MERCH FOR YOUR WEIRD GIRL OCS TOO EVEN IF YOU AREN'T GONNA EVER MAKE SAID MERCH TRUST ME ITS FUN!!!🗣🗣🗣

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The Death of Wei Wuxian.

(Thank you to everyone who participated in the poll!)

[egophiliac]

Where can you play ride kamens? It looks fun looking at your blog but idk where to play

it'll doesn't start until the 30th, but there's some pre-release episodes/character bits that are scattered around the website and twitter! (the links to pre-reg/download are also on the website :D)

honestly I'm really enjoying it just based off of the pre-release stuff, these characters look like they're going to be exactly that blend of ridiculous and emotionally constipated that hits me so right.

[starcrashedsatellite]

Tried to draw Shu in the style of Crymachina's ingame portraits

[elodieunderglass]

Guys GUYS

Concept: Throw Your Heart Over as an animated show of some kind but there are, like, educational appendixes at the end of each episode like “the making of planet Earth” but it’s about some Fascinating Fact. So for example, in an episode in which the Celt and his Irish Hobby have been doing weird feats of equitation in the corner of Killie’s eye, there would be an ENTIRE 20-minute documentary video essay in which people like @mylittlehony would be able to explain to you everything about the Irish Hobby, from whether it did give rise to the Thoroughbred, to how it fared in medieval battle, and how it gave rise to the term “hobby.” We’d bring in linguistics and DNA evidence and people would be fascinated, they’d be like “but my horseboy yaoi show” and we’d be like “it was a TRAP to get you interested in……… medieval horse warfare apparently. Uhhh. next episode has a recipe for Sachertorte though. And then we are getting FULLY into… narrowboats… and Kendal mint cake.”

But but but the funny thing will be that a pennywhistle-based musical motif that pops up associated with the ghost horses would be “concerning hobbies”. and you THOUGHT this was a LotR joke combined with wry commentary about how WORRYING these interests are. But then halfway through you hit the Irish Hobby infodump, find out that it was a joke about hobby horses, and put a KNIFE THROUGH YOUR TV SCREEN

[magnolia-sunrise]

one sided // mutual

still obsessed with the intimacy of body language when the faces are obscured. inspired in part by Mead Schaefer's limitted palette paintings

[lynn-tged-posting]

tged webtoon ep 174 spoilers and thoughts that i'm actually kinda happy about but there's just a little bit more that i wish we got to see this ep but possibly maybe itll show up later,,, maybe,,, i hope,,, and more below the cut

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BEFORE WE BEGIN. WOW. HI ALICIA. WOW!!! WOW!!! SIRENS!!! HOLY BINGLE! GOOD MORNING YUOR HIGHNESS UR GORGEOUS. HELLO!!! WOW. YES. ANYTHING YOU SAY MA'AM. YES MY QUEEN OF COURSE ANYTHING YOU SAY

SHE'S GOT ABS AND MUSCLE SHE'S TONED AND HER LEGS R STRONG AND WOW. WOW GOOD MORNING HI. YES. THANK YOU KHS THANK YOU IM,,, WOW,,, I LOVE STRONG WOMEN,,, BEAUTIFUL!!!

ok back to the ep LMFAOO

it seems i kiiinda misunderstood what was happening last ep, everyone relevant to the railroad construction is in the time bubble it's just that javier isn't going up to the mountains with lloyd,,, i see!!!

"i wanna go to him and make sure he's safe" ooogh,,, oh javier,,, u love him sm,,,, ooohhhh

tbh at first i was like, a lil confused that javier didn't go up to check on lloyd esp since javier is so willing to do anything to protect lloyd. its clear too that he knows abt lloyd's heart freezing,,, though i suppose at the same time, javier trusts lloyd's word so much that when the noble says he'll be fine, javier accepts it as he always has,,, either way his desire to run to protect lloyd and his willingness to trust that lloyd will be okay are both very sweet,,, the mutual trust always makes me so happy,,,,,,, ohhh javier ilysm,,,,,,

i am glad then that alicia went up to go check on him and that javier is reassured by this!!! look at his smile ooohhh hehehee

i think choosing to have javier trust his queen instead of sowing conflict btwn the two is rlly nice, tho mostly bc i am biased bc i tend to prefer sweet reliability over infighting,,, he trusts her to take care of lloyd the way javier would take care of lloyd,,, (is this alillovier propaganda? perchance,,, /lh)

it makes so much sense that they'd be on the same wavelength n get along,,, two peas in a pod,,, powerful and clever and oh so loyal to the person that they've come to admire, respect, and love,,, the person that's saved them time and time again,,, heehee,,, truly the besties of all time!!! red and blue!!! i love it a lot!!!

and now for lloyd,,, hehe

i need it to be known that the moment i saw this panel, lloyd wearing alicia's sweater, i yelled and kicked and nearly cried. very loudly. what the hell. THATS SO?? THATS SO. IDEK

still forever thinking abt how javier is always the first one to his mind they truly r the duo ever,,, regardless of whether theyre platonic or romantic they're literally each other's number ones and the first ones they turn to im so. thats so. ghhh my heart,,, (ALSO HI ALICIA)

his stupid face,,, HIS PANELS THIS EP WERE SO SO FUNNY AND SO SO CUTE,,, i love u,,, HE JUST LOOKS SO SHOCKED AAAAHHH SO CUTE,,, wide-eyed and dumbfounded . lloyd i love u

the gags this ep were fucking amazing too HAHA i didnt add it above but the bit where alicia was like "lol next ur gonna tell me he's the demon king" and then just turns and oh hi theres demons LMFAOOO THAT WAS GOOD

AND THESE TOO SO SO SILLY i love when they're silly like this,,, goofy ass inchworm,,, its not helping u beat the bug allegations buddy,,, ily

LIKE THIS FUCKING GRABBING BIT I CACKLED SO FUCKING LOUD HAHAHAHAHAA AND LLOYD ROLLING AWAY GOD THEYRE SO FUNNY I LOVE THEM

and then she shared her mana w him,,, the little smile she gives and LLOYD BLUSHING BACK IM SO. THATS SO CUTE. HE LOOKS SO CUTE. THIS IS SO SWEET,,, AHHH,,, AAAHHHH CUTE CUTE CUTE CUTE CUTE

though smth to note here, i am quite confused as to why javier's mana is suddenly rejected when he tries to absorb it? but alicia's works just fine? and javier has shared mana with lloyd before, my mutual reminded me of the namaran wall arc where siluria and javier both help lloyd with absorbing the hell knight,,, however the fact that javier's mana components have yet to break the law of causality during this arc, aka he wasnt a grandmaster yet. maybe bc of his status as a grandmaster now, where he has the same otherworldy mana lloyd does, that makes it not possible to properly absorb the mana?

alternatively, javier technically is never fated to die/be transformed in the original story, whereas lloyd should be dead and alicia should be tainted with dark magic, so bc the two of them have warped their fates at the moment, it works? and javier's doesnt bc he's technically not? idk if that makes any sense,,, i was told by my mutual that javier has shared mana with lloyd a lot in the novel before, so i'm not sure why they made this change! i hope they expand on it a lil in the future,,,

also, while i'm yapping here, i like that alicia is straightforward abt what she likes abt lloyd, but i wish they got to have a longer conversation than this,,, like this is a good start but it didn't really go anywhere (besides some really wonderful panels of lloyd but i mean like, narrative-wise lol)

as i mentioned in my last liveblog, alicia and suho share a lot more common experiences than they probably realize! and i think if they got a chance to talk about that, talking about their past circumstances, how they became who they are now, and just more in general on what led alicia to fall for lloyd besides what he's capable of,,, this ship would actually sail pretty well, yknow?

unfortunately though with the pacing of the manhwa and i guess just their episode length requirements in general, it makes sense that they couldn't get to that,,, i just wish it happened,,, maybe in snippets in future episodes? but seeing as we're getting pretty close to the end afaik, the chances are slim

i mainly love llovier but i also really love alilloyd, and i think alilloyd as a whole would have a much better leg to stand on if they actually talked about their experiences and had more instances of saving each other, of supporting each other, the way javier does with lloyd. it's too few and too far between for alicia and lloyd, so it feels like it's flatter than what it could be, y'know?

a part of me hopes that they did get to do that in the novel, but from what i recall hearing, alilloyd didn't have a strong leg in the novel either,,, i distantly recall someone telling me that the manhwa is actually doing alilloyd stronger justice than the novel did (i may be misremembering tho so don't quote me on that lol), and seeing as the manhwa's interpretation of alilloyd is so few and far between as is,,,, it makes me worried that the novel never actually got to touch upon how their relationship evolves (if im wrong, please correct me!!!)

i just want them to do well,,, they're super cute,,, please,,, ueueueue

anyway,,, this leads us to probably my FAVORITE panel of this week,,, this one of lloyd completely flushed EEE EHEHEHHEHEHEHHEE

SO SO SO SO CUTE. I YELPED WHEN I SAW THIS,,, I LOVE THAT ALICIA FALLS FIRST AND THEN LLOYD FALLS SO MUCH HARDER THAT'S FUCKING ADORABLE. methinks it's like that with javier too. lloyd falling and tripping up over realizing someone has romantic affection for him is probably one of my favorite things EVER. that's adorable. I LOVE HIM AAAHHH CUTE CUTE CUTE

one last thing to mention is just that,,, it seems like theres a mage messing w the weather conditions up in the mountains and i aaaam a lil worried that itll kickstart fate for alicia,,,, esp considering we,,, havent seen worthroad in a while. whatever that guys name was,,, what if its him and he's gonna fuck everything up!?? im really worried for them,,, please be okay,,,

and that's all for this week! i really REALLY enjoyed this episode,,, the panels and art were so so good, and while there were some things i wished would happen i think it was still really good overall, it gave me a lot to talk about! the gags were balanced and their interactions were so fun,,, yay!

i'll see yall next time,,, im so excited to see whats next,,,!!!!!

[inoreuct]

would you agree that we all need more Sanji getting nosebleeds over Zoro in this fandom?

YES *pelting down a hill waving the proposal for this in my hand like a madman* YESSSSSS

the first time sanji gets a nosebleed over zoro is his clue-in that oh. i’m not straight, am i. the swordsman’s doing a bench press (shirtless, as always) as sanji walks by (and sanji sneaks a look, as always, because who wouldn’t?) and when he glances over the plates he has to do a double take because what the fuck. zoro’s pressing more than twice his body weight. zoro’s repping more than twice his body weight. he’s just registered that maybe he’s stared for a bit too long when he feels something warm and wet on his upper lip, iron dripping over his mouth, and he books it for the galley.

he slams the door shut and presses his back against it before he slides to the ground and screams into his knees because what. the fuck. it’s not even that he’s getting hot and bothered over a guy; it’s just that the guy’s zoro. he’s not supposed to get nosebleeds over zoro.

but he does.

and it gets worse.

zoro walking around shirtless on deck? nosebleed. zoro re-tying the sails and just hanging on with his legs around the mast? nosebleed. zoro strutting out of the shower door, damp with steam and hair dripping wet and a towel around his waist? nosebleed. zoro tsking irritably and grabbing all of sanji’s food and packages from him to haul the whole lot over his shoulder? NOSEBLEED.

and not even that. he starts getting breathless around zoro and his chest hurts. he kicks zoro back while they’re sparring one day and the swordsman grins, feral and unrestrained and all challenge and teeth, and sanji’s heart spasms so hard that he actually wonders if he’s about to go into cardiac arrest. he’s barely twenty, he isn’t ready to die— much less because of some stupid marimo. chiselled abs and a nice set of biceps are only worth so much of sanji’s dignity. he twists and smashes the sole of his shoe right into zoro’s pretty face.

still, it gets so, so bad that he’s elected to just. avoid zoro completely. he’s sneaking around corners and running across open expanses ducked low like some kind of goofy thief and he knows it’s so fucking stupid but he doesn’t. he doesn’t know if zoro likes— no. he doesn’t even think about it. there’s no way, and if he gives himself false hope he’ll just break his own heart. he doesn’t know if zoro likes men, or anyone, much less him; nobody in their right mind would, not really. he's nice to have but not to keep and he's come to terms with it.

…until zoro corners him in the galley and demands to know what the fuck’s going on.

sanji stays facing away, slowly washing the dishes even as his heart pounds so hard it hurts. he is painfully aware of the way zoro’s seething like an over-boiled kettle in one of the chairs behind him, arms crossed over his stupidly broad chest and stock-still because he never, ever shakes his leg even though sanji knows he wants to.

his sponge squeaks across ceramic. the water’s warm against his fingertips, and his eyes flick up to meet his own reflection in the porthole window; he looks… well, he doesn’t know. scared, maybe. nervous. his mouth is thin, eyes wide, cheeks flushed, a shudder running its fingers down his spine even as his heartbeat thumps between his ribs and god, fuck, it aches. and he knows. he looks himself in the eyes and he knows that somewhere along the line nosebleeds had turned into falling in love and he was the stupid idiot who had just let it happen because he was too weak to pry zoro out of his thoughts.

his gaze flicks down sharply when he hears the sudden scrape of the chair, and zoro spits, “look, i can’t fix whatever i did wrong if you don’t tell me what it is.”

sanji’s heart throbs. “what?”

he can hear zoro’s scowl. “what, what? i obviously did something. you’ve been avoiding me like the plague.”

the cook almost laughs. he bites it down and swallows his words, salty-sweet at the back of his throat. guilt nips at him; zoro’s his rival and and his personal annoyance and a blockhead but he might also, maybe, just maybe, be sanji’s best friend. and sanji hasn’t been very fair to him lately.

he swallows again, clears his throat silently. “you didn’t do anything, marimo,” he murmurs to the plate in his hands, trying for airy and getting more somewhat vaguely strangled. he coughs. “just forget about it. sorry i’ve been weird.”

sanji will deal. he will, somehow; he’d been careless and careless is dangerous and for perhaps the first time in his life, he has too much to lose. he’ll squash his heart into a box and lock it down tight like he always has and it’ll hurt, but when does it ever not? he mentally declares the matter done and dusted as he shakes off the plate and gently sets it on the drying rack.

his lungs hitch as a callused hand cups his elbow.

zoro pulls him around. he’s too weak to resist. the edge of the sink digs into his hip as stormy grey eyes scan his face and zoro looks tense, his jaw set in the way it only is when he faces off with a particularly vexing foe.

“did i not look happy enough at dinner?" he asks, and it could be mockery but it isn't, not with that edge to his voice; not desperation, but damn near. like filter paper burning its way to ash. "was it my clothes on the floor? my boots on the bed? what?”

sanji can't stand it anymore. he looks away, tries to twist out of the invisible bonds zoro has him trapped in, but fingers looped around his wrist are all it takes to make him stay and fuck, fuck, he's so fucked.

"sanji, what did i do?” zoro breathes, brow furrowed, voice too near and too damn earnest, and sanji's throat bobs as he digs the heel of his palm into his eye.

this isn't how it's supposed to go. zoro isn't supposed to care. zoro isn't supposed to be standing here in the galley saying his name in that tone of voice. a hand carefully pulls his own away from his face, and zoro doesn't fucking let go, and sanji feels too much like he's been stripped down to the bone.

"i know," zoro continues, gruff like he doesn't know how to be anything else, "that i upset you. so would you please tell me what i did so i can fix it?" he bends lower still, ducking to try and catch sanji’s line of sight but sanji just can't look at him. "i'll fix it, i—"

"you can't fix this." the words are out and in the air before he can stop them, and a bittersweet smile curves his mouth. "there's nothing to fix, so you can't fix it. just let it go, alright?"

zoro wants to argue. sanji can tell. but the swordsman lets out a measured exhale after a long moment and pulls back, face carefully neutral. "at least tell me what's going on, cook."

sanji looks down at his feet. "...i can't."

"like hell you can't," zoro replies immediately, and it's such an abrupt reminder of their normal banter that it wrenches a rough noise from sanji's chest. "i was the one who held your hair back after you had, like, seven margaritas too many. don't think you could tell me anything worse than the experience of trying to stop you from falling into your own puke."

"oh, jesus fuck," sanji swears on instinct, then laughs. it's unfortunately hollow. "that was one time, asshole."

"one time too many," zoro hums, raising an eyebrow. "so you gonna tell me what's going on, or do i have to make it a captain's order?"

sanji grits his teeth.

"i will drag luffy in here, i don't care—"

"fucking—" he holds his breath, flipping around to white-knuckle the edge of the sink and letting it out slow. "fine. you ever loved someone, marimo?"

"sure." zoro shrugs easily, crossing his arms as he looks out the window. "kuina, but i think i learned to love her memory more than anything else. luffy, nami—" a near-unnoticeable flutter of thick lashes. "you."

sanji exhales through his nose as he rocks back on his heels. squeezes out air till it hurts. "you know that's not what i meant."

"what did you mean, then?"

he turns to look at where zoro has settled lazily against the counter, the moon turning his eyes to silver. "I mean the kind of love that makes your blood race. that makes you want more even when you know you'll never take more than you're allowed. the kind that makes your heart hurt so badly you feel empty without it."

the swordsman's face is unreadable as he tilts his head slowly. "i did say i love you."

it hits sanji like a bullet. he sucks in a sharp breath, and his throat burns as he turns away and tries to stop his shoulders from heaving up. "don't fuck with me, zoro. not about this."

it feels rather like a cruel cosmic joke. he's so near yet so far, just one step away with a gauzy curtain between but he can't touch it. he won't. he's got too many things on the line and yet he can't even name one of them.

"hey."

he squeezes his eyes shut against the burn of salt that shouldn't even be there, and look at that. little sanji's gone and broken his own heart again.

"hey," zoro tries again, more insistent, one hand hovering in the space between them and sanji feels the pull of it like a magnet.

he doesn't turn away as it cups his cheek. doesn't run as fingers slide through the short hairs at his nape, a thumb behind his jaw. his lashes are damp. it is everything he wants and everything he cannot have and he can't—

"look at me."

"i can't," he breathes, lungs rising fast and shallow. he's afraid to open his eyes. he's afraid of what he'll see.

"yes, you can." zoro shifts closer and another hand joins the first. it's big and rough and warm and he holds sanji's face like he's the moon herself. "look at me, curly."

he can't.

he does.

zoro's gaze is almost painful to meet straight-on with how intense it is. he seems to realise, face softening as he leans closer, closer, posture loose enough that it would be no problem for sanji to shove him away. "you love me," he breathes. "yes or no?"

sanji's heart stops. his tongue is clumsy in his mouth, his brain a mess of yesnoyesyesnoiwon'tican’tido—

"don't think." zoro's voice cuts through the haze as he shakes his head slowly; a sword through smoke, silver-bright, singing in the air and leaving silence. "don't think. you love me, yes or no."

the galley swims around sanji as his vision blurs. he feels his tears spill hot down his cheek, knows the way zoro aches to brush them away and yet stays still. he opens his mouth and it feels like stepping out of the only shelter he's ever known; he is an open fucking wound and he's raw and everything hurts, everything but zoro. zoro. zoro. "yes."

just one word, three simple letters, and still it feels like damnation; if he'd never said it he could deny it but now it's real. the swordsman relaxes, shoulders dropping enough that his forehead brushes sanji's, and sanji tracks the way his throat bobs. the way steel-grey eyes flicker over his face, molten in the light of the electric lamps and the moonlight spilling through the window, gilding zoro like something out of a dream. a fairytale sanji read as a child until the edges of the pages fitted familiar to his thumbs as his little hands reached for a happy ending that was never meant to be his.

he shakes, now, as zoro reaches up to run tentative fingers through straw-pale hair. "let me love you. yes or no."

"i—" the sound that twists from his mouth is cracked jagged down the middle, unpolished as a common pebble picked up off the damn street. "you don't—"

"yes or no."

"i'm not what you want," he gasps, his face wet.

"yes or no."

sanji wants to break apart. because zoro sounds like he's begging, and he cannot fathom anybody possibly wanting him that much. he wants to scream and cry and claw at the walls until his nails break. he wants to shatter into pieces all over the floor without having to worry about putting himself back together. he wants. he wants, and zoro's looking at him with the closest thing to reverence he's seen in his life, and even that isn't enough for him to believe it. "i'm not what you want."

he can barely look at zoro. he can barely look at himself. the shame is clawing a pit into his stomach, and he lets it, feels every inch of it, because what kind of person doesn't know how to be loved? his breath catches wetly as zoro cups his jaw in both hands, tilting his face up, and once again sanji is too weak to pull away.

"you are everything i want."

the words are so fierce, so sure, and sanji is cracking apart at the seams. the stitches pulled tight by his own hand are unravelling and he can't stop it—

"yes or no."

zoro's breath ghosts warm across his mouth, fingertips in his hair, just far away enough for sanji to see the way his eyes are blazing and yet he waits. his thumb on sanji's cheek is the gentlest thing sanji has ever known.

"you'll get tired of me," he tries weakly, one last time for good measure, and zoro just shakes his head. the resolve in his expression does not waver even once.

sanji breaks.

"yes." the word scrapes itself out of his throat seconds before arms are going around him, and he sobs. lets the swordsman bring them both to the kitchen floor as he curls up in zoro's lap, fingers clawing into his white shirt, numb with how hard he cries because nobody, nobody has ever stayed. not without him getting hurt in the process. he pushes them away when he gets scared and they let him and then it becomes his fault when it all blows up in his face, but zoro's not leaving, and it's so foreign to him that he's shaking so badly and he can't stop.

a warm, heavy palm smooths over his spine and he lets himself be shifted closer, settles sideways as zoro wraps an arm over his shins and rocks them until his breathing evens out. the embarrassment hits like a gut punch; he knows he looks like a mess, face blotchy and hair everywhere and eyes puffy as hell, but zoro cards his bangs out of his eyes and looks at him like he doesn't care, and sanji turns away.

he feels... fragile. like he's made of tinted glass and spun sugar, like he'll cave in at the slightest touch. there is something melting in his chest and it drips down over his ribs; pools fresh as a river in spring, offset by the grounding presence of zoro's hands on his skin. "don't say i didn't warn you," he mumbles, masking his very real fear behind a layer of watery bravado as he hides his face in zoro's shoulder, and of course, of course zoro sees right through him.

the swordsman's thumb traces the swirl of his eyebrow before zoro rests his chin on top of sanji's head. "i don’t listen. you know that."

you know me, is what goes unsaid, and sanji doesn't deign to reply. he buries his face into zoro's chest and breathes in the smell of steel and sword oil and— he sits up slightly, eyes narrowing. "you've been stealing my deodorant, yes or no." the way zoro stills momentarily is a dead giveaway, and he yelps when the swordsman flicks his forehead.

"would you rather i be stinky?" zoro scoffs, rolling his eyes gently as sanji settles back down with a huff.

"you still are stinky. if we're gonna be together i'm expecting you to shower at least once every two days—" zoro groans, and he powers through, raising his voice, "—and if you aren't fussy i'll let you shower with me."

the way zoro instantly stops complaining cracks a laugh out of him. it's weak and watered-down, but it's a start. zoro's hands slide back into his hair and he hums as he lets his eyes fall shut.

the moon's full tonight. their ship rocks gently, and sanji gets comfortable; zoro's warm and solid and happens to make a perfectly respectable pillow. the thought that he can have this now sends a thrill through him.

he's not a fool. he's not optimistic when it comes to this. when it comes to love.

but with zoro's thumb rubbing mindless circles against the side of his thigh and a kiss pressed to the top of his head, he's got a pretty good feeling about this time around.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Do you use AI generators to compile or scrape this information?

no

[wackywatchdotcom]

on the subject of pomni and zooble im deeply invested in seeing how their dynamic plays out. theyve had like.... two proper interactions. one of which is barely even both people like zooble delivers Bad News to pomni and pomni doesnt really seem like shes noting whos saying it so much as the fact that shes being told things by a bunch of strangers and is panicking about it and then zooble scowls in the bg for the next five minutes before jax drags ragatha and pomni off. the most theyve actually interacted is in ep 4 when zooble asks pomni abt ep 3, pomni tells them and then they get deeply upset for a reason that revolves around 'why did caine think i would enjoy possession'

we generally dont really know what their dynamic even is they just kinda exist around each other. that said zooble tends to sound harsh like half the time but like... theyre not mean theyrw just blunt. i think above all else zooble is actually more concerned w the safety of the other cast members than one would assume. we see it best in eps 2 and 4 i think. in ep 2 theyre patient w ragatha, smth theyre not in the pilot. but the circumstances are different. in the pilot this is just another shitty day, that keeps getting worse. they dont even get to sit out the adventure despite being told they can. but ep 2 they get time to themself, and know ragathas probably not really handling things well

and i think abt it a lot but them being ragathas designated driver is like. really notable imo actually. because ragatha isnt in danger. its unclear where theyre driving or if theyre driving, but zooble goes oh, ragatha cant be trusted to drive. even though ragathas been pissing them off all day. even though if ragatha actually got herself injured it would be fixable and its unclear if ragatha would even notice. if zooble didnt care they couldve just left. if zooble was worried abt gangle theyd have stayed (theyre clearly concerned for her, but i dont think they read it as danger- so making sure ragatha stays physically safe becomes a higher priority. it also says smth abt the amnt of faith they have in gangle, even if it was technically misplaced here. i think they get worried about gangle but to them the highest risk member is kinger, not gangle. on some level i dont know if theyve been in the circus long enough to see any patterns in when people abstract). but they make sure ragatha gets back safe. because she pissed them off that day but could tell something was up, and that even if shed be okay in the end, they wanted to be sure that ragatha wasnt hurt

i think it speaks to the actual level of concern they exhibit for the others. theyre cautious. them and pomni ar ethe most visibly distrusting of caine. and i think it relates to zooble not having been here long. jax and ragatha in particular may ebe able to ignore the slapstick bullshit of the circus, may be able to walk off an injury just fine because its just part of life, but as far as zoobles concerned they want to avoid it if possible. i think they know its not normal for things to be this way and they cant change it but they can stop pointlessly harmful things from happening

i think their spiel abt the others in ep 3 is also very telling in that they actually have a really flattering description for ragatha and gangle. ragathas too nice, and i dont think thats obliviousness. i think zooble is one of the more emotionally intelligent characters, they just have little patience and arent 'sweet' about it. theyre extremely aware of the other characters imo. they just... genuinely think ragathas nice. i dont think ep 4 even changed that. and gangles too ahy to speak up. they say this not in a way thats critical. in fact its one of the calmest things theyve said in the whole show im pretty sure. they care abt her and know how she feels even if shes not confident enough to say it to caine

and getting back to pomni is that their assessment of pomni is that 'she looks traumatized everytime she comes back for one' (iirc some other translations are even more explicit in this description of pomni as being impacted by the adventures). implying theyve not only been very much paying attention, but q the way they say it they seem Genuinely Concerned. i think on some level theyre irritated by pomni, not on a personal level but bc pomni is The New One. she hasnt settled in, and i think zooble gets irritated by the song and dance of a person finding out that what they already have to cope with as being Their Life Forever, Now is also theirs. but its not personal, and i dont think its smth zooble holds against her. but i think zooble has definitely picked up on the fact that pomni is having a very rough go at it for her first days- esp since the harshest they get is before caine gives his spiel abt the fake exit door or before its clear that pomni saw kaufmo, too. and from the start of ep 4 its clear that they heavily dislike the measures caine is taking to appeal to them (and id argue that part of their response to caine is in part frustration at him putting the others at risk, but thats getting more into my personal speculation without a huge basis)

i think zooble is a person who largely expresses care for others through concern and, honestly to some degree, helping people. which now that i say it is fascinating considering ragathas whole deal. and the trajectory pomnis going in. or the fact that im not sure they know kinger all that well yet (they know a bit abt him but i think without talking to him in the dark a person would miss a large amount of context). or their deeply interesting dynamic with caine, a person who prides himself on his role as an entertainer for others and has no other goals at all. it creates an interesting contrast when i think theyre one of the few characters who even helps others successfully at all

anyway, this all got off track and wasnt what i actually even made this post to talk about. my intent was to mention that i dont think zooble has actually seen pomni when shes more stressed. i mean theyve seen her post ep 2, which is notable, and theyve seen her get panicked in the pilot and probably saw her Not Looking Well at the feast. but ehile the audience has seen pomni Freak Out and be jumpscared or launch herself at a gate (plus select members of the cast), zooble has certainly not. we also have that advert where ahe attacks jax that is noncanon but depicts a aide of pomni not seen super clearly in the eps yet, that of which being violence. all of this is to say im not sure zooble actually knows about pomnis capacity to attack things and i find it funny to imagine zooble finding out and getting startled because they knew pomni was nervous but they havent seen that side of it yet

(and to a lesser extent, i think gangle- and ragatha sort of- are the only characters whove actually seen pomnis capacity to be patient with people. gummigoo doesnt remember. its implied kinger forgot- even if its vague how much he forgot pomni was scared thru most of that and the brief moment of patience she had was VERY short-lived. ragatha got pomnis little apology type thing in ep 3 but thats it. i think gangle is the one whos actually seen the most of this from pomni. so i imagine gangle probably has one of if not the most flattering image of her of the entire main cast, despite the fact that pomni does actually say smth that upsets gangle too earlier- which ive been meaning to make a post abt how each of the cast members upset gangle in a way unique to that persons own issues but thats smth ill talk abt later- and i think gangle wouldnt blatantly state this in detail to zooble, maybe say that pomni helped her out, but i think if gangle told zooble abt this at all itd make zoobles image of pomni even more skewed. and way more likely that seeing pomni attack someone would startle them)

[faunandfloraas]

okay i'm glad to see you bring up the teasing of seungmin bc it was also rubbing me the wrong way but i didn't know if i was just being sensitive or what. obvs we don't know what goes on behind the scenes and obviously they all care about each other and tease each other as friends but when time after time the joke targeted towards seungmin is "we don't like him and he doesn't understand things" it's like. hm. it starts to feel mean spirited!!

sorry for the rant i guess i didn't realize how bad this was annoying me lmao

Yeah, tbf I think it's just one of those things where even if Seungmin is 100% unbothered by it, and the guys dont mean anything by it, its still fine and understandable for people who have ever been on the end of jokes like that- whether in your own friend groups or at school, at work, etc. to not really enjoy it.... So I don't think you're being sensitive! But also I did question even making my post last night for the same reason.

The jokes are also just not funny 90% of the time lately which makes it more egregious bc seeing any joke get beaten into the earth gets old eventually- like they do make jokes at his expense sometimes that /are/ funny, so I'm not saying they cant ever do that, it's just that the minute the jokes arent funny, well then its awkward at best or actively uncomfortable at worst so 🤷‍♀️

[iwanttobepersephone]

Hey everyone remember Egon? The really old guy from the Renegade Rangers? My brain just created headcanon saying he died of dementia and it's currently breaking my heart thinking about his last gatherings so I'm inflicting it on you guys too

[ahappydnp]

I think if they talk about IT more directly after the stream because the show is quite openly pointing at the elephant in the room, showing it to the audience and laughing at it...I think the "after" era would just be jokes and shit that are even more direct like dan sliding in his dms (which is in the show anyway), stalk your fave and make them love you type shit, I trust dan to make an age gap joke, and even mention the things who shall not be named

i just think they should open the door solely for the possibilty of divorce jokes

[sallymew4]

just some doodles

[basket-of-radiants]

Probably not; his afterimage was described as having healed over time, if the same was true of his scars he probably would have mentioned it.

That being said, I haven't been completely honest either, and I confess I was sort of playing this up as a bit. (I can't believe none of you accused me of having a conflict of interest here, on account of having already drawn seven thousand pictures of Szeth looking a certain way.) Which means this post is my final word on this topic, and after that I'll shut up about it.

So yes, Szeth's scars were described as grey in Oathbringer and as white in W&T, but tbh it's been pretty disingenuous of me to call that a retcon. There's a much simpler explanation, which is just that Nightblood's vines desaturated the skin of those they touched, and different narrators described the effects differently. I'm going to break my solemn vow never to color anything ever, in order to demonstrate what I mean. If that's the case, Szeth and Lift would end up looking something like this:

Meaning Szeth's scars would be pretty subtle for anyone not looking for them, and also meaning his scars might look different to his own eyes vs. to Lift's.

Of course, if you look at the above illustrations, you'll notice something interesting, which is that they look Bad. Human eyes like contrast. Please do not pair a color next to a grey of the exact same light level, it's going to be awful 100% of the time. That's why I prefer to lean into a bit more contrast. Lift and Szeth were described as having the same scars anyway, so I like to make them the same color. Still technically a correct read. Which means they're darkened for Szeth, and lightened for Lift.

Honestly I'm kind of fine with them being white? Looks kind of cool if you want to really commit, and it is still pretty visually distinct, which is my biggest thing.

Doesn't really work for my signature style, however, wherein I never use colors ever. I kind of have to use grey if they're going to show up at all. I guess I could do white for Lift, sometimes. I'll probably keep drawing Szeth the same though.