DO YOU KNOW I COULD BREAK BENEATH THE WEIGHT
OF THE GOODNESS, LOVE, I STILL CARRY FOR YOU
THAT I'D WALK SO FAR JUST TO TAKE
THE INJURY OF FINALLY KNOWING YOU
Can we talk about how normal and incredibly human Luffy was in this scene?
His earth shattering grief didnt awaken any supernatural haki or abilities within him, instead it overwhelmed him, it was destroying him. The bleeding from his throat while his eyes lose focus and his body goes into shock - grief is ugly, loud, destructive and it tears you apart and leaves you vulnerable out in the open- thats what happening to him.
This was Luffy's, a 17 year old kid's moment of overwhelming realization that humans are powerless and weak on the face of death as his brother bled out in his arms while he (and world's most powerful pirate whitebeard) watched it helplessly. This was the biggest loss of his life as he understood that sometimes no matter how hard you try, things don't work out for you. This was when Luffy witnessed the consequence of the path he (and ace) had chosen, that a pirate life was actually much harder than just adventure and freedom and that there was a heavy price to pay, that death could take anyone anytime.
This wasnt just sadness, this was the end of the world for Luffy and he wasn't the same person after this moment.
mark hears your giggling before he ever sees you. it felt weird being at this party without you, but now that he hears you, so satisfied with whatever plans you'd strung together with his friends... he finds himself giddy with excitement. donghyuck tells him to stop looking for you quickly, acting as though you hadn't given yourself away.
he hears your voice before anyone else joins in: "haaaappy birthday to you..."
and then he sees you, carrying a cake with lit candles. the rest joins in, and mark's smiling harder than before. he sees the way the light reflects in your eyes as you make your way forward, leading the charge. he knows the cake in your hands is homemade, too, because you'd been casually asking him little questions for weeks now. what flavor he'd want, the colors, any decorations...
you could have literally bought him a crummy store-bought cupcake and he'd love you as much as he does now.
you set the cake down in front of him, and for a moment, he just wants to quickly kiss you before going back to the party. but he feels the way you lean in for a second, giving him a lingering kiss on the cheek.
"happy birthday, cutie," you giggle, "i love you."
he doesn't say it back--not now. not unless he wants to get teased by his friends for how in love with you he really is. when he says it to you later, you just smile and give him this cheeky "i know."
"all i have to do is look at you to know," you tease, stealing a kiss from him during this quiet moment the two of you have together. you giggle, leaning against him when he curls an arm around you. "no wonder your friends tease you so much."
(and his subsequent giggles say it loud and proud, too: he adores you with everything he is.)
congratulations to Mme. Pascale Leclerc, who has surely just experienced both the funniest and most unhinged weekend a mother could ever have. Dear fucking christ, I hope your middlest son brought you a bottle of champagne for yourself, ma'am.
alhaitham is a pussy eating king he eats it just to shut u the fuck up bc he’s sick of hearing u talk as if u know better. might as well put ur voice to good use