#a superficial type and is pretty easy going

[alchemistc]

Based on this post by @beefcakekinard because I couldn't flesh it out enough in the tags

read on ao3

could be with you

"Didn't you have a date on Saturday?"

Tommy's eyes dart up. Galway is staring at him, hand on hip, brow raised, and Tommy sighs. "Never said it was a date."

"Yeah, but you had a moony look in your eye. Been a while since I've seen it, but I know your date face."

Tommy does his best to keep things neutral on his face. Clearly that doesn't work, because Galway's expression goes sympathetic immediately.

"Oh, bad date. Damn, Kinard, tough luck."

Tommy's had to get used to the fact that everyone at Harbor always wants in each other's business. It's pretty superficial shit, most of the time, but they always want to know the scoop, anyway.

He feels the flash of disappointment, followed immediately by a lick of defensiveness. Damnit. "Wasn't even a bad date, right up until the end."

Galway looks intrigued, but Tommy's not quite ready to entertain it. He's still stewing, a bit. Annoyed with himself for the way he'd reacted in the moment -- a beat too far because he'd given Evan an easy out and he'd grabbed it and flung it in the opposite direction.

Right, Evan?

God. What a dick thing to say. He'd -- panicked, a little. They both had, in their own ways.

If he'd known, going into it, exactly how new this was to him, maybe he'd have --

Lowered his expectations.

"Wrong place, wrong time," Tommy says, to get Galway off his back about it, and rolls his arms back to tug his flight suit the rest of the way up. And that's the crux of it, really. Tommy's spent too much of his life hiding away, and Evan hadn't even known he had something to hide until -- until what, the moment he realized other people could see them? He hadn't panicked in the moment -- that first moment, Tommy guessed, now that he knew a little more -- when their lips had met. Hadn't panicked in the days between, when the flirting had bordered on ridiculous in their texts back and forth. Hadn't panicked when Tommy picked him up, hand settling at the small of his back to guide him to the passenger side of his truck, or when Tommy complimented his shirt, or on the drive to the restaurant, Tommy nervously tapping out a rhythm on the steering wheel while Evan rattled on about beekeeping. They'd both been nervous.

Nerves, he understood. Nerves had settled under his skin the moment he closed the door to Evan's apartment, nerves like he hadn't felt in a good long while because he couldn't remember being so immediately charmed by someone in... a while.

Even through most of the date he'd been able to chalk it up to maybe being in a more public setting than he'd realized. They were both in a field that didn't immediately feel inclusive. Both big, manly looking men, and maybe Evan just hadn't done a lot of that before. Maybe Tommy wasn't his usual type. (Hindsight, as they say.)

He could have rolled with the first date with a dude thing -- awkward as it was, surprising as it was, considering the first time a man had come on to Tommy he'd nearly punched him about it. He'd had to reset some expectations, reevaluate some of his preconceived notions on the fly. That wasn't exactly a deal breaker. He liked Evan. Likes him still, in the light of day with a little time to dig into why exactly it had hurt so much to be sidelined in front of a mutual friend.

And he's still a little embarrassed he'd let it get to him enough to make a snide comment that could have outed him when he was clearly not ready to be out.

But it was one date. A good first date, even, until they'd been a bit blindsided by Eddie Diaz.

Which -- he'd walked himself in circles in his own mind about the Eddie Diaz of it all, anyway, half convinced he was slamming headfirst into the middle of some weird co-parents with benefits scenario. The fishing he'd had to do to even attempt to figure out that situation. He's fairly convinced, at this point, that neither one of them has any hidden latent romantic notions, about the other, but that hadn't really helped the situation, either.

"So no second date in the cards, huh?"

Tommy blinks. Swallows. "Nah," he says, but --

But maybe. If the timing was right.

Christ, Tommy, it was one disappointing date with an admittedly sweet, and kind, and fucking gorgeous guy. A guy with a devastating smile and a wide breadth of useless facts and a great ass and enough heart to fill the Greater Los Angeles area.

The text, later that evening, should surprise him more than it does.

Evan 9:34 PM: Hey, could I give you a call later, if you're not on shift?

Tommy stares at it for ten whole minutes, tucked behind a shelf laden with cleaning supplies while the rest of the crew is huddled around a Kings game in the downtime between calls.

I'm on until 8AM, he shoots back, and then stares at it until he gets a read receipt. Up above Evan's latest text there's a full thread he hadn't had the heart to delete, quite yet, and he can still see the image of the chicken Evan had taken his not great hand at drawing blades on the talons of. Call around half past?

It's a bad idea. He's had worse ones, but.

He gets another read receipt before he can flip away from the conversation, and three little dots that appear and disappear four times before another message pops through.

Evan 9:47 PM: Talk to you in the morning!

And then.

Evan 9:47 PM: Have a good shift. Be safe!

Shit.

--------

He's played out the phone call all the way through about twelve times in his head. Evan's a good guy. Sweet, kind, a little sassy but never mean. He's expecting a thank you, maybe an apology, although he doesn't need it.

He pulls the truck into the closest parking lot when Evan's name flashes across the screen.

"Hey," he says, once he's parked and prepared for the softest let down he's had in years.

"Uh - hey, hi. Hi, Tommy."

Evan Buckley says his name like a benediction. He's never really noticed the way it sounds, until Evan Buckley started saying it. God, this one might sting.

"Hi," he says. They drift into silence.

"Hi. Sorry. Hey. I called you. So. I should. I should say what I wanted to say."

"I'm all ears," Tommy tells him, charmed despite himself, wishing he could see his face.

"I --." The pause is...long. Awkward. Tommy wonders if he's running over a script on his head. "Actually, could we -- do you have any time this morning? Could we talk in person? If -- I mean obviously if you have plans, or, hell, you just got a shift, I'm sure you're tired, we don't have to --."

"I'm about thirty minutes out from home. Let me take a shower, run a few errands. We could meet around noon?" Bad idea. Still. But there's a small, tiny piece of him that thinks Evan might work through his shit at a much quicker speed than Tommy could ever manage. At the very least, he owes it to a younger, angrier Tommy to play this out.

"That -- yeah, that'd be..." He pauses. "You're sure?"

"I'll send you a pin. There's a coffee shop near where I'll be."

"Okay. Okay yeah. I -- just let me know if you're running late, or anything. I'll. I'll be there."

"I'll see you in a few hours, Evan."

"Okay. Yeah. See you in a bit."

Neither one of them hangs up.

Evan's nervous laugh fills the cab, and Tommy presses his head back until he can feel the headrest pressing into his skull. "Bye, Tommy. See you soon."

----

He'd slept where he could, the night before, actually feels pretty well rested, for working an overnight, for spending every free moment wondering what the hell Evan wanted to call him about, for trying real damn hard to temper his fucking expectations. His two wolves are disappointed expectations and romantic notions, constantly warring with each other.

Evan shoots him a text as he's leaving the barber two doors down.

Evan 11:49 AM: Headed out to the patio, see you in a few

Tommy is absolutely not drawing conclusions about him showing up early. None.

He shoves his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt and ducks into the walkway that leads to the courtyard around back.

He'd chosen this place for a few specific reasons -- proximity to his haircut appointment, proximity to Evan's apartment, his knowledge of the lobby of the coffee shop and all it's private little nooks tucked away in corners. Something to ease Evan's mind, a little.

Yet when Tommy finally spots him, he's in the middle of a crowded courtyard, already seated, wearing a light, airy looking polo that stretches tight across his shoulders, and his smile when he spots Tommy burns brighter than the sun on Tommy's newly-shorn scalp.

Tempered expectations.

He doesn't sit, right away. Maybe this had just been an easier way to find each other in the midday crowds. Maybe this conversation won't be long enough to merit sitting.

Evan gestures at the coffee he'd apparently gambled on, and Tommy finds himself sitting before he can talk himself out of it. His posture is a mess, he knows it, but he can't quite help curling in on himself, feeling small as Evan studies him, as the white noise of the people all around them fills his ears. The coffee is terrible. The company is dangerously enchanting.

Evan Buckley goes from zero to sixty in under a second.

-----

Tommy is good at keeping a lid on the part of himself that longs to be romanced, to do some romancing of his own. He's had enough flops to be hyper aware that the reality of dating never follows a soppy script.

Evan says I think that something could be with you and reality takes a rain check, for a minute. Tommy shifts. Tommy flounders. Tommy had prepared for an easy let down, a promise to stay friends and a few awkward encounters in the Diaz living room. Tommy fights the smile, takes a deep breath, admits what he's been trying to deny since he cut things short.

"You already know that I'm interested." It's an easy out -- he's good at catching the ball and tossing it back immediately. It's a risk, but he thinks he and Evan are on the same page about what Tommy's willing to sacrifice, and what he isn't. Evan had made it a point to be out here in the open for this conversation, after all.

Evan takes the shot from half-court.

It catches the rim. Wobbles. Spins.

"Evan," he says, and he means it to sound stern, a hint of incredulity. He's not entirely sure it hits the mark.

And then he's doing that thing he does -- bright-eyed optimism, body language open, a smile curling at his mouth, pressing, pushing, digging into the rocky crevices of Tommy's skepticism and wiping them smooth. It's an insane idea. He's been to...two, three weddings with a date of his own? All long term relationships, because there's something about witnessing eternal vows next to someone that means something to you, something that makes it all a little more real.

But Evan is persistent. And dropping very loaded clues, hinting that he's talked to his sister about him -- them. Tommy doesn't know much, but his relationship with his sister had come up in conversation, he knows they're close. Hinting that he's well aware an invite means he's pulling the lid off 'picking up hot chicks' secrecy.

He doesn't even get all the way through "Are you absolutely sure about this?" before Evan is grinning, leaning in to meet Tommy's gaze, an emphatic confirmation escaping him, and suddenly it's intimate.

Tommy can't think of a reason to say no.

[myinconnelly1]

All the Luck in the World pt 1

Masterlist

Warnings: Canon Violence, Character injury, canon gore, needles,

Pairing: Robert "Bob" Reynolds x OFC

Word Count: 805

Summary: With all her luck, Jinx has to wonder if it's good or bad. When she meets Bob, she starts to get her hopes up.

Having reclaimed the watchtower, and saved everyone from the Void, the Thunderbolts felt comfortable letting Bob stay in his room.  After all, they had missions now.  They had come out of the whole trauma as heroes – the New Avengers.

“You sure you’ll be alright?”  Yelena asked as the team prepped to leave.

“I’ll be fine,” Bob responded.  He looked around the watchtower uncomfortably.  It had only been a few days, and he still wasn’t completely sure where he stood with the team.  Yelena patted his cheek in a comforting way.

“Stay up here, Bob,” Walker said almost patronizingly.  Bob hadn’t explored much of the watchtower but agreed that was for the best.

It had been hours when he heard the doors slam and saw the team heading for medbay.  Alexi was carrying Ava and John had another woman in his arms that Bob didn’t recognize.

“What happened?”  Bob asked as he raced to them but stayed out of the way.

“Ava tried to save her from some crossfire, but she phased at a bad time and caught some strafing.  She’s going to be okay,” Yelena said seeing some of the panic on Bob’s face start to fade.

They set about seeing how bad the damage was.  Luckily, Ava was going to make a full and speedy recovery.  The damage from the bullets was all superficial due to her gift.

“What about the civilian?”  Alexi asked as he put some bandages on Ava and she sat up.

“She’s bleeding pretty bad,”  Bob said quietly and to no one in particular.  He had recently decided he didn’t care for the sight of blood.

“She’s been shot,” Yelena said holding gauze to the woman’s chest.  “Walker?!” She groaned as the Agent reached past her and yanked something from around her neck.

“What’s that?”  Bob asked.

“Dog tags,”  Walker said inspecting the metal necklace.

“What?”  Yelena asked as she reached for a sewing kit.  “She’s gonna need blood,” Yelena signed as she grabbed more cloth.

“O Negative,”  John said as he looked up from the tags and around the group.

“Of course, she would have the rarest blood type,” Ava groaned.  She put her hand on the bandage that Alexi had put on her.

I’m A positive,” John said, looking to Yelena and Alexi as they both shook their heads.

“Maybe Bucky?”  Ava said, but Yelena shook her head.

“She doesn’t have that much time.  I have to pull this bullet now before this gets worse.

“Me,”  Bob said it so faintly, that no one really heard him.  “I mean, I-I’m O Neg,” he said louder.

“That’s a bad idea,”  Ava said looking to the rest of the team.

“Oh well,”  John shrugged as he grabbed Bob by the collar of his sweater and pulled him over.  “Unless you want to rob a blood bank, we don’t have other options.  Let’s just consider ourselves lucky.”

“Easy for you to say,” Ava muttered pointedly.

“What the hell is happening?”  Bucky asked as he locked the door to the watchtower.  Yelena had a scalpel and tweezers while she leaned over their civilian, and John was preparing to tap the IV line between her and Bob.  Alexi was bringing a bigger light source over to help Yelena and Ava was gathering disinfectants and other supplies.

“We didn’t have time to wait,” Yelena grunted as she pulled the bullet from the woman’s shoulder.

“Here,”  John said, as he threw the dog tags to Bucky.  Something about the woman’s face had caught Bob’s attention and he had completely zoned out to everything else.

“You’re gonna kill her,” Bucky said looking from the IV line to John and to the woman.  These are obviously not her dog tags.  The date of birth on here is for a ten year old!”

“I don’t think it’s a date of birth. It also doesn’t have a name on there.  Just JINX, whatever that means.”  John said shrugging.  He wasn’t about to start double-guessing himself now.

“O neg is a universal donor,” Bob whispered.  He turned away and looked at the team, before wringing his hands and shrugging from where he sat.

“If it kills her, we will know pretty quickly,” Ava said looking over to Bucky.

“How did this even happen?  You glitch out and a civilian gets shot.  Why was she even in the line of fire?  Some of the worst luck I have ever seen.”  Bucky sighed.  “You guys should have taken her to a hospital.”

“The watchtower was closer,” Alexi said shrugging.

“She seems stable,” Yelena sighed.  She took the IV from the civilian’s arm and attached it to a blood bag.  “You should try to get this full, but don’t go too long.  We don’t want you to pass out.”  Bob nodded, taking the plastic container that was now holding some of his blood.

Next

[pedrocomicreviews]

The Power Fantasy #9

“Tell the truth and trust. Score 1 for team morality.”

Holy shit! Spoilers! Obviously! Holy shit!

Things start to fall apart. We are mostly done with the Second Summer of Love, but not with the context of us learning about it: Isabella still has to wade through her trauma with Masumi. Parallel to that, most of the other Superpowers are still trying to figure out how to best deal with each other, and specifically Eliza’s allegiance at this moment.

The Masumi part of the issue’s “conversation” goes pretty much the only way it could go– Isabella eventually reveals how her feelings about the Second Summer of Love relate to Masumi, whom she genuinely (or as genuine as Etienne will allow her to feel) loves, but who will never be her equal. I do think the comic is doing its best to try to showcase how Masumi isn’t superficial, which is a pretty good key to keep hammering on.

It would have been easy to make her kaiju come out unreasonably, that is to say in moments where we don’t perceive her depression as being “justified.” But the story does a great job at showing how that’s not the case at all– Masumi is a depressing person and she is depressed, but she’s not like that out of any moral failures or as a way to showcase how destructive she is. She is more than the worst moments of her life, she’s flawed and she’s good in ways that have nothing to do with the giant monster that comes out when she wants to kill herself.

And the difficulty of showcasing how that’s the case is the fact that if that is not the case, then Etienne is right, and that would be a morally repugnant thing for the story to say. Because fuck Etienne; but also, because Etienne being right would mean that depersonifying Masumi is the only way to deal with her. To treat her as less a human being and more a problem to be handled; a tamagotchi with a meter that explodes all of Asia. An object, capable of making sounds that make her appear like a full human being, with rights and opinions.

I think Gillen has done a fantastic job at showing us how that’s not only a bad way to think about Masumi, but also, it probably only makes sense from Etienne’s perspective. Everyone else seems to agree that Masumi has problems, but all other characters seem to believe she is still more than those very real, very dangerous problems. Etienne, on the other hand, has completely removed himself from the human conversation. This is an Animal Crossing save he’s invested in as far as he’s concerned, and he’s making sure things remain at baseline because of his own understanding of his place in the world.

At no point does it ever feel like you’re supposed to take Etienne at face value, but his attachment to Valentina gives him a sort of academic validity about the world that I believe he would never have if he was acting by himself. His credibility as a “good enough” user of his powers is only so because others don’t seem to have a good alternative, even if they really should probably figure one out soon.

Which leads to the other part of the book, the second half of this issue’s conversation about power and consequence. The latter half, a talk between Eliza and Magus, hits us with the massive revelation that Magus apparently did not make it further than the Second Summer of Love. He has been replaced since 1989 by Dev, Eliza’s husband, and that throws so many wrenches in so many assumptions we had about what’s actually going on with this book.

That’s fucking crazy! Holy shit it wasn’t Magus! What does it all mean!

And it works in such a beautiful way because Magus’s entire thing was being a compromised, “do whatever I have to” type guy before the Second Summer of Love, so it really didn’t surprise anyone when he did everything he’s done up to now– he’s the only one of them who has no agenda other than being ready for the apocalypse! He dislikes no action enough that he wouldn’t do it if it meant being ready for a Superpower-level threat! 

So of course you could pretend to be him, all you have to do is to be openly compromised. All you have to do is act like Magus wouldn't want to, because he’s the exact kind of person who would do things he hates for the sake of what he sees as the greater good. The Pyramid, the contract with the US, his tech, his plans, all of it– no one would ever even consider Magus to be happy and genuine about any of it, because that’s just the kind of guy he is! 

What a killer reveal, what an incredible piece of characterization. Power changed Magus so much the people closest to him didn’t notice it wasn’t him. Power changed Masumi’s relationships so much, people don’t trust her to be able to handle a conversation. It would be easy to keep lying. To maintain this world built on deception and on the assumption that no one can be allowed to be their true selves, because that would mean danger to everyone involved.

But the truth is still worth it, on both sides: it is worth it to respect Masumi, because she is a person and she can take it. And as far as Dev is concerned, it is worth telling Eliza. Because he loves her. 

And hopefully the book doesn’t end in a demonic apocalypse next issue, because I really hope he’s right. Maybe Magus has done nothing wrong, who knows. That’s not true, at all, but who knows!

I do wonder how it works– if Dev simply inherited the magicks that made Magus powerful, if he literally absorbed him, if Magus is still around and simply endowed him with it all in Hell… god, let’s fucking go, this is so more compelling than I expected and Magus was already my ride or die. Love wins and everyone is going to die, maybe.

Oh also, there’s a third, parallel conversation in this issue about Kid Ignition, but all I really care about is that he still sucks and I love him. My dumb little late 90s king. 

They will try to make me hate you and I hope they fail.

[crumplstiltskin]

i love ur aus! your interpretations of the relationship dynamics in new ways that still feels true to the characters is really cool- take supernatural crazy stuff and making it fit in a more normal dynamic can't be easy.

do you have any opinions on how sukuna or choso get along with wasuke? (and do sukuna + choso both privately think of themselves as The Oldest Brother, or is one of them a middle brother?)

hey!!! thank you for sending this. i take it as a really big compliment ! i get very particular about that kind of thing so i'm glad it reads the way i want it to.

i'll answer this in the context of my aus. depending on the au there are minor differences though! and i hope you don't mind if i yap a little bit under the cut!

the most important part of this question is how wasuke's personality would mesh with them respectively so it's important to first consider what type of person wasuke is and how he would engage each of them. besides his appearances in the manga/anime we can deduce some of his personality through yuuji (how he was raised, his conduct, etc).

wasuke seems to be very even-tempered, family-focused so i think choso would get along the most with wasuke. choso is very gentle at heart and also family-oriented himself so wasuke would think highly of choso who is very outrightly passionate about it. wasuke himself doesn't seem to be overly affectionate physically or verbally but we know that he cared deeply for yuuji. choso being sort of the opposite way complements him well, at least in the context of caring for yuuji and i see him appreciating choso for making up for perhaps what he would consider his own limitations. wasuke would probably find it embarrassing but as a grandfather who loves his family he would be grateful for having choso in their lives.

sukuna and wasuke would clash more but not to the point where there is any real tension. i think they would bicker a lot, but only because they both seem like the stubborn type....probably share other personality traits too...idk..i feel it in my bones (and tbh in normal peoples au sukuna had a weird edgy phase where wasuke found him cringe af and he never let sukuna live it down 😭). in unckuna au and 12 years au they would both be very involved in rearing yuuji so they'd have long discussions about things after yuuji went to bed or something so this gives them a purpose to get along. not saying that sukuna wouldn't get along with him but to be completely honest sukuna is not the type of character to really care about much beyond himself. so they're like coworkers........but the work is yuuji. sukuna would respect wasuke out of principle (principle being he is an elder, he is his father/grandfather) and wasuke expects that from him, the end.

but knowing people like wasuke, neither of them are getting praise from him no matter how well they do or how much they impress him lol. he will tell them off immediately if they do anything wrong, and is not the type to say pretty words. if he wants to be nice to them he'll probably show it through action though; he'll go out of his way to buy their favourite fruit ("i got x today at the market, peel/cut them up for us"), drink tea and have snacks in the same room instead of sitting on the porch alone, things like that.

about the birth order...i think that's complicated. in normal peoples au i usually consider choso the oldest by a couple years (kaori's child from a past marriage or an ex). if it's the cousin choso au (where kenjaku is kaori's brother) he's around the same age as sukuna give or take. in sorceror au where he is a death painting choso is the oldest by far but sukuna won't acknowledge him as family for reasons (usually infantile and superficial) 😭😭😭.

in most aus sukuna kind of looks down on him for not looking like them and/or for not being human, and in most aus choso is not interested in sukuna beyond asking him to stop being mean to yuuji. almost writing off sukuna as yuuji's brother at all. almost... if it's any uncle au it's harder for him to ignore that i think...choso respects his elders...unfortunately...(he secretly thinks ill of sukuna in his head).

[ddollfface]

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡

𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗦𝗶𝗰𝗸!𝗔𝘁𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝘅 𝗳𝗲𝗺!𝗿𝗲𝗮���𝗲𝗿

"Your clothes would look nice on my bedroom floor."

Trigger Warnings; not proofread, pretty sure reader is described as 'girlfriend' or 'girl' somewhere, yandere behavior, extremely toxic behavior, manipulation, rip if you know someone like this irl, abuse of systems, abuse of pretty privilege (can't relate lol), and, as usual, bad writing. If I missed anything, then please let me know ♡ Here 'ya go 💗!Nonny, the second part of your request!! I hope it's to your standards... I'm not proofreading anything I'm putting out rn. I'm way too tired. I hope everyone had a good President's weekend))

Our boy is literally the definition of pretty privilege. He's got everything a girl would ever want, and he's the envy of all the guys on campus. He's sculpted like a Greek god, thanks to his Persian genetics and daily visits to the gym.

Everyone and anyone will listen to what LoveSick!Athlete's gotta say, and they'll do whatever he's asked, if he's saying it in a certain tone with a certain face. This is his manipulative personality coming into play. He understands that people will listen to him, for whatever reason, and he uses it to his advantage, scaring away any guys you may or may not find attractive.

Usually, it's pretty easy to do as they're just one of your classmates that you just find handsome, but you've never thought of talking to them, much less pursuing them. You're introverted personality (in this type of darling) makes it easy for him to keep you all to himself.

The two of you have been together for years, ever since you were little kids, and you trust everything he says, but not for superficial reasons like everyone else. You see him for who he is. You understand that he'd never do anything to hurt you; I'm just looking out for you, yeah? Just take my word for it, he's not worth your time.

In this case, with this darling, the two of you aren't dating, in your eyes at least. And LoveSick!Athlete has been pursuing you for quite some time, but he's patient. The two of you are practically attached at the hip, and that alone scares off any of your suitors, so even if you find someone (guy or chick) attractive, then they're gone before you can even say 'hello'.

Now, I've gone over how LoveSick!Athlete deals with his 'competitors', though he doesn't see them as this, in this post. This post is more geared toward how he deals with jealousy, but I drabble on the idea of putting down other men and making you see them in a bad light.

LoveSick!Athlete don't see these men, no matter how you see them, as a threat to your relationship, nor his ego. The two of you are far too out of reach for them to touch; they can't get to you, but it's different when it's his teammate. Especially since he never shuts up about them, so they know that he's pursuing you or you're in a relationship (depending on the time).

Overall, I think LoveSick!Athlete would treat the situation similarly with his teammate as he would with some random guy, but he'll have a bitter taste in his mouth whenever he sees said teammate now. It's possible that he'll be rougher with them on the ice, pushing them harder, elbowing them, and tripping them. Of course, no one will notice. After all, he's their star player, he'd never do anything to hurt his teammates, never.

He'll bad mouth them, behind their back of course, to his other teammates and you, can't forget about you. He'll go on and on about all the things they've done over the summer while school was out. How they're so aggressive toward girls, especially the ones that say 'no' to him. You wouldn't believe what Sonia told me, sweets. She said...

Once you get him talking, he won't stop. LoveSick!Athlete would never, ever, miss the opportunity to trash on of his rivals. If the guy seems persistent and tries to talk to you, god, let alone he touches you, he'll rain hellfire on the campus. He'll get some college girls to go report him to the campus office, saying that they were assaulted by him. LoveSick!Athlete might even plant some drugs into the guy's bag, causing him to lose his athletic scholarship.

And if the guy tries to tell on him, like a rat, then he'll just be brushed off as "desperate" and "attention-seeking." That he's trying to push the blame on someone else, 'cause there's no way LoveSick!Athlete would ever do something like that.

He's the team's sweetheart, after all.

[catenary-chad]

in defense of “diva Electra”

I get the criticisms of this take on the character of being the total opposite of anything the original workshop character was or “sassy drag queen” being a tropey and superficial direction. In any other show/media I’d probably even side with them. But with real-life train context, I actually really like this take on the character and imo it’s only become MORE accurate and relevant since the 2000s. It’s actually kind of amazing how well it fits modern US rail/transit fans (and to some degree international ones) into trains like Electra since there’s no way that was actually intended. I think if there was a revival anywhere in the northeast US, locals would go nuts for this kind of take on Electra vs something more loyal to the original because it fills such a niche among talking trains and just captures the spirit of electric/transit aligned railfans vs people just into boomer trains, and it makes a great counter to Greaseball because of that. So here’s my elaboration on why I like many of their traits:

Sassy and confrontational but affectionate-

hah, this is actually a pretty accurate description of a transit group I know irl. That sphere is notoriously argumentative and outspoken in general and endlessly snarky, it’s a mix of being vindictive about being politically screwed over for years and skewing heavily towards the northeastern US (which is broadly known for being loud, confrontational, often kind of aggressive and constantly dropping one-liners). But they’re actively not gatekeepers and more evangelistic than anything, they really want you to know and care about transit and electrification politics and the group I’m in is really proactive about including people.

This take on Electra specifically reminds me of one guy I know who kind of goes over the top making fun of/reacting to things. Who is also the ELECTRIFY EVERYTHING type and also very friendly and outgoing. It’s a very appropriate personality to give an electric train that’s vaguely Amtrak-coded. You can even it give it more depth in that they might act that way to make up for otherwise poor social skills or to get points across, or that they’re a squeaky wheel because electric train problems are often so overlooked but also dismissed as whiny.

aggressively lgbt-

it’s lowkey a stereotype that electric/modern/transit oriented railfans skew VERY gay and that’s just plain true in my experience. It’s generally a very liberal, urban interest and that leads to it being a very diverse sphere overall.

over the top sparkly and showy-

it’s easy to just make Electra vain and extravagant but I think it’s way more interesting to make this a deliberate PR move the way actual train systems will. Shiny sells and makes things more attractive to the public, I mentioned it in a previous post but even wild failures like the McGinnis-era New Haven Railroad have stuck around in public view because they had bold and striking visual designs and liveries. Electric trains are seen as a pretty mundane thing by a lot of people, their full advantages aren’t that well understood by the masses, and they don’t get much media glamorization compared to steam or diesel counterparts. Being bright and striking (and perhaps even overly focused on being clean because that’s a problem transit systems face) would actually be kind of a survival strategy for Electra with how much electrification has been sidelined or even reversed in the Anglophone world (and Americas in general) where they NEED to fight for appeal and relevance

[cherrari]

How would you recomend one approach learning about racing without any prior context? I now understand the rules (eh like not the specifics specifics) and im willing to watch a lot of videos, understand the superficial engineering of the car, telemetry, the superficial physics of racing, understand racing lines, defending, attacking, etc. But would you say I should learn about X first as a basis and then move to Y or I should just try whatever?

i think the single best thing you can do is watch old seasons. you'll see so many different types of racing, how f1 has evolved over the years, and why certain things are the way they are now. 1990, 1994 (with additional reading), 1998-1999, pretty much any/all seasons between 2006-2012 (more additional reading for 2007), 2014, 2018-2019, and 2021. 2012 is by far the most popular and what i'd recommend starting with but tbh you can also just look up the results of these and pick whichever one sounds most interesting to watch. you don't even need to watch the races, just watch the highlights

chain bear has some easy to digest videos on racing, but i would be very wary of 95% of youtubers who make "f1 analysis" videos because literally almost every one i click on is bullshit. especially those "comparing drivers' driving styles" videos that talk about how a driver prefers a specific "type" of understeer or oversteer

i think it also largely depends on how much physics you're willing to learn. the popular books written by engineers are often a good source of information, though not unbiased. e.g., newey's autobiogaphy, milliken's "race car vehicle dynamics," and seward's "race car design," in order from least to most technical. learning about aerodynamics a little past superficial but not necessarily professional-level understanding will make your life much easier in understanding the car development race

the f1 technical regulations are incredibly dry reading, but also genuinely good for learning about all the constraints on f1 cars. they're also handy to know in case you get into arguments online with people who don't know them 🙂 for specific questions or details on car development, the f1technical subreddit can be a good source. just make sure the person commenting actually knows what they're talking about. the f1technical forum is either the best or worst place for information, the team threads are incredibly biased but the more neutral car and engine threads tend to have information you won't easily find anywhere else

ultimately though, unless you're going to school for engineering and working in motorsport, there's no reason to feel pressured about learning every aspect of how the sport works. there are certain aspects of f1 that interest me more than others and i've focused a lot on learning about those aspects, but i'd never claim to have a good understanding of the sport as a whole because i am not a professional engineer

[umbra-borealis]

Dimitri Lousteau is the most 'human' villain in Sly Cooper

Hello and welcome to my TEDtalk, I've been meaning to type out my yapping for a long time but always talked myself out of it because I mean, this is coming from a guy with Dimitri for a pfp and I figured people would just take it as a guy on tumblr simping for a weird lizard but no. The reasons I care for Dimitri the way I do goes pretty deep and I could sit here and talk about it point by point but to save us both some time (and because I am DEAD tired) I made a graph!

I used Luciano, my little sona, to personify myself in this.

I focused mainly on formative things and similarities in personality without inserting headcanons, even if based on traits or even symptoms I recognize. Most of these are rather straight forward but some run a little deeper. The funny pattern here (maybe aside from the drug thing lol) is that there's a high likelihood that you reading this right now can at least relate to just one or two things on those list and while you could argue that you could do the same with other characters, I picked these traits because in my opinion they ride that thin line between just relatable enough to apply to a lot of people, but not too superficial to be on the same an interest or hobby. Anyone can get upset when angry, it's HOW you express that anger that says something about you as a person for instance.

I also want to quickly mention that yes, a LOT of characters in Sly Cooper are very human, but I said 'villain' for a reason. After all I don't think your average college kid can relate to Contessa, Rajan or Panda King because mass brainwashing, destroying villages and being a literal drug lord are bordering on supervillain and that's not what Dimitri is. A supervillain can be relatable to a degree as well, but it makes sense that the Panda King had to have a whole Moment TM (several really) to come to terms with the kind of person he allowed himself to become. When we see Dimitri in Sly 3, he seems to have already done this perhaps because his sins aren't nearly as great. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I'll insert a read-more here but I'd like to ask you to keep reading anyway if you can because my biggest pet peeve is that Dimitri is seen as a dumb, sleazy (and old??? which is dumb and I got math to back up that he's not in fact in his 40s during Sly 2 lmao) lizard who's only good as a level 1 boss for beginners to learn the game and all he's remembered for, though fair, is his manner of speech and not what he's REALLY saying. None of you ever picked up on what he was throwing down so I'm going to spell it out for you.

(PS I have ADHD and it's 3 AM so go easy on me this is coming from the HEART baby)

To make it easier on myself and you, I'm going to start sectioning the word soup in my head into four categories based on Dimitri's enterprises and roles and just kinda... waffle on about my thoughts regarding them. I'll start superficial and work my way down to the Deep Shit. Feel free to skip around to whatever interests you since I include some lore too, though changes are you're already aware of said lore.

Lets start with:

Dimiti, the club manager.

Nightclubs, and the people that run them tend to have a bit of a sleazy stereotype attached to them, which I suppose is fair. Though a large chunk is attributed to movies and other media, there were in fact some really large and important movements surrounding nightlife and club culture. Just look up the Club Kids if you want to go down a rabbit hole, in short they were a fairly large group of partiers from the 90s who contributed a LOT to fashion and art movements as well as being generally very fluid when it came to gender. Unfortunately that too would eventually be plagued by drugs and members getting addicted to drugs. Again, I digress.

Dimitri is seen partying in the intro of his chapter in Sly 2,

which is a nice touch because not only is it in-character, it's something that would actually happen. Owners of a popular joints would be popular or just enigmatic figures that would regularly get subjected to patrons schmoozing up to them. Some weren't a fan but there were many that soaked up the attention, bought rounds on the house when business was good, maybe get a little TOO cocky with confidence. It's a bit too simple to look at Dimitri in relation to all this info and say 'no doi he was in it for the money it checks out.' because if you spend enough time in his club or just, in the safe house after placing the bug there's signs of more going on.

We KNOW Dimitri is a criminal and he did his whole art forgery business on the side, or maybe it's the other way round? Either way he seemed fairly confident in his skills with this. His biggest risk being that time he tried to marry someone over a STATUE. (Really dude?) So then why was he so damn paranoid? While you could argue that he was sippin' his own supply I don't think that's what it was. He was so paranoid he played his music super loud in almost all areas of the club JUST to keep his security detail awake through-out night and day, whenever his club wasn't open to the public. To compensate he would promise them they could all 'retire early'. with that fake confidence chuckle that masks a sense of 'haha please don't abandon me'

So, ever heard of Imposter Syndrome? Because his behavior as a club owner SCREAMS it. He wasn't JUST cocky and sleazy, he was simply fitting in with the culture of the time because *everyone* was overly confident, over confidence was something to be admired, something to look at and go 'yeah that guy has it figured out' while in reality most struggled with something, anything. So what is Imposter Syndrome? To keep it short and blunt, the overwhelming feeling that you're not worthy of your accomplishments. We know that Dimitri is a 'failed' artist who turned to forging art to make money, it could just be a sense of guilt telling him something he's not ready to hear so he starts overcompensating and this insecurity bleeds into Sly 3 after Sly puts him in his place. His success with this insanely toxic coping mechanism lands him a new enterprise.

Dimitri, the Spice distributor.

Rather than going chronological, I'm going through the 'layers' that is this lizard. So if his career as a club owner is the tip of the ice berg with some neat little facts and info about the stereotype he conveys, this subject is a tier deeper. Dimitri the Spice distributor is Dimitri the next level criminal, or so he thinks. When you think about it, it's pretty strange that they gave Dimitri some Clockwerk parts at all. He was never mentioned by the other Klaww Gang members and thus seemingly not missed either when he was the first to get busted. In fact, nobody was upset that their DISTRIBTOR was arrested, putting a hold on their primary income... or so we thought until the Contessa was revealed to have a rather large and lucrative side hussle Dimitri probably could never compete with. Dimitri was expendable, sure he had a role and he played it well but he was also a loss they could cope with without much harm done to their wallets or their pride.

I think about it often, Dimitri in his jail cell, maybe hearing from another criminal or even his lawyer after the whole Clock-La thing about the full scope of the plan. He might've gotten a reduced sentence for ratting the other members out because if you think back to his legendary conversation with Sly he really doesn't seem to know what he's talking about. ("What is it with clocks bro!?") All of Dimitri's other crimes aside, he was young and naive, Sly 3 reveals he came from some form of poverty as well so it makes sense that he'd chase easy money. That's all it was though, he wanted the money and the fame, he didn't want to brainwash an entire city, he didn't know about the giant robot owl. He's once again left feeling like a failure, this time one that was easy to fool and all the confidence he had as a criminal would've seeped out of him, starting this weird cycle of him trying something only to be caught breaking the law and ending up where he began.

Like I said all of this would bleed into Sly 3 and it's pretty damn neat that for how little lines he had and how little he was on screen, they managed to convey this well in my opinion. By the time we reach Sly 3, most of us don't remember him as a Spice distribtor at all. Which leads me to...

Dimitri the Artist.

Being an artist is a pretty broad term and while we know Dimitri as a painter, I think he applies his artist mindset in way, way more. He's genuinely creative an smart, he thinks out of the box to protect his secrets and to cover his tracks. His identity as an artist is also his most vulnerable and 'real' self. Folks will say art is about self expression and usually mean conveying complex topics with pretty pictures or thought provoking stories, however it can be apparent in smaller ways too and the most obvious thing for Dimitri is his business in forging art. Think about it this way:

Picture you don't speak a LICK of english, you're from a lower in-come family or even straight up poverty but you grew up on tall tales of your grandpa being a total badass who lived freely and seizes every opportunity he could to make money... or take it rather but you get the idea. Your grandpa used his talents as a diver and deep down, you know what your talent is. It's art. So you somehow manage to move across the world to Paris, go to an art school work your ass off to develop your own style, your own identity and when it came to making a name for yourself you were rejected super hard. You're now probably in debt, in a foreign country and all you're known for is being the art community's clown.

One thing that gets overlooked is that Dimitri's paintings aren't actually that bad.

He very clearly knows the basics quite well, he's using color theory to shade and add depth but as he goes from student to independant artist, he breaks away from the basics and develops a style. His color use becomes brighter, he adds little stars just because why not? He likes em! This style is PERFECT for the nightlife club scene he ends up in down the line of course, but in the world of pretentious parisian artist hipsters? Absolutely not. So while he's just being himself, he's shown that that isn't allowed, that wont get him success. It reminds me of artists who say shit like 'I'll just learn to draw furry porn I guess!' thinking it's a guaranteed money printer (heh) and whether they enjoy making that kind of content is irrelevant, which leads to burn out or in case they DO find success, imposter syndrome. The dread that you do not deserve this recognition because it's not something you're actually that passionate about, not something you want to be known for. Say what you will about Dimitri but he never compromised. And while the cutscene shows shoddy painted depictions of classical paintings, I think this was more to illustrate him forging paintings to a younger audience than imply he was a bad painter as just before those crappy version, we see what's probably the REAL version he would've painted and sold.

This is conjecture on my part but I have to believe it because well, art forgery is HARD. You'd have to actually be a freaking genius to do it and sell it for so high, you can just afford what is basically a freaking opera house in PARIS and turn it into a nightclub. Also did I mention Dimitri just, HAS a ~mansion~ in Monaco? Because he does.

I've also always liked that scene for the expression on his face. It's smug, it's so full of petty, passve aggressive anger, a stubborness to admit defeat and instead to just 'prove a point' even if that point is lost to the means being SUPER illegal. That being sad, I don't think any of us feel bad over this man stealing a couple thousand from billionaire pockets. Billionaires that probably have their own little illicit ways to get that cash. Funny... It seems Sly isn't the only one who steals from other criminals.

And you might've stuck around this long and gone 'Umbra, get to the fucking POINT already." to which I have good news.

Dimitri, the Marine Iguana.

My favorite part, feel free to skip ahead to this headline if you want.

So who is this guy anyway? Well, from Sly 3 we see that he has a mother, a sister and his grandparents and that's about it as far as we can tell.

Just look at that smile! He looks like your average, awkward teenager. No struggling on the streets from what we can tell, no bullying by bigger kids, no weird sociopathic tendencies, no childhood trauma or grudges. The events that changed him seem to all have happened after he left for Paris. Sure it aint much to go off of but even if his life was hard, it seemed he was close with his grandfather and got to know him for a decent couple of years. Marine Iguanas are, like the name implies, an aquatic species of reptile. They're well adapted to land but due to low food availability in-land, they migrated to the beaches and started living off of sea algae, learning how to dive in the process. Even in Sly 2 the devs included plenty of references to Dimitri's affinity for water. The windows in the dancefloor area of his club are partially submerged, there are two massive aquariums in his office, he lives on a boat (or hides there anyway) and has several water features but inside and outside his club.

When you take a step back and look at all that, Dimitri is... just a guy who left his home country, his family, to follow a dream only to have that dream shatter and he's left to pick up the pieces all alone, making poor choices in the process. Choices based on anger and a broken heart. And the truth of the matter is that ALL of this, could happen to anyone. Granted in varying different ways as not everyone's life is the same and not everyone will make the same choices but I think many of us had a dream career as a kid only to become a jaded adult who thinks it's unrealistic or only does that thing as a hobby, I think there's many of us that remember the moment our hearts were broken and we realized the cold, unforgiving nature of real, adult life.

We see the effect of ALL of this come to a head in Sly 3, when at first he's not sure if he should still be mad at Sly for putting him in jail while he's currently the only guy he knows that COULD break him back out of jail as well. He still overcompensates, he's still overly confident and he put himself in that cell but still, he honors his word and helps Sly and Bentley find their friend. Then in Holland we see him behind a bar, seemingly as if he's actually got a job as a bartender there. Heck, he DOES have a job! He's the announcer! He may not super like it but he's being humbled by it all the same and when Sly comes for help a second time, the bravado is gone for a moment. He expresses genuine fear, not necessarily for his own safety but for losing a job, for *failing*. Of course the right answer in this scenario is to hype up his confidence again. And because Sly has proven himself to be trustworthy in the past he figures he can trust him with a favor of personal, sentimental value. If anyone would understand how it feels to have your family name dishonored and an heirloom stolen, it's Sly and Dimitri knows that damn well.

I think this is about as real as Dimitri can get, aside from the whole scuba gear thing. I know the gang is disguised but I don't think Dimitri is at all. I think that's just... what he likes to wear, further making me think he's just a regular guy with so much heart ache he lashe out in some pretty vile ways. Tortured artists are known to do some crazy shit after all. And while he continues to be his funny eccentric self we know him to be, he starts to have his first real moments of genuine care and loyalty while a part of the Cooper Gang. He tells Bentley he 'has his own flavor' which is his way of telling him that he's unique an valid the way he is. He dives after Sly's cane in VERY dangerous waters, risking injury or even his life, no questions asked. He sends Bentley postcards and letters to let his friend know he's safe and doing well. But perhaps something that hits me harder than any of that, is how angry and shocked Dimitri looks upon Sly's 'retirement announcement'.

Here he was thinking he made a friend out of Sly, and just like that he was gone. It makes me wonder if he held onto that grudge or not but a part of me likes to imagine that he didn't. I think his time with that gang made him realize that although he might not understand and he might be upset, it's not all about him. If anything he silently continued the rivalry by seeing how many girls he could cram into one post card with him to one up Sly's act of running off with a girl himself or perhaps he took it as a sign to make a career switch as well. Either way, Dimitri ended up changing for the better, he became himself in the end. A sweet, goofball iguana who loves the ocean and loves to paint. Making money became a nice bonus rather than his main focus.

Coming from a similar, rough background, having gone to therapy and trying to find my place in the world, this gives me hope. Hope that if I look hard enough, I can find my niche too and that being myself is the best I can be. If you read all this, thank you. I fgured it was best to just get it ALL out at once. I hope it was a fun read or made you look at Dimitri a little differently.

[wontmindd]

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 | 𝐊𝐧𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

fandom. Hunter X Hunter

pairing. Knuckle Bine x hunter!fem!Reader

spoilers!. huge Chimera Ant Arc spoilers

plot. the night before the final fight against King Meruem in the palace of East Gorteau, you decide it’s time to confess your love to none other than your friend and Hunter companion, the oblivious Knuckle Bine. Because you can’t sleep, and cause maybe you’ll never have another chance to tell him. But instead, Knuckle makes you promise something: to put the World before him tomorrow. Will you respect his wishes?

word count. 3,6k

prompts. Chimera Ant Arc, aftermath of the Chimera Ant Arc final battle, Reader is also a Hunter and Morel apprentice, secretly in love, love confessions, awkward romance, Knuckle is dense, kissing, making out, getting together.

You like many things about Knuckle.

In the beginning he didn't give you a good impression. You both got close to each other after you got taken under the protective wing of Morel, who instructed you along with Shoot. Shoot is a quieter type, really silent, but getting along with him was smooth and easy. With Knuckle it was a whole other story. During your first missions together he always raised doubts about the tactics you proposed, on the other hand you did the same with him. If you said A, he would say B. If he wanted to go right, you wanted to go left. And this would always end up in yelling, staring contests and headbutting. You understood some things about Knuckle: he was hot-headed, impulsive, loud and a braggart. But he was also kind. No matter how many times he shouted against you, he never did it for personal hatred. It was for genuine interest in helping people in need, and to make sure that the mission was successful. He never insulted you with more than a superficial "idiot", and from his eyes you always understood that he didn't really mean it and that he didn't want to offend your intelligence. Even Knuckle soon realized how kind you were, and how much you took care of things and people you cared about. He respected it. You two learned how to trust one another and make a better team, much to Shoot's and Morel's relief, who honestly couldn't take it anymore. Your fights decreased, replaced by an unconditional affection and a unbreakable loyalty. And from your part, even love. People would often ask if you and Knuckle were a couple. And every time both you and him would answer with a ferocious "OF COURSE NOT!". Knuckle's cheeks and ears would get hot, and you would feel your stomach erupt in warmth from embarrassment. You couldn't look at each other in the face.

His hair, first of all. They were his trademark. Always styled in a pompadour, they were really popular between high school thugs. Knuckle told you that he even formed a gang when he was a student, and that it was the most feared inside the school. To be honest, you were really sure that it was just a very normal group of friends who loved to slack off, and that he told you that just to sound tough. You like the stress lines under his eyes, which give him a serious look just how he wanted it. And you appreciate his ears, which become red and hot when he loses his shit or when he's embarrassed, two moods he constantly swings between.He has a pretty body, toned and muscular thanks to his intensive workouts and his inclination towards the art and use of Nen.And you like that he takes care of stray dogs, and the way he cries so easily out of sympathy and emotion. He's a sweet guy who gets moved to tears so often even though he hides it behind a tough-guy armor. You like more things about him than you can count.

One time, while patrolling alone with Morel and Shoot during a mission, you dared to question them about all of this.

"I wonder why people always ask me and Knuckle if we're a couple. For example, why not me and you, Shoot?"

If only Shoot had eyebrows, he would have raised them all the way up his hairline. So his hooded eyes were just comically wide. Morel, on the other hand, erupted in a loud, gigantic laugh that made you jump in surprise. A laugh so hard that he had to hold onto his pipe. You stopped, putting your hands on your hips.

"C'mon, what are you laughing at!" you pouted.

"Are you really asking why people think that you and that idiot are couple?!" Morel choked between laughter "you with the shiny eyes every time you stare at him? Who drools when he takes off his jacket during combat? Who plays with her hair like schoolgirl when we get out for drinks and he offers you a beer? You gotta be kidding me!"

And he proceeded to keep laughing again. Meanwhile, your face caught on fire. You smacked both hands on your mouth, shaking your head vigorously.

"I never stared at him!" you tried to object.

"If I may intrude" Shoot intervened, shyly "you stare at him a lot"

"That's not possible..." you whispered.

You wanted to threaten your own mentor to stop laughing, because what Morel said wasn't true at all. You didn't like Knuckle that way. But you just couldn't protest. Morel was right. You did really like Knuckle that way!

"Fuck, I like Knuckle! How could it be...and most importantly, what do I do!" you exclaimed, fisting your hair in your hands out of panic.

Morel sighed, puffing some smoke in the process. Then, he showed off one of the big grins of his.

"Boys are complicated, dearie, so I suggest we all get drunk tonight"

"Sounds like a great idea" you replied.

The step from liking to loving was really short. It was so easy to fall in love with Knuckle once you understood that you had feelings for him. Even though you kept fighting now and then, and you still called each other idiots. He cared about immensly, and you cared about him. Everything culminated one night after you promised to protect each other with your own lives. Morel took you out to drink as usual, and maybe you and him were a bit drunk.

"If the situation ever requires it, I'll give up my life for you, (Y/N)" Knuckle said.

Yeah, you did drink, and you were waiting for a taxi outside the bar you usually spent your free time in. But the way his eyes looked into you as he said that was so damn serious. And you, to such a determined and kind gaze, could answer with a stare just as serious.

"And I'll do the same for you, Knuckle"

Night before the selection

It's a quiet night. Clear, silent. You and your teammates would appreciate it more if only there wasn't this uneasiness in the air. Tomorrow the King of Chimera Ants, Meruem, will begin the selection, which will kill millions of people in no time. You, Knuckle, Morel and Shoot were selected to go to the NGL region to get rid of the menace. It's, without the shadow of a doubt, the most dangerous mission you've ever dealt with, you understood it during your fights against the Ants. And facing the Royal Guards will be way worse. Both you and Knuckle risked a lot, and if you ever had to die one day, you feel like it would be tomorrow. And you still didn't tell Knuckle that you love him. What if this is the last good moment to tell him? Tomorrow you won't have time for sure, and maybe not even after, because you're not sure that there'll be an after tomorrow. The thought creeps you out and prevents you from sleeping and gathering energies. You tried to sleep on the floor of the small abandoned chalet where you and and your squad are resting. But the fact that Gon and Killua keep doing push-ups doesn't really help. With a nervous sigh, you get up. You exit the chalet, taking a big breath of fresh air. You were feeling like suffocating before. The air is cold just right. And stars are really beautiful in NGL, without any artificial light the night sky is a whole other story. This could be your last chance to see so many pretty stars, because you're pretty sure that tomorrow you won't have any time to raise your nose up. An imperceptible sound of chattering makes his way towards your ears. You turn around to see if you have company, but there's no one. A small leaf lands on your nose, and you look upwards. Shoot and Knuckle are discussing something on top of a tall tree, you can't hear what they're saying but the concern in their voices is evident. Knowing that you aren't the only one uncomfortable relieves you, so you decide to climb up the tree and reach them.

"Trouble sleeping?"

As soon as Knuckle sees you, he jumps. And Shoot flushes red in a matter of seconds, sweating profusely. You raise a curious brow.

"What's going on? Did I interrupt something?" you ask, concerned.

Even Knuckle's cheeks become a blushing mess, his lips pressed tightly against each other and his muscular body stiff under his white jacket.

"No it's just..." Knuckle says, almost stuttering "y-you...YOU HAVE SOME NASTY EYEBAGS!"

Knuckle points a finger right to your face, and Shoot covers his face with his hand.

You're absolutely not convincing...he thinks.

But Knuckle still manages to make you mad as fuck, and you grit your teeth.

"That ain't true! It's just that I can't sleep tonight!" you protest, raising two fists in front of the Beast Hunter.

"I think I'll leave you two alone" Shoot whispers, and with only a jump he gets down the tall tree.

"Shoot, wait!" you exclaim.

Having his company would have reassured you, since he was just as anxious as you. You're always surrounded by impulsive Hunters without any sense of danger, who understands you better than him?

"But for real, are you okay?"

It was Knuckle who talked, who's voice got softer. He's looking at you with apprehension, the stress lines under his eyes frowning. You relax your gaze too as you meet his eyes.

"Not really" you sigh, and you sit right next to him on the tree branch, your feet swinging in the darkness beneath it.

"Nervous for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, we went on so many missions before this one without loosing once. But we aren't invincible, and this is a really big menace. I'm worried that we might not make it"

You were so scared of never getting to tell him that you love him. Maybe you should do it now. Knuckle doesn't say anything. It's true, by this hour tomorrow he could have already lost you. The thought terrifies him. He had already faced 5000 battles without losing one, but nothing can guarantee him that you'll be with him after tomorrow. He presses his lips together and looks down. You can't stand his eyes either.

"You're right, this time we can't be so certain" he murmures "I'm sorry, (Y/N), I can't make you feel better"

You have to tell him now.

"Knuckle, there's something I have to sa-"

"Wait, (Y/N), I have to tell you something too" Knuckle interrupts you. He has never done this, he always respected your words, even when he didn't agree.

You hold your breath, gripping your clothes between your fingers.

"What?" you ask with half a voice.

Knuckle finally looks at you, serious. He reaches for you with his hand and softly grazes your face so that you can look at him. You hope he doesn't feel it getting warmer under his touch, because you feel that way in response of his unexpected gesture. You just know that your pupils are dilated now. You're drowning in his eyes, always so furious yet kind. After making sure that you're looking in his eyes, he lets his hand fall from your face slowly.

"I..." Knuckle opens his mouth, but it seems like words are stuck in his throat. He never had trouble talking, why now?

For a moment it seems like Knuckle's stumbling on his own words.

"I..." ha takes a deep breath, before shaking his head "made you a promise, one night in front of our bar"

You look at him intently.

"And I know that I was very drunk, but I always took it seriously. And I know you did the same"

You didn't expect him to talk about your promise. Instinctively, you scoot closer to him making your body scratch against the bark of the branch.

"Of course I took it seriously" you say.

"But I gotta ask you to break it”

You spread your eyes open. Knuckle gets close to you too and lays his hand on your shoulder. A shiver goes down your spine.

"Knuckle I can't"

"But you have to, because this isn't just a mission, you just said it yourself. This is about saving the world, and promises can't count anymore. Except for this one"

"Which one?"

Slowly your hand trailed up your own shoulder to touch Knuckle's, caressing his fingers. Usually the embarrassment would be too much to handle. Your physical touch was always playful or angry, never intimate. But you don't have time to be embarrassed.

"Tomorrow you have to prioritize the mission, not me. Even if I'll be on the verge of death, you have to put our duty first, not me. I know that this goes against what we always said to each other, but please respect it. If the situation ever requires it, put the world before me"

Your fingers tighten around his hand harder. You feel yourself tearing up but you repress them. You grit your teeth and tremble. You start to really fear how you'll feel tomorrow if this is your reaction at just the idea of losing Knuckle. Would you ever take it?

"Alright, I'll do it"

Knuckle is surprised, but pleasantly. He really didn't want to fight with you tonight.

"But only if you'll do the same with me. If the situation requires it, choose the world and not me"

Knuckle holds your hand on your shoulders. He frowns. He always does it when he's conflicted. Then, he nods with determination in front of your eyes.

"Alright, I promise"

"Then I promise too"

Too focused on holding your hands, none of you noticed the free ones crossing their fingers behind your backs.

Dawn after the fight of East Gorteau

You broke your promise with Knuckle and Knuckle did the same for you. You woke up next to Ikalgo in a warehouse under East Gorteau's palace, where Meruem lived. The octopus explained to you that it was over, that the King was poisoned and was spending his last moments with Komugi, the girl you had in custody hours ago. You won. You're covered in wounds, but still able to stand up. You ended up like this while fighting against Youpi, throwing yourself in defense of Knuckle who fell in his trap. Your weapons were reduced to dust by the Royal Guard, but you were able to blind some of his eyes. However, the fight made both you and your Nen unable to fight. Your Nen was proven really effective against Royal Guards, so giving it up was a loss for your team and for the chances of saving humanity. You broke your promise. Knuckle did the same for you when Youpi threatened not only to kill Morel, but also yourself if he didn't deactivate Potclean. And so Knuckle did. You both broke the promise that you never intended to keep. After the fight you collapsed from tiredness and loss of blood. You had a brief and confused memory of Knuckle taking you in his arms before laying you down in a safe place. When you woke up, Ikalgo was next to you and told you the news.

"Where's Knuckle? Is he okay?!" you blurt out.

Ikalgo nods "The King knocked him out along with Meleoron, but he's fine. He should still be at one of the palaces towers"

Using your last energies, you stand up. Ikalgo cured all your wounds but scratches and cuts are still visible. Some scars will never go away.

"(Y/N)! Are you sure?" Ikalgo asks, concerned.

"Yeah, I'll go get him. Can you take me to him? There are some things that still haven't said to him and I thought I would never be able to"

Ikalgo, seeing your sincere and tired smile, nods. He takes you under one of his tentacles, supporting your body until you arrive in front of the room where Knuckle was laying down unconscious. You stand in the room. Sunlight beams through the window and delicately touch his sculpted body, his face still frowned in determination despite his loss of senses. You smile again, calm, before looking at Ikalgo. You exchange looks of understanding, then he trots towards Meleoron and takes away his sleeping but unscathed body.

It's just you and Knuckle now.

You get close to his body slowly, ruins crankling under your feet. You crouch down in front of him, sitting on your legs. You reach for his hair and start caressing them slowly. You almost don't want to wake him up, even though it's a tormented sleep caused by violence.

"Knuckle, it's me, (Y/N)"

His back rises as if he had been underwater for so long. He groans deeply before using all his energy to roll on his back. Now he's facing upwards, his gaze looking up at your calm and sweet smile. Knuckle squeezes and opens his eyes slowly, welcomed by your face. A small smile extends on his own face in response.

"(Y/N)..." he slurs, his voice raspy "you're alive...did we win?"

Carefully, you take Knuckle's head between your hands and slowly place it on your lap. He lets you do so without daring to protest.

"Yeah, we won. The King was poisoned and is spending his last hours in peace. It's over" you answer.

You gently start to caress his pompadour, now messy. Your delicate strokes go in tandem with your tired breaths.

"Great, but...I broke the promise" Knuckle goes on, a bit mortified.

"I did it too, it doesn't matter, I would do it again" you reply as you keep touching him.

You never had such an intimate moment, such a gentle touch under sun rays. You've never been so happy to see the sun rising.

"Knuckle, there's something I have to tell yo-"

"I'm in love with you"

You jump in surprise and spread your eyes open. For a moment you believe that he's just being delirious because of tiredness. But then you get lost in his gaze. Knuckle's face, always so angry and tough, completely melted in a tender and meek smile, kissed by the sun, pacified. You stop stroking his hair for a sec.

"What?"

"I'm in love with you, I really mean it. Tonight I realized how precarious the world is and that I couldn't afford to just not tell you" Knuckle says, in a whisper.

Your eyebrows arch upwards and a moved smile sprawls across your wounded face.

"I love you too, Knuckle"

Knuckle's reaction is similar to yours. Mouth slightly parted, a small inhale of surprise. It's really sweet. He didn't expect you to reciprocate, he didn't expect nothing from you in fact.

"(Y/N)..."

"I love you even though I always fight with you, even if you're hot-headed, stubborn, a braggart and with a weird haircut. But I love the way you care about others even when you deny it, and the way you cry for them. I love your haircut too, by the way. I just want to give you back the kindness you give to me and other people"

Your hands touches him again, this time caressing his cheek. Knuckle doesn't know what to say, words dying in his throat. You get lost in his eyes once again, then you snap out of it and your cheeks get hot.

"Ah-ehm, sorry...um...I wanted to say these things last night on the tree but I chickened out " you stutter awkwardly.

Knuckle breaks the silence with a laugh that echoes through the chamber.

"Hey, what are you laughing at?" you ask, scowling.

"It's funny, I wanted to confess too last night. Me and Shoot were talking about that, and that's why you scared us when you appeared out of nowhere. Ah, I don't even know why I told him!"

You chuckle "Maybe because you care about him a lot"

"That's not true, take that back!" Knuckle shouts, pointing a finger in your face.

Knuckle's face becomes a blushing mess, and you let yourself go in a laugh because Knuckle is always the same. Incapable of hiding his kindness and his affection towards other people. The finger aiming at your face touches your cheek, then under the eye, next thing you know his entire hand is encapsulating your cheek.

"Come over here..."

Without even realising it, you bend over Knuckle and you kiss. You often asked youself how kissing Knuckle would feel like, and this exactly corresponds to the idea. So delicate, but passionate. Knuckle's lips move on yours and you reciprocate immediately, closing your eyes. You press your mouth against his, it's warm like a hug of someone coming back from war. Warm like someone who couldn't wait anymore to say I love you. When you rise up you press your lips together, trying to suppress a smile, but unsuccessfully. You're sure that your face is a mess, just like Knuckle's which is really hot red.

"Wow..." you whisper.

"Yeah, wow..." Knuckle murmurs, dumbfounded.

You look down at him again "What do you say if we wait for Morel and Shoot to get better, then we all go out to get drunk to celebrate, then we go make love in my apartment?"

"Hell yeah"

Knuckle gathers some energies to hoist himself on his elbows and sit up. You help him stand up, but you have to support each other under your arms because both of you are too tired. You start to walk out the room.

"And after that you'll be my girlfriend?" Knuckle asks.

"I'm pretty sure that I already am"

Suddenly, you hear some sniffling echoing through the empty palace alley. You turn around.

"Are you seriously crying right now? For real?" you ask, startled.

"Shut up! I'm not!'

"Yeah you are, idiot!"

"Don't you dare tell this to anyone, or..."

"Or?"

"I don't know, I can't do anything to you you're my girlfriend now!"

[erinelliotc]

Some people (including myself) are Eddy apologists for this exact reason too- they can understand why he acts as he acts, where do come from his anger and insatisfaction with his life, and how he often gets a pretty unfair treatmente in some episodes (To Sir with Ed, Sorry Wrong Ed, X Marks the Ed, Who let The Ed In, The Good, The Bad and The Ed). On other side other characters (the kids) act just as bad as him and (almost) always come go unpunished. There several years ago Eddy got lots of hate, he was demonished and treated like a real monster and a sociopath by the fandom, devoid of any redeeming qualities. People who feel sympathy for him for his background and some of these episodes began to come to his defende and shows how he is a great character with a lot of good moments and a heart deep down.

Edd, on other side, always had the ''elite treament'', he was a angel, a perfect princess, who can do anything wrong in certain fans's eyes. Not to mention he pretty much overshadowed every other character on fanfics and fan arts, was everything about him. Another fans (usually Eddy fans) naturally got sick of this and started to push his flaws, the moments were he acted like a jerk, and how he's not above anyone on the show. And how not all his actions are (indeed) justifyable. Summing up, people were just sick of seeing Eddy being treated like a psychotic monster and Edd as the Jesus Christ figure.

Politely, just clarifying this to you. Good afternoon.

First of all, thanks for politely telling me all this! I wasn't really aware of all this because I only joined the fandom 5 months ago. And I totally get this, that's why I made the post. I saw some posts of people talking about those people who think Double D is an innocent little angel and I started to wonder if people think that about me, if I ever sounded like that, and I started to worry that someday I would sound like that in one of my future texts and videos talking about him. I hadn't thought about it when I made the post, but I hope it didn't come off as rude or an "attack" (???), I was just afraid that people would mistake me for one of those annoying people and just wanted to clarify that I'm not, because I really like this fandom and I don't want people to think that I'm annoying or that I make superficial analyses of the characters (because I personally think that oversimplifying Double D as good and Eddy as bad is something people do when they watch the show very superficially). I tend to be that type of person who feels the need to always clarify and justify myself for fear of others hating me, and also, I'm a little traumatized by Twitter where people tend to be very aggressive and mean to you for everything and assume things about you and not explain things to you etc etc... so I was a little anxious after making my post, afraid something like this might happen, but from everything I'm seeing, people on Tumblr seem so nice and kind in general. So I want to thank you again for being so kind and actually explaining the whole thing to me :)

Eddy is a character who's very easy to be wronged and misunderstood because he has great depth, several layers, insecurities and traumas that he covers with his false confidence and "jerky" attitude that he tries to copy from his brother. Obviously not justifying people treating him like a monster, just explaining that unfortunately we live in a world full of superficial people who aren't concerned with paying attention to details and stopping to really interpret and analyze things carefully and attentively, and understand that people are complex, characters are complex, and Eddy is a highly complex character. To these people, it ends up being more comfortable and convenient to just be content and cling to the character who, if seen superficially, is the "perfect little angel" who "suffers at the hands" of the "evil Eddy". I love analyzing and reflecting on things deeply, and it really irritates and frustrates me that people don't make the effort to do the same, and that happens in real life too. People quickly judge and have difficulty understanding that people are not simple and have different reasons for acting the way they do. I know it's hard to deal with people who act like jerks, I have a hard time myself, but I just wish there was a little more empathy in the world. That's one of the things Big Picture Show teaches us, right? Don't judge people because sometimes the jerk person is actually a very broken, insecure and frustrated person who just wants and needs to feel loved and accepted and doesn't really understand that. I think it's so important to learn this because it's true, sometimes people act mean not because they're actually mean, but because of so many other reasons that they themselves don't comprehend or don't want to show, and the "mean" disguise is just the way they found to defend themselves and survive.

I think (at least I hope?) it's noticeable in some of my posts that I also love Eddy (as a Double D kinnie I think it makes sense to be in love with him xD just an EddEddy joke to lighten up, but honestly I think people like Eddy are my type), I love analyzing and reading other people's analyses of his character and story, but my sympathy for him just grew in the last 5 months in fact, when I became hyperfixated on EEnE much more intensely than before and finally started to get to know about the whole story and characters. I even made a post once talking about thinking that he was my least favorite Ed, because before he actually was, but after rewatching the entire show now as an adult (the last time I watched I was a kid who didn't even understand a lot of the things that happened) and starting to analyze and read about it, now I'm very obsessed with him, I think his character is so interesting and deep, that he has the most interesting backstory and the best character development, and I even make more edits with him than with Double D (I think I tend to be obsessed with controversial and complex characters who are full of content to analyze from a psychological point of view like Eddy. A good example is Jinx from Arcane, I just love her character so much). I also recently realized that he's a lot like my brother, no wonder our mother often misunderstands him. But I get it, they (Eddy and my brother) are just people who are very hard to deal with because they carry several issues that you need to have good maturity and emotional structure to deal with, but it's so good when you can get to know a little more about them and help them get through these things when they open up and allow themselves to be discovered and helped.

Today I came across a post (which was honestly the trigger that made me make my post) from @eddfumo saying that they think Double D wants to be like Eddy in some way, and you know what? This is so true! I'll use my own experience to relate to him and explain him again, but anyway, I'm so envious of people/characters like Eddy. Even though they tend to irritate me and I even disapprove of many of their actions and decisions, they also have this determination, confidence (even if it's false, they're still able to act like confident people), attitude, audacity, strong personality, rebelliousness, extroversion and "not giving a shit" energy that I so wish I had too. I really admire these traits and I think Double D deep down does too (I like to headcanon him doing the same as I do and secretly fantasizing imaginary and hypothetical situations and discussions in which he acts more like Eddy, and he feels so good about himself afterwards, but feels frustrated that he doesn't have the nerve to do this outside of his imagination in real-life situations). Even though they have questionable morals, this type of person is so inspiring and you can still learn so much from them. It's no wonder Double D grows so much and becomes a more confident and less people-pleasing person because of Eddy's influence.

So yeah, it sucks when people simplify characters and see them as black and white, good and bad. The EEnE fandom is unfortunately not very big, but luckily here on Tumblr, at least currently, it's full of people who do in-depth analyses and that makes me very happy!

EDIT (I'm editing to add one more thing because I forgot to mention another topic that complements what you said about the other kids acting badly too and not receiving any punishment): One of the many things I plan to do after rewatching the show a few more times to properly absorb everything (I need to rewatch things at least twice to really take it all. Plus, I rewatched it the first time with the Brazilian dub because nostalgia and now I want to rewatch it with the original lines) is count how many times the Eds do real scams. Because honestly, there are a lot of episodes where we can't really call what they're doing "scams" because they're not actually scamming anyone, they're just selling something honestly and without harming anyone, but things always go wrong even when they're not doing anything wrong (often because of the Kankers, for example) and this is frustrating as hell to Eddy.

Since I haven't rewatched everything twice yet (because I'm still in the process of subtitling the entire remastered version of the show to rewatch it properly because English isn't my first language), I don't remember all the episodes accurately and clearly. But the last one I subtitled was "In Like Ed" (season 2, episode 9), so it's the example I have freshest in mind, even if it's not the best one. I know, the Eds were inconvenient in this episode crashing Jimmy's party (even though I think it's so lame that they rarely get invited to anything because the kids exclude them), opening his presents and everything, but one thing that stuck in my mind was the fact that when Eddy opened the present in front of them and revealed the sewing machine, Jimmy just said: "I'm so misunderstood. I wanted a pony!". He didn't say anything about them ruining the surprise or anything, he just started crying and ran away because he didn't get a goddamn pony. He just complained about someone's present, despised the present right in front of the person, and all Kevin said was "There goes the birthday boy. You dorks wrecked another party!". Like?? Jimmy cried because he didn't get the present he wanted, and not because of the Eds. I could even consider the possibility of them giving him "preferential treatment" and ignoring him because he's younger, but there are times when Kevin doesn't give a shit about Jimmy being younger, like in "Know it All Ed" (season 2, episode 1) when he uses the squirt gun on him, mock him and call him "twerp". Anyway, regardless of being younger, he was so rude and no one gave a shit, and not only that but they even acted as if it was the Eds' fault that Jimmy cried and ran away.

So yeah! The kids (especially Kevin) always blame the Eds (especially Eddy) for everything that goes wrong, even when it's not really their fault. And as you said, they also act badly, but nothing happens to them.

[somanyratsinthewalls]

Burning Hearts Part 8

Pairing: Law x Straw Hat Zoan Type (named) OC 

Summary: *SLOWWWW BURRRRN* You were teleported across the globe in an instant, away from your crew. Your body was badly broken and beaten, thrust into the harsh landscape of a Northern island. You are discovered by the Heart Pirates and brought back to health. Startled upon waking up in a foreign place with an unfamiliar crew, you are shocked with the news that you’ll be spending two years there. Trafalgar Law, the captain of the Heart Pirates has made a promise to train you, but will it become something more than a mentor relationship?

WC: 2300

Taglist: @cottoncandyloverrrr

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7

Burning Hearts Chapter 8: Doctor’s Visit

— — 

“Damn girl… you look like shit. Your ankle is mad swollen.” Ikkaku’s eyes rake over your body, covered in superficial lacerations and multicolor bruises in varying levels of healing. 

“Gee, thanks for reminding me.” You roll your eyes and step into the steaming hot bath. “It’s not like I have this shooting pain all over my body to remind me that I look like hot garbage.” You carefully lower yourself into the water. Every single muscle in your body cried out in agony. “Ow, ow, ow, ow…” You finally settle into the tub and sigh. 

Ikkaku continues panting her toenails a bright shade of coral from her perch on the bathroom counter. 

“I just got my period, too. I feel like I got hit by a fucking train.” You close your eyes and slide deeper under the hot, soapy water. “Can you grab some tampons out of that drawer? I want to bring some back to my room.” 

Ikkaku sighs in sympathy. She opens up the top drawer and pulls out a box. 

“You’re bleeding AND you’re beat up like that? You better stay in tomorrow and rest.” Ikkaku says. 

“HAH! Yeah right. And who is gonna tell your psycho captain that I’m taking the day off? Because I’m certainly not doing it. He’d probably cut my arms off and put them on backwards or something.” 

“Come on, like he’d harm a hair on your head.” Ikkaku responds and chuckles. 

“Umm??? Who do you think kicked my ass this bad??? He doesn’t exactly go easy on me.” You turn your head to face Ikkaku. 

She scoffs. 

“That honestly shocks me, he’s so different with you.” Ikkaku blows on her wet nails.

“What do you mean?” You inquire. 

“I can’t really explain it… he’s just been like… weird since you got here. I mean, he’s always been weird… but with you he’s extra weird.”

“What are you implying?” You raise an eyebrow. 

“Nothing!” Ikkaku throws her hands up. "All I’m saying is that there’s been some sort of shift in the guy since you came into the picture. I’m not complaining, it’s been pretty nice having someone to ‘girl talk' with, you know?” 

“Mhmm…” You knew she was hiding something, but you were too tired to pry further. “I hope you get to meet my friends some day, I think you’d like them.” 

Ikkaku smiles. 

“I’m sure I would. Now get your ass out of that tub and tell Law you aren’t training tomorrow before you fall asleep and drown in there.” 

“I think I’d rather drown.” You joke as you sink down further into the tub. 

“Come on, I’ll help you up.”

Ikkaku comes over to the side one the tub and you sit up to allow her to help you up. “Ah!” Your ankle nearly gives out as you try to step out of the tub. 

“Yeah, as much as you don’t want to believe it, I think a doctor has got to look at that…” 

— — 

*knock knock* 

Law looks at the clock. 

11:45 PM

Who was coming to his office this late in the evening?

“Yes? Come in…”

A tired looking, wet-haired Daisy shuffles into his office. Was she limping?

“Hi…” 

“Hi back… what’s wrong with your leg? You’re favoring your right. You weren’t doing that at training today.” He couldn’t help but ask… he was a doctor after all. 

“I think I twisted it… didn’t hurt until I got back. Ikkaku made me come and have you look at it. It’s probably nothing. Since I’m here, I have some cuts that might need stitches, so you should probably- woah-“ 

Daisy stumbled, her gaze losing focus. She puts her arms out in front of her. 

“I think I might-“ Her eyes rolled back. 

“Room!” 

With a quick ‘Shambles’, Law swapped Daisy out with a sock that had been discarded on his bed in the adjoining room. He had caught her right before she hit the ground. Law rushes through the archway to assess Daisy’s situation. She was laying on his bed, barely conscious. 

“Hey… Wake up, you’re okay, you just passed out.” Law sits at her side on the bed. 

“I-I did?”

“Yes. Have you been feeling dizzy lately? Light-headed?”

“Not really. I was in a super hot bath because-“ she stops, hesitant to tell him something. “Well, because I needed a bath.”  

“Have you been drinking enough water?” 

Daisy rubs her eyes. 

“I don’t know? I thought so.” 

“Any headaches? Body aches? Fever?” Law continues his laundry list of medical questions. 

“You threw me into a tree like, six times this morning, my whole body always aches.” 

Law furrows his brow with concern. Had he pushed her too far today? She never said anything about it… A pang of guilt reverberated through his chest. 

“That would’t explain the passing out on its own… are you menstruating?” Law asks. 

“Ew, Law! That’s personal!” Daisy’s cheeks turn pink. 

“I’m a doctor, it’s a fair question to ask after a fainting spell.”

“Okay well my primary care physician is a reindeer, so I don’t need you prying into my cycle.” Daisy snaps at him. 

“So that’s a yes to the previous question…” Law catches Daisy rolling her eyes. “I’ll give you some iron pills and an anti-inflammatory. That should help. Now let me see your ankle.” 

Law rises from the bed and moves to the foot of the bed so he was standing at her feet. He pulls up her sweatpants to her left knee. The ankle was swollen with a large purple bruise. 

“Gods, when did this happen?” Law sighs as he accesses the damage. He gently picks up her foot and she winces. Daisy must have noticed the guilty, pensive look in his eyes. 

“Hey, I don’t think you did it… I probably tripped over a root or my own feet or something in the garden, you know how I am.” Daisy gave him a weak smile. Her smile did little to alleviate him of his feeling of repentance. As clumsy as you were, it probably was him that caused the injury. 

“Right.” Law finishes examining her ankle and gingerly sets it back down on the bed. “I’ll go get you that medication and some ice for this. I don’t think it’s sprained, just badly twisted. You are going to need to rest for a few days until you can train properly again.”

“I-I’m sorry…” Daisy hangs her head. 

“Why?” Law asks stoically. 

“Because I won’t be able to train for a bit… we’re wasting time… aren’t you mad?”

“Pushing you past your limits now won’t help in the long run. It won’t be more than a few days, I’m sure of it. I see the cut you were talking about, I’m going to stitch it up. I’ll be right back.” 

Law heads back into his office and collects some supplies from his cabinets and drawers, places it all on a metal surgical tray and returns to the foot of his bed. He picks up the large ice pack and the medical tape from the tray and begins fastening the cold pack to the swollen ankle. After carefully tending to her foot, Law places an extra pillow underneath the injury to elevate it. 

“I’m going to have to get closer to do the stitches, can you move your other leg?” Law points at Daisy’s right knee and she pulls it in towards her body, leaving him room to sit on the bed and work. 

“I’m going to slightly numb the area and begin. You okay?” Law checks in with a glance to her face as he readies the needle and thread. 

Daisy nods. 

“I, uh, I would look away if you’re still feeling faint.” Law says as he notices her eyes on the wound he was about to begin sewing together. 

“It’s kind of hard not to look… can you distract me or something?” 

Law’s breath catches in his throat. 

“What?”

“I don’t know! Talk to me or something, so I can take my mind off it?”

“I mean, I’ll be kind of busy. But you can talk if you’d like…” 

There was a short pause. 

“So. What’s your favorite color?” Daisy asks. 

“Wha- huh?” Law cocks his head and meets her eyes. “My favorite color?” 

What the hell was she talking about? He hasn’t been asked this question since he was young and his baby sister would make him macaroni art… No, wait, Cora asked him once… he wanted to know what color sprinkles to put on his 14th birthday cake… 

“Yeah, mine’s yellow. What’s yours?” Daisy interrupts his wandering train of thought.

Law returns his gaze to the task at hand and begins stitching the wound at its corner. 

“Um. I don’t have one.” 

“Oh come on. No one’s that buttoned up.” Daisy rolls her eyes. “You’re that committed to the dark and mysterious bit that you won’t even tell me your favorite color?” 

There was a pregnant pause.

“I don’t talk about myself because it would only cause people to be sympathetic towards me, and that’s the last thing I want. Everything before I founded the Heart Pirates is nothing short of tragic, and it’s a past I’m still trying to avenge… and, blue, I guess…” Law is grateful he has to focus on stitching the wound, there’s no way he’d be able to make eye contact with her now anyway. He sees her smile softly out of the corner of his right eye. 

“Blue is nice.”

Daisy hisses as Law pierces the skin with his needle in a particularly thick spot, the numbing medication only doing so much. 

“SO,” She winces as she tries to distract herself. “You were really touchy about the record player… Who did you say it belonged to again?” 

Law stops. Silence falls again. 

“An old mentor of mine.” Law continues working. Daisy looks at him expectantly, clearly waiting for him to elaborate… but her expression was soft, not wanting to rush him. 

“Corazon… he saved my life… It’s a long story. I was very ill as a child. I’m from Flevance-“ 

“How? Everyone from Flevance died from Amber Lead Disease? I heard about it when I was real young… my dad used to tell me about it so we wouldn’t go play in the mines.” Daisy interrupts him. 

“That’s why it’s a long story… I thought you wanted me to talk to you?” Law can’t help but smirk a bit. 

“Right, sorry, go on.” Daisy giggles a bit. *How cute.* No… not cute.

“Anyway…” Law continues sewing up the gash on Daisy’s leg.  “You know who Donquixote Doflamingo is, right, yes?”

Daisy nods. 

“So when I was 13…” 

Law spends the entirety of 30 minutes explaining his tragic childhood while carefully patching up Daisy’s open cuts. 

“Gods, Law… And I thought my life sucked… I’m sorry that happened to you, I really am.” Daisy reaches down and touches Law’s clothed bicep. Law flinches. 

“Sorry…” Daisy says after feeling him recoil from her touch. 

“No.. it’s ok. I just… don’t tell a lot of people that.”

“My family was killed too. I can’t say I relate to all of the other shit, but we have at least one horrific ordeal in common. That’s how I ended up with Grey Jaw…” 

“You don’t have to tell me about it. I know that it’s-“

“It’s fine. You asked awhile ago and I didn’t answer. I guess I wasn’t ready…” Daisy sighs. “He burnt my island to the ground, taking me and the other young girls to ‘work’ for him after we watched him murder our families. I was 16. I was there for 4 years… it was all a blur really… tried to force it out of my head…” Daisy sniffles. 

Law pretends not to notice and continues his work. Daisy swallows hard.

“When I was 20, we were freed by the Marines who launched a surprise raid on the ship. I ended up on some dinky little island and bartended for another 4 years before Luffy showed up and asked me to join his crew. Aaaand now I’m here in this mess…” Another sigh left her lips. 

“But you hate the Marines now?” Law asks. 

“There are good marines. Just like there are good pirates.” Daisy looks up at Law to meet his eyes. “You can understand that, right?”

He nods, knowing all too well. 

“All done.” 

“Thanks, doc. Can you ‘shambles’ me back to my room or something? I’ve already overstayed my welcome, I think.” 

“Just sleep here. I was going to finish research and crash on the couch anyway.” Law rises from the bed. 

“You’re sure?” She asks. 

“Yeah, and here’s a hot water bottle… for the, you know…” Law hands her the heating pad. She shyly smiles as she grabs it from his hands. “Get some rest. Yell if you need something, I’ll just be next door.”

Law is halfway through the archway when he hears her. 

“Law?”

“Yes?”

“Goodnight.” She smiles warmly at him. 

Law feels something tingly and foreign shoot through his veins. Looking at her, he couldn’t help but smile back. Genuinely. 

“Goodnight Daisy.” 

xx 

**Authors Note** PART 9 WILL BE UP TOMORROW FOR VALENTINE'S HEHEHE IF THAT GIVES YOU A HINT! Also PLEASE comment and let me know if you want to be in the taglist for this series! Sorry for the slowest burn on the planet, I simply am being so self indulgent...

[pskmonika]

Second male lead hcs ₊˚⊹♡ (part 1)

Who's gonna be the second male lead in your love story? (One piece/fem reader/light nsfw)

Sanji:

ೃ⁀➷ Vinsmoke Niji (the asshole type)

You were a well known pirate, so niji heard about you before, but he never cared, you were just another name in hundreds

But then when they started to gather information about sanji, they found out that you were in fact not just another crew member, but his partner

And niji found it interesting 'that loser got a girl?' It made him giggle as he thought about it 'she must be some slut he gave money to so she can suck his dick and call him a bf'

And well, they found that information quite helpful, cause u know what's better than a threat? Two threats

So they kidnapped you and told him unless he marry pudding they will kill you, and with that they controlled sanji however they wanted, just the idea of smt happening to you because of him is smt he can't handle

And, for curiosity niji decided to go see you in the dirty little room they kept you in, he wanted to see what kind of a woman sanji could get

You were tied up, with messy hair and clothes

You were all pretty and vulnerable, if it wasn't for his father he may have just used you to relive whatever dirty thoughts ran through his mind at the moment

So he just messed with you, scared you, teased you, it was fun to him

Then after some time, he got you to stay with him, ofc after telling you that if you don't obey whatever he told you to he would just go and rape you in front of sanji and you know he would do it

And as time went by, even with your cold treatment, he started to quite become fond of you, and because he can't feel any real love that emotion turned to obsession

He even planned to make you his good little wife who he's gonna fill every night and who's gonna give him as many children as he want

But ofc as the straw hats came to rescue you all his plans failed

Zoro:

ೃ⁀➷ vinsmoke sanji (you know that perfect second male lead? Yeah.)

First, if you happen to make zoro develop feelings for you, you must have quite an amazing personality, cause zoro is simply not attracted to looks whatsoever, you must be easy going and fun to talk with, and at the same time someone who he's able to have a long night talk with, someone who's kind like luffy and brave and strong like himself

And with a girl like that on the boat won't it be easy for a certain cook to also be interested?

Especially knowing that you and zoro will take a long long long long time to get together, cause he really need to be close enough with someone in order to develop feelings

So, it all started with you helping him sometimes with dishes

Then with you helping him with dinner

You were mostly bored and honestly it was fun being with him

At first he treated you just like he treated all women, then that changed, he probably got used to you, you thought, and it made you happy

And it was true he did, but what you didn't know is that the superficial liking that he once had for you started to change, started to become real.

You were different, in his eyes, you treated him well, made the best stupid jokes with him, comforted him

You were always playful with him, you made him happy, more happy then he has ever been

And zoro did catch the different treatment of the dirty cook towards you, and the way he looked at you secretly all the time, and it made him so so so angry

He was never a fan of you spending time with sanji, but this made him both mad and afraid, which made him eventually confess

You both agreed to keep it a secret at first tho, to get less headache from the crew

And zoro told you he hated how much time you spend with sanji, so you agreed to spend more time with him now, and less time with the cook out of respect for your now partner,' wouldn't I also hate it if zoro spent a lot of time with a girl?' You thought

And just like that, sanji noticed smt was diff, the way you would bring up zoro more often in your conversations, and the big smile it drew on your lips

And he also noticed that, you are not there as often, did he made you angry with him or smt? That's all he could think of

But one day it was all clear, the day you both were late for lunch so he went to look for you after they told him that you both were in the training room

And before calling both of your names he saw it,

Zoro pinning you to a wall kissing you

And you was kissing him back

And that broke him, it took him a long time to fully except it, and a lot of tears

Yet he never confessed, he wanted to at least keep your friendship, keep his closest friend

So he even gave a bitter smile the day you told him about it, and acted like he was happy for you

He decided to never leave you, and to always love you, even when you didn't love him back, and even if it kills him inside everyday

[carriehobbs]

wait i'm so sorry i know i just sent you a "please give me an essay about your ocs" ask but also i want to know about this too 🙈 (as always no pressure!!!)

You can ALWAYS send me "please give me an essay about your ocs" asks 💕

This image was related to a post I made the other day about doing a MB playthrough where I swap everyone's ROs around.

I'm going to explain this in the order that I decided who would (possibly) be swapped with who (partially because there's a process-of-elimination thing going on, but conveniently it all works out either way).

I paired Ella with Glitch first. They get along really well as friends and coworkers in-game (I don't remember their typical relationship stats off the top of my head :'( ) and I think they have a number of ideological similarities that would make them work well long-term. Firstly, Glitch and Ella have similar moral codes when it comes to their work for Unity (aka they're both pretty expedient). More importantly, Glitch joined the NPO program (in part) because they don't like when people impose limitations on others. Ella, given her Zero, doesn't like it when people impose limitations on her: she spends a lot of time trying to prove to others (and to herself) that her Pollard score won't stop her. I think they would be able to relate to and understand each other on that point. If Ambrose brings out Ella's confident stat, Glitch would bring out Ella's humorous stat.

Then I paired Elle and Ambrose. I know from old asks that there was a point where Ambrose would not romance Buttons with certain personality types/who made certain choices (I don't know if that is something that got scrapped or if it's still a part of the game's code now). Ambrose, according to these asks, would need to respect Button before they could love them, and their love was easy to lose (since they were actively trying not to date their student). If Ella is off the table, then Elle is the Button of mine who would be the best fit for Ambrose. Elle values professional competence and solution-oriented approaches and she can keep her head in a crisis. Elle also tries not to let herself wallow in guilt and self-pity. These are all things I think Ambrose could respect. On her end, Elle appreciates the way that Ambrose believes in her and doesn't reduce her to or underestimate her because of her Pollard score. She has a professional respect for him in canon that, in this RO swap, I think could easily grow to admiration and affection. Elle also has this kind of quiet constancy to her canon relationship with Kent: there's a soft kind of I'm-here-with-you quality to their love that I think would translate nicely to Elle and Ambrose.

After that, I paired Ellery and Sally. One of Ellery's defining features, in my mind, is how she is loyal to a fault. It influences all of her meaningful relationships with other people, romantic, familial, or platonic. She doesn't have many people that she is truly close to, but once you're one of "her people", she will (for better or for worse) be loyal to you until the end. Ellery and Sally's over-a-decade-long friendship has a long history of trust, companionship, and loyalty to each other, and I can see a world in which that platonic attachment slips sideways slightly and becomes a romantic attachment. In Chapter 2, there's a line where Button's relationship with Sally pre-game can be established, and Ellery always chooses the option to say that she and Sally would be inseparable no matter what. They share similar senses of humor and can joke around together.

I almost paired Ellie with Sally (since there's a long history of yearning in both the Sally and the Gray romances), but I ultimately thought Sally would pair better with Ellery. Then I considered Ellie with Kent. On a more superficial level, Ellie and Elle are both my Buttons who love dogs, which is a pretty important part of the Kent romance (old asks say that the Kent romance is locked behind meeting him with his dogs on the way to Aeon, but I don't know if that ended up in the game's code either). Less superficially, Ellie is a very empathetic and compassionate person and she would have a lot of patience in her relationship with Kent (which he may need sometimes, especially when it comes to expressing himself and his feelings). Kent has this kind of constant, quiet support for Button in his romance that I think Ellie would find really reassuring. Something that is really meaningful to Ellie in her canon relationship with Gray is that being with him feels like coming home, and I think she could find something like that with Kent too in the RO swap.

That just leaves Ellis and Gray. I know process of elimination says they have to be paired up, but they actually work well together too. As I mentioned when I almost paired Ellie and Sally, Gray's and Sally's romances both involve a lot of yearning over many years (and so Ellis is primed for the long-term yearn). Ellis keeps a lot of the pain he feels about what happened with his family and his Pollard score buried inside under a sense of gallows humor, and I think Gray is the kind of understanding person who would be able to be there for Ellis while he deals with those things. In canon, Ellis does not have any romantic feelings for Gray whatsoever (he sees Gray as a part of the family, almost like a second older brother), but one thing about their relationship that would transfer over is that Ellis sees Gray as a person, not as a superhero, and just likes him for who he is. He genuinely likes hanging out with Gray outside of Nick.

[beanghostprincess]

Hello. I hope you’re doing well ❤️ I had a few questions (and if you’ve already answered any of them then I’ll just continue scrolling down your blog, as I’ve been doing).

Here ya go!

1. What do you think people mainly get wrong about Usopp? Like, what is a common misconception.

2. How would you describe Usopp’s relationship with each of his crewmates, in so few words (if possible)? I feel like people forget that the Strawhats are friends too.

Just wanted to hear your take.

Kind regards,

Anon.

You sound so polite, I love it 😭💖 Sending you kisses and hugs for being so sweet 🥰 (Sorry I didn't reply sooner! Busy life)

1 - I feel like the most common one I've seen around general audience/most shonen lovers (I like shonen too, but you know what I mean. You know what type of people I'm referring to) is that they take Usopp's character pretty superficially and instead of reading between the lines (very huge, separated, obvious and easy to read lines, though) they just accept what is verbally said... "He's a coward" / "He can't fight" / "He's selfish" / "He's just funny".

Most people have this misconseption about Usopp's fighting style because they assume that, because it is a long range fighting style, he isn't as powerful as others. When it is not true, by the way. They also deem Usopp to be a coward when, actually? He is just an average person? Like I KNOW the whole point is that he works on his "cowardice" but they just took an average boy with no prior experience of fighting and being a pirate to directly... Fight and being a pirate. Everybody would react like that. "He's not strong and he is a coward" first of all, wrong, second of all, you would be like that too.

And saying he is selfish? Or that he doesn't care about the crew or the people around him? I genuinely do not understand how some people can read him that way... Do you all not know how to... Analyse basic characters now? Another thing people get wrong is thinking Usopp isn't hot/wouldn't pull any girls as if he wasn't the only one with a canon girlfriend waiting for him, but alright.

2 - This is such a good question, actually 😭 I love you for this, anon. My favorite thing ever is talking about Usopp,,, I appreciate this.

Luffy: I love his dynamic with Luffy because despite being his captain, it is obvious that they are best friends. They have the same young/playful mindset and it doesn't feel, like... A job at all? Don't get me wrong, they're all a family, but their dynamic feels way more teen-like? More silly? They're stupid together. Usopp being the voice of the reason vs Luffy being extremely chaotic is my favorite thing. They feel very organic. And then there's this layer of jealousy from Usopp's side and the fact that I think Luffy will never be able to fully understand Usopp's insecurities, but somehow they will always find understanding and support on each other. Usopp is loyal to his captain and all but it feels more of a "I follow him because I consciously trust in him" than a "blind devotion" type of thing. And I adore that. Also, Luffy saw potential on Usopp from the very beginning and it melts my heart. Plus! They're both beetle/bugs lovers! The sillies <33

Zoro: They're one of the most hilarious duos because you would expect Zoro to absolutely hate being around somebody like Usopp, and yet he lets the guy do whatever he wants with him?? Zoro might be Luffy's enabler first and foremost but we forget he is even more permissive with Usopp sometimes and it is the funniest thing. I love it when they have tiny little soft scenes together because Zoro genuinely enjoys Usopp's company and I believe Usopp thinks Zoro's cool despite always being done with him being so dramatic and impulsive when fighting. I feel like Usopp feels safe around him but not only physically. I think he knows Zoro can read him like a book and after what happened in Water 7? I believe now even more than they're closer. Sometimes opening up to your captain is hard so maybe the first mate whom you have an intimate but odd relationship works even better.

Nami: My absolute beloveds. They're both on the same page when it comes to being "cowards" because their fighting styles are different from the rest and they're not built different like most of the crew. They feel so organic and genuine too! They just get each other. They're mischivious little shits together. And when they are not on the same page, it's so funny how comfortable they are around each other to just yell at the other. I think Nami gets Usopp when it comes to feeling weak and out of place but not quite, because she is always trying to make a path for herself instead of being afraid to do so? She's used to fighting on her own and standing up for herself even if it's scary but Usopp isn't, and I think she gets it but Usopp doesn't think she does because she is extremely valuable to the crew, obviously, and Usopp doesn't feel like he is. It's a dynamic with constant support and understanding and so so much fun together because they're most of the time on the same page. That's why they work so well!! They're not normal at all but the whole "we're the only normal people here" dynamic is incredible.

Sanji: If I start talking about them I think I will never finish. I think I've left pretty clear that my favorite thing about their dynamic is that, despite arguing all the time because their personalities are very different (something people often forget like. They argue A LOT. And it's SO funny. They're both the softest and the most annoying thing to each other--) they're always there for each other. Their dynamic is easy to summarize in "they joined basically at the same time, right after the romance trio" / "they do what the other can't do". They both have different types of self-hatred and insecurities that bring Sanji to understand Usopp on a deep level that I don't think others are able to share. It is obvious that Sanji has a clear preference for Usopp when it comes to the guys of the crew and he does treat him differently, not because he sees him as weak but because he sees himself in him. Their relationship is something so personal because I truly believe they're the ones that understand each other the most. I am SO angry they barely have scenes together now,,, Or that Usopp wasn't in WCI,,, Waiting for Elbaf to parallel Water 7 so fucking bad. I have more things to say about them but-- My whole blog is literally about that.

Vivi (very necessary to include her): People don't talk at all about their dynamic and it is so offensive to me because they're so funny??? Vivi's little quirk about forgetting to mention dangerous stuff and Usopp being oh so done with her is the funniest thing. Drum island was certainly incredible for these two. I truly wanted to see more of them,,, I think that if Vivi had stayed with them, she would've understood Usopp pretty well. Screaming for help when nobody can hear you? Feeling oh so weak in comparison to the world around you? She would've been on Sanji's team kicking Luffy and trying hard to keep them from saying any stupid things. More of Usopp and Vivi,,, More of Usopp and Vivi,,, I miss them :( They were so cute :(

Chopper: They're so cute and silly together,, But not only that! They support each other so so much!!! Maybe it's because they're both from the "coward trio" but I just adore how they're pretty much always together. Chopper has this whole thing at first about feeling like a monster, but Usopp finds his abilities so awesome and,, It melts my heart whenever we see them interacting. They're not only hilarious and support each other but they're always finding reassurance on the other and I love it. Not to mention the whole Sogeking thing, too! And Chopper believing Usopp's lies! They feel sooo much like brothers, imo, it's adorable. Chopper might be one of Sogeking's biggest fans but Usopp is certainly Chopper's number 1 fan too.

Robin: I think if I start talking about them I might end up crying, thanks. But. But. But I adore them. They leave the crew pretty much at the same time and yet Usopp does everything to help them save her and bring her back. I think Robin reads him pretty well and can see so much bravery in him that Usopp can't see... While Usopp, despite being a bit weirded out at first by her, sees how gentle and caring and lovely Robin is. And how cool she is, too! Also, they're both big nerds, and I love that. The fact that he did everything he could for her in Enies Lobby despite having left the crew must've meant the world for her. And it's also the whole thing about her wanting to give up on life? I think Usopp, even if it's not on the same level, can kind of relate to that? It is not Sanji/Robin type of bond (which I fucking adore, by the way) but it is pretty personal. Also, hilarious dynamic because Robin is always telling dark jokes and Usopp gets scared easily and I just adore it.

Franky: They mean so much to me. My beloveds. We don't talk enough about Franky regretting having hurt Usopp when they first met and the guilt still haunting him. We don't talk about it enough. We should. Franky was there for Usopp on his most vulnerable moment and I think Franky's personality and masculinity mixed with his pretty emotional side is SO good for Usopp. Because it teaches him to be braver and stronger and himself, and it lets himself feel freely. They have so many things in common and I am from the "Franky father figure" team because their bond looks so,,, So much like that. Usopp getting excited for every little thing Franky makes and Franky quite obviously showing off because he knows he likes it. I think Franky is the one Usopp goes to when there's any problem in his life and,,, It is just so sweet that they always trust each other SO much. It is not only admiration but a deep, close bond. Still not over Franky wanting to overcompensate for what he did to Usopp, though, but- But they're okay now, I swear.

Brook: The sillies!!!!!!! We don't have THAT much of them in comparison to the other characters but every time they interact it is always so funny. Idk how I would describe their dynamic other than it is hilarious,, But I also think we deserve more scenes of them interacting seriously. Brook spent 50 years on his own and Usopp's fear in Water 7/Enies Lobby of being left alone too is so,,, I think Usopp would want to hear more of Brook and make him feel at home because if just the thought of being alone scares him so much, he can't even imagine what it was like for Brook. Usopp is somebody who seems to want to glue the crew together as much as possible and mostly uses fun/positivity (even if fake) to do so, and Brook does the same with music. Like- The fear of being alone. Idkk. Going insane now, actually.

Jinbe: I feel like everybody's relationship with Jinbe is very gentle and silly because he is adapting to the crew's dynamic and getting used to their shenanigans. So no matter what, it is hilarious and sweet. I actually,,, Want to see Jinbe's reaction to Sogeking,,, A lot,,, It'd be SO funny. Anyway- They haven't had much of a break to be together (please please let them be silly post-egghead) (honestly I'd kill for a silly filler arc, ngl...) but Jinbe is extremely understanding and mature and imo he sees a lot of potential and bravery in Usopp. And I'd say Usopp finds comfort on Jinbe but who wouldn't? I think it'd be funny to see a bit more of teasing/playful interactions with them because I love Usopp being stupid and Jinbe being all confused at first but having fun.

[yansimstorythatiwillnotworkon]

Hello, I know you might be adandoned your activity at Tumbler. But I have question about couples and ships in your YS rewrites. I think it'll be so interesting for me and others honestly.

That's a good point- answering asks is likely something I'll continue doing since it's relatively easy to do.

You can ask me anything at any time- it's likely that I'll get back to it.

I don't understand your EXACT question, but I'll go ahead and give the small list of canon couples in my story.

__

♡ Saki Miyu & Daku Atsu ♡

Even on my very first yansim account, I didn't consider Saki and Daku as a couple at all- this is something I came up with recently. Believe it or not, I held Kokona in mind when I made these two a couple.

My intent was for Saki to be everything that Kokona wasn't. While they're still friends, Saki was always more confident in her decisions. She actually has a boyfriend, has stuck with her club for a long time, has a future career in mind, while all of Kokona's "important life choices" have been left unfinished in all three of those aspects.

On Daku's part, I really just couldn't find an interesting way to give him more character. He's very reliable and mature as is, but I wanted to look more into how he'd react in certain situations. So, I decided to give him a girlfriend- one that might challenge his ideals and usual personality by being the exact opposite of him. (Although with the events in Amai's week, I wonder how I'll go about that..)

_

♡ Maka Tansei & Horo Guramu ♡

I imagine that when you're as smart and accomplished as Horo, you eventually get bored of shaking hands with old men in suits. I feel like even if he doesn't like parties or anything, he does like trying to live the normal life of a high school dude.

However, since that chance is basically already robbed of him, he usually settles for the thrill of the abnormal. And that thrill usually comes in the form of... whatever it is that Maka does. Horo has started to think that even SHE doesn't know what she's doing.

My first thought when wanting to ship these two was just "they're both pretty, I wonder what it would be like if they dated". I think I especially liked how, despite the fact that they both could be popular for their looks, they're both completely different people. Even though they had no interactions in the game (then again, not many characters do), this couple has always been in my mind. I just didn't know how to execute it.

_

♡Gema Taku & Musume Ronshaku♡

Gema and Musume are likely dating by the time week one ends thanks to Ayano's help, so I'll count that. I don't want them to STAY together, and I can't say that they genuinely like each other, but they ARE dating in the story.

I think Gema's crush on Musume is mainly superficial and stems with Musume being exactly like Gema's type. Unique fashion, leader of the group, super popular... that's likely been some sort of stereotypical delusion of his that he hung onto since Musume came around.

On Musume's end, as I said, I don't think this is the first instance she's dated some loser for the benefits. In this case, she dates him for money and so that she can possibly boss around the Gaming Club. It doesn't hurt to have another follower, after all.

__

There are plenty of other romantic relationships in the story, varying from one-sided crushes, past couples, future couples, and ambiguous couples like Sakura or Mai and their unknown boyfriends. And then there's whatever Kokona and Riku are going through.

I might actually write down ideas in order to explain all of these relationships, regardless of how they vary, but I won't post it unless asked. It might be a good idea to leave those ideas in my drafts, actually. 🤔

_

♡ Thank you for the ask, I look forward to more ♡

[sparreaux]

So, I got this rant that's been building for years that got sparked off again today when I saw yet another half an hour long video essay on this topic and since I'm stuck at the laundromat for about an hour with no internet access, I'm gonna sit here and type out my thoughts.

When Disney first announced Princess and the Frog, I was excited. A movie set in Louisiana, in the 20s, featuring jazz, a fairy tale I loved as a kid, and - best of all - a black princess, lemme tell y'all, I was giddy. Now, it is Disney, so of course there was going to be a good deal of sterilization and Disneyification, but hey, we'll take what we can get, yeah? It was pretty unsurprising when they flubbed a lot of things, like making a movie supposedly largely centered around Creole cuisine but messing it up, villifying voodou, somehow whitewashing Louisiana Creole culture when the lead characters are a black woman and her ethnically ambiguous prince, and also contributing to the continuing negative stereotypes of Cajun-Creole culture. (I cannot tell you how many times I've been told that damn firefly was the first exposure some people got to a Cajun accent when, no, that's the same accent Jim Cummings gives to all of his stereotypical intellectually-stunted-but-with-a-heart-of-gold southern hick characters, but I digress.)

At the same time, there were a lot of good messages in there, like not giving up and working hard to reach your dreams, that trying to take the easy way out of your problems can not only hurt yourself but innocent people around you, to not wait around to be rescued but also help others out when you get a leg up, to not be afraid to dream of things beyond what others might think as your station.

But no, there is one thing that really annoys me -- and it's not even Disney's fault -- it's the way so many fans ignore all of that to focus on one thing that I've seen countless videos essays, blog posts, and casual conversations all raving about and that is how Lottie Subverts the Rich White Girl Stereotypes.

Sooooo many talks about this movie that boils down to hey, she's a pretty rich white girl who is super spoiled by her father and gets everything she wants, but look! She's friends with a poor black girl and she doesn't see color or wealth and she's not a stuck up bitch even while throwing around her daddy's money like it's going out of style and isn't she the Best Character Ever??!! And it's like is that really all you got out of that?

And don't get me wrong, before someone busts out the pitchforks at me, I do like Lottie and I do really like what they did with her character. She's rich, she doesn't have to care about anyone if she doesn't want to, and she certainly didn't have to give up her shallow lifelong dream of being married to royalty to help out her friend. It's kind of nice to see the Outgoing Best Friend character not immediately succumb to jealousy when the protagonist starts finding good things in her life. But COME ON! Why is that the *only thing* some of y'all can talk about?

It gets to the point where it completely overshadows any discussion on Tiana or any of the good messages beyond "See? Not ALL rich white people are mean! She didn't even get mad when Tiana refused her gift of money, even though she ended up getting it all through one night's work for Lottie anyway. And honestly, that bit at the end where she's dancing with the kid from the royal family with a Maybe I'll wait ten years or whatever she says is pretty gross. It's like GIRL, all of that and you're still obsessed with the idea of marrying someone only for their bloodline? Have you no agency? No aspirations? Don't you want more from life than what a man and his superficial title can give you? And also you are grown and that is a child. Even as a joke, ick. We'd be pissed off if it was a male character doing that to a little girl.

Anyway, I don't know what my conclusion is here beyond can we look a little deeper and stop falling all over ourselves to praise the bare minimum? Also, Disney's version of gumbo is a god damn travesty.