today in more zolu thoughts: yet another thing I find fascinating about zoro and luffy's relationship, which I believe the LA managed to capture pretty well despite the differences between it and the og source material, is that while zoro's capacity for loyalty and devotion where luffy's concerned are insane (the all-encompassing, heartfelt, lay down my life and dreams for you, follow you until death or the very end of everything kind of crazy), they're not entirely unconditional per se. the condition here being that he has to measure up to zoro's standards - that luffy has to prove himself a man worthy of following.
there are plenty examples of this in the manga, but I'll stick to where it and opla intersect. so manga!zoro pretty much stands firm with this condition when he agrees to follow luffy, warning him about not getting in the way of zoro's dream right away. opla zoro is a lot more reluctant to join in comparison, and he just seemingly goes along with the whole thing in a more "might as well" manner; even so, there's these few subtle moments where you can see him being struck awe by luffy's faith in himself/his dream (the dinner at kaya's) and showing exactly why he's a "different" kind of pirate (ie freeing the folks from orange town).
still, the most pivotal moment is zoro's fight with mihawk in both cases. this is where luffy has to really prove himself to zoro, for the first time. because talk of dreams and promises and not hindering them is nice and all, but can luffy really stand by what he says when push comes to shove? when the life of someone he cares about is on the line? and man. the answer is yes.
in the manga, by stopping johnny and yosaku from intervening and refusing to do so himself as well, even though he was deeply upset by zoro getting hurt, luffy proved he wouldn't go back on his word nor betray zoro's trust and the faith he had placed in him. in a similar fashion, opla luffy letting zoro go ahead with the duel despite his own apprehension/doubts and nami questioning both of their choices, is what finally led to zoro recognizing him as his captain out loud and accepting his role as a first mate.
I just think it's interesting that these two kind of make each other walk on a tightrope. only the world's greatest swordsman can stand by the pirate king's side. the pirate king can have the world's greatest swordsman by his side, if he proves himself worthy of it. but the best part? for me, it's that zoro and luffy are able to challenge one another this way (or set the bar that high) because they absolutely believe the other can rise up to it and beyond.
292 notes
·
View notes
Ace Begging preview (Ace x F!Reader)
“You’re doing so good for me baby,”
I murmured against the warm skin of Ace’s abs, swiping my tongue against his salty skin as another one of his moans filled the quiet room; one of his hands buried in my hair pushing my mouth closer to his body as the other was gripping the bedspread. Nipping at his sharp V-line, I couldn’t help but let my hands wander to cup his bulge as another shaky moan spilled from his plush lips as he pressed his hips up to chase after my hand. Licking along every dip and stopping to suck a hickey every couple of inches until I made it to the waistband of his boxers, letting my tongue slip underneath it as he tugged on my hair a little harder, another whimper falling from him.
“Please sweetness, please.” Ace’s deep voice always sent a wave of heat through me, but when he was begging? That could bring anyone to their knees to do anything and everything he asked of them.
“Please what baby?” I moved my hand off of his bulge to tug the waistband down to lick another stripe as he arched his back. I continued to pull off his boxers, freeing his thick cock to slap against his stomach; the flushed red tip extremely shiny with all the precum that had been leaking from all of the kissing and licking I’ve been doing.
“God, you’re so beautiful baby. I can't wait to show you how much I missed you."
145 notes
·
View notes
listen. i love el and i think she's a fascinating character. we all know this. i am very clear about this. but like. it really is SO crazy how she really came in and, like... fucked will's life up so fucking bad lmao. i know that it wasn't her fault, and i'm not saying it is, but that's just... such an excruciating writing choice.
it was a choice to have her be the one that opened the gate & essentially sliced will's life into an ugly before and after. it was a choice to have her replace him as mike's number one as soon as she came back into their lives. it was a choice to make her the party's mage and then "change" will from being their wizard to their cleric. it was a choice to make her his sister. it was a choice to purposely have her wear his clothes and have the same bangs. it was a choice to have her ignore him on mike's first day in lenora, despite the fact that he was mike's friend, too, and first. it was a choice to make her oblivious to his feelings.
it was a choice to make them love and genuinely care about each other. it was a choice to make her feel like a monster for everything that'd happened and kept happening. it was a choice to make will not resent her. it was a choice to make him support her enough that he's willing to uphold her lies to mike (!!!) of all people with his inaction.
it was a choice to have him spill his heart out to mike and gift him his painting all in her name. to have him be the one to unknowingly make mike finally say "i love you" to her in response to his confession. to have him realize too late that he's been needlessly pushing mike towards her this whole time.
it was a choice to place will right beside mike, his first ever friend and keeper of his heart, when he told el that his life started just as will's ended.
it was... a bold fucking choice to replace will with el in mike's eyes due to outside influence. it throws them into chaos and disarray because el and will are not interchangeable, and it shows in how...
mike seeks from el everything that will already gives him.
mike readily gives will everything that el begs him for.
el cannot read or understand mike in the innate, wordless, and familiar way that will does.
mike cannot be vulnerable with el, but he opens up to will without even needing to be asked.
mike always heeds, trusts, and listens to will, even when they're arguing or going through a rough patch.
mike always knows just how to mend things with will, because he knows exactly what he needs and he doesn't ever hesitate to do and give it. nor does he need anyone to help him with their conflicts either. he just knows.
el is always left waiting for him to do things for her that he's currently doing for will.
will visibly hates and feels uncomfortable lying to mike, but el can do it consistently with ease.
will is the one that loves mike how he truly wants (and needs) to be loved.
will hasn't been able to move on in full, because he was cast out of his own story and demoted to a supporting role behind the new lead.
el hasn't been able to find out who she really is, because she's been thrust into roles that were never meant for her to begin with. she has always been contorted into the shape of whatever others need or want her to be, but they don't fit because they aren't her.
and, like... there are so many things in this story, which is to say the show as a whole, that would not have happened had the men in el's life not done that. had they allowed her to just be, it's highly likely that the dominoes would've never fallen the way they have.
thankfully, the narrative is set up in such a way that it appears this disorder will rectify itself, but it's still so... upsetting to think about lol.
it all boils down to choices: who gets to make them, what choices they have, why they made those choices, and what happens after. that's all the show is: a series of choices, or a lack thereof, and their consequences with some monster mumbo-jumbo sprinkled on top.
1K notes
·
View notes
me, pacing erratically: see, the thing is, link from the original legend of zelda did not have a sword before he got one from the old man in the cave and yet he managed to defend impa from the monsters pre-game so skillfully that impa was legitimately impressed with him and pleaded with him to help defeat ganon in the first place. so how did he do it? how did a ten-year-old boy with no weapon manage to singlehandedly drive off a bunch of monsters from terrorizing an old woman? my answer: i think he used rocks. i think that boy was throwing rocks left and right and bashing them into their fucking skulls and whatnot. and just given that the intentions of the original legend of zelda games were ultimately to let the player fill in the blanks as they played the game and as the final battle with ganon was so simplistically done (because, again, much was left up to the players' imaginations) i think from a theoretical standpoint, if we are to imagine the final battle with ganon as it happened in-universe—that is to say, a ten-year-old boy with absolutely no formal weapons training other than "run through monsters with the sharp end" fighting against the monstrous king of darkness who can and does turn invisible during the course of the battle—would it not be a fun idea to assume, then, that at some point ganon could have knocked the sword out of his hands? that at some point during the battle this iteration of link could've just gone "fuck it we ball" and grabbed a rock and managed to wrap himself around ganon's head and just started bashing him with it? like the absolute fucking feral child he is? would it not be a fun idea to assume that instead of eventually shooting ganon with the silver arrow from afar he simply grabs it from his bag in the scuffle (wherein ganon is trying in vain to remove the Screaming Fucking Child from his general head area) and stabs it into one of his eyes while he's up there? would it not be fun? would it not set him apart from the other iterations of link in the way that the games he features in already DO as zelda lore has evolved over the last almost-forty years that more games have been released? we're talking about the version of link who, as the original manual says, mysteriously appears out of nowhere and disappears just as quickly after the events of zelda 1 (though clearly he does eventually return to hyrule as evidenced by the events of zelda 2). would it not suit him to match the general atmosphere of the original legend of zelda game and fight in a manner that speaks more of survival than fight in a way that imitates polished heroics like you would see from some sort of knight? would these hypothetical scenarios as to how the final battle with ganon could have gone down not add an infinite amount of characterization and flavor to an otherwise simplistic fight? does this not interest you?
you, tied to a chair in my basement: ggod pleas,,e,,, jsut let me go i want to see my fuckign family,,,,,,,
191 notes
·
View notes
mizutaigen is literally like. the first "toxic" m/f ship i've ever cared for. cuz like usually my taste in m/f ships is basically "unhinged baddie" x "badass wifeguy" *
* (see:yen/geralt. trevor/sypha. adolin/shallan. kataang but katara is sane and they're literally so wholesome like theyre traumatised kids in love who are each other's emblem of hope in a war-torn world! so basically they don't count. anyway. i'm rambling.)
and to that end my friend called mizutaigen yaoi-adjacent and im like. yeah you're right actually cuz like hell yeah non-binary mizu and bisexual taigen rights and all the gender fuckery in the show in general
but also like.
theres just SOMETHING else about mizutaigen that just GETS me. like there's a special secret sauce like the pheromones in that one sephora lotion attracting spiders and i am the silly spider!!! there's just something about it!!! it's not even the enemies to lovers trope cuz i personally am not even usually into that (obv it's fine if you are. but yk.)
so as i keep rotating these thoughts around i thiiink it's the fact that, yknow, theyre so similar. like i honestly truly think they could be besties in another universe: a kinder universe where taigen was not taught to hate. a universe where mizu was not born a girl in a deeply misogynistic society or half-white in a xenophobic homogeneous society.
yeah now that i think about it that really just might be THE secret sauce!!! like the fact that they COULD be perfect and happy together, if only things were different, if only they werent themselves.
smth v bittersweet about that's just driving me insane and makes me want to root for them to overcome all those obstacles, to say "fuck all that" (re:the world and all its fucked up shit) and find each other in the end. to eventually become each other's fav person and confidant. who obv still bicker and tease and insult each other all the time but they dont really mean any of it and over time it just becomes a running gag between them and no one else has to get it because it's just between the two of them.
53 notes
·
View notes