#if shanks has the option to make love to his lost best friend do you really think they're getting out of his room

[beanghostprincess]

The true tragedy of shuggy is that even is those two stayed together, buggy would left the minute shanks put on those pants 💀

If those two stayed together they'd be without clothes most of the time so I don't think his pants matter much

[shankss-magnificent-ass]

Hello, hope you're fine. I loved the Shanks married to reader head canon, if it's ok I'll apprecciate if you white Benn married to (female) reader, sfw and nsfw. Thank you

Benn marriage head cannons

Author's note: sorry it took so long to get to you.

Sfw

Benn is the best husband

He's reliable, does what he's told, and he's quiet like any good man should be

He's the type of guy who makes the bed in the morning.

If you sleep in he will make it around you, don't expect to be able to move if he does.

Rub his shoulders before bed and he will return the favor, and cuddle you afterwards.

He will bring you coffee or breakfast in bed in the morning, because he wakes up before you.

He does his own laundry and does half the cleaning of your shared quarters.

You will never sit anywhere other than at his side

You and Shanks are just as close as Benn and Shank are.

In fact sometimes Benn wishes the two of you weren't so close, because you get swept up in his chaos and become double trouble for Benn.

Who usually gets stuck baby sitting both of you. Think that one person with three toddlers on leashes.

Benn is always looking out for you, he knows you can take of yourself, but he's lost friend before. Friends who were also capable of defending themselves, and he doesn't want to lose anyone else because he didn't check on them enough.

He has nightmare, where he wakes up all sweaty and shaking, he will snuggle you afterwards, and that is not optional.

Yes you, Shanks, and Benn have sleepovers

Benn is also the romantic but stoic type

So he'll get you flowers and candy, but he's not going to make a big deal about it.

He doesn't tell you he loves you very much because he told you when he married you he loves you and he'll tell you if that changes.

He does however whisper is to you when he can't sleep as strokes your hair.

Will let you play dress up with him

So if you take him shopping, you can pick out as many outfits as you want for him to try on.

However shanks and the boys better not find out or Benn will be hesitant to do it again.

Benn is a fan of giving you piggie back rides, but only if you beg and he won't admit he like it

He does worry you'll leave him for "some young stud" like his captain, but he would never doubt you or your loyalty for a second.

He knows his issues are just that, his and caused only by him. He'll talk to you about it, but he won't act on them.

Benn while quiet, has a very high emotional intelligence. He often knows how you are feeling just by looking at you, even when you're trying to hide it.

Benn's a great listener, like he listens to hear you, not to respond.

He will speak up if he feels he needs to, like if you're being a little too impulsive.

Or too stubborn

Benn will fool around, but it has to be subtle. So grab ass is a popular game between you too

He would stop smoking for you, if you asked

He would definitely quit if you two get/have a child

Doesn't want a child enough to go out and get one, but if one just so happens to enter your lives he's gonna parent the fuck outta them

if not he's going to enjoy having you all to himself.

Benn loves that you are smaller than him, it makes him feel like he can protect you from anything, even if you can protect yourself.

Nsfw

Benn is a top like 90% of the time, the other 10% he will bottom, because he needs to feel loved some times.

He has a vasectomy, and he got it when he was in his early twenties

He's a brat tamer

Benn is also the king of aftercare

He will rub the knots out of your muscles , wipe you down, get you a snack, what ever the fuck you want even if it's to brush and braid your hair.

Benn is not likely to initiate sex, but I'd say he initiates 50% of the time.

He's old, his sex drive has gone down quite a lot.

He can still fuck you all night long, but it's something that only happens a few times a month.

When he was young however, he could hardly get enough. He was horny 24/7, and you two would basically fuck like rabbits.

Like there were days where shanks basically had to come pull him off you to get him working on time.

However as an old sea dog, he has plenty of experience. So there's not much you can do or ask for that'll surprise him.

What does surprise him is how much he likes praise

Call him a good man, and how wonderful he is and how much you love him and that you're proud of him while he's the little spoon and he will melt. He never knew he feeling loved would lead to him feeling so vulnerable and he love it.

Benn is much larger than you, so usually you end up being completely covered with Benn's body, like some looking at you two would probably only see your legs and hands and Benn's sweaty ass as he's hunched over you.

He has a scar on his left butt cheek where Shanks accidentally shot him

He's a a big 8 1/2" with a 5" circumference and a just the right amount of body hair.

Yes, it's all gray

His favorite positions are lotus, mating press, captain, and missionary

Usually neither you, nor Benn, can say no to Shanks's begging to join you

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Alt Ending, Part 5

Hot take but finals kinda suck

First part

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Tag: @solangelo252

You’d think her body would be grateful that she was finally giving it food, but no. She put it in her mouth and instantly felt nauseous. It didn’t even want to go down her throat, and keeping it there felt basically impossible.

But Tim had looked so happy when she had tried, so she forced it down.

(Well, she forced some of it down. If he noticed that a good amount of the food she brought to her mouth actually disappeared into the sleeves and folds of her dress he didn’t say anything.)

Tim started coming by three times a day with food after that. She didn’t complain despite her discomfort, she had really missed him.

Also, he looked stressed out and/or exhausted whenever she saw him. She worried about him. They both had a tendency to overwork themselves when they hit blocks, hell she’d sometimes joined him in his week-long deep dives into cases, but now that she was an outsider looking in… she was kind of shocked she’d ever let it get that far for either of them. When was the last time he’d slept through the night? Taken proper time to clean himself, even? A while, she guessed from the deep bags under his eyes and the way his hair was frayed from running his fingers through it.

“Timmy,” she chirped.

He flashed her a tiny smile. “Hey,” he said, coming over and taking a seat beside her on the bed.

She took the bag from him and set it aside, much to his dismay, but then she reached over and dragged him into some cuddles and he suddenly had new concerns. He groaned into her shoulder.

“Bean, come on, I don’t want to sleep.”

She didn’t let go. “You need to.”

“Don’t have time.”

She rolled her eyes, bringing a hand up to start attempting to smooth out his hair. “You have to sleep eventually.”

“And I do!”

She didn’t answer, which he took to mean she didn’t believe him (a good assumption, she didn’t).

“I do! I get at least a few hours a week.”

“Wow, amazing. I take it back. You totally have a healthy sleep schedule.”

“Worry about yourself, first. You don’t sleep either,” he huffed, but he was starting to relax into her hold nonetheless.

“I’m also literally dead.”

“You used to say you’d sleep when you were dead.”

Marinette scoffed. “Well, to be fair, I thought I’d actually die when I died.”

He gave a short laugh, and she opted not to acknowledge that it was a little forced.

She yawned and laid back with his face in her shoulder. “I’m surprised none of the others have drugged you to get you to sleep yet.”

“They’re too busy drugging B --.” He winced just slightly. “They’ve just got a lot on their plates is all, I’m the least of their worries.”

She didn’t say anything about his tiny slip up, just gave a light hum to say she understood.

She didn’t dare to move until she was completely sure he had nodded off. Even then, she only did so to pick up the food he’d brought for her.

Her nose scrunched a little at the prospect of eating, but when she opened it and saw it was fried rice she perked up a little. She nibbled at her food.

Honestly, she didn’t know if it was working. It seemed to be, but then again most of the things that got better could be attributed to other causes. Her skin was gaining color again, but the bleach may have just started to wear out. She was feeling more energized, but then again she was now getting a total of four cups of coffee a day thanks to Tim and Jason fueling her addiction. Exercise was getting easier and she was packing on muscle again, but she was also working out enough with Dick for it to be explainable that way…

She didn’t know if it was working. She didn’t even know if she WANTED it to work. The plan had been ‘kill Bruce and then quickly off yourself before the others can react’ and not having an instant out was kinda problematic when it came to finishing that plan.

Not that the first part of that plan was working out for her, either. Bruce still hadn’t come to see her. She doubted he ever would at this point.

She didn’t even have a way out, as the door was automated and presumably opened by someone outside.

No. The only way she would ever leave was if she managed to ‘fix’ herself, and that wasn’t happening because there was nothing to fix! She would know. Her entire thing as Ladybug was fixing things.

She looked down at Tim. When he slept all the little wrinkles in his forehead smoothed to make him look much younger. She smiled a little at the sight, pressing a kiss to where she knew the creases usually were.

At least, even if her situation couldn’t be helped, she could still help others.

~

She’d come to expect a routine of sorts, so the moment it was broken even slightly her brain short-circuited.

Duke stood in the doorway as usual, but when she glanced past him…

“Where’s Cass?”

His grin disappeared a little, but he pulled his back to his face with ease. “Wow, I’m really feeling the love here, Mari.”

She rolled her eyes. “Please, we both know Cass is the best person to ever exist.”

Duke nodded his agreement and came over to take a seat next to her. She cozied up to him as usual, curled under his arm as he pulled up their newest show on his laptop…

She had a lot of thoughts about Cass being missing.

On the one hand, she just missed her friend’s too-warm body pressed up against her and quiet complaints about how the actors were doing it all wrong.

On the other hand… Marinette was completely aware that they had Cass stopping by as much as she did to check on Marinette, to see if they were making any real progress with her. Cass was a human lie detector, able to detect when someone was going to be dishonest before they’d even realized it themselves, and they’d be stupid not to take advantage that. So, the fact that they were no longer making Cass drop in as often… either they thought she was doing better, or that she never would do better.

Marinette hoped it was the first. She knew it was the second.

She found it harder than usual to enjoy Duke’s snide comments about how dumb and cliche some of the characters were. She turned and pressed her face into his side. The glasses on the bridge of her nose dug into her skin.

Fuck. She was never getting out of there, was she?

She felt his free hand come up to run through her hair and she sighed.

“Duke…”

He pressed pause on the show.

“Tim told me you’re a meta, that you can control light. Can you do it for me?”

There was a beat.

“Why do you ask?”

She laughed a little. “Does it matter? Can’t I just be curious about why my favorite brother didn’t even bother to tell me that he has powers?”

“I thought you already knew. It’s common knowledge.”

She huffed. “Maybe I just prefer to be told things than meticulously look through every piece of information to figure it out.”

“What kind of bat are you?” He joked.

She winced and the hand in his shirt balled it just a fraction tighter. She didn’t respond.

There was a few seconds before he sighed and moved his hand from his hair to her chin, gently pulling her face out of where it was hidden in his side. She refused to meet his eyes.

It was silent again, neither of them sure what to say.

“Here,” he said after a moment, putting his free hand out and making light dance across his palm.

Her face lit up, literally and figuratively, at the sight of the tiny ball of light. She leaned a little closer.

“Aw, it looks like a tiny sun!”

He laughed a little. “Yeah. I can also…”

There was a moment of silence as he concentrated and the tiny ball of light split into the colors of the rainbow. She giggled, reaching out to cup his hand in hers. It was the first non-artificial light she’d seen in months, the first rainbow she’d seen since… Paris, actually.

Well, even if she wouldn’t ever see the outside world again, at least she could still have this little fake sun. It was basically the same, just as good, she told herself. She ignored the tears rolling down her cheeks that were telling her otherwise.

~

She tossed the plastic spoon she’d stolen from one of her meals in the air idly.

The plan had been to turn it into Baby’s First Shank but that probably wasn’t going to work out. Pen to the throat was at about a .01% chance of working, attacking him with a spoon-knife needed a few more zeroes added to that already insanely small number. She gave it a .000000001% chance at best.

Then again, the other option was trying to strangle someone who had an insane height and weight advantage to death before someone else could interfere...

She sighed to herself and put the spoon in her teeth, starting to pull.

She didn’t get very far before she heard the metallic whoosh of the door opening and she barely glanced up to see Dick.

He stared at her from the doorway, his eyebrows slowly raising as he watched her attempt to bite an edge into a spoon of all things.

She pulled it from her mouth with a ‘pop’.

“I think your eyebrows are trying to escape,” she told him.

He blinked at her before rolling his eyes and walking inside fully. “Thanks for the assist. Would have lost them otherwise,” he said sarcastically.

“I’ve seen you lose your phone three minutes after putting it down, Dickie, I wouldn’t put it past you.”

He gasped and rested a hand over her heart. “You think that low of me?”

“Lower. I was being nice.”

Dick pouted and walked over to the bed. She didn’t think much of it until he was diving onto her stomach. She put her hands out in an attempt to soften the blow, but it wasn’t enough to save her. She groaned in pain as his extremely hard head made contact with her not-so-hard stomach.

“FUCK. This is why your parents called you Dick, y’know!”

He only laughed at her.

Despite herself, she gave him a smile.

She rested her head back in the pillows for a moment (mostly just to catch all the breath she’d lost) before pushing him off. “Ready?”

He groaned into her comforter before rolling onto the floor. “‘Kay.”

Marinette grinned as she took a seat beside him, starting her usual stretches. He pushed himself up to sit with minimal groaning and started working on his shoulders.

It was quiet for a while as they stretched.

Marinette bit the inside of her cheek and kept her eyes on her foot when she spoke next: “Dick?”

She could feel his gaze on her.

“I… can I have some more stuff? Everything here is so boring. I just… I want new things to do. Or, at least, new things to look at.”

There was a long silence between them. Anxiety bubbled under her skin. She switched legs so she could gauge his expression through her bangs. His expression was carefully neutral.

She cringed.

“Obviously I’m not ungrateful! You guys have all been really nice and accommodating! I get food and a phone and, honestly, that’s fine --!”

“Mari!”

Her mouth snapped closed.

“It’s fine. You don’t have to apologize. Anyone would be bored here. I can talk to them. It’ll probably depend on what you want.”

She finally looked at him properly, eyes wide. She really hadn’t been expecting that to work.

He slowly pulled his legs to him to sit criss-cross applesauce, head resting on his hand. “I can probably get some baking things, a sketchbook, just blunt objects in general. Deadly, but not before someone could get there.”

Marinette nodded her understanding, a smile making its way across her face.

“You’re the best.”

“You constantly say Duke and Cass are the best.”

She was torn between agreeing with herself and flattering him. Since she wanted something, she decided on flattery: “That was, like, a few hours ago. I’ve grown since then. You’re my favorite now, Dickie.”

“Can I get that as my ringtone?”

“Only if you only use it to mess with Jay.”

“Deal.”

They shook on it.

~

The door whoosed open and she barely moved her head to look at it.

She froze.

Bruce?

No. No way. There was no way in hell.

But was there? Cass HAD stopped coming. Maybe she had somehow convinced them that everything was working out and everything was fine.

Marinette hadn’t done anything differently, though, so that probably wasn’t it…

Oh. Oh shit.

Maybe she was actually going insane. Because there was no way the bats would have made that kind of mistake by letting Bruce in when she was still intent on murdering him. He had to be a hallucination, because nothing else really made sense. Kwami, Tim was going to be SO smug about this one.

Actually, no, he didn’t have to know.

Her gaze slipped away from Fake Bruce and back to the dots on her ceiling. Because, as everyone knows, that if you don’t acknowledge hallucinations they go away…

“Marinette,” Fake Bruce said, trying to trick her into outing herself as losing it.

“Marinette,” he tried again, starting his way over.

She did her best to ignore the footsteps and the way the bed shifted when he sat down. No wonder schizophrenics fell for this shit, this was all so real…

Except... weren’t schizophrenics not supposed to be able to tell what was real and what wasn’t? Wouldn’t her knowing (thinking?) he was fake be an indication that he was actually real? Or was that just her mind trying to justify believing it?

Marinette bit inside of her cheek and let herself look at Fake Bruce again.

He cracked a smile for her. A hand reached over and pushed some hair away from her face. “Hey,” he said.

She hesitated.

It would suck if this all was fake, the others would get confirmation and she really wouldn’t have a way out. But if it was real then this was her only shot. If it was real Cass would be watching the cameras to see what she was thinking and she would know for sure that Marinette was still intent on killing Bruce…

Fuck.

Marinette pushed herself into a sitting position and looked Maybe-Bruce up and down before grabbing him by the front of his suit and pulling him into a hug. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes when he hugged her back.

“Fake.”

The man tensed underneath her and then sighed as he pulled back.

He gave her an awkward smile. “I’m sorry, Marinette.”

She shook her head slightly and fell back. With a flick of her wrists the knife she’d created out of her plastic spoon was in her hands and she absently tossed it at the hallucination. Either it would make him disappear or it would look like it stabbed him and she could pretend that it actually happened.

But then it didn’t do either of those things.

Her eyebrows knit together when the spife shattered upon impact.

He looked unconcerned as he gently swept all the pieces into his hand and then put them in his pockets.

“The fuck?”

“Language,” he chided lightly.

She grinned. “You really need to work on your ‘Bruce’. Accepting a hug that quickly is one thing but chiding someone for language? In OUR family? I’m pretty sure he gave that up by Jason.”

The man chuckled and shook his head. “I’m Superman.”

“Oh.” She blinked a few times before shrugging to herself. “Okay. You look just like Bruce. It’s kinda creepy.”

“Yeah, trust me, we know. It’s pretty helpful, though. One time a person tried to assassinate Bruce and ended up fighting me. It wasn’t their day.”

She smiled a little, but it didn’t last very long. She fell back in her pillows and glared at the ceiling. “This sucks.”

“I’m sorry this all happened to you. You’re just a kid.”

She rolled her eyes. She’d long-since given up on denying that something had happened to her. Not because she no longer believed it, but because it wasn’t worth the effort. No one ever believed her when she said it.

(Could she blame them? No. She almost believed it herself just a few moments before. Still annoying, though.)

Instead of saying any of that, though, she brought a grin to her face.

“You and B should switch houses for April Fools. See if anyone notices anything.”

~

She really should have noticed something was up when her coffee didn’t energize her at all.

It had all been going fine. She was making Jason dispose of all the pieces of food she’d used sleight of hand to get away with not eating (she was still a little bitter about him stealing her pen and this was the most she could really do to get back at him, compromised as she was). They made idle conversation, mostly just about how Damian had got himself a new pet cat that he had named BatCat (though, apparently, they had heard him slip up and call him Charles a few times). They debated over how good that name was and the merit of Jason’s suggestion -- BatPussy, of course -- as she drank her third cup of coffee of the day.

It was about halfway through her drink that she began to notice that something was off. She squinted at Jason suspiciously.

“Decaf?” She asked, her voice worryingly sweet.

He raised his eyebrows and tried to look unimpressed despite stepping back a good half-step. “Please, if it was decaf classical conditioning still would’ve made it work at least a little.”

She opened her mouth to retort, then realized he was right. Or, at least, she was pretty sure. She couldn't seem to think of anything against it.

She frowned, looking down at her drink again and swirling the contents around. She drank the rest of it, trying to figure out why exactly it wasn’t working.

Was she already at the point where caffeine had little effect on her again? She didn’t think she was that bad yet… hell, she probably couldn’t be because she was depending on others to give her her fix…

She shook her head slightly and then quickly realized that was a bad idea. Pain stabbed through her skull and she stumbled into Jason. The plastic thermos slipped from her fingertips and went rolling across the floor. Her head crashed into his chest and arms were quick to wrap around her.

“You got shitty coffee, try a different place next time,” she murmured, closing her eyes.

He laughed a little. “Yeah, okay, kid. I’ll be sure to do that.”

She nodded as much as her headache would allow and felt the arms around her slip down to pick her up. She blinked her eyes open blearily and regretted it when the light attempted to murder her via knife to the head.

Heh. Little light particles with little knives.

Wait.

Did she get a concussion? Somehow? Without getting hit?

She buried her face in his shoulder and it was then, as he set her in bed and tucked her in, that she realized what had happened.

“Bitch,” she murmured above whatever drug they had put in her drink.

He pressed a kiss to the crown of her head and she could do little more than scrunch up her nose and vaguely wave him off. Her eyes fell closed again.

~

Marinette woke up a while later.

The first thing she noticed was that the lights were dimmer, something she didn’t have to open her eyes to see because her head wasn’t pounding as much.

Then she realized a person was with her. They had entwined themselves around her, tangled their limbs with hers. They needn’t have bothered, everything felt like lead. She wouldn’t be moving for quite some time.

… why was she being held down? Oh no. That was probably bad, huh?

Marinette made a sound in the back of her throat and started trying to shift away from the person pressed against her back. She needed to see who they were. They didn’t bother to tighten their hold on her, she wasn’t really getting anywhere.

In fact, a hand stopped holding her down. Instead, it came up to pet her hair.

Oh? This was nice.

A voice by her head told her it was all okay. After a moment she realized she recognized that voice. She smiled sleepily. Cass. She liked Cass. She pressed closer to her and was rewarded with a hand rubbing up and down one of her arms.

She nearly fell asleep again. Cass was safe, Marinette was safe… the warmth against her and the soothing touch… of course, it certainly helped that the drug was still in her system and she was exhausted...

But then her mind wandered back to her first question. Why WAS Cass holding her down? Why did they drug her in the first place?

She moved so her hair could block some of the light and then cautiously cracked her eyes open.

The batboys were all moving things inside almost silently. Jason was carrying an entire fridge on his own. Dick and Damian were arguing over the positioning of the table they had just brought in through angry hand motions. Tim and Duke were working together on… was that a gaming set?

And she was being held down because the door was wide open.

Marinette looked at the doorway for just a moment longer. She allowed herself to imagine getting out and swinging through the city with her lasso, allowed herself to pretend she could lay in the grass, allowed herself to believe that she could see the sun and the stars and just breathe fresh air again…

And then she closed her eyes and sunk into Cass’s grip.

What was the point in trying? Even if she could somehow beat out all six of the people in the room with her and get past whatever security Bruce had to have outside of the room all while drugged… then what? No money or idea where she was… and she’d be running from the bats of all people…

Yeah. Useless. She curled up and allowed sleep to take her again.

~

Quite a while later she woke up and blinked a few times when she realized she wasn’t the only person in bed. At first she thought it was just Cass or Tim, they were the most likely culprits, but then she realized everyone had managed to cram themselves onto the bed with her. Her and Cass had gotten brushed to the side of the bed to make space for Tim, Dick, and Damian. Jason had collapsed across the end of the bed -- presumably for space, but Duke was laying half on top of him so that obviously hadn’t worked out.

Marinette smiled faintly and buried her face back into the crook of Tim’s neck.

~

When she woke up again, most of the drug flushed from her system (somehow…?), she thought she was alone.

This was fine. She was able to stretch out and sit up.

She blinked when she saw Damian, who was sitting on her floor and playing a video game.

Huh? Video game?

She looked around her room confusedly. The bats had basically made her a one-room apartment, complete with kitchenette and a tiny study area. Of course, it was much higher quality than the apartment she’d had, with a high tech gaming system and a little dining area and holy shit that was a MINI LIBRARY?

Wild.

“You’re finally up.”

She hummed lightly as an agreement. She crawled over to the end of the bed and smiled when he handed her a twizzler. It was objectively one of the worst candies, but she liked having something to do. She twirled it in her hand idly.

“Do you think… do you think it’s working?”

She frowned confusedly and dropped off the bed to sit beside him on the second beanbag chair. She chanced a quick glance in his direction to gauge how he was feeling... his expression didn’t let anything on other than that he was thinking hard, though she was pretty sure that was about the game.

“Gonna elaborate on that?”

He clicked his tongue. “Are you going to join the Undead Robins Club?”

She grinned at him. “I wasn’t a Robin.”

“You know what I mean.”

Her smile disappeared a little and she trained her eyes on the game. “I don’t know.”

“You know we never will know for sure, right?”

She blinked. She hadn’t expected anyone to acknowledge it. They were the bats, they were never going to chance taking off her glasses because if they were wrong and she WASN’T better… well, it wasn’t the kind of mistake they could easily come back from.

“Yeah, I know,” she said after a few moments.

“Do you care?”

“Doesn't really matter if I do. It won’t change anything.”

He frowned. “That’s not answering my question.”

She bit her cheek. “I… yes. I care. It still doesn’t matter.”

He looked like he was going to argue, but instead he just went back to playing the game.

“Damiiiiiiiii…” she whined and, when he gave a vague grunt to show he was paying attention, she continued with “... shouldn’t I get to play first? It’s mine.”

“You slept in too long,” he said without looking up.

She huffed. “Only ‘cause I was drugged!”

“Unfortunate.”

She got off the beanbag chair and whacked him over the head with it. He barely acknowledged it outside of an annoyed click of his tongue.

She huffed and pulled the chair back to herself to sit again. “Is it two player?”

“Nope.”

“You’re a bitch.”

He clicked his tongue again.

She pouted for a little while longer before looking back at the screen with a smile. “... heard you got a cat named Charles. Wanna talk about him?”

Damian’s face lit up. “Can I?”

“Only if you let me play.”

He looked pained. If he gave it to her then he’d be giving her something she’d want, which was a sibling no-no, but if he didn’t then she probably wouldn’t listen to him gush about his cat. A few moments went by before he reluctantly handed over the controller.

She beamed and scooted her chair over to rest her head on his shoulder. She could feel him stiffen underneath her but, when she didn’t move again outside of what was necessary to play the game, he relaxed again.

“I thought you were going to listen,” he chided lightly when she didn’t take a break between levels.

“I can listen and play.”

Damian sighed a little and shook his head.

“You don’t have to talk about him if you don’t want --.”

“I’m getting to it! So, he’s a black cat that apparently hadn’t been adopted because everyone thought he was evil so the pet store was going --.”

~

Marinette noticed something was up the minute the door opened.

First of all, it was Duke and Damian. That’s all that really needs to be said. Those two together… it’s never a good thing.

Secondly, they were there as Signal and Robin. Most of the time the others avoided even talking about their lives as vigilantes for fear of setting her off in one way or another, but here they were showing up in their suits? No, something weird was going on.

“Hey, Mari, can we skip a fight and you just put a bag over your head and let us pick you up?” Tried Duke.

Her eyebrows furrowed. “You want to…? Huh?”

“We don’t really have much time to explain. I’ll tell you on the way.”

Damian held up a potato sack and some twine, which really wasn’t all that encouraging.

She hesitated. “... what’s something only you two would know?”

“Really?” Said Damian with more than a little exasperation.

“Hey, we’re all bats here. I’m not moving until you prove you’re who you say you are.”

(Technically, if they were really Duke and Damian, they could fight her and do it anyways. She probably couldn't beat both of them at once. Still, that kind of fight would hurt all of them and she really didn’t want to have to do it at the moment.)

Duke hesitated before shrugging. “Your favorite ice cream flavor is mint. Which I don’t understand. Just brush your teeth if you like that taste so much.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Alright, you’re who you say you are. Robin?”

“… early on I lied and said that Nightwing’s real hero name was actually BatNightwing to mess with you both.”

She frowned. “I forgot about that. You’re a dick.”

“No, Nightwing’s a Dick. He’s a Damian.”

Marinette was THIS CLOSE to fighting them anyways.

But she didn’t. She was kinda curious about where all this was going. So, she allowed them to bind her hands and slip a bag over her head. Arms wrapped around her -- she didn’t really care who it was -- and she was lifted off the ground. Then, they were walking.

Part of her wondered if this was some kind of test. They were checking to see how compliant she was or how likely she would be to run once outside. Maybe they had Superman on call in case she tried to escape.

She really couldn’t tell.

She didn’t think that they had any reason to take her out of the perfectly safe and well-stocked place they had put her in.

Maybe her location had been compromised and they were moving her to a backup? No, that didn’t make sense. Duke made sense for transport, Damian didn’t. Damian was one of the worst fighters in the family (he was in no way BAD at fighting, of course, it was just a byproduct of being in the game the shortest amount of time and not being a meta) and he was the second most likely person to end up fighting her after Jason. What the fuck?

Wait, Duke said he’d explain on the way.

“What’s going on?”

“New idea on how to bring you back,” said Duke simply.

Well, she guessed that was more information than she’d previously had. She’d take it for now.

She heard a quiet whooshing noise and frowned confusedly, only to feel herself get set down… somewhere. She felt carpeting underneath her, which meant she was in… a house? No. A car, she thought as she noticed the quiet hum of an engine. She’d been put in the fucking trunk. She kicked out as much as she could without knowing exactly where they were and gave a cry of protest, but then the lid was clicked over her head and she was thrown into uncomfortably complete silence.

She scowled to herself. She shouldn’t have thrown her spife at Superman, it would have been really useful right then. She tested the bindings against her hands and winced at how tight they were. Did they really use zip ties? Those were notoriously bad for circulation.

… oh. Yeah. She was dead. That actually wasn’t that bad, then.

Still annoying. Hard to get out of. Assholes. She wondered if it was worth dislocating her arms…

Yeah. Probably. If she could get out then she would be OUT.

She flipped herself onto her stomach. She pulled her feet up to her arms and then started pushing back. Her body strained in protest and she bit down on the front of the bag over her head to stop herself from making any sounds.

And then she felt a pop in her left shoulder and a flare of pain and the makeshift gag wasn’t enough to hold back her sobs. Her arm throbbed and it was only made worse when they reached the city proper and the roads started getting choppy. Every little bump in the road sent a new wave of pain rolling through her and all she could do was ride it out.

They started hitting smoother roads what felt like hours later... it was kind of concerning because she had no clue where they could be, those were uncommon in Gotham, but at least she no longer felt like she was going to die every few seconds.

She took a few seconds to bring her breathing back to normal before she started slowly wiggling her arms out under her butt and legs and then they were in front of her. Great. She picked herself up as much as she could in the tiny space, checked her angle mentally, relaxed her muscles, and then dropped down on her shoulder to get it back in place.

She breathed out a sigh of relief. It felt weird and still kind of hurt but at least it was mostly better.

She pulled the bag off of her head and relished in the slightly fresher air.

She looked down at the zip ties on her wrists and she sighed a little. Time to do that hack that looked stupid but actually worked if the kidnappers were stupid enough to leave you alone.

She brought her feet up, untied the laces of her shoes, and tied them back around the ties. Then she set to work trying to saw at the zip tie.

She paused when she heard the low rumbling of a plane. Were they near an airport? Oh. That was going to be a problem. She went faster.

Unfortunately, Marinette didn’t get very far before there was a click and the trunk opened.

She cried out in pain at the sudden light and squeezed her eyes shut, turning to press her face into the carpeted interior.

Hands grabbed her and pulled her out of the trunk. Before she could do much to look around so she could get her bearings and make herself a portal, the bag was forced over her head again and a strong grip on her arm (the good one, thankfully) kept her from pulling it off again. Then someone knelt in front of her and fixed her shoelaces.

“Really, NightMare?” Duke said, unimpressed.

“In my defense, I was left unsupervised.”

Damian scoffed.

Someone picked her up again and she sighed as they carried her along. They were definitely at an airport. She could hear people milling about. She was sure it was Gotham, too; she could feel a few stares, but most people seemed comfortable with the vigilantes among them.

Then came the normal airport stuff. Walking. Some arguing over whether she counted as luggage or if she could go through the metal detector with them. Sitting. A little chatting with civilians. More walking. More sitting. Very light chatter, just formalities and asking for drinks (Duke, who she figured out was the person carrying her, slipped a box of orange juice up her bag so she could have something). And then they were in the air.

After some time in the air the bag and zip ties were removed. She kept her eyes closed to let them adjust to light naturally and instead focused on rubbing feeling back into her hands.

One English alphabet later, she opened her eyes.

They were in a private plane (or was it a jet?), which explained why it was as quiet as it was. Damian was drinking a glass of water and reading something on his phone. Duke was nibbling at some complimentary pretzels and working a Rubix Cube. They both glanced in her direction from time to time, but they seemed pretty confident that she couldn’t do anything while they were in the air (which was true, but annoying).

She looked around a little more and found that there were no other bats.

“Um… where’re…?” She trailed off, unsure.

They stopped glancing in her direction, ignoring her and her question. The frown that had been on her face since pretty much when they’d first taken her from the room deepened.

“Do they… do they know what’s going on?”

The silence spoke volumes.

She rested her head in her hand. “I’m going to need something stronger than a juice box for this.”

Duke sighed but called a friendly looking woman inside to get her some wine. Marinette and Duke sipped at a glass each (Damian wasn’t allowed any, something Marinette took a little too much joy in). She scrutinized the two over the rim of her glass.

��Are you going to explain or let me guess? Because letting me guess is going to end up with me assuming you’re doing something way worse than you actually are.”

Damian sighed a little. “It’s hard to explain.”

“We’re in a plane. I’m going to guess we have time. Start talking.”

“We drugged them all -- except Orphan, she’s just out doing patrols and won’t know what’s going on for a good few hours -- and grabbed you.”

Duke gave Damian a pleading look to make him continue for them.

Damian, reluctantly, put down his phone to talk. “Signal and I have an idea on how to bring you back from the dead. The others won’t like it, especially not Red Hood, so we’re making the executive decision to not ask.”

Marinette didn’t know a lot about when Jason had been resurrected, it was a sensitive subject so it was avoided pretty much at all costs. All she’d gathered was that it was a rather messy experience for everyone involved.

She rested her head on her hand and then looked back down at her drink. She snatched the bottle from the table and, when Duke protested, set him a glare and started drinking directly from it. They were actually going to bring her back through probably shady means. She was NOT drunk enough for this shit.

~

She got stuffed in a suitcase when they left, which was extremely insulting (and a little embarrassing, if she were honest).

She rested her head against the side of the suitcase and listened to the dull thrum of people talking on the other side. She vaguely recognized the language, both Nino and Damian both spoke it when frustrated, but the words were all Greek to her.

Well, they were all Arabic, but you get the point.

~

She didn’t even realize she had been asleep until she was awoken. Rather abruptly. The zipper for the suitcase was opened and she tumbled out. Marinette cursed in French as she hit the ground and laid there, her entire body aching from not moving for so long. She hadn’t known her face could get pins and needles, she wished she could go back to her blissful ignorance.

“Are you sure about this? You want to save her?” A woman’s voice said above her, sounding a little skeptical.

Marinette forced herself to roll over so she could glare at whoever it was, she knew when she was being insulted, and then she blinked up at the new person.

A tall woman with dark skin and hair and a body to die for stood above her, hands on her hips.

“Holy shit, Dami. You got terrible genes. She’s gorgeous and you’re… you? What?”

Duke hid laughter behind his hand and Damian scoffed.

Amusement flickered behind Talia’s ‘I could kill you before you could even scream’ expression. “I’ve changed my mind. I like her.”

“Cool,” said Marinette as she quickly pushed herself to her feet. Her body wasn’t ready for that, but that was the least of her concerns. The pretty lady was ushering her along and Marinette wasn’t going to hold her up if she could help it.

“How did you die?” Talia said, which was an interesting choice for conversation.

Marinette shrugged, though, unconcerned. “I don’t know, really, there wasn’t this ‘oh, wow, I’m dead’ moment. My guess is I either drowned in acid or died of dehydration at some point. Does it change anything or…?”

“No. Just curious.”

“Oh. Good.”

“... do you not know why you’re here?” Asked Talia carefully after a moment’s contemplation.

Marinette shook her head. “Nah, they’ve been avoiding telling me. I assume it’s painful.”

“... yes. Very.”

The four lapsed into silence after that.

Marinette felt weirdly on edge as they walked through the facility, her hands rubbing the goosebumps that were prickling along her arms. The further they walked, the more on edge she felt. They were approaching something unnatural, something so undeniably WRONG, and she needed to GO.

But Damian and Duke were behind her, probably sensing her unease, and running ahead would only get her there faster… so she walked.

She bit the inside of her cheek in an attempt to ground herself.

But, the moment they stepped into the room, she froze.

Green water. That apparently hurts.

Acid.

“FUCK.”

Duke was ready for her to run, apparently, stood in front of the only exit and ready for a fight before she could even get a full step away from the hell that awaited her.

“No no no no no no wait it’s fine I actually don’t mind being dead it’s fine guys please --.”

Damian grabbed her arms and she choked out a sob,

“Damian god damn it I was kidding about the mom thing you’re perfectly attractive or whatever I promise I really didn’t think it would hurt you that much we don’t need to do this let’s tALK IT OUT --!”

“It’s not about that --!”

Duke managed to get a hold on one of her legs and lifted and all she had to struggle against either of them was a foot and she was SO fucked --.

“PLEASE DUKE PLEASE I DON’T KNOW WHAT I DID BUT I PROMISE I CAN BE BETTER YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS PLEASE PLEASE LET ME GO I’LL BE FINE WE CAN FIGURE SOMETHING OUT PLEASE --.”

Talia grabbed her last leg and she sobbed as she thrashed around uselessly. They started dragging her towards the acid. Nothing to do no way to run no help in sight no --.

“PLEASE! I PROMISE I’LL BE BETTER PLEASE JUST LET ME GO!”

And they did. They let her go and she fell into the acid.

[ghosts-and-swords]

Before Romance Dawn

Mihawk has a crew but has been keeping away from them for more than a decade to hide them from the government's radar. 

Each crewmate had their own coffin boat they used for stealthy attacks.

He met Shanks some time before Roger's execution, but their friendly banters began almost right afterwards. Mihawk's goal had always been to become the strongest swordsman in the world, and Shanks became aware of how weak he was when his captain was executed, so he promised himself to become the very best as well.

At some point, the two of them were considered part of the “Supernovas” of their generation. (I compare them to Luffy and Law to some degree).

Shanks does know and is friendly with Mihawk's crew, just as the swordsman is with the Red Hair Pirates. He keeps their secret and supports Mihawk's play pretend to make everyone believe he's a one-man-crew.

Sometime before Shanks stayed for a year at Dawn Island and lost his arm, their fights became so stupidly dangerous their crews helped the locals evacuate the area for safety.

Eventually they both grew desperate there wasn't a clear winner and they decided to call it a truce, only to fight on a daily basis over the dumbest things.

Over the course of a single year, they had dance-offs, sing-offs, food wars, eating competitions and many many other dumb stuff Mihawk would rather not talk about ever again.

Shanks, on the other hand, won’t shut up about them.

Hawks is a very good cook and a terrific dancer because of that, tho.

Mihawk accepted the title as Shichibukai ten years ago, only because he was bored. Shanks had already lost his arm and mostly no one was able to stand against him in battle, so he took the position to be left alone.

The reason his crew managed to stay off the radar was because Mihawk alone became really famous thanks to his rivalry with Shanks. Though the crew was feared, most people never knew their captain was none other than Hawk Eye Mihawk. When they vanished from sight, most people believed they had been either captured or killed.

Before the timeskip

Mihawk is Shanks' son goth-father (lol. And yes, you know what child I'm talking about you cannot take that headcanon away from me). If Mihawk ever got a child, he'd pick Shanks as their godfather too.

He hasn't considered parenthood as a viable option, but if he did, he'd rather have a daughter (*coughcoughcough*).

His attendance ratio to meetings with the government is below 40%. He only attends when absolutely necessary mostly because he doesn't want to lose his privilege of being left alone.

He's not friendly with the other Warlords, specially Doflamingo, Crocodile and Moria, knowing of the abuse they make of their positions.

Mihawk was ok with Kuma, though he's often tired of his religious preaching. He knew of his alliance with the Revolutionaries before turning into a Pacifista, but doesn’t dwell on it. He’s kinda bitter he sent him Zoro and Perona, though, even if he grew to like the two of them.

He'd never met Hancock before Marineford, but had heard many things about the Snake Princess that made him want to fight against her at some point.

He was actually friendly towards Jinbei until he got imprisoned at Impel Down, but he always believed he was kinda foolish for risking too much in defying Big Mom and joining Luffy’s crew.

Law seemed a promising warlord and another interesting rival swordsman, but it was more than obvious he was just using the government as a stepping stone. He wishes he could also fight him at some point.

He doesn’t have Blackbeard in good regards for his underhanded methods. He didn’t like him because of his beef with Shanks, and he likes him even less afterwards what happened in Marineford. He’s intrigued by his Devil Fruits’ powers, but doesn’t wish to fight against him.

Mihawk knows Buggy is Shanks' friend but cannot believe he was appointed as a Shichibukai. He'd fought against him briefly at Marineford and he thinks Buggy is just one very, very lucky idiot with a bothersome Devil Fruit.

The moment Weevil was appointed as a warlord, Mihawk knew the government no longer needed them. 

Living with Zoro & Perona Pt. 1

Mihawk felt he had lost a spark until he met Zoro. When they clashed in East Blue, he took a liking to the young swordsman because he greatly reminded him of himself when he was younger.

We joke a lot about Mihawk’s chronic depression, but I hc that he actually suffers from it. He has a strict training regime and often follows a tight schedule and diet to keep it at bay. 

If he feels like his depression is hitting him hard, he stops drinking for a while. He doesn’t take medication.

It was getting really bad until Zoro defied him and later on he and Perona crashed into his home. Ever since the three of them had been living together, he has felt his depressive episodes are shorter and not as hard to overcome.

He has never told anyone about this, though he is sure Shanks and his former crewmates know.

At first he was really annoyed Kuma had sent him two children to take care, but as time went by, he began to enjoy their company a lot. Zoro was a good practice partner and Perona had similar tastes in decor, books and fashion.

He still thinks they are annoying, mostly when they fight, but he gets them to shut up real fast.

Mihawk kills bugs around the castle for Perona, after too much nagging.

He forbid Zoro from drinking while mastering haki because he knows that’s what works for him when he needs to focus.

You’d never hear him say it out loud, but he’s quite attached to the humandrills. When they became a bit more amicable, he’d usually talk to them and pat them.

Contrary to what Perona and Zoro initialy thought, Mihawk is a dog person. He doesn’t dislike cats, but he freaking loves dogs. 

He would never want to have one, since he believes he’d not be able to take care of another living being.

Perona considered giving him one, but decided it was better not to piss him off or she’d end up taking care of the pup.

In some timeline in which they keep living together (andmarryandhaveadaughter) they do adopt a dog and call him Cerberus. Mihawk likes crafting armor for him.

Mihawk is good at remembering important dates and very good at giving gifts. He once gave Zoro a silver flask and Perona a very beautiful sundress. In return, they try to give him cool gifts for his birthday, but they never manage to win against him lol

Mihawk pretends he doesn’t know where a certain cocoa tree came from. Perona knows.

TBC Other Headcanons 1 | 2 | 3 

[barcaavengers]

Irreversible || Newt Imagine || Part 1

Note: And here I am with another Newt imagine cause I can. Switched the events a bit so it could make sense as to why there are two females in Maze A. This one is basically a background kind of thing and next part should be fluffy and angsty. (: Dashner teasing with another book with Newt had me thinking so while he decides to throw me a bone on what we should expect, here is me trying to fix things or making them worse. Anyway, enjoy protective, boyfriend-to-be Newt in the Scorch and next part will take place in the Death Cure events. As always, don’t forget to provide some feedback and ideas! I promise second part will be best. Just thought TST had some moments I could insert protective, loving Newt. 

It felt like you won't stop running any time soon. You were a runner, and you loved the feeling. The wind going through your hair and face, the feeling of freedom even if you had spent what you could remember of your life stuck in a Maze. It did it for you. Now in these cases, it was a completely different story. You could tell it hasn't been a full day since you have gotten out of the Maze, into the new compound and now Thomas had the whole group running for their lives after finding out that the compound belonged to Wicked. You didn’t really escape. Now you were out in the desert at night, getting inside a building had Teresa found open and which you thought ten times before going in as you didn't trust her. Minho was the second one to hesitate, but what other option did you have? Wicked was on your trail and if what Thomas said was true, you didn't want to go back in there. You didn’t want to be another subject. 

"What's the plan?" Newt asked and Thomas proceeded to mention he didn't have one. Yet when Newt started to point out they had run away following him in hopes he had a plan, Aris mentioned something and Thomas put a name to it. The Right Arm.

"People? In the mountains? Mountain people?" Newt asks almost in disbelief.

"We don't even know how far these mountains are. If Wicked with all their helicopters lost them, we don’t stand a chance on foot unless we come up with a plan fast" you point out. You tried not to sound harsh since he did help you run from Wicked once more but sometimes Thomas did questionable things...

Everyone was silent for a moment, knowing deep down that there was no other way. This would have to do for now until something else came up, or at least while the sun came up because walking at night with those things out there and not knowing where you would all be heading would only worsen things.

"Get what you need, we meet back here in five" Thomas says and you nod your head.

"Come on" Newt signals with his head and you follow, so does Frypan, Aris and Teresa stick along in a distance while Minho and Thomas split from the group.

The group continues to light up the corners in search of anything. It was quiet...too quiet, and it was getting chilly so you grabbed the first jacket you could find, then found a set of clothes that would do for now. In any other case, you’d probably think it twice before putting on some random person’s clothe one, but not now. Not when it was getting cold and you didn’t know what it would be like out there tomorrow. "I will go change" you say to Newt and he nods quietly and watches you distant from him. You take your pants off first, stumbling a bit as you did.

"Careful there" you hear his accent and jump.

"Shit, Newt!" You squeak and he smiles.

"Sorry" he says and gets closer to you. "Habit" he teases with a shrug, meaning the times he'd sneak into your hut at night when you have just finished taking a shower close to the river. Newt would sneak in and hug you from behind, or plain scare you which he loved to do.

"I can see that" you tease. "Try not to be so obvious" you shim into your new pants. You look over his shoulder and notice Frypan prying so you turn around to take your shirt off. It isn’t like the guys haven’t seen you without much clothing before, you knew they have. Your hut being by the river meant going into it at night randomly and you knew they’d be on the lookout. You couldn’t blame them, you were the only girl for a while and boys were boys. It wasn’t like you didn’t eye some of them when the chance was given. They were your friends anyway, and Newt…well, whatever weird relationship you had. You two weren't public, but neither were you private. It isn’t complicated, but it doesn’t have a title either. Everyone knew you two had something going on but never called yourselves girlfriend or boyfriend. After everything that you have been through, there wasn't much time to place labels in the relationship even if you had time to act like one. 

"I am" he says and you can feel his gaze on the scar the Griever had left on your shoulder the time you had run in to find him when he had gone alone into the Maze. For him it was probably a reminder of what he had done and consequently of almost getting you killed. For you it was a reminder that you had risked your life for him and would do it again without question.

"Don't" you say knowing he was silently blaming himself, a shiver runs down your spine as he places his cold fingertips against the skin. You eye him over your shoulder and he frowns, "Newt…" you whisper to him and he turns you around. "Shouldn't you be changing or looking for clothes?"

"In a minute" he says and pulls you close to him and pecks your lips. "You know I won't let anything happen to-"

"Hey. We will be okay… As long as Thomas comes up with a plan, or we do" you say with a smirk and he chuckles. You run your hand through his hair and kiss him. It has been a while since you have felt his lips on yours and with all this madness it certainly was a small break from it all. He pulls away and looks over his shoulder before making you walk backwards against a corner and he resumes kissing you. His lips move slow and you sigh happily into him, his hands holding you close to him before pulling away and resting his forehead against yours. "We will be okay…"

"You two lovebirds done?" Frypan's voice echoes and your eyes widen.

"Yeah!" Newt says and you glare at him before pulling down your shirt over your head.

"Hurry" you say to him and take the flashlight from him as he changes. You smile to yourself as you take in his body. Newt was skinny alright but he had quite the arms and body. Helping in the garden did pay off and you felt lucky to sleep in those arms most nights...

"Enjoying the view, love?" He teases as he pulls a brown jacket on. For some reason the way he was dressed made him look so…

"Shut up, shank. Let's go" you shove him and he chuckles, taking a bag he had found and shoving some extra clothes. The lights start turning on and you hear a screech. "That can't be good" you stay still as you try to catch where the sound came from, so did Newt. "Let's get close to the others, yeah?" You say and he nods his head, reaching for your hand and leading you to the others.

"Run! Move!" Thomas shouts and you eye him as he and Minho run towards you.

"What the hell?" Frypan voices before everyone's eyes widened, noticing the Cranks running after them.

"Let's go!" You shout and all of you start running as fast as you could. You dodged cranks that would run into the windows and fall off the sides, you had your gun still with you and it was secure in your hand. You kept an eye on Newt as he ran, making sure he was ahead of you at all times. That way you'd keep him safe from the Cranks. p>

The group is running nonstop through what looked like a mall maybe. How did you know? No idea. It just gave you the vibes and with the electric escalators it confirmed it somewhat. Yet you could barely see a thing as all flashlights were being held randomly as you all ran. You stumbled as the group continued to run. "Guys!"

A Crank had fallen on top of Newt and you were quick to shoot the Crank who even after being hit tried to hurry to Newt. You ran towards it and kicked it, sending it flying against a window and down the floors.

"You okay?" Thomas asked Newt after helping him up as they continued to hurry.

"Yeah. Thanks, Tommy" he says and nods at you before running.

"It's a dead end!" Teresa shouts.

"Over here!" You pull the door open to show some stairs, you look back and notice the Cranks closing in on you and everyone went back and inside, closing the door, yet a hand reached and clawed at Winston as he fell, you managed to shoot the hand, the owner of it screeching unbelievably loud as it echoed.

You came down the stairs and hid under what looked like to be a wall in the darkness, the screams were heard further and you hoped you lost them. "Everyone okay?" You ask and everyone nods as they try to regain your breath, so were you. "Winston?" You turn your head to him.

"I'm fine" he says and your head nods. The boys take a piece of a shirt to place it around his wound.

"We should stay here for the night" you say. "I'll keep watch."

"I'm in" Newt voices and you frown.

"You need to rest" you two exchange a look and he nods his head signaling for you to get close. You push the bag off your back and place it besides him, sitting with your back against it and leaning into him, snuggling close, his arms securing you.

 The sun was starting to come up, heating the ground you had all fallen asleep in, even yourself. You probably lasted an hour or two before falling asleep, but you tried to keep it light in case you heard anything. In other words, you slept but didn't rest so well. "Come on, everyone" you yawn as you pull away from Newt's embrace to stand up. You stretched your legs and arms before turning to the group. Everyone gathers their belongings before continuing.

"What the hell happened to this place?" Frypan asks as you all resume your walk.

"It looks...burned up" you say as you look around.

The heat was starting to burn your face, so you wrap a scarf around your head and it probably wasn't that much of a good idea as it was hot as well making you sweat. Add to it that it seemed to be a desert storm around you and the wind barely left any visibility with all the sand. After climbing on top of a mountain of sand though, you finally saw the mountains, yet they looked days away on foot. "We are almost there" Thomas says and then Winston is falling down.

"Winston!" You shout as you run to his side. "Are you okay?"

He was too weak to speak, only coughing. "Come on, buddy" Thomas says and the boys pick him up.

"We can hide under that bridge" you say, grabbing the bags of the boys to help them as they carried Winston. Once at the bridge, they settled him down. You found the bridge to be some good shelter for a couple of hours. The wind was strong and would only complicate things, and Winston needed to rest, all of you did after those walks.

"Be like Y/N, she is keeping it together" Frypan jokes as he spoke with Aris and you scoff as you sit besides the guys, Teresa and Thomas being away from the group.

"Yeah, right. I barely slept and this heat is killing me" you toss your scarf on the floor with a frown.

"I told you I could keep watch too" Newt steps in, and he even sounded concern that you hadn’t gotten much sleep.

"Oh we know the watch you two would do. Going somewhere private and-" Minho starts doing kissing noises, so you pick up your scarf and toss it as his face.

"Shut up" you pretend to be serious yet you can't as Minho laughs.  

"It is true. Back at that place I thought we would have to move away in case we interrupted."

"Frypan, were you watching me change clothes?" You tease playfully.

"Yeah, Fry. Were you watching her?" Newt steps in, hands on his hip, him though, did not sound playful as you.

"Oh come on, Newt. You watched her change. Besides, it's not like we haven't seen her back at the Glade coming out of the-" You wince at that. You look at Newt and he was dead serious.

"Go on" his accent coming through. "Finish" he takes a step closer and Minho just laughs, earning a glare from the blonde.

"I mean- I know you and her-“ Fry seems to be looking for the right words, but they can’t find him.

Newt's body doesn't relax so you stand up and take his hand, your lips part to say something when a gun goes off besides you, you jump and your heart skips a beat from the sound. Winston.

"Wow. Wow. Hey!" You turn and rush to Winston. Newt is quick to call Thomas and everyone rushes to take the gun away from the injured boy.

"What happened?" Thomas asked as he got closer.

"I don't know, he just woke up and grabbed the gun and-" Fry trailed off.

"Hey, Winston" you kneel down on his left side.

"It's growing inside me…" he lifts up his shirt. It looked so bad in so little time. Black blood, black veins, he looked paler… "I'm not gonna make it…" and deep down you knew it, but there was that one part of you who didn't want to let go. He was part of the family.

"Winston…" you breathe out as you feel a knot on your throat.

"Please…" he reaches for the gun in Newt's hand and your eyes close for an instant. "Don't let me turn into one of them…" The blonde crouches beside him and hands Winston the gun. 

"Thank you…" Winston says weakly.

"Goodbye, Winston…" a sob shakes through you as you stand up, Frypan places a comforting hand on your shoulder and you lean against him.

"Go…" Winston says and smiles weakly at you, a tear rolling down his cheek and you are quick to look away and gather your things.

The group walks silently away, and you chew on your lips nervously. Then the gunshot echoes through the open area and the air gets caught on your throat and you forget to breathe. You stop on your tracks and lose your balance for a moment, eyes shutting tight. Yet another Glader you were unable to help. You didn’t want more of this. You wanted it to be over.

 At last you have all reached a building in the desert, where you had hid after Minho got struck by lightning. Cranks were chained everywhere and a girl had come down referring to them as the guard dogs. After that you found the girl's name to be Brenda, who took you to a man, Jorge, you had the feeling he would sell you all back to Wicked. Yet he had not, and even though he had you all dangling from ropes with your heads down, he said he would help. After that it was a blur, you had gone down a zipline to escape from the Wicked guards and Janson and in the process Thomas and Brenda had gotten lost. Jorge though, insisted to keep moving knowing Brenda knew where to meet them and they should wait there. 

Upon arriving at a place asking for Marcus, you had to drink a strange looking liquid to get in, you feel like you had drunk more than the others for being the first one. No sign of this Marcus. The place was awfully crowded and Minho stood behind you, Newt upfront, Frypan covering for Teresa. The music is going through your body and you start to sway and smile. If this is where you will be waiting for Thomas and Brenda, might as well enjoy some music, right? It wasn’t long until things started to get confusing. The familiar metallic grinding together echoed and you stood still. You recognized it too well, it was a griever, but you couldn't spot it through the crowd. Why would a Griever be in this crowd? You spin quickly as you hear it again, yet no sign. You spin to the other side and the screech gets louder before it's just too much and you scream, holding your hand to your ears. It's metallic sound echoing through your ears and you shake your head.

"They are not real. They are not real." You repeat in whispers. A hand is offered to you and when you look up, you shake your head. "No. No. No!" Newt was offering his hand to you, black veins covered his once pale face, black goo coming from his mouth offering a sinister smile. You pull away and someone lifts you up, turning you around and there was Winston and Alby, looking like Cranks. Then the piercing screech of the Griever echoed again now with the sound of the walls from the Glade. "Stop! Make it stop!!!!" You scream as tears stream down your cheeks.

"Y/N! Love!" Newt called out as he shakes you and your eyes go wide open. You were no longer in the crowd, but in an open room with chairs and couches. Your breath was heavy from all the screaming. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Don't make her think of it." Minho says quickly and you notice you were on the floor, your back to his front. "Easy. Just relax." Minho runs a hand through your hair.

"I just need to get some air" you say before standing up seconds after, Newt helping you out before you walked out to what you guessed was behind the club. You took the chance to look around in hopes of spotting Thomas and Brenda, but no luck. You were starting to get worried. It had been a long walk from the place you have seen them last, how could they make it if it was just them all alone in this place?

"You okay, love?" Newt asks as he walks to you, you smile and turn around.

"Yeah. It's just…What I saw...it was too much" you shake your head.

"You don’t have to remember it" he comforts in a soft voice and you smile up at him. He was so understanding you just wanted to get up and hug him. 

"I think… I haven't gotten over it…" you voice and he nods his head, he knew what you referred to. You two sit against a wall that threw a shade just enough to hide from the scorching sun. "I'm glad I can remember most of those things, I guess...In a way. I wonder sometimes if they erased part of those memories, put in new ones...Some things seemed that they happened differently, you know?"

”If you ever have any doubts, I can help with that,” he says. “I remember most things” he sounds proud of himself.

”I know” you give him a small shove with your shoulder as you smile. “Its just...The things that happened after, and the memories that came back from being stung, what happened after they brought me back to the Maze...Some things just don’t make much sense.”

”Well...can’t help much with those,” he admits. You had spent a year or so in the Maze. Your memories came to you quite frequently. You didn’t voice it, but it would be a really bad headache every time they came in. “All I know is that I remember seeing you again and I just wanted to go on and-” 

"They are here" Minho interrupts and in perfect sync, Newt and you turn to Minho with a glare. "Sorry" he grins before walking away.

Jorge finds Marcus and beats him up, gets a car enough for all of you to fit to get to the Right Arm and once there, you could see everyone feeling at ease. Thomas was in a tent with Brenda and a doctor after he saved her from the crank bite. Everyone was doing their own thing and you watched them from the rocks on top of a small mountain by yourself. You smiled at the scene. Everyone seemed happy, away from Wicked, no worries for now. You could all be happy now as soon as Vince took you to the Safe Haven he had mentioned. It sounded like paradise, and you couldn't be happier.

"Penny for your thoughts" Newt teases as he places a jacket around your shoulders. "Brought ya' some gloves" he sits beside you and you scoot closer to lean against him. "You okay, love?"

"I think I've never been better" you admit. "Away from Wicked, soon on our way to the Safe Haven, away from everything…" you trail off.  

"Yeah, it is good to know we are done with that."

"Mhm" you hum, he pulls you closer and kisses your temple. "I kept thinking…" you start.

"Might be a first" the blonde jokes and you push him playfully.

"Like I was saying!" You giggle and he pulls you close again and kisses your cheek. "About the Maze, and how they just took me out and then threw me back in…It didn’t make any sense.”

"It still doesn't," he admits with a shrug.

"I do remember something though, them mentioning feelings and wanting to see how it affected us. How it could be a variable…" you pause. "I remember them mentioning you. Us." This takes Newt's attention and he looks down at you. "I don't remember much, but they said that after what happened to you and me coming in and spending time together changed something. Then it changed again when I disappeared at the Maze. It also happened to the others, the experience of losing someone, making it afterwards and how it made something in the brain stronger" you frown at the thought of how Wicked could play with their minds just to see how they would all react.

"We all lost our bloody minds, love" Newt says. "Minho would constantly go out there looking for you. Hoping you'd be alive" he says and you notice his gaze soften. "He gave up when he found a Griever's nest that had your bag. We realized we lost you...I lost you" he frowns. "It was so strange to see you again, walking out after a year."

"I could barely remember things. It was like they wiped out details that connected my memories. I remember going into the Maze and getting lost, getting stung by a Griever and memories rushed gave me a whiplash. Then I woke up in a white room and I had these...things in my head and I could see you all...but I only remember that much” you admit.

"You don't remember how you got back in?"

"Not really" you shake your head. "Only that I was unconscious and waking up. I remembered fragments of the Maze so I think that is why I made it out, if not probably I'd be dead" you admit. "I remember afterwards though" you smile and he does as well. "I remember watching you by what was supposed to be my grave as soon as the walls opened…”

By instinct, his arms held you closer to him. "I remember looking up and seeing you. I thought I was hallucinating on Gally's moonshine" he chuckles.

"I miss that moonshine. I could drink one right now" you giggle and snuggle closer to Newt. The wind was turning quite chilly now.

"You know, now that we are on top of a mountain like I once said…" Newt trails off and smiles down at you, your heart pounding hard against your chest.

"You are really doing this?" You laugh nervously.

"Before one of those bloody shanks interrupt me" the blonde says and you pull away from him to be able to take him in. His brown eyes had that little twinkle and his smile was just...contagious. "Y/N" he starts. "We have known each other for two years now, unless you count the one you were away" he says and you roll your eyes. "And I don't know how much time we have, because we don't know if this Safe Haven will keep Wicked away but...I want to-"

"They are coming! Everybody get down!" You hear Thomas scream from a distance.

Newt closes his eyes in annoyance and sigh, "Will I ever not be interrupted?" He says and you decide to turn to where Thomas was coming from. "What does this sh-" Newt's eyes widened and you follow his gaze. The Bergs.

"How did they find us?!" You ask as you stand up, Newt by your side.

"I think we already know," Newt says, quickly taking your hand and you all move to reach the others.

"Get all the weapons you can" Vince says and the first impacts of the Bergs start hitting the camp.

"Incoming!" Minho shouts and you all run for cover.

You and Newt run quickly behind a rock, a missile hitting right besides you made Newt shield you with your body. "You okay?!"

"I'm fine" you nod your head and you both raise from your spot to see the scenario before you. You see a guard getting knocked over and you reach for the gun, a shotgun, perfect! "Newt go to Vince, I'll cover!"

Newt goes to Vince and you run behind him, shooting one more guard. Upon reaching Vince, he gives Newt and Minho a weapon and everyone continues to shoot to cover each other. It turned to be too much for everyone, except Wicked and you had been defeated. You get lined up as guards read your tags, so you remain still.

"A6" the guard says as they scan yours, as he moves to the next one, you bring your hands down from your head and pull a small blade you had on your shoe and stab the guard on his leg.

"Y/N, don't resist please!" Teresa says as she gets closer to you. Two guards come your way and hit you with a nightstick on your back.

"Hey, leave her alone!" You hear Newt shout as he struggles.

"You are a traitor!" Even after the impact, you struggle to try to reach Teresa. "You killed them! You are killing us! We-" You scream at her, a guard binding your arms and just in time, Jorge and Brenda hit one of the helis with the truck and open fire. Frypan, who was right behind you, pounces on the guard and you move away, taking the nightstick and hitting him with it. "Thanks, Fry" you both high five before running. They had taken most of the subjects into the Berg, like Aris and Sonya, and you see one that catches your eye. "Minho!"

Thomas and Newt turn to your voice and rush to try to reach Minho but there was no luck. They were closing the door of the Berg and the camp no longer had enough ammo to take it down. You drop on your knees on the floor in defeat, anger and revenge combining in your body. All against Wicked. All against Teresa. 

The Berg left and you found yourself not moving, watching it go. Thinking. Plotting. When Newt found you, your hands were shaking, your cheeks with warm streams of tears that you hadn't noticed when they started coming out. "Come on, love" Newt whispers in a soothing way but you stay still.

"I'm going to kill her…" you mutter.

"We will get Minho. Even if it is the last thing we do. There has to be a way" he assures you, yet you don't meet his eyes.

"We have to end this! How many more people she will take away from us for this stupid cure!?" You scream and Newt winces before taking your hands.

"We will find a way, love. Tommy will find a way" he says as he drops to the floor with you. "But we need to be calm upstairs to make it work okay? We will get Minho back" a sob shakes you and he pulls you into his arms and you break. You wrap your arms around him and hide your face on his neck.

After a few minutes, Newt helps you up and Thomas is giving his speech, wanting to kill Ava and end Wicked as we get Minho back. While everyone hesitated and called Thomas' plan suicide, you couldn't agree more with the shank. They had to be stopped before they could take anyone else you loved. "I'm in" you say and stand up, Newt's eyes widen at your willingness.

"That's a great speech, kid." Vince says. "What's the plan?"

You have to mentally face palm yourself at the question because there was a ninety-nine perfect  chance that Thomas did not have a plan.

[recentanimenews]

The 42 Greatest Anime Moments of Monkey D. Luffy

  May 5 is the birthday of One Piece's main character Monkey D. Luffy, and over the past couple of decades of his existence, he's given us some moments that will stay in our minds forever. And so I've decided to chronicle 42 of his best ones, antics that will hopefully remind you how much you love the free-spirited, determined, ridiculous Birthday Best Boy. One note, though — while this list does contain some of those sweet, sweet fight scenes, I've already written a list that ranked his 20 greatest knockouts against bad guys. So, in order to not repeat that list entirely, I've tried to mix it up a little bit. 

  1. Luffy Wakes Up From A Great Nap

I can't think of a better anime debut for Monkey D. Luffy than "wakes up in the barrel that he miraculously survived a whirlpool in and immediately knocks out some pirates by accident." It's everything fun about the dude rolled into one.

2. Luffy Gets Coby To Hit Him

    One thing that doesn't get mentioned enough about Luffy is his haphazard, yet skillful ingenuity. He knows that Koby will never get to join the Marines if he's associated with pirates, so Luffy, his one brain cell working overtime, gets Koby to punch him in order to prove that they're not friends because would friends brawl on the floor of a restaurant? 

3. Luffy Gets The Straw Hat

A moment from the first chapter of the manga that was delayed until Episode 4 of the anime, Luffy getting the straw hat from Shanks is iconic. It sets in motion his entire journey and creates a symbol that represents freedom, adventure, and destiny.

4. Luffy Gives Nami The Straw Hat

  Luffy giving Nami his straw hat is more than just a simple, comforting gesture. It's Luffy telling Nami that if she wants, she'll be a Straw Hat now and for the rest of her life. Nami may have problems, but she'll never have to deal with them alone ever again.

5. Luffy Gets His First Bounty

    By gaining a bounty when he takes down Arlong, Luffy is introduced to the wider world of pirating, the World Government, and eventually the Grand Line. Though Buggy's reveal that he knew Shanks and Mihawk's appearance hinted at a wider world, this is Luffy's first real step into it.

  6. Luffy Smiles At Death

    Luffy obviously doesn't want to die. But as he smiles at the crowd and his crew while Buggy brings a sword down onto his neck, he grins. Because he didn't die in vain. He never became Pirate King and he never found the One Piece, but he did live his life exactly the way that he wanted to. And that's more important than any title or treasure. I'm glad he didn't die, though. They never would've found the Grand Line if Zoro had ascended to the role of Captain. They'd probably still be arguing in the Loguetown harbor.

7. Luffy Holds Up Hiriluk's Flag

   Wapol wanted to destroy Hiriluk's flag and thus eliminate his legacy. But Luffy — smoking due to being recently shot by a cannon and holding up the flag — proved that's not something you can just do. As long as someone is there to fight for it, a flag is forever.

  8. Luffy Disagrees With Vivi

   Vivi, frustrated, enraged, and embarrassed about the treatment of her country, was more than ready to sacrifice herself for it ... and only herself. But Luffy wasn't hearing it. If she was going down, they were all going down. It wasn't just Vivi's fight anymore. The Straw Hats had reached Ride or Die status.

  9. Luffy Beats Crocodile

  I did a list of Luffy's best knockouts so I'm not gonna list every major punch here. However, the ones that are especially meaningful deserve recognition. And this one, where, after two defeats, Luffy battered Crocodile up through the streets of Alubarna, is inarguably one of the most memorable. It's a triumph that's a long time coming, equal parts brutal and satisfying.

  10. Luffy Lets Himself Get Beat Up And Meets Blackbeard

  Mirroring Shanks' restraint when he let himself get harassed by the Mountain Bandits, here we see Luffy decide not to fight Bellamy and instead he listens to Bellamy's foolish proclamations about why dreams suck and why you shouldn't have them and why Mylo Xyloto is the best Coldplay album, probably. However, even if he didn't need the pick-me-up, Blackbeard meets him outside to reaffirm that dreams never die. It would be a super nice remark ... if anyone but Blackbeard was saying it.

  11. Luffy Is Immune To Enel

  Until this point, Enel is borderline unstoppable, able to strike down anyone in his path and — with the help of his "mantra" —  barely takes any damage in the process. And it's made him pretty cocky. But to see Enel's face distort in cartoonish disbelief when he realizes that Luffy is a Rubber Type Pokemon and that he's impervious to Electric Types is so joyously satisfying.

  12. Luffy Decides To Get Rid Of The Going Merry

    With the Going Merry slowly becoming unusable and actually becoming a handicap to the crew, Luffy figures that it's time to find a new ship. It's a sad moment, but you can't help but see Luffy's side. A good pirate crew needs a good pirate ship. And if the Going Merry suddenly sinks, Luffy is dead. Like very, very dead.

  13. Luffy Faces Usopp

  Usopp relates to the Going Merry, fearing that its "weakness" and "inadequacy" represents his own. And so when Luffy decides to get rid of the ship, Usopp lashes out, causing Luffy to have to "put down" Usopp. It's a difficult decision, but it shows that Luffy isn't all laughs and "I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" declarations.

14. Luffy Does Not Recognize Sogeking

    And then, after the most heartfelt showdown in the series, Luffy doesn't even recognize Usopp's Sogeking disguise, despite the fact that he has most of Usopp's traits, most of Usopp's weapons, and showed up only a little while after Usopp left. Oh, Luffy. Never stop being you.

  15. Luffy Goes Second Gear

  Power-ups are pretty common in anime. But Luffy saying that he needs to take his skills up another level so that he won't lose his friends still feels pretty special. And then the music kicks in and Luffy beats Blueno to a pulp and it's one of the most hype scenes in the entire series.

  16. Luffy Declares War On The World

   He'll always have a target on his back, he'll never be able to rest easy again, and the World Government will pursue him as long as he draws breath. Luffy knows this, but when the time comes to save Robin from CP9 in Enies Lobby, he doesn't hesitate to take on the whole world. It's just what friends do.

  17. Luffy Refuses To Fall

  When Luffy and Lucci fight, it isn't a quick contest. They go to absolute war on one another. And when Lucci thinks he's won, having left Luffy spitting up blood on the floor, we see that ... no. Luffy will not leave his feet. He has too much pride, too much grit, and too much determination. Defeat is not an option here. He will stop fighting to retrieve Robin when he's dead.

  18. Luffy Is Reunited With Garp

  For a long time, Luffy's actual flesh and blood family was a mystery. Shanks is kind of a cool uncle and Ace is someone that Luffy considers his brother, but where did Luffy, ya know, come from? As it turns out, his grandpa is the cannonball-throwing Marine Vice Admiral Garp, who is not only just as goofy as Luffy, but also really, really, really strong for being 76. What's his secret? Low carbs? Eiichiro Oda, please let me know.

  19. Luffy Punches The Celestial Dragon

  Luffy can't stand bullies or anyone that relishes the misery of others. So when a Celestial Dragon shoots Hatchan in the auctioneering house, Luffy walks right up to him and turns his face into a catcher's mitt.

  20. Luffy Loses His Crew

   Luffy's darkest hour (so far) comes when, in a fight with Kuma, Kizaru and the Pacifistas, his whole crew eventually gets wiped out and spread across the world. All the while, Luffy is powerless to stop it — his Gum Gum skills no match for Kuma's abilities. It's a truly pitiable thing to see Luffy beat his fists on the ground in futility, something entirely unlike any scene in the series before.

  21. Luffy Covers Sandersonia

   Back in Little Garden, Luffy agreed it wasn't necessary to actually have a reason for the fight between the giants. They were having an honorable contest between warriors. That was enough. Later when Sandersonia's scars were about to be revealed after a battle, Luffy covered them up. He had no interest in killing them or exposing their secrets. That is not what the battle was for. The contest was simply one that he wanted to win so he'd eventually get back to his crew.

  22. Luffy Decides To Save His Brother Before Reuniting With His Crew

   When Luffy learns that Ace is to be put to death, he must make a choice: Get the gang back together or dive into the depths of Impel Down and try to rescue his brother. He ends up choosing the latter, which shows a great deal of trust and respect for his crewmates. He knows they're strong enough to be OK without him for now.

23. Luffy Embraces Mr. 2

    This is just plain wholesome. Luffy's love for his friends is might be the best thing about him.

24.Luffy Falls From The Sky

    Luffy's story isn't just about his quest to find the One Piece, but the formation of a legend. And when Luffy and the other Impel Down escapees plummet from the sky into the Marineford war, you can practically see that legend being written.

  25. Luffy Faces The Admirals

  Yes, Luffy's attempts to kick a frozen log at them goes nowhere. And yes, Luffy is almost immediately knocked down by Kizaru when he tries to rush past him. But the guts in that kid! Facing down three of the most powerful men in the One Piece universe and demanding they give Ace back to him. That is moxie, my dudes.

  26. Luffy Goes Comatose

  Ace is dead. The mission has failed. A brother is lost. And all Luffy can do is go numb and lifeless. He has no words or actions to explain or react. A chunk of his soul has been ripped away.

  27. Luffy Realizes He Still Has His Friends

    Yes, his attempt to save Ace was a bust. But in the most hopeless of times, Jimbei asks him what he still has. And Luffy remembers he still has his friends — friends he has been there for in the past and who will most certainly be there for him later. They are still there. And because they are still there, Luffy's existence has worth.

  28. Luffy Gets An Upgrade

  Reuniting with his crew in Sabaody, it doesn't take too long for Luffy to find a way to show off the results of two years of training. He's been doing some grinding, so his skill tree has some new branches. He's unlocked some new abilities, and he's reached his evolved form. When a Pacifista comes at the Monster Trio (Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji,) they beat the bear out of it.

29. Luffy Decides To Make Fish-Man Island His Territory

    For the most part, Luffy doesn't really care about the dominance sought by other powerful characters. But after he's gotten to know the citizens of Fish-Man Island and he sees the terror caused by Big Mom, he tells her straight-up he's gonna defeat her and take Fish-Man Island under his protection. It's the closest that Luffy has ever gotten to being a character in Goodfellas.

  30. Luffy Allies With Law

  And then, shortly after talking trash to Big Mom, Luffy teams up with Trafalgar Law in a plot to overthrow Kaido, another Emperor of the Sea. It's a real leap forward for Luffy. One day, you're just a kid from East Blue punching everyone that seems mean. The next, you're taking an active role in changing the power structure of the entire world. That's just how it is sometimes, though. As Logic once said, "Who can relate?"

  31. Luffy Has Been "Picking Fights All Along"

    Luffy knows he doesn't just tumble from one situation to another. He isn't just a poor guy caught up in the gambits of powerful evil forces. No, Luffy has definitely chosen to live a life where he will interfere with your best-laid plans if he feels inclined to. And if that includes a lot of fighting, well, so be it.

  32. Luffy Reunites With Sabo

  It's been pretty much non-stop action since the beginning of the Post Time Skip era, and that hasn't really allowed for a ton of emotional moments for Luffy. But when he reunites with Sabo in the coliseum and his scream comes out as a mix of happiness, confusion, and surprise, he finally gets one. Cry it out, buddy. We love ya.

  33. Luffy And His Allies Head For Doflamingo

  From orchestrating a breakout in Impel Down to creating a charge toward Doflamingo with all the allies he met in the tournament to win the Flame-Flame Fruit, Luffy has slowly gone from being the captain of a small crew on a ship with an animal head on the front to being the full-on leader of a Pirate Alliance. Luffy 2020 is what I say.

  34. Luffy Goes Fourth Gear

  Years after the reveal of Second and Third Gear, we get Fourth Gear, a power-up that even more freakishly transforms Luffy's body. It's not graceful, nor is it particularly beautiful to behold, but it gets the job done.

  35. Luffy Beats Doflamingo

  Doflamingo — a man that's been a thorn in the side of nearly everyone in the world for about 15 years of anime history — finally gets taken down. And still, it's only a stepping stone to Wano. Somehow, Eiichiro Oda creates these moments that seem like the biggest events in history, and yet, they're only just the beginning.

  36. Luffy Refuses To Fight Sanji

  Luffy knows Sanji is conflicted and not really a bad guy. And he's also aware of the fact that he'll be creating an even bigger issue if he fights back against his chef. So he just takes the kicks, hoping Sanji sees there's another way out of this. Sadly, it'll be a few episodes before he realizes that.

  37. Luffy Waits For Sanji — And Then Punches — Sanji

    Sanji finding Luffy because his captain's stomach is grumbling super loud is so cartoonish and lovely — because what is Sanji's role if not to feed his captain? Of course, Luffy enjoys Sanji's rain-soaked cookin' and then he punches Sanji for still being a twerp that won't admit what he really feels.

38. Luffy Clashes With Big Mom

    Luffy stood beside Whitebeard, but this is his first real showdown with a Yonko. And it doesn't go very well. Big Mom is easily able to block him, which shows that, while Luffy has come a long way, he's still got a bit farther to go.

  39. Luffy Places The Hat On Katakuri

  Much like the previous covering of Sandersonia's shame, Luffy covers Katakuri's mouth with his hat after their duel. The two combatants fought and earned each other's respect. And so Luffy leaves Katakuri with his pride.

  40. Luffy Knows He's Arrived In Wano Due To The Swords

    That giant baboon is using a sword? Obviously this must be Wano, the land of samurai. That's Luffy logic at its most pure. 

  41. Luffy Promises Tama She Will Not Be Hungry Again

  For the most part, heading to Wano seemed like a pretty impersonal act. The only reason he thought about going there in the first place was because Law seemed pretty confident it was a solid idea. But then he meets Tama and learns that she — along with most of the country — is starving. So his journey to take down Kaido gets some personal stakes. He's now shouldering the hopes of an entire group of people.

  42. Luffy Is Beaten By Kaido

  OK, so Round 1 didn't go so well. Luffy pummeled Kaido with everything he had and Kaido one-shotted him with a melee weapon attack. Luffy has to rethink his strategy and expand his move-set and maybe, with some luck, Round 2 will be a tad more even. I can't wait to see what Luffy moments we have in store when One Piece returns!

  What is your favorite Luffy moment? Do any on this list stand out to you? Let me know in the comments!

      Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

  By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[roseamongroses]

Antithesis: “what do you have? “ I have a kNIFE” “NO”

[Specific-Summary]: They should expect growing pains. For not everything to feel right or make sense. That doesn't mean it'll always hurt, nor does it mean they can't have fun along the way. It's senior year. Everything may be different. It won't be senior year for long. Everything will be okay.

[General Warnings]: Implied Emotional Abuse, Implied Physical Abuse, Bad Parents are Bad Parents, Mild Sexual Content/jokes,Mentioned Homophobia, Mentions of underage drinking (backround), Some Catcalling,Cursing , Self Hate,implied pregnancy talk/inability to become pregnant, adults arguing where the “kid” can hear it, adults drinking,

[Tags/mood:] highschool au,  fluff and angst but its all good, chat fic, teen stress, its flordia no snow we die like men [Pairing:] Roceit (Roman Sanders/ Deceit Sanders), hinted future/possible logince/roloceit/loceit [Characters]Roman Sanders/Deceit (Dmitri) Sanders, Virgil Sanders, Logan Sanders, Patton Sanders, Remy (Sleep) Sanders, Nate Sanders, Dragon Witch (Diana) Remus “The Duke” Sanders (minor/brief)

(Ao3) (Previously)

(8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15)

(16) (17) (18) 

L: I May Have Lost Roman

V: nice

P: not nice :)

V: i feel vaguely threatened

Rem:@L how the fuck did you manage that Rem: nvm i know how just give me details

L:I don’t know ? One second we were at check out L: Next minute he was Gone and Nieve is looking suspicious

L:Hold on lemme ask Dmitri

V: why is he there

L: I mean he’s actually pretty chill L: But he dropped Roman off and Nieve got attached L:I’m...not sure if she’s planning on letting him go?

V:logan, my friend, my buddy, V:the only person in this chat with basic reading comprehension

Rem: that’s pretty fair

P: it really is tbh

V: Send. Pictures.

L: Okay L: Slight Issue

V: you lost the snake too

L: I lost Dmitri too and Nieve is not spilling

Rem: oh they’re defeinately fucking

L:...Where? The bathroom?

Rem: Don’t knock it till you try it ;)

V: not to be that guy but im vetoing this discussion V: cause thats a Yikes even for you Remy

L: Alright time to find them

Rem: check ;))) the;))) bathrooms ;;))))

L: Remy.

Rem: alrighlright too far ill stop

L: Thank you.

V: keep me updated V: i only have silence and physics homework as company

L:Huh L:Found them

L: Roman….found a katanna…

V: im sorry WHAT V: Why The Fuck Does He Have A Sword

Rem: drop the location of that store man

L: 1) It’s a Katanna L: 2)I will certainly Not. L: 3) He’s trying to convince Dmitri why he should have it

L…..and Dmitri looks more amused then concerned

V: if I can't have a tarantula he sure as hell cant have a sword

L:I told him it was probably fake/ poorly made and that he should take the time to invest the proper skill in money in a real one

V: goddamit logan you cant logic roman.

L: It worked. He put it back. L: So I say I can do what I want with roman

Rem: some spicy takes from the chats only brain cell ;)

---

“So you’re turning eighteen, in a few months. ” His aunt said, dabbing her cheeks with a napkin. She still managed to hold an air of prestige despite getting utterly shitfaced the night before. Her appointments have been going well.

Dmitri looked up, masking his surprise and holding his tongue.

Dr. Montag looked over, quieting the running water and placing the dish was he was cleaning down, “Really?” he said, brushing his hands, “You got any plans?” he asked, Dmitri.

“Oh we usually do something small,” His aunt interjected, “But seeing as he’s my father’s favorite grandchild,” Only grandchild, “He’s is flying from Paris to join us. And he was never a man of modesty so I’ve been thinking about doing something special for the occasion.”

Oh.

Dmitri fought the smile creeping on his face, ducking his head. He shouldn’t be surprised that she remembered after all if his grandfather was visiting. It’s how he got his phone, laptop, his car.

It’s probably why she puts up with him, to begin with. Cause it wasn’t guilt.

“--We should get your hair cut,” She continued, and Dmitri snapped out of his thoughts, “Maybe invite Diana--he’d like her,” she murmured.

“Diana and I a-” He closed his mouth, and his aunt’s eyes shot over.

“You broke up?” She narrowed her eyes, examining her nails, “Huh, makes sense seeing as...” she gestured at him vaguely, “So who have you been sneaking around with?”

“I’m not sneaking around with anyone,” Dmitri said, meeting her gaze. And technically he was right, it’s not sneaking if she just hasn’t been asking. And he’s given up on telling.

Dr. Montag’s eyebrows knitted together confused,” Well that isn’t true,”

Dmitri’s eyes went wide, stomach sinking.

His Aunt’s grin spread, “Oh really?”

Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck--

“He’s been helping me out, hon,” Dr. Montag set down a glass of water and pills beside her plate, “You’ve been so stressed lately,” he looked guilty and produced some tickets, “I thought I’d surprise you.”

Her face softened and like that the tension left the room. Those two got to linger in whatever lovey-dovey spell had taken hold of them in the last few months, but Dmitri was still on edge.

She still kept him on edge, but he could get her back. Even the playing field. Anytime he could leave this—Anytime he could flip this switch and put her on edge and make her—

He stopped eating, setting his plate aside.

He felt sick.

---

R:helllloooo R:anyone up R: sigh R: allll by mySELLLLF

L: Roman?

R: the one and lonely yes hello human contact???

L: Are you alright? It’s 3 am why are you still awake?

R: why are YOU up mm????

L: My parents have newborn twins. What’s your excuse?

R: well fuck got me there

R: i was texting dee but he was rlly tired and i stILL can’t sleep

L: Any particular reason?

R: u m

L: Private chat?

R: please

- [TheTruthAboutTheMoon]

TheWalkingMouth: Okay shoot

Cowboy:it's stupid

TheWalkingMouth: I’ll tell you if it's stupid or not just say it

Cowboy: i just….like Cowboy: it's all kinda….hitting me a ll at once and i Really don’t like thinking about it but i cant bottle shit up either like you bastards so i feel like the human equivelent og a washing machine with too much laundry in it

TheWalkingMouth: Then don’t? TheWalkingMouth: Even if it's too ‘stupid’ for me I’m sure Dmitri wouldn’t mind

Cowboy: yeah but i feel like im going to say something shitty to him i Cowboy: like we should talk about it Cowboy: and i will Cowboy: but not now--later when it's not too stressful for either of us

TheWalkingMouth: Why would you say something shitty?

Cowboy: idk id jst get frustrated trying to explain it Cowboy: like hes smart as hell and probbaly get it without me saying anything but like Cowboy: I have neither the patience nor articulation right now to explain like a civil person and he doesnt need me being shitty about it

Cowboy:like,,,,,for example,,,,, if he fucks up in school, he’ll get recommended a tutor and teachers would assume hes doing his best and hes such a sweet and quiet boy

Cowboy: like he is sweet!!but hes a little shit too!! And gets away with it!!! Half those pranks he pulled on virgil, as Iconic as they were he never got in trouble for them!!!

Cowboy: when i fuck up i

Cowboy: god it's stupid

TheWalkingMouth: Might not get a second chance? Yeah I get it.

TheWalkingMouth:Remember when I first transferred here? None of the teachers would take me seriously bc of my accent and if they did, they were afraid of me. I could repeat something another kid said word for word and still be told I had an attitude.

Cowboy: god i remembered that Cowboy: you answered his yes or no questions in a fuckin montone, quiet ass voice and he legit called in the office cause he got scared of a goddamn freshman

Cowboy: But ye when i fuck up Cowboy: im suddenly the lazy ass brown kid who should spend less time corrupting youth with my feminine hips and curls Cowboy: like it's not like a lot of them say it outright but it feels like if im not perfect im fufilling all the stereotypes

TheWalkingMouth: Ah okay, rant away

Cowboy: OK like like like im not like virgil right?? in a lot of ways and it fuckin shows

Cowboy: he’s been planning on going into engineering since sixth grade meanwhile i only got my shit together in highschool

Cowboy: and like now that im here/???what now??? My mother expects me to have my shit together meanwhile im over here freaking the fuck out over whether not it's worth it to even try Cowboy: like yes mother i want to go to an art/or librel arts school that may or may not accept me that we may or may not afford to find a career in who the hell knows because if i have to sit in a healthcare class or a applied mathmatics class like you did i miight actually shank the professor????

Cowboy: that i dread the thought of not trying to explore my options outside of this fucking state but i dread the thought of going bc i cant stand the thought of being away from home but i cant fucking find a reason to stay cause everyone i love is leaving or planning their own life anyway???

Cowboy: like remys gunna fuck off to who knows where regardless of whether or not he has a plans or money, pattons gunna take care of his grandmother whereever the fuck a canada ,moms moving in with tia, virgils already mentally flipping me off ready to fuck nasa , and i only fucking hope dmitri even getss the chance to choose where he goes but hes g o n e and i die from yearning behind a screen like the gay victorian i am , and you….i actually dont know

TheWalkingMouth: Teaching for either biology or physics

Cowboy: huh it fits but what about chemistry??

TheWalkingMouth: Fuck chemistry.

Cowboy: oh thank god we’re on the same page

TheWalkingMouth: Anyway, I assume you’re more worried about whether you should apply rather then if you could get in?

Cowboy: i think so

TheWalkingMouth: Well if my opinion means anything to you

Cowboy: more than you’re assuming but yeah continue

TheWalkinMouth: Wait

Cowboy: nothing nothing continue

TheWalkingMouth: Okay-- I think you should go for it but you don’t need to dive head first into it and commit to everything 100% like virgil did.

TheWalkingMouth: You’re allowed to keep your options open, to have backup plans for back up plans

TheWalkingMouth: It doesn’t mean you’re not passionate about your art. Doesn’t mean you’re inevitably going to get a office job and abandon all your dreams. It means you’re being smart and not backing yourself into a corner

TheWalkingMouth:It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay not to have it all figured out

TheWalkingMouth: Nobody does.

TheWalkingMouth: Even if no one else gives you a second chance at least give yourself a second chance.

TheWalkingMouth: It’s perfectly normal to be afraid to fuck up and get fucked over TheWalkingMouth: That doesn’t mean you will everytime TheWalkingMouth: And it certainly doesn’t mean it's the end

Cowboy:

Cowboy:

Cowboy:

[...Cowboy is typing…]

---

@daflangstlairde

@ace-anx

@cataclysm-al

[peraltasames]

when you’re scared and alone (just know that i’m already home)

Jake is in prison, and Amy is three days late.

so emma @fourdrinkamy prompted me w this and i may or may not have teared up a little writing the last part and had to remind myself that they are together and happily married now omg enjoy the angst

title from already home by a great big world

read on ao3

It takes Amy three days to notice that she’s late.

It shouldn’t take that long, she’s as meticulous about her period as everything else in her life. She marks them on her calendar each month and checks taking her birth control pill off her to-do list each day. Never before in her life has she been three days late.

Never before, though, has she been spending hours after each shift combing through files upon files about Melanie Hawkins and her team, looking for the slightest inconsistency or slip-up. Never before has she been surviving on four hours of sleep (if that), fuelled by coffee and the motivation to get her boyfriend out of jail before he’s beaten or shanked or worse.

It isn’t until Friday morning, while she’s sitting at her desk yawning after a particularly long night and jotting a note down in her calendar to visit Jake’s mother this weekend, that she spots the little X marked on Tuesday of that week.

Twenty minutes and one frantic trip to the bodega across the street later, she’s perched over the sink in the precinct bathroom, waiting for a tiny symbol to dictate whether or not her life is about to change drastically.

She’s thought about kids a few times over the past year: watching Jake play with Nikolaj in Charles’ living room on Christmas Eve, babysitting Cagney and Lacey and realizing maybe they could handle parenting after all, helping her nephews build a blanket fort after dinner at her brother’s house. These thoughts have materialized in her brain as a faraway possibility for after they’re married. Ideally, she would already be a lieutenant or higher. Ideally, the father of her child would not be indefinitely locked up in a prison a thousand miles away.

Just as she sets the timer on her phone for three minutes as instructed by the box, the bathroom door swings open. Amy cautiously looked around the bullpen before scurrying off to take the test and made the judgement that the few women on the floor had gone to the bathroom recently enough that she would not be interrupted. Her worn-out, panicked brain did not take into consideration that Gina is very pregnant and gets up to pee very frequently.

“Amy, what are you - oh.”

By the time Amy meets her gaze, Gina is already looking at her with complete bewilderment.

“Are you-“

“I haven’t looked at it yet,” Amy says quietly.

Gina nods, slowly approaching her as if she’s made of dust and the slightest movement could make her disintegrate on the floor. It dawns on her that she must look as weak and helpless as she feels.

“No matter what it says, you’re not alone,” Gina promises her, her hand cautiously grabbing Amy’s, still gripping the edge of the counter for support. “You guys are gonna get him out, and even if you don’t…you’re not alone, okay?”

The sentiment of her friends supporting her is comforting, but another person being here, knowing that she may actually be carrying a child, tips the scale in her brain from stress and worry to full-blown panic. She isn’t alone, she knows that, but no support system could make doing this without Jake any less terrifying.

Nothing could make the idea of raising a baby, his baby, without him there every step of the way an even remotely acceptable possibility.

She doesn’t feel the tears until they’re soaking into Gina’s shirt over her shoulder, barely registering the sobs until they’re wracking her body and she’s clinging onto her friend for dear life.

“It’s gonna be okay,” she hears Gina say, her voice sounding distant, as though Amy is underwater and drowning.

“I-I can’t do it without him-“

“I know, girl. I know.”

The vibration of her phone, accompanied by the same loud, repetitive beeping sound that wakes her every morning, makes Amy jump out of Gina’s arms.

“Do you want me to look?” Gina asks, her eyes a little softer and more sympathetic after seeing Amy completely unravel before her. She’s kept most of her breakdowns since Jake’s been gone private and tries to put on a brave face at work, knowing that they’re all missing him and Rosa too.

Amy nods weakly, shakily wiping away tears with the sleeve of her blouse. She waits as Gina surveys the three tests on the counter (all different brands, to get the most conclusive result possible) and looks back up at her.

“All negative.”

The two words pass over her with a wave of relief, her body collapsing back against the wall behind her and sinking to the floor.

“I’m not pregnant?” she sputters, making sure she heard her correctly.

“You’re not pregnant.”

Gina comes to sit on the floor next to her, shoulder-to-shoulder, and pats her knee gently. Amy leans into her slightly as her stream of thoughts begins to clear.

“I’m three days late.” She tries to make sense of her body’s tardiness now that the most likely explanation is off the table, coming up with nothing. “I’m never late.”

“If you want, I can bring you to my OB/GYN appointment after work today to get checked out,” Gina offers. “She’s dope, we listen to Beyonce during my ultrasounds.”

Amy musters a small smile, nodding her head.

“Thanks, Gina.”

-

Just like every day, regardless of whether she’s still at the precinct or already home for the night, Amy is waiting anxiously by the phone for Jake’s call at ten o’clock. She picks up on the first ring, as always.

“Jake?”

“Hey, babe.”

His voice rings through her ears like a symphony. Their daily half-hour phone calls (as long as he can risk without a guard walking by) since he managed to acquire a contraband phone have been heavenly interruptions from an otherwise Jake-less existence.

“How are you doing?” she asks. “Is everything okay?”

The pause on the other end is a little bit too long, but it’s followed by an assured response that she knows is only for her benefit. “I’m doing okay. Just missing you.”

She subconsciously wraps his warmest, coziest blue hoodie tighter around her body. It’s one of the only ones that she hasn’t already worn to the point that she needed to wash it, one of the only things that still smells like him after nearly three weeks.

“I miss you too,” she sighs. “So much.”

“Is something wrong, Ames?”

It’s truly a testament to how well he knows her that he’s able to detect that something is off from so few words. She’s spent the past two hours since returning from the doctor’s office wrestling with whether or not to tell Jake about her false alarm today, or about the cause of it, which Dr. Abrams referred to as “alarmingly high stress levels.”

Though she doesn’t want to burden him with worries concerning her (she thinks she’s worrying enough for the both of them), there is nobody that she wants to - needs to - talk to about this more than him.

“I, um-“ she fiddles with the edge of the comforter, closing her eyes as she lets out a deep breath. “I had to take a pregnancy test today. I was three days late.”

“Was it - are you-“

“It was negative, don’t worry.” She cuts him off before the worried thoughts that had saturated her brain earlier today can reach him. “It was just scary for a minute.”

Once again, her head spins with anxieties over the thought of what may have happened if the test had been positive.

“You never miss your period. Did you see a doctor?” His voice has lost its confident steadiness, a facade that she can tell he puts on for each phone call just to ease her mind.

“I did, I’m totally fine,” she swears, hoping that she’s convincing enough to put his mind at ease. “It’s just, you know, regular stress.”

It would be a better lie if she hadn’t been stressed about something every single day that he’s known her.

“Ames, please promise me you’re taking care of yourself,” he pleads, now discernibly worried.

“I’m good, babe, you don’t have to worry about me.”

She adds it to the growing list of lies she’s told him lately: yes, I had dinner; no, I haven’t been crying; work was fine; I left the precinct hours ago.

“Okay,” he says, voice still laced with skepticism. “I’m really sorry I wasn’t there for you today.”

Her heart breaks, as if it can shatter any further. It is so annoyingly, utterly Jake to apologize for not being able to comfort her when he’s the one behind bars.

“God, I love you,” she murmurs, tears falling onto the pillow supporting her head.

“I love you too,” Jake echoes, the words heavy with the weight of the miles between them. “And Ames, about the test…we’ll do that for reals one day, okay?”

She has to believe for her sanity that he’s right, that it won’t be fifteen years and that they won’t miss their window. The idea of doing the whole “married with children” thing with anyone else is not an option that she’ll even begin to consider, as she told her mother shortly after Jake received his sentence. He’s been it for her for a long time, probably even longer than she’s realized.

“We would have cute kids,” she agrees, a small smile creeping on her face at the idea of creating something that is half-her and half-Jake (god, she hopes they get his hair and her organizational habits).

“The cutest. Our kid would put Terry and Charles and Gina’s kids to shame.” She can practically hear his trademark grin through the phone, though it’s a poor substitute for the real thing.

They spend the next twenty-eight minutes talking about hypothetical kids and the life they’re going to continue to build together. Afterwards, she sleeps the best she has in weeks, dreaming of the day that their happily ever after is no longer on hold.

[ofheroesandvillains]

The (Dis)Honest Man

Loki/FemReader

Words: 3.1k Warnings: None Summary: Loki never asks for help, especially not from Thor…but desperate times call for desperate measures. A sort of prequel to ’An Honest Man’.

(Gif not mine!) 

Loki sighed for the umpteenth time that morning. Thor had been pestering him about you for days now, and there wasn’t much more he could take.

“Peace, brother.” Thor held his hands up in surrender. “I only meant that it is obvious she returns your feelings, so why not act on them?”

With his characteristic grin Thor made to leave, giving Loki a firm pat on the back that sent him staggering forward. He didn’t turn to glare or scold him as he usually would, too caught up in his thoughts. You? Have feelings for him?

He highly doubted it. Not only was he too perceptive to have not noticed such a thing, but you never showed any signs of even slightly caring for him in a romantic sense. Yet, there was still that toxic slither of hope that had found a home in his head and heart, and Thor’s words only encouraged it to grow.  

Damn him.

“Wait.”

Thor did as he was told, surprised, but pleased that his brother was finally considering the possibility. Loki turned to face him, scowling when he noticed the annoyingly knowing smile on his brother’s face. He was already regretting this.

He was supposed to be the smart one, the one who always had a plan, not Thor. Loki did things on his own, he never needed help because it was seldom offered by anyone who wasn’t his brother, or mother, or you even. Everyone else went out of their way to avoid him, thinking they’d insult his intelligence if they even offered. Which, to be fair, was true. His pride wouldn’t allow him to accept help, a consequence of his self-consciousness. Always so eager to prove himself to his father - to show that he could do what needed to be done, and he could do it alone.

But not this time.

Because unlike Thor, the ladies of Asgard did not flock to him. To make matters worse, the only one that didn’t flock to Thor either, was the only one Loki cared to understand. Even asking Thor for help wouldn’t guarantee answers, but it was the best option available. He thought he already knew all there was to know about you, but perhaps he was wrong.

“Brother…” Loki sighed, swallowing his pride. “I need your help.”

“Ah! What a lovely sight first thing in the morning.”

Your brows creased in confusion as he made his way into the healing rooms, not noticing the withering glares sent his way for the commotion he caused. His words hardly surprised you, Fandral was a notorious flirt, but you were surprised to see him awake so early. It was no secret that he’d usually spend his mornings locked away in his chambers with whatever conquest or conquests gained his attention the night before.

He was always the last to the training grounds, but what he lacked in punctuality, he made up for with natural talent. No one would argue that he was an excellent warrior.

“You think the ill and injured make for a lovely sight?” You cocked a brow.

He faltered, but his blinding smile was back in an instant. “Nay, milady, I was referring to the lovely woman tending to them!”

You looked over to the patients with an amused quirk of your lips, and Fandral followed your gaze. Bustling in between them was a short and plump healer, one Loki constantly commented was ‘older than dust’, who almost always wore a nasty scowl on her wrinkled face. Fandral grimaced at the sight.

“I see your taste in women is as impeccable as always.” You chortled.

To his credit, Fandral laughed it off and once again gave you his full attention.

“Is there something you need, Fandral?”

“Must I need a reason to come and visit my favourite healer?”

You blinked, fixing him with a blank look that made him shift uncomfortably.

“Fandral…”

He smiled at the suspicion in your voice, but casually threw an arm around your shoulders as you’d seen him do a thousand times before to his potential bedfellows. Your eyes narrowed.

“Fandral, are you injured?”

He looked puzzled for a moment. “…no?”

“Would you like to be?”

Your gaze darted down to arm on your shoulder and he was quick to snatch it away. You had never been particularly close to Fandral, he was a decent man, but you weren’t overly fond of the label that was often stamped on those he spent his time with. Most of your interaction came when you spent time with the two Princes, or Lady Sif.

“My apologies…” He cleared his throat. “In all honesty, I did come here for a reason.”

That couldn’t be good.

“You see, I was wondering if you would perhaps -that is to say, if you’d be interested in-“

“Spit it out, Fandral.” You rolled your eyes at his uncharacteristic fumbling.

“Would you like to join me for a walk in the gardens this afternoon?”

Oh dear.

“I…I don’t think that would be wise.” You frowned, one part confused and another apologetic. “We have little in common, and I just- you’re not-“

“Not your type of man. I completely understand.” He nodded solemnly, but honestly didn’t look all that bothered by it - in fact, he looked…glad?

You, on the other hand, were beyond confused, but you barely had time to voice this confusion before he continued.

“I don’t suppose you have, say…your eye on another?” He quirked a brow with a shrug, feigning indifference.

“Well…not exactly.”

“Not exactly?” He seemed to perk up, but you were quick to put an end to this exceptionally strange conversation.

“I meant ‘no’.” You shook your head impatiently. “Listen, I have patients to deal with, and now really isn’t the time to-”

The warrior raised his hands in surrender, a charming smile flitting across his features. “Say no more, dove. I will take my leave.”

He turned on his heel and was out of the room so fast you could barely make sense of it. From his unusual behaviour, to his newfound interest in your love life, you really had no idea what to make of Fandral at the moment.

What a strange morning.

Unfortunately for you, it would only get stranger when the time for your midday meal came by.

“Ah, Y/N, come join me!” Volstagg’s booming voice rang out from the end of the long table, the end where you usually sat with Loki.

Food was piled high across every inch of the surface, but with an appetite like his, you knew even that wouldn’t be enough. Loki had been mysteriously absent all morning, which was unusual, but you were glad to have the old warrior for company. Volstagg was always so jolly and polite to all who approached him - unless he was hungry.

“Hello, Volstagg.” You sat across from him with a smile.  

“It’s been an age since we’ve spoken. I do hope that old hag isn’t working you to the bone.” He frowned in concern, but you were quick to wave it away.

“These are difficult times, but I am trying my best to help as many as possible.”

Volstagg gave you an appraising look. Difficult times, indeed. Wars were breaking out across the worlds and constant battles meant a steady influx of patients for you to deal with. You were exceptional when it came to the magic of healing, which unfortunately, also meant you were in high demand.

“Rare to find such a fine woman, and with a kind heart to match! Tell me, the suitors must be lining up for your hand, yes?” Volstagg inquired, before bringing a large chalice to his lips and draining it in one go.

You laughed, unsure of what was funnier - the thought of you having any potential suitors, or his appetite.

As much as you’d prefer to not discuss your love life, it wasn’t uncommon for older folks to inquire about such things. Volstagg was the eldest of the warriors three, with a wife and children to keep him company, and he often enjoyed chasing off their own suitors.

“None that I am aware of.” You replied, pouring yourself a drink.

The warrior looked offended on your behalf, but it was difficult to take him seriously when he took a large bite out of a roasted boar shank.

“Foolish boys!” He scolded with a shake of his head. “Though I will admit, for a long time I suspected that you would inevitably wed Prince Thor.”

Your eyes widened, and you almost spat out the fruit juice you’d been drinking.

“T-Thor?!”

Volstagg seemed oblivious to your shock and merely nodded.

“Oh yes, he’s a fine man, strong…he’d make for a great husband.”

You grimaced at the very thought of having Thor as a husband. He had been your friend almost as long as Loki had, and despite his good-looks and charisma, you’d never been attracted to him in the way all other Asgardian women were.

“I suppose…but strength is the last thing I’d care to look for in a husband.” You admitted.

Volstagg’s eyes shot over to you in curiosity. “Oh? And what would you look for?”

You paused in thought for a moment. “Well, he’d have to be clever, someone who could understand and challenge me each day - I can’t imagine being bound to someone dull for the rest of my life. And funny, I think I’d like someone who could make me laugh…” A small smile tugged at your lips, but you were too lost in thought to notice the intense stare Volstagg had pinned on you.

“Someone…someone who would make me happy, and care for me as I’d care for him. Someone like…” Your smile dropped as you finally caught up with your thoughts.

“Someone like…?” Volstagg prompted with a cocked brow.    

“Y/N!”

Your attention shot over to the small maid bustling over to you.

“The Commander has awoken but he is in pain, your presence has been requested.”

You thanked her for passing along the information and she bounded away after giving you a small curtsey.

“Well, it was lovely to see you, but I best be off.” You gave Volstagg a warm smile, rising to leave.

“Wait!” Volstagg all but shouted, earning a few affronted glances from others patrons.

You turned to look at him in alarm. “What is it?”

Someone like who?

“I…I’m merely disappointed that our conversation has come to an end.” He frowned, looking far more downtrodden than you’d expect.

What is happening today?

“Oh, well,” You tried to offer a reassuring smile, “I suppose we can continue at supper, yes?”

Volstagg forced a grin. “Yes, of course!”

“I don’t know how you can bear to spend so much time with him.”

You rolled your eyes. It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last time that Sif had expressed her distaste of Loki to you. Her comments were particularly spiteful after one of his infamous pranks - especially if she was the target (as she had been that day). The two of you would spend quite a lot of time together after tending to your respective duties, and today, like most other days, you had met in the gardens before supper.

“Hardly a great mystery, Sif. Why is it you spend so much time with Thor?” You asked, before adding: “Besides your obvious feelings for him, of course.”

Sif paused, looking over with wide eyes.

“Feelings? I don’t know what you mean. Thor and I have always been friends, you know this.”

“You’d think after all this time, you would know better.” You wagged a finger in faux disapproval. “I’ve had plenty of practice in dealing with liars, dear Sif.”

You chuckled, but it was obviously a topic Sif felt uncomfortable discussing, so you took pity on her. Sif hadn’t quite been herself when she approached you earlier, though you couldn’t really fault her for acting strange after what had apparently transpired on the training grounds that morning…at least you knew why Loki had made himself scarce.

“I spend time with Loki, just as you spend time with your warriors.” You shrugged. “Why? Because I am not like you - I do not fight, I heal. Instead of weapons, I wield magic, and in instead of the training ground, I keep to the library.”

Sif’s brows furrowed thoughtfully, but she didn’t look as disapproving as one would have expected. Of all of Thor’s friends, Sif liked the God of Mischief the least. You knew it stemmed from their youth, when Sif gave Loki a black eye after he had insulted Thor. All the other children would laugh about it for days, reminding him that he had been bested by a girl. Needless to say, he hadn’t taken the humiliation very well, and her blonde tresses hadn’t been blonde since.  

“It is in the difference between you and I, that I find my similarity to Loki.”

“I suppose I never really thought about it in such a way before.”

“Because you let your irritation blind you.”

“You would too,” Sif scoffed at the very thought, “but we both know he’d never do such a thing to you.”

That much was true and you both knew it. You could understand Sif’s frustration, it had taken her a long time to earn the respect of her fellow warriors. That morning, Loki had turned her favourite training blade into a snake, the startled scream that echoed through the training grounds had been met with laughter. Sif hated snakes, and she hated being humiliated in front of her peers. Then again, she had never truly tried to get to know Loki, preferring the company of Thor and growing apprehensive as soon as Loki so much as entered the same room. She would never trust him.

“The advantage of being his friend rather than his enemy.” You sent Sif a pointed look, as if to say ‘this could have all been avoided, if you just tried’. It earned you an eye roll.

“And on that note, I think I should be heading inside for supper.”

Sif was silent as you rose to your feet and you quietly turned to leave her to her thoughts. You could feel the warrior’s eyes follow you before she finally acknowledged your retreat.

“Are you certain that you are his friend?”

You glanced back over your shoulder in confusion.

“I’ve never seen Prince Loki so taken with anyone before…perhaps friendship isn’t the correct term for your relationship. It looks more like love to me.”

Her words were met with a beat of silence. You hadn’t expected her to ever approach you about this particular topic, knowing that Sif would sooner throw herself from the bifrost than entertain the thought of you in a relationship with Loki. And love? Loki, love you? You highly doubted it.

But almost anyone could see how the trickster god favoured the beautiful healer he had set his sights upon centuries ago. She was the only one spared where his tricks were involved, and anyone who wronged her often had to deal with the brunt of his anger - and power. The God of Mischief was creative and cunning, not many dared bother those he cared for in fear of the consequences.

“I think I’d know if he was taken with me, Sif. I know him better than anyone.” You forced a short laugh, brushing the comment off and continuing on your way.

Sif watched you leave with a small frown. She had seen the look on your face the moment she even suggested something more in your relationship. You were confused, then thoughtful, and though you tried to hide it with a laugh, the slump in your shoulders betrayed an unexpected sadness.

“And still not well enough, dove.”

Sif’s silhouette was swiftly encompassed by a bright green glow, and in her place stood the Prince himself.

“And? How did it go?”

“Let’s just say I’d have better luck taming a bilgesnipe than charming her as Fandral.” Loki huffed, as if Fandral himself had been the one to fail.

Thor frowned. “And as Volstagg?”

Loki shook his head in irritation.

“She was called away. In the end I settled for Sif.” He held his hands up in defence as soon as he noted the disapproving look Thor was sending him.

“Easy, brother.” Loki’s lips quirked up in amusement. “I didn’t humiliate your precious friend again. I just knew that our dear Sif would have the best luck in this particular situation.”

Loki knew that his brother felt guilty. It was his idea to have Loki rile up his friends so that he would have a reason to send them out for the day. He wasn’t expecting Loki to embarrass Sif publicly, but the suggestion of taking her anger out on the beasts terrorising the forests had been more than appreciated. It meant that no one could reveal him as an imposter and that was all that mattered for now.

Besides, with the amount he’d ingested pretending to be Volstagg, he had been more than punished for his actions.

“Did you at least learn anything?”

Loki thought back to his conversation with you, the expression you wore as soon as he -Sif- mentioned his feelings. It was one of the hardest things he had ever done, confessing his feelings for you without really confessing anything at all. It felt wrong, as if the words should have been coming from his own mouth, not Sif’s.

But it was so clear to him in that moment, that yes, there was something else there. You denied that he would have feelings for you, but you never denied having the same feelings for him.

All he needed was that name. The name of the mysterious man of your dreams - the clever, funny one who’d love you as you deserved to be loved. Loki couldn’t be certain that you were referring to him, he was hardly the man you described, but one thing was for certain - he could be that man if you allowed him to be.

“Perhaps.”  

What he did know was that it was supper time and he had a lovely healer waiting for him.

[bleedingcoffee42]

Drabble- Mystery Solved

Royai and Gracia/Hughes.    Little drabble inspired by my annoyance at all the crime procedural shows killing women every episode despite statistics saying 90% of homicide victims are male.  Got a little long.   Was going to make this another AU but I really don’t need another one of those.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

“Roy, I think...I've found a pattern.”

“For a man who can't wait to get home to his family, you work an awful lot when you get home.”

Maes Hughes did feel bad about calling Roy at home after they worked a double shift.   Roy had his own wife he wanted to spend time with and Maes hated taking him away from that.  Especially when he suspected Roy and Riza might be trying to start a family.  Then again, maybe he was also hoping he might overhear Riza say something to get her husband of f the phone and confirm that suspicion.  “Gracia is giving Elicia a bath and I just thought of something....”

“Hughes.   We'll be back to work tomorrow.   It can wait.  Get some sleep.”

Roy was curt.   Tired.  Probably interested in going to bed himself and making some little Mustangs, however this wasn't going to wait.  As much as it pained him to tear his best friend away from something really important like making babies, he had to share this revelation.  “I can't Roy.  I've figured it all out.  These murders in Central, it's not about the murderers we're looking for it's about the murders we're not dealing with.”

“God Hughes, sixteen hours of looking at this has really had an adverse effect on you. It's not about the killers but the lack of people being killed!  Go...to..bed! ”

“Roy, I'm looking at the map again with clearer eyes.”  Maes said and ran his hand over the map of Central City they had stared at all day in the office.   All day, everyday,  for months trying to figure out why the murderers they were hunting down were suddenly no longer killing.  Why bodies turning up were actually not victims but a criminal who had yet to be caught.   Why it seemed like they had less victims and more justice being served.  

“Yes.  A vigilante.  We talked about that already.”  

Maes smiled as he looked at the circles he had drawn in the areas where crime rates were the highest.  Marks where they had found bodies of killers like Barry the Chopper, the Slicer Brothers, Bald and Lady Dante  Areas that they knew were the killing grounds but they didn't know how to catch the killer.   “No, a vigilante would stop crimes in the process of being committed.   There would be witnesses.  There would be a potential victim.   We have someone deliberately putting themselves in harms way, dangling themselves as bait, in order to be the victim.   No witnesses because the victim is the one saving themselves!”

“That would imply that there is someone with enough skill to put themselves in that position knowing they would win.  Someone who doesn't care about taking a life.”

“Someone who has information about these killer and the areas they work.” Hughes said and laughed as he cracked the case they had been trying to solve for months.  “We work with the killer!”

“It's probably Havoc's girlfriend. He has the worst luck with women.”

Hughes was so excited he didn't realize Roy wasn't on the other end of the phone anymore. “Roy, we know the person who is murdering these people.  Shit.  The answer has been right in front of our faces all along!”

“Oh Maes, I wish you weren't so damned good at your job.”

Hughes turned around as the voice came from the doorway to his study.   It was then that he realized the phone had been unplugged and the cord was in an all too familiar hand.  

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Roy was not a good driver and he was even worse when he was in a panic and rushing to his best friends house fearing that he had been killed.   It's why he let his wife take the keys and drive for him. That was how he would report this event, not that he rushed out the door, barely getting his coat on and dropping his gun and keys in the process and his wife grabbed the keys and refused to let him drive.  He was grateful, as Riza was keeping them and the people on the roadway safe, but it was costing them time.  “Just drive on the sidewalk, they'll get out of the way!”

Riza slapped his hand off the steering wheel as he attempted to grab it.   “NO.”

“Maes is in danger!”

“And you won't do him any good if you get in an accident!”  Riza snapped back.   “Let me drive!”

“Cut through the park!”

“Stop telling me how to get to their house!”  Riza hissed and turned into an alley and sped up, knowing exactly how to get around traffic without destroying city property or running over pedestrians.     “If something happened it already happened and you know it!”

Roy fell silent and just waited for her to make it to Mayflower Court, even if she chose to drive through some rich couple's yard in order to get there faster.   It's why he loved her.    She was practical and kept her focus when things went to hell.  He got emotional and that wouldn't help.     He tried to remember that as they arrived at the Hughes's home and he jumped out of the car before it stopped.  Then he ran to the front door and tried the doorknob, gun out and ready and was surprised when it was open.  He burst in, gun ready and was shocked to see Maes sitting on the couch with Gracia and...tea cups on the way around the coffee table for two more guests.  “What the....”

Maes waited, Riza was right behind her husband and he watched the reaction on her face as she looked at Gracia.   He couldn't believe it was true.   “Fuck.”

Roy put his gun down.  He knew from the look on Maes's face that something happened, something was still happening.   So he stepped inside and Riza followed him and closed the door.  He looked at his best friend and said, “Hughes....”

“So I was right.”  Maes said and watched Gracia pour the tea.  “Someone has been deliberately putting themselves in harms way to catch these killers.  Someone with the skill-set to take some murderer down.  Someone with the inside information to know exactly what they are looking for in a victim and where to find them.”

“Maes?”  Roy asked and watched him look over to Riza.  Roy did the same, not understanding what this was all about or why it involved his wife.  Riza, however, seemed to know.  

“Someone with military training and fighting experience. “  Maes said and then looked to his own wife. “Someone with the information in her own home and years of training from her own husband on information gathering and intelligence tactics.  And someone who is disgusted with the  man's inability to not sin and destroy his fellow man.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”  Roy asked.

“Roy....”  Maes wet his lips.   “We left the people we love vulnerable and they were attacked.   Riza was attacked by Barry, Gracia was an identity theft victim and Solaris....she's been lusted after by so many damned men that she just lost faith in all of them.”

“Not Havoc.”  Gracia said and sat down.   “She loves Havoc and he is a good man.   However the rest of humanity....she's not impressed.”

Roy looked to Riza for an explanation. He was understanding what the Hugheses were talking about, but he wasn't comprehending it at all.  Gracia, Riza and Solaris had been this vigilante team the entire time?  They had the training, he didn't doubt their ability, but to outright kill someone instead of bringing them to justice?  No...that wasn't Riza.   “Why didn't you come to me?  It's my job...”

“You would have never let me be the bait.”  She replied.   “After Barry attacked me and I fought back, I realized I was well equipped to handle this situation.   Most people are not.  Unfortunately most of these killers don't surrender and the fights have ended up deadly.”

“Solaris isn't exactly giving anyone options.”  Gracia said.  “She set Barry up far an attack and enjoyed putting him down.”

“She's working through a lot of issues.”  Riza said and Roy looked so shocked, confused.  “The evidence that would have been required to shut down Lady Dante's operation....honestly I don't think with as well connected as she was that you would have been able to.  She would have walked way, disappeared and still be causing pain and death.”

“Riza, how many people have you killed?”   Roy asked and she looked at him with a sour look.  

“Not as many innocents as I did when I was in uniform.” She said and saw his hurt look.   He didn't mean it that way and this was hardly the way she wanted him to find out.

“Wow.”   Roy said and mentally pictured the map that he and Maes had made with all the killers that had gone missing or turned up conveniently dead.   “Dare I ask who is the next target? Or do I just have to go to work tomorrow and find out the hard way?”

“Scar.”   Riza said and looked at him with the most sincere look.  “We have reason to believe he's targeting you.”

“Who are you working for?”  Roy asked.   He knew his wife and there was no way she would just turn vigilante like this.   She wouldn't just take things into her own hands, she thought too much of human life for that.   Havoc's girlfriend, yeah...she probably would shank someone for the hell of it.  

“Your Mom.”  Riza said and Roy just took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes.   He knew Madam Christmas better than anyone and the woman was never going to retire from the intelligence community unless they were putting her in the ground.   Now it all made sense to him how he had missed all of it.

“How is this going to work?”” Hughes asked his wife.   “You're getting information from me.  Information on active cases I shouldn't be bringing home or talking about.”

“Once this serial killer epidemic is under control we'll go back to doing our normal jobs.”   Gracia said and took her husband's hand.

“Like being Moms?”  Hughes said and Gracia gave him that look that said, 'No, you idiot...I really do work for Madam Christmas's intelligence network that is funded by the government and doing a lot of shit I can't talk about without having you be a security risk'.  

“My Mom has the ability to multitask.”  Roy said annoyed.  “I'm not that much of a baby that she needs to quit the job she's always had to keep after me.”

Hughes rolled his eyes and look at his best friend.  “I mean Riza.  I know you're trying to have kids.”

“We're what?”  Riza said and Roy looked at her with that look of innocence that said, 'No, love of my life...I really am not trying to pull anything to get you pregnant even if everyone we know is telling us non-stop we should start a family.  I just love to have sex with you and want to do it a lot because you're hot and I love you and no....no kids! Not yet!  Fuck. Why is he my best friend!?'.  

“I heard you Roy.”  Hughes glared at him.   “Talking about how you can't wait to hold that adorable boy with his cute little face and soft black hair.   How you're going to play with him and not leave it up to Riza to take care of him when he wakes up during the night.”

“We're getting a puppy, you idiot.” Roy said.

“A Shiba Inu.”  Riza said.  “We picked him out and he's not old enough to come home with us yet.”

Maes forgot all about his wife being part of a crime fighting team of secret agents that works for Roy's Mom and kills serial killers.   Roy wasn't trying to make a kid.   He was....getting a dog? “A dog?”

“I'm going home.”  Roy said and turned to open the door for his wife.   “You two have a lot to talk about and I want to go to bed.   Clearly the city is in good hands and I'm glad you were right about all this and you're not dead.  See you in the morning.”

“A dog?”  Maes said and looked to Gracia.   His beautiful Gracia who only was more spectacular in the new light that was shone upon her.   “His cute little face and black hair.   He...is a dog?”

“He can still play with Elicia.” Gracia offered and Maes pouted.

Roy closed the door and looked at his wife who was awaiting some question or statement that would ease or confirm her fears.  “I love you Riza.   I don't want kids yet and I really admire the work you've done in saving lives in this city when I was too busy being wrapped up in red tape to do anything.   I also really love our special boy and I want to bring him home right now.”

“He's too young.”  Riza said and reached out and touched his handsome face.  Thankful her husband was not upset at her secret.   “Let's go home.”

[emilyartstudios]

Get to know me tag i was tagged by @peachy-julia ahah thank you so much!! ^^ RULES: you must answer these 92 statements and tag 20 people (if you all think I've got that much friends you're tripping wth) THE LAST…
1.Drink: orange juice 
2.Phone call: ahah can't remember, I mostly text :)!!!
3.Text message: my best friend ahah we messaged through snap 
4.Song you listened to: OH NO you caughttt meee (Carmen by Lana because when I'm in her album, I want to listen to all of them)
5.Time you cried: VOLTRON BRO DONT GET ME STARTED HAVE YOU EVER... 
6.Dated someone twice: naw
7.Been cheated on: naw
8.Kissed someone and regretted it: ahaha
10.Been depressed: :/ don't we all feel down sometimes?
11.Gotten drunk and thrown up: naw LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS:
- light greens (like green tea))
- blues - pinks/purples 
IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU… 
15.Made new friends: yes! Pretty good I should say
16.Fallen out of love: naw
17.Laughed until you cried: I think so! This could be true!!
18.Found out someone was talking about you: naw
19.Met someone who changed you: Maybe ahah
20.Found out who your true friends are: I've always known for sure who my real friends are
21.Kissed someone on your Facebook list: I stopped the whole Facebook thing :) GENERAL… 
22.How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: almost all of them which is why I don't go on there anymore
23.Do you have any pets: I own two birds; a cockatiel and a love bird. And a cute French poodle :)
24.Do you want to change your name: I'm very happy with my name as it is
25.What did you do for your last birthday: i was with my family the whole time it was great ^^
26.What time did you wake up: LMAO AT 2:00 pm leave me alon- 27.What were you doing at midnight last night: I was hanging out with my fam as always they're great 28.Name something you cannot wait for: Voltron SEASON 4!!! And my new case for my phone :,)
29.When was the last time you saw your mother: 5 minutes ago I suppose?? :0
30.What is one thing you wish you could change about your life: Maybe the fact that I wasn't such a good networker when I was younger :/ (but now I'm trying my best!! ^^)
31.What are you listening to right now: CuCo's full album: Songs4U!!! ITS GOOD ITS REALLY REALLY GOOD
32.Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Thomas yes not a tom though 
33.Something that is getting on your nerves: Ah;;; I mostly ignore things that's aggravate me (like some fandoms) but rn for sure the whole Charlottesville situation :/
34.Most visited website: I visit YouTube, insta, PaigeeWorld, and DeviantArt a lot!! Not here so much but I do come lmao
35.Elementary: some good shit
36. High School: I want to say that Junior and Senior year was the best year yes yes shout out to the best times 37.College/university: Im not a sophomore at my college and i still don't know why I'm here lmao!! I'm here to draw but I haven't learned anything that I want to learn :0 but it's still cool! I learned a bunch of useful skills though! (As I should because I'm in paying for this???)
38.Hair color: I have very dark brown hair! I have been thinking of dying it a dark purple but I for sure won't cause I'm boring
39.Long or short hair: I have sort of long hair? But I want to cut it short ahah I always wimp out tho
40.Do you have a crush on someone: naw not rn
41.What do you like about yourself: ah;;; I am always willing to learn and I always do something with my full power!
42.Piercings: I have my ears pierced :)
43.Blood type: I don't know my blood type :0!! Hopefully I find out one day and I can donate ^^
44.Nickname: Em sometimes or mely
45.Relationship status: I'm personally not interested in having a relationship ahah it's a long story!!!
46.Zodiac sign: Gemini!
47.Pronouns: she/they/ whatever idrc
48.Favorite tv show: HAVE YOU WATCHED SENSE 8 ITS GOOD-
49.Tattoos: I do not have any but I do want one!!! But my dad doesn't like them lmao// hopefully I can convince him one day :)
50.Right or left hand: I'm right handed but I do teach my left hand some stuff FIRST…
51.Surgery: there's a vague memory if I did get one or not but I cannot remember 
52.Piercing: My ears were pierced when I was a baby but I feel like I can still remember myself crying like a little BBBBitttch
54.Sport: I don't play sports my dude I'm an artist ha
55.Vacation: I never went anywhere for my vacation times
57.Eating: first thing I ate? What?
58.Drinking: Ill talk about the first time I drank that frappe at McDonald's Boi that shit good
59.I’m about to: start drawing not wTeam Nyan art lmao!!///
60.Listening to: STILL CUCO but um his song neon baby is playing :)!!!
61.Waiting for: my case to come home!!! And an email from my client ahah
62.Want: to be fully ready for the next school year OTL 63.Get married: Idk I've always seen it as a maybe option :/
64.Career: IT BETTER BE SOMETHING WITH ART AND THAT IM DOING MY OWN STORIES THATS ALL I ASK AAaa WHICH IS BETTER… (in a significant other?)
65.Hugs or kisses: both both both
66.Lips or eyes: BOTH BOTH BOTH
67.Shorter or taller: taller for sure because I'm like really short and no one is shorter than me- 68.Older or younger: Same range as my age!! They at least have to be close younger or older :0
70.Nice arms or nice stomach: nice arms bro
71.Sensitive or loud: AH ANYONE IS FINE TBH!!! Sensitive is great and cute!! AND LOUD IS LIKE IDEAL
72.Hook up or relationship: relationship!! I don't play around
73.Troublemaker or hesitant: BOTH BOTH BOTH HAVE YOU EVER… 
74.Kissed a stranger?: no ahah
75.Drank hard liquor?: yeah and I'm not fond of it;;;
76.Lost glasses contact/lenses?: no I still have my glasses from the first prescription :)
77.Turned someone down?: ooo idk fam
78.Sex on first date?: naw I'm not down
79.Broken someone’s heart?: ahaha perhaps I did sadly
80.Had your heart broken?: hmm
81.Been arrested?: no no no
82.Cried when someone died?: yeah of course ahah ya kidding me?
83.Fallen for a friend?: no actually ahah DO YOU BELIEVE IN… 
84.Yourself?: I wish to say yes!! ^^
85.Miracles?: yeah!!
86.Love at first sight?: maybe maybe idk liking at first sight maybe
87.Santa Claus?: Coca Cola created Santa Claus 
(It's a joke please don't grab me by the neck damn) $$$$ 88.Kiss on the first date?: hmmm 
89.Angels?: yo maybe idk OTHER…
90.Current best friend’s name: UM I HAVE SO MUCH GREAT PEOPLE IN MY LIFE THAT I LOVE??? 
91.Eye color: Brown ^^ 92.Favorite movie: SHAW SHANK REDEMTION PLEASE WATCH IT ITS GOOD I ALSO REALLY LOVE DISNEY's TANGLED AND BIG HERO 6 THANK YOU VERY MUCH I WILL NOT TAGG ANYONE HEHE BUT IF YOU WANT YOU CAN DO THIS TOO AND SAY THAT I TAGGED YOU!!! PERFECT WAY TO MAKE FRIENDS TOO

[kaceybruce]

catch up..

major catch up over here.. April was kind of amazingly crazy.. 

for the first time of the year.. Aldous got in the car from school and instead of answering “nuffin” he said “AMAZING”  I turned around and said AMAZING!?!?!?! he said uh huh.. 

and pulled out this shaving creme cloud conception.. “ I put it on the fridge” 

I have been trying to figure out what to do with him next year for school.. there are a few options coming up for September and I am trying to figure out the best one for us before he heads off to Kindergarten full time.. 

The Biebs lost a front tooth.. it had been really wobbly for weeks.. and at bed time I go.. let me see it.. knowing I wanted to give it a little tug.. not knowing it would come out super easy.. I was screaming with joy more then she was.. Ive never ripped out a kids tooth before.. 

now on top of those beautiful brown eyes.. she has that lisp.. 

Ive been making some big life decisions in rooms that have this view.. cryptic I know.. 

as Bad always says.. its the shit that creeps up on a Tuesday morning that gets yah.. We were having a particularly rough Wednesday morning getting out of the house.. and I asked Olive to help this guy get dressed.. I saw him laying down and looked over and his junk was inflamed and swollen! 

WHAT THE WHAT

I am writing about this because no one talks about it.. and had I read about it i would have flipped the F out and started screaming.. ITS HIS PENIS! I WANT GRANDBABIES! 

not even kidding.. I went straight there.. my future grand babies from this brown eyed boy..

ree ree ree ree

psycho.. 

i will leave you with this.. his penis looked like it had an inner tube around it.. not painful.. and it apparently happens.. even with circumsized penis’’

I think this is the most I have typed the word penis on the blog.. TMI.. sorry not sorry.. 

turns out a day off work and some momma snuggles cleared it right up.. well.. that and the antibiotic ointment I picked up from rite aid.. 

loves to fix things and tinker.. he has even started doing this thing with his tongue when he's concentrating that reminds me of my passed grandpa.. 

lunch date with my man.. 

Ive been busy this month and grocery shopping and online delivery fell to the bottom of my to do.. my bank account / take out bills have been extra high this month.. so I decide that 5:40 on a random wednesday night was the perfect time to take 3 crazy kids out.. 

this kid also refuses to get hair cuts now.. umm.. no bueno buddy.. I strayed from the cute places where they sit in airplanes etc .. to just normal places.. and apparently he was over this.. I found a new gem in Mill Creek that had an airplane for him to sit in and toys for him to play.. and we walked in after him saying no 10 more times.. and goes.. “see! kids don't like mommy chairs! they want kid chairs!” and walked right in with out a squawk.. 

he likes more hair on the sides of his head he said.. 

uhhhh.. ok.. 

Olive had a school concert that we almost didn't go to.. and by almost.. we weren't going to go to.. and then she got off the bus at 4 INSISTING she had to go because her teacher and friends would be there.. so we got ready last minute.. I snapped this.. and I kind of love that its blurry.. she's getting so much bigger now.. her mannerisms mostly.. and i can barley handle how much I love it.. 

moooooooooooom…

my brown eyed boy.. now I can actually see his eyes again with a hair cut.. his shanks were long .. 

the sun came out this week and we chased it as long as we could.. they wanted to go to their favorite park .. one of the first ones we had gone to living in this area.. and we just soaked the vitamin D.. arrived home too late.. and no one cared.. fresh air wins every time. 

they found a bunny.. 

washing my car is on my ever growing to do list.. 

my moms friend tagged me in this gem.. I remember those nighties.. they buttoned in the back and I loved the rainbow.. Im the one on the right.. my kids couldn't guess it.. it is still hard for me to find myself in some twin photos.. unless Tiff is smiling.. 

I worked so late last night for Cinco.. woke up early to hit the Mill Creek Garage sales.. and went to a birthday party / kentucky derby party.. had a heavy handed mint Julep.. yum.. sat in the sun and my kids climbed some trees.. Brixton literally wouldn't come out of the tree.. well.. except to get a cup cake.. She reminds me so much of me.. esp her heart.. I see so much of how I care about things in her when she cares about things.. attachments and things she loves.. I was/am/is a tom boy at heart and seeing her in a tree holding a kids bow and arrow with a smile on her face.. well it made my day.. 

 mooooom.. 

they love when I take their pic.. 

oh Olive.. I have a feeling she may be an indoor girl.. even though I am trying to make her an outdoor girl.. 

the best part of today May 06th, 2017.. Brixton showed us how she can ride a bike.. 

“who taught you B!?” 

* shoulder shrugs* uhh.. myself!

April.. you were full.. May.. I expect more sun from you please.. especially when my middle child turns 6 in a few weeks.. 

[marilynngmesalo]

Alex Zanardi’s problem-plagued Daytona return secondary to journey

Alex Zanardi’s problem-plagued Daytona return secondary to journey Alex Zanardi’s problem-plagued Daytona return secondary to journey http://bit.ly/2sM1ToQ

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Alex Zanardi’s Rolex 24 at Daytona was problem-plagued, perhaps even forgettable.

That was just fine for one of the most beloved figures in motorsports, who found the racing to be secondary to the adulation and affection he received in his return to North America.

“I’m proud of the quotes, the comments, the love,” Zanardi said after the race concluded Sunday. “It’s what I got from all the fans, all the people that stopped me and all the people who keep telling me how inspirational my story is.”

Zanardi lost both his legs in a 2001 crash during a CART race in Germany but built a remarkable career after the devastating injury. He designed his own prosthetic legs after studying the best options for optimal mobility. Then he took up touring cars and was able to race again.

Zanardi moved to hand cycling and won that division in the New York City Marathon. The Italian qualified for two Paralympics and won six medals, four of them gold. He’s completed Iron Man competitions by using a wheelchair for the running portion and his handcycle for the biking.

But he’d yet to race in North America, where he built a tremendous following during his two championship seasons in CART. He pulled off one of the greatest passes in motorsports history in the corkscrew at the Laguna Seca, Calif., road course, and invented the victory doughnut that NASCAR drivers do to this day.

It was the idea of longtime partner BMW to develop a steering wheel that would allow Zanardi to race without his prosthetics. The manufacturer assumed he’d want to use it in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but Zanardi instead chose Daytona International Speedway.

'WHERE ARE ALEX'S LEGS?': Witnesses recall Zanardi's horrific crash

The yearlong project with BMW culminated in a reunion between Zanardi and so many of his old friends, teammates and rivals. His plotline was the richest in a race full of superstars, even if it didn’t go as planned.

When Zanardi got in the car for his first driving stint Saturday the steering wheel that had been exhaustively tested suddenly wouldn’t make an electrical connection with the car. Neither did the backup.

Zanardi nearly got out of the car before he’d even left pit lane, but one final flip of the switches at least got the wheel to connect. The problems stretched into the next driver change and put the Bobby Rahal-owned team in a hole that took it out of contention for the GT Le Mans victory. The class win went to the second Rahal car, which reinforced Zanardi’s belief that he had a team capable of winning the race.

Alex Zanardi studies a data monitor in his pit stall during the IMSA 24 hour race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019, in Daytona Beach, Fla.

“In the end of the day, I came here because I thought it was technically possible to do what we did together, and had I not believed it possible, I don’t think I would have come,” Zanardi said.

“But yeah, if someone can receive some type of inspiration from what I do, it fills my heart with pride. I’m just a very curious guy who has a lot of possibility. You say ‘Why do you do this?’ Why shouldn’t I? I’m having a lot of fun doing what I’m doing.”

Zanardi plans to resume training in hand cycling next in a bid to defend his Paralympic medals next year in Tokyo. He turns 53 later this year.

Other notable events from the Rolex:

CRAZY CONDITIONS

Teams spent the final third of the race complaining about treacherous conditions that had drivers concerned for their safety.

“It rained like hell,” Zanardi said. “It was really beyond any limit. I’ve never seen so much rain falling from the sky.”

The final eight hours were marred by numerous on-track incidents as IMSA waffled back and forth in its decision making. There were long yellow flag periods in which the drivers circled the sloppy track behind the pace car, the two stoppages, and many, many on-track mishaps.

“It’s probably the worst conditions I’ve ever driven in,” said AJ Allmendinger. “You are just trying to hang on and hope when you catch that puddle the wrong way you can save the car. It’s just so nasty out there.”

Richard Westbrook believed IMSA’s indecision over the weather cost Chip Ganassi Racing a third consecutive GTLM victory. Westbrook was leading and adamant it was too dangerous but IMSA picked a random time to stop the race for the second and final time.

The stoppage came after Westbrook had pitted from the lead for fuel.

“I just thought they had to stop the race, it was ridiculous,” Westbrook said. “But once we pitted, that’s when they pulled out the red flag, and it cost us the win. The conditions were incredibly bad during that last period and it didn’t matter if you were driving 30 mph or 130 mph, you couldn’t keep the car on the track.”

ALL-FEMALE TEAM

The Heinricher all women racing team, from left, Bia Figureirdo, of Brazil, Jackie Heinricher, Simone De Silvestro, of Switzerland, Katherine Legge, of Great Britain, and Christina Nielsen, of Denmark, sign autographs before the start of the IMSA 24 hour auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019, in Daytona Beach, Fla.

A lineup of four female drivers was in contention for a podium finish until Katherine Legge slipped and spun her Acura in the rain with under four hours remaining. Legge was fourth when she spun.

The team, run through Meyer Shank Racing, featured Legge, Simona de Silvestro, Bia Figueiredo and Christina Nielsen. It was created by Jackie Heinricher, a racing enthusiast and scientist who wanted to promote female drivers, and landed sponsor Caterpillar to fund her vision.

The lineup remained on the lead lap for almost 20 hours and under normal weather conditions might have raced for the class victory.

“It’s disappointing to have a situation like this so close to the end of the race, but it’s super tricky conditions out there and it could happen to anyone,” Nielsen said. “If you’re playing tennis and you drop a ball, you just get a new one and try again. Here, if you make one mistake, there are high consequences.”

FITTIPALDI’S FINALE

Christian Fittipaldi reacts as he discusses his last auto race during a news conference at the IMSA 24-hour race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019, in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Christian Fittipaldi needed several moments to compose himself after the final stint of his career. The Brazilian openly cried after completing his final Rolex 24.

A three-time Rolex winner and part of last year’s overall title, this race was the farewell party. The two-time IMSA champion is transitioning into a brand ambassador for Cadillac and the Action Express Racing team.

Fittipaldi debuted in Formula One in 1992 and has raced NASCAR, sports cars, and Indy cars since.

“I am sad, happy, relieved, but I think most of all at peace with myself and I think that’s most important,” he said.

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[thevalicemultiverse]

Things You Need To Know About: Cuddlepile

Tag: ~V: Cuddlepile

Premise: College in a new city is hard enough without accidentally screwing up your love life on top of it – but that’s what Victor did when he didn’t realize his two regular dates, Victoria Everglot and Emily Cartwell, each thought they were exclusive with him. Fortunately, interested bystander Alice Liddell stepped in to help him straighten things out. Unfortunately, then he started falling for her as well. And then things got really weird when Victoria and Emily started seeing each other in a new light…and Alice’s friends Christopher White and Richard Hatter got pulled into the mix…

This AU is a direct result of me seeing the “Alice is asexual” headcanon on tumblr, doing some research on that and other “queer” sexualities, and deciding I wanted to make a universe exploring that and polyamory. I’d always quietly OT3ed Victor/Victoria/Emily in their own verse -- this just allowed me to take it to the next level. In this modern-day world, Victor, Victoria, and Emily are all college students in the general London area, having left their hometown of Burtonsville for the first time in pursuit of higher education. Victor and Victoria have the usual pressure on them by their parents to date, while Victor and Emily came together after Victor found her crying in the woods over her bastard ex-boyfriend Barkis. Victor’s only too happy to date both girls -- finding Victoria to be very complementary to him, and Emily an exciting opposite -- and think nothing of it. After all, it’s only been a few dates each -- and it’s all in casual fun, right?

Nope -- thanks to Victor never thinking to mention that he’s officially dating the other girl, both Emily and Victoria think they’re exclusive with him. This bit of silly miscommunication blows up in Victor’s face when Emily catches him on a date with Victoria at a local cafe, and the two let him have it before storming off. Victor’s horrified and heartbroken, and has no idea what to say or do to salvage even a friendship with either. . .

And that’s when a green-eyed young miss sits down across from him and notes, “Well -- I thought you only saw that sort of thing in bad sitcoms. Who’s writing your life?”

Said green-eyed miss introduces herself as Alice Liddell, saying that normally she wouldn’t butt in, but Victor looks pretty lost and she’s got nothing better to do but help. Victor explains the whole sorry mess to her, and she gives him a little advice on how to apologize. They end up talking about other things, and Victor decides he likes her and would like to see her again. Alice feels the same, and they make some plans.

Later on, Victor visits Victoria to apologize. To his surprise, Emily’s there too -- turns out the two girls got to talking after storming off, and discovered they actually enjoy each other’s company. Victor tells them he’s sorry and that he never meant to hurt either of them, and is relieved when they forgive him (having already come to the conclusion his bad behavior was out of thoughtlessness, not malice). They agree that Victor can keep dating both of them more casually (they’re okay with it as long as they know), and Victor immediately tells them of his plans with Alice, emphasizing she’s just a friend.

A few get-togethers later, however, Victor realizes that it’s a lot more than just friendship on his side, at least. He confesses to Emily on their next date, not wanting another “sitcom plot” to start up -- and is astonished when she admits that she and Victoria are starting to develop feelings for each other. Victor calls a meeting with Victoria and Alice to discuss the situation. Alice, who is a bit more worldly than the sheltered Burtonsvillians (the place has very poor Internet access, and while Victor’s family could afford a better line, it came with William and Nell’s parental restrictions) introduces the trio to the idea of alternate sexualities and polyamory. She even offers to get two of her friends, Christopher White and Richard Hatter, to meet with them to explain better (as Christopher is openly bisexual and Richard is openly agender AND was in a brief threesome with two of his best friends). Victor, Victoria, and Emily are only too willing, and the meeting is set up. . .

Only for Victoria to instantly click with Christopher, and Emily to form a bond with Richard. And in the midst of everything getting even more complicated, Alice comes out with a life-altering line: “Oh, for God’s sake -- maybe we should just all date each other!”

Christopher’s response: “. . .I guess that is an option. . .”

Some negotiation and discussion later, and the group comes together into the jokingly-named “cuddlepile.” Things are a bit awkward at first, especially as the Burtonsvillians come to grips with their own developing sexualities (Victor and Victoria being both bi, and Emily realizing she may be biromantic but she’s definitely lesbian sex-wise), but soon they happily settle into their new poly lives. College is graduated, and the six get a house together --

And then Victoria gets pregnant thanks to a condom failure. Everyone’s pretty surprised (and curious as to whether Victor or Christopher is the father), but the decision is quickly made to keep the baby. Nine months later, little Matilda is born (and revealed to be Victor’s biological daughter -- there’s no mistaking that pale skin).

And six years later, she starts school. Which is when the group meets Deborah Winters, from two blocks over, and realize that it wasn’t just their own parents they had to worry about disapproving of their lifestyle. . .

This verse has two distinct time periods/locations threads can be set in:

Girls Love Girls And Boys: This is the actual “college AU” portion of the AU, when the group is still settling in a bit to the cuddlepile and juggling their dating lives with studies and parental nosiness. Victor never thought he’d actually be in an official relationship with more than one person, but -- it’s really quite nice. Doing term papers and binging TV shows is a lot more fun with so many interesting people around. And he’s feeling more loved than he ever has before. Now if only he could figure out why Christopher sometimes makes him blush. . .and how to keep his parents from ever finding out about all this.

Welcome To PTA Hell: As indicated by the name, this is the “PTA AU” portion of the AU, where the six have to deal with disapproving Deborah and all the other joys and dangers of having a kid in elementary school. Victor’s only too happy to help Matilda with her homework and throw himself into making things for the bake sales. . .but if Deborah makes one more snippy comment about his kid not having a real last name, he just might shank her with a pencil.

Common NPCs:

Alice Liddell (throughout)

Victoria Everglot (throughout)

Emily Cartwell (throughout)

Christopher White (throughout)

Richard Hatter (throughout)

Shipping: Welcome to the Ultimate Poly AU -- in this, everyone's together in an OT6! Specifically, this is how everyone links up:

Victor is romantically involved with Victoria, Emily, and Alice; sexually involved with Victoria; and has a developing interest (both romantically and sexually) in Christopher

Victoria is romantically involved with Victor, Emily, Alice, and Christopher; sexually involved with Victor, Emily, and Christopher

Emily is romantically involved with Victor, Victoria, Alice, and Richard; sexually involved with Victoria

Alice is romantically involved with Victor, Victoria, and Emily; sexually involved with no one

Christopher is romantically involved with Victoria; sexually involved with Victoria; would not mind getting to know Victor or Richard better in either sense

Richard is romantically involved with Emily, sexually involved with no one at the moment but would be open to something with Christopher

NPC Ships: None -- all the NPCs are in the main ship

Important Facts:

Ages in the group -- Victor, Victoria, Emily, and Alice all start out at their canonical 19/20ish, while Christopher and Richard are mid to late 20s (I haven’t pinned down exactly what their ages are yet).

Sexualities in the group -- Victoria and Christopher are both “classic” biromantic and bisexual (meaning they have about an equal attraction to boys and girls). Victor is biromantic and bisexual too, but has a female preference -- while he can certainly find men attractive right off the bat, he needs to get to know the man in question better before wanting to do anything more than look. Emily is biromantic and lesbian (much to her own surprise, but she adapts quickly). Alice is demipanromantic and asexual -- she has no gender preference, but really needs to get to know someone before she develops an attraction, and she has no interest in sex at all. Richard is panromantic and pansexual, with no gender preference at all. He’s also agender, though he’ll accept being called “he” (he’s sometimes used “xe” as well). Everyone else is cis (barring any sudden revelations, like the one that revealed Victor is bi to me.)

Much like their Lloyd/Dodgson counterparts over in Secundus, Christopher and Richard are scientists. Christopher’s currently into the field of food science, while Richard is an engineer -- and, thanks to a car accident that cost him and his best friends most of their limbs (he’s missing both legs and his left arm), the inventor of the world’s best prostheses. The money generated from his patent has made him about equal to Victor’s family in wealth. (This is basically the main “fantastical” element in this verse, which is otherwise supposed to be roughly like reality.)

Christopher comes from a military family, and his father is still pushing him to at least join the Army Reserves. Christopher isn’t sure if that’s truly the life for him or not, but he’s leaving the option on the table.

Emily still has a history with Barkis Bittern -- here, he’s a freshman college delinquent who swept her off her feet late in high school, then stole her credit cards and attempted to kill her in a car accident. Emily pulled through, though she lost her left arm and right leg (replaced with some of Richard’s prostheses), and Barkis vanished into the night. She’s still pissed off at the bastard, and would love to bring him to justice once and for all.

Alice’s personal history still includes Bumby stalking and raping her sister, setting the fire, and running from justice while she barely managed to escape the blaze and spent the next ten years in Rutledge. Where it goes from there is still up in the air, though I’m leaving open the possibility of Bumby reappearing as a psychiatrist in disguise. Alice managed to actually get a hold of her inheritance after the asylum in this universe, though she works odd jobs at a local theater to make sure she always has money in the bank for rent, food, and her medications (she takes pills to stop her hallucinations of Wonderland from bugging her during the day).

Relatedly, Alice’s Wonderland is based a bit more on her reality in this verse -- not only are the “White Knight” and “Hatter” real people, so is Cheshire! He’s an African-American man, Chester Felaide. He works at the same theater Alice does, and regularly amuses/annoys her with riddles and puzzles.

Matilda may be joined at some point by an adopted brother -- Charlie from the games! If it happens, expect it to be a minor plot.

This verse is open to everyone!