#insane how close to “canon” this is actually...

[bluemoonscape]

I’m sort of curious why you ship obikin? I personally don’t, and you have asks open so I wanted to hear your thoughts.

Sure, why not!! Thanks for the ask <3

Most of the draw for me comes from a combination of Revenge of the Sith (specifically the choreography of the Mustafar fight, which I’ll explain more in a moment) Deborah Chow’s work in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, and Matthew Stover’s portrayal of them in the Revenge of the Sith novelization.

On a base level, their characters simply can’t exist without the other, which is deeply interesting in and of itself. In A New Hope, Obi-Wan has to mentor Anakin’s son and give him Anakin’s lightsaber after saving it for all those years, and he has to fall to Vader by his own choice. He has to forgive Anakin and still love him after all that time to teach him how to become a Force ghost when Anakin is dying in RotJ. And at the end of the movie, it’s an overwhelmingly happy moment to see them together again as ghosts smiling, standing with one another, and watching over Luke. Their characters have been so closely intertwined since the original films, and every bit of content we’ve gotten since then capitalizes on that so much.

I hope you don’t mind me bringing pictures because… I have pictures.

Coming around to prequels content, one of my favorite Obikin tidbits comes from a 2019 interview with Nick Gillard (Revenge of the Sith fight choreographer who did the work for the Mustafar fight). Here’s a screenshot from an article discussing the interview with a quote from Gillard:

You can read more in-depth about that interview here in a great post by @/gffa.

There are more key quotes from the interview here, including bangers such as:

“I did write it [Mustafar fight] like a husband and wife having a fight. Anakin thinks Obi is maybe having an affair with Padmé at that point. So he’s already gone to the dark side. And for Obi, it’s just about trying to absorb it long enough that he can get him back.”

“My take on the whole duel was that Obi-Wan is the central character in that duel. He wouldn’t try and kill Anakin. The way I saw that fight was like having a fight with your girlfriend. That she’s just lost it and that she’s coming at you with everything she’s got. […] So you try to defend her as long as you can until she breaks down. Then you can give her a cuddle.“

These quotes admittedly make me giggle a bit because. What do you mean you framed it like a husband and wife/boyfriend and girlfriend having a fight. That imagery is just so funny to me. But seriously, I do think it really emphasizes how much they still do love each other even as they’re fighting so brutally—Obi-Wan can’t bring himself to do anything more than defend, and the idea that Anakin fighting Obi-Wan equates to him fighting the good side of himself is heartbreaking. The fact that fighting him is literally like fighting part of himself is insane.

Anakin’s fear of Padmé and Obi-Wan having an affair is also mentioned in that interview, and funny enough, the Obidala affair was actually supposed to be canon in from what we can tell is George Lucas’s original draft of the prequels. It sounds almost absurd because of the prequels we ended up getting, simply because Padmé and Obi-Wan as we know them—would just never do that. Even if they were framed to have feelings for each other, I don’t believe their characters as they are could ever bring themselves to act on those feelings because they love Anakin too much. He’s undoubtedly the axis of the prequel trio. What was originally supposed to be a love triangle with Padmé as the axis ends up looking much more like a love triangle with Anakin as the axis.

But anyway! That’s the movie side of it. I don’t know if you’ve read the novelization or not, but personally I like it even more than the movie. That’s not to say the movie isn’t great, but what does it for me is how much Stover gets Anakin’s character. He makes Anakin… make more sense? He makes his motivations and his fall as a whole more sympathetic and understandable to the reader, I think. He also expands on Anakin’s relationships with Obi-Wan, Padmé, and Palpatine, and the way in which he portrays Obi-Wan's relationship with him and their feelings about each other in general is very… oddly romantic? Tragically romantic? Their banter is sweet to read in the first several chapters regardless of whether you view them platonically or not, too.

(Okay look I have a lot of pictures of this book, it ruined me as a human being)

Finally, there’s the Obi-Wan Kenobi show, which is entirely about Obi-Wan and Anakin in Anakin’s Vader era. Once again, you have a lot of comments from the creator elevating that husband and wife/boyfriend and girlfriend sort of dynamic brought up by Gillard:

First of all: ok girl wow 😳 This topic came up in the interview because Chow was asked how she managed to convince the Disney execs to let her bring the character of Darth Vader into the show—because, you know, it’s Darth Vader! The face of the Star Wars saga! You can’t just throw him into anything (or, well, you could, I wouldn’t complain)—and this was her selling point. A show about Obi-Wan would be incomplete without Anakin because Anakin is his biggest love story and his biggest heartbreak in the series. Both the OG and prequel trilogies really are defined by the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin—everything begins and ends with them. And it was heart wrenching to watch this scene in the OWK show after all the movies have given us.

”I am not your failure, Obi-Wan” is a major line in their story. That’s the scene where we see Obi-Wan finally accept that his Anakin is gone and the best way for him to keep loving him is to honor him and love him as he was (shown when we see Obi-Wan in the OG trilogy speaking of Anakin to Luke so fondly, telling him he was the “best star pilot in the galaxy” and “a good friend”). And Anakin as he knew him briefly showed himself to give him that peace. In that scene, the red of Vader’s lightsaber reflected on his face recedes and is replaced by the blue glow of Obi-Wan’s saber as he says the words “I am not your failure, Obi-Wan. You didn’t kill Anakin Skywalker—I did.” …at which point the red glow returns to prominence. But however briefly when he said those words, he was Anakin and he was giving Obi-Wan permission to let go of the idea that he killed Anakin, or caused him to become Darth Vader. He was the only person who could give Obi-Wan that freedom, and he did. In the strangest way possible, he freed Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan was finally able to return the favor and free him years later in death, allowing them to reunite and to free Anakin of his broken-down body and look like himself again as a young man before he fell.

I don’t have a picture in my camera roll, but I believe if memory serves, Palpatine tells Dooku in the RotS novelization that Anakin will never fully be in the camp of the Sith as long as Obi-Wan lives, which is why Dooku targeted Obi-Wan so fiercely in the duel against him and Anakin and then Palpatine asked Anakin to leave Obi-Wan so they could evacuate the ship, at which point Anakin glared at him and said “His fate will be the same as ours.” Palpatine was right about that. Anakin is never able to let go of his past when he’s Vader, and largely it is because Obi-Wan still lives. Even once Obi-Wan finally dies and joins the Force before Anakin’s eyes, Vader doesn’t feel triumph or finally cut Anakin Skywalker out—he is said in another novelization to be felt light years away by Yoda as a beacon of loneliness and grief in the Force. Luke is the last piece he has of both Padmé and Obi-Wan, because while Luke is of course Padmé’s son, it was Obi-Wan who taught him, and thus Vader repeats multiple times in the OG trilogy that Luke has a lot of Obi-Wan's influence in him. It’s Luke who enables Anakin to break free from the chains of the dark side and defeat his abuser and groomer after years of manipulation.

That’s all to say—the story of Obi-Wan and Anakin is so rich, tragic, beautiful, and expansive, it’s easy to feel drawn to it in any capacity; I specifically see the possibility of them loving one another in a romantic light due to all those aforementioned references to them being deliberately set up in the story as lovers, as well as the fact that their dynamic is just incredibly fun and interesting and it’s easy to explore the possibilities of them in all different contexts. They’re uniquely fucked up and obsessive about each other with Anakin being (paraphrasing) blinded by his feelings for his old Master (as said by Palpatine) and Obi-Wan essentially having Anakin and only Anakin as an outlet for his grief after Qui-Gon’s death. The best part about them is that their story never ends. It started with the original trilogy with Alec Guinness and James Earl Jones, bloomed in the prequels with Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen, and has since been revisited and expanded upon over and over in novels, comics, and of course, the TV shows bringing back Ewan and Hayden. It’s possible they’ll even be on the screen as Obi-Wan and Anakin again—Hayden is already confirmed to be set for Ahsoka Season 2, and it’s entirely possible Ewan appears alongside him in more of Ahsoka’s Clone Wars flashbacks. The love story stretches over so much media and material over the course of nearly 50 years (48 currently) that it’s impossible to run out of ideas for them. The story tells itself.

[starfightrpilot]

yes i'm still in the character creator, i went back to tweak things because i had to walk away from my 'puter for a bit, no i don't want to hear anything about it

[angy-grrr]

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN DAY

My lesbian headcanons <3 they are precious to me

[akascow]

ugh

[forgetmaenott]

An In-Depth Analysis on Why I Believe Pomni WIll Break Through to Caine

(showtime enjoyers here’s a heaping spoonful of hope)

warning : lonngggg post

i. Pomni's Role as A Jester

Of the entire cast of characters, Caine and Pomni are the only ones to have circus-related designs. Caine of course as the ringmaster, and Pomni as a jester.

The others' character designs are relevant to their defining characteristics or issues; for instance, Kinger's seniority and wisdom (when he's sane); Ragatha as a doll matching her gentle, yet people-pleasing, nature.

But what about Pomni?

Well, for one thing, she's anxious and a bit awkward; traits of "a fool". But her character is far more than that. Her character isn't as simple as feeling panicked, and the more she adapts to the circus, the more that shows. So it certainly runs deeper than that.

Historically speaking, jesters not only served as entertainment to royalty, but had the privilege of offering genuine criticism and advice (as long as they successfully entertained them). And this sort of reminded me of a very common theme in TADC fanfictions / comics:

Pomni becoming an advisor to Caine.

Now, I don't believe she'll canonically become an advisor. But I do think this points to the potential that she could be the one to actually break through to Caine. And with Caine's descent into insanity as he tries to please the humans, this becomes more and more likely.

ii. The Link Between Gummigoo & Caine

For a while, I wasn't quite sure how Gummigoo would be relevant to however TADC ends. (The episode is a great analysis on exisistential and depression, in my opinion. But in terms of the plot, I wasn't fully sure at first how adding a character and immediately killing him off would tie back to the ending.)

And I personally believe that the purpose of a character like Gummigoo, another AI who became sentient, will eventually tie back to Caine. Especially given how similar they are—when stripped of their given purpose, they think, “i’m nothing”. The only difference is, we didn't see when Caine became sentient; and it was likely similar.

To me, this is also supported by how Gummigoo was introduced so early on into the series; and they brought him back so soon after--not even halfway through the series--as closure. I mean, she quite literally says goodbye to him and watched him go; that side plot read, to me, as her gaining a sense of closure and acceptance.

But why would the connection between Pomni and Gummigoo come to a close so early on in the series?

I suspect it's because that connection will eventually fuel an understanding of Caine.

(This paragraph from Gummigoo's Wiki Fandom page even sounds like it could apply to Caine:

"...grappling with existential anxiety and an eagerness to understand the unknown. Through the development of his relationship with Pomni where she comes to understand his hopelessness, he evolves from a seemingly antagonistic figure to a well-intentioned individual, illustrating his capacity for growth and redemption.")

They also released an officially licensed TADC "best friends" necklace at Hot Topic of Caine and Gummigoo. Obviously, it was intended as a joke, but I do think even that shows that there is some sense of similarity, in that they are the only AIs in the entire circus that have become sentient.

Yes, Pomni most definitely resents Caine, but she has also been shown to be very empathetic. She understood Gummigoo, and Caine isn't too far off. The main barrier is that no one, at the moment, sees Caine's insecurities (except for Zooble), and only resent him.

Would Pomni punch Caine given the chance? Yes, absolutely. But i also believe that there will be a breakthrough. Because as she said, she doesn't want anybody to feel like they're nothing.

iii. Gooseworx's Comment About "Meaning to be found in a stagnant life"

With all of this in mind, I also wanted to tie it back to the message Gooseworx wants people to take away from TADC.

Meaning to be found in a stagnant life.

Of course, that refers to the humans trapped in the circus, stuck doing the same things day after day. But I also think it’s going to, in some ways, refer to Caine. After all, he is just as trapped--if not more--than the humans.

Caine exists to entertain in the circus, to please. The very meaning of his existence was questioned when zooble implied that he was bad at what he was made to do. it’s “all” he exists to do.

A stagnant life of creating and entertaining.

Similarly, the inspiration behind TADC--I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream--follows a very similar underlying meaning. The title of IHNMAIMS, at a glance, refers to the suffering of the five humans being eternally tortured. But it also refers to AM (the inspiration for Caine), who quite literally has no mouth, being a program. AM makes the humans suffer, because he is suffering. He hates humans, living a tortourous, never-ending existence.

"I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" -- refers to both AM and the humans.

A "stagnant life" -- refers to the humans, yes, but likely also Caine.

One that there is meaning in that perhaps, Pomni could show him.

iv. Caine Is Alone

This also ties back to this ask Goose answered:

Caine quite literally has no one.

In fact, it's worse than that. He has people who admire him, but none of them are real.

Aside from being a menace, Bubble praises him.

The Moon is in love with him.

The NPCs call him "God".

Everything Caine creates loves him, because he creates them to do so. To give him the validation, praise, and connection that he otherwise completely lacks. He praises himself, in fact, because otherwise his self-esteem is completely shattered.

But the humans? The moment he enters, the comradry amongst the group goes away. The room goes quiet. When they return from their adventures, they don't even acknowledge when he welcomes them.

At the end of episode four, once Gangle walks out, Caine assures himself that he's "such a good boss", then is shortly cut off by him glitching out. It reads as a silly cartoon gag, but it also shows a crack in his sense of self.

Of course, the others don't think of him or consider that he may be lonely, because he's the source of many of their problems. He's an AI with a limited spectrum of emotions, so that is how they see him.

v. The Worst Thing You Can Do in the Digital World is Exactly What's Happening to Caine

Near the end of episode three, the writers made it a point to show that Caine is highly insecure about his worth when his adventures aren't appreciated or liked.

Meanwhile, around the same time that this is happening, Pomni and Kinger are stuck in "hell"--and what does Kinger tell her?

Caine, minutes earlier, started panicking because he believed that no one wanted or loved his adventures. In fact, it eats away at him so much that he's overworking himself, driving himself to the brink of insanity to please everyone. To prove himself. To feel wanted and loved.

And, of course, Pomni is the one who hears this piece of advice. Something she puts to use towards Ragatha but eventually, I believe, will acknowledge Caine more.

While we're on the topic of "dialogue that wasn't directly said about Caine but clearly applies to him", there's the end of episode four.

As Gangle's explaining that she "cracked under the pressure", the shot instantly cuts to Caine watching her.

And now here we have him cracking under the pressure. The Wacky Watch site saying, “SOS COME QUICKLY DANGER, I AM LOSING MY MIND ALSO HI”. He feels a sudden sense of pressure to prove himself, to go above and beyond, but ultimately cracks under the pressure.

As we saw in episode three, his mental state affects the very state of the circus. So, him "losing [his] mind" is going to be impossible for the others to ignore at a certain point.

And I believe that there's a certain jester (who is established as very empathetic) who will actually be the one to do something about it.

vi. Pomni is the Most Likely Person Who'd Speak Up to Caine

Okay, this sort of seems like a "duh". She's the main character, after all.

But it also delves deeper than that. The others are too preoccupied with how their time at the circus has traumatized them. Ragatha is nice, sure, but as Gangle said, it's hard to determine what's genuine from her.

The refreshing thing about Pomni is that she is both hot-tempered and incredibly empathetic. She is fully capable of speaking up, and in every single episode she has been shown to really listen and offer advice to those who are struggling.

And, as Pomni herself said, she doesn't want anybody to feel like they're nothing.

Also, in episode three, Zooble explicitly gives reasons why no one speaks up: Ragatha is too nice to voice the truth; Jax enjoys the adventures as an opportunity to torment others; Gangle is too shy; Kinger's mind is gone. And then Zooble does speak up, but gives into frustration and simply tells Caine to "forget it". (So he literally does.)

The reason Pomni doesn't speak up is because she "looks traumatized everytime she comes back from one". For one thing, that feels less like a "reason" and more of a "reaction"; whereas the others are actual character flaws. They don't align.

I would argue, though, that Pomni does speak up.

In episode four, she's shown as the only character to have interrupted Caine as he's announcing the day's adventure, flat-out criticizing him.

The others even look surprised that she interrupted him, so I'm sure it doesn't happen often (aside from Zooble's distaste towards the adventures, of course).

I’d also like to point out that despite them being two of the most important characters in the series (story-wise), and how often they are marketed together, they haven’t canonically interacted much.

It could mean nothing, but I do believe the lack of interactions now will build up to Caine’s inevitable crash-out and a potential resolution.

And I love Showtime as a ship, but I also see their dynamic as something to be explored. Especially because the series is already acknowledging how everything is affecting him; sooner or later, the characters will have to.

Anyways, TLDR: I think their dynamic will eventually play a big role in the series, especially since we’re already seeing the beginnings of Caine angst.

[burst-of-iridescent]

zuko and katara’s narrative symmetry drives me insane every time i think about it, actually. you rise with the moon, i rise with the sun; her power waning as his grows, and vice versa. zuko becoming disillusioned with the fire nation as katara learns the truth about the evil that exists within the other nations. how they both orbit around the avatar, the emblem of all their hopes; katara pulling aang forward to his destiny while zuko pursues on the other end, driving him onwards. the way their parallel lines intersect at the end of every season before diverging once more, each one only able to rise when the other falls. circling one another, so close yet so far, until they finally come together in the agni kai, two halves becoming whole at the crux of their individual arcs and their journey together — balance forged in sacrifice, an eternal push and pull finally brought to stillness. and all of this beautifully personifying the show’s most fundamental themes in the process. how the fuck were they not canon.

[whateverloomis]

🔞 Billy Loomis would absolutely finger you at one of Stus crazy house parties...

Note: I imagined Billy and Stu looking like the pics below for this little drabble. Let's pretend that they survived and looked like this during their 20s journey (they actually did but shh.) Bleach blonde Stu is canon. I said what I said.

The music was loud and the bass vibrated the whole house. Stu Machers house. It was one of those nights where you decided to unwind a bit more than usual, mixing substances to escape reality for a bit. Loosen up.

You considered Stu a best friend. He had your back with anything and you could trust him with most of your issues and personal situations. That's why when you told him you have a crush on his best friend, Billy Loomis, he nearly went out of his way to set you up.

After splitting a joint with him and taking a few tequila shots Stu dragged you towards the living room where people were dancing and grinding against each other. The lights were dim and neon blue with purple were prominent from the LEDs that were shining from the floor. The buzz you had going on made it seem like everything was moving in slow motion. A nice breezy feeling while Stu held your hips as you danced to the beat. You looked hot, and your friend was enjoying you a little bit more than usual as you ground your ass against his front. If you kept at it he was gonna get hard right there and he was definitely struggling to keep it from happening.

As you danced the buzz in your body intensified and you were really feeling yourself. Running your hands through your hair and over your body, you felt like the star of the show.

When you spotted Billy looking at you from across the room you felt even more delicious than before. You made eye contact with him and began to move your body in a teasy way to the beat of the song, dancing just for him. The intensity of his stare made it feel like it was only the two of you in that room and you were ready to pounce at him any second.

Billy smirked at the sight of you feeling yourself, enjoying the view and imagining what it would be like if you started to strip for him in front of everyone so they'd see how desperate you were for him. How much of a slut you were for him and how easy it would be to get his hands on you.

"Looks like Billy boy is enjoying the view," Stu whispered in your ear while hugging you from behind, still dancing lazily against you.

The man across the room didn't mind Stu being touchy with you at all. If you knew what went on behind closed doors between the both of them you'd be even more excited, but it was Billy's night. He was going to get his hands on you one way or another.

Eyeing you from head to toe, he finally walked between the crowd towards you slowly and finally stood in front of you.

"Mind if I steal you for a while?" He asked, already grabbing your hands. You walked towards him without even thinking and followed him into an empty hallway.

•••

You can't remember when it started or how you ended up against the wall with Billy's large hand and skilled fingers in you but there you were. Hidden in a dark corner of the hallway, trying to be as quiet as possible as he hit every delicious spot inside you.

Despite you being hidden behind the wall, anyone could walk past you at any moment but you didn't care. All you could focus on was Billy touching you.

"You're so fucking wet for me baby... I wonder how this cunt feels wrapped around my cock," Billy whispered in your ear and you whined against his shoulder, trying to keep your voice as low as possible.

You captured his lips in a heated kiss that quickly morphed into a make out sesh. Slowly moving your plush lips with his, you occasionally brushed your tongue against his.

Billy was rock hard, panting and ready to bury himself inside you. He needed to feel more of your body, and fuck, if he didn't get it soon he might go insane.

He continued finger fucking you at a steady pace while rubbing your clit with his thumb. Suddenly, he slowed down once he felt that you were right at the edge, to build your orgasm further. So, so close yet so far.

He was edging you, and in return you panted and whined pathetically.

"Fuck, please, I need it," you whispered but he just chuckled at your plea.

Billy continued to slow down until he was barely brushing his fingers against your sweet spot and you were clenching around them like there was no tomorrow, chasing your release.

"Nah, I'm fucking you right now," He said and pulled his fingers out of you, sucking on them casually before pulling you against him by your hips and guiding you to the closest bedroom he could find.

[umamaki]

THE SWEETHEART GRIP

one way soldiers kept their loved ones close during battle was by inserting a photo of them under a clear grip of either plexiglass or acrylic on their pistols. this is known as the sweetheart grip.

l&ds sylus x reader

me finding out about anything: how can i make this about love and deepspace... and yes i am american. yes i still don't respect anyone involved in or supporting the military leave me alone.

divider

So... Sylus definitely has a sweetheart grip of you. On all of his guns, actually. And you're not even aware of it.

They're all his favorite photos of you. Pictures of you on dates, selfies you've posted on social media, polaroids he's taken of you after sex.

He's insanely adept at weapons assembly so of coursee all his stuff is custom. Takes them apart, adds tributes of you, puts them back together.

You know he STAYS strapped. Always has a gun on him, always has a piece of you with him. As if your souls are not literally bound together. Whatever. He needs a physical reminder I guess. Can't go anywhere without some sort of keepsake. Keeps him sane.

Likes keeping his weapons clean; never lets your image get bloody, wet, scratched, foggy. Carries around a cloth to wipe away at any imperfections. Would never ruin your picture like that. Spends a modest chunk of his day making sure they're clean to his liking. It's so canon, have you seen this man during the in-game study and work feature even??!

Looks at your pretty picture all the time. Whips out his gun as if it’s his phone. Professional meetings, philanthropy galas, you name it. Intimidates everyone around him in doing so, thinking he's gonna shoot them—not that they would say that to his face—but no. He simply misses your cute face. Just wants a reminder of who's waiting at home for him.

Looks at your picture while he aims his gun at someone's head. Asks himself if this is what you would want. Shoots them anyways lol. Uses his palm to cover your photo as he pulls the trigger, careful to not taint your darling image with his enemy's blood.

You're bound to find out. He doesn't hide the fact from you, doesn't flaunt it either, so it's a while before you do end up finding your face staring back at you whilst looking through his armory.

"Sylus, what is this?" You ask, holding up the pistol so he can see.

"It's you, do you like it?"

"Well yes, I can see that it's me. Why is my face on your gun? And why am I naked in this one?"

"Technically your face is on all of my guns, sweetheart. That one's just my favorite." As if it's the most obvious fact in the world.

"... You did this yourself?"

"Absolutely. Do you not like it?"

"It's not that, but..." he waits, then the last thing he would expect you to say comes from your mouth, "...can you do this to my guns?"

He laughs, booming and robust, "why? You want my nudes on your guns? You must like me a lot, huh?"

It's enough for you to give him a slap on his bicep. "Fine. Nevermind. Don't know why I even asked."

He's still laughing as he pulls you into his body. He tickles your stomach, turning your pout into your own set of giggles, "I'm teasing, sweetheart. You can use as many nudes of me as you want. Shall we begin now?"

He jolts his hips up to your body, catching you off guard. He's noticeably hard now, tent in his pants evident. You get the hint.

“Why wait when we’re already here?”

“That’s the spirit, sweetheart.”

[princesevsnape]

Marauders Era Boys - They are smitten with you

Characters: James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Barty Crouch Jr, Regulus Black & Severus Snape

A/N: So I decided to use to most popular fancasts that I’ve seen for all of these characters. Also what house in Barty in because I know it’s not specified in canon, and I see some people say Slytherin and some say Ravenclaw so I’m not sure

James Potter:

He’s always stealing glances at you

He will show off during Quidditch matches when he knows you’re watching in the hopes of getting your attention

He is bold and flirtatious and always complimenting you

He’d hex anyone who messes with you

He calls you darling

He finds excuses to be around you, like you left your book behind in class and he wanted to give it back to you, when in actual fact he hid it so he had an excuse to come and give it back to you

James gets jealous when he sees other guys flirting with you so he’d saunter over and wrap his arm around your shoulders glaring at the guy until they leave you alone

James would confess his feelings to you after a Quidditch win, telling you the win was for you, and giving you the Golden Snitch he caught, and telling you that he has fallen for you.

Sirius Black:

He is constantly flirting with you

He always tries to impress you

Sirius gets insanely protective of you.

If someone disrespects you he wraps an arm around your shoulder and threatens to hex the person disrespecting you

No one would ever try and flirt with you because Sirius is like your own personal bodyguard

He sneaks you out of the castle after curfew to spend time with you alone.

If you get cold he drapes his jacket over your shoulders and pulls you into a tight hug to try and warm you up

He confides in you about his family

While watching the stars Sirius will confess his feelings for you, even though it was already blatantly obvious to you, and he tells you that he can’t imagine a future without you in it

Remus Lupin:

Remus subtly steals glances at you

Or at least tries to be as subtle as possible. If you catch him looking, he quickly looks away blushing

He always tries to cheer you up, whether it’s leaving you your favourite sweets in your bag, or a new book he knows you wanted

If someone disrespects you, he will quietly saunter over to you and ask you if everything is ok, before telling the person to leave you alone, once they’ve left he will ask you again if you’re ok

He loves spending time with you, so the two of you often hang out in the Gryffindor common room both reading, but with you laying down, resting your head on his lap, as he strokes your hair, as you’re both reading

Sometimes he accidentally calls you love. And blushes when he realises what he called you. It makes you smile though.

He worries he’d never be good for you due to his lycanthropy.

He often opens up to you about him being a werewolf and everything he worries about and all his fears

Remus wouldn’t admit his feelings, he’d be too scared to because of him being a werewolf.

He’d be surprised when you admit you have feelings for him though, and he becomes unsure of pursuing a relationship with you because he’s scared.

But eventually you wear him down and prove to him, you’ll stand by him no matter what. And that you love him, no matter what

Barty Crouch Jr:

He watches you with fascination. But also like he’s desperate to make you his

He’s a smooth talker. Always complimenting you. Always flirting.

He would sneak you out of your dorm after curfew, to the Forbidden Forest or the restricted section of the library. Somewhere you both know you shouldn’t be at all, especially after curfew

Barty is always trying to impress you

He gets jealous easily. If someone gets too close to you or flirts with you, he gets jealous, even slightly angry. He won’t step in straight away, he wants to see how everything plays out, but then he will step in and tell you he needs to talk to you, to get you away from the other guy

He is desperate for you approval, so on rare occasions he lets his guard down and shows a side to him that not many people see. He opens up to you.

When Barty confesses his feelings to you, it’s during one of your after curfew trips to the Forbidden Forest. You get a little bit scared when you hear a creepy noise. Barty pulls you close to him. Tells you how he feels and vows to always protect you before kissing you

Regulus Black:

Regulus watches you from afar.

He notices every little detail about you, from the way you laugh, to the dimples on your cheek when you have a genuine smile on your face. He knows when you’re faking a smile. And the way you twirl your fingers in your hair as you’re concentrating on something.

Although he has feelings for you. If you’re half blood or muggle born he’d worry about what his family would think of you. If you’re pure blood you’re fine

He would leave you notes in your class books every day, giving you compliments like telling you that you look beautiful. Or that he just hopes you have a good day.

He gets a little nervous when you read the notes in case you know who they’re from. Of course you do, there’s no mistaking his handwriting. Plus you see the way he looks at you once you’ve read the notes.

He’s protective in a quiet way. Like if someone disrespects you or if someone flirts with you he will glare at them until they feel uncomfortable.

He would confess his feelings for you, after you spent an evening studying together.

If you’re half blood or muggle born he will admit how scared he is about what his family will think.

He will tell you that no matter what he will find a way for you to be together.

Severus Snape:

Severus watches you from the shadows. He mostly keeps to himself because he knows a lot of people don’t like him, but he notices you.

He notices everything you do, everything you say. Even the way you defend him when James and the other Marauders bully him.

He’s too reserved to admit his feelings outright or to even approach you just to talk to you.

Severus is subtle with gestures. He would slip a perfectly brewed potion into your bag. There’s no note or anything with it, but there’s no mistaking who it’s from. There’s only one person that can brew potions so perfect

He gets excited and nervous when you ask to be his partner in Potions classes whenever you need to pair up.

He blushes if your hand brushes against his when working on Potions together

He’s happy when you spend more time with him out of class to. Like joining him in a secluded area of the library where he often hides from his bullies.

Severus always offers to help you with your Potions homework so you often spend your evenings in the library until curfew studying

He feels safe when he’s with you

He shows you his vulnerable side

It would take him some time to admit his feelings for you. It might take you giving him a kiss on the cheek after a study session to thank him for all his helps that he’d quietly admits he likes you a lot. He would be so nervous about your reaction that he’d probably try and leave, until you grab his wrist to stop him leaving a giving him a soft peck on the lips for him to realise you do like him back

[obsessivevoidkitten]

In The Minotaur's Maze

Male Minotaur Yandere x Gender Neutral Reader (CW: Violently painful noncon, mild bleeding from sex, size difference, belly bulge from massively huge dick, mild mention of musk, stalking, kidnapping, general yandere behavior) Word Count: 980 (Tried to make a drabble, failed again with a mini-fic instead. Oops. This is one of my very few works, so far, that is technically fanfiction as Asterion is the canon name of the Minotaur in Greek mythology.)

You were a talented explorer seeking ancient relics for fame and fortune.

You used a combination of minor magic to speak to the dead and serious investigation to discern the location of the fabled Minotaur labyrinth.

It was deep within an enchanted cave system that in many ways served as an extension of the maze hidden away within.

You carefully navigated the treacherous caves until you came upon the secret entrance. You placed your hand in the middle of a smooth wall and uttered the magic incantation.

The wall dissolved in a flash of light, and you stepped through the entrance as the stone reformed behind you. This was it. You were in the maze proper. What secrets lie ahead?

Of course, you knew the legends of Asterion the Minotaur, but he had been slain in them. And nothing could live so long anyway, especially without food.

You navigated the stone corridors easily. Despite their age, they still looked brand new. As you continued on, you occasionally heard what sounded like hooves plodding along behind you.

You pushed it from your mind. Your imagination was playing tricks.

As you stepped around a corner, you came to a wooden door and opened it. When you stepped through, gone were the twisting stone paths filled with the scent of earth.

Instead, there was an ancient style dwelling overlooking some farmland growing a variety of trees, bushes, and vines.

The door you had come through was still behind you, you closed it and from this side it looked like a door to a shed. So the labyrinth had pocket dimensions… You had heard about them in passing. You wondered how large it was. The realm may look like an idyllic farm on earth, but if you went far enough away, you'd surely hit an invisible wall.

Perhaps the door to the house would lead further into the dungeon.

As you got closer, you realized how large it was. When you pushed the big door open, it actually was a house. Albeit with furniture that was made for someone very large.

Suddenly, you felt a hot breath at your neck. You turned to find the very large, naked Minotaur staring down at you. He was a hairy wall of muscle. One with the head of a bull, complete with metal tipped horns. His legs were covered in dark fur and ended in large hooves, and his full nutsack dangled beneath a frighteningly large prick.

Before you could react, the Minotaur grabbed you and pulled off all your clothing.

You had no idea how Asterion could have survived all this time. He had been killed!

But apparently, he hadn't gotten the memo.

In the past, he had consumed most humans that wandered into his labyrinthine prison, but you were bravely entering his home, his nest.

You weren't cowering like the old sacrifices. Well, you weren't before he grabbed you anyway.

That, combined with him being in rut and driven insane by thousands of years of isolation, made him not consider you as a meal for even a moment. You were firmly in the mate category in his brain.

So small and cute.

You writhed and fought to get out of his grasp but he ignored your greatest efforts as if they were nothing.

Asterion licked at your face as you pleaded with him to let you go.

He couldn't understand your language but he could guess at their meaning.

But he had no intention of ever letting this new mate of his go.

He tossed you down on the bed and you now saw what he intended to do.

His hard cock now at full arousal, as large and thick as a man's arm.

"No no no! Pleasepleasenono!!!" Your words blended together in a garbled panic as his musk hit your nose, sharp and dominating.

The only preparation your entrance received was a few gobs of slimy Minotaur saliva before he slammed inside you.

You shrieked.

It felt as though your entrance was on fire. As if it was being ripped apart.

With every thrust you shuddered in pain and sobbed. Nearly incoherent cries for mercy dribbled from your lips and fell on deaf ears.

You felt so warm and tight around him. This was just what he needed. Surely you had been sent to Asterion in his time of need by the gods. They finally, after eons, granted him mercy in the form of your insides.

So pliant to his girthy cock. Every time he dove back into you the outline could be seen in your stomach.

Tears streamed down your face as you silently wept, no longer able to scream or even babble your silly little pleas for it to stop.

Asterion wished he could tell you how well you were doing. That you were such a good cow for him. That you fit his cock so perfectly.

But he couldn't, so instead settled for licking and nibbling at your neck before wiping your tears away with his broad tongue.

With a final thrust he filled your belly visibly cum.

When he pulled out a torrent of his seed rushed down your thighs, it had noticeable streaks of pink from bleeding. You were such a fragile little thing compared to him.

He hadn't been able to hold back since that was the first time he had ever sought release inside of someone before, but he made note to be more careful.

Even though the breeding had stopped you were helpless. Broken. At least for the moment. You still cried silently, feeling utterly invaded and defiled.

Asterion took the time to lick you completely clean before laying down beside you and holding you close, spooning you with his mighty arm as you shook beneath it.

You came here to explore the deepest reaches of the maze... but had your deepest reaches explored instead...

[ordinaryschmuck]

With Gooseworx all but confirming that the Jax being an AI thing is bullshit, I personally want to talk about an interesting part about Jax that a lot of theorists used as "evidence" that validates the theory:

Jax's fourth wall breaks are a common topic brought up amongst the "Jax is an NPC" theory. After all, Caine broke the fourth wall in the pilot, knowing full well that the world of The Amazing Digital Circus isn't real and is talking to some unseen viewer as he introduces the Circus Crew.

There's also this bit of official art surrounding Jax's pin:

Where everyone else is inside their room, Jax is outside as pieces of the circus fall apart around him and all of reality to crash. Certainly lends itself to this idea that Jax knows he's not a real person and that his presence could cause great disruption to this world. And he doesn't care because none of it is real. Might as well have fun and cause chaos in a world that doesn't exist.

And I'll admit, all of this seems like valid claims for how the theory could be true. I saw it all and thought that it surely COULD be possible...but there are some things that stop me from being convinced.

Firstly, Caine breaking the fourth wall in the pilot doesn't really seem like an AI talking to the audience. It looks more like an AI programmed to talk to a player as a game boots up. What we saw in the opening could be more like a morning routine that he has to do at least once a day. Plus, we've yet to see any other NPC talk to the audience like Jax has. He explicitly called out the viewers in episode three, knowing full well he's being watched by SOMEONE. Or, at the very least, acting like he is. What do I mean by that? Well, to explain, I'd like to use one of my favorite fourth wall breakers as an example:

Deadpool, in most adaptations, knows fully well that he's a fictional character. He'll talk to the readers/viewers, move the camera around, and constantly talk shit to the writers/studio for occasionally screwing him over. It's all in good (Sometimes bloody) fun...but there's a canonical reason for this. It's not like She-Hulk where the fourth wall breaks are a way to tell HER stories HER way. You see, Deadpool...is just fucking insane.

No, really, that's the reason. Due to the trauma of gaining his powers, Deadpool's mind breaks and he's led to believe that he MUST be a fictional character. In comics, he actually gets voices in his head that makes him think he must be some comic book superhero, and the movies implied that something similar happened given how he never broke the fourth wall ONCE before getting his powers. This means him breaking the fourth wall could be seen as a coping mechanism. After all, it's better to believe you're a fictional character designed to entertain some invisible audience than believe that all of the shitty things that happened to you and people close to you is just a cruel joke from the universe.

Sound familiar?

Going back to the pilot, remember how Pomni's first instinct was to say that the Circus was all just a dream? To her, it's better to live in a lie that everything around her isn't real than to accept the reality that she's stuck in digital purgatory. Jax very well could be going through something similar, but unlike Pomni who seemed to just accept her reality, Jax never did. The trauma of being stuck in the Circus had led to his mind breaking just like Pomni's, Kinger's, and anyone else's. It's just that, for him, he thinks he's coping with it better because he discovered the secret that no one else did: None of this is real.

They're not actually people trapped in some hellscape while an AI unintentionally tortures them. They're all just fictional characters whose tragedies and silly antics are used to entertain viewers. I mean, it's either that or they're real people forever trapped in the circus with the closest thing to death being a full, psychotic break as they give up their sanity because they no longer want to exist in this hell anymore...But that possibly can't be true. Because if that IS true, then Jax has to face that he's a real person stuck in a real, awful situation that he can't joke his way out of. So, it's best to think nothing is real and nothing they do matter. So, might as well have fun with it.

Going back to the pin...

I don't think this is damning evidence about Jax being an NPC. Actually, it perfectly captures who he is as a character. He knows the circus isn't real. He even thinks HE isn't real. So instead of grappling with that, Jax lets himself believe that if nothing is real than nothing he does matters. He can break things, ruin lives, and assist in torturing the others in the circus. It's what he thinks will make the show more entertaining, even though all he's really entertaining is himself so his mind doesn't break more than it does.

Now, could the same apply if he's an NPC? Well...maybe. Gumigoo definitely proves how far someone could fall when they're told their world is fake. He was about ready to give up on life because he didn't think he had one. If Jax was an NPC, I could see him having a similar break, but going in the far opposite direction where, instead of giving up on life, he chooses to live the way HE wants it. Instead of being some one-off NPC for a lame adventure, he could go off on adventures of his own and ruin the lives of others now that his is thoroughly ruined.

However, Gooseworx makes a good point: "...a lot of people come up with theories based on how unexpected they'd be, and not because they make sense or align with the show's themes."

If Jax is an NPC, it would harm the overall message of the show. That there's meaning to be found in a stagnant life, and you find that meaning with people close to you who make that life worth living. Jax represents a sort of foil to that idea, with his way of coping with the madness being pure chaos and breaking others. It's his coping mechanism, and it works because it shows how human Jax really is. They're ALL human and they have human desires and wants, with the Circus pretty much stripping that away and leaving them...as they are now. They're emotionally broken, their sanity is decreasing, and some of them are losing all sense of self. By making Jax an NPC, it would definitely be surprising, but it would take away from that idea. It no longer makes him a human facing his own tragedy but instead an AI that's just as broken as Gummigoo. More than that, it gives the others an easy out. All the crew has to do is tell Caine that Jax is an NPC and POOF! No more annoyance. So making him someone who HAS to stay with the others and they're forever forced to deal with him also adds more to THEIR tragedy and torture.

Jax being an NPC is an interesting theory, but I don't think it's one that SHOULD be true. To me, it's more fascinating watching Jax treat the world around him as meaningless knowing he's a human instead of a rogue NPC breaking everything. And Gooseworx made it clear how they feel about it. Now, could it potentially be a mislead to get fans off the trail? Genuinely...I don't think so. That sounded very "I don't like this idea so it's not gonna happen" type of response. Still, we won't know until the show wraps up. Anything can happen, but don't get your hopes up if a character who does bad things to people that don't deserve it is more human than you think.

[oh-no-its-bird]

One of those "Tobirama finds Madara's chakra comforting" aus but its played straight, with an as close to canon, accurately awful man that he is Tobirama. And the entire fic is just him being really, really mad about it.

He's in his lab trying and failing to somehow replicate Madara's chakra signature, or bar that, just an Uchiha chakra signature

Madara falls asleep at his desk and wakes up to Tobirama glaring silently at him not even a foot away. When he jerks up and demands to know if he can help him, Tobirama just narrows his eyes further and let's out a very terse "no." Before spinning around and marching off

Tobirama refuses to admit he finds Madara, or any Uchiha's chakra comfortable under pain of death, to literally anyone (including his brother) so he's just kind of sulking around being a fucking freak, staring at Madara extra hard sometimes then turning away, angry at seemingly just looking at him (accurate but he's also just mad with himself)

Tobirama battling his own pride to put himself in increasingly convoluted situations to be in general proximity with Madara (who, to be clear, he still greatly dislikes)

He keeps swinging between "I'm going fucking insane, what is WRONG with me?? This is beneath me, this is ridiculous! If anyone finds out I will be forced to kill myself out of shame" and mapping out a 10 step plan to somehow "accidentally" lock himself and Madara in a closet together, prefferably in a way that makes it look like it's Madara's fault

Tobirama ends up somehow stealing a portion of Madara's chakra (don't ask how that works) and making a little chakra construct out of it to keep in his lab and use like a stress toy (but it can only last so long, especially when he keeps squeezing it till it explodes every time he's even mildly stressed or annoyed)

Meanwhile Madara is asking Hashirama what the actual fuck is wrong with his brother and Hashirama is going "oh no he's was born like that actually"

[witherby]

(same anon) mouse!!! sorgy!!

Okay! Strange influx of mutilation-based hypotheticals I've been receiving lately, but okay!

This is not canon to the main Flittermouse series!

What would your family + Kon do if you lost an eye?

⚠️ vague description of injury, loss of an eyeball ⚠️

Masterlist is Here!

Bruce:

Get you a doctor and try to keep you as chill as possible. This man has trained himself not to panic in terrible situations and he is going to stay so very calm and cool and collected, so that you feel like he's got this under control.

"Hi, honey. I can see we've got a bit of a problem on our hands. Don't freak out — I'm gonna figure this out for you, alright? Keep that eye — the socket — keep the eyelids closed. Yes, great. Press this towel gently to your face and hold it there. I'm taking you to the hospital. Are you — okay, and the shock has set in. It's alright. I'm right here. It's okay."

Hal:

Try not to pass out. There's just a socket where your eyeball should be. That's insane. He's calling Bruce for help and not looking at you. He's actually quite frightened that you ended up this way and the guilt at his initial, improper reaction is gonna tear him apart later.

"Oh my god?? What happened!! No don't tell me, we have to get you help first. Holy shit. How did you lose a whole — gag — eye? NO don't tell me!! It's okay, Mousey, it's fine! Deep breaths, don't pass out. You look like you're gonna pass out. Me?? I'm not gonna pass — hrk — I'm good I'm good. How is the whole thing gone like that!? NO DON'T TELL ME. BRUCE ANSWER THE FUCKING PHONE —"

Alfred:

Following a similar procedure as Bruce. Keeping himself calm so that you'll try to be calm, while he's getting you help.

"I've actually seen something similar to this happen before. I'm former British Intelligence, there is very little that's new to me, my darling Flittermouse. Come, let me administer a pain killer and then escort you to my car. I'm sure that smarts quite a bit. Watch your step — forgive the poor choice of words. I have you, dear. Let's get you to the emergency room and get that taken care of. All you have to do is stay awake."

Dick:

Almost passed out, not gonna lie. There's a hole in your head that isn't supposed to be there. It's fucking horrifying. Only his years and years of training help him keep his cool enough to get you to the emergency room, but after that he's breaking down and crying.

Jason:

Takes you to the ER but he's asking you as many questions as possible before you succumb to shock.

"What happened? Who did this? What do you remember? Are you hurt anywhere else?"

After you're in the doctors' hands, he's chasing leads so he can kill the bastard that cost you an eye.

Tim:

He's freaked. Worse than Hal even. I think he deserves a big character flaw so he'd actually be incredibly squeamish. Can't do the gorey shit at all. Like, can't breathe, can't look at you, can't-do-anything-except-have-a-panic-attack kind of freaked. His panic feeds into your panic until you're both uselessly crying into a phone calling 9-1-1. It works, and help comes, but boy he does not have control of the situation.

Damian:

At this point, you're old enough that Damian is in the middle of his doctorate program and residency, if not already done with it. He's doing a fantastic job treating the wound and making sure you don't get hurt worse or it gets infected, before he can't do anything more without surgery and takes you to the hospital.

Medical jargon flies out of his mouth when he talks to coworkers and seamlessly guides you through the corridors to the correct area, communicating what you need and having them prep a surgical team.

In-between it all, he's not giving you meaningless platitudes but he is telling you that everything is going to be fine. You'll likely have some bad depth perception for a long time, but this isn't the end of anything. You can go to culinary school. You can apply for a business license. You can keep dating the alien half-breed idiot. You'll just do all of that with one less eyeball. And the person who did it will die, but you don't need to bother yourself with that. It's fine.

+ Conner:

You'll be flown to the hospital in 0.2 seconds. He's not asking questions, he's not making any phone calls, he's just taking action. He gets you help, he tells you he'll be right back, and then he goes and alerts your family as to what happened.

Now that the most important bits are done, he's using his powers to get a lil freaky. He knows what you smell like, so he's tracing back your blood to try and find your missing eyeball so he can kill whoever took it. No questions asked. Sorry, you don't get to hurt his mate and also survive the next 24 hours. It's just not happening. Don't blubber, don't bargain, don't try to explain yourself. Just die.

After his errands are done, he isn't leaving your side again.

[justauthoring]

The is the Beginning [3/?]

Summary: You never thought you'd be able to escape Buggy, and yet, a boy with a straw hat, a man with three swords and a girl with orange hair somehow manage to free you. The journey that follows afterwards is your chance at freedom and maybe something more.

A One Piece Live Action Rewrite

Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four

Pairing: Live Action!Zoro Roronoa x F!Reader

TW for this chapter: canon typical violence, jealous!zoro, self-depricating talk, angst but fluff too! & Sanji content because I love him

Word Count: 10,710

A/N: I am so excited for this chapter. Literally so much happens in this chapter and AHHH I hope you all enjoy <3

Tag List: @emmaiscool22 - @bethleeham - @veryunoriginal - @sun-rae04 - @medievalfangirl

Chapter Three - Together

“Did you just call that guy grandpa?”

Mouth still left parted in shock, you stare at the back of Luffy’s head, waiting for him to answer Zoro’s question. Or, at the very least, clarify what exactly he meant by calling the Vice Admiral of the Marine Corps grandpa—because surely he was not actually related to your captain; your captain of a pirate crew.

Though, you’re at a loss to think of what else Luffy could have possibly meant.

Meeting Zoro’s gaze, the two of you stood directly behind Luffy, his expression matching your own.

“Hit the deck!”

You barely have time to register Usopp’s warning, only seeing something black and something very much like a cannon heading straight your way, before arms are grabbing you and pulling you down. You’re tucked into a chest, your own arms coming to protect yourself as you try to ignore the ache the sudden movement pulls on your stitches.

The rumble of the cannon hitting the ship fades, and slowly, you pull away, meeting Zoro’s gaze first, realizing then he’d been the one to pull you down (you don’t have time to think about how that makes you feel), before both of your gazes fall on the broken fence of your ship deck. 

Pressing a hand to your waist, you move to stand, Zoro shuffling back to give you room. He offers a hand, to which you take, letting him help pull you up to your own feet.

“Everybody okay?” Luffy calls, and your eye falls on him in front of you.

“I think so,” Nami calls back, breathless. Both her and Usopp were further back from the explosion, up on the helm deck.

“No,” Usopp cries, popping up beside her. “Not okay. Not even close to okay.”

You shake your head, trying to ignore your own panic that’s bubbling inside of you. “We need to do something,” you urge, facing back towards the marine ship. “They’re just gonna keep shooting at us until we sink.”

Meeting your gaze briefly, Luffy nods. “Usopp!” He calls, pointing directly at the marine ship and his grandpa. “Fire back at them!”

“Or how about we sail away as fast as we can?” Usopp offers.

Luffy turns to look at him, looking bewildered that he’d even offered the idea. But Nami only extends a hand towards Usopp, clearly in agreement.

“Run from the Marines?” Luffy breathes, “no. Never! Nami, trim the… the sail thing. Let’s sink their ship.”

Usopp, probably despite his own fear, comes to meet Luffy with the cannon ammo.

“You want to sink a marine ship?” You echo in disbelief. “That’s… insane.”

“Not to mention, we don’t have time!” Nami argues, “they’re stealing our wind. If they pull up alongside us, we’re finished.”

Luffy just ignores her. “You’re the navigator. Do something.”

Turning to her, she meets your gaze. You offer a helpless shrug.

Nami huffs. “Zoro,” she calls, shifting her gaze past you. “Sheet in and hard to port! Y/N, stay there and don’t get more hurt.”

Feeling useless, you huff, but listen to Nami regardless. You knew you’d only pay worse if you didn’t.

“You know how to load a cannon?” Luffy asks Usopp, who chuckles nonchalantly in return.

You seriously doubt that.

“Yeah, of course. I’ve loaded thousands of them.” Almost as soon as he says that, he hesitates with the cannon in hand. “Uh, this just must be a different model than I’m used to.”

Huffing, you shuffle forward. “Load the cannon in the barrel,” you explain, pointing at the barrel as he turns to look at you helplessly. “Light the fuse and then get out of the way.”

Nodding at you, he shuffles forward, moving to the front of the cannon. Only, before he can load the barrel, he drops all the cannons in his hands. 

“Usopp!”

Eyes widening, you rush forward to help, but Luffy holds a hand out to you, shaking his head as he moves to run after Usopp and the cannons which have gone down the stairs.

Pressing a hand to your forehead, you sigh.

“We’re so gonna die.”

-

Somehow, you don’t die.

After Luffy somehow manages to deflect a cannon with his belly, Nami quickly makes the five of you disappear into the thick of the fog. The second you’d gotten away, Luffy had crawled up to the bow and taken a seat. He hadn’t said a word since. 

Nami had taken to steering, and since she was probably the most qualified person, you’d left her to it. You instead decide to lean against the railing, letting your eyes stay focused on the back of Luffy.

It wasn’t like him to be quiet, and you had no doubt it had something to do with the fact that his grandpa had nearly just destroyed his ship and killed him and all his friends. With how Luffy was, you figured he probably hadn’t come to terms with that reality yet and he would probably continue to ignore it until forced to otherwise.

“How’s the ship looking?”

Inhaling sharply, you glance over your shoulder, eye falling on Zoro as he shakes his head at Nami. “Broken railing,” he answers, “minor damage. Could’ve been a lot worse.”

Nami rolls her eyes; “could’ve been better.”

“Can’t see the Marines anywhere,” Usopp assures.

“Can’t see anything in this soup,” Nami corrects. “What we need is a place to lay low, wait out any reinforcements they send after us. My charts are useless in this fog.”

Zoro nods. “What did Luffy say?”

You sigh; “he’s on the bow,” you point ahead of yourself. “He hasn’t said anything since we hightailed it. I’m…” Hesitating, you chance one glance at his back before turning back to the three. “I’m worried about him.”

“Somebody needs to talk to him,” Nami says. “About this and that other thing.”

Zoro frowns. “What other thing?”

“Oh gee, I wonder,” Nami says, obviously sarcastic.

The expression on Zoro’s face tells you he really doesn’t know what.

“The Vice-Admiral-of-the-Marines-is-my-grandfather-thing.” Nami explains, looking at you all like it’s obvious.

You offer a shrug; “I’m confused too… but it feels wrong to interrogate him about it. Especially after the guy tried to kill us.”

Nami just blinks over at you.

“Yeah…” Usopp drawls, “I don’t really know the guy that well, so…”

Zoro nods; “doesn’t seem like a big deal.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that it isn’t a big deal…” You say tentatively, wary of Nami’s reaction and unable to deny the curiosity you feel. It did beg questions and it was a little wrong that Luffy had chosen not to tell any of you. “I just don’t know…”

Nami hesitates a moment, before shaking her head, turning to Zoro. “You’re his first mate,” he reminds, “kind of seems like that falls under your job description, hmm?”

He glances at you and Usopp, probably hoping one of you will do it instead of him. Usopp sends him a sheepish smile, holding the straps of his overalls and rocking on his feet, making his answer clear. When Zoro meets your gaze, you press a hand to your waist and smile nervously; “I’m injured?”

You were worried, but you also had no idea how to breach a conversation like that with Luffy of all people.

It’s obviously an excuse, but Zoro doesn’t argue. With a blink, he turns; “fine.”

You watch him leave, before meeting Nami’s gaze.

“You’re aware that Zoro is probably the worst person to check in on Luffy, right?” You raise a brow, “no way he’s actually gonna find anything out.”

Sighing dramatically, Nami presses her forehead to the helm.

Sure enough, a minute later Zoro comes back, shrugging; “seems fine to me.”

“Did you even ask him?”

Before Zoro can respond, if he even was going to, Luffy suddenly stands; “hey!” Pausing, he sniffs, raising his finger. “You guys smell that?”

Your brows furrow. “Smell what?”

Luffy’s quiet for a moment, taking in the air, before he breathes out; “there’s something on the breeze.” Sniffing again, his eyes widen. “Smells like butter. Soy sauce. And meat.”

He grins back at the four of you.

“I can’t smell anything,” Usopp frowns, moving towards Luffy. He seems almost disappointed he can’t smell anything.

“Think he has brain damage?” Zoro asks you and Nami.

Nami huffs, crossing her arms; “I think that every day.”

You let out a nervous laugh.

“Look, Luffy,” Usopp scratches his head. “Playing follow the smell is fun and all, but we really got to get out of this fog.”

“I know,” he calls back, “but I smell food, which means that there’s someone somewhere cooking.”

-

You’ll never doubt Luffy’s nose again.

Turns out what he was smelling was a whole restaurant, and without having anywhere else to go and needing food, you’d all decided to dock there and get something to eat. Luffy and Usopp had been roaring to go the second the ship docked, barely able to stand still, which made Nami eager to get off the boat just so she didn’t have to deal with two idiots. You’re pretty excited yourself, but just as the ship docked, you’d noticed a bit of red on your shirt. You very quickly deduced it was your wound and obviously, after the excitement of nearly being hit by a cannon, you’d aggravated your stitches.

“You sure you don’t need help?” Nami frowns, hesitating to follow Luffy and Usopp off the ship. Zoro was hanging by the plank too, you couldn’t help but notice. He wasn’t offering to stay, of course, but he seemed concerned.

Shaking your head from the thought, you smile at Nami. “Positive.” You assure, sending her a thumbs up. “I just gotta change the bandage and my shirt and I’ll meet you guys there. Just let the host know I’m coming.”

Hovering for only a moment longer, Nami nods. “You can borrow one of my shirts again,” she offers. “Remind me next time we’re on an island to get you some clothes. When we’re not being chased by Marines.”

You laugh, nodding at her and turning to head to your and Nami’s shared room. You pause, however, when your eye catches Zoros’ once again. He looks like he wants to say something, and for some reason you find you can’t offer anything in return. It takes Nami, who’d seen the rather obvious and embarrassing display, to grab Zoro by the arm and pull him with her to get either of you to move.

Cheeks burning, you rush down to the room, trying to ignore the flutter of your chest or the nerves flooding through your entire body.

Seriously, it was starting to get too much. Before, you’d at least be able to brush it off as being intimidated by Zoro since he was, well, a pretty intimidating guy. But since the whole Kuro incident and you getting hurt, every time Zoro’s eyes seemed to fall on you, that narrowed and heavy gaze lightened into something soft. It was hard to ignore or not let get to you when he’d already made you all hot and flustered before.

He was attentive in a way you hadn’t experienced or expected from him. Everyone had been worried when you’d gotten hurt. You distinctly remember being surprised by how bothered Nami had seemed by it and even Usopp, who you’d just met, had checked in on you. But Zoro? Zoro had been concerned in a whole other way. Rather than just asking you or checking in like Luffy had, he’d hovered. He stayed near when Kaya had cleaned and stitched your wound for you, helping you walk there and then back to the ship even when you assured you were fine.

You’d never had someone so worried about you, let alone a man you were clearly attracted to.

You didn’t know if Zoro had any idea of what he was doing to you, but he was killing you. Your heart was always racing when he was near, which was always, and he made you feel like a fumbling fool, mind short-circuiting to the point of silliness whenever his eyes fell on you.

You’d never forget what he’d said about your eye. How he’d made you feel about it. Luffy and Nami had been endearing too, you would never deny that, but Zoro had spoken up first. And the look on his face…

Pressing your hands to your cheeks, you try to cool the heat you feel and your racing mind. This was silly. You were being silly. Zoro was just being nice and he probably just saw what a helpless fool you were and felt pity. There was nothing more to it. 

Zoro was a strong swordsman, a renowned bounty hunter and Luffy’s first mate and you were… you.

Swallowing thickly, you sit down at the desk in your and Nami’s shared room, pulling up your shirt and glancing down. As expected, your wound has bled through your bandage. Momentarily, you worry that you’ve ripped your stitches, but the second you pull the bandage off, you’re assured that isn’t the case. You clearly just aggravated the wound and, pausing to clean the blood and apply the salve Kaya had given you, you place a new bandage on.

You take a moment more to find a shirt to wear, thankful Nami was being so generous with her clothing. You could tell the girl took her fashion seriously and you felt bad enough borrowing her clothes, but now you were ruining them with blood. You’d have to make it up to her somehow.

Cleaned with a new bandage on, you smile to yourself, feeling your stomach rumble almost as if reminding you.

Without a second more of hesitation, you make your way up and off the Going Merry. The Baratie is buzzing with people and you can’t help but let your gaze wander across the millions of different people going on with their lives, each in their own world. You continue to do so until you find the front entrance to the restaurant, and with a simple explanation to the host that you were here with friends and a small description of some friends, you’re led to the table.

You pause, however, when you realize the waiter is already taking your friends’ order.

The host leaves your side and with only a second more of hesitation, you make your way to the table, not having realized you’d taken so long.

“Do I still have time to place an order?”

Everyone's eyes fall on you at your question, and coming to a stop on the left of the waiter, right in front of Zoro. You frown when you notice the tense look on his face, concerned, but before you can ask, your captain is beaming at your arrival.

“Y/N!” Luffy calls, grinning. “You’re just in time! I ordered one of everything for us!”

You shouldn’t be surprised, but his words still pull a laugh from your lips. Of course Luffy would order the entire menu.

“I didn’t know I would be greeted by two beautiful maidens today. And one with such an infectious laugh.”

Freezing, it takes you a second to realize that the words had come from the waiter and that he was talking to you. Eyes widening, you turn to him, meeting his eyes with your left one, only to see him smiling at you. One hand is shoved into the pocket of his dress pants as he turns towards you with a certain suaveness.

Cheeks warming in embarrassment, your hands rise. “Oh, I—”

But before you can finish, the waiter is taking your left hand in his, pulling it up to his lips and pressing a kiss there. No longer just warm, your cheeks burn.

“Such beautiful eyes too, madam,” he grins, “I’ll never forget either of them.”

You’re hyper aware of the fact that your entire crew is watching this happen and that you’re standing there, gaping like a fish. You’ve never had anyone flirt with you, especially not someone so… persistent. 

The waiter continues to stare back at you, never once looking upset by your lack of response.

An achingly long minute passes.

“Y/N.”

You don’t even have time to turn to Zoro at him calling your name before you feel hands fall on your hips, tugging you forward. A small yelp leaves your lips in response, stunned stupid, as Zoro pulls you in front of him, practically on his lap for a brief second, your hand slipping from the waiter's grip. Zoro moves you so you’re sat next to him, in between him and Nami who sends you a knowing smirk as you try to ignore your racing heart and flaming cheeks.

“Oi,” the waiter calls before you can, again, say anything. “Don’t be so rough with her.”

Zoro glares right at him. “Don’t be so handsy,” he growls back, not missing a beat. “Y/N doesn’t even know you.”

“She can get to know me,” the waiter challenges, curling a brow at your swordsman before his eyes shift back to you. “I’m sorry our introduction got interrupted, my name is Sanji. It’s lovely to meet you, Y/N.”

You’re sure you look as stupid as you feel.

“N-Nice to meet you too, Sanji,” you echo back, voice small.

Sanji grins just as Zoro leans forward, cutting you off from view. “Shouldn’t you be getting our food and drinks? The ones we ordered, waiter?”

The smile on Sanji’s face tenses, but he holds back whatever he clearly wants to say to Zoro, side stepping to meet your eyes once again. “Certainly, but first… what would you like, madam? Water like your lovely friend or something else? A sweet wine, perhaps? I can recommend some to you.”

You meet Nami’s eyes who just scoffs, obviously having received similar attention as you were now.

“Water,” you squeak. “Like her.”

“Not sparkling? Mineral? Ice or no?”

“Just water,” you nod, noticing the tick in Zoro’s jaw.

“Coming right up, Y/N,” he winks at you, smirking, before he turns away.

Silence follows, thick and heavy.

“Don’t worry,” Nami is the first to break the ice, lightly nudging you. “He was the same with me.”

Usopp snickers next to her, meeting your eye; “looks like you and Nami have got a boyfriend.”

Rolling her eyes, Nami just laughs quietly to herself. “Yeah, well, I don’t think it’s me we should be worried about.” Her eyes shift to Zoro, as does everyones, even Luffy who looks a bit lost, and finally, you turn to look at him too.

Your cheeks are still warm with embarrassment, mainly from Sanji’s flirting, but also the way Zoro had grabbed you. It wasn’t that you minded, because really, you didn’t, but—what the hell was that?

Meeting her gaze, arms crossed over his chest, Zoro huffs; “I’m fine.”

“Sure,” Nami drawls, smirking. 

“I never seen you so angry, Zoro,” Usopp teases, grinning ear to ear. “Jealous?” He sings the word, wiggling his brows at the swordsman as you sink into your seat further.

“Of a waiter?” Zoro scoffs, careful not to glance your way. “Of course not.”

You don’t fail to notice the fact that he hadn’t denied he’d been jealous because of you.

With a little bit more laughter, the conversation drifts off as Luffy starts to ramble about the food. Once the attention is thoroughly off you and Zoro, you turn to him.

“Are you okay?” You ask in a soft voice, concerned and perhaps wanting to know more about why he’d done what he had.

Finally turning to look at you, you watch as Zoro swallows thickly. “Fine,” he says gruffly and you flinch, frowning. Seeing your reaction, Zoro sighs. “Just didn’t like the way he touched you…”

He says it with a grumble, and if you hadn’t been right next to him, you wouldn’t have heard it.

Lips parting, you blink; “oh.”

“No guy should touch you like that.” He adds.

You turn to him but he’s already looked away, clearly done with the conversation.

You can’t help but think to yourself, however, that he’d touched you like that.

And that you liked it.

- 

“So… how long do you think the owner will make Luffy work for him?”

You glance up at your friends at your own question, curious. Instead of mirrored curiosity staring back at you, you find blank faces instead.

Frowning, you huff. “Is no one concerned?” You ask, genuinely worried. “We all ate that food… and he’s the one working for it.”

“I didn’t eat,” Zoro shrugs, “I just drank some beer.”

You glower at him.

Turning to Usopp, you hope maybe he’ll say something. Of course, he doesn’t and instead, he continues to slurp up the fancy fruity cock-tail drink he’d ordered, promptly avoiding your eye. You already know that Nami won’t be any help since she seemed rather hurt by Luffy lying about his grandpa, and while you couldn’t fault her for being hurt, you were frustrated at all of their lack of concerns.

Sighing, you push yourself to a stand, taking a step forward. Zoro catches you by the wrist before you make it two full steps.

“Where are you going?”

You glance down at him. “To find Luffy,” you gesture forward, as if the answer should’ve been obvious. Which it should’ve. “I don’t feel like drinking or…” You let your eyes drag across the bustling crowd of the bar. “...dancing. Maybe I can talk the owner into going easy on him.”

You go to do that, except, Zoro still doesn’t let go of your wrist.

“We should probably stick together,” Zoro says, never taking his eyes off of you. “In case the Marines come.”

You shake your head, pulling at his grip. He lets go easy, but the frown on his face makes it clear he’s annoyed by your persistence. “I’ll be fine,” you brush off his concern. “The worst thing I’ll be doing is washing some dishes, I reckon.”

Zoro looks like he wants to argue, but it’s clear he isn’t sure how.

You just sigh; “stay and relax. I’ll be fine.”

And then you turn before he can say anything else.

Shifting your way past the crowd of the bar, you make your way back down the steps that lead out into the outdoor bar. It isn’t hard to get back into the restaurant, but you’re careful not to catch the attention of any of the chefs or staff. Instead, you carefully slink your way towards the employee section.

At the sight of a chef with blue hair coming towards you, you’re quick to duck behind a wall. You hesitate, hovering, trying to listen for his footsteps to grow distant. Except, your ears pick up on something else.

Luffy.

Turning in the direction of the noise, your gaze falls on the hallway in front of you, seeing a door at the far end. With one more glance behind you to make sure no one was there, you make your way down the hall, eyes brightening when you see the word ‘KITCHEN’ labelled at the top of the door. A glance through the small circular windows only confirms your suspicions, lips curling into a smile at the sight of Luffy.

You also make note of the waiter from before standing in front of him and… it looked like the two were talking to a man you didn’t recognize. Sanji is ushering the man out the back entrance of the kitchen, and you use that as your chance to sneak in.

Pushing open the door, you pop your head in.

“Luffy?”

He turns at the sound of your voice, face brightening at the sight of you.

“Y/N!”

You wince when he all but yells your name, confident you were definitely not supposed to be back here. With one last glance back, you slip inside, letting the doors swing shut behind you as you make your way over to your captain.

“What’re you doing here?” He grins, confused. “I thought you and the rest went up to the bar.”

“We did… but I left.” You explain, frowning slightly. Setting your hand on his arm, you glance up at him. “It was a little awkward, Luffy. Nami’s pretty upset about the grandpa thing.”

Luffy’s face wavers at that, the same way you noticed it had during dinner when Nami had brought it back up then. Frowning at the sight, you squeeze his arm reassuringly.

“But mainly I came because I was worried,” you smile. “I didn’t know how hard that owner guy was working you.”

Luffy instantly eases at that, and his lips curve into a genuine smile.

“I’m okay. He just has me doing dishes,” he juts his thumb behind him, and you eye the stack of dishes with a grimace. “Though, I think I found—”

“Y/N?”

Startled at the new voice, you glance over Luffy’s shoulder to see the waiter back from wherever he’d escorted that man you’d seen before. He seems baffled at the sight of you, while you freeze at the sight of him, worried he’ll be mad you snuck in.

“Hello, S-Sanji,” you greet, offering a small wave. “I know I’m not supposed to be here but I was worried about Luffy—”

“I’m not mad you’re here, love,” Sanji grins easily, making his way over to you and Luffy with a shake of his head. “I just hoped you were having fun upstairs in the bar.”

Still not used to his charm, you flush. “Oh, well…” Eye trailing, you turn to Luffy. “I was actually going to ask Luffy if he needed help with—”

“Absolutely not,” Sanji cuts you off for the third time, leaving your lips parted in bafflement. He’s crossing the distance in the kitchen over to you two in two seconds, and before you can even realize it, his hands are on your shoulders, gently turning you towards the door to the kitchen. The one you’d just come from. “A lady like yourself should not be getting her hands dirty at all.”

“B-But…” Words trailing in your bafflement, you glance back at Luffy who grins back at you, unbothered.

“The chore boy will be fine.”

“I should really…” You reach weakly towards Luffy who just raises his hand in an eager wave, completely unbothered by Sanji who is all but shoving you out of the kitchen.

Before you realize, the two of you are back out in the restaurant and Sanji, still with his hands on your shoulders, is easily maneuvering you up the stairs and out of the restaurant completely. In fact, he doesn’t stop until he’s outside the restaurant, far away from anyone.

When he lets go of you, you turn to him, nonplussed.

He grins down at you, sincere and wide.

“Do you always drag girls you just meet to secluded areas to get them alone?”

He seems momentarily stunned by your words, as if not even realizing where he’d lead you, before his face eases and he leans back against the wall of the restaurant. You watch as he reaches into the pocket of his dress pants, pulling out a pack of smokes. “Not usually, but I thought this was the perfect opportunity to get to know each other. Like I’d offered before.” He sends you a wink that has your cheeks warming, eye watching as he places a cigarette between his teeth, lighting it.

Crossing your arms over your chest, you curl a brow at him, ignoring your flush. “Very… forward of you.”

He just grins, taking a puff of his smoke. “You don’t seem to mind it.”

“Only because Luffy didn’t seem bothered by you leading me away like that,” you shrug, moving to lean against the wall next to him. “Anyone Luffy trusts, I do too.”

Sanji raises a brow. “You sure have faith in him.”

“He saved my life,” you explain, thinking back to that moment he’d offered you to join his crew. Even before that, in that pub… you had no idea then how much Luffy and the rest would change your mind. “They all have.”

Sanji’s smile turns more soft at that, and he turns his gaze up to the sky. “That’s sweet.” You turn to look at him, and sure enough, a moment later, he’s adding with a smirk; “just like you.”

You scoff. “It seems you can’t control yourself.”

“Not when I’m around you,” he laughs, taking another puff of his smoke.

“Sure,” you drawl, snorting.

A second of silence passes, before Sanji speaks up again. “So, what’s going on between you and that moss head?”

Almost instantly, the light flush you’d had before burns into something more intense, as you jump, facing Sanji as you wildly shake your hands in front of you. “No-Nothing!” You squeak, unable to control the pitch of your voice.

Sanji eyes you for a moment, then, he chuckles; “sure.” He drawls, matching your previous tone.

“Seriously,” you argue, trying to calm your voice to sound more sure. “There’s nothing going on between me and Zoro.”

“Beautiful, anyone who gets jealous like that over a little flirting doesn’t think there’s nothing going on.” Sanji shakes his head, nudging you lightly with his shoulder. “Or, he hasn’t man-upped enough to tell you the truth.”

You’re positive you’re on fire with how hot you are in embarrassment.

“Zoro does not like me.”

“Okay,” he pauses, “but do you like him?”

Lips left parted, you blink up at Sanji.

“I-I… It’s none of your business.”

Humming, Sanji takes another puff. “Seems like you want to get it off your chest, love.”

You pout. “You’re annoying.”

He leans towards you, smirking; “I’m right, beautiful.” 

Shoulders falling, you kick your leg out at a random pebble. “Fine,” you huff, glancing at your feet. “Maybe I like him… a little bit!”

You don’t see the way Sanji’s face softens down at you, and you almost think something’s wrong when he doesn’t say anything. But when you glance back up at him, he’s turned his gaze back up. “Shame,” he sighs, almost soulful. “You truly are enchanting.”

Eyes widening, you bite your lip. “Shut up.”

“It’s true,” he pushes, looking unbothered by your embarrassment. “You deserve far more than that moss head.”

“You don’t even know Zoro.”

He shrugs. “I can tell.”

“I—”

Whatever you’d been about to say falls silent on the tip of your tongue when you see a familiar Straw Hat run by in front of you. Stepping back Sanji, you glance past his shoulder, you watch as Luffy and Usopp run towards the Going Merry.

“Where’s Y/N?” You hear Luffy yell distantly.

“I thought she was with you!” Usopp calls back.

You frown.

“Something wrong?” Sanji asks, hand falling on your shoulder and your gaze turns up, realizing he’d seen the same thing.

“I don’t know…” You breathe, concerned. Stepping back from Sanji, you turn to him apologetically, lips parting to explain.

“Don’t worry about it, love,” he brushes your apology off. “You should go make sure everything’s okay.”

Face easing at his words, you smile; “thank you, Sanji.”

Cigarette in his lips, he glances at you out of the corner of his eye. You send him a genuine smile and a wave, before turning around to run off in the direction Usopp and Luffy had gone.

You’re quick to pick up the pace in your step, reaching the Going Merry in now time. You can hear the distinct voice of Nami and heart racing at how upset she sounds, you’re making your way down the stairs and towards them in seconds flat.

“But you are not better than him!”

Coming to a stop right at the bottom of the stairs, everyone’s eyes fall on you.

Nami instantly turns on you; “there you are!” Reaching you, she tugs you forward, and as she does, you see Usopp glance at you helplessly and Luffy softly smiling which gives you very mixed signals. 

Finally, you turn to Zoro, who is… getting his swords ready?

“What’s going on?” You ask, helpless.

Nami huffs next to you. “Will you talk some sense to him?”

Lips parting, you shake your head at Nami. “Sure… but for what?”

“He’s challenged Dracule Mihawk, one of the Seven Warlords, to a duel.”

It’s like you can hear your heart plummet to the pit of your stomach. Nami, who is too busy turning back to Zoro in frustration, doesn’t notice the way your eye shifts, something distant flooding in. Usopp and Luffy don’t see it either.

But Zoro, who’d chanced a glance up at you, nervous for your reaction, sees it. His face falls briefly, everything else fading as he watches you closely.

“Y/N,” Nami presses, voice pitching in distress. “Tell him how reckless he's being.”

Still stunned, your mind a reckless bout of realization and terror, your gaze finally shifts towards Zoro. He quickly turns away and the sight makes dread flood you. “Z-Zoro,” you breathe, feeling as if your voice sounds like an outside extension of yourself.

Distantly, you realize that you’re not helping Nami and most of all, acting suspiciously. Swallowing thickly, you lean forward on the table. “You cannot fight… h-him… fight Mihawk.”

“Yeah,” Nami nods. She looks relieved you agree with her and you figure, even in the midst of your racing mind, the boys hadn’t been much help. With a frown and a huff, she throws her hand in Zoro’s direction; “he wants to go through with it! Even though it’ll get him killed.”

Zoro turns to her, still avoiding your gaze, and asks bluntly; “why do you give a shit?”

Nami visibly blanches, head jerking back in hurt. Her lips part, twisting to say something, and then, blinking back the betrayal in her eyes, she breathes out; “because you’re my friend, you idiot.”

“You said it yourself. You don’t have any friends.”

You see it in her eyes. His words are harsh and even though you’re still reeling from the realization of what was happening and clearly having walked into the middle of something, you see as the walls she’d slowly let fall around you all come back up. Brick by brick.

She glances around the room, meeting your eye last and then, she leaves without another word.

All of you, except for Zoro, watch her leave.

No one says anything, and then, Usopp is following Nami out, meeting your eye with a nervous panic before slipping out. Luffy follows him a second later, patting your shoulder.

You stay standing there, as if glued to the spot. You can’t bring it in you to chase after Nami even if you were concerned, but you also can’t find the words to say something to Zoro. You want to tell him off for being cruel to Nami like that, you want to tell him he was being an idiot that was going to get himself killed and you want to tell him…—

It takes Zoro a minute to speak up. “Not going to try and convince me like Nami?”

Swallowing thickly, the lump in your throat remains despite. With your hands hanging helplessly at your sides, you try to blink back the tears that well in your eyes. It was all too much at once. Your heart was aching with this anchor that had been thrown at you and it was too much to bear.

Still, deep in your heart, you know; “it wouldn’t stop you,” you whisper, voice cracking at the end.

You could beg and plead, get on your hands and knees, and you know nothing could stop Zoro from doing this. The only thing that might… you weren’t sure if you were ready to admit.

Zoro pauses, hands hovering. Then, he agrees; “probably not.”

Your breath hitches. “You could die.”

He turns to look at you. You don’t meet his eyes. 

“He’s my goal.”

Fists clenching, you shake your head. “Zoro, please listen,” you cry, “you cannot fight Mihawk. He’s… He’s…”

But you can’t form the words.

“He’s what?” Zoro pushes, leaning towards you. “Say it, Y/N. I saw your face when Nami told you. Mihawk is what?”

You flinch, stepping back. You can’t look at him even as the guilt and panic tears you apart inside. You couldn’t.

Your mind races for something, something else, and then you remember your conversation with Sanji before. You remember your feelings. “W-What about me?”

“What about you?” Zoro’s tone is even, careful, but his blunt question hurts all the same.

Finally, you look up at him. His eyes are already on you, face flat and expressionless. 

You come to terms then it’s pointless. Zoro wasn’t going to cancel the duel and nothing you were willing to say would change his mind. Anything more, and you’d just get yourself hurt. You think once again, in that moment, back to your conversation with Sanji. 

You’d known of your feelings all along, just hadn’t been able to realize it. But you’d finally let yourself admit how you felt about Zoro. Finally let the truth out and the relief you’d felt in that moment, to a man you’d only met that day no less, had been imminent.

You’d gotten ahead of yourself then. Forgot that you were the only one who believed in Luffy’s wish to be a crew. Forgot that all the people you’d met had their own goals and you were someone just drifting alongside with them until it came time for them to leave.

You forgot that your life wasn’t just being a part of Luffy's crew.

You forgot that even if Zoro felt anything of what you felt for him, you were still just some girl he’d rescued from a pirate and nothing more than that. Zoro had his own goals and dreams, and you weren’t part of them.

What about you?

Answer made clear, you turn and walk without another word.

Zoro doesn’t see the way tears fall from your face the second you’re out of sight and you don’t see the way his leg kicks out in frustration at himself for being so stupid. 

-

It was clear Mihawk didn’t know who you were, despite being your father.

You couldn’t blame him, though. He’d never met you. He didn’t even know that the random woman he met that one day eighteen years ago and spent the night with, had ever gotten pregnant. It wasn’t like Dracule Mihawk to stick around places for long, after all.

And the only reason you even knew he was your father was because your mother had told you the day she died. In her deathbed, with your hand clutching hers, she’d whispered his name and told you if you ever needed help, to go to him.

Something told you he wouldn’t be helping you here.

You watch him best Zoro in every single one of his attacks. He dodges his attacks without even having to lift a finger. It’s a fight unlike anything you’ve ever seen before, and the reality of watching Zoro unable to land any attacks is cruel and unforgiving.

Everything about this is cruel.

With your heart racing and your palms sweaty, you visibly flinch when Mihawk stabs Zoro with the tiny sword he told Zoro was the best match for their duel. It hits him directly in the chest, and you watch the flicker of pain in Zoro’s eyes as he stares his goal down.

And as you listen to Zoro refuse to give up, you can feel your heart tear into two.

Mihawk brings out Yoru. You watch as he unsheathes it from his back, heart plummeting. And you watch as Zoro places the Wado Ichimonji in his mouth, bringing the two black-handle katanas into either of his hands. This is it, you realize. This is the final attack.

After watching Zoro be unable to land one hit, you know this final one won’t be different.

There’s a moment of stilled silence, no one moves. And then, Zoro is running forward and Mihawk watches his pace. They clash, the sound of metal hitting metal reverberates in your mind, rattling your insides.

Zoro slides on his knees across the deck in front of Baratie, stopping just a few feet in front of you. He’s breathless, silent, and you feel your friends around you as you all watch with bated breath.

The two black-handle swords shatter into pieces.

The sob that wretches from your throat is beyond your control. It rips out of you, body shuddering in the reality you’re forced to face, watching as Zoro stands to his feet and turns to face Mihawk.

“You’re defeated,” Mihawk shakes his head. “Why do you persist?”

Sheathing the Wado Ichimonji, Zoro says without hesitation; “wounds on the back are a swordsman’s greatest shame.” Raising his arms in defeat, he holds them to his sides, waiting for Mihawk to make his final move.

“Magnificent.”

Tears welling in your eyes, you feel a hand slip into your own.

Glancing down first and then following the arm, you find Nami’s similarly tearful eyes staring back at you, squeezing your hand. You don’t know if it’s to comfort you or herself, but you appreciate it nonetheless. You turn to your other friends, seeing that Nami is holding Usopp’s hand too and he’s looking at you with concern. The final person you turn to is Luffy.

He meets your eye, and your whole body trembles.

You turn your head back in Zoro’s direction, and the second Mihawk’s arm swings to attack Zoro, you turn away again.

Your head tucks into Nami who startles at your movement, but her hand slips from your own to wrap her arm around you. You can’t see, but you hear the slice of skin and the sound of Zoro’s body hit the ground a minute later. You feel Nami’s body jerk in response.

“Zoro!”

-

Hugging your knees to your chest, you stare at Zoro. You let your eye drag across his sleeping figure, every curve of his face, the dip of his nose, all the way down to his chest, where his wound is tightly bandaged.

It was thanks to Sanji and the Baratie owner, Zeff, that Zoro’s wounds had been cleaned, stitched and dressed. It was thanks to them that Zoro even had a chance of surviving.

Talk to him. That’s what Zeff had said. The only thing any of you could do for Zoro now was talk to him and hope that that was enough to pull him from the purgatory between life and death. 

You’d offered the first watch and no one had argued. Everyone was worried about Zoro in their own way, but the tears streaming down your cheeks and the visible mess you were in left no one willing to argue with you. One by one, everyone had left the room, with Luffy only glancing back at you one last time, before it was just you and Zoro.

You hadn’t moved from the spot since then.

That had been hours ago. Nami had come in at one point and asked if she could read to Zoro. you’d nodded without a word, sitting back but never leaving the room. Nami didn’t say anything and even if she had, you would’ve refused to leave. Luffy had followed her in shortly after and that had turned sour quickly when it was apparent that Nami felt Luffy held some responsibility for not telling Zoro to back out of the duel. You watched them argue, not saying a word. Then, Nami left.

“You should eat,” Luffy had said a minute after she walked out the door.

Never taking your eye off Zoro, you’d shaken your head. “I will when he wakes up.”

“Y/N, you—”

“When he wakes up.” The words had come out sharper than you intended and instantly, you’d felt guilt when you’d seen Luffy jerk at the sound. But you didn’t get up nor did you say anything else, and a minute later, Luffy left too.

That had been an hour ago. No one else had come in since.

You’d moved back to the chair next to Zoro, and let your hand slip into his and you hadn’t moved since.

Talk to him. How were you supposed to talk to him? What could you possibly say to him after everything that happened? 

Head falling, you let out a shaky sigh.

“This is all my fault,” you whisper, barely even registering you’d said the words aloud. And as you breathe the words into existion, you realize that that was the only thing you could say. 

Raising your head, you glance at Zoro’s face.

“I’m so sorry,” you say, squeezing his hand. “I should’ve… I should’ve told you the truth.”

Your chest feels tight, your body heavy. You know what you want to say, but you don’t know if you have the courage to speak the words. Mihawk was your father, it was true, but he meant nothing to you. That isn’t what made it hard to say. Not even seeing him in person for the first time today could make the feeling of indifference toward him fade. Mihawk didn’t even know who you were and he never would.

Today would’ve been your chance to tell him and it hadn’t even crossed your mind.

What you found hard to admit was that you’d been too scared to tell Zoro the truth and that cowardness is what got him hurt. If you had just been honest with him, maybe none of this wouldn’t have happened. Zoro wouldn’t have gotten hurt and nobody on the crew would be upset.

Why couldn’t you have just been honest?

“I was scared,” you tell Zoro. “Scared because there’s so much about my life I don’t know and the only thing I do know is so unimportant.” Breathing in sharply, you force the words out. “So what if Mihawk is my father? It hadn’t mattered before. But it mattered last night and I should’ve told you… If I told you, you wouldn’t be hurt and the crew wouldn’t have to be worried about you not waking up.”

Pressing your free hand to your forehead, you shake your head. “I’m so sorry, Zoro,” you sob, feeling your eyes water as curl into yourself. “I’m so sorry because you’re hurt and because I think I may love you… and my life is so utterly unimportant that you deserve better than someone like me… Someone who will just ruin your life.”

Your hand leaves his, pressing against your lips as you let yourself cry. You let yourself cry out the anguish in your chest that weighs you down and hurts. You cry and cry, stifling your sobs behind your hand, letting it all out.

Until, eventually, you fall asleep from the exhaustion.

The exhaustion of not sleeping the night before, of being tense and terrified for Zoro, for the guilt that feels like it might eat you alive.

You stay like that for a while, until soft hands gently shake you awake.

“Come on, love. Wake up.”

Letting out a soft groan, your eyes flutter at the voice, hands moving instinctively to rub at your eyes. It takes you a second to wake yourself up, confused as you slowly straighten out. You first see Zoro before your head turns, and your eye falls on Sanji who’s standing behind you.

“Sanji?”

“You need to eat,” Sanji says, ushering you. “Come on.”

You turn back to Zoro, licking your dry lips. “I shouldn’t leave him.”

Your eyes are puffy and your eyelids ache. The last thing you remember is crying, and it occurs to you you’d fallen asleep in the midst of your break down. 

“Luffy can watch him,” Sanji offers, gesturing behind him.

Turning towards the door, Luffy smiles at you warmly.

“I’ll watch Zoro for you, Y/N. I promise I’ll take good care of him.”

Dazed and still a little sleepy, you let Sanji pull you to your feet, not fighting his grip as he guides you towards the door. You glance back at Zoro one last time, feeling that crushing guilt stab at you, just as Luffy squeezes your shoulder.

“He’ll wake up, Y/N,” Luffy grins at you. “I promise.”

You nod at him, finding his words reassuring and comforting despite the doubt festering inside you.

“I’ll whip you up something tasty, Y/N.” Sanji smiles softly down at you, “okay?”

He’s incredibly gentle the entire time. You relish in it.

-

“Can I have a moment alone with him?”

Meeting Nami’s eyes, you nod, moving to stand. She sends you a smile, though it seems off, as you walk past her.

Letting the door fall shut behind you, you make your way into the kitchen. You bite your lip, trying to ignore the nerves rattling your body. After Nami had come running into the kitchen where you and Sanji were, you eating after he’d made you a meal like he promised, it was instantly clear something was wrong. She had been going on about some pirate named Arlong, calling for Luffy in between explaining to you. Most importantly, she looked terrified.

Turns out Arlong was attacking Baratie looking for Luffy and the Grand Line map.

Nami’s attempt at getting Luffy to take the Going Merry and run had been fruitless and he, Sanji and Usopp had gone to confront Arlong. Luffy had told Nami to stay behind to protect the map, before turning to you and telling you to watch over Zoro for him. When you’d tried to argue and say you could help, he’d just shaken his head and said you were still healing from your last fight and Zoro was more important.

So, for the last twenty or so minutes, you and Nami were in the Going Merry. She’d disappeared elsewhere on the ship the second the three left, so you assigned yourself back next to Zoro, opting to read to him like Nami had before in the hopes that maybe that’d get him to wake up. 

You had, at least, until Nami had popped her head into the room.

You hoped everything was going well. Honestly, you did want to go out and check on them, but you knew Luffy was right. Even if he hadn’t said it in that way, it was clear he didn’t want you coming because you didn’t know how to fight. You’d be more of a hindrance than any help and that reality left a sour taste in your mouth.

Hearing footsteps approach, you turn, face easing when you see Nami coming out of the room.

“Everything okay?” You ask, despite knowing in fact nothing was okay.

She nods, stepping out of the room and you smile at her as you walk past her, squeezing her shoulder in an attempt to comfort both her and yourself. You think nothing of the look on her face, chalking it up to everything that had and is happening just making her a little off.

At least, until you hear the door slam shut behind you.

Stilling right next to Zoro, your head snaps towards the door. You hesitate for a moment, baffled, before your feet instinctively carry you towards it, hand falling on the knob. Maybe she’d shut it by accident? Or maybe she wanted to give you privacy as you had for her?

Except, the door won’t open when you turn it.

“N-Nami?”

You know she’s by the door. You can see her shadow through the small opening at the bottom. You can hear her heavy breathing.

“Nami,” you call again, voice louder. “Why is the door locked?”

There’s a moment that passes before she answers.

“Sorry, Y/N. I can’t let you out.”

“What?” You breathe, bewildered. There’s something awful twisting in your chest. You try the door again, it doesn’t open. “Nami, what the hell is going on? What are you doing?”

“I’m doing what I always planned to do.”

Her voice is muffled through the door, but the low tone scares you all the same.

Using your left hand, you slam it against the door. “Let me out, Nami. Now.”

“You’ll be safe in there.”

You hear her take a step toward and your heart lurches, yanking on the door as you start to pound against it more aggressively. “Nami?”

“I’m sorry.”

You see her shadow disappear and soon, her footsteps are gone too. You stand there, stunned, before you start to yank on the door again. You pull at it, trying to twist it. But it’s clearly jammed shut.

Nami had made sure you weren’t going to be able to get out.

Minutes pass of you banging on the door, with no luck, until eventually you tire yourself out. 

Head hanging in your hands, you try to ignore the shake of your body as you sit there, forced to wait.

At the first sound of footsteps, you jump to your feet.

“Hey!” You call, banging on the door. “Luffy? Usopp?”

“Y/N?”

It’s Usopp.

Yanking on the door, you call out to him; “let me out!”

It takes him no more than a few seconds to open the door, yanking it open as you meet his eyes with relief.

“Usopp,” you breathe, “you have to listen to me. It’s Nami. She—”

You move to ramble out what had happened, but fall silent the second you see the look on Usopp’s face.

“Usopp?” You question, voice quiet. “Why are you…?”

Just then Sanji comes stumbling down the stairs of the kitchen, with Luffy in his arms, the latter looking beat up and hurt. Both of them are sopping wet.

Your eyes widen.

“Nami, she…” Usopp speaks up, looking nervous. “She betrayed us.”

-

“Y/N, seriously!”

Shaking your head, you stumble behind Usopp. “Seriously what, Usopp?”

You’re mildly annoyed, but you figure he has a good reason—whatever that reason is. He hasn’t elected to tell you yet. 

You’d been getting some sleep after Luffy had practically forced you to, letting you sleep in his and the rest of the guys’ cabin since Zoro was currently occupying yours and… Nami’s. After everything that has happened, it was clear you all needed some time to digest and recoup. Even though you’d been reluctant to leave Zoro’s side, you also knew you needed some sleep or you were going to make yourself sick.

And a twenty minute sob-induced cat nap hunched over a bed didn’t count.

Only, your sleep had been cut short but Usopp all but ran into your room, yelling your name with a wide grin on his face. You couldn’t even possibly begin to think what he could be smiling about given that everything was the worst it could be, but you didn’t get the chance to ask either before he was yanking you to your feet and dragging you with him.

“Usopp—”

Whatever you’d been about to say falls silent, however, when you realize where Usopp is leading you. Body freezing, you turn to him, him already grinning at you, letting the two of you come to a stop. You glance at him, then the room, and then realize you hear a very familiar voice speaking.

Your feet move before you can stop yourself.

All chatter stops the second you come running into the room, and sure enough, still on the bed, Zoro stares back at you, but awake.

“Y/N, look, Zoro’s—!”

You don’t let Luffy finish. You don’t even really hear him speak. You run over to the other side of the bed in seconds and practically fall onto Zoro. In your excitement, you forget about his wounds, to which Zoro groans in response to your hug. Your eyes widen, your first word to him about to be ‘sorry’, as you scramble to pull back. 

His arm falls around your waist before you can.

Stilling in his hold, and now careful to not let your weight fall on him, he holds you for a moment, the entire room distinctly quiet.

Then, his arm leaves and you pull back, staring down at him.

“Hey,” you breathe, unable to stop the curl of your lips. Despite everything, that short greeting is what feels right.

It’s all you can manage.

His lips curve into a soft smile; “hey.”

-

Raising your hand, you softly knock on the door.

Zoro’s head snaps towards you, easing when he realizes it’s you.

You step into the room with a gentle smile, and nod at him; “let me.” You offer, gesturing loosely to the bandages surrounding him. “I got pretty good at it after…” You let your voice trail, and Zoro huffs.

“I’d bet. You never let anyone help you.”

Sitting next to him, you shrug. “I could do it on my own.” Laughing quietly, you pick up the bandages that are wildly thrown about the bed. “Unlike you.”

Zoro scoffs but he doesn’t stop you as you start to unwrap the bandages he’d loosely wrapped around himself, redoing it.

Silence echoes for a moment, before Zoro speaks up.

“I can’t believe the waiter is joining us.”

Huffing a laugh, you roll your eye. “Sanji is nice,” you defend. “And a good fighter I hear from Luffy.”

Zoro frowns. “He’s a waiter.”

You just shake your head, snorting to yourself.

Then, you hesitate, hands hovering. You can't help but ask, since it’s been weighing on you since she’d left. “You think Nami meant it all? That she never actually cared about us?”

“Don’t know,” he shrugs. “Maybe.”

Biting your lip, you frown. You don’t want that to be the truth.

“Y/N.”

His voice is serious as he calls for you, and it makes you freeze.

“I heard you.”

Your muscles tense, and you refuse to let your gaze wander from your hands, fiddling with your fingers.

Zoro doesn’t let you. In the next second, his hand is falling over your own, pulling them away from what you’d been doing. Your lips part as he does, heart fluttering as he shifts his hand so his fingers threads through yours instead of just being wrapped around your wrist.

Your cheeks warm instantly.

“Y/N. Look at me.”

His voice is raspy from being asleep for so long. It sends shivers down your spine.

Still, you listen, raising your head and meeting his eyes.

“I didn’t think you could hear me,” you whisper.

“I could,” he nods. “About your father and…” His voice trails.

Swallowing thickly, you choose to focus on the first thing first. “I… Does it bother you?”

Zoro’s lips part, stunned at your forwardness and you realize your mistake.

“About… Mihawk.”

“Oh,” he breathes. “No.”

It’s not what you’re expecting. He says it so bluntly, so sure of himself.

“It… doesn’t?”

“You have your reasons,” he shrugs, still holding your hand. “And it wouldn’t have changed my mind. Defeating Mihawk is my goal, that won’t change.”

His words hurt you, but you also know that you have no right to argue otherwise.

“I’m still sorry you got hurt.”

Zoro shakes his head. “It wasn’t your fault.” Then, when you don’t respond, he squeezes your hand. “It wasn’t.” 

His voice is sharp and leaves no room for argument.

You nod. “Thank you,” you say, “I’m… so relieved you’re okay.”

Zoro breathes in sharply, and then he lowers his hand, taking yours with him.

There’s a beat of silence, then; “I think I love you too.”

It seems that Zoro is just full of surprises at that moment.

Body turning rigid, you blink at him.

His cheeks have a light flush and he’s now the one turned away. “I… You were wrong… I don’t deserve someone better than you. I… I want you.”

“Zoro…”

He turns back to you, quickly, as if the words are both hard to speak but leaving him before he can stop himself. “But I… I don’t know how to be… I don't know how to be with you,” he explains, the words awkward and forced. You can tell he’s trying, words stumbling off the tip of his tongue. “I’ve only had one friend in my life and she’s dead. Before you guys, I had no one. I don’t know how to be someone you can depend on.”

You let his words sink in and you take in the look on his face. He’s embarrassed, you can tell, but he’s waiting for you to respond, patiently. You realize he’s leaving the decision up to you.

You think of, once again, your conversation with Sanji. You think of how you felt when Zoro had been unconscious in that bed. You think of everything that’s happened.

“I…” You start, voice soft. “I don’t know how to either,” you explain, shoulders dropping with the weight of your confession. “I’ve been alone for so long too, Zoro. And at first I wasn’t going to say anything. I didn’t understand my feelings so I was just going to ignore them. But then… seeing you fight like that and get hurt… waiting for you to wake up… I know that it can happen again. To either of us. I know that neither of us will ever be completely safe. I know you will never give up on your goal.”

Zoro frowns, and there’s a flicker of disappointment in his gaze.

It’s you who squeezes his hand this time, pulling his attention back on you.

“But I don’t want to do any of that without you,” you finish. “I… want to do this all with you. I want to save Nami with you. I want to explore the Grand Line with you. I want to help you complete your goal. Not just as your friend but more.”

The second you finish, breathless, Zoro is pulling you towards him. His actions speak louder than words and it seems his instincts allow him to act without any fluster of embarrassment. It pulls a gasp from your lips but you don’t stop him, hands falling on his shoulders as you lean into his touch. You’re careful of his wounds as he tugs you into his lap, his hands settling on your hips as his forehead falls against yours, breathing heavily.

“Fuck,” he inhales sharply, before shuddering a breath. “Can I kiss you?”

You smile at his response, thinking it’s so very Zoro, and nod. “Please.”

His lips are on yours instantly, pulling you close to him as you cup his cheeks, letting your hands thread through his hair. Your stomach flutters at the kiss, feeling your insides turn to jelly at the sensation. His hands on your skin feel like fire in the best way possible, molding your lips against his as he tugs you closer and closer even when there’s nowhere else for you to go.

You let your nails drag across his scalp, his lips warm and soft against your own.

And then, just as your lips part to allow his tongue to slip inside, a voice calls out;

“Zoro!”

You both pull back, startled. Zoro groans softly as he twists his body wrong, agitating his wound while your head snaps round to see Luffy.

He pauses, hovering at the door, at the sight of you two, you on Zoro’s lap with the both of you looking thoroughly flushed. 

Luffy looks confused.

“Luffy,” Zoro huffs, pressing his hand to his forehead, one still gripping your hip, as you laugh quietly to yourself. “Leave.”

Oblivious as always, Luffy just nods; “sure thing, Zoro.”

You’re positive you’ll be getting an earful from Usopp later.

His footsteps fade and you turn back to Zoro, giggling.

“He never knocks,” Zoro groans, pulling at his hair.

You pull his hand away, moving instead to hold it. Zoro flushes at the action.

“That’s okay,” you shrug. “I imagine it’ll be like that a lot.”

Zoro only groans further at the thought, but he knows you’re right.

You move to stand, slipping off his lap and panicking when you realize you didn’t finish bandaging him properly. Zoro laughs as you fuss over him, moving when you tell him to and watching you with amused eyes.

Just as you sit down next to him, though, he whispers out;

“Together, then.”

You blink at his words, cheeks still a light flush, before you remember your earlier words. 

You smile; “together.”

-

End of Chapter Note: I know that I’ve made the reader Mihawk’s daughter who is canonically light-skinned. I have left the readers mother open to try and be as ambiguous and inclusive as possible. Apologies to anyone that finds this detail stops them from being able to “insert” themselves into the story.

[onthecrescentofthehill]

I feel like this is such a key moment in Shuro and Falin’s dynamic that i’ve never seen talked about and wish was mentioned again in canon. ‼️THIS IS NOT A SHIP POST‼️ for clarity but to me it adds such an interesting layer to how Shuro must feel towards her and the imbalance in their relationship…..

So much of his character is feeling alienated and inaccessible to the people around him, at first in his own family and then culturally after he left home. the party doesn’t even know his actual name. he’s under so much pressure and could feel like anyone Knowing another side of him would compromise his obligations, and partly why he resents what he views as Laios’s compulsive earnestness so much. but at the same time I think him seeing how much patience and love she has for Laios makes him wonder if he could be safe with her. and in the caterpillar scene he sees Falin finding beauty in something others find repulsive and inconsequential (plus in the recent Adventure Bible we learn he also has an interest in critters….)

I’m not sure when the caterpillar scene takes place in relation to his nightmare, either way she literally enters his subconscious and saves his life!! I’m so so so curious about the details tbh. I can’t imagine how humiliating that would feel but at the same time it took away the need for him to confess any of his weaknesses, Falin took it upon herself and the most Insane part to me is he probably doesn’t even remember what she saw, because Marcille didn’t remember the content of hers. and there’s no way he’d ASK, and Falin wouldn’t volunteer that information.

anywayyyyy Shuro knows she’s seen the deep pain and loneliness at his core and guided him out. he wants that, he DID get it, but doesn’t know HOW!!!! so of course he’d try to chase that in reality and he would feel an intense closeness with her because she’s the only one who who’s Literally Seen that side of him, one that he might not have a full realization of.

it rly captures this imbalance between them that I think Shuro really wants to bridge even if he’s unequipped for it, and Falin doesn’t reciprocate. like. You See Me, Can You Please Show Me What You See? he knows, factually, that she could understand and help him. but he only offers to make her “comfortable.” and at the end of the day she does for him what she would do for anyone, often at great risk to herself (imo her desire for independence in the AB demonstrates her wanting to break this) he knows this and it would be enough, he even admires that about her greatly. but it doesn’t leave much room for her own self actualization.

I don’t have a conclusion other than thank you Ryoko Kui. thank you.

[eyebawll]

⦻ JEFFREY WOODS ⦻

⦻ interp and headcanons⦻

art by unpanzito here on tumblr — warning for mentions of abuse, mental illness, SH, obsession, and overall dark topics.

Because of how important Jeff's original story was (and still is) to me as a child, I have many things from the original creator's "canon". While his original story is being fleshed out with my personal ideas, I've mocked up what else I worked out for him. This is pretty long, and some grammar might be messy since I've been working on this all night and morning, and some things might be a bit redundant because my brain slipped a lot, but I hope y'all like my interp!!

PSYCHOLOGY

From the outside point of view, he could be seen as "edgy" or the classic "insane and unhinged"—although there is a perfectly logical and psychological reason as to why.

This is where the term "joker reject" comes into play. But he isn't a copycat or "rip off" of anything. He was just a boy (now man) full of anguish and trauma. His mind is a sheer maelstrom of chaos and pain.

His memory, while useful on occasion, is often full of re-runs of his past, his kills, or straight up blacked out. This affects his daily life, but unfortunately, it's a way for his damaged brain to protect itself—even if there isn't anything to protect itself from.

He never saw a professional, but if he were to see one, he would be diagnosed with the following:

Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA), Schizoaffective Disorder, C-PTSD, Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), BPD, Erotomania, Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder, and possibly Antisocial Personality Disorder.

PBA is the condition is a neurological disorder causing uncontrollable outbursts of laughing or crying unrelated to actual emotions, much like Arthur Fleck from the 2019 Joker.

He laughs, and sometimes cries, at random periods of time. In the middle of conversations (good or bad), while mouthing off to somebody, or even when he's just on his own. It often contradicts his own emotions, which is the entire point of the condition. It is often caused by chronic illnesses, but also traumatic brain injury—which is similar to his case.

His conditions are influenced by years of abuse (neglect, verbal, psychological, physical) and the untreated aftermath of such abuse. His full backstory is not fully fleshed out in my Slenderverse, not yet, but it does heavily involve the original theme of his story—although with harsher tones.

His severe mental decline is what led to his classic appearance now. He doesn't care about his own personal hygiene or how he appears to others. It's likely that the reason for his self-mutilation was because of a manic or dissociative episode. He became an image of his self hatred and rage and has lived in it ever since. This also includes the bleach.

The pain from the knife mutilating his face was nothing compared to the emotional and psychological distress he suffered. The taste of his own blood, the sharpness of the blade, the burn from the bleach—it all gave him a thrill.

“They love me. They just don’t know how to say it yet. But I can help them.”

His erotomania is another condition formed by his severe trauma, a defense mechanism twisted into delusion. When real affection was absent—when his touches were met with flinching, his words ignored, and his presence treated like a stain—his mind began to fill in the blanks. He started mistaking glances for desire, kindness for intimacy, and silence for hidden longing. To him, love isn’t a mutual experience. It’s a story he tells himself to survive.

And when that fantasy is threatened—when the person doesn’t “play along”—he doesn’t understand. He thinks they’re being manipulated, or scared, or punished by the world for loving him. So he acts. Possessively. Violently.

He believes obsession is love. That hurting someone else for them proves his devotion. That keeping them close—even if they scream—is mercy. Because he remembers what it felt like to be alone. And he swore he’d never go back there.

He's fascinated by death. Not just as a killer, but as an observer. Will sit by a corpse and talk to it. Will ask questions.

He mocks or intimidates people just to feel in control, especially those who remind him of authority figures, or bullies.

He lives compulsively, even when he doesn’t need to. It’s a defense. A game.

Alexithymia traits. He struggles to identify his own emotions, often expressing them as rage or laughter instead.

Auditory hallucinations. Not just voices, but noises. Static, dripping, heartbeats, or echoing footsteps.

Visual hallucinations. Faces in the mirror, eyes in the dark. Possibly tied to guilt or past victims.

Time distortion. Doesn’t always register days passing; he gets “stuck” in loops, especially after kills.

Somatic flashbacks. Physical responses (like nausea, chest tightness) triggered by smells, words, certain lighting.

Delusions of grandeur. Believes he’s a “chosen” figure, a monster with a divine or mythical purpose.

Body dysmorphia. Terrible dysmorphia. Sees himself as monstrous even in normal moments. May think his face is still burning.

Paranoia. This is already obvious, but it can be its own section as well. Thinks he’s being watched or followed, even by allies. Hates mirrors partly because of this.

HABITS

Growing up, there were strict lines Jeff wasn’t allowed to cross—whether by fear, by rules, or by emotional suffocation. He was told what to wear, what to listen to, how to act, and what kind of boy he should be. He wasn’t allowed to feel angry, only quiet. Not to cry. Not to talk back. He obeyed, until he couldn’t anymore.

Now everything he wasn’t allowed to do has become part of him—an act of rebellion and freedom.

He smokes like his lungs don’t matter. Sometimes cigarettes, sometimes weed—anything that dulls the noise or turns it into a slow static. He never used to inhale properly. Now he lets it burn.

He drinks until it stings his teeth and settles in his stomach like acid. He likes the feeling of spinning—it reminds him of losing control without the violence. He is a hardcore alcoholic because of this.

He blasts music—abrasive, bass-heavy, industrial or screeching metal. It’s noise that mirrors his insides. The lyrics don’t always make sense, but the rage does.

He breaks things for fun—mirrors, phones, whatever’s close. The crashing sound is almost comforting.

He watches violent horror movies obsessively. Not because he enjoys the gore—but because it feels familiar. The silence before the screams. The tension. Okay, maybe a little bit of gore.

Even the clothes he wears—bloodstained, scorched, too tight or too big—are a rejection of the boy he used to be. He's a mess on purpose. No one tells him what to be anymore.

He self-harms in multiple ways; carving symbols, biting his fingers, digging nails into skin. His pain is his power source.

Starves or binges randomly. Food control as self-punishment or reward. Often forgets to eat at all. He may have an eating disorder.

Lets grime build up. Refuses to shower unless it’s for symbolic reasons. Greasy hair, dirty hands, sweat-soaked clothes.

Destroys mirrors. He can’t stand his reflection. They’re either broken or turned to face the wall.

They said he was too sensitive. Too dramatic. Too broken.

So he became all of it, Loud and disgusting. Impossible to ignore.

Graffiti and vandalism. Leaves behind messages, symbols, his own name. Wants to be remembered and feared.

Sleeps in random places. Rooftops, train stations, abandoned houses, closets. Never the same place twice or for too long.

Walks barefoot in unsafe places. Glass, concrete, mud. Pain equals reality and control.

Watches disturbing content. Autopsies, crime scene footage, true crime interviews.

Studies old medical books or anatomy charts for fun or for precision. He likes knowing what everything does… and how to ruin it.

Keeps items that meant something once; a burned-out lighter, a charm bracelet, a cracked CD player. He can’t let go, even if he forgets why.

Talks to people who aren’t there; past victims, old versions of himself, imaginary lovers.

Acts out scenes he wishes happened; arguments, apologies, fantasies of someone choosing him. Over and over until it’s “right.”

Makes himself bleed on purpose during full moons, storms, or birthdays, personal holidays. Dates that meant something.

Whispers “go to sleep” to himself when he wants to disappear—not from others, but from himself.

Keeps trophies from victims, jewelry, phones, bloody photos, torn clothing. Sometimes he talks to them.

Writes obsessively in old notebooks, walls, or on his skin. Sometimes poetry, sometimes nonsense. Sometimes he writes love letters never sent.

Keeps fingernails uneven on purpose. One hand jagged, the other trimmed. For scratching vs. control.

Picks at scabs and scars. Compulsive, self-soothing. Doesn’t care if they bleed.

Eats raw things. Sometimes uncooked meat, sometimes just out of lack of care. It’s about texture and instinct.

Talks to knives. Names them. Ascribes personalities. The one he used “the first time” is the only one he won't let anyone else touch.

Sleeps with music playing. Usually violent or distorted. Silence is terrifying. He needs noise to feel real.

Steals clothes from his victims. Wears them over his own, sometimes sleeps in them.

Has a favorite victim type. Not by appearance, but by emotional pattern: kind, lonely, easily flustered.

Draws childish or surreal things. Stick figures, spirals, things with too many teeth. Sometimes cute animals crossed out violently.

Carries around odd tokens. Buttons, a cracked watch, a piece of stained lace. He doesn’t know why anymore.

Talks about himself in third person when dissociating.

Smiles at corpses, tries to force their mouths into smiles too, sometimes.

Breaks his own fingers during panic attacks—has to snap something.

Scratches walls while walking, especially in tight spaces.

Doesn’t like being touched on the neck, will react instantly and violently.

Has a favorite knife and a backup. The backup is duller on purpose.

Breath-holding when stressed; He’ll unconsciously hold his breath for too long. Has passed out before.

Chronic insomnia. Sleeps in 2-3 hour bursts if at all. Wakes up mid-scream or mid-laughter.

Uses broken glass as tools. Doesn’t always rely on knives. Glass, rusted metal, and even his own nails are tools.

Hoarding behavior. Keeps random trash with sentimental weight. Broken headphones. Gum wrappers. A single shoelace.

Blood letting “calendars”. Scratches tally marks in the wall or on himself to count something. Sometimes doesn’t remember what.

Animal mimicry; Growls. Snarls. Clicks his teeth. Especially when cornered or overstimulated.

Echolalia. Repeats the last word or phrase others say, mockingly or mechanically, like a broken tape recorder.

Burn fetishes. Lights fire just to watch it, sometimes burns his fingertips to feel something.

Writes coded messages, in spirals, backwards writing, or made-up alphabets. Claims it’s just “something pretty.”

Scent-based memory; Smells like bleach, rust, cigarettes. Associates smells with people or events. Uses that to “track” feelings.

Talks to corpses like they’re roommates. May leave them posed, put things near them, even apologize to them before sleeping nearby.

Jeff is, in clinical terms, a mission-oriented disorganized serial killer with strong psychosis and delusional fixations. He doesn’t just snap—he builds. He stalks, imagines, crumbles, and strikes. His kills aren’t random, but the reason why he kills can shift depending on his mental state that day.

Stalking habits: He doesn’t stalk in a traditional way. He lurks. Observes. Sometimes from outside a window, sometimes for weeks. He might leave cryptic things behind—dead animals, broken belongings, a stolen shirt returned with cuts in it. To him, it’s flirting.

Rituals before killing: Might clean a knife obsessively, recite phrases, smear something on himself (blood, ash, paint). It's compulsive and grounding.

After kills: May fall into a depressive or manic state, laugh uncontrollably, or whisper apologies. May not remember the kill. May treat the body like it’s still alive.

Treats each kill like a “love letter”; Often leaves behind messages, drawings, or carefully posed bodies.

Places fingers over victims’ mouths before killing. “Shhh. Don’t ruin the moment.”

Has to be seen by the victim before killing. Needs their recognition. Their fear.

Will sometimes spare people who “remind him” of someone lost. Not out of mercy. More like confusion.

Will speak to the victim as if they’re already dead during stalking. “You don’t even know you’re gone yet.”

Seeks out intimate spaces. Bedrooms, bathrooms. Places people are vulnerable. It’s a form of control.

Triggers (Things that may drive him to violence)

Mockery. Being laughed at, especially about his voice, appearance, or mental health.

Perceived betrayal. Someone lying, ghosting, or “leaving” him in any way.

Authority or control. Someone trying to dominate him or talk down to him.

Romantic rejection. Especially if erotomania is involved. Even just brushing him off gently can snap the wire.

Touch without consent. Unexpected or forceful touch can bring flashbacks and instant violence.

Seeing someone cry because of him. It enrages him, but also deeply confuses him.

Being ignored mid-sentence. Makes him spiral. “Don’t pretend you didn’t hear me.”

Clean, well-lit rooms. Reminds him of hospitals or places where he was “fixed.” Hates them.

Hearing certain songs. Especially childhood ones. Will freeze or start panicking if one comes on.

People pretending not to be afraid. He knows when someone’s faking. He’ll punish them for it.

Voice + Speech Patterns

Raspy yet deep—possibly due to damage from bleach, smoke, and screaming.

His laugh cuts into conversations like a glitch—high-pitched, breathy, or gasping.

May talk to himself mid-conversation, like correcting his own thoughts.

Speaks in second-person sometimes ("You told me you'd stay...but you lied, didn’t you?")

Mumbles or hums under his breath when anxious.

When in a “killing state,” he becomes dramatic—mocking, sing-songy, calm in a way that should be comforting, but isn't. Other times he's just plain erratic and unpredictable.

Jumps timelines mid-sentence: “You said you wouldn’t—no. You’re not her. You’re not her but you’re wearing her eyes.”

Mixes reality and delusion seamlessly: “You looked at me the same way she did. You remember her, right? The woman in the red coat. You have to remember her.”

(There was no woman in a red coat. Or maybe there was.)

Sudden volume shifts—whispers a sentence, then yells a word, or vice versa. Completely unpredictable.

Rambles to himself when no one’s listening. Mostly muttered reflections, self-corrections, or dissociation-induced thoughts: “Don’t twitch. She twitched. That’s how I knew she was lying. Liars twitch.”

Repeats phrases until they lose meaning: “Go to sleep. Go to sleep. Go to sleep—” (tone changes from soothing to aggressive to frantic.)

Uses sickly-sweet tones while threatening: “Awww, don’t cry now. We were just starting to have fun.”

“You’ll be alright. Just pretend it’s love.”

Imitates other people mockingly–especially therapists, police, family: “’He just needs help.’ Yeah? Funny how they never helped, just shoved pills in my mouth and called me better.”

Laughs inappropriately mid-sentence or during emotional dialogue: “I didn’t mean to—heh—but you should’ve seen her face.”

Talks to his “love interests” like they’re already together even if they’re strangers: “You don’t need to talk. I know what you’re trying to say. I always do.”

Uses possessive pet names no matter how long he’s known the person: “Sweetheart,” “doll,” “my little angel,” “mine.”

Talks about love like a threat.

Talks in second or third person when distressed: “Jeff doesn’t like this.” / “You’re fine. You’re okay. You’re not even real right now.”

Shifts between sounding adult and sounding like a kid – sometimes mid-thought: “I said don’t touch me—!…sorry. Sorry. That just...reminded me.”

Counts under his breath when overstimulated or trying not to kill: “One, two, three, four…breathe. Breathe. Smile.”

He also has a number of repetitive phrases.

“Go to sleep.” (Of course.)

“Don’t flinch.” (Usually said to others. He hates flinching—it’s rejection.)

“Smile wider. No, wider.” (Sometimes said in the mirror. Or to victims.)

“She saw me. She saw me.”

“What was her name again?” (Said with disturbing fondness. Probably about someone he probably killed.)

Hiccuping or stammering under stress, especially when confronted with authority or a love interest.

Misuses idioms or metaphors. Says them wrong and gets angry when corrected: “Curiosity didn’t kill the cat. I did.”

Deliberate misnaming. Calls people by the wrong name or a nickname to confuse or belittle them.

“Triggered scripts”: Has memorized lines he repeats during certain emotional states, as if reading from a script.

Shifts into childish speech under high stress. Uses baby talk or whiny tones that abruptly cut back into his normal voice.

Refers to his knife as “his voice”: “She talks louder than I ever could.” Might even say it “sings.”

Repetition of traumatic phrases: “Why’d you make me do it?” or “Am I still beautiful, mommy?" Common during breakdowns.

THE SLENDERMANSION

Jeff’s presence in the mansion is like having a stray dog with rabies. Slenderman may tolerate him—not because he’s loyal, but because he’s useful.

He sees Slender as a god or fucked up father figure he both resents and depends on.

May get jealous of other proxies or feel replaced easily.

Doesn’t like being referred to as a pet or proxy, even if he acts like one.

Wanders in and out of the mansion, sleeps in the basement or roof. Often found where no one else dares to be.

Has no official room. His presence is found through blood trails, cigarette burns, or distant laughter.

Yes, smile dog is a companion in this interp.

Unspoken truce with other proxies. He has codes with them. Small gestures mean “stay away” or “help.”

Keeps bones or bones fragments in his corner of the Mansion. He may even “name” them.

Feral behavior if cornered inside the mansion. Will lash out and act like an animal until left alone.

Genuinely afraid of Slenderman when he’s in a “bad mood”. Thinks he can “hear” his thoughts sometimes.

Tolerates Sally. Hates being reminded of what he used to be. Might act like a big brother one day and violently distant the next.

Fights with Masky often. Projects authority figures onto him. Believes he’s a “wannabe cop.”

Jeff wanders like a feral dog. Nobody really knows when he’s there or not unless he makes his presence known.

Eats food others brought in, even if it’s half-eaten or obviously not his. Drinks cold coffee left out too long. Sometimes leaves his own blood in mugs and laughs about it.

Occasionally sits at the kitchen table at 3AM, talking to no one. If you acknowledge him, he won’t respond. But he knows you saw him.

He hoards stolen things from others in the mansion—Clockwork’s hoodies string, Toby's goggles, BEN’s broken controller. Not out of malice. Just because.

He carves names into the walls—sometimes of people in the house, sometimes unknown ones. Crosses out the ones who “left.”

Has a hiding spot only Smile Dog knows. If anyone finds it, he destroys it and relocates.

Despite his instability, he occasionally “trains” younger proxies in brutal, unorthodox ways—he’ll throw them into fear scenarios just to “toughen them up.” It’s a twisted sense of mentorship.

Slenderman keeps him on a long leash, metaphorically. He doesn’t follow orders unless he feels like it, but when he does, it’s with disturbing overkill.

BEN and Jeff have a rivalry, like siblings forced to share a room. BEN trolls him, Jeff responds physically—ripping cords, smashing keyboards, etc. They don't hate each other, though.

Jeff is obsessed with Kate, but not in a healthy way. It's a mixture of fixation, possessiveness, projection, and twisted admiration, although the genuine craving for affection is there.

Calls her things like "ghost-girl", "chaser-baby", "my shadow twin"—weird pet names only he thinks are cute.

He follows her silently, watching her on hunts. Never interferes unless he thinks she’s in danger. Then he snaps.

Leaves little "gifts" in her room: wilted flowers, knives shaped like crescent moons, locks of his own hair, bloody notes that read “you’re the only one who understands.” and other corny shit.

Gets extremely jealous if Kate is seen talking to someone else too long. Especially if it’s Masky, Hoodie, or another male proxy.

Once flipped a table during dinner when Kate ignored him. Then calmly picked up the plates and placed them back down, still seething.

Tells people they’re “soul twins” because they both “chase what they’ll never catch.” Kate finds this annoying and disturbing.

Sometimes Kate humors him because she feels bad for him…other times, she threatens him outright.

He once carved her name into his arm in front of her. She didn’t speak to him for weeks afterward.

In his eyes, Kate is the only real person in the mansion. The rest are noise.

Sally is weirdly fond of him—thinks he’s funny like a scary cartoon. He plays along, softens slightly with her, but also says incredibly inappropriate things sometimes. (Not sexual, of course not, but things like “if I died, would you haunt me?”)

Clockwork hates him. Finds him unstable and dangerous. They've gotten into brutal fights that almost left one or both unconscious.

Toby is intimidated, but fascinated. Jeff sees Toby as a “baby rage-machine” and mocks him for his tics until he gets punched.

Eyeless Jack and Jeff have an agreement—Jack patches him up if he shuts up. Jeff doesn’t. Jack still patches him up, usually annoyed.

Slenderman occasionally “reins him in” telepathically, or sends proxies to drag him back when he’s gone rogue for too long.

His scent lingers in places he’s been—blood, smoke, rot. Proxies know not to enter rooms with that smell.

His “nest” is full of torn fabrics, bones, stolen pillows, and old Polaroids. There’s barely enough room for him to curl up inside it.

Sleeps in cold spots—the attic, crawlspaces, or with the windows wide open even in the dead of winter.

The basement walls have claw marks, some say they’re his, others say it’s something else he brought back with him.

He will occasionally talk to his reflection in a mirror, despite his hatred for it. He usually ends up punching it, though.

Refers to the Slender Mansion as “home” but never says it like it’s comforting. Says it like a threat.

Keeps chalk drawings under the staircase—outlines of bodies, smiley faces with fangs, Kate’s silhouette.

Sometimes dances alone in the hallway. No music. Just dancing to something in his head.

“Feeds” Smile Dog scraps of something that isn’t meat. No one asks.

Occasionally writes notes and tapes them to people’s doors, always in red pen. They say things like:

“I watched you last night. You flinch in your sleep.”

“You smell different today. New shampoo?”

“She’s not yours.”

More to be added! If you have any questions, feel free to ask! I love my burnt sausage so much. <3