#one piece chapter 523

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

well they do say karma's a bitch

[the-frizzle-fry]

I honestly don’t care if it’s foreshadowing or a retcon.

That shit is clean ass storytelling.

Maybe Weatheria has something to do with Em waking up 200 years ago and they learned the knots from studying him. 200 years ago they could have just been regular scientists.

[bubblegum-cherry-lips]

bittersweet

summary: moving out of your place creates mixed feelings for you.

prompt: day 3 - bittersweet (prompts from this post)

pairing: poly marauders x (gender neutral) reader

cw: none

words: 523

•

Sirius carries the last box downstairs to the car, and for the first time that day, you are left alone in the flat you have called home for the last 10 years. It looks sad now, when all the furniture and stuff is gone - you haven’t noticed before how the walls have gone more gray than white, how the floor is all scratched and missing pieces of wood, and how the kitchen ceiling is covered with stains you no longer remember the origin of. 

And even with all that, you still feel the ache at the thought that this is the last time you’re gonna be here. 

You don’t regret the decision to move - you and the boys have been going steady for a while now, and with the time you spend over at their place, it’s really pointless to keep paying the rent here, and all the bills. And you are excited, you really are, at the thought of waking up to them every morning and knowing that they’d be there when you get home from work. 

It’s just that this place, the tiny apartment with a single bedroom and ceiling-high windows in the living room, carries so many memories. 

For example, right there on that couch, was the first time you kissed James. You two were watching movies, you don’t even remember which ones, but you do remember cuddling and dozing off in his arms. He kept petting your hair, scratching your scalp, and once he leaned to leave a kiss on your cheek, you turned your head and that was the first kiss you two shared - and many more followed.

When you look at the bedroom, you can’t forget that day when Sirius helped you paint the ceiling, balancing on the ladder as he tried to stick the fluorescent stars and paint you all your favorite constellations. And in that tiny bathroom, you remember sitting on the closed toilet as Remus takes off your make-up, face serious and hands gentle as he wiped it all off, planting kisses in between every swipe, all over your face. 

Gods, even the stains on the ceiling tell the story of a birthday cake James and Sirius tried to bake and surprise you with, but it turned into a disaster and what you came home to that night was a chocolate-covered kitchen and store-bought cake, courtesy of Remus. 

“You ready to go?” You’re not sure when exactly Sirius has returned, but you do feel his hand searching for yours and letting your fingers intertwine once he does find it, a dashing smile on his lips and the adorable blush on his cheeks, from the wind outside.

The ache and the memories may sit heavy on your chest, but there is too much good to look forward to in the future. So you nod, and squeeze your hand, and when you all pile into the car waiting downstairs, with James’ playlist echoing through the vehicle and Remus slowly driving you away from the building, you embrace the bitterness along with the sweetness. 

Here’s to a new chapter - and all the amazing stuff it will bring. 

[layce2015]

The Boys (Soldier Boy x Female!Supe!Reader)

Chapter 2: The Only Man In The Sky

Chapter 1/ Next Chapter

"You sure you wanna go see her?" Bethany asked me after I called her on the phone the next day. "Not really but...it must be important if she's contacting me." I said. "I'm not sure if I like it." Bethany said and I giggled. "I'll be okay, Mom." I laughed, sarcastically. "Hey, I know you can handle yourself but...I still worry." Bethany said. "I appreciate it." I said as I pace along the living room.

*3rd Person POV*

M.M. hears a knocking at his door and he goes to answer it. He opens it and sees Butcher standing there, his hands behind his back, and he lets out a sigh. “All right, mate?” Butcher asked him and Janine, M.M.’s daughter comes up next to her father. “Bloody hell, Janine. You shot up. You remember your Uncle Billy, don't you?” He asked and the girl stares at him before nodding, slightly.

”Here. I got this for you.” Butcher said as he pulls out a box of a Lego set of Vought tower. “You and your dad can build it together. 523 pieces of family fun.” Butcher said and M.M. glares at him.

Later, Janine starts on working on the Lego set while Butcher and M.M. talk. “Okay, one, you don't just pop up here. You call first. And, two, eff Soldier Boy. I don't give a mothereffin' doo-doo how he checked out.” M.M. argued. “Ah, bollocks. He didn't die like no hero. I'll wager he went out on his knees, begging like a right cսոt.” Butcher said. “What the f...” M.M. grumbles then he exhales a she gesture to his daughter, who heard them. “Sorry, love.” Butcher tells her then he continues to talk, quietly.

”Look, if there's a weapon out there that killed Soldier Boy, then it can kill Homelander. And that's got to be worth something. Now, we're working our way through his old team. Frenchie and Kimiko are starting with the Crimson Countess, and I'm gonna hit up Gunpowder and Mystic Shade.” Butcher said. “Sounds like you got everything covered.” M.M. said. “This ain't just anyone. It's Soldier Boy. You could close the book on him once and for all. For your dad. Your family.” Butcher said.

”Fuck off with that shit.” M.M. growls then he starts to breath, heavily, before he continues. “My father died hunched over a desk, obsessing over a dead man, while he was ignoring his two living children. And I almost did the same thing to her.” M.M. said as he gestures to his daughter and Butcher looks over at her then back at his old friend.

”Thanks for coming by.” M.M. said and Butcher sighs. “You're doing a bang-up job with her, mate.” Butcher said and he goes to leave but then M.M. sighs. “Butcher, hold on a second. I might have one thing.” He said then he goes to his room and into his closet and pulls out a file that his father had on Soldier Boy.

Meanwhile, (y/n) and Bethany enter Voughtland and see all the kids running around, laughing and screaming, as their parents try to keep up with them or buy them the overpriced food and merchandise. “It’s crazy here.” Bethany said as her and (y/n), who was wearing jeans and a hoodie with the hood up, walk along the park. “Yeah, Vought has gone more chaotic with The Seven than they did with Payback.” (Y/n) mutters as they walk. 

“You jealous?” Bethany asked her and (y/n) scoffs. “Fuck no.” She said and Bethany laughs as they go to the theater, where there was a poster that advertised the showing of Soldier Boy’s life. (Y/n) stops and stares at it as a memory pops up in her head.

Flashback

*(y/n)’s POV*

It had been months since Ben and I were sent overseas with the army to help out what we could. But we also did some film and photography for Vought as they brought a filmmaker and a photographer to get us to recreate certain moments of the war. And in between those moments or fights, Ben and I got to know each other a bit better. He was a bit cocky and full of himself and a bit rude but…he had this charm about him that I was attracted to.

And now the war was finally over and all the surviving troops were celebrating as was everyone around the world. Ben and I were sitting at the busy bar as the troops were cheering, laughing, singing and talking loudly as they all drink copious amount of beer.

I smiled at the scene, feeling relieved that this mess was all behind us. But I was also feeling dread as that meant I had to go back to my bastard of a husband. “You good?” Ben’s voice asked and I shake myself out of my thoughts and look over at him. “Yeah…just…” I laugh a bit softly. “Just still surprised that it is over.” 

“You don’t sound very thrilled about it.” Ben points out. “No, I’m happy it’s over. I just…” I then trail off. “You don’t want to go back home?” Ben asked me and I sighed. “Is it that obvious?” I asked him. “Yeah…” he said and I turn my head to look at him. “You know, we’ve been getting to know each other these last few months and you still haven’t told me about…Adam, was it?” Ben asked and I sighed as I take another long sip of my beer.

”Well, I’m sure you know my backstory is a load of garbage. I wasn’t born with these powers…they were forced upon me.” I explained as Ben listens to me. “My darling husband…” I sneered before I continued. “…he faked a doctor’s appointment for me when really it was for me to get a shot of Compound V and get these powers.”

Ben’s eyes widen at this then it furrows in anger. “He what?” He asked me and I scoff out a small laugh at this. “Yeah, right ol’ bastard. I wanted to divorce him when I found out but…” I stopped then take another drink. “He basically told me I couldn’t do that, be it would ruin my career before it even began.” I added and Ben did look angry after I explained.

”That son of a bitch. I should go have a word with him when we get back.” Ben said and I place a hand on his arm. “No, don’t.” I plead to him. “Why?” He asked me. “I’ve seen what happens when you have a word with people. It would just make everything worse. Besides, I don’t want to put you in any trouble.” I said and Ben raise an eyebrow at me.

“Look, let’s just enjoy this night and not worry about my failing marriage.” I said and he gives me this look then sighs. “Fine.” He mutters as he takes a sip of his beer. The rest of the night went uneventful as we enjoyed the party until it was time to get ready to head back home.

But once we got home and saw the press just swarming the airport to mainly get to me and Ben, Ben did something I was not expecting. Once we got off the plane, we waved at the press as they took many pictures and the people from the news report came out to film us. Then Ben turns to me, takes my chin to make me look at him then kissed me right there in front of God and everyone.

I hear the crowd go absolutely crazy but I was too stunned and shocked at what just happened and what is happening. And the terrible thing is I didn’t want it to end, this was honestly the best kiss I’ve ever had in my life. And even though there was a part of my mind that was screaming at me to tell Ben to stop, to push him away, I couldn’t bring myself to do that.

So, I kissed him back and I could tell that is what he wanted me to do as I feel his lips curl up into a smile as we continued to kiss. Moments later, we break the kiss and I felt breathless once his lips were away from mine and I raise my eyes to look at him and he gives me that damn flirty grin I’ve come to like so much.

”Maybe that’ll help with your little problem.” He mutters to me before he winks then turns to the crowd as he puts an arm around my shoulders and waves at them. I stood there and I’m sure I just looked mystified and confused because my mind was running for miles as I realized what he just did.

And I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.

“What the hell is this?!” Adam asked me as he holds up the paper the next morning. “What’s what?” I asked him. I was sitting at the table in the little kitchen area of my room at Vought Tower and Adam just came in after going out to get the paper. He slams the paper down on the table in front of me and the first thing I saw was a photo of me and Ben kissing. And the title reading: America’s Newest Sweethearts?

”How long?” Adam asked me, angrily. “How long what?” I asked him. “Don’t play dumb! Now, tell me the truth, how long have you been fucking him behind my back?!” Adam asked me and I stare at him, stunned. “Are you crazy?! I mean, is that what you actually think of me?!” I asked him then he slams his hands on the table again.

”I’ve seen the way you look at him! And I know you’re still angry with me for what I did but I never thought you’d go this low!” He yells. “Because I wouldn’t! That kiss was something Ben came up all on his own. I didn’t expect it!” I argued. “And yet, from what I heard, you didn’t reject it!” Adam shouted and I glared at him.

“It’s just a publicity stunt! To make the people go crazy, okay! It’s for the money, get over it!” I spat at him and he looks at me surprised. “Are you serious?” He asked me. “What? I thought this was what you wanted. Me being a Supe to make money for us. You know how Vought works. They’ll do anything to gain the public’s approval.” I sneered and he huffs at me.

Then he turns and starts to walk out. “Where the hell you going?” I asked him. “Out.” Adam growls as he slams the door and I scoff.

*3rd Person POV*

Ben was walking towards his room in Vought Tower, seething with anger. He had just been to see his father and showed off him being the hero. But he didn’t get the hero’s welcome he expected from his father. His father told him he wasn’t a real man, that he took a shortcut and told him he was a disappointment, probably one of the worst things a father could say to their child.

He heard a door slam but he ignored it as he makes it to the door of his room. He goes to unlock the door when he heard stomping footsteps then a voice calls out to him, in an angry tone. “You!” The voice said and Ben shuts his eyes for a moment, really not in the mood to deal with anyone.

”Look, Buddy…” Ben started to say as he looks over and sees it is Adam that is coming towards him. Adam then grabs him by the collar of his shirt then slams him up against the wall. “You son of a bitch! You think you can take her away from me!” Adam shouts at Ben. “I’m only gonna say this once, cocksucker. If you still want your teeth, then I suggest you let go and back away from me.” Ben threatens, in a low calm voice. 

But Adam wasn’t having it. “What gives you the right to kiss (y/n) when you know she’s my wife?!” Adam asked him. “You could have any woman you want, but you go and kiss her! You can’t have (y/n), she’s mine!” 

“You know what I think? I think a piece of shit like you doesn’t deserve a woman like (y/n)!” Ben growls as the sound of a door opening was heard. “And you do?!” Adam asked as hurried footsteps come up and Ben grabs Adam’s hands and shoves him towards the other side of the hall.

”Boys, stop!” (Y/n)’s voice shrieks as she gets in between the boys. Ben was about to walk towards Adam, who continued to glare at him, but (y/n) turns to Ben. “Ben, Ben, Ben….hey, hey, look at me…look at me…” she said as Ben death stared at Adam but then he looks over at (y/n).

For some weird reason, just looking at her calmed him down a little as she places her hands on his shoulder. “Ben? Since when were you two on a first name basis?” Adam asked (y/n), upset, and she turns to face him. “What does that matter? Just be grateful I’m not letting him beat you to a pulp right now!” She exclaims as she glares at her husband. The two stare at each other for a few silence moments before Adam sighs.

”You know what, (y/n)? You’re gonna get your wish.” Adam said then he walks off and (y/n) lets out a sigh before she turns to Ben, who is about to enter his room. “Ben, I am so sorry…” she started to say but Ben shakes his head. “I’m not trying to be an asshole but I really don’t want to talk right now, (y/n).” Ben grumbles and he enters his room and shuts the door.

(y/n) frowns at this as her heart felt broken then she makes her way back to her room. She shuts the door and started to burst into tears, letting out the emotions she didn’t know she was holding in. She wipes her eyes then looks over at the cabinet that held some bourbon.

She normally doesn’t drink a lot but the whole bottle of bourbon was sounding good right now. So she goes to the cabinet, grabs the bottle and begins to drink from it.

Present Day

(Y/n) continued to stare at the poster until Bethany comes up to her and places a hand on her arm. “(Y/n)?” She said and (y/n) pulls out of her thoughts and looks over at her friend. “You ready?” She asked and (y/n) sighs. “Not really…but let’s do it.” She said and they head inside the theater as does Frenchie and Kimiko.

They get inside and take a seat and Bethany pats her friend’s shoulder. “You sure you’re gonna be okay seeing this?” She asked (y/n). “I think so.” (Y/n) mutters, unsure. The lights start to dim and the screen comes on as it starts to play the film.

"Soldier Boy grew up in the birthplace of American liberty. Born poor on the mean streets of South Philadelphia, he learned the values of hard work, tenacity and bravery. He used those values to prove America's exceptionalism to the world." The narrator of the film said as it shows various pictures of Soldier Boy's life. Then it shows a clip of Soldier Boy in the trenches with the American soldiers.

"Okay, boys, let's give these Krauts some hell." Soldier Boy said and he leads the men on out into the battlefield. (Y/n) bites her lips as she remembers those days. "He and his partner, Mystic Shade, defended us against the encroaching Red Menace." The narrator said as it goes to another clip and shows Soldier Boy and (y/n) in the Congress, which takes (y/n) by surprise as she sees herself sitting next to Soldier Boy. "Congress, we have a list right here of avowed Communists." He said as he holds up a file.

"He helped guide America into a brighter future, and along the way, he found the love of a good woman..." the narrator said as it shows Soldier Boy and Mystic Shade, their arms around each other and a smile on their faces. (Y/n) lets out a heavy sigh and Bethany turns to her and places an arm around her. She gives her a concerned look but (y/n) nods, assuredly.

"...which made his sacrifice all the more noble, when he gave his life saving us from a nuclear holocaust." The narrator said as it shows a melted down nuclear power plant. Then the screen goes black. "Please join us in saluting Soldier Boy." The narrator said and there was scattered applause. 

Then a spotlight comes on and the screen slides up to reveal Crimson Countess walk out onto the stage and begins to sing. “Fuckin’ hell.” (Y/n) grumbles, annoyed.

When the night was dark

And the dawn was cold

From sea to shining sea and mountains' majesty 

He did it all For the red, white and the bold

'Cause he's America's son

As she sings, she brings her hands together and uses her power to shootout the red ball of energy she makes. It goes flying over head and the ball of energy explodes and engulfs the room in red light as Countess continues to sing.

A shining beacon of freedom

He's America's son

After the show, Countess was in her dressing room and was crushing up some pills as the door opens. "At your request, Countess." The voice of her manager said and Countess looks up at her mirror and sees the familiar face of her old partner. "Well, well, well, never thought I'd see you here, Misty." Countess said with a smile as (y/n) pulls back her hoodie.

"I mean, you're basically a recluse. Some people even think you're dead." Countess taunts as (y/n) glares at her. "What do you want, Crimson?" She asked as she folds her arms across her chest. Countess turns in her seat to look at her. "Can't I say hi to an old friend?" Countess asked. "You and I are nowhere near close enough to be considered friends." (Y/n) sneered and Countess gives a fake offended look.

"Oh, my dear, Misty...." Countess said, dramatically, and (y/n) rolled her eyes at this. She always hated it when Countess called her this name, it irritated her to no end which she figured that's why Countess does that. "Are you still mad that Ben and I dated?" Countess asked her. "I don't know...you mad that he dumped you to get back together with me?" (Y/n) asked, snarky, and Countess drops the act.

"No, actually. I really don't give a fuck." Countess said as she goes back to her table then starts to inhale some of the crushed up pills she made. "But I will say one good thing about him, he was great in the sack." Countess said and (y/n) rolls her eyes.

"Why the hell am I here, Countess?" (Y/n) asked and Countess turns to her. "Well, seems like that whole Girls Get It Done shit has been a big deal lately. And I figured maybe get us girls back together from the old team." Crimson said and (y/n) glares at her.

"You know, you, me and Tessa. We could show those bitches in The Seven who the real female heroes are." Crimson said and (y/n) shakes her head. "Not just no but fuck no!" (Y/n) said and Crimson was taken aback. "Well, why not? I mean, clearly you're not doing anything! Tessa and Thomas are apparently gonna host Herogasm here in a few days and of course I've had a music career." Crimson said. "And I like it that way. I got out of Payback for a reason, Countess!" (Y/n) shouts.

"Yeah because you were becoming a washed up Supe and Ben isn't around to fuck you senseless like the dirty whore you really are!" Crimson accused and (y/n) snaps as she waves her hand and Crimson goes flying back and hits the wall, hard. (Y/n) starts to breath heavily as she glares daggers at her old partner until she looks down at her hand, which was shaking.

"You can never even begin to THINK what I've been through the last forty years!" (Y/n) growls as she glares at Crimson, who gets up. "Oh boo-hoo, you're boyfriend died and now you live all alone in some farmhouse in Kansas. Get the fuck over yourself, Misty." Crimson sneers. "Fuck you!" (Y/n) spat and the two women continue to glare at each other before (y/n) turns and heads for the door.

"Go fuck a chimp, Crimson." (Y/n) spat and she slams the door behind her, puts her hood up and walks out of the room and down the hall, passing by Frenchie and Kimiko as they get ready for their visit with Crimson Countess.

After dusting herself off of the confrontation,  Countess goes to sit by her dressing table and gathers up more pills and crushes them. "Next!" Countess shouts as she goes to snort up the crushed up drugs and exhales as the door opens, Kimiko and Frenchie enter her room. "You seem a little old for the Countess Tea Package." Countess said once she looks up and notices them. "We're young at heart." Frenchie said as Kimiko comes up to Countess and holds up her phone to show her what she typed.

I like your music

"Oh, sweetie. Can't you talk?" Countess asked Kimiko after she read her message. Kimiko shakes her head, shyly, and Countess smiles at her. "Would you like to hear something new?" She asked her and Kimiko nods. "Okay." Countess said and she leads Kimiko to her laptop to bring up a music video while Frenchie is looking around the room.

Chimps don't cry

No, chimps

Don't cry... 

"You know that chimps are physically incapable of crying? But that doesn't mean they're not crying on the inside." Countess said, dramatically, and she goes to look at the video while Kimiko turns to Frenchie and begins to sign language to him.

She's nice.

She's nuts! 

No, she's not.

Let's get it over with!

Fine.

Kimiko then turns to Countess and grabs her. "Wh-What are you..." Countess shouts when Kimiko slams her up against the wall. "Wh-What are you...Ow!" Countess screams as Kimiko hits her. "Don't let her hands touch!" Frenchie shouts and Kimiko separates Countess' hands. "Ow! Let go of me, you bitch." Countess shouts as Frenchie comes up next to her while Kimiko holds her up against the wall.

"No fireball if your hands don't touch, oui? You stay quiet and relax. She will hurt you." Frenchie tells her. "What do you want?" Countess asked him. "We want to know about Soldier Boy." Frenchie said. "What the fսck do you care about Soldier Boy?" Countess asked, confused. "We want the truth about Soldier Boy, not the merde you've been giving us in your appalling show. How did he die? Who killed him? Talk." Frenchie demands.

"The show is the truth, mοthеrfսckеr." Countess said as there was another knock and the door opens as a kid and her parents come in. "He died a hero." Countess tells them just as they hear the family coming in.

Seizing the opportunity, Countess knocks Kimiko off of her then runs out of the room. Frenchie and Kimiko then chase after her as she runs out of the building and out into the park.

Countess shoves people out of the way then turns around to see Frenchie and Kimiko still gaining up on her. She stops, brings her hands together and shoots her fireball at the duo but they duck and the fireball hits the man in the Homelander costume, making blood and guts explode everywhere.

People and children began to scream but with some of the people near the mascot were protected by a force field. Frenchie and Kimiko jumped back at this as kids and adults scream, cry and run as does Countess.

Frenchie turns around and sees the white hoodie woman again, her arms were stuck out in front of her. They share a look before the woman lowers her arms and runs the opposite direction and it suddenly clicked with him who she was. "Putain de merde! That was Mystic Shade!" Frenchie said as Kimiko looks in time to see the woman run then signs at him.

Should we go after her?

"Butcher said he was gonna deal with her." Frenchie said as he takes her arm and Kimiko looks around to see a few kids still looking frighten and distraught at the man in the Homelander mascot costume, or what was left of him, before she and Frenchie leave the park.

*(y/n)’s POV*

Bethany pulls up to my house as I sigh. “You okay?” She asked me, for what had to be the hundredth time. “Yes, I’m fine. Just…wasn’t expecting any of that.” I said. “It looked like she was attacking those two people. Did you see them?” Bethany asked me and I nod.

“But I don’t know why. That’s what’s bugging me.” I said as I think. “Well, I’ll talk to you later.” I said as I get out of her car. “Okay…” Bethany said as I shut her car door and head into my house.

I entered the house and give a sigh of relief before I head to the kitchen. “You have a lovely house.” A male voice, with a cockney accent, greets and I jumped a bit to see a man with black hair, a beard, jeans, black shirt and a long black leather jacket, sitting at my kitchen table.

”Who the hell are you?” I asked him, angrily. “Billy Butcher, love.” He introduces as he nods to me and I realized this is the man that Maeve told me she was working with on capturing out of control Supes. “I just thought I’d pop by and ask you a few questions.” Butcher asked me as I go over to my liquor cabinet and take out a bottle of whiskey.

”I thought I told Maeve that I didn’t want to be bothered.” I said with a growl as I grab a couple of glasses. “She did tell me that but…I thought different.” Butcher tells me and I glare over at him. “So, from what I understand, you and Soldier Boy were close, right?” Butcher asked me and I begin to pour a glass of whiskey. “Okay, to save you time, yes, Soldier Boy and I were a thing. We had been on and off through out the years. In hindsight, we kept breaking up because of just stupid petty stuff but he would always find a way to win me back. Anything else you want me to answer, re-read that file I gave to Maeve.” I tell him.

”Well, before I go, there’s something I want you to elaborate on.” He said and I sighed, realizing this man is not gonna leave, and I pick up the second glass. “Would you like a drink?” I asked him as I hold up the whiskey bottle. “Oh, how very courteous of you.” Butcher said, in a bit of a surprised tone.

”Just being a good host, even if you were a surprise guest.” I said as I pour him a drink. Then I pick up my glass and his glass and I walk over to the table and hand him his glass. “Thank you.” He said and he takes a sip.

”Maeve’s told me about your rivalry with Homelander and how you think all Supes are bad. But I will tell you this, Mr Butcher, not all of us are like Homelander. I know you don’t want to hear it but it’s the truth. All I want is to live a normal life and put that life behind me.” I said and Butcher rolls his eyes towards the ceiling. “I appreciate your honesty, but it’s the actions of many of those cunts against your word that makes it hard to believe you.” He replied.

”Believe whatever you want, Mr Butcher. As for me, all I want is to be left alone.” I said, taking a sip of my whiskey. “You know I visited your old teammate, Gunpowder.” Butcher said and I lowered my glass, glaring at him. “And let’s just say, things didn’t go well.” Butcher said and I feel my heart sink. “Did you kill him?” I asked him and he nods.

I gasped and closed my eyes as I turn my head away. “Not the response I expected…” Butcher said and I turned back to him. “He was a kid when he joined the team. Poor boy.” I said, sadly. “Huh? See, I heard you didn’t really like any of your teammates.” Butcher said. “Yes, some of them I didn’t get along with but Gunpowder was just an eager kid, trying to prove himself. I looked after him, made sure he didn’t fall down the same rabbit hole a lot of young Supes do.” I said. 

“And yet, he put in a complaint about Soldier Boy’s abuse.” Butcher tells me. “I did the best I could with Soldier Boy. He would get in a few hits on Gunpowder but I always intervened if I saw he was about to go overboard.” I said as Butcher takes a swig at his drink.

”And did he ever abuse you?” He asked me. “No! He never did.” I replied, firmly. There was a long bit of silence between us before I go back to my drink. “Look, all I want to know is what happened to him? How did he die? Because I know that crap Vought pushed out is a load of bullocks.” Butcher said and I sighed.

”If I tell you what I know, will you leave me alone?” I asked him and Butcher stares at me then nods. “I don’t know what killed him. I was knocked out and when I came to, the others told me he was killed. We were in Nicaragua, '84, working with the CIA.” I said and Butcher furrowed his brow. “CIA?” He said, confused, and I nodded. “Who was the case officer?” Butcher asked me and I had to think. “Oh, fuck, what was her name….uh, Grace? Uh, Grace...Grace Mallory, that’s it!” I said, snapped my finger, and Butcher looked surprised by this.

”Judging by the look on your face, I’m guessing you know her?” I asked him. “Yes, yes, I do.” He said, determined, and he gets up from his chair. “Thank you for the drink and the talk. As promised, I will leave you be.” Butcher said and he leaves the kitchen then walks out the front door of my house.

I let out a sigh of relief and run my hands over my eyes. “What a fucking day.” I grumbled.

That night, I was cleaning up Ben’s old shield as I had the TV playing, which is broadcasting Homelander’s birthday. I didn’t really give a shit but I needed something playing in the background. “So let's give it up for Starlight and the man of the hour himself, Homelander!” A-Train said, who was wearing this colorful version of his old suit. I guess from the colors he is representing Africa; which from what Maeve told me about him, he is the last person to do something like this.

Music plays and cheers were heard as Starlight and Homelander go on stage as Homelander and A-Train shake hands then he leaves. “Wow, I'm so honored to be with you guys tonight to celebrate my dear friend and mentor Homelander. I'm here to do more than wish you a happy birthday, though. I'm thrilled to be announcing a project that is near and dear to my heart.” Starlight said and I snort as her saying Homelander is her mentor.

Yeah, I bet he is. I thought as I finished polishing the shield then look up at the TV.  “The Starlight House is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to helping homeless and at-risk youth.” Starlight starts to explain until a voice shouts. “Hey, Homelander! Your Nazi died!”

”Well, damn.” I muttered as the crowd murmurs. “Homelander...He's just, he's a human. He's just like the rest of us. And we all make mistakes, right? But we all deserve second chances. In that spirit, Homelander has agreed to donate $10 million...” Starlight said then she laughs softly. “…to the Starlight House, which is, I mean...” she said and there was applause then Homelander says. “No.”

”Give...Come on. Give it up.” Starlight said as Homelander shakes his head. “No.” He said. “Give it up for this guy.” Starlight said as she was trying to control the situation but Homelander looked like he was done. “No. No. No.” Homelander said and the applause stops and the crowd goes quiet. “Starlight lied to you just now. She did. I don't make mistakes. I'm not just like the rest of you. I'm stronger. I'm smarter. I'm better. I am better. I'm not some weak-kneed fսcking crybaby that goes around fսcking apologizing all the time. And why the fսck would you want me to be?” Homelander said then he looks straight at the camera.

“Don't you dare stop rolling, Roger!” He shouts and I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing. This man is losing his mind. “All my life, people have tried to control me. My whole life. Rich people, powerful people have tried to muzzle me, cancel me, keep me impotent and obedient, like I'm a fսcking puppet. You know what? It worked. Because I allowed it to work. And guess what? If they can control me, then you can bet your ass they can control you. They already do. You just don't realize it.” Homelander said and I nod a bit as I was kinda agreeing with him there.

”I'm done. I am done apologizing. I am done being persecuted for my strength. You people should be thanking Christ that I am who and what I am, because you need me. You need me to save you. You do. I am the only one who possibly can. You're not the real heroes. I'm the real hero. I'm the real hero.” He said and the whole place stays silent and I shake my head. “And you lost me, crazy asshole.” I muttered and I shut my TV off.

@winchestergirl1720 @deans-spinster-witch @mimaria420 @wirdbeimaufhebengebunden @kitsun369 @jesllianaquilesrolonsworld @deangirl96 @demodemo909

[midnightactual]

How Zanpakutō Are Made

We have enough pieces of the puzzle to guess how zanpakutō are made and how and why zanpakutō spirits manifest the way they do. I'm going to outline it for you presently.

We're told in chapter 540 that:

Asauchi are created in the same way as White was: many different Shinigami souls are used to create them; both are examples of what I call a "Cyber-Hollow".

With natural Hollow evolution, Hollows will eat other souls (with all of these being "interned" rather than destroyed) and each other until they gain enough "mass" to become a Gillian, all of which look and act totally identical. Asauchi are actually essentially Cyber-Gillians. They too look and act identical, as we're shown in chapter 523:

Ōetsu goes on to call them:

This is akin to how an individual Gillian can become just about anything when it transforms into an Adjuchas, after one soul achieves supremacy over the others. Now there's an interesting point to make here: Ōetsu claims White was made from the souls of many Shinigami, whereas Kaname says in chapter 532 and 533:

Now it could be that this is yet more singular/plural confusion in the translations here, but Kaname seems to be suggesting that White was made from a single Shinigami.

At any rate, White's purpose is confirmed in Kaname's second statement: White was meant to infect Shinigami as it did Masaki. It is, in effect, a Hollow equivalent of a zombie carrier for a zombie virus, a refined "bioweapon" compared to direct infection with the Hollowfication agent as seen in TBTP; Kaname & Co. were basically playing Umbrella Corporation from Resident Evil or Weyland-Yutani from Aliens and creating Bio-Organic Weapons for military purposes. The infection vector being through bites is more readily controlled and less dangerous to the operators than the original form of a loose agent. This is again confirmed by chapter 529:

Whatever the truth is with regards to Kaname's construction of White, it's sort of immaterial as Ōetsu tips his hand: his Asauchi are made from many Shinigami souls layered together. Before we go on to the obvious problem of "Where does Ōetsu get the souls from?" we should finish up with the distinction between asauchi and zanpakutō. Our first clue is in chapter 522:

You can visually see the difference between the two entities. Asauchi are "blank", zanpakutō are "actualized" and can seem extremely human. He goes on to openly mock Ichigo and Renji's inability to distinguish them from Shinigami:

We get told in chapter 523 that:

This hints at the full story, as does chapter 529:

Until finally, we're told the truth in chapter 540, right before and after the comments about White:

So we need to take a step back and clarify something here as Ōetsu is being sloppy: Zangetsu is not White, or the remnants of White. White did not "enter" Masaki. Kaname tells us directly that White is a Hollow with "the ability to convert others into Hollows like itself," emphasis mine. White infected Masaki and Masaki began to Hollowfy, a process arrested by Kisuke. So what Ichigo absorbed was not White, but rather... Hollow Masaki.

This, plus her Quincy blood, fused with his Shinigami powers from Isshin. This is "the will and destiny Ichigo inherited." In a very real sense (in the same sense that Ichigo is Masaki and Isshin's flesh and blood) Hollow Masaki is Ichigo's zanpakutō.

Certainly puts the "I will protect" lines during the fight with Ulquiorra in a different light, doesn't it?

It was never about Orihime. It isn't, "I will protect her," in the original Japanese, it was only, "I will protect," and it is Zangetsu speaking about Ichigo. This is confirmed by 1. Zangetsu almost immediately taking several actions that threaten to kill Orihime (and Uryū) and 2. by Tensa Zangetsu later saying during Dangai training that the things Ichigo wants to protect are not what he wants to protect. Orihime almost dies during the fight because Zangetsu doesn't care about her, just like Zangetsu doesn't care about Karakura, as we're told in chapter 429 (admittedly also involving the sentiments of "Zangetsu", that is to say, not-Yhwach, which is also why Yhwach claims to be Ichigo's "father" later on):

In a very real sense, "Full Hollow Ichigo" can be read as Hollowfied Masaki protecting Ichigo yet again. Don't believe it? This parallel from chapter 680 ain't for nothing:

The Quincy power was mingled with the Hollow power because both were Masaki.

In another sense though, Zangetsu is Ichigo, as chapter 221 shows up with Ichigo beginning to dehollowfy Zangetsu into himself:

This presages the final revelation of the reforging of Zangetsu in chapter 542:

Now, we can all readily see that Ichigo's backstory is extremely convoluted compared to every other Shinigami's, but from his example we can generalize the truth of how an asauchi becomes a zanpakutō. It lies within two statements from Ōetsu:

"I used the asauchi just now as a trigger to extract this zanpakutō from within you."

"… And became your zanpakutō."

Again, Ōetsu is being a little sloppy in his terminology here, but we can divine the basic truth: your zanpakutō (essence) is something that's inside you all along. The asauchi is simply a mechanism for drawing it out and materializing it. So if you ever wondered why Tōshirō already has Hyōrinmaru in his soul in chapter -16, that's why:

The essence of a zanpakutō comes from within, not from without. In some sense, Hyōrinmaru is and always was part of Tōshirō. The same is true of every other Shinigami as well. (The correct way to think about Kusaka, if one credits that movie, is therefore that he shared an essence with Tōshirō.) It is the form of it that changes... on exposure to an asauchi.

To recap:

all Shinigami have a zanpakutō essence within them already

an asauchi serves to draw out this zanpakutō essence and fuse with it, creating a zanpakutō sword

this zanpakutō sword can manifest a zanpakutō spirit, its own personification

At this point you should be wondering: why do zanpakutō spirits look so different from their wielders if they are their wielders?

Well that's very simple: they're mixed with the asauchi. Remember: the asauchi is a collection of Shinigami souls (or parts of them, it's not clear). The essence of a zanpakutō is absorbed from the wielding Shinigami, creating a new entity. But that collection of Shinigami souls still has a massive influence on the manifestation of the completed zanpakutō, thus its radically different appearance and personality. These come from some kind of amalgamation of the souls used to create the asauchi.

Ichigo did not have this issue because there "was nobody else" influencing the expression of his zanpakutō (except the shard of Yhwach, which was also dormant until his powers woke up). Zangetsu simulated a normal zanpakutō using Hollow mask matter, but there were no "outside influences" in the form of an asauchi to change his appearance or behavior, hence why he's a mirror of Ichigo. Not so with every other Shinigami.

(This is bolstered by the assertion by Kubo that when someone else comes into possession of a deceased Shinigami's zanpakutō, although it can be completely overwritten, there is sometimes a "mixing" where the current owner's aspects mix with the previous one's.)

In other words, just like an asauchi is a Cyber-Gillian, a zanpakutō is a Cyber-Adjuchas. The wielding Shinigami provides the dominant soul to bring the component souls of the asauchi into order and advance their evolution to the next step. However, whereas natural Hollows become more animalistic as Adjuchas, Cyber-Hollows become more human as Adjuchas. This is why Ichigo and Renji couldn't tell the difference between all of Ōetsu's zanpakutō and Shinigami.

This also strongly suggests that the zanpakutō essence already residing within oneself is also what is unleashed via Hollowfication. It's simply that in Hollowfication, this essence is twisted and corrupted by the loss of heart, whereas in an asauchi-release, it's kept whole and pure. This in turn suggests that the zanpakutō essence is essentially a personification of the individual's will. This will be important momentarily.

So now we know how this process occurs once someone is handed an asauchi. But where do the components for asauchi come from? Well...

As @uraharashouten has recently noted, the Maggot's Nest is a prison exclusively for Shinigami who are believed to potentially be future problems. It's essentially the Shinigami equivalent of a CIA black site used by Minority Report's Pre-Crime Division.

Notice also what Kisuke says here in chapter -106:

The Maggot's Nest is not Kisuke's main responsibility, nor is it where people who have done normal crimes end up. There is an entirely separate facility for those, which is his main duty, and the Maggot's Nest is just a side-gig. That's why it's such a rinky-dinky little jail. We know of exactly one big prison in the Seireitei: the Central Great Underground Prison. That was his actual main job (although that facility is likely under Central 46's direct supervision, not the Onmituskidō/2nd Division). This is why Kisuke's punishment in TBTP was to be depowered—the warden of the CGUP would know too much to be imprisoned within it.

Now, why would you put the pre-crime prisoners in a separate facility from the normal crime prisoners? Because you want to do something else with them, of course.

Haven't you ever thought it was weird the Maggot's Nest looks more like a psych ward?

I'm going to move a little faster now. We get told in Can't Fear Your Own World, volume 3, chapter 21:

Oh-Etsu had initially planned to hold back the thing by turning him into a full Asauchi, but the Soul Reaper was still in the process of doing that research and was not capable of entirely erasing individuality in those days, so the monstrosity ended up becoming a demonic sword with the ability to devour his own wielder’s konpaku.

We're told in Spirits Are Forever With You that it takes much more time for Azashiro to assimilate people than objects, because their reiatsu resists the effects of his Bankai. As is usual, everything in Bleach is a test of will. So, in other words, the Maggot's Nest exists to break down a Shinigami's will:

This way it's much easier to erase their individuality before shredding their souls and forging asauchi out of them. The listless and broken cannot resist.

Which in turn ensures that the soul of the wielder of an asauchi will always be the dominant soul and properly inject their zanpakutō spirit into it. It's like a rigged version of a Gillian where a particular soul will always effortlessly dominate the others, regardless of how strong it is. There is no competition as in wild Hollows. Even the weakest Shinigami can subjugate an asauchi. And when that soul is strong enough...

They will all acknowledge it and submit automatically.

So there you have it: potentially dangerous Shinigami are mentally broken before being turned into asauchi, those asauchi then draw out an inner zanpakutō essence in a Shinigami and actualize it into a weapon, eventually forming its own "person" which is the same-as-but-different-from the wielder. All of the unsightly Hollow aspects of this are conveniently hidden from all parties, and no Shinigami ever suspects that they're using tame Hollows made from their dead comrades.

It's all nice and "clean".

[victorie552onepiecespeedrun]

Reading One Piece pt 276: Hancock/Luffy And Holy Shit, This is Intense

Chapter 523

Thoughts:

- “Volume 54: Impel Down!” I… I have no idea what’s happening on that cover. It’s a lot

- ohhhh, but that one is nice

- nice

- Fpos/cs: Guys, guys, it’s Spandam! He’s in intensive care unit! He looks like sh*t. That’s what you get for being a jerk, Spandam :D

- ohhh, Hancock has a cruuuuush :D

- no, seriously, she doesn’t know what’s happening

- Grandma will explain. Oh, I feel the bullsh*t coming

- “I agreed to go to the Central Zone without even thinking it over. But I don’t mind!” it’s because Luffy asked you to. You and Zoro would have a lot to talk about I think :D

- oh no, just look at that

- *sign* ok, let’s do this

- „By choosing to go with that man, you’ve saved your own life.” I’m offended by the concept here, you know, The “Woman Needs A Man” Thing but in the context it actually holds. Hancock really needed to go to Capital with Marines as Warlord to keep her people safe. But as we see, she would never do this without her “sudden love insanity” thing. In that aspect, Luffy, or more likely her Love for Luffy saved the day here. (And let’s be real, everyone in One Piece needs Freedom that Luffy represents) And Hancock’s crush on Luffy makes perfect sense! Luffy was really great for her and all over this arc! It was way too fast for Big Feelings to develop but. This is a shounen manga about FRIENDSHIP made by an old Japanese man and if ‘kinda fast’ and ‘why did a whole-ass adult woman fell for a teenager’ is all that’s wrong… we’re good here, guys (if that teenager was or looked like Zoro, NO ONE would complain and you know it).    

- as a ship, I think it holds too, at least for me, especially in the future when the age gap and life experience aren’t that much to think about (also she’s not coming onto him). He helped her! And she will help him! Mutual aid and respect! They’re both strong and silly! Pirate King and Empress! And, well, at this point it’s one-sided much and Luffy is more or less clueless when it comes to romantic relationships (aroace. He’s aroace in my eyes) but that doesn’t mean he can’t be happy with someone or that he can’t make someone happy, everything can work out in the world, especially a fictional one

- (One Piece is short at couples. All I can remember now is Yasopp/Usopp’s Mom [where she went and died when he was away], Usopp/Kaya [strongly implied but not ACTUALLY canon goddammit also they’re both 17 come on] and whatever Rayleigh and Shakky have going on [because COME ON]. Not a stellar record if you ask me but they make it work and even are happy)

- The point. I had a point

- oh right. What I’m saying is that Oda is absolutely using a cheap plot device to give Luffy a much needed help and allies AND girlfriend, BUT (and that’s the annoying part) he’s using said cheap plot device Masterfully and I’m both in Awe and mad about it. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

- ok, in the chapter they are leaving the island. Damn, Luffy really charmed everyone

- Hancock is here. She just kicked a puppy and a baby seal to illustrate she’s still That B*tch, mushy feelings aside. I deeply disapprove but it’s a nice touch. Damn you Oda, damn you

- “Just call me Hancock.” “Okay, Hammock.” Godammit, Luffy

- bye, Amazon Lily! You were a nice place when you didn’t try to kill us!

- onto Marine Ship they go. (And they will stop at Impel Down!)

- all marines are un-stoned now :D (I think that made Badass Marine Captain really happy. It couldn’t be a nice two days for him, alone and not even knowing if his crew is gone for good or not)

- lol, Luffy is literary hiding under Hancock’s coat :D

- to Impel Down!

- At Navy Headquarters. Hey, Sengoku

- So he know Boa will cooperate. Six out of Seven Warlords will in fact. Who’s the odd one out?

- Jimbei?

- There are problems at Sabaody Archipelago (they mention labor camps and god, WG just keeps getting more awful, it’s like they don’t how to stop) but Sengoku doesn’t want to hear anything that isn’t about Whitebeard. I feel your pain, man

- (I like him, sue me)

- oh. Grandpa Garp went to Impel Down. Probably to talk to Ace… oww, that will be a hard conversation

- Whitebeard’s on the move! And destroying marines’ spying network!

- “Tell everyone to be ready for attack on Impel Down!” oh no

- everything is so INTENSE now

- Impel Down

- with Garp and Ace

- …that does not look good…

- oh for the LOVE OF… stop jumping places, manga!

- !!!! NAMI !!!!

- weather magic

- “This is a small Sky Island called Weatheria. We study the science of weather here” ohhhhhh!!! Power-up arcs begin!!!

- with Franky, he’s on some winter island

- “This is mechanical Island! It was created by a genius!”

- “Peachy Island – Island of Dreams” oh, I don’t like where this is going

- “This is the famous second Island of Women. All the plants and animals here are pink” huh. You know, I never had a pink phase when I was a kid, wonder why

- “And the people on this island… all have the hearts of maidens.” Cool. Why is that so ominous

- HOLY SHIT IT’S SANJI. God, what is happening to him

“Right now… I’m in hell.” From the look of it, accurate. Jesus, what is happening to that guy.

rOP 275 rOP 277

[brave-symphonia]

So not all of the warlords agree with this war?

[nanamis-bigtie]

Do people not pay attention to the SBS? I don’t know what translation the wiki uses but according to the one they provide for Chapter 523 “[w]hen Luffy is alone his reaction is what it was with Hancock. He’s interested, but he’s not entranced [by her]. But when he’s with Usopp [,who’s the same age,] it’s like a kid on a school trip: his bad side comes out!”

Luffy’s not some innocent virgin. Dude clearly knows what sex is, he just doesn’t let it control his thoughts and actions even when he’s interested and he feels more comfortable acting on his feelings when he’s with others. You’re right, people need to stop treating him like he’s completely naive. He can be dumb but he’s not a child.

Damn you, of course I had to check and this volume in both English and Polish version just HAD TO be on the bottom level of piles of manga and merch and of course everything HAD TO fall once I moved it lmao

Translations vary a bit but yeah, the point remains the same (together with one more moment in SBS when Oda explains Luffy's take on beauty): Luffy definitely KNOWS what is going on, including the context and what is expected from him, just doesn't perceive attraction the same way as most of people shown by Oda, and well, he finds other aspects of life and relationships much more interesting. Which is basically canonically stating him somewhere on the ace spectrum, Oda's own words, even if probably not intentional. (But who knows, maybe it's exactly Oda's intention, given his take on romance in One Piece..or rather the lack of it. Honestly, the thought of Luffy being driven by lust towards anything is terrifying...)

Anyway, this SBS take is the reason why I personally read Luffy as sex positive/positively neutral ace.

SBS like SBS but I'm surprised how people massively missed the whole JOKE and its consequences - that Hancock trusted Luffy because he was probably the only (or one of very few) person who didn't treat her like a sexual object. And given Boa sisters' trauma and implications of very bad experience the Kuja had with men in general, it only adds to the impact he had on Hancock.

The way fandom perceives Luffy is in general...interesting. Like, yeah, he's a generally good, empathetic, impossibly kind guy, but he's also capable of turning people into minced meat with bare fists and will laugh while doing so. I read essays about Luffy being illiterate (bullshit, he's shown both reading and writing), about Luffy being an abstinent (prolly fault of translation mistake in the Fleet forming scene, but it doesn't erase many scenes when he's shown drinking alco), about Luffy having no idea how politics work (oh yeah, he told Usopp to shoot WG flag down for funsies)... Everything taking the same turn: treating him like a clueless child.

[volfoss]

be real with me. should i read one piece.

On one hand, yes bc I am rly enjoying it and it is one of the best shonens I've ever read. You do have to get past the ugly art (you do get used to it semi early on if thats any condolence) and how the women r drawn well. In a way lmao. I'm only 250 or so chapters in so like my thoughts may change in the future but rn it's smth where I would say yes however I do kinda wanna like give you heads up on a few things that are worth knowing before you start under the cut, discussions of some transmisogynistic content under the cut

So I haven't hit this arc yet (from what I know it starts at ch 523), but there's an arc that basically um. Fits a fair amt of really bad tropes. I'm going to direct you to this WordPress blog that is run by a trans woman and she talks about it in depth (more than I can rn as I haven't gotten there yet) and why it's um. Handled in a pretty bad way. There's also a character that's relatively similar (although tamer in terms of how he is handled) earlier on (introduced ch 129) that is clearly a sort of gender unclear character? And honestly this character could be handled worse and also better but it's also not as bad from what I understand of the latter portrayals of ppl that are GNC. One piece however does get better w trans characters and two of them are handled well (from what I understand) although they got introduced I believe in the 800s or 900s in terms of chapters. But what makes the earlier GNC rep worse is that like. One of the fan favorite characters comes out pretty transphobic towards these characters and in general so it's a heads up I feel is necessary to give (learning this initially made me go um :/ about one piece so it's smth that I do want to give a heads up on)

There's also the rly shitty archetype of man being creepy 2 women who are not interested who coincidentally is ALSO the transphobic character. So like giving u a heads up on that bc its played as a joke but it can be taken a bit too far sometimes and can be uncomfortable. The character does show up pretty early (ch 43) and is a part of the main crew so you do have to deal w him being like *that* pretty often bc it's literally towards any woman he sees.

Onto other things however, there's genuinely a lot of good in it. The women are the best written women I've ever seen in shonen (esp comparing to Naruto and jjba) and that's in spite of the um. Proportions (the post about the author drawing women literally like o><= is pretty famous so p sure you know what I'm talking about). The plot is genuinely very fun and the characters are all well written as well as their relationships and friendships. I genuinely like haven't read anything like this in terms of how genuinely all of the characters in the main group are paid attention to and not ignored in terms of their development. It's the big obstacle of getting over how the art can look at times and how the women in particular are drawn (it starts out not being too bad but like this pic was from maybe ch 180 or so)

^ the proportions are um. So in a way for sure. But I say all of this to say that I think the length and art are pretty daunting of like oh god there's over 1000 chapters/100 volumes but imo like if you're interested in it, it's worth it. If you are like interested in a certain character (ie nami. You would LOVE nami everyone should love nami) I think it's worth it to read to their backstory or to the end of their arc if they're a minor character. Imo if you wanna give it a solid shot, I'd give it at least until like 20 chapters in? If you're invested in nami and wanna stop after her backstory (very emotional will destroy u etc), that's ch 95. I think it is genuinely very good but there r also the issues and problems and stuff! I hope this very long winded post answered your question and if u need more details on stuff I'm here :)

[animebw]

Reading One Piece: Chapters 522-523

-”You’re charging them for it?!” skjhsdjkfhsk

-AHAHA I FORGOT LUFFY DIDN”T KNOW ABOUT HANCOCK BEING A WARLORD

-Oh shit. He knows now. Ace, the Whitebeard pirates, the Navy and Warlords allying... the scope of Luffy’s adventure just jumped up a hundredfold.

-Hot damn, so the navy’s literally using the geography of the area to their advantage. I love learning how this world works, man! It’s so cool!

-...Jesus, I didn’t even think of that. If Luffy’s heading straight for Ace, he can’t meet up with his friends yet. He might be alone for a while.

-”You’re like an ant diving into a hurricane.” Lads, the next era of this manga is gonna be fucking nuts.

-So we’ve got a hard time limit, Luffy can’t go back to pick up his friends, and now the one person who can get him there in time has gotten deathly sick. Talk about stacking the fucking odds.

-...Seriously? Lovesickness? That’s what were going with after all the great stuff this arc has done? Come ON!!

-God dammit, I hate this. I hate it! We were so close to doing this entire arc without descending into bullshit, and then at the last fucking minute we get this! For god’s sake, Oda, stop shooting yourself in the foot! You’re clearly capable of being better than this!

-On the positive side, I like how the women are doing Luffy’s chopstick face. He’s rubbed off on them.

-Not two minutes in this navy headquarters, and already it’s a bureaucratic mess. What a rotten state of affairs.

-And now Whitebeard’s on the move too! Man, everything’s just crashing together all at once, and we’ve only just gotten started.

-Okay, I want to geek out over all the cool islands the other Straw Hats landed at, but then I see Nami crying and I can’t focus on anything else. Fuck.

-And just like that, a single panel at the end of this chapter makes me want to take back every good thing I said about Oda avoiding sexism during this arc. Fuck. Why can’t Oda just get out of his own fucking way?

[duhragonball]

Hellsing Liveblog Ch. 68-69 (nice)

This is the “Castlevania” arc.   It’s only two parts, but I want to slow down and take my time with this one.

Okay, so in the last chapter, Alucard was fighting Alexander Anderson, who used one of the nails from the True Cross to pierce his own heart, which transformed Anderson into some sort of miraculous creature made of thorny tendrils.   Then he struck a heavy blow on Alucard’s head, and just sort of kept on going down his neck and chest.  

And as far as we call tell, this is the most danger Alucard’s been in since the story began.  Anderson lopped off his head in their first encounter, and even that didn’t stop him.   Now, in this “holy monster” form, Anderson can grow back body parts just as easily as Alucard, and he seems to be able to hurt Alucard a lot more than ever before.  The irony is that Alucard might have been honored to lose to Anderson, but only when he was a human foe.  Now that Anderson has used the Nail of Helena to become something inhuman, Alucard feels that it diminishes their fight.   

Regardless, Alucard is in serious danger, or so it seems.   Even his horde of familiars are bursting into flames all around him, which I assume is a side-effect of Anderson’s attack.   As this happens, Alucard appears to lose consciousness, and flashes back to his childhood. 

This whole flashback seemed like a nonsequitur to me when I watched the Hellsing Ultimate OVA, but I think it makes a bit more sense this time around.  As a boy in the 1440′s, Vlad Tepes was something of a religious fantatic, much like Father Anderson in 1999.   He pledged to never ask God for anything, which I don’t think is theologically sound, but let’s run with it.  The point here seems to be that Vlad felt it was more pious to endure hardship while keeping his faith in God.

For example, in this scene, we see Vlad being dragged away to be raped, and he grabs the cross he wears around his neck for solace.   He doesn’t beg God for mercy or deliverance, but simply clings to his faith to see him through.   

I’m assuming the man in shadow is Sultan Murad II of the Ottoman Empire.  In 1442, Murad summoned Vlad’s father to Gallipoli, and he went there with Vlad and his brother Ruda.  The Sultane then imprisoned all three of them, and eventually released Vlad’s father, but kep the boys as hostages to ensure the fahter’s loyalty.   There was a period when Vlad’s father sided against the Ottomans, and he presumed his sons had been killed, but in fact they survived and eventually returned to Wallachia.   So maybe Kouta Hirano is taking some creative license here, and suggesting that Murad II took out his anger on Vlad in other ways. 

Eventually, Vlad became the Voivoide of Wallachia, and in this flashback we find that he considers fighting to be a form of prayer.   Not for mercy, because Vlad refuses to ask for that.   Instead, he seems to believe that if you just keep fighting hard enough, God will descend from the heavens.   None of this made sense to me the first time around, but once you start interpreting this in the context of Vlad as a religious extremist, it starts to add up.   Anderson’s fellows in the Iscariot Organization were literally blowing themselves up to help Anderson defeat Alucard, and they were happy to do it, because they saw it as a holy mission.    Anderson himself was eager to use the Nail to make himself into a monster, because he craved to be a single-minded instrument of God’s will.   A righteous bludgeon to smite the wicked.    Vlad Tepes’ “bloodlust” seems to have been inspired by a similar zealotry, at least as Hirano sees it.

But in the end, did God descend to respond to Vlad’s “prayers”?   The image of the modern Alucard is all the answer we need.    Of course that didn’t happen.  

I’m just cribbing from the Vlad the Impaler page on Wikipedia, but from what I gather about Vlad’s final years, he was fighting for the office of Voivoide of Wallachia against Basarab Laiotă , who had support from the Ottoman Empire.   Vlad fought and lost, probably dying in battle in December 1476/Janury 1477.   The story goes that his corpse was cut into pieces, and his head sent to Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II.

So Kouta Hirano depicts Vlad’s final moments with him being captured and executed.  This is certainly plausible, and it gives Vlad a chance to reflect on his failure before he meets his fate.    He fought and killed so many people, daring to resist the Ottomans even as he ruled a state that was basically controlled by the Ottomans, and I guess he must have known how impossible that would be, which is why he counted on God to deliver him, so long as he fought hard enough.

But in that final moment, just as the axe comes down on his neck, he still has his cross... but instead of taking solace in that, he reaches out instead for the puddle of blood in front of him.    The axe comes down and shatters the cross, just as Vlad Tepes forsakes his humanity.  

So maybe all of this is a way of Alucard accepting defeat.   Defeated and humbled, no longer a servant of God or a leader of men, no longer even a man, he renounced his faith and became the vampire Dracula, and eventually Alucard.    But now Anderson seems to have the upper hand, so maybe, after 523 years, Vlad Tepes is back where he started, facing an inevitable death.  

And you know, maybe Anderson’s monster form represents the divine intervention he was waiting for back in the 15th Century.   After all these centuries of battle, you might say that God finally did descend from heaven to respond to Alucard.   So maybe this is a fitting swan song for the guy.  He wanted to die at the hands of a human adversary, but maybe this works too, right?  

But then he hears someone calling out to him, and...

Hey, it’s Seras!

So yeah, we’re back to the real world, and Anderson’s well on his way to chopping Alucard in half and burning him with holy fire or something...

And Alucard’s still out of it...

And then Seras jumps in to save his ass!   Cool!

The only problem is that this was killing Alucard, and Seras is less powerful than Alucard, so she’s probably not going to be able to do a lot of good here.    For that matter, this might just get both of them killed.  

And this is why I think this moment is cool.   When Team Four Star did their Abridged parody of Hellsing, they sort of skipped this whole “Seras jumps in” part of the fight.   Instead, they did a whole thing where Alucard has a near-death experience and talks to God.   Then he rejects God’s offer of forgiveness and goes on to defeat Anderson by himself.   I don’t care much for that, because Seras is my favorite character, and I find the whole routine of “Well maybe I don’t need your forgiveness, God!” kind of stale and limp.    Can something be stale and limp at the same time?  

Like, I think I get that a lot of atheists are sore at the whole “organized religion” thing, but it seems kind of silly to write a whole bit where the premise is that God is real, but only so we can all tell him to get lost.  Like, I’m a Christian, so I can’t really relate, but if I thought God didn’t exist, I wouldn’t spend all day writing angry text messages to God to remind him of how fake he is.  

But mostly, I just really like Seras, and this is a cool Seras scene, and I think that deserves attention, so here we are.

The Alucard-Seras relationship is complex by design.    With Integra and Alucard, there’s not much to it.   She literally addresses him as “slave” at one point, and he repeatedly talks about himself like a weapon that she has to point at her target.   There’s something kind of like that with Al and Seras.   In one of their first missions together, he sends her to take out a bunch of ghouls just so he won’t be bothered, and it’s almost like he’s weilding her as a weapon.  But he also never leans on that too hard.  For one thing, there’s not a whole lot of thngs Seras can do for him that he can’t do more easily himself.   

It feels a lot more like a Master/Apprentice relationship, which may not strictly be a vampire thing, because he’s teaching her how to hunt vampires and how to be a vampire at the same time.  I think Seras has the same sort of devotion to her master as he does for Integra, but that’s mostly overshadowed by a more down-to-earth respect and admiration.   She sees him like a superior officer and a mentor, but she also knows that he has this strange charm over her that she can’t explain or resist.  

One of the things I can’t stand about he Gonzoverse Hellsing Anime is how after a while they just started having Seras say “Master...!” over and over.    I get it, there’s some power in the way she says it.   It means a lot of things to her.   I wouldn’t be shocked to find out that “Castlevania part 2″ inspired some of that, but I don’t know what chapter of the manga was published when the anime wrapped up.   But it annoyed me that they just used “Master...!” over and over again as a shorthand for Seras’s feelings.   You have to do something with it.  Demonstrate it, like we’re seeing here with Seras trying to remove a blessed bayonet from Alucard’s torso.    She has to help him, even if it means risking her own neck, because he means so much to her, and she wouldn’t be here without him.   And yeah, she’s his vampire servant, so this seems like something a loyal servant should be doing.   Stickin’ together is what good waffles do.

Let me pause here to note that this marks the destruction of whatever remained of Dandyman and Rip van Winkle, the only “name” characters featured in Alucard’s menagerie of absorbed souls.    Whatever Anderson is doing to Alucard, it’s destroying them, irrevocably.  

So it occurred to me one day, what if Seras has to save Alucard, not out of slavish devotion or plucky heroism, or even righteous loyalty?   Way back in Chapter 1, Integra explained vampires to the local authorities, and said that when you kill a vampire, you also destroy all the ghouls and servant vampires that were created by that first vampire.   In other words, if Alucard were to be destroyed, Seras ought to die with him.    So maybe her efforts here could be nothing more than self-preservation.    I’m not wild about that idea.   Maybe, after drinking Pip’s blood, Seras “graduated” from that lowly status, and she no longer depends upon Alucard in this way.  

But I think the point remains either way.   They’re in this together.   Alucard called the two of them a family, and it wasn’t just creepy vampire talk.   There’s a bond between them, and it matters to both of them.   And that’s why Seras’ intervention here is what brings Alucard back from the brink.   By rushing in to help him, Seras has placed herself in danger, and now they have to rescue each other.

I like this part where he puts his hand on hers as they pull out the bayonet together.    It’s like the moment when Seras reached out to Alucard in Cheddar and he took her hand then.   Well, that was only in the OVA, but still.  

Alucard tells Anderson that he might have welcomed a death like this, maybe back when he was about to get beheaded in 1476, but now, he refuses to be defeated.    523 years ago, he was at his lowest ebb.   He had nothing.   Today, he has Seras.  

And... yeah, he has Integra too.   I don’t want to dismiss the importance of that relationship.   But Integra could find a way to get by without him if she needed to.   He has a responsibility to Seras, though, and Seras’s loyalty trumps whatever death-fantasies he might have on his mind.

Then Al turns into this form, which I guess is the same outfit he was wearing back in 1989, when Integra found him in the basement.  Not sure if that’s supposed to mean anything, though.  

Oh, and I guess there’s still a few familiars that didn’t burn up from before?   This is the last time we see them though, so maybe this final attack finishes them off.

As Alucard strikes the final blow on Anderson, Integra flashes back to her father, who taught her about the vampires’ inner psyche.    Arthur Hellsing suggested that vampires don’t have a whole lot to show for their immortality.   They crave conflict, not for its own sake, but becuse they long for death.   Not just any ol’ death, but a kind of death that they could take some solace in.   We’ve already seen this in Alucard, as he seems to relish the idea of being killed by a human like Anderson, or van Helsing.    If all he wanted was death, he could have let that Ottoman headsman finish the job 523 years ago.   Instead, he lost everything, and he’s spent centuries with nothing to take comfort in.   And that probably explains why Alucard is so happy with his service to Integra.   At least she gives him a purpose, a duty, a cause to fight for.  

And finally, Alucard rips out Anderson’s heart, with the Holy Nail still in it. 

And he crushes it, which I guess it enough to neutralize the Nail’s effect?   Well, cool enough then.

But Al takes no pleasure in this victory.   He sees in Anderson a reflection of himself, back when he was a human.   The fanaticism, the failure, the rejection of humanity to become a monster, and then failure again.   

And then Anderson, or whats’ left of him, consoles Alucard before he dies.

[drakesroyalromance]

I’m the Bad Guy (duh)

Summary: Emma has an accident the morning after her engagement to Drake in the safehouse that turns everyone’s world upside down. Nothing will be the same, no matter how hard Drake tries.

Catch up here!

Pairing: Drake x MC (Emma Barnes), Liam x MC

Rating: PG-13

Note: In case you didn’t already know, this is a fic co-written by @mind-reader1 and me. The first chapter was posted on her account a couple of days ago and you can catch up using the link above. The next update will be on Tuesday on her account, updates are every Tuesday and Thursday. I hope you guys like this fic!💕

Tag list: Drake x MC: @aries-light

@notoriouscs

This fic: @marshmallowsandfire @twinkle-320 @ravenpuff02

Chapter 2: The call

Emma let the scalding water run through her hair and wash the blood off her body. It helped to ease some of the tension in her body, Drake was safe, her friends were safe, she was engaged. She couldn’t believe it. Admiring the brilliant sparkling ring on her finger, everything felt right. Sure, she and Drake hadn’t officially dated before getting engaged, but she knew with every fiber of her being that it was the right decision.

Despite knowing Drake was safe, the longer she spent away from him, the more uneasy she began to feel.The one thing she knew that could release all the tension in her body was being held by Drake. Besides, she wanted to be at the hospital with him, to hear for herself that he was cleared. She threw on a little black dress and jumped back in the car she’d driven to the safehouse, she’d regroup with her friends after picking up Drake.

[[MORE]]

This was the first - well, second, technically - time she’d ever driven herself in Cordonia. Normally Bastien or someone else served as a driver, traveling by car or limo was just one of the many perks of being friends with the king. It felt strange to drive again, New York streets were always so crowded that she usually just took the subway or a cab. Driving was relaxing though, she was in complete control..at least she was, until she was blindsided by a black SUV barreling towards her.

//

Drake’s phone began ringing just as the doctor finished checking him out, he figured it was probably Emma to see which room he was in. He was ready to get out of there and go tell all their friends and family the happy news, he wanted to lighten everyone’s spirits after such a dark night.

“Hey, I’m in room 523.”

“Drake.” It was Liam, he sounded somber. Drake assumed it was because of last night's events.

“Hey Li. I’ll be back at the palace soon, Emma wanted me to get checked out by a doctor at the hospital. She should be back any minute to pick me up.” There was a deafening silence on the other end of the line, making Drake feel uneasy.

“You don’t know...” Liam trailed off. Drake’s mind exploded with worst case scenarios, in every single one of them Emma was dead. He felt the room spinning, his breaths coming short and fast. After everything he’d done to keep her safe, he still somehow failed. His stomach was doing flips.

“Drake!” Liam’s voice. He needed to think, Liam hadn’t said what happened, these were worst case scenarios, he’d know if Emma was...no, he’d just know somehow. He couldn’t think like that.

“What happened? Is it Barnes?”

“Drake, she’s been in a terrible accident...” Liam kept talking but Drake couldn’t hear him, his ears were ringing. He dropped the phone and stumbled blindly to the nurses’ desk, he wasn’t even sure he could get the words out.

“Can I help you sir?”

“I - I. My - I - I don’t know.”

“Sir, why don’t you take a seat and I’ll call a doctor to come check you out.” She tried to usher him to a seat but Drake just shook his head.

“Drake!” Liam came rushing towards them and spoke to the nurse while Drake swayed in a trance, trying to wrap his head around a life without Emma.

“ER. Two floors down.” He heard the nurse say, but he hadn’t put the pieces together yet.

“I want her in a private room. No one can know it’s her, and I want your best doctors to care for her around the clock. Do you understand me?” Liam’s voice was stern, even in pain and fear Liam could maintain his kingly composure. It wasn’t lost on anyone who truly knew them that Emma had broken Liam’s heart, he pretended to be happy for her, and some small part of him probably was happy that she and his best friend found love, even though it was at his expense.

Drake focused on one word, springing into action. Her. That meant Emma was alive. He raced to the elevator, Liam hot on his heels, shooting down the stairs when the elevator wasn’t working fast enough for him. He could hear Liam calling him, but he couldn’t stop, if he stopped he wasn’t sure his legs would continue to support him.

“Dammit Drake! I need you to listen!” Liam blocked the door to the ER floor, despite Drake's best efforts, Liam refused to budge.

“Get the hell out of my way! I need to see her!”

“You don’t know what you’re walking into!”

“I don’t care what I’m walking into. I love her! If you understood the pain I was feeling right now then you’d let me go!” Liam cocked his fist back, ready to deliver a blow. Drake was sure Liam had never felt such an intense hatred in his life, even though it was fleeting.

“Don’t you dare tell me that I don’t understand your pain!” Liam roared. “I love her too!”

“You don’t love her! You love the idea of her! And so help me God, I don’t care who you are, I will commit treason if you keep me from my fiancé one second longer!” Drake regretted the words the instant they left his mouth. The look of pure betrayal on his friend’s face broke his heart almost as much as learning of the accident. This wasn’t how they’d intended for Liam to find out, they never meant for anyone to get hurt, but it was too little too late.

Drake shoved past Liam who had no resistance left and searched every room until he found her, leaving Liam in the stairwell.

//

Liam slammed his fist into the glass covering a nearby fire extinguisher, his knuckles throbbing violently as blood ran down his fingers. Engaged? He’d already been blindsided by their confession of feelings for each other, but engaged? How long had this been happening behind his back? Had she ever really loved him? He shook his head as if it could somehow shake the thoughts out. It didn’t matter, she needed him now. Drake needed him now. Besides, that’s what kings did.

They put their people first.

[smcculloughashgov]

POLITICAL INTEREST GROUPS AND PAC ASSESSMENT

1.    Identify one national interest group that represents your issue. Include:

a.    Interest group name 

The Sierra Club

b.   A brief statement assessing the position/perspective of the interest group.

The Sierra Club strives to protect nature and the wild by promoting responsible usage of the earth’s resources. They want to restore nature and protect it by lawful means.

c.   Visit the interest group’s website. Spend a few minutes exploring and reading about what this group believes, what it wants to happen in Washington, and how it seeks to influence politicians. List five important pieces of information that give a picture of what this interest group believes. 

-grassroots environmental organization 

-a national community of volunteers, advocates, and grassroots activists who show up when and where it counts

-environmental issues can’t be separated from social justice

-want to continue to fuel the current surge in Green New Deal momentum, amplify state and local policy wins that lay the groundwork for a national Green New Deal, and support a nationwide

 -There isn’t time to waste in coming together for new solutions

d.    From your research, describe one (preferably current) piece of legislation, specific policy action, or candidate this group desires or endorses. 

The Sierra Club endorses the Green New Deal. A proposition that would completely transform the economy by taking on the two critical issues of our time, climate change and inequality. The bill would like to transition the economy which is built on fossil fuels to one that is fueled by clean energy.

e.   Where is this interest group located? Are there any local meetings you could attend? When? 

The Sierra Club is headquartered in Oakland, California, the Sierra Club California is based in Sacramento. There are local meetings held by the Sierra Club chapter San Francisco Bay, they organize hikes and meetings to plan social events that help spread their ideas and move forward with their initiatives. The meetings for hike and advocacy happen periodically throughout the month and are posted on each respective chapter's website.

f.    Are there volunteer opportunities? If so, what are they?

The way to volunteer and help local campaigns is to attend a committee meeting. Committees covering numerous issues including energy & climate, water, transportation & compact growth, public lands, zero waste, population, and National Parks. Committees organize events about their issues and these differ from issue to issue, but advocacy on local levels.

g.   Identify additional developments you find interesting from the group.

I think it was interesting that they don't only serve as an advocacy group but also want to create a community of people who love nature and want to protect it. Hikes are organized by local chapters to appropriate local nature and beauty.

2.    Identify one state interest group that represents your issue. Include:

a.   Interest group names 

California Environmental Justice Alliance

b.   A brief statement assessing the position/perspective of the interest group. 

A community-based alliance that seeks environmental justice through policy change. They want to build the power of communities across California to create policies that will aid with both poverty and pollution alike. The hope is to create a statewide movement for environmental health and social justice.

c.   Visit the interest group’s website. Spend a few minutes exploring and reading about what this group believes, what it wants to happen in Washington, and how it seeks to influence politicians. List five important pieces of information that give a picture of what this interest group believes.

-equity needs to be at the center of the climate debate to ensure that environmental justice is a part of climate policy

-environmental justice communities should play a central leadership role in climate policies so the most vulnerable communities are not left behind.

-California climate policy needs to protect and benefit environmental justice communities by reducing toxic hotspots, implementing strong regulatory measures, and speeding our transition off fossil fuels. 

-grassroots organization 

-they combine organizing, movement-building, and strategic policy advocacy 

d.    From your research, describe one (preferably current) piece of legislation, specific policy action, or candidate this group desires or endorses.

California Environmental Justice Alliance supports the bill AB 523 that expands access to clean energy in California. The law would help to ensure that low-income communities have access to energy efficient services and programs that will improve their well-being.

e.     Where is this interest group located? Are there any local meetings you could attend? When?

The interest group i s based in california having an office in Oakland and Huntington Park. Currently on their website is does not appear that they have meetings but they do promote letter writing  to politicians and petitions for laws to be passed.

f.      Are there volunteer opportunities? If so, what are they? 

On their website they don't have any specific volunteer events but have petitions and letter to right to the state government that address their concerns.

g.      Identify additional developments you find interesting from the website/group.

I don't think this group updates their website often enough, much of it is outdated and something related to former governor Jerry Brown you is no longer in office. As a result of this it was difficult to get a clear picture of where exactly they stand on certain issues at this current time.

3.      Finally, compare the two interest groups. Which one seems more organized? More successful? Who is their target audience? Supporters? Additional thoughts, concerns, observations welcome. Be sure to follow them on twitter.

The Sierra Club is much more organized, it has many members and  substantial following and national recognition. This puts the Sierra club in a better position to make change because their umbrella of influence reachers farther. Both the California Environmental Justice Alliance and the Sierra Club have the same target audience, the common man who cares about the environment. They are both grass root campaigns. I think that  the California Environmental Justice Alliance needs to become further established before they can make bigger and greater changes but there efforts current are good. The Sierra Club also targets people who love the outdoors and the recreational opportunities it provides.

4.       Choose one PAC or Super PAC that pertains to your civic action issue. Include:

a.      PAC name

League of Conservation Voters

b.      A brief statement assessing the position/perspective of the PAC.

A national non-profit organization that wants to turn environmental values into national priorities. Advocating for sound environmental policies, elects pro-environment candidates who support policies that help to accomplish their mission. They run campaigns to defeat anti-environment candidates, and support those who stand for a clean, healthy future for America. They hope to develop the next generation of environmental leaders and activists as part of their grassroots campaign.

c.       How much money have they raised/total receipt? How much have they spent? How much cash do they have on hand?

Their raised/total receipt was $2,145,888. They spent $2,179,272. They have on hand $47,954.

d.      How much of their budget is spent on: Republicans? Democrats?

The contributed $480,218 to federal candidates 96% of that went to Democrats, and only 3% to Republicans.

e.       Click Donor. Who are some of their donors? How does this reflect the interests of the PAC?

While looking through their donor list I happened upon a Lafayette couple. I thought it was pretty neat to know that I could see people in my communities participating in the political system. Just from pure observation, I notice a lot of the donors originated from more traditional liberal or more democratic states, this makes sense because democrats are pro-environment. There were also a lot of investors, lawyers and people who were retired making large contributions to the PAC.

STRAUS, SANDOR

LAFAYETTE, CA 94549

EDGESTREAM PARTNERS, LP

06/03/15

$5,000

STRAUS, FAYE

LAFAYETTE, CA 94549

HOMEMAKER

06/03/15

$5,000

[basicsofislam]

THE CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN OF THE PROPHET (PBUH) : Husayn (r.a.)

It was the 4th year of the Migration. The second grandson, who would continue the blessed descent of the Prophet, was born. The Prophet rushed to the house of his daughter as soon he heard the good news. He hugged his grandson. He named his grandson “Husayn”. A ram was sacrificed for him. In addition, his hair was weighed and its weight was given to the poor in silver. He was also circumcised.  

After that, the house of Hz. Fatima became more valuable in the eye of the Prophet. He started to go there more frequently; he hugged, kissed and loved his grandsons. He smelled them by saying, “Hasan and Husayn are my basils that I smell in this world.”[ Tirmidhi, Manaqib: 31. ]

The Prophet never wanted his beloved grandsons to cry due to any reason. He did not like it when they were made cry. Once, he was cuddling Hz. Husayn. He kissed and caressed him and took on his lap. Meanwhile, Husayn peed on him. The Prophet gave him to Ummu’l-Fadl and said, “Hold him. He peed on me.” Ummu’l-Fadl (r.anha) got angry with Husayn and hurt him. The Prophet could not bear it when his grandson cried. He said to Ummu’l-Fadl , “May Allah forgive you! You saddened me by hurting him.” Ummu’l-Fadl apologized to the Prophet. Once the Prophet heard Husayn cry. He said to Hz. Fatima, “Do you not know that I feel sorry when he cries?”[ Hz. Muhammed ve İslamiyet, 4: 160. ]

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) loved both of his grandsons very much. He did not discriminate between them. When both of them wanted something, he would give it to the one that wanted it first. Once, he went to visit and love his grandsons. They were sleeping. Hz. Hasan woke up and asked for some milk. There was a sheep in the house but she gave very little milk. The Prophet approached the sheep and milked her. The sheep gave a lot of milk. While he was about to give the milk to Hz. Ha­san, Hz. Husayn woke up and asked for some milk. The Prophet gave the milk to Hasan. Hz. Fatima said, “O Messenger of Allah! You probably love Hasan more.” The Prophet said, ‘I love both of them equally but Hasan asked for milk before Husayn did.”[ Usdu’l-Ghaba, 5: 523. ]

The Prophet's beloved grandsons became toddlers and started to toddle, which made them cuter. They loved their grandfather very much and wanted to see him all the time. It looked as if they felt that their grandfather was sent as a savior to human beings and that the universe was created for his sake.  

Once, they looked for the Prophet. They thought he could be at the mosque and walked toward the mosque. They entered the mosque and fell down. Meanwhile the Prophet was telling something to his Companions. When he saw that Hz. Hasan and Husayn fell, he interrupted his talk and went to pick them up. He cuddled them and said,

“Allah Almighty said, ‘Your riches and your children may be but a trial.’ How true He spoke. I saw these two children. They stumbled while walking. I could not put up with it and interrupted my talk to pick them up and brought them here.”[ Tirmidhi, Manaqib: 31. ]

Once, the Prophet was walking with his Companions. While they were passing by the house of Fatima, the Prophet saw Hz. Husayn playing in front of the door. He hurried toward Husayn, opened his arms and wanted to hug him. However, Hz. Husayn ran to the right and left, trying to escape from him. The Prophet smiled at his efforts. Then, he caught him. He put one of his hands on his head and the other on his chin. Then, he kissed and loved him. He said, “Husayn is of me and I am of Husayn. Anyone who loves Allah loves Husayn too.  Husayn is a grandson among grandsons."[ Mustadrak, 3: 177. ]

Once, the Prophet (pbuh) was talking to his Companions; Umm Ayman came and said in excitement, “O Messenger of Allah!  Hasan and Husayn have been lost. We could not find them.” The Prophet said to his Companions, “Go and look for my grandsons.” They went to different directions. The Prophet went out with Hz. Salman to look for them. When they arrived at the top of a mountain, they saw Hz. Hasan and Husayn. They were standing by hugging each other. There was a snake near them, with its mouth open. The Prophet ran toward them. The snake moved away, entering a hole. The Prophet went over to his grandsons and caressed them. He said, “May my mother and father be sacrificed for you! This is a great grace of Allah.” Then, he put one of them on his right shoulder and the other on his left shoulder. When Hz. Salman saw this, he said, “How Lucky you are! What a nice mount you have!” The Prophet said, “The riders are nice too. Their father is superior to them.”[ Hayatu’s-Sahaba, 2: 493. ]

Hz. Hasan and Husayn grew up. They became old enough to wrestle each other. The Prophet made them wrestle and smiled. Once, they were wrestling again. The Prophet encouraged Hz. Hasan. He said, “Come on, Hasan! Catch Husayn!” Hz. Ali was there too. He said, “O Messenger of Allah! I think you should support Husayn because Hasan is older.” The Prophet (pbuh) said, “Look Jibril is supporting Husayn by saying, ’ Come on, Husayn! Catch Hasan!'"[ al-Isaba, 1: 332. ]

The Prophet saw his grandsons almost every day. He sometimes went to his daughter Fatima's house to see them and sometimes Hz. Fatima took them to the Prophet's house. She wanted her children to learn from him.  

Once Hz. Fatima took his sons to the Prophet when he was with Umm Salama.  Hz. Ali was also there. Meanwhile, verse 33 of the chapter of al-Ahzab was sent down: “Allah only wishes to remove all abomination from you, ye Members of the Family, and to make you pure and spotless.” The Prophet covered his daughter Fatima, Hz. Ali’, Hz. Hasan and Husayn with his garment. Then, he prayed as follows: “O Lord! They are my family members. Remove all abomination from them and make them pure and spotless!”[ Tirmidhi, Manaqib: 32. ]

After the death of the Prophet, Hz. Husayn, who was brought up by Hz. Ali, led a very plain life. He led a life that would set an example to everybody. Many of his statements reached us. Two of them are as follows:  

“The jobs of the people entrusted to you are divine trusts. Do not exploit them. Otherwise, they will be punishment for you.”

“A generous person has good manners; a stingy person has bad manners. If a person thinks of the wellbeing of his Muslim brother before himself, he will find better things in the hereafter.”

Hz. Husayn was a person whose prayer was accepted by Allah. Once, he was passing by a man who was cleaning his water-well. When the man saw Hz. Husayn, he said, “I am enlarging my well but I cannot increase its water by any means.” Hz. Husayn asked the man to bring him some water from the well. The man brought some water. Husayn (r.a.) drank a little from that water, rinsed it and sprinkled it into the well. After that, the water of the well increased and sweetened.

During the incident of Karbala, one of Yazid's men asked, “Is Husayn among you?” Then, he uttered rude words for Hz. Husayn, for whom the Prophet said, “He is the master of the youths of Paradise” and said, “I give him the glad tiding that he will go to Hell.” Hz. Husayn opened his hands and prayed Allah as follows: “O Allah! Send him to Hell!” As soon as he finished praying, Yazid's horse shied and he fell of the horse; his leg was stuck in the stirrup. He went to Hell by being broken into pieces.

After the death of Hz. Muawiya, Hz. Husayn did not accept the caliphate of Yazid because he was an oppressor and fasiq (sinner) He did not act in compliance with the orders of Allah. It was unthinkable for Hz. Husayn to pay allegiance to such a person. When the people of Kufa saw that Hz. Husayn did not pay allegiance to Yazid, they invited Hz. Husayn to Kufa and said that they would pay allegiance to him. They did not like the way Yazid lived. Thereupon, Hz. Husayn decided to go to Kufa. The Companions asked him not to go there but he insisted on going. He set off for Kufa with his children and relatives.

Yazid got very angry when he heard this. He ordered Ubaydullah bin Ziyad to prepare an army and to prevent Hz. Husayn. Ibn Ziyad prepared an army under the command of Hurr bin Yazid and sent them against Hz. Husayn. Yazid ordered Hurr to force Hz. Husayn to settle in a place without water, stones and trees. Hurr fulfilled his order. He forced Hz. Husayn to settle in Karbala. Hz. Husayn and his mujahids could have killed Hurr bin Yazid and his men but Hz. Husayn did not want to shed the blood of Muslims in vain. He tried to make a deal with them but no deal was made. One day later, an army of four thousand soldiers under the command of Umar bin Sa'd came to help Hurr bin Yazid. They surrounded Hz. Husayn and the people with him. They surrounded the place where there was water. The weather was very hot. Hz. Husayn and the people with him were very thirsty. They asked for water but their demand was refused.

Hz. Husayn realized that they were determined to kill him. He did not want the people around him to be killed.  He addressed them as follows:

“O my friends! You see that the world has changed. The good ones died and the bad ones remained. Life has no taste. The remaining part of our life is nothing but water left at the bottom of a container and life in boring grassland with bad weather. Do you not see that people do not act in accordance with what is right and do not give up what is wrong? A person who is left in such conditions needs to prefer death to life. I regard death as happiness and living under the administration of oppressors as dishonor.”

After speaking like that, Hz. Husayn asked the people around him to go away at night making use of darkness. However, they did not accept it. They said, “May Allah not leave us alive after you! By Allah, we shall not leave you!” They showed a great example of loyalty. Hz. Husayn was influenced by their words and deeds.

After a while, both armies were deployed opposite each other. They approached. Hoping to prevent a big disaster, Hz. Husayn made a moving speech. He addressed the people of Kufa as follows:

“O people! The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) stated the following in a hadith: ‘When a person sees a tyrant oppressing people, doing what Allah forbids without fear, acting against the Sunnah of the Messenger and ruling over the people with tyranny and sinfulness, and when he continues to keep silent and do not try to stop him with his hands and tongue, Allah will drive him toward the place that he rightly deserves.’ These men (Yazid and Ubay­dul­lah bin Ziyad) follow Satan all the time. They stop worshipping Allah and cause mischief. They have suspended the laws of Allah and have shared the Treasury of the state among themselves. They permit what Allah has forbidden and forbid what He has allowed. It is my duty before everybody else to oppose this.

“You sent me many letters that the situation is like that. You sent me messengers that you would pay allegiance to me and that you would not leave me alone. If you keep your promise and pay allegiance to me, you will act righteously. If you have broken your covenant and if you do not like my coming here, allow me to go back.

“Think of it a bit. Will it do you good if you kill me? Will it be legitimate for you to shed my blood? Am I not the son of your Prophet's daughter? Am I not your Prophet's cousin Ali's son? Are Hamza, Abbas and Jafar not my uncles? Did the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) not say for me and my brother, ‘they are the masters of the youths of Paradise’?”

However, this raving group definitely wanted to kill Hz. Husayn. They were not in a position to understand anything. They attacked all together. There were a lot of people attacking Hz. Husayn and those with him.

The people around Hz. Husayn promised that they would protect the beloved grandson of the Messenger of Allah until he was martyred. They resisted the attackers heroically. They formed a wall of flesh around Hz. Husayn. After a while, all of them were martyred one by one.

There were only a few people left around Hz. Husayn. They had several wounds. Hz. Husayn also had several wounds. He wanted to take a sip from the last bowl of water he had; he took the bowl to his mouth. Just then, an arrow hit his mouth. The bowl fell to the ground. He wiped the blood on his mouth with his hand. Meanwhile, another arrow hit him on the side. A group of ravagers attacked him. They cut his hand. Then, they martyred Hz. Husayn, whom the Prophet called “my basil”. They cut off his head and sent it to Yazid. It was the 61st year of the Migration.  

One day after this terrible incident, the people of the village of Ghadiriyya near Karbala arrived there and buried the martyrs. They wanted to make the grave of Hz. Husayn unknown but the nice scent coming from the grandson of the Prophet made his grave known.

Hz. Husayn’s younger son Umar and his son Aliy­yu’l-Asghar, who was ill, his son, Zaynab and some women were saved from being killed in the incident of Karbala.[ Hz. Muhammed ve İslamiyet, 4: 195-202. ]

With this incident, another miracle of the Prophet became clear. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said years ago that Hz. Husayn would be martyred in Karbala. It turned out as he said. It occurred as follows:

Once, Jibril came to the Prophet. The Prophet was with Umm Salama then. The Prophet said to Umm Salama, “Close the door and do not let anybody in.” While they were inside, Hz. Husayn arrived and wanted to go in. Hz. Umm Salama tried to stop him but he managed to go in somehow and sat on the lap of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). The Prophet kissed and caressed his grandson. Jibril said, “Do you love him a lot?” The Prophet said, “Yes, I love him a lot.” Jibril said, “Yes, but your ummah will martyr him.” The Prophet said, “You mean the believers will kill him?” Jibril said, “Yes. I will tell you where he will be martyred if you wish.” When the Prophet said, "Yes", Jibril left for a while. He returned with a handful of red and wet soil from Karbala. Thereupon, the Prophet started to shed tears. He gave the soil that Jibril brought to Umm Salama and asked her to keep it.[ Mustadrak, 3: 777; Usdu’l-Ghaba, 2: 22. ]

On the day when Hz. Husayn was martyred, the sun was eclipsed and the sky became red. People thought Doomsday would strike. On the other hand, not only people but also jinn cried due to his death. Umm Salama narrates: “I had never heard jinn cry after the death of the Messenger of Allah. Once, I heard them cry again. I felt that Husayn was martyred. I sent my servant to find out what happened. My servant returned after a while and told me that Hz. Husayn had been martyred.”[ Isaba, 1: 135; Hayatu’s-Sahaba, 3: 493. ]

Hz. Husayn, who spent his life in the service of Islam, narrated several hadiths from the Prophet. Some of them are as follows:

“To leave unnecessary things shows the beauty of a person's Islam.”[ Musnad,1: 201. ]

“The real miser is a person who does not utter salawat when my name is mentioned.”[ Musnad,1: 201. ]

“O people! We act as if death is prescribed for others in the world, not for us; we act as if it is obligatory to act in accordance with what is right for others, not for us. We think the dead people that we saw off will soon return; we spend their inheritance as if we will stay in the world forever. We seem to have forgotten all of the advice and we do not fear that a misfortune will hit us. How happy is a person who is interested in his own mistakes and does not see others' mistakes! How happy is a person whose income is legitimate, whose secret things are good, whose open things are useful and whose path is straight! How happy is a person who acts modestly without humiliating himself, spends his legitimate income in the way of Allah, who spends time with knowledgeable and wise people and who shows mercy on poor and needy people! How happy is a person who spends most of his money but does not speak very much, who acts in accordance with the Sunnah and does not resort to bid'ah!”

Lastly, we will narrate two hadiths mentioning the virtue of Hz. Hasan and Husayn:

“Hasan and Husayn are my children. He who loves them is regarded to love me. He who loves me is regarded to love Allah. Allah puts a person He loves into Paradise. He who does not love them and treats them as enemy is regarded to treat me as enemy. Allah does not love a person who treats me as enemy. Allah puts a person He does not love into Hell.”

He stated the following for (Hz. Fatima, Hz. Hasan and Hz. Husayn) “I declare war against a person who declares war against you; I will be in peaceful terms with a person who is in peaceful terms with you.”

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Episode 523, “Garpie and the Tramp”. This week on the One Piece Podcast we follow up last week’s massive chapter with one that’s almost as big as the Reverie charges on! 

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One Piece Index: Amazon Lily - Impel Down Arcs

One Piece manga

rOP: 267 - 302

Chapters: 514 - 549 

Amazon Lily

Reading One Piece pt 267: Lots Of Women (514)

Reading One Piece pt 268: Family Jewels (515)

Reading One Piece pt 269: Boa Hancock (516)

Reading One Piece pt 270: Nobody Give Her Access To Wildfire (517)

Reading One Piece pt 271: Arena (518)

Reading One Piece pt 272: Haki (519)

Reading One Piece pt 273: I Don’t Want To Kill You (520)

Reading One Piece pt 274: On Slavery and Sun Pirates (521)

Reading One Piece pt 275: Newspaper (522)

Reading One Piece pt 276: Hancock/Luffy And Holy Shit, This is Intense (523)

Reading One Piece pt 277: Days Before Battle (524)

Impel Down

Reading One Piece pt 278: To Impel Down (525)

Reading One Piece pt 279: Adventure In The Great Prison (526)

Reading One Piece pt 280: Crimson Hell (527)

Reading One Piece pt 281: No Riots For Captain Buggy (528)

Reading One Piece pt 282: Giant Cat (529)

Reading One Piece pt 283: Starvation Hell (530)

Reading One Piece pt 284: You Got A Friend In Me (531)

Reading One Piece pt 285: Minotaur (532)

Reading One Piece pt 286: Inferno Hell (533)

Reading One Piece pt 287: Fighting Hydra (534)

Reading One Piece pt 288: Melted (535)

Reading One Piece pt 289: Frozen Hell (536)

Reading One Piece pt 290: Secret Garden (537)

Reading One Piece pt 291: You Can Do It (538)

Reading One Piece pt 292: Revolutionary Ivankov (539)

Reading One Piece pt 293: Out Of Chains (540)

Reading One Piece pt 294: Riot! (541)

Reading One Piece pt 295: Oda Makes Better Titles Than Me What Else Is New (542)

Reading One Piece pt 296: Anubis (543)

Reading One Piece pt 297: On Fate (544)

Reading One Piece pt 298: Up Up Up (545)

Reading One Piece pt 299: Hold The Door (546)

Reading One Piece pt 300: Goodbye Impel Down (547)

Reading One Piece pt 301: Flower Of Friendship (548)

Reading One Piece pt 302: True Freedom (549)

One Piece Index

Sabaody Archipelago Arc <  > Marineford-Post War Arcs