#they are the different villains in the mi series

[mlady-magnolia]

The White Widow - Seventh of the Eleven Fatui Harbingers

[turtletaubwrites]

Numbers Game ~ Part 20

Pairings: Cross Guild x Fem!Reader x Shanks

Numbers Game Masterlist

Word Count: 7349

Ao3 Link

Series Playlist: Youtube Music Link | Youtube Link

Summary: You fight to find some joy while your little world falls apart. Is there anyone you can trust?

Author's Note: Hi friends! I realize that most of you came for the smut, and stayed for the drama, lol. Going forward, there will be some heavier topics including trauma, scenes depicting panic attacks, etc. I'll try to bracket the most intense sections off with ~~~⚫⚫⚫~~~ and I will do my best to make sure you still understand what's going on in case you'd like to skip past those parts. Thank you so much for staying with me, and letting me take this story where I always wanted it to go!

Alternate POV Symbols:

🌲 ~ Flashbacks from Reader's Past | 🐊 ~ Crocodile | 🗡 ~ Mihawk | 🤡 ~ Buggy | 🔴 ~ Shanks | ⚫ ~ Scenes depicting panic attacks and/or big trauma (These symbols will bracket sections to denote the POV shift)

!!! SPOILER WARNING !!! Fic contains spoilers for the end of the Wano arc

Rating/Warnings: Author May Choose to Exclude some Warnings to Avoid Spoilers for Certain Chapters, Explicit Sexual Content, 18+ ONLY, MDNI, AFAB!Reader, She/Her Pronouns for Reader, Reader-Insert, Use of Y/N, Dark Content, Blood & Violence, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Dissociation, SH (scratching while panicking), Swearing, Alcohol, Cigars, Smut, Fluff, Angst, Drama, Jealousy, Manipulation, Humiliation, Pet Names, Power Imbalance, Cross Guild boys are VILLAINS, Possessive Behavior, Teasing, Threats, Size Difference, Daddy Kink, Double Penetration, PIV Sex, Anal, Multiple Orgasms, Hair-Pulling, Inappropriate Use of Akuma no Mi | Devil Fruit Powers, Shameless Shameless Smut, Other Additional Tags to Be Added

| masterlist | about me | rules | ao3 |

~~~🤡🤡🤡~~~

She’s perfect. She’s everything. She’s—

Stupid, red hair.

Buggy held Y/N close, hearts still racing, still breathing with each other.

This morning he’d woken up tense, sweating with guilt that she wasn’t in his arms after all the shit they’d been through to get back.

But the arms that had wrapped around him… The lips that had kissed his neck…

“Mornin’ Bugs.”

“Morning, shithead.”

Then there were her tears. More fucking tears today. That was all he could think about. The near panic of needing to make her feel better, make her smile, make those tears stop touching her beautiful face.

Now that those tears had stopped, his mind cracked open, letting that red hair shine through like the first light of the morning sun when you’re not ready to see it.

Gods, I’m such a piece of shit. 

“Buggy?”

“Hey, star! How ya doing? Can I get ya anything?”

“No,” she laughed, the sweetest fucking sound in the world. “Just you, Bugs. Just stay with me for a while, please.”

He held her close, his head falling back against the headboard. 

“I’ve got you.”

~~~🤡🤡🤡~~~

~~~~~~

~~~🐊🗡️🐊🗡️~~~

Buggy’s name echoed through the halls, so loud that Mihawk wasn’t the only one that heard.

Crocodile sighed, shaking his head slowly at the sound.

“Should we punish our pets,” Mihawk drawled, the words spilling out like acid.

“Sorry,” Shanks called as he sauntered back into the lounge, a pleased smile on his face. “My other hosts are a bit busy. Mind if I—“ 

“Fuck off.”

Shanks smirked up at Crocodile, sand fading from reality after the larger man had shifted across the floor. 

“You two seem awfully grumpy,” he taunted, his voice too even, too calm. “It almost seems like you care about your captives. But that can’t be right...”

Mihawk was there, stepping slightly between the two men. Two men he’d betrayed.

“Is it really necessary to gloat, Red Hair?”

“Who’s gloating,” Shanks countered, his sunny smile falling fast. “I just wanna know that my friend and his girl are safe. Can’t blame me for that, can you? Not after everything you did to him.”

“We won’t stop him if he wants to go,” Crocodile rasped, the veins in his hand pulsing as he clenched his fist. That thought soaked his blood in a rage he didn’t know what to do with.

He knew there was nothing to be done. 

“How kind of you,” Shanks mocked, walking away from Crocodile’s glare to stand in front of his old friend. He didn’t look back at the frustrated sound that left Crocodile’s throat at the dismissal. 

Mihawk hated the itchiness in his fingers, the instinct to reach for his sword. 

“You’ve been trying, haven’t you, old friend,” Shanks breathed, his eyes scanning over every slight movement on Mihawk’s face. “Looks like it’s too late to play nice, though. Why would such a sweet girl wanna stay with monsters like you?” 

A clash of hook against sword.

Shanks’ serene face, inches from the striking metal as Mihawk blocked that golden hook. 

“I think I’ll have lunch on the Red Force. Give my friends some time to cool off. All that screaming sounds exhausting.” Shanks winked at Mihawk, nodded at Crocodile with a smirk, and strutted toward the door with a laugh. “If you hurt them while I’m gone, I’ll level this place to the fucking ground.”

With that threat, the red haired emperor left the two ex-warlords frozen, their weapons still caught together in a useless battle between defeated men. 

It was hard to say who lowered first, but as soon as their weapons were down, Crocodile brought his to the other’s throat. 

Mihawk let him.

“You knew,” Crocodile raged, eyes flaring as he failed to spot any fucking reaction on his new lover’s face. “You knew, didn’t you? He’s gonna take them both!”

“Don’t you think he should,” Mihawk choked, wishing it was just the sting of the hook making his throat tight. “We’ll get through tomorrow, then we'll say goodbye to our little pets. Our little prisoners. They’ve served their purpose—“

He hissed, knowing there was blood beneath that press of metal, wet heat dripping down his skin. It was almost enough pain to relax him. Almost.

“You don’t get to decide that,” Crocodile growled, bringing his face in close to breathe scotch scented fury over Mihawk’s skin. “You spoiled, selfish, little prince. Finally grown a conscience, and now you’re making it everyone else’s fucking problem.”

Mihawk was away, leaving the hook empty, except for his own pretty blood. He didn’t bother to stop the flow of it down his chest before he snarled back. 

“We can’t force them to stay, sandman,” he declared, his breath heavier than he’d expected. “I won’t do that to them again, not—“

“You’re a fucking idiot,” Crocodile sighed as he cleaned his hook with a handkerchief, white fabric staining red. 

“And why is that,” Mihawk purred, eating up the anger, preferring it over everything else. 

“If they wanna go, we’ll let them go,” the larger man conceded. His deep voice was almost weak with those words, though his next were spoken with power, with the need to make them true. 

“So, we’ll convince them to stay.”

~~~🐊🗡️🐊🗡️~~~

~~~~~~

Fuck.

You wished that Buggy’s arms could make you feel safe from the parade of memories, of demands that dragged you back down. 

It was stupid. Of course you couldn’t be free. 

A choked laugh tore from your throat. Buggy tried to soothe it away, but the insanity of it all was too much.

You had felt safe. You’d felt fucking happy with these men that threatened to kill you, to sell you into slavery. Even though you were never without fear, you’d somehow felt good with the men that owned you. Felt good with the men that threatened to kill your lover, that had beaten him bloody, humiliated him, then made you crave them so fucking badly that you almost begged them… that you had begged them to fuck you like a whore in front of him. 

Just to escape your boring, privileged life.

All of that guilt you’d tried to shove down deep was back, and Buggy’s sweet smile that had made it all okay felt like a mirage. His loving arms around you made you feel sick. 

I am sick.

He was right. He wouldn’t even have to fake it. I’m everything he said. Damaged. Wrong. Worthless. 

Buggy deserves better. 

“What’s wrong?”

More brittle laughter escaped your raw throat, and Buggy chuckled at himself.

“Sorry, baby. That list is fucking massive, isn’t it,” he soothed, hands tracing over your skin. “Wanna take a shower with me?”

He carried you, helped you, kissed you, dried you, and made you wear some of his lipstick, chasing your lips with it until you laughed and gave in. 

“Why don’t you care?”

“What,” he coughed, eyes wide as he reached for you.

“About my… About who I am?”

He looked confused, almost as if he’d forgotten. Almost as if he really didn’t see you differently. You couldn’t fucking handle that thought either way. 

“Why would I care about your shitty family,” he scoffed, grabbing and squishing your cheeks. “All I care about is how long I have to wait before I can start making fun of you for your fancy trust fund.”

Your mouth would have fallen open in shock if he hadn’t been squeezing your face so hard. He smirked at you, looking way too fucking proud of himself.

“You. Dick,” you hissed reaching out to punch his arms, his stomach, anything you could reach. Buggy cackled as he floated each body part away just before you could hit it. You squirmed out of his grip, and he floated around you, sticking his tongue out while you huffed. “I’m gonna kill you!"

“Ooh, how much do hitmen cost? I bet rich girls can hire all the best assassins!”

“Buggy– mnf.”

“I still love you,” he whispered against your lips after shoving you against the wall. “That’s never gonna change, no matter what happens, star.”

Somehow there were still tears left in you, but he caught them with his gloved thumbs, giving your red lips a gentle kiss. 

“I love you too, Bugs.”

"Of course you do,” he winked, leading you out of the suite. “Ya hungry, pretty star?”

~~~

“Good afternoon, Y/N,” Mihawk drawled as he pulled a chair out for you. “How are you feeling?”

Uncomfortable wasn’t even close to covering it. 

They let you sit by Buggy, let him hold your hand, and they stared at you with eyes that might have held concern. Or they might have had dancing berries behind them, imagining what sort of price tag you had branded under your skin. 

“Not great,” you said blandly, hating not knowing what they were going to do with you. 

The lunch went on, and they didn’t push. Didn’t try to speak with you more than some awkward small talk, and a polite request for the salt shaker. All they did was observe you.

“I want to call my sister.”

“Of course, swee– of course,” Crocodile rasped after a pause, pulling his hand back before it could reach across the table. 

“Do you already have a buyer in mind?”

That vicious growl left your throat like lightning, too fast for you to catch. Buggy’s hand went still on your shoulder while you shook with rage. 

“Y/N, we’re–”

“Y/N,” you mocked, almost proud of the way Mihawk’s lips parted when you cut him off. “No rabbits? No sweet girls? Already distancing yourselves from your old pet, huh? I guess you can’t get too attached when you have to put ‘em down, can you?”

Your chair toppled over when you stood, but you resisted the urge to shove those pretty, round tables because you had to stop being there right that fucking second. Had to stop looking at them. You backed away from their shocked faces, the pain and anger in your blood making you dizzy. 

“I hope your next pet survives a little longer,” you spat as you turned to run inside, fleeing down that long corridor. Your eyes were burning with tears, staring at the floor just ahead of your frantic steps.

It felt like only a few seconds had passed before you were caught.

“Hey, bunny,” Shanks cooed, pressing you against him. You clung to his waist, tears spilling against his chest, bare between his loose shirt. “You’re okay, sugar. I won’t let them hurt–”

“We’re not going to hurt you,” Mihawk breathed over your shoulder, so close. Shanks tensed, tilting you ever so slightly, as if preparing to pull you away. Mihawk’s wicked fingers trailed down your back, sending chills through you while he made his promises. “We’re not going to sell you, or ransom you, or hurt you, Y/N. I swear it.”

Detangling yourself from both of them with a shudder, you caught Buggy and Crocodile waiting, watching. 

“Why are you talking to me like that,” you asked, hating how hard it was to swallow the lump in your throat. 

“We didn’t think that you’d want us to talk to you so… intimately, after everything,” Mihawk explained. His fingers flexed, and you closed your eyes against another wave of exhaustion. 

“Can we just pretend today?”

Pathetic.

“What do you mean?” Crocodile came closer, that frightening face going soft, breaking you down. 

“Can we pretend everything’s alright? I just wanna pretend you care until it’s over. Do whatever you want with me, just let me feel… Just let me pretend you care,” you begged softly. Buggy’s arms wrapped around you from behind before his lower body could catch up, squeezing more tears from you. “Please?”

“Rabbit…”

“Come here, sweet girl.”

Buggy let them take you. You let them take you.

Golden eyes were so close, the scent of him making you sigh while he stroked your hair, kissing down your temple, your cheek, your jaw, before helping to lift you into Crocodile’s arms. 

Silver eyes poured over you, his deep voice so calming while you cried against another silk vest, cried as he brought you back to that magical place filled with pleasure and pain. That place where you’d felt both shackled and free.

That stupid, green, velvet couch. 

“My sweet girl. I’d never send you away. Never hurt you, babydoll. Daddy’s here. Whatever you need.”

“My little rabbit, my love. I want you by my side. I want to watch you, my fierce, little bloodhound. Tell me what I need to do, darling. Anything.”

“My shining star. You’re my everything. You’re everything I need.”

Pretty, pretty lies.

~~~

“President Buggy, sir?”

Buggy huffed while he floated his head across the room, sticking his tongue out when he flew over Shanks’ grinning face. His hands didn’t stop petting your legs while you laid across the three laps on the couch. 

“What is it,” he snapped at the intruder through the cracked door. 

“So sorry to interrupt, sir,” the man sputtered, clearing his throat. You couldn’t see him, but his anxiety radiated through the door. “The final dress rehearsal is meant to start soon. Should we… would you like us to run through it without you, sir?”

“No, I…”

Buggy’s hands went stiff, and you turned your head to look over at his concerned face, almost pained when he glanced at you. 

“It’s okay, Buggy,” you croaked, your voice a wreck after all your tears. 

“We can watch your show over dinner again,” Mihawk suggested as he laid his hand over Buggy’s.

“We’ll freshen up,” Crocodile agreed, brushing a bit of hair from your face. “How does that sound, sweet girl?”

The tiniest, most exhausted of smiles touched the corner of your lips before he lifted you, and followed Buggy’s headless body toward the door. 

“Mind if I take a peek backstage, Bugs,” Shanks flirted, wrapping his arm around the clown’s shoulders. “I always love your shows.”

“Don’t get in the way,” Buggy grumbled. You heard Shanks’ pleased laughter while Buggy floated up to press a soft kiss to your lips, and Crocodile’s wide chest kept you warm, and sleepy. “Wanna watch my show, star?”

“Always,” you breathed, wishing you were worth that perfect smile. 

~~~~~~

~~~🤡🔴🤡🔴~~~

“Don’t be so stressed, Bugs,” Shanks beamed, following his grumbly clown through the halls. “You’ll blow ‘em away at the party tomorrow. Then we can take Y/N, and get out of here. Help her smile again. She needs to–”

“You don’t know her,” Buggy hissed, rounding on his old friend. His old friend whose eyes widened a bit at his words, but still kept that fucking smile. 

That perfect fucking smile that made his eyes go a little unfocused every time he saw it. 

So he turned, continuing his scolding while he walked toward the banquet hall, avoiding that face. 

“You don’t know what she needs.”

“You’re right,” Shanks apologized, walking backwards so he could look at his clown. Look at those perfect eyes. “You know her. You’re fucking beautiful together, Buggy. It makes me so happy to see you like that. Loved. She loves you, doesn’t she?”

Shanks watched all those expressions move under that greasepaint, studying each and every one. Trying to figure out the right words to say. 

“She does,” Buggy hesitated. He shouldered past the red haired pirate, forcing the other man to keep up with his quickened pace. Forcing that smile out of his line of sight. 

“Let’s get her out of here,” Shanks urged. Even with their speed through the halls, his voice was calm, quiet, soothing. “You can protect her, Buggy. I’ll help you. You know she’ll never be safe with them. I just want you both to be safe and happy, Bugs.”

Tears. 

Too many fucking tears in her eyes. 

“When did you ask her?”

“What do you mean,” Shanks chirped, skirting around a servant with a stack of nameplates for the tables. 

“I mean, when did you ask her to come with us,” Buggy breathed, pulling Shanks backstage after looking around the banquet hall. The stage was tiny compared to the three rings he was used to, but he could get used to that swanky, private dressing room. 

Especially now that he had Shanks pinned to the mirrored wall inside, those brown eyes flashing with a challenge, and a promise that almost made him forget the world. 

Forget her. 

“When,” he growled, more forcefully than he’d meant to as he shook himself out of Shanks’ spell. Shanks didn’t answer right away, his eyes roaming over Buggy’s face, concern and charm oozing off of him. 

“The first night,” he whispered, cradling Buggy’s cheek, tilting his hips closer. Wanting to get this stress out of Buggy’s eyes, help him feel good, help him get out of here. “You still snore like a sea lion, Bugs. Mihawk didn’t hear me.”

Buggy’s red lips fell open, but he pulled away before Shanks’ thumb could rub across them.

“And the dance. What did you say to her?”

“Just this,” Shanks reassured with a smile. “I can protect you both.”

Shanks’ smile had always brought irritation or need. No, not need. Awe. Buggy had tried to compete with his friend, had fought and struggled for years. 

“I want you with me, Bugs.”

He’d never felt good enough compared to his perfect friend. His perfect friend that was always in charge. Even though his perfect friend said such lovely things about him. 

“I don’t wanna find the One Piece without you, baby.”

Those lovely things. They couldn’t be true. 

“And I don’t wanna leave your pretty star with these monsters.” 

Until finally, Buggy had believed those words. Believed that perfect smile. 

“Let me make it all up to you. Anything you need.”

But in the end, that smile had brought him nothing but pain. 

Nothing until…

“Come with me,” Shanks purred, not caring about all that greasepaint when he flipped Buggy around, shoving his clown against the mirror to kiss the surprised, little moans from his lips. “I want you so bad, Buggy. I’ve wanted you for so long.”

Buggy’s eyes fluttered closed when Shanks’ fingers reached for him, finding his cock already hard beneath that bright, red fabric. Shanks let out a satisfied hum as Buggy lost himself, melting under that smile that said so many lovely things. 

Melting under that hand that knew his body so well.

“President Buggy, sir?”

~~~🤡🔴🤡🔴~~~

~~~~~~

The snail went on and on. 

You’d let Mihawk take care of you, wiping your face, kissing you, rubbing cool lotion onto your flushed skin, kissing you, fixing your face up before kissing across it again.

“Lovely, little rabbit,” he’d purred before setting you up with the transponder snail. You were shocked when they left you in the lounge all alone, until you remembered that he could hear you from a mile away. 

Pretending. We’re just pretending.

“Hello?”

“Kat? Oh gods, hi! Kat, it’s me,” you panicked, realizing you hadn’t planned anything to say. 

“Y/N? Are you okay? Fuck, tell me it’s you, sis.”

“Kat,” you laughed, relief and joy flooding your drained body, waking you out of your daze. “It’s me. I helped you cheat your way through stats so you would—“

“So I would help you get out of those creepy match making parties mom kept—“

“Kat, I’m so sorry.”

…

“Kat?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I mean,” you grimaced, hating it all. “You were right. They found out who I am.”

“How much is the ransom?”

Sighing, you leaned back, tapping your head against the chair. 

“I don’t know yet, but I’m okay. They let me call you.”

“… The Cross Guild?”

Fogginess filled your mind again, trying to mesh all of your worlds together.

“That clown,” she explained, her voice getting hushed. “Your clown, and his cronies, right? I saw the flyers.”

“Oh,” you relaxed, picturing that colorful flyer that had caused so much trouble. “Yeah, but don’t worry. They haven’t hurt me. I think they’ll just ransom me back. Uncle’s gonna love—“

“You should really listen to him.”

Kat’s voice was lined with stress, something you never missed. 

“Kat, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she clearly lied, your sister’s shrill voice too easy to read. “It’s just been long enough, you know? Things are good here, and you could… we could all be happy.”

“Happy,” you breathed, not wanting to give in to anger. 

“Yeah,” she brushed off, clearing her throat. “Mom’s coming, so I… I love you, sis.”

“Love you—“

“See you soon.”

…

The snail stared back at you for too long, its slow moving eyes making you dizzy. 

Unease bubbled under your skin, Kat’s strained voice replaying in your mind. 

“Something’s wrong,” you declared to empty air, your voice hollow. 

“What is it, love,” Mihawk asked, appearing on the desk before you. 

“Kat’s stressed.”

“What about, sweetheart,” Crocodile prompted as he came to lean over the desk beside the other man. 

“He’s done something,” you trailed off, mind going hazy around the edges. 

“We’ll help you, darling,” Mihawk whispered before kissing your wrist, your eyes fluttering from his simple touch amidst all your chaos. 

“Please, don’t send me back.”

~~~⚫️⚫️⚫️~~~

The plea was dry, futile, almost silent while your eyes got lost around the desk. The moment the words left your lips, you went limp. Your mouth slack, drool forming, ready to spill if you got stuck for too long. 

Nothing. 

Nothing. 

Just how he wants me.

What looked like panic in their eyes at the horrifying laugh you let out made you laugh even more, your fingernails scraping deep into your thighs while that grating sound tore through you.

“You can try to own me. I tried to let you. But he won’t let you. You’ll have to buy me first,” you warned in a harsh whisper, insanity creeping and creeping. 

“Sweetheart?”

“Nope,” you giggled, shaking your head too fast. “No sweethearts for me! No love for me. Just work. Nothing else.”

“Y/N…”

“Y/N,” you parroted Mihawk again, your voice breaking. “Please pretend. Please pretend you—“

~~~⚫️⚫️⚫️~~~

“Please, tell me what’s wrong,” he urged, kneeling at your feet, your head in his hands. “Let us help you, rabbit. I…”

“Help me by pretending,” you sat up, voice clear when you brushed the fresh tears away. “I want to pretend. I want you to pretend to care for one more day.”

His strong hands gave in as you stood to walk away. 

“Please, pretend.”

You were in his arms, resting your head in the crook of his neck, feeling Crocodile’s strong presence beside him.

“Thank you.”

“All you gotta do is tell us what you want, sweet girl.”

“Thank you, daddy.”

~~~~~~

~~~🐊🗡️🐊🗡️~~~

Murder. 

Murder roiled just beneath the surface of their skin, bodies made up of raw nerves.

A panicked glance shared between them helped nothing, except to confirm that something was fucking wrong. 

Something far worse than what they’d thought.

Mihawk held Y/N against him, pretending to be light, pretending to be the person he’d been for her before.

The person he’d been when he wasn’t scaring her, using her, showing her what a monster he was.

But all he wanted to do was shake her. Drag out whatever horrible truth there was inside her precious, little soul so he could stab it to death. 

She’s going to leave us like this. She’s going to leave here broken. 

He glanced at the other man again, wondering if he was just as terrified as he was.

Crocodile was terrified. All he wanted was to protect her. To never hear that jarring, scraping laugh leave her throat again. It was demonic. Wrong. 

His sweet girl should never be in that much pain.

He had to fight not to tear his hook across every wall they passed, through every door frame he ducked under. 

Had to give her what she wanted. To pretend everything was alright. 

To pretend that he wasn’t one of the monsters that made her cry. 

He sat and watched the show, watching her tired face pretending to be happy while her sick laughter clawed through the back of his mind.

I can’t let her leave like this. I can’t let my sweet girl hold that pain. I’m gonna fucking gut him. 

~~~🐊🗡️🐊🗡️~~~

~~~~~~

Woozy. 

But okay. 

So nice to sway back and forth between them. To watch your clown perform. To forget the world. 

Forget everything.

You were pretty good at it. 

Practiced. 

It helped when they’d call you pretty names, trace their warm, strong hands along your back, your thighs. Massaging your hand while you smiled at the shining star on the stage. 

Even the red haired pirate made you smile with his laughter and jokes, with his charm and soothing voice. Even with that missed smudge of red paint on his chin, you smiled at the thought of Buggy being happy. 

“Look at my star,” he hummed, his upper body racing to you faster than his legs could when the show was done. They left the band going for you, letting you sway. “You okay, baby?”

“Mhm,” you lied, not caring what Crocodile did to you now. “I think I need to stand.”

Pushing away from the table, every eye on you felt like pressure, felt like the real world was crushing you.

“Pretend,” you ordered, huffing a laugh at what a spoiled, little rich girl you were. “Everything is fine and we’re having a wonderful night, all of us together. Okay?”

Your three men promised, their voices soothing, but the forth voice cut through when the red haired man stood. 

“Everything is wonderful,” he beamed, offering you his hand. “Would you like to show me what a wonderful dancer you are, bunny?”

He looked so pleased when you snorted, and even more so when you took his hand. You didn’t think about why you shouldn’t or why anyone would stop you. 

I just want to pretend. 

~~~~~~

~~~🔴🔴🔴~~~

This poor thing. I’ve gotta get her out of here.

Shanks led Y/N to that gleaming floor, sparing just a glance at Buggy. His clown didn’t match his smile, and he couldn’t blame him. 

How could he smile when his poor girl was coming undone?

“Your technique is amazing,” he teased as he kept her from rolling her ankle. “Where did you train?”

“I trained at— shut up,” she narrowed her eyes, so fucking cute. 

“You actually trained,” he laughed, pulling her squirming body against his until her eyes went wide, her breathing slowed. His next words came out soft, but there was no need to hide from his old friend anymore. Mihawk couldn’t stop this. 

“I’ll protect you,” he vowed, watching her eyes clench shut. “Come with me after the party. I don't care about your family’s wealth. I don’t care where you came from. I just care about Buggy, and the One Piece. And now you.”

Those pretty eyes were teary again when they opened, and he felt a twinge of guilt before he charged on. 

“You can be free, Y/N.”

“Tomorrow,” she sighed, body slumping a bit against his. “Tonight we’re pretending that everyone cares, that everyone gets along, that no one would ever use me. Can you pretend?”

The emptiness in her voice made his stomach twist, something foul hiding behind her tired request.

“Of course. Anything for you, bunny,” he promised, kissing the top of her head. When he turned to look for Buggy, he clenched his jaw, fighting to keep tension out of his body while he danced with Y/N. 

Mihawk’s hands were on Buggy, stroking his hair, smoothing over his thigh while the clown laid on the table in front of those scumbags. Even Crocodile leaned closer, rubbing his large hand along Buggy’s back before heading to the dance floor.

“May I have the next dance, sweetheart?”

“Yes, daddy,” she hummed, pulling away from Shanks, not even meeting his eyes before skipping toward her kneeling captor. She wrapped her arms around his neck, giggling when he stood. Her feet dangled while he held her thighs against that massive chest. 

“Mm, see? My sweet girl doesn’t need to be a good dancer when daddy’s around.”

She squealed as the tyrant carried her across the gleaming floor, satisfied laughter floating along behind them. 

Shanks tried not to gape at that sweet girl giggling in the arms of a man that destroyed an entire country for his own fucking greed. 

Poor thing.

~~~🔴🔴🔴~~~

~~~~~~

~~~🐊🤡🗡️~~~

“Aren’t you gonna stop them,” Buggy asked, watching his two favorite people head toward the empty dance floor. Wondering why he didn’t feel happier seeing them together. 

“We’re never gonna do that again,” Crocodile rasped, the strange tension in his words making Buggy whip his head around to frown at that intense face. “We’re not going to force either of you to do anything you don’t want to.”

Buggy was rarely out of words, but he simply stared at the man, his red lips parted in almost comical confusion. 

“I’m sorry, Buggy.”

Those words from the swordsman’s lips had Buggy fearing that he’d died, that his mind was imagining ridiculous scenarios while his body left this world. 

But those golden eyes didn’t fade to nothingness. They kept staring at him, those dangerous fingers reaching for his own. 

“The fuck…”

“We’re bad people,” Crocodile announced, and the firmness of it made Buggy crack up, his pretty throat exposed while that blue hair fell back. 

Crocodile felt the urge to be angry. To demand fear. 

That shit was getting old. 

And his little clown was cute when he laughed. His little clown was cute when he made everyone laugh. 

Still annoying. But cute.

“We’re bad people,” Crocodile apologized, smoothing his hand along Buggy’s back. “That’s not gonna change. But I wish we hadn’t been bad to you. We hope… I hope you’ll let us make it up to you.”

Buggy blinked up at Crocodile in shock, and Mihawk almost laughed. It was surprising to hear so many nice words out of such frightening lips all at once, especially without their darling in front of him.

Mihawk cut through layers and layers of guilt to touch Buggy’s lovely hair, to smooth a hand over his thigh. 

No matter which direction he went, he would be hurting someone. There would be no true redemption for a wicked soul like his. 

But he could start here with crystal blue eyes, and a silly nose. A nose he used to ridicule, but lately had caught himself almost smiling at when he saw it. Fighting not to reach for his little clown. And why shouldn’t he reach? Who the fuck was he trying to impress? This clown was more interesting than anyone he could think of. 

“I am a terrible person. A selfish, cruel bastard. An asshole,” he whispered, staring into his clown’s wide eyes.

“Uh, yeah,” Buggy agreed cautiously, a nervous laugh leaving his throat as his eyes flicked back and forth between his tormentors. 

“I’m sorry too, little clown,” Crocodile rasped, fingers pressing in gently against Buggy’s sore muscles. “I know it’s not worth much after everything, but I’d like to take care of you now. Make sure no monster like me hurts you, or our girl again.”

Crocodile watched his little clown try to understand him. He knew it wasn’t worth shit. How could a few words make up for the terror and pain he’d caused? He fought the instinct to slam his hook into the table at his own discomfort, his body not used to accepting guilt. 

But this brave little clown had stood up to him. Over and over. Protected his sweet girl from him before he knew how precious she was. Made her laugh. 

Made him laugh.

“We won’t hurt you if you leave, even if you take her with you. I hope you stay though,” Crocodile confessed, leaning over Buggy as he stood to walk toward the dance floor. “I’d love to spoil you, little clown.”

Buggy almost fell off the table when Crocodile kissed his temple, and the playful smirk on Mihawk’s face didn’t help. 

These men were fucking horrible.

Dickbags. Monsters. Pieces of shits.

But they were also interesting. Relaxing. Intoxicating. Overwhelming. 

They made her smile. Made her scream. 

Mihawk chuckled softly, and Buggy realized that his eyes had fluttered when he thought about these big, scary, bad guys fucking his pretty star. 

Fucking him. 

“So, where’s the after party, Mr. President?”

Buggy let out an embarrassingly high yelp at Shanks’ question, breathed along the back of his neck.

“Our little rabbit wants us to pretend we all get along,” Mihawk purred, danger and challenge in those golden eyes. “Think we can all get along on that giant bed, or should I tell–”

“Can we,” Buggy asked, looking up at Shanks’ grin. 

What if this is it? What if this is the end?

Buggy wasn’t sure which “end” he was more concerned with, and that made him want to beat his head against the table. 

What the fuck do I want?

~~~🐊🤡🗡️~~~

~~~~~~

I want to forget everything. I want everything to freeze right here, tonight. Never start again. Just this.

“All you gotta do is tell us what you want, sweetheart,” Crocodile promised, his hand tracing down your bare skin after Mihawk freed you from those fancy clothes they’d picked out for you. You giggled when Buggy started from the bottom, kissing up your ankle and shin, shivering when Shanks mirrored him on the other side. 

“You said we all need to get along, right, love,” Mihawk teased, his voice alone making your body tighten with need. “My little vixen… You want everyone to get along inside you, don’t you? Want us to spoil our little darling? Want us to drown you in come?”

“Fuck, please,” you begged, interupting Crocodile’s weak argument against it. Interrupting whatever flimsy excuse he could muster up for why they shouldn’t fuck your brains out tonight. “Please, fucking take me.”

“Anything for you, little rabbit.”

Oh gods.

 So many things. So many sensations. 

Buggy on his knees in front of you, his tongue finding your clit like a fucking magnet. Shanks behind you, his hand holding one of your cheeks aside while his hypnotic tongue made you cry out, teasing, and then fucking your ass while you twitched. 

Mihawk gripped your hair, forcing his tongue into your mouth while you whined before he shoved your head down, shoving your mouth over Crocodile’s thick cock. You cried, struggling against his size, until Mihawk took your place, showing you how it’s done. 

Crocodile threw his head back, and the needy moan from Mihawk’s stuffed throat was enough, Buggy and Shanks’ tongues sending you screaming for the first time that night. 

“Don’t stop,” you begged, falling back against Shanks’ chest while you devoured the sight of Crocodile fucking Mihawk’s throat, fisting that soft, black hair, and calling him his “sweet, little prince.”

“Want us to fuck you, little bunny? Want us inside you?”

“Please, gods…”

“You heard her, Bugs, let’s–” 

“Shut the fuck up, and fuck my girl’s ass already.”

Buggy was already kissing along your cheek as they kneeled on either side of you, whispering to check if it was alright. Lubed fingers were shoved up your ass while your eyes rolled back, not ready for the pressure that was about to fill you. 

“Oh, ffuck…”

“Little bunny likes getting fucked like this, huh? Like my cock in your tight, little ass? How did I know you’d feel so fucking good? Fuck her, Buggy. Let me feel your cock inside her.”

“Buggy!”

“Fuck, star… Gods,” Buggy moaned as he forced himself inside your needy cunt. He kissed you while you fell apart, whimpering and screaming with every greedy thrust. “Shanks…”

“I feel you, Bugs,” Shanks purred, his strong fingers finding your clit. He made you come, screaming your voice away while he talked to your clown. “She’s perfect, Buggy. Let me feel you come inside her. Let’s fill her up. You wanna please him so bad, don’t you? You want his come, bunny?”

“Need it,” you managed to moan while you twitched. 

They may have said more words, but all you knew was their achingly hot pleasure pouring so fucking deep inside you. They filled and filled you while they kissed each other over your shoulder, letting out sweet, little moans while you took everything that their cocks could give you. 

Before they were done fucking each other through your body, you felt Mihawk’s fingers in your hair, tugging just hard enough to pull you out of the feelings you were about to dip into. 

 “Want more, darling?”

“Please.”

“So voracious. I wonder if these little boys can keep up.”

“We're just getting warmed up,” Shanks taunted, fucking his come into your ass with a few wicked thrusts while you spasmed against him. “Can’t wait to see what other tricks our pretty bunny can do.”

“Come here, sweetheart," Crocodile purred from the bed, sitting against the headboard. “Daddy’s cock’ll make you forget everything.”

Whining, you begged to get off of the two cocks that had just made you scream, and onto the one that would rip you apart. 

“Come on, boys,” Mihawk ordered as he helped you line yourself up, their come dripping down to mix with the lube Crocodile had rubbed over himself for you. “Let’s watch our lovely girl’s sweet pussy get destroyed.”

“Fuck, daddy,” you cried out, the stretch of him inside you still a shock after all your time together. “Daddy, it’s too much.”

“Nah, babygirl,” he soothed, kissing your neck while his hand guided your body over his. “You can take it. Take it for daddy. Take everything...”

“My little rabbit,” Mihawk hummed, kissing up the back of your neck. “You love it when we take you like this, don’t you?”

You started to say yes, but when he shoved himself into your come-soaked ass, all you could do was scream. All you could do was pant, and twitch, and come, and then fucking come again when they told you what a good, little girl you were. 

“You fuck our girl so well, little prince,” Crocodile praised, bringing a soft moan from Mihawk’s throat. “Gonna stuff her sweet ass for daddy? Show me what a pretty mess you can make?”

You both cried out, their cocks twitching inside you. So fucking good.

“Mm, be a good boy, and kiss me first. Make our sweet girl come with your fingers again.”

“Daddy,” you fell apart, feeling his lips on yours before you watched him kiss Mihawk over your shoulder. Your head fell to the side, and your eyes rolled back at the sight of Buggy and Shanks with hands and lips all over each other.

But Buggy’s eyes were on you. 

“Buggy,” you whispered at the sight of him, and suddenly he was there. He was kissing you. 

“My little clown,” Crocodile purred, fisting his hand through that gorgeous blue hair. “Wanna make it up to him, little prince?”

“Yes, daddy,” Mihawk breathed, his fingers still making you twitch. 

Buggy had already stopped kissing you, staring back and forth between the two men while they fucked into you, while he trailed his hands down your skin. 

“I wanna take care of you,” Crocodile promised, his voice getting rougher as he fucked you open. “You know I’ll take care of you, don’t you, little clown?”

Your mind was almost lost to it all, almost fucked out, but his words felt heavy, vital. Your breath caught, waiting for your clown to answer. 

“Yes, daddy.”

“Mm, such a good boy for me,” Crocodile praised, tugging that blue hair a little harder while you came on their cocks again. “Show him how sorry you are, little prince. Suck his dick. Let Buggy fuck that mean little mouth of yours.”

If you weren’t already coming, you knew you would have at those words, at the shocked look on Buggy’s face when Mihawk opened wide, at the sounds they both made when Buggy shoved his floating cock so deep, so fucking fast into the swordsman’s throat. 

“Fuck yeah, daddy’s so fucking proud of you,” Crocodile groaned, thick come spilling down the sides of his cock as he filled you. Mihawk made delicious whimpering noises while he came in your ass, Buggy’s cock strangling him, then spilling across that perfect face when it pulled away. 

You caught Buggy’s eyes when he stared at his mess, his satisfaction making you twitch again. Mihawk reached for Buggy, kissing him hard over your shoulder. 

The door closed. It wasn’t a slam. That probably would have helped you remember why there was a door at all, let alone another human being on the fucking planet. 

But the door shut, and Buggy was gone, leaving your body screaming until your other lovers let you loose, praising, and kissing, and touching, until you shivered with pleasure. Carrying you into the shower like they had that first night. 

Buggy returned, helping to scrub Crocodile’s shoulders, making you all laugh under that lovely, warm water. 

So many pretty lies. 

Smiling against Buggy’s chest, with Crocodile curled up behind you, and Mihawk’s hand touching you from around Buggy’s body, you felt perfect. 

This was exactly what you’d wanted. 

Exactly the kind of pretend you had asked for. 

Tonight you only dreamed of the transponder snail, and you decided not to answer. 

~~~~~~

~~~🔴🔴🔴~~~

It was already too much. Too much that Buggy couldn’t keep his eyes off of them. 

It’s okay. He loves her. We’ll take her away.

Those words rang through Shanks’ mind while his clown couldn’t look away from the monsters in that bed. It was okay, even when Buggy left him without a second glance to kiss her. It was just for her.

Until it wasn't.

He called him daddy.

He let Mihawk… 

Mihawk had… 

Now they're kissing like that… 

Shanks had to leave. 

“Shanks, hey! Where ya going?”

The red haired emperor rarely had to lie. Rarely had to fake a thing. Never had to fake a smile. 

But he did now.

Shanks plastered a smile on his face, tilting his head at his lovely, old friend. 

“I’m good, Bugs,” he lied, moving close. He was about to touch his chin, but the thought of Mihawk there made him pause. “You should sleep in there with her. If you come with me tomorrow, then this is your last night to play pretend with them.”

“But–”

“It’s okay,” Shanks lied again, getting over himself to kiss those faded red lips. “I’ll be here in the morning, Bugs. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

Soft, sweet eyes scanned his face, so Shanks held onto that fake smile as tight as he could. Wanting his clown to be happy.

“Okay,” Buggy whispered, reaching for his hips to pull him closer. "You can join us if you want. I’m sure–”

“I’ll be alright,” Shanks laughed, fighting not to shove Buggy back into that room, and slam the door on his new life that made no fucking sense. “Goodnight, baby. Dream about me.”

A bit of satisfaction ran through him at the shudder Buggy gave when he teased those words, kissing below his ear. The emperor turned around before his clown could say another word.

Shanks needed to get the fuck out of there. 

Before he hurt someone. 

~~~🔴🔴🔴~~~

~~~~~~

~~~🗡️🗡️🗡️~~~

Mihawk couldn’t recall feeling the amount of pleasure, safety, and comfort that he had tonight. The warmth and slow breathing of his three lovers would have had him drifting off. 

Yet, he couldn't recall feeling the level of terror and helplessness he had felt when he watched Y/N fracture, the chaos in her distant eyes sending ice through his veins.

His darling's secrets kept him awake, especially at the searing thought that she might leave with Shanks. She might leave before he could hunt and kill whatever had poured that poisonous laughter down her throat.

That laughter.

“Hey, Hawk Eyes.”

Shanks’ quiet voice taunted through the halls, dangerous laughter floating with it.

“I know you’re awake, old friend. Let’s have a chat.”

~~~🗡️🗡️🗡️~~~

Likes, comments, and reblogs bring me much ✨dopamine✨ thank you!!

a/n: Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed the DRAMA! How's everybody doing?

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Part 21

Operation Olive Branch has compiled a working spreadsheet of ways to help families fleeing from the genocide in Palestine. If you enjoyed this fic, and are able, please click the link to find a list of GoFundMe's, as well as other ways to help.

| masterlist | about me | rules | ao3 |

[nemainofthewater]

Best Character surnamed: Yue

Come and vote for the best characters with the same surname!*

What does best mean? It's up to you! Whether you love them, are intrigued by their characters, love to hate them, or they're your '2 second blorbos whose personality you made up wholesale', these are all reasons for you to vote for your favs!

*note, the surnames are not exactly the same in all the cases, as often there will be a different character. I am, however, grouping them all together otherwise things got more complicated.

Propaganda is very welcome! If I’ve forgotten anyone, let me know in the notes.

This is part of a larger series of ‘best character with X surname’ polls’. The overview with ongoing polls, winners, and future polls can be found here

[arirovi]

A reflection...

I knew BnHA in 2016. The first season was finished and the second season was expected. I was in the University and still working for my degree. Mi personal life and the world in general was so much different...

There was no sign of a pandemic coming, Tumblr was still not undergoing a content purge, and the anime community was much less widespread than today. Then i walked trough the fandom path, to put it more simply, as an observer rather than an active participant.

And just by watching, one learns many things.

In particular, I want to refer to the expectations with which we all approach a series, a story. And also how these change over the years, how they are built on the emotions that certain parts of the plot provoke in us.

First off all, I want to cover expectations for the bnha plot in general.

I've seen various parts of the fandom enjoy BnHA from different points, because it's those parts that resonate with them the most. Some from Izuku's mentor-protege relationship with All Might, others from the focus of pure and simple Heroism, some from the tragedy that is the villains' past and others from the trauma and abuse represented by the Todoroki.

We have all done it from a valid point of view and, naturally, we all build expectations.

Some lucky ones are lucky enough that what they expected to happen happens in the end (and I am happy for you from my own experience), but when those expectations are not met by the original material, it hurts a lot. More than one of us may have seen it happen again and again, experienced it firsthand.

Because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter which part of the story we are most engaged in, we all reach, in some way, a point where our expectations are either not met (if we are unlucky) or forgotten or not allowed (if we consider it a representative injustice). But in the end what counts is that as fans we all experience this phenomenon at the same time (to a lesser or greater extent) and in its own way it is a type of social bond that is not forgotten.

(And I'm not saying that it's something merely negative or positive, it can be both at the same time AND it's just a fact, something that is happening to all of us who follow BnHA no matter how long we have been in the fandom)

So, now that the end is approaching and I am faced with different opinions about it, it is like living in a loop of collective emotional repetitions and it is such an incredible phenomenon that in itself, it makes me want to share my thoughts when I didn't before.

Which brings me to the other point I wanted to talk about: shipping expectations and Bakudeku

At that time (2015 onwards) the concept of "queerbaiting" was quite popular, while at the same time, so was the idea that your queer ship could become canon. In fact, it was strong enough to cross the borders of fandom.

But even with this in the mainstream, we BakuDeku seemed to remain on our side of the fandom, always in defense mode. The most vocal on social media represented a group of followers who didn't care how toxic the mere idea of ​​this Ship was to others. The only thing that we cared about was that we liked their interactions, the intensity and the paradoxes between Kacchan and Deku.

In 2016 it was not popular to be a BakuDeku, much less accepted by the general public. And even among fans of the characters, being a specific DekuBaku was a rarity.

And so time went by.

As you can see and in hindsight, expectations for the Ship were very low from my perspective. What we expected from the story was so little that the minimal interactions between Izuku and Kacchan seemed to be assimilated quite carefully and mainly in spaces dedicated only to the ship.

Furthermore, the sparking discussion about whether "bakudekus were apologists for abusers" attracted so many antis and haters that the whole thing became horrible. At one point, blocking them was no longer enough to be safe from hate. And being part of the fandom required so much energy that even I, who was just a shadow who liked or reblogged content in the fandom, needed to control my exposure time to social media.

And what happened next, to reach the expectations that the fandom has now?

The pandemic of 2020 and Bakugo Katsuki: Rising.

That chapter, added to the new influx of fans brought by the pandemic and its quarantines, diverted the path that we believed was set for Kacchan and Izuku as a group. Suddenly, many things that we thought only belonged to the realm of fanfic became accessible through canon.

To begin with, no one imagined that kind of sacrifice on Kacchan's part in the manga. Nobody believed the hospital scene was possible, nor that it was possible for him to ask Izuku for forgiveness or to cry for the loss of his quirk (and what that meant for both of their lives).

How could expectations not rise in the collective because of this, both old and new fans? How to avoid it for those of us who live through its darkest times as fans? How to control the hope of those who feel vindicated by the narrative?

In the end, the nature of expectations is fluctuating over time, unpredictable if we do not pay attention to them, and I am not here to tell anyone, not even myself, that having high expectations about something is bad. Or that having hope about something that helps you be happy is dangerous in the long term. Even if my past in other fandoms resulted in a painful and impossible to forget ending, I can't do that.

No one has the right to comment on the emotions of others and how they live them, how they express them. However, after eight years here, I have learned to use caution as a weapon of battle.

And how I do it? Taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture.

It's been a long road for all of us who were here from the beginning. We had ups and downs and we will continue to have them without a doubt.

Personally, I hold my expectations with a comfortable, soft and practical harness, to bring them closer, caress them from time to time and let them be. But at other times, I hold them tight so they don't get out of control.

The final idea of ​​this, and what I have learned over time, is that you should not assert yourself at any extreme. Mental, emotional and physical health is in balance, it has been proven many times.

I have hope, but I glimpse it in moderation and if we are lucky and our expectations are fulfilled, I will celebrate with joy. But if in the end these are not fulfilled, I will remember the good as well as the disappointment, although without pressure. After all, everything returns to a better place in its own time.

[sarnai4]

Butt of the Joke

Something I enjoy in stories is when you can laugh at and with a character. To me, it keeps them from seeming too "important" or flawless. We all make mistakes and being able to laugh at ourselves is nice. That's why I like when they do this with Dagur, but the method is very different from what's done to Snotlout. Something I will probably always be grateful for is that Dagur is a show character and not a movie character. Those in the movies (the rest of the Riders anyway in my opinion) had their development stunted. I'm convinced that the first movie didn't expect the franchise to get as big as it did and just needed some other people to fill out the cast. Unfortunately, they also didn't expect the shows to be super popular. So, Snotlout in HTTYD 3 is still immature enough to flirt with the widowed mom of one of his best friends when RTTE Snotlout would understand how inappropriate that is. All that's to say that the jokes for Snotlout are often at the expense of his character because he still has to end up at whatever point he's at in the movies.

I believe it's in "Shell-Shocked" that there's a joke about Snotlout suggesting they all leave the Edge and run, leaving it for the Hunters. Okay, yes, I chuckled too because it is funny to have a character be so openly fearful. Yet, this doesn't make sense for him at this point. We're on the season 4 finale of a show that happened 2 seasons after the first series. Snotlout should know by now that leaving the same Hunters who had been willing to kill them and a ship of innocent people with a disease can't be left to their own devices. Why wouldn't he want to stay and fight? Even if it's dangerous, of course the villains are going to keep coming for them. Hiccup rightfully points out that they'll just go on to Berk, but why did he have to say this? Snotlout should have known, but the joke was made without considering how much he'd grown and his own bravery and intelligence.

There seems to be a thing about Snotlout being cowardly, but I really don't think he is. In "Gold Rush," there's a wordless joke where he's just screaming his lungs out after getting captured. Not saying he hasn't shrieked when plummeting to what could be death and that's totally fine, but here? Eh, I don't think so. I feel like there would be enough bad blood between him and the Hunters by now so that he wouldn't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing how scared he is. It's also horribly futile. He's gone to save Fishlegs, the twins, and Astrid before. He knows the Hunters won't release them and nothing is even happening besides his cage being moved. I'm probably overthinking these moments, but they annoy me since they paint Snotlout as pathetic when we then see him enter a 21 vs 2 fight in "Something Rotten on Berserker Island" fearlessly. Is he a scaredy cat or not? I just want some consistency, then I'd accept whatever fit with the character I'd been shown.

Dagur's saved from this since all his development is in the show. He's not held back by the movies. So, when there's a joke at his expense, it doesn't contradict anything. I'll try to make the examples as similar as possible for comparability. Dagur's got a joke involving saying the wrong thing and it was in "Mi Amore Wing." He's proposing to have Hiccup be his best man. Yes, this is clearly a unique way to ask someone, but it's also not contradicting anything about Dagur. He's got 0 skills with picking up on social cues and responding to things the way other Vikings generally would. It's also very possible that he's never seen anyone be asked to become a best man before, so he's doing what he thinks is a good way to show he's sincere and would really be happy. I don't leave the scene thinking, "Now, why would he say that, though?" Because he's Dagur. That's enough of a reason.

Dagur's got a scared joke too in "Enemy of My Enemy." When he was on Toothless's saddle, he was terrified and the scream made it pretty clear. This made sense because there was something happening at that moment. It wasn't Dagur letting his enemies see his weakness. It was him being on a dragon for the first time, going very quickly, and not knowing what he was doing. He's even thrown off the saddle as soon as Toothless lands in another moment I thought was funny. It doesn't make him look bad, but we can still laugh at his incompetency in this area.

Both of these characters have several physical gags too where one of them gets hurt and I will admit that those always get me to laugh. It's just times like those I've mentioned for Snotty that disappoint me. I really like him too. I think if he were allowed to be a more respectable character, it would be great. Dagur proves the writers know how to do that. We can laugh at him without him doing anything that opposes what they've set up. On the other side of this, Snotlout will act one way, then contradict the very personality we just saw him develop. I can't think of a single time when I couldn't explain one of Dagur's actions through use of his personality. I think that's how it should be. If it's in-character, then it makes sense. If not, then maybe the scene should be worked on a bit longer for this to be fixed.

[thatlovinfeelin]

Flightless Bird | ten | Bradley Rooster Bradshaw

Synopsis: Josephine Wilson Miller is alone for the first time in her life. She got married after her first year of college and became a housewife, but that life is gone now. So she runs to San Diego, to her childhood best friend Jake, where she meets the man who could very well be her salvation.

series warnings: unplanned pregnancy, just pregnancy in general, talks of infertility. past mental and emotional abuse. anxiety. talks of women's reproductive systems (idk)

“My client is not in agreement with these terms.”

Josephine clenched her fists. She’d been in this damn conference room for two hours while her lawyer argued with Michael’s. She just needed this to be over already. He was the one that kicked her out, so why the hell wouldn’t he just sign the damn papers and be done with it?

“I think you’ll find these conditions are more than favorable for your client,” Her lawyer responded calmly, “Mrs. Miller isn’t asking for any assets, in fact she wants nothing from your client. Mrs. Miller’s only request has been made very clear, we feel it’s quite simple.”

Jose could hear Michael mumble something on the other end of the phone. She knew he was there, of course, even if they hadn’t said a single word to one another. They’d been going back and forth through their lawyers for weeks now. But he kept dragging his feet at every turn, making every possible excuse as to why the divorce wasn’t fair.

“You and your client are asking my client, Mr. Miller, to sign away his rights. This is no simple matter.”

“I think you’ll find, given the situation that-”

“Michael, can you hear me?” Jose cut off her lawyer. 

“Mrs. Miller, please.”

“I’d like to speak with my husband, since legally, we’re still married. Michael?”

She could hear him clearing his throat, “I’m here.”

“Why are you being so stubborn? You’re the one that made this happen,” Jose reminded him softly, “I’m not asking for anything more than what you made clear you wanted.”

“Oh, that’s how you see it?” He scoffed. 

“You threw me out, in the cold. I had nowhere to go, because I didn’t have a life outside of you. All because I dared to say I wanted to keep the baby,” She reminded him, “You didn’t want anything to do with either of us, and you still don’t. Stop acting like you do.”

“No, no, you made that choice. You chose to leave.”

“You can keep everything, the apartment, the money, all of the investments we made. I don’t want any of it anymore,” She pleaded, “Just sign the papers, please Michael. Stop the cycle here, don’t be like your father. Don’t use this child…my child…as a bargaining chip.”

“Josephine, you just love to paint everyone else as the villain in your story. It’s always everyone else’s fault, never your own. You told me you weren’t able to conceive, so we made a different life for ourselves. Don’t blame me because you lied and changed your mind.”

Jose held onto her stomach, feeling his words hit her like knives, “You know I never lied about that. You were at so many of those appointments. Michael, please think about what you’re doing. You’re trying to use an innocent little baby girl as leverage. She hasn’t done anything yet, she didn’t choose to exist, but she does. It isn’t her fault.”

The silence seemed to be so loud it almost hurt. Her lawyer sat quietly next to her, waiting for the next move. Up until now, Michael and Jose hadn’t spoken to one another since she left New York. Aside from the text messages Michael sent to tell her to get Jake off of his back.

“It’s a girl?”

She wasn’t sure if she imagined the sound of his voice breaking or not, “I found out last week. She’s healthy, ten fingers and toes. Mi, our marriage was over a long time before she came about. You know it just as much as I do. Don’t punish her for our mistakes.”

“You want me to sign away all of my rights to her.”

“It’s just as much for her as it is for you. It’ll protect you, no one could ever claim you have to pay any type of support. Your name won’t go on her birth certificate, as far as anyone is concerned, I’m her only parent. Michael, you can continue to live your life with no strings. You can find someone who will actually be good at all of the games. I was never fit for that life, no matter how hard I tried.”

“Josephine, I-”

“We loved each other once, Michael. I know we did. But those kids that fell in love and got married have been gone for a long time now. We’ve been holding each other back and hurting each other at every turn. So please, do right by our daughter. The best thing you could ever do for her is give her up.”

“I-” He took a deep breath, “You’re right. The papers will be faxed to you no later than tomorrow evening.”

Josephine sunk back in her chair with tears swelling in her eyes, “Thank you.”

“Jose?”

“Yeah Mi?”

“You’re going to be an amazing mother,” He said softly, “Our daughter…your daughter is lucky.”

“I hope one day you get to see her, Michael, but it will always be her choice.”

“Goodbye, Jose.”

“Bye, Mi.”

When Jose came bursting through Jake’s front door three hours later with signed divorce papers in her hands, she didn’t expect to run right into Jake and Phoenix on the couch. They both jumped up, quickly moving away from one another. Which only seemed to make Jose laugh. 

“Sorry, don’t mind me,” Jose held her hands up, “Go back to whatever it was you were doing. I’ll just leave.”

“Hey wait!” The other woman yelled, “How did it go?”

“Well, the next item on the to-do list is to legally change my name back to Wilson,” She shrugged, “Michael agreed to sign the papers. The office sent them over an hour ago, I’m officially no longer married.”

Jake and Natasha were on Jose in an instant, both hugging her tightly. Jose laughed and hugged them back. Her baby might not legally have a father, but she already had some of the best family. In another world, Jose might be scared about doing this without a partner beside her, but she knew she wouldn’t be alone. She would always have Jake, and Phoenix, and Bradley and anyone else that came along with them. She was making her own little family. 

“How did you manage it?” Nat asked her once they all settled into the living room. 

“I think I appealed to the boy I fell in love with. There was still some humanity left in there somewhere.”

“Have you told Bradley?” Jake questioned. 

“No, I came straight home to tell you.”

Natasha pulled out her phone, “I’m telling him to get his ass over here.”

“What? Why? Nat stop!”

“Too late,” The woman grinned, “You probably have less than five minutes.”

“I say she has two,” Jake chimed in, “He’s pretty fast.”

“Why did you do that?” Jose questioned, standing up. 

“Because you like him,” Natasha shrugged, “And you’re single now.”

“I’m pregnant! It doesn’t matter who I like!” Jose argued, “Jake! Help me!”

“Sweetheart, we’ve had this conversation one too many times already,” Jake sighed, “And I’m tired of Bradshaw playing a one sided game of twenty questions about you while we’re on base.”

“He asks about me?” 

“Too much,” Jake rolled his eyes, “In any other situation I wouldn’t be supporting this. I know you’re scared, but I also know the two of you have some kind of bond that I don’t understand. I trust him. So, let your guard down for a minute.”

“You know why I can’t do that,” Jose argued. 

“Don’t use her as an excuse,” Jake was standing in front of Jose now with his hands on her shoulders, “It’s okay that you’re scared, but don’t use your daughter as an out, okay? Be a big girl and accept the fact that you have feelings.”

“Jake, I think it’s a good day to sit out on the back patio, don’t you?” Natasha questioned, wiggling her eyebrows. 

“Phoenix, I think that’s a great idea,” He smirked, leaning over to kiss Jose’s forehead, “Holler if you need us, Sweetheart. Play nice.”

“I hate you both so much right now.”

It took five minutes for the knock on Jake’s door. Josephine’s hands were all sweaty by the time she reached for the handle. She didn’t know what she was supposed to say, or what Natasha even said to get Bradley over here. 

It took her less than a second to realize just how nervous she was. Which seemed weird, she never really felt nervous around Bradley. Always an overwhelming sense of calm, yet not her heart was pounding like it might burst.

“Hey are you okay?” Bradley asked frantically the second Jose opened the door.

“I’m fine,” She said quickly, “I promise, everyone is okay.”

“Phoenix said I needed to get over here as-” Bradley stopped and looked at the woman in front of him, “Why are you smiling like that? What’s going on?”

Jose reached forward, pulling Bradley towards her. His eyebrows were pinched together as he put his arms around her. Despite everything, Jose couldn’t think about anything other than the man before her. 

“I’m free,” She told him softly, “He signed the papers today.”

“Jose, that’s amazing,” His voice was so tender it made her heart seem to jump. 

“I meant what I said,” She whispered, “I want you in my life.”

“I’m right here.”

She had to get on her toes, which in her current state was harder than it should have been. Bradley stayed still, not wanting to scare her. But he liked when she seemed braver, he liked when she was like this. Her eyes flicked back up to his for a moment before she leaned in the rest of the way. 

Then it was just them. Just Bradley and Jose, and the sparks that she wasn’t going to ignore anymore.

[bearmemesreviews]

FotW: SDMI - In Fear of the Phantom

Welcome back to Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated, and now we're getting into a problem many reboots and adaptions face - what happens when you try something different. Today's episode isn't really that special, serving as a bridging point between the next stint of episodes focused on the gang's love lives.

Except for featuring the Hex Girls of course.

Not to overshadow the main villain, which would be extra funny considering their backstory, but come on that's what y'all are here for.

Yeah, they got a bit of a redesign since their last few appearances in the two billion direct to DVD films. Fans DID NOT like this, and in a later episode they had to actually address the backlash while also scrapping these outfits for the original ones. They also steal Luna and Dusk's hair dye and gave Thorn's highlights a diminished role.

My personal opinion? Eh, I would've preferred a middle ground between the two, but for reboots I encourage designers to go all out since it's their own thing. So for Mystery Incorporated I would've either kept the redesigns or gave them completely brand new looks a second time. The OGs have a more cohesive aesthetic, but I like how MI experiments by giving each girl their own Alt style. It's probably Dusk who could probably use a new outfit though, since her Tank Girl getup doesn't mesh as well as Thorn's "Pagan School Girl" and Luna's "Lesbian Thespian" outfits do. Actually, maybe one of those Scene Kid reconstructions of School Uniforms would've worked better?

Oh yeah, this nerd.

Backstory: Like most lesbians Velma is a massive fan of The Hex Girls, snagging front row tickets for the Scooby Gang just in time for them to witness a "Phantom" try to murder Thorn on stage. As with every mystery the gang decide to take it upon themselves to do the cop's job to keep the concert going while protecting the band.

This leads to an exploration of the show's two main ships, Fredphe and Shoob - again, yes really.

This show is really good trust me on this.

Scooby outright calls Shaggy a cheater for going to prom with Velma instead of hanging out with him like they always do, and replaces Mathew Lillard with a wooden dummy much to Shaggy's chagrin.

Fred meanwhile comes out as nonbinary a teenage boy with emotions as he finally grasps Daphne's romantic interest in him. All thanks to an entire song written by Daphne where she uses Fred's special interest to get through to him.

Behold, one of the best songs made for a television show in history.

Before this spectacular moment of audio interposed with occasional Zelda CDI-level animation (to be fair are you even looking at the animation in the first place) we got some Phantom shenanigans. Mostly him responding to Scoob and Shag's ability to warp time and space by just setting them on fire, probably the most effective thing one these guys have attempted so far.

Design: Obviously a homage to The Phantom of the Opera, and as we go through the series, you'll start to notice a lot more homages that Wikipedia will kindly point out for you. Though you can also see a bit of Comic Supervillain in his design, so much so that he doesn't seem to fit with the show's own aesthetic. He wears a black full body suit with a gigantic, taller than his own head, Dracula collar and grim reaper-esque hood. He has a fabricated piece of his outfit that goes over his shoulders like Football Pads, but with a sleeker design as it attaches his cape to the main costume. His cape is black but its interior is lined with a sparkling holographic material.

His mask, belt, boots, and glovers are all made of golden mechanical pieces, as they actually allow him to charge up bolts of electricity to fire at the teens in our show. This tech is never explained, and he really only uses it a few times before forgetting he has these weapons at his disposal.

His mask is the best part of the outfit, legitimately cool while evoking a gas mask. It's almost like it was made out of several pieces asymmetrically stuck to each other with large bolts, like if C3PO was mangled in an accident and put back together with recolored bits of R2-D2. There are several short, cylindrical ports on his gauntlets, boots, belt, and mask that occasionally glow green.

Reveal: Shaggy, with an extensive knowledge of obscure musical groups as we'll be shown time and time again, recognized the shiny material of The Phantom's cape as belonging to a One-Hit Wonder named Fantzee Pantz. And once that's discovered it's pretty obvious that the other suspect, The Hex Girl's manager, is not the culprit as he was just as responsible for Fantzee's obscurity as THG.

No, the true culprit is the girl's songwriter, who first attempted to sabotage them through badly written songs but was thwarted by the girl's talent and popularity - So he then turned to just trying to kill them, and Daphne. He ends up taking Scoob's dummy to jail with him, but the original duo patch things up by then - letting us look back at Velma who got sidelined so badly this episode.

2/5 Goofy as hell design for a goofy character, probably the most "Villain of The Week" we've encountered so far. In fact, he'd probably fit in better in Miraculous Ladybug than this show. Not that bad otherwise, just not as impressive.

[wuzhere75]

More goofy idiots; high school musical edition. Also yeah I probably just could have gotten away with Kinkajou (also yes both her and Qibil’s names are misspelled AF in the image I’m not fixing it right now) plus the actual protags but I need to practice for Arc 3 which aparently has like several dozen pseudo-protagonists, which I’m probably going to do in a slightly different style because I like the idea of trying sketchy line art with the procreate brush pen.

Okay now time for the actual headcanons

-I originally was going to give Moon a way different design (her horns where going to be long and curved like ibex horns/crescent moons but I couldn’t get that to work in the sketch; she was going to have a split color design, like one side of her body was going to be light and the other dark like a half moon), but then my brain went “albino=white/pink with red eyes, that’s moon-y because the moon looks white from earth sometimes and blood moons are a thing so red”. I do like the sketch I came up with. I still think I could have gone harder with the wrinkly skin and underbite, since I imagine it those are details frequently found on Nightwings from the volcano.

-I think Moon being a twist villain, or at least an untrustworthy character, would be kind of interesting. Like if she had been the final POV character instead and she’d been kind of this ambiguous, somewhat suspicious guide to the Darkstalker stuff.

-The entire modern Icewing royal family is considered somewhat strange looking by that tribes standards; unusually short horns, typically no fur, and oddly dark and saturated colors. I’m not from a place that gets snowy, white winters that often. More “everything dies back and it gets muddy, foggy, and frosty”, thus Winter’s color palette.

-I have a headcanon that firescales/fireless twin sets are technically identical (Sky being NB), it’s just due to the presences of no/too much fire, their features develop differently. Peril has far richer and saturated colors than Sky, but their actual patterns are identical. Due to her fire, Peril’s feathers never properly grew in (she’s like the sphinx cat equivalent of a Skywing), while Sky by comparison is very floofy. However if you peeled Sky (shaved off their feathers), they would have the exact same body shapes and features as their sister. Also the aforementioned color patterns are based of the American Kestrel.

-I have a couple of old Turtle designs kicking around my Procreate; I originally was going to use one of them (which I might post at some point to embarrass myself), to inspire this one. However, I ended up creating something entirely new. My original design had him as a lot more solid, gross yellow-y shade of green, with no tan underbelly or needle. However I discovered that the underbelly and needle would give him some nice resemblance to his sister Tsunami. Also I was using mata-mata turtles as one of my primary design references and damn those bois got schnoze.

-Turtle also would have been an interesting twist villain. Like if we got faked out like “he’s too suspicious to be the bad guy” and then he just is.

-Funny thing about Qibil; I always mis-remembered Qibils earring as having a black diamond earring rather than an “orange sunstone” one. Perhaps I was confusing his drip with Blister’s. He gets both as a treat. Also the reason why he has the classic fan depiction head sail strandy-thingy because of the scar his mom gave him. The sail behind the scar grew back all delicate and long; he’s let it grow out to see how long it can get.

-The little unneeded spite for the series/fandom I have for some reason built up on Qibil for some reason. Maybe because seemingly the rest of the fandom worships the little guy. I’d probably like him if I actually read the books, but I have developed a stupid re-write of him where he is sort of like the annoying little brother of the Jade Winglet and Jade Moutain as a general who thinks he is hotter shit than he is that nobody dares talk down to for fear of bringing mama Thorn or big sister Sunny down on their asses. He’s tried to flirt with everybody in his winglet and they’ve all pushed him away with some degree of gentleness.

-IDK who was the first fan artist to do magenta-yellow-cyan Kinkajou but it sure as hell works. I have a headcanon that younger Rainwing dragonets tend to have brighter, saturated comfort colors (image the “crayola water marker base pack” color palette). However as Rainwings mature, they tend to “mild” out their comfort colors with more varied hues. Thus, she used to have the neon pink-yellow color palette when she was younger. Also she kind of ended up looking kind of like a lychee or rambutan and I love it.

-I didn’t have too many thoughts on Umber. I mostly just focused on making him look different enough from Clay while still making him look like a possible sibling.

-I thought I was going to put more effort into Carnelians design, but I ended up just yeeting something together based off the real world carnelian stone.

-I know Anenome is described as being pink and blue/white in the books, but where I live we have neat little pink tipped green anemones so that’s her color palette. Also I imagine she wears a lot more jewelry when she’s at home but she just took a few things with her to school.

[chacusha]

6 and 19 for the Soulcalibur Ask List

6. Who is your favorite character design?

Ooh this is hard! If we're talking which character is my favorite overall across all of their designs, I would probably say Setsuka. Why Setsuka? Her costumes from the start have always been very detailed and elaborate (I guess she benefits from being introduced relatively late in the series, when SC could go all out on the graphics!). The "East meets West" idea behind her design is such a fascinating concept, which is explored in so many different ways in her designs. And she gets such interesting color palettes, whether it's the pink and red of her "Queen of Hearts" SCIII design, the purple and pink of her "Cho-han Dealer" SCIV design, or the black and gold of her "Cool Delinquent Coat Cape" SCVI design.

If we're talking about single favorite design across all games, it's Seong Mi-na's SCIII 2P costume for me. This look is unparalleled IMO. Her hairstyle is so cute. The asymmetric strap and sheer material of her top! The side-slit pants! The green and blue color scheme, which is so different from what she normally wears, but which suits her 100%. *_*

19. Which game do you think has the best opening?

I struggled more than I expected with this question. My first thought was "SCIII!" then I thought "Wait, what about Soul Edge?" and then I thought "Maybe SCII is my favorite???" But now I'm back to saying Soul Edge:

Selling points:

The "Edge of Soul" song is bomb.

...with visuals matched to the music.

Good intro to the full roster of characters -- with the exception of the villains (poor Voldo).

Dance break in the middle featuring ~The Ladies~

Despite the primitive graphics, this opening is action-packed and epic.

Thanks for the ask! 😊 Ask me Soulcalibur questions.

[callmearcturus]

do you have a list of must-watch mission impossibles? the gifs make me want to watch them but not sure where to start. :)

Okay so you only need to watch the McQuarrie Trilogy (soon to be a Quadrilogy in July when Dead Reckoning Part One detonates our dicks clean off). Here is a guide:

Ghost Protocol (MI4): Start here! This is functionally a soft reboot of the series and sets up the formula that will carry the rest of the films. It's dumb and fun and a really easy film to relax with.

Rogue Nation (MI5): awww yeah baby now we are getting somewhere. We have some THEMES, we got GOOD WRITING, we got CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT and crunchy conflicts. This is my favorite MI by far.

Fallout (MI6): oh shit what is this? A solid continuation of the arcs established in Rogue Nation? fuck yeah. this is the best MI movie, it's genuinely tremendous, it's gorgeous, and I have heard from multiple people that the final act is so fucking intense it's difficult to stand. This movie severely fucks.

These and the upcoming Dead Reckoning duology were written by McQuarrie (and all but GP were directed by him) and the maturation of these films under his guidance makes me wanna scream.

As for the others.

Mission Impossible (MI1): the first movie, done by Brian DePalma. Ethan is a baby twink in this one. Hugely influential movie that sets up the trauma of being Ethan Hunt, but isn't necessary. If you get thru the McQuarrie films, you can come back here if you're interested. It's doing some interesting shit but it's a very different vibe.

Mission impossible 2 (MI2): just don't

Mission Impossible 3 (MI3): Okay I am harsh on this one bc I think JJ Abrams is kind of a hack who has to be saved from his own mediocrity by the people around him, BUT this isn't a bad movie at all and is prob worth watching if you can overlook Ethan looking like the generic default character in a FPS game and the sometimes cringey writing. But it's Benji's introduction, the villain is Phillip fucking Seymour Hoffman and he's amazing, this is the movie about Julia and Michelle Monaghan is incredible in this, and the bridge stunt is genuinely awesome. It's like fifty percent good and fifty percent mediocre as fuck. Oh and the running sequence in Shanghai is great. If this movie was just the climax it'd fuck imo.

[turtletaubwrites]

Numbers Game ~ Part 22

Pairings: Cross Guild x Fem!Reader x Shanks

Numbers Game Masterlist

Word Count: 4300

Ao3 Link

Series Playlist: Youtube Music Link | Youtube Link

Summary: It's the morning of the big event, and these lovers are distracted, stuck in their own minds. Too many truths, and too many fears seem to pull everyone apart.

Author's Note: This chapter contains big DRAMA, GUILT, & SMUT. Pretty much no one's having a good morning until they decide to blow off some steam. Our lovely reader is NOT in a good mental state right now with all of her fears looming today, but the majority of the chapter is from the boy's POV. I apologize for all the angst, I swear this story won't be so angsty forever! 😭😬

Alternate POV Symbols:

🌲 ~ Flashbacks from Reader's Past | 🐊 ~ Crocodile | 🗡 ~ Mihawk | 🤡 ~ Buggy | 🔴 ~ Shanks | ⚫ ~ Scenes depicting panic attacks and/or big trauma (These symbols will bracket sections to denote the POV shift)

!!! SPOILER WARNING !!! Fic contains spoilers for the end of the Wano arc

Rating/Warnings: Author May Choose to Exclude some Warnings to Avoid Spoilers for Certain Chapters, Explicit Sexual Content, 18+ ONLY, MDNI, AFAB!Reader, She/Her Pronouns for Reader, Reader-Insert, Use of Y/N, Dark Content, Blood & Violence, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Dissociation, Grief, Swearing, Alcohol, Cigars, Smut, Fluff, Angst, Guilt, Drama, Jealousy, Manipulation, Pet Names, Power Imbalance, Cross Guild boys are VILLAINS, Possessive Behavior, Pain Kink, Teasing, Threats, Size Difference, Daddy Kink, Gagging, PIV Sex, Creampie, Hair-Pulling, Scratching, Inappropriate Use of Akuma no Mi | Devil Fruit Powers, Shameless Shameless Smut, Other Additional Tags to Be Added

| masterlist | about me | rules | ao3 |

~~~🐊🐊🐊~~~

“Shh, babygirl,” Crocodile soothed, kissing Y/N’s temple to quiet the hint of that sick laughter on her lips. She’d woken up with the word ‘daddy,’ on her tongue, but the tinge of sorrow in her voice, and the sheen of sweat on her skin told him she hadn’t been calling for him. 

The sight of that red haired bastard in his bed would have sent him into violence, but he couldn’t look away from her, from her quivering lips. He brushed the hair from her face, trying to smile, trying to be comforting.

Don’t leave me, sweetheart. Not before I can help you with this.

The thought of his girl all alone after that trauma, all alone without her father to care for her so young hit him deep. It felt like he’d been gutted by his own hook. 

It’s my fault. She’s gonna leave because I’m a monster. 

The image of her terror filled eyes wouldn’t shake loose from his mind, just as she couldn’t shake loose from his hook around her neck. Her feet had dangled, tears staining her cheeks while she held her tongue to protect her lover. 

Told her I’d kill her. Told her I’d sell her. Told her–

Crocodile had to look away from her, clenching his eyes shut to ward off the vision in his mind. 

The vision of hurting her. Hurting something, someone precious to him. Skewering her on his hook like a piece of meat, the scent of her blood on the wind as it soaked into the sand below her.

No.

Shanks was distracting his boys. Buggy’s eyes were wide as the red haired pirate leaned over to kiss his shoulder, rubbing his hand along the swordsman’s thigh while he did.

But Mihawk was looking at him.

Crocodile glanced away quickly, telling himself it was because that sight was too annoying to deal with this early. 

It was. 

“Come with me, sweet girl. Since these boys clearly have better things to do.”

“Looks like someone woke up on the—“

“Don’t be an ass, Shanks. We have a lot to take care of this morning,” Mihawk scolded. Crocodile clenched his jaw at the teasing lilt in his little prince's voice. More than sex.

More than what he'd shared with him.

Y/N crawled out of bed to take Crocodile’s hand, his clown following close behind to kiss her on the cheek. 

She’s the one that needs our attention.

Shanks looked too pleased after Mihawk’s reprimand, apologizing while he kissed up the back of his neck. The swordsman’s argument was weak, his eyes fluttering shut when that red haired bastard nibbled on his ear. 

He lied. 

~~~🐊🐊🐊~~~

~~~~~~

The world was a blur, and you let yourself be guided, cared for. Breakfast was held before a line of servants and officers, all taking their turns in front of your intimidating group to give their reports, to take their orders. 

“I need to check with Alvida about the party favors. Why don’t you relax for a while, sweetheart? You’ve done enough.”

Your clown had already chugged his too-sweet coffee, running off to his chaotic day. He'd left his head behind just long enough to plant a soft kiss on your lips. 

“See ya, star.”

Of course, Shanks had snatched that blue hair, stealing a kiss from your grumbling clown before letting him loose.

Crocodile smiled down at you, his eyes looking strained while you tried to understand what he’d said. 

“I’ll be checking in with security, but I’ll be back with plenty of time to help you get ready, darling,” Mihawk purred, his voice breaking through your fog to make you shiver. “Not that my little rabbit needs any help looking exquisite. You look good enough to eat this morning, love.”

“Mm, you are a tasty, little bunny.”

“Enough.”

Crocodile’s voice sliced through the air, bringing all eyes to his. He shifted his hook onto his lap, the movement only bringing attention to the thin line scraped across the table. He cleared his throat, turning to you while he spoke to the other men.

“This will be a stressful day. Y/N has to pander to a bunch of rich idiots she hates, just so we can all make some berry. My sweet girl deserves to be treated like a princess today. Don’t you dare ignore her, and if you two treat her like one of your fucking toys, then she and I will be drinking your blood instead of wine tonight.”

A look almost like regret flashed across his face when your eyes went wide, but you took his offered hand, ignoring the men he’d just threatened for you. 

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he soothed, his thumb rubbing along the back of your hand almost nervously before he pressed it to his lips. “Daddy’s gonna be scary today. Never to you, though. Never again, babygirl. I swear it.”

Your mind was still keeping you behind a wall, trying to protect at least the deepest parts of you from the sting of their inevitable betrayal. Yet… Silver eyes pulled you in, chains tightening until you couldn’t breathe. He swore it.

He hates liars.

Chills ran over your skin while you nodded, but you still couldn’t. Couldn’t risk it. 

Never.

“I’ll go double check the seating arrangements,” you decided. “Make sure the ushers don’t accidentally cause an international crisis.”

“My girl,” Crocodile hummed, kissing your cheek before scowling at the remaining pirates. You stared at the expanse of his back as he disappeared down the corridor, until you gasped at the touch of Mihawk’s cold fingers on your thigh.

“I won’t be long, darling. I’ll come, and find you. We can… relax before the big show. I’ll help my little princess forget all her worries.”

“Don’t call me that,” you breathed with no bite, aching for whatever distraction he could give. “Please, sir. Just call me–”

“Rabbit,” he purred, taking your lips in a slow kiss that made you melt, dropping the fork you forgot you were holding. 

“The prettiest bunny rabbit I ever did see,” Shanks praised, his sweet words sounding so delightfully filthy while Mihawk trailed his lips down your jaw to your neck. You found those brown eyes looking at you with even more wicked mirth than usual. 

“Executive Dracule, sir…”

“Don’t try interrupting on a normal day,” Mihawk warned, leaving a few more kisses on your skin before following the security officer down the hall. 

“Can I walk you to work, bunny?”

You took that offered hand, letting the red haired pirate’s charm distract you for a little while.

~~~~~~

~~~🔴🔴🔴~~~

This is a dream.

Waking up to a world where both Buggy and Mihawk were with him, touching him, smiling at him, kissing him…

It was unreal. Shanks didn’t think anything could sour this feeling. Not that big, scaly villain. Not the stupid, greedy party on the way. Not even the strange distance in her eyes. 

Not until that distance grew around her, throwing a bucket of ice over him. 

What’s wrong…

That worry brought guilt, not just for his selfish desire to ignore everything besides his long awaited bliss, but for the feeling that he’d caused it. He’d pushed her further than he meant to, even though he had wanted to help her.

I wanted Buggy more. 

There it was. The bliss was fading fast, replaced by the reality of what he’d done to get it. 

This sad, empty girl. She hadn’t been empty when he got here. She’d been feisty. Brave. She’d cared.

“Y/N?”

She ignored him, calling for one of the servants. Shanks watched her work, watched her body shift into someone else. It was unsettling, like a doll that was almost perfectly lifelike. Almost real.

The twisting in the pit of his stomach only grew.

“You don’t have to stay here. You can go find Buggy, or Mihawk,” she suggested lightly, a smile that was too serene on her face. 

“Is it alright if we talk, sugar? Away from…”

Y/N’s eyes unfocused for a few seconds before she nodded, leading him to a conference room connected to the large banquet hall. Leaning against the oval table, she was still frighteningly unreal. She tilted her head, waiting, but Shanks had to force himself to speak. Force himself to get out all the words he knew he should say, no matter how much it made him want to jump out a window. 

I can do this. She deserves to hear it. Just say it.

“I wanted to tell you,” Shanks started weakly, gaining momentum, “I’m sorry, Y/N. I didn’t consider your feelings enough when I… I’ve missed Buggy for so long, but that’s no excuse. I’m sorry I put so much pressure on you. I used you, and I’m so sorry. It wasn’t right, no matter how much pain I was in.”

Y/N stared, eyes wide, unblinking.

“Everything I said is still true,” he promised, caution pulsing through him. “I’ll protect you, both of you. I would love to have you on my ship, if that’s what you want. But I’m sorry I–”

“You love him?”

Movement in her eyes, movement as she touched his arm. Shanks could breathe again when he saw life return. 

He didn’t realize that he didn’t hesitate at all.

“I do.”

Sweet, sad smile. Why…

“Take him.”

…

“What,” Shanks rasped, his brows scrunched together as if he couldn’t hear, hadn’t heard her.

“I forgive you. Please, take him. You should be together.”

“Y/N, what about–”

“I want him to be happy,” she ordered, and his eyes flared at the sudden fire in her veins. The anger. “I can’t go with you. Please make him happy.”

This isn’t right. She’s not right.

“Bunny…”

“Don’t tell him,” Y/N hissed, a bit of herself in her eyes as she leaned toward him, pleading. “I’ll convince him. Just promise me, please.”

Shanks’ lips parted, staring down at this strange girl. She fisted his shirt in her hands to pull him in, and he couldn’t resist, drawn toward her like a magnet.

“Promise you’ll love him,” Y/N demanded, fierce words almost spat against his lips. “Promise you'll make him happy.”

“Y/N–”

“Promise me.”

He couldn’t lie. Not against that beautiful, tortured look in her eyes. Not against the desperation in her voice. 

Shanks couldn’t lie. 

“I’ll love him with everything in me.”

She relaxed, letting Shanks hold her to him, and he felt her body sink into a looseness that was more concerning than comforting. Guilt filled him. Guilt and fear for what he’d put her through. For what she was running from, refusing their help with. It wasn't right.

“Please, let me help–”

“I just need a minute, thank you,” Y/N soothed. She pushed away from him gently, her voice calm, empty. “I’ll be fine.”

“Bunny, I can–”

“I asked you to fucking leave.”

Her fists had clenched, nails digging in while they shook over her lap, eyes going vicious when she snarled at him. 

What have I done?

“I’ll be fine. Just need a minute,” she smiled. The dissonance between those pleasant words, and the rage she’d just shoved down deep made this Emperor of the Sea’s hair stand on end. “Please.”

“Of course,” he gave in, leaving her presence slowly, backing away as if she were going to transform before his eyes. She didn’t. Y/N kept that empty, almost smile, and it made him want to throw up. 

What the fuck have I done?

“Don’t tell anyone.”

Ice slid down Shanks’ spine when he stared at her from the doorway, her bland face still hiding that wrong voice.

“You owe me.”

Shanks didn’t know he could feel this nauseated. Didn’t know he could feel this disgusted with himself while he looked at this sweet, sick girl that he’d played with too recklessly. 

“I won’t tell,” he breathed, the words feeling like bile in his throat. “I’ll just say you wanted a break.”

She thanked him. 

Shanks’ body walked away, but his mind couldn't. His guilt wouldn’t let him.

She thanked him for stealing her love. She thanked him for leaving her with that poison in her smile, that evil in her voice. The red haired pirate left that empty girl sitting on the conference table. He ran away from her like a frightened child. 

He had no fucking idea what to do.

“There’s the layabout,” Mihawk drawled as Shanks charged into the corridor. “Need me to find you a job to–”

“Y/N’s taking a break in the conference room,” he choked out, wanting to keep his promise, but still send her help, knowing that his eyes were crazed. “I think she could use some company.”

Mihawk knew him. Hawk could read him like a fucking book. The swordsman’s nostrils flared as if searching for her scent on the air, and he didn’t say a word before charging past Shanks. 

Charging past the coward that hurt her. That hurt the girl that both of his…

The man that hurt that sweet girl.

Fuck.

~~~🔴🔴🔴~~~

~~~~~~

That’s good.

That’s better. 

That means everything else is fine. 

Your feet dangled off the edge of the table while your eyes floated, not pulled toward anything while you imagined Buggy smiling, adventuring with his true love. The thoughts were relaxing, taking you out. 

If that happens, then everything is okay. Nothing else matters. 

“Little rabbit?”

“Hi, Mihawk,” you smiled, wanting him to take the rest away. “Are you here to help me relax?”

~~~~~~

~~~🤡🤡🤡~~~

“Who’s having a breakdown in the dressing room,” Buggy sighed, surprised at how well everything else was going. “Eliza? Why?”

Buggy stomped backstage, eyes scanning everyone, every stage hand, every performer, every prop lined up on the table. He sent a hand just to nudge something more into place, an unnecessary action as he’d done so well at preparing for this night.

Too well.

Buggy felt on edge without things to fix or people to yell at before a show. He couldn’t just sit around and wait, he’d go fucking insane. Especially with the confusing picture of the extra lover on the bed this morning stuck in his head. Especially with Y/N's smiles, so fake that he couldn't break through, couldn't find her. Especially when the weight of everyone’s happiness seemed to be on his fucking shoulders. How was he supposed to…

Nope. 

Thinking was bad. Out of the question, especially before the show.

Luckily, his best aerial dancer was having issues. He almost whistled on his way over there, but didn’t want his crew to think he was happy, to get complacent.

No one takes a happy clown seriously.

~~~🤡🤡🤡~~~

~~~~~~

~~~🔴🔴🔴~~~

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Everything was right there. Everything he’d ever wanted.

More than that.

Shanks had spent decades wishing that one of his loves would be his. He’d tried to find another, but there was no one like Buggy. There was no one like Mihawk. 

He’d built this moment up in his mind for years now. This would be his chance to be with Buggy. To offer him the life they should have had. Find him, take him away, and have that adventure they’d always dreamed about. Finally hold him, keep him, make him smile.

The Emperor of the Sea was pacing through the corridor, his mistakes playing on a loop in his mind while he tried to figure out what to do, what to say.

Shanks scoffed at himself for his confidence. All these years of dreaming, and worrying, and hoping, yet he’d just walked in here fully believing that Buggy would take his hand. That Buggy would leave everything behind. 

That Buggy wouldn’t have anything to leave behind.

Piece of shit.

He had to lean against a wall, staring down at his feet while even more nausea flooded through him. This place had shoved a mirror inside his mind, forcing him to look.

Red Haired Shanks didn’t fucking like what he saw.

I didn’t think anyone else would love Buggy.  

Sinking to the floor, Shanks wallowed in guilt. He was about to spill his shame across the fancy carpet, the burning in his throat too fucking much. 

Buggy. 

All those years spent telling him the truth about how wonderful, how beautiful, how talented he was, yet Shanks didn’t think anyone else would see it. Not like he could. He couldn’t decide what that said about him, but it was foul. 

Resting his head back against the wall, Shanks realized how fucking greedy he’d gotten. 

They fucking tortured him! Crocodile is a tyrant!

Somehow those truths were sounding more and more like excuses. Especially after Shanks saw what they had here. That sweet girl that he’d prodded until her pain came out, breaking her into pieces…

Buggy loved her. Jealousy had taken him over, but the more he saw, the more he wanted it all. He needed to take them both away. To have that sort of love for himself. To have Buggy, to see him smile like he does with her.

The greed only got worse the more he watched the men touching his clown, how they all seemed happy, and the pain of Mihawk got all wrapped into it. 

Shanks had woken this morning with greed instead air in his lungs. The sight of Crocodile last night with his three beautiful lovers. The sight of the four of them together like that was more than he’d ever imagined, and after last night with Hawk, the red haired pirate knew what he needed. 

All of them. I’m taking all of them.

Everything had been at his fingertips. He’d seen something so bright that he had to take it for himself. 

A butterfly, crushed to death by the child that wanted to look at its pretty wings.

I’m losing them all. So close. I ruined it. I hurt… I don’t deserve… 

He wasn’t used to this. The guilt he still felt with Buggy felt distant, the mistakes of youth, and he was just waiting for the day he could make up for it all. This new guilt was caustic, too fresh, and made him question the kind of man he thought he was. 

A hateful laugh left Shanks' throat while he stayed slumped on the floor, pathetic pity and self loathing drowning him deep.

I guess I’m the villain here.

~~~🔴🔴🔴~~~

~~~~~~

~~~🗡️🗡️🗡️~~~

Why is she? What happened? I should have been listening to her. I should have–

“You said you’d help me forget all my worries.”

Mihawk stood just inside the conference room door, almost trembling at the sight of her. 

Beautiful. 

Wrong.

“Please, sir. I need you.”

These last few days had shaken the world’s greatest swordsman to his core. He’d always taken what he wanted. Didn’t care. He never hesitated. 

Yet, Y/N had trapped him. Mihawk’s lips parted, almost dizzy from the battle within him. Paralyzed.

Need. 

She needs help. Something’s not right. She needs me. She’s trying to use her body against me, to manipulate me. She needs me. 

“Mihawk,” she begged, and the hint of pain in her voice sent him to her. He touched her, felt her cold hands, kissed her temple, pressed her against his chest while panic set in. 

“Tell me what’s wrong, darling.”

Need her to be alright.

“I’m fine,” she lied, but he wouldn’t tell. “Just waiting for you. Do what you always do. Be mean. Hurt me. Make me need you. Make me forget.”

Guilt. 

He’d been so caught up in Shanks, that he hadn’t seen her fall this far. Guilt at the thought of pushing her, of not listening to what she wanted right now. Guilt for his aching need to punish her, take her.

Gods, her scent… Can’t. Can’t.

“Please, love, let me help– fuck.”

“Help me by hurting me,” she ordered, releasing the flesh from her mouth where she’d bitten his chest. He’d thrown his head back, moaning at how perfectly she’d controlled him. Moaning at the need to make her pay for it. 

Pulling himself out of that chaos was almost painful. 

“Y/N–”

“Pretend.”

She sliced up his back, brutal nails down his skin under his jacket. He lost it.

She needs me. 

“You’re fucking lucky that we need you pretty for the party, darling,” Mihawk growled, loving her desperate yelp when he grabbed her, cruel hands flipping her, shoving her face down onto the table. He held both of her wrists in one of his hands behind her back, using his free hand to lift her dress.

“So wet for me,” he taunted as he pulled himself free, teasing his cock over her pretty pussy, still hidden beneath those soaked panties. “This what my little rabbit needs?”

“F-fuck me– fuck!”

The delicious sound of her panties ripping as he tore them from her was nothing compared to the sweet, muffled cries she let out when he shoved the wet fabric into her mouth. Her eyes were fluttering for him, her body writhing, her hips trying desperately to move toward his, begging, fucking begging for him. 

“You haven’t been very polite today, rabbit,” Mihawk drawled, satisfaction running through him as he forced his cock into her. She was always so wet, so ready for him, but with no prep, and with her legs trapped how he had her bent her over the table, he couldn’t hold in a moan at how fucking tight she was. “So you’ll get just what you asked for. How’s this for mean– Ha, my little vixen. Coming so soon?”

He could barely hold on. The swordsman could still feel the sting where she’d scratched his back, deep enough to draw blood. The thought of his red on her fingertips made him forget, made him hold her down, made him fucking take her.

“Mine.”

Mihawk fisted her hair, yanking until her back arched painfully over the table. Seeing the drool from her stuffed mouth just made him fuck her harder, blind to everything but her perfect, pliant body. He hadn’t realized that he’d released her hands until she reached up behind her, clawing her nails into his wrist while he pulled at that pretty hair.

“My wicked angel,” he praised, a dangerous chuckle following the moan her lovely pain had pulled from him. He had to fight to keep from slamming her face back down on the table, from fucking her throat until she choked and cried, from slicing his own red lines across that gorgeous skin. 

Just enough presence of mind to remember that he shouldn’t wreck her too much, although he couldn’t remember why. 

“Fucking mine,” he growled, spellbound by her sweet, greedy cunt, and her weak, little fingers still trying to hurt him. Her body danced for his again, struggling against his rough grip while she spasmed, milking his cock like she was made for it. 

“Hear that, darling? You’re mine. My rabbit. My love. Fucking need you, fuuck…”

His last, dangerous words were snarled like threats as he thrust so fucking deep, making her cry while he spilled his hot pleasure inside her, stuffing her full until it dripped down her shaking thighs. 

Ragged breaths, and their frantic hearts were all they could hear as he released her soft hair from his cruel fingers. Still twitching, he was unable to resist the urge to watch his cock sink back into her a few times before leaving her body. Leaving a sticky, beautiful mess that he almost cleaned up with his tongue.

Until the world returned.

“Fuck, are you alright, rabbit?”

“Mhm,” she hummed lazily, tugging the ruined panties from her mouth. She kept humming, and sighing for him while he helped her move. He was extremely grateful for the box of tissues on that long conference table while he wiped up his extravagant mess.

Mihawk focused on her, focused on caring for her, focused and focused, and didn’t think about the things he’d said. That was easier than he expected once guilt crashed over him again.

Y/N. She’s hurting. She’s lost. And I just used her again. Used her like a toy. 

I’m still a fucking monster. 

“Thank you,” she purred, resting her head in the crook of his neck while he carried her to the suite. Carried her to where he’d been looking forward to getting her ready. Looking forward to dressing up his pretty doll. 

All the relief that last night with Shanks had brought him seemed stale. Too little, too late. No matter how much forgiveness he was granted, nothing could take away everything he’d done. Nothing could fix what he’d done to her, and now his greed was twisting him further. 

What was the point of deciding not to be a monster, if he would just give in to this compulsion, this sick need? A need that he knew he was going to succumb to. Had to give in to.

Mihawk hoped he wouldn't have to be a monster for this.

I need her. No matter what happens.

I need her by my side.

~~~🗡️🗡️🗡️~~~

~~~~~~

You felt so good.

Relaxed.

Buggy would be safe and happy, and they would keep pretending until the end. You wanted to hope that you’d have more time than just tonight, that they hadn’t made a deal so soon, but you couldn’t afford to hope. 

So you accepted it. Whatever they did, whatever happened, you’d made your deal with yourself. Buggy safe. They pretend. You enjoy every last moment with these beautiful villains before they send you back…

Send you back to choose your fate. Pros and cons.

If he even gives me a choice now.

Mihawk sat you down on the edge of the bed. He kissed your cheek, and called you pretty things, and you followed your own orders while he dolled you up. 

Time to pretend.

~~~~~~

Likes, comments, and reblogs bring me much ✨dopamine✨ thank you!!

a/n: Oh gobs, how y'all doing? I know things seemed like they could be hunky dory at the end of the last chapter, but I hope you'll forgive me for exploring the messy minds of our big bad pirates. I just couldn't let them off scot free, alright? They needed to sit down, and think about what they've done 😅

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Part 23

Operation Olive Branch has compiled a working spreadsheet of ways to help families fleeing from the genocide in Palestine. If you enjoyed this fic, and are able, please click the link to find a list of GoFundMe's, as well as other ways to help.

| masterlist | about me | rules | ao3 |

[cringefaillosersummit]

shadow the hedgehog

One aspect I love: how much he cares for those he loves and how he is made up of each of them. everyone he has ever loved is part of the picture that is shadow, makes up every atom of his being.

One aspect I wish more people understood about them: his whole character arc is about self-autonomy and doing what he wants to do, not because others have told him to do. sth is a series about finding personal freedom and sonic helps those around him find their way to achieve that specific freedom. for shadow, it's moving on and not letting the promises made to those who have long since passed dictate who he is or what he does. not letting anyone dictate his path. it's about passing on from grief and starting fresh, while still honoring those you have loved. there's a reason why majority of his villains have all wanted to control shadow in some shape or form. gerald, eggman using him as the basis for the androids, black doom, mephiles, even infinite. and each time he comes back, reasserting himself and piecing himself together. im gonna cut this off here bc i am way too wordy when it comes to shadow the hedgehog.

One (or more) headcanon(s) I have about them: he's actually shorter but his air shoes give him extra height the airshoes are actually mobility devices!! This Hedgehog is Trans Masc. he/they pronouns frfr chileno. trust me. he has sharp claws! he's a living chaos energy battery basically. the way the inhibitor rings work is that they regulate his innate chaos energy by helping it circulate more easily. once he takes them off, his power is no longer restrained but its because the chaos energy is coming out of him at a greater quantity so he is effectively a glass canon. he ended up leaving his super form because while sonic has harnessed his chaos energy to go super, shadow honed it into his chaos control/snap/spears/etc. his favorite color is actually yellow because it reminds him of maria's hair and he loved playing it when he was a kid maria called him "mi sombrita" (my little shadow) and thats where he got his name he knows how to dance! is very good at it!! he started staying with rouge and omega only after shit went down in shth 2005 before that he was wandering and thats why he looks unkept in the renders

One character I love seeing them interact with: TEAM DARK RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH TEAM DARK LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

One character I wish they would interact with/interact with more: need more interactions with surge and metal sonic dear god there's something i can say about being created/changed for a purpose and trying to figure out if there is more to you than just that. i am going to scream.

One (or more) headcanon(s) I have that involve them and one other character: he loves cream and charmy and is so willing to babysit whenever vanilla or vector asks he and omega have been banned from 8 different rage rooms because they rage a little too hard and destroy fucking everything he enjoys spending time with amy and tails because they remind him of maria knuckles will sometimes let him chill on top of the emerald like he lets rouge do just because the natural powers of the chaos emerald help his chaos energy feel more calm. perfect nap spot. he and omega gave the shovel talk to knuckles but then they ended up just fighting bc they were bored. they knocked over some trees. sonic drags shadow to different places to get him fully familiarized with the 21st century. shadow makes a show about protesting but he genuinely considers sonic a good friend. sonic and shadow had a big conversation about what happened in sa2 and shadow doesn't remember everything but sonic just had to let some things off his chest (their therapist recommended talking it out. 5 months ago.) shadow helped sonic out after the aftermath of frontiers shadow and metal are friends. fuck you sega. vector was the one who actually mentioned the idea of therapy to shadow and rouge after shth 2005

OKAY THATS ENOUGH I HVE TO STOP IT HERE THIS IS ALREADY SO FUCKING LONG

Send me more characters!

[mirajanefairytailmage]

Rambling About a Show (10/16/2022)

⚠️SPOILER?!⚠️

I finished this drama last night after starting it on Thursday (10/13/2022). I would have rambled about it then but I was suffering from a debilitating migraine. Anyhoo, I can’t remember the exact date that I saw the preview for this one/ What I do remember is being on tiktok and watching edits of the actor Kwak Dong-yeon. I ended up seeing an edit for his character Jerry, which piqued my curiosity, and made me look up what drama the character was from... Then BAM!! 

But it took me awhile to get around to watching the drama. I honestly forgot I wanted to watch this one until I was looking up the title of a different drama on Hulu. I was looking up May It Please the Court so that I could add it to my list. Then I scrolled through the you may also like or whatever list and found Big Mouth. That’s when I remembered that I had been wanting to see it.

So this couple is going to be added to my favorite list.

Their relationship had several hardships that they faced together, which is what made me love them as a couple. Plus I loved the chemistry between the two of them. I laughed during the first episode scene where he told his wife, Ko Mi-ho, ‘congratulations on marrying me, babe’ on the night of their anniversary. (That’s what the Hulu subtitles said). I thought it was cute and funny. I also asked myself ‘who just says that?’ The only problem I had with this couple is the fact they didn’t get to grow old together. I’m mad at the writers for what they did to Ko Mii-ho and  Park Chang-ho. Seriously, what the hell was the point of giving her a terminal illness and then killing her off like that?! The scene where she dies was so heartbreaking to me, I cried so much. In a previous episode she mentions how when the time came she’d like to fall asleep while holding his hand. That’s exactly what happened. I don’t feel like her death did anything for the plot. That’s just my honest opinion though. I mean, he does keep the promise of being a good Big Mouse. That was all she asked of him. I think Im Yoon-ah and Lee Jong-suk did a fantastic job portraying their characters. The way Lee Jong-suk was able to switch from soft Park Chang-ho to extreme Big Mouse was pretty impressive to me.

Then there’s this couple...

This couple is my least favorite. Both are horrible people, which makes sense why they’re together. I’ve told my friend that this is the villain couple. Choi Do-ha as individual, is vile. This is only my opinion of his character. I was wary of the character from the moment he asked Park Chang-ho to be the lawyer for his “buddies”. Honestly, I thought he was Big Mouse for a few moments. Hyun Joo-hee.. I honestly don’t have a lot to say about her. Aside from I found her to a bit annoying and I don’t like her. I think Ok Ja-Yeon and Kim Joo-hun did a fantastic job portraying these two. They did so well that they are the most hate-able characters to me. 

This character ended up on my most annoying list...

I remember seeing Yang Kyung-won in Vincenzo as Lee Cheol-wook. I loved his character in Vincenzo. I didn’t like Kong Ji-hoon all that much. I found him to be annoying. I do think Yang Kyung-won did a fantastic job portraying this character.

So, the real Big Mouse isn’t revealed for awhile. Park Chang-ho has to survive under the guise that he IS Big Mouse. However, before the reveal, I thought I wouldn’t be surprised if Jerry or Warden Park Yoon-gab ended up being Big Mouse. I also thought at one point that it would be Mayor Do-ha. I was surprised, even though I shouldn’t have been, when it turned out to be No Park. I feel like I should have seen that coming. This show was interesting and kept me on the edge of my seat from pilot to finale. I should mention that Jerry ended up being one of my favorites and I honestly found him to be adorable. This series had a lot of unlikable characters, characters that were difficult to trust, and likeable characters. Though one question I have is why mention the serial killer son? I understand that his story ties into inmate Tak Kwang-yeon’s imprisonment. But like, they didn’t bring the serial killer into the show. They only name drop him, say his last known location, and mention that he is the son of  Chairman Kang Sung-Geun. In my opinion that would be a great plot for season two, hunt down the son to clear Tak Kwang-yeon’s name. In my opinion that would be a great plot. Of course there would need to be more than that to make an entire season two, so that’s just one major plot point. 

[freackthejester]

A Most Holy Man (13.15) is kind of a Bad Episode. There's no Cas, and there's an overlay of doing a Noir Episode in the way that Tombstone was a Western (just a little bit). It's an entirely human cast and those humans are predominately unlikable.

Coming through late series Supernatural and the understanding that Chuck is real changes things. It elevates a bad episode over just being bad writing on Meredith Glynn's[Andrew Dabb and Robert Singer] case; Which I don't want to believe because I have really enjoyed some of her other episodes. (I love Scorpion and The From and I love Charlie2.0 "Smash" Alice and if that's wrong I don't want to be right.)

[EDIT} Mis atrributed the episode, it turns out it was actually literally the first episode written by the new show running squad.

So all the stiltedness of the dialogue? The getting all over the place with no time passing? The fetch quest nature of it. The fucking nerd girl who ~loves~ the Supernatural? What the fuck was that. I physically recoiled.

The only answer I can accept is that this is intentional, and this is actually bad writing by Chuck. follow me here

In the overall arc of the season 13, we are seeing the actual worlds opening up, becoming a multiverse where God doesn't really have control. The realities alongside ours are literally are literally "Apocalypse World" and "The Bad Place". These are two different places.

God is off talking with Amara somewhere, going out further into the universe than he has been in a long time, and immediately the Empty and other holes in reality start popping up. Old characters come back, the world can completely change genre and there are places with real special effects to visit.

Imagine that God takes a glance back at his little ant farm, only to discover that his favorite little ants have set up a nice little 4 part quest for themselves, but there's also a lot of universe hopping and it's starting to get kinda gay and emotionally healthy (comparatively)

So he has to come in and take a whack at taking the wheel of the narrative. Something to get the blood pumping. An old school-adventure case! With a hot women! And instantly hate-able villains because they are fat and british! And a Mob guy! and some quips! and a guy who still has faith in gd, even if it is just a hunk of bone. Because you have to remember that the god of supernatural is a gd who changed his name to Chuck and doesn't really go in for worship. So Father Lucca Camilleri is very dedicated to doing actual good in the world and is considered something of a living saint in the story, and so is mostly focused on doing good things, and is not prescriptively devout. So the ideal follower that Chuck would write up if HE was writing it.

Which is sorta canon?

And this excuse could be whipped out for any one bad episode, but that is what this one felt like to me.

[consumeronionbulletin]

Crash Course in Romance (2023)

Really enjoyed this show. The writing and story felt familiar, but the actors were good enough that it still seems fresh. Could have done with 50% less obsessed crazy stalker people though.

What Worked

The leads were fun to watch both separately and together. The overall relationships were interesting and the drama does a good job of making something that should be rather dull (math class) seem exciting. Even the most detestable people in the show still had some moments of sympathy as well, which makes them seem like real people, and it also makes the show feel safer rather than super stressful.

What Didn't Work

The weird murder plot, but this was less offensive than most and they didn't allow it to take over the show.

The Performances

Jeon Do-yeon as Nam Haeng-seon. I'm not sure if it's groundbreaking to take a character that is super common in romance (the plucky young woman who just wants to take care of her family, but OMG life is terrible) and just age her up 15 years. Sadly, it kind of feels that way. In any case, this actor is great, she's apparently a big deal in K-film and I'm so glad we got to see her here.

Jung Kyung-ho as Choi Chi-yeol. He's not all that different from the character he played in Hospital Playlist (I enjoyed him in that), but his story is different enough that it still seemed interesting. Jung Kyung-ho did a great job as a lead, and I liked all the different character moments the writers put out there for him. Not all of them stuck (for example, the tragic student death that he seems to have forgotten about after five episodes), but overall it was more hits than misses.

Oh Eui-shik as Nam Jae-woo. Every time I see a character in these dramas who is on the Asperger's spectrum, I start to wonder if the writers are ticking a box or something. But as long as they make sure and put in the work to make the character feel real, then I'm okay with it. Oh Eui-shik did the work, and I was okay with it.

Lee Bong-ryun as Kim Young-joo. I enjoyed seeing her in Hometown Cha x 3 and she did a great job here (though her character is a little more one-note here). I felt her romance arc at the end was actually kind of nice.

Roh Yoon-seo as Nam Hae-yi. Really good job by a young actress who was only in her second drama. Hopefully, she'll have a long career, because she was fun to watch and the character was well done as well.

Jang Young-nam as Jang Seo-jin. The only other role I've seen her in was as kind of a bad person in IOK2NBO. She wasn't a great person here, but I had alot more sympathy for her, partly because the actor did a good job of making her relatable even during all the crazy plot stuff. I'm glad the writers left the character in a pretty good place overall.

Kim Mi-kyung as Haeng-seon's mother. I have already raved about how cool this actor is in other places. She was only in two episodes, and her character didn't even get a real name, but it was still just nice to see her on screen.

The High School Kiddos. I think they all did a good job. The writers didn't try and make them too cutesy or turn it into an afterschool special. They were fun to watch when they were on screen, and they all had good moments in the show.

The Gang of Bad Mothers With Money. I kind of enjoyed their antics, even if it felt like the writers were giving them the job of creating pointless drama at times. They were funny when they needed to be, and detestable when they needed to be, but none of them were too memorable.

The Evil Baddie Assistant Guy. Kind of a spoiler though it's not really a huge secret. I think the actor did a decent job of playing subtle with a character that slowly turns into a mustache twirling villain by the end of the series. I didn't need an interesting villain, in fact I'd rather not bother with him at all, but if you have to have a murder spree in your drama, this guy is an acceptable choice.

TL; DR:

Fun little romance / relationship drama with good casting that hit a sweet spot between familiar and fresh. Had some funny moments, and a few genuine feels but you knew going in that you'd end up with a HEA.

[llycaons]

I saw les mis live today (special treat). I’ve seen the show in high school and read the book a few times, but not recently

it’s such a gut punch to think that the social issues the books addresses are still a massive problem. idk about france but at least here in the us

I haven’t been listening to any music recently so when they started singing I was like “oh shit! this is great! cool how they do that!’

I didn’t cry, but at the beginning and at the end I got very close. ‘look down’ is such a fucking visceral song series

I forgot they have a live orchestra so halfway through I noticed the conductor and went ohhhh yeah there’s people down there playing instruments. sweet

my first les mis experience was the 2012(?) movie, which may have been bad musically speaking (didn’t love the valjean) but I have a lot of fondness for javert’s nasally voice and samantha barks’s eponine

I always had a crush on eponine when I was younger because barks was that beautiful, and in the books the ways she was described really appealed to me because I was 15 and didn’t think about how tragic her life was and sad it was that she’s been hardened by her experiences at such a young age. but I also think I connected with her loneliness a lot...leave marius and I’ll treat you right etc.

the theater songs are slightly differently delivered than in the movie, which I found sounded unnatural. they really have to sing fast, wow

live theater is really cool!! I haven’t been able to see any in years, and the lighting, effects, design, etc. are all so different from film and tv, they have so many more limitations but also unique opportunities that tv doesn’t. and I really loved to see how they put together each set right there on stage and how nothing looked *realistic* but the performance has its own character because of it

les mis has some of my favorite theater songs of all time, but also some of the most boring :/ ‘bring him home’ and ‘drink with me’ barely have real melodies. also im sorry but all the lyrics to ‘I dreamed a dream” are very juvenile. I get that fantine is young but those lyrics just sound ridiculous

but I really loved master of the house and lovely ladies, those are SUCH fun songs. I think the thernardiers were some of the first villains I saw onscreen who were just really fun with it

so fucked up that they killed gavroche. SO fucked up. I think his death scenes, in both the movie and the theater, were just gutting. I get why they did it! it was a good choice! but wow

I like how the movie had javert give gavroche that medal in recognition of his courage, but why did they actually have rain during ‘a little fall of rain’? the point was that eponine was so soaked in her own blood she just thought it was raining

the movie is the most pared-down version of the story that can still be comprehensible. it’s impressive how condensed they made events. the theater had several scenes I remember from the book that couldn’t fit into the movie

watching made me want to read the book again, it had so much detail that i really enjoyed when I had energy to get through it

god, anyone remember the les mis fandom ca. 2012? naturally people would flock to the shippable college students with one-sentence personalities and repeat the catchy songs and make memes rather than actually consider the social messages in the book or talk about the actual main character

speaking of messages, this is the only story where I watch it and feel I kind of get people being into catholicism to which

even so something that drove me crazy about valjean was in the books he would just not enjoy himself or let himself be happy. catholics will love to suffer. catholics will present suffering as a noble thing to do in life so you get rewarded in heaven. drove me up a wall. in the book he literally had no reason not to be with cosette he just felt unworthy of her or something and would just stop visiting her even though they missed each other so bad

oh wait it’s because he told marius about him being a convict but not about anything else in his life and it made marius cut him off because he thought he was evil or smt even though valjean later revealed that his wealth was from an honest idea he had and they reconcile just before he dies. so what was the fucking point, anyway? be as miserable and noble as you can die and then get to heaven because you were Good (tm) ugh

also, why didn’t valjean just tell marius who he was? he knew cosette loved marius back, what need was there for him to do this elaborate sewer crawl after marius was injured? what if marius had been shot dead, huh? like I know the character reasons for his determination to do everything in the most secret way possible but it would have made things so much easier

don’t love how women and sex workers are treated about by any of the versions or how cosette is treated by valjean or marius like she can’t handle the truth but for 1860s, not as bad as it could have been?

but the themes of just...kindness and second chances and forgiveness and sympathy for the most oppressed and mistreated members of society and doing right by others and loving them is so fucking good anyway