#HE GETS TO BE MUSHY JUST LIKE HIS MANGA... FINALLY

[dazais-guardian-angel]

I just wanna say that. there’s something incredibly morbid and gross about the fact that bones took away literally the only thing Sigma had to his name before the casino: his past. And not only his past itself, but his right to narrate his own past. Instead, the TWO lines they do keep about it (about him naming himself Sigma, and finally finding his one place to call home, the casino).... are given to Fyodor to say. Fyodor, his most recent manipulator in a long, long line of manipulators.

And not even just his past, but by extension so many of his strong, strong emotions about himself and what he’s been through and how they’ve made him into the person he is now: his fear, his sorrow, his desperation, his determination, his righteous indignation. His pain. The majority of that is all gone from the anime.

Sigma barely has a story of his own; his past, his suffering, and his emotions are the only things he has claim to, that make him who he is. And bones took even those away from him. Flattening him into an empty piece of paper, ironically, just like he was born from and as.

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

Real Talk: Ace Didn't Need to Ask For Help, It's On Garp

i always hate when i see comments about how ace was an idiot or ace should have just asked garp for help because, no? like dawg wtf do you mean?

the one thing we have been told repeatedly across the manga and anime is that ace could have lived his entire life being perfect and he still would have ended up on that podium

he could have become a marine, a police officer, a teacher, a chef and all of that would have been reduced to nothing the moment his parentage was discovered

yes, ace became a pirate of his own volition, but sengoku never mentioned his piracy

he never mentioned all the criminal activity ace did as the captain of the spade pirates or even later as the second division leader of the whitebeard pirates

you know what sengoku did bring up though the moment he got on that damn podium? ace's parentage

he mentions nothing that gained ace his bounty to begin with when he gets that den den mushi in his hand. why?

because it doesn't matter that ace is a pirate. what matters is that they are eradicating the last gol d roger's bloodline

bear in mind that they were killing pregnant women and young children who could have even had the slightest possibility of being roger's lover or kin

akainu deadass says that he doesn't care if every other pirate at marineford escapes as long as ace and luffy died and he would ensure their deaths personally. and for what? not their piracy. none of their crimes. not even for ensuring that the truth that certain countries and lands that were actually saved by pirates instead of the marines never got out

but because their fathers were gol d roger and monkey d dragon respectively

solely because of that, he deemed neither of them deserved to live

and as far as garp goes - i love garp as much as the next person but garp has never done anything for ace to trust him enough to ask for help even if he felt he deserved to ask

garp's negligent parenting coupled with the abusive words ace grew up hearing led ace to believe he didn't even deserve to be born. when he even asks garp if his being born was a good thing, garp can't even tell him 'yes'. he just says 'time will tell'. my brother in the blue seas, that is an elementary schooler questioning his right to exist

ace is defeated by blackbeard in episode 325 (chapters 434-441), luffy hears about his execution being set in episode 416 (chapter 522) and then finally ace is killed in episode 483 (chapter 574). that is 158 episodes and 140 chapters total and in that time what ace receives from garp are conversations that boil down to

"you did this to yourself"

"i just wanted you to become a fine marine"

"i don't have sympathy for criminals but i do have sympathy for family"

and garp actively preventing those who wish to save ace from reaching him. yes after akainu strikes ace, garp does react viscerally with instinct to protect his grandson, but that's too little too damn late at that point

garp having his moral dilemmas mean nothing when, however long ace spent in impel down, he isn't trying to help him

garp having his 'wishing things had been different' thoughts mean nothing when garp is preventing people from saving his grandson

there's a reason garp lets dadan beat and berate him when they reunite in windmill village and it's because he knows she's right

over the course of 20 years, garp has consistently chosen work over ace and luffy. as much as i love dadan and co, bandits are not a good choice to have raise your grandkids and then be the surprised pikachu meme when neither of them wish to become marines

garp's inability to see past the system he disdains yet clings onto actively shoots him in the foot

prevents him from seeing that ace is right when he says he never could have become a marine

luffy could have never become a marine. i do hear arguments saying that luffy might have had a fair chance considering garp is biologically his grandfather but i say that's truly up in the air considering how, even with that knowledge, akainu still wants to put luffy on a poster

but that's all to say, asking why ace never asked garp for help is ridiculous

the fuck would ace look like asking the man who has done nothing but

unintentionally fostered ace's resentment towards luffy in their early childhood

told ace it was his own fault he landed where he did

falcon punched marco halfway across marineford

for help?

and that's not even mentioning the fact that up until that point, ace didn't believe he deserved to live. he didn't think he had the right to exist. the only thing that kept him going up until that point was hoping he'd find an answer that justified his being born and his love for luffy and sabo. ace tells luffy in his dying breaths if it weren't for the two of them, he would have gave up on living a long time ago

yes, garp loves ace and luffy

he loves them both dearly but he is also incapable of putting them before work, before his ideals of justice. these two truths can coexist at the same time. garp's stubborn to a fault and his moral dilemma resulted in both inaction and the prevention of ace's escape

so to say that marineford would have gone differently if ace had asked is seriously undermining the character work. because in reality, it's up in the air on whether or not that would have done anything. ace asking garp for help could have gone either way and that's the beauty of the gray area regarding garp's actions during the summit war

and yes, i can get why it's frustrating that ace turned around to fight akainu when he could have just left and got it back in a blood a different time

but aside from ace having a temper about specific topics, we do get an answer as to why he couldn't bring himself to runaway when we finally are able to dive into his past with luffy and sabo:

he doesn't want to run away from any situation because ace is deathly afraid of losing something if running away ends up being the bad call

and in that moment, luffy was behind him

even if akainu hadn't talked down whitebeard, ace would have inevitably turned back around because he wouldn't have been able to shake his fear of losing something or someone he cared about

as long as there is something precious for him to potentially lose, ace will never run

he was doomed from the start

his being the son of gol d roger doomed him from the start

and that's what makes ace so tragic

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1122 - Initial Thoughts

And we're back

A bit late, scanlations didn't come in my time zone yesterday and I've been unable to graft out time until now. Also My Hero's final chapter happened so I had to read that too.

But finally, back from another break in One Piece. It's 'getting off this island, this time, for real' time in Egghead, the Sunny still soars in the sky, Vegapunk's broadcast is still ongoing and there are some lingering factors still to consider.

Let's see how the chapter unravels them

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release too

Sadly Yamato's cover story has been so boring that for a split second I got excited about seeing a Smoker cover story, but instead it's a redraw of an artwork (edit: a redraw of My Hero's mangaka's artwork, which is sweet), he looks badass though - Oda make Smoker badass more in the story! He and Tashigi need some Ws

Vegapunk's last reveal that the One Piece will decide the fate of the world has led to international worry, many not exactly thrilled with the idea that the fate of the world is likely gonna be in the hands of pirates

Pirates of course are happy, the world's smartest man just told everyone that the One Piece exists, there was more deniability when it came from a dying pirate after all

Impel Down are rambunctious, as Oda reminds us that the broadcast is piggybacking off of all Den Den Mushi whether people like it or not

Many misc Vice Admirals don't like that reveal either

Koby though, remembering his first encounter with Luffy, is forced to put himself at odds with his friend once more

Koby you know Luffy ain't like that can't you just resolve to stop his opposition?

Buggy meanwhile wins the hearts of his masses by refuting that it'll be 'his world' but rather 'our world'

His gesture at least spares him more assault from Crocodile and Mihawk - who it was really directed to

Devon and Augur are still with Caribou, asking Teach if they should kill him

Blackbeard seems willing to hear him out, which means a lot of worry awaiting Fishman Island and Wano

Vegapunk's broadcast is once again cut off after Vegapunk utters Joy Boy, with Warcury having once again damaged Emeth

As the giants call out to it's mecha kin, the Den Den Mushi inside explodes, ending the transmission once and for all

Up with the Sunny, V. Nusjuro makes chase, I guess he can gallop on air?

Zoro does prepare to confront V. Nusjuro but it's time for Emeth to do THAT JUTSU

He apologizes to Joy Boy and charges

He also apologizes to Luffy, realising that he's not the same person

What a spread though, it's like a painting seeing the Sunny flying overhead, the Gorosei's forms one side, Emeth in the middle and the longboat on the other, also with the reveal that Emeth is sorry that he couldn't make Joy Boy King

King of what though? It was implied that he led the Ancient Kingdom, perhaps he like Rocks wanted to be King of the World?

Emeth asks for Luffy's name, and he does his usual declaration

Pulling out a knotted rope, Emeth marvels at him having D. in his name

He unknots the rope, and an immense Conqueror's Haki emits from it!

Emeth thanks Luffy for letting it hear the Drums of Liberation once more, and demands that he doesn't die

The haki is so intense that not only does it revert the Gorosei to their human state, but it sends Warcury, V. Nusjuro and Ju Peter back to Marejois!!!

Mars is there waiting having been given the Manga's second successful space launch

Oh Shit! Imu even felt it, and they are rattled!

I wonder if this confirms that Imu is somehow connected to the Gorosei in some way?

Also we have a new shaded character acting as an attendant to Imu, wonder who that is?

The Sunny lands safely, much to the crew's relief

Only Saturn remains, staring down Emeth as he remembers an encounter with Joy Boy

Sadly it seems Joy Boy wasn't a giant, his silhouette is small and he must look Luffy-like

In the past Joy Boy tells Emeth that 'the time is at hand'

That Haki was Joy Boy's, which he embedded into a knot for Emeth to use, knowing that Emeth will likely outlive him

He permits Emeth to untie the knot when their life or someone's life that they care about is in danger, so they will be there to help

Joy Boy happily notes how it's like saving him with help from the past

Emeth seems to shut down once more, heartbreaking that his last memory is hoping that he won't feel lonely

Welp we pour one out for Emeth this chapter

This was an exciting chapter to come back to, and it once again puts Haki in a new perspective. Shanks has already shown that Conqueror's Haki can be utilised differently than just a shockwave or coating, but this was a lingering imbuement, something that stayed intact long after Joy Boy died, that is very fascinating.

The fact that Joy Boy's Haki could repel the Gorosei shows the ceiling Luffy and co need to get to as well, it feels like we've just breached the surface of how powerful Haki can really be, the will of the spirit, the quality of a King. And we have to mull on that, because being King does mean a lot, the end of the chapter shows Joy Boy - at least his silhouette - to be a caring person, focused on being able to help his friends, but what did Emeth want to make him king of? Was it Joy Boy's will to be king too or was it like a Whitebeard thing where he wanted to make Ace king? I'm not saying there's duplicity but the conflict between Joy Boy and the very shaken Imu could be a conflict of ruling philosophy, two extremes rather than a comfy middle ground. Food for thought at least.

With the threat of the Gorosei gone, minus Saturn we should still keep an eye on him (maybe Saturn didn't get sent back because he did technically sail there? The rest were summoned), the crew are safe to leave. But there's still other matters to deal with; the mother flame is still in Saturn's hands now, York that bitch is still alive, there's also the worldwide reaction and however Morgans wants to spin this (we never did get a reason to have a video feed from Vegapunk? Maybe his explanation of the D or the recent cutoff had the visual aids?) and there's whatever CP0 will do - I doubt Saturn will treat their and Kizaru's failures as unable to be helped, not to mention Sentomaru and Stussy's treachery.

The all out pirate war is on the horizon though, Koby looks like he's gonna step up again even if it means opposing Luffy, but as we leave Egghead the world is for sure about to be shaken more than it's ever been shook.

[tubbypeddle]

parts 7 and 5 jojo's bizarre adventure matchup! with @critter-paw!!

this was interesting! it's been so long since i've had to think about part 7 beyond just johnny and gyro because it's been literally years since i've read part 7, but I thought it'd be interesting!

(author's note: credits to gif owners, bc I did not make them. <33 minor spoilers for the manga if anyone hasnt read it yet)

so!

you find yourself in the middle of the Steel Ball Run!

Which of those lucky competitors do you find as yours?

From part 7, I match you with...

Johnny Joestar!

now this one was a surprise to me!

Johnny's a little selfish and blunt, and with your rather anxious nature upon first meeting, it's bound for some hurt feelings. (probably on your end)

But, over time, as the two of you get to know each other a little more, and your more playful nature becomes known to him, he finds himself falling a little more for you.

He sees you less as a competitor, and more as a confidant. Now, he and Gyro get along fine, great even! But he still tells you things he's never told Gyro, things he never thought he'd ever tell anyone; about Nicholas, and his father. He appreciates how well you understand.

(yes, this includes the bug bites)

Johnny often finds himself doubting that he deserves you, even when the two of you aren't together yet. You're just so much better than he is, why would he ever taint you so? Not that you let him continue that train of thought.

You treat him as if he's fragile, and for the first time in his life, that thought doesn't send shivers up his spine. Because you don't treat him as if he's weak, y'know?

Rather, you treat him as if he's something precious, something to be cherished as much as protected. And it makes him feel all mushy gushy inside. The last time anyone's ever treated him like he deserved to be protected, Nicholas had still been alive.

He finds it hard to talk to you sometimes, you just make his throat close up, his words catch in his chest before it even reaches his mouth. Really, everytime you try to talk to him, his face is red and his hands are shaking.

Just as you find him precious, he finds himself being almost disgustingly protective of you. He's willing to sacrifice damn near everything, or everyone, for you, (Save Gyro, of course) the Holy Corpse parts, the world. He will do anything to keep you safe, he will sacrifice anything.

I think you'll find that he'd rather keep your relationship private. He's not a fan of having vulnerabilities known to the public, and that includes you. You are his most treasured person. He can't take losing another important person. If someone takes you from him, he might break for good.

He of all people understands how hard it can be to express your emotions, so he tries his best to be patient with you. He understands the temper and the repression and the awkwardness. Because he's the same. And that familiarity brings understanding. And understanding brings patience.

He makes an effort to learn how you want to say things without saying them, how you express yourself without expressing too much. He owes you at least that much for even giving him the chance of being your partner.

And every gift you give him, he takes great care to keep them safe. Or if they're practical items that he could use everyday, he uses them Every. Day. Until they're so worn they can barely be used anymore. He loves your gifts.

Out of everything though, he loves your humor the most. You're always teasing him, and you match his sarcasm on everything. It's like, when he looks at you, he finally understands what it must be like to love himself, too.

Honorable mentions!! Diego Brando he hates the world as it is, but you...you're something else. He's seen plenty of people like you before, hurt by the world with nowhere else to turn. But you're the first he's met who wasn't so openly disgusted with everything the world has become, and instead has become kinder because of it. He finds you absolutely breathtaking. Gyro Zeppeli He spends a lot of time with Johnny, and after you join their little duo and make them a trio, he's fascinated by you. You are so much like Johnny in every way that matters, and over time, he finds himself falling for you. It's just a damn shame that Johnny got you first...

Oh wow! How cute you and Johnny are!

Now! Back to the first universe! you find yourself in Italy, in 2001!

Now which of these lucky lucky gangsters find themselves belonging to you?

hmmmmmm

Bruno Bucciarati!!

Honestly, the two of you just bond over having grown up way too young. With each other, you two can be as freaky as you want. As childish as you want.

He also takes an interest in your interest in Criminal Justice. Ever the business oriented person, he takes in every bit of information you tell him and uses it to his advantage in his career. Every loophole, every law, he'll memorize it to his advantage.

He also can soothe your hot temper. It's not often that he'll set you off, and if he, or someone else does, he knows how to calm you down. You'll often joke and call it his Bucciarati Charm.

And he cherishes your bruised heart, because you gave it to him. And just like with every gift you give him, he protects it.

He also tries to nudge you out of your habit of apologizing all the time. It's heartbreaking that you feel the need to apologize for merely existing near him. He is your partner, there's nothing to apologize for when you're with him.

Your need to keep neat about things is something he appreciates. When he spends so much of his time around teenage boys and Abbacchio, it's easy to find himself lost in a mess. It's refreshing to have a partner who will help him clean up and keep neat. Even if you are a bit scatterbrained every now and then. He's pretty good at keeping people on track.

You want words of affirmation, he's got you. He loves praising you, especially when he sees you doing something that's normally outside of your comfort zone. He wants you to know that he's proud of you when he is. He's big on gentle communication, and is eager to let you know that.

And he absolutely adores your comfortable style. He likes knowing that you feel comfortable around him. It's domestic in a way he didn't even know he needed in his life.

Honorable mentions! Leone Abbacchio you're precious in a way that he doesn't see in the world very often. Even if he didn't trust you on the team right away, as you got closer to Bucciarati, he found himself longing for you.

This was fun to do again!! Ignore that I accidentally posted it prematurely, that never happened 🤭

[guidingthulite]

big eyes emojis... please tell me about your lovely works!!! ocs, fanfics, whatever you'd like and whatever comes to mind ^^

ok i'm SOOOOOOOO mentioning you on the next chapter of the fic i referenced earlier my readers need to know who they need to thank lmao

the fic i mencioned, by the way, is "this is like one of my sister's shoujo mangas, but worse", a proseka/akikasa fanfic inspired by this one art here. the fact that someone said my tags were funny made me go "afbafhbasjf really ;_;???" and i wrote the first chapter while waiting at the bus station to go back to my hometown.

i didn't really expect it to be as liked as it was??? i posted it at night and woke up to one (1) comment by the person who would go ahead and call herself my number one fan (still blown away by that??? what the hell)

the fic i mencioned, by the way, is "this is like one of my sister's shoujo mangas, but worse", a proseka/akikasa fanfic inspired by this one art here. the fact that someone said my tags were funny made me go "afbafhbasjf really ;_;???" and i wrote the first chapter while waiting at the bus station to go back to my hometown.

i didn't really expect it to be as liked as it was??? i posted it at night and woke up to one (1) comment by the person who would go ahead and call herself my number one fan (still blown away by that??? what the hell)  and i was like “hell yeah i got a comment!” but they kept coming and i was like yo what????????? so i wrote a second chapter to thank everyone who commented. and then a third. and then a fourth. and so on. i find important to say that every chapter was longer than the previous one. the last one was over 10k words. save me

i like talking about it a lot, to the point i have a special tag for when i mention it on a sideblog. it’s relatively empty because i started the tag not long ago, but when i go through my blog and find all the untagged posts, it’ll get much, much longer, i know this.

as for the plot… like the art it’s inspired by, akito has a dream where he’s dating tsukasa and loses his mind, then proceeds to go through all the stages of grief and finally comes to terms with his crush on tsukasa

that’s just the first chapter. from then onwards i didn’t have any art to base the story on so i just went wild. the next chapters go as follows:

shizuku and tsukasa barely interact in canon and that makes me sad, so i wanted a chapter dedicated to them and threw ena in for good measure. ended up super attached to this trio, to the point i was rereading it again to find typos and forgot i wrote it myself on the way, so i thought “man, this author should write more shizuenakasa!” i am the author. this is the last chapter where they interact.

The supposed fluff chapter where they just hang out. it was getting too mushy and i decided to interrupt them (sorry, akito, tsukasa!), but i couldn’t figure out how. so i thought and thought and thought and came across the perfect interruption: mizuki and saki are now dating. akito has mentioned several times throughout the fic that he considers mizuki his number one enemy. and if they dated saki he’d be forced to interact more, further intensifying the stereotype that every akito fan wishes to see him suffer

something really cute happened with this ship actually! because i saw it around in some cute fanart where mizuki and saki had a double date with honami and kanade, but i didn’t think too much about it, just used it as a tool to move the plot forward, yet, i am a writer, god damn it, so if i’m going to write them, i’ll write them well! god damn it! (again)

so yeah, wrote this rarepair in a fic of a sort-of rarepair, and i got comments saying i got them to ship mizusaki, and some others, when the diner event rolled around, told me excitedly how mizusaki’s finally canon

HELP WHILE I WAS WRITING THIS A KIZUNA OF THEM WAS ANNOUNCED? HELL YEAH MAN

and because people kept associating this ship with me, nowadays it’s one of my favorite ships! though i don’t have them in my proseka profile ship wall. it’s more important to add more minori ships. i ship minori with everyone. help me.

also i don’t have good matching cards for them, i didn’t pull on the diner gacha. (it hated me in jpseka so i didn’t bother with enseka. also i was saving for pandemonium so i was kinda broke lol)

also fun fact that i had been waiting to share with someone because it’s a very specific thing! i don’t remember why exactly i had heisei pistol show on the mind (as if i don’t have parun constantly on the mind) and i was thinking about mizusaki and i was like HOOOOOOLD OOOOOOOOON- ISN’T MIZUSAKI HEART’S SURNAME??????????? and so the last chapter’s title is a heisei pistol show reference just because i can

the next chapter is because (i assume) in the first chapter an and akito beefed for a bit, and kohane was super in favour of akikasa (even though akito wanted her to absolutely NOT be), so people asked me a lot about an and/or kohane reacting to akikasa actually being together (they started dating officially on chapter 3) so it’s a double date between an, kohane, akito and tsukasa which is really funny because my opinion on an/hane has gone downhill as time passed but i’m happy with how i portrayed them here. mostly because the interactions focus more on an<->akito and kohane<->tsukasa lmao 😭

if the third chapter was the fluff chapter, the fifth chapter is the funny chapter. It’s mostly shizuku, airi, mizuki, saki, tsukasa and akito playing truth or dare. Not much more to that, though a lot of people liked the end with mizuki writing a letter to tsukasa. That makes me happy

the sixth chapter is the longest chapter to date and I actually don’t like spoiling what it is about but…

CHAPTER SPOILERS AHEAD

the reason why it was a dream, when it was originally written as the finale of the fic was because… i couldn’t be bothered to do wedding research. i asked my cousin, who got married (relatively) recently and she told me “i honestly don’t remember how wedding prep went”, so i asked her husband and he replied “nope, don’t remember either” they are couple goals and i adore them, so i took this as a sign. mid-writing process i went to a wedding myself but then i got ideas for another unrelated fic i’m writing.

also because i got an idea mid-writing, because that’s what ALWAYS HAPPENS. i go “this is the last chapter I SWEAR” and then i get an idea and this isn’t the last chapter at all

then I decided to add foreshadowing that it was a dream, like it lacking mizuki making an akikasa mv to bad boy by cascada (nightcore) because akito doesn’t know mizuki’s planning it >:)

CHAPTER SPOILERS END

as for chapter seven… I’m writing it! I said I’d have it by next week so I guess I’m gonna have to write it HARDER haha

have a preview that makes it really hard to guess what the chapter is actually about <3

it’s currently sitting at around 6k words, so if i want it to be longer than chapter 6, i’m only halfway! i gotta work harder!!! 💪

i will now proceed to say my thanks to everyone who contributed to me making the fic!

obviously @meltylandartchive for making the fanart which inspired this fic! their art is wonderful, so pretty and gorgeous! i love their use of colors, it feels so soft! they even commented on my fic, which i didn’t expect honestly fjerhbgrebg they were so nice too augh augh augh

@abbus-r-us is not only the reason the fic exists but also the reason why i kept writing!!! when they send me an audio of them reading the new chapter (at the moment) I SWEAR i almost started crying. i think i started writing again just for that moment. maybe i was also born for that moment, idk. (they’re also the biggest sweetie ever like??? illegal)

liku who is the #1 fan i mentioned earlier!!! i love their silly comments and they have outstanding taste tbh (not. not because they’re my #1 fan i also mean ships and also they're machi’s wife and being a machi fan is the most logical path you can take) (they have a tumblr but i kinda. forgot its name ;v;)

@lucephica was also there from day 1! i feel like that one pic of the greek philosopher every time i talk with them they’re so correct about everything all the time. she also was my beta reader for chapter 6 and i genuinely think she’s the reason why it turned as good as it did. also she likes tiering a lot and sometimes i click random profiles and i find a slide thanking/mentioning her and i’m like?????????????????????????? also i think she’s really cool and i admire her a lot and it’s like. i’m the fic writer it’s supposed to be the other way around, but here we are

@ceelisiowo and i met the way true warriors meet: i commented on a fic of his and noticed he had a pfp of this character from a relatively obscure fnaf au where they’re all teenagers and sing. it marked a generation but only if you speak spanish. so we instantly hit it off and honestly????????? i’m so glad i took so many weird paths throughout my life that allowed me to meet him. i consider him one of my best friends and i don’t want to get mushy on a post about a fanfic i wrote two years ago but i don’t think words can express how much he means to me anyway. also ooooooo you want to click on his profile and reblog his art with nice tags and follow him and read all of his fics ooooooooo

@prefixsstars shares so many rarepairs with me it’s almost scary. initially, they posted a comment on anon because they didn’t have an ao3 account, but when they did it felt like when a scooby doo villain is unmasked except they’re not a villain they were out there doing good!!!! i think i lost my metaphor. i’m sorry. that mizuki/minori fic i mentioned is still in the works i prommy.

shoutout also to everyone who commented and added nice comments to their bookmarks!!!!

somehow people keep choking while reading my fic... i mean, it has only happened twice, but who knows how many more times it has happened without me knowing!!!

this comment made me actually cry hbhsuaugghaguaghuaghuaa

... and this comment ruined me. how could i have never noticed. why. why am i like this. jkat subliminal writing. again, why.

some people even sent me frqs on proseka itself saying they liked my fic! (kinda)

these two people just screamed my name which. confused me a lot??? but also flustered me IMMENSELY bc i wasn't expecting it at all!!!

i got to talk with iactuallysuck (they helped me tier on wedding3) and they were so nice and patient with me!

the second person is a mystery to me but i still think about their fq a lot fbrgjreg

i remember the context of this one actually! i tiered minori3 and since i was STRAIGHT UP number 100, i got a lot of frqs, but this was my favorite aughuaghua (sobbing)

When it comes to ocs I have a lot and this post is longer than I expected, but I do have a fic in the works that might interest you!

It’s. how do I describe it. it’s this sort of fix-it-fic-headcanon-post-canon-but-also-pre-canon disaster and it’s me trying to connect heisei pistol show, gote to handa and re:kinder together. i've been writing it for a year now, on and off, but i'll finish it someday. probably. i hope

[aspiring-holistic-otaku]

Season 3 Ramble #8 - A is for Anime(solo reprise) ver.3

Hadn't been doing the run-up posting I usually do for my rambles due to work and such but here we are!

How this ramble is gonna go is I'm gonna list my top 3 movies watched this month then top 3 series for same, AAnd now that I actually have a semi decent number of anime under my belt I'm gonna do a quick top ten of both at the end.. after that if you wanna stick around, instead of the usual post ramble ramble, I'm gonna add a bit of the recording I did with the homies, as a sort of prelude and promise that we will have that conversation in future. I really think it's an important and potentially fruitful discussion to have.

But In any case getting into the episode now

TOP 3 MOVIES 

3) Belladonna Of Sadness (1973, 1hr33m, Mushi Production)

Crazy movie. I don't think I can accurately talk about it without it sounding too wHild… I'm still gonna, but I'm gonna open with what Google says about it.

A peasant woman is raped by the local lord on her wedding night. To take revenge, she makes a pact with the Devil himself who appears as an erotic sprite and transforms her into a black-robed vision of madness and desire.

As I said.. wHild… and that's just the summary…the details of the actual movie are like…woah.. but in any case it was great, actually something that'd been on my watch list for a good long while so I'm glad I could actually finally watch it. 

Glazing over the plot which the summary does a pretty good job of covering anyways, the visuals were absolutely stunning. They're by Yoshitaka Amano, probably most famously known for his final fantasy illustrations. For the most part the visuals are done in what looks like watercolor paint, which is just wild in my mind,, like wHy?? He definitely pulled it off though which is even more crazy cause a good amount of it was done in an almost slideshow kinda way which I usually don't like but he still pulled it off…crazy…. Should be kinda obvious from the summary but moderate tw. Still definitely strongly recommend.

Small sidenote - in making this ramble I found out that belladonna of sadness is actually part of a trilogy called animerama,, so now I have 2 more old ass movies to look forward to. Hopefully they're just as good or even better…

2) Lupin IIIrd: The Gravestone of Daisuke Jigen (2014, 51m, Telecom Animation Film)

Ever since I watched my first lupin movie 3 years ago I've been locked in. In fact it was such a good watch that I've limited myself to one a year. Thankfully the trend of awesomeness has continued up to this point but enough premature glazing. 

This movie is basically centered on Jigen, as you can probably tell from the title. Just a point of clarity for those who don't know much of anything about lupin, Jigen is basically the gunslinger of Lupin’s crew. So as this is basically his movie, he's ofc facing off against a gunslinger. The title is so named because this guy, the gunslinger they find themselves up against, makes graves for his victims before killing them. Nobody's ever gotten away from him. In fact he's so good that he uses dice to decide how many bullets he'll use to take out his target. Ice cold mf.

Pretty good action from start to finish though I’m a tad disappointed there wasn't more gun-slinging, though from what I gather Jigen’s whole thing is speed, accuracy and efficiency,, so maybe a barrage of bullets wouldn't have made sense. In any case we get to see all of the crew besides goemon, dry cry as he's my personal fav but still solid. The art direction was great from all angles as I've come to expect. Not too much to say cast wise as on Lupin gang’s side there's a cumulative effect of greatness where every time you see them it's generally a continuation of past interactions, as in there's an obviously rich history there. That being said, the dynamic is still great and from what I've seen, you can pick up any of the movies and immediately love them. But anyways, on the other hand, the main villain/organization felt a bit hollow. Which is something I've come to kind of expect with movie exclusive antagonists in general. It's just a matter of time efficiency. I think when it comes to anime movies, you're generally not watching for the antagonist unless they have to do with the main storyline. Otherwise you're kinda watching to see how the protagonist will beat them in about an hour. Though I will say as far as visuals can speak, they definitely spoke volumes in that sense. Also, given the geopolitical climate we're in, I liked the villain/organization and how they were handled... trying not to spoil too much there but if you so much as peek between the lines you probably get it.. In any case definitely highly recommend.

Side note - every lupin movie I watch further solidifies my decision to get into the series… just watching the movies first for some reason…

1) Mind game (2004, 1hr44m, Studio 4°C)

Honestly,, I don't even want to speak on it for fear of sullying its greatness. It's one of those life changing before and after watches fr. This is something I'd been really wanting to watch since ver.1 when I started getting into Studio 4°C through their awesome anthologies genius party and genius party beyond.

I'm gonna default to the anilist description here which is kinda almost decent relative to the sheer phenomenal amazingness of this movie.. but I digress.. so according to anilist..

Audiences will begin to grasp what they are in for early on, as loser Nishi, too wimpy to try to save his childhood sweetheart from gangsters, is shot in the butt by a soccer-playing psychopath, projecting Nishi into the afterlife. In this limbo, God - shown as a series of rapidly changing characters - tells him to walk toward the light. But Nishi runs like hell in the other direction and returns to Earth a changed man, driven to live each moment to the fullest.

The last bit hints at the greatness of this film. Right there that small difference in speech speaks volumes in my personal world of language. It's not just a movie. It's film. 10/10. absolute cinema.

As I said I don't even want to talk about it too much because I don't think it possible to do it justice through mere words, but I'm gonna put a bit more glaze on it before I wrap up the movie list and move on to series. This movie beat out studio ghibli’s, Miyazaki directed, howl’s moving castle in the 2004 Japan Media Arts Festival. Further, this was a debut work for the director Masaaki Yuasa, who would later go on to found science saru studio. I was so moved by this movie that I've decided I will watch everything masaaki yuasa has and will ever direct. 10/10. highly recommend. end of glaze.

hm: under the dog, Mezzo forte, blood: the last vampire, 4°c (sweat punch, short peace from last time)

Top 3 Series

3) Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (2023-2024, 28ep 24m, Madhouse) 

This is something I'd been seeing around for a bit but was intentionally ignoring because for some reason I got it in my head that it was based on this sad little one shot called The hero’s party on their way back home, and I was NOT watching an entire series based on that.

In any case, in talking with my bros recently they all insisted that it was the best anime released in the past year, one of them declaring it was in his top5 all time. So I pushed past my fears and binged it all in a day. V thankful for the bros.

The story here follows an elven mage called frieren and her life after defeating the Demon King and bringing peace to the world.

As you can tell from the summary it's largely a slice of life but it has its fair share of well placed scraps. It fills a certain fantasy gap where you get that day to day rose tinted indigenous peoples’ lifestyle feel, that I think most people would want if they actually lived in a fantasy setting,, not that constantly under threat from dragons and shit usually focused on. And as I said there are some well placed fights. The pacing also felt perfect. Like I almost felt bad binging it because I could tell that once a week watch would've been REALLY good… one of the few series I don't want to read the manga for, I'll definitely be watching weekly whenever season 2 drops..

Great cast though kinda small, pretty brilliant visuals and sound direction. Very very very solid all round, what I'd call supremely balanced tbh. One of the bros put it really well in that he said he has synesthesia so everything has colours for him, and the colours of every aspect of this show came together to paint the perfect picture. Now I don't have synesthesia myself but I could definitely feel, not just see, how well orchestrated it all was. definitely strongly recommend.

2) Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007, 27ep 24m, Gainax)

Yes. It's 2024 and I’m just watching gurren lagann and you'll hear why that is if you listen in to the post ramble ramble,, but suffice to say, you can never be late to true greatness and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is definitely in that category. 

Firstly I kinda watched it as a meme seeing as last ramble I focused on the supposed relationship between sacred geometry and JoJo's bizarre adventure… if that sounds crazy then you should listen to the ramble… not that it'll sound less crazy but..yh.. anyways I was vaguely aware that gurren lagann focused a bit on spirals so I tapped in for the meme. 

To summarize the lengthy anilist summary,, In a far away future, mankind lives underground in huge caves, unknowing of a world above with a sky and stars. yada yada yada blah blah blah Simon, Kamina, Yoko, and the small yet sturdy robot, Lagann, journey to the world above and find that the surface is a harsh battlefield, and it's up to them to fight back against the rampaging Beastmen. Pierce the heavens, Gurren Lagann!

Again I'm gonna fall back on the words of another of my bros from the session, I think he had it in his top 10 or 5,, but he said he considers gurren lagann to be a perfect starter anime in that it perfectly showcases almost everything the medium of anime has to offer. Action, comedy, philosophy, slice of life, amazing cast, brilliant visual direction, solid sound direction. etc. the term “starter anime” gets thrown around a fair bit and I usually think it's a rubbish term because of how insanely diverse the medium is and how specific different individuals tastes can be,, so like to say this or that anime is a good “starter anime" never made sense.. but when he said it, that was the very first time I actually thought it made sense..

Definitely super highly recommend, a recommendation to pierce the heavens if you will.

1) Akiba Maid War (2022, 12ep 24m, P.A Works)

Gotta say it was a tough call between this and gurren lagann but it won out for 3 reasons. #1 it's shorter, and that's not a lazy pov, I just personally tend to give more ratings to shorter series in general because I think being able to do something amazing in a short amount of time deserves more props than doing so in a longer span of time. personally.. #2 it was FUNNY. AS. FUCK. I'm coming to realize that when it comes to anime specifically, comedy may be my favourite genre. I can't quite put my finger on why but I think it has to do with how far animation as a medium can push physical humor.. idk.. lastly… idek why I felt the need to justify all this…it's my list… but lastly,, and most importantly. maids. enough said..

The story here follows the dealings of different maid cafes in the town of Akihabara. I say dealings because in this show the maids basically act like Yakuza, having turf wars, extortion rackets and drug trades(just a point of clarity for those who've never heard the term, you've probably guessed but Yakuza are basically Japanese gangsters). In any case this is all under the table as they pay off the police and act the usual cutesy part in front of civilians. That may be a bit of a spoiler but a gif of it was going around a lot last year i think,, with this one maid gunning down a bunch of other maids and it was made to look like an idol rave with the glow sticks and everything + the “twist" if you can even call it that happens in episode 1 so it's not like some major turning point spoilers + "wars” is literally in the title, so with all due respect, you can bite me.. 

In any case, as I said this shit was funny ASF, mainly because of the opposing imagery of maids and yakuza they somehow pulled off perfectly.. like I can't begin to explain how crazy it is to see maids cussing each other out with the most obscene language, fighting it out in the craziest brawls, then turning around and going “welcome home master”. 

Fairly small but very strong cast, all funny in their own unique ways from the hardened criminal type to the frightened newbie. the visuals were great, sounds direction solid, I really really loved the op and ed, cause they just perfectly matched the shows energy. Kinda episodic for the most part but that fit the crazy, “you'll never guess what happens next” energy… Just great overall like wow.. a bit surprised I haven't seen it around more but I realize comedies don't tend to get that much ratings on release, if they do get attention it's further down the line as a “hidden jewel".

But in any case yes. 10/10. definitely highly recommend. please go watch this. have a good laugh, give thanks for life and go see the beauty of the world.

hm: Flying Trapeze, Goodbye Mr. despair (from s2)

Top 10 Movies (no order)

A Silent Voice, Memories (anthology directed by katsuhiro otomo), One Piece Movie 6: Flower Island, Tokyo Godfathers, Mind Game, Ocean Waves, Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind, Sword Of The Stranger, the Lupin movies (just watch all of them lol), Maquia: When The Promised Flower Blooms

hm: Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop, Animatrix, GITS Innocence, Wolf Children, Princess Mononoke

Top 10 Series (no order)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Akiba Maid Wars, Nichijou, Hyouka, Mononoke, Sonny Boy, Tatami Galaxy(all spinoffs, movies, everything.), Steins;Gate, Dorohedoro, Angel Beats, Durarara!!(all seasons)

hm: Baccano!, Pluto, FLCL up to Progressive, Cowboy Bebop, chainsaw man

[i-am-minty-fresh]

Why I love the One Piece Live Action as someone who was incredibly skeptical

!Spoilers for the Live Action (kinda, use your discretion)!

Reason 1:

The Casting.

I do not need to get that into this because if you like One Piece at all you’ve definitely seen how much work the cast has put into being the most authentic version of these characters (I’m partial to Iñaki Godoy’s (Luffy) infectious goofiness and Taz Skylar’s (Sanji) martial artistry, but thats just cause I follow them both on instagram and I’m in love). The cast absolutely loves what they are making and you can tell so let's just blow them all a kiss and move on.

Reason 2:

The Design Choices.

I love all the choices but I’m gonna highlight one for the sake of time. Buggy. The man, the myth, the clown that terrorized tumblr for a bit, let's talk about the moron shall we. In the anime and manga Buggy is a clown. Nothing more. He’s introduced as scary but very quickly he becomes just a menace. In the live action though, oh he’s scary. Yeah it’s scary to see a mostly shadowed face with an eerie smile like in the anime or manga, but the live action makes me feel unnerved. He’s got mannerisms like Jack Nicholson's joker mixed with Pennywise’s body contortionists to create a character that makes me not just scared but unnerved. 

Reason 3:

Luffy.

This part was arguably what I was the most nervous about and what made me the happiest about overall. I was really scared about the graphics surrounding Luffy’s Gum Gum fruit, because I was thinking that they have to make him stretch and contort so often without it looking weird. While watching though I realized something that made me so happy. It does look weird. It’s looks really weird and can be hard to look at but that’s the fucking point. We all got so used to Luffy’s fruit we forgot about how gnarly it looks without animation. When characters react to his fruit we see them looking grossed out or scared, that's because his fruit is gross and scary to normal people. When he bends seemingly without a spine, when bullets bounce out of him, when he drags his head back to hit you with that Gum Gum Bell to those characters they’ve been seeing what we now have to look at. It makes you uncomfortable because a person shouldn’t be able to bend like that and that’s why everyone who sees it in the manga or anime looks like they're gonna puke or scream. You know what always fixes that feeling though? Luffy’s personality. His childishness, his creativity, his utter stupidity. He laughs it off and Iñaki Godoy does a perfect job emulating this! 

Final Thoughts.

There are some things that the Live Action doesn’t have. There are some things that it adds that some people won’t like. (The den den mushi’s are terrifying and I hate looking at them). As someone who loves this show with all their heart I get the instinct to point out differences and flaws and just get as mad as possible over little details but…I refuse to do so. I love complaining and if this adaptation truly sucked this would be a much longer and much angrier post but it just doesn’t suck. The only expectation I had was this adaptation needed to at least remind me why I absolutely fell in love with the stupid fucking pirate anime and instead it had me falling in love all over again. I suggest you watch it if you like One Piece, if for nothing else watch it because of how proud Oda is of it. He knows us better than anyone else, and he knows we’ll love it, so just trust him. He’s never let us down before.

[scorpionatori]

Top 5 Backstories in Anime/Manga

5. “Cushion of Grass” - Mushishi

“In this world, every person and place has a right to exist. It’s true for you, too. Nature itself allowed you to come back. The entire world as a whole is your home.”

Although Mushishi has a more "monster of the week" structure and isn't focused on developing fleshed out character arcs, the series still gives us two wonderful backstory episodes about our protagonist, Ginko. In "Cushion of Grass", an older mushi-shi comes across a young Ginko who's collapsed in the woods, surrounded by mushi. Ginko stays for a little while, but things take a turn for the worse when Ginko accidentally drops the egg of the unborn mountain lord, killing it.

While adult Ginko is a content and capable traveler and professional, child Ginko is a lonely outcast without a home or any place he can permanently stay, given he attracts mushi. It's even revealed that other mushi-shi would take advantage of him to attract mushi to different areas so he could get them jobs.

Ginko doesn't think someone like him belongs anywhere. And then he causes the death of the new mountain lord. But despite this, he's allowed to return to the world after getting pulled into the world of mushi. The man who had been looking after him tells him that, although he can't forgive him for what he did, he needs to remember that he belongs in this world. That every living thing has a right to exist, including him. The entire world is his home. This sets off Ginko's worldview we see throughout the series. He finds contentment in his lonely life of wandering and truly does seem to feel home wherever he is. He believes that humans and mushi both deserve to exist in the world.

"Cushion of Grass" is a beautifully written backstory, and the anime does an amazing job bringing it to life.

4. “Parent and Child” - Re:Zero

“‘I don’t love you.’ ‘I disown you.’ You are not… my son.’ I wished, you’d just say that to me, and throw me away. I wished, you’d give up on me.” - Natsuki Subaru

How Re:Zero fans watched this and still thought Subaru was just some whiny annoying protagonist who never learns his lessons is beyond me. In this, we truly see how much he has grown as he undergoes the Witch's trial in the Sanctuary.

Even with this series being full of truly tragic backstories, the story of Subaru's normal childhood still made me the most emotional.

Subaru is a very smart and talented kid with skills all around and a charismatic personality. He's good at school and sports and is very popular. His father is the same way, and he grows up constantly being compared to him. His identity ends up becoming wrapped up in the image of his father. Although this may seem harmless and although his father did nothing wrong, the constant comparisons give Subaru a highly idealized view of who he's supposed to be, and he eventually becomes incredibly burnt out by all the expectations placed on him to be as amazing as his father. He starts self-sabotaging, neglecting his studies and getting into trouble with the other kids. Eventually he stops going to school altogether and locks himself in his room all day.

Despite having people who care about him and growing up being praised, Subaru truly hates himself. He even admits he wishes his loving parents would beat him and get rid of him, because he thinks that's what he deserves. It feels devastating to him that someone as low as him would receive any form of love. He intentionally tries to make himself a lazy and worthless human being, hoping it will cause people to resent him the way he resents himself.

In the trial, he finally has to confront this aspect of himself and he does so with success.

3. Twilight’s backstory - Spy x Family

“I didn’t know anything. I never did. I didn’t know the real reason the war had started. I thought there wouldn’t be a war at all. I’d been convinced they’d all died in the bombing. I hated the enemy without knowing why. I picked up a gun without knowing why. I obeyed my country without knowing why. Ignorance isn’t bliss. Ignorance is weakness. Ignorance is a sin.” - Agent Twilight

Despite being a comedy manga, Spy x Family does not shy away from the horrors of war, especially when it gives us Agent Twilight’s backstory. The arc opens up on Twilight and his friends as children playing a game about war, and Twilight is by far the most into it. As we continue and see him talk about the political conflict and clash with his father, we find out he strongly glorifies war and demonizes the enemy, the country of Ostania. He’s been fed propaganda against the enemy, even to the point where he and all the children believe the Ostanians are literal monsters. But then a war completely breaks out and steals everything from him. His town is bombed, and then the town he and his mother escape to. His mother is killed in the second bombing and he becomes a homeless war orphan. When he’s older he joins the military, determined to crush the enemy. He becomes a very capable and destructive soldier.

His life changes after meeting his now friend Frankie, an enemy soldier who thinks the war is stupid and pointless. He’s disillusioned when Frankie tells him that the Ostanian’s were fed the exact same propaganda as the Westalian’s on Twilight’s side, and that both sides are just human beings fighting a pointless war. He realizes he’s been living a life of ignorance. This is how he becomes a spy and vows to prevent another war from every happening again.

Overall, this arc is one of my favorite pieces of anti-war media I’ve seen. It depicts how dangerous and evil propaganda and ignorance is, and how it turns people against each other only to feed a political agenda. The panels depicting the aftermath of the bombings are truly chilling, and Endo doesn’t sanitize how horrible the war is, even if this is normally just supposed to be a funny manga.

2. “A World Unbent” - Natsume Yuujinchou

“If I keep going, I might find out how to get rid of this thing. Without it, I won’t have to feel so irritated. I might be able to be a nicer person. Even to my family…” - Natori

“Maybe things look distorted because you try to see through these useless things.” - Matoba

The episode that solidified Natori Shuuichi as the best character in NatsuYuu for me. This backstory depicts Natori’s introduction to the world of exorcism. The plot itself is simple enough, but it’s such a beautiful character study of the character who's sadly received too much undue hate from the fandom. We see the big contrast between present day Natori and teenage Natori watching this. The former is friendly and charming and the latter is standoffish and irritable. It truly gives us a look into his inner turmoil and psyche that we don’t get to see as often in the present day.

Natori as a teen is shown to be very detached from people and surroundings, and he describes his world as “wavering”. He meets teenage Matoba, who is sure of himself and confident and never wavers. Natori immediately finds himself unable to deal with Matoba despite him being his first peer to share his abilities. He resists his assistance, fearing his accomplishments will mean nothing if they come with the help of someone more capable. We see that Natori is desperate to become strong and good enough by himself.

Contrary to how he acts present day, we see that Natori has a very low and fragile view of himself, even feeling that he’s a bad guy. He's an outcast both at home and at school, and has no one he can lean on. He's enticed to the world of exorcism, especially after meeting Takuma, who treats him with kindness. He wants to become a stronger person who helps people, and he looks for this in the exorcist community. He also hopes to one day find a way to get rid of the ominous lizard youkai that crawls around on his body. If he gets rid of it, he wonders if this will let him become a kinder person.

While present day Natori is someone who does not wear his heart on his sleeve, "A World Unbent" allows us to see deeper into him and his character in complete vulnerability. There's a beautiful aching to the narration of this episode which rivals the rest of a series full of beautiful aching narration. It makes it clear how deeply Natori is hurting, and how much he's longing to find something he can cling to in life and how much he yearns to be a kind person. It's just overall a beautiful backstory episode that provides so much depth to an already well written character.

1. “Dark Era” - Bungo Stray Dogs

“I joined the mafia because of an expectation I had. I thought if I was close to death and violence—close to people giving into their urges and desires, then I would be able to see the inner nature of humankind up close. I thought if I did that… I would be able to find something—a reason to live.” - Dazai

“Be on the side that saves people… if both sides are the same, choose to become a good person. Save the weak, protect the orphaned. You might not see a great difference between right and wrong, but… saving others is something just a bit more wonderful.” - Oda

Are my NatsuYuu followers surprised I ranked something even above "A World Unbent"? Long before I even watched the series my brother told me that this was the best backstory he’d ever seen. He was right. Dark Era follows the last few living days of Osamu Dazai’s friend Oda Sakunosuke, a character not introduced until this arc. Despite being best friends with the violent Port Mafia executive Dazai, Oda is a low ranking member who doesn’t kill people. His reason for not killing is that he wants to become a writer. A person who takes lives has no right to write about them. However, after getting caught in the plot of a foreign ex-military group whose boss desires the perfect person to kill him in battle, he’s driven to violently eradicate the group after they kill the orphans he’s been providing for.

Although he still has his goofy moments, we get to see how terrifying and dark Dazai was as a Port Mafia executive, ordering executions and beating and threatening his then subordinate, Akutagawa. Pointing a gun at Akutagawa’s head, he contrasts himself with Oda, a man who protects orphans and doesn’t kill people, saying the light of righteousness is not on his side. We see him at the very end of his mafia career, as Oda’s death drives him to leave.

Before he leaves to fight the group, Oda hears from Dazai that the reason he joined the mafia was because he wanted to be close to the violence and bloodshed and people giving in to human desires, hoping in it he’d find some meaning in living. While he’s dying, Oda tells Dazai he’ll never find that and he’ll never be able to fill the dark lonely hole inside of him. But he goes on to say that if neither a life of helping or a life of killing will be able to bring meaning to his existence, he should choose to become a better person and live his life saving people. That’s a more beautiful way to live.

Dazai follows his dying friend’s advice and leaves the violent Port Mafia to eventually join the Armed Detective Agency where he works now. Oda’s words were a beautiful way to approach someone as nihilistic as Dazai who saw no meaning in life and abandoned ideas of what’s good or evil. If there’s no meaning in a life of killing or a life of saving, it’s more beautiful to choose the side that saves people. Dazai's nihilistic worldview isn't argued with or challenged. Oda never tries to convince him that there will be meaning in his life if he keeps searching for it. Instead, he reminds him that beauty and good can exist in life, even if it is meaningless. Good and kindhearted Oda deeply cares for Dazai despite his friend's darkness and lack of morality, and in the end he's able to find the right thing to tell him that makes him change his lifestyle to become a better person.

Dark Era, in my opinion, is the masterpiece of Bungo Stray Dogs and is a beautiful story all on its own.

[jamiegege]

Why is Ranpo associated with Fyodor in this scene ?

Heeeey today (tonight lmao) i wanted to talk ab this exact panel/scene in bsd (chapter 56 and in the 5th episode of the 4th season) because i saw a lot of people not understanding this and be like "i don't get why Ranpo and Fyodor are associated in this scene they have nothing in common blah blah blah" so your fav detective is here to explain evrything ! As usual you guys need to know that it's basically MY interpretation, i'm not Asagiri or anyone in charge of the manga so i'm not saying that my opinion is the only right way to understand it, i'm just sharing how i get the scene. I'm also fully open to the corrections (bc english isn't my 1st language) and others opinions so if you have things to say (or to ask) don't be scared of leaving a comment i'll gladly respond to it :D.

First i'm gonna put back the scene into its context : so Ranpo and Mushitaro are in Poe's novel which is made to make Mushi admit his crime because even if Ranpo knows what happened he has no evidence of it so only a confession from the culprit would help. As Mushitaro doesn't wanna admit his crime Ranpo has no choice but use manipulation (using poe's novel) to make Mushi talk, that's what we'll talk about in this post.

Here's the full panel bc it'll be useful later in the explanation :

We'll start by analyze the 2 first boxesof the panel (the ones on the right side) : At the beginning Ranpo is talking about how Fyodor (called "Dostoyevsky" by Ranpo which highlights the respect that he owns for Fyodor's abilities and intellect bc Ranpo usualy calls ppl by their firstname (ex. Atsushi, Kenji, Ed (Poe)). As Ranpo is used to put himself above others, treating someone (especially Fyodor) with respect proves that he admitted his (as he's part of the agency) defeat), by his intelligence, destroyed the ADA. This (seeing the ADA destroyed and hurt) affected Ranpo a lot (as he's one of the founder of it) and he wants to protect the members of the agency more than everything, so he decides to turn himself into a "demon" to fight fire with fire bc he considers Fyodor as a demon ("to that end, i will mould myself into a demon.").

Now we'll talk about the 3rd box : on this box we only have a black phylactery (speech bubble) with a "stained" background. The background prooves, with its patern, that what is told is violent, we can, for example, associate the stains with ink stains (with the whole thing ab the missing page of the manuscipt) or with blood stains (which works with violence and the "demon side" i was talking ab in the 1st part). The fact that the phylactery is black is also here to highlight the rough side of Ranpo's speech, it creates a contrast with the others speech bubbles which are white. Here Ranpo says "if you do not surrender, i'll publicly announce my current theory", first he uses "do not" instead of "don't" probably because the uncontracted version is scarier ; second he uses Mushitaro's public image to disturb him, probably because he saw how public image is important for Mushi and he knows that being a murderer isnt good for the image (nah shit Sherlock ?). The whole visiual thing ab this box is made to underline how Ranpo's sentence had a huge impact on Mushitaro and how aggressive it was to him => it's the biggest and most important part (with guilt) of Ranpo's manipulation.

And finally the big part, the 4th box : Ranpo is now shown fully with a faceless Fyodor behind (and above (which prooves that Fyodor surpassed and surpasses Ranpo in some way)) him (he's faceless to explain that we're talking ab what Fyodor represents and not him as a person). Also their capes are floating in the exact same way which shows the fact that at this specific moment they're acting the same way/using the same stratagem. Ranpo explains to Mushitaro that he used the ploy of a demon, ploy that is a dangerous ability and that he doesn't like to use but that he uses to protect the Agency against another demon (Fyodor).

Conclusion : So we can say that Ranpo isn't associated with Fyodor, he actually associates himself with him cause he decided to use the same tactic even if he doesn't agree with it (because he would use every stratagems, even the worst ones, to protect people he likes (here the Agency)).

i think i said almost everything (or at least the most important stuff) so i'm gonna stop here (also bc it's super duper long), kiss kiss <33

[abject-indulgence]

Mushy Livio Ramblings. Make it happen. (Please and thank you.)

@chris-continues, come get your Wholesome TriMax Livio juice.

CW: animal death (past; mentioned only in brief passing)

🍷 Livio returns to the orphanage following the events of the manga and is quickly drawn back into the fold. The caretakers and the kids love him; and before long he's doing a little bit of everything: general maintenance/handiwork/grounds-keeping, kitchen duties, cleaning, child-minding, and so on.

This time, he's the big brother. He takes that role very seriously.

🍷 Livio gets quite a lot of personal tutoring from his new family, young and old alike. He's far from stupid, but he has distinct gaps in his overall body of knowledge due to his fraught background and upbringing; so it's not uncommon to find the older kids sharing their readers with Livio and regaling him with talk of their work and assignments. This validates their burgeoning sense of independence as young people -- (allowing them the opportunity to explain something to an adult) -- and bolsters their understanding of their learnings by prompting them to put it into their own words. Likewise, it provides Livio with some particular academic exposures that he simply has never had the opportunity to experience or explore for himself.

🍷 Livio is the most patient participant imaginable when it comes to interacting with the kids. He loves letting them read to him, tell him stories, hang off of him and play-wrestle, and so on. He is an impeccable pretend tea party guest, medical patient, outlaw (or sheriff), and so on.

🍷 One of his favorite games that the kids like to play is where they all work together to chase him, catch him, and "force" him to the ground with sheer numbers. It's true that he'd be strong enough to carry them all even if there was room for everyone to pile onto him at once, but he thinks it's cute how excited they get when he finally gives up and lets them win.

🍷 It's an exciting day indeed when a pregnant dog becomes the newest lodger at the orphanage. Naturally the kids get attached to her immediately and are curious about her condition. It becomes something of a little 'group project' to take care of her and have everything ready for the arrival of the puppies. Everyone just calls her 'Mama'.

🍷 When the puppies are born, the runt is too small and weak to compete for nursing space with its littermates. Livio takes care of that one himself. Perhaps he sees this situation as a second chance of sorts; saving a puppy now as if to atone, in spirit, for the puppy that Razlo killed in their youth. Regardless of the reason though, Livio tends to that particular pup day in and day out for those first, critical weeks. Nobody quite knows how to tell him that, sometimes, you simply can't love something into staying alive if the universe has other plans for it.

🍷 In this case though, the universe has mercy.

Ultimately the runt's condition stabilizes under Livio's dutiful care; and, while she'll always be smaller than her littermates, in time she's scampering around the orphanage and getting into all manner of typical mischief, just the way a puppy should. She loves the kids, but everyone knows she's Livio's pup, through and through.

🍷 (Her name is Bibi.)

[mickey10213]

I know it's old news at this point, but something that will always be funny to me that I don't see enough people talking about -- probably because it's so dumb and irrelevant -- but I just love how the Sakura/SS fandom love to come for SP over anything regarding that girl and their ship. Despite the fact that I personally see SP give so many unwarranted good moments for them compared to negative moments, but that's none of my business.

I would also like to state that I am not a fan of the Restuden series, especially Sasuke and Naruto Restuden from the things I've read. Mainly because I think the plot itself is entirely stupid and out of left field for Naruto to suddenly become basically allergic to Kurama in his late twenties early '30s. I could honestly care less about the shipy moments in these novels, but when will people admit the only reason that they like these stories is because it caters to one specific ship? You honestly don't think the story is good because it's not. You just like that Sakura gets highlight to her romance and to some random badass moments. Like come on? How long can you really sit here and pretend that you like that they're fighting dinosaurs? Especially with the largest dinosaur being a herbivore? I'll wait.

Anyway the point I'm trying to make is they praise Jun Esaka, who I'm rather indifferent towards but I find the hate she gets quite ridiculous and absurd at points. They often claim she should be the writer and take over for Boruto because she is a SS shipper and in her stories that involve them she makes content that suits their needs. I.e. Sasuke being a jealous simp and mushy father, Sakura being more confident and damn near wearing the pants in their relationship, random powers that other characters specialize in but suddenly they can use it (for example all of a sudden Sakura can use sensory jutsu, which is Karin's specialty, and Sasuke can use healing and ice style), And overall just all the romance that they had hoped for. Again for example the infamous ring scene, which depending on who you ask was either a good adaption or SP was ruining Sakura. And then you have the lake scene which again they bash them for cutting out certain moments. And finally you have Sasuke screaming for his wife and just overall them being lovey-dovey. And actually don't even get me started on the horrendous motorcycle scene that I guess is in Naruto Restuden, which is the only reason they want that novel adapted but not Kakashi's cause I guess they're not in that.

(Same fans that will come at Hinata for holding hands with Naruto after Neji died despite giving a whole speech pertaining to her cousin, are also the same fans that want Sakura and Sasuke to kiss over a dying Naruto while she drives a motorcycle.... Make it make sense)

Anywho I'm getting so far off my topic but I'm also getting close to my point. The thing I find so funny about Retsuden fans, is the fact that since the anime was far ahead of the manga adaptation, we got to see Sakura get tricked and stabbed by Jiji. When this episode came out, the outpour of rage and disrespect towards this studio -- who has both good and bad moments and I am not a full defender of them because I will admit they can be very biased -- was all I could see on Twitter. I honestly see why people say Twitter is such a toxic place because the fandom on that is just ridiculous. It's just constant arguing more so than on here. Anyway that's besides the point, but I saw so many people trash and compare the anime to the novel since the manga had not gotten to that point yet. They like to say why did he hug her? He never hugged her! There they go making Sakura weak again because she would never do that! Why would she let another man hug her when her husband is right there? Just wait until Sasuke sees what he did to his wife! And just basically overall a bunch of nastiness towards the fact that Sakura was pulled in for a hug by Jiji for an uncomfortably good while before getting stabbed in the back and she did nothing to stop it.

So the funny part is that while everybody is raging about this moment and saying wait till the manga adaptation comes out because the manga follows closely to the novel; The Manga is so much better, there's nothing but silence when it comes out that the manga did the same exact thing. If not did her dirtier than the anime did AKA than SP did.

Now I don't know what was written in the novel specifically, cuz I have not read it. But the gist of what I'm getting from people who have posted about it is that Sakura is just pulled back and stabbed. There's no hug. In the anime, Sakura is pulled back into a hug where Jiji rests his hand on her head and she just stands there before he stabs her in the back and drops her. Now in the oh so beloved and highly praised and worshiped manga adaptation that everyone was saying would do the novel justice, Sakura gets grabbed and pulled into a hug where, again, Jiji rests his hand on her head before stabbing her in the back. Now the difference is as far as I know, which I could probably be wrong because I never watched further in the scenes than what was on Twitter, is that in the anime he just lets her crawl because the kunai was poisoned.

But in the manga he kicks her in her face while she's already down and feeling the effects of the poison making her knock back against the wall.

Now tell me which one disrespects her more. I'll wait. Because after that panel came out, the only thing I heard was that the manga adaptation was going to be put on a hiatus. That was the only thing that was going around despite that being one of the last panels. Where is the outrage that she let somebody hug her that wasn't her husband, where is the calls for the artist to quit his job or that he's wrong and that that would never happen to her? Where is the same amount of rage that y'all put towards SP for animating that but not towards the artist who drew it?

To be honest this fandom, especially Sakura/ss fans really baffle me. I can get wanting moments and great things for your favorites, and I'm not going to pretend that it's only their fandom that acts this way because I've seen plenty of other fandoms including the fandom of my personal favorite Hinata acting out of control, but the amount of blatant hypocrisy and doubled standards that they have towards animators and content creators and anything that has to do with Naruto works is hilarious and astounding.

Yes your ship might be the most popular, and yes your ship might be known as the most powerful in the series. But unfortunately you are one of the most toxic fandoms and I feel bad for the actual neutral parties that just actually enjoy it and don't make it as if they're being bullied every time something doesn't go their way for this ship and character. I now see why people say there is a difference between being a regular Sakura fan and being a Sakura fan that also ships Sasuke and Sakura. And vice versa too when it's said there's a difference between being a Sasuke fan and a Sasuke fan who ships Sasuke and Sakura.

No hate to this author Jun Esaka. I wish her nothing but the best with her pregnancy and with her career because clearly she has fans, as biased as they may be. And to the people who constantly wish harm on this woman just because you don't like her preferences need to get a grip on reality and realize it's literally just cartoons. Yes we can love them and they can inspire us and we can enjoy them, but it is just content for our entertainment. People really need to stop putting their contempt for a character into reality and onto a real person. It is not and will never be that serious. And speaking of reality checks, my final point is that that one manga panel was the exact reality check that that fandom needed to slow their freaking roll and stop having this weird biased hate towards a studio that has often done more good than harm for their ship compared to others.

If you read this till the end, thank you for listening to my opinions and if you have something to say, keep it clean please. This is just my opinion.

[dontmindme2600]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

It’s no problem, I love answering questions like these!!! But also that’s a RRREAALLLYYYY hard question for me bc it changes depending on what I’m currently obsessed with lollll and it’s even harder for me to rank from least favorite to favorite so,,, if you don’t mind I’m just gonna keep it to anime/games and list like off the top of my head in no particular order!! If that’s ok:

-Yusuke from YYH (I’m a sucker for the “punk guy with a heart of gold” trope and also the first episode/chapter where he shows up to his own funeral and gets shocked at how much everyone misses him is like,,, the only anime/manga scene that actually makes me cry lmfao. It added a lot more depth to his character as well and I thought it was cool that Togashi managed all that in literally the first volume)

-Illumi from HxH (his design is iconic and I just think he’s cool. It’s honestly mostly the design… I wanted to only do one character per series for this post but Chrollo and Kite are also up there)

-Jolyne from JJBA (funny, badass and kinda relatable in a way??? Like I’m not very confrontational at all but somehow I just. Get her. I also love the way she speaks lmao)

-Spike from Cowboy Bebop (Looking at my blog theme I bet you could never guess! there’s a lot of reasons I like him but to keep it brief I just think he’s very fun to analyze bc his character is so complex if that makes sense?? Also he’s hot which is a bonus)

-Ginko from Mushi-shi (just seems like a cool dude!! Helpful and knowledgeable)

-Vash from Trigun 1998 (How can you NOT like him,,, I immediately liked him since his intro in episode one lmao. Forever mourning the loss of his accent in the 2023 version)

-N from Pokémon (This one’s the hardest to explain for some reason but tbh I just think that he’s cool! His backstory and mannerisms are really interesting and as a Pokémon fan it’s nice to see when they get really creative with the human characters! Also keeping true to my one character per series rule here but Guzma and Team Skull as a whole are also hilarious and I love them)

-Majima from Yakuza (specifically the version from 0, but I like all of them. He just makes me laugh lmao which is super fun!! But he also shows that he’s actually a very respectable guy on a lot of occasions, which bumped him up for me. Oh also his intro in 0 IS SO GOOD)

-Klavier from Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (I’m ngl I just think he’s hot but also he made me laugh a lot… and it was always just generally really fun/interesting whenever you got to talk to him in game)

-Otacon from MGS (Like a lot of other characters on this list it just started with him being really funny. I mean come on you really can’t beat a character introduction where you hype the dude up to be this super serious science hacker guy, and then when you finally meet him he pisses his pants and rants to you about anime… Aside from that his codec calls are really fun, Otasune is a good ship, and his character development as he ages is also interesting)

[nova-lightz]

The irony of Kurosawa being the ace in Toyokawa's sales department—a job dependent on his ability to talk to people and show them hospitality—while also having the most horrible time trying to communicate with his family, is not lost on me. It's so god damn sad, LET HIM CATCH A BREAK!!! PLEAAAAAAAAASE!!!

Also, branching off your hypothetical that you proposed about Kurosawa making himself indispensable to the company to ease his mother's worries; I cannot even fathom how fucking stressed out he was during his time as a rookie at Toyokawa. Kurosawa climbing the corporate ladder is already hard enough, doing that while ensuring no one finds a trail of evidence to leading his queerness at the same time, sounds fucking miserable.

Something that popped up in my head related to Kurosawa's uphill battle at the office; as much as Kurosawa doesn't enjoy being hit on by women all the time, I could see how he'd also be sorta glad that it'd happen often since it meant that no one would suspect anything of him. People would just chalk Kurosawa's rejections up to him waiting for the "right one". One of those make-the-best-out-of-a-crap-situation things.

Going back to Kurosawa's mom again (god damn she angers me so much LMAO), I can't bring myself to try liking her anymore. She irritates me, especially after considering your interpretations of her words. Her ambiguity and passively judgemental personality is definitely a major reason why Kurosawa ended up becoming a really broken person. She can't even believe in her sons ability to independently decide what's best for himself, always worrying about something happening to him WHILE DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING THAT COULD ENSURE HIS MENTAL AND PHYSICAL WELL BEING IS SAFE AND STABLE!!! THE BAR IS LOW, MISS!!! KUROSAWA'S DAD DID MORE TO HELP THAN HIS MOM AND HIS DAD WASN'T THAT GREAT EITHER!!!

With all this in mind, I can imagine Kurosawa asking Adachi if they could visit Adachi's family more frequently after getting married. Not only would they welcome him with open arms every time they'd go, but Kurosawa could experience the fun and sorta-confusing life being an uncle! I can imagine him being a little awkward about it at first, but he'd get the hang of how Kiko thinks and plays. Kurosawa finally having the opportunity to get in touch with his inner child by spending time with Adachi and Kiko sounds like it'd heal him so much. I'm getting all uwu mushy thinking about it, hehe!

Speaking of Adachi, I think it's amazing that he was the one to suggest coming out rather than Kurosawa. This observation is more of a general thing, but I love the role reversal and eventual equilibrium that is reached by the end of the Cherry Magic movie (and later volumes of the manga).

In the show (and first few volumes of the manga) Kurosawa would take care of Adachi (ex. letting him sleep over after the trains stopped running, curing his fever, setting up dates), and whenever Adachi would doubt himself Kurosawa would immediately be there to encourage him and reinforce the idea that Adachi being himself was the best version of him, he [Kurosawa] could ever ask for. Show-Adachi also had his moments of taking care of Kurosawa, but they were less frequent.

The movie (and some of the recently released volumes of the manga expand further on this) basically flipped their dynamic! Adachi sets up his apartment to accommodate Kurosawa living there, he invites Tsuge and Minato over for a housewarming celebration to welcome Kurosawa, Adachi makes his and Kurosawa's job security a top priority to ensure they're not separated again, and Adachi was the one to suggest coming out! He's grown so much and gladly took on various responsibilities to reciprocate Kurosawa's kindness that he witnessed and experienced earlier in their relationship.

If Kurosawa were the one to suggest coming out, I feel like it wouldn't have been as impactful. Something about him doing it out of desperation to be approved by his parents rather than doing it out of loving his partner more than fearing never meeting expectations, doesn't sit right with me. And—let's be real—that man was full of fear.

Ugh, I just love Kurosawa so much (and Adachi of course, but this is a very Kurosawa focused thread at the moment lol). He's my blorbo! My silly! Also, I think Adachi and Kurosawa are both malewives, not just one or the other, haha!

Adachi and Kurosawa.

[trainedhard]

inanthesis: 

❝ Sensei. Speaking from AN OBJECTIVE STANDPOINT I do not fit any of the criteria for the word cute. It is typically not associated with things like hard metal and destructive weaponry which is what makes up my entire body. I AM NOT CUTE.❞ But even so as he said it he was clearly a little flustered, voice not holding quite the same firmness it often would.

Saitama’s grin grows determined and cheeky, tiny on his face as he leans in closer to his boyfriend. “Yeah, dude. You’re right. You’re not cute at all.” He pauses for a liittle dramatic effect, hands both gripping one of Genos’ gently and bringing them up in the middle of them. Although his voice doesn’t change from the relatively even drone it’s been this whole time, there is a hint of playfulness and joy in his tone!

“You’re adorable.”

[rengokuswif3]

Hi! I really like your headcanons a lot, so I want to make a request,Basically some headcanon of what genya, sanemi and shinobu are like with a shy chubby nurse from butterfly state, who from time to time is usually a total bundle of nerves but perfect for snuggling, I hope I'm not a bother and you don't mind doing this request, have a good day!

A/N: I don’t really write for Genya just because I don’t read the manga so I don’t know him very well, but I will gladly do the other two!!

Side note before I begin: SANEMI’S LAUGH IN THIS GIF WAS SO HOT CHANGE MY MIND

Anyways

No him with a nurse s/o would be SO. FRICKIN. CUTE.

Every time he comes in with an injury that was mostly self inflicted due to his stubbornness, you end up scolding him while patching him up and he acts like he’s annoyed but deep down HE ACTUALLY IS SORRY FOR WORRYING YOU. He just really sucks at showing it but he really is trying

He knows you’re shy and thinks it’s adorable, likes to fluster your right before someone else walks into the room because he’s a jerk

NO BUT LIKE HE’S ALL LOOPY FROM MEDS AND HE ENDS UP BLABBERING ABOUT HOW CUTE YOU ARE AND HOW MUCH HE LOVES YOU, AND HE WILL NEVER LIVE IT DOWN

Tengen: ‘Oh and Y/N! Your hands are so soft and your face is so beautiful with your round eyes and perfect smile!’

Sanemi: SHUT UP UZUI

Mitsuri: Did you really say she has a fat ass and juicy tiddies? That’s a bit bold-

Sanemi: SHUT THE FUCK UP-

But at the end of the day, he doesn’t care what the hell comes out of his mouth when he’s like that, cause then you get all flattered and mushy and cuddle him, and YOU ARE PERFECT FOR CUDDLING

Like he absolutely loves just holding you to his chest (even if his chest is injured) and burying his face in your shoulder (or your tiddies-), and you’re so warm that he calms down immediately and falls asleep quickly, which you sigh cause finally, now he can actually heal

SHE NEEDS A CUTE NURSE TO BE CUTE LESBIANS WITH OKAY. I do like her with certain guys, but to me she’s very much lesbian

Anywho

The two of you being a cute doctor and nurse couple would be SO DAMN ADORABLE

She definitely likes to be cheeky and pull you into a room to make out, but she makes it dorky by being all “This room was just sanitized, the perfect place to do this so we don’t get any infections!” and like…okay girl, get it I guess-

During your lunch breaks you’ll go outside to eat together when it’s nice out. And you’ll watch all the butterflies fluttering around the two of you, and you giggle when one lands on your nose and tickles it, and she just stares at you with heart eyes cause GOD YOURE SO CUTE❤️❤️❤️

If you’re ever worrying over a patient with a particularly nasty wound, she’ll sternly calm you down as she rushes into surgery with you to help out, and afterwards you’ll both collapse on the couch and take a short nap together

Whenever you work a longer shift while she’s off doing Hashira business, she’ll come home with flowers for you and you made the both of you dinner since she’d be starving from her long journey, and you two just have a nice quiet date night

She gives you a butterfly clip that matches hers, and when you wear it to work for the first time she stares for a moment with the usual look on her face, but inside she is all giddy and ironically feeling butterflies in her stomach

[heyhoeudoin]

CHILDHOOD SWEETHEARTS

"You finally found me."

pairing: monkey d. luffy x reader

words: 2k

genre/s: fluff, comfort?

warning/s: she/her (sorry), swearing?, manga spoilers; wano arc, takes place before timeskip; after sunny-go, then takes place during wano

synopsis: ever since luffy have been gifted a den den mushi, he's been in contact with someone he once lost

masterlist

a/n: sorry it's been a while. things have been hard, and writing under these circumstances are stressful. also school is starting soon, so things will be even busier. hopefully y'all will enjoy this one though!

one day when the crew was out gathering their needed things, luffy is left along on the ship to guard, and surprisingly, he agreed to do so. nami was reluctant in leaving him alone, but he reassured her by saying: "it's fine! i won't leave, i don't feel like it today."

others have noticed his unusual quiet demeanor today, and decided maybe it's best if he's got some alone time.

luffy sat on the head of sunny, just thinking about the past.

today was the day you disappeared from his life all those years ago. someone he grew up with, and learned to love with. then suddenly, you left, or rather disappeared. no trails or signs of you were left, as if you didn't exist in the first place.

getting reminded that you're gone makes him sad, because he longs for the day to meet you again.

because he loves you.

as he watched the moon rise, a crow landed in front of him.

strange.

a sudden feeling of familiarity washed over him as he stared at the crow in front of him.

opening up his palms, luffy slowly moved his hands towards the crow in which the crow hops onto his open hands. a soft smile appearing onto his face as he watched the crow snuggle upon his hands. "you're an interesting one, aren't ya?" he let out fits of giggles, but that's when it happened.

the crow opened it's beak then dark clouds started spewing out, swirling on the palm of luffy's hands.

he recognized these clouds.

"...y/n?"

he whispered out with a strained voice. after all, you're the user of the cloud-cloud fruit. however, instead of the person he longs to see, there lies a customized den den mushi. luffy hurriedly caught the the den den mushi as the crow flew onto his straw hat, and nestled there.

then it started ringing.

luffy picked it up with hopes to hear your voice.

"...luffy?"

you called out to him with a shaky voice. after all, it took you forever to even contact the outside world.

"y/n!" luffy exclaimed with tears running down his face, "i miss you! where—where are you? i'll come get you right now!" he shouted into the snail.

you also had tears streaming down your face as you held the den den mushi tighter. "luffy! i—" you hesitated, "i'm safe, you have nothing to worry about. you'll find me some day." then you changed the subject, "i heard about enies lobby! you're a full-fledge pirate now, huh?"

it worked because luffy started talking to you all about his new friends, and how much he appreciate and love them.

you can't let luffy get worried over you during his rise as a pirate. besides, he'll find you eventually.

hopefully.

"you should totally meet them, y/n!" luffy said all excitedly. you, however, thought differently.

"i can't." you said in a series tone, "you can't let anyone else talk to me, or know about me. i'll be your little secret, luffy, so promise me this."

luffy didn't get what you mean, but he wants to respect your wishes so he obliged. "okay, y/n!" that's when he heard his crew. in a panic, he almost dropped the den den mushi. "y/n," he whispered, "my nakama is here, so i have to go. i can call you again, right?"

"of course! call me whenever, and i'll pick up always."

and that's how it's always been.

on random ocasions, luffy runs into a room, and locks himself in there, not allowing anyone to come in. every time he does, he always leaves the room more cheery than usual.

the battle of wano has finished with luffy winning, and freeing wano from it's shackles. luffy, and zoro have finally woken up after two weeks.

yamato asked for the straw hat pirates to follow her, well whoever is present from the crew (luffy, zoro, nami, sanji, chopper, and brook). they lead the group to where the sacred cave is.

"yamabro," luffy whined, "where are we? are we there yet?" then asked.

they ignored him.

"i've been here the longest, and so far only i know about this place." yamato says as she opened a secret entrance within the cave. "remember those banners of a 'moon god'?" to which most nodded (luffy and zoro could care less).

during their time in wano, banners of a deity called 'moon princess', which is wano's god, are plastered around the country. of course robin took her time in learning about the said deity.

luffy looked confused.

"wano has two deities: 'okuchi no makami' and 'moon princess' or rather, 'moon god'. people from wano have the tendencies to pray to the moon to have a clear night, and a peaceful sleep." brook explained.

yamato nods, "yes, something like that. while i was held captive here, i accidentally ate the inu-inu fruit model: okuchi no makami." she points to the entrance, "then that's when i noticed this." the group then started making their way to the bottom of the new entrance. "apparently, she's been trapped here, and only—"

"then let's go save her!" then luffy sprinted down.

"wait— luffy!"

as the group reach the bottom, luffy is stood in front of a reinforced door with a hand on his straw hat. his crew noticed the serious look he's giving the door.

yamato placed a hand on top of luffy's shoulder, "there's only one way to open that door," they say looking at the hole in the middle of the door. "and i don't know what or where it is. i've searched this island a lot."

the shape of the keyhole...

that's when luffy felt movement on top of his head, so he took his hat off.

then a crow popped up.

"what are you a magician?!"

the crow then pecked luffy's hand that held his straw hat multiple times then flew over to where the keyhole is, and started squawking at it.

"hey luffy, he's telling you to put your hat in there." chopper pointed out.

...looks like a certain hat from the bottom side.

the captain said nothing, but walked over to the door and gently placed his hat into the shaped keyhole. the door started opening, and inside showed a small-sized room.

"this place looks like a bedroom." zoro commented to which sanji scoffs at. "more like a jail cell." then the two started fighting.

brook then noticed the thing in the middle, "yohohoho!~ that's a coffin." he pointed out, "i may be all bones, but i am very much alive!"

the crow flew over to the top of the coffin, and started pecking at it. luffy followed the crow, and looked over the coffin to see that the top is made out of glass...

"woah, those are black clouds, but they don't seem to look like thunder clouds." nami commented, looking over.

luffy's eyes widen as he recognized these clouds again.

yamato then ran over to luffy holding a customized den den mushi. "look luffy, it looks like you!" they said with a grin.

the coffin/capsule opened up as the dark clouds spew from it, and unto the floor.

his breath hitched.

a figure raised from the now open coffin. she stretched her body as she just woken up from a slumber. then she felt arms wrapping around her.

"y/n!"

a voice she could not believe that she's hearing right next to her, called out to her. quickly turning to the voice with tears brimming her eyes.

"luffy!"

the two are finally reunited.

luffy have not once left your side at all since finding you inside of that cave. an arm always swirled around you, so that he can always know where you are.

it's cute.

although before any celebrating or questioning happens, you asked to take a dip in the hot springs because you care about your hygiene, and want to relax a bit before anything.

but then luffy...

"luffy you have to let her take a bath!" nami scolded, "hygiene is very important to women." she added, but luffy shook his head. "no!" he whined, "i'm not leaving y/n! i'll take a bath with her!" he boldly announced which caught the attention of brook, and sanji.

"luffy!/-san!"

they both exclaimed with sanji running over, and trying to pull him off of you. "you can't just ask a lady to bathe with her! especially y/n-sama!" they turned to you expecting that you'd react bashfully to the point of hitting luffy, and calling him a pervert.

instead you shook your head as a chuckle slip pass your lips. "alright, let's go luffy." you smiled which shocked his crew. "it's alright everyone, luffy and i used to take baths together. besides, you really think luffy is capable of doing something to me?" you asked with a hand on your lip, and a knowing look.

they nodded along, realizing that their captain is indeed a dumbass.

luffy screamed in joy and ran towards the hot springs, "yahoo! a bath with y/n!" he says dragging you with him. "luffy! careful now!" you called as you let out a giggle.

sanji, and brook stared in envy. nami bonked the two on their heads upon seeing the look.

after taking a proper bath with luffy, the two of you walked out the same; an arm swirled around your waist with luffy clinging unto you like a koala, but the only thing different is that you walked out with multiple hickeys across your neck an entirely new outfit provided by yamato.

now comes the questioning.

you all sat together to have a banquet! and of course luffy is still next to you, but this time without an arm swirled around you since there's meat in front of him.

"so y/n," nami started, "how exactly did you get yourself in there?" she asked which you expected her to. "well, long story." you nervously chuckled, "apparently, the fruit i ate; cloud-cloud no mi, isn't actually the cloud-cloud no mi. i was kidnapped by kaido's men because i apparently ate the hito-hito no mi model: moon god, mene. the last user died protecting wano from kaido as such he knew the existence of the power. that was when he found out that the government had actually changed it's name to the cloud-cloud no mi, and also found out that i ate it. thus why he kidnapped me, and tried everything to make me join his crew, but i resisted. that's when i made that cave, and only luffy's straw hat could get me out."

luffy turned to you with that side eye that his crewmates saw, 'he's not buying that at all.'

"but y/n," nami called you, "couldn't you have escaped? since you have that devil fruit?" she asked, but you shook your head. "i tried to, and that was when i got in touch with luffy for the first time in years." confused by the sudden claim, the crew turned to luffy who's now hugging you from behind.

"ah," he noticed the stares then pulls out a den den mushi from his hat, "crow gave me y/n's den den mushi, but she told me not to tell you guys so yeah."

they turned back to you, "when i heard luffy again, i thought that maybe i shouldn't escape. maybe i should just wait for him because i knew that he'll get to wano some how then a smile will be on my face once again." you say with a fond smile as you clutch your hand in front of your chest.

zoro then pointed to you two, "okay wait, what exactly is your relationship with him?" he asked the question.

you, and luffy glanced at each other then let out a knowing giggle/chuckle. you turned to zoro with an amused smile, "we're lovers."

they all fell on the floor one piece style, "WHAT?!" meanwhile sanji started spitting hieroglyphics (image in mind that one time during post-enies lobby). luffy started laughing at them which made sanji point at him, "prove it!"

luffy tilted his head a bit, confused on the sudden request. he then turned to you, and raised a hand to your cheek. he slowly leaned in taking your lips into his.

masterlist a/n: this is so bad; first half was good then the last part went to a direction i did not know what to do with.