#Howl!Marco

[quinloki]

Talking about Marco as Howl

The AU where Marco is Howl is just different all around. This isn’t a coward, hiding behind different identities to avoid war and responsibilities even before that.

This is a Howl who has many names because he keeps earning them with grand deeds.

This is a Howl who stands against a war that two nations are waging by pointedly not participating. He’s spent days, weeks, or even months and years telling these leaders that the whole thing is folly.

The war only rages because he doesn’t want to use his power to resolve it - as the only resolution left is more violence on his part. He could crush both sides, but the loss of life would be no less a tragedy.

This is a Howl who knows that the witch of the wastes cursed the dear reader right from the start. He knows you no matter the age or form you take, and (I think OG Howl knew too, fwiw), he’s been waiting.

He only takes his time because removing the curse because it still has the same parameters - and he can’t force love into your heart. He can only protect you and hope for the best, and if you love another then so be it. He’s just going to make sure you’re curse free and happy.

This is a Howl who lets you go to the castle on his behalf after putting an amulet around your neck and you’ve both talked about how much of a trap it certainly is.

Marco is a Howl who lets people call him a coward because he doesn’t care what they think.

Marco is a Howl who has an apprentice with wavy blonde hair, and a fire that has freckles. (And maybe Turnip head has a straw hat >.> )

[sakura-rose12]

A new commission for @quinloki!!

Marco with a familiar outfit, yeah? 😏 🔥

[tau1tvec]

Found out Marco's rampages are actually sinking his friendship bars with everyone, including Yan. Luckily their romance bar is still intact.

Still sucks seeing her so down bc she feels as if lost a friend. 😢

[studio-ghibli-miyazaki-hayao]

GHIBLI💞LOVE

[polymysteryinciscanon]

Just spent like 3 hours updating my phone theme bc I don't have apple so I have to do it manually but look at it 😭😭😭😭

[blackwoolncrown]

hopeless howl stans are the swifties of the ghibli fandom

[gayferrari]

#Luca looks so nice and everyone else is…there @multiseb21

The Boyzzzz😎

[werecreature-addicted]

No because . imagine a moment with werewolf partner where they're just delighted to be around you while you're singing , and you laugh and say you're bad at it, but they don't care because all they hear is their mate and pack member howling with them,, sobbing sliding down a wall

Oh baby howling at the moon time!!!

For one, no I don't think howling at the moon would be taboo or cultural appropriation. As long as you're howling with a wolf/ wolf pack of course. To me, packs have a big found family vibe to them and have less to do with being a werewolf and more to do with loving the other members of the packs. Vampires, Humans, Dogs, all pack members.

That being said, some people definitely do mock werewolves with howling at the moon and dismissing the howl as a way to make noise, werewolves might also be stereotyped as loud and obnoxious. I can imagine a werewolf being sensitive if their human partner howls without being invited to first, they might assume they're teasing something that's genuinely important to them. but typically, as long as you're invited first it's okay to do so.

I think a werewolf would love to howl all night with their partner as a sort of way to celebrate the full moon. they try to be a little quiet, only so they can hear you yip and yell better, they think your voice is so pretty and they want to hear you.

Imagine big bonfire parties with the whole pack with a big potluck dinner and lots of singing around the fire and howling to celebrate the full moon. Howling is a way to sort of way to call out for other wolves and other members of the pack, to howl together is a way to signal community and family and a way to show love to the people you're with. a chorus of out of key, loud, voices singing together.

Imagine a werewolf coming home and not knowing where they're lover is so they howl and wait to hear a howl back and track them down in a game of werewolf marco-polo. I also like to think that, like dogs, if a wolf hears howling, or something close, they cannot help but join in and end up barking along to some songs, they really can't help it.

[cherry-romper]

Being Friends Would Include

+ Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Marco, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Levi, Erwin, Hange, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, Porco, Pieck, Zeke

Eren; • Him insisting on carrying anything heavy for you, then that being taken from him by Mikasa. • The two of you sparring a lot. • Always jokingly at each others throats. • You teasing him about Mikasa taking care of him. • Battle of the Wits™ • Him buying you little gifts when you head to the market. • The two of you making fun of Jean and howling about it afterwards.

Mikasa; • Working out together. • Her constantly pushing you to do better in training. • Awkwardly saying goodbye to each other when split up on missions. • You running after her when she chases after Eren. • Her finally opening up to you as you both watch the stars during a night off. • You make her laugh a lot and that makes you smile. • You hold her arm when you're walking together.

Armin; • Rainy book days together. • The two of you playing chess a lot. • Him giving you lessons to help academically, and you training him using ODM gear. • The two of you both getting stronger in your respective areas and balancing each other out. • You reassuring him every time he gets frustrated. • Figuratively batting his self-loathing out of him. • You carved him a little whale out of a piece of wood and he nearly drowned in his tears.

Marco; • He's so sweet all the time. • Would do anything for you, whatever, whenever, wherever. • Buys you gifts any chance he gets. • Tends to be a blushing mess around you.  • Being friends with him means you're friends with Jean by default. • Jean teases Marco all the time about him blushing around you. • Would give the best hugs and is always there to be a shoulder to cry on.  • Is your emotional support. • You're inseparable. • You both laugh a lot. Sometimes for no reason, you just look at each other and start laughing.

Jean; • He's hopeless. You have to physically pull him away from women who has long, black hair. • He makes horrific puns all the time. • You can't help but laugh at how bad they are. • Tends to stare at you without knowing. He gets called out a lot for it in lessons and training. • Draws you all the time. He even asks you to pose sometimes. • He spends a lot of time with Marco and Connie. • Which means he asks advice them on how to be a better friend. Marco tells him to be a nice friend and give you hugs. While Connie insists and the whole "treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen" approach. • So, some days he's really nice and understanding and others he plays the "bad boy" and insists on working out in front of you.

Connie; • Oh golly, oh gosh, the absolute tomfoolery the two of you get up to is astonishing. • None of your superiors have ever had to deal with the amount of havoc you two wreak. • Half the time it's unintentional. You're both just walking messes. • For example, flying into each other during training, continuously messing up the salute and not to mention the amount of gear the two of you have broken. • Neither of you like to admit you're bad at something and end up boosting each other's ego's. • "Y/N, I'm the best here right?" "Yeah, only second to me, of course." • Laughing like baboons at the tiniest things. 

Sasha; • Stealing rations together and/or one of you stealing for the other. • Laughing fits that get the two of you in trouble over. • Neither of you having a clue in lectures and always asking for help from each other. • She takes you hunting and teaches you about her life before the military. • Both of you shitting yourselves every time you see a Titan. • Both of you are as clueless as each other. • Hanging out with Connie, Jean and Marco by a fire. • She's kind of like a cat, she'll go hunting and bring you rabbits and the like as gifts. (So you can cook it together).

Levi; • Who ever gets up first makes the other tea, it's a tradition. • "You look like shit" • Finds it hilarious when you pull faces at people you don't like but would never admit it. • Likes the fact that you have balls and can stick up for yourself but he's always there if you ever need someone's ass kicked. • You often find him slumped in his chair sleeping and always end up putting a blanket over him. • You never really speak about taking care of each other, it just kinda of happens. • Smiles to himself when you leave him little notes on his desk. • Encourages you to tidy but never forces you like he does the others.

Hange; • "Come on, it will be fun" "What part of opening a Titan is fun?" • Throws themselves onto you a lot to express emotions. Both positive and negative ones. • Tells the most outrageous stories while eating. • They're incredibly expressive and tend to hit you accidentally while throwing their hands up in the air. • Is serious when necessary and it never fails to send shivers down your spine when their tone of voice changes. • It's always funny watching them work and, as crazy as they are, you can't help but admire their intelligence. • Got you a little Titan doll for your birthday.

Erwin; • You don't see each other often because he's always working but when you get the chance you work together in the same room. • "Have you eaten today?" • Super caring. • You had a talk with him about him living a little: "you can't deny yourself your own humanity for the sake of others. Live a little. Start a family, buy a house, get drunk for Christ's sake. If you live everyday thinking about others, you lose yourself." • He proceeded sob like a baby. And that's the only time he's ever cried in front of someone. • You admire him for his leadership and he admires you for your determination. • Bought you a horse. The fastest one he could find. Trained it himself to come when called and engraved your initials into the saddle.  

Reiner; • He take being a soldier seriously and often encourages you to do the same. • He spends most of the time with Bertholdt, so the three of you are friends. • You both tease Bert about his crush on Annie. • Drags you to extra training any chance he gets. If you refuse he throws you over his shoulder and takes you there himself. • Takes you on walks to clear his head. He finds fresh air good for his mental health, and has found you have the same effect. • Repairs your gear for you. He refuses to let anyone else do it. • He gets homesick a lot. He's not one to breakdown easily but he cracks sometimes. Almost let his secret slip more than once while you comforted him.

Bertholdt; • A gentle giant. • Comes to you when he needs advice. • One time he asked you on how he could be more assertive and Jean over heard and took it the wrong way. Now Bert gets teased about it. • Distanced himself for a while because of his mission but found that life without you around wasn't worth it. • Vowed to take you with him when he goes back home, but struggled with how he'd tell you. • You are close friends with everyone in the corps, so you wake them up in the morning. Most days you leave Bert till last so you can all admire his sleeping positions. Jean predicts the weather with them. • Has the best laugh. You can't help but smile when you hear it. • He's really warm. Like his body temperature is abnormally warm. So he gives the best hugs.

Annie; • Quiet but opinionated. Never sugarcoats anything. • She's not afraid to tell you if you're not improving or if your stance is weak. • Tends to lean on walls, all cool like, and observe people from afar, but smiles a little to herself when she sees you approaching. • There's a comfortable silence between the two of you. There's normally not a need for words. • You bought some sweets one day and went to offer her one but pulled the bag away last second. "Train me." she said no at first, then you told her you'd buy her as many sweets as she wanted so she agreed. • You spend most of the time sparring with her. • She likes your determination to learn and better yourself.

Porco; • Tends to be an asshole for no reason, so you have to apologies after him: "Please ignore him" • Drags you around after him. • Take you to the markets and buys you things. • Always tries to impress you and succeeds a lot but often takes it overboard. • Secretly enjoys skin-on-skin contact and hugs but would NEVER admit it. • Likes to think he's invincible but you've seen him crack under pressure. • You call him "Porky" to piss him off coz it sounds like his name.

Pieck; • She's very soft spoken around you. • Brings you things before you even get the chance to ask for them. You just know each other that well. • She falls asleep on your shoulder a lot - often by accident tho. • If she walks upright, she hooks her arm in yours for support. • You both defend each other when criticising your superiors and both contribute to Marley. • You find her curled up on the sofa a lot and bring a blanket to keep her warm. • Cares for you and makes sure you always stay healthy. • Scares the living shit out of you when she crawls around on all fours.

Zeke; • Plays catch with you when you both need a break. • Always offers you a cigarette, even if you don't smoke. • Secretive. He's selective with his words, so he doesn't say anything he's not ready to share but he's always there to listen to your problems. • Completely different on the battlefield. Can be cold and ruthless - even a little sadistic at times. Away from the fighting, he tends to be quite warm and inviting. • A Whiskey drinker, but not a heavy drinker. He's almost never been drunk. • Hates that you want to join the fight. He feels as though you shouldn't be brought into it and refuses to let you fight. • Gives rare hugs, normally when he sees you crying, but they're good. • Has spouts of anger. They're scary as hell, he throws things and shouts, only ever in private though, he would NEVER show that kind of emotion around you. You only caught him once and just watched in horror as he destroys things - he apologised right after and still feels guilty.

[greyskyflowers]

I like to think the Marines must have collectively smacked their heads off their desks when Ace joined whitebeard.

Like, this kid, the kid, the one with the thing that only a few people know, yeah that kid...

Was already a huge, flaming pain in the ass and now is apparently part of Whitebeards family.

What.

All of the sudden he's a whole new person. He calls Whitebeard pops and calls the crew family. They call him brother and commander and Ace and ours with possessive eyes because Whitebeard is no fool. He knows and while he doesn't tell them the details, he tells his family that they'd take Ace from them. Would take their brother away and leave his blood on their hands and his screams in their ears.

And that's a hard no. That's where people fuck up with them.

And maybe Ace gets dragged to Marineford still. But this time they don't plan on just getting him out.

They shake the earth.

Marco ripping through people as easily as he'd rip through earth and stone for Ace. Talons shining like the swords Vista swings and the way light shines off diamonds.

I just think of Ace with his head hanging and hunger a beast in his belly that howls at him. Wrists tacky with blood dried like tar and bones sore from the cold stone. How everything hurts and it's been so long since something hurt this much. How he draws his knees up the best he can to rest his head on them, a respite for his aching neck.

The walls around him shaking and dropping dust around him. He doesn't know what's going on but it doesn't really matter. He wonders if they'll bring the whole place down just to make sure he dies in the dark where he belongs.

And how solitary his cell is. How it's dark and quiet and something inside him feels the same way. It curls up under this skin and he thinks he'd give anything to sleep.

The door slamming open to the sounds of the chaos beyond and Ace snapping his head up to squint at them. His family.

They pull him up with careful hands, someone breaks the chains and blue feathers flick aways the pain like it does the old blood.

He doesn't notice them eyeing it all. The dark room, the weight lost, the shivers, the way he clings to whoever is closest.

They bring it down.

And they wipe the dust from the destruction off their brother's face with love.

🏴‍☠️🔥🏴‍☠️🔥🏴‍☠️🔥

Cleaning out my drafts and this has been in there for awhile. Not exactly what I wanted but I'd rather share part of it than just delete it. Weeeeeeee

[infiinitys]

@oftatteredwings

[py-dreamer]

PT 2 OF THAT HALLOWEEN COSTUME THINGY!!!

I never thought I'd get this done!

Ok so:

Sun Wukong as Turnip Head (and also secret prince from Howl's moving castle)

Six eared macaque as Fujimoto (aka Ponyo's dad and the guardian of sea life from Ponyo)

Sandy as Totoro (My neighbour Totoro)

Pigsy as Porco Rosso (formerly known as Marco Pagot, from Porco Rosso)

And Tang as Shizuku (Whisper of the heart)

(Also bonus one of Sandy's cats as the cat bus)

Ok um reasons for choosing these?....um....

Sandy would totally wear a Totoro onsie and would be delighted to have one of his cats join in the fun (Mo is with Bai He at the moment)

Pigsy is pig. He used to have mustache. Porco is pig. He too, has mustache. I have no other explanation.

Tang is scholar, and a nerd so matching him up with sweet author Shizuku seemed like a good choice (also it's fun to put Tang in a frilly dress)

I saw this one design as Mac as Fujimoto and I just fell in love. But I had to use the tacky red-white pajamas which really isn't Mac's style so I hide with poncho-cloak thingy.

Wukong could use the staff as Turnip head's stick and he could use the makeup from the lantern city ep.

I JUST REALISED THIS IS MY FIRST TIME DRAWING SANDY OML

He is an underrated gentle giant and he deserved all those stars and frankly deserves more love.

Also more freenoodles content pls, they r freaking adorable I should probably draw them more. I can imagine Tang is ranting about the movie or Jttw or something and Pigsy will just listen

Perhaps I should've picked another movie but I just really wanted to draw Wukong squatting on the staff like the gremlin he is and Turnip head was the perfect candidate

(Click photo for less sh!tty quality)

reblogs > likes

Also tagging mutuals again cause that's fun!)

@violetjedisylveon @cats-and-confusion @leesbian42

[castbracelet240]

Marco’s moving castle?

I drew the characters. Backgrounds are from the original movie. I had an idea yesterday of Marco being howl and Anya being Sophie.

Marco belongs to @dayspriteofficial and @magebunkshelf

Anya is my bug oc

[dmfromtheblacklagoon]

I've been craving a Stardew Valley show or short film, and this is who I would cast for each of the characters!

Please concernedape I need some sort of show regarding these babies I love them so much.

Wizard: Matt Berry (Laszlo Cravensworth, WWDITS)

Gus: Marco Barricelli (Massimo, Luca)

Lewis: William Dafoe (That weird guy that's in everything)

Willy: Tom Waits (Musician and entertainer)

Pierre: John Corbett (Chris Stevens, Northern Exposure)

Harvey: John Mulaney (My skrimblo)

Elliot: Christian Bale (Howl, Howl's Moving Castle english dub)

Gunther: Les Claypool (Lead bassist and vocals of Primus)

Linus: Ian Mckellen (Gandalf, LotR)

Abigail: Olivia Olsen (Marceline, Adventure Time)

Vincent: Collin Dean (Gregory, Over the Garden Wall)

Jas: Kyla Kowalewski (Anais, Amazing World of Gumball)

Jodi: Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy Cheeks, Jimmy Neutron)

Alex: Keanu Reeves (Theodore Logan, Bill and Ted)

Sam: Alex Winter (Bill S. Preston, Bill and Ted)

Sebastian: Aaron Dismuke (Tamaki Amajiki, BNHA, english dub)

Shane: Pedro Pascal (He just plays tired single caretakers so well)

Maru: Heidi Hynden Walch (Princess Bubblegum, Adventure Time)

Emily: Sarah-Nichole Robles (Luz, The Owl House)

Leah: Vico Ortiz (Jim, OFMD)

Marnie: Dolly Parton :]

Penny: Theresa Gallagher (Nichole, Amazing World of Gumball)

Morris: Bo Burnham (Capitalist goblin go brrr lmao)

Haley: Rachel McAdams (Regina George, Mean Girls original)

Robin: Kimberly Brooks (Jasper, Steven Universe)

Caroline: Deedee Magno (Pearl, Steven Universe)

Evelyn: Jennifer Saunders (Ms. Spink, Coraline)

George: Dan Castellanetta (Abe/Grampa Simpson)

Kent: Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn, LotR)

Mr. Qi: Keith David (Cat from Coraline, Husk from Hazbin Hotel)

Sandy: Wendie Malick (Edalyn, the Owl House)

Leo: Kwesi Boakye (Darwin, Amazing world of Gumball)

Krobus: Alex Hirsch (Only suitable voice for him)

Let me know if you would like more stuff like this later on! Enjoy folks :D

[sleepingdeath-light]

if youre still taking requests, id love to see a sophie x GN!reader x howl!!! fluffy or like domestic headcanons would be great but down for anything! thank you sm!

Poly Headcanons | Howl Pendragon & Sophie Hatter

thank you for requesting!

reader is assumed as gender neutral

life with howl and sophie tends to swing between domestic bliss and wild chaos depending on the day — which shouldn’t be too much of a surprise given who your partners are

sophie and calcipher cook breakfast for the rest of the household every weekend and she won’t let you help, shooing you out of the kitchen with some very lighthearted scolding

howl is very protective of you both but also knows better than to overstep, like he’ll keep you both close when you’re visiting a town any glare at anyone who tries to flirt with either of you, but he trusts you enough to not die when left unsupervised

self care/spa dates are a must and are usually spent indoors with a hot bath, high quality skin and hair care products, comfortable clothes and a warm roaring fire (courtesy of one demon, of course)

matching jewellery? matching jewellery (howl suggested it)

howl will randomly drag one or both of you into the air and start dancing with you whilst you all laugh and try not to fall

whenever howl gets a bit much, you and sophie are able to bring him back down to earth and get him to approach a situation rationally — much to his apprentice’s appreciation

you all end up mixing and matching your clothes eventually until you can’t really remember what clothes originally belonged to who (though howl’s shirts do end up making excellent pyjamas)

magic lessons with howl and sophie? magic lessons with howl and sophie!

they’re both incredibly patient and empathetic (especially after sophie’s had her way with him and his ego) that you end up laughing through your mistakes and picking up a great deal of tips and tricks

lazy mornings with lots of cuddles and barely intelligible conversations are much more frequent after the war and you’ll usually end up staying in bed together until Marco gets bored and forces you all up

you and sophie tend to tease howl about how vain he used to be (which he’ll usually roll his eyes and huff at)

all in all, it’s a very lighthearted and warm and loving relationship filled with laughter and joking and trust and days of doing nothing at all

what bliss

[maoxyi]

To let go (part 8)

“…I wanted to stop him for the future…”

Luffys eyes squeeze shut as he lays his head on Aces shoulder.

“…there’s so many who can help you…”

He doesn’t want to hear them anymore.

“…let’s go home…”

Neither of them.

“Luffy.” He blinks his eyes open slowly but makes no move to sit up. “C’mon Lu, isnt it time to get up?” Ace says to him as Sabo kneels down to look into his sleepy eyes. Luffy thinks about it for a moment. For just a few seconds before pouting. Just being around his brothers makes him feel so small. He feels a childish spark zap through him and it’s almost as though they’re kids again. He pouts and squeezes his eyes closed.

“No.” He replied simply, feeling a bubble of pride in him.

“Now Luffy, you gotta get up.”

“No.”

“Luffy…” Sabo sighs exasperatedly and Ace laughs. He sees his crew on the ship when he opens one eye. He sees Usopp fishing with Chopper as Brook leans over to watch. Sanji hands the girls some beverages and turns to fight Zoro who did absolutely nothing. Franky was chatting with Jinbe and they let out a laugh that’s carried over to him by the breeze. Before he can take a look towards Law, Sabos pouting face comes into view.

“Luffy… my arm is nuuuuuuumb!” Ace complains. Luffy reaches around his brother and pulls him onto the sand earning a loud ‘oof!’ from Ace. Sabo cackles at them but doesn’t count for the fact that Luffy reaches over and drags him to the ground with them. Sabo let’s out a high pitched wail as he flops over his laughing brothers and Luffy has never felt like this. He doesn’t think he’s felt this whole for a long time. This full of pure, clear love for his big family. Pirate king becomes a secondary dream in his mind when he feels his brothers and crew surround him. He wishes this is how it ended. He wishes this was his world. This was the reality he would eventually return to.

“Luffy you’re such an idiot.” Ace chuckles. Luffy snorts at him.

“You’re the bigger idiot.”

“No you.”

“No. You.”

“You both are absolute dumbasses.” Sabo pipes up, as he stares at them. They stick their tongue out to him. Luffy sees Usopp and Chopper look over to them and smile. They wave. He waves back at them. They lay there for a while, bathing in the sun on the Amazon Lily beach. Ace huffs.

“Sabo, you’re heavy.”

“That I am Ace. I am a muscular man after all.”

“Not as much as me though.”

“No, no definitely more than you. I don’t need to be shirtless to show it.”

“…That isn’t the point asshole, get off I am literally suffocating.”

“Good. Die.”

“I just escaped death and here you are trying to kill me again.”

“Yes. Die.” Sabo smiles politely and Luffy howls with laughter as his brothers try to wrestle each other though it was more of Ace flailing to hit Sabo who simply refused to move. He looks up at the sky.

“So… what are you going to do now?” He asks. They both pause and look at him.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… what are Ace and Sabo going to do now? That it’s over basically?”

“Well…” Ace starts and looks at the Sunny. “Pops has decided… to disband the Whitebeard pirates…” Luffy sits up immediately. This… this isn’t good. What should be bizarre is that Whitebeard even survived… but the fact that he himself disbanded them… huh.

“What?”

“It’s true. Of course I asked Marco if they refused. Of course they did. Why wouldn’t they? He told them though. He can’t…” Ace took a deep breath and Sabo sits up off of them. “…He can’t keep going anymore. He can’t keep leading us. He told us that after the close call of Marineford, it- it really showed him, he says, that the old era is over. The new era has risen and he’d rather be alive to witness it.”

“Ace…” Sabo puts his hand on his shoulder. Luffy stares. He’s unsure. Of course this never happened but…

“It’s ok Ace! Your old man is still alive right? That’s all that matters!” He knows there’s no need because he has to leave. He has to go home. He’s forgetting his crew is waiting for him. He’s forgetting. He’s forgetting…

“Yeah I guess… but it’s ok because Marco says that he’s going with him to a place where he knows they’ll be safe. Everyone else told me that…” Ace clears his throat. “That they’ll be ok. That we’ll see each other again soon. They’re going their separate ways.”

“I’m sorry… you didn’t go with them because of me didn’t you…” Luffy looks down. He feels horrible because he doesn’t feel bad about it.

“Nah of course I would stay with you! My little brother needs me! Of course you have your crew but I’m a big brother. It’s what I do.”

“Hey I’m here too!” Sabo pouts before turning to Luffy and smirks. “He was crying by the way. Him and the Whitebeard pirates were crying. So hard.”

“SHUT UP!”

“They were practically wailing and it took three hours for them to hang up.”

“ITS NOT TRUE SHUT UP!”

“It’s true and Whitebeard was laughing so hard. He even told Ace to shut up and hang up already.”

“Oh my goooooooddddddddddd-“

“Sounds about right.”

“LUFFY.”

“Anyways,” Luffy turns to Sabo, completely ignoring Aces glare. “What about you?”

“Well…” Sabo begins and looks into the forest. This felt like deja vu. “I told Dragon I would be spending some time away. There’s something I want to do. He was a little hesitant at first but he heard me out and agreed with me.”

“Oh…” Luffy looks down, regret for not regretting.

“No no, Lu. I decided this.” He looks at Ace who nods. “Actually, there’s something we wanted to talk to you about.”

And Luffy doesn’t know why he’s so scared. He doesn’t know why he shakes slightly. He has to grab his own hand. He’s never been so worried. Never. He isn’t ready for what this fake reality will tell him. He isn’t but… at the end of the day he’s still scared.

“Luffy.” Ace smiles at him with Sabo grinning excitedly. “We wanted to ask you-“

“Can we join you’re crew?”

And Luffy doesn’t think he’d ever be as surprised as he is right now for the rest of his life.