#They have docks specifically for that purpose

[changeling-rin]

Gen's curiosities that have not appeared yet?

(Note Anon was here)

Until it just appeared last chapter, I headcanoned that Gen was allergic to shellfish and/or most ocean-based foods altogether, because he's spent the first seventeen years of his life in the sky and has literally never had a shrimp before. This is now, of course, DL-canon, but I wanted to include it here anyways because I feel like it's an excellent bit of character-building

You know that thing that happens when people who live at higher altitudes come down to sea-level and basically get a mild version of being 'high' due to the thicker concentration of oxygen? Yeah, Gen's got that, he's had that the entire time. He's used to it now, but back during his adventure on the very first day he touched the Surface in Faron Woods, he spent about twelve hours just sprinting around and spazzing straight out of his own skin

He's been a vegetarian for the first seventeen years of his life, and he only tried actual meat within the past year. Once again, this coincides directly with him coming down to the Surface

He and Dusk share a favorite food, this being pumpkins

His Loftwing was the first Epona and I will not be accepting criticism on this. She basically said 'Oh no you don't,' when he died and the Hero's Spirit reincarnated, and then she followed him through the afterlife via sheer willpower and stubbornness.

He had no concept of the Three Golden Goddesses until meeting the Chain, because in his society the only Goddess is Hylia. As a result, all his swears and emphatics are Hylia-based, although he will pick up a few of the more common Golden-Trio-based ones the more time he spends with the other Links

He has precisely one (1) aptitude for magic and it happens to lie in the very specific subsection of the Light branch known as sealing. However, he cannot do it himself like Zelda can; he needs a conduit to channel through. Hilariously, he's absolute garbage at literally anything else magic-wise (which is ironic since he'd actually make for a decent weather mage if the Water branch wanted anything to do with him)

His favorite color is yellow

His depth perception and spatial awareness is fantastic. His grasp on the concept of terminal velocity is... not. Oh, he's very aware of distance, vertical or otherwise, and can tell you the measurement with surprising accuracy, but he has no amount of self-preservation attached to it. Why shouldn't he throw himself off this cliff? It'll get him to the bottom so much faster than climbing down. What do you mean, 'fall damage', sounds like an illness?

And finally, he can read clouds in the same way that a fortune teller pretends to read palms, except that when he does it he's accurate. "It's gonna rain in about an hour," he says, squinting up at a few wisps of cirrus scurrying across the upper atmosphere of an otherwise cloudless day. One hour and twelve minutes later, in the middle of a torrential downpour, he says, "Yep, thought so."

[maryse127]

Me: yeah I got this newsletter saying the PS5 was in stock earlier this afternoon but I just checked and it sold out already XD

My dad: you didn't immediately buy one?!!

Me: Of course not it's stupid expensive

[autistichalsin]

In Sharess Carress there's a nymph that will ask for a companion's deepest desire (e.g. Gale can answer with wisdom, Wyll freedom, etc). Currently Halsin, along with Minthy and Jaheira, have no character specific response to this. What answer do you think Halsin would give?

(Video for reference: https://youtu.be/Y6Gu_WL8V0M)

I was just playing that part the other day and wondering myself.

I think that Halsin's answer would be wanted. Not sexually. But wanted as:

A member of the team

A partner

A community member

A friend

An elder

Because think about it. He lost his family. He lost most of his fellow Druids, and when he became a leader, he lost his friendship with most of the rest, and many began to resent him for his failings as a leader. He then had to abandon the Grove entirely to give it the chance to recover with Francesca's help, though of course this wasn't entirely altruistic since he also did it to help the Shadow-cursed Lands. He admits he struggles with not having a sense of purpose without the Shadow Curse, and when discussing what comes next, one dialogue option leads to him saying he asks nothing of the player but to be allowed to stay at their side. He says many things that indicate this time, traveling with the party, was among the happiest of his life, particularly in the epilogue. But in that same epilogue, he shows he doesn't think the player truly wants to stay with him, and before that, his response to various things indicate he doesn't dare believe his friendship with the team is meant to last, as important as it is to him; if the player says, on the docks, that they part ways there, he laments that it was "always destined to be so if [they] prevailed". And of course there's his dialogue to a romanced player where he is STUNNED they want to come with him to the commune.

So. What would Halsin want to hear more than anything? That he is wanted, cared for, cherished, that he doesn't need to do anything more than he already is. That THIS will last, that he will not be alone anymore, that people aren't just using him as a stepping stone to something better. He is wanted, for him, not for what he can do for others. He is wanted.

[xxchaosjojoxx]

A/N: I'd never thought that you guys would be interested in a second part but here it is. Hope you enjoy <3

First part

Lies (2/2)

You felt uneasy after this conversation with your captain, Trafalgar Law and kinda nervous. Did he figure you out, but you were pretty sure you didn’t give anything away. And the trio played their part perfectly like you predicted. You didn’t need to go deeper in your lies, you never did. Having someone to see you do something or going in a specific area is mostly enough for it to be believable. So why? Why now? You were pretty sure that you had your heartbeat and your breath under control. You practiced it long enough since you knew he was a doctor . Thank god you could manage to fool him this time. You bit on your fingers, it was a habit of yours whenever you were under a lot of stress. Should you back down a little? No, it is necessary to do all of this. You just have to fool your captain. This handsome, clever man with his stern look and his beautiful piercing eyes. He was surely smart enough to match your intelligence and this could be the biggest problem at all.

Law was questioning everything you said and did. You were cautious of it but prepared. Even the rest of the crews were confused and wondering what this is all about. Did you have a fight? One evening Law had enough. You were always calm and collected. But still this feeling inside him, made him sick. He decided to go for a cup of coffee as he was listening to Shachi and Penguin. Both of them were talking about getting to know some cute girls when they docked on the next island.

At this moment, an idea popped inside Law’s head and a smirk was forming. If he wants you to catch you off guard, this would be the best option no one, not even you, would predict at all.

Bepo came over and told you that Law was looking for you, so you walked towards his office, knocked and opened the door. He was sitting on his desk, without looking away from his papers he told you to come in and close the door. So you did and sat in a chair in front of his desk.

He was still scribbling and ignored you. “You were looking for me?” You asked him with a sweet voice and a smile on your face. Law lifted his head to look at you and stood up, going around the table to face you. Law was leaning against the desk behind him, his arms folded before his chest as he looked at you and…smiled.

You blinked a couple of times. Never ever did you ever see him smile at all. You didn’t even know that he was able to. “I wanted to apologize to you. I was pretty rude for a couple of days.”

You were unsure what game he played, did he really just want to apologize? Your smile was brighter now as you tilted your head slightly. “That’s lovely. But you don’t have to apologize, captain. I know you didn’t mean any harm.” Two can play the game you know?

Law was holding your hand with his, drawing circles on the back of it. You couldn’t help but blush lightly and staring at his hand on yours. Of course you didn’t notice the smirk on his face nor that he leaned in so his face was closer to yours. His hands were now on both sides of the chair, caging you in it. Your eyes found his and you couldn't help but feel flustered. “To  be honest, I did this on purpose back there.”

You gulped and tried to still smile at him. “Oh yeah?”

He nodded. “I wanted to get closer to you. You are really pretty and I didn’t know why I did it, but now I know.”

Your pupils went wide and you were speechless. //Is this for real? Did he figure me out or not?//

His hand was now caressing your cheek. “Allow me to show you what I mean.” With that his lips were on yours and you couldn’t help but reciprocate the kiss, close your eyes and enjoy the moment. As he pulled away his voice was just a whisper. “I like you.”

With that you were closing the gap again, kissing him with such a passion it made you dizzy. Your arms were behind his neck, deepening the kiss. “I like you too.”

He was squeezing your hand. “That’s good to hear.” And he was on you once more. He couldn’t stop, but neither could you. It was intoxicated.

“Sorry that I accused you of lying.” His lips were on yours again, his tongue twirling around and a soft moan escaped your mouth. “It’s ok.”

“I know you wouldn’t lie to us. YOu never did to begin with right.” He kissed along your neck and jawline. You tried to calm down. “O-Of course not.”

He squeezed your hand again and let go of you immediately.

With half lidded eyes and a shock expression you were looking up to him. He pulled quickly away from you, standing before you and smirked. You were confused and couldn’t think of a single thought. His left hand was still on your hand.

“Oh is that so?” He asked you and squeezed your hand once more. Now it was your time to realize what was going on. That’s why he squeezed your hand. You couldn’t collect yourself to fool him. He was seducing you, to detect your heartbeat.

“We are a crew. We trust each other.” He said calmly and you couldn't help but glaring at him. “Trust? You lied to me and made this a game. You talk about trust here? I had my reasons.”

Law never saw you making another expression. He only knew your smile and your soft eyes. Seeing you like this, greeting your teeth, furious and a deathly look in your eyes he couldn’t help but chuckle. “You piss me off. Let me go and I will leave for good.”

Law gripped your wrist now. “You stay with us. Even though this wasn’t the nicest approach this was the only way to confirm it. We can help you.”

You huffed. “Help? I don’t need your help.”

Law tried to stay calm back there. “Like I said before, I know about your past, I was researching every piece of information I could find about you. You lie to protect yourself, and this is ok.” He kneeled down so you were face to face. “But you are here. We won’t hurt nor betray you. You spend enough time with us, to know that we aren’t like his bastards from before.” You were angry because you knew he was kinda right about it. The HEart pirates were nothing but friendly to you. Welcome you with open arms, especially Penguin and Shachi who you robbed before. They did everything to make you smile, asking about you and your well being. You thought they did to deceive you, but they were doing it for each other. They truly care about everyone on this submarine. You couldn’t help but cry, and stared at Law.

“Even so they are all nice and won’t hurt me, you hurt me back there.”

He sighed, he wanted to caress your cheeks once more, but he knew you would be against it.

“I am truly sorry. But not all of it was an act you know? I care about you and I somehow like you. That was not a lie at all.” He slowly reached for your cheek, brushing his thumbs against his. Your lips were trembling.

“How should I trust you after this?” You leaned into his touch.

“I will try to earn your trust and I will protect you from any harm even so I know you are capable of it.” You could only nod. His eyes were gentle this time and you wanted to trust him. Even so he lied to you, he helped you with it somehow. “I’m tired of pretending.”

“I know.” And this time you could show him a genuine smile and he couldn’t help but blush and turn away. “If you smile for real, it suits you better.”

[skellymom]

"Bring Me To My Knees" PART 2

Crosshair/Hunter x Reader Non Gendered SMUT++

Dividers by the talented: @saradika and @4ngelic-wh1spers

Background: Reader and Crosshair are separated from the group during the rescue of Omega and Tech from Mt Tantiss. Two broken people trying to get by in the galaxy. Then two broken people finally dealing with what happened to their group.

Word Count: 2.3K

Warning: Star Wars Canon violence, angst, death of major character, sadness, crying, guilt, permanent injury, stuff blowing up, swearing, kissing, intercourse, heavy petting, bite kind, blood kink, pain kink, spank kink, smutty/lemony content, lovers triangle with Hunter and Crosshair.

FOR CLARITY, HUNTER FLASHBACK SMUT SCENE IN CHAPTER 1. THE CROSSHAIR SMUT SCENE IS IN THIS CHAPTER 2. Broke this up in 2 chapters because I just couldn't stop writing...and 4K might be too much for one sitting.

I purposely wrote the reader in this fic to be of no specific gender. Tried to carefully craft the sexual scenes to accommodate either gender/non gendered/trans/genderfluid/non-binary. Everyone has hills, valleys, sexual organs, nipples, and erogenous zones. I wrote them into the story, but it's up to you dear reader to put your imagination to work. Hope I have done a good enough job that you can enjoy yourself with Hunter and Crosshair without breaking immersion!

To read Chapter 1:

https://www.tumblr.com/skellymom/744267915687264256/bring-me-to-my-knees-part-1?source=share

The intel proved to be correct. You and Crosshair traveled to an uncharted planet well past the Outer Rim. A quiet unassuming place to start planning a burgeoning Rebellion. 

He piloted. As your ship entered planetary airspace several Rebel ships swooped in as escorts. The Rebel base radioed in to confirm your status. 

“Crosshair, Clone Force 99 and Y/N, civilian. We are Rebel sympathizers wanting to join the Rebel cause and find our lost family and squad members.” You replied. 

“Authenticating data. Hold your position.” 

Silence as you and Crosshair waited on bated breath. 

“You are clear to land. We will perform a customary inspection of your transport. Then check your gunnery and weapons at the docking station armory.” 

“They’ll be taking my rifle OVER my DEAD body.” Crosshair snarked. 

“Toothpick?” 

“Hhm?” 

“It’s your gun, NOT your dick. Let them do their job.” 

He sighed and shook his head. 

Word must have spread fast. No sooner did you land than Omega was out the bay door jumping up and down in excitement. 

Crosshair barely got the gangplank down on the ship. You jumped over the stairs and landed on your hands and knees. Sprung up and ran to her. 

Omega knocked you over with her embrace. You were both laying there crying. She had grown two heads taller and much stronger too. 

Rebel soldiers had come out to check the validity of your claims. They stood aside seeing at least one of their residents recognize you. They had witnessed MANY reunions just like this as people were finding their way to the planet.  

There was more: Wrecker wasn’t far behind. He scooped you both up and hugged you fiercely. 

“AWWW...SO GLAD YOU’RE HERE! MISSED YA HORRIBLY!!!” Wiping away tears. 

Echo approached with Phee. 

Wrecker let you go, and you embraced them both with each arm. 

“Phee...what happened???” Her beautiful hair was gone. Head covered and tied fashionably with a scarf. Burn scar down one side of her face. You noticed one hand had scars as well. 

She shot Echo a strange look, then shrugged and perked up. “It’s growing back. Getting bacta therapy for the scars.” 

“Tech? Hunter? Are they here?” 

Echo answered “Come inside. We’ll get you settled.” 

“Wait, I didn’t come alone.” 

You turned towards your ship. Crosshair was standing at the bottom of the stairs. 

Omega gave him a bear hug. He had allowed her that. Wrecker stood a few feet away watching them.  

Echo took your hand. “Let’s give them some time to catch up.” 

He and Phee led you inside the base past bustling personnel.  

“Wait...I didn’t check my blaster...” 

“That’s ok” Phee patted your shoulder. “We vouched for you. Crosshair though...” 

You approached an open medical station with bacta tanks lined up...recognizing... 

“TECH!” 

He bobbed merrily in the solution, waving at your arrival. 

You stopped to see he was missing both legs...just like Echo. There were scars all over his body, some weren’t present during his rescue. Tech saw your face and immediately started signing in Basic. 

It is no major loss. I will be fine. Only 20 more rotations within this tank, then I shall be fitted for my prosthetics...please...don’t cry. 

Things were starting to come together...Phee’s hair loss and burns...the Marauder being hit... 

“WHERE’S HUNTER???” You yelled it in a panic. 

Echo stepped in and took your hand. “Y/N... he...” The look on his face told you this wouldn’t be good news. Echo’s eyes registered the scarf draped around your neck. 

There was a commotion behind you at the entrance of the base. Crosshair’s voice. Arguing with two Rebel troopers over his lack of compliance regarding check-in. 

“Sir! We need you to...” 

“NOT NOW! Can’t you see MY PARTNER is in distress!!!” 

The trooper grabbed his arm. Crosshair immediately disarmed the man and put his ass on the floor. Then handed the troopers gun to HIS partner sneering, “I said FUCK OFF!” 

The second trooper took the gun and commed for backup. 

Crosshair stalked over gently putting his hands on your shoulders. Fixing Echo with his baleful stare. “Where’s Hunter?” 

Echo fixed you both with his amber eyes. He sighed; his expression was so sad. “I’ll take you to him.” 

Tech tapped on the tank to get Crosshair’s attention. Cross glanced over shocked. He hadn’t recognized who was in there. Then he noticed Tech’s condition. 

I’ll be ok brother. He signed.  

Tech put his hand up against the glass. Crosshair placed his on the other side against Tech’s. 

The trooper’s backup arrived and trained their blasters on Crosshair. He turned and eyed them menacingly. Then dropped his hands from your shoulders, one of which you grabbed. 

“Don’t start any shit, Toothpick. Please, this isn’t the time.” Squeezing his hand firmly. 

He squeezed your hand back and stood down. 

“Break it up Trooper. These are friendlies.” Captain Rex emerged from the back of the squad. 

“But sir, he assaulted one of our Rebel staff. And he refused to check his rifle.” Pointing to Stormpuncher mounted on Crosshair’s back. 

“I’ll handle it, Trooper. You are all dismissed.” 

The Rebel squad eyed Crosshair uneasily as they filed away from the scene. 

“Good to see you both alive and well.” Rex smiled genuinely. “But I’ll let Echo catch you up on everything.” He nodded to Echo and stepped away. 

At this point Wrecker and Omega joined the group. 

“Follow me.” Echo instructed. 

You glanced at Tech as the group started to walk away. He smiled wistfully.  

“I got them Brown Eyes.” She winked at Tech, and he winked back. But he still looked concerned. 

Phee put her arm around your shoulder and walked with you. Crosshair followed at your other side silently. 

The group filed through the whole facility: past logistics, maintenance, troop training, mess, quarters, a small prison area (mostly empty), daycare, pet kennel, a few non-descript departments, and finally to the back end of the facility. The group approached heavy double doors. 

There was a sense of dread in your chest. Everyone was quiet. Echo looked heartbroken as he swiped his key card over the lock mechanism.  

The doors opened to the outside. A HUGE garden stretching for over a mile...planted with the bodies of those fallen from the Empire. Headstones, holoshrines, helmets, and all manner of tributes marked each plot. Adults, children, military, civilians, even service animals. Droids who could not be repaired were erected as tribute statuary with holoplaques proclaiming their sacrifice. 

Hunter was there. Laid to rest several rows down from the entrance. 

The realization hit you like a ton of bricks. 

“This isn’t real...” Shaking your head but staring straight ahead at Hunter’s helmet propped up on his plot. “NO... can’t.” Tears running down your face. 

Phee rubbed your back. “I’m SO sorry.” She was crying too. “Broody saved my life. I almost burned to death.” She pulled off the scarf to reveal the severity of her injuries. “I’m the reason he’s here.” 

Wrecker piped up “Noo, that’s not true. He would’ve done it for anyone on that ship.” He hugged Phee. 

Survivor’s guilt. Your heart went out to her.    

Crosshair took your hand and silently encouraged you to step down into the memorial and go to Hunter’s plot. You inhaled and stepped down...then your legs gave out. Crosshair grabbed your right shoulder. Echo ran over and supported your left. 

They led you to the plot. Wrecker, Phee, and Omega stayed behind. 

Soft grass was planted for whomever wished to sit and visit. Hunter’s helmet was surrounded by vivid red Poppies in full bloom. Echo seated you upon the grass. Crosshair kneeling beside you.  

“Can I do anything at all for you both.” He inquired. 

Silence. 

“Uh...I’ll give you some privacy.” 

“Echo?” 

“Yeah?” 

You swept him up in a hug again. “Thank you...for everything.” Tears returning. 

“Oh, of course.” He embraced you back. Holding on for some time. 

Echo patted your back and cleared his throat. He let go and wiped a tear from his face. 

Then he was gone.   

Crosshair sat stone faced staring at Hunter’s helmet bereft of emotion. It was the best he could do at this moment. 

You took off the red scarf, slipped it over Hunter’s helmet, and arranged it as if draped off Hunter’s own shoulders. 

Like he was sitting right in front of you with his bucket on... 

A sudden loud sob escaped. Each exhalation became louder until it ended in a scream. Your face red and pressed into the warm grass. Watering Hunter’s grave with your tears. Freeing the emotion out of the pit of your being. Screaming, sobbing until empty, finally collapsing from exhaustion. 

The afternoon progressed and the sun started to dip down towards the horizon. 

“Hey” Crosshair nudged you from disassociation. “Let’s go.” 

Numb, you let him haul you up under the shoulders. Standing, your vision went snowy and black.   

Crosshair must have carried you to the ship. The next few days were a blur, you slept through most of it. He hovered, fixing ration soup and just about threatening to force feed you. Trading whatever he could for black market sweets just to get ANYTHING into your belly. You barely remember Echo, Wrecker, Omega, or Phee visiting. Or AZI monitoring your vitals, reporting them well within range, that it was “only” grief and would eventually pass. 

Finally, after days in your bunk Crosshair had enough. 

“Soup!” He poked you awake. 

“Whaa?” Weakly turning over, burrowing under the blanket. 

“Get up. You STINK!” 

“Fuck off Crossy...” 

“Get up, or I’m throwing you INTO the refresher. Clothes and all.” 

You ignored him. 

Crosshair reached under the blanket and yanked you up. You caterwauled hurling swears, too weak to fight. But you were strong enough to hold on. 

He opened the refresher door and attempted to set you down. You stuck to him like shit on a Bantha’s behind. It turned into a wrestling match, both of you swearing at one another. One hand pried off him, then another would latch on, finally tearing his shirt to shreds. 

Cross gave up and flipped on the water soaking you both. The cold spray only made you hold on tighter, pressing against his chest for warmth. He gave up, sighed, adjusted the temp to warm. 

“Will you wash my hair?” 

Sighing again. “Yes.” 

You let go and turned your back to him. Crosshair lathered up his hands. 

“Wait.” You pulled the soaked T-shirt over your head and threw it in the corner of the shower. Now you're only clad in underwear. “Ok.” 

He applied the shampoo and did one helluva job massaging it into your hair. You smiled and groaned at the sensation. He finished by twisting the hair into a soapy point atop your head. 

“Will you wash my back and neck?” 

Heavy sigh. But he did. His hands were amazing. 

“Toothpick, will...” 

“I’m NOT washing your dirty ass...or anything else. You can reach.” Cross rinsed his hands and exited the refresher, leaving you to finish the job. 

You finally exited the shower feeling and smelling much better. 

Clean towels and comfy clothing were waiting for you. A non-descript box sat atop them.  

Dried, dressed, brushed your hair and nasty teeth. Then opened the box. The beautiful black and silver scarf from Mel and Marv’s stand. Toothpick paid attention...and had held on to it the whole time. 

You put it on and made your way back through the darkened ship. 

Crosshair was waiting, sitting on a blanket spread out on the floor. There was a multitude of fresh food and rations upon it. Also, a lit candle in the middle. The kind he would razz you about that “smelled like flowers and shit.” 

You smiled. “Is this a date?” Attempting some levity. 

“Sit your ass down and eat.” 

“Thank you.” Caressing the scarf around your neck. 

“For what?” He played dumb. You could see he noticed. 

“Everything. Being there for...” You couldn’t bear to speak it. “Taking care of me, this food...” 

“Can’t have you dying on me. Would have smelled worse than you already did.” 

“Oh...and that shower brawl...” looking up from your food. “THAT was certainly SOMETHING.” 

Crosshair grinned. “You owe me a new shirt.” 

“Do I, now? Well, don’t wear clothes in the refresher when you decide to throw me in.” 

He cocked an eyebrow while biting into a ration bar. 

“Then when I grab something, it’ll be foreplay.” 

Crosshair choked on his food. 

You stuffed yourself full. Satisfied, thanking Crosshair again (who rolled his eyes), and wandered back to your bunk. 

He had changed the bedding out while you were in the refresher. It was clean and the blanket turned over, inviting you to slide in. 

It felt wonderful burrowing into the clean sheets. 

But sleep was elusive tonight. 

The grief was still too much for you both. 

Two people alone on a dark, silent ship. The distance between you palpable. 

“Are...you awake?” he furtively asked with hushed tones in the dark. 

“Umhmm.” Intrigued as to why he asked. Sitting up and sliding your legs off to the side of the bunk. 

Silence. 

You sat there in the dark waiting for an answer. 

More silence... 

(You like a song to go with the following scene? Please check it out. Smutty, but emotional)

...then Crosshairs hand gently smoothing away the hair from your temple. 

You immediately embraced him tightly. 

He falters for just a beat.  Body frozen for what seems like an eternity.  Would this scare him away? 

Then you feel his arms encircle you, lips upon your cheek...kissing down to your lips. 

Unable to hold back any further, you turn your head to meet his lips to yours. 

Mouths opening to breathe into the well of one another.  Sliding upon each other passionately.  Breaths furiously taken in between long heated kisses. 

Then parting quickly to pull the clothing from each other's body.  Almost ripping the cloth away from bare skin.  Occasional moans of longing for skin-to-skin contact. 

Finally free of constraints, he stops to visually take you in... 

...he’s waited SO LONG for this moment. Couldn’t help admiring your strength while rescuing him on Tantiss...but finding out you bonded romantically to Hunter... 

“I... I’m afraid...” Terror and shame on his face. 

This shocks you to hear such words fall from his lips. He’s so VULNERABLE...kneeling next to you proclaiming his feelings. 

You reach out and stroke the side of his face, then firmly grip this chin. “So am I. But it’s just the two of us now.” 

You both stare into the lonely abyss of each other's eyes. 

“And I CAN’T STAND being alone.” 

“Then you WON’T be...EVER” He reaches out across the space between, pulling you to his body. His heat, his need. 

You have your own need, your heat blazes HOT with his deep kisses. Tongues intertwining.  

Then he pulls away to bury his face next to your ear whispering EVERY DIRTY THING he’s going to do to you while nuzzling and nipping your ear. Rubbing his hard cock along your shin, sliding along the wetness it leaves behind. 

You moan loudly...” Oh...fuck me...” 

“Mhmm...” trailing his tongue down your neck. His hands caressing the inside of your thighs. Stopping just short of your sex. Teasing his fingers around it...teasing you into fever pitch. 

Your hand on his shoulder digs your nails into his flesh. He moans in ecstasy from the pain. Trailing down your chest to nip and lick at your nipples. Crosshair stares up adoringly with half hooded eyes. 

His hand casually brushes your sex and trails away. 

Smiling while he teases. 

You grip the edge of the bunk, bracing your feet on the floor, and buck out your hips in the air, gasping, baring your teeth. 

Then he playfully but firmly slaps your sex. 

It pisses you off while turning you on at the same time. The tension building. 

His cock is SO slippery against your leg. The breath coming from him labored and shaky. Tracing your thighs just so closely to where you want to be stimulated, then away again. 

“FUCK ME!” You growl deeply through your teeth.  Something FERAL awakening in you. Shaking, sweating, digging harder into his shoulder. It starts to bleed, and his eyes roll back in his head.  

His facial expression turns intense. He slaps your sex again. You moan louder, then growl again. 

The teasing. It’s driving you INSANE. 

He knows you’re about to lose it... 

Crosshair stops kissing your chest, put’s his snarky, sexy, come-fuck-me-face up to your ear...  

“...Mmm...bite me...” 

Back somewhere in your sexually addled lizard brain registers this could be literal instead of figurative. 

And he slaps you...ONE MORE TIME... 

Without thinking you sink your teeth into his other shoulder. Blood seeping into your mouth. 

Crosshair screams out in fevered sexual ecstasy...frotting his weeping cock furiously against your leg. 

His slapping hand comes back fully on your sex, furiously stimulating... 

...kneading... 

...filling up your intimate spaces... 

...sliding.... 

...you buck your hips tightly against the hand that services you... 

...as the pressure of your molars squeeze the flesh of his shoulder...it’s heavenly pressure...the taste of copper as you suck it down... 

Crosshair’s fevered thrusts of his hips. 

The fevered ministrations of his hand. 

Ragged breaths mixed with groans...whimpers... 

You release your mouth from his shoulder, as you gasp for air... blood trailing down his back from the punctures. Small crimson rivulets running down your chin, neck, across your erect nipples...you fall back...Pressing your head into the bunk...eyes widening...mouth open. His left hand on the small of your back like a spotter, his right sending you over the edge... 

Clenching your abdomen...you feel that tickle...the beginning of... 

Crosshair stops and pulls his hand away. You grab his arm devastated, angry even to be thwarted from your orgasm. 

Breathlessly “I want to FEEL you...from the INSIDE.” It’s not presented as a question. But he’s waiting for your consent. 

You reach down, stroke his sopping wet member. He moans and shudders. Then brush a ghost of a kiss across Crosshair’s forehead as you scoot fully onto the bunk and open yourself up to him. Your seductive gaze is inviting. 

Up off his knees, he slinks over you on the bunk. Staring like a hungry animal.  

For a fleeting moment, you don’t see Crosshair there...just Hunter. Your desire threatens to topple over into grief...all these emotions bubbling up from the surface. That scar will NEVER be totally healed. The sadness that will NEVER totally leave. 

Crosshair watches the subtle changes of your expression and senses this. He understands. While there are differences, it’s his loss too. 

He covers his body with yours, basking in the warmth skin to skin. Then takes your face in his hands. Touching foreheads, he whispers promises for you both in the future. All the things you will do together and the burdens you will both share and support each other through. Every one of them ends with a kiss as a promise.  

“I’m not Hunter...but...I’ll work on being a better man than I was in my past.”  

“I don’t want you to live in Hunter’s shadow. You’re different. Our relationship will be different.” 

Silence. 

“I’m SO SORRY you lost your brother.” 

Crosshair covers his face with his hand. Silent tears spill out between his fingers. 

You say no more and hold him tightly. Knowing it was A LOT for him to even let go like this. Knowing the relationship, he had with especially Hunter was fraught with so much emotional angst. And the heavy burden Crosshair holds about the horrible things he did at the end. 

You both lay there for some time wrapped up together in each other's arms...just being. Crosshair’s head resting on your chest, listening to your heartbeat. You rubbing gentle circles though his hair. 

Finally, he speaks, “Would you like me to finish?” Looking up at you seriously with those intense dark eyes. 

You read him like a book. He knows you too well now. There’s a deep care for one another. But you both know the sex tonight will be for dealing with the grief. That's ok though. It’s an unspoken agreement of how this will help the two of you bond and heal.  

You’ll both drink, fight, fuck, laugh, and all manner of things together while dealing with this shared grief. Whatever gets you by. It’ll bind you both thick as thieves. 

“Yes.” 

He kisses down your body to your sex. Licking, sucking, lavishing you with an intensity that prevents you from lying still. All the while grinding his returned erection into the sheets, soaking them. 

You both begin to get vocal. He adds more stimulation with his fingers, driving you wild. Grasping the bedding, you arch your back again. With the pressure in your core, his tongue wetly sliding over your sex...your breathing reaches a fever pitch...the tingling returns... 

“Crosshair...” 

He stops, sits up, gently pulls your hips to position, and slides his length into you. 

“Fuuuck...” he groans loudly, slowly pulling out, then slowly sliding in...he wants to feel it ALL. No rush. Just the amazing sensation...every inch...of him...against you... 

...sliding out... 

...sliding in... 

His legs are shaking. 

Your breath not just respirations but moans to the timing of his thrusts. 

...sliding out... 

...sliding in... 

Crosshair’s eyes are hooded in desire. He can see you’re about to cum. A crooked, horny smile crosses his face. 

The tingle becomes a wave... 

IT RUSHES THROUGH YOU like beautiful warm surf racing towards your sex... 

...and reaches its destination... 

You arch your back deeper...He’s watching you at the apex of your orgasm. Time seems to slow down for a few seconds. Eyes open with no angst, anger, judgement, spite, sass...his eyes...the window to a man WIDE OPEN at this moment in time. He’s telling you with his eyes what his voice could not.  

You’re staring above right into those eyes as your head presses just a centimeter deeper into the bedding...you inhale DEEPLY as those warm tendrils explode deep at the base of your core.  

Orgiastic moan-scream comes from your mouth so intensely you feel it in the roof of your mouth. Vision fuzzing out slightly. Tiny warm explosions of nerves firing everywhere in your body.  

Crosshair squeezes you tightly, screaming gutturally, eyes shut tight, and shuddering inside you with his own climax. Both of your sensory stimuli shut out to the outside world: Only aware of you both connected at the junction of your bodies.  

And then the orgasm dissipates like a wave being pulled back out to sea. Seafoam settling in and tickling the shoals of your sex.  

You feel warm and tingly...the rush of all those endorphins. He collapses gently on top of you. Gathering each other up in embrace. 

laying in each other’s arms realizing the future is wide open. It's a bit daunting...scary even. But you have each other. And, for now, that will do. 

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[skele-bunny]

Memories. (CW) Phantom/Dew

CW: Talk of past slavery and abuse

Characters: Phantom, Dewdrop/Sodo

I wanted to do more with this, but brain dead tbh. Also trying out new formatting! Might not keep it but eh.

Read it under the cut or on AO3!

Dew turned his head as he stepped outside, eyes scanning the area before spotting his target sitting on the river dock, wings drooped. Sodo pushed himself forwards, hands in his pockets as he approached Phantom–tilting some to try and get a glimpse.

“Tommy?” He mumbled, watching as Phantom turned to meet his gaze.

He gave a slight smile. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

Phantom turned back out to the water, fingers holding a small, heart-shaped rose quartz Aether had gifted him. Their mate had come back from town with bags of gifts for his pack, specifically giving Phantom a decorative bag full of crystals. Sodo didn't know much about quintessence purposes with crystals, but knew it was something sacred to their element. Something Phantom and Aether shared appreciations for. But when Phantom had gotten to the bottom where that heart laid, curled in wire to be a necklace– Phantom instantly seemed off. He played it off well, thanking Aether for the gift before excusing himself outside. Dew was simply sent to retrieve him for dinner.

“Got something on your mind?” Dew asked, moving to sit down next to his mate.

The bat simply shrugged, eyeing the gift again. “I guess, just…Memories, is all.”

Dew nodded, looking out at the water. “You know I'm here to talk if you ever need, right?”

“I know.”

A strange silence sat over them, Dew occasionally passing glances to his mate before going back to the shimmer of the water. It took a while longer before Phantom opened his mouth again.

“You know how I told you about my pit life, right?” He questioned, refusing eye contact and his ears turning red from shame.

“Yeah…” Dew's gut twisted. “You've told me.”

Phantom laughed at himself, shaking his head before tearing his eyes away from the heart. “My master, Albus, was weird as fuck. Besides the whole–you know, sex slave-forced mate thing…There were these times that I'd gaslight myself so hard that he actually loved me. That I wasn't just some…Prize and property.”

The fire ghoul kept himself quiet, looking over as his mate talked, his own expression holding sadness.

“Every month, he'd leave for a day while he went to our trading posts. He was always looked up at for casting knowledge, he was like a fucked up version of Special. Always knew how to alter the mind, conjure things others tried for years to do. He was so smart on ancient magick…But, anyways, he'd come back and always would have a little gift for me. Usually it was treats and more jewelry for me to wear, but every now and then he'd bring me crystals and wind chimes.”

He continued, “I think it was two years in when he gave me my first rose quartz. A-And I just remember looking at him with such a different view for the first time. I convinced myself so hard that he honestly did love me. I mean, the crystal should've proven that, right? I was just lost in my own delusion and-”

Tears started flowing, Phantom covering his mouth as he openly began to sob, shaking his head. Dew moved closer, placing his hand on Phantom's back and the other resting over the other that stayed on his lap. The pack leader gently pushed a comforting smell, Phantom inhaling sharply as he tried to calm himself.

“I-I mean fuck! That's how you court people in our culture, and he'd just…” Phantom lowered his head, his ears drooped. “I thought I loved him, too…In reality I just had stockholm and was so trauma bonded to this asshole. I'm just an idiot.”

The newly summon moved, leaning into Dewdrop's hold, being hugged tightly. They whined as Sodo began to gently brush down his back, trying to wipe his eyes and gather himself better. Sodo nuzzled closer, exhaling.

“I know how that feels. Being so lost in your abuse you think it's normal–you deserve it and they're doing it for a purpose. Doing it because they love you. Any type of affection was better than anything.” Dew mumbled, stroking more down Phantom's back. “You're not an idiot, bug. You were trying to survive.”

“Does it ever get better?” Phantom looked up, his eyes glossy and just pleading for answers.

For once, Dew was unsure. He simply held Phantom tighter, linking their tails together.

“I think it does. I still struggle a lot, I mean–Shit, Aether reminds me too much of my own tormentor sometimes. Sometimes I have to double take him especially when it's dark. It doesn't help that he and Mountain were around near the end of my abuse. Kept me on my toes that they'd been influenced to follow what ‘they’ did.”

“But I thought Aether was the one to help you out?”

“He was and still is.” Sodo shrugged. “Doesn't change that my mind still associates his entire body with what I experienced. Trauma is a really, really confusing thing. Aether pushed it in my head so many times that healing isn't linear. Even after eight years, I still have night terrors sometimes.”

“I'm upset over a stupid crystal-”

Dew cut him off. “Hey. You can't control triggers and flashbacks, as much as it sucks. You being upset is very justified. Your trigger isn't something that should be overlooked.”

Phantom looked down again, his thumb running over the silver wire wrapped around the heart. “I just… I wish I could associate it with something better. Aether gave this to me out of love and kindness.”

“Stop beating yourself up over this, bug. Associations take a while to change, and I'm sure if you give yourself just a little bit more time, you'll be able to accept it.” Dew pulled Phantom closer. “But, I really do think it gets better. I mean look how far you've come! You went from hiding under the tables to sneaking into our beds, dork…You're able to laugh, you're able to live. I think that's impressive with everything you've gone through.”

A gentle whine and purrs erupted, Phantom squeezing his mate tightly before moving up to butt their horns together. Dew cupped his cheeks, smiling and leaning forwards to kiss at his cheeks, scenting against his neck before lightly nipping his bond.

“This thing right here?” His tongue carefully went over the bond. “This is my promise to you, Tom'. The entire packs promise–That we'll never let you be hurt again…Do you believe that?”

“I do…” Phantom moved back a bit, looking down at the crystal before handing it over to Sodo. “Will you hold onto it for me until I'm ready?”

“Yeah…Yeah, I can do that.”

Taking the necklace, Sodo pocketed the item, and in return Phantom went right back into his arms. They sat quiet for a moment as their rumbles passed back and forth, Sodo poking his muzzle against Phantom's jawline.

“By the way, Mountain is making both pork and chicken empanadas.”

Phantom shot up, scrambling to his feet – almost knocking Dew into the water which earned an aggravated hiss.

“Why didn't you tell me that?! Come on! You know Swiss’ fat ass takes all of them!!” Phantom squealed more, grabbing Dew's wrist and dragging him to his feet.

“Alright, alright! Fuck!” Still, he couldn't help but laugh as he let Phantom drag him back towards the abbey.

[keigologies]

kazuha has been a lone wolf for as long as he can remember; he struck out on his own to wander inazuma at such a young age and with everything that has come to pass in teyvat, that decision feels like it was made a million lifetimes ago. he has no home, no true home; there is no place for him to come back to, no building on land that provides a roof over his head for longer than he can stand. the crux is the only semblance of such a thing, of family that he has and he's alright with that.

but then you waltz into his life, as beautiful and as gentle as a crimson red leaf from a maple tree. you're a close friend of beidou's and it escapes kazuha how you've never managed to meet in all of his time with the captain's crew. you're the owner of an inn just off the docks of liyue harbor, an establishment that caters specifically to fleets like the one beidou leads. you offer the crux lodging when there's a particularly terrible storm brewing on the horizon, one that makes it ill advised to stay on the water. beidou accepts, of course, and the crew takes up most of your rooms for the night.

you serve them dinner, the best hot meal they've had in a while, hand-crafted and slaved over. you always pull out all the stops when the crux is in, beidou tells kazuha as you make trips from the kitchen to the dining area. you're a naturally caring person, it's something she appreciates about you; it's what has kept the crew going for so long. and he has to agree because the plates of almond tofu, mint salad, tianshu meat, and jade parcels you set before him rival the cuisine of xiangling. 

it's not until hours later, though, that the two of you officially meet. he's sitting out in the just-beginning rain, sat on one of the benches in the private little courtyard your inn boasts, when you appear in the threshold to snuff out the candles on the covered patio. you ask him why he's purposely sitting in the rain and he explains his reasoning for it: he enjoys being close with nature, he speaks its language, he appreciates it in ways that others don't. he's endeared by the way you stand and listen to him with rapt attention, not judging, not interrupting, just taking in his words and understanding. you leave him to it, bidding him a goodnight, his blond hair growing darker by the second as the rain wets him.

and when he comes in for the night as the rain comes down harder, he finds a couple of warm, fluffy towels by the door that weren't there when he'd gone outside. he's never really known the sweet taste of love in this way before, full-bodied selflessness that melts on his tongue like a sugar cube. 

and the more the crux visits liyue, the more you open your doors to the crew, the more you treat him to that saccharine sweet, warm love. and he, the man who prefers sleeping under the stars and reading poetry and listening to nature, the man who has a hard time staying in one place after so many years of wandering, finds himself wanting to stay a little longer every time he visits you. and that doesn't scare him nearly as much as he thought it would. he figures he might have to learn a new language, one of romance and home and staying put. he thinks he could do it with your help.

keigologies 2023. do not translate, copy, or repost my work on any site.

[valeovalairs]

A Riptide AU that I came up with

Some pretty big spoilers for Riptide Episode #109, please don’t read further you have been warned.

Okay, I know episode 109 JUST came out, and Niklaus is probably going to fix Chibo, -with a price and conditions blah blah blah most likely but like, hopefully he’ll be fine and get his heart back… hopefully, maybe, I hope he’ll be okay- but I had an idea. 

Or more like I came up with an entire AU in my head halfway through the episode as it really started to sink in that Chip is now undead (at least he’s not dead dead yk, thought he was for like two seconds). (Mind you I thought of this while things were really starting to seem hopeless and before Niklaus became a possibility.)

Okay first of all, Chip has a bandana that could change his appearance right? I’m pretty sure he still has that right? That’s going to be important later.

May I present to you: The Legend of the Immortal Riptide Pirate.

So say Chip never gets fixed. They’re able to successfully leave (idk how but they do) and eventually they escape the Black Sea (maybe they’ve fixed it, that would be great and ideal), but Chip is still undead, and for all they know they can’t heal him, he’s stuck like that forever. He begins to constantly use the disguise bandana to just look like himself. Alive. (So no one besides the crew knows he’s undead)

The Riptide Pirates keep going, but time passes. Everyone gets older, years go by, and Chip is still the same. He never will change. He’s 19 and he will always look 19. They live their lives. But eventually Chip is the last one (this gets a little sad I’M SORRY). He doesn’t take on another crew, and the Riptide Pirates become something of a legend. 

People begin to whisper about the Riptide Pirates, or Pirate. How he mans the ship alone, and some might even say he’s immortal, as people from decades ago remember hearing of him. And seeing him. He’s seen occasionally, docking the Albatross, and doing something piratey. Usually he helps people. (I just thought of this I don’t have specific details), usually he messes with the Navy and Raft (because they don’t die either apparently, so he’s made it his mission to screw them over as much as possible)

At this point where the AU really would kick off it’s been decades maybe even a whole century or more since the events of Riptide. There’s a Ferin descendant, and she’s heard stories of her ancestor Jay Ferin, who was apart of the original Riptide Pirates crew, back when there was a crew, and how she sailed with the Legendary Riptide Pirate. She’s her hero. Her family is trying to rope her into Raft, to send her off like to Navy school or whatever. She wants none of that but they aren’t really giving her a choice. So she’s there, probably in All-Port, and she’s trying to come up with a way to get out. She knows her ancestor used to be a Riptide Pirate, and she knows THE Riptide Pirate is still drifting around. So she has an idea. She wants to be a Riptide Pirate. She begins to plan her escape.

Meanwhile, the Undersea had a new Chosen One. She’s meant to do what the previous Champion didn’t do. She’s completely just for ceremonial purposes, and she isn’t actually THE chosen one, there was only one, but the Undersea pretends to have another one because they don’t know what else to do- the Elders keep this fact secret. She hates it, but she’s known nothing else. The Undersea decides to show her off, diplomatic stuff (what exactly, I’m not entirely sure atm). She’s in All-Port and above on land for the first time ever. It’s incredible. And for the first time ever, she sees a way out. 

The day the Champion is in All-Port coincides with the day the Ferin decides to make her break for it, there’s supposed to be a lot of commotion with the Chosen One and Undersea Elders which should help them get away and give them some time. The Ferin gets out and begins to weave her way through the city, heading for the docks. The Champion had got out too, but she hadn’t really thought that far ahead and doesn’t know where to go or what to do. She’s just wandering around late at night by herself, clearly lost and a little scared- because she can’t get caught she doesn’t want to go back. The Champion runs into the Ferin who instantly recognizes them as the Chosen One and is confused and panics a little because what is the chosen one doing here? The chosen one is supposed to be on the other side of the city and being the chosen one and distracting everyone not here. They both realize they’re trying to leave, and after a quick conversation the two of them run off together, because the Riptide Pirate had known the first Chosen One, they had been friends and co-captains. He could help her, help them both get away. He would understand. So they leave.

The Ferin has a small ship that she’d be able to handle herself, or maybe she steals it idk. They go off together. Eventually they dock at one port (I’m thinking Zero- they know from asking around that he frequents Zero) and then they wait. And once they know he’s there and docked, they sneak onto his ship.

Chip is very surprised to find the Champion of the Undersea and a Ferin together on the Albatross once again.

(That’s as far as i thought but I think it’s pretty cool- I may or may not work on this some more)

[hannahbarberra162]

hOrnithology for Beginners

On Ao3

Next chapter

I know I said it was a one shot but I lied. I think it will be 4 chapters.

Marco X Reader, no use of "y/n." Fluffy fun.

Summary: You spend your days waitressing, using all your free time working to become an ornithologist and hunting poachers. You meet and befriend a rare mythical bird, with clear intelligence and astounding beauty. At the same time, an annoying group of pirates are docked at the island. One of them with a stupid haircut keeps trying to charm you, but you hate pirates and especially this one. He’s persistent - can’t he just leave you alone so you can hang out with your new Phoenix friend?

Marco isn’t sure what to do - you love him in his phoenix form, but you hate him in his human form. It's a tough spot for birds and bird watchers alike.

Notes:

I think that it could reasonably be assumed that the mythical Zoans are not the only of their kinds. They are the just only humans who can turn into mythical creatures. Rob Lucci is not the only leopard, Jack isn’t the only mammoth, Yamato isn't the only kitsune, etc. For the purposes of this story, there are more than one of each mythical creature, but only one Devil Fruit user who can turn into one. So reader isn't totally off that it is a phoenix, she just doesn't know it's The Phoenix.

~~~

You tightened your apron ties and scanned the patrons coming in for the lunch rush. Looked like the usual groups - some tourists, some bird watchers, some locals. You didn’t see any obvious waterfoul - your punny code word for pirates. One of the reasons you kept this shitty job was that it gave you a good peek into everyone coming and going on the island. Your island was famous for its stunning bird migrations. It was the southernmost island before the longest landless stretch of sea in the Grand Line. Flocks of birds would often rest at the island in preparation for the long journey to the next set of islands. It was also a wonderful location to try to spot rare and mythical birds. You’d seen a few and captured their essences in your sketchbook. 

Unfortunately, waterfoul weren’t interested in capturing images. They wanted to catch and kill rare birds for easy money. Poaching was a huge problem on the island, one that you frequently fought against. It was your personal crusade to try and stop as many poachers as possible. You’d caught some others - a few Marines, some local boys - but the primary offenders were almost always waterfoul. You carefully watched when crews came to the port, listening for signs that they were going to look for avian treasures. It usually took a week for log poses to set, so you had a good chance of seeing anyone suspicious. You didn’t care to keep track of any specific crew or pirates - they were all the same. Same arrogance, same swaggering attitude, same cocky assurance that they could do anything they wanted to with no repercussions. You hadn’t met any halfway decent pirates, and you didn’t think you ever would. 

Satisfied that you wouldn’t have to worry as much today, you began your shift. It was grinding your soul to shreds being inside and talking to customers when you could be spending it outdoors, watching and drawing birds. But you needed to make money to afford art supplies, new ornithology books, and poison for your dart tips. So inside you stayed, taking orders from idiots who didn’t know if the mashed potatoes were mashed or fried. After a grueling shift, you were finally able to leave. You chucked your apron into the dirty bin and left immediately, turning down your coworkers requests to hang out as a group after the shift ended.

“C’mon, you never hang out with me. Let’s go grab a drink,” Etta said, giving you puppy dog eyes. Etta was your work BFF, and your only real friend on the island. 

“I can’t, I’m going to try to catch -”

“The next bird migration, I know. But there’s always a bird migration on this island, that’s the deal here. You can see one tomorrow, the next day, next month, next year even! But there’s only one 2 berri marg night per week…besides I heard there are some hot new pirates in town.” She waggled her eyebrows at you, while you pretended to barf. 

“You know how I feel about pirates. But I do wanna hang out. How about this? Tomorrow after our shift I’ll buy you a margarita, even if it costs more than 2 berri.” You really did like Etta so you compromised - one night out would be OK, you probably wouldn’t miss much. She stuck her tongue out at you.

“Fine, but you can’t flake out. If you do, I’m leaving you to do side prep all by yourself. Think of all those lemons you’d have to cut.” She rolled her eyes, but it was a plan. You were truly excited - she was the first friend you’d made since you were a child. People often told you that you were “intimidating,” or “prickly,” or “difficult,” which was all just code for “bitchy.” You didn’t care - you wanted to be yourself, not try to dull your edges for people who wouldn’t like you either way. So you were happy to be friends with Etta, who liked you despite your “poor attitude” (as your boss called it). 

You changed out of your work clothes and into your hiking gear, taking your day pack with you. This is what  you liked most - going into the wild to watch for birds, especially legendary ones. You walked down to the forest edge and started on a well trodden path. It didn’t take you long before you had diverged from the path and were going rogue. You’d never see anything really good on the tourist paths - people were too loud and startled the birds away. Besides, you’d been on the island a long time now and you knew the best places to wait and watch. 

You picked your way through the dense forest towards the hidden waterfall. It was your slice of heaven on earth. It was secluded enough that you’d never seen anyone else there. The area surrounding the waterfall was more open than the forest floor, making it easy for camping overnight. The water was always cool and clear, wonderful for swimming on a hot day. The waterfall wasn’t terribly large or loud, bringing a pleasant sound of rushing water. There was an alcove behind the waterfall, large enough for three or so people. Leafy trees lined the banks of the river the waterfall fell into, bringing shade on hot days. It was your happy place, where you retreated both physically and mentally when stressed. Today was no exception.

You reached your destination and put your pack down on a familiar flat rock under the shade of a tree. You took out your pencil, sketchbook, and binoculars and started your stake out. You were already mentally tallying the different bird cries you heard. So far, nothing out of the ordinary, just local birds trilling. You also delighted in the ordinary - you enjoyed seeing the same species day after day, learning more about their habits and manner of living. You were sketching a local starling that was imitating the sounds of transponder snails - pretty well, actually - when all of a sudden, your ears perked up when you heard alarm calls. It wasn’t a call for mobbing - when smaller birds would form a group to ward off a predatory bird. These were definitely alarm calls - short, high pitched, loud cries to warn their flocks that a predator was near. 

You were excited, this was great news for you. Hearing these calls meant that something big was coming your way. It might be a more common predator, but maybe not. You’d seen a lightning Secretary bird once that caused the exact same alarm cries. You’d barely caught sight of it before it was gone. Another time, the cries alerted you to an ice Roc perched in a tree a little farther down the river. You’d carefully stalked the bird and were able to get a few sketches of it done before it flew away. Those were the rarest ones you’d ever seen, and you were hoping for another. 

Straining your ears listening to the bird cries, you grabbed your sketchbook and followed them towards the source. You crept along as quickly as you could deeper in the forest, silently walking on the sides of your feet. The cries weren’t quieting down, meaning the predator was still in the area. Scanning, you inhaled a gasp as you saw the apex predator at hand. Perched on a branch overlooking the river was a phoenix. A blue fire phoenix, with dark blue almost purple accent markings that made it look like it was wearing glasses. You could barely remember to breathe in its presence.

You stood there agog with your mouth open until the bird moved slightly to shift its feathers. You opened your sketchbook and drew quick sketches of it before you missed your chance. You jotted notes of the colors, wanting to remember exactly what it looked like. Seeing the phoenix was like seeing a god in the flesh. It was a blur of blue flames, ending with wisps of yellow. The movment of its body was like watching the waterfall, endless and yet each moment fleeting at the same time. You could scarcely believe that you were able to see one, much less sketch it. You must have been making too much noise because it looked straight at you despite your hiding spot in the brush.

You weren’t worried about it hurting or killing you - that would be an honor. Well, not really, but you typically found predatory birds disinterested in humans. You kept on sketching even though your hands were shaking. The bird cocked its head to the side and continued to watch you. It almost felt…awkward, like you had intruded on a private moment. After a minute or so it seemed to have gathered whatever information it wanted and flew away. Even watching it leave was magnificent, tail feathers like a chain of golden coins dancing in the wind. When it finally left your sight, you exhaled a breath you didn’t know you were holding. That was almost orgasmic for you. You rushed to pack up your things so you could go home and sketch with detail and notations before you forgot anything.

On your way back, the only thing on your mind was the phoenix. You thought about its elegance, its restrained power, its understated intelligence. It was the most striking bird you’d ever seen out of the thousands you’d cataloged. You thought more about its coloring, trying to think of the exact shades of blue and yellow you’d use to describe it. But now that you thought about it, seeing a blue fire phoenix was peculiar. Everything you’d heard about phoenixes depicted them as yellow bodied with red accents. But not much was known about any legendary bird so perhaps this one was rarer or maybe hadn’t been discovered yet. It had some kind of marking on its chest - but unfortunately where you were standing obscured your ability to see the marks directly. The glasses markings were a little funny - almost like a spectacled owl. It did give the phoenix a distinctive and distinguished look, like a scholar or a doctor. You were practically skipping with delight towards your home, thinking of all the little details you wanted to remember.

~~~

The next day, you went to work with a smile on your face. Not even the sight of waterfoul in your section could dull your mood today. You’d spent hours sketching and coloring drawings of the phoenix you’d seen, writing every possible memory you had down to preserve it forever. Etta wasn’t in yet - she was starting a shift staggered an hour after yours- but you’d have to tell her about it when you saw her again. Smiling, you walked to the table of waterfoul getting your pad out to take their order. As you got to the table, your smile dropped and your bitch face turned on. You set it to extra sour just for your own fun. 

You looked at the assembled men - you saw two stupid hairstyles, two stupid hats, and one well...there was nothing stupid looking about the last man. He was absolutely gorgeous with black glossy hair set in a classic style and incredible geisha style makeup. Whatever, even if he was good looking he was still a pirate. The man with the stupidest hairstyle smiled warmly at you, like he knew you. You dropped your neutral face into a frown.

“What do you want?” you said in a flat tone.

“Aren’t you supposed to greet customers with a friendly welcome?” said stupid hairstyle two with a smirk. You wanted to dump a cup of water on his pompadour. Or maybe soup.

“Of course! Whatever would you like today, my fair patrons?” you replied in an overly sweet and simpering voice. You even curtsied at the end to hammer the point home. The point being - fuck off. As soon as the words left your lips, you went back to frowning. Pineapple Hair looked at you curiously.

Cowboy hat laughed and said “I’ll start with three steaks, rare. And a beer.” Pineapple Hair, Pompadour, Twirly Mustache and Glamor Man also placed their orders. When they were done, you turned on your heel and went to put in their orders. You attended your other tables and customers, servicing them all while thinking about your phoenix. 

After a while, you saw Etta enter through the staff door. Before she could get to the floor you quickly pulled her to the kitchen. You both spoke excitedly at the same time.

“Guess what - “

“Guess what - “

“You go first,” Etta said, listening intently.

“I saw a legendary bird last night! It was everything I could have ever dreamed of! It was absolutely incredible…I can’t wait to show you the sketches.” Etta was one of the only people you showed your drawings to. You loved the art of drawing but felt self conscious about your ability.

“That’s amazing! I’m so happy for you,” Etta’s eyes lit up. She always liked when you shared your ornithology information with her and dutifully listened to some of your ramblings..

“What’s your news?” Maybe 2 berri margs were available again tonight?

“So I went out to the bar last night and met someone for a little fun. They’re in town until their log pose resets. I was talking to them for a while and mentioned that you are a real bird expert, not like the shitty tour guides who don’t know anything.” You narrowed your eyes. This wasn’t heading in a direction you liked.

“He’s actually interested in beetles, not birds. But I said that beetles are an important part of several bird’s diets,” she said, hedging around something.

“That’s true, you’ve been listening to my rants,” you said, still on guard. There was something she wasn’t saying and you had a feeling you weren’t going to like it. 

“So I might have volunteered you to come on a double date with him and his friend birdwatching and looking for beetles,” she said in a rush while starting to steeple her hands in a begging motion.

“What aren’t you telling me? There’s more to it than that.” you asked suspiciously. 

“Uhm. Well, the thing is. They’re pirates -”

“Etta! Oh my god. I knew it was something -”

“No, no listen! Listen. They seem actually nice and reasonable. The one I met yesterday, Ace, was so sweet and hot! I really like him.”

“Ohmyfuckinggod. Pirates? Etta they’ll probably kill us and take our stuff if we go to the woods with them. Or worse.”

“No! They’re like, high ranking pirates, so you know they have to be good.”

“That is not at all what that means.” You crossed your arms, and waved at the little window in the kitchen door that looked into the dining room.

“Look, there’s shitty pirates out there right now. They’ve already annoyed me and it’s only been like half an hour. Think about what a few hours would do to me.” Etta looked out the window. 

“Oh, actually he’s right there! Isn’t he hot?” Etta ducked down so he couldn’t see her.

“Who? Which one?” You really hoped it was Glamor Man, but he didn’t seem outdoorsy. You looked at the table where Cowboy Hat was asleep face down in his food. Could you drown in peas? 

“The one wearing the cowboy hat, that’s Ace. Isn’t he just so fine?” Of course that was the one she liked. He was something alright. Etta was practically drooling. Ace was too. 

“Etta, as my only friend, I have to tell you-”

“Please please please please please please -”

“I really don’t think this is a good idea and I really don’t want to go on a double date with -”

“Please please please please please - I’ll take your shift tomorrow so you have two days off in a row! It’s the weekend too! Just come out with me tomorrow with these guys, please!”

You sighed. You didn’t want Etta to get herself killed, and two days off was very appealing during busy season. You could go camping overnight and see if the phoenix ever returned. 

“Fine. But we’re going on the popular trails and I will absolutely not be kissing any pirate. And you have to roll my silverware tonight.” You barely even cared who you were set up with so you didn't bother to ask. You'd find out tomorrow anyway.

“Thank you thank you thank you!!” Etta squealed and hugged you tightly. You gave a small smile, knowing you’d made your friend happy. And looking for beetles did actually sound like fun. Who knew pirates liked bugs?

[now-you-sound-like-a-jedi]

Satine and the Resol’nare

Okay, I will warn you in advance: this is an entire essay complete with introduction and conclusion, feel free to scroll on if you can’t be bothered listening to me ramble :)

So, one of the criticisms of Satine and the New Mandalorians that I see quite a lot is "but what about the Resol'nare?" This is a difficult question to answer because much of Mandalorian culture, including the Resol’nare, is found in the Legends Extended Universe, and was discarded along with the rest of that canon after Lucasfilm’s complete overhaul of the Star Wars canon, so much of it is not relevant to a discussion of Satine because she exists in a separate version of the universe. But let’s put that aside for the purposes of this debate

In the Legends EU, the central tenets of Mandalorian culture could be found in the Resol’nare. According to this, the core of what it meant to be a Mandalorian is to wear armour, speak Mando’a, defend oneself and one’s family, educate one’s children as Mandalorians, be loyal to and support one’s family, and to obey the Mand’alor. So let’s break this down piece by piece in regards to Satine.

First of all, she obviously does not wear armour. However this does not necessarily mean that she has disregarded this element of Mandalorian culture altogether. Beskar’ta emblems can be found throughout Sundari, from Satine’s own throne room to the tunnel leading from the docks into the city. Furthermore, beskar’ta emblems are prominent designs on the clothing of several Mandalorian characters: the shirts worn by Almec, Korkie, and others feature them in the same position on the chest as they would be on a breastplate, Ahsoka’s dress in the Siege of Mandalore is patterned with them; and Satine’s own dress in the Clone Wars episode ‘Corruption’ appears to have a beskar’ta-like pattern sewn into the very fabric. Essentially, the most recognisable feature of Mandalorian armour is everywhere in her city even if the armour itself is absent, indicating that, far from being erased, the heritage of their armour is fundamental to Satine’s Mandalore. While we’re on this point, there is an assumption that Satine banned the wearing of armour on Mandalore, but there is nothing explicit in canon to confirm or deny that accusation - it simply never comes up. It is possible to argue that she did, because no one on Mandalore wears it, but it is equally plausible that no one wears armour on Mandalore simply because they no longer need to.

So, we have established that, while Satine does not exactly follow the first of the Resol’nare, she cannot be said to have wholeheartedly disregarded it either. But what about the others? Let's move onto speaking Mando’a. Satine is the only named character in the Clone Wars to speak any dialect of Mando’a onscreen (specifically Concordian), something that none of her opponents ever does, and Mando’a script can be seen across several episodes on screens in Sundari. This demonstrates that Satine's Mandalore continues to utilise Mando’a in day-to-day life.

In the Clone Wars episode ‘Voyage of Temptation’, she asserts that ‘just because [she’s] a pacifist doesn’t mean [she] won’t defend [herself]’, which covers the third tenet of 'defending oneself and one's family'. Satine has no children, so we have no information with which to assess the fourth on a personal level, and we also don't have enough information about the New Mandalorian school curriculum to examine this on a city-wide level either. In terms of loyalty to one’s family, the only example we have is of her and Korkie, most notably when she was willing to concede to Almec’s demands rather than allow her nephew to be tortured.

Finally, we come to obeying the Mand’alor: there is no indication that there was a Mand’alor during Satine’s rule, as “Mand’alor” by definition means “sole ruler of Mandalore”, a position Pre Vizsla did not achieve (despite his possession of the Darksaber) until 19 BBY, and which he subsequently lost to Maul.

What we see here is that Satine follows three of the Resol'nare, doesn't follow one, and we simply don't have enough evidence for the other two. From this, we can deduce that Satine isn't actually as far from being a textbook “good Mandalorian” as she is often portrayed. The no-armour thing appears to be the exception rather than the rule.

Furthermore, based on canon evidence, we cannot confirm that any other Mandalorian adheres to the Resol'nare any more than the New Mandalorians do. We don't see anyone in Death Watch speak Mando'a, not even Pre Vizsla, nor any character in the Mandalorian (except the Armorer). Which of course is not to say that they don't, only that we cant confirm it either way. Sabine Wren does, and she wears armour, but she certainly doesn't seem in any rush to rally to the Mand'alor and struggles a lot with how far loyalty to her family should actually go. Bo-Katan doesn't speak Mando'a either, she refuses to obey the Mand’alor when Maul takes the title, and she sure seems to pick and choose when to follow the "loyalty to one's family" part.

Essentially, when it comes to the Resol’nare, Satine is no less a Mandalorian than any of her opponents are.

[mahiiimahiiii]

the extranet is made for porn

!!HEADS UP SLIGHT NSFW UNDER THE CUT!!!

The ship was empty, which happens a lot when they dock in the citadel. Garrus was just excited he would have some time to himself without the battery being opened on accident or purpose. Though turian’s have an open-door policy on their ships, a curious human was the least of his worries. His biggest concern was Shepard. Things have gotten tense between them, especially as he recently found justice for his fallen comrades. She supported him in that endeavor, using her charm to lure him to the right spot. He smiled remembering her seeming more at ease once the deed was done. “If you’re happy I’m happy” he remembered her saying as they boarded the ship. He appreciated her more than she knew, maybe a little too much. They had stopped in omega for some unfinished business, after that they hung out talking about wartime traditions. He had slipped about turian military full contact sparring, and she smiled and said, “why don’t we spar, well…maybe not, let’s just go blow off steam instead.” And left. She left! How bold was she?

Another time after hacking terminals in ilium, she asked again if he’d like to go out to dinner, pre steam. He honestly thought she was joking, but he laughed and said yes. Now here he was, sitting on an uncomfortable cold chair in a chamber that smells like sulfur and gunpowder; Omni tool brought up to his face. He felt ashamed.

The room was dark and slightly warm, his quills bristled as he pressed on his pelvic plate, releasing it with a hiss. He put down a towel, but it didn’t negate the cool metal beneath it. Garrus brough up the browser on the arm band, switching to a private tab he felt that he didn’t know what to search for. Human porn? Interspecies porn? Big boobs? Mammals having sex? Cam sites? Sexual wellness? He decided on the best sites for human fetish and hit go, massaging his brow and nasal plate. There were only a few results, though humans, once domineering the early fetish content industry as a shiny new thing, it has been found that assaris will always do better. He clicked the recommendation, a top ten list, with porn hub being the first result. He wanted specific, from colloquial human terms it’s a human-on-human site. He searched turian/human porn and hit go again, majority of the results were voluptuous, and beautiful siren-like women bouncing on raunchy toys. He lucked out scrolling through the images tab finding a vid of a pale woman thrust into a full nelson on a turian with rather large calves.

They seemed to be a couple, creating educational videos for couples like them, how fortunate. He watched their disclaimer section, noting that if you haven’t taken proper precautions both parties could suffer fatalities. They noted experiences, stigmas, regrets and interests of each other, they sounded soft and genuine. The turian noted there’s a form of condom for the vent shaft itself that helps eliminate a lot of worries, but noted they definitely prefer the sensation of raw dogging. A human term. A thing that works for them is having an EpiPen nearby filled with excess genetic materials. A last dich effort if the suppressants, herbal teas, and vaccinations don’t work. With that note they thanked the viewer for watching and moved onto the video.

[alkhale]

If it is not too much....can we have more decade swap please mommy alk? 🥺🥺🥺

Miss Memos so much 🙏🙏🙏

I HAVENT BEEN CALLED MOMMY YET BUT I HOPE THIS HELPS DURING THE WAIT

Shanks is somewhere in his twenties

Every now and then between the Blues and across the seemingly endless expanse of the Grand Line, an island appears.

It was never a designated island in particular. Whatever island could manage to make such a name of itself and manage to keep its reputation would eventually spread word, and sure enough, people would flock to its shores. Some islands that attempted to boast this specific purpose found themselves either failing to uphold true neutrality or ended scorched and sunk from a series of skirmishes with the marines.

A neutral island, people would call it. A meeting point. Pirates of all walks and Blues and statuses would gather here, and people who wished to do business with such pirates would navigate their waters.

A neutral island, on paper. A pirate playground, by word of mouth.

It was this very island get-away in particular that young, not quite young to most, but perhaps still young in the old eyes of the world—"Red Haired" Shanks found himself docked alongside his now notorious crew.

The bar thrummed with life. People and pirates flooded the inside like an overflowing mug of grog, beginning to spill out over the top. Music filled the air, leaving not a space for silence or stillness. Snarled curses flew across tables, slurred stories between bowed heads, and sweet words coaxed from wet lips against willing ears.

Shanks let all of it envelop him. He let it wrap thickly like a sheet. A wide, playful grin stayed perpetually stretched over his lips and he laughed with banter, jeered when jostled, and whispered huskily when spoken sweetly to.

His now infamous captain was always a man who enjoyed having fun above all else, so he'd seen it perfectly fit to dock their ship amidst the hub of pirates seeking their fill of freedom, fun or pure debauchery.

(Shanks was somewhere between the first two, but those who wanted to share his bed might speak differently.)

He sat now as proof up against the bar top. Two beautiful women hugged the seats on either side, a half-full bottle of wine—something more bitter in taste, harder and expensive—sat waiting to be grabbed by one of the beautiful hands to be poured into his mug. He'd meant to stay with the grog, since grog he could drink like water before he barely felt a buzz in his fingertips.

Wine came with the intention of something more, and he was still trying to decide whether or not to indulge in that sort of offer presented to him.

Shanks was older now. A roguishly handsome man with the kind of bounty on his head to turn multiple heads. Enough to make an ambitious marine drool and a seasoned vice admiral scowl. Amongst other crews, he was a powerful man, one of many on his ship, but one of the strongest, and that drew eyes.

Hateful eyes, envious eyes, admirable eyes—

Lustful eyes.

Women who'd spent the night, the evening, or morning with him would often describe him as such:

"His shoulders are big," they'd say. "Broad. You could rake your nails down them and feel endless."

"He's handsome," they'd swoon. "Dashing, a true criminal that one. That sculpted, clean jaw, those playful eyes..."

"His biceps are like corded ropes," they'd grin. "He could lift you with one, keep the other free to—"

"He's sinfully strong," they'd sigh. "Hold you like you were nothing, keep you seated right on his—"

"His words are sweet," some would murmur, looking a bit lost. "But he isn't truthful. He doesn't lie, that one. But his lips and his kisses... Hmm, I guess I'm a bit jealous, that's all."

There'd been a period once where Shanks had never been too particularly indulgent, to be truthful. It'd happened without him realizing it. Shanks could flirt and flirt and talk sweet, and then the moment lips would whisper in his ear and eyes would shift to a closed door—he'd laugh, something sweeter, and then he'd be off.

It was Buggy who'd called him out on it. Sore, when another beautiful woman had been left wanting and Shanks was looking like a dazed idiot, staring out across the sea.

"It's because you're still obsessed," Buggy had accused. Shanks had look at him, affronted. "You're all talk, Red Hair. Since you last saw them at the end of that crazy fight, you've become the worst you've ever been!"

"What fight?"

"The one that nearly tore the ocean apart! That was the last you saw of them in the past year and it's haunted you since!"

"Who?" Shanks said dumbly, still staring out across the ocean.

"You know who, you buffoon!" Buggy shouted. "I knew—I knew nothing good would ever come of this since you first made googly eyes at one of the most dangerous women you could ever even look at—"

"Dangerous," Shanks played with the word on his tongue. "She is, isn't she?"

Shanks knew exactly what memory Buggy was speaking of. It was seared, branded into the back of his mind.

(That beautiful woman. Her eyes. Her blood. Her blade.)

Many images of that day, in fact, remained with him still. Some more beautiful than others, and one lingering sharply, bitter—

(A moss haired swordsman cutting through the carnage, like cleaving waves, to stand at her side. His arm curling over her hip, pulling her to him when the dust settled, his lips hidden in her hair as he said something to her ear. Her eyes, finally relaxing, drooping with fatigue. A trust to be able to show such vulnerability. How he practically carried her, leaning her body against his—)

"See!" Buggy shrilled. "Listen, Shanks. You can dream all you want, I have plenty of fun fantasies myself. But you know why I'm never afraid for me?"

"Why?" Shanks sighed. Buggy jutted a finger against his chest and Shanks leaned back a bit in surprise, caught off guard by the truth in Buggy's next words.

"That's because you're a man who wants. And a man who wants never just settles for dreams."

"Buggy, have you eaten something bad?"

"You're the one who's eaten something rotten, idiot!" Buggy screeched, nearly throttling his crewmate. "Forget it, you're hopeless!"

To be fair, Shanks had tried what Buggy suggested. Buggy was convinced he just needed to get it out of his system. He'd even somewhat convinced himself the same. Maybe the wanting was just... carnal. Maybe he was creating a vision of something for himself, a dream to obtain, and it wasn't fair to do to her. No, never to a woman like that.

So Shanks had played the game, and he'd played it well. He had his fun. He went to bed with pleasure. His true heart belonged to the sea anywho, to his crew, to what laid in store for them at the end of it all.

(There was just nothing he could do, you know, about certain nights. About wisps of images in the corner of his eye. Of long, elusive strands of silver white and eyes like gold beneath the waves.)

The woman on his right was a local, one of the barmaids who was trying her luck. One beautifully manicured hand kept a possessive grip over the sculpted slope of his forearm, her thumb rubbing circles into the side of his arm the other woman couldn't see. The woman on his left ought to be some pirate for a crew he wasn't familiar with, but she drew his attention from time to time with stories of her exploits on the sea.

Stories.

"What kind of story will you tell, brat?"

Laughter filled the air. Someone shouted something behind him and the music resumed, flooding the space. Shanks laughed at something the woman on his right said. He spared a glance over the top of his mug to the back of the bar. Two wide double doors opened up to a sort of back patio, where the cool salty breeze filtered in. He could see pillars outside holding the establishment up, wound tightly with thickened vines heavy with some kind of flower.

"I'm sorry ladies," Shanks said smoothly, standing up from the bar. The women looked up, startled, but Shanks offered them a charming smile, easy and placating. "I just need to step outside for a moment... you won't miss me too much, will you?"

"Maybe a bit."

"Not at all."

They looked at each other with a scowl and Shanks grinned, smoothly slipping his way through the thundering crowd and finally slipping outside.

The breeze kissed his cheeks. Shanks let out a soft, easy groan as he stretched his arms over his head and let his feet carry him out of the shadow of the bar. Perhaps he'd stroll through town, get something to eat. Maybe find Buggy and bother him.

There was a whisper in the air, like a sigh.

Shanks felt something curl, like a finger ghosting up his spine. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"Brat," she murmured, almost amused. "Going for a little walk?"

Shanks turned sharply on his heel, so sharp he almost stumbled. The breeze billowed the open chested white shirt around his arms. It tousled his hair, pulling it free from his gaze so he could see with utter clarity.

The divine sight laid out before him.

Long stems of blooming white flowers wound up the pillars outside the bar, holding up the balcony alcove hidden amidst the second floor she must've stowed away for herself. They interlocked in heavy blooms, a shade too white to match her hair. She leaned up against the railing of the balcony, lounged on her side like a goddess, one finger lightly brushing against a flower as she gazed quietly down at him.

What few patrons might have known of her presence must have thought it wiser not to comment on the fact that she'd been there, leaving the infamous woman to her devices.

Shanks felt his pulse begin to thrum at his fingertips. His feet carried him before he'd thought anything else. A slow, curling grin pulled wide over his mouth. He felt that familiar trill, a lulling pulse of energy in the air, a thought that perhaps—

(This world was amazing.)

His eyes shone brightly, pools of sunlight.

She narrowed her eyes in almost suspicious amusement at the sight.

"Dove," Shanks said, because he'd never promised to be one for subtly. "It's been an eternity."

"Eternity?" she tilted her head to the side, a swooping wave of silver white following over the bare curve of her shoulder. Shanks felt his pulse quicken. "It can't have been that long."

"I didn't even hear a whisper of you being here," Shanks said, stepping closer to the pillar so he could look directly up at her and she gazed down at him. "if I'd known, I would've never left your company."

"We arrived only just tonight," she said loosely. Shanks saw now she was nursing a pretty colored bottle and he licked his lips. "Had a bit of free time on my hands."

Shanks' hand laid itself along the pillar. He tugged on the vines, testing their strength. "A beautiful woman like you," he began, as though he were witnessing the worst crime committed in this world, "all by her lonesome?"

She huffed a sort of laugh. "Mmm, I'm never alone, boy."

He was far from being a boy, but Shanks continued to grin, slow and easy, eyes bright with mirth. "Is there room on that balcony for two?"

Hoku the Immortal shut her eyes for a moment in contemplation. She tilted her head, as though listening for something.

"I suppose it depends," she said finally. Those piercing eyes watched him languidly. "I don't want to invite something more than I can handle."

Her expression became one of startled amusement as Shanks' hands quickly dug into the vines, his body scaling up the pillar with frightening haste.

She laughed, the sound lighting like fireworks in his ears as he snapped with one hand long stems along the way, crushing them between his fingers until Shanks quickly hauled himself over the top of the balcony railing. He looked up, almost frazzled, once smoothened hair now askew as he caught his breath and grinned widely at her, eyes shining.

His breath staggered in his throat. From below had been but a taste—now he could see her clearly, vividly.

In a rare sight she'd discarded the large cloak she'd always kept with her. Perhaps because of the warmer temperatures of this summer island. Shanks could see the bare slope of her shoulders, the teasing dip of her collarbone hidden by her thin white top. The warm tan of her skin under the dappled moonlight, her curves, the long stretch of her legs over the bench—

She didn't wear her usual sturdy pants tonight. Loose billowy black shorts down to her knees took their place—perhaps a pleading change from one of her more fashion savy crewmates, maybe they were going for more of a vacation look, Shanks thought in the back of is head.

Hoku had one leg crossed over the other knee, foot swaying in the air. The knicked and scarred skin of her thighs appeared before him. He'd never known before she had a tattoo there on her left one—a design hidden still to his eyes, he couldn't quite make it out.

He thanked vehemently whoever's idea it was.

Shanks swallowed with a breathless grin.

Hoku raised a brow and Shanks leaned over the top of the railing, holding out the slightly bent flowers to her as an offering.

"Dove," Shanks said sweetly, "It's a dream to see you again."

Hoku snorted, shaking her head with a somewhat exasperated chuckle. Still the older woman gently took the flowers from his grip, her fingers brushing fleetingly against his and Shanks almost curved his own to try to hook them against his hand.

Hoku pulled away with ease, lightly stroking the bent petals and gently beginning to weave the stems together absently. "I hear you've been making quite the name for yourself these days."

"You listen for word of me?" Shanks said.

"Only if it manages to reach my ears," Hoku said lazily. Shanks pouted. She wove another two flowers together.

Shanks dared to take a seat on the space beside her legs. She shifted them only slightly, not quite accomodating him, but she didn't usher him away either. He didn't know if he ought to feel wounded, the way she seemed to consider him a lighthearted presence than a threat, as though he were just another cat who'd decided to take a seat here.

But if such thoughts allowed him to be here, this near—

Shanks would take what he could get.

"What brings the King of Pirates and his crew to this fine little island?" Shanks asked easily, one finger tracing the wooden pattern etched into the bench.

"A meeting with some old friends," Hoku said absently, fingers still moving along the flower stems, but her eyes flickered back over to the view from their balcony. "I assume you've come to play?"

"To pray, actually," Shanks said. Hoku raised a brow, looking at him. Shanks grinned. "To whatever god I must for a chance to see you again."

Hoku set the woven flowers down in her lap. She shifted slightly, looking at Shanks with a narrowed hint of amusement.

"You're always talking sweet," Hoku sighed. "I suppose this is a trait men like you must bear the burden of carrying."

"Men like me?" Shanks said, sounding wounded. "Dear dove, you think I'm not earnest in my pursuit?"

"Pursuit?" Hoku echoed, raising a curious brow. "Of what?"

"Of one of the most beautiful women I've ever laid eyes on," Shanks said, eyes half lidded now, almost dreamy as he looked. "Of one of the greatest treasures the ocean's ever offered."

Hoku laughed. Shanks could grow drunk off the sound alone. "Brat... I still think you're biting off more than you can chew. One of these days you'll talk sweet to a woman like this and find out she might give you more than you can handle."

"I don't talk to other women like this," Shanks said lightly, softer. Hoku's gaze turned at his drop in tone and she watched him curiously, almost warily as he simply watched her in turn, never taking his gaze off of her. "I stumble in the shallows only for you, dove."

(Shanks treated any respectful woman in his company with grace.)

But he'd started to think as of late, perhaps without realizing it, that there was only one woman he'd like to worship.

"You've dug yourself a grave, Shanks," he thought he could hear Buggy curse in his ear. "A watery grave."

Hoku hummed, shaking her head at him. She leaned back, making herself comfortable amidst a few cushions as her fingers resumed their work.

Shanks could feel the heat from the skin of her ankle at his fingertips. They itched now to trace lightly up her leg, smooth his hand along her skin.

"Dove," Shanks said. "Will you tell me a story?"

Hoku raised a curious brow now. Shanks felt his grin widen over his lips, just shy of cheeky. Time had passed, after all, and Shanks would be a fool to not have learned.

(How do you entertain someone who's seen all this world has to offer?)

You don't.

"You want to hear one of my stories?" Hoku humored him. "Or one of my crew's?"

"Whichever makes you the happiest to tell."

Hoku's fingers paused briefly. She weighed Shanks' words and glanced again out toward the island's dark horizon. He sensed it since he scrambled up this balcony that something strange seemed to be weighing on this beautiful woman's mind, but he wasn't quite sure what.

Hoku reached out and grabbed the bottle sitting beside her. She offered it to Shanks who took it quickly and smoothly with grateful hands, a boyish sort of excitement curling in his gut now.

"I was never one for charity," Hoku said slowly. Her fingers tied off the stems together. "Tell me a good tale and I will share one of mine in return."

Shanks straightened to attention, bringing the top of the bottle to his lips. "One of mine?"

"Doesn't have to be one of yours," Hoku said, reclining back against the cushions. Shanks thought in his mind's eye she appeared like the very image of a goddess ready for worship, waiting to be amused. "Any good story."

Shanks took a long sip of her drink. He let out a small groan at the taste, unexpectedly sweet and smooth, almost crisp. Hoku huffed a laugh of amusement.

"It's delicious," Shanks said earnestly.

Pride flickered shamelessly across her face. She looked pleased at his words, leaning back and gazing again over the balcony. "A special blend from my hometown. One of my favorites, if I'm in the mood."

The sweet burn of it left a trail down his throat, all the way to the curling edge of his stomach. His fingertips.

"I have a love story then," Shanks said, low and husky. "The Sailor and the Gold Mermaid."

Hoku raised a brow, leaning her cheek against her palm. She closed her eyes, waiting. Shanks took a moment to admire her visage, the smooth shape of her eyes, shut to the world. The silver gray of her lashes. The slope of that deep red tattoo curved like a heart above her eye.

"Once there was a sailor who fell in love with a mermaid," Shanks began, bringing forth his best voice—the kind his captain loved when they were weaving tales by the fire. The kind that brought his crew to his side, listening with grins. "She was a beautiful mermaid, with the most beautiful voice he had ever heard with scales made of gold. Hair that shimmered beneath the waves."

Shanks took another swig of Hoku's drink, savoring the sweet taste. He leaned lightly against her leg, keeping his hands locked politely around the bottle should they betray him.

"Every day the sailor thought of how he could woe the mermaid. Each sunset she would come, sitting by the rocks to watch him and he would attempt something new. Flowers. Gifts. Songs. Each day she would see what he brought and disappear back into the water," Shanks pouted. "The sailor was heartbroken."

Hoku's lips curved into a faint grin at his exaggerated tone. Shanks leaned forward, as though sharing a secret. "Until one day the sailor had an idea. All of his friends had warned him against it, saying it wouldn't end well—but still he persisted."

The breeze tousled their hair. Shanks watched it carry hers lightly, teasingly.

"The sailor got on his knees with a bucket of water and he began to mold the sand. The mermaid was curious, wondering what he was up to this time, so she stayed upon her rock, watching him work," Shanks mimicked the motion with his hands even though Hoku kept her eyes closed, listening in silence. "It became clear to her with a gasp that he was forming a mold of her! Out of the sand he worked tirelessly, and curious, she watched, waiting to see his finished product."

Shanks noticed Hoku's foot stop swinging atop her knee. She adjusted her legs instead, pressing her knees toward the balcony railing. Like this, however, her leg pressed into his side. Shanks could feel it with every breath.

"Finally the sailor stood, turning to where he heard the mermaid gasp and he said, 'My love, this I offer to you, a testament to your beauty!'"

Shanks threw his arms out wide. His elbow settled over the top of Hoku's knee. She waited, listening intently to his story.

"The mermaid let out a louder gasp," Shanks began, raising his voice several pitches to mimic the mermaid's—"How can that be me? I look hideous!"

Hoku's eyes blinked open, flickering over to him in curiosity. Shanks' grin became breathless. He changed his tone, resuming the role of the sailor:

"This is the best that I could do to be true to your beauty!" the sailor said sadly. "Is this not in your likeness?"

"Look at it!" the mermaid cried. She dragged herself closer to him, pointing in a fury. "These lumps, that shape, this doesn't look anything like me!"

"Forgive me, my love," the sailor almost wept. "For I am blind!"

Hoku coughed in surprise, turning to Shanks with something like a laugh on her lips. Shanks laughed, heartily and full of mirth. He clasped Hoku's knee, shoulders shaking with laughter.

"The mermaid was stunned," Shanks swept on. "She asked the sailor how he possibly could have fallen in love with her when he had no idea how she looked. The sailor looked sheepish now and told her it had been her voice which won his heart."

Hoku hummed in amusement, seemingly pleased with the turn of events. She shut her eyes again, as though she were imagining the story in her head. Shanks set Hoku's drink down, carefully leaning forward.

"The mermaid brought herself closer to the man, reaching for his hand." Hoku paused as Shanks lightly wrapped his fingers around her wrist, loose, polite, and she did not draw away as he brought her hand then to his chest. "She brought his hand to her and said, 'Feel then, the shape of me.'"

Hoku kept her eyes closed, face relaxed, almost lazy. Shanks brought her palm against his bare chest, letting it rest there. He moved the other hand which had been resting on her knee, moving his fingers along the length of her leg, down to her ankles, lightly tracing his fingertips over her toes.

"Feel my scales," she said.

Shanks lifted Hoku's leg with both his hands now, light, caressing. Her brows furrowed slightly. Her skin twitched underneath his touch.

"Trace the shape of my body," she murmured.

Shanks' lips brushed almost slightly against the inside of her calf, his breath ghosting warm against her. Hoku's eyes opened now, sharp with wariness as she made to draw away.

Beneath her fingertips she could feel then—the fluttering of his heart like a bird. The nervous, loud staccato beneath her fingers. Hoku looked at her hand and then to Shanks, freezing briefly.

(Under the heat of that gaze.)

"'Now,'" Shanks whispered against the inside of her leg, "'try again.'"

Shanks' lips made to kiss the inside of her knee, eyes half-lidded, almost drunk of the presence of her, of the thrill of this moment, of the whirling, pulsing nerves and the rushing waves in his head—

Hoku's hand was replaced with her foot, her leg jerked swiftly free of Shanks' longing grip. He paused, halted now with her foot pressed solidly against his chest. Hoku kept him at bay, watching him with a cool gaze, leaving him unable to dive into their depths.

Shanks pursued no further, instead offering her his most charming grin.

"Brats like you," Hoku said slowly, "are dangerous."

Shanks' gaze lowered playfully at her.

"But brats like me," Shanks said sweetly, "are nothing Hoku the Immortal should fear, no?"

Hoku's eyes narrowed at him, lacking malice but in warning. The way a stray cat would look if you ventured too close for its comfort. Shanks still heard his pulse thundering in his ears.

"That story reminded me of one I'm very fond of," Hoku began airily, "so I won't throw you off this balcony, whelp."

Shanks continued to smile at her, his most charming yet, and Hoku simply regarded him for a moment.

Hoku looked a little fond then, somewhat exasperated as she looked at him.

"You aren't a bad story teller at all, Apple Haired Shanks."

Before Shanks could utter another word in response, Hoku disappeared with a simple flicker before him. Shanks blinked, once, twice, stunned into silence as a large boulder promptly took her place, slamming down into the bench and nearly crushing his outstretched hand.

Shanks jumped to his feet, whirling around and rushing up to the balcony railing.

Hoku appeared in the distance at the beginning of the town's pathway. She hovered in the air for a moment and Shanks noticed now the entire film of translucent blue that seemed to surround all of them. A firm hand reached out, taking hers and that film of blue disappeared as her feet touched the ground, lowered by that hand.

Shanks' jaw went slack in disbelief, slumping somewhat against the balcony as Hoku's figure in the distance simply raised a hand to him, waving once before she disappeared in the hulking shadow of her companion.

"Damn," Shanks murmured, leaning his cheek against his palm. "What a woman."

His gaze strayed to the side and he paused, reaching out with his hand. Shanks brought the flower crown up to his gaze, inspecting the careful way it'd been woven before he set it on the top of his head, sighing once more.

"Next time, Shanks, you'll get 'em next time."

. . . . . . . . .

"You could've just called me," Hoku said, looking a bit amused as she looked up at her companion.

"Seemed like I was interrupting something," Law said slowly, eyes half lidded as he regarded her coolly. "That's a dangerous brat to be entertaining."

"He's a hard urchin to shake off," Hoku sighed in exasperation, but she grinned a bit then. "Not a bad story teller though, I'll give him that."

Law scoffed, pulling his hand from hers. He stood tall beside her, shoulders broad and expression dark as always as his black feathered cloak fell about the both of them.

"Besides, you know me," Hoku grinned, nudging Law's side. Her eyes brightened when she noticed her sandals loose between his fingers against his side. She reached for them. “I prefer my paramours to be older. People aged a bit beyond their years, fine like—"

Law's hand hooked around the side of her waist, pulling her flush to him as he stooped low enough to say into her ear, low like a warning—

"You're forgetting who's the older one between the two of us."

Law waited for a moment, eyes watching Hoku, lowered and dark. His longer fingers curled fully over her hip.

Hoku promptly turned to Law with a sigh, looking up at him in clearly fond exasperation.

"Oh, Traffy, how will I ever explain it to you..."

"Your captain's finally ready to listen to the plan," Law said flatly. He dropped her sandals for her and Hoku grinned, sliding up close to his side to slip them on despite his scowl. "There won't be time to entertain rookies after this."

Hoku hooked her arm through his with a hum. Law continued to scowl but he didn't push her away.

"Time for the tide to change, huh?" Hoku murmured, leaning her head against Law's side.

Law's cloak enshrouded the both of them as they disappeared along a pathway, heading to the shore where the people she would sail to the end of her days awaited her.

[skadilothbrok]

Given The Chance - Chapter 4

You had been sent out on a high importance recon mission that very same night, leaving no time for you and Anders to finish what you’d started. Even with the rotations of sleep and watch on the boat, you’d failed to find a single moment alone. Part of you thought the others were doing it on purpose.

You’d reached the coast of Belgium and quickly made your way to the target location that morning. Now you were lying hidden in the treeline as you surveyed the small camp you were here to gain intel on.

“Are we sure we can’t just kill one or two Nazis” Anders complained to Gus and you laughed at his comment.

“Just recon this time I’m afraid” Gus dismissed his comment as he continued to watch through his binoculars.

“You’re so impatient” you chided as you checked your watch, timing the guard rotations.

 “You can’t tell me you’re not bored too” he lightly pinched at your side and you swatted his hand away.

“I can promise you all the action you want when we’re finished” you wiggled your eyebrows suggestively.

“Don’t tease me woman” he warned as he let out a huff of annoyance.

“I’m not” you raised your binoculars back to your face “teasing implies no follow up”.

“Remind me not to group with you two again” Gus complained.

“We will happily go solo” Anders lifted his binoculars but turned to look at you instead “though I’m not sure how much recon we’ll get done”. You let out a laugh before playfully blowing him a kiss.

“Yeah, definitely sending someone else next time” Gus shook his head at the two of you.

“Ooh, send Freddy” you suggested.

“Yes, he loves our company” Anders added.

You looked just in time to see Gus roll his eyes at the two of you “I’m starting to wonder if the boss sent you to the team just to test me” he shook his head at you “and unfortunately I requested you specifically Lassen”.

“You’re mistake” Anders laughed “and my good fortune” he turned back to you and made a biting motion that reminded you of the mark still present on your inner thigh. You were so distracted for a moment that you almost forgot to check your watch as the guards reappeared.

 Silence fell over the three of you for the next half hour as you focused on the job at hand. It was an effort to keep your mind from wandering, especially when you kept feeling Anders’ eyes on you. Eventually, the sun started to drop to the horizon, and you were free to head back to the rendezvous point.

Marjorie, Apple and Freddy were already there so you didn’t have to wait before heading back to the boat. Just before you reached the dock though, a whistle sounded from a nearby shed and Hayes popped his head around, beckoning you over.

“There a reason you’re not on the boat Hayes?” Gus asked as your group made their way over to him.

“Sure is Sir, it’s full of Nazis” came his answer.

“Yes! We get to kill some Nazi’s after all” Anders practically jumped with excitement.

“What happened?” Gus asked.

“Think the dockmaster’s sold us out” he explained “half hour after you left, they showed up, made straight for our boat. I got away without them seeing me”.

Slowly making your way to the small hill that currently hid you from view of the dock, you lay down and shuffled to peer over the top. Sure enough, a host of soldiers swarmed the dock. There had to be three dozen at least. Apple and Freddy appeared either side of you for a look.

“No more than forty of them” you told them, “unless they’re calling for back up as we speak we can deal with them”.

“I don’t know” Freddy pointed across to the dockmasters shack “they’re packing some heavy fire power”. Following his gaze, you spotted the MG 42 the Nazi’s had bought along with them.

“A bit much don’t you think?” you sighed.

“Our reputation precedes us” Apple scoffed.

“But how would they know it’s us?” you asked before turning to the others “please tell me that’s not the same boat you used last time?”

“Boat’s a boat” Gus shrugged. You shook your head before moving back from the hill and heading over to him “honestly didn’t think anyone had been left alive to report on it”

“So, what’s the plan now then?” Hayes asked as the group gathered around Gus who was visibly running through plans in his head.

“I like that boat” Anders shrugged “I’m inclined to say we keep it”.

“You just want to shoot some Germans” Freddy shot back.

“Of course,” Anders shrugged “but I also want to get back on British soil fast as we can” the corners of his mouth turned up as he glanced at you.

“I’m not getting shot up because you want to get laid quicker” Freddy insisted.

“Nobody’s getting shot up” Gus cut in “as long as we take out the Buzz Saw, we can deal with the rest easy enough”.

“And just how do you suggest we do that?” Apple asked.

“I’ll sort it” you chimed in “they don’t know my face” you shrugged when they all turned to look at you “I can get close enough without getting shot on sight”. Gus was processing the thought when Anders spoke up.

“And how do you plan on dealing with that gun when you get there?” he rose an eyebrow in challenge.

“I happen to have a talent for killing Nazi’s” you winked before turning back to Gus, awaiting his go ahead.

“Alright” he finally agreed as he started to formulate a plan.

[doubleddenden]

More ZA talk, this time just talking about how a single city can work for a game.

I've seen a lot of poketubers talk about how they "have to" expand outside of Lumiose because it's so small, but- as the rare Pokemon player that's actually played a game BESIDES Pokemon (apparently we're a rare species)- I can assure you it is indeed possible to make an entire city work for a single game- Saints Row 3 and 4, GTAV, Infamous 1 and 2, Spider-Man PS4, *Detective Pikachu???* did we forgor that already? All of those take place in a city, and in some cases are bigger than Kanto, Galar, Hisui, and Paldea individually.

The entire game can take place in Lumiose- just probably not the SAME Lumiose from XY on the 3ds. Look at Hisui- that's old Sinnoh, but there's a lot of liberties taken in regards to certain area placements that wouldn't make sense (Obsidian Fieldlands is a good example, having Mesprit's lake to the northwest of what we assume to be future locations for Floaroma Town, as is the coast lands if we look at Giratina's location).

So, again, having played other games where you're basically in a big city, and having myself lived in a real city with more ground to cover than some entire Pokemon games, it can work, you just have to open your mind to the possibilities.

Yes, even in old Paris circa 1850s and especially modern Paris.

In fact, even though the game was shit for being a buggy and unfinished mess (not to mention a French ripoff of 2, imo), Assassin's Creed Unity takes place in Paris during the French Revolution- only a few decades older than the proposed 1850s setting- and AC games tend to be pretty thorough when it comes to historical accuracy of cities in their games (in fact, when the Cathedral of Notre Dame burned down, they gave data of the church to help in repairs since they mapped it out so well for their game). Bar some obvious inaccuracies, i point that out to give you some idea of the scope of an area size we could explore. It's a huge map with lots of ground to cover.

The main thing to understand is that it may be a different game than most expect. The first trailer for ZA talks about rebuilding Lumiose for city planning purposes- not quite the rugged, untamed wilderness (well, kinda tamed by the Diamond, Pearl, and Celestica clans, but mostly untouched) of Hisui.

So what kind of game could it be? That, I'm unsure of, but I'm sure there's plenty to work with in terms of exploration in a Pokemon game, just not the way you expect.

Here's what I'm picturing: streets, alleys, rivers, old buildings (inside, the roof, the walls, etc), factories, barns, the sky, sewer adjacent tunnels, ponds, rail road tracks and rail road tunnels, catacombs (and or an underground samctuary type place), and perhaps a reinvisioning of the 5 plazas for specific biomes.

Let's look at the map shown in the trailer

Idk about yall, but that's not the same Lumiose from the 3ds, and 3ds Lumiose is still the biggest city we've ever had. Take a look at all of those alleys and buildings and streets- assume this isn't like SV and we can actually go INSIDE places, and suddenly this place looks about 12 times bigger than imagined.

Now this is most likely a modern map of Lumiose, but you can still get an idea of the size of the area we have to work with. It's a big place- maybe we're not going to have a huge varied world to explore like usual, but imagine having missions and story that takes place in particular areas here. That's how many games work with singular cities- go to John Street to meet with Bert and do his bidding, go to the docks to meet with Hans to talk about shipments, go talk to Frank at his house on 123 Street, investigate the factories near city hall- it's not a usual Pokemon game, but it can work in that style of missions and progressions because many games DO work in that style.

Does that make sense? Open some minds here?

They're not gonna sell you a game you're gonna beat in 30 minutes or 2 hours- it's gotta tide you over til the next game, and Nintendo would absolutely rip John Game Freak's testicles out of their collective bodies through their goddamn kneecaps with TONGS if they had to refund games completed that quickly or because they made the audience that mad (i mean, theyve shown they can get away with selling unfinished games, but you know, at least they weren't short-). If it were really that small, they'd just tack it onto SV as DLC. They're not gonna try and make a city the size of Mezagoza City from Paldea into a game, make sense?

You'll probably have a hub or home base and explore the city, and portions of story take place in particular areas of the map- probably doled out to you by handlers, re go to 123 street to talk to Frank as mentioned above. Handlers being important to give an open sandbox and open progression system. Yes, you may be sort of all over the place, maybe coming back to areas you've been, being sent from one side of town to another- that can actually be fun if you have proper transport or modes of travel- something like Spider-Man or cars in some games, but in our case probably Pokemon (maybe a Kalosian Ariados evolution with web slinging lol). Remember, we're not here for badges, we're here for a specific purpose.

So what I'm picturing is that you get started and are told to go places for plot purposes with a minimap to guide you. You can find something like a Pidgey on a lamp post and throw a ball at it to catch it or start a fight with it in the street. Catch it, get on a Gogoat to run through the streets, go past an alleyway- whoa there's a shiny Gengar in there, go there and fight it and catch it- okay back to the objective.

In this sense, I think the trailer is actually a decent example of how Pokemon placement could work, not to mention city layout with multiple layers of urban exploration.

It's an "ambitious" game, like how Arceus was, so just go in with the expectation that it'll be very different compared to what we're used to. We likely won't hear anything about it for a while- I'll say August at the earliest for Worlds, then another drought. Maybe by then we can have a few eggs for this omelet.

[tomwambsgans]

i'm ngl it's because i recently read fight club, But i'm thinking a lot lately about castration and the true/deepest implications of it irt nero and sporus and tom and greg. obviously we've got tom's line about greg being "castrated on pay" and some pretty solid analysis on that being a matter of tom keeping greg dependent on him, but tbh even with said meta posts...

like, i'm sorry, but it's a weak line. it feels just as strangely on the nose as shiv falling down the stairs, and in fact like a line that exists specifically to match shiv falling. it almost even seems like a last-minute rush to complete Following Up The Nero And Sporus Thing, like they did the first part and managed to get all the way to the last episode before realizing they'd forgotten to do the second thing, so they had to reach for anything they could relate castration to without having to film a new scene. this feels especially evident/likely in the fact that there is NO way greg's salary is actually getting docked to the degree that tom implied. it's markedly disappointing, too, in the way that setting it up with shiv literally falling down stairs had the audience looking forward to how the rest of the overt symbolism would play out. castration on pay was the most mundane and least expected possible conclusion, lol. and not at all on par with the literal fall. like if that is the castration we were actually waiting for the whole time...

it's also all overkill, for that matter, considering that the s3 finale fit "pushed his wife down the stairs and married sporus" thing perfectly fine and a perfect amount of vague. like tom ALREADY betrayed shiv, symbolically "killing" her, and had an ancient-roman-wedding-handshake agreement with greg about his soul. even tom and greg's initial dynamic in the final season often feels like that of a married couple. which begs the question: why have the stuff in s4 on top of that? it may very well be simply one of the many marks of s4's drop in quality, caused by a myriad of irl factors. or it could possibly be on purpose to specifically bring home something else about the nero and sporus story. maybe it's to reinforce the tomshiv divorce and also tom and greg's marriage after all the rapid shifts in dynamic. who knows.

but what i DO know is that i wanna get to the bottom (lol) of the castration symbolism/motif. so i'm gonna go through everything that could possibly inform the audience's interpretation.

i'll start with the least significant, which i believe is the reality of castration in ancient rome and in the circumstances around the irl nero and sporus. part of why this falls on the bottom rung is the fact that historical accounts of nero especially with sporus are hotly contested. another reason is that the story tom tells is one that not only omits many details in a technically misleading/recontextualizing way, but also adds details that are present in no known accounts.

so: WHY was sporus castrated? there are 2 main possibilities/reasons.

to maintain his youthful [and therefore feminine] beauty. the real sporus was most likely around 16 when nero had him castrated. and the practice of castration to preserve youth had precedence. basically, twinks were REALLY in. it's alleged that sporus may have already been more effeminate (and sexually attractive) than average. but it's also said that sporus bore an uncanny resemblance to poppaea, which nero chose him for specifically and wanted to maintain.

in order to marry him with legal/social sanction. ancient roman society, rather than being built upon the heterosexual, was more built upon the Top/generally masculine. Eunuch was a gender class/category essentially equivalent with Woman, which allowed sporus to specifically be nero's wife. this didn't mean that his marriage to sporus was necessarily seen as good and normal, only technically acceptable.

and i have a ways more to go with the analysis but i'm gonna say right here that i do not think the first reason bears any significance to tom and greg. firstly due to that there is no textual evidence that tom wants greg to be explicitly feminine, even compared to himself, and a LOT to the contrary. tom consistently invites greg to join him in performing masculinity and gaining power through it, case in point the "let's fight like chickens" scene that directly follows the nero and sporus story. secondly, sporus's possible resemblance to poppaea does not track to greg and shiv more than incidentally; greg being shiv's cousin doesn't directly earn tom anything. but more importantly, imo, is the fact that what would have made nero want sporus to look like poppaea is in direct contrast with both the story tom tells AND the way their arc plays out.

so NOW, to demonstrate this, let's look at the irl poppaea's death/murder, which happened during her second pregnancy. different historians (even those alive at the time) have different theories for how it went down. who knows how much truth they're based in, bc there's a clear heavy bias against nero, but they're all we have anyway and therefore all tom would have had. here they are:

nero kicked her in the stomach in a fit of rage, while she was fighting with him about how much time he spent at the races (main theory/rumor)

nero kicked her in the stomach in a casual outburst

nero "leapt upon her belly" either accidentally or on purpose

nero poisoned her (uncommon rumor, most likely bs)

she died through no fault of nero's at all, simply bc of complications with her pregnancy (this has the most evidence, and is believed by many modern historians)

you'll notice a complete lack of stairs-related death theories, and in fact a near total lack of Nero Purposefully Murdered Poppaea theories. the general idea is that nero deeply mourned poppaea's death (and was remorseful, if it was his own fault), and proceeded to replace her with sporus, even calling him by her name.

which feels like a good segue into the more significant story of nero and sporus to analyze: the one that TOM told.

Sporus was a young slave boy. He was Nero's favorite. And, uh... you know what Nero did to him? Well, Nero... pushed his wife... down the stairs. And then he had Sporus castrated and he married him instead. And he gave him a ring. And he made him dress up like his dead wife. ...I'd castrate you and marry you in a heartbeat.

without looking into the actual story, this would sound like nero murdering his wife in order to marry sporus. with bringing up sporus first, it even sounds like nero met sporus and started favoring him prior to killing poppaea. which is also overtly analogous to tom and greg's relationship arc.

despite what tom must have read in his book, and what one could very easily imagine him, a Wife Guy, latching onto in that book... tom isn't telling greg about the tragedy of an emperor who accidentally killed his wife and then had to replace her with a young boy. tom literally invents a method of death that there is NO preexisting source for. furthermore he chooses one that does not sound remotely unintentional. at best he keeps in line with themes that suggest a violent miscarriage. but he removes all notions of an accident. he turns it into an unambiguous, purposeful uxorcide.

so, since all notions of trying to keep sporus looking like poppaea are not only unfitting as potential parallels, but also utterly irrelevant to the version of events that tom tells, and since we know tom twists and omits many other details (like what happens just a year into their marriage) anyway... what reasons DOES tom have for bringing up castration in this story? here's the possibilities i can come up with:

to make it sound less overtly romantic through means of the bizarre. classic diversionary tactic. literally without the castration it would sound undeniably like he's just saying "i read about this ancient roman gay marriage. an emperor murdered his wife so that he could marry a boy. i would like to do that with you also :)"

to make it sound less gay, specifically, because of nero's power in the situation. this of course calls back to that second reason for the actual sporus to be castrated. it's not gay if i've made you a eunuch, greg.

to emphasize the cruelty on nero's end. tom often puts himself in the role of a villain, especially irt his behavior with greg. considering also that this whole scene follows tom talking about how he's going to prison (AND that the next time he calls greg sporus it's in the scripts before the diner scene, where he agrees to sacrifice himself and go down for greg), it would make sense for him to buffer this confession with the caveat of what a bad person he is, like express in SOME way how insane his feelings are and how terrible he knows it is that he feels this way about greg. tom is notoriously unable to make normal apologies either, so. it tracks.

i think all of these are true, and i'm sure most would agree. i'm also sure most who've read this far are in full agreement that tom fixated on the story of nero and sporus in particular because it was a gay relationship with just enough ambiguity that he's able to relate to it without panicking. hell, the "he gave him a ring" line alone doesn't even evoke an ancient roman marriage nearly as much as a modern american one. i can't find even any sources that specifically mention a ring from nero to sporus, so i imagine tom invented that as well.

BUT while i'm here i do still want to mention a couple other queer things about nero to drive home that it's not just incidental gayness but overt homosexual desire being portrayed, as well as to emphasize that second reason that the irl nero may have had to castrate sporus:

prior to knowing sporus, nero had a mock-wedding as part of festive role-reversals during saturnalia. in this wedding he took the role of a bride, marrying a different freedman.

this is apocryphal and practically historical fiction, and may also specifically be due to perceived deviancy in nero, but it's old enough (like 13th century) that it's lowkey in the nero "canon" that he had womb envy and was obsessed with being the one to get pregnant

okay so NOW... how does all this translate into the actual events demanded/foreshadowed/symbolized by this story? if pushing shiv down the stairs is the betrayal that keeps her from being able to block the gojo deal (but also shiv is shown to fall down a couple real stairs)... and marrying sporus is making the "deal with the devil" (AND the sticker on the forehead)... then what's the castration? what was the first, less on-the-nose-and-simultaneously-meaningless castration, at least?

my best answer is that it's tom getting greg to drop his brightstar buffalo plans and follow him instead. because if death is just corporate death, then your testicles/manhood is your independence. tom says you're a joke, you can't function on your own, you need me (i need you). he's insecure that greg will leave if he has the option to do so. fair enough.

......and yet i come back to my initial disappointment, because that is barely different than the pay castration. and it's redefining greg's symbolic testes to something that tom gave him in the first place, thus practically retconning the first castration. but if that's it, does shiv's literal fall also replace her kick out of the company? that would sure be stupid! is the point of rehashing the symbolism to be stupid? to have meaningless stuff follow up the more significant events? even if that was the case, wouldn't you at least be doing it to give a visual element to the symbols? if shiv gets actual stairs, WHERE are greg's actual balls? or ANY balls!!!! greg even started wearing grey suits which he hadn't done before (but shiv had), and got a "ring" in his final scene. where's the FUCKING balls, huh?????

(anyway)

occam's razor, i think, may be that the meaninglessness of the castration specifically is the point. tom's insecurity that greg will leave if he has the option to (that greg would never actually want him but only need him), has been present for basically the duration of the show. it's just a character trait, and thus doesn't even work as foreshadowing when that just means "he's gonna keep doing what he's been doing." then, take that second reason--the purely pragmatic, not based in heterosexual-adjacent desire reason--for nero to castrate sporus. aka the only reason that makes sense for the way tom spins the story.

(it's also a motivation that leaves room for not even actually doing it. sporus wasn't going through rapid masculinization or anything. and they only lived another year. you could get away with just claiming that you did it for a while, probably.)

i should say there IS technically a third reason, postulated by modern scholars, for sporus's castration: to intentionally humiliate a potential rival for the throne. imagine if tom had told greg about nero and sporus upon first meeting. obviously things changed very quickly, but if all castration is here is tom keeping greg on a tight leash, then it works. and if the castration is nothing, then greg nearly tanking tom's plan out of naivety can be a nothing version of sporus wanting revenge. and shiv falling down real stairs can, instead of actually intending to set up a meaningful castration, be a red herring in that regard and simply foreshadow her pregnancy.

and that could be it. but... i've got One More Thing. maybe the most significant of all. lightning round:

who or what, in modern day where tom and greg live, actually IS castrated?

animals

specifically dogs

hmmmmmm

and why are DOGS castrated?

to reduce sexual and territorial aggression

reduce other unwanted behaviors

to keep them from breeding

okay. think greg's newfound sexual confidence in s4 and tom's distaste for it. tom's continued anxiety that greg's independence might lead him to leave him. think greg being tom's attack dog and how that nearly backfires at the very end. greg approaching tom at the end like a begging puppy.

think full circle: who's the rescue pup, i'll take care of you, i've got you...

i feel justified in recontextualizing all of this, and i come back to fight club:

Valley of the Dogs. Where even if they don't kill you, if someone loves you enough to take you home, they still castrate you.

[tezzbot]

Thoughts on Big the Cat? Just in general. But if you'd like something specific then I guess, how do you think he'd get along with characters he doesn't get to talk to that often, like the Chaotix or Team Dark?

I LOVE BIG SO MUCH!!!! I love a good gentle giant character. And him being like actually kind of wise despite just bein a humble fisherman hehe Big has everything So figured out ^_^

As for interactions, I feel like Big would just get along with everyone tbh

For Team Dark

I think he would just confuse Omega, like Omega just doesn't. See the point in him as like a person BDJDGD because he doesn't "serve a purpose" he just doesn't get this big extremely chill dude, but Big is okay with that everybody lives differently :] Omega does respect Big teaching those fish who's boss though he's like yesss reverse waterboard thosr fuckers!!!! While Big is like thank you fishy<3 and plopping it back in the water

Rouge and Shadow I think would have opposite. I guess relationships with him? Rouge I think would find him nice to vent her frustrations to he's p much always willing to lend an ear and has learned he's not really gonna get a word in edgewise so he is content to simply sit and listen and nod along when needed

On the other hand Shadow would find it nice to have someone to Just sit with, no obligation to listen or talk or. Just no expectations of him to do really anything except Be there. And it's nice to finally be able to sit with someone who doesn't talk Just Fuckin Constantly LOL and again! Big is content to provide that for him hehe

The Chaotix uummm

Well I think Vector would be cool to just chill with him as well, they both vibe well near water LOL Maybe Vector swims fr a bit then chills out in Big's boat or like next to him on the dock and he brings a little radio to sit nearby to fill some silence. Also that one post with those two smoking weed together was so real actually, 2 big queer men smile

I think Espio wld appreciate his sort of. musings? He's susceptable to fake deep shit online I feel like LOL, but Big tells it straight to the point just as it is and it like blows his little mind, and the stillness and quietness after Big says somethin gives him a moment to meditate on it or whatever, he writes some of the quotes down in a journal and then like doodles and little notes to self around em because I need him to be portrayed as an edgy cringelord teenager so badly HGFHJ but yeah he has a huge respect for Big I think

Charmy. is kind of difficult? I mean, pairing any Extreme Hyper Energetic and Chillest Guy On The Planet characters together isn't ever gonna be easy HJGFH Maybe hanging out with Big after running out of All of his ideas for stuff around them to play with in different ways, he'd decide he was bored and maybe start to get grumpy, but then he notices Big get a bite and catch it and then suddenly is really really into fishing with Big. He asks about every item in the kit Big brings with him and is THE most excited when he eventually actually catches something himself. Vector and Espio come to pick him up and are Shocked to see him sitting in one place not saying anything just intently staring at a pond with his own little fishing rod next to Big QuQ

Oh also headcanon Big, when he's not fishing, makes The Most dad noises of anyone in the cast because I think that's funny GHFJGH

I could probably think of more but I am. Tired now lol