#a piece they'll treasure forever.

[dvbabybracelet]

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Invest in a piece that speaks to you. Explore the world of personalised necklaces and discover the perfect way to express yourself or celebrate someone special.

[beanghostprincess]

hi its me back again with another op dream. this time i was trying to convince pudding why she shouldnt marry sanji and one of the reasons (aka the only one i remember) was that he has no money and it got me thinking, the straw hats are pirates, but they dont rlly plunder like regular pirates, and obviously nami has money, but do the rest of the straw hats have money?? do they have cash???

I think Nami is probably the one dealing with the money. We've always seen her being the one handing out the money to the Strawhats if needed. We've seen they're capable of stealing money but they're, uh, just not very good at it? I'm sure they're not filthy rich but if you have in mind the places they've been to, they didn't really need to spend THAT much. I think they have their fair amount of savings (that Nami controls) and I'm sure they just keep valuable stuff they find + steal from people who deserve it (idk, marines, annoying pirates, enemies in general, etc). But it's not really an important point of the story so Oda doesn't really mention it much. They're not regular pirates and would never hurt innocent people so I think they just try to find valuable stuff and money in other places. Also, y'know, people have paid for their stuff for the most part of their journey because Luffy befriends literally everyone they meet. So their money usually goes to food and stuff they really, really need and it's in very specific points of the story. Just think about how little time passes between each arc. Not that they really need much, tbh.

[breedbun]

i want to strangle him.

warnings; possessiveness, obsession, not much more

desc; i cooked but im too damn lazy to actually write the sex part. lmk if y'all want the sex part later im too lazy :(

notes; im so gonna write howl, kaeya, and kaeya as howl fanfics after this istfg

"Did you really think you'd get away with this, comrade?" Tartaglia breathed down your neck, clutching your waist tight with his fingers digging into your skin. He's clearly angry, hostile, aggressive. And you know exactly why.

Getting used to the quiet, cold atmosphere of Snezhnaya when Tartaglia brought you all the way to his nation for a little public meeting between the Harbingers was an interesting time. Between watching Tartaglia eye you shamelessly, buy you endless amounts of lingerie and appealing clothing, you were also the subject of a few other of his colleagues.

Take Columbina, for example. She was teaching you the principles and needlework of sewing. Even if most Harbingers were absolutely insane and out of their minds, it's safe to say that some of them, too had.. normal hobbies. Whilst you accidentally pricked your finger with a needle, Tartaglia was just about to rush to your side and save you like he should as your prince charming, however.. Columbina takes the opportunity far too cheerfully. Gently holding your hand like a mother to her child, she'd lick your ever so small wound and taste your blood. You were just bewildered and you couldn't help but do anything except freeze up.. as usual.

The other day, Pantalone overheard your ranting to your dearest Tartaglia, words spilling out your mouth as if you had been holding these words in forever. What you endlessly and very passionately spoke about, was a rare flower that grew with gems growing naturally from the inside as it's nectar hardened. The flower's crystalline gem only lasted about 4 hours, before it'd start to mould and decay into nothing worth more than a speck of dirt. What did Pantalone do? Of course, since your beauty caught his eye, he had gladly offered this one of a kind, magnificent flora in amber, as it was preserved to keep the gem beautiful and shiny forever. As gorgeous, as unique and rare as the flowering diamond was, it wouldn't ever match up to your glowing self. To buy this, and see a smile crack from your face, would be the most utterly satisfying thing Pantalone could ever ask for. Delivering it in an exquisitely expensive jar, your little heart nearly burst out your chest, you even made a little jump and a squeak as Pantalone so kindly handed the precious treasure over to you.

Tartaglia had still been looking for that exact same flower, for you.. yet, he stood by a corner, silently glaring with blazing fury in his eyes. It was more than obvious, just how much the other Harbingers absolutely loved to see that envious look of possessive, unhealthy jealousy on Tartaglia's face. It was beyond amusing, his nose wrinkling, the way he'd barely be able to keep a poker face, the way he wanted oh so badly to rip them to pieces, yet he could never. Not when it'd risk not just him, his family, but you too.

Other small things, such as Dottore's disgustingly gruesome humour through presenting you with a clean, white, and very much real human heart in a special pink box.. that moment when Pierro had held your wrist in his large hand much too easily, kissing the back of your knuckles as a pink blush crept up your face.. when Arlecchino got the absolute nerve to invite you to be the House of The Hearth's "mother" as a male, to be her "wife" as a male, "jokingly".. when Sandrone deliberately called you a work of art, and she'd love to dissect—Pulcinella's special treatment with you!— He had absolutely ENOUGH. If he couldn't teach them a lesson, he'll just have to fuck it into you, then maybe your cute squishy pout can convince all of them to stop.

Maybe they'll find how envious Tartaglia was, knowing that they could flirt and pull moves on you all they wanted, but he was the one you would ALWAYS pick in a room full of their bunch. He was the one you stayed faithful to, he is the one you WILL marry, he is the one who will have children with you. He is the one you love. He is the one you will never forget. He will make sure of that.

@breedbun

[aimedis]

redacted audio headcanons: jealousy | damn squad edition

gavin being an incubus and using other people's attraction to him as fuel feels like it would be quite hypocritical of him to be jealous. and he really doesn't get jealous often, he trusts freelancer just as much as they trust him and actually finds it quite amusing when their classmates try and "shoot their shot" because while his lover is attractive, they're his. yes, gavin occasionally finds himself randomly getting irritated whenever freelancer spends a little too much time away from him and with whatever group they've been assigned to do a project with. or when he's watching them laugh a little too hard with some random unimportant guy he doesn't even know. he'll usually wait for freelancer to notice him being whiny, to which they shush him with a little kiss and that usually fixes him for long enough. but over everything, gavin doesn't get jealous over people. no, no, no, he gets jealous over the stuffed animals freelancer keeps in their corner of the bed. the collection of cute little cotton stuffed creatures they seem to treasure almost as much as him. and he can't believe his eyes every morning he watches them kiss each and every one of their foreheads after they get placed back on the freshly made bed. freelancer's friends are one thing but these things are so much worse. and god forbid they want to cuddle with one of them at bed time. every time gavin watches them interact with the wretched pieces of fabric he sulks. freelancer saw the face he was making and asked him jokingly if he was jealous. the realization in their head clicked when they saw that he only sulked harder. freelancer laughed at him for a solid five minutes before reassuring him that he was, of course, way more important to them than their stuffed animals. gavin perked up after that but refused to believe it until they spent the remainder of the afternoon cuddling with him on the couch. gavin still glares into the stuffies' beady little eyes every time he sees them and freelancer only has to kiss his cheek to get him to stop. freelancer, unsurprisingly, doesn't get jealous when people flirt with gavin. they knew what they were getting into when dating a literal incubus and they would never try to take away a facet of gavin's personality. it's apart of who he is and they love all of him. it's also a favourite hobby of theirs to encourage gavin's antics. that being said, people have tried to flirt with their boyfriend in more of a "i’m better than your partner" way and that's what has them riled up. especially since the people who have the balls to do so also have the balls to ignore the fact that gavin's partner is literally right there. the most they'll do in front of the person is just grab onto gavin's arm and stare at the person with the nastiest look they can muster. but when they have gavin to themselves? they spend at least twenty minutes rambling about the audacity of people and how they would dare do that right in front of their face like that. they could, and would, go on forever if gavin didn't interrupt them by kissing them and gently caressing their cheek, telling them to relax and that he's theirs. freelancer still spends the following three hours pouting into gavin's chest before they're back to normal. gavin is also more than willing to block whoever makes freelancer uncomfortable because he actually has no need or desire for other relationships outside of the freelancer and the damn crew.

damien gets jealous quite often actually. it just takes a really bold person + a really really oblivious huxley for him to actually show it. part of it has to do with a small nagging voice in the back of his head that says he's not good enough for someone as kind and beautiful as huxley. but then again, he has full trust in his relationship and his boyfriend, it's just other people he doesn't trust. huxley barely understands damien's (or even gavin's) very obvious attempts at flirting with him sometimes, so imagine how much more oblivious he is to a stranger or coworker trying to make a move on him. huxley is not naive, but he just doesn't see things he's not interested in looking for. so damien has had a front row seat numerous times to huxley thinking someone was just really nice when they were trying to get into his pants. half of the time, it's hilarious to watch huxley tilt his head to the side in confusion at the blatant innuendo, the other half of the time? damien is seething. and he's not subtle in the slightest. but he doesn't blow up, he's too grown for that. he just takes the opportunity to sigh way too loudly to express his discomfort. that shifts huxley's attention immediately from whoever's in front of him over to damien real fast. then damien gets to enjoy the power trip that comes from having his boyfriend fuss over him while huxley potential "suitor" stands there entirely in shock before walking off in irritation. he also does this if he's not around when huxley gets flirted with or if he's just spending a lot of time with someone else. he sighs once then relishes in being fawned over for ten minutes. damien takes pride in his ability to have huxley's attention at the drop of a hat, it's the only time he lets himself be doted on. huxley picked up on damien's little habit after more than a few times and has used the information to tease him relentlessly. he smirks when damien starts acting antsy on purpose but he still follows through his overdramatic doting just to see the little grin on damien's face. just to make him happy. huxley, despite being so clueless when it comes to people flirting with him, is hyper aware of when it's happening to damien. he narrows his eyes whenever someone so much as touches damien for a second too long. it isn't something huxley finds himself getting angry over, necessarily, he just gets mildly annoyed whenever he knows someone is trying to get with damien. annoyed that people have the gall to flirt with his boyfriend when huxley could hypothetically throw them over his shoulder if he wanted to. the longer the two have been together, the more comfortable both of them have gotten with being possessive. comfortable enough to not feel guilty about being jealous. and despite how semi-often huxley finds himself being jealous when damien talks to someone for too long or just talking to someone who obviously wants him, huxley doesn't voice it at all. but damien knows he's jealous because he knows huxley. he notices how quiet his boyfriend gets when brings up that one coworker or the slight twitch in his eyebrow or the tense laugh he lets out. he knows that's how huxley acts when he's irritated but doesn't want to tell anyone. but damien puts the pieces together and he finds it quite amusing ("what, you jealous?"). and after that they go back and forth while huxley refuses to admit that he's jealous until he makes a silly little comment like, "that's totally not cool, bro, i already know that you're mine even though other people are far too cocky to understand that. like they’d ever be good enough for you-" and damien smirks like he's won. after that, damien (jokingly) condescendingly reassures huxley that he would never leave him for his coworker and that no one could ever compare to his big, fat- and huxley tells him his coworker can have him. as a joke, of course. he makes sure damien knows that.

lasko probably gets jealous the easiest out of the group. if someone looks at dear the wrong way (or even the right way), he's jealous. they talk to someone for too long around him, he's jealous. even with the d.a.m.n squad, he gets jealous. after dear gets a little more comfortable around everyone, he argues with freelancer about "stealing his partner" all the time and everyone makes fun of him. dear thinks it's the funniest thing ever. especially when lasko goes on a rant, saying it's not about trust, it's just the fact that sometimes he kind of just doesn't want them paying attention to anyone other than him for too long. he doesn't say it like that, that's embarrassing, but it's basically what he means. lasko felt bad about it the first few times, thinking he was turning into a psycho obsessive boyfriend but dear reassured him it's totally fine that he feels that way since they know he would never act out because of it. lasko is always incredibly transparent about being jealous, whining into dear's shoulder about them being so popular while they laugh at him. dear still reassures him that they love him more than anyone but they let him complain because they think he's cute. but lasko fully trusts them and just allows himself to be a little whiny because he trusts himself to not be an asshole boyfriend. it's mostly comedic relief at this point. dear literally doesn't get jealous. i don't even think they know what the word means. lasko could blatantly flirt with someone in front of them and they wouldn't even care. and he has. lasko and the crew play-flirt with each other all the time and dear finds it endearing rather than off-putting. they don't think it's a problem that lasko gets jealous when they don't, they just physically can't be themselves. if lasko gets flirted with, they focus on how hilarious he sounds stuttering through his "i'm taken" explanation. dear got jealous one (1) time early on in the relationship when lasko was super busy with a new teacher assistant but they literally said to themselves "?? he's literally mine" and moved on.

i think the d.a.m.n. crew are all super sexy and get hit on a lot kthxbye

[feiandart]

« "Even though I complain sometimes," his heart said, "it's because I'm the heart of a person, and people's hearts are that way. People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don't deserve them, or that they'll be unable to achieve them. We, their hearts, become fearful just thinking of loved ones who go away forever, or of moments that could have been good but weren't, or of treasures that might have been found but were forever hidden in the sands. Because, when these things happen, we suffer terribly." » He felt Aziraphale stiffen, hold his breath and tighten his grip on his shoulder and side, as Anthony was his only foothold in a storm of thought. The artist paused again to give him time to digest the story, even though he was aware that the Lord already knew it by heart. There are times, however, when things sound different when you listen to them from the outside: Anthony discovered this every time he lay on the sofa in the library and let himself be lulled by Aziraphale's voice for hours. When the Lord relaxed again, the artist resumed reading and did not stop again until the conclusion of the novel.

[miyoriia]

Change is scary. There are so many people who won't accept change even if it's something so small. More won't accept something big. Your heart tells you it's what you need, and it's what's right. Change is scary if everyone who surrounds you tells you not to.

I promise it'll be okay.

No matter what it is, and no matter what form you take. I promise that there will always be people out there who will love and support you for anything that you are.

I promise it'll be okay.

There will be people who will love and embrace you for whatever form you take forever and always. You just need to take the first step, and it's always the scariest, I know. The people who will support you have all been through the same as you. They'll understand and treasure every piece of you even if you're scared to take the step forward.

I promise it'll be okay. The people you need are out there, waiting to find you.

We have an obligation to change and grow for the better. Inability to change is equal to death.

[rogersideup]

Here's my nice to be kneaded headcanon: Reader always brings him treats so Steve feels bad he's not returning something. Since he's now helping out some days a week, he starts doodling little things on post it notes and leaves it in the bakery for her to find. The first few times it's employees that find them and everyone's confused who it's from, till reader puts them all together and it's the spots she took Steve when she showed him the town. She saves them all and it looking forward to what's next on Steve's list to draw.

Nice to be Kneaded:

More fun stuff!

*Had to change up the request a bit as to not interfere with a future plotline that’s already been written.

Hidden Treasure

Can be read as a one shot, or in conjunction with Nice to be Kneaded.

Series masterlist More Fun Stuff masterlist

Nomad Steve x Baker Reader

word count: 1,664

"Hey, look at this really cool thing we found!" One of your employees, Sabrina, told you enthusiastically while quickly approaching you at your spot on the desk.

You ripped your eyes away from the product order invoice on the desktop screen to take interest in her excitement.

"What is it?" You asked, as she handed it to you.

In your hand, she placed a yellow sticky note that was drawn on with a ball point pen. An immediate smile tugged at your lips when you recognized it. It was one of the espresso machines in the lobby.

On the sticky note was a drawing of the machine itself, sitting on the counter accompanying a fresh latte. The detail was sickeningly impressive considering it was on a 3 x 3 yellow square, and drawn on with a 75¢ ball point pen.

"I was doing a quick run to wipe down all the tables after morning rush and found that stuck to the small table by the espresso bar!" Sabrina enthused. "Isn't it incredible?!"

"It's amazing" You agreed with a smile.

"I wonder who did it." She pondered as you handed it back to her.

"Maybe a customer during morning rush" You shrugged, smile still invasive. "Have you guys found any more of them or was it just this one?"

"Nope, this is the first and only one." Sabrina noted. "Maybe they'll come back and leave more."

"Well whoever it is deserves a coffee and a cookie if we catch them." You noted.

"This work of art must be cherished forever" She noted, grabbing the roll of tape and tearing off a piece. She taped the sticky note masterpiece to the wall right next to the computer. "This is the new, official, Nice to be Kneaded art museum."

That post-it stayed on the wall for two days before Steve came back into the bakery to help out with the bulk supply delivery. That's when he caught a glimpse of his drawing taped to the wall, and knew he needed to leave more for you and your employees to find around the bakery.

Day by day, week by week, the scrap paper and pen art museum on the back office wall became quite an impressive display. So much so that you eventually became ignorant to the new additions on the daily because they started to blend in with the rest. But every once in a while, you'd catch your team talking about the most recent little pieces of art so you'd go to inspect the entirety of the collection.

One particularly quiet night in the bakery, you had texted Steven to see if he wanted to hang out with you. It wasn't usually a night he'd come by, but you missed his little antics and his stupidly handsome face.

Without question, he was walking through the door of the bakery 20 minutes later. His golden hair was still slightly soggy from the shower he was taking when you grabbed his attention, and he was dressed casually and comfortably as he always was.

"Hey there, honey!" You smiled big, happy to see your best friend.

"Hello, hello!" He greeted you with a smile just as big as yours, and gave you a big hug.

One thing about Steven was that he was of the same mentality of a Great Dane, he was a lot bigger and stronger than he was aware of, yet he thought he was a lap dog. Even his gentlest of hugs engulfed your entire body, and squeezed you comfortably tight.

"Thanks for coming! It was getting real quiet and lonely in here without you."

"You know I'd never miss a chance to spend time with you." He playfully exclaimed. “Need help with anything?”

“Nothing other than curing my boredom” You shrugged.

His eyes looked over to the wall of sticky notes he had drawn on, completely unbeknownst to you and your entire staff. “What’s all of this?” He questioned, interested to hear your take on the drawings.

“Oh, that’s our art museum” You smiled. “Some unknown person has been leaving these drawings around the store for us to find.”

“Oh really?” Steve cocked his head to the side, fighting a smile.

“Yeah, it’s really fun. We all love it so much” You smiled. “It’s like finding hidden treasure, then when we find them we add them to the wall.”

“Do you have a favorite one?” He asked.

He watched your eyes scan them all over, before your pointed to one of the post-it’s. “That one, but they’re all amazing. I’m going to save them forever.”

His eyes followed your finger to the drawing he did last week of the outside of the bakery, and he could agree that it was one of his favorites too.

You could see the inside of the bakery through the windows on the front, and shining through the reflective glass was the big neon sign that read ‘Nice to be Kneaded’. There were many days where pulling into the parking lot of your cozy bakery filled him with immense comfort, and that drawing made him feel just the same way.

“I like this one” Steve pointed to the drawing he did two days ago of the back of a kid up on his tippy toes, peaking into the case full to the brim with treats.

“Awwwww that one is so cute!” You cooed.

Conversation strayed but Steve’s mind stayed fixed on the little drawings. Much like every other aspect of his life, he didn’t want to lie or keep secrets from you, but he did want to make it fun.

So, he started making it increasingly more obvious that it was him every day he spent in the bakery just to clue you in.

If you were baking cookies, he would draw the cookies.

You cleaned the glass of the bake case? Surprise. The next drawing would be of the case full of pastry with little sparkling shimmers on the glass to show it was completely finger print free.

Oh and that cake you were decorating right in front of his face? Yeah. That was tonight’s drawing.

He got every last detail, down to the different piping tips you used for the princess style, the tiny pearled beads you carefully placed at every joint and peak, and the writing on top in your beautiful handwriting that he honestly struggled to recreate.

Steve really thought this would be the one that pushed it over the edge and helped you put the pieces together, but when he walked in the next day, you said nothing about it.

Even when you looked at it and taped it up in its respective spot, you still didn’t solve the little riddles he was leaving you.

Well, that was true until about an hour later when you walked over to the computer to confirm order details on the cake you were about to start. Making sure you got all the flavors, colors, and theming right was very important to you.

He watched your eyes go from the computer screen, to the drawing you just attached to the wall, back to the computer, back to the drawing.

“Oh my gosh…” You caught his attention. “I just realized this is the cake I made yesterday!” You said happily.

“Wait… don’t you think that’s a little odd?” Steve asked, trying to push you along further into the clue.

“Why would it be?” You questioned.

“Well, if you decorated that cake last night when only you were here, then put it in the fridge for pick up early in the morning, how would the artist have even seen the cake?” Steve continued.

“Wait, you’re so right. That customer picked up at opening.” You agreed. “Oh gosh, and the day before that was a picture of the bake case, I just cleaned it the night before…”

“See, now that’s really odd.” He egged you on.

“Who the hell could this be?” You thought out loud. “Do I have a stalker.”

“Well let’s think rationally about this mystery guy. Can you think of anyone who would’ve seen you clean the bake case and decorate that cake?” Steve asked.

He watched you think for a second. “Other than us two I have no idea… You were here too. Did you see anything weird?”

“Not at all.” Steve couldn’t even hold in the laugh he was desperately trying to conceal. “So if it was just you and I…”

Before he could even finish his sentence, you remembered one very important detail about Steven.

He was an artist.

Steve could literally see the moment it clicked in your head, your face snapped into something between joy and annoyance. But you were smiling with big pink cheeks, so he really didn’t care.

“Steven!” You laughed joyfully, voice raising a few notches.

“What?!” He questioned gigging with you.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was you!” You screeched, reaching forward and very gently play hitting his arm.

“I was seeing how long it would take you to figure it out!”

“Meanie!”

“…and you said it was making you and all your employees happy!” Steve continued explaining. “Leaving drawings around the store to make you guys happy is the least I could do in exchange for how happy you and the bakery make me.”

You cheeks only deepened their blush as his explanation sunk into your mind and heart. “Honey, you already do so much for us and they don’t even know you’re here helping out. You’re appreciated by everyone regardless, and what you do here goes a long way.”

“Yeah, but, I really like making the drawings” he admitted shyly.

“We all love them too. Thanks for all you do for me, Steven.” You said sincerely.

“No, thank you.” He said humbly, his cheeks were blushed pink just like yours.

“Okay, now I just have to get these all in a picture frame…” Thought.

He laughed. “Stop it! They’re literally just post it notes!”

“One man’s post-it is another man’s masterpiece!”

[godsfavoritescientist]

Building off of what I wrote in my fic "Sparks," I'm really compelled by the idea of Ford genuinely no longer being interested in sailing around in a boat with Stan by the time they were seniors in high school.

I like the idea of it not being just a symptom of the resentment that had been building between them, nor it being a dream of Ford's that only paled in comparison to west coast tech, but it being a genuine loss of interest on Ford's end. I think it complicates things even further in some really juicy ways.

Like, imagine going through high school slowly losing more and more interest in the dream you've shared with your twin and only friend ever since you were little kids. How do you break it to him? How do you explain it to him without making it sound like a rejection of him? Without it making him hate you?

How do you explain it without it feeling like a spit in the face to all the hard work he's put into a plan that started out as a way of him comforting you by telling you "it doesn't matter what people say about you, you're going to be an adventurer who sails away into the sunset and never has to hear their mockery ever again, and there will be babes and treasure and heroism, and then they'll all see how cool you really are!"

And all through high school you think to yourself, "he's going to move on to more realistic dreams any day now, and then I won't have to say anything about it!" But no matter how many times you mention something else he could do with his life that he seems interested in, or bring up the challenging logistics of traveling around long-term in a boat, he sounds just as committed to the childhood dream as ever, and completely oblivious to how apprehensive you sound.

So resentment grows, little by little. Because that's easier than confronting the soul-crushing levels of guilt that are building up inside of you, every time you don't take an opportunity to tell him you don't want to do the plan anymore. You don't have a single person in your life who modeled how to have difficult conversations for you. As far as you know, having this conversation with Stan would crush him into tiny little pieces and then he would hate you forever, and you can't stand the idea of losing the only friend you've ever had.

So tensions grow. A lack of interest turns into a bitter resentment that, if you were really being honest with yourself, is directed more at yourself than it is at Stan.

And then the falling-out happens, and it seems like you were proven right. Stan hates you now, and he's never going to forgive you for giving up on his dream. But two can play that game, so you try to hate him too. Because if you hate him too, then maybe it won't hurt as much that he never came back. That he never even turned up at school, or by the boat, or in through your bedroom window in the middle of the night. He knows what dad's like, and how he says impulsive exaggerated things when he's angry, and haven't you both dealt with his harsh words countless times before and been able to dust yourselves off and joke about it later? So why isn't he back at home, joking with you about how absurd your dad acted that night, being impossible and belligerent about ruining your dream, but at least now you're even, because you've ruined his dream too.

-

And now imagine you find out he risked the lives of everyone in existence to bring you back, right after you had accepted your fate was to die killing Bill. It would be terrifying and confusing and infuriating. If he cared so much, why didn't he do something to reconnect with you sooner? Why did he ignore you in favor of trying to make it big without you? Why didn't he take the infinitely safer and simpler action of reaching out to you without you having to track down his address and send a desperate plea for help? You were convinced that he didn't care enough to bother with you unless you had an important enough reason for him to come. But even then, he thought your plans were stupid. He didn't want anything to do with you, not even with the world at stake.

Did he save your life out of guilt? Does he pity you that much? It doesn't add up with what he did in the decade leading up to shoving you into the portal. And the dissonance between the version of him in your head that hates you, and the man who held out his arms to welcome you back to your home dimension, is so strong that you feel like you're being lied to again, like you're back in the depths of gaslighting and manipulation that Bill put you through, even though there's no way that's what Stan is trying to do... right? You can't figure it out, so you run away from it. You don't want to know the answer to whether or not Stan hates you, because you don't know which answer would hurt more, so you try to make him hate you more than ever, because at least then you would know for sure how he feels.

And in the end, after he sacrifices his memories for you, and for the world, things seem clearer. The layers upon layers of confusion and anger and hurt seem to have washed away like drawings in the sand, leaving behind the simple truth: that you two had an argument, and didn't move past it for forty years, and despite everything you put each other through, you both still want to re-connect.

So you sail away in a boat together.

And at first, it's wonderful. It's exactly what you want. It feels like an apology to Stan, and a thank-you for saving the world, and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to heal the rift between you two, and it's good to be back on earth, and you wonder why you ever doubted the dream you two once had.

But then, after the first long journey you spend on the sea together, when you get back home to dry land, Stan is already talking about planning your next adventure out on the open sea. He recaps every adventure you had on the first trip, over and over again, and he wants to chat with you all through the morning and long into the night, and you don't have the words to explain to yourself that you don't have enough social battery for this, and suddenly you're slipping back into the horrifyingly familiar feeling of Stan being overbearing and needing space from him and how could you think that? How could you think that about him after everything he's done for you and everything he's forgiven you for? But the longer this goes on, the more you realize that you still don't want to spend the rest of your life sailing around with Stan. It's great fun in moderation, but the idea of your whole life revolving around Stan and going on adventures with Stan and being in a boat with Stan with no time to be by yourself thinking about your own things and figuring out your own dreams makes your skin crawl with a claustrophobic kind of panic that you still don't know how to put into words forty years after the first time this feeling grabbed you by the throat and ruined your friendship with Stanley.

But the first time this happened, it nearly ruined his life forever. You can't let yourself feel this. You don't feel this. You're happy to spend the rest of your life fulfilling Stan's lifelong dream, and making up for the time you crushed his dream, and sure, maybe he crushed your dream once too, and maybe it would be nice for him to support your dreams like you're now doing for him, but you can't say that. He saved the universe, and it would be horrible and ungrateful and cruel for you to try to voice these feelings, especially when you don't know how to voice your feelings without it making other people feel like you twisted a knife into their gut. So you try to pretend the feeling isn't there.

You go out on a boat with Stan again. You planned out another incredible journey together, and this should be fun, and you should be happy about this, but the unspoken feeling you shoved as far down in yourself as it could possibly go is eating you alive. The worst part? Stan is starting to notice. You have never been good at hiding your emotions. The trick to it has always been to convince yourself you don't feel it at all, and not think about it, and that has always worked like a charm. But whenever the emotion claws its way back up to the forefront of your mind, you can tell Stan knows something is wrong. So you can't even give him the happy ending he deserves. You can't even convince him that you want to be here on the open seas forever with him, like he deserves. And you keep trying and trying to hide it, but Stan keeps asking in roundabout ways, like "You're being awfully quiet, sixer," and "whats that look on your face?" and eventually it comes exploding out of you like a shaken-up soda bottle dropped on its cap.

And then it's like you're back at home in New Jersey again, standing in the living room while dad grabs Stanley by the shirt. It all comes pouring out of you, in the worst possible way, with the worst possible phrasing, like a pandora's box of monstrousness, and Stan tries to fight back against the sting of your words, but you're made out of acid and you're burning through him and you can see it on his face, and there's never any coming back from this, not this time, you'll just have to either jump into the ocean or become a monster forever, so Stan can hate you more easily again, and-

-and at the end of the outburst, you're still on a boat in the middle of nowhere in the ocean with your brother, in dangerous waters, and you have things to do to keep the boat running smoothly.

You can't run away from him. He can't run away from you. You're stuck here for at least a couple more weeks, even if you turned around and sailed back towards shore right away.

-

And the thing that compels me so much here, despite how unbelievably angsty it all is, is that it sets up a situation wherein the Stans might end up forced to actually address the decades of resentment and confusion and wanting-to-reconnect-throughout-it-all that they thought they could gloss over and heal with enough time spent adventuring together on a boat. They might end up forced to actually address the crux of the issue that drove them apart in the first place: Ford wanting a little more space to feel like his own person, and to feel like he's able to have his own dreams, too.

It wouldn't happen easily, nor right away, but if they were stuck together on a little boat in the middle of nowhere surrounded by magical creatures they have to protect each other from in order to make it back home alive, then after they had one fight where they brought up all the things they silently agreed to never bring up again, it would probably happen many more times, and each time it would leave them both angrier at each other than ever, until eventually something honest slipped through amidst all the saying-anything-except-what-they-mean bickering. And once enough of these honest moments slipped through, then they would have a thread to tug on to start to unravel the gargantuan knot of their decades of unresolved conflicts.

And then, eventually, maybe Stan could learn that he can have a good friendship with his brother without needing to be glued to him at the hip, and Ford needing a certain amount of alone time doesn't mean he dislikes him or wants to abandon him, and Ford could learn that he can be honest and have a meaningful connection with someone without it driving them away and making them hate him.

[blazehedgehog]

What do you think of AI stuff like DAll-E or Midjourney?

It's not as useful as some people want you to believe. A lot of people pushing for the acceptance of this kind of software are the same tech bros that invested in crypto currency and were trying to sell you NFTs, which should tell you enough.

All of this "it's democratizing art!" and "finally, people can make art even if they don't have natural talent!" is snake oil.

You know where my "natural talent" came from? I started drawing when I was 4 or 5 years old. I drew at least one thing per day for over 20 years. I earned the ability to crank out dumb doodles on a whim.

You can't just show up one day and think you deserve to make artwork without putting in the work to learn and get good at it. Art's importance comes from the length of time needed to learn to master it. And I don't just mean drawings, I mean music, film, food, everything. No matter what it is, effort is value.

Financial value, sentimental value, it doesn't matter. All value is derived from the effort required to make it.

If you can just push a button and churn out artwork en masse, that devalues the importance of art. I mentioned this back with the Martin Scorsese ask, but it's like, which has more value? An original hand-made piece of artwork, or a print of that artwork? Prints are easy to mass produce. You can get a nice, high quality, glossy print of the Mona Lisa almost for free at this point. But the actual Mona Lisa, the original product, is actually valuable beyond value.

Art prints are literally just replicating a single file over and over and over again, but the original is one-of-a-kind and where all the effort is most evident. All the layers of paint can be felt as DaVinci sought perfection in his work. That's what makes it special. That's what makes it important.

My uncle does woodworking. He's so good at it, he gave my Mom an end table that looks like it came from a high-tier furniture store. A mass-produced end table like that would be at least $100. He made it by hand. It is beautiful. I will treasure that end table forever.

Effort is value.

If you spend any length of time looking at art websites where AI art is allowed (such as deviantart or pixiv), what you'll often find is these AI art chumps submitting massive amounts of artwork. They'll submit 10, 20, 40+ images a day, all from the same prompt, all with slight differences, because to them, every single thing the generator produces is worth submitting.

Even when I was drawing regularly, I could only really do maybe one finished piece per day. Two if you were lucky. Not only because sketching, inking, coloring and shading would take so long, but because after I was done the tank was empty. I'd used up all my effort for the day and had no more creativity left to give.

All the claims of "letting people without artistic talent generate art" are bogus because it throws the whole signal-to-noise ratio out of wack. Too much signal in itself becomes noise. And it devalues the effort that real artwork takes, because real artwork is now part of that noise, instead of rising above it.

When anyone can vomit out hundreds or even thousands of AI generated images that are of decent-to-good quality, a lot of what would be considered "b-tier" artwork ceases to be important anymore.

In a world where AI generated images are normalized, only the top 0.1% of artwork (your Mona Lisas) are considered to have real value. And who benefits the most from that kind of stuff? Rich people. Rich people who can afford to drop a million dollars on a historic piece of hand-crafted artwork. And just to be clear: these are exactly the same people who are trying to sell you on how important AI generator software is going to be going forward.

Or to simplify it even more: the people who stand to profit the most from AI "art" are the ones trying the hardest to sell you on its benefits. Because it benefits them more than it will ever benefit you.

Because, full disclosure, over this last week, a friend of mine has been having a lot of fun with Bing's new image generator feature, and I couldn't help but also play with the toy. The quality of images it can generate is shocking.

Microsoft, in their endless desperation to get anyone to use Bing on purpose, is clearly playing with fire here.

When effort is value and value is effortless, nothing has any value anymore.

I understand how, if you aren't an artist, this is all probably incredibly difficult to comprehend. The lure of fast and easy artwork from a simple line of text is a net gain to you, and nothing else really matters to your perspective. But imagine all of the up-and-coming artists who get completely pushed out of the conversation because of how easy it is to crap out endless AI generator output. I spent 20 years drawing every day for results that can be beaten in 20 seconds.

How many future artists is that going to discourage? There's a lot of buzz, now more than ever, about "late stage capitalism" and the way that's manifesting in our lives. When AI generated images are "good enough", how is that going to change the world around us?

You can't just think, "we'll figure something out" because the people trying to control this narrative do not have your best interests in mind. The people trying to control this narrative think they still don't have enough money yet even though there's not much money left to give them.

Their solution is to stop paying people to do work that they can get a computer to do for free, even if it means destroying the entire foundation of human culture. Long term destruction for short term gain. The same old story.

Are they going to get away with it?

(Another good ask along this line is over here, from February.)

[whirling-fangs]

@fallesto || continued from [x]

Kiba had kept his promises.

Eleven new Moons, handpicked from the broken, the beaten and the damned. Those that humanity had deemed unworthy to keep walking this earth, given a second chance, in exchange for their freedom. Their loyalty undying, grateful as they were to get back at the humankind that had rejected them.

Each of them was a lost soul, condemned to atrocious deaths, or fates even worth that that. Lives filled with sorrow, now replaced with glory, power and riches beyond their wildest dreams.

Eleven new soldiers, all devoted to Muzan's cause. The ranks were still young, but in their years of existence, they had never once let their creator down.

The world was changing. Little by little, day after day, it was being shaped by the demons' actions. Leaders falling, replaced by puppets that acted upon the Lord's every wish. Power shifting, changing hands, as the demons were never once threatened.

The more their influence grew, the more Kiba's worries followed the same trend. As demons made their presence known, the slayers were certain to resurface, if there even was any of them left to roam the planet.

He couldn't keep the Lord cooped up in their apartment complex forever. He owed it to her to show her the world, to let her discover the society she was soon to reign upon.

He never expected his worst fears to come alive in this place. A quest to uncover some of his Lord's lost treasures, a place that only she could remember.

Of course. He should have expected that place to be guarded.

The child he had tortured for information proved to be completely useless. Kiba had completely forgotten about their presence, as his senses burned with dangers he hadn't felt in over a century.

"Stand back. They're here." He told his beloved Lord, panic pumping through his veins. The awaited day had finally come, and the timing couldn't have been worse.

A descendant of the Sun Breathers.

As Kiba laid eyes upon the brat, crimson ever so present amongst the emerald of his irises, he immediately knew. He could feel it deep in his bones, in the way his cells squirmed in anticipation, his power released from the dying human. Its airways were crushed beyond repair.

"You can't save him. You came too late, you piece of trash human. You always do."

Blind rage oozed from his limbs, his power biting at his fingertips. He ought to crush this creature right away, a clawed hand rising into the air, his disguise utterly pointless. He knew that the brat had recognized him for what he was.

Bright symbols shone amongst the colors of his eyes. Perhaps the brat would understand what they meant.

Upper One.

"I don't value the life of the worthless. Humans have no potential. They live, they destroy the world around them, they die. They destroy each other, hate each other... Sooner or later, they'll bring their own demise upon themselves."

"I'll be there to make it happen, but you won't. Tonight, you're going to die."

[heartofspells]

3 and 14 for end of the year asks 🫶

3 - favorite line/scene you wrote this year

Oh, that's hard. Why would you do this to me? No candles in the cave for you. But actually, I think it would be this scene from Painted Ceilings:

It's not an easy conversation. It lasts forever, far longer than Sirius would have ever liked. It almost ends countless times in arguments. It spans the sun's steady path through the sky and different rooms. They hop between the bedroom, the bath, stand inside the narrow corridor, pace the sitting room, scuttle through cupboards in the kitchen just for something to do. They fight. Fight about James and his part in it all, fight about names of all the absurd things to worry about, fight about where they'll be in five years, ten, thirty.

They fight and laugh. Walk and laugh. Fight and shout. Joke, tease, dance, fight again. Lounge across the sofa together with wedges of cheese and nothing alcoholic to drink, jesting and reminiscing about where they came from and how they started, Sirius battling against the urge for a cigarette and failing until he's begging for one, Remus smoothing the hair out of his face and rubbing soothingly across his scalp to settle him with understanding in his eyes that only leads to that increasingly familiar irritation swelling in Sirius and then they're fighting again.

Fight and twist and twirl and spiral and fight more and more and more. Laughter between the fights and laughter in the middle of them, shocking and rude, harsh sounds that shred vocal cords and shred hearts even worse, but they sew the pieces back together and go another round and then another and another. There are tears on Remus' face at one point, Sirius is sure of it, and Sirius maybe cries too but he'll never admit to it, that stiff upper lip ever-present, never fading, and Remus snarls his rage about it while Sirius screams his back, cruel and high-pitched like the choirs of hyenas leaving Remus reeling and Sirius reeling.

Laugh and argue and whisper memories and fight, round and round they spin, never stopping, never slowing down until they do but only for a second, only for another breath and then they're off again, doing it all over. Fight and fight and fight, shouts and accusations, jagged claws tearing away the faces of monsters, ones that don't exist and never have in kind-willed men and the ones that will forever exist in the worst kinds of people. Fight, fight, fight – fight or flight – stay or go – up and down and around round round, spin and circle and duck and dive, soar high and crash low, stripping away layers, not gentle, can't be anymore, peel it back, lay it bare, expose it to the air and let it rankle and swell and infect the air they breathe until it's in them again but different, growing, lightening, out again, floating into the sky, reaching space, touching stars and exploding from the heat, black holes left to devour other worlds, sent off to leave theirs in peace.

And it ends.

It ends like cold water gathered in a puddle at their feet, an ice sculpture melted to reveal treasures locked inside. It ends with Sirius speechless and hurting and stripped raw, with Remus staring at him with bleached eyes and breathless lips parted. It ends with Sirius pulling Remus against him with needful force and holding tightly, refusing to let go, with Remus clawing at Sirius' shoulder blades and gasping into his neck like a man hauled from a raging sea.

It ends with a decision, one made by both, together, solid in its foundation, nothing more than a foundation but there without cracks or anything unknown hidden beneath the dirt of their previous lives and who they've always been. It ends with the agreement and the understanding of the start of something new and impossibly terrifying and completely theirs.

And it starts again, anew and fresh, the way the ending had started from the beginning, with hot mouths and hot hands and still hotter flesh between teeth. With a familiar glint in Remus' eyes that shouldn't exist away from the moon but he says probably doesn't matter all that much anymore. It starts again with sticky tiles beneath their feet and fingers sliding through sweat and hair and with a broken kitchen table, Remus only barely catching Sirius in time with laughter on their tongues and the taste of each other in their mouths.

14 - a fic you didn't expect to write

Any of the three (3) Prongsfoot fics I've got (my universe, in flames, Sins Trapped in Belfries, CRuSH) or Black Moon. If someone had told me at the beginning of the year that I'd be writing Prongsfoot romantically or a Moony/Sirius smut fic, I'd have laughed in their face and called them a liar.

End of year asks!

[beanghostprincess]

My thoughts on Sanuso's children!!

I recently got a Tumblr ask (I'll edit this later and write the link) that talked about Sanuso adopting a child, and it has opened my eyes to make this whole post about the three children I think they'd have!! (Also shout out to @latinokokonoi for the idea of Zolu's daughter).

The Strawhats are still together after finding the One Piece, being together still and enjoying their own dreams for a while without separating yet (honestly, with how fast this story is going they're gonna find the One Piece quickly af, just pretend they've already found it). Sanji and Usopp are 25/23 when they have their two twin daughters (accidentally. Because they are idiots and did NOT listen to Chopper's talk about protection). Even if they weren't planned they're still extremely excited to form a family together! They're a bit worried about what will happen from now on, but they've taken care of children before on their adventures, so how hard can it be? The answer is pretty fucking hard but, you know, it's not like they don't have other children in the crew (Zoro and Luffy found a 2 y/o in a treasure chest when they were 23/21 and they've been taking care of her for two years now. Called her Kuina!). They believe they'll be just fine.

The girls are named after their moms, Sora and Banchina, and they're Usopp and Sanji's little princesses. They instantly get along with Kuina, by the way, as they grow up together. She kind of acts like an older sister to them, being 4 years older and all. If anybody asks, they're cousins! I won't go into much detail about Kuina here because this is about Sanuso's children, but I love the idea I have of her already.

The thing is, the girls grow up to be brilliant and also a menace. They're twins but you can easily tell who's who when they're not together!

Sora: Oldest sister for, like, two seconds and she's always reminding everyone about that (in a good way. She takes pride in protecting her sister). She has Sanji's morals and ambition. She's passionate and pretty intense when it comes to protecting the ones she loves. But also she's an adventurer like Usopp! She loves getting into trouble, too, and she's strategic enough to know how to come out of them (most of the time. Well- Sometimes. Most of the time Kuina is the one saving her ass. But, you know, at the end of the day Kuina gets lost and Sora is the one to find her... They make a pretty good team). She dreams of being a pirate and having her own crew someday with Banchina. She's a natural dreamer. A bit idealistic. She has Sanji's smile and Usopp's skills. She wants to learn how to fight in every damn way. She asks Sanji to teach her how to fight with her legs and Usopp to use the slingshot (prefers Sanji's method, tho). She often trains with Kuina, too! She reminds people of Nami (that's, like, her favorite crew member if you ask her. That's her auntie!) because of her mischievous personality and ability to steal. She's also very impulsive because she has Usopp's sense of adventure but Sanji's inability to back down. So... Yeah. Luffy fucking loves her. But at least she's good at strategies! She would do anything for her sister and has been by her side forever. Often asks her to join her shenanigans and schemes and that's when Banchina is a bit more playful! Loves Sanji's cooking and eats almost just as much as Luffy. She talks about Usopp's stories, being so so proud of being his daughter! Her favorite aunt is Nami and her favorite uncles are Luffy and Zoro.

Banchina: The sweetest of the two sisters. She's pretty much like their mothers, personality wise. She's a cutie pie. She loves cooking and drawing because she grew up watching her fathers doing these mundane, more domestic and calm activities. If Sora is the clumsy more adventurous one, Banchina is the caretaker who's just done with her sister's bullshit but loves her a lot. She has Sanji's need to help and Usopp's anxiety (but not in a really nervous way. More in a careful, thoughtful way). It's not that she doesn't know how to defend herself, but she uses her slingshot only when needed and to back up her sister. She's more of a support person! She loves to cook but prefers to draw. Spends the day drawing. Kuina and Sora are very protective of her but she's usually the one who ends up rolling her eyes and taking care of them when they get injured somehow. However, she can be very playful too when Sora manages to get her in her schemes and shenanigans. She's a sweetheart but she protects her family when she needs to do so. She prefers more calm spaces but she appreciates the company of her sister and Kuina, finds them amusing. Basically, calm and helpful, very done with the chaos but secretly loves it, and ends up playing around when she finds it funny. Her favorite aunt is Robin (they spend time together reading and drawing) and her favorite uncles are Jinbe and Brook.

They grow up together and somehow they're not only the crew's most precious treasure, but also they're very helpful when they fight. I mean, they don't usually let them fight, but they always end up helping without being asked.

They're 10 and 14 when they find Takumi (Sanuso is 35/33, if you're curious) on a boat, fainted, and very very injured. The kid appears to be around 7 and he has chains on his arms and a metal collar around his neck. That doesn't sit right with any of them, so the kids call Luffy and the others and they instantly help him to get into the ship.

Long story short, they take care of him for a day or so, extremely worried about his well-being. Sanji and Chopper look after him until he wakes up. The thing is, the kid wakes up when he's alone with Sanji, and he's instantly frightened. Sanji promises they're not going to do anything to him, but the kid is only begging him to not bring him back to where he was. Anything but that. Sanji is- Well, saying he's worried would be an understatement. When everyone goes to see him, he doesn't want to tell them anything. For some reason he grows attached to Sanji and won't let go of him, apparently, and he refuses to tell anybody what happened to him. However, Luffy offers him to break his chains and Takumi hesitates but obviously says yes. When Luffy does so, he just smiles widely at the sight of Takumi's relief and says: "See? Much better now, isn't it?" And Takumi stares at him and whispers "You look..." Luffy only tilts his head, confused, and Takumi blushes shyly. "I just- You look like someone I know." And he tightens his grip inside the pockets of his hoodie, holding something they can't see but don't ask about either.

Basically, they take care of the kid but he isn't quite ready to socialize yet and his injuries are still bad. The only ones allowed to spend a long time with him are Chopper (he's looking after his wounds) and Sanji (brings him food and, well, he's apparently the only one Takumi is comfortable with enough to talk. Besides, Takumi apparently won't eat any meat or fish and he doesn't explain why, but Sanji makes new dishes for him gladly). The three girls want to know him better, but they're forbidden from bothering him (although they definitely sneak out to talk to him for a few seconds when the adults are busy).

Sanji sees a lot of himself in him. The scared eyes. The trembling voice. He's even blond, for God's sake. He spends a lot of time with the kid, and Takumi even asks him to sleep next to him most of the time. Usopp sees this and he just knows they're keeping him because now there's no way they can say goodbye to him. One day, Takumi has a very nasty panic attack and Sanji has to help him through it. When the kid asks how he knows to deal with this, Sanji thinks it's only fair to open up to him about some stuff about his own past. This makes Takumi open up too, finally explaining what happened to him:

Takumi's mom is a celestial dragon that cheated on her husband with a slave. Of course, this didn't go unnoticed and she died in an "accident" while the slave was brutally murdered (when you think Celestial Dragons can be worse, they- They just get worse). The man didn't even give Takumi a name, he just took the kid and made him a slave the second he could start working. That's all he's ever known. Long story short, he's locked in a cell for a while as a punishment along with some other slaves, thinking there's no hope. But there's always hope, because the revolutionary army suddenly shows up! Sabo frees all of the slaves from that cell, Koala leading them to their respective boats. But... There's a kid who won't move. Chained. Injured. It shatters Sabo's heart into a million pieces. Sabo tries to help him with reassuring words but the kid is visibly shaking. Sabo asks him his name, but the kid won't answer, to which Sabo just smiles and says: "Well! Isn't that just great? Now you can choose your own name!" and the little guy is all confused, but it's the first time there's true excitement in his eyes. "Really?" / "Really! Is there something you like a ton? A name you want to make yours?" The kid seems to think about it, a bit shy about his answer. "I want- I want to go to the sea." / "Oh! I come from there, actually. Is there something you want to do there?" / "It's dumb-" / "No dreams are dumb. Now tell me." / "I want to build things. Things that can help people! Like- Like machines but- But good ones. I dunno how to explain it..." / "Umm. Well. How about Takumi? You can write it however you want it can mean both sea and craftsman. Also an outstanding person. The person you'll become once you get out of here. How does that sound?" Takumi nods and takes the name as his, as long with Sabo's glasses. He says Takumi will use them way more than him one day.

However, there's a lot of chaos and Takumi gets lost in his boat. All alone. And ends up fainting in the middle of the sea until the Straw hats find him.

Sanji knows it will be too much for the little guy to tell him all he knows about this story, so he just comforts him and lets him rest for a few days until he's ready to come out of the room. He has dinner with the rest of them, finally, one day. And even though the three girls are curious about him they have a very calm dinner, respecting his space. That's when the crew does their presentations, Luffy being the last one... And of course, he says: "I'm Monkey D. Luffy! Captain of this ship and the king of the pirates!". Something inside of Takumi switches, a huge surprised smile decorating his face. "You are Sabo's brother! That's why you reminded me of him!" / "You know Sabo?". Takumi tells them about his story and shows them the glasses, saying he's worried about Sabo because he promised to take care of him and he's sure the blond blames himself for this. He tells them, also, about Sabo talking about Luffy ("The world is scary out there, but pirates aren't all so bad, all right? Monkey D. Luffy is my brother! The king of the pirates! And he's the best man I've ever met.") and Takumi couldn't be happier to have found him.

Basically, Takumi stays with them for a long time and grows closer and closer with everyone. The girls and he get along, even if he's still very overwhelmed by everything and has to take things slow. They protect him when there's a fight and they spend time with him, playing and teaching him everything there's to know. He also sleeps with Sanji and Usopp most of the time, also growing very fond of the sniper and his stories late at night when he has nightmares and refuses to wake up Sanji. Usopp is always there to distract him from bad thoughts and Sanji is always there to hug the anxiousness away. Sora and Banchina love him like a brother, so much that they even start calling him that. Sanji and Usopp don't say a word about it, but it hurts to know that there's a possibility of him not staying with them. Sanji says it's fine. That the kid deserves a better life. But Usopp knows Sanji wants the kid to stay with them.

Sabo appears one day with the intention to see Takumi again. They catch up and have a fun day together until Sabo offers Takumi the option of going away with him. However, Takumi says he prefers to stay here. With his new family, if they accept him. And so Takumi stays with them!

That's when his personality starts to form a little bit more with the passage of time. He loves spending time with Franky and Usopp, building things. Little machines and inventions. Turns out Sabo's glasses do end up being useful to him! He's still a bit shy. A very anxious kid. But he's so, so smart... A brilliant, outstanding kid who wants to make the world a better place with his inventions. He keeps being reserved and he isn't very fond of fighting, but he supports the whole crew with his inventions! Usopp couldn't be more proud. He also likes the revolutionary's ideology and lets Robin talk to him about it for hours and hours. Cooking is just like science, in his opinion, and once he says it Sanji's heart melts because that's exactly what Usopp told him once.

They end up figuring out that he ate a devil fruit, one that helps him talk to animals. That's why he refuses to eat them. Sanji tells him that it's amazing. One of the best powers in the world. Fascinating, even. He's his special boy and Sanji's just so jealous he has a power like that but he's glad Takumi is the one to have it and not some horrible pirate out there. Usopp and he grow closer talking about bugs and different types of beetles and arachnids! Sanji loves to see it, but can only talk about Takumi about it when it comes to regular animals.

They're so, so similar in a lot of things... Even if they are not his real parents. Yet. He hasn't called them that yet.

Until one morning Takumi calls Sanji dad and he has a whole crisis about it, the kid thinks he has killed his father but Usopp calms both of them down. Sanji asks the kid if he truly wants to be part of his family. Because if he does, he'd be glad to call him his son. And Takumi couldn't be happier. Do you know who's even happier? Sora and Banchina. They are THRILLED to have a little brother.

I've made these picrews based on the idea I have of them (if you like the idea I'll post more information about them):

Sora

Age: 10 (Older twin for literally seconds of difference)

MBTI: ENTP

-> She's an adventurer, hence the bandages and band-aids. Prefers long hair because she refuses to cut it, mostly. Uses Usopp's overalls and Sanji's shirts because they're comfortable and they don't fit her dads anymore, so she gets to keep them!!! She likes nature (the bees and her leaf earring) and loves stealing Zoro's money at poker (Nami taught her).

Banchina

Age: 10

MBTI: INFP

-> Usually has a ponytail or buns to keep them from bothering her while she draws. Lil' toad on her head (Wano Usopp reference, he kept that toad). She likes butterflies and bugs, too!! Big comfy clothes and a calmer, comfier energy.

Takumi

Age: 7

MBTI: INFJ

-> Lil' crown of leaves his sisters gift him. Animals around him all the time. He likes big clothes but usually just wears a synthetic leather jacket Usopp gave him and never takes off Sabo's goggles. Big sweaters, too. He's very tiny even for his age.

Kuina

Age: 14

MBTI: ESTP

-> Long hair for the same reason as Sora: Refuses to cut it. Bold of you to assume she showers, honestly. Lil' ponytail to see better. She has one of Zoro's earrings and a necklace with a sun (iykyk). She also has a bandana around her neck (Zoro moment). Have you seen her clothes? She wants to go to Wano so fucking bad.

Picrew

[hecatesbroom]

Hii!

I thought it was about time to make an index/introductory post to pin (because I love lists and this is essentially a list) so here we are :))

I'm Alys! Or at least I go by that online ever since I decided Internet safety also applies to me. I use she/her pronouns but honestly anything goes, and I'm known to friends as a grandma in a 21-year-old's body.

Feel free to tag me in things, send me a dm, or pop an ask in my tumblr mailbox. I don't bite, and I love interacting with people! (Which includes you, I promise!)

(I do have a tendency to forget to reply, which I'm working on, but please don't worry if that happens. It's nothing to do with you!)

I write fic and the occasional long meta post, and can make gifsets if I set my mind to it, most of them being on pieces of media so obscure they'll only appeal to a handful of people lol

Here's a little, probably incomplete list of the things I love and will most likely post/reblog stuff about:

My main interests at the moment are:

The Golden Girls (find all golden girls posts under #the golden girls, and most ship posts under #golden wives! I'm hoping to go back and re-tag my meta posts & ficlets with a special tag soon, but for now it's just one big treasure hunt under the main tag lol)

Maude (tagged #maude 1972)

And I'm following along with Dracula Daily this year (find all related posts under #dracula & #dracula daily)

Other things I have & will occasionally post about:

The Wheel of Time

The Witcher books

Good Omens

Doctor Who (watching for the very first time! You can find my unhinged rants under #alys watches who)

Tolkien, both his works and adaptations of it

Books in general, mostly fantasy and classics with a dash of basically everything else

The Locked Tomb on my sideblog @i-hardlyknowher

An entire list of (mostly niche, mostly British and Dutch) sitcoms from the '70s and '80s. Ask me about them if you want and I'll love you forever

I'm trying to read and see some more Shakespeare so you'll probably see the occasional post about that too

BBC Ghosts

Broadchurch, which I watched when it first aired, rewatched last year, and am back to occasionally losing my mind over now

The Worst Witch, which I don't really post about anymore but deserves a spot here anyway, because it's what inspired my username!!

[turtlespancake]

I think we should really talk about "Anything you post on the internet stays on the internet forever" in terms of art. Because it does but also it doesn't.

When you post art online, you HAVE to be ready for the fact that other people will see it. I know that sounds obvious, but I cannot stress that enough. People will misinterpret you work. People with Understand your work in ways that are gratifying beyond belief. People can be mean online. People can be annoying online. People can be kind and supportive online. Sometimes something you pour your heart into can go mostly unnoticed. Sometimes something you spent five minutes on can blow up beyond your wildest dreams. If you're posting art PUBLICALLY online, you have to accept that any and all of these scenarios can happen. Not everyone will get famous in a day. Not everyone will get famous full stop. If you just want the attention, you have to be prepared for the fact that you may not get it. Similarly, if you just want to hide in your little OC corner with your 3 mutuals, you have to be prepared for the fact that a person, or many people who you've never met could see it too.

We are our own worst critics. If a fan said to you the same things you say to yourself, it'd be worth reporting. "This is cringe and fail and had no effort put into it" is something "normal" for an artist to say to themself but would be worth a block if said by a stranger. When streaming services make shows permanently unavailable bs reasons, it's a tragedy. Yet when you take your own animations off of YouTube for your own arbitrary reasons, it's fine and justified. Lost media only counts if it's big, polished studio projects obviously.

Some of my favorite videos on YouTube were made by accounts with under 100 subscribers. Some of my favorite animations and art pieces are genuinely gone from the internet, either because the artist took them down or they got a copyright strike from YouTube or something along those lines. I will likely never see them again, and it bothers me to no end. You have NO idea what impact your art has on people. You may never know. But you HAVE to trust your audience when they say they liked something.

Common reasons people delete their art:

"It was old and bad." You will inevitably get better and learn new things as you keep drawing, but that doesn't mean what you did in the past was necessarily terrible. Even if it was, sometimes it can be fun to see an artist's journey! Plus, if you consistently delete your art once it hits a certain age, it can make it hard for your audience to trust you. How are people supposed to enjoy your new art knowing that there's a 50/50 shot they'll never be able to view it again given enough time?

"It's cringe and embarrassing and I didn't put enough effort into it!" If it's really that bad, no one would look at it. There's value in all art, even if it's "objectively bad" or "cringe." One man's trash is another man's treasure and all that. Plus, just because it's "bad" in one regard doesn't mean it's not phenomenal in another. An animation with problems staying on model can still have fantastic timing. An illustration with confusing lighting can still be beautifully composed. All art is flawed, and all art has its merits. If someone is looking at a piece long enough to notice its mistakes, it means they've been staring at it because they already like it. Please, believe your audience when they say they enjoy something.

"People keep reposting my art without my permission." That genuinely sucks, but how does taking down the original copy help matters? If people are stealing credit from you, getting rid of the original copy -- and effectively the evidence that this really is your art, and no one else's -- won't help. If it's already being reposted, it's not like taking down the original will stop the reposting either since people can just do reposts of reposts. I get the frustration, I really really do!! But taking down your original copy won't stop the problem.

"It's nothing like my other art and I don't create things like this anymore." Not every fan of yours has to be a diehard who looks at/enjoys everything you've ever made. If someone wants to come watch your one warrior cats meme from 2011 when everything else on your YouTube channel has nothing to do with that, then let them enjoy that one video and be on their way. You're not a brand, you don't need to be consistent all the time every time.

"I don't want the attention anymore." That's understandable, but there's other ways of taking eyes off of you than nuking your entire gallery. All hype and drama will inevitably fade with time, and the mute button is your best friend.

"It didn't get enough attention." And you think deleting your art will help you get more attention or something? Some posts take a while to really get going, especially here on tumblr. Not to mention social media is NOT a true indicator of skill or emotional impact. There are professional artists who get 10 likes. There are kids drawing in MS Paint who get millions of likes. If you stay online enough, you'll see both examples a million times over. Don't let a flop post discourage you, and don't give up on a post too soon.

Please, if you're an artist on the internet, be kind to yourself. Young or beginner artists on here, this ESPECIALLY applies to you. You have no idea how you can inspire others. Don't let a few jerks on the internet or your harsh inner critic convince you your art isn't worth seeing, because I PROMISE you it is.

[matchamojitos]

little pieces of you

Oh how I dreaded coming home. It's almost been a year, yet when I think of home, you're still there.

I'm in our favourite coffee shop, writing this for you. It feels strange being here without you, where we spent countless hours talking about anything and everything. We both wanted to get the hell out of this town.

Little piece of you are scattered wherever I go. The scarves that snuggle me on my morning walks. The flashes of familiar cars. The bread you baked and the soup you simmered, pumpkin permanently in my nostrils. Pockets of plants still lingering in the garden you cared for so deeply. Your favourite songs, the book you didn't quite get to finish, the terrible films you made me watch. You may not be here anymore, but you are still everywhere to me.

I still hear you making me a cup of tea, and I still remember how you liked yours. I still see you sat in the garden, reading one minute and falling asleep the next. You're wearing that old blue fleece you always wore, which belongs to me now, and I'm reminded of your warm hugs whenever I wear it.

But when I think of you, those days of grief and sorrow are a blur. Seemingly never-ending at the time, but so small in comparison to the all the warm memories I have of you. And that's how I remember you.

These little pieces of you have intertwined into my everyday. So I'll take them with me, and I'll treasure them. I'll hold them close. They'll stay with me forever, as will you.

You'll always be alive in my heart, you'll always be with me. And wherever I go, I know you'll be there too.

*·˚ ༘♡

[aladeanblogs]

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