#also both of them gain scar on one eye later on

[krikzilla]

Berserk x One piece

I cant believe that Zoro has to beat Guts to become world's greatest swordsman

[lazycranberrydoodles]

phone studies 🎉 you know the tan line from either ruoye or the cursed shackle would be AWFUL

[fatkish]

Could you do a platonic, teenager (15-17) ! reader + father figure Aizawa where reader’s mother keeps nagging and making really snarky comments about their self harm scars, and reader goes to Aizawa when they feel like they’re going to relapse for a distraction?

if you do specifics, reader is non-binary with masc terms. Reader also knows Aizawa from him being their teacher, but they knew him from childhood as a family friend. Reader’s dad is unavailable—you can take that however you want.

sorry if this is too gruesome or too detailed, feel free to delete/tweak this if it’s a bad request — thank you for reading!

Platonic Aizawa x Teenage Reader

Aizawa had known you for most of your life. Not that he had been present for most of it. Aizawa had been close to your father as they were both underground Pro Heroes. Your father had taken Aizawa under his wing and basically became his mentor and showed him the ropes. They worked together often and became friends. Your father was super friendly with people and would invite Aizawa over to his house to ensure that he was eating properly and etc. Aizawa met your mother and was over often.

Your mother was kind to Aizawa but you could tell it was strained kindness. One day, your father and Aizawa were going after a drug smuggling operation and it went south. The drug smugglers were operating out of an old chemical processing plant. There were leftover containers and equipment from the plant. Your father ended up comatose in the hospital after an explosion caused by a fire quirk hitting nearby containers filled with chemicals.

After that day, Aizawa rarely came over. Your mother grew very hostile and rude. She consistently ignored you and you grew up trying to please a woman who hated everyone. When you did get your mother’s attention, it was never good. She’d constantly berate you and make snide comments about you. Nothing you ever did was good enough for her. Eventually she pulled the plug on your father and she inherited the money he made. She barely spent a dime on you.

Most of your clothes were old and had been repaired several times over. You got the best grades in your class at school despite the bullying. You were bullied because your clothes and everything were old and worn, you hardly socialized and you had barely any self confidence. In middle school you began to cut. It started out as a means to punish yourself so failing to live up to your mother’s standards. Every time you disappointed her or she chastised you, you cut yourself. Later it became a habit and a means to punish yourself due to your self hatred.

You knew your dad was an underground hero and you wanted to be like him. You wanted to become a hero and make enough money to create a home/facility for children whose parents didn’t want them or whose parents died. You didn’t want other children to have to suffer like you did. You began training for the entrance exam for UA. Your quirk allows you to look into your opponent’s eyes or make sounds that cause hallucinations and vertigo. However it only works on organic beings so the robots in the entry exam were difficult for you to fight.

Despite gaining a few dozen points from helping others and managing to take down a few robots, you didn’t make the cut for the hero course. You ended up in general studies but continued to train on your own. You eventually roped your classmate Shinso into your training routine to help him and have a training partner. When the sports festival came around, you managed to do pretty well. You even managed to make it into the semifinals of the third round. You lost to Todoroki due to his ice.

Shinso was the only person who knew about your cutting and he helped you break the habit. After your fight, he came to check on you to make sure you weren’t going to hurt yourself. After consoling each other, you both returned to the stands. After the festival, you had packed your bag and were about to leave when Aizawa got in your way. The moment he saw you during the entrance exam, he knew who you were. He still felt an immense amount of guilt for not saving your father. After the festival he asked to sit down and talk to you.

During that time, he introduced himself and told you about his past and what kind of person your father was. He told you about how your father helped him and that he felt it was only right for him to help you. You both talked and Aizawa was surprised to find out that your mother had taken your father off of hospice. He wasn’t made aware that your father died. After your talk, you and Shinso began to train with Aizawa and he eventually found out about your self harm scars and your intent to quit. He got you a therapist and you began to work on healing.

After the attack at the summer camp, UA decided to move the students into the dorms. Despite it not being necessary, Aizawa decided to visit your house to ask your mother to let you go to UA. You had been so hopeful about the dorms. This was your chance to finally get out of the toxic environment that was your home. Your mother had become even more toxic and borderline abusive since you enrolled at UA. During the conversation between Aizawa and your mother, you snapped at her after she blamed Aizawa for your father’s death. You yelled at her telling her that it wasn’t his fault. You shouted saying that living with her was miserable and if your father felt even the slightest bit as miserable as you do then he would probably choose death over having to be near her.

Your mother was stunned. But she quickly recovered and told you that you shouldn’t put words in other people’s mouths. Just because you like to hurt yourself and make yourself ugly with scars doesn’t mean anyone else does. You should be grateful she’s put up with you for so long. Hearing that your mother knew you were cutting and never tried to help you broke something in you. You ran out of the room and that was when Aizawa decided that your mother was unfit to care for you and he became your temporary guardian. After you packed what little you had, you left with Aizawa. As he drove, he kept looking back at you in the mirror and saw just how broken that whole situation had left you.

He saw how little you had and decided to drive to the mall to help you get some decorations for your dorm. Despite your constant pleas and reassurances that you were fine, your body language said otherwise. Despite your reluctance to let Aizawa buy you anything, you left the mall with a couple posters, some new clothes, string lights, glow in the dark stars, new stationary, snacks and few other things. When you got to UA, Aizawa helped you bring everything to your dorm and left. After you and Shinso helped set up each other’s dorm rooms, you left to go find Aizawa.

That night, you found Aizawa and gave him a hug. You buried your face in his chest as you tried not to cry. You told him how you don’t blame him for what happened and he shouldn’t either. And that wether or not he likes it, you view him as a father figure. You thanked him profusely for helping you out even if he only did it out of guilt. He changed your life and you’ll always be grateful to him for that. He wrapped his arms around you and told you you were welcome. He let you cry on him until you were done. He walked you back to your dorm and told you that he still wasn’t going to go easy on you during training. You smiled and bid him goodnight before heading inside. Aizawa smiled to himself as he looked up at the night sky, promising his old mentor that he would guide you until you were ready to do things yourself. Just as his mentor did for him, he would do for you and more.

[pinnedmother]

How do you think Messmer deals with feeling jealous? Or when his partner is jealous?

Thanks for the request ♡ I did both.

Messmer's jealousy

He gets jealous extra easily, not even by anything to do with romance or flirting (he’d completely blow up then), but for your attention in general. He hates when you give more time to someone else when he’s right here; hates when you smile at them, when you laugh at their words, when you look them in the eye for too long.

Why, why, why every person in his life he loves more than the world itself always has to disperse their precious attention to other people? He feels empty, utterly abandoned and forgotten, even if you were lightheartedly conversing with someone for nothing more than a minute. It stings in his chest.

Despite being incredibly dramatic in his way of thinking, Messmer is still self aware enough to understand that he’s merely experiencing jealousy and that this emotion is dangerous if he would let it get the better of him. He tries to suppress it to the best of his ability as to not cause a scene. Still he’ll frown and stare daggers in you and the other person, hoping you’ll notice and mercifully absolve him of this sensation.

You’ll need to have empathy 60 the way he masterfully hides his feelings. He wants you to know, but also doesn’t. If his serpents in their attempts to help would try to get your attention themselves, he’d get silently mad at them and forcefully tug their slithering bodies away from you.

If you don’t notice him long enough, he’ll just leave as quietly as possible. Trying to be nonchalant about his departure as if he simply has other matters to attend. Internally, however, Messmer’s melting, and seething, and burning everything around him to a crisp.

Later he would seem colder than usual and more distant. Messmer craves your presence, but doesn’t want to seem desperate at the same time. He also needs you to show that you still care for him. It may be childish, but he truly does need this affirmation. He wants you to seek him out, ask what’s wrong, show him your warmth, and smile a more genuine smile than the one you showed to this other person. In exchange, he would redouble the affection you gave him.

However… If you were to commit such an unforgivable sin as to openly flirt or even romantically involve yourself with someone… Well, hopefully you didn’t forget that your lover is a genocidal war general, known for the purge brutal enough to be removed from history, because otherwise you’d be shocked and horrified to see your paramour burned and impaled on the highest spike there is. Messmer would do it; no remorse, no regrets, only cold rage. If both you and he even decide to continue after this mess, you’ll be the one to carry the blame in its entirety, he won’t hear any of it if you’d try to call upon his conscience. You’ll have to work exceptionally hard to gain Messmer’s trust once more, and no matter what you do it’ll never again be at its fullest. It was a scarring wound, one that cannot be forgotten nor forgiven.

Your jealousy

Messmer’s confused at first, not understanding a shift in your reactions and behavior. He would catch on at some point though, and will try to persuade you that there’s nothing to be jealous about: you are the only one he loves and he needs no other.

If it’s not enough, he would cater to your demands: sending people away, shortening the time of discussions, taking a more reserved and aloof demeanor or even holding your hand while addressing others. Whatever you’d want, really. He knows exactly how miserable it feels, so if he can ease it for you – he will.

Messmer secretly loves that you’re so possessive of him. He still wouldn’t make you jealous on purpose however, your comfort is far too important, but the feeling is pleasant.

[gatorbites-imagines]

Can you please make more Remy LeBeau content? I love that little Cajun man so much! Please and Thank you!

Remy LeBeau x male reader

Headcanons

I’ve had this plot idea for a while, so im gonna try to shake it out my system. I know very little about Cajun culture, European here, so take it with a grain of salt. Sorry for the lack of posting, classes have already been beating me up and I literally just started.

You were your average Cajun kid when you met Remy, back when he still ran with the thief’s guild and before he was adopted by Jean-Luc.

You were a bit of a stereotype when it came to New Orleans Cajun kids. You liked to cause trouble, you liked to party, you liked to hunt frogs at night and spearfish Gar when there were no frogs. And damn did you like messing with the gators. All your messing around did make you lose your pinky on your right hand, but it didn’t stop you.

You were no mutant, but you might as well have been with all the stuff you got into. You always claimed it was just your Cajun roots that kept you immortal.

That was how you met Remy, through all your troublemaking. Youd just shoved one of your friends bullies into the swamp near your neighborhood, and immediately legged it, knowing his brothers would feed you to the gators if they got the chance.

That’s how you end up running right into Remy, sending you both skittering across the ground. Before he could say anything though, you just grad his wrist with your four fingered hand and drag him along, cackling as the bullies’ brothers try and catch you.

The two of you end up in a completely different neighborhood, hiding under somebodies porch as you try not to snicker as the older boys run right past, cursing up a storm about the “gator bait” getting away. And yes, that was what people called you in your neighborhood, because of your hand.

Remy had expected you to immediately fear him or become disgusted at the sight of his eyes. But instead, you just told him they were cool as fuck and you wished your eyes were like that.

After hiding for a while, the two of you split up to go about your lives. But you end up bumping into each other quite a lot, since you both just like to wander. That’s how you two end up becoming friends, even as hes part of the thieves guild.

You end up dragging him to your house too where he meets your mother. Your dad wasn’t around anymore, he drowned when you were a baby, but your mom said you had his fire and lack of self-preservation.

To Remys shock, your mom didn’t mind his eyes either, just accepting him in with a kind but tired smile. He later learns your mom works two or three jobs depending on the season to keep you guys fed, which is why you have so much time to run around.

You two keep growing up together, even if there at times is distance for different reasons. You keep causing trouble, but get better at hiding it, you become real good at figuring out the area, the waters, the people and animals, so on and so forth.

This helps you get your first job as a guide for tourists. You don’t really like it, but they tip you pretty well. You use that money to take Remy out for sno-balls, or rather, its you going in to get them, so you guys can eat them on your backyard porch.

You both gained a lot of scars over the years from the different lives you lived. Youd never asked Remy about the guild, and he never really asked too much about the different scars on your arms and legs he was sure came from a knife and not fishing wire.

It was also on that porch you guys shared your first kiss. It was clumsy, uncomfortable, your lips stained blue as his were green, from the thick sugary syrups used on the sno-balls. But it was still the best kiss either of you could have imagined.

You two never got to explore too deeply what your relationship meant. one week Remy was more distant than usual, before he suddenly showed up at your place, looking worse to wear, telling you he needed to get out of New Orleans.

You weren’t gonna question him, so you packed him into your truck and just started driving. The entire time he clung to your hand, looking at you so intensely, like hed never see you again. But you tried to keep the mood light, joking as usual and playing your favorite music.

The goodbye was one of the hardest things in your lives. You even told Remy you’d leave him with, ready to leave it all behind to stay by his side, wherever he would go. But Remy knew you had a life here, you had your mom, a good job, other friends, he couldn’t ask that of you.

So, in the end, Remy simply kissed you goodbye, and said he hoped you two would meet again. And disappeared into the night, like something out of a dream.

A couple of hours passed before you decided to drive back home. You smoked through an entire pack of cigarettes, so tempted to also empty the bottle of alcohol you hid under the seat in your truck. But you also knew you needed to return to your mom.

So with one final longing glance in the direction Remy disappeared, you turned back around and drove back home, New Orleans feeling less vibrant and lively than usual.

It would be years before you two meet again, and even then, it had been an accident.

You had left New Orleans behind after Remy left, your mom passed away,  and nothing really kept you there without either of them. It took a while before you finally settled down in New York. It wasn’t the same as where you grew up, but it was good enough for now. And if nothing worked, you could just go back to Louisiana and live in a small shed, where you’d spend your days catching fish.

What brought you together, was that your neighbors kid developed their mutation. Something they couldn’t hide, their eyes so different they couldn’t even use contacts as an excuse.

If their parents had been kind, hadn’t been so openly ex-mutant, you might not have done anything. But you’d heard rumors of Charles Xavier, and how his school helped Mutants like that.

So, you packed your neighbors kid into your truck, the same you’d driven Remy in, with what they needed to bring, and drove them there. Like the ride with Remy, you tried to keep the mood light, hoping to just keep it all from falling apart.

It took some time to get to the school, through whatever security they had, and to the front door. Part of you feared it was the wrong place, until the guy who’d spoken to you over the security comm stepped out. That visor made it pretty clear he wasn’t just your average joe.

Normally you’d have left it at that, leaving the kid with people who knew what they were talking about and doing. But they were too scared to be alone, and after some scowling from a guy that looked like a hairy homeless guy, you were allowed in.

Your thick accent seemed to gain some positive or funny reactions, that same hairy guy from before grumbling “another Cajun”. But you were mainly focused on getting the kid settled.

Of course, until you heard a familiar voice, laying his usual flirts on thick with somebody. Remy was still as handsome as when you last saw him, though a little older, but so were you. The kid was introduced to him, and the two already seemed to bond over their eyes being their main visual of their mutation.

“They reminded me of you, maybe that’s why I felt so protective” you just throw out there, hands in your pockets as you shrugged, your voice immediately catching Remy’s attention, who seemed as shocked to see you as you were him.

It was clear you two knew each other, and that emotional look in your eyes had the others shuffling off to keep showing the kid around, as you two were left alone.

You two go out back to sit on the porch of the mansion. It wasn’t the same as in New Orleans, but it still had your heart racing. It was awkward for a moment, you two sharing what you’d been up too since you last saw each other.

With you, Remy didn’t need to put on the plays like usual, he could just be Remy LeBeau and nobody else, and holding your hand with only four fingers in his own laid to rest some of the pain that had been present for years.

You two didn’t immediately start dating or anything. It was more returning to what was before, without all the stealing and trouble you two used to get into. At least, not to the same degree. But it built at a comfortable pace.

You became an honorary visitor of the mansion, since the kid you brought there still felt quite attached, but also for Remy. You were also able to worm your way into the hearts of the other x-men, some quicker than others, but you did it anyways.

Remy spent a lot of time at your place too, and he even helped you move when you moved just a bit closer to the x-men.

Neither of you could really tell when it went from deep pining to dating. One moment you guys just finally started kissing. The cuddling, sharing clothes and many other things that came with a relationship was something you already did, so the kissing was truly the last part missing.

You do end up having to learn better self-defense, being close to the x-men like that. But for Remy you’d do anything, even doing stretches that have your legs screaming since you aren’t used to bend like that.

[venerawrites]

This is my first time requesting for arcane but, can you write an Ekko x male! reader (fem or Gender neutral is fine if you can't write for male readers) where the reader is really sweet and gentle. They like to forage, bake/cook for Ekko, make toys for the kids of zaun, painting, drawing, and craft stuff like clay rings, mugs, pottery, and make clothes as well.

It can be an imagine or headcanons, I don't mind either way.

author's note: hi! I don't write male readers, but I do write gender-neutral so I hope that's okay! I actually thought this request was super cute and I loved the idea! Hope you enjoy and thank you so much for requesting!

Someone who is sweet and also artistic/crafty is going to be the perfect partner for Ekko. (Not kidding, this young man deserves all the love in the world!)

I imagine you being a part of the Firelights for a few years before Ekko gained the courage to ask you out.

Don't get me wrong, he had a crush on you way before that!

He saw something special in you the day you joined - the way you carried yourself, the little splatter of paint on your shirt, the big bag of art materials you brought with you, the way you warmly smiled at the kids and they took an immediate liking to you - it all made him look at you in a different light from everyone else.

However, having lost so many people in his life, he didn't want to risk catching feelings. So despite the initial attraction, he did keep his distance at first. He was a good leader, always making sure to check on you and ask how are you adjusting to the life as a Firelight, but he also always seemed to keep the conversations short and polite.

Ekko always had his eye on you - whenever he heard your melodic laugh or children screaming in joy (because they always did when you were around), his head whipped in your direction almost instinctively.

Because of your wide range of skills, especially when it comes to crafting things, it didn't take long for you to become everyone's favourite - you often build toys for the kids and played with them in your free time, which is why all of them got attached to you pretty quickly. When someone needed their clothes fixed or wished for a change of their usual 'uniform', they always came to you.

The man was a bit taken aback at first - he kept seeing everyone, including Scar, coming with new jackets, shirts, and even masks, yet he didn't seem to know how and where they got it from. Once he learned it was in fact you making them, he couldn't help but smile - so you were quite the crafty person, huh?

He came a few days later with his ruined jacket (he may or may have not actually ruined it on purpose), asking you to fix it. As he was the leader, you spent all afternoon sewing, so he could have it ready for the mission the next day. When you gave it to him during dinner, he was both surprised and also amazed - not only did you fix it quickly, but you also made it better by adding some details to it.

(Needless to say this became his favourite piece of clothing ever! It was also not the last time he came to you, asking you to 'fix' his clothes...)

That evening was the first time the realisation he might like you in a different way than every other member hit him like a ton of bricks.

And it did scare him! So much, so that he made it almost his mission to avoid you. Every time you entered a room, he quickly excused himself, and if by chance you caught him looking at you, he would quickly turn around, the tips of his ears going a few shades darker.

His plan didn't work that well, however, as you being one of the few people who can draw/paint, you were assigned to work on the wall mural. He had to supervise the work and therefore interact with you, and to be honest, it was quite awkward for a bit.

I imagine you would notice his weird behaviour, but would not address it as you were not sure why he was giving you mixed "hot & cold" signals. You would continue treating him like usual and eventually, after a few days of tense atmosphere between you (and also a bit of 'scolding' from Scar), he would apologize and actually relax around you.

Ekko is funny, loving, protective, kind, passionate, and a man that I cannot imagine anyone NOT falling in love with. So probably it did take you embarrassingly short time to catch feelings for him.

He may be a bit slow when it comes to his own feelings and emotions, but he is very good when it comes to reading everyone else's. So when you made him a special mug for his birthday and gave to him while your face looked like it was about to explode, he put 2+2 together.

This is when flirting Ekko unlocks and - PHEW! - this man has no mercy!

He loves to tease you just so he can see you as a flustered mess. While he is very confident as a leader and fighter, he still think it's unreal that you can catch feelings for someone like him - he comes with so much emotional baggage, that he cannot really understand what do you see in him.

(Not that he is complaining, because once he asks you out and you say 'yes', he doesn't plan to EVER let you go!)

Once you are together, he would always organise fun dates including crafting or making stuff - either he will teach you how to make tech stuff in his workshop or you will teach him how to make clay rings, dishes and pottery.

He loves how gifted you are and would often tease you by asking you: "Is there anything you can’t do?"

Very proud of you and the fact that you are his partner! He usually likes to keep his private matters to himself, but if he has a drink or two, EVERYONE is hearing about how skilled you are, how every body loves you (especially him) and how lucky he is to have you not only in his life, but also living in the Firelight base.

Speaking of living, despite the relationship progressing slowly, he would practically make you move in to his room just a few months after getting together. He loves going to sleep and waking up by your side and while usually you were staying with him only occasionally, he will have a long chat with you of the benefits to share a room.

"C'mon, don't you want to sleep in the leader's bed? Hey, hey, I'm kidding! But seriously, you come here almost every night and I do sleep better when you are by my side, so why not?"

Watching you interact with the kids in the base and even in Zaun has to be his absolute weak spot. He can never hide his smile and dreamy gaze when he watches you giving them new gifts/toys and he falls in love even deeper every time he sees you hug them and stroke their heads lovingly.

His other weak spot has to be your cooking! (The way to a man's heart is through his stomach after all!) He is pretty good cook himself, so dates in the kitchen are a pretty often occurrence for you.

Still, he can never match your skill when it comes to baking and desserts and he loves when you spoil him by making his favourite cakes/sweet food. He loves to watch you cooking, often sitting on the table and quietly sipping his tea, while observing you.

The Firelights love you as a couple and are happy it is you by Ekko's side - he suffered a lot and has been alone the majority of his life, so he deserves all the love and happiness you can offer.

cc artwork: Tekkon Kinkreet

[rea-grimm]

Three demons are more than enough - Zoro, Ace, Crocodile

It might come as a surprise to some, but you've known a demon since you were a child. Or like this, he seemed like an ordinary boy at first, but after you ate the devil's fruit, you saw the world through different eyes. You gained the ability to tell demons from ordinary people. However, your paths diverged and you haven't seen him since. 

But that wasn't the first time you'd come into close contact with demons. There weren't many demons, but somehow you got the impression that you ran into them quite often. 

You even helped this demon escape execution. At that moment, you saved his life, and he pledged to protect and accompany you until he paid his debt. 

However, after a few adventures, a demon named Zoro decided to make a pact with you. First, he liked you, and second, without admitting it, he'd be lost without you. Literally. 

Zoro was a demon with six arms, short horns, and lower and upper fangs that extended past his lips.

He took your hand and brought your wrist to his mouth where he first kissed you on the spot. He then bit you there, but instead of his teeth, his demonic mark was left on your skin. 

Together with the six-armed demon, you had travelled the world, and now you were passing through the kingdom of Alabastra. You made a small stop at a nearby small oasis to gather supplies for your journey through the desert.

You went into a tavern to get something good for lunch when you noticed a commotion at the counter. You couldn't see much over the deafness of the people, but you thought you saw someone familiar at the counter.

It wasn't until later that you realized it was a demon you knew from your childhood that you thought you wouldn't see. When Ace saw you, a smile immediately spread across his face. 

Ace was in Alabastra looking for his brother because he wanted to tell him something, but when he saw you, his decision changed. He decided to stay with you instead.

You were a little hesitant about it since you were already travelling with a demon, but it seemed that Zoro didn't mind Ace. As you expressed your doubts to him, he looked at you with such puppy dog eyes that you couldn't say no. He looked like a kicked puppy. You tried to look away, but it was no use. He's already gotten under your skin.

You finally had no choice but to agree and make a pact with him. Ace beamed with joy before he nuzzled his face against your shoulder, before biting it. Under his teeth, his mark appeared on your shoulder. 

Ace was a fire demon, his limbs black as burnt, with a thick fire crackling and shining through beneath. His eyes were red to the point of glowing. 

With two demons, it was easy to walk through the desert as no one dared to attack you, plus you were able to hunt some animals to eat. 

Still, you made it to a new city that was full of water and riches. However, it happened at night when you were asleep and so were the demons. Though they were both resting by your side, you still woke up on the floor of the golden palace. 

You sat up and noticed a man, actually a demon, sitting at the large table in front of you, smoking a cigar and grinning smugly. Just as his name implied, he was a sand and crocodile demon. He had the teeth of a crocodile, and a long tail that turned into sand at the end, crumbling and renewing itself again. The crocodile teeth also grew from a scar on his face. 

Crocodile noticed you and was intrigued by you. Someone who attracted demons to himself and who had more than one pact. He's never seen that before. Plus, he liked the way you tried to resist him, even though he had you in his power. 

It wasn't even a day before Ace and Zoro burst into the palace with a plan to save you. However, that's what Crocodile had been waiting for all along. Plus, the sand demon wanted to keep you for himself. He wasn't going to share with other demons.

Crocodile used his sand against which your demons were powerless. Zoro's sword attacks were completely useless and Ace was trapped in the sand moments later. At first, he managed to melt the sand into glass, but that became just as much of a problem as a giant glass bubble formed around him that he couldn't get out of. In addition, the limited oxygen dampened his fire abilities. 

The sand demon smiled devilishly, intending to send the two demons back to hell where they would no longer disturb him. But before he could send sand as sharp as Zoro's katanas at them, you lunged in front of them. They were more than just ordinary demons to you. 

But this is what the sand demon assumed all along. He planned it all, so he agreed to spare the others on one condition. You make a pact with him and become his alone. You refused to do that, but you also refused to move from the others. 

Your refusal, however, made him even more angry and indignant, and it looked like he was going to have you crushed. You only stopped him when you said you agreed, but you had your conditions. This caught him off guard, but he finally smiled with satisfaction, as if he had won and agreed. 

Ace and Zoro tried to convince you not to do it, that it would somehow be saved, that it was an obvious trap. But you knew full well what your options were and you didn't want to lose them. 

You went over to him and let him make a pact with you. Crocodile stroked your neck with a golden hook before he leaned in. He liked how small you were compared to him. He licked his lips hungrily before biting the crook of your neck and shoulder where his mark appeared on your skin. Exactly on the other side from Ace's.

After that, you were on your way again. However, with the sand demon at your side, you travelled in much more luxury. He even got you a much bigger, better ship. Even with a new demon at your side, your lives have returned to their relatively old ways. 

Zoro regularly fell asleep with you in his arms, in a triple hug, or let you use him as a pillow, with you lying on top of him and him holding you. He would never admit to anyone that he liked to cuddle with you like that. And if anyone accused him of it, he'd deny everything. Plus, he only hugs you like that when it's just the two of you and he's sure no one will see you. 

You've been practising fighting and self-defence with Ace. He was proud of how well you were doing, and of course, he praised you, which was his way of trying to motivate you to keep going. You kissed him on the cheek for his praise. You had to pull away as his whole face turned red before it lit up like a campfire. It was a cute reaction and you chuckled weakly at the reaction.

Crocodile, meanwhile, was watching you from the bridge. Sure, he'd rather have you in his lap, but he'd made a pact with you and had to abide by your terms. However, he too had his moments with you.

He gave you advice on steering the ship and other things. He liked it when you listened to him and most of all when you thanked him for his advice and praised him. It was like something was warming his heart. A feeling he thought he'd buried long ago.

However, all was not as rosy as it first appeared. It was obvious that Ace and Zoro didn't like Crocodile, and he didn't like sharing either. This led to regular fights that you had to intervene in to keep them from killing each other. The worst part was that you then had to nurse them back to health, and they were thrilled to have you all to themselves for the moment.

During one particularly heated fight, Ace and Zoro managed to figure out what Crocodile's weakness was and used it perfectly to bring him to his knees. If you hadn't intervened, you'd have thought he'd been executed. You stopped the fight and stood up for the sand demon. 

After that, you completely reprimanded them all and gave them a lecture on how they should learn to get along. They were on the same ship, travelling together, and even if they didn't like each other, they should learn to work together. 

Ace apologized almost immediately. He didn't want you to be mad at him. It took Zoro a while since he had his pride, but eventually, he apologized too. But you couldn't expect the same from Crocodile. He just resigned, but didn't apologize, even though you rose even higher in his eyes. 

Instead, he thanked you for standing up for him. You took that as a great success and kissed him on the cheek. 

There was a bit of a lull after that incident. You landed on a small island to resupply. All was going quietly until the demons started arguing over something again and it culminated into a giant fight. 

You were fed up with their behaviour. You used their marks on your body to set them straight. In response, you told them to leave you alone and angrily walked away. You headed for the hot springs off to the side. You wanted some peace all to yourself. 

Neither of the demons followed you as they had to obey your orders. Even though they didn't like it. They wanted to be by your side at all times. 

You relaxed as you sank into the hot water and closed your eyes. You missed this. The silence was strange but comfortable. You were up to your nose in the water when someone pulled a bag over your head and pulled you out of the water. Then you felt someone hit you in the back of the head and you lost consciousness. 

You woke up in a dungeon with shackles on your hands blocking your fruit's abilities. You couldn't use the markings to connect with your demons, and you couldn't even feel their presence. Most of the time, even when you were away from them, you felt some connection to them. But now, nothing. 

You sat there waiting for what to do next when two figures came to the door of your cell. You recognized them immediately. It was your father, the crown glistening on his head and the same cold expression on his face as you remembered. His counsellor walked on his beech tree as always. 

"You've come back to me at last. You gave me quite a hard time before I finally found you," the king smirked. Even though he was your biological father, he was a stranger you wanted nothing to do with. 

"You're beautiful and the right age to get married. You should have been married a long time ago. I plan to marry you to the highest bidder. Now you won't escape me or your fate," he grinned. 

You didn't say anything to him and just looked at them defiantly. You didn't want to give him the pleasure of your scorn and rejection.

The demons sensed something was wrong the moment they lost contact with you. Just as you felt them, they were connected to you. It was a two-way channel. 

They followed you to the hot springs where they smelled your scent for the last time. They got there when you were long gone, but there were still soldiers there, covering their tracks. Even though they were defeated in a flash, no one told them where they'd taken you. 

However, they did find the medallion you always wore around your neck, but which you also always kept hidden under your clothes. They noticed that the medallion bore the same emblem that the soldiers wore on their armour. 

They immediately began to work together to find out what might have happened to you, where you might have been taken, and how to save you. At that moment, they didn't even think to argue or fight. Your rescue was more important than that. 

You were eventually dragged from the cell to your old room, but it meant the same thing to you. It was just a better-decorated cell. There, you were to prepare for guests and potential suitors for your hand. 

You were dressed in expensive, ornate clothes and fitted with gloves that acted as shackles and which equally blocked your ability. You felt like you were at a slave auction and it made you sick. 

Like a precious jewel, you stood before the king and pierced everyone around you with your gaze. You weren't going to let yourself be sold so easily. You were going to fight as hard as you could. You just had to find an opportunity and take it. 

And you saw Crocodile in the throne room. It was strange to see him as a human when you were used to him as a demon. At his side were Ace and Zoro, posing as his bodyguards. Your gazes met for a moment and they gave you fleeting smiles. However, they couldn't rush over to you, lest they reveal themselves and ruin your rescue. 

After this, any auction began, with the princes strutting and showing off their wealth. However, Crocodile, being a powerful man, bid more. It didn't matter how much the others bid, Crocodile always had the upper hand. And your father seemed to like him too.

"I offer that much and more. Your daughter's beauty is like a rare desert flower that is worth it. May I have a closer look at her?" He asked confidently. The king had no problem with that and motioned for you to come closer to him. 

You kept your face impassive and cool, so as not to give them away. Crocodile bowed slightly in front of you and looked you over with a predator's gaze. Then he took your hand and kissed you on your fingers. 

"We're here for you. Hang in there a little longer," he hissed at you as he was close, using the sand to unlock the cuffs on your hands. 

"What are you telling her?!" The king wondered, not liking being left out of the action. 

"That I have never seen anyone more beautiful in my life," he replied, and you could hear the sincerity and tenderness in his voice. 

His sincere compliment made your cheeks flush slightly. The king was decided. After that, he had you escorted back to your room so he could have the peace to negotiate the rest with the demon. 

As soon as the door to your room closed, you refused to wait to see if the king would be free to give you to the demon. You wanted to be with them as soon as possible. You changed into your more comfortable clothes and opened the window. 

Now that your hands were free, you could easily escape. Just like you used to. You looked out the window and noticed that guards were patrolling below your window.

You cursed and looked towards the harbour. There you noticed your ship and the figures that were there. You immediately recognized your demons in them. You saw them wave at you, but that's all they dared. You waved at them, too, before crawling back in. You decided to wait. For now.

While the king was negotiating your marriage with Crocodile, the noose was being tightened over the demon. The king was very greedy and knew who had a price on his head and how big. And Crocodile was a gold mine for him, just like you. 

He knew his weakness as well, and in his weakened state he had him captured and planned to collect the bounty from his head. He felt like he had finally gotten lucky.

The other demons found out about it and secretly informed you in your room. They wanted to go fight. First, the king captures you and then this. They wanted to fight to get you away. But you stopped them. You didn't want to leave the sand demon behind.

The others didn't agree, because they still didn't like him. However, they were willing to listen to your plan and finally agreed. After all, they wanted you to be happy and that meant freeing Crocodile. Besides, you explained it very well. What if it was one of them? You wouldn't want to leave them there either.

Since you lived in the castle before, you knew where everything was. You, Zoro and Ace were sneaking into the prison. Sure, you'd fight, but you also wanted to keep the surprise effect. 

Zoro simply took care of the guards and kept watch at the door while Ace went inside with you. You made it to a special cell that didn't have bars but instead had water running through its entrance. Water was the Crocodile's weakness. Water dripped in the cell and from the ceiling and the demon couldn't hide from it. 

Crocodile smiled with satisfaction when he saw you. You helped him out and hugged him. You were glad that he was okay and that he had tried to save you, even if it didn't work out as planned.

However, you had to pull away after a while since you had to get away as soon as possible before anyone found out what happened. You and your demons fled the palace by taking the direct route to the ship and out to sea. 

You anchored near the kingdom, however, as the demons were out for revenge. Now that you were in the safety of your ship, they could unleash hell on Earth. 

It was quite a surprise to them that you didn't stop them this time, or say anything to them. That made them even more determined to get their revenge, and they left you alone on the ship. 

Less than a few hours later, alarm bells rang throughout the kingdom and the island, and all you could see was the thick smoke that burned the kingdom, along with the sandstorm that buried the island alive. 

When the demons returned, you tended to their wounds. But then you locked yourself in your quarters because you wanted to be alone for a while. You wondered if you'd done the right thing, and questioned your life choices and decisions. But you didn't come up with much. 

You were disturbed from your thoughts by approaching footsteps followed by a muffled thud. You got out of bed and went to see what they were. 

To your surprise, Ace had fallen asleep and was now lying on the floor. That was the thump you heard. You knew about his narcolepsy and it didn't surprise you. 

Instead, you dragged him to your room and pulled him into bed. There you sat down next to him. 

Moments later, Zoro walked by, peeked into your quarters, and decided to join you. He sat down on the other side next to you and hugged you. That's how you finally fell asleep in the demon sandwich. 

You had no idea how long you had slept, but when you woke up, you found that you were lying on a sand demon. Ace had one arm around you, and Zoro was holding you on the other side. 

It was such a peaceful and comfortable feeling that you smiled contentedly. You didn't want to wake them, so you fell back to sleep contentedly.  

One Piece Masterlist

[aliferous-ly]

thinking about this idea again. got some more concepts for y'all.

the story would be from an outsiders pov, im ranchers forever so I'm thinking jimmy, but scar and tango have the strongest most codependent independent relationship alive. jimmy is in a party a la DND, he's a magic user of some sort, also in his party is Joel, Lizzie, and grian.

also this gets long so rest is below the cut

Jimmy and the party hear about these shopkeepers who hold the most unique wares you'll ever find. Ideas created by both, engineered by one, usually sold by the other. The shopkeepers are a little off though, so keep your wits about you.

They need some unique weapons/tools for fighting some big bad, so they hit up the shop.

It's dim, hazy, drapes of crimson fabric strewn across the walls. It's unclear what covers a doorway and what covers a wall. Wayward light ignites gold decals, polished to the nines. the party creeps in, grian in the lead because jimmy pushed for checking out the shop but got nervous at the door.

"welcome!" a drawling voice echoes from seemingly everywhere. a man (?) swooshes through fabric. He's dressed like he's a part of the shop, or maybe that the shop is a part of him. He introduces himself as scar, and his teeth and ears are too sharp to be human. His eyes have grey-blue sclera like a vex, but his skin is pink like a red-blooded creature. True to his name, his visible skin is coated in scars - any other identifiable features are hidden beneath his beautiful, expensive-looking garb.

Grian loves a challenge, so he immediately banters it up with scar. The adventurers explore the shop, seeing all sorts of bits and bobs they never imagined, and leave with these weird grenades that grian is just buzzing to try out. Scar does his best to sell them on some dyed glass he insists are crystals, but none of them bite.

It becomes a habit to visit the shop whenever they're in town. They ask the locals about them, because who wouldn't, and only gain more questions from it. The second owner rarely makes appearances, but not for fear of strangers; he just spends all of his time making things, including countless farms that supply the locals with stuff like cobwebs or paper. The local seamstress is trying to make spider-silk clothing.

However, on the off chance that the second owner DOES appear (a fiery man-shaped creature named tango), you should buy something. He's AWFUL at bartering, which usually will leave the customer with the better deal, but he'll also talk your ear off about the knickknacks. The townsfolk joke that it's a trade of hours of their time for a random free gadget. He also swears by the "crystals", and wears an orange one strung around his neck.

It takes months, but one visit they enter the shop and there's a not-man sitting on the counter. Fire wafts from his head, the backs of his hands, and the tops of his feet. The rest of his body looks fuzzy at the edges. He wears open sandals, loose, draping clothing, and has bare arms. Despite the fire, nothing around him ignites. Scar frequently nudges into his space and remains burn-free. His clothing doesn't have a scorch mark on them.

"Friends!" Scar greets, which makes grian pout, because grian enjoys the attempt to startle scar every time they visit.

The man is introduced as tango, which the party recall is the name the townsfolk mentioned. Jimmy is immediately entranced. Tango is a veritable firework, beaming and giggling, snarking at scar without faltering on the gears between his hands.

Joel asks the tactless, "what are you?" which just makes tango and scar laugh and laugh and laugh. They don't answer, but the others don't realize this until several hours later.

The two arent always open. But the party grows close enough with them that they've seen the two outside of the shop, but it's rare. They're like wisps, or ghosts tethered to a location. It can be easy to forget their abnormal bits when scar stumbles and knocks over an entire rack of potions, or when tango loses a dice game against Joel and makes a sputtering human groan. But then scar will twitch just so, and tango will still and cock his head, and the party remembers.

At one point the big bad that the party is helping take out sets it's sights on the shop's city. Many evacuate, tango and scar with them. The adventurers meet with them as they're packing, worried about their friends. Will they have a safe place to go? Are they okay, leaving their life's work behind like this? Can the party help in any way?

Scar reassures them that they'll be fine. It's not the first time they've moved about. "It's not like we sprouted from the bedrock here!" He's joking, but the others hadn't been sure if tango and scar weren't, like, some nature spirits of the area.

Tango, lugging a chest far too heavy for his frame, huffs and puffs into view. Jimmy rushes over to help - tango thanks him, patting him on the arm, and jimmy glows. Tango adds, "we'll be fine, we're going to the deep dark."

The big bad was clunky and loud, so it would get the attention of every warden for miles. Even it couldn't handle a swarm of wardens.

This information made the party even more nervous, to which scar and tango laughed. This is when they learned that tango manned a game that reached the depths, a gauntlet that caused death, or great riches if you made it out alive.

The adventurers had heard of decked out from their mutual friend pearl, but it was a horrific dungeon, to them. What crazy person would dive into a den of ravagers and wardens, armor and item-less, just for the glory of it all?

Scar added that he just loved playing, even though he died to good ol' dunga dunga dunga every other run. The two bid them all farewell, while the party reeled and tried to process that scar died. regularly. and he was still here.

So, no, the two weren't normal. They could communicate with merely a glance. Their smiles stretched too wide sometimes, and the party swore their eyes glowed in the dark.

Their shop was filled with copper gears, oxidized and not; occasionally they coated it in blood-red drapes, to "shake things up". Tango makes it too dim, scar makes it too bright. They have differing personalities but can look like twins in the way they react to things.

Just. Scar and tango cryptids. Owning a shop together. Weirding out adventurers.

[hananosami]

Thank you, Mom

synopsis: Megumi thanks his adoptive mother, Gojo's lover, for having always taken care of him and his half-sister- as they both reminiscence about the past.

word count: 1.5k +

Author’s Note: Fluff, fluff, fluff. Just mum reader and her adoptive child Megumi. I would also like to note that Gojo and Reader already have an established relationship, and that this is also a chapter from a fanfic I've written.

Warning: very minor descriptions about scars from self-harm.

A young woman had a soft smile present on her face, as she watched both the first and the second years play in the water. She sat on the beach, wiggling her toes a bit, then sinking her toes deeper unto the sand. Today, marked the first day of their break. Technically, it wasn't vacation, but with Gojo having exorcised almost every cursed spirit within the 25 kilometer radius- it's officially vacation for the students.

The students yelled at each other, splashing water towards one other, as they basked under the summer sun. A soft sigh escaped her lips, content, after seeing her students have fun in the water. "Sensei." (Y/N) turned her head to the sound of the voice, "Megumi? It's just us, you can just call me (Y/N)." He nodded, "May I?" The raven haired boy asked, as he eyed the space beside her- she nodded. "Why aren't you having fun with the rest of them?" She asked the young boy, as she turned her gaze straightforward, continuing to watch the students play in the water without a care in the world. 

It was silent for a second, then "Thank you, okaa-san." The woman's eyes widened a bit, confused, as she turned her head to get a better look at the boy beside her. "I wanted to say thank you, I never got the chance to." She was speechless, unsure of what to say next. "For what, Megumi-kun?" (Y/N) observed the way he fiddled with his fingers, he wasn't nervous. But he was hesitant, she could tell through his body language. Years worth of taking care of the young boy, she eventually understood how he was. Then he paused and looked at her straight in the eye, speaking of words that left her mouth agape.

"For having always taken care of my sister and I."

Gojo Satoru was a second year student at the time, roughly around the age of seventeen. The young woman he came to love was fifteen, it was the year she had entered Jujutsu High as a first year student. No one came back unscathed from the Star Plasma Vessel mission, even when Satoru seemed to have gained a lot by learning the true potential of his limitless- there were also things that were sacrificed during the mission. Even when it's been a decade, the scars seemed to continue being fresh wounds. 

".. S.. Satoru who's this?" The young girl blinked in confusion, eyeing the small boy, that seemed to be around the age of six. "This here is Megumi! Fushiguro Megumi! Starting from today onwards we'll be taking care of him!" The sapphire orbed man gleed, causing the young woman to furrow her eyebrows together. Taking a deep breath in, and swallowing her questions down for later, she smiled at the little boy. "Hi Megumi! I'm (Y/N), it's nice to meet you!" She knelt down on face level, as she ruffled his hair gently. The raven haired boy continued to have a poker face, she was slightly taken back by his demeanor, but didn't mind it.

She looked up at Satoru, "I'm going to be preparing dinner at the common room, are you going to be joining us?" He shook his head, "I have to report back to Yaga, so it'll just be the two of you." She nodded, and watched as he ruffled the raven haired boy's hair messily. "I'll get going. Alright Megumi, make sure to take care of pretty miss (Y/N) here! Don't give her a hard time." The young boy released a light huff, and the young girl's cheeks became lightly tinted with pink. "And (Y/N), thank you." The young man gave her a sincere smile, before heading out. 

"Alright Megumi, dinner is served." (Y/N) sat on the opposite side of the table where the young boy sat, and observed as he picked up his chopsticks and started eating. She laughed internally, upon the realization that she might just have to teach the young boy some table manners. But she couldn't blame him either for hastily eating, he must've been starving from the looks of it. "So Megumi-kun, how's the food?" She asked, which made the boy pause, as he was about to pick up another piece of gyoza. (Y/N) observed as he pursed his lips into a thin line, before opening them ever so slightly, to speak of the softest of responses.

"It's really good, thank you.. (Y/N)-san."

The sixteen year old woman laid on the hospital bed, observing the snow that was falling from the sky. It was the first snow of winter, the gloomy weather looming over, but the sparkling of the snowflakes seemed to brighten the season of death. Turning her head to the sound of the door opening, she was met with a little boy who was now a year older. "Megumi.." A gentle smile forming unto her face, "You came to visit me again, I'm being spoiled so much." She observed as the young boy's gaze turned down to stare at his feet, a frown now replacing that smile that she once had. 

He approached her, while Gojo laid his back against the white walls of the hospitals room and observed from the door. "When are you coming back home.." He mumbled quietly, still looking down at his feet. "Gojo doesn't cook very good food and Tsumiki misses your cooking.." A soft laugh escaped her lips, before she reached down and brought Megumi to sit on the hospital bed with her. "Soon, I'm going home soon."

She gave the boy a reassuring smile, hoping to see the slightest of a smile on his face. Instead, she found him staring at her arm that was laying on top of her lap, where her scars resided, still healing from the trauma of her own doing. Rotating her arm to hide the scars from the boy, she caressed his cheek with her other hand and turned his face upwards to look at her. "I'll be okay Megumi-kun, I promise to be back soon, so you won't have to endure Satoru's atrocious cooking." A soft chuckle escaped his lips, and the trust his gaze held, when he looked at her directly in the eye.

"That better be a promise."

It was the summer of 2011 and (Y/N) was about to die from the heatstroke. The twenty year old sat at the curb, sweating her ass off. Resting her head in her between legs, then she almost yelled her entire heart out when she felt a cold contraption rest at the back of her neck. "Ah-! Sa.. Satoru!" She yelped, to only earn a chuckle from the older man. "Tired already, my love?" Sighing softly, she nodded.

The two watched as Tsumiki wrapped her arm around her younger step brother's shoulder, who was about to grow taller than his older step sister. "C'mon Megumi! Let's go ride the teacups!" The eleven year old boy furrowed his eyebrows together, reluctant on going to the teacups that were whirling around in circles. The older child looked at (Y/N) for help, "Go on Megumi, don't let your sister ride by herself." She gave the younger one a closed-eyed smile, the raven haired boy huffing, as he reluctantly agreed.

The four of them were currently at Disneyland, oddly enough, Gojo coincidentally had his mission in Osaka- in result, he could join them on their vacation. "They're having fun, right?" The woman asked her lover, who had his arm around her shoulder. "Don't stress too much, kikufuku. Look, even Megumi's starting to smile." He pointed towards the two, who were riding a red teacup. Tsumiki, despite her frail self, used the wheel in the middle to spin the teacup faster. A soft smile and pink tainted cheeks soon became present on the raven haired boy's face, as he helped his older sister spin the teacup faster.

"Yeah, you're right. I shouldn't worry too much."

The woman ruffled the sixteen year old boy's hair, "You know that, you don't have to thank me right?" She asked, to which the boy nodded in response. "I know, but Tsumiki thought of you as a mother.. And I.. I truly do so, as well.." He mumbled quietly, (Y/N) sighs softly, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and gently pushing his head to rest at her shoulder. 

"Thank you too, Megumi.." She paused, looking up at the bright blue sky, seagulls passing by the tent they sat in. "For what, (Y/N)-san?" He observed that soft smile slowly form unto her lips, her gaze returning back to the students who were playing in the water. It was almost, melancholic, the way her gaze turned motherly as she watched the other students play in the water. 

"Thank you for growing up so well."

[artist-issues]

just found you and you're pretty neat! do you think that Taka and Mufasa had reasonable character arcs in the prequel that would lead them to become the lions we know and love in the original movie? It had its moments but I found it a tad lacking

also, do you have any friends/blogs like yours that you'd reccommend?

Hi! I can't answer this questions with "yes" or "no" because they couldn't pick a character arc for either Taka or Mufasa.

With Taka they halfheartedly start all these different arcs:

Needs to learn not to have everything his own way

Needs to learn what a real king is like because his dad is a bad example

Needs to learn bravery, or self-sacrifice

There's problems with these. Because 1) the Scar we see would never learn any of these lessons, but Taka does appear to learn at least how to be brave. 2) Each of these arcs are abandoned (except for one lazily-spun moment in the climax about bravery) the moment Taka meets Sarabi.

I think the one thing they almost landed really well was Taka's affinity for deception. Scar is a super-deceptive, manipulative character. He'll say anything to get what he wants, and that's what leads to the hyenas mauling him to death.

In Mufasa, one of the earliest decisions little cubby Taka makes is to pretend to lose the race with Mufasa, so that he can have a brother. His mom praises that decision, and Taka gets what he wants out of it. Awesome storytelling moment. It allows Taka to be likeable, without going against the core of his character flaws.

Deception-For-His-Own-Gain comes back over and over.

Taka pretends to go along with Mufasa's last-stand plan at the waterfall, just long enough to lock his forelegs around his brother and throw them both bodily over the falls, because he doesn't want to fight but there's no other way to get Mufasa to jump.

Taka pretends to notice Sarabi's scent so he can connect with her—and it was his own idea to get that information from Mufasa, knowing he couldn't come up with it himself.

Taka betrays Mufasa to Kiros to get back at his brother for "stealing" everybody's admiration, and he pretends to still be on his brother's side so convincingly that nobody, not even Rafiki, notices. (Although we're not shown that. We're just told, in a travel-montage. 🙄)

There are two issues with the way they do deception-for-gain thing though. 1) Mufasa is apparently the one teaching Taka how helpful deception can be, at least twice. He lies and claims Taka is just a stray to try and save his life from Kiros; he also lies and claims Taka was the one who saved Sarabi's life to boost his credit in her eyes. It's not super awesome for Mufasa to be the lying one in these scenarios, ever. Taka should be coming up with these lies himself as often as possible—but I get that it would've crippled his likeability if he'd lied instead of Mufasa in those two examples, so that's okay.

But 2) There's a moment where Obasi tells Taka to lie about not saving his mother. And Taka specifically protests, "that's deceitful!" And then his father says something profound like "deception is the currency of kings," I can't remember exactly how he phrases it. And you can go, "oh, that's where Taka learned to lie." But no, he already lied, before that moment, when he let Mufasa win the race. So his character didn't need his dad to teach him that. And it weakens the consistency of him, as a character, to have the nobility that recognizes and dislikes deception...but then he overcomes that nobility? That weakens the strength of his personality and consistency of his character. If he starts out getting what he wants through deception, he shouldn't later demonstrate a distaste for deception that he needs to be talked out of.

Mufasa has some of the same issues, but I think they were much more consistent and stronger with his characterization.

There's at least one big flaw, though. The Mufasa we meet in The Lion King has inherited good kingly traits from the kings who came before him. That's very strongly implied about his character. One of the first things he says to Simba is cyclical: this idea that they're part of a long line of kings and one day his time will end and Simba's will begin, adding to the chain. Then there's obviously his lesson about the Great Kings of the Past, and how his own father is the one who passed that down.

So Mufasa isn't supposed to be disconnected from a lineage of great kings. He's not supposed to be "a nobody who became great." He's supposed to be the faithful torch-carrier of a long line of noble values, an upholder of a timeless responsibility, trying to pass that on to his son.

So it was already a pretty dumb choice to make him, functionally, a peasant orphan. I think making him a peasant actually would've been fine, but his parents should've been teaching him, in some way, what a great King is like, anyway. For some reason. But they don't. They teach him about a magical dream land, instead.

Other arcs they start with Mufasa, but contradict or fumble as the movie goes on:

Needs to learn bravery (or self-confidence; that's more of what the movie leans toward)

Needs to learn to have faith in more than what he sees

Needs to learn to take responsibility for what he can do

I like the third one, because it echoes Simba in the original movie. I like the first one, because, like the third one, it implies that there is a "Real Identity" inside of you that you need to embrace instead of stubbornly insisting you know better—and that, too, is like the original Lion King. I definitely love the second arc, because it's the whole core of why that lesson, "whenever you feel alone," from the original, is important. It was important for Simba, it needs to be important for Mufasa.

But they just sort of lazily do all these things. It's not clear that Mufasa struggles with self-confidence because that trait is so inconsistent. Sure, he struggles to jump to his mom in the beginning of the movie—he thinks he's not strong enough to make the leap—but he does not struggle with self-confidence when it's time to save Eshe from big bad lions. He rushes right in. You could say that's his Real Self pushing through the insecurity. But the counter-argument to that would be, "okay, then when he was a cub, why was he so self-confident about winning a place in the Pride when Obasi is threatening him?" He struggles with self-confidence when it comes to Sarabi. But then does not struggle with it when he rallies other animals to the cause. Then again, he struggles with his own worthiness the very moment they declare him their king.

I think you could stretch, and say, "Mufasa's confidence only makes an appearance when he has to fight for something bigger than himself. Being King was about his own worthiness, so he got insecure. But rallying the animals was more about how he could help them, so he didn't think about his insecurities in that moment." But I still think they could've made that much clearer.

The "Faith in more than what he sees" arc, he never really struggled with. He learns it from his parents when he imagines Milele, instead of being able to see it. Then he uses it to imagine what other animals are like instead of focusing on his own experience or just lions. Then he uses it practically when it's time to learn to hunt. Then it helps him observe things nobody else can see, like prey in the snow or how close their enemies are. Then he uses it to trust that Milele is out there somewhere and his dreams are more than dreams, thanks to Rafiki. Then he uses it to notice a rock that kills the bad guy.

The thing is, as great as that is, it just wasn't sharp and clear enough in the movie. It's a very strong characterization, but there's not enough tight focus on it. There aren't any scenes where Mufasa is believably struggling with believing that Milele is out there. There aren't any scenes where he decides to go in a different direction because he just doesn't trust his dreams. There aren't any scenes where the lions with him make a point of ridiculing him for trusting the empathy he feels but can't see in other animals.

There's just a few halfhearted stabs at all those potential scenes, but they're too fast and feel like they come out of nowhere. Also, Mufasa's never shown to be believably fighting faith. He just mumbles about his doubts in like two scenes, but all his actions are immediately faith-based and rewarded.

He also doesn't struggle with taking responsibility. He has one throwaway line to Eshe which nobody, including the audience and Eshe herself, is convinced by: something like "maybe I like being a stray, I don't envy Taka the responsibility of being King." But he takes responsibility immediately any time the opportunity comes up. No hesitation.

Thanks for the question!

Edit: I don't follow many other blogs, and the ones I do don't post analyses-only. But @doverstar is my sister and does great posts about lots of things, and so does @sunkissedliterarylightofchrist

[laurancezvahlslefteyebrow]

TRAVIS TIME TRAVIS TIME

i had such a hard time drawing him i was so scared i wasn’t doing him justice 😭

headcanon time babeyy

His natural form is a cross between human and demon, naturally. he only allows himself to be like this when he’s alone or with Eseryt. He’s at his most powerful like this (not including demon form), as shapeshifting causes strain if he holds it for too long.

He can shape shift into any living creature, but he cannot turn into specific people.

His father has the ability to enter his mind and puppet him around if his defenses are down. In order for Travis to be weak enough for this, he must have put some strain on his power, like holding his human form for too long *wink wink*

When his father is in control of his body, his eyes turn from green to purple.

Transforming into his demon form puts a great strain on his body, and can be very painful. He only willingly does it if he absolutely needs a power boost.

His mother, Olle Valkrum, was trained her whole life to fight the Demon Warlock. He had been feuding with her family and their island since Enki’s time. Olle, being a descendant of Enki himself.

The Demon Warlock one day disguised himself as a man named Micheal and whooed Olle. He spent months gaining her trust as Micheal, while simultaneously fighting her as the Demon Warlock as to not draw attention. Eventually Olle became pregnant and gave birth to Travis. Appalled at this inhuman creature she created, this is when Micheal revealed himself to be the Demon Warlock all along. Olle raised Travis to the best of her abilities, training him the same way she herself had been trained, until one fateful day when she lost her life.

Shortly after everyone returned from the Irene Realm (which he of course had no idea about), he started having dreams of a girl with red hair and a scarred face. He could interact with her, but he could not touch, speak to, or hear her.

A while after the dreams began, he came across this very girl in the woods one day. Assuming it was a trick by his father, he rushed her. Though later she revealed herself to be Eseryt Yrva, a girl who’s group crashed on Enki Island and were just looking for a way out.

He and Eseryt eventually became very close and romantically involved. No Travlyn doesn’t happen (sorry guys). It never felt right to me. Not only was Katelyn always mean to Travis, but I’ve always thought she was a lesbian. (She is in my rewrite)

Travis is NOT a creepy perv!!! He’s just socially awkward and doesn’t understand social norms or ques. He doesn’t have much of a filter and will often unintentionally make people uncomfortable or offend them, though he always means well.

His lack of filter is part of why Es likes him. He’s honest, which is rare.

He’s a lot smarter than he lets on, or that people give him credit for. He has a lot of time to himself, which he spends reading and researching. He also is an incredibly skilled fighter and survivalist.

He’s never been fond of fighting. Much more preferring things like reading, writing, and painting. He’ll paint or write about whatever he sees around him.

Once he learns certain social norms and ques, he sticks to them religiously. He only wants to make people feel ok and safe around him.

He’d sacrifice himself for the people he cares about in a heartbeat a thousand times over and over again. trait he gained from his mother.

Travis was born female but shortly after he was born, he physically shifted to male and stayed that way. He can shift between male and female (or neither/both) at will, but prefers to present as male.

He generally uses he/him but doesn’t mind they/them. But please not It. That makes him feel more disconnected from his human side.

[krikzilla]

What is One Piece even about🙄

Guys i draw yalls requests n then forget to upload them😭😭 I hope ppl who requested these will see this💔

[micksture]

hello i’m back on the grind and today i bring you the fullbody refs i nearly did a backflip over 🌞 hope you’ll like em

notes under the cut

CHARLIE

- Former Princess of Hell. She resigned from her role and place in the royal home because if she didn’t, she wouldn’t be able to fulfill her dream of redeeming Sinners. Her parents had different plans and expectations for her, and deem her as an embarrassment. Charlie lived in a dingy apartment and worked a couple of jobs for a few years to gather money. She struggled, but she finally earned enough to afford an empty, run down building. At the start, she and the gang will have to start rebuilding and renovating it to make the hotel she planned to build :p

- More goat motifs (ears, nose, horns, pupils, legs and hooves)

- Doll-like joints, which make her movements awkward and robotic at times

- Fangs and buck teeth <3

- Fluffy, puffy hair!!! The color is a mix of Lucifer’s hair back when he was still an angel (golden) and the hair he has now, after falling (red)

- One snake on each side of her head. Both of them are different species and have different personalities. They’re also super venomous, but she doesn’t rlly use that ability

- A mole under her left eye because I just couldn’t help myself hehe

- Tail that she can’t retract and has all the time. It’s a bit too short and just bothers her most of the time by accidentally knocking stuff over

- A blue ‘blouse’ (it’s actually a long sleeve top with buttons printed onto it, kinda like those silly faux tuxedo t-shirts) and shoes with accents of the same color, as any variant of blue is a vital part of the very loose dress code for the hotel’s workers. She also wears blue earrings and always adds a bit of blue to her makeup :3

- Other than that I think her outfit is pretty much similar? At least to the Pilot one

- I tried to sneak in some hearts to her design and just overall make her look friendly and awkward lolz

VANHI

- Former Exorcist angel. She gained consciousness during an extermination and was discarded solely because of that fact. Exorcists are programmed to be killing machines that feel nothing and don’t ask questions, so when they gain consciousness (which is very rare), their higher ups – so Lute and Adam – get rid of them. Vanhi was found by Charlie two days later, miraculously still alive. Charlie rushed her back to her apartment and slowly nursed her back to health, recognising her as an angel, but not an Exorcist. They’ve known each other for 3 yrs now, and they took some time to grow fond of each other but they’re getting there

- Obviously, the name change… She did used to be called Vaggie (when she was still an angel), changed it after being banished from the holy troops and left behind in Hell

- STRRRONG 💪💪💪💪 probs the strongest one out of the main six characters, at least physically

- Lots of scars all over her body from previous battles

- Long teased hair put up in a high ponytail for practical reasons. The black tips are dyed. Also RACOON TAIL!!!!!!!!

- Some moth motifs, like the antennas that mimic a bow and also her hair kinda resembles the wings of a moth when it is down.

- A funky ahoge (I think that’s what it’s called..) that looks like a halo :3

- A different eyepatch + protective gloves

- She wears a pink and white striped pullover under her blue shirt and she also has mismatched socks 👾

- Angelic spear, obvi.. its’ handle is a little bent in the middle, because Adam tried to snap it in half for dramatic effect and failed LMFAOJEBW BOZO

ANGEL DUST

- He’s a famous pornstar under Valentino’s contract, and he has been for some time now. Before that, he’d perform in clubs

- Lots of Valentino’s influence in his choice of clothing: shorts, boots, the black top, pink gloves + fur scarf, rings and the collar. The only thing that wasn’t gifted to him by the overlord is the pinstriped shirt and hat that he’s had since the very arrival in Hell. ALSO SHOUTOUT TO MY FRIEND FOR THIS IDEA: the buttons on his suit are little flies because he’s a spider!!!!!!

- Six eyes, four arms (but he can also grow out two more), pedipalps and abdomen to rlly play into the spider theme

- His teeth are stained with Val’s red saliva

- He has lots of toned pink spots all over his body. I couldn’t rlly decide on an exact design for his markings and I felt like there was already a lot happening on him so I just went with little pink speckles

- Very fluffy :v

ALASTOR

- Powerful Overlord that came back from his seven years of radio silence to invest in the biggest flop of a project in Hell and stick around, seemingly just to laugh at its’ failure

- Toned down colors yay

- Long, pinstriped crimson suit worn over a beige dress shirt, 1930s inspired shoes (they still have the silly hoof prints on the bottom don’t worry) and a tie because I’m sick of the bazillion bowties 👿👿👿

- Voice box located between the top of the knot of his tie and the bottom of his high neck ruff. He often uses it to speak without moving his mouth

- The two sharp ridges that peek from under his neck ruff and have a white glow to them are actually a part of a collar. He’s forced to wear it because of his deal. It’s made of angelic metal, so he can’t really take it off anyway

- For the deer features, I changed his ears to be a little more deer-like, made his antlers bigger and gave him a deer nose :p He has a tail and hooves too but he hides them as much as possible

- No fuckass bob 🙏

- Couldn’t help myself and gave him a pencil mustache 🕴️

- Staff inspired by a 1930s microphone. It can be shortened to a regular mic or expanded to work as a cane!! It's a sentient being and it often adds to situations/conversations by playing sound effects. And yes it does have tiny antlers hehe

- Different monocle

- Some green accents because his magic is green idk

HUSK

-A former Overlord, long past his prime. His enjoyment of Alastor’s 7 year absence was short lived – now, he has to deal with even more annoying people in the hotel. He works the bar and because of Charlie’s request he’s allowed to only fix up mocktails instead of real alcoholic drinks

- Based his design on a mainecoon cat, so he’s super fluffy. Lots and lots of fur, which is unkempt because he gave up on trying to care for it a while ago

- Owl wings. His right wing is clipped (because of the deal with Alastor) and he can no longer fly. He can’t even expand this wing to its’ full length without having to painfully strain it to get it to move out even a little bit

- boy why u so eyebrow…….

- I live for chubby Husk <3

- A bunch of scars

- A rough beard and a droopy mustache

- A stained, patterned blue shirt with rolled up sleeves and a missed button at the top, tiny magician hat, black pants + suspenders and a green cloth to wipe empty glasses

- Give this poor man a break…

NIFFTY

- Used to work at a tailor shop and one day, she came across Alastor when he went in to get his suit fixed after a fight. Rather than being presented with a deal offer, she offered her soul to him herself. He agreed, of course, but he was so weirded out by this that he decided to spare her life to further observe her antics. They’ve grown fond of each other and now have a father-daughter relationship of sorts

- I rlly leaned into the idea of her being a bug… She’s a grasshopper/ant mix, so she has antennae and mandibles

- Fluffy, glowy hair that she curls with hair rollers every day

- Green eye (same shade as her dress)

- Freckles :3

- Big patterned dress, a matching head scarf, blue apron and blue cleaning gloves

[teecupangel]

i know you have so much on your plate rn but i can't stop thinking about Ezio-era Baker!Desmond and the shenanigan layers of ✨intrigue✨ going on with Ezio and Leo thinking he’s Giovani's bastard, and Maria inviting him to the villa on a whim ’cause she thinks her kids (and Leo) like the pastries, and Desmond misinterpreting absolutely everything because that boy is a Wreck™

what comes of it, tho?? is Desmond trying to alter history more than just pre-inventing exotic baked goods? is he already having to dodge assassins around Italy while trying to protect the Auditore family, getting on Giovani's radar and spooking him ’cause he can't figure out what branch he's from? or is Desmond holed up in his bakery trying very hard NOT to change anything ’cause hey he’d already saved the world he’d like to not fuck things up bad enough to have to do it again?

does Giovani catch a glimpse of him at some point (either just in the bakery or while Desmond’s out being assassin-y), and instead of thinking he looks like himself or Ezio (since this would be before Ezio gets the scar), thinks he looks eerily like the statue of Altaïr? as another layer of shenanigan, he could come to Leonardo with the idea of time travel but thinks that Desmond is from the PAST rather than the FUTURE, and Leo spends the whole convo trying not to blurt that he thinks/knows Desmond is GIOVANI'S kid

just. the confusion of this au speaks to me, since it’s ALMOST crack-y but also these fools are canonically FOOLS, and i love the way you blend angst with shenanigans. im also shippy at heart, so would love to see your take on that in this au if you have the time 👀

(thank you for reading, i hope you're doing well! 🧡)

As long as you guys are find that your asks are getting answered a month later, I’m alright with adding more to my plate XD (just to be clear, this is a first-in-first-out basis for both asks and replies/reblogs and I’m only about to clear Oct 13 XD)

The original Desmond becomes a baker in Renaissance Italy and gets mistaken as Giovanni’s illegitimate child idea for those curious.

In this one, Desmond only went as far as stop the Auditores from being arrested by dropping key documents showing Uberto’s treachery to the Medici. He stayed as far away as he could from the Auditores and only dropped off the evidence in Lorenzo’s bedside table one day, slipping into the darkness. Anyone who saw him actually thought he was a monk since he was wearing a monk’s attire (which he burned afterwards). This does lead to Giovanni and the thieves guild looking for him after since he hasn’t done any other Assassin related stuff and was simply living his life as a baker, they’re hitting a dead end. Desmond doesn’t plan to do anything else since he believes that the Auditores would be able to handle it from here and he’s betting on Giovanni finally starting Ezio’s training after learning that the Templars are after his family.

Giovanni’s first glimpse of him is when he checked the bakery from afar since his family seemed to like it so much. He just wanted to make sure it wouldn’t post any danger to his family and maybe even talk to La Volpe into adding it to the thieves’ patrol route just so they would have eyes on the bakery at all time. It’s gotten so popular that the Medici are even thinking of ordering from them so Giovanni figured he should do reconnaissance before it got to that point. When he saw Desmond, he doesn’t see the similarities between them, he saw Desmond looking a lot like the statue of Altaïr and he freaks out. Because, unlike Ezio or Leonardo, he does have an inkling of how powerful Those Who Come Before were. He has seen the Shroud and he has heard the tales of how Altaïr had mastered one of their weapons. And… if the Shroud could heal all and any injuries then… In this case, Giovanni doesn’t think Desmond is a time traveler, he thinks Desmond is Altaïr himself who has gained immortality thanks to the ‘powers’ of Those Who Come Before.

Thank you! I honestly like writing these ideas where it’s crack but not crack enough that it’s a bit confusing XD

[mcytadventevent]

mungbean is creating for Day Twenty One!

Prompt: Sky / Stars

Her piece is written, featuring all of the life series members!

Credit Links:

https://archiveofourown.org/users/madame_mungbean

https://www.instagram.com/madame_mungbean

(Piece below the cut!)

 Left No Crumbs

Flurries of white specks fell from the void above. The frigid temperatures had teeth sharp enough to bite through the thickness of his coat and puncture his skin, while each breath produced a puff of fog. He trudged through dense snow, arms quivering while staggered street lights pop on as the sun sinks below the horizon. His face was numb when he finally arrived at the door of Lizzie and Joel’s house, where all the Lifers had decided to gather before Christmas. They wanted to craft, help decorate, and just spend time together in the off-season, since some of them would be busy during the holiday and some were going out of town.

After a simple knock, the door swung open to a welcoming expression. Lizzie. She was dressed in a purple sweater. “BigB! You made it!” Catching his gaze on her outfit, she stretched the sweater before her. The long-sleeve contained an abstract silhouette of a small person with wings. Various colored, mini pom poms were glued around it, and the whole thing was overly garnished with glitter. “What do you think? Pretty ugly right? It’s supposed to be an angel.” She stepped aside to let him in.

It did look hideous, but something about the placement of the fuzzy balls reminded BigB of flowers, and with it, past memories. “It looks more like a fairy to me.” He stepped past her, hanging his coat with the pile of others on the hooks by the door. Swinging around, he gestured to his own sweater. “What do you think of mine? Eh…? Eh…?”

His green sweater held drawn strings of multicolored lights across it and a melted cookie with a wonky face at its center. “Oh… it’s wonderful!” Lizzie exaggerated, gaining a laugh from BigB. Lizzie waved a hand. “The rest of them are in here.” She guided him through the house and into a conjoined dining and living room filled with laughter, bickering, light music, and familiar faces. The refreshing scent of pine danced in the air, along with a faint smell of cinnamon and vanilla.

“BigB!” numerous voices welcomed, then returned to their activities.

Grian, Scar, Etho, and Bdubs were circled around a board game on the living room floor. Behind them was an L-shaped couch that faced a fireplace and an empty pine tree. Cleo sat cross-legged on the couch, munching on a bowl of popcorn while watching Martyn, Ren, Scott, and Jimmy sorted through ornaments from a tote box on each side of the pine and placing them on a small table. A short step ladder also rested beside the tree for later decorating of the top. Behind them all stood a wooden dining table where Gem, Pearl, Impulse, Skizz, Tango, and Mumbo played various games, such as Jenga and Uno.

“Now if you’ll excuse me…” Lizzie began. “I must attend to the-”

“Cookies?” BigB finished with the peak of his brow.

“How’d you know?”

Tapping his nose, BigB jokingly responded, “My nose can smell cookies from miles away.”

Lizzie laughed as she exited the room, leaving BigB in the room of growing chaos. Martyn was the first to call him over, “Hey BigB! Want to help us decorate the tree?”

“Sure!”

Grian exchanged a smile with BigB as he passed the group on the floor. Scar flung Grian a side eye, while popping a small peppermint candy cane into his mouth, “Well, Grian? Make your next move, carefully.”

“This game is too long,” Grian complained, tossing a pair of dice on the Monopoly board and moving his metallic hat across its properties.

Scar smiled all too brightly, leaning towards him with a wink, “But we can finally have a monopoly.”

“What makes you think this will turn out any different than our previous attempts?” Grian shot back.

Lizzie re-entered the room with a large plate of cookies. She crossed the loud space, placing the dish on a small table that sat on the border of both rooms. “Excuse me everyone!” Lizzie attempted through the cacophony of voices. “Excuse me!” She waited till all heads turned to her, most of them did. “Do not eat the cookies until I get back!”

“You got it!” Martyn shouted from beside the tree. She nodded towards him and escaped the room.

On the floor, Scar was next to move his pawn across the Monopoly board when he landed on a sensitive space: Liverpool St. Station. “I think I’ll purchase this railroad,” he announced, placing his money in the bank.

“NO!” Bdubs screamed. “YOU CAN’T HAVE THAT TRAIN! THAT’S MINE!”

“Now Bdubs, that’s not how business works,” Scar crossed his arms with the shake of his head.

“HOW COULD YOU! THAT WAS MY ONLY PURPOSE IN THIS GAME! I WANTED ALL THE TRAINS!”

“So how about,” Etho interjected. “I make you a deal, Scar.”

Scar’s brows raised at the word “deal” as he scooted a little closer. “I’m listening…”

Grian perked up, “No, Etho. Don’t make a deal with him. He’ll find some way to scam you.”

Scar sifted through his property cards. “Now Grian, Etho wants to make a deal. Let the man speak.”

“I’ll trade you Vine Street if you give Bdubs his last railroad,” Etho proposed.

“Well, you see, Liverpool St. Station costs more than Vine Street. However, if you throw in Marlborough Street, we have a deal.”

“Then you’ll have all three orange properties.”

“Those are my terms.” Scar shrugged with a crafty smile.

“Alright, give Bdubs Liverpool St. Station, give me The Angel Islington, and I’ll give you both Vine Street and Marlborough Street.” Etho finalized.

Scar scratched his chin before extending his palm towards Etho. “Deal.” They shook hands, then exchanged cards.

Upon receiving his, Bdubs illuminated, almost bouncing as his grin widened. “THANK YOU ETHO!” He threw his arms around the man. “ISN’T HE JUST THE BEST!” Etho glanced away, offering no change in expression.

Joel entered the room and passed them with a tray of steaming mugs and a bag of marshmallows. Bdubs perked up, like a dog at the sound of his favorite toy. “IS THAT HOT CHOCOLATE!” His head snapped to Etho, locking gaze. “ETHO, YOU WANT ONE?” Etho shrugged. “I’LL TAKE THAT AS A YES!” Bdubs jumped to his feet and raced after the hot chocolate.

Joel set the tray on the dining table and called out for the room to hear, “Hot chocolate has arrived!”

Gem sprang to her feet, abandoning her Uno match with Pearl. As she did so, her knee knocked into the table, collapsing the intense game of Jenga beside her and causing an eruption of complaints. “Sorry guys,” she shrugged. “Hot chocolate.” Skizz stood next, followed by Tango. Skizz grabbed a second mug for Impulse while Tango got one for Mumbo.

“Hey Joel!” Ren called from across the room, positioned beside the tree.

“Yea?” Joel swung around to face him.

“We got the lights on, but do you have a piece for the top?”

Joel put a finger to his chin. “No, I don’t believe so.”

From the floor, Grian stood, puffing out his chest confidently. “Make way everyone, for I am the star!”

A handful of chuckles emitted from multiple people, while Martyn playfully responded, “Oh yeah? Then what are you doing on the floor? You’re supposed to be in the tree!”

“You’re not shiny either,” Jimmy added.

“Just watch, I’ll show off my brilliance!” Grain said, walking to a box by the pine, pulling out a strand of lights, and entangling himself in them.

Jimmy giggled, “What are you doing?”

Determined, Grain ignored him, hiding the step ladder behind the tree and ascending it. When his knees appeared above the tree, he threw his arms in opposite directions and widened his stance as far as the ladder allowed, assuming the shape of a star.

“Quick, someone plug him in!” Martyn shouted.

Joel raced to the back of the tree, grabbing an extension cord on the way. He took the plug dangling off Grian, connected it to his cord, and inserted it into an outlet—cueing a mixture of awes and laughter—and darted to the front.

“How do I look?” Grian asked, wrapped unevenly in dazzling white lights.

“Stunning!” Mumbo chuckled from the crowd of laughter that had gathered around the base of the tree to witness Grian’s shenanigans.

“Well, the tree is not going to decorate itself,” Grian urged light-heartedly.

A handful of people grabbed ornaments and placed them on the tree. Keeping his arms extended, Grian carefully repositioned himself, balancing on one leg and extending the other. For a split second, Jimmy thought he saw wings in Grian’s shadow, but he guessed it must have been the trick of the light. He watched as Martyn nearly placed a shiny red ornament on the tree when Grian glanced down and whispered, “Not right there…”

Martyn playfully said, “Oh why, all seeing one?”

Grian responded, “There’s too much red there, move it someplace else.”

The laughter continued until Tango emitted a loud and unsettling gasp. A cold breeze whisked through the room, snuffing out the only candle on the dining table. Everyone fell silent, turning to face Tango as the crackling fire laughed from the hearth. “The cookies are gone!”

“What!” Joel shoved his way past the crowd to find an empty plate on the small table that Lizzie had left them on. He placed his hands on his hips and faced the group. “Alright, who ate my wife’s cookies?”

Everyone glanced towards each other, but no one responded.

Grian stepped forth, clearing his throat. “Ahem, it looks like this calls for…”  he fisted his hands before his chest, securing a brown trench coat around his shoulders, a Deerstalker hat on his head, and straightened the glasses on his face. Removing a magnifying glass from an inside coat pocket, he threw it into the air. “An investigation!”

Jimmy rubbed his eyes, blinking a few times. Since when did Grian get a coat? Let alone down from the tree and untangled from the lights so quickly? He glanced around, but no one questioned it except for Mumbo who giggled, “Nice magnifying glass.”

Grian smiled, stepping beside Joel. “Alright. No one leaves this room until we find the perpetrator. Now… who’s got information regarding this incident?”

“PEARL WAS CLOSEST!” Bdubs exploded.

Pearl threw her hands up in defense, “Yeah, like I ate all those cookies in one go.”

“So there’s an accomplice…” Giran thought aloud, tapping his chin. “Maybe multiple.”

“It’s probably BigB,” Ren commented.

Everyone turned around, staring at BigB in his cookie sweater. He stared back at them, narrowing his eyes. “That’s just cold.”

“Skizz is looking pretty guilty right now,” Cleo chuckled from somewhere in the group. The crowd turned to Skizz. Fidgeting his fingers, his eyes widened as he glanced at all the staring faces.

“Okay! Everyone sit on the couch!” Grian instructed. People squeezed themselves onto the large couch, some sitting on the floor while others sat on the arms of the couch. Grian pulled over a wooden chair from the dining room and placed it in front for all to see. “Pearl you’re first, come sit in the chair.”

“Uh, okay.” She rose from the floor and sat in the chair. Joel flipped the light switches, transforming the room into a void where only one ceiling light cast a ray over the chair Pearl sat in, and the wavering light from the fireplace dimly illuminated the rest of the crew gathered on the couch.

“So,” Grian began. “What were you doing when Lizzie delivered the cookies?”

“Playing Uno with Scott and Cleo.”

“And then what happened?”

“Well, Scott went back to help decorate the tree and Cleo left to refill her snack.”

“Did you see either of them take a cookie?”

“Nope. Although, I continued playing Uno with Gem, so I didn’t see them afterwards.”

“Did either of you leave the table after that?” Grian turned his back to her.

“Yea, I went to the bathroom after Joel came with hot chocolate.”

Grian whipped around, throwing a finger at her. “Ah ha!”

“Please don’t start that again,” Martyn teased from the couch.

“But I didn’t take a cookie,” Pearl defended. “I came back and sat on the couch with Cleo and Gem.”

“Hmmm…” Grian rubbed a finger under his chin. “Then I call Cleo to the chair.”

~ ~ ~

“So,” Grian stood before the chair, pushing up his glasses. “What did you do after Scott left for the tree?”

Cleo stared into his soul, her eyes the look of death. “Went to the kitchen, got myself some more popcorn, sat on the couch and watched the chaos.”

Grian nodded. “Valid. No further questions.”

“WHAT?” Jimmy’s voice rang from the couch. Cleo only laughed. “But she could have easily left something out!”

“I’ll ask the questions here.” Grian jabbed a thumb to his chest. “Plus, she had to mom Monopoly for us.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well…”

~ ~ ~

Around the Monopoly board, once more, sat Grian, Scar, Bdubs, and Etho.

“Scar, stop harboring the money!” Grian complained—an untouched hot chocolate sitting beside him. “You’re supposed to give us two hundred dollars when we pass GO.”

“Uh, uh, uh,” Scar waved his finger. “You did not remind the bank, and your turn has passed. That’s not my fault.”

“YOU’RE SCAMMING US!” Bdubs attempted to swipe the money from Scar’s hand, but Scar moved it from his reach.

“You’re a horrible banker.” Grian crossed his arms.

Scar smiled. “Actually, it’s just how business works.”

Grian stared him in the eye. “Let me be the banker.”

Scar splayed his palms over his organized money set up. “No! I chose to be the banker first!”

“And I’m regretting it. Hand over the money!”

“How do I know you won’t do the same or worse!”

Cleo pushed herself up, abandoning her bowl of popcorn on the couch, and stepped between the two bickering children. She sat, squeezing herself between them and forcing them to scoot over. “That’s it. I’m the banker now.”

“YAY!” Bdubs threw his hands into the air.

Scar griped, “Ah Cleo… please don’t!” He sent a pleading expression to the man ahead of him. “Etho, tell her-”

Etho shook his head. “I’ve got no say in this.” Cleo nodded in approval.

Scar’s head drooped as he handed the money he kept from Bdubs to Cleo. “But Grian was the Bad Boy, not me!”

~ ~ ~

“Huh,” Jimmy said from the couch. “I don’t know how I missed that whole interaction.”

Grian’s eyes narrowed towards Jimmy. “Sus. But I’ll come back to you later.” He adjusted his hat and pointed his magnifying glass at one person. “Scott! Your next to the chair.” Scott exchanged places with Cleo. He plopped in the seat, arms crossed. “So, tell me your run through of the story, starting with your match of Uno.”

Scott locked eyes with Grian, reciting his story, “I played Uno with Cleo and Pearl. Left to help untangle a strand of lights for the tree, then stayed to sort ornaments with Ren. You should know, I was by the tree and your crazy Monopoly game the whole time.”

Scott purposefully left Jimmy’s name from the story in hopes Grian would forget about him, but Grian targeted him anyway. “And Jimmy was a part of that, right?

“Yes, bu-”

“Jimmy! Come to the chair!”

Scott released a sigh of frustration, and stood—arms still crossed. “What about you, Grian? How do we know you aren’t the one to blame?”

“He has a point.” Martyn chimed in. “This could all be a set up to blame someone else.”

Grian set his magnifying glass on the table of ornaments and plopped in the chair. “Fine.”

But Jimmy saw something different. When Grian sat in the chair, he sat in his ugly sweater from before his wardrobe change. No long coat, no hat, just his red sweater wrapped in a green tinsel garland. Jimmy blinked a few times. “How did yo-”

“So Grian!” Martyn stood, allowing Scott to take his place on the couch next to Jimmy. “What were you doing during the cookie incident?”

“Playing Monopoly, until I became a star.”

Martyn studied him when Impulse called from the couch, “He came to get hot chocolate.”

“Yea, he did,” Tango confirmed.

“So,” Martyn stroked his chin. “Leaving something out of the story, are we?”

Grian sighed. “I wasn’t gone that long. I chatted with BigB briefly, got hot chocolate, then went back to Monopoly.”

From the couch, Scar narrowed his eyes; his heart chipped once more. Grian’s words confirmed his suspicion. Grian had met with BigB in secret, again.

Martyn swung around to spot BigB sitting on the floor. “Can you affirm his alibi?”

BigB nodded. “We talked about which ornaments would look best on the tree.”

Scar sighed with relief. He remembered it was nearly Christmas. His mind was still stuck in the games that he forgot BigB was no longer a threat, he was a friend.

Martyn shrugged. “Seems clean to me.” He sat on the floor in front of Scott and Jimmy as Grian rose from the chair.

“Alright, back to business.” Grian adjusted the coat on his shoulders, leaving Jimmy to wonder if he was imagining all of this. Grian picked up his magnifying glass from the table and swung around, tipping the brim of his hat to face Jimmy. “Now back to Tim!” Beside Jimmy, Scott rolled his eyes—his distraction had failed. What did he expect, Grian never cut Jimmy any slack.

~ ~ ~

Jimmy shifted in the chair awkwardly, and Grian leaned towards him, magnifying glass over his eye. “What are you hiding Timmy?”

“This is just an uncomfortable chair,” Jimmy laughed nervously.

With the magnifying glass, Grian moved to the side of Jimmy’s face, less than an inch away, analyzing any change in his facial features. He noted a single bead of sweat dripping from the suspect’s temple.

“OKAY! OKAY! It was Scott!” Jimmy finally burst.

“JIMMY!” Scott shot to his feet, throwing him a look of betrayal. One Jimmy has seen before, so he knew this one was more playful than previous.

“Go on Tim,” Grian pushed, still looking at him through the glass. Jimmy had to pull his head back to avoid being touched by the thing.

“When Scott came over to help me untangle a strand of lights, he brought each of us a cookie, so we ate them.”

Scott said, “Yeah, but they were the only ones I took. The rest of the cookies were still there!”

Grian tapped the magnifying glass in the palm of his other hand. “So, there are more cookie thieves.” He scanned the couch, studying each face, eyes landing on a familiar anxious expression. “Mumbo.”

Mumbo nearly jolted. “Uh, yea?”

“To the chair!” Grian directed him with the point of his finger. “You know something.”

“Uh, I highly doubt that.”

“Mhm,” Grian pursed his lips, nodding. Mumbo sat neatly in the chair. “Now tell Mumbo, what were you doing during this crime?”

“Well, uh, after Gem knocked over our, uh, Jenga match, we played Clue an-”

“Ironic… who did it?”

“What does that hav-”

“Who did it, Mumbo?” Grian leaned closer, magnifying glass nearing Mumbo’s face.

“Um… Colonel Mustard.”

“And who was that?”

“I don’t really see how…” Mumbo trailed off as Grian came uncomfortably closer, removing the magnifying glass between them, narrowing his eyes in a fixed gaze. Mumbo’s eyes darted around the room until he cracked. “Skizz. It was Skizz.”

Grian whipped around. “Skizz! You’re next!”

~ ~ ~

“Now what’s your story?” Grian stood before the chair, crossing his arms with a skeptical glare.

“The same as Mumbo’s. I was playing Jenga, then Clue.”

Grian noticed the way Skizz’s eyes looked past him for a split second. “And your group involved Tango, Mumbo, and Impulse, correct?”

“Correct,” Skizz nodded.

“Then, am I safe to assume your whole group took a cookie?”

“What?” Skizz rubbed his arm, and avoided eye contact. “Why would you say that?”

Grian paced before Skizz. “According to Pearl, she and Gem left the dining table to join Cleo on the couch. And while I was busy shining for everyone at the top of the tree, Joel was the first to join us from the table while the rest of you straggled your way over.” Skizz glanced towards Tango who looked away, Mumbo who scratched the back of his head, and Impulse who just shrugged. “So…” Grian ceased his strides, turning to Skizz. He grabbed the arms of the chair with a glare. “I’ll ask one more time, did your group take the cookies, Skizz?”

Skizz whipped his head away from Grian’s expression. “YES! Yes we did! We, we saw the cookies on the table, and, and Impulse said, ‘Why not,’ so we each took one and ate them!” Grian straightened, brushing his hands with a “job-well-done” and a smile on his face. Skizz released a large breath, “Oh, that felt good.” And for a moment, Impulse swore he saw a halo appear above Skizz, but it must have been a trick of the single light cast above him.

Joel stood, hands on his hips, and switched his gaze between the group of known cookie thieves. “I can’t believe you all ate them!”

Tango raised his hands in defense. “Now hang on here. We didn’t eat them all either. There were two cookies left. Someone ate those too!”

Martyn raised his hand, rising from the floor, “That would be me. I ate one and took the last to Ren while Grian was busy being a star on the tree. I only saw two and assumed everyone had been eating them, so might as well finish the job, right?”

Cleo added, “Yeah, I ate one when I returned from the kitchen.”

“Me too,” Pearl admitted. “I took one on my way to the bathroom.”  

“And I took one after Pearl left,” Gem stood. “They just looked so good! And you can’t have hot chocolate without a cookie.”

Bdubs sprung up from the floor. “I AGREE. I TOOK ONE FOR ME AND ONE FOR ETHO WITH OUR HOT CHOCOLATES! GRIAN HELPED.”

“Yea, actually…” Grian faced everyone who was now standing. “I took two, one for me and BigB, then took a third to Scar.”

Joel confidently raised his voice. “I also ate one—two actually.”

Gem threw him a curious look. “Joel, you ate them too?”

“Of course!” He rubbed his stomach with both hands. “My wife makes delicious cookies.”

Silence encompassed the room as they all stared at one another…

Until Mumbo spoke. “So… we all ate them…”

“Yup.” Martyn nodded.

“What are we going to do!” Skizz erupted. “Lizzie told us not to eat them yet. We’re greedy, horrible people!”

Impulse gently pat him on the back, offering his support.

Tango turned to Skizz. “Whoa, chill out man. We’ll make up for it. No point in dwelling on the past.”

“Tango’s right,” Etho said. “We have to tell Lizzie when she gets back. It’s the right thing to do.”

An upbeat melody came from the hall. Lizzie’s hum. Everyone faced the open entryway awaiting her arrival. Their heads dropped, holding a guilty posture. Lizzie’s hum ceased not too far from them, and BigB was the first to speak. “Sorry, Lizzie, but… we ate your cooki-” When BigB’s voice cut off, the rest of the group looked up to find Lizzie with a tray of freshly baked cookies in her hands.

She burst into laughter. “I knew you’d all eat them. I was just curious how long it’d take! I made more.” She nodded towards the tray. “And there’s a third batch in the oven now!”

The lights of the dim atmosphere snapped on, encompassing the room with warmth and comfort yet again. Colorful strands of lights illuminated the hearth where a soft fire clapped, and gentle Christmas music played in the background. Was it always playing? Jimmy wasn’t sure, nor did he know who turned on the lights because he didn’t think anyone moved.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Gem exhaled a breath of relief. “I was really worried there for a second.”

Smiles stretched along everyone’s faces as they raced to the tray of cookies, thanking the baker as they each grabbed a warm cookie. When Jimmy arrived at the tray and snatched a cookie, he glanced towards Grian who was dressed in his ugly sweater once again. The mysterious man smiled at him, and Jimmy began, “How did yo-” But Grian put a finger over his lips, taking a cookie and departing from the crowd.

“There’s plenty to go around.” Lizzie beamed as she watched their faces brighten upon each bite of her cookies. “Sharing is what Christmas is all about! Now who is ready to start karaoke?”

~ ~ ~

When Scar finished his solo, he exited the designated stage area—which was in front of the couch—and returned to a spot beside the couch, beside Grian. The crowd clapped at his performance. Sweat dripped from Scar’s forehead. He wiped it with his sleeve and attempted to fan himself, but when that wasn’t enough, he removed his ugly sweater. Grian caught this movement from the corner of his eye and yelled from instinct, “SCAR PUT YOUR CLOTHES BACK ON!” He noticed the white T-shirt Scar had on underneath and smiled. They both burst into laughter, reminiscing old times.

Lizzie stood before the crowd—the tree still unlit behind her, but fully decorated—and picked up the microphone. “Alright, who’s next?”

“That’s us, G.” Joel and Jimmy rose from the couch, each placing on a pair of shades.

Grian nodded towards Scar, who smiled back, and joined his karaoke group. He, too, took out a pair of sunglasses and rested them on his head. The performance began as they attempted to sing “Jingle Bell Rock.” Each of them sang good at first, but they drastically got worse. Their voices fluctuated and cracked on purpose, attempting to reach notes they knew they couldn’t. At the end of the song, they crossed their arms with Jimmy and Joel leaning their backs against Grian who stood in the middle and said, “Bad Boys out,” before dropping the mic.

“Oh, that was great,” Cleo teased.

Martyn clapped. “It was horrendously good.”

Jimmy smiled. “We’re the only awesome band around.”

“OH YEA?” Bdubs shot to his feet. “WELL, I’VE GOT A BAND OF MY OWN!”

Joel said, “Uh huh, And what’s it called?”

“B.E.S.T.! IT STANDS FOR ME, ETHO,” he glanced around the room, laying eyes on two other people. “UH, SKIZZ, AND TANGO!” He got up, beckoning them to join him in the stage area. “COME ON GUYS.”

“Have at it.” The Bad Boys took off their shades, exiting the stage area. Grian whacked Jimmy on the back. When Jimmy looked at him, Grian gave him a smile and nod of approval as the three Bad Boys returned to the couch.

Etho, Skizz, and Tango stepped forward, discussing with Bdubs which song they should do when Bdubs raced off. He shortly returned with pointy elf ears over his own, and shoved a Santa hat on Etho. “SAY IT! SAY IT!”

Etho rolled his eyes. “Alright, just for you.” He cleared his throat, and emitted his deep voice, “Ho, Ho, Ho!”

“THAT WAS PERFECT!” Bdubs pointed towards Lizzie. “NOW CUE THE MUSIC!”

They all began the song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey with the crack of their voices, “Ahh~”

Mixed reactions waved through the crowd. Some “Boos,” some “Oh no’s,” and some closed their ears while others laughed and cheered them on.

When their song ended, Lizzie and Joel had everyone gather around the tree to finally light it for the first time. Everyone counted down, “3…2…1!”

Beautiful white lights illuminated across the pine, highlighting the fun ornaments that garnished it. Jimmy glanced at Scott, finding the multitudes of lights reflected in his eyes—sparkling like stars in a vast night sky—reminding him of some distant memory he couldn’t pinpoint.

People went back to games, karaoke, and cookie eating while Jimmy and Scott stayed by the beautiful tree. Behind them, Grian horribly sang “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas,” while a group composed of Tango, Bdubs, Scar, and Impulse sounded like they were gambling over Lizzie’s cookies. His friends were wild, dramatic, and rambunctious, but it was what he loved about them. 

[artemismoorea03]

Monkies Deserve Better References pt 1

This is a bit of a long one so to save people who follow me for my other series I'm going to put it behind a 'read more' line. Both for that reason and because I couldn't be bothered drawing clothes so the references are naked (not like anything graphic though, they're basically shaped like barbies, don't worry)!

The reference I used I found on pinterest but was made by Toresoza on Twitter for those who want a better high quality version with all the hand shapes will have to find it on Twitter, but for now have this low quality Pinterest one to start out.

Now! Onto the proper references! Keep in mind this is how the characters look from anything before Macaque's Not Alright! There might be some missing scars that the characters should have in canon that they don't have here (namely MK because it was 4 am and I forgot) so they might change slightly but for now here we go!

Let's start with Wukong! First with his glamours up and then with them down! (Peach included because I couldn't get the little shit's hand to work with me so I fed him).

The scar on his brow and cheek would very likely be canon as well as the one on his upper left arm and right elbow which would have all happened during the fight with Nezha.

Included on his face are also the headband scars, burns around his eyes which are red after the Demon Hospital fiasco. Also from the demon hospital fiasco are most of the dark patches on his body (realizing now I missed another burn spot on his inner right forearm that's older than the rest but that's fine). When he was tossed in the forget his fur was magically burned whever it was touching the table which is why he has lines on his tail, wrists and ankles (noticed another mistake on his tail but AGAIN IT WAS LATE LET ME LIVE /lh /j). I'll fix it later but I'm too tired to bother now.

The injuries on his chest and stomach are a mix of the Demon Hospital stuff and MK's Not Alright injuries while the white on his back, shoulders, sides and hips are all from LBD :3

Other details about MDB/MAA Wukong as well as all of the monkeys is that his fur and hair are slightly different shades that are barley noticeable (I'm even questioning if I did it for him but I'm going to hope I did x'D). Wukong is also covered in freckles which he doesn't bother glamouring due to how much energy it would take.

Wukong also shares a bit of a 'dad bod' with Canon Wukong (I'm still learning how to draw weight, so ignore that he looks pregnant he's just supposed to be a little squishy). He is also the tallest of the three monkeys I have done, standing at a super tall /s 5'6" (167 cm/66 in (according to Google)).

-----

Next is Macaque who until I actually did this I thought had the most scars. Nope. His scars are the biggest but he probably has the least amount of scars x'D

Macaque's canon injuries on his chest and eye are visible when he's not glamoured but not nearly as obvious as his newer scars.

On his back is a whip scar that he got from Havoc and Confusion - the timeline on this is messed up and will be edited sooner or later -but it happened when he was quite young and doesn't bother him nearly as much as some of the other scars.

The scar on his right thigh, palms of his hand, horizontally across his chest and through his stomach all came from the Seven-Star Sword.

The three scars across his chest are from Wukong's Not Alright when he was cut down by the giant cat monster. This is also when the edges of his fur started to grow in white when they grew back (he should have a couple of other white patches on his body from smaller injuries but they don't have set spots other than *maybe* in his inner elbows, but again, it's not set).

Then, the final and newest scars are on his hips which he gained during the most recent run in with Confusion.

The white on his fur and in his hair is his 'natural' color from before he was killed the first time (not when Wukong killed him) while the blue is from LBD. The blue will likely never turn fully white but might lighten over time to be a more gray color than blue, but that will take a long time and unless Macis willing to shave himself completely most of his fur will always remain black

Other details about Macaque are his six ears in his unglamoured form which are red, blue and teal based on the colors from the 2009 Monkey King series which also inspired a lot of Macaque's background and life story.

Macaque is the smallest of the three monkeys and stands at 5'3" (160 cm /63.6 In).

--------

Finally, there's MK and oh boy. I didn't realize how much of a break this kid needed after all of this but considering how his scars look I'm about to send him on vacation. A paid vacation with therapy included because holy shit.

After I finished making MK I realized I forgot to look for any canon scars that he would have, but considering most of them would be covered by fur I'm also not in a rush to go through and look through them.

His oldest scar is on his forehead mostly hidden by his hair which is the scar mentioned in the third chapter in the series. From there the scars get bigger and more dramatic the longer it goes on, so let's go through the list.

The scars on his right shoulder is from the snakes that infest the Earth Turtle! Also from his adventure on the Earth Turtle are his top surgery scars which he doesn't glamour (he spends too much time/energy glamouring everything else and he's proud of them, so why bother).

He has a matching wound to Macaque on his lower left stomach (which might be in the wrong spot but again i'm tired) came from Monkies Aren't Alright when Chang Liu stabs him with an immortal killing weapon to have access to what 'makes him tick'.

Then in MK's Not Alright he got attacked by another non-venomous snake that bit his left shin and left deep scarring there as well but oddly enough that was the only scar he gained from that one.

In Wukong's Not Alright he gained two scars, the one through his right shin and the wound to his left shoulder blade.

The rest of the scars - the one on his face, most of the ones on his cheek, chest, back, legs, and tail all came from Macaque's not alright with some other minor scars that I forgot about x'D. They are a mixture of whip wounds, slash wounds and burns all came from Havoc, Ginger and Confusion trying to control him.

Other details include slight discoloration on his fingers from the same torture he went through to get the majority of his scars. Part of his bangs are discolored to be white and he's covered in countless white freckles giving him a very 'starry' appearance to him. (which in a way makes his fur look like space with the scars being shooting stars and planets).

MK is the 'middle' monkey and stands at 5'5" (165cm/65in , only an inch shorter than Wukong.

-----

That's all that I have done right now but I'm hoping to make Loi, Red, Mei, and Nezha at some point as well as Tu, Yuanhou, Mihou, Changpu, Pengu and a super secret fifth option too ;3

That being said, if there are any characters you want me to try to make a reference for, just let me know. These were just some of the ones most requested by my discord and friends so I thought I'd do them first. Once I have the others done though, I'll post them.