#and she goes 'very well then I will be eaten like an animal as well but I'll make sure you choke on me'

[mayasaura]

The way The Locked Tomb uses cannibalism is so interesting, because while it does serve as a metaphor for intimacy, the series only uses it that way when it's cannibalism of the soul. Cannibalism of the flesh is either extremely limited, or straight up horrific.

Like step six of the Eightfold Word. It's literally presented as "consume the flesh," but Ianthe goes out of her way to specify that a single drop of blood is sufficient. The most unhinged act of intimacy in the series, and it's explictly the soul and only the soul being digested.

Human flesh is only consumed in any volume twice: John's post-apocalyptic survival cannibalism, and Harrow's delicious murder soup. Both those scenes are exactly the opposite of intimate, and about as far from erotic as you can get.

John and Alecto gorging themselves on anonymous strangers was debasing to everyone involved, and not something John ever wanted to be reminded of. Harrow's soup was a desperate attempt at self-defense, like an animal in a trap gnawing through her own leg. It horrified and disgusted everyone at the table, even Ianthe, the number one suspect at making it weird.

I love the overall effect of the layered symbolism, because it allows cannibalism to be explored both ways. Seperately, without one connotation implicating the other. Except for Babs, of course, who gets to be both.

[iichfilwypj]

his dreamy girl | percy jackson

ღ percy jackson x daughter of hypnos! reader ღ warnings: i mention a hit? this is pure fluff to me im very bad at this. Also i was falling asleep and i thought of these so it might suck <3 ღ wc: 685 pt 2 - pt 3 - pt 4 - pt 5 - pt 6 - pt 7

“And then he tried to steal my sword! The one that literally comes back to me! How stupid can you be?” his rambles echoed through Cabin 3 that hot, dark night. Some hours earlier, the blue team had won Capture the Flag, and Percy was especially excited to share all the details with her. 

Like every other time, she hadn’t attended; not because she wasn’t skilled with weapons, but because no one had managed to wake her from her nap. When Grover tried, he received a slap and a mumbled, “The horses are hungry”, in response.

So there she was, lying on Percy’s bed in her pajamas with a face mask on, listening to him recount how he had hit Clarisse on the nose, how he had nearly eaten dirt, and how Annabeth had, once again, shoved him into the lake. His voice was extremely high-pitched, and she was on the verge of bursting into tears.

That was something she hated about being a daughter of Hypnos. Although her father had blessed her with the divine power to control her dreams –and believe me, being a demigod, that was very, very nice–, he also gifted her with a constant sense of fatigue. At breakfast? She was tired. Lunch? She was tired. Oh, she just woke up from a five-hour nap? So what, she was still tired. She couldn’t help it, no matter how hard she tried. 

When she met Percy, she quickly became friends with the boy who, instead of ignoring her for hours until she apologized for something she couldn’t control, set up a cozy little corner for her in his cabin, with pillows, stuffed animals, candles, and even tea bags. Come on, that boy was willing to challenge his dyslexia just to read something for her before bed.

“And then Annabeth goes, Well, you should run faster. Like, what!? I run very fast, sorry–” Percy’s shout jolted his friend out of her daydream, having closed her eyes as thoughts raced through her mind. She looked at him, watching as he fiddled with the sheets, and decided she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Hey, ocean breath” she murmured, and to him, her voice sounded like a fucking angel’s. Seeing her there, in his bed made him feel like an idiot and a coward. 

He looked at her with curiosity, quickly recalling what he was about to share and feeling excited to tell about it. “What? I was about to tell you how she crashed into the tree,” but as her eyes slowly rolled back, Percy realized what was happening. He couldn’t help the laugh that escaped his lips. “Oh, Zeus, don’t tell me you’re tired!”

He moved closer to her, resting his head on his pillow and basically lying down on top of her. By the way her head was tilting to the side, he knew he only had a few minutes left before she fell completely asleep. 

And yes, he totally chose those last minutes to tease her.

“Oh god, you’re like a baby! No, like a puppy. Wait, was it cats that slept like sixteen hours a day?” the girl tried to push him away with the little strength she had left, but Percy knew that deep down, she enjoyed this. Well, maybe not being squished by him, but knowing that he didn’t see her sleep as a bad thing.

She would never know, but Percy's favorite pastime was admiring her while she slept –oh my god, of course he couldn’t tell her that, it sounded really creepy. He cherished every detail about her, and if she was happy sleeping, he would make the whole world fall into an eternal slumber just to please her.

“Go to sleep, dreamy,” he said, gently flipping them both so she was on top of him. After turning off the little lamp beside the bed, his hands found their way to her back, stroking it softly. She buried her face in his neck and sighed. He dared to say “I love you”

But she was already lost in her dreams, and he was completely head over heels.

again, i am slut for fluff!!!! <3

[solarmorrigan]

Steve Harrington is absolutely the sort of person to become emotionally dependent on a pet. He grew up lonely and he loves taking care of things, and here's this creature that loves him unconditionally and is dependent on him for care? He's a goner

He finds a kitten in his backyard, wet and cold and alone, but in pretty good shape, all things considered. It hisses and swipes at him, but it's also mewing pathetically, and Steve can't just leave it, so he manages to get the thing inside with minimal blood loss (all his) and cleans it up and feeds it. It's a lot more amenable to the idea of Steve once it's warm and dry and full, and by the end of the day, it's curled up and purring in the crook of his neck, and Steve is already prepared to die for this thing

He does recognize that the right thing to do is to ask around and see if anyone is missing a kitten, which he does do, but no one on his street or the next one over lays claim to it, and there aren’t any kind of wanted posters going up for it, so Steve decides he is now the proud owner of a cat

He names her Baby and dotes on her accordingly. (In his defense, the name is Robin's idea; she tells him that he treats the cat enough like a baby, so the name might as well fit. Steve's always been shit at coming up with names, so he just goes with it)

Baby is the world's most spoiled cat, which Steve readily admits. But isn't that what cats are for? She's a wonderful cat and she clearly deserves nice things and Steve is going to get them for her. Toys, treats, a plush cat bed, the best food, whatever he thinks she could possibly need or want. If "I work hard so my cat can live a better life" t-shirts had existed in the 80s, Robin probably would have gotten one for him and he probably would have worn it

Of course, it helps that Baby actually does adore Steve. With everyone else, she ranges from frosty to outright hostile (she's taken a particular dislike to Eddie, of all people, which is unfortunate, because Steve really, really likes Eddie); she'll consent to be admired, and she'll accept treats, and she might even let more familiar people pet her, but in the end she is very much Steve's baby. If he's home, she's stuck to his side like a burr, curled up wherever he is and purring away, content just to be with him. She still snuggles up in the crook of his shoulder at night, just like when she was a kitten, even though she's bigger now and is a bit less easily accommodated

It goes without saying that Baby is strictly an indoor cat. Steve lives right up against the woods and there are predators out there, and people in town drive like assholes, and Steve won't take the chance of her being eaten or run over or meeting some other horrible fate. He really doesn't think his heart could take it

But of course, because all cats are terrible bastards at heart (affectionate), Baby darts out the back door one day as Steve is coming in off the patio, chasing after some other small animal that Steve can't even see, and she's out of the backyard and up towards the trees before Steve can do much more than make a grab for her

And Steve, who has survived interrogations and monster attacks and many situations objectively much more stressful than this, does not panic. He does spend half the night wandering around in the trees with a flashlight, shaking a bag of cat food and calling for Baby, but that's not panicking, that's problem solving

He eventually gets too cold and too tired to keep going and has to pack it in for the night. He holds onto some shred of hope that she'll be waiting by the back door when he wakes up, wondering why the hell it's taken so long for him to come let her in, but apparently that's not the way life works, because the patio and all areas around the house are still distinctly catless come daybreak

Eddie shows up sometime mid-morning, just as Steve is preparing to head back out and look for her. He has genuinely never seen Steve so upset; he looks like he might actually cry if he doesn't find that damn cat, which just isn't something that Steve does. But he's actually fucking distraught, and Eddie simply can't have that, even if Baby is his nemesis, so he goes to the phone and makes some calls

He cashes in on favors, he makes promises, he actually agrees to pay Mike ten bucks to show up, but he gets the kids, all the older teens (the only reason Robin hadn't been there already is because Steve hadn't paused long enough to tell her what was going on), and even the Corroded Coffin boys up to Steve's house to comb the woods for Steve's damn cat

It's Eddie who finds her in the end, a shock of pale, mewling fur actually stuck in a fucking tree. The cliche nearly kills him – either that or trying to climb down a tree one-handed while holding a cat. He's surprised she actually lets him pick her up, but then again, she's been out here all night, she's cold, and at least she recognizes Eddie. Maybe this is the beginning of a truce

Or, she might go back to hissing and swiping at Eddie any time she the mood takes her, but Eddie doesn't even care, because Steve is elated to have Baby back, so fucking happy that he doesn't even seem to notice that she's digging her claws into his arm as she clings to him for dear life all the way back to the house. Eddie will deal with anything that Steve loves that much

Steve pays for pizza to thank everyone for putting their Saturday on hold to search-and-rescue a cat, and everyone warms up and eats their fill before slowly filtering back out of the house. And later, after Baby's been cleaned up and fed and properly doted on and is purring away curled up over a heating vent in the living room, Steve takes Eddie upstairs to show his thanks in a much more thorough manner

After all – Baby is very important to him, and he's more relieved than he can say to have her back, but she isn't the only thing that Steve adores

[woso-dreamzzz]

Champions League

Hardersson x Child!Reader

Alexia Putellas x Hardersson!Reader

Part of The Big Adventures Universe

Summary: The second time you meet Alexia

The only fun thing about the Champions League this year is that, with Not-Wolfsburg in the final, you get to go back to Sweden.

You love going back to Sweden because it means Morsa doesn't force you to speak English all the time. It also means that you get to have your favourite foods practically on demand at the hotel and it doesn't take ages to get like when Morsa makes them at home.

"Why aren't you playing?" You ask Zećira as you all file out to sit on the bench.

She shrugs. "I think Emma has a plan."

"Momma says Barcelona is very good," You say," But they're in pink."

Zećira chuckles. "Does wearing pink mean that they can't play well?"

You shrug. "I dunno." You think for a moment. "Are the Barcelona girls cool?"

Zećira laughs again as she taps you on the nose. "Don't go turncoat on us," She says," You're a Chelsea supporter, aren't you?"

As you're talking, a deflection from Melanie tumbles into the goal and even you recognise the wince that all of the Not-Wolfsburg girls give. You've got a bad feeling that this won't go the way Momma and Morsa want it to go.

Your interest in the match dims after that until a penalty is given away. Like always when there's a penalty, you perk up and move to stand on Zećira's lap so you can see properly.

Jonna makes sure you don't wobble off and you watch with eagle eyes as Ann-Katrin goes the wrong way and the Barcelona eleven slots it home.

It's fairly impressive to watch and you're filled with that same bouncy energy you always get when you're allowed to watch penalties. It annoys Morsa and Momma, you think, the way that you're most animated watching people take penalties.

At Not-Wolfsburg, that's always when you come to take part in training. Not to shoot your own penalties, of course, but to help save the ones shot at Zećira.

Momma and Sam get some pretty good chances to shoot but it's either not on target or deflected by Barcelona's keeper.

Barcelona get another two goals in the first half and, in your heart, you know that Not-Wolfsburg has already lost so you don't even bother listening to the way the girls on the bench are trying to encourage each other to not give up hope.

But, they all seem to shut up and let everything sink in when Morsa comes beelining towards you when the halftime whistle rings. You're sitting right by the tunnel that all the players are going down.

You get up, ready to take Morsa's hand but she just falls to her knees in front of you and pulls you into the tightest hug of your life. You hug her back, feeling a little bad that the game is going this bad.

A few of the Barcelona girls do a double take as they walk past to their changing room. You're not sure why. Maybe it's because you're so little and Morsa's hugging you so tight.

Momma comes and kneels in front of you too, stroking her hand over her face and pressing her lips to your hair. She murmurs something in Danish that you can't quite hear but it makes Morsa sigh softly before releasing you.

"Sorry," You say to them both," That Not-Wolfsburg is losing."

"It's not your fault," Momma says," Come on. Let's get you nice and fed."

Coach Emma makes you leave the changing room after you've eaten. You know that means she's going to yell. She always makes you leave when she's going to yell, ever since the first time when your English was not so good and it scared you so much that you cried.

So, with your special drink and a packet of Ahlgrens Bilar, you sit outside and press your ear to the wall to try and hear what Coach Emma is saying.

The walls are thick though so you can't hear anything.

You kind of wish that you had gotten your girl-swan out of your bag because you're a little bored without it and you just have to kind of wiggle your legs on the floor to amuse yourself.

Coach Emma's still yelling and you huff and look down the corridor to the big room before the tunnel where a blur of pink is moving out to the pitch.

They're talking in Spanish like when you went to Barcelona last year with Momma and Morsa. You still don't know Spanish so you don't pay them much attention until the sounds of cleats get closer to you and you look up.

A few of the Barcelona girls have approached you, shifting on their feet like they're not too sure what to say.

You don't offer up any explanations to them. You just move to sit cross-legged in front of them and munch on your marshmallow cars. You look down at your packet briefly and then back at the girls, smiling and offering the packet up to them.

It gets smiles from them and a few even take some of your cars. The girl from the beach last year, the one with the dog who is also somehow Barcelona's eleven, crouches in front of you. This time, she doesn't try to speak Spanish at you.

"Your mamas are in there?" She asks, indicating towards the closed door of the Not-Wolfsburg changing room.

You nod.

She nods too. "And you will sit here and not wander, yes? So your mamas know where you are?"

You nod again.

She thinks for a moment. "Can I wait with you? To make sure that your mamas get you properly?"

You shrug. Coach Emma is taking longer than usual to yell at them. "Okay." You move to sit back against the wall again and take a long drink of your special drink. You don't know what it is (Momma never tells you) but it's nice and it's like being cradled up in her arms in Denmark in Momma's momma's house.

The other girls in pink head out to the pitch after beach girl tells them something in Spanish.

"You're going to win," You say simply.

It's clear that she doesn't expect you to say that because she looks at you all weird.

"Momma and Morsa are gonna be sad," You continue, squishing one of your sweets between your fingers," But that's okay 'cause Zećira says that she'll let me play in goal with her no matter what."

"You like playing in goal?"

"Uh-huh. Zećira's teachin' me. She's the best."

"Really?"

"I'm gonna be better though and I'm gonna get Momma and Morsa the Champions League medals they want."

"Princesse."

You look up to see Morsa in the doorway, her hand out waiting for you. Momma's behind her, with a much more friendly face as you approach.

"Putellas," Morsa says," What are you doing here?"

"Just keeping her company," Barcelona's eleven says," I'll...I'll go now." She heads off down the corridor and turns back to wave at you once before disappearing back through the tunnel.

"Momma?" You ask," Why's Morsa angry?"

"Morsa's just having some big feelings," Momma assures you as she walks you out and sets you up in your seat with more snacks, your baby blanket and your girl-swan," And no matter what happens, she's going to need our help with those big feelings later, okay?"

"Cuddles at bedtime?" You ask.

"Cuddles at bedtime," Momma confirms, pressing a kiss to your head before heading off to the rest of the team.

You look nervously at Zećira, leaning against her as she wraps part of her coat around you. "We're going to lose," You whisper," Morsa's going to be so sad."

It goes exactly as you expect and you feel a little wobble in your chest when the whistle goes and you see Morsa look up at the sky like she's trying not to cry.

Zećira helps you down from your seat and you sprint across the field to crash into Morsa.

She's definitely crying now and she drops to her knees and presses her chin onto the top of your head. She keeps repeating the same words to you over and over again. "I'm sorry, princesse. I'm so sorry, princesse."

You can feel her tears drip into your hair and you make sure to squeeze all of your love into the hug. "It's okay, Morsa," You say," I'll get you a gold when I'm older. I'll get Momma a gold too." You look at Momma over Morsa's shoulder. "I promise."

Momma joins the hug too as Morsa cries into your hair. "It's okay, Magda," She says," It's okay."

You stay glued to Morsa's side as Coach Emma brings everyone in for the huddle talk. Morsa's still crying slightly and you offer her your baby blanket for comfort, which she swings around her shoulders and holds like it's a lifeline.

"Momma," You whisper, tugging at her arms as you look nervously at Morsa," Momma, can we go now? Morsa needs cuddles."

"We've got to get our medals first," Momma says," Just a bit longer."

"No! Morsa needs cuddles now!"

"I know," Momma says," Just a little bit longer and we can all go back to the hotel and have lots of cuddles."

You relent briefly though it's not long before you've attached yourself to Morsa and she even carries you up onto the stage to get her medal, which immediately gets put around your neck.

"Is Morsa going to be okay?" You ask Zećira as she pulls you away to go play in goal as the Barcelona girls start getting their medals.

"Your Morsa's going to be just fine," Zećira promises you," She just needs some comfort from your Momma right now so we're going to set up here for a bit."

You look back at Morsa and Momma and then nod at Zećira. "Okay."

Even though she didn't play today, she still brought her gloves and helps you put them on.

"Okay," She says," Now, what's the most important thing when being a keeper?"

"Doesn't matter if it goes in, as long as I try," You reply.

"Good."

She takes little shots at the goal for you to save and then chips one over your head when she notices you're distracted looking at Morsa again.

Both of you completely miss the approaching figure until she stops in front of you.

"Hello again," Putellas says.

"Hi."

Zećira takes a step forward, almost protectively but Putellas doesn't seem to care, kneeling down so she can be your height and peering past Zećira's leg to properly look at you.

She's in a different shirt on now but she's still got the pink one in her hands too. Her medal is around her neck like Morsa's is around yours. She's smiling at you too, holding out the hand with the shirt to you.

You step past Zećira and cautiously reach for it. You hold it in your hand before tugging it over your head. You smile back at her.

"Can I play?"

You look at Zećira, who shrugs.

"Your choice."

You look back at Putellas. "Okay."

She kicks the ball gently at you a few times and smiles every time you make a save. Zećira stays nearby, sometimes approaching to give you little tips or to tie your hair back and adjust your gloves.

Morsa and Momma finally come over a long while later. Morsa's finally stopped crying but you don't even try to save Putellas' shot as you approach Morsa to make sure she's okay.

"Better now that I've got you," She says when you ask, heaving you up onto her hip as Momma presses ticklish kisses to your face.

Putellas stands there awkwardly, now completely outnumbered by Chelsea girls.

But Morsa smiles at her, tugging down at your new jersey. "We don't have a wall here, princesse. Why don't you go and stand next to Alexia and we can take your picture?"

You wiggle down and crowd into Alexia's space. She crouches down to your height as Momma takes out her phone. Her hand goes to rest on your shoulder as you beam up at the camera.

"That's being framed," Morsa says.

(It does get framed and put on your bedside table where it's joined over the years with pictures of you with other footballers)

Alexia awkwardly clears her throat. "Can-Can I have a copy?" She asks, almost shyly," I think it would be nice to have one to remember her by when she's the best keeper in the world."

Momma laughs in delight and nods," Put in your number. I'll send it to you."

"Best keeper in the world," Zećira says wistfully as she helps you pull off her gloves," You're going to have to keep training hard."

"She will," Morsa says," She's going to get enough medals to give out to a whole team."

[starzwithapen]

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘˗ˏˋ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ ˎˊ˗∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

JOHN DORY / READER ☆ START A LOVE TRAIN

જ⁀➴.𖥔 ݁ ˖༉‧₊˚.

☆Summary: John Dory's first meeting with Rhonda and her owner, you!

☆Content: reader is gender neutral, first meeting!! Gonna make a part 2 exploring their relationship more :3

☆a/n: I FUCKING HATE HIM [affectionate] my first worrkk pls leave feedback if youd like it helps a ton!! :3

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘˗ˏˋ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ ˎˊ˗∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

The day John Dory met you and Rhonda was simultaneously one of the worst and best days of his life.

He'd been hiking- nothing out of the ordinary for him, maybe one venomous spider he'd had to fight off, but so far so good! The sting of the cold air against his cheeks quelled his thoughts, made him feel accomplished, in a way.

But he must've been distracted- he was a little more careless than usual, overestimating his own strength and struggling to pull himself upwards, his legs dangling over the edge- he could feel a tick of nerves in the back of his mind, but pfftt, John Dory's got this! He's done this a million times-

Next thing he knows, the rock holding his legs up collapses, and down he goes with it, tumbling over harsh terrain while the wind rushing past his ears drowns out his yelling.

After many very painful seconds of straight up rolling down this cliff, John Dory groans in pain, dusting himself off and pushing himself upwards, except- oh, shit, okay, ow, something’s very wrong with his ankle.

He hisses and grabs onto the skin, pulling his goggles up to inspect it- it appears swollen, and he realises with a frustrated groan that he'd managed to twist his ankle miles away from the nearest safe-house.

Well- looks like he'll have to camp outside for the night, wouldn't be the first nor last time, but it'll be significantly more difficult with a leg that refuses to cooperate with you.

He rushes through setting up camp, wanting to just sleep the pain off till his foot got better, but just as he sets his head down on the pile-of-leaves-that-vaguely-resemble-a-pillow, he hears distant rustling.

That's not odd- it'd be weirder for the forest to be quiet, if anything, animals are always trudging along no matter the time of day- what's odd is how loud the sound is, feet papping against the floor in heavy strides, coming closer and closer towards him.

John Dory sits up in a flash, suddenly regretting how shittily he'd camouflaged his camp- his eyes widen towards the oncoming noise, having just enough time to snatch a stick and hold it out threateningly, though his hands shake and tremble.

“Hey! I have a- uh, a really sharp stick, and I'm not afraid to use iiIIITTT-”

The stick goes flying out of his grasp, and he gets the breath absolutely slammed out of him as something huge jumps onto him, rumbling atop him and- eugh, was it licking him?! Was this how he died, after all these years?! Eaten alive by a-

“Down, girl- stop that, you're scaring him!” the thing finally lets up on trying to swallow him whole, standing back on its hind-legs and cooing at you excitedly, and it's then that he notices you.

“Gods, I'm really sorry- she's not usually like this-” you reach over with a grimace to wipe the wet mess of saliva and glitter off his cheeks with your sleeve, and all JD can do is stare at you, star-struck. One minute he was facing his impending doom, and now he was facing the prettiest person he'd ever set his eyes on, and though he's certain it's night time he feels as though you're shining the sun's rays straight at him.

You smile nervously and pat his attacker's leg, “She wasn't actually going to eat you- or at least I don't think she was? You can never quite tell with Rhonda.”

Okay, John Dory had lived on his own amongst nothing but the trees and mountains for years, so excuse him for not being particularly eloquent when all he blurts out is “John.”

You and Rhonda blink at him comically for a moment, and he feels his cheeks flush under his fur-lined vest. No one's ever caught him off gaurd like this before.

“That's…not my name, but good guess anyways.” You check over him as if he's concussed, and he tries not to frown at the scrunch in your nose as you take in his camp.

“It's my name- John Dory.” He flashes you a charming smile, though he assumes the effects are dampened by the mess of glitter and dirt still smeared across his face, “and can I get yours, or can I just call you mine?”

Silence stretches on between you both, his smile getting more strained by the minute- why hadn't that worked? That always worked, at least when Spruce did it! You were supposed to be- swooning, or something! Not looking at him like he's sprouted a second head!

You cut through the tension with a gasp, and he follows your gaze down to his badly-damaged leg, now with extra bloodied scrapes, “Oh god, that looks rough- did Rhonda do this?” He doesn't have time to tell you that no, actually, it wasn't your fault, when you turn around and scold your…armadillo? He feels his lips quirk up- you looked pretty cute like that, like a disgruntled parent.

“Well, you can come inside and I'll wrap it up for you- you shouldn't leave it out in the open like that.” You wave him over, grabbing onto his hand to pull him into the door, and he feels his skin burn pleasantly where you both touch.

And that's how it starts. JD walks inside the armadillo bus, Rhonda, marvelling at the warmth. Though you hadn't given him your name yet, he felt as though he could trust you- you seemed like someone who values honor and helping others, however bluntly or awkwardly you may go about it.

You wrap his leg with gauze and a healing salve, and he fills the room with chatter- it'd been so long since he'd last seen another soul, he didn't realise just how…lonely he'd felt. You don't speak much of yourself, probably staying cautious, but you do seem curious about his stories, and the twinkle in your eye urges him to speak with a little more pomp than usual.

Your voice turns more concerned as you ask what he'd been doing camping out in the open like that- he'd told you of the trail he planned to follow, though he'd skipped the part where he fell off-course. He tells you of how he'd wanted to end up somewhere warmer by the time winter really hit, sighing to himself. “I'll just have to stock up on fire-wood, maybe invest in a flame-thrower.”

“I mean….we can take you there.” You offer in a quiet voice, your gaze stubbornly set on the floor, “It's still a pretty long drive, but better than 2 months walking on a sprained ankle, especially with how gnarly it looks.”

John Dory's conflicted- the offer sounds heavenly. He pictures waking up to your warmth day by day, helping you gather breakfast, travelling with a companion, for once, but….he'd left to the middle of nowhere for a reason. He wanted to distance himself from his old habits, his old expectations of himself and others.

Though….you seemed to be just as- if not more- capable than him. He wouldn't need to be a pillar for you to lean all your weight against, nor the pressure that turns coal into shining diamond- you two could simply…have each other's backs. Maybe…maybe this could work out, at least for a little while.

John Dory tilts his head up and takes one look at your welcoming smile to make up his mind.

"Can't say no to your pretty face, now can I?"

This time you snicker behind your hand at his awful flirting, but he catches it just in time- and he knows this'll be the start of something great.

[reggies-eyeliner]

OKAY AN EXTREMELY SELF-INDULGENT SENSELESS RAMBLE ABOUT JWCT REGARDING GRIEF AND EMOTIONS AND FOUND FAMILY AND COMPLEX CHARACTERS COMING UP AHEAD WOOP WOOP !!!

i cannot stress to you enough. how much i love the way they write processing trauma. like yeah trauma is all silly and angst and whatever but it's a real thing like genuinely and it's exhausting to see shows just dismiss it over and over again but THIS SHOW I SWEAR IT'S JUST. EVERYTHING IS DONE SO SO WELL AND I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL LIKE

and not to mention that the animation SERIOUSLY DOES IT JUSTICE like the expressions are SO GOOD OH MY GOSH LIKE IT'S I'M THEY'RE YEAH THE EXPRESSIONS. ARE INCREDIBLE. that looks darius got in his eyes when he KNEW the password to brooklyn's phone and kenji didn't??? so good SO GOOD and just the way their eyes all shine before they start crying is actually done so well that if you listen carefully you can feel my heart breaking

also i love how like emotional processing is also written so much. all of them aren't afraid to cry and i feel like that's just. yeah it's beautiful. they cry soft they cry loud whatever it is they're comfortable enough to do so and if they're not they at least know they won't be judged for it ARE YOU KIDDING ME I'M GOING TO BITE A TABLE?????

the characters have flaws. i love that so much. the characters are not perfect but they're still likable and it's executed so well. darius' grief is PALPABLE and kenji's anger, albeit sometimes annoying, is so understandable that you can't actually be angry or annoyed with him because the story writing makes you understand. that's incredible. yasmina struggles with anxiety and ptsd and she gets frustrated and that is !! okay !! sammy ignores her emotions and struggles with toxic positivity but we understand *why* she talks to yasmina that way (because she's worried and scared and concerned for her girlfriend, but she's also just as worried of truly addressing what she's been through) so it's so hard to get mad at her. ben is THANJ GOODNESS not mischaracterized as a cinnamon roll and is actually a complex character with complex emotions and i can't get enough of it. he's like a pain he's so annoying sometimes but it's endearing because he reminds you of that one classmate from elementary that makes you go ohhh yeah no it's him that's fine

okay paragraph was getting long but I do have more to say about kenji. the relationships in this show are executed SO WELL and I'm beyond relieved that Kenji and Daniel's relationship was written INCREDIBLY WELL

like. okay first off the asian rep YEAHGHH IT EAS GOOD !!! WOOP WOOP YRAHAHDH HONK HONK the part about kenji saying he should get his violin after daniel was like telling his sob story was SO FUNNY OH MH GOSH

and just. kenji and daniel kon. im. like his dad was never perfect. far from it and yet kenji just he loves him so much and wants to make him proud and it makes me sick because the writing helps you UNDERSTAND why

daniel keeps giving kenji ultimatums and kenji standing up to him for once just. yeah. that was done incredibly well. and then not even ten minutes after daniel started to change and gave his son something without expecting anything in return other than his presence daniel gets eaten alive in front of him.

okay now this show holy moly i was NOT expecting daniel to just. get ripped apart but um YEAH THAT HAPPENED and the grief was written so well I cannot stress this enough. I loathe in movies and shows when they skim past traumatic deaths and just act like the grief is just non existent and this show does an incredible job at showing that it is VERY MUCH STILL THERE and it makes people out there who are struggling feel a little less crazy and that's so beautiful

i've been a benrius enthusiast since day one and honestly at this point i just hope everything goes well for them moving on. brooklyn's death and Darius coping with her grief was done SO SO WELL and honestly okay as much as i love sibling-type dinostar i think rewatching scenes with the lens that he was in love with her just makes it hurt so much and it's just. yeah. it's written well.

I will say that I think the story could have gone on without Darius confessing his love to Brooklyn, and the scene where Kenji asked Darius about the voicemails could have been used solely as a chance to highlight grief. another way the scene could have gone was if kenji sifted through the voicemails and just heard Darius's voice shatter in a way he's never quite heard it or listened to darius blame himself and that could have been a moment for kenji to realize that grief isn't something people should deal with alone, that *he* shouldn't deal with grief alone

regardless i really do think the idea that Darius was in love with Brooklyn was done really well. I don't know a better way for kenji to have figured out the truth, and for that I am grateful :D!! I hope the hardcore shippers don't get too mad though 😭

also I absolutely loved the lady with the whistle. she's cool. her character design is terrifying and the way she treats the dinosaurs reminds me a of a queen that is very fond of her workers like 😭 she's cool but also i would never want her within a 100 mile radius of me

the found family in this show is actually. yeah. it makes me cry because it's just done so well because it doesn't idealize perfect relationships. there are awkward moments, there are sad moments, characters still feel broken and alone despite having people who've actively said that they'd go to the moon and back for them. it's realistic and it's written beautifully

I think Darius might actually be the character with The Writing ever. his grief and his nostalgia, his awkwardness and fascination with learning and his kindness are all things that exist together and I am so so grateful for that. he's allowed to laugh and make jokes while feeling constant, looming guilt. he is fascinated with learning while also struggling to feel like he deserves to be happy, he enjoys learning about dinosaurs while also being terrified of them on the worst days. he feels guilty and feels like a bad person. but he's loved and he's cared for. can you tell he's my favorite now because

enamored with yasmina and sammy as always. they are just the girlfriends ever and i love so much how openly they communicate with each other. sammy apologizes when she makes mistakes, yasmina doesn't hold it against her. they're always at each other's sides and their love isn't conditional. i love them SO MUCH

okay sorry im making this about darius again but this guy actually is The character ever. I don't think I've ever felt so seen in a character and i just yeah the writers are incredible because all of the characters are written to feel relatable, and if not that, to feel real. it was just a huge comfort to me to know that okay im not crazy for feeling this way because of a character, who was written and animated by dozens and dozens of creators was allowed to be written this way, i'm not messed up in the head, im just processing emotions and it's okay that I need help for that

THIS SOUNDS SO CRINGE I AM SO SORRY

but yeah i. i love this show.

[pigeonwhumps]

Superhero's pet

WoW's birthday event: day 9: aftermath of rescue | sickness | "you're burning up"

Taglist: @painful-pooch @i-eat-worlds @a-funeral-romance @rainydaywhump

Caretaker's rescued Villain from Superhero from years in his 'care'. But that doesn't mean things are easy, especially when he's still her boss.

The blame for this goes entirely to @echo-goes-mmm.

1.9k

CWs: Villain whump, pet whump, severe self-dehumanisation, past dehumanisation, past animalisation, asking for punishment, past torture

Caretaker prepares for work quickly and silently nowadays. She needs the extra time, because she has someone else to look after now.

Villain. Superhero's former plaything. The test case in the new villain rehabilitation programme.

Or, as they call themself – pet.

They wanted to be called dog. They were called dog. But pet somehow seems like a slight improvement. They use that now, for themself.

They have the same routine every day Caretaker works, and it seems to help. She wakes them up once she's completely ready to leave. She'd gladly leave them asleep, but the one time she tried, they panicked and hurt themself. She hasn't tried since.

She shakes them gently awake. They're asleep on a human-sized pet bed in her room, snuggled under a large blanket until only the tip of their satin bonnet is visible.

They wouldn't take the bed in the spare room, insisting that "pets don't deserve beds," and she wasn't letting them sleep on the carpet. This was the compromise, when she realised even a room to themself was too much.

They wake and push themself immediately to their hands and knees, reaching out to kiss Caretaker's trainers. She takes a step back.

"Hey, buddy. You don't need to do that, remember?"

Villain trembles, forehead dropping to meet the hard carpet. "Your pet is sorry, Mistress. Please punish it."

"Not happening. Come on, get dressed and then it's time for breakfast."

Caretaker turns her back as quickly as possible as Villain starts stripping without a care who's there. She's not sure she wants to know what Superhero did to make them like this.

They won't take off their collar, insisting that it'll make them a "bad dog", but there's no bell any longer and she's working on the tag.

"Your pet is dressed, Mistress."

"Good pet." She hates the term, but they practically glow when she calls them it so maybe it's worth it? "Follow me."

Villain crawls behind Caretaker, settling into a knelt position when they reach the kitchen. She stifles a sigh. They've come on since she brought them home, but there's still a long way to go. The number one priority of which is to get them to eat like a person.

"What would you like to eat this morning, Villain? Crumpets or toast with jam?" They were their two favourites before they vanished, she knows. And they're edible with fingers, which... Caretaker doesn't ever want to watch them eat like an animal again.

"Whatever Mistress desires."

"Well I would desire you to make a decision. It's okay, I won't punish you for it."

Villain pales, visibly trembling again. "May this pet... may it have crumpets, please, Mistress? It understand if it requires a reminder of its position instead, but please show mercy on your pet for following your instructions." Then they cringe away, repeating under their breath in a monotone, "Good dogs don't ask for mercy. Good dogs take what they're given. Good dogs need regular reminders."

"Shh, buddy. It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."

Villain's breath hitches. "Please remind this pet of its place, Mistress. It needs regular reminders, This pet is a bad, bad dog and it needs to learn its place."

Caretaker winces. Why does 'dog' sound so much worse than 'pet'?

"You're not a bad pet. You're very good already. Is that where your scars are from?"

"Some, Mistress. This pet requires maintenance."

Caretaker nods, glad she's already eaten. She sets the dog bowl in front of them. "Eat your breakfast."

Villain obediently lifts a crumpet (and god, at least they're using their hands now) and hunches over it, eating like they'll never be fed again.

For all Caretaker knows, that could be a plausible possibility in their mind. Did Superhero threaten that? Villain is still underfed.

She watches as they polish off their meal. As she has before, she wonders if she's using the right pronouns anymore. Sure, it/its are conditioned into Villain, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't use them. Does it?

"I'm going to work today, Villain. While I'm gone, I'd like you to clean the dishes and look after your goldfish. You can go out on the balcony if you like, but no further outside. I'm sorry, we can't risk it yet. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"Good pet."

Caretaker bends down and scratches behind their ear, which they lean into eagerly. "Stay safe."

Then she leaves, unable to think of anything else to say.

_

Superhero has asked to see her.

Superhero has asked to see her.

Caretaker would be nervous normally, because now she's finished her training he only ever calls her in when she's failed, but now... what if he's found out about Villain? As a technopath it was simplicity itself hacking into the system to investigate the rehabilitation centre, but what if she left some trace of herself behind? Online, at the centre itself, in her behaviour over the past few weeks... she could've done anything.

As she walks through the building, she passes many people, some of whom smile or call out greetings. She wonders just how many know what Superhero's been doing.

She hadn't. Villain had been missing for two years and god, she was so naïve. Believing Superhero's reassurances (when she dared to ask) that they were being well taken care of, and he'd visited himself, the conditions were completely up to scratch. They should be no worry of Caretaker's now. His terrible lies that make her blood boil.

She knocks on his office door and waits for a response before entering.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

His eyes are ice cold behind his smile. "Yes. I wanted to ask how you're doing."

"Sir?"

"After Villain's escape. I notice your success rate is down recently."

"Oh." She twists her fingers behind her back. Of course she has, she's not arresting anyone else to be hauled off and tortured into Villain's state or worse. "I'm sorry, sir, I've just been worried about Villain." Not a lie. "I'll do better."

"Mm." He steeples his hands together under his chin, watching her steadily with the gaze of the agency's golden boy, and it's in moments like these that she's reminded of how brutal his training was. How unforgiving. "Any idea where he could be?"

Her mind flashes back to a morning during Villain's first week with her, when they'd licked spilt jam off the kitchen floor because "bad dogs don't waste food".

"No, sir."

"Pity. As their nemesis, I expect you to do better."

"I expect you to do better, Caretaker. We'll try again in an hour."

Caretaker shivers. At least she no longer has to be trained by Superhero.

Why did she ever like and trust him?

"Sorry, sir."

"Let me know if you find anything. Dismissed." He flicks a hand towards the door and she exits obediently. You don't argue with Superhero, even if you're not trying to keep a low profile.

Às soon as she's far enough away, she leans against a wall and closes her eyes, breathing hard. She is so, so glad she doesn't regularly carry a knife around with her. Stabbing Superhero 47 times in the chest might be a slight giveaway that she no longer likes him.

_

Caretaker returns home to the smell of chemicals and Villain kneeling on the freshly-cleaned carpet, behind an array of implements. Lighter, matches, fire poker, broom, knife, bleach, rope, salt...

"Villain, what..."

"You have been stressed, Mistress, and this pet is overdue its maintenance. This pet thought that this might help, as it did Master." Then they say somewhat proudly, "This pet used its initiative, as you requested. Has it pleased you, Mistress?"

The pieces finally click and Caretaker stumbles back, hand flying to her mouth, horrified. Villain thought... Caretaker would want to torture them because she was stressed? More than that, they fetched all these torture implements and brought them together in an effort to please her, knowing how they would be used?

"I... put those away, Villain, please. We won't be needing those tonight. And once you're finished go and wait in the living room. I think we need to talk again."

"Yes, Mistress." They pick up the first implement (a hammer) and crawl awkwardly towards the cupboard where the DIY stuff is kept. Caretaker thinks about reminding them they can walk, but they're shaking so much already. It probably wouldn't do any good.

She changes into something more comfortable before turning the kettle on, her own hands shaking. God. It feels like every day she discovers some new, despicable thing Superhero has done. Forget the knives – she could kill him with her bare hands.

She used to just be able to relax after work. Those were the days. But– she can't very well just leave Villain. They're her responsibility, and she's their only option.

Sighing, she carefully carries two cups of chamomile tea into the living room and sets them down on the coffee table. Villain is knelt in what must be the most uncomfortable corner of the room – difficult to find, as the place is tidier than she's ever seen it.

"Will you come and join me on the sofa, please, Villain? Or at least beside the sofa, if it makes you feel more comfortable."

She's sure they'll do that, they always do, and she arranges soft cushions on the hard carpet to make it more comfortable, since the rug doesn't reach far enough. At least she's always had far too many cushions.

She lives in hope that one day they'll feel comfortable enough to start using furniture again.

"So, first things first. Thank you for cleaning the house so thoroughly. It's never been so sparkling. You didn't have to, but I'm very grateful you did. And I'm proud of you for using your initiative, please keep doing so. However, stop bringing me torture implements. That's an order. I'm not going to punish you, Villain, and nobody deserves being hurt by any of that. Understand?"

"Yes, Mistress. This pet apologises for not letting you choose the method of punishment completely. It will do better in future."

"No, that's not what I–" She cuts off, pinching her brow. She's not going to get them to understand, at least not yet. "Thank you, buddy. Now, why don't we both relax? I'll find us something we'll both like."

"Yes, Mistress."

They settle for an episode of Great British Bake Off in the end. Not that Villain ever comments either way, but they did when they still fought each other and if Villain lied to her about their preferences then that's their own fault.

Villain rests their head on her lap and watches the screen sideways, eyes half-closed. Caretaker rubs small circles into their shoulders.

She feels so incredibly guilty for arresting them in the first place. She's responsible for this, albeit indirectly. The Villain she knew would never have forgiven her.

Speaking of which...

"Why are you never angry with me, Villain? I'm the reason you were tortured for two years."

Villain glances up from under their lashes for just a second.

"Good dogs don't bark."

[pooks]

part 7 of straw hat!ichiji and without further ado, we'll dive into the next one; Drum Island arc

Nami is sick

as Nami falls sick in a seemingly serious illness, Sanji is taking it harder because of trauma; he has seen Ichiji become seriously ill when they starved on the rock island with Zeff and he had thought he was gonna die.

Sanji has unresolved trauma when it comes to serious illnesses and Ichiji doesn't know how to fix the problem since he cares very little about his own wellbeing.

with Nami out of commission, Ichiji takes over the nagivating role temporarily. he proves to be very decent on it and uses Zeff's old logbook as his guide through the Grand Line. he notices that since the weather is becoming steadingly colder, they must be nearing a winter island.

everyone has different responses to Nami's illness; Luffy, Usopp and Sanji nearly panics while Vivi becomes worried and anxious. Zoro and Ichiji mostly takes the role as the rational ones.

Ichiji is starting to feel under the weather as well and he wonders if his physical body had a delayed reaction due to his modified genetics. he doesn't fall instantly ill like Nami did, but he becomes more fatigued, irritated and loses his appetite (although he forces himself to eat something).

to distract himself from Nami's sickness and his brother's bad moods, Sanji dotes on Nyansha, their new ship cat who can shift size at will. he likes how friendly and cuddly Nyansha is and thinks back at the Baratie. he remembers how he and Ichiji used to nag at Zeff to have a pet and were always refused because the Baratie was a sea-faring restaurant and he didn't want any animals fall into the water and drown.

Zoro notices that Ichiji isn't doing well and keep scratching his neck, so he asks if he's really fine. Ichiji waves off his concerns and just says "don't worry about it".

meeting Wapol and entering Drum Island

Vivi decides to set course for any island nearby in hopes to find a doctor for the sick Nami, instead of heading towards Alabasta. Ichiji has a brief conversation with her and informs her that while she's already burdened with the serious state of her land, she chose to save another's life and it's not something to scoff at. Vivi remarks that Ichiji seems to understand her better than anyone and wonders if he knows a lot about monarchy and diplomacy (given his prior knowledge of Alabasta and displaying dormant skills of leadership).

Ichiji goes still after that and answers "well, we all have skeletons in the closet, don't we? and no, i don't want to talk about it."

as he tends to do sometimes, Ichiji looks over the ocean and thinks about the brothers he left behind in Germa in favor for Sanji. he always regrets leaving them behind and being unable to bring all his little brothers with himself and he hopes that they're faring well, despite Germa being...Germa.

the peace isn't for long, as an unfamiliar pirate ship approaches the Merry and attacks them. through irritated, Ichiji fights along with Zoro, Luffy and Sanji, using the gun Zeff had given him and Sanji (the very one Sanji aimed at Miss All Sunday). they encounter Wapol, a Devil Fruit user and has eaten the Munch Munch fruit and eats exactly anything.

after attempting to eat the ship, Luffy fights him and sends him flying across the ocean. the pirates retreats, however.

Luffy attempts to cheer up Nami, but fails. it's a very hard day on the crew since no one has apparently been sick before (Sanji denies this, but Ichiji mutters a "lies" but disguises it into a cough). the next day, they're reaching a winter island, Drum Island, and drops their anchor there. but they're suddenly ambushed by its' hostile inhabitants.

Ichiji decides to try to reason with them along with Vivi, telling them that they have a sick person onboard and she needs aid. a villager, however, shoots at Vivi when Sanji was about to defend himself from the same shooting villager.

Luffy resolves the situation, after being briefly angered by the violence against his nakama (and being urged by Vivi to not chose violence as counter measure) and Dalton, the leader, and the villagers decides to help them.

Luffy, Sanji, Vivi, Usopp heads down to the village with Nami and leaves Zoro, Ichiji and Karoo onboard the Merry. before they leave, Sanji notices that his older brother has flushed cheeks, but Ichiji says it's because of the cold.

Sanji trails after Luffy, Usopp, Vivi and Nami, but not before looking behind himself at Ichiji.

Zoro is lost and Ichiji falls

after staying in the village for a while and finding out the nearest doctor, one Dr. Kureha, also known as "the witch", resides on a castle on top of a tall rock-like mountain, Luffy and Sanji heads there with Nami to cure her while Vivi & Usopp remains in the village with Dalton. Ichiji and Zoro standing guard on the ship, in case more enemies turned up.

Ichiji kept himself inside the galley when Zoro decided to train in the cold, since he felt less tolerant to the cold than usual and he wasn't in mood to deal with Zoro "unreasonable training montage". but he got suspicious when he heard a lack of "swordman noises" and when he went to check, he found both Zoro and Karoo missing.

Ichiji braves the cold surroundings of Drum Island, dressed warmly and yet, still freezing as if he had no outerwear. trying to locate the missing Zoro is like searching for a needle in a pile of hay, but Ichiji keeps trying.

his illness starts to process more aggressively, putting Ichiji's wellbeing at risk; his fever sky-rockets, he becomes weak and delirious, and soon, he's gotten himself lost as well. fortunately for him, a sled nears him and nearly runs him over; it's Dr. Kureha along with Chopper (in walk point).

Ichiji doesn't call her anything, but he asks her if she's seen "a green-haired, half-naked fool" somewhere. Kureha doesn't answer the question and instead, inquires about his own health since he looks like he's about to keel over. Ichiji decides to be honest and says that he isn't well, but it's the least of his problems since he needs to find his friend.

Ichiji doesn't get to say more before his strength is drained and he collapses in the snow, completely overtaken by his fever.

(Kureha and Chopper decides to bring him with them, as Ichiji will surely die from his fever or the cold if he stays outside)

reunited at the castle, an unbreakable bond of brothers

by the time Luffy, Sanji and Nami are safely inside the castle, they're in a horrible state; Luffy, exhausted from climbing the drum rock with his bare hands and carrying on his two crew mates, is suffering hypothermia. Nami is seriously ill, hovering between life and death and Sanji is critically injured with a broken spine and internal bleeding from the avalanche.

Chopper and Kureha treats them as the group is in a critical condition. Nami is the first one who comes around and the cause of her illness is revealed; Kestia, a poisonous tick from Little Garden causes a "five day sickness" that ends in death.

she also finds out that she isn't alone in the room she's staying in, she sees Ichiji in another bed and panics. it turns out that Ichiji was also bitten by a Kestia tick (flashback to the post-battle in Little Garden, when he slapped his neck from a "mosquito bite"). Kureha has discovered that Ichiji has a different metabolism than an ordinary human which is why his illness progressed slower than Nami. however, his intolerance to the cold and stress made his body enough weak for the Kestia bacteria to advance faster and more aggressively.

Chopper then runs into the room, being chased by Luffy and Sanji who mistook him for food source. however, Sanji stops when he sees his older brother seriously ill and becomes shocked, getting vivid flashback to his past.

we get a narrated flashback from Sanji's POV. he remembers the rock island they were stuck on, starving for 80+ days. during the five last days on the rock, Ichiji fell seriously ill due to eating lesser than Sanji, exhausting himself by collecting morning dew for his brother, enduring night watches and exposure from the sun. after they got saved by a passing ship, Ichiji was put under quarantine due to his illness being so serious along with starvation. he was ill for two months while Sanji and Zeff recovered. Sanji remembers watching his brother suffer from fever, chills, nausea, etc. he had never seen Ichiji weak ever in his life and the thought of Ichiji dying for his sake gave him nightmares and Sanji cried for every day, believing that his brother would surely die.

Sanji tears away from his narrated flashback, seeing Ichiji suffering in the same state and gets a trauma-induced panic attack. he breaks down crying, terrified that his brother is dying once again, blames himself for not seeing the signs and begs the unconscious Ichiji to not leave him alone.

before Kureha is about to hit Sanji's head for whining so much, Ichiji speaks up, revealing he's been awake the whole time

"Geez, you're still such a crybaby, Sanji..."

Sanji screams of grief and anger, hugging Ichiji and saying...something, but no one is able to understand what he's saying since he's crying and sobbing at the same time.

(foreshadowing to Sanji's "△✕~◑※◇♨*~✖✹" in water 7)

Ichiji is still running a fever and seemigly drifts off, but not before he managed to reassure his little brother and his captain (because let's face it, Luffy is freaking out at the thought of his nakama dying) that he'll be fine soon.

everyone thinks he's asleep because of his closed eyes, but he's conscious enough to hear Chopper's story when Kureha tells Sanji and Nami (while Luffy is off chasing the poor reindeer again to make him join his crew).

Wapol returns and the siege of Drum Castle

their luck runs short when Wapol makes a return to the castle, intending to "rule" Drum Island again (which would lead to more of the people's suffering). once again, Luffy fights Wapol but this time, it becomes personal when Wapol shoots at the jolly roger of the long passed Dr. Hiriluk, Chopper's mentor and adoptive father.

Luffy engages in full battle, enraged over how "fake pirates" like Wapol just shoots a jolly roger without a single respect.

inspired by Luffy, Chopper shows that he doesn't have just medical skills, but battle skills as well and joins the battle. Sanji attempted to join as well, but his back injury flares up, rendering him out of commission with Kureha guarding him.

while his two henchmen, fused into one, fights Chopper and Luffy gets distracted, Wapol sneaks into the castle. he stumbles onto Nami, who's already well enough to walk around thanks to Chopper and Kureha's wonder medicine.

the only difference here from canon is that Ichiji arrives in time, still feverish, and jumps at Wapol, pulling at his hair as the ex-king attacks her (which also gives Nami the perfect moment to steal the key from Wapol).

Nami manages to escape, but Wapol is now chasing Ichiji. the antibiotic remedy against his illness is progressing, but Ichiji is already exhausted and Wapol corners him, intending to kill him. Luffy finds them just in time and engages in one final battle before he emerges victorious, having punched Wapol across the next island with a Gum Gum Bazooka.

Dr. Hiriluks cherry blossom snow, Chopper joins the straw hats

with the antibiotic treatment finally taking effect for Ichiji (due to his fast metabolism) and Sanji is getting his back (painfully) fixed again, Luffy tries again and again to recruit Chopper to his crew

Nami attempts to negotiate with Kureha; she hands over the key if Kureha discharges her, Sanji and Ichiji. Ichiji, however, doesn't want Nami to do that since he wants she and Sanji to recover first (once again, he neglects to include himself) before heading to Alabasta. Kureha takes the key, but says they must stay in the castle...but also that there's a coat in the room and the guards aren't present. Nami takes it as a sign that they're free to go.

when Sanji's treatment is complete, Nami and Ichiji brings him as they go outside. Ichiji is nearly fully recovered at this point and is carrying Sanji on his back, who's still out of it from his treatment. Ichiji takes a moment to reflect on old memories and muses that he hasn't done this since they were kids.

barely some moments later, Chopper is joining them but Kureha is chasing after him with weapons, so the Straw Hats panics and decides to pack it to leave. Ichiji wastes no time getting into a sled, still carrying Sanji on his back. however, they get to witness something wonderous.

using Hiriluk's "cure for the country's cold heart", the straw hats and everyone else witnesses cherry blossoms falling onto the snowy island. Ichiji, with a now conscious Sanji leaning on his shoulder, remarks that he has never seen something so beautiful in his life and it's enough to almost bring tears.

with the perfect send-off to Chopper and having a ship doctor onboard, the straw hats sets sail for Alabasta

[canmom]

Comics mini-Comints: Dungeon Meshi

reread dungeon meshi through to the end. still such a great manga. here are immediate thoughts - if I end up having time and energy I hope I can write something that goes deeper!

ironically i was only a few chapters from the end when I stopped keeping up, but I was struggling to remember all the characters and context, so reading it through in one go was definitely an ideal way to achieve maximum impact there.

ryoko kui does a very elegant job of handling a transition from 'silly antics' to 'big dramatic fantasy' while still keeping the central thematic throughline - eating and being eaten, belonging to an ecosystem, the significance of sacrificing others to achieve your own desires. a lot of setups pay off in a way that feels meticulously planned - and of course the crux of the final showdown revolves around characters attempting to eat each other, of course the big payoff is a huge feast that symbolically unites all the conflicting factions. it is maybe a bit too neat and happy for my taste, but it's undeniably tightly executed - it never loses sight of what it's about. especially compared to something like Frieren, it's an incredibly coherent serialisation, up there with e.g. Fullmetal Alchemist.

kui's art style deserves all kinds of praise - it feels effortlessly simple, but it clearly communicates all sorts of different shapes and body types and it's really fun to see her play around with remixing the different visual elements when she switches the races around. in general Laius's autistic monster loving ways clearly reflect kui's own deeply felt appreciation for all the ways people and animals live (accentuated further by all the extra sketches the scanlators tuck in). in a way you could kinda call it like Parts Unknown the fantasy manga.

the stakes of the final conflict are interesting - there is much to be said about the framing of 'desire' and its fulfilment, of this occult idea of 'the infinite'. lots you could put in relation to other manga, and also buddhism. (in particular I really want to develop a comparison to Made In Abyss, there are so many parallels, it just might be too spicy for tumblr lmao).

one thing I really like about it is how much its fantasy dungeon-exploring setting owes to D&D and other TTRPGs, rather than videogames. monster ecology has been a fascination of that game since the early days of Dragon magazine, and Kui sharply zeroes in on some of the intrinsic conflicts baked in to that fantasy milieu, notably the lifespan thing, while smartly avoiding the traps of 'evil races'. there's some really fun nods to the weirder monster manual entries. and in a story with so many characters and factions, it does a genuinely incredible job of furnishing everyone with understandable, reasonable motivations, conflicts drawn from their context just like the monsters are explained by their ecology.

and one thing that I particularly appreciate is like... how much it is able to simultaneously understand and sympathise with a character and also show us how and why they'd rub others the wrong way. it's impossible not to like our main group, they're all such charming dorks and the manga leads you along with all the crazy rpg party shit they do, but at the same time you definitely find yourself thinking 'guy's got a point' in the kabru chapters lmao. I'm projecting hard bc i don't really know a thing about ryōko kui but laius def feels like the sort of depiction of having an autism that you can only do if you've lived it.

but yeah, it's a fuzzy ending where it all turns out well. but what's the deeper thrust of it all? there's a funny moment where marcille is like 'maybe in the end our journey is about learning to accept death' and the grouchy old gnome guy completely laughs this off as naive, because death doesn't mean anything. and indeed their big plan pays off, and falin does indeed come back just fine. but still, through all of this it asks you to bite the bullet that being a living creature means eating to survive, at the cost of other creatures, with the other side being that one day you too will be eaten. in contrast to this honest way of being is the beguiling fantasy of infinity, where all your desires are immediately fulfilled - this is shown as a dangerous path of corruption that produces madness and manipulability. having limits and rubbing up against the wishes of others, or 'doing things you don't want to do' as izutsumi's arc puts it, becomes necessary for having some kind of definition as a subject. the thing that makes the demon concrete as an entity is a desire, or appetite, that can't immediately be fulfilled.

of course we can connect this to the idea of narrative conflict. a standard advice for putting together a plot is to ask what each character wants and why they can't get it. wanting something implies movement. and indeed over the course of this story, we see that while having too many desires fulfilled too readily leads to incoherence and callousness, equally a character who is left catatonic as their desires have been eaten by the demon must be reawakened to activity by finding a new desire.

it's kinda Buddhist innit. neither the opulence of the palace nor asceticism. desires are what tie you to the world. but mixed with ecology: what a creature does to find the energy to live is what defines its lifestyle, its form.

this is probably where I'd start talking about entropy gradients and shit if i wasn't typing this on a phone at 1:30am lmao.

but yeah - it's a powerful move to go from 'D&D monster recipe show sendup' to 'living with the inherently violent nature of being an organism fated to live in a finite sum game' and yet Dungeon Meshi makes it feel natural and convincing, while remaining tremendously charming and funny throughout. ryōko kui is definitely some kind of genius, and I can't wait to see what her next act is gonna be. it's all definitely making me appreciate the act of eating a lot more.

next story on my plate is probably The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere, which sounds like it will present a very gnarly thematic contrast.

[artful-aries]

May I request a Scaramouche/Wanderer platonically with a fem!child!reader who he saw himself within Scaramouche adopted her mostly because Teyvat don’t need a repeat of all of what Scaramouche did

It took me way too long to put this out, but I hope you enjoy!! The reader can actually be read as gender neutral for this, hope that’s okay!

Scaramouche/Wanderer With A Child Reader

If he comes across you as Scaramouche and not Wanderer, I think the experience would be different in a lot of ways. Namely being on how outwardly mean he would be

As Scaramouche, he will have complete and utter disdain for you when he finds you alone and abandoned. He would have left you there to deal with your situation alone had you not run to cling to his sleeve

He scoffs, calls you pathetic, and tries to “gently” pull away from your grasp, but in your childlike desperation for a companion you had a surprisingly firm grip on him as you begged him not to leave

At this point he would likely be rough and push you to the ground, walking away despite the sound of your cries as he does so. Yet the further he gets away, the more of a nagging feeling he gets. Why does he care about what happens to some feeble human child? If they got eaten by some wild animal or killed by hilichurls it wouldn’t even phase him

Against his better judgment, he will come back to you, but will be glaring at you the entire time as if it was your fault he returned. From there, he would harshly ask you if you can make yourself useful, and rolls his eyes at your uncertain answer

Despite Scaramouche holding a lot of contempt for you and your fragility, he grabs your arm and hoists you up to your feet, telling you that if you disappoint him he’s going to dump you off again in the woods

The fear is a surprisingly good motivator, and you do end up helping him in the small ways that you can given the fact that you’re only a small child. It’s still enough to earn his scorn, but over time you begin to realize that he does look out for you in his own way

His care is in the form of constantly scolding you, whether it’s over you accidentally dropping something, making rash decisions, or in general just being wholly annoying in his eyes. He doesn’t know how to be soft with you, and he probably isn’t capable of it anyway, but he does make sure that you’re at least in decent health

If he finds you as Wanderer, your experience under his wing will be better, but he’s still going to be rough around the edges

When he finds you and you cling to him, he feels a bit awkward and frowns at you, gently prying you off of him and insisting that he’s not your mother, so why should he take care of you?

Upon seeing you looking up at him like a kicked puppy, Wanderer sighs and gives you a pat on the head (albeit a bit of a hard pat) and tells you to follow him

He’ll bring you to Nahida and insist that she takes you into her care or at least passes you off to someone in Sumeru who would be willing to take you in, but the goddess has other plans. She thinks this is a great opportunity for Wanderer to develop his connections to humanity in a positive way, as well as learning to not be so rude all of the time

He protests to no end, pointing out how ill suited he is to the task, but Nahida will not budge. Begrudgingly, Wanderer begins to take you with him everywhere he goes regardless of the danger. It’s not that he doesn’t care about your safety, he’s just beyond confident that harm won’t come to you if he is nearby

When you grow naturally affectionate towards him it makes him feel very awkward and stiff, and the first time you give him a hug makes his eye twitch a little in irritation. Despite this, he lets you do what you want, and eventually learns to hug you back, albeit awkwardly

Aside from fulfilling your basic needs, the only way you’ll know how much Wanderer has come to actually care for you is the day that he makes you a stuffed animal to keep you company

He’ll insist that the stuffed animal is for you to hug instead of always bothering him, but his stern gaze always softens when he watches you play with it lovingly

[onepiecestarry]

A Different Kind of Pirate - Part 2

Hi all, I recently did a poll to see what most people prefer to read and I will be switching the story to second pov :) hope this doesn’t mess anyone up. Thank you for the support!

Zoro X Reader

Masterlist

Part 2: A Routine

You wake up to see no one in the room. Thinking to yourself how odd it is Zoro can stay up so late and yet get up so early. You slip out of bed and go to the bathroom to change back into your regular clothes, leaving Zoro’s shirt folded on the table. 

You begin descending the stairs from the crow’s nest observing everyone doing their own tasks. You then spot the broody man working out in the tangerine grove, away from the rest of the crew. You smile to yourself thinking how silly he is to be so closed off and dark, but someone on the crew must you guessed.

You enter the kitchen to the amazing smell of waffles. Sanji sees you and quickly sets a plate down with fresh fruit and hand-squeezed orange juice. You take your place next to Nami and say, 

“Sanji, you really didn’t need to do all this for me. I’m okay with just a bit of cereal.” You smile. 

“A lady like you? Cereal? God no, over my cold dead body y/n-swan.” He says shocked you even suggested it. 

“Is he always like this?” You whisper to Nami.

“Yeah, unfortunately,” She says flatly back.

You both sit and enjoy your meals, chatting about random things and getting to know each other better. Eventually, Nami points out that Zoro hasn’t eaten yet and that Sanji should fix a plate up for him. He rolls his eyes and remarks,

“Fine, but I’m not bringing it to him.”

“That’s alright, I can. I don’t mind.” You giggle.

Weaving through the tangerine trees looking for the green-haired man, smelling the fresh air. It was almost like a maze with how many trees there were. As you’re about to give up and go out and back in again to start over, you back into something tall, but it isn’t a tree. 

You slowly turn around to the intimidatingly tall man in front of you. Sure, you were intimidated by him, but by no means were you scared. You found him cute and liked the reactions you got from teasing him yesterday.

“I brought you some breakfast!” You say with a big smile. 

“I don’t eat breakfast.” He says with a bite. 

“Well, pretty boys don’t stay pretty if they don’t eat. I’ll leave this here, but you should really eat.” You say moving the plate over to a bench. 

As you walk away you can feel Zoro’s eyes on you the whole time, as if you are a wild animal capable of doing any random movement at any time. 

For the rest of the day, you sit with the other members playing games, telling stories, or reading. You found to quite like Robin’s company specifically. You and her have a very similar sense of humor, and it feels comforting to be around her. 

-----

As the days go on you can’t help but believe Nami truly listened to their captain by setting sail for the farthest island possible. You weren’t complaining though. You had come up with a routine for yourself and quite enjoyed being on the Sunny.

Each morning you wake up and have breakfast with Nami and Robin, you then bring a plate to Zoro. He may say he doesn’t trust you but he always eats what you bring him. After that, you play some card games and such with Chopper and Luffy. You then help Frankie with repairs or his next project. After all that activity, you go back to the bench swing. This happens to be where Zoro naps in the afternoons. As he rests you read and enjoy the sun. Each night you all gather around a fire and enjoy the night. As everyone goes to bed you once again make tea for you and Zoro and ascend to the crow’s nest. 

After the past week and a half of this Zoro hadn’t warmed up to you like the other crew had, but that’s okay, you know he's different and he takes his time to trust people. But he never once rejected your presence, which you count as a win, especially with how much you tease and flirt with him. It was just too easy! You say something as simple as “Hey hot stuff” and he’s a red mess. It's quite cute you think, and it's not as if you're lying, you truly think he's attractive so why not tell him? 

---

You make your and Zoro’s tea, now knowing how he likes it after days of prodding him about it. You bring it up to him and hand him the cup, choosing to this time sit on the crow’s nest balcony with him. 

You both sit in silence watching the waves and stars while sipping your tea. 

“Zoro,” You say. He hums in response. “I forgot my pajamas in the wash.” 

“For god’s sake woman.” He says exasperated.

He moves to his closet once again and throws a shirt at you. He walks to sit back down where he used to be. You laugh at his reaction, and he looks at you a bit puzzled. 

“Why do you always stay up?” You ask curiosity getting the better of you.

“Someone’s gotta make sure no one attacks us while all these idiots are sleeping.” He states with a bit of a smirk on his face. It was faint but you could see the corners of his mouth fighting a smile. You hum in response.

“It must get lonely huh, do you ever get tired?” You ask.

“No not really.” he blandly says.

“Liar.” you say with a smile.

“Excuse me?” He looks at you with bewilderment and a smile on his face.

“I see you in the middle of the night on the balcony asleep, why do you think you always wake up with a blanket in the morning?” You laugh.

“That was you?!” He exclaims. “I thought I was tripping out or forgetting I had gotten a blanket the night before.” He says with surprise. You laugh at his response. 

“How about this, I’ll stay up now and you can get some sleep and then when you wake up, I’ll get some sleep?” You say with a smile now looking away back towards the waves crashing against the boat.

 He hums while thinking. 

“And that way we can both sleep in the bed, and you won’t have back problems.” You try to say while stifling a laugh. 

“I do NOT have back problems!” he says. “But it would be nice to sleep in a bed again. Alright, you’ve got a deal. But if I find you sleeping on the job, I’ll throw you overboard.” he smiles.

“You would never” You feign hurt, “Who would be here to compliment you all the time pretty boy?”

He turns away and walks inside before you can see his reaction, but you know he was trying to stop a smile. He quickly returns with a blanket and says to wake him up if you get tired. 

You stay up for a while, quietly finding constellations or humming to yourself. Eventually, you start to get sleepy but fight it off so Zoro can get some much-needed rest. But alas you couldn’t fight it off forever. 

The next day you wake up in the bed wondering how you got there. You sit up and look at the side table seeing a plate of breakfast and a note. 

The note read: 

Thanks for taking the graveyard shift last night, I’ll think about not throwing you overboard since you helped me out

Z

You smile as you read it and bring the plate to the table. You sit quietly eating, looking out at the beautiful sky.

Later, when you joined the crew, they all asked what caused you to sleep in so late. You told them you started helping Zoro with the night watches so he could get some sleep too. They all nod at your sacrifice. 

Suddenly their faces look serious and you ask what's wrong. 

“We need to go to Dressrosa y/n.” Nami says.

“Oh, why is that?” You question. 

“We just got word from our ally Trafalgar Law to meet up before going there to form an attack on Doflamingo.” Robin states.

“Oh wow, I see, okay. And what do you need me to do? Do you need to drop me off at a nearby island or something?” You say hoping that it won’t come to that. 

“No! We want you to help us!” Luffy yells.

You smile at his request and nod. Frankie leaves to retrieve Zoro before you all start to plan everything. As Zoro walks back you smile at him, receiving the regular small nod. 

The plan was to meet up with the heart pirates and proceed to Dressrosa to plan the attack. We all wanted to take down Doflamingo. You especially, he has always been on your ‘hit’ list but you never thought you could take him alone. You are grateful that you are now with two crews that can. 

You smile to yourself thinking about how different life is now. Hoping not to go back to how it was before. 

-

Part.3

- 

I hope you enjoyed part 2! I am trying to write longer parts because I hate it when stories have short parts, turns out it's hard to do! But the next part should be up tomorrow if I stick to my schedule! Thank you for your support as a new writer! :) 

[omgkatherine01]

Hey! Can I ask a one shot where lo'ak goes hunting at night and finds a newborn abandoned babygirl about to be attacked by a creature, and he saves her and soothes her crying by rocking her gently on his chest? Then maybe he could bring her to his parents and the family would adopt her, and lo'ak could not leave her side (always holding/kissing/cuddling her) since the day he found her and they would become an adorable sibling duo?

Note: So... I'm writing it as a reader one shot.... which it isn't really a one shot that I'm used to, I feel like I'm suck at this, but oh well, hope it turned out okay and it's just me feeling it 😉

Note 2: And didn't know where to stop at this, so.... 😑

The Youngest Sully

Pairing: Sully family x Adopted!daughter!reader

Masterlist (requests are currently open for now)

On the day you were found out there, a baby screaming which attracted not only Jake Sully and his son, Lo'ak, to your location but also creatures, which one of them was a viperwolf.

That creature would have eaten you if Lo'ak and Jake didn't show up and got rid of it. You wouldn't stop crying until Lo'ak picked you up and held you against his chest.

On that day, his life and his family changed.

You seemed to have been only a few days old and with no one claiming you, Lo'ak's family took you in.

With Tuk been older than you by three years, you were the youngest Sully. You grew up to have a close bond with everyone in your adoptive family, especially with Lo'ak.

Despite Neytiri and Jake weren't your true parents, you were sharing Neytiri's gentle and nurturing spirit, and taking care of small animals and plants that you would come across. But you were also sharing Jake's adventurous spirit and love for exploration.

You had a mischievous streak, enjoying pushing boundaries and testing the limits, much to the dismay of your older siblings who often find themselves having to rescue you.

Neytiri was a nurturing and caring mother, she always made sure to spend as much time with you as much as possible, playing around, teaching you things, and taking you on adventures in the forest. She was overly protective of you, always making sure you stay safe and are not put in any unnecessary danger. Your bond with Neytiri was very strong, with you looking up to your mother as a hero.

Your relationship with Jake was of a father and daughter of course. Jake was always there to support you and encourage your curious nature. With you, he was patient and understanding, always taking the time to listen to your thoughts and concerns, just like with Kiri and Tuk. Despite his tough exterior, Jake had a soft spot for you and would do anything to make you happy.

Neteyam was a role model for you, setting a good example and always looking after you. He show a lot of patience towards you. You would enjoy spending time with Neteyam, following him around, and trying to imitate his actions sometimes. He would be like another dad to you.

Lo'ak, been the one who sometimes causes trouble, have always been cautious when you were around and since that day he and his father found you, he hardly really let you out of his sight. But when he wandered off, he made sure you weren't following him around to dangerous places.

But he couldn't always stop you, because just like Tuktirey, you were bubbly and energetic, and always eager to follow your siblings on their escapades on Pandora.

You and Lo'ak shared a very strong bond since that day he found you, at every cry he was there to calm you down; rocking you gently to his chest, holding your hand (especially on your first try on walking), cuddling you when you couldn't sleep.

Kiri was a constant companion, showing you Pandora and teaching you about the ways of the Na’vi. She was a nurturing and protective older sister, often helping to take care of you and looking out for your well-being. You were sharing her strong connection to nature and animals, always looking for new creatures to add to your collection of treasured trinkets and mementos.

Tuk, been older than you by three years, took her responsibility as a big sister seriously, which in your parents' eyes was very adorable. Since you learned how to walk (and ran) she followed you around to make sure you were safe. She, like your older siblings, was very protective over you.

[radio-star8]

do you have any headcanons about the alternate bens like Mad, Bad, Zarro, etc? I'd love to hear them if you have any 😭😭

SRRY THIS TOOK SO LONG FOR ME TO ANSWER I FORGOT ABOUT TBH PLEASE FORGIVE ME 🙏

Anyways here's a shit ton of headcanons and storylines

Bad Ben:

Story stuff--

His grandpa Max is not gone, just evil

Instead of the plumbers being intergalactic peacekeeping organization they are a anti-alien army set on separating Earth from other alien species.

Grandpa Max instills this idea that aliens are all bad into Ben and Gwen's head from a very young age

Grandpa Max adopted Ben into the plumbers organization way earlier. So he's kind of an alien butt kicking machine.

He's not a celebrity like Ben 23 but everybody knows who he is, He's seen as Earth's protector but not a hero.

He finds out that he's a quarter Anodite around the same time as Gwen (15). Well Gwen embraces her alien origin Ben is pissed and feels betrayed.

He decides to work with a different faction of the plumbers to separate himself from Grandpa Max

This faction works more with infiltrations rather than first line responders (if that makes sense)

Ben would currently be working on how to get rid of Gwen, Kevin, and the rest of the plumber kids including Argit who are seen as illegal aliens and are basically on the run.

Ben hides the fact that Gwen is his cousin and that he is a quarter and  Anodite. Cuz if it ever got out it would ruin his rep.

Personal--

I think he's super self-absorbed he'll take an extra few seconds just to look at himself in the mirror and sigh dramatically

He has a dog named Buster (or something stupid like that)

As mentioned Buster is the only living thing he actually seems to like.

Doesn't name his aliens

His favorite animals are dogs or sharks

He thinks he's funny and that he has really good one liners but he actually kind of sucks at it

He seems like the type of guy to have a TikTok page centered around thirst trap POVs

He's actually not the goalie on his soccer team

I think instead of a smoothie guy he's more of a shake enjoyer

Same goes for chili fries... He probably eaten animal style fries from In-N-Out or something 🙏

He definitely litters

Grinds his teeth while he's sleeping

Would definitely ask for the manager

Physical--

Negative Ben:

Storyline--

His Grandpa Max is alive and well. There's no such thing as the plumbers but there is an task force specifically for alien activity which he is part of.

Aliens are not very common on Earth whatsoever and Earth never becomes a open planet. There's no undertown or anything like that.

Ben got the Omnitrix way younger I'd say around 7-8

At first he wanted to be a hero and use it for good but when immediate success didn't follow he gave up

They did not go on a giant summer road trip, the escape pod crashed in Grandpa Max's backyard or something like that

Grandpa Max is very bitter that he never got the chance to have the Omnitrix and Ben knows this very well.

As for Gwen she's never had an interest in the alien shenanigans and is more focused on normal life. She pretends to be dumber than she actually is secretly practicing magic with her friend Hope (aka negative charmcaster)

I think Gwen would be besties with Michael Morningstar and is dating Kevin who's this beach blonde jock.

Kevin is not a mutant in this timeline. Gwen basically uses him for money and to look cool. (We love toxic gwevin)

Ben has no ambitions in life and rarely ever uses the Omnitrix for anything. Since Earth is a closed off planet he kind of has no need.

His azimuth is dead and vilgax seems to not be in this timeline either

I think Ben is a super toxic person he reminds me of the sad boy flop version of Nicole from class of '09 if that makes sense

I think he has a super toxic relationship with Julie and then goes on to date Kai who in this timeline is a celebrity (she's a famous singer) the second him and julie break up. I think he would probably cheat on Kai with Hope (she's the same age as Gwen and Ben in this timeline)

Since they both got played they would leave his ass and he would be alone forever (possibly some toxic benrook, or bevin action)

In an effort to rehabilitate Rook and Ben both Grandpa Max teams them up to run missions and whatnot.

In this timeline Rook is a con artist, he is  ostracized from his home planet. (His parents hate him lol). And in an effort to not go to jail he agrees with Grandpa Max to team up with Ben.

I believe this Ben also has an Albedo who is super happy-go-lucky and was a big fan of azimuth and really wants to get to know Ben who is just not having it.

Personal--

He is definitely incel

He room is so messy you can't see the floor

He names his aliens really stupid stuff like "nightstalker"

Only uses aliens that he thinks are cool

Favorite animals are cats or wolves

He really likes horror movies (favorite yt channel is probably dead meat)

He spends most of his time drawing anime characters or something like that

Favorite genre of anime is harem animes

he will verbally insult you but if you even dare say that he looks kind of funny he'll start crying

Has like 3,000 followers on Twitter

He's very scared of spiders

He's definitely the type to laugh at you for being uncomfortable around bloody or gory scenes.

"it's fake, besides it's not even that scary... I could probably do way worse"

I think he says edgy stuff like that all the time

Lives on monster energy and coffee

Physical--

This is a lot cuz I really like Negative Ben idk he has a hold on me anyway...

Benzarro:

Storyline--

I think Ben had the spark as well as Gwen so they both were super into magic.

I also like to believe that Earth is more of a magic realm than it is a planet.

I think the virus that turned Ben into a zombie was not in undead thingy but more of a mana absorbing parasite.

Ben is still alive but has been reduced to Benzarro

I think before the apocalypse Ben and Kevin were really close (possibly dating) so when Ben started to get sick this caused Kevin to completely shut down and run away

Ben and Gwen were also way closer in this timeline than they normally are. So it explains why she would devote her life to a cure and assisting Dr. Animo.

Ben is also patient zero most likely because the Omnitrix not only carried dna of multiple aliens but also a parasite.

this also means that Ben got the Omnitrix way later I'd say around 14-15

as for Grandpa Max and the plumbers I don't think that there is really a need for them but I do believe that Grandpa Max was still there before the apocalypse trying to train Ben the best he could.

I feel like Grandpa Max doesn't have a very good connection with his grandkids on like Grandma Verdona who decided to stay on earth and train her grandkids.

Obviously she fleas the planet after the plague starts to take over and Grandpa Max is missing

As for the state of Kevin: he is camped out in some cabin in the forest trying to survive the best he can. He lives with Cooper who is basically his best friend through all of this.

I think Kevin is a full mutant in this (I'm using the rooters retcon for this) him as well as Cooper our immune to the virus since they have no magic spark. (They're basically the cure)

Personal--

He's very popular around school and stuff.

Definitely the golden child of the family

The names of all aliens end with "y/ie"

So like. "Goopie" "Shiny" "Helpie"

Favorite animals are horses

Before he gets infected he'd probably be the type to say that everybody's overreacting and that he doesn't need to wear a mask cuz he's built different... he's got magic and stuff

I think he's zones out a lot

As a zombie he gets lots of weird food cravings

Has tried to eat the other bens

He still remembers everything before he was infected but the parasite has basically made his brain mush

He still remembers Gwen and Kevin very fondly

Contrary to popular belief his favorite color is yellow

Physical--

cw blood

Mad Ben:

Storyline--

I haven't exactly figured out what caused the a post-apocalyptic landscape that mad lives in but I think it would have something to do with a plumber war that caused a possible nuclear (???) fallout

when Ben first finds the Omnitrix he's traveling with Grandpa Max and Gwen. They're kind of aimlessly roaming the desert in search of civilization.

The Omnitrix was in Plummer custody before everything kind of exploded and was just found in an abandoned building by Ben

Grandpa Max is extremely sick and ends up leaving Gwen and Ben so he can go pass on without them having to see.

they later get separated as Gwen is picked up by Verdona.

Leaving then to fend for himself for a little bit. 

Maltruant comes along and leads Ben him to Bellwood (or what's left of it)

him and vilgax then train Ben. I like to think the conditions are tough like Ben still has to hunt for his own food and fend for himself. As well as the fact that he probably gets punished for doing stuff wrong

Side note the vilgax the trains mad Ben is mad vilgax so when he is taken to go fight in the ben war he meets prime vilgax and thinks he's hella cool.

Mad Vilgax is a militant kind of commander who Maltruant specifically tracks down to train Ben and afterwards Vilgax dips

Rook kind of just arrives one day. He is badly injured and Ben kind of takes him in. They're both like 12 or 13 at this point

Ben and Rook develop a friendship until Ben is offered the position to start digging for pieces of maltruant

he starts to yell and get angry at Rook and basically is super toxic.

basically after the two part episode in Omniverse Ben goes a little stir crazy in jail and with the help of Dr Psychobos breaks out.

He runs away to try and find Gwen who at this point is very infamous.

there is an entire cult surrounding her as her followers believe that she has the divine power to save them and bring them to salvation.

this is obviously because she is an anodite. When Verdona took her she led her to the cult and basically made her their new center of worship.

anyways the reason why he's trying to find Gwen is because he knows she's magical and in his stupid little brain that means that she can bring him to Maltruant

he would probably take Kevin hostage (somehow idk that man's a tank) leading gwen to confront him and they would have a big fight

Rook has also been looking for Ben this whole time

Personal--

He has a really bad anger issues that he's had since he was a child

Stiles his hair with motor grease

His favorite animals are hawks

Doesn't name his aliens

He skilled in many different fighting styles so is still versatile even without his omnitrix

The only reason why he has a newer omnitrix is because azimuth is a cruel bitch and gave it to him

Ben sees at azimuth as a god

Ben is the only person in Bellwood to have a mattress and a bed frame

Bro definitely has scurvy

Definitely snores

If he ever tried chili fries he'd probably throw up

His vest used to be a jacket he wore as a kid but he ripped off the sleeves to make it cool

Definitely would wear his dirty shoes around the house.

Most definitely would wear his dirty shoes on the couch

Physical--

Okay that's it sorry it was so long I just really like yeppin if you guys have any more requests about anything feel free to ask. Hopefully I won't forget about it next time 🙏

[byunpum]

EXPERIMENT 56 [your time is coming] sequel

AVATAR MASTERLIST | EXPERIMENT 56 masterlist

PAIR: Neteyam x Human reader. ( a mix of human and Navi )

Other pairs: Quaritch x reader (platonic) , sully fam x reader.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

SUMMARY: Y/N thinks she has a peaceful life with her new family. But a sudden visitor is about to change her life and her family's life.

WARNINGS: 18+, the characters are aged up 20's, a little violence, don't worry no one dies, Y/N and neteyam being parents , Bestie stuff, Family moments, jealousy,

Note: Ok, I thought a lot about posting this sequel, but since I love my own story, I wanted to continue it. I recommend everyone to read the first part of "experiment 56" so you can understand everything. Still, I hope you like this pilot a lot. If this post is well-received, I will continue the story.

"Are you sure you want to go alone?" asks neteyam holding noah't to his chest. "Yes, don't worry I'll be fine" you say as you continue getting ready to go out to pick some fruits. It wasn't just any fruit, it was a very special fruit that bore its fruits a bit far from the village. This made neteyam a little nervous, but it made you excited. It had been a long time since you had gone adventuring alone and the simple fact of searching for a fruit excited you.

Since you had become a mother, all your time and space was for noah't. It wasn't like neteyam wasn't there. He was always helping you, taking care of you and the baby. But noah't had a very strong attachment to you. Neytiri told you that this was normal, she commented how loak was very attached to her when he was a baby, this was transitory. You knew this was the best time to go out, as noah't was taking his midday nap. "He's already eaten, he's clean…so I'll leave you two alone" you say going over to give neteyam a kiss. You knew he was worried, he still hadn't gotten over the previous events of your loss. And knowing that you were going to be alone in the jungle terrified him.

"What if someone goes with you? Why don't you tell loak" neteyam stops and thinks a little clearly. " No, loak no…but if you tell kiri or spider to accompany you?" neteyam has his hand holding you, gently stroking your fingers, you give him a grumpy look. You hated it when he got like this, nothing was going to happen to you. Everything had gotten better, the altercations with the RDA had lessened, they were in their zone and you were in yours. Also, you weren't going to get too far away. "Neteyam… kiri is busy with mo'at. Spider is eywa know where. I'll be fine" you give her a quick kiss, and run out of your hut.

Neteyam stayed quiet watching you run out of the hut. Yes he was worried, but he knew you were going to be fine. You were a strong woman and you knew how to defend yourself, maybe you were right. He was being a little overprotective. So he decided to lie down for a while with his son, it was one of the few days he didn't have to do anything. He walked over to the bed, this was a large hammock, which you insisted on having and which neteyam was forced to put up. He climbed up carefully, and placed his little baby next to him and close to his chest. He snuggled further into the bed and slowly zeroed his eyes.

Meanwhile, not far away you are walking peacefully through the jungle of Pandora. Enjoying the feel of the grass on your feet, the clean air and the coolness of the forest. Wow, you missed this… to be preoccupied for at least several hours. You knew you had to go back, noah't was going to get up and get hungry. That baby ate too much. And you couldn't stand to be away from him for more than 3 hours. You knew neytiri would calm him down, but you knew you had a curfew anyway. But enjoying your free time, you started running, faster and faster.

You picked up some fruits, and put them in a bag that you had hung on your waist. You also took the opportunity to take some feathers that some animals had left behind, these were perfect for the new outfit you were making for noah't. You were in your little bubble, until your ears heard a strange noise, it was familiar but strange. You crawl along the floor, trying to hide from whatever was making that noise. You took your time to analyze the noise, it was loud breathing and cursing that you could hear softly. Ok, it was something you could recognize, whatever it was was speaking one of your languages.

You got closer, hiding in the branches trying to see what creature was making that noise. As you got closer you could see the figure of a navi, it had military clothes, and it was not similar to the scientist's navis and it was kneeling on the ground… it seemed to be searching for something. You hide more in the bushes. What were the recoms doing near the village. This was worrying you… They weren't supposed to be around, that was the deal. You didn't think long and took your bow and pointed it at the target. You weren't going to risk it, this avatar could be dangerous for you and your family. The only ones who knew where you were was… wait.

You were standing there, with the bow ready to shoot the arrow, when you remembered who you had told about your location. Of course, he had to be the only one. Quaritch?…it couldn't be. The last time you communicated with him was seven months ago. That's when he saw your baby for the first time, after that encounter…you didn't hear from him. Why was he here? Were there more of them in the area? Was he going to betray you?

You lower the bow and start to look at the situation, the man was so into what he was doing that he didn't realize that you were just 6 feet away. "He's a dummy" you think to yourself, as you watch him get up. And you see how one of his hands is stuck to his chest and you can see blood. You could analyze the expression of pain on his face, and you can see how other parts of his body were hurt. They were like burns. You stop in your tracks… you had an inner fight, your instinct was telling you to stay away. But on the other hand you wanted to help him. What's the worst that could happen if you got caught again? He wasn't going to hurt himself just for the fun of it?

So you move a little closer and speak softly, but with worry. "Quaritch? Is that you?" you speak, this makes the man turn around quickly looking for the location of the voice. And there you could confirm that he did not have any kind of weapon, he is very hurt. His eyes were pained, worried, lost. "Y/N?" Quaritch, he spoke with a broken voice… he was about to cry. You slowly came out of your hiding place, and as soon as your figure was in sight. The man took several steps and was on the floor on his knees in front of you. You didn't know what was happening, you had never seen him like this.

"Finally I find you!!!" he let out a gasp. "What is happening to you? Why are you like this?" you ask, lifting his face in your hands. You were analyzing his wounds, how his clothes were full of blood. "They… they got rid of us" he speaks, as you watch his eyes fill with tears. He was scared, harmless and hurt. You could even guess that he was dehydrated. "But who did this? Why are you here?" you want to stay calm, but it was almost impossible. You watch as he collapses completely on the ground, he is sitting with his head down. He groans in pain. "Everyone…Y/N, everyone is dead" Quaritch looks up. You sit down in front of him, you didn't want to touch him too much.

"Hey, why don't we go to a safe area…get you all patched up and drink some water" you invite him, taking his free hand. Making him get up from the ground. Quaritch just looked you in the eyes, and nodded. You couldn't leave him here. He was your friend, he was hurt and you knew that if you left him here in the condition he was in he would die in less than 4 hours. He was in a very bad condition. Of course, you couldn't take him to the village. Neteyam would be furious and so would your father. And your mother…she was going to kill him. So as you slowly walk through the forest holding his hand making sure he was okay. You decide to take him to the beach, it wasn't too far and there you had a little shelter.

It was a refuge that you used from time to time. You used to go there with neteyam and noah't, it was also your space to go and take care of your ilu and spend time with him. No one used to go to your seaside shelter, so it was perfect for Quaritch to take refuge. While you were thinking of a better plan. They were getting closer and you could hear his breathing and how exhausted he was feeling. "We're close…hang in for a little while." As you reached the beach, you pulled him inside the small hut. You could see your ilu, poking his head out to greet you. You signaled with your hands for him to look for a type of sea clam, which was used to heal wounds. This had been taught to you by Tsireya, to train your ilu to follow command and even to know how to search.

Quaritch sat on a kind of bed. You approached him and lifted his face. "Hey…have some water?" you offer him water from a clay jar. He took it in a hurry, you could tell he had been like this for days. "Now…take off that dirty shirt, while I go prepare everything to heal those wounds" you speak, while you see that the man only obeys you. This was a new behavior for you, the Quaritch you knew was a strong, intimidating man, but now he was so vulnerable. You took some herbs that you had nearby. You had them here, in case an accident happened, you would be ready. All that was left was for your ilu, to shred the clams you needed.

"Hi'i will be back soon" you say. "Who is Hi'i?" asks Quaritch, he had finally spoken. "It's my ilu" you say. "And cupcake?" he asks, looking you in the eye. You move closer and wipe some blood from between his eyebrows with a tissue. "He's in the village, with the other ikran. It's okay…but you" there is silence and you can see his eyes fill with tears. Before he speaks, you hear Hi'i's roar. You run out to the coast, and see that Hi'i had several shells in his mouth. "Ahhh thank you precious… thank you very much" you thank him. Running back to prepare the medicinal paste that mo'at had taught you. Quaritch watches you work quietly. And then you stand up and begin to place the paste on her injured skin. "I don't want to clean it too much, because it has already created its own layer…but this will help with the inflammation and remove bacteria," your hands dab at the skin. And you listen as Quaritch moans, but you notice how he is relaxing.

"It hurts…but it feels good" you say, watching as you carefully place more on his arm. You find some cloths and wrap them up. "Now…tell me what happened? Why are you here…you know one of the warriors could have killed you" you speak, as you continue to work on other wounds. "They have decided against us…we are no longer useful to them. They sent us on a routine 'mission'…it was all right, my squad is fine. I got a message from General Ardmore saying that our service was good, but they needed new equipment. Out of nowhere the helicopter exploded" Quaritch speaks, while you are sitting in front of him you couldn't believe what you were hearing. "When I got up… they were all dead. Everything was destroyed" he lowers his head, you can see the tears fall to the floor. "And Lyle?" you ask. You didn't know the others in the group. But you did know Lyle, he was a great friend of yours. "He didn't survive…" Quaritch can see your hand go to your mouth, looking to calm you down. You get up and give him a hug. "I'm so sorry…" you are crying.

"That's why I came looking for you… you are the only person I have left alive, the one I can trust" Quaritch says, you hug him again. You couldn't hold back your tears. Your mother is right, humans can be so cruel, how they can kill living creatures for no reason. "And what are you going to do next?" you look up, you were already picking up some things. "I don't know… if I go near the base they will kill me" he speaks, you can see how confused he is. "Why don't you spend the night here, here…it's some fruit" you take out the fruit you had picked from your bag. "I'll come tomorrow and we'll talk about everything" you explain. "But no one will come here" Quaritch stands up, he is scared and defensive. You take his hand and calm him down a little, making him sit down again. "No, this place is secret…it's mine" you say, looking for some clothes for Quaritch to change and make him more comfortable. "Won't you stay?" he asks. " I can't…neteyam and noah't are waiting for me" you laugh a little, you see how his ears perk up with surprise. "It's true…you have a family. I bet the baby is precious" Quaritch says while playing with his hands. He did that when he was nervous. "Yes…it's gigantic. Literally gigantic" you say.

Before you leave the hut, you give him one last hug. "See you tomorrow…I'll be back" you say, as you leave the hut. You see that the sky is getting dark, how long you have been there. It was very late… it doesn't take you long to get to the village. You run quickly to the hut you shared with neteyam, when you enter you see jake playing with noah't while neteyam is preparing the dinner. "Honey you're finally here" says Jake, he was lying on the floor letting his grandson play on top of him. "H-hello dad…what are you doing here?" you ask nervously. If anyone found out that you were helping one of the clan's greatest enemies, in your hut on the coast, they would kill you. They were going to kill you.

"I came to visit you…I can't?" asks Jake, he noticed how nervous you were. After all…he was your father, he raised you. He knew your every moves. You walk over to neteyam, who is cutting up various foods. He is sitting down, so you hug him from behind. Trying to change the subject. "Of course you can dad, I was just asking," you say, as you continue to hug Neteyam. Neteyam moves his head, to kiss your hand which is hugging his neck. "Love…you smell blood, did you get hurt?" everyone stops what they are doing, even jake holds noah't so he can look at you. "It's nothing…it's a scratch. Look…I didn't get any fruit" you lift your shoulders, while giving neteyam a kiss on the back. "Well… but you're okay, right?" he looks up to study you. You give him a small smile and lean in to kiss him on the lips. "Love, I'm fine…just a little tired. I've been looking for the fruit all day and nothing" you pull away from neteyam, moving closer to take noah't in your arms.

"My baby…you must be very very hungry" you say, settling Noah't on your chest, so that he can feed. Jake watches you, he knows you are hiding something. "Honey, is everything okay?" Jake asks again. "Yes daddy…" you look away quickly. "Well…I'll leave you two alone. Rest kids" jake says as he gets up, gives you a kiss on the forehead and a squeeze on the shoulder to his oldest son. Jake was so proud of you guys, you had grown up so much, you already had a family.

Neteyam gets up and walks a little bit to be in front of you. Your gaze was lost, you had noah't suckling you, while you were rocking from side to side. Neteyam comes closer to kiss you on your forehead. "Y/N do you have something to tell me?" neteyam asks, he knows you were not well. First you didn't come with fruits, second... you smelled like another man.

I hope you guys don't mind me putting you on the taglist, since you were always supporting the first part of 'experiment 56'. I think it's only fair that you know about the sequel, first of all.

Neytiri babies: @st4rrry @valeriinee @inutheangel @gielrmn @sloppierjewel @purple7theparty @itscheybaby @ssc7514 @namorslit @ducks118 @tpwkstiles @elli-aesthetics @nao-cchi @uselessbutinteresting @msjae @austynparksandpizza @gamorxa @andyyy4444 @itssomeonereading @meivap @barbii04 @mm-nope @dorck26 @nessrin @purple7theparty @ssc7514 @sloppierjewel @yeosxxx @legendleopard100 @pandoragalora @jayzes-blog @ducks118 @kyriekurokami @heesoftiefreak @teamanime @d4rno @dumb-fawkin-bitch-bitch @burdeningbitch @allsouls-emma @aceofheartzzz @famousbagelhandspurse @fanficblogs @lilyofthetigers @mjnij @laylasbunbunny

@cherrywinesab @sloppierjewel @bubbleguppy0315 @ellielovesrobinarellano @mrs-sullys-blog @lovekeeho @vectoriscommitingcrimes @kimtaehussy @bimbotinkerbell  @aceofheartzzz @d4rno @3okutos-3ig-toe @bxnnywriting @anarcoirisgatuno @allsouls-emma @luna-ann @vivendominhahistorias @neteyamsgirll @yeosxxx @naynay2808

@neytirisgf @meivap @gamorxa @nuttyrebelflower @lovelyygirl8

[crypt1dcorv1dae]

I think the way kuwabara and Hiei can't ever seem to get along (tho they are friends, they just won't admit it) is bc they're as opposite as they could be, basically...

Like, Hiei can't understand human things, even for a DEMON the way he was "raised" was pretty fucked up, soft normal human life makes absolutely no sense to him at all...

But kuwabara is also the only one who can't understand Demon things, his life hasn't been perfect (mom doesn't seem to be around, and his dad isn't around much either, mostly just being raised by his teenage sister) it's still leagues softer than almost any demon's life, and the brutality that is normal for demons is foreign to him (he's the only one who seems to actively avoid killing opponents, at least the named ones)

So yeah, to Hiei kuwabara seems like a soft, wimpy human bc he's like... Well, he is kinda soft, he's kind to people and loves animals and has his heart on his sleeve, and he definitely doesn't like... Murder people

And to kuwabara Hiei is a little asshole who goes out of his way to be mean and cruel and violent even when it isn't necessary (it always was for him though in his past, it's all he ever knew) and doesn't have any respect for other's lives and doesn't care about anything or anyone but himself (he has no idea how much he cares about his sister!!! He doesn't even know she IS his sister!!)

But really it's just... Hiei has had to fight to survive, he was taught from a very young age that it's kill or be killed, take or be taken from, eat or be eaten, that's the only life he's ever known until very recently, now having people he can actually trust, people he's willing to protect OTHER than yukina, who he knows will protect him too... It's very new to him!!! He's not used to it!!! And knowing him, he doesn't WANT to get used to it for fear of becoming "weak"

... Idk what else I wanted to say, I forgot, I just realized that within the 4, they're the only ones who really really can't understand each other's perspectives at all, where yusuke and kurama (both being halfway in both worlds by the end) can understand both of them well enough to sorta... Translate.

Which is why I think the whole group can only really work as just that, A GROUP.

Team polymeshi ftw they're all gay godbless

[garf-lover96]

i know about fagottino... and i thought

fagottino prezioso... cat...

rowan and pepi...

how does rowan act with pepi

i thought about this ask for more than a second and decided that answering this question for ALL the familiars would be more interesting. also you read my mind again because i swear i was thinking about Rowan spending time with Pepi the day before you sent it omfg

Pepi: he visits Portia's cottage to hang out with her and Pepi equally. makes sure to always bring her a treat and occasionally a new toy. sweeps her up into his arms and smothers her in kisses and compliments as a greeting 'ojjjj Pepitka how radiant you are today :)'. also lets her loaf on him for hours. Bluebell loves playing with her too, they chase each other around a bunch

Malak: Rowan makes sure that he and Julian bond with each other enough, he really wants to help them understand each other better. but he also coddles him soooooo much and it kind of pisses Julian off when he takes the bird's side in a conflict....... i mean, he is a bird guy, what did you expect. Bluebell was initially pretty nervous around him but she got over it and they're besties now! they just bicker sometimes as housemates do

Faust: long term besties! Rowan has a soft spot for reptiles because of her. loves her silly little tongue and her body texture so he doesn't mind her squeezing him, also is willing to let her hang out on him like he's a tree at all times. a little too squeamish to feed her a dead rat himself but is fascinated by the way she just..... gulps them down. woah..? really loves babying her and calling her silly nicknames as well. Bluebell and Faust are like that photo of a snake hanging from a roof and squeezing a bird but /pos /affectionate (Rowan and Bluebell are both very squeezable)

Melchior and Mercedes: (i'm assuming the dogs stayed at the palace after Lucio was exiled??? there was no mention of what happened to them in Julian's route so..) Rowan actually goes out of his way to visit and play with them, he adores them so much. literally fell in love with them at first sight. they're precious angels that can do no evil. he'd roll around in mud with them if that would make them happy. Bluebell likes to get them riled up and fly away immediately after so she doesn't get caught by the JAWS

Chandra: he was a little stiff around her at first??? imagine going to a bird playdate with your trusty little magpie and the other bird looks like a smaller version of a biblically accurate angel. he warmed up to her after a few visits and pets her freely now. likes holding her in his lap and watching her head turn to insane angles. Bluebell's a little jealous of her glamour...

Inanna: he doesn't visit Muriel all that much so he's not used to being around her. he's still scared that she'll bite his face off and prefers to let her approach first if she feels like it. he goes pretty stiff while petting her too... i mean my god why does this guy have a whole ass wolf living in a house with him, it makes him uneasy. Bluebell stays away from her, she wouldn't risk being eaten

animals. love them so much