Gabriel is still trying to prove to June that he's good enough to stay and that he loves her. She's not buying it. "You let me believe I was your mother! That isn't love! That's evil! I want nothing more to do with you!"
At the station, Gabriel thrusts Jim against the wall and blames him for ruining her life. Jim insists June had the right to know. Smithy happens across them and sends Jim out on a job, taking Gabriel into his office. He asks how June took it... Gabriel continues the lie to him (and Jim) that he's June's son. Smithy offers him support and promises that noone else will find out unless it's from him or June.
June tells Jim it's stirred up a lot of bad feelings and she doesn't know what she wants anymore. He urges June to give her relationship with her son a chance. Later at a job, Gabriel asks her what she's going to do and begs her 'not to take this away from him'. She tells him she's enjoying watching him sweat. Gabriel starts to become more unhinged as June refuses to talk to him, breaking the mirror in his locker with his asp.
June confesses what some of what has happened to Polly as her oldest female friend. Polly asks if she wants to trace her son and she admits that she think she might. Gabriel appears behind June in her car, demanding to know if she's grassed him up. He asks if she's going to and she says no if he can prove himself she'll not tell on him for now. But for keeping quiet she wants the address of her real son.
XISUMA: But uh… I’m feeling confident, I don’t know about you, but I am ready to go. I’ve got geared up, I’m showing my audience my inventory. Got a whole bunch of potions in here-
SPUMWACKLES: (overlapping) Oh, right. So, that should be-
XISUMA: -including this secret weapon.
SPUMWACKLES: What’s- oh, the secret weapon! Yes! You refuse to tell me what it is, I have no idea. It’s cool, I got my own secret weapon, too.
Haibara says she’s never going to give Conan Apotoxin 4869 antidote ever again. He goes home and meets Haruna-san and her music box. She was bell buddies with Shuugo-san. But he stopped contacting her. This is because he’s dead. But his whole surviving family is interested in the music box because they think it’s the secret to where he hid his 200 million yen stamp, (and they totally want it for sentimental reasons only). They invite them to stay the night, during which strange things happen. This includes the shadow of an old man running past their window, and Nii-san getting hit on the head with grandma’s koto. There are many things Conan still doesn’t understand.
I think Jon deserves a bit more credit in the beginning scene... As far as they know, at this point, there are only 2 options: Jon becomes the Pupil or they do nothing.
If you had the power to shift things around, when you just experienced so much suffering and fear, wouldn't you feel like you HAVE to do something? And again, baring in mind that at this point there are only 2 options available, wouldn't it feel like any searching you do would just end with you right back here with this decision?
Jon is acting with what little knowledge he actually has available to him at the moment. This is the Web table or the anchor for the Coffin on a much larger scale.
Though, unlike before, he FINALLY has someone to confide in over his decisions, something he desperately needed 😭
On a lighter note: you can just see the hearts floating around the word "boyfriend" when he says it 💕🥰
I am not sure where the fandom take of "Jon is showing his monstrous side in this argument" is coming from. The desperation in the plan he comes up with (which, before knowing Annabelle's alternative, is a horrible plan and he knows it) is very human and seems to come from a very genuine 'this is the only place I can actually make a difference' place rather than letting his inhuman urge to be "evil and powerful" show. And this is after Martin kept raving about how he's humanity's only hope.
Granted, he needs to talk (or argue) it out to understand how it's a bad idea to appoint himself the jury judge and executioner of humanity but he does and then storms away to mull it over and comes back with a more healthy understanding of the situation
It's Martin here who misinterprets Jon and ends up not trusting him and leaving with Annabelle
Idk who I'm actually talking to when I announce that I still exist but whatever this is fun
Apologies that I completely forgot to post more stuff about the book thing I talked about a long while ago so I think at this point I'll just post a thing here when it's finally done and post a thing on tiktok.
this will probably take a while cos I'm busy though
Dammit, I think I’m cursed to read every issue relating to this Bugle v. Globe side plot out of order. Cool to see that they kept the bit about Peter being put off by Bushkin’s overly-friendly attitude after all this time, though.
Can’t wait for it to eventually drive him back to the Bugle, just like the first time
Warnings - angst to comfort (Zoro and Sanji). this is my first time writing for the anime, I'm still very new (only on episode 194) so please be nice, and let me know if they're ooc
ZORO
"He's avoiding me."
"He's not-"
"He can't stand to be in the same room as me."
Despite Nami's protests and reassurance, you were convinced that the green-haired swordsman was doing his utmost best to stay away from you. There was a distance between you two that hadn't been there until two days ago. Two days ago being the moment he realised he had feelings for you - unbeknownst to you.
"I'm sure there's an explanation-" Robin started.
"Well whatever it is, I don't want to hear it."
You were hurt. He had just stopped talking to you, stopped seeking you out for naps, and stopped being in your presence entirely. You don't even know what you did, and that hurt even more. You stood up from the table, brushing past the frozen swordsman as he entered the room. Tears evident in your eyes to all of them as they watched you go.
Why were you crying? Zoro was immediately concerned. He cared about you, after all, much more than anyone else on the crew. He hadn't realised that until he learned his feelings towards you were romantic, which is the reason for his distancing. He was, admittedly, scared by the fact that he liked you, and his defense mechanism of avoidance kicked in.
"What did you do now?" Nami practically growled at the swordsman.
"Me?" He protested. "I didn't do anything."
The orange-haired navigator rolled her eyes, "You're an idiot. You're avoiding her, and it's making her think you suddenly hate her."
Zoro's mouth opened like he was about to say something, but he didn't know what. You thought he hated you? That couldn't be further from the truth. He, the man who had your favourite colour, favourite food, and favourite everything committed to memory, he who knew your birthday better than his own, he who looked through every store on island stops to find something you would like, could never hate you.
But, he supposes avoiding you might have sent the wrong message.
The next day is pretty much the same, with you being in the room and Zoro not. You sighed and buried your face in your arms, just as the swordsman walked in. This time, he didn't leave.
"(Name)."
You looked up, surprised to hear him saying your name. Then you frowned, and dropped your head onto your arms again. You weren't in the mood to deal with him right now.
"I'm...sorry," he got out, a little slow but he managed. "Please look at me."
You sighed again before lifting your head, "What?"
You froze in place, seeing a familiar flower being held out to you. The green-haired swordsman had a bright blush on his face, but he had his head turned as he offered your favourite flower to you, probably too embarrassed about blushing to look at you. You took the flower gently, your own blush forming on your cheeks.
"I like you."
You were stunned for a moment, before your burst into laughter. His eyes widened, his blush darkening as he frowned at you.
"What-what's so funny?!"
"You're adorable."
"I AM NOT ADORABLE!"
The rest of you laughed as he grumbled and hastily trudged off, and you smiled as you looked at the flower in your hand.
"I like you too."
SANJI
It was a well known fact that Sanji was a massive flirt. Everyone knew about the cook's flirtatious antics, because he got heart-eyed over every woman he saw and everyone had witnessed it at some point. Even Nami and Robin were victim to his advances. But you, for some reason, were not. And it was confusing, to say the least, but it also sparked a deep insecurity.
Were you not pretty enough?
Little did you know, Sanji's aversion to flirting with you was only because every time he tried to say something to you, his tongue would tie itself up into a knot. He would not be able to get a word out, and would just end up looking like an idiot. He didn't want to give Zoro more ammunition. Because even looking at you sent all the thoughts in his head flying out, made his heart beat faster than he thought possible, and stole the breath from his lungs. He couldn't look at you without feeling faint.
"Why am I so unattractive?" You groaned one day, flopping down on the kitchen counter while he was cooking.
His eyes widened at your words, because there was simply no way you really thought you were ugly. He stared at you for a moment, and set down what he was holding to come over to you.
"You're not unattractive."
You scoffed, sitting up to look at him, "Please, you should be the last one to tell me that."
Before he could say anything, your eyes filled with tears and you retreated to your room, leaving him feeling so guilty. So it was because of him you felt that way. He thought it would be more romantic if he didn't flirt with you like a common woman, but it seemed that only made you think you weren't worthy of his affections.
Sighing, he followed you and stopped in front of your room door. He tried calling your name, but you didn't respond. Then he began to call you by other names - sweetheart, love, darling, anything romantic he could think of.
"You're the most beautiful woman in the world," he leaned his forehead against the door, "And I'm sorry I made you feel like you aren't. But I just like you so much that you have me tongue-tied every time I set my eyes on you."
You slowly opened the door, "You like me? You have a weird way of showing it."
"I'm so sorry!" He apologised, falling to his knees and clasping his hands together, "Please forgive me! I promise to make you feel prettier than anything and anyone else in the world, my sweet (Name)."
He looked on the verge of tears, so you shook your head with a smile and grabbed his arm to make him stand.
"You're so lucky I like you too."
LUFFY
Lord help you. That's pretty much all that can be said. Because when Luffy develops feelings for you, he has absolutely no idea. He doesn't think much of the fact that he constantly wants to be around you, that he constantly wants your attention and that he suddenly shares his food with you. He's so oblivious that romance could smack him in the face and he still wouldn't know a thing about it. So, naturally, Nami and Sanji have to help him realise that what he feels for you is not the same as what he feels for the rest of the crew.
"Oi, (Name)!"
"Luffy, I-" Nami sighed. There was no point in trying to talk to the captain now, you had come into view and stolen his attention. He could simply not focus on anything but you.
You laughed as you came towards the pair, "Luffy. What did you do this time?"
He pouted, "Why do you always think I did something?"
"You're Luffy," you replied, "When are you not doing something?"
"I just wanted to show you this funny fruit!"
He held up a fruit that he had picked from one of the trees on this island, which did admittedly have a funny shape. He then proceeded to break the fruit in two, and gave you a half. Nami practically fainted. You took that half in shock, but upon closer examination you realised it was no ordinary fruit and you tossed it aside, jumping on Luffy.
"Luffy, spit it out!"
"Why?" He asked, mouth already full.
You groaned, and then slapped his cheek. He spit it all out, stunned by your slap and you sighed in relief that he hadn't swallowed any.
"Why did you hit me?" He asked. "I thought I was showing you that I like you. Do you not like me?"
Your eyes widened when he said this, and a deep blush crossed your cheeks, "I do like you, why do you think I was trying to get you to spit out that poisonous fruit?!"
"IT WAS POISONOUS?!"
USOPP
Pretty sure the only guy to react in a relatively normal way to liking you is this guy. He probably wouldn't notice at first, but he did realise it mid-battle. Some pirates jumped the ship, and his first instinct was to run until he saw you in trouble. You were fighting them off, but one grabbed you from behind and got you into a dangerous chokehold. The bravery to stand up for you that overcame him then was his first indication he had more than friendly feelings towards you.
"(Name), duck!"
"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DUCK?!"
That's fair. You could barely talk, but you had managed to scream at him. The sharpshooter raised his shaky arms to take aim at the grinning scum that was hurting you, and without hesitating fired one of his exploding stars at him. You gasped and rolled away from the pirate, clutching your throat as you tried to inhale as much air as possible. Usopp rushed over to you, kneeling beside you as the rest of the pirates were dealt with by the others.
"Are you okay?" He asked, so concerned he was fussing over you, checking for any serious injuries and almost fainting when he saw one small cut on your neck. "You're not okay!"
"Hey, I'm fine," you rasped, "It's just a small scratch."
"CHOPPER! CHOPPER!" Usopp was already screaming for the reindeer.
Once you were treated - in other words, given a plaster for your tiny cut - you smacked Usopp on the back of his head, "Zoro and Sanji had much worse injuries, you know."
"W-well, I-I-" Usopp started stammering, his legs wobbling like they always did when he was scared or nervous. "I came down with this new disease, you know-" He rambled. "It's called 'i-like-you-osis' and it's very serious, you know."
You laughed as he took off on his shaky legs to hide after saying that, apparently too flustered by his own words to face you. You smiled and shook your head in dismay.