#first time with this type of plot was robin in one piece

[chaoticfandomthot]

Listen, i love a good self-sacrifice like any other bitch out there

but nothing, and i mean NOTHING hits as good as a character realising they want to live now

[quaggyday]

One piece female characters are so weird honestly

Their designs are either the same over sexualized body type with the same face or a caricature. Their clothing always follows the same weird style and most of the time teams only have one of them. And sometimes they just get the shit end of the stick (Tashigi is my best example)

But like

I adore these girls. They’re always so different and varied in personality and motivations. They always have a point in the plot only they could solve and are doing everything they can for what they care about. Hell, Vivi fighting tooth and nail and clenching on for her country is what hooked me on One piece in the first place

All of these female characters are different and surprise me from what I expected. The abuse Chiffon and Pudding went through from their mother, Rebecca and Violas attempts to get back their country, Otohime’s exhaustion from trying to make things better, the implied horrors Boa and her sisters have gone through.

And of course, Nami and Robin. Two women who are the cornerstones of One pieces best arcs because they were given the moment to shine

[afewproblems]

98 for Robin?

98. "Hold me back!"

Ahhh thank you very much for this! I'm sorry it was so late nonny!

This is taking place in the same universe as this piece which you can also read on AO3

***

"I swear to God" Robin moans as she smacks her head onto the counter, "I will walk into traffic if I have to explain the plot of Labyrinth one more time". 

Steve puts the money from the recent rental into the till and shrugs, "I dunno Birdy, I liked your take on it this time". 

She snorts, finally cracking a grin, "you just liked the look on her face when I talked about how half the movie is Bowie's package and the other half is Muppets". 

"Potato, Tomato," Steve hums, closing the till with a soft snick.

For a Saturday opening shift it had been strangely slow. 

They had their usual guests during the day, screaming children with parents who were clearly at the end of their tether. Irritating teens who stole as many snacks as their thieving little backpacks could handle. Movie nerds who asked for as many titles as they could think of before settling on something so obscure there was no way they carried it -or on the off chance Family Video did have it in their inventory, it was already checked out. 

However, with half an hour until Keith was set to arrive for the closing shift, the front door bell jingled harshly to announce a new presence in the store and in an instant Robin’s stomach falls into her shoes. 

Because Tommy Hagan and Carol Perkins have just walked in. 

Robin has dealt with assholes from highschool before, she had to wear a sailor outfit with shorts for her last job for fucks sake, but she’s also never gotten into a physical fight with any schmucks from her forth period algebra class. 

Steve on the other hand…

He’s on the other side of the counter all of a sudden, standing in between her and Tommy.

His expression seems neutral, but Robin can read the line of tension in his shoulders as Carol whispers something into Tommy’s ear.

"Welcome to Family Video," Robin says, her voice clipped and stony, "it's two for one Saturday and all the sections are labeled so you should be able to get in and get out". 

"Come on, we just got here," Tommy scoffs, he's glaring openly at Steve while Carol seems to be scanning Robin, watching her carefully.

"Boy, you really do have a type huh Stevie," Carol sneers from Tommy's side, "at least this one plays an instrument, she's just as stuck up as Wheeler though from what I remember".

"If you guys don't want to rent anything, then leave," Steve says slowly, deliberately with wary hostility.

"You're suddenly so fucking tough huh?" Tommy scoffs, stepping closer towards Steve.

Carol moves with him but her eyes widen slightly in surprise, she grabs at his arm and pulls just slightly, "Tommy--"

"I'm not going to fight you man," Steve sighs, running a hand over his face and into his hair, Robin watches as his shoulders droop ever so slightly.

She knows Steve has complicated feelings about his former friends, they'd known one another for such a long time and those old feelings don't just disappear.

He'd been hurt to see Tommy and Carol gravitate towards Billy so easily. To egg him on as he bullied Steve their senior year, the tables turned so suddenly it was like whiplash.

Well, Steve may feel conflicted about his old shithead friends, but Robin has no such compunction.

"He won't but I will," Robin blurts out, the words run away from her faster than she can even catch up to them.

Steve closes his eyes, his expression pained while Tommy and Carol both turn to her with equal looks of surprise. 

Huh, it's the first time in her life she's ever seen Carol Perkins speechless and it's glorious. 

Robin lets the thrill of it carry her forward until she's stepped around the counter to stand beside Steve.

“Yeah, Steve's gonna have to hold me back,” Robin snarls as she grabs Steve’s hand and places it on her own shoulder. 

Steve gives her a withering look as he mimes pulling a zipper over his own mouth.

"You let your bitch off her leash huh Harrington?" Tommy says with a lecherous grin as he stares at them both.

He lets out two barks and laughs again as he swings an arm around Carol's shoulder, her tinkling laugh joins his own and Robin can't believe this is even happening. Did she hit her head getting out of Steve's car this morning?

Fuck this.

"Funny stuff Hagan," Robin bites out, "your ass must be pretty jealous of your mouth for all the nasty shit it gets to spew in public".

"What did you just say to me?" Tommy snarls as he stomps closer, his ears have turned a ruddy pink that matches the flush crawling up his neck.

Carol tries to reach for his arm, whispering, "just drop it Tommy, let's go," but he wrenches away from her and continues forward, only stopping as a flat palm catches him in the chest.

Steve stands his ground in front of Tommy, looking down his nose with cold eyes. 

Steve told her about the last time he and Tommy had squared off. It was just before Robin spotted Steve outside the corner store while she waited for her mother to pay for their things, the aftermath that she hadn't thought much of at the time, but now…

Steve walks forward, using his height to his advantage to tower imposingly over Tommy, his face twisted into a vicious snarl that Robin has only seen one other time, underneath Starcourt.

"Get out, I don't want to tell you again Tommy," Steve says lowly under his breath, just loud enough that Robin has to strain to hear him. 

Tommy's eyes narrow as his mouth pulls into a sneer, "and what are you gonna do about it, you're not scary Harrington," he grins despite taking a step back as Steve continues forward, pushing them towards the front door. 

"I don't have to be scary, but I do have an in with your drug dealer and I can make it impossible for you to score for as long as you live in this godforsaken shithole". 

"You're bluffing".

"Try me," Steve whispers just as the bell dings again at the front of the store. Tommy doesn't look away from Steve even as Carol exclaims a small, 'oh', beside him.

Robin smirks and leans back against the counter, raising her hand in an enthusiastic wave towards the entrance, "hey Eddie!"

Tommy curses under his breath and wrenches himself away from Steve, just in time to see the murderous expression on Eddie's face. 

Carol takes the opportunity to grab at the sleeve of Tommy's shirt and drag him the last few steps away towards the door, they give Eddie a wide berth as they pass. 

Tommy glares at Steve and Robin the entire way, muttering curses under his breath as Robin blows them a kiss with her middle finger.

The bell jingles again as the door swings open and falls gently closed, leaving them in an uneasy silence. 

"You guys okay?" Eddie says quietly after a beat, he steps towards Steve, his brow pinched with concern.

Steve nods silently before turning towards Robin. She expects a lecture from the frown on his face but blinks in surprise as Steve pulls her into a tight hug.

"Don't do that again," he mumbles into her hair, she opens her mouth to speak, to insist that she doesn't need a babysitter like his gaggle of children.

"I know it's just Tommy," Steve breathes out as though reading her mind, "but I don't think I could handle it if something happened to you Robin, I mean it". 

And all at once the fight drains out of her as Robin wonders just how she wound up with someone like Steve Harrington in her corner. 

"I wasn't going to let them talk shit," she huffs, despite pressing even closer, she feels his head shake against her own.

"I can take a hit and I'm not going to let some asshole have a chance to go after you too," he says sharply. 

Robin rolls her eyes and steps back just enough to look him in the eyes, "remember what your annoying child friend said, if you die, I die".

She shrugs at the incredulous expression on his face, "what? Smartest thing that kid has ever said". 

"You're ridiculous," Steve whispers and there's so much warm affection in his voice as he squeezes her once more, that Robin has to bury her face in his shoulder to hide the sudden shine in her eyes.

Eddie seems to take this as his cue to move forward and let his hand rest on Steve's lower back, the pinched look fading slightly as he smiles at Robin. 

"Well, my original plan was to take Stevie here, out after his shift, buuut I'm thinking the three of us are in need of a night on the town, what do you say Buckaroo?" Eddie asks with a waggles of his eyebrows and a wide grin. 

"I'll come if you never call me that again," Robin says with as much of a straight face as she can muster.

Steve barks out a laugh as he leans into Eddie's side, "oh you've done it now Buckaroo". 

Robin squawks and flaps her hands at Steve until he ducks away behind Eddie who immediately shields his face with his hands. 

"You think way too highly of me if you think that's where I'm aiming," Robin says dryly, snorting as Eddie gasps and lifts a leg for further protection, prompting them both to collapse into a fit of giggles while Steve watches fondly.

They all eventually relax, falling into an easy conversation as Steve and Robin finish up the last of the morning duties. The tension from earlier fading away as Eddie sits on the counter top, with his eyes on the door, watching out, just in case.

[deadite-central]

Okay so when I was almost done with it something bugged with tumblr and this post didn’t save, which is why it took me so long to get back to it. But since I left off the last Dressrosa post saying I can’t wait to talk about the things that are coming, let’s get to it

Usopp has been lying his way through most of the arc, generally not believing that he’s able to do anything significant to help. It’s a struggle he’s been having within himself from way back in pre timeskip obviously, but I love how he’s the one to finally stand up when Robin has been turned into a toy and the tontattas need help. He’s still terrified, and he still doesn’t quite believe he can do this, but he will try his best, and because of that, all the toys will finally be freed

Before they get their freedom, we get the Toy Soldier’s story on why he’s so adamant about defeating Doflamingo and protecting Rebecca. As it turns out, he’s Kyros, Rebecca’s father, and his story is incredibly tragic, where despite the toy’s face not moving an inch, you can feel the emotions he’s feeling, and the rain falling down his toy face is a wonderful although sad visual for crying when you physically can’t cry

And then finally, the moment everyone was waiting for, the aftermath of Usopp defeating Sugar (in a hilarious manner). From Doflamingo completely losing his cool when he realizes his entire plan has went to hell, to Kyros turning back into a human and decapitating his clone, to finally, one of my favorite moments in this entire arc: God Usopp. Things getting from ridiculous to more ridiculous here is just amazing, and I like how it keeps you on the edge of your seat, especially first time around, to also give you a few funny moments along the way

Proper introduction of the Revolutionary Army members here! Love their place in the story and I think considering the situation in Dressrosa now was better time than ever to have them really come into play for the story. Love their designs and the reasonings each of them you can figure out to have to be Revs, and of course I’m so happy to see more of Sabo. He’s an incredibly cool character to me and I’m so happy Luffy gets to have at least one older brother out there to look out for him

Back to the main plot, the birdcage is a genius idea. Oda often (if not always) introduces some type of timer for our crew that they can’t pass, and I think the birdcage has been the best idea he had so far. Using Doflamingo’s power to create something that not only locks everybody who knows of his true nature in Dressrosa, but also forces a deadline for everybody because otherwise, the birdcage will kill everyone. It’s also a good metaphor for Doflamingo’s character itself, as he doesn’t care about his subjects, he only wants power and destruction, even if that means killing an entire nation

With all the pieces in place , Luffy (and Law who gets carried around) can finally go after Doflamingo. We get one more moment of interaction between Luffy and Rebecca, with him finally revealing his actual name to her, and making it clear to her that things will work out. I love their friendship, as despite the fact it happened in about a day, they both clearly care so much about each other

One last thing I want to talk about before we get to the main battle of the arc, is Usopp awakening his observation haki. It’s funny that he doesn’t even realise it, but it shows how much he has grown and how much stronger despite his fears he’s gotten, which is such a nice touch in an arc filled with great Usopp moments, I love it

And finally, we get to the top floor starting what has been built up since the beginning of this saga. Everybody (except for Trebol fuck that guy) looks so cool here (and also Bellamy rip man) and it just hypes you up so much for the fight to come. The framing here is great and I love the expressions Oda draws for everyone involved. I’m incredibly excited for the upcoming fight

[theoutcastrogue]

Tom of Bedlam

[by Daniel P. Mason, M.D. | American Journal of Psychiatry, Volume 171, Number 12, December 2014]

Illustration of a 17th-century broadside, featuring a malingering beggar, set “to the tune of Tom of Bedlam” (from Euing Ballad number 55)

In Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear, the King—betrayed by his daughters, bereft of his kingdom—sets off across the heath in a fit of rage. In a forlorn hovel, he encounters a curious character. Half-naked, his face “grimed with filth,” the man introduces himself as

Poor Tom; that eats the swimming frog, the toad, the tadpole, the wall-newt and the water; that in the fury of his heart, when the foul fiend rages, eats cow-dung for sallets; swallows the old rat and the ditch-dog; drinks the green mantle of the standing pool; who is whipped from tithing to tithing, and stock-punished, and imprisoned….

Lear cannot know that Tom, with his wild appetites, hallucinations, and tales of persecution is, in fact, Edgar, son of the Earl of Gloucester. Falsely accused of plotting against his father, Edgar has also fled to the heath, disguised as a “Bedlam beggar.” The conversation that ensues between the two madmen—one feigned, one real— is one of the most dizzying and psychiatrically rich in a play famously brimming with madness in its many forms.

Who then was this “Tom of Bedlam,” featured so prominently on the title page of the first quarto edition of the play? To begin, while Shakespeare may have been Tom’s most famous champion, Tom was not the Bard’s invention. Less a man, than many, Tom was a familiar folkloric “type” well known to 17th-century audiences: a “lunatick” vagabond who claimed to have been released from the notorious London asylum of St. Mary of Bethlehem (Bedlam).

“Claimed,” here, is key. For the earliest references to the figure of Tom are not as madmen but as malingering beggars. In other words, Edgar, rather than just playing a madman, was playing a man playing a madman. First appearing in the printer John Awdeley’s 1561 Fraternitye of Vacabondes, a compendium of Elizabethan beggar types, “poor Tom” was described as one who “walketh bare armed, and bare legged, and faineth him selfe mad”. Later “rogue encyclopedias” listed him among such deceptive vagabonds as “whipjackes” (fake shipwrecked sailors) and “priggers of prauncers” (horse thieves). By the 17th century Tom was familiar enough as to be recognizable by his “long staff, and a cow or ox-horn by his side; his cloathing fantastic and ridiculous... decked and dressed all over with robins [ribbons], feathers, cuttings of cloth”.

No one knows how many flesh-and-blood Toms were wandering the countryside by the time Shakespeare cast him as Edgar’s disguise. But few could have come from the institution itself: Saint Mary of Bethlehem in those decades housed fewer than 30 patients at a time. And yet so many beggars claimed to have been released from Bedlam that in 1675 the overseers of the hospital placed an advertisement in the London Gazette disclaiming the hoaxes.

With the end of the Civil Wars, Tom of Bedlam was said to have disappeared from English highways. By then, however, he had been immortalized, not only by Shakespeare, but in a proliferation of popular songs. There was “Loving Mad Tom” and “The Vagabond” and “To find my Tom of Bedlam.” Some became so famous that other songs could be published with the simple direction “to be sung to the tune of Tom of Bedlam”.

Of all the Mad Tom songs, one in particular stands out: “From the Hagg and Hungry Goblin,” an anonymous piece transcribed around 1615, now surviving in a single manuscript in the British Museum. In it we find Tom, recently released from Bedlam (or claiming so), begging for alms as he travels alone:

With a host of furious fancies Whereof I am commander, With a burning spear and a horse of air, To the wilderness I wander.

The song, quoted by Poe, Kipling, and Scott, was praised by the critic Harold Bloom for a “visionary perspective only rarely achieved in poetic history”. The poet Sir Robert Graves even suggested it was written by Shakespeare himself.

Or perhaps Tom never really vanished, but instead lives in those who have inherited his itinerancy. For, with this remarkable character, Shakespeare also created a mirror for today’s troubled wanderers, pursued by their own “foul fiends.” In them we find Tom’s many-layered complexity: at times seeking pity, at times refusing it, at times threatening, at times forlorn, at times arresting with their colorful clothes and speech. At times mad, at times playing madder: “knights,” as one Mad Tom put it, “of ghosts and shadows.”

[source]

[auxiliarydetective]

OHC Day Fourteen: Musical AU

Some Unconventional Musicals

For this day, I once again had a lot of options. And I couldn't choose because I honestly thought multiple of these were too cool not to share, so you're getting multiple again.

Featuring: Ezori, Shimotsuki Kaede, Lindewen, Ofelia Marenzi

Your Inner Song, starring Ezori

In this sci-fi musical, Ezori is the protagonist. But, hear me out, she doesn't sing. Other characters very much do – hell, even T'Pol might be heard singing at least once – but Ezori herself stays quiet. After all, she doesn't talk either, so she also will not sign. The most you'll hear over her throughout the musical would be humming, whistling, but never actual words.

This musical would definitely have to be a musical film instead of a stage production because the ENT jumpsuits don't really make for good stage costumes. Characters would be very hard to differentiate.

As for the plot, I don't really have much of a concept for it, but I'm very sure that the finale would take place inside some sort of mindspace. This is the first and only time where we hear Ezori sign, after not even hearing her voice for the entire runtime. Her singing appears as this seemingly disembodied voice, with nobody knowing who it belongs to. But then it's her. Chills~

The Squirrel-Tailed Thief, starring Shimotsuki Kaede

The plot is fairly simple. It's Kaede's youth before the events of the Wano Arc, living as a poor kimono dyer and woodworker by day and the eponymous thief by night. Expect some shenanigans, blatant lying, Robin Hood vibes...

But here's the twist.

This musical has heavy kabuki elements. Kabuki pieces often comment on political events, so it's the perfect genre for Kaede's story, and Wano is based on Edo-period Japan, so that's perfect too! The costumes would feature heavy makeup, there would be stagehands dressed in all black doing the practical effects (maybe even with the classic twist of Kaede hiding among them and then shrouding her disguise and appearing onstage like a true hidden thief), the movements and acting would be noticeably inspired by kabuki... And yes, of course the music is dominated by traditional Japanese instruments like the shamisen, koto, shakuhachi, tsuzumi etc. Hyoshigi are used to indicate beats of the story, the changing of scenes and the like. Kaede's leitmotif is played with the koto.

The Tales of Linda Seasong, starring Lindewen

This is a story where the characters themselves don't really sing. Instead, the focus is on Lindewen, under her alias of Linda Seasong, who acts as the narrator of this collection of many tales. She travels from town to town as a bard, telling these stories, which is the frame in which the musical takes place. Tonight, she's performing in the venue that the musical is being performed in that night, the next she'll be in the next, she says.

Lindewen sits on a pedestal at the back of the stage, illuminated by dim lights as a thin fog covers the stage. In front of her, the stories she narrates take place. In every story, there's one character who looks like her, but she never confirms nor denies that it is in fact her. Still, the costumes seem to suggest it, as the characters in question share her color scheme. Also, unlike other characters from her stories, these doppelgängers are never named.

The music is in tune with the plot of her being a travelling bard. I can't really describe it, I think it's been described as pagan folk, but I mean a very specific type of song, so I'll just show you:

This is Lindewen's character playlist, and it's full of songs like these. (This playlist might change over time, but the songs by Faun are the ones I mean.)

Flying 40s, starring Ofelia Marenzi

Listen, I haven't watched Masters of the Air yet, so I can't tell you a specific plot, but I shall give you vibes:

Imagine with me a war movie. But the protagonist who you're following isn't actively participating in the fighting. You know that it's happening, but you're not there yourself. Ofelia is our protagonist and we know that she's a flight nurse and that her male friends are mostly pilots and crew of bombers, fighters and the like, but we never see either of them on a plane. We just see the consequences. The cast dwindling in numbers, new people arriving, others disappearing.

Instead, the focus is on Ofelia's other job as a singer. As such, the music is jazzy, with lots of songs also sounding straight from an Andrews Sisters album. As the musical goes on and the songs become a little distorted, with the lyrics and music starting to reflect the darkness behind the scenes. The final number has none of that darkness though, it's about celebrating the end of the war, the euphoria of it. But then, after the number is over, everyone clears off the stage except for Ofelia... And the final final number is something like this:

This is actually Ofelia's faceclaim, by the way

There is no encore.

General Taglist: @starcrossedjedis @oneirataxia-girl @daughter-of-melpomene @bravelittleflower @box-of-bats

@eddysocs

Star Trek Taglist: @enterprise-come-in

One Piece Taglist: @supermarine-silvally

Let me know if you’d like to be added or removed!

[the-kr8tor]

KATY- imagine this. Two idea✌️

Tasm Peter Parker bc it occurs to me New Yorkers either love or hate spiderman. Aside from the Bugle who else wants to take pictures of spiderman, fans. So I give you Peter sneaking up on r in costume after seeing them with their camera out.

He swung by pretty quickly but they managed a decent photo and thus slow burn ✨️friendship✨️ They both geek out over photography and Peter is lowkey their model (Imagine how estatic you would be to know spiderman of all people loves something just as much as you do). He shows them secluded spots knowing they would never exploit them for money or fame or whatever else.

R actually keeps all of their adventures with Pete a secret. A box of poloroids, prints, and so forth under their bed or smth cliche like that. A bonus to me is if they were in a bet to see who could capture spidey on camera and that's why they were out stalking following him around in the first place.

Prowler Hobie from another dimension. Hear me out, with a spiderperson r who's with our Hobie. Now it's not a love triangle type thing, it's just important to the plot.

R is sent to P Hobie's dimension on a mission from Miguel. Anomaly is captured, it's just another tuesday when out pops P Hobie who is not pleased to see another masked amateur trying to fight crime under the guise as "spiderman". He basically thinks they're a doppleganger until r stupidly says "Hobie?" mid battle.

R's confusion because 'huh it's my dork but emo' and P Hobie is 'my dead lover but not really?' He's quick to catch on to the dimesion hopping bc r does what his r did but in reverse?? He's also smart, that's our pookie.

They talk after calling a truce. R is stupid again bc she doesn't think sharing certain information is bad bc 'my pookie, what could he do wrong' He can do wrong, very wrong. I also excuse it with our Hobie's been off on missions for awhile so she misses him and P Hobie fills the void (NOT HEALTHY BEHAVIOR I CONDONE BUT PEOPLE HAVE FLAWS OK!?).

P Hobie has been working some time travel tech and r was the missing piece to completing it. So imagine r's surprise when on another mission they see him. R then realises what he's trying to do thus we have a spot 2.0 (Aka, trying to stop his r from dying).

They brawl literally in every other dimension but they can never best one another. When r finally gets a handle on the situation their watch breaks and P Hobie's device is dead too so now they both have to beat each other to the necesary tech to get back to where they need to be (...in my version they land in Gotham- the spiderman-dc crossovers have gotten to me).

All thoughts I had today :) anyway- how are you my lovely scrumdiddluptious pookie dookie bear?? 🤗

The first one is so soft aisnkwsjjqisjns I could just imagine peter photo bombing R with a lil ✌️ lol

Ahhhhh R is actually friends with Peter?!!! That's so cute! I bet Peter's having the time of his life hearing how R gushes about spider man lol

THE SECOND ONE 😲😲😲 Noooo friends to enemies! 😭 Our Hobie would go berserk when he finds out his R is missing in an unspecified dimension (cue batman and his robins helping out R mayhaps?) here's to p hobie redeeming himself 🥂 please?

I'm good, my sweet angel muah muah 😘 how are you?

[flyrobinflyy]

A Hundred Days to Become a Wayne by @maccreadysbaby (Dick's Version)

OR: Dick's perspective of 'enlisted'/chapter four

---

2.5k words // warnings for gotham typical events // notes at the end

disclaimer: bentley, the main plot line, and majority of the dialogue all belong to the original author! <3

Dick wasn’t even supposed to be in Gotham.

Not really, anyway.

He’d come home to help with a ‘bigger issue’ (in Bruce’s words), which typically meant anything from alien invasions to a few Rogues loose. After everything was dealt with, he thought he might as well stick around for the weekend rather than drive all the way back to Blud. His apartment back there didn't come with three square meals a day, that was for sure.

“N, you’re clogging the line,” came through his earpiece, Barbara’s no-nonsense tone drawing a snort out of him. 

He knew he was clogging the line with his never ending chatter, but he was bored out of his mind. The day after bigger disturbances in Gotham always tended to be quieter, and with Batman, Robin, and Spoiler out as well, there was hardly anything to do. 

“Yeah, what she said. Shut up,” Jason muttered, background noise revealing that his territory was having a much busier night than Gotham was. “Don’t even think about asking to come over here – stop that – either.” 

Dick grumbled, pressing down on his comm to let out one more dramatic ‘Whatever!’ before growing quiet again. It was starting to rain, so he stood from his spot on a chimney and headed for somewhere more covered. 

Everything got slippery once it started to rain, so he skipped over different vantage spots in hopes of finding one that would give the lowest likelihood of tumbling down onto the street. Not that his suit didn’t provide any grip, it did, but the combination of rust, mud, grime, and water would catch anyone off balance. 

Once he situated himself beneath pieces of long-forgotten scaffolding, he tugged off a glove to check his watch. 

It slowly flashed 12:40am back up at him, meaning he had about two more hours before he’d typically head back for the night. Surely he would be able to find something to do for two hours. 

Twenty more minutes passed before Robin and Spoiler signed off, the latters goodbye a lot more enthusiastic than the former's.

By 1:15am, Dick was growing incessantly restless. The wood above him was rotted to the point that water began leaking through, and his back was cramping from being folded up so tightly. Sure, he could move, but that would require finding another spot – one that wasn’t already occupied by other people or animals. (He’d already run into some type of animal that was very much not native to Gotham in the process of finding this spot)

Only five more minutes passed before he gave up on not looking for somewhere else, jumping from his current rooftop onto the next. He’d pause every few steps, listening for anything on the streets down below, but it seemed like most people were keeping themselves covered from the rain. 

Then, just barely, he heard the scream of a child. It was muffled, but he could still make out enough of ‘leave me alone!’ and ‘get off of me!’ to start rushing towards the noise. 

There was no lack of it either, the sound of bottles being crushed, cans being kicked, and, most hauntingly, flesh against flesh filling the air. 

Dick peaked over the ledge just in time to see someone thrown into a wall. Someone small. He leapt down without hesitation, hands moving to grab onto the men that were swarming the red-head before his feet even grew close to the ground. 

There were three of them, one standing over the kid, hand still wrapped around his neck, while the other two hung a few feet behind him. He went for those two first, both of them being in just the right spot to nearly land on top of. 

With a few well timed maneuvers, he was able to get both of them into zip-tie cuffs and tied to a pipe without too much of a fight. 

The last of them was still standing over the kid, having only just turned to face Dick at the sound of his companions protests.

Baldy, Dick decided to dub him, looked between the crowbar on the ground and Dick’s face several times before attempting to reach for the piece of metal. Which was a big mistake on his end, because it allowed Dick to rush in and slam his knee into the man's head. 

A short scuffle later, Baldy joined his friends on the pipe. 

“Oracle, I need a perp pick up at…” He squinted in an attempt to see the street signs, but the rain was making it too difficult to see even twenty feet in front of him. “Wherever my tracker has me, but call when I leave. There’s a civilian here.” 

Barbara responded quickly, the sound of her keyboard slipping through. “Don’t want the cops to talk to them?” 

A sequence of quiet sobs filled his ears. Dick’s voice came out more clipped than intended when he replied. “Nope.” 

The kid squirmed in front of him before curling himself into a ball, visibly shaking from feet away. A crack of lightning rang as Dick stepped closer, both of them flinching at the sound. 

Carefully, he crouched down two or three feet away. He didn’t want to scare the child more than they already were by overcrowding, but also knew he’d need to be close to be heard over the storm.

“Hey – hey there, kiddo. Can you open your eyes for me?” He moved only a touch closer, holding his hands out. There was blood pouring down the redhead's forehead, and there had to be other wounds lying beneath, too. 

Dick had to work to hold back at flinch when the kids face tilted up at him. He looked like Wally. The red hair, the messy splatter of freckles, everything.

Staying as still as possible, Dick let himself be studied. He probably looked ridiculous, sopping wet with hair that was just a bit too long; it was needing to be shoved out of his face more often than he preferred. 

Neither of them moved for a moment. Narrowed brown eyes traveled from Dick’s shoulders to his outstretched hands, growing wide when he twitched his fingers. 

Abruptly, the kid lurched up into a sitting position, scooting impossibly closer to the brick wall and tucking his knees up to his chest. He looked a little green for a moment, the injury to his head definitely being more than just a small cut. 

After a few more beats of quiet, a small voice weakly broke the silence between them. “Nightwing?” 

Dick let out a short breath of relief. Sometimes, in very unlucky situations, out of towners would get caught up with something in Gotham and not recognize Nightwing, or any of the bats, which turned into a whole additional issue. It’s not very easy to explain you're the good guy to a terrified toddler when half of your face is covered and they just watched you electrocute someone. 

“Yeah, it’s me,” He smiled softly, watching the kid wipe at his face with his hoodie sleeves a few times. It wasn’t doing much, seeing as it was still pouring. “You took a hard hit, kiddo. Can you tell me your name?”

“Bentley,” the kid whispered slowly, like he was unsure about it.

Dick mentally jotted that detail down for later, noting it as another sign of the very likely concussion. “And how old are you, Bentley?”

Bentley shifted a bit to rest his head on his knees, wincing while he did so. He stared at the ground while he answered, “Jus’ turned ten.” 

Basically Damian’s age, Dick winced. “Let me get you home so you can get your noggin’ checked out, okay?” 

“No!” Bentley yelped immediately, tilting himself in the other direction. “No. I mean, I…” 

Dick frowned at the new wave of tears running down the child's reddened cheeks, mentally adding another tally to the symptom list. He didn’t doubt that the poor kid was crying purely because he was terrified and in pain, but it was still something for him to note. 

“My parents are dead, I don’t…I live out here,” Bentley added quietly, now turned completely away. 

“Oh,” Dick murmured. That definitely lowered the possible options he had. He was really hoping to avoid going through other measures, for the kids sake. He glanced up at the sky, as if that would tell him what time it was. All he got was a face full of water, but it was still super dark out, so Leslies clinic should still be open. She tended to keep…non-conventional hours. “Alright. Why don’t I get you to a doctor, then?”

“No!” Bentley repeated, pushing a hand out in Dick’s direction as if trying to prevent him from growing closer. A few hiccuping sobs spilled out before he spoke again. “If you take me there, they’ll just call the cops and-and send me off to live with someone else. Someone pretending to be my mom and dad. Please- I don’t…please don’t make me. I don’t want to…”

That was…understandable. Gotham didn’t have the greatest foster care system in the world, not to mention the greatest track record with said foster care. In some situations, it would be safer for the kid to be out here then in there. 

He knew first hand about fearing someone would just pretend to be his parents, too. He’d gotten lucky with his own case, Bruce seemed just as baffled at the prospect of parenting a child as Dick was at being parented by him.

Leslie wouldn’t push the idea of foster care, she’d probably push the card that he was leaving tucked away for now instead, but he wasn’t going to force the kid into anything he didn’t want to do. 

“Okay, alright,” Dick moved his hand closer, pulling it away when Bentley nearly jumped out of his skin. He grit his teeth for a moment, trying to magically come up with some other safer option than what he had in mind. He had no doubts he could help the kid out himself, but there was the lingering concern that things were worse off than they looked to be. “Okay, I won’t take you there. Promise.” 

Bentley’s eyes flicked to him for a split second, returning back to the spot he’d been watching on the ground. Beneath his wet clothes he was practically vibrating, the nightly New Jersey chill making matters worse.

“Can I sit with you?” Dick asked. His calves were starting to cramp up in his position, and he hoped that not being perched in front of the kid would help them both out a bit more. His eyes caught Bentley tense just slightly, so he quickly added on, “If not, that’s okay. Whatever you’d prefer.” 

Bentley sniffled, wincing and bringing a hand up to his head after he did so. It didn’t seem like he would be saying anything else, and Dick couldn’t blame the kid. 

It’s never a good thing when you end up blacked out in an alleyway in the first place, but especially not when you’re a homeless ten year old. 

Dick stayed where he was, subtly moving a hand back to rub at the knot on his calf. “How long have you lived out here?” 

He gained another wet sniff in response, followed by a new wave of shivers.

“You must be really cold, kiddo,” He added. Even in his Nightwing suit, which was made for pretty much all types of weather, he was feeling the combination of the rain and cold. 

Bentley curled up a little tighter in response. 

“Tell you what,” Dick began, unintentionally dropping a bit closer when he lost his balance. “Your head probably hurts pretty bad, and I’m sure you’re tired and hungry. I’ll take you somewhere where we can get you patched up, fed, and out of the storm.”

“Just me and you, no one else,” He promised. 

The words hung in the air for a beat before Bentley began to unravel his arms from his knees and straightened himself out a little more. He seemed to mull over what Dick said for a few more seconds before shakily responding, “Okay.” 

A flash of relief flew through Dick. One of the safehouses was fairly closeby, and it was the same one he’d stopped by only days before – meaning it should be particularly habitable. Not naming names, but some people were less capable of leaving their places better than they found them than others.

Bentley lurched forward, pulling his feet beneath him and doing his best to stand up before careening into the wall behind him. He was crouched now, hands coming up to his head with a small whine. 

“Okay. Alright,” Dick cautioned. He shifted his weight, preparing to pick the child up if need be. The last thing he wanted to do was make Bentley uncomfortable, but he knew this whole idea of walking wasn’t going to play out very well. “Want me to carry you?” 

He’d carried plenty of children in his time, still scooping up his siblings like they were toddlers (and typically facing the consequences through knees to the stomach or fists against his back). Bentley seemed to be a very small kid, so he had no doubts it would be an easy walk to the safehouse from where they were. 

The question was very quickly shot down with something that sounded like the mix of ‘No.’ and a yelp. Bentley started to his feet again, this time getting all the way up. He still was relying on the wall behind him to hold himself on his feet, though.

Dick took a breath, keeping his hands at the ready incase the kid started to sway. “Hey, I know you’re scared, kiddo. It’s okay to be scared. But I…don’t think you need to be walking.”

He closed the gap between the two of them save for a foot and a half, hands outstretched. Bentley eyed them suspiciously, but didn’t flinch or try to move away. Dick took that as a good sign, lowering himself to one knee so he wasn’t towering over him anymore. 

“I’ll carry you exactly where I said, just me. I promise. And I won’t touch you until you’re ready,” He stuck his left hand out flat, offering it to Bentley. “Whenever you’re comfortable.” 

After several moments of a very heated glare being shot at Dick’s hand, Bentley took it.

Bentley was far easier to scoop up than he should've been, the difference in expected weight versus the present situation jarring Dick's grip just slightly. He pulled the kid up so he was pressed against his chest, wrapping his hands around his legs to support the weight. “Take a breath, kiddo. No one’s going to hurt you anymore.” 

There was no response apart from a shuddered breath, but after a few steps Bentley tucked his face into Dick’s shoulder. It was probably in an attempt to ease the nausea, but he was going to take it as a sign of trust, returning the act by rubbing a hand across the redhead's back.

He really hoped Bruce was still awake.

----

i've never really written anything like this before and this is pretty loosely edited (seeing as i usually only write after 1am, my confidence in catching grammar/spelling errors is not very high </3) but! alas!

i also have 'a little tlc'/chapter five somewhere in my drive... i think.

this isn't something i normally do (aka have never done), but the storyline consumes my thoughts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner often enough to warrant it lol <3

anywho, thank you @maccreadysbaby for giving permission to do this! and for writing the original story, of course!!

[writingquestionsanswered]

How do I plot out an arc that connects two major ones together?

To clarify, there are two major arcs I planned out for my story, but I realised that the arcs don't work consecutively.

My characters need time to deal with the events of the first major arc, and they need time to see the signs of the next major conflict.

How do I plot out the arc to bridge the two big ones together?

Connecting Two Major Arcs

It depends on the type of story you're writing... but if you're writing a novel, novels don't have two major arcs. Novels are structured like this:

If you have more than one story arc in a novel, you probably have more than one novel on your hands.

If you really feel it needs to be one novel, rather than connecting the two different arcs, you would want to find a way to combine them into a single arc. Or, you could tone down one of the arcs and make it a subplot. See: Story Arc (Main Plot) vs Subplot

If you're writing long fiction that's not a novel, such as fan-fiction, a round-robin with friends, or something experimental, I would think you'd really not want a whole arc connecting the two bigger arcs, but rather a smaller section mimicking a denouement that ramps up into the setup of the next arc. So, in other words, a scene or a few where the characters deal with the aftermath of the first arc (as they would in any denouement) and then a scene or a few where they see the signs of the next conflict and the pieces are moved into place for that inciting incident.

I hope that helps!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

LEARN MORE about WQA

VISIT MY Master List of Top Posts

COFFEE & COMMISSIONS ko-fi.com/wqa

[deliahscrush2003]

beta reader here!

beta & alpha readers wanted for fic projects will beta in exchange!

Hey everyone!

For those that don't know me, my name's Lou (she/her) and I have recently gotten back into revamping the numerous fic projects I had in my vaults and trying to get back into my writing again.

I have put out this post to say that if anyone is also in a similar situation with their own fics, I am offering my fellow fic writers to beta & alpha read fics in exchange for coming on as an alpha or beta reader for my own projects.

As a beta & alpha reader, I am willing to not only check for grammar, punctuation, spelling and formatting but also:

identify weaknesses in the plot.

identify pieces in the story where engagement was high or lacking.

identify points in the story where clarity is needed.

help develop characters (both oc & canon)

canon check pieces of information (for canonverse/compliant fics)

|| if you have specific needs, feel free to check with me ! ||

As a writer, I am looking for someone to help with:

identifying inconsistent tense.

identifying where engagement was high or lacking.

identifying points in the story where clarity is needed.

writing relationship development (platonic/romantic)

editing plot structure and fluidity.

writing descriptive settings.

identifying monotone or repetitive parts of the story.

Most importantly, I am looking for people who can approach my story as both a reader passionate about the fic and a writer/editor passionate about helping improve the story.

My projects are also multi-chapter (150,000) and usually part of a wider series (minimum of 3 parts) ; therefore, I am open to working on fic projects that are of equal length!

The fandoms that I write and will read for are:

Fairy Tail, My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, Game of Thrones/House of Dragons (TV), X-Men (movies), Teen Wolf, The Last Kingdom, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, Harry Potter (fuck JKR tho), The DC Animated Films/Young Justice, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Walking Dead (universe), Scream (movies), The Vampire Diaries/The Originals, The 100, Glee, Pretty Little Liars, Percy Jackson, Criminal Minds, Wolfblood, The Chronicles of Narnia, Outerbanks, The Maze Runner, Grey's Anatomy, Tower Prep, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, FATE: The Winx Saga, Stranger Things, Star Wars, Resident Evil (Gameverse), Power Rangers (the movie), The Hunger Games, Five Night's At Freddy's, Pacific Rim.

The fandoms that I have as WIP right now are:

Teen Wolf, Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Chronicles of Narnia, The 100, Game of Thrones.

The rest of the fandoms listed are in the worldbuilding process, which I also welcome help with if anyone is interested in bouncing ideas back and forth and fleshing out each other's fics!

This is the link to my Ao3 if you want to understand my writing style.

if you're interested in one of the projects I have for these fandoms (as a beta or just as a potential reader), send me a DM or a ask!

The type of fics that I enjoy writing/reading are (with consideration that Ao3 is my primary writing platform):

M-E Rated (For that reason, I prefer to work with 18+ betas)

Plot-heavy but with a well-written romantic subplot (requirement)

Specific tags/plot I enjoy/write: Time-travel, Fix-It, Canon-Divergence, What-Ifs.

Canonverse fics.

Both OC (has to have the potential of good development, though) and Canon Character-centric fics.

Found family, healing from trauma, redemption arcs.

Crossover/fusion fics (where the original fandom is set in the universe of another fandom)

Zombie-Apocolypse fics.

Dark twists on characters, plots, and the wider canonverse.

-

The type of fics that I steer clear from or don't enjoy reading/writing:

G-T Rated.

No romantic subplot at all (I am a romantic girly, sorry to say)

A Mary Sue OC/Reader-Insert or Mary Sue plot.

Reader-inserts.

Established Relationships (unless I can read the build up first)

Specific tags/plot: P*dophilia, Incest (outside of canon-typical), Mpreg, Omegaverse (only under special circumstances).

Modern AUs, Human AUs, No Power AUs.

No Comfort, No Happy Ending, Major Character (Permanent) Death.

Character bashing (I do read fics that bash, but I find it hard to beta for them only because I like to discuss characters objectively - but there are exceptions, so feel free to check)

Anything that attempts to glorify or justify racism, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, xenophobia, ableism, sexism, bigotry, abuse, r*pe or anything even remotely similar.

(feel free to check with me tho, I am open to discussion of everything except the bottom dot point)

Because I believe beta reading to be an experience that should be enjoyable and insightful for both the reader and writer, I am open to :

Discussing any ships, character arcs, or plot points that my betas personally wanted to see in the show or are very passionate about (read: this does not mean I will change my entire story but that I am open to possibilities)

Analysing and critiquing any of the above media (read: NOT BASHING, but genuine analysis of how different media were handled to apply to our own form of writing)

Giving out and receiving fic, tv, movie and book recs to aid in inspiring each other during the course of our writing, but also to support our fellow writing community!

Even if you're not interested, please repost so it can reach those who are!

[nhasablogg]

Mixing all the colors like we're making a Monet

Fandom: Stranger Things

Characters: Steve/Eddie

Anonymous said: Maybe Steve painting on Eddie?

Words: 1.7k

(Read it on AO3)

Steve claimed he did it because Robin had told him to. “She says I’m stressed and restless?” He’d said it with such a casual air, scoffing as if the very thought of him being anything but okay was ridiculous despite everything. “Figured I would humor her.”

“It’s been scientifically proven that people who work on art or any type of craft have an easier way of dealing with their emotions,” Robin had told him when Steve was out of earshot. “You have your music,” she added. “And DnD, as do the kids. Nancy always keeps her mind intellectually busy. At the very least it can keep him distracted.”

What about you, Eddie wanted to ask but didn’t, watching Steve return to them with a plastic bag filled with art supplies. He made a great show of looking annoyed about it, but Eddie caught him smiling as he showed them his purchase, all the colors and different brushes which all did different things, the idea evidently appealing to him even though he for some reason tried to act as if it was the opposite.

Eddie left him alone at first, not wanting him to feel crowded, but as days turned into weeks and Steve was still painting nearly every damn day, Eddie found himself sitting next to him, fiddling with his guitar or simply watching. It was calming, watching him figure everything out. Steve wasn’t necessarily a natural born talent, but not many were. He’d gone from simple drawings of houses and trees and had started trying to draw people, using a pen to sketch somewhat recognizable interpretations of Dustin, Max, Robin, sometimes even Wayne. He never asked people to pose until he asked Eddie.

“I did notice you haven’t drawn me yet,” Eddie had replied and Steve had rolled his eyes. “Figured you’d get offended that I can’t capture your oh so glorious beauty.” Both of them knew Steve wasn’t joking, but they let his words hang in the air, unchallenged.

Eddie had sat on the porch, head slightly turned to the right since Steve claimed he could never get a whole face right. He was holding his guitar, lightly strumming the strings just to keep himself from squirming too much. In the end, Steve wouldn’t let him see the finished product and Eddie didn’t push, although he suspected he probably was drawing him more often now since he’d stopped showing him his pieces. Eddie blushed each time he thought of it, which was ridiculous in itself, but nothing about him and Steve was rational anyway.

“Have you moved on to pencil full time?” he asked him one day as the sun was setting, turning the sky pink and drawable.

Steve looked up from his sketchbook. “I guess? Not on purpose though. It’s just easier when I’m not sure what I’m doing.”

“Mm, I miss finding specks of paint on you though,” Eddie replied with a grin. He’d once found a streak of green on the side of Steve’s neck and had gotten the privilege of hearing Steve giggle his head off as he’d tried to rub it off for him.

“That’s exactly it. It’s so messy.”

“I think you’re turning it into too much of a task the longer you avoid it.”

“I’m not avoiding it.”

“Uh huh.”

“I’m not! I can paint for you right now.”

“Okay.” Eddie leaned back where he was perched on the stairs. “Paint me.”

“That’s very narcissistic of you.”

“No, no. I mean-” Eddie smirked at him, not realizing he was plotting his own demise. “Paint on me.”

Steve flushed, but he did a good job of keeping his voice steady when he said, “You want to be my canvas?”

“Precisely.”

“It’ll get messy.”

“Oh, I’m counting on it.”

When the idea had briefly crossed his mind Eddie imagined Steve blushing, avoiding his eyes as Eddie stripped to give him access to bare skin, all the power in his possession, all the delicious nervous energy bouncing around them.

But he’d forgotten that brushes were soft and paint was cold and Steve was gentle and his skin too sensitive, and when Steve started at his chest because that was the easiest spot to get to as Eddie leaned back with his shirt off, they both seemed to simultaneously realize the direction this would mostly be going in.

“Stay still,” Steve said, grinning now as he ran the brush down toward Eddie’s abdomen, Eddie’s breath having hitched at the same time as his eyes had widened.

“It’s cold,” he said, and it was, but he knew Steve wasn’t fooled. “Fuck, Steve, be careful.”

“I am. Be still or we’ll get your clothes messy, and you wouldn’t want that, right?”

They probably looked strange to any on-looker, only they knew they were hidden from view there, unless Wayne decided to come out of course. But despite the obscured view Eddie knew people could hear them, and so he clamped a hand over his mouth, head leaned back as his other hand darted between covering his face and moving toward Steve. He started giggling much too soon for his liking.

Steve seemed delighted. “I think your neck should be pink,” he was saying, fluttering the brush back and forth on his lower belly, the green soon covering each inch of it. “Your feet can be blue. Oh, and if you’re bold enough to pull your shorts down lower I can paint your hips red, to signify your most ticklish spot.”

The acknowledgement of what was actually happening made Eddie’s giggles turn into full on panicked belly laughter and his flailing hand finally settled on top of his other one, pressing hard to keep from being too loud. “Steheheve!”

“What was that?”

“Fou ou-”

“I see.”

Eddie dug his heels into the ground, the sensation so light and yet so unbearable. There was something about having to keep quiet, about not being able to stop him without getting paint on more parts of him, that made it all the more maddening. The brush he was using wasn’t even one of the wider ones, and yet it tickled enough in such a specific way that it sent shocks through his nervous system. The stairs were starting to hurt his legs where he was pressing them flat against them, but he was afraid he would crumble completely if he tried to fold any body part in on himself.

“I might make you my canvas forever,” Steve was saying, giving Eddie a moment to breathe as he wiped the brush to switch to pink. “You’re doing so good being still.”

Eddie found himself blushing at the praise. “Oh my god, shut up.”

“What? I’m just being honest.”

Steve’s smile was so excited that Eddie had to close his eyes for a moment to compose himself. “Well, at least you’re painting.”

“Right? Robin would be so proud.”

“You won’t tell her about this, right?”

“Oh, no. It’s our little secret. Now move your hand. I’m going for your neck.”

“Please don’t.”

“Are you interfering with my artistic choices?”

Eddie opened his eyes and found he was hovering over him, although the brush was held far enough from him that it didn’t make him nervous yet. “Yes. Human canvases have rights too.”

Steve hummed. “Fine. Not the neck then, but we need a good replacement to dampen my disappointment.” He glanced back. “The back of your knees? Would that work or are you too ticklish?”

“I hate you so much.”

“Hey, this was your idea.”

Eddie sighed. “I didn’t expect it to be so-”

“Ticklish?”

He let out a laugh. “Yes.”

“Well, I’m glad it is. I like hearing you laugh.”

Eddie flushed, but noticed that Steve’s face pinkened as well and found he couldn’t lament the situation he found himself in after all.

“Back of knees are fine,” was all he said, accepting his fate as he shut his eyes again. “But if you get paint on the stairs Wayne will probably kill you.”

“No paint on stairs. Got it.”

This time the brush on his skin made him yelp, knee bending on impulse to get away from the sensation. He should’ve told Steve to go for his knee caps instead, he realized belatedly. The squirming wouldn’t be so messy then.

“Ugh, it feels weird,” he said, craning his neck to look at Steve who had backed off when Eddie had bent both his knees, pressing the paint between his skin.

“If you get paint on the stairs now it’s your fault.”

“Is anything dripping?”

“No.” Steve suddenly grabbed his calf. “Maybe your ankle. Or should I go back to upper body? Lift your arms.”

“You’re so persistent.”

“I’m only getting started and you keep interrupting.”

Eddie huffed but lifted his arms anyway, grabbing onto the door frame as best as he could with the door shut. “Be nice.”

“I’m always nice.”

He wasn’t able to cover his mouth this time and was laughing loudly and freely the moment the brush touched his armpit. Steve hushed him, although he was laughing too, and slapped his palm over Eddie’s mouth in a way that had his thumb brushing the underside of his chin, another much too sensitive spot, and Eddie found himself spiraling into hysterics.

It was foolish to think he would be able to stand it for long, and within seconds he had paint not only on his hands and clothes, but also somehow in his hair from how suddenly he’d started fighting back. The stairs, somehow, were left spotless.

“You caught me off guard,” Steve told him later, helping him rinse the last of the pink from his hair. “You ticklish idiot.”

“Hm, I seem to remember another day where I was the one scrubbing your ticklish skin clean.”

“Speaking of that, I’ll help you get the paint off of the rest of you.”

“Oh, no, it’s okay.”

“No, I’m offering! It’s my fault anyway, right? I heard it’s really hard getting it off of armpits especially.”

“Steve, I will kill you.”

“And I think I saw some on your hips too. No idea how that happened. Oh, and your neck.”

Eddie groaned. It was going to be a long shower.

[365days365movies]

Action January II: Captain Blood (1935)

Part One: By the Sword

Fun fact about me: I am a non-classically trained fencer.

By which I mean I went through formal training as a child (starting at 6 or 7), then continued it sporadically through my youth and college. Kept up with it a little after college, but I'm no longer a fencer. Still, it was a pretty prominent part of my life, and one of the more bougie facts about me (of which there are admittedly many; I am, for example, struggling to not type bourgeoisie). I look back on it fondly, but it's not for modern-day me.

Still, I've always had a soft spot for swashbucklers, especially in film. Sure, traditional épée fencing doesn't resemble your typical swashbuckling film fight, even a little bit. Usually, épée with the fencing gear is put in a movie or TV show to demonstrate that the character or establishment practicing it is high-class or rich. Instead, I suppose cinematic swashbuckling is more similar to sabre fencing, which has a larger target zone than épée fencing, and usually involves grander movements...but even then, I've never seen any sabre fencer swing from ropes and rafters like, well...

Zorro is a character that I've talked about before on this blog. I've also covered the swashbuckler briefly in that post, but let's get a little more comprehensive this time, shall we? Zorro is maybe the prototypical swashbuckler character, starting with Douglas Fairbanks' epic film The Mark of Zorro in 1920! Yeah, old as hell. He was daring, dashing, and debonair; dressed in black and fighting for justice to get the girl and save the day, armed with only a sword and his wit! The prototypical action hero! Throw in some great choreography and epic music, and voila! A swashbuckler! To put one together properly, we need:

A dashing hero, with devil-may-care attitude that fights for the moral right. If we're talking in DnD terms, you can call this person chaotic good alignment, usually. Swinging from the rafters, a sword in hand and often a smile on their face. And, of course, a romantic aim and goal.

Swordfighting. Kind of critical to the genre. Swashbucklers are films that use swordfights as the driver for the plot. While not every action sequence may involve a sword fight, the main hero is always either armed with their sword or looking for it. And then it's time for the climax, you better believe we've got a big-ass swordfight on our hands. The villain of the piece, at least one of them, should also have a sword in hand.

A sweeping score is a very typical piece of these films. Whether in the past or present, swashbuckling can't be done without an iconic leitmotif for the hero, and battle music times to the clashes of steel. Usually throw some brass or strings in there, and you have a swashbuckling score.

Now, of course, there are a lot of swashbucklers out there based on those definitions, and...yeah, there are a lot of swashbuckler films! While The Mark of Zorro is typically called the first swashbuckler, it's not the first film to involve narrative swordplay by any means. The Count of Monte Cristo (1908) is probably the first of those, but there are others like The Prisoner of Zenda or Kidnapped. You may also notice that some of the classic swashbucklers are based on classic literature, like those above, and like Cyrano de Bergerac, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Man in the Iron Mask, and the most prominent of these...

It's funny, for a character best known for his archery skills, Robin Hood gets into a lot of swordfights. Some of the most iconic filmed swordfights come from the emerald archer from Sherwood, and for good reason! There have been countless adaptations of the original stories, which are crazy cinematic, and they all take place in medieval England, during a time period where swords were predominant weaponry. Combine that with the fact that Robin Hood is, in many retellings, a nobleman who would've been trained in fencing, and you have a natural swashbuckler setup!

And honestly, Robin Hood is sort of the perfect swashbuckler. A morally good hero fighting against the evil establishment, for his friends, contrymen, and the woman he loves. Epic music, daring setpieces, classic fights, a lot of swingin' rafters...yeah, it's perfect. And again, one day, I'll talk about The Adventures of Robin Hood from 1938; one of my favorite action films, and my favorite adaptation of Robin Hood for sure.

But there's another type of swashbuckler that's just as iconic as those listed above, also involving a setting conducive to sword-based action, but often with heroes that are...a little more morally grey.

Pirate films are essentially a subgenre of the swashbuckler (yes, a subgenre of a subgenre of a subgenre), focusing on high-seas action rather than fighting in a hall or castle. The pirate film is a curious beast, appearing in film history in sporadic bursts, with no real period to call its own. They were popular from the '30s through the mid-'60s, had a tiny boom in the '80s, got badly nuked in the '90s, and then had another tiny boom in the '00s with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. They're always around, but never the first genre you'd think of when you think of action films.

Still, pirate films have an iconic feel to them all their own. The wind in your hair, the daring sword fights against a surly knave or an overzealous government stooge, depending on the nature of your morally dubious hero. Hell, maybe the hero has resorted to piracy after being wronged or lost at sea, and we're rooting for him and his lost honor. Either way, he's got an open shirt and a sword in his hand, and his crew are there to back him up (or betray him; again, depends on the narrative). You know a pirate film when you see one. And that's where I'm headed today: to the open seas with Captain Blood, starring an iconic action star of the 1930s and '40s. In fact, he's so iconic, almost every one of the above GIFs includes him.

Errol Flynn is undoubtedly a major film figure of his day. He's also got a fascinating and...sometimes troubling personal history, putting him up there with some of the great Australian film actors in cinema. But as much as I'd like to talk about Errol Flynn (and I probably will later), I'd like to finally jump into the film that made him famous: Captain Blood, a 1935 film directed by Michael Curtiz, another interesting figure with some...interesting history with Flynn. Again, more later.

Flynn was an unknown before this role, and immediately became an audience and studio favorite, essentially succeeding Douglas Fairbanks as a films and action star. Only 26 at time this film came out, Captain Blood was the beginning of an often turbulent career for Flynn, who would die at only 50 years old. Again, more on him later. And so, without further ado...SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap

It's 1685 in England, and there's a rebellion happening! Known as the Monmouth Rebellion, it involved the deposition of James II, after succeeding his brother as king of England, which was contested by Parliament and Protestants, as James II was a Catholic king. Anyway, during the rebellion, Doctor Peter Blood (Errol Flynn) is summoned to aid a friend injured in a skirmish. A retired adventurer and swashbuckler in his own right, Blood is determined not to re-enter the...fight...

Is this Commando? Like, where a retired hero is forced to come back to fight for his country, and won't come back until a personal tragedy or offense is done to him? You know, like Commando? Just calling it now, before it happens.

As Blood is helping his friend, he's taken away and sentenced by Judge George Jeffreys (Leonard Mudie), who accuses him of being a liar and traitor to the crown, despite his complete innocence. Imprisoned and set amongst a group of similar prisoners for months, he attempts to defend himself on the stand, only to condemn himself even further beneath a biased kangaroo court. And for the record, Flynn immediately proves why he's so beloved at this time. He's an excellent actor in this scene, and I immediately sympathize with Peter Blood.

Meanwhile, King James II (Vernon Steele) is convinced by his advisor to send the convicts to the West Indies as slaves, as actual slaves are too expensive, and these guys are free of cost. So, yeah, British monarchy not looking too great. In any case, we set to sea for the first time, in the belly of an unrealistically humane slave ship. In Blood's words, the King was "granted their lives in exchange of an uncertain death". And with that, Blood and the convicts are sent o Port Royal, in Jamaica.

The convicts are set for sale (hate it), and most of them are sold to Colonel Bishop (Lionel Atwill) and his niece, Arabella (Olivia de Havilland). When she observes Blood's rebellious nature at being inspected like cattle, she decides to keep him from working in the mines on her own spoiled whims. Blood's not a fan, and the two immediately clash. Which, obviously, means they're gonna fall in love by the end. Come on, we know how this goes.

Blood's sent to work on the plantation with Bishop's other slaves, on a grinding mill that loves like it's ripped out of Conan the Barbarian. We see the indignity of slavery through...white slaves. Yeah, trying not to think about it, since this is a thing that happened, but it's tough. Anyway, our traitors are taught a lesson about treason, as an escapee is branded on his fucking face, and the prisoners all say how much they hate the fucking King. Great job, James, really fanning the flames of patriotism there.

Meanwhile, the uncaring and selfish governor, Steed (George Hassell) is complaining of gout, and is in need of a physician. Knowing of Blood's former profession, Arabella recommends him as Steed's physician, and is mostly elevated from the role of slavery, which seems...insanely easy. Irritatingly easy, even. But whatever; at least he hasn't forgotten his friends, his actual station, or the fact that Arabella bought him for 10 goddamn shillings! He's still understandably bitter about that.

However, he's in very good favor with the governor for relieving his gout, unlike the previous doctors Bronson (Hobart Cavanaugh) and Whacker (Donald Meek), who attempt to plot to get rid of the much more competent Blood. He puts them in their place, but begins a plot of his own. With the other slaves arrested for treason, he plans an escape attempt from Port Royal, with the help of friend (and the guy who got him in this mess to begin with, Jeremy Pitt (Ross Alexander). However, in the process, Colonel Bishop suspects some kind of plan, which is only circumvented with the help of Arabella. In the process, however, Pitt is captured and flogged for questioning.

While his friend is getting horribly whipped by the Colonel on the stockades, Blood and Arabella flirt (as expected), although a kiss from Blood is received poorly due to his status, leaving the encounter on a sour note. Peter goes back to care for the Governor before their escape that night, then finds Jeremy at the stockades and cares for him as well. He's caught by the Colonel showing mercy, and is about to share Jeremy's fate when a ship attacks the port.

This ship belongs to the Spanish, and the sailors aboard lay waste to the port. It's at this point that the slaves see an opportunity, and make their way to the ships. They take over the Spaniard's ship, and wait until the morning to take out the returning Spaniard captain and soldiers. With navigator Pitt and new gunner Henry Hagthorpe (Guy Kibbee), the new crew sets sale and escapes, under the purview of the new Captain Blood.

Colonel Bishop, like...like a fucking idiot, sails out on a rowboat to thank the men, not realizing it's his own slaves. And then, when he finds out, he still intends to keep them as slaves. THEY HAVE A SHIP, DUDE! You're fucked. Instead of killing him, which they consider, they toss him overboard, and Blood's crew sets sail for the Caribbean Sea, leaving Arabella behind. They abandon their citizenship, and officially become pirates.

The crew of Blood becomes famed and infamous across the seas, to the irritation of King James II himself. With Governor Steed having lost both money from the Spaniard assault, and being unable to reign in Blood in the first place, his appointment as Governor is given to Colonel Bishop, who swears to take care of Blood once and for all. Arabella is conflicted about this, but she's shipped off to England along with Governor Steed.

On Tortuga, Blood signs a deal with another captain, the French Levasseur (Basil Rathbone), and the two become partner pirates. Later on, Arabella finishes her extended holiday in England, traveling alongside Lord Willoughby (Henry Stephenson), who has been tasked to take out Captain Blood. On their journey, they see Levasseur's ship, which attacks them and takes the passengers hostage on a nearby island. They are soon joined by a surprised Peter Blood and his crew, who pretends not to know her.

Blood and Levasseur engage in an argument, as one of the articles of their contract was that no female prisoners would be taken. As a compromise, Blood pays for her ransom, both to save her and as payback for his purchase of her many years ago. This still enrages Levasseur, who wanted Arabella for himself, and he forgoes his honor to challenge Blood to a fencing duel. Fun fact, by the way: Basil Rathbone was an actual fencer, classically trained, and far better than anyone he ever fenced with on-screen, Flynn included. But, since he always played the role of a villain and cad, he was always forced to lose. And this fight is no exception.

Levasseur is killed by Blood...which is crazy, since he's Basil fucking Rathbone, and he was in this movie for maybe 5 minutes altogether as essentially a cameo, but...c'est la vie, et la mort. Arabella and Willoughby are brought on board, only for Arabella to angrily reject him. And yes, she's absolutely a goddamn hypocrite, but she's not fully unjustified. She puts Blood down as a beast like any other pirate (unfairly, of course), and Blood angrily rebukes her in turn. Even then, he plans to bring the two hostages back to Port Royal, where they are certain to die.

Willoughby and Arabella speak, where he convinces her that Blood's genuinely not a dick, and tells her that they're headed to Port Royal. At the same time, Blood's crew refuses to sail to Port Royal, officially acting in mutiny against Blood. And Blood...gracefully surrenders his command of the ship, admitting his affections for Arabella to be driving him against logic. And that ironically turns the crew back to Blood's command. I can't tell if that was a sign of their actual bond, or some straight gatekeeping-girlbossing-gaslighting from Blood, but...yeah, they're still going to Jamaica.

As they approach Port Royal, though, they find it being attacked by two French ships. Willoughby, finally being able to speak with Blood, informs him that France and England are at war. To their surprise, though, Governor Bishop isn't present, nor is the English fleet, since they're out chasing pirates. And so, the only ship to defend Port Royal against the French, is...well, Blood's.

It's then that Willoughby finally reveals his purpose for seeking Blood and his crew: the King has pardoned him. Obviously, they're not a fan of King James II given what he'd done to them, and refuse the offer. But then, Willoughby reveals the other political change: James II is out as King. With that knowledge, Blood and his men decide to fight for the English Navy, and for the new King William III.

Arabella is shuttled ashore, while the ship sails under a French flag to disguise themselves. They easily ambush the French ships attacking the Port, wrecking one and causing it to fucking explode. Honestly, it's pretty sick. The other ship mounts a harsher assault, and Blood's crew is forced to abandon ship. Instead, they simply take the French ship for themselves. And as the Captain swings over, you realize something: this is the prototypical pirate movie.

Yeah, OK, earlier films like The Black Pirate, as well as later ones like The Sea Hawk and Treasure Island, would be a major framework for pirate films in the future. But good goddamn, if this doesn't feel like a pirate movie, I don't know what does. The score is sweeping, the action is epic, and it's honestly just fun. And the most ironic thing is, this is happening at the point in the film when they aren't technically pirates anymore! Hilarious.

Anyway, Blood's crew wins the day for England, only for the Governor to finally return from his futile journey. Arabella, seeing Blood return and knowing her uncle's hatred of him, tries to warn him away while admitting her love to him. But to the surprise of her and her uncle, Bishop is officially deposed as Governor for abandoning his post in times of war to pursue his vendetta, even though he knew Willoughby was coming. He's at the mercy of the new Governor: Doctor Peter Blood. Honestly, it's funny as fuck. Blood bids him "Good morning, Uncle.", and the film comes to a close.

That's it for Captain Blood! Gonna do an old-fashioned review set-up and have a separate post for the Review! And that's because, while the review won't be terribly long...I would really like to talk about the man, the myth, the alcoholic legend himself, Errol Flynn.

See you in the Review!

[grimdarkfandango]

riley's rec list 2023

oo-er alliteration, ladidah

AIGHT SO hello so I saw a fic rec list yesterday and was like. damn son I love rec lists. and then I read a fic off it and went DAMN SON I LOVE REC LISTS so guess what y'all are getting for 2024. it's a fic rec list! congratulations release the crocodiles

these are in approximately no order whatsoever. not all of these came out in 2023, but some of them did, and I definitely read them with my eyeballs then.

I'm not bothering with a readmore you know how to scroll happy new year

One Hundred Years Past by tciddaemina | BOTW/LoZ | Ganondorf/Link | 39k + sequels Link wakes up a hundred years early. It changes everything.

y'all I only read this two days ago and I am Ob Sessed. what if Ganondorf picked Link up like a feral stray in the desert. What if he dodged calamity with the power of dick and this twink he found. What if the second story in the series was designed in a lab to make me feral. What if!

Pinned and Needled by surveycorpsjean | One Piece (manga/anime) | Zoro/Sanji | 35k Sanji struggles with an injury that prevents him from cooking. Around the same time, Zoro starts to act strange.

[deep fucking inhale] SO. sometimes you are ambling at a slowish pace through a manga with over 1100 chapters and then an author you really like drops a fic for the couple you are rotating in your head and so you go 'hey cool let me just read that' and you don't even get half the plot references in the story but it's enough because then you read 700 chapters in A Week and now you're caught up and get to read it all over again and scream even louder

like a bird on a wire by tierfal | BNHA/MHA (manga) | Endeavor/Hawks | 8k The aftermath, and the undertow, and something like a sunrise.

we still don't know what the aftermath of the war will be [stares into the middle distance about the most recent chapter] so enjoy this hurt/comfort from after ch 390!! I just... love Hawks... it's about the devotion...

I'm realising of all of the recs here this one might need the most canon knowledge to make sense but. also. what if you read 410 chapters of manga and then talked to me about it...

Facade by Hazel_Athena | One Piece (manga/anime) | Zoro/Sanji | 32k Left with only three other crew mates, it’s a ready expectation that Sanji will start fawning all over Robin in his usual obnoxious way. However, that’s not what happens. Instead, looking wild around the eyes in a way only someone who knows him well would recognize, the cook doesn’t break stride until he’s firmly within Zoro’s orbit and can wrap both hands around his upper arm, clinging tight. “Hi, darling,” he chirps, his expression desperately conveying that Zoro needs to play along under pain of death. “Did you miss me?”

ZOSAN FAKE DATING MARRIAGE LESGOOOO

this is just so much fluff and also zoro being in PainTM and I love a good trope mmkay

Carry You Home (In My Teeth) by DistortedDaytime | Stranger Things | Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson | 51k All Billy wants to do is lick his wounds and sleep off a bad night. Instead, he wakes up to find his furrier half stranded in Steve Harrington’s laundry room.

Billy the werewolf! Eddie the vampire! Steve the Steve! I am cheating a little bit because I got to cheer this on first-hand as it was being written BUT also it's just really, really, really fun. And horny. And full of Billy's Issues. Plus some neat werewolf worldbuilding and my favourite type of Deus Ex Maxine.

Everything In Its Right Place by JustSomeGuyDontWorryAboutIt | Mandalorian | Din Djarin/Cobb Vanth | 12k In which Cobb Vanth is forced off-planet, roped into a rescue mission, and made to stew torturously in his feelings. Just because you’ve spent months fantasizing about shucking him from that armour like a Sorgan krill doesn’t mean he’s thought about you even once, he reminded himself. Don’t make this awkward. Just enjoy the company while it lasts.

I, too, think Cobb should get to tap that so hard they cause an interstellar incident about it. And that's after he charms the last remaining jedi into giving the kid back.

Same As It Ever Was by QuokkaFoxtrot | Stranger Things | Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson | 62k "Deja-vu? Like you feel like you've done this before, because-" "No!" Steve snaps, feeling everyone's attention snap to him. He lowers his voice, aiming it so that only Nancy can hear. "I mean I've carried Eddie's body back to the rift in the trailer. Twice." --- Sometimes it can take a while to become the man you want to be.

Sometimes a good friend slides you a link to a fic their friend has started writing with a 'hey you ship this, check this out' and then you lose your whole fucking mind, usually directly into the comment box, until the whole thing is complete. This is the time loop fic of DREAMS. This is the GOLD FUCKING STANDARD. This has, unequivocally, REWIRED MY GODDAMN BRAIN. This is, as far as I'm concerned, one of the best fics ever written. Run don't walk.

THAT'S IT HAPPY NEW YEAR

[antibioware]

would you do that thing where you review/rate the op movies, if that's ok? :3c

ok NOW that I'm mostly done with the One Piece movies, it's finally time to start writing this monster of a review post. I'm gonna say sorry in advance for how long this post is gonna get.

1) One Piece: The Movie -> 6/10

This movie is fine, not much to say about it. It's old enough that Sanji is not even in the crew, and it feels more like a longer than usual filler episode of the East Blue saga than anything else, but I found it very charming, it had some good gags and it smacked me upside the head with 90s anime nostalgia.

2) Clockwork Island Adventure -> 6,5/10

Just like the first movie, it's fine, nothing extraordinary and it had some kinda weird plot choices, but most of the gags and crew interactions are solid enough to make the whole experience enjoyable. Would love to see Luffy throw bombs at his friends more often in the future.

3) Chopper's Kingdom on the Island of Strange Animals -> 6/10

I know a lot of people hated this movie so I came into it expecting the worst, and instead it was a cute enough movie. Again, nothing special but all early movies suffer the curse of the One Piece world being still largely unknowable and having to make something up that makes sense within the context of this early stages. Chopper's characterization is Eh, but I think the movie was trying to see his very first interactions with the crew while still knowing little about him, and I can excuse it. I like most crew interactions and gags. This movie also features Sanji fighting a swordsman VS Zoro fighting a guy who uses kicks and I really loved it - what can I say, I'm biased, so sue me.

4) Dead End Adventure -> 9/10

THIS ONE. This is one of best One Piece movies. You want a classic yet enticing seafaring adventure? You want all the good and fun aspects of the pre-timeskip crew? Do you want an interesting side character who kinda reminds you of All emo One Piece guys? Did you, just like me, miss when Nami and Robin used to be shit to children? THIS IS THE ONE. I don't wanna say much more to not ruin it for people who have yet to watch it, but I really missed when the crew had to find a way to work around fighting Logia type Devil Fruit users, and seeing it again sealed my absolute love for this movie.

5) The Cursed Holy Sword -> 3/10

So this is another movie that I know a lot of the fanbase hates, but since the Chopper movie turned out to be okay, I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt again. Instead, this movie just plainly sucks, and it's not because of the general plot, because of bad crew interactions, but because Zoro specifically is written like shit in here, and since the movie revolves around him, the movie is shit as well. My best way to resume this movie was "Zoro wouldn't fucking say that". Not only he drops the crew out of nowhere to follow a friend's shady request without questioning it, not only he fights Sanji and immediately wins despite their entire deal being that they're on the exact same level (also the fact that he breaks Sanji's arm got on my nerves massively), the thing that got on my nerves the most was honestly that the childhood friend was a new character and not like, some echo of Kuina, which emotionally would have made the movie have so much more sense for me.

This movie is written by a Zoro fan who doesn't get why Zoro is the great character that he is. Also the elements of mysticism in this movie are just damn weird for One Piece, but as I said for the Chopper movie, I can excuse it as it's still relatively early into the story and I can see why they thought magic would work as a plot element. It didn't.

(Still better than Stampede tho)

6) Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island -> 10/10

This one is an insane and unsettling experience from start to finish. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about, if you haven't, go watch it now. I promise it's gonna be a wild fucking ride and that you're never gonna forget it for the rest of your life.

7) One Piece The Movie: The Giant Mechanical Soldier of Karakuri Castle -> 7,5/10

Was this movie objectively bad? Yeah. Was this movie also objectively good? Yeah.

I'm gonna try to elaborate: this one is purely a comedy, with sparse elements from the previous movies taken and used for parody. The tits on the girls have the worst animation you've ever seen, but it works in favour of the comedy because, voluntarily or not, it seems to parody the One Piece anime itself. I swear the animation budget on this one was like 100 yen and the concept of hope. Despite all this, it works and it's funny as fuck. Zoro gets set on fire on this one. Also, apparently Chopper's VA was on maternity leave for this one and you can barely notice it.

8) Episode of Arabasta: The Desert Princess and the Pirates /

9) Episode of Chopper Plus: Bloom in Winter, Miracle Sakura -> ??/10

They are arc recap movies, an Alabasta arc recap and an AU version of the entire Drum arc set post-Water 7 respectively, and as such, I don't intend to watch them, so I'm skipping them ✌️ if I eventually decide to give them a try, I'll come back and add them to the post.

10) One Piece Film: Strong World -> 8,5/10

A huge favourite of mine since I was a kid. This movie came out around the same time as when I read One Piece the first time and I remember loving it then and I'm happy to say I still love it as an adult. The outfits are amazing, the villains are amazing and the plot was damn good. Yes, this movie has Nami as the damsel in distress (and some really bad and gratuituous ass-tits shots of her, but nothing worse than say, the anime itself), but I really liked how it's handled and the spotlight on her character is well handled for the most. It's a "crew as family" movie first and foremost, and you can really tell Oda himself took part writing this one.

12) One Piece Film: Z -> ??/10

So I'm gonna be honest here, I haven't watched this one either and I don't intend to because Nami gets aged down to a child as a major plot point and I don't trust whoever wrote it to handle it normally. If anyone gives me a good motivation to watch it I will, but until then, I refuse to.

13) One Piece Film: Gold -> 8/10

When my girlfriend and I started watching the movies again, we were really skeptical about all post-timeskip movies, and I'm glad to say Gold proved us wrong. I love this damn movie: it's a really good experience for long time fans, but it can also be shared with friends who barely know/never got into the show. The villain is so damn compelling, and the original character (Nami's blatant ex-girlfriend) is fun and interesting.

What else can I say? It's a Las Vegas heist movie. It's flashy, it's fun, all the outfits are fucking amazing, and most importantly, Zoro is the damsel in distress in this one. I can't suggest it enough to people.

(Also Sabo makes a cameo in here by using a Firefist, and both of us for a solid second thought Ace was gonna descend from the heavens to fight instead of the most logical answer, because we're both idiots.)

14) One Piece: Stampede -> 1,5/10

Fuck this movie and fuck whoever liked it. This is nothing but fanservice garbage and I hope whoever wrote it is in jail. It exists as proof that good animation and good voice acting and a solid cast cannot make a good movie by themselves. The main villain is the most boring, uninteresting piece of trash in the universe. This movie was made just to animate cool fights for fanservice, and it didn't do even that well. I cannot believe they wasted Luffy's Gear 4: Snakeman like that, I cannot forgive wasting my favourite Luffy fight form for a moment and THEN decide to solve the movie final fight with a fucking genkidama. Fuck this movie. Didn't even have the guts to have a proper Hancock fight scene.

The only reason is gets a little more than a 1 as a rating is because having so many damn characters in the movie appear at random accidentally turned it into a fucking comedy. Towards the end I was half-ready for either Gol D. Roger's corpse or Goku to show up. Maybe even Naruto or the Jump Force. Kurapika was in this one to me.

15) One Piece Film: Red -> 7,5/10

We conclude with a good one, and a musical on top of it all. I really liked this movie, I think Uta was a well written new character and I can't deny I cried a bit towards the end of it. This movie has still a lot of fanservice, but in my opinion it's much more tasteful and tolerable, and I would be lying if the hype of every character cameo didn't get to me, especially with Brulèe and Katakuri, I have such a soft spot for the Charlotte offsprings.

Ado is a really good singer and a lot of the songs are really nice to listen to, I can't deny I currently have more than half the songs in this movie among my spotify favourites. The occasional usage of CGI is Eh, but aside from it this movie has damn good animations as well.

What this movie lacks, and it's really less of a Red specific problem and more of a general post-timeskip One Piece issue, is crew interactions. While a lot of early One Piece movies are kinda trash, it's the crew interactions that have always captured me about the story, and I'm willing to forgive even the worst plotline if it means I get to see those fucked up kids have fun and be all together. It got to a point that the amount of characters in the story takes time away from the main crew, and considering this was the first movie with Jinbei as a crewmate, it was a damn shame that this fact almost wasn't used. Still, I liked Red! I just hope the next movie that will inevitably come out is a crew-focused one, on the same wavelength as Gold. I'm kinda sick of constantly seeing Law.

[jasntodds]

I'm new to your blog hiii 😊 This is cuz of your music fic post, this is not me requesting I just simply must gush about this because I love music and there are some musicians imo that just hit so right with Jason (*cough* Matt Maeson)

Anyways here's some songs that I think have serious tremors of Jason Todd running through them 🎵 ❤

🎵Halestorm: Back from the Dead (this one is self explanatory lol)

🎵The Pretty Reckless: Got so High/ Standing at the Wall (side note~their latest album Death By Rock N Roll is so good and so sad)

🎵Eminem: Drug Ballad/ Never Love Again (don't worry these are milder Em lyrics cuz we all know some of his word choices are vomit inducing but these are basically simultaneously love songs to the drugs but also a cautionary tale against them)

🎵Avril Lavigne: Fall to Pieces/ Nobody's Home (I just think they fit for Jason esp nobody's home)

🎵 Matt Maeson: Dancing After Death/ The Hearse/ Tread on Me/ Go Easy/ Cringe/ Me and My Friends Are Lonely/ Mr. Rattlebone/ Grave Digger

(I motherfucking love this man's music 😢💘 lyrically mostly everything describes Jason. I LOVE the line in Me and My Friends Are Lonely "The city breathes when I do not" > that is so Gotham and Jason and Gotham and Robin and Gotham and Redhood. In Mr. Rattlebone the lyrics "I am the driver. I am the shadow. I am the hearse" welp 😢🙃 The opening of Grave Digger oh my days "I can't run to you Father, I need love". Anyway I'm gonna shush now because I am getting carried away lol but hope you don't me spaming you with all this

Hey!! Uh, I love this???? lmao I love hearing songs that relate to my favorite characters!! I definitely made a playlist here with all of these songs and I'm gonna add to it for songs that just scream Jason dkfhgdf I will be 100% listening to all of these and I actually really enjoy Matt Maeson's voice so that's so perfect??????

I'm so sorry but this is me reading "The city breathes when I do not."

Look, ANYTHING relating to daddy issues screams Jason to me and I nearly lose my fucking mind every single time. It reminds me of that one quote that's like "Growing up and seeing your parents' flaws is like losing your religion. I don't believe in God. I don't believe in my father either." This will be the first song I listen to omg

You can always come and ramble to me about music and/or Jason I love all types of music and I love Jason so I am always here lmao

And since you gave me some awesome recs, I'm gonna give you a few fkghfd:

Left Behind by The Plot In You. Look, it is one of my FAVORITE songs (is it my most played of the year?? Probably lmao it's in my top most played of all time and it came out in Feb lmao and I know I clocked over 60k minutes of music this year). But, when I listen to it, I relate it to Jason and Bruce's dynamic with lines like "Just know, all the sacrifice had robbed me of my time" and "I left behind, everything you killed inside" Landon screaming the lyrics makes me wanna CRY you can hear the pain in his voice and that's just very Jason Todd to me lmao

Deep End by I Prevail. It's such a good song?????? (I used in a fanedit and they liked it on TikTok) but my mom knows every word because she has to deal with me and brother playing it lmao but the WHOLE chorus is super Jason coded "So I made friends with all my demons. Let 'em sink their teeth in. Got used to the feeling of letting it go. So give me something to believe in or throw me in the deep end. It all feels the same with your eyes closed. So you can throw me in the deep end."

And Hollow - Lo's Version by Lo Spirit. I found him on TikTok (I swear I am not on that often??) and he's an INCREDIBLE vocalist. But this song is his best imo (followed by Good Enough and Wild Things (my beloved)) but this song is perfect for Jason. I mean, in Titans, he literally says there's a poison in him. It's perfect!! "Maybe somethings wrong with me. Maybe I was meant to sit and wait." and "Why do I, why do I feel so hollow? Hollow, hollow. Try to hide from my mind, but it follows."

[roydeezed]

One Piece-Chapter Round-Up(Chapter 1081)

After a break we’re treated with a colour page! Whoo! Sanji reading an instructional booklet on cocking while lying next to a sleeping Zoro…hmmm. Greatest One Piece love story since Noland and Kalgara? (No lie though, their story makes me bawl, it wasn’t fair). Jokes aside, we got some beautiful double page spreads and some pretty significant events taking place in this chapter so see yall below the “Keep reading”.

We see Garp’s ship land in the plaza and Prince Grus use his clay fruit to have it come to a soft landing. Much like how Akainu’s fruit is an evolution on Ace’s fruit, Prince Grus’s clay fruit seems to be an evolution to Mr.3’s wax fruit, capable of making soldier’s and such. Garp laments that he’s gotten weaker, we get some banter with the other marines, Hibari gets frozen and Aokiji reveals himself as the tenth titanic captain!

I was curious about what people thought of this chapter and after browsing some forums and comments, I saw a majority of the people reading believing that Aokiji had honestly gone over to Blackbeard’s side. Um… yall. Can we just think about this rationally? Please. First of all, let’s start with something concrete. The above line. It’d be a bad look if Koby escapes while Teach is away. Does that not sound at all suspicious? To me what it sounds like is “make it convincing”. It also makes me believe there’s a chance Garp dies here. To sell Aokiji as a proper pirate. 

To me, Aokiji is a marine through and through. Though he doesn’t agree with everything, it’s the closest to his ideals. Ideals aren’t something people in the One Piece world abandon cause they took a loss. Aokiji, time and time again, while staying a marine, finds a way to do things his own way. He leaves Saul alive and lets Robin get away. He doesn’t exterminate the Straw Hats when he has a chance. What could the Blackbeard Pirates offer him other than an infiltration opportunity? They’re a proven menace. I strongly believe that he’s a SWORD agent infiltrating the Blackbeard Pirates. 

Obviously, I could be wrong, I have been before, but let’s look at how the plot has progressed so far. Aokiji was revealed as the tenth captain after bringing up the fact that SWORD is a thing. After bringing up that Saul is alive, a man he was supposed to kill. Also he was brought up by Garp! A marine rebel. And rose to the rank of Admiral. Those aren’t things you shed that easily. Those are things you pretend to shed in a conversation with Blackbeard. And Blackbeard’s not stupid either, I feel like he has to know. 

Blackbeard seems to have a few sides to him. The desperate and cowardly side of him recruited Aokiji, not wanting someone of that caliber against him, and the shrewd side of him suspects him I’d bet, especially after hearing about SWORD. By the way, speaking of things I’ve been wrong on, if Aokiji is here, then Lafitte and Devona are on their way to Egghead. Who are infiltrator types. Which makes me wonder if they were the ones who initially put York up to this whole thing? They’re either going there to steal something or someone. Maybe the memory bubble, maybe Robin.

Anyways, getting back to the actual events of this chapter, we see the Blackbeard Pirates socializing with Aokiji. And honestly, despite being ruthless pirates, they look like a pretty fun hang, definitely one of the more chiller crews. Imagine hanging with Kid’s crew, you’d just hear Kid yelling in the background. They bring up the man marked by flames. And that’s also basically been confirmed right? As Jaguar D. Saul? Though the description of the ship and powers makes me think of Dragon. With the frequent mentions of Saul though, it makes me think they’re talking about him. Also if he is at Elbaf and has the power to part seas, he could help and bring Kid to safety, as Kid and Killer both can’t swim due to devil fruits and smiles. 

Finally we catch up with Law. And as expected he lost. But it’s still admirable he put up a fight against the Blackbeard Pirates. He was basically the only major player on his crew and he held them off quite well. We also get a little bit more information on the Rocky Port Incident. To sum up, it was an incident in which Law gathered the 100 hearts he gave over to the Marines to become a warlord, which he got from the Rocky Port at Pirate Island. I’m assuming the marine’s were there in some capacity to assist Law or were called in by Blackbeard as Blackbeard used Koby to help take down the then leader of the island. 

We see the Polar Tang destroyed and a mention of the heartless. Bepo goes sulong and gets Law out of there. This was an absolutely heartbreaking page right at the end. It was bad enough to see the Polar Tang destroyed. Not only was it one of the coolest ships in the verse but it was also the ship that rescued Luffy more than once. The crew wore uniforms and were generally quite dorky and lovable. The named members, other than the two that escaped, were quite unique in Shachi, Penguin and especially Jean Bart. Jean Bart not only showed Law’s kindness but the cohesiveness and camaraderie of the heart pirates.

This really drives home how each crew has their own story. We don’t know what they’ve gone through but just like our Strawhats they must’ve had to crawl through hell and back to get where they did. I love Bepo so it was heartbreaking to see him beg Law not to die while Law wanted to go back for his crew. I was kind of indifferent to Kid being taken out because in the story he’s shown to be quite ruthless and he’s attacked peaceful villages to get back at bigger pirates. But Law has not only had a hard life, with his whole backstory involving Doflamingo, but he’s clawed for every inch of what he’s gotten. The genuine one-two gut punch of showing Blackbeard as charming to then have him brutally knock out one of the most beloved crews in One Piece is such a brilliant move by Oda and has me anxiously waiting for when Luffy finally kicks their ass.