#graph: arrow
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sisaloofafump · 8 months ago
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In case it seems like every third comic has Batman in it... you're not wrong. He's been in 38.6% of DC issues since 2020, with a stark increase of 8% each decade since the 90s and surpassing Superman in popularity. Despite this, there's been a massive drop off of comics where he is teamed up with Superman or a Robin (although the amount of group team ups between Batman Family members has increased, as well as Nightwing solos).
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oifaaa · 2 years ago
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Ian wayne looks horrible. but also he doesn't look like Bruce in those books. so I think that's worse? than if he looked like another mini-bruce. but yeah Damian should look more like talia
Its just a weird trend in general with all the teen graph novels that Damians in that he looks overly white like somehow hes whiter in those books then he is in the actual comics which I'm pretty sure those artists have more freedom then the comic book artists so what gives?? But yeah I'm just tired of people saying it's oksy to whitewash Damian bc Bruce like alot of dc artists somehow have worse same face syndrome then me (which is saying something) at least by making Damian look like Talia you'll be able to tell the difference between all the white passing batboys please
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maybecould · 4 months ago
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I thought about this really hard and I've decided the fundamental point of the cw's arrow was to watch the characters pinball off of buildings and the quality of any season has a direct correlation with this data
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kihaku-gato · 11 months ago
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This year alone has grossly stuffed me with the conclusion that investors are the scum of the earth. Or at least, should be far far lower on the food chain of influence than they actually are.
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wally-b-feed · 1 year ago
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bubbloquacious · 2 years ago
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Directed or undirected?
think I might fuck around and become a math crank. not like a total crank, I still want my proofs to be valid, just think I might decide I have strong and very particular opinions about How Math Is and start shoving them in everybody's face all the time. like Wildberger style.
graphs are the fundamental object of mathematics. all math should be based on graph theory. information is a graph.
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todays-xkcd · 8 months ago
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𝓘 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝓬𝓪𝓹𝓲𝓽𝓪𝓵 𝓛 𝓲𝓼 𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓫𝓪𝓫𝓵𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓾𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓵𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓬𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓺 𝓲𝓼 𝓪𝓵𝓼𝓸 𝓪 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻.
Cursive Letters [Explained]
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[A graph with 10 ticks on both the X and Y axes. The graph contains cursive uppercase and lowercase Latin letters. X axis is labeled "Looks cool" with an arrow pointing right and Y axis is labeled "Easy to tell what letter it's supposed to be" with an arrow pointing upward. From top to bottom, left to right, the letters are: C, B, P, K, d, X, R; M, N, c, O, x, t, y, L; D, W, a, Y, o, i; H; A, b, j; p, h; w, Q; m, u, k, g; E, I, l, q; f, J; U, V, T, e; n; v, F; G; r, S, s, z, Z.]
[The alt-text is written in cursive characters.] Alt-Text: I think capital L is probably the most fun to write, though lowercase q is also a strong contender.
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kittykittyanon · 5 months ago
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MWAH MWAH MWAH MWAH MWAH!! ofcourse, meepie zeep zeep!!! i'm glad you're prioritizing yourself (≧▽≦) (≧▽≦) !!!!
i hope you get the vacation you need aaand everything works out for you!!! underworked, underwhelmed,, underbooked,,, underrrr...???? UNDER EVERYTHING!!!! everything will ease up for you,, fingers crossed- fingers not crossed? fingers SOMETHING,, i can't remember which one it was!! ヽ(>∀<☆)ノヽ(>∀<☆)ノ
WE LOVE YOU TOO ZEEP MEEP!! always and foreverrrrr mwah mwah mwah!!!
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just a lil notey-note ♪
hemlo my little chickadees!! : my requests are closed at the moment and have been for a few months!! ^^;; i should start with this because i am still getting a few requests for rottmnt in my inbox and tho i've stated it's paused right now, that message is posted in my introductory link - not everybody who visits my account clicks on it and i understand that completely! so i'll state it here clearly <3 no misunderstandings, no harsh feelings!
+ i'm going on another break! yes yessss, i know, she just went on one - and i am having another! XD /nm /silly gotta put the mental-emotional wellbeing above all, right?? i'll still be lurking, checking up on you guys and making sure you're okay like some secret fairy godsister or something, but for the posting and responding, s'all on a pause until further notice! 😉💕
it's been cuhraaaazy busy truth be told. i am overworked, overwhelmed, overbooked, and overDUE. for a vacay, that is. a vacay in which i will not get anytime soon (at least not to hawai'i or cali like i desire *sobs*) so i am taking breaks in OTHER ways! i'm not saying i'm tired or taking a break from YOU GUYS at all - just tumby as a whole. until i get back on my proverbial feet, that is~
( T_T)\(^-^ ) Zeepie loves you! Zeepie always loves you!! 'til we dance again, yeah? i'll keep the stereo playing. 🩷
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lostyesterday · 4 months ago
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I made the following graph because I was interested in which words show up most often in the titles of Star Trek episodes and movies:
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I included episode titles from all twelve canon TV shows and all thirteen movies. I only counted nouns for the graph to avoid including boring words like “the” or “and”. I also counted plurals of a word as the same word (“stars” counts as “star”) and compound words where the singular word still carried the same meaning (“starship” counts as “star”). A complete list of episode/movie titles for each word listed in the graph is below the cut.
Time:
Amok Time (TOS)
The Time Trap (TAS)
The Naked Time (TNG)
Time Squared (TNG)
A Matter of Time (TNG)
Time’s Arrow (TNG)
Timescape (TNG)
Hard Time (DS9)
Children of Time (DS9)
A Time to Stand (DS9)
Time’s Orphan (DS9)
Time and Again (VOY)
Once Upon a Time (VOY)
Timeless (VOY)
Time Amok (PRO)
The Time Devouring Scavengers (PRO)
Star
Beyond the Furthest Star (TAS)
Starship Mine (TNG)
Starship Down (DS9)
Far Beyond the Stars (DS9)
North Star (ENT)
Battle at the Binary Stars (DIS)
The Brightest Star (Short Treks)
The Girl Who Made the Stars (Short Treks)
The Star Gazer (PIC)
The Stars at Night (Lower Decks)
Starstruck (PRO)
A Moral Star (PRO)
Man
The Man Trap (TOS)
Where No Man Has Gone Before (TOS)
The Schizoid Man (TNG)
The Measure of a Man (TNG)
Manhunt (TNG)
Tin Man (TNG)
Man of the People (TNG)
A Man Alone (DS9)
Our Man Bashir (DS9)
Inside Man (VOY)
Renaissance Man (VOY)
Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad (DIS)
Home
The Voyage Home (movie)
Home Soil (TNG)
Homeward (TNG)
Move Along Home (DS9)
The Homecoming (DS9)
Homefront (DS9)
Homestead (VOY)
Home (ENT)
Far From Home (DIS)
Coming Home (DIS)
Child
Friday’s Child (TOS)
And the Children Shall Lead (TOS)
Plato’s Stepchildren (TOS)
The Child (TNG)
Galaxy’s Child (TNG)
Children of Time (DS9)
Child’s Play (VOY)
Children of the Comet (SNW)
Children of Mars (Short Treks)
Life
Half a Life (TNG)
The Quality of Life (TNG)
Life Support (DS9)
Lifesigns (VOY)
Real Life (VOY)
Life Line (VOY)
Life, Itself (DIS)
Eye
Wink of an Eye (TOS)
The Eye of the Beholder (TAS)
The Mind’s Eye (TNG)
Eye of the Beholder (TNG)
Eye of the Needle (VOY)
Blink of an Eye (VOY)
Kayshon, His Eyes Open (Lower Decks)
Light
The Lights of Zetar (TOS)
The Inner Light (TNG)
The Darkness and the Light (DS9)
By Inferno’s Light (DS9)
In the Pale Moonlight (DS9)
Point of Light (DIS)
Light and Shadows (DIS)
War
A Private Little War (TOS)
The Dogs of War (DS9)
Warlord (VOY)
Warhead (VOY)
The War Within, the War Without (DIS)
Under the Cloak of War (SNW)
Night
Night Terrors (TNG)
Wrongs Darker than Death or Night (DS9)
Night (VOY)
Two Days and Two Nights (ENT)
A Night in Sickbay (ENT)
The Stars at Night (Lower Decks)
Game
The Gamesters of Triskelion (TOS)
The Game (TNG)
Armageddon Game (DS9)
The Killing Game (VOY)
Endgame (VOY)
The Least Dangerous Game (Lower Decks)
Shadow
Shadowplay (DS9)
In Purgatory’s Shadow (DS9)
Shadows and Symbols (DS9)
Shadows of P’Jem (ENT)
Light and Shadows (DIS)
Through the Valley of Shadows (DIS)
Mirror
Mirror Mirror (TOS)
Shattered Mirror (DS9)
In the Mirror, Darkly (ENT)
Mirrors (DIS)
The Mirror Universe (PRO)
Enemy
The Enemy Within (TOS)
The Enemy (TNG)
Face of the Enemy (TNG)
Silent Enemy (ENT)
Behind Enemy Lines (PRO)
Battle
Let that Be Your Last Battlefield (TOS)
The Battle (TNG)
Battle Lines (DS9)
Nor the Battle to the Strong (DS9)
Battle at the Binary Stars (DIS)
Mind
Dagger of the Mind (TOS)
The Mind’s Eye (TNG)
Frame of Mind (TNG)
Mining the Mind’s Mines (Lower Decks)
Mindwalk (PRO)
Blood
Bloodlines (TNG)
Blood Oath (DS9)
Ties of Blood and Water (DS9)
Blood Fever (VOY)
Flesh and Blood (VOY)
World
For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky (TOS)
The Best of Both Worlds (TNG)
Strange New World (ENT)
All the World’s a Stage (PRO)
Strange New Worlds (SNW)
Ship
Ship in a Bottle (TNG)
Starship Mine (TNG)
Starship Down (DS9)
The Ship (DS9)
One Little Ship (DS9)
Day
Day of the Dove (TOS)
Data’s Day (TNG)
Day of Honor (VOY)
Thirty Days (VOY)
Two Days and Two Nights (ENT)
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turtletaubwrites · 3 months ago
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Numbers Game ~ Chapter 32
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Make Your Bets Now!
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Pairings: Cross Guild Polycule x Shanks x Fem!Reader x ???
Numbers Game Masterlist
Word Count: 12,614 😳😳
Ao3 Link
Ongoing Series Playlist: Youtube Music Link | Youtube Link
Chapter Tunes: A Forest ~ The Cure | Burn Your Village ~ Kiki Rockwell
Summary: The White Stag is chased through the woods. The hunters begin to show their true colors, while the prey just tries to survive. You might not be the only one running away.
Recap: The banquet is underway, and you were dressed as the White Stag. You met your nine suitors, some of whom came as a shock. You gave each hunter an arrow, a symbol of their right to claim you. Uncle Cedrick just gave you a ten minute head start.
Author's Note: Hi!!! Thank you so much for your patience while I've been dealing with all the things! I've still been writing, as you can tell by the word count! 😬 Lol, I did a poll way back when Shanks first arrived asking if y'all would prefer two regular size chapters with no smut in one, or one giant chapter with the smut. So here ya go, lol, you asked for it! 😅🤭
Content Warning: There's not much dark content to warn for this chapter (besides the usual Numbers Game shenanigans & Buggy's POV on the Dr. Vorsan visit), but I wanted to give a heads up that there is a flashback of the 14 year old reader having a crush on an adult. Nothing occurs, but there is some very mild creepiness that could be interpreted as inappropriate. I WILL NEVER write about minors in that way, so please know that this is just a teenage crush! In case you would like to skip that, I'll bracket it with these ~~~⚫~~~
Fic Updates & Questions:
I will be retroactively adding titles to all chapters. I prefer to have titles for every chapter of a fic, but decided not to add them when I thought this was going to be a one shot 🤦🏼‍♀️ (We're getting closer to the end, and outlining will be way easier if I can remember which chapter things happened in, lol.) I'm going with quotes/lines from the chapters for the title theme. Also, I only used "part" instead of "chapter" on tumblr for formatting space, but I always call them chapters so 🤷‍♀️
Since this is a reader insert fic (that I thought would be a one shot 😅), I've tried to keep as many personal details as vague as possible so that we can all hop onto that lovely, green couch. I'm not planning to state the reader's age within the fic, but as we get further into the story, some of you numbers girl's may be able to figure out the math based on the flashbacks and such. I have a whole ass timeline graphed out, so if anyone is interested in knowing the specific ages and dates of related OP canon and Numbers Game canon, I'd be down to make a separate post just for that.
Alternate POV Symbols:
🌲 ~ Reader | 🐊 ~ Crocodile | 🗡 ~ Mihawk | 🤡 ~ Buggy | 🔴 ~ Shanks | ⏰ ~ Flashbacks for listed POV | ⚫ ~ Scenes depicting Dark Content as listed in Author's Notes
!!! SPOILER WARNING !!! Fic currently contains spoilers for the end of the Wano arc. As we get further into Egghead Arc, there will be some spoilers (mainly from manga cover stories or SBS questions for minor characters' motivations, such as what the Vinsmoke's and Charlotte's have been up to since Wano, and why they'd want to marry our lovely heiress.)
Rating/Warnings: Author May Choose to Exclude some Warnings to Avoid Spoilers for Certain Chapters, Explicit Sexual Content, 18+ ONLY, MDNI, AFAB!Reader, She/Her Pronouns for Reader, Reader-Insert, Use of Y/N, Dark Content, Blood & Violence, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Dissociation, Mental Illness, Grief, Toxic Family, Swearing, Alcohol, Cigars, Smut, Fluff, Angst, Guilt, Drama, Jealousy, Manipulation, Pet Names, Power Imbalance, Cross Guild boys are VILLAINS, Pain Kink, Possessive Behavior, Teasing, Blowjobs, Threats, Relationship Drama, Anal, Doctors, Inappropriate Use of Akuma no Mi | Devil Fruit Powers, Shameless Shameless Smut, Uncle Cedrick Has Become His Own Warning, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
| masterlist | about me | rules | ao3 |
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~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~
“I told you to run.”
Uncle Cedrick wet his lips after he hissed at you again, smirking while you transformed for him, and for his silent hunters and cheering guests. 
The white stag. The hunted. The prey. 
You’d never felt less human than you did right now, and the sense of danger in the air sent you racing toward the trees. 
It was disorienting to move in this fumbling body. Some foul magic must have stolen your hooves, your graceful limbs, your fur to fend off the cool breeze of the night. 
All you had left were your antlers, but they couldn’t help you flee. You escaped your heels, kicking free from the tight shoes as though they were traps meant to hold you still for the hunters to find. The dress made you panic, the weight of it wearing you down like trash left to suffocate creatures too helpless to free themselves from human garbage. You tried to lift the heavy skirts while you ran, but the train dragged behind you, catching on roots and branches as you fled. 
Logic started to break through the adrenaline in bits and pieces, but the forest had pulled you into a dream.
“This isn’t a dream,” you panted to yourself, slowing down to lean against a tree. 
That wild panic had left you with no idea how long you’d been running, but your heart was trying to escape from your body, and your lungs struggled to catch up as you let yourself stop. 
That should be enough drama for Uncle’s show. Why should I care who catches me first? I have to date all of them anyway. 
And the fear was back. 
Nine men were about to stalk you through the woods at night, and you’d just run deeper into the darkness, like a fucking idiot.
Though you doubted that staying closer to the courtyard would have made you any safer. All of those leeches were here to watch the show. They’d probably already placed bets on which hunter would get his greedy hands on you first.
Don’t cry. 
You almost did. Every time you thought you could accept your fate, Uncle Cedrick found ways to make it more torturous, more humiliating. 
Apathy tried to protect you, a welcome friend that lulled your emotions to sleep until you stared into nothing, your logical mind reciting your thoughts on a loop to distract from what you were putting away.
I already gave the leeches a good show. It doesn’t matter who catches me first. 
Useless rage replaced your apathy in a flash at the memory of the traitor touching your skin. Shanks was the last man you wanted to catch you, but Uncle’s threats felt like hidden traps, like suffocating trash, like this stupid dress that snagged on every branch. 
I won’t give them anything else to hurt me with. 
Crashes and yells entered the forest like a storm, and you were the white stag again.
You ran. 
~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~
~~~~~~
~~~🤡🤡🤡~~~
Shanks had only been gone for a day, but the clown found himself aching for him in a way he hadn’t in years. 
Letting Shanks back in had opened the door to all this shit he’d tried to stuff away, but he didn’t have room for all of these feelings right now. Not when his star was slurring her words, her voice high and distant while she tried to convince this fucking doctor that all their time together had meant nothing.
“It was all pretend. I was bored. I know it was risky behavior, I s-see that nn…”
“I’m glad you’re expressing that awareness, Y/N,” Dr. Vorsan’s voice bore down even through her frantic heartbeat, “but you still haven’t talked about the clown. It’s important that we understand our triggers so that we can prevent future episodes.”
She’s not breathing!
“You don’t want to have any more episodes, do you, Y/N?”
“No,” she agreed, though Buggy barely heard her over her now ragged breath. 
“Good. Part of staying well means cooperating with your treatment,” the slimeball purred. “Why did you go with the clown?”
“He was sweet. And funny... I liked him.”
Buggy looked to the ceiling, unknowable emotions pulling his face into a grimace. 
“You just told me that it was all pretend. That you were bored.”
“I, yes…”
“Clarity, Y/N,” the pompous creep scolded. “We can’t make changes if we don’t acknowledge our patterns. Why did you go with the clown?”
“Shut the fuck up,” Buggy growled.
The next words he heard had to be from her lips, but it sounded wrong, as though she’d been possessed by the concept of emptiness itself. His star was hollow. 
Gone. 
“I used him. I wanted to run. I’m selfish.”
No, baby, don’t say that.
The fucker didn’t say anything for too long. He couldn’t hear any rustling, only his empty star, breathing just enough to keep her alive. 
“Your family was very worried for you. That extreme, self destructive behavior—“
“I know,” Y/N snapped, then Buggy heard the sound of skin against skin, as though she’d slapped her hand over her mouth. “I’m s-s-sorry, doctor, I…”
“It’s quite, alright, Y/N,” the man fucking chuckled. “You’ve just experienced an episode that must have caused some additional trauma, but you’re safe now.”
Buggy hadn’t taken notes, and he looked down to find a shredded notepad on his lap, his shaky hands clenching into the paper. 
“Do you want to be safe?”
“Yes, doctor,” Y/N stated, the gravity of a black hole in her voice. 
“Was it safe to run away with pirates?”
What the fuck is he doing to her? 
“No.”
“Good. Now, tell me about the clown.”
Circles and circles of this talk spun through Buggy’s mind, and it seemed like nothing was said, yet he could hear his star break a little more with every word. 
“I’ll rip his tongue out, baby. Make him eat it for you. Don’t listen to him.”
“Excellent work today. Self reflection is difficult, but it’s the only way to heal.”
“Thank… Thank you, doctor.”
“There’s no need to thank me. You have the power to stay well all on your own, as long as you put in the work to take care of yourself. Just try to remember the kind of life you wish to have. You don’t want to lose yourself in another episode, do you, Y/N?”
“No, doctor.”
The clown laid in silence for hours while his broken lover did the same. Somehow Y/N built herself up again, preparing to head to dinner with her sister, and her voice was almost as clear as it had been before the session. 
She keeps all of this inside… I didn’t even—
“Come on, little clown. Don’t eat dinner on the floor again.”
~~~🤡🤡🤡~~~
~~~~~~
~~~🔴🔴🔴~~~
The Emperor of the Sea followed an usher to his seat, feeling high as he twirled the decorative arrow in his fingers. He was lucky to have made it in time, and luckier still that Y/N had looked at him like that. Shanks was sure that it wasn’t really lust in those magnetic eyes of hers. Buggy’s fallen star was difficult to read, but it had to be a message. An opening. 
I’ll get you out of here, Y/N. 
Even Benn’s smirking face couldn’t diminish the flames she’d warmed in him, his first mate pulling his seat out while he approached. The last few tables at the edge of the courtyard seemed filled with guests that were either late or large, the nearest competitor being the two story tall Prince Fukaboshi. 
Before Shanks could greet his rival, Sylvad’s voice carried through the night air, testing the Emperor’s ability to fake a smile. 
“Thank you all for joining our family as we celebrate the hunt for a new member! I am honored to help strengthen the Sylvad legacy by making sure that my enchanting niece finds the most loving, and of course, the most profitable match,” he admitted with a smug laugh. “Just as this marks the beginning of a new era for our family, I’m sure that most of you have sensed the shift in the waters.”
Cedrick paused for effect with Y/N posed like some pretty doll at his side while his guests murmured in agreement.
“For generations, the Sylvad’s have stood in enthusiastic support of the Marines. Although I still pay them an exorbitant amount to show up when I call, their many recent failures, and acts of overreaching, have shown them to be nothing more than expensive, and exceedingly annoying guard dogs.”
The laughter he drew was mixed, both nervous and pleased, and Shanks was sure he wasn’t the only one to catch the threat in those playful words. 
“The world is changing, and I intend to keep my family strong, even if we have to shoo the seagulls away,” he vowed with enough humor to keep the mood light. “But enough about all that, we’re here to enjoy ourselves. Let’s welcome in the New Era together with a good old fashioned hunt!”
Confusion was clouded by the applause Cedrick had demanded with his gestures and tone after he offered Y/N a hand. Watching that man touch her had Shanks’ jaw clenching, holding himself back while she truly looked like prey under his smirking grin.
“I think our white stag is feeling a bit skittish, but that's nothing a little chase can't fix. The first hunter to catch her claims the first date!”
Shanks watched in horror as Cedrick led his niece to the edge of the courtyard, speaking to her too softly to hear before she ran toward the trees, stumbling in that fucking costume he’d stuffed her into. 
Benn nudged his ankle, stopping Shanks from finishing his movement. Gryphon was on the ship anyway, and he wasn’t sure what use his sword would do other than to comfort his helpless soul.
I’m a villain now. Maybe I should just kill everyone here. 
He chugged the glass of wine in front of him, as though swallowing the liquor could help him swallow the layers of guilt that made no sense to him.
The bright light of that wounded star disappeared into the trees, but there was no reprieve. A large, white canvas was rolled out over the side of the manor walls while servants pushed a massive transponder snail on a wheeled cart up the path. The courtyard was silent until the snail’s eyes flickered, its mouth open as sounds of heavy breathing and snapping twigs came through before the live feed was projected. 
Two images appeared on that blank wall, bringing gasps and applause from the guests while Sylvad preened.
“In ten minutes,” he announced, doing a flourish as a timer popped up on the frantic screen, “the hunt for the white stag begins. The man that touches her first wins the hunt, and will earn the first private date tomorrow evening, as well as the pleasure of dining with the lovely doe tonight.”
The lovely doe in question was panting as she kicked off her heels, running barefoot through the woods. On the left was a jostled scene of darkness and trees, but as she looked down to lift her skirts, it was clear that a cam snail must be on her head, maybe hidden in those antlers. The second image continued to flip, showing her running and struggling through the brush from endless angles. 
Does he have a surveillance snail on every fucking tree on this island?
“What a strange courtship custom,” Prince Fukaboshi noted quietly, although his size let the words carry enough for Shanks to let out a sharp laugh, smiling up at the merman to cover his anger before Sylvad continued.
“You may woo my niece however you like, so long as it doesn’t cause her unsalvageable harm, or remove her from this island. I won’t have my vacation home turned into a war zone, so do watch your violence. I know that some of you have had disagreements in the past, but let’s keep the fighting to a minimum unless it’s part of a game, alright lads? We wouldn’t want to spoil the fun for everyone.”
Leeches…
Servants came around to all the tables to take bets from the guests while the courtyard followed the white stag’s every, panicked step. 
Hawk was right, this security is something else.
“This isn’t a dream.”
“Aww, isn’t she a darling,” a diamond-studded, older woman crooned, inspiring more guests to make noises about how precious she looked while she caught her breath, eyes blank as she leaned against a tree. 
“You’re gonna catch that little bunny, aren’t ya, Captain?”
Shanks let out a breath, finally breathing, when he met his first mate’s gaze. Benn was steady, the curve of his lips and shine of his eyes hiding the intensity from those that didn’t know him, but his captain recognized the look. 
It’s time to get serious.
~~~🔴🔴🔴~~~
~~~~~~
~~~🐊🤡🗡️~~~
Easy silence wrapped around the three men during dinner, interspersed with deep, hushed voices, and the scratching of Buggy’s pen while he doodled. He couldn’t help but feel thankful for the less noteworthy hours that had passed since his star had met with the doctor. 
“Zala checked in,” Crocodile reported between bites. “Guess she wasn’t suited to the restaurant business after all.”
“That’s Miss Doublefinger, yes?”
“Not anymore,” he sighed at Mihawk’s question. “Zala used to work well with Daz Bonez, and she’s investigating Dr. Vorsan. Refused to help without bringing Marianne along though… Ms. Goldenweek.”
“The child,” Mihawk questioned, giving a gentle tilt to his head. His lover seemed to get touchy when his old organization was brought up. 
“She’s eighteen now,” came the curt answer, although the larger man almost smiled at those damn, golden eyes. 
“Uncle ChodeTick’s talking to her, taking a walk,” Buggy reported, guilt cutting them off before they could get too flirty. The clown scribbled his notes, the easy silence less easy now. 
Mihawk’s lifetime of dedication to becoming the strongest did nothing for him now. All he could do was watch every subtle, pained expression on Buggy’s face while he suffered, the bravest of them all. 
“The agents are infiltrating the asylum the doctor runs when he’s not fucking with our girl,” Crocodile shared, his voice hushed. 
“Sending a teenager to infiltrate an insane asylum? You are ruthless, aren’t you,” Mihawk flirted lightly. He was learning this man, and for the first time he wasn’t making excuses about why. His tone paid off, and he smirked at the playful look on that scarred face.
“Marianne‘ll be fine, I’m sure she’s looking forward to art therapy. Plus, Zala will— what’s wrong, Buggy?”
The clown gestured for silence while his face went red with rage, listening to the rules, and the threats that her monster of an uncle was caging his star with. 
“FUCK!!”
The nearly empty plates and glasses went flying as Buggy flipped the table, his body shaking in every direction, unable to sit with himself for another second.
“I’m pathetic! I can’t help her. I can’t fucking do ANYTHING!”
Crocodile and Mihawk caught as many pieces of him as they could, and wrapped themselves around Buggy until he breathed again, holding most of his body between them. 
“Don’t say that, Buggy.”
“Shh, little clown. You’ve done enough.”
“He’s gonna make her…” Buggy barely managed to choke out the sound, glad that the asshole had left her alone already. One more word from his lips would have made the him explode. 
Her words were worse though. 
“She said she’s gonna fuck the ones she…” He cried out between their now stiff bodies. “He threatened her with… She has to…”
“She has to do what, Buggy,” Crocodile asked, amazed at how steady his voice was while he knelt down to meet the clown’s tired eyes. He kept his hand stroking along his side, that body slumping instead of flying apart now. 
He couldn’t say it, exhaustion making the clown sway against Crocodile’s touch before he floated his hand toward the mess he’d made of the table. Mihawk caught the notepad, his eyes going apocalyptic as he read over Cedrick’s “rules” for the games.  
The swordsman wanted to fly into violence and rage, to turn to ice, and make everything in his path disappear. 
But Buggy’s eyes made him pause, the words on the page having too many consequences, too much weight. 
“Buggy, she said this in anger, did she not? I doubt she’ll really—“
“You didn’t hear him,” Buggy snapped, starting to float and pace while Crocodile read the notes. The clown snatched the notepad off the floor after the scarred man dropped it, his hand shaking with rage. 
“He’s twisted,” Buggy continued.
“He’s dead,” came a rough voice, the fury of a sandstorm barely contained in that vow. 
“Yes, he is,” Mihawk promised as he reached for Buggy. He pushed that lovely, blue hair behind the remaining ear, almost smiling at the ear plug he found. “We will get her out of there, but we need you sane. If our little rabbit needs to take care of herself, we’ll find a way to keep you—“
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
Buggy floated just out of reach, glaring down at the swordsman as though he’d started speaking some alien language. 
“You shouldn’t have to listen to that, little clown,” Crocodile soothed, resting his own rage when he realized what Mihawk was saying. “If it happens, we’ll make it loud over here so you can’t hear, or you could—“
“You want me to shove my fingers in my ears while her screams echo through the halls,” Buggy hissed. His anger was building up around him, heating the air, strangling any sense of peace from the room as those old words hit their mark. 
The two monsters under his glare froze, shame stunning them into silence. 
“You think I said I’d rather watch you fuck my star into oblivion just for FUN,” he seethed, his eyes going manic while he floated above them. “I’m a sick fuck, and ended up having flashy, old time, but that’s not why I had to watch.”
He was that frightening showman again, and they were drawn into his act. 
“I’m sorry, Bug—“
“I made myself watch while you took her from me,” he recalled in an almost sing-song voice that chilled the other men’s blood. “I watched and watched, because… I have to listen because…”
The crack in his own voice made him waver, dipping in the air a bit while he stared at the pained faces of these terrifying men. 
“What if they hurt her?”
Silence clashed with the cacophony inside their minds until Crocodile reached toward the clown again, gripping into his shoulder, and sending fear flashing through him while their faces grew closer. 
“We’ll kill them.”
“B-but–”
“Come on, brave, little clown,” Crocodile breathed over his trembling lips. “Why don’t you show me all your toys, huh? How many Buggy Balls would it take to blow up that whole fucking island if we need to?”
As they sighed, falling into the relief of distraction together, Mihawk sank against the wall, becoming nothing more than a threatening statue. He could have tried to grab onto the lifeline his lovers had just created, that comforting moment of camaraderie in violence while the clown indulged in and shared one of his favorite topics.
Yet, the swordsman couldn’t let it go. 
His little rabbit, forced to bed her captors again. 
She’s strong. She’s wicked. She’ll enjoy herself. Then we’ll get her back.
The fear that Y/N might enjoy herself enough to not want to return left Mihawk sick. He had to step outside, wandering down to the garden he’d barely thought of since she was no longer there to smell it on him. 
He found himself fisting into the dirt in that walled garden, huffing a laugh when he smelled the faint, sour scent on his fingers before wiping them on his pants. Red flashed in his mind, and the ex-Warlord sat in the dirt, wishing that love and trust were as simple to cultivate as the garden he’d been too preoccupied to plant. 
“I trust you,” Mihawk whispered to his red haired lover across the sea. The thought of how insufferable Shanks would be if he ever uttered those words in front of him brought a soft smile to his lips. “Please, bring her back. I need her by my side.”
~~~🐊🤡🗡️~~~
~~~~~~
~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~
Time was a human construct, and as your ungraceful body ran like the prey he had transformed you into, you couldn’t tell how long it took for the yells and crashes to race toward you. 
Eternity. 
One fucking second.
A clearing appeared before you, but as you stepped into the open space, an impossible man filled up your world. He knelt down, still towering over you, and all the sounds of chaos in the forest faded while his crimson eyes asked for permission.
Katakuri reached for you, his massive hand outstretched, but he didn’t grab you. 
There was no way you could describe the subtle shift in those stunning eyes when you lifted your hand to take his, but they went wide before you made contact, his hand shooting out impossibly fast behind you. The giant of a man wasn’t fast enough, and cold fear poured through you before you had a warm body wrapped around yours from behind.
“I’ve got you, bunny,” Shanks purred, breathing a little hard as he pressed his lips against your ear. His arm was wrapped around you, holding you tight, as though you were a prize the others would try to tear from his grip. 
You wished they would.
“If we were allowed to wear our raid suits we would have–”
“Don’t complain, brother,” a taunting voice floated through the trees while Shanks looked you over, never taking his hand off of you while he guided you through the trees. “We’ll have plenty more chances. Our little bride likes being hunted, remember? You heard what the old man said about the Cross–”
A strange noise left your throat when Shanks bent down to wrap his arm under your thighs, lifting you up over his shoulder before running too fucking fast. Running until you saw the lovely lanterns again, until the courtyard came into view.
Your own bedraggled image was spread across the outer wall of the manor, the huge snail showing two screens that flashed through replays of your pathetic race and capture. It showed a few highlights of the hunters, including Shanks smashing through what looked like a wall of giant crackers, and Iceburg crawling on the ground in the wrong direction. Now they displayed various angles of the winner carrying his prize.
Shanks was surreal. No one cheered for the slab of meat he’d claimed, not when the Emperor of the Sea looked like some dark god of the forest, a hero bringing home a feast to his starving people.
The image had you closing your eyes, playing into the exhaustion so you wouldn’t have to look at him anymore. 
“Red Haired Shanks, everyone,” Uncle announced as he slowed the audience’s applause, and you opened your eyes to find him beside you, leading your captor to the head table. “The emperor has earned the first private date tomorrow evening, as well as the seat of honor tonight. I hope everyone worked up an appetite.”
I’m not here.
Both men had their hands on you while they propped you up between them, and you faced the courtyard to find the ravenous guests practically drooling over the sight of your torn and dirty dress. Thankfully your back was to the screen, so you didn’t have to keep watching yourself stumbling through the dark. 
The stragglers made their way back, and your mind kept spacing, floating while your torturers chatted, until dinner arrived. 
Servants carried a long stretch of table over the stone path, “ooh’s” and “aah’s” making you more nauseated the closer it got, until they laid out the mythical beast before you. 
Your uncle had caught a white stag. 
He had caught it, killed it, and was laughing while its dead eyes stared at you, its useless antlers like some tragic centerpiece. Uncle Cedrick ordered its flesh to be passed to every plate, so that each of his friends might share in his auspicious meal. 
“Here’s to those with the heart of a hunter,” he toasted. “May your arrows always hit their mark.”
Every bite they took tore through your own skin, the slow prey gone still while the pack of wolves enjoyed their meal. An animal again, your mind was incapable of reason or words, but even the soul of the deer could feel this truth pulsing deep within the bones that the monsters hadn’t yet picked clean.
You would not survive this. They were going to devour you whole.
~~~
“Y/N? Sis? Are you okay?”
Some part of you that only existed for your sister reacted to the worry in her voice, blinking up at her while she carefully pulled the antlers off of your head. Another image of the deer’s mutilated body flashed through your mind as you watched her hold them to her chest before turning away, hurrying toward the door. You stared, thoughts thankfully leaving your mind while she threw the cursed antlers down the corridor.
“Are you okay,” she checked in again when she returned her gentle fingers to your hair.
“Yeah,” you cleared your throat, voice coming out raw. “Where is everyone?”
“I’ll get you cleaned up,” Kat assured. Her sharp eyes were wider than normal, but your urge to comfort her couldn’t break through your exhaustion, your delirium. “I didn’t think you’d want all the servants around.”
Gratitude swelled with the lump in your throat while Kat’s soft fingers transformed you, bringing you back to humanity. 
“I’m sorry he’s still such an asshole to you,” your sister breathed, starting to clean the scrapes that littered your legs and feet. “Running through the forest like… You’re getting married, not hunted. He didn’t need to make it so… I’m sorry.”
“Married,” you gave a tired laugh, closing your eyes before you went down the spiral. A hiss left your lips, your body jolting when she dabbed at a particularly unpleasant scrape.
“I’m going to call Dr. Gilli,” Kat announced, stopping you from digging your nails into your thighs. “No one else, and I’ll stay with you, okay?”
“No pills. No shots,” you ordered, too frantic to care about holding it in. 
“Of course not,” she sighed when your breathing started to calm. “I just don’t want to be responsible for your legs falling off from infection. Is that alright with you, sis?”
“Fine.” The slight teasing Kat had managed to put in her tone made your lips twitch, but that hint of relief took all of your energy. Your sister stayed with you, holding your hand while the family doctor looked you over.
Dr. Gilli had always been sweet to you, but the sight of your blood on her gloves while she gushed about how beautiful you looked, and how lucky you were to have such a romantic engagement, made you want to kick that sweet face in. 
“Thank you, doctor,” Kat frowned, shooing the woman out just in time before you punched her in the throat for asking you about babies. 
Kat helped you into bed, crawling in beside you like you were kids again. 
You used to be the big sister. Four years had always felt like such a big gap, especially with everything you had tried to protect her from. 
Until you couldn’t even protect yourself, and Kat had to become the big sister. 
Gratitude and guilt over that fact could never balance out, and as much as you loved her and needed her right now, you ached for her to leave so you could break down. 
Instead, slow tears stained your pillowcase while her comforting presence held you in a quiet cage. 
“It’s only a month,” she whispered while she stroked your hair. “We’re going to find the best husband for you, and then you’ll take over the company. I know it’s scary, but I believe in you, Y/N, just like dad did… I know you’re ready, and I’ll be right here with you.”
Kat’s misplaced trust froze you for what felt like hours, but somehow you fell asleep. Your name echoed through a storm while you watched the wolves tear into her flesh, helpless to keep your sister from the starving beasts.
~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~
~~~~~~
~~~🤡🤡🤡~~~
For a split second upon waking on the morning of the banquet, Buggy’s first thought hadn’t been panic for her absence, but a hum of pleasure at the warmth surrounding him. 
Guilt sent him flying into pieces to escape Crocodile and Mihawk’s arms, and they blinked up at him as though they’d forgotten her too. Buggy only relaxed when he saw the reality of the day harden their faces. 
Another day full of hushed voices, and waiting. Scribbled notes, and stifled comfort. Fear, and an unsteady hope that Shanks would be the hero again. 
~~~
“What’s this,” Buggy growled at the wide eyed, young pirate that had set down a bright blue cocktail on Y/N’s desk. He’d found himself sitting there tonight, updating the other men while the suitors were introduced, and he closed his eyes to stay focused on the muffled voices. 
The clown had started to panic earlier when his star was told to leave her locket behind, almost losing her because his gift didn’t fit the “theme.” She must have stuffed it into her dress from the way her heart thumped even louder within him, and he coughed to fight the heat in his throat.
I’m here, baby. I’ve got you.
“You like sweet drinks, don’t you?”
Buggy jolted, pretending that surprised squeak hadn’t just left his throat before he met Crocodile’s eyes across the room. 
“Y-yeah,” Buggy frowned, but he avoided the collection of garnishes and tiny umbrellas to take a sip from the curly straw. He found the taste of pineapple, coconuts, and sooo much sugar, covering up the rum that he most definitely needed. “Thanks.”
The scarred man raised a brow, and Mihawk’s soft chuckle from his own desk added to the shiver going up Buggy's spine.
They’re trying to distract me… 
“Thanks, daddy,” Buggy corrected, almost smiling at that frightening, but pleased face until her voice filled with hope.
‘Mr. Iceburg?’
“Mr. Iceburg,” he repeated while her heart went wild. 
“Iceburg,” Crocodile asked quietly, looking at his own notes. “From Galley La? He wasn’t on the list…”
“She knows him already,” Buggy reported. He tried to let it mean nothing. “She likes him.”
“Of course, Sylvad’s has had ties with Water 7 for generations,” Crocodile nodded, rubbing his hand over his face. 
“She may like him, but she loves you,” Mihawk startled him as he appeared beside her desk. “Don’t forget.”
“I’d never forget that,” Buggy snapped, sighing when wicked fingers teased over his tense shoulders, helping him focus.
He focused on her breath, her heart, while she met all the men vying to touch her, to take her. He focused on trying not to freak out the longer the night went on without hearing that familiar, heroic voice. Their best chance.
“Something’s wrong,” Buggy rasped, hardly hearing Crocodile's chair thump onto the new carpet over the deafening silence of his star forgetting to breathe. It seemed like her heart had stopped beating, until her uncle’s grating voice came through, and then it pounded like a bird smashing itself against a window to try to escape.
“The clothes suit you well, Emperor.”
“I had no idea that fashionable friends could be so generous,” Shanks charmed, his voice a miracle. “Or that I’d have the pleasure of meeting such a gorgeous, little bunny again so soon. Sorry, you're a gorgeous, little doe, aren’t you?”
“It’s Shanks,” Buggy shared, almost jealous of the relief that washed over their faces before he closed his eyes to the world again.
Shanks played the roguish pirate to perfection, and Buggy had no notes for his performance. Even muffled, Sylvad’s voice was clearly satisfied, eating up the Emperor’s words. 
“Red Hair made it? He’s a suitor?”
The soft questions ripped Buggy’s eyes open, and the relief he still saw there made him sick. 
“She hates him.”
“What do you–”
“Who does she–”
“She HATES SHANKS!” 
Buggy didn’t notice when he’d flown into pieces, but he floated erratically before them, trying to understand, trying to explain. 
“How… She didn’t say that out loud, did she,” Mihawk asked after a pause, studying his movements. 
“Why would she hate him,” Crocodile mused. His silver eyes stripped him down as he stepped too close.
“How the fuck would I know,” Buggy yelled, horror filling his veins at the way her heart seemed to fight itself in its cage. “This is how she sounds when she’s with Uncle ShitFuck, or that fucking doctor! She hates Shanks. She HATES HIM! What are we gonna do?”
“Shh, shh, darling,” Mihawk breathed, catching Buggy’s face in both hands while his body still flew through the air. “Y/N thought he was going to steal you from her. If she hasn’t forgiven him, then we’ll just have to find another way.”
“But she–”
Every floating piece of him stuttered in the air when cruel lips kissed his so sweetly. 
“I am long overdue for a hunting trip,” the swordsman teased over his skin, twisting those wicked fingers into his hair. “Having all three of us here is a waste. I’ll go thin out the competition.”
“No.”
The refusal was deep, yet gentle, and that scarred face towered over them both while Crocodile tugged at Mihawk’s chin. 
“We’re not doing that. We can’t go against her wishes, not until we know why she’s doing this.”
Buggy felt pain searing behind his eyes while he tried to listen to two things at once: Cedrick Sylvad’s speech, and the moral dilemma of these ex-Warlords.
“I agree,” Mihawk said evenly, barely sparing a glance while Buggy brought his body back together beside him. “But these men want our little rabbit, and her illustrious name for their own reasons. If it’s possible to convince the worst of them to drop out, then we should try.”
“Are you running away again,” Crocodile sighed, the pressure in the air making Buggy want to sink to the floor.  
“Don’t worry, daddy,” Mihawk purred, expertly slicing through all the tension in the room. “I have a spare earpiece snail, so you can scold me all you like while I’m away.” 
‘Did you hear me,’ Cedrick seemed to hiss at Buggy, swimming in guilt for falling into the distraction of the men before him. 
“Chase?”
“What is it,” Mihawk checked in, scanning his face. 
“No,” the clown paused, more endless horror pouring into him. He had to step away, the sounds of her panic while she raced through the woods sending him into helpless rage. The other men let him feel into it, until he rounded on them again. 
“They’re hunting her like an animal,” Buggy seethed, flinching at the sound of his star falling, panting, pushing herself on. “She’s terrified, she’s– Fuck this!”
A wave of sand hit the door before Crocodile blocked his path, only fueling that need to protect her. 
“Marines on call. Germa Kingdom. Big Mom Pirates. Fishman royalty. And we still don’t know what kind of security forces Sylvad keeps on the island, not to mention whatever the Concealer keeps around him, or the President of Galley La,” the larger man listed, his voice firm, but going soft when he touched Buggy’s cheek. “The second you hear our sweet girl ask for help, or say that she doesn’t wanna be there, I will drain them all to dust… but we still don’t know what he has on her. She told us she wanted to go.”
‘This isn’t a dream…’
In a trance, the clown let the other men lead him to that flashy, green couch, his notepad and fruity drink set up on the new coffee table while he slumped into her spot between them. 
“Shanks got her,” he reported, unable to share in their relief with the sound of her strangled breaths so loud in his head. He could barely hear a thing in her world now, the muffled voices beyond theirs were too difficult to make out, especially when another heartbeat filled his mind. His old friend must have been carrying her, and the sound of both of their hearts pounding so close made his gloves damp when he rubbed at his tired eyes. 
“Don’t worry,” Mihawk tugged at him gently until Buggy curled in against his exposed chest. The swordsman didn’t recoil from the faded paint, or the hot tears that streaked down his skin the longer the clown let himself stay there. “If our little rabbit doesn’t trust our hero, then we’ll just convince the rest of the suitors to give up the hunt.”
“Try not to start any wars, little prince,” Crocodile hummed, setting his massive hand over Mihawk’s where it was resting on Buggy’s thigh. 
“War is tedious. I am looking forward to a peaceful life,” Mihawk vowed, stroking Buggy’s hair while the man let exhaustion relax him deeper into his lap. “We just need to retrieve our lovers first.”
~~~🤡🤡🤡~~~
~~~~~~
~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~
“Oh sweetie, you look so–”
“Take a bite.”
Mom’s too shiny smile hardened slightly before she tasted your oatmeal, avoiding the servants that hovered around you in clouds of makeup and hair spray. 
“You’re about to have brunch with your suitors,” she reminded you when you snatched the food from her, practically inhaling it before more pencils or brushes could touch your lips. “Don’t you think it will look strange if you don’t eat with them?”
“You don’t seem to care how strange it looks to sell off your own daughter,” you laughed, noticing a servant’s eyes widen just a fraction when they took your empty bowl. “I’m cooperating, but I will not be leaving my food or drinks unattended until I feel safer. You want your child to feel safe, don’t you, mother?”
“I found some,” Kat beamed when she barged through the door, waving a deck of playing cards above her head. She tossed it to you, and you gasped, surprised that you caught it from the air before it could hit one of the staff. Thankfully, the full skirted dress you’d been stuffed into this morning had pockets, so you tucked your little game away, forcing your mom to taste the rest of your breakfast before the brunch dates began.
But Kat was making that face. Little sister face. 
“What’s that,” you gestured toward the item she had tried to conceal when she sat across from you, tucking it behind her body.
“Just some trash I found in the hall. Do you want some more coffee?”
“Give it,” you ordered, giving her big sister face.
“It’s nothing we didn’t already know, okay? So just…”
“At least I’m not the only one being used,” a sharp laugh left your throat. “How much berry do you think he’s making off of this game?”
Mom ordered the staff to leave before leaning toward Kat, and didn’t whisper quietly enough on her way out.
“Brunch is about to start. Make sure she looks presentable.”
“Can’t sell me off if I'm not pretty, can you?”
“Y/N,” she started, looking convincingly hurt, but Kat got her out of the room before either of you could make it worse. 
You stared at the “trash” in your lap, the crisp scent of expensive ink and paper filling your lungs while you examined the brochure. 
‘Which Hunter Will Claim Her?’
That tantalizing question was scrawled across every page, while the nine suitors each had their own section, their profile, their face, and a stupid little quote about winning you. This barbaric game was disguised behind a snooty font spread over images of dappled sunlight through Sylvad trees, and decorated with arrows and leaves.
Cedar leaves.
You wanted to tear it to shreds, but you were pulled in, studying every detail.
~~~~~~
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~~~~~~
Giberson
Age: Couldn’t Recall
Height: Misplaced Measurements
Birthday: August 14th
Title: “Warehouseman”
Favorite Food: Rye Whiskey
How he plans to win: “I’m sure the lovely lady and I will have a delightful time. You don’t get to be my age without learning a few tricks.”
~
Ichiji
Age: 21
Height: 186 cm (6'1")
Birthday: March 2
Title: Prince of the Germa Kingdom
Favorite Food: Strawberries and Whiskey
How he plans to win: "I’m a Vinsmoke."
~
Niji
Age: 21
Height: 185 cm (6'1")
Birthday: March 2nd
Title: Prince of the Germa Kingdom
Favorite Food: Blueberries and Scotch
How he plans to win: “She’s coming with us. If I don’t win, there’s two more Vinsmoke’s.”
~
Yonji
Age: 21
Height: 194 cm (6'4")
Birthday: March 2
Title: Prince of the Germa Kingdom
Favorite Food: Green Peas
How he plans to win: “I wouldn’t mind ending up with a woman like her, so I’m gonna turn her into a princess.”
~
Iceburg
Age: 40
Height: 199 cm (6'6")
Birthday: January 3
Title: President of the Galley-La Company, and Mayor of Water 7
Favorite Food: Curry Made by an Old Friend. A Drunk, Old Friend.
How he plans to win: “Mm, well... I suppose I’ll win because I know her best.”
~
Fukaboshi
Age: 24
Height: 604 cm (19’10”)
Birthday: February 4th
Title: Prince of the Ryugu Kingdom
Favorite Food: Abalone Steak
How he plans to win: “I hope that she carries peace in her heart. If she does, I will stop at nothing to earn her love.”
~
Cracker
Age: 45
Height: 307 cm (10'1")
Birthday: February 28th
Title: Sweet Commander of the Big Mom Pirates, and the Minister of Biscuit
Favorite Food: Biscuits. Dislikes Kimchi and Carbonated Drinks.
How he plans to win: “Easy. I’ll outdo them all.”
~
Katakuri
Age: 48
Height: 509 cm (16'8½")
Birthday: November 25th
Title: Sweet Commander of the Big Mom Pirates, and the Minister of Flour
Favorite Food: Doughnuts. Dislikes hot ramen.
How he plans to win: “I will win because I must.”
~
Shanks
Age: 39
Height: 199 cm (6'6")
Birthday: March 9
Title: Emperor of the Sea
Favorite Food: Kimchi Fried Rice and Lobster. Dislikes Blueberries.
How he plans to win: “Just gonna show the cutie a good time.”
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~~~~~~
‘Make Your Bets Now!’
Kat was right. You knew that the audience was enjoying the game, gambling while you just tried to survive, trying to secure the least abhorrent future that you could. 
“Venison…”
“Heeyyy,” Kat fumbled through positivity as she pulled the brochure from your white-knuckled grip. “At least we know how tall they are now!”
“I love you,” you thanked her, amazed that you could still laugh.
~~~
“Such pretty, little fingers… I hope I pass your test.”
“It’s not a test,” you lied, shuffling cards instead of tearing the old man’s eyes out. “Just a game.”
“It has to be the Queen of Hearts,” Giberson winked over his Bloody Mary.
“It’s the Four of Diamonds.”
“So you are choosing the next winner,” he scolded lightly when your prediction was revealed.
“How could I possibly choose when I have so many charming options,” you reminded him as you pushed the deck across the table so he could shuffle for himself. You weren’t ready to pick and choose between these hunters. There’d been no time to feel them out. 
So they had to guess.
The lighthearted brunch felt anything but with so many eyes on your skin, especially with Uncle’s giant projector snail that blew up your image across the building again. All the smaller snails circled around you, their slow, unreal eyes reminding you how trapped you were.
Always trapped.
“That’s alright, dear. Making decisions is tough, isn’t it? I’ve been hearing about what a smart girl you are though! So, what’s the card?”
The old man’s condescension was so typical, you were contemplating rooting for him, just so you could end up with a predictable partner.
“Jack of Hearts,” you smiled after counting down twenty two cards out loud, yet again.
“Whew, that sure is something,” Giberson waved the Jack of Hearts he’d revealed, making sure the rest of the guests could see while he bragged about you, as though your skills were somehow reflective of his own talents. 
As though he already owned you.
“You shuffled,” you teased, guiding him to set up the trick one more time. “Can you guess the card?”
“Queen of Hearts,” he winked again.
Gross. At least he might die soon, that’s a plus.
~~~
“You look beautiful this morning, Y/N,” the firstborn Vinsmoke brother purred when he took Giberson’s seat. 
Every moment was on full display for the other suitors, and for the guests that had stayed on the island for the entertainment. It seemed that the courtyard was to be your new realm, with plenty of space for your much taller dates to join you at your little breakfast table that was set up on a slightly elevated platform. 
A stage. 
“Thank you, Prince Ichigi. You’re looking quite well yourself.”  
Fuck.
It wasn’t a lie, and your pulse sped at the smug smile he gave when he tilted his head down to examine you over his dark, red glasses. 
There was something dangerous in that smile, and the fact that he didn’t even try to hide it made you pause, not sure how best to deal with this entitled prince.
“What does our lovely bride enjoy when she’s not being chased,” Ichiji purred, already claiming you with his words. His sunglasses did little to hide his eyes as they raked over your skin. 
“I enjoy numbers. Mathematics,” you almost squeaked. Heat rose up to your cheeks while you started to shuffle the cards, noticing the number “1” embroidered on his maroon cloak while you explained the goal of the card trick. 
“Seven of Clubs.”
“I’m sorry, Prince Ichiji, you’re wrong again.”
You had to risk a small sip from your untested water glass to fight the dryness on your tongue.
“That’s alright,” Ichiji teased, nodding at the sound of bells marking his time. “That’s why my family always brings numbers.”
“My turn, brother,” the blue haired prince announced as he clapped him on the shoulder. 
“Be nice to our little princess, Niji,” he ordered, pressing your knuckles to his lips before heading back toward the rest of his family. 
“Of course,” your new date smirked, leaning back in his chair with his hands clasped behind that blue head of hair. 
The large spikes and swoops of his hairstyle covered one of his eyes under his gold sunglasses, hiding one of the eyebrows that you kept trying not to glance at. The three brothers shared an odd curl to the ends of their brows, You couldn’t tell if it was a cosmetic choice, but didn’t want to risk insulting such powerful men in case they were sensitive about it.
“Don’t tell me my brother already wore you out,” he clicked his tongue, snapping you out of your memories. 
“I’m so sorry, Prince Niji, I must still be tired from the banquet. What were you saying?”
“Fetch our little bride some coffee,” he snapped at the nearest servant, banging lightly on the table until the dishes rattled.
His harsh tone was almost enough to make you forget your precautions, but you had enough to worry about without the uncertainty of who prepared your drink.
That curly brow raised with satisfied surprise when you rested your hand over his, his lips parting while he ate up your act.
“Would you mind sharing your coffee, Prince Niji? I’d hate to waste any more of our time waiting to wake up.”
“What’s mine is yours, princess,” Niji purred. He caught your hand as you pulled away, and you let him hold it while you drank from his mug. His coffee was unbelievably sweet.
Stop. Don’t think about…
“Thank you,” you hummed, swallowing the heat in your throat while you tried to not to look at his blue hair with that practically syrupy coffee still on your tongue. “Will you help me with a little trick?”
~~~
“It’s up to you, little brother,” Niji reported when his time ran out. 
“Don’t worry, I’ve been watching these pretty hands,” Yonji assured him, kissing your fingers before he sat down. His dark eyes seemed fierce without colored glasses to hide them, and his green hair was slicked back instead of swooping up and out like his older brothers. He wasn’t hiding his interesting features.
“So you think you know the trick,” you challenged, giving him a chance. 
“I think I’ll win your heart,” he swooned, and the sappy look on his face made your hands fumble while you shuffled the deck. 
He focused intently now as you laid them out, and revealed certain cards, counting down to the guess. 
“What card is—“
“Three of Spades,” he blurted out. “What’s your guess?”
“Three of Clubs.”
“Again.”
The youngest prince refused your small talk, avoiding your gaze until his final guess.
“King of Hearts,” Yonji beamed, puppy dog eyes finally on your face again. “What’s your guess, princess?”
Would it be weird to marry Kat’s favorite?
You didn’t glance at your sister, but knew she’d be watching while the green haired prince scored the first point, hearts practically floating around his head when you revealed the card. 
“I told you, princess,” Yonji vowed as he stole a quick peck to your cheek. “I’ll be the one to win your heart.”
~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~
~~~~~~
~~~⏰🌲🌲🌲⏰~~~
~~~⚫~~~
The man that had won your heart beamed when he saw you gazing up at him. His blue hair seemed to glow in the sun, but nothing could gleam like those strong arms, slick with sweat while he climbed down the ropes to meet you on the deck of the ship.
“Oh my, look at you,” Iceburg hummed, tying a bandana over his hair to catch that salty water before it dripped down his face. You stared at those gorgeous, purple tattoos that crawled down his shoulders and arms before he patted the top of your head. “Where’s your dad hiding?”
“He had to take a call, but I helped him write this proposal, so he said I could bring it to you,” you squirmed, handing him the file.
“He’s got you working at thirteen,” he whistled, taking the document while he shook his head. 
“I’m fourteen now,” you declared. 
You couldn’t keep yourself from rolling onto your toes a bit, lifting your chin in hopeful challenge. 
“You’re gonna be running things soon, huh,” he smirked.
Mind going absolutely blank under his attention, you just gaped at him like a fucking creep.
“This ship’s almost finished.” Iceburg leaned close, knocking on the railing behind you. “Would you like a tour? It is your family’s wood that makes it so strong, after all.”
“I– Are you sure? I’ll be fine waiting if you need to get back to work. You don’t need to watch me.”
The desire to follow him around like a puppy was overpowered by the distaste at him feeling the need to babysit you, but the look on his face made you laugh, forgetting it all.
“I don’t wanna go back to work,” the handsome shipwright complained, scrunching up his face in a pout that rivaled your sister’s. “I’d rather show you around, and grab some lunch when your dad gets here. Can we?”
“Okay!”
~~~
This gorgeous, lovely man knew more about Sylvad wood than most of dad’s executives. Listening to him talk about it always made you happy, knowing that your family was part of something so important, so loved. 
Iceburg led you through the ship, telling you how he had worked each piece of lumber, how it all moved with the wind and the waves, even guiding you to slide your hand along the trees your family had grown, smooth and silky to the touch after he’d treated them. 
“Beautiful, isn’t it,” he praised softly, watching your hand against the wood before pulling a pen from his toolbelt. “Well, let’s go get some food, girlie. You can tell your dad what a great job you did presenting your proposal.”
“But you didn’t even read it,” you blurted out, shocked when he pressed the document against a wall to sign his name.
“You and Arbo are good people, plus you’ve got the best lumber in the world,” he laughed while he led you up the stairs toward the sound of footsteps. “I trust you.”
“Thank you, Mr. Iceburg… but you just agreed to build a small fleet to expand our shipping operations in the East Blue. Are you sure you’ll have time for that while you help Tom finish the sea train? Hi, daddy!”
“There’s my girl,” your dad grinned, kissing your temple when you joined him on the deck. “Make any deals without me?”
Iceburg handed the document over, waving his own copy in your direction. Your skin flushed with heat again when he snuck you a wink while your dad glanced at his signature. 
“She’s very convincing. You’ll be able to retire in no time if she keeps this up.”
He was the perfect man. Strong, kind, silly, sweet, and so painfully hot, it drove you mad. You’d had a few crushes on your classmates over the last couple of years, but nothing compared to the way you felt when Iceburg looked at you like that. 
“I don’t doubt it,” your dad praised. He wrapped his arm around the shipwright’s shoulders, nodding his head toward the docks. “Is Kokoro still making that delightful curry?”
“I’ll never let her stop,” Iceburg laughed while he led the way. “Tom should be over there too, let’s go grab some lunch and catch up.”
“Sounds perfect. Do you want to come, sweetheart?”
~~~⚫~~~
~~~⏰🌲🌲🌲⏰~~~
~~~~~~
~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~
He’s not who I thought he was. He’s a creep. Another leech trying to latch on and drain as much berry from me as he can. Don’t forget. 
You were pathetic, getting flustered while he watched your hands, his calm voice taking away all your caution. 
“I have to apologize,” Iceburg hummed while you shuffled.
“Why is that?”
“Mm, well,” he looked down at his striped jacket while he patted his pocket. “I left Tyrannosaurus with my secretary. I didn’t think bringing a pet would be… I should be more focused on you.”
“What do you— oh!”
The cards scattered across the table when you jumped, laughter sneaking out of you. 
“This is Velociraptor,” Iceburg announced as a field mouse crawled out of his breast pocket. “I found him during the chase, I hope it’s alright to have pets during our stay. Are you okay, Y/N?”
“I’m fine, sorry,” you recovered from losing yourself in that laughter before gathering the cards again. Your eyes were still watering when you watched the cute creature dive back into his pocket after a few soft pets from his strong fingers. “Can you guess the card?”
“Oh my,” his brows furrowed, watching your waiting hands. “I really need to pay attention, don’t I? I’d love to spend some more time with you.”
He leaned forward, his height making him tower over you at the little table, and you found yourself blinking up at him.
Forgetting.
“I…”
“Is it the Seven of Clubs?”
“No, Mr… No, Iceburg.”
~~~
Prince Fukaboshi was led through the courtyard by a few attendants, both fishmen and mermen featured amongst the group. He looked down at you, mouth opening to speak before Uncle’s voice carried over.
“Why don’t we give our hunter a closer look?”
Grabbing onto the edge of the table took all of your focus, and you knew that your fake smile fell when you started moving through the air. The ground flew away, the wooden platform beneath you rising up toward the prince, gentle surprise on his face.
The snails on the table didn’t seem phased by the change in elevation, and it was hard to pretend they didn’t exist while they slowly shifted positions to better capture you and your date for the audience below. 
You decided not to look down to determine what kind of contraption had lifted you so high, instead looking at the prince before you. Fukaboshi took up your entire field of vision, and it was easy to see the concern on his expansive face.
“Are you alright, Miss Sylvad?”
His teeth look so sharp…
“Please, Prince Fukaboshi,” you trembled, focusing on the cards as much as you could, “call me Y/N. Can you guess the— oh, I’m sorry, are you familiar with these sorts of playing cards?”
You were barely hanging on. He spoke, he guessed, and you could feel the rumble of his voice even though your mind wasn’t quite letting it in. Your body performed without you, your lips reciting words that carried no meaning. 
“This courtship custom is unlike any I have seen before,” the prince frowned while you set up the cards for the last guess. “Since it is all strange to me, I couldn’t be certain, but…”
The pause was long enough for you to meet his eyes, so large, and filled with what looked like compassion. 
No. 
“Miss Y/N, I am seeking your hand so that my people can gain protection and resources so that they never suffer the cruelty and humiliation of slavery again,” Fukaboshi declared. The snails on the table lowered their eyes, but his voice boomed too loud to hide. 
Bells. 
“That is—“
“I never want to see anyone treated the way my sister was by those monsters at the Reverie.”
“Monsters?”
The dangerous question barely made it past your lips before the platform jolted, slowly bringing you down, away from his determined face while the bells kept ringing. 
“Are you being held against your will? I cannot abide another moment of this if you are being used like a pet for their amusement.”
“N-no,” you panicked, craning your neck to see him while you shook your head, hands pleading, voice dripping with lies. “You are so kind, thank you, Prince Fukaboshi! I’m sorry, I must seem scared, but I’m just nervous. This is all a bit overwhelming, but I promise I am glad to be here!”
“Your turn’s over, Prince. You heard the girl.”
Cracker’s manic smile appeared as the table sank to the ground. It felt like your frantic heart had been left in the sky, floating up there with those huge, concerned eyes. 
“Thank you, Prince Fukaboshi,” you beamed, feeling forever selfish at the temptation. 
I can’t risk a stranger, a whole kingdom. I’m not worth it. 
Neither of us would make it out alive anyway. 
“It has been my honor,” he said evenly, though his eyes were scanning the crowd now, a new tension held within his enormous, warrior’s body. 
The snails woke up, those slow moving eyes reminding you that the show must go on.
“You’re a good girl, aren’t you?”
“I’m sorry?” 
Cracker sat down, and the platform probably should have lifted a bit as the shirtless man was closer to your reality, but he was still even taller than… 
You had to stop comparing these men to your daydreams. 
“Eight of Diamonds… Damn,” he brushed off his loss before looming over you. His dark, brown glove was softer than you expected it to be when he cupped your cheek, almost the whole side of your face. 
“You understand family duties, don’t you?”
All you could do was nod under the wild look he gave you.
He’s fucking unstable.
“That’s good. Family is everything.”
Is he flirting? 
A dangerous giggle almost escaped, but you kept it in, smiling sweetly while he failed every guess.
The bells finally rang out, but they couldn’t save you from his last words, his promise.
“Our family needs you, Y/N. I don’t care if you’re my wife or my sister, I’ll protect you with my life.”
~~~
This time you were grateful for the moving platform, a reason to look away from Cracker’s confident face. The true reason for the movement came into view, his brother waiting patiently for you to settle just below his eye level. 
Those eyes… 
Charlotte Katakuri was too fucking tall. Too fucking scary. Crimson eyes assessed you, his arched brows and sharp nose not nearly harsh enough to distract from those thick, dark lashes of his.
He’s too fucking pretty.
Now that you were this close, you could see scars on both of his cheeks. They led down toward his mouth, still concealed by that massive scarf. Prince Fukaboshi’s sharp teeth came to mind when you wondered what he could be hiding, so you shuffled and shuffled, trying to think about anything else.
“It’s good to see you, Y/N,” his polite voice made you shiver, seeming to vibrate the elevated stage you were perched on. 
“Same to you, Katakuri,” your voice shook. You couldn’t afford to show this much fear. Predators always looked for weak prey. “Would you mind helping me with a little trick?”
“If that’s what you wish,” he agreed. There was no way to tell if the hint of a smile you heard in his voice was truly hidden beneath his scarf, but it set you on edge, nonetheless. 
“Can you guess the card?”
“It’s the Ten of Hearts.”
He stated it as if it were true, as if he were simply remarking on the weather around him.
And it was true. You’d known it before you revealed it, this simple math trick like the comforting rhythm of a familiar heartbeat. 
“You’re right,” you breathed when you turned it over. “Care to go again?”
Katakuri nodded slowly, but his eyes never left your face, ignoring the cards on the table until you asked for his next guess.
“The Queen of Hearts.”
“Yes. Have you seen this trick before?”
“In a way,” came his cryptic response. “Shall we go again?”
He definitely wasn’t paying attention to the cards. Those stunning eyes were so fucking intense as they bore into your skin that you almost forgot to do the math before you asked for his next guess.
Then you wished you had forgotten.
“What’s the–”
“Shuffle again.”
“But you haven’t–”
You stopped breathing when one of his giant hands shot toward you, his fingers sooo fucking big when he laid them over yours. 
Delicate. This giant was gentle when he covered your hands, covered the cards, practically covered half the little table.
“This card makes you sad,” he whispered, though there was no point with all the surveillance, and with his booming voice at the center of attention. But still, he whispered. “Why don’t you shuffle again?”
Fuck. fuckfuckfuck. Stop. 
There you go. Just smile. 
A small miracle let you slip out of your body, out of your mind, while you shuffled the unrevealed Six of Spades back into the deck. 
Katakuri was still quiet, still watching. So polite while he guessed the right card, letting you pull yourself back together.
Hiding all the struggle behind your Sylvad smile.
“Thank you, Y/N,” he touched your hand again when the platform started to lower. “I’m looking forward to our next meeting.”
You hadn’t noticed the bells.
~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~
~~~~~~
~~~🐊🤡🗡️~~~
“When are you leaving?”
“There’s no point in waiting,” Mihawk avoided the larger man’s eyes. “The sooner I convince the competition to back out, the sooner Y/N will be free of them.”
“Yeah, but how,” Buggy sighed from his lap, the swordsman’s skilled fingers nearly dragging him down to sleep already. “How the fuck are you gonna convince these assholes that they don’t wanna marry her? She’s perfect! Plus, they get in on that stupid company, and get whatever other bullshit DickHole is selling. What can you do besides poke ‘em with your fancy stick?”
“That’s what I plan to find out,” Mihawk smiled, though the finality in his tone was enough.
“Come on, Buggy,” Crocodile nudged his legs aside, offering the clown his hand while he stared at their determined lover. “Let’s remind our little bird why he should fly back home when he’s done pecking people’s eyes out.”
Buggy let out an exhausted giggle while Mihawk shivered, his eyes rolling back just a bit. Just enough.
“You thought you could run away that easily, huh,” Crocodile threatened with his words, and with the tip of his hook below that sculpted chin.
More guilt almost tore the clown away while he watched them, but Buggy chugged his sugary drink, grateful for the quiet of faraway sleep. He started to pull the swordsman up by the collar of his frighteningly fancy jacket, and that arched brow was an instinctual warning.
The clown heeded the warning, loosening his grip on the jacket, only to yank the man off the couch by his hair. Crocodile joined in on his smug laughter, roughly pulling Mihawk against him before he’d stopped moaning from the unexpected pain.
“You’re not leaving tonight.”
Heavy. 
Whatever they held between them felt heavier than either had expected.
“I’ll go get the bed ready,” Buggy sighed as he half floated toward the door, “but I’ll need another drink if you guys take too long.”
~~~🗡️🤡🐊~~~
~~~~~~
~~~🗡️🐊🗡️🐊~~~
“Are you alright?”
Mihawk laughed at the question, and Crocodile wanted to shake him. He was sick of seeing his lovers fall apart right in front of him, with nothing he could do, or even understand.
He ached to understand this man. They had faced each other in battle just a few years ago, but that Summit War felt like a fever dream now.
Not that this new life didn't feel like a dream.
This man…
Crocodile kept getting him. Meeting him in ways that both surprised, and soothed him. 
Mihawk laughed again at the thought of new vocabulary, but Crocodile pulled him close.
“I’m not ready to lose my business partner,” Crocodile confessed, the words too heavy for the smirk he tried to give. 
The words were enough.
Mihawk laid his deadly fingers along that silk vest, silently asking for a kiss while he stared up at the taller man. 
The swordsman felt like a fraud. 
How could someone like him that had carried nothing for so long be filled with so much? He didn’t want to lie anymore than he already had. 
Crocodile gave him what he wanted. A heavy kiss.
“Let’s not keep our clown waiting,” Crocodile rasped, tracing his thumb along Mihawk’s sharp features. 
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
~~~🗡️🐊🗡️🐊~~~
~~~~~~
~~~🗡️🤡🐊~~~
They’re holding hands… 
Crocodile and Mihawk had called through the door, all of their hands occupied until Mihawk handed the slack-jawed clown another cocktail. 
“Nice room service,” Buggy tried to recover. 
“Come here, little clown.”
The scarred man let go of one lover to reach for another. Cupping his hand along Buggy’s jaw, with those large fingers combing into the hair at the back of his neck, Crocodile breathed down on him until he was nodding, red lips still parted.
“I haven’t been giving you enough attention,” Crocodile purred, squeezing his face lightly when Buggy tried to argue. “But it looks like we’re gonna have plenty of alone time soon. Plenty of time for me to spoil you.”
“Y-yup! Lots of…”
“Is that what you want?”
“Sure, whatever you say, bos— Yes, daddy.”
“Good boy.”
Buggy disconnected at the ankles to float up into Crocodile’s deep kiss. He nearly spilled his drink before the larger man lowered him down again, eyes dark and satisfied while he watched his clown. 
“You deserve more attention, but you handled him so well. Help me remind—“
“Let’s fuck him up, daddy!”
Buggy downed his drink with one hand while the other snuck past Crocodile’s body to wrap around Mihawk’s throat. 
“You do know that I’m still Dracule Mihawk, don’t you?”
Wicked fingers dug into the floating hand, dragging it down his own chest while he resisted. 
“Whatcha gonna do, Hawkeyes? Stab me? Slice me,” Buggy laughed, setting down his glass before sending his other hand. 
Crocodile started to undress, chuckling softly at his boys. 
The air shifted as danger, delicious danger, poured from the swordsman while he leaned into Buggy’s touch, forcing his floating hands closer to his own body with every taunting step.
“I’m going to play.”
Mihawk’s golden eyes seemed to flicker with his threat, and Buggy felt a flash of fear, a glimpse of a beast. In that moment, he almost gave in, almost let the beast win.
Wherever his burst of confidence came from, Buggy went with it.
“Why don’t you play with daddy’s balls then, huh, crybaby?”
One of the clown’s hands broke free from that hold, and Mihawk couldn’t fight the moan that tore through him when gloved fingers ripped into his hair again, forcing him to look at Crocodile. The larger man was so very large, stroking himself while he sat on the edge of the bed. 
Gods, that fucking cock.
Buggy took advantage of Mihawk’s wonderment by kicking the backs of his knees until he hit the floor, and wrapped himself around the swordsman’s back to leave lipstick-stained bites along his neck. 
“Don’t lie. You wanna get fucking wrecked, don’t you?”
“I don’t like liars,” Crocodile teased, circling his thumb over his tip, taking in a quick breath of satisfaction at the desperate look on Mihawk’s face at the sight. “Do you want us to wreck you, little prince?”
Mihawk melted as that lovely hook pressed into his throat. Buggy rubbed himself against his back, and the swordsman laughed, feeling entirely fucking spoiled. 
“Please, daddy.”
What a fucking sight… 
The scarred man still couldn’t understand how these lovely men were somehow his, not after everything he’d done, everything he’d felt before. Watching Mihawk beg so sweetly while Buggy stripped him made Crocodile’s cock so hard it almost hurt, his rough fingers easing up against that sensitive flesh, until wicked fingers, wicked lips, replaced his own grip. 
“Fuck. Such an evil little mouth you’ve got– Shit…”
Buggy realized his own mouth was hanging open as he undressed, but he couldn’t care to close it while he watched Mihawk swallow more than looked humanly possible.
“Help me out, Buggy,” Crocodile groaned while he gripped Mihawk’s hair, his hand bobbing up and down with that pretty face. “Stretch out our filthy prince for me. No way he’s leaving here before I ruin that perfect, little ass.”
Sloppy, muffled whines escaped him, and Mihawk’s eyes rolled at the daunting threat. Buggy was there, lubed, and ungloved fingers fucking into him until he shook with need, with pleasure. 
“Get over here,” Crocodile growled, stepping back to yank Mihawk toward the bed by the hook around his neck. Buggy helped him along, floating hands lifting that moaning form into place. 
Mihawk’s place was on his hands and knees in the center of the bed, and he lost himself there in the tender and vicious touches his lovers showered him with. In their praise and teasing, pleasure and pain. In the taste of Buggy’s skin as he shoved his cock down his throat. 
He absolutely fucking lost himself when Crocodile lined himself up. He was the world’s greatest swordsman, and he enjoyed pain a great deal. Yet his former enemy was about to pierce him so thoroughly that Mihawk whimpered around Buggy's length, almost afraid. 
Then he felt nothing but that heavy cock, stretching, and claiming, and filling him until tears streamed from his golden eyes.
“So good, so fucking good for me,” Crocodile grunted. He dragged his hook down Mihawk’s side, still not believing what he was seeing. 
Dracule fucking Mihawk, moaning around a clown’s cock while his pretty, little hole sucked him in again and again. 
“Let’s give our twisted prince what he wants, eh, Buggy? Make sure he remembers where he belongs.”
Buggy stuttered in agreement, nearly gone before he obeyed. He tore at Mihawk’s hair while his other hand scraped brutally down his back. The twitching that his rough hands caused forced his cock even deeper until he spilled his pleasure down that desperate throat.
Crocodile sliced his hook around the swordsman’s body, pouring red from that perfect chest while he stuffed his little prince full. The overwhelming sensations had Mihawk coming harder than he’d thought possible, and the sounds he made were unreal. Pathetic. 
Music to the ears of his sated lovers. 
The clown didn’t need to be ordered or asked, Buggy just helped Mihawk stay steady while they pulled out of him. So many praises showered them both while the swordsman just breathed, assessing his every, vicious ache. 
Crocodile hated to leave for even a moment, but he didn’t need to worry. Buggy’s hands had already flown to the bathroom to wash themselves, spilling a bit of soap on the counter before grabbing what he needed. When Crocodile returned from the shower, Buggy was still wiping the other man clean, humming while he trailed gently over that perfect skin. 
Mihawk’s skin was littered with scars of battle and lust, of trust, and he had just enough energy for a weak smile as Buggy’s fingers danced over them all. He moaned, twitching in those gentle arms while his lovers washed him in the shower, no way to recover this soon. 
“Don’t whine, crybaby,” Buggy mumbled, too focused on cleaning and bandaging his wounds while Mihawk melted into the burn. “We’ll slice you up some more when you get back.”
“He’s right,” Crocodile hummed. Seeing these lovely boys taking care of each other gripped something deep within his chest. Whatever it was sparked fear in him, so much so that he had to pause while they laid Mihawk on the fresh sheets between them. 
I can’t lose them. Can’t lose any of them. 
“We’ll be waiting, little bird,” he pressed a kiss to Mihawk’s temple. Contented, sleepy sounds filled the air, and he tried to trust that this lovely new world wasn’t about to end. “Fly back home, alright?”
He couldn’t shape words, but Mihawk hummed his promise before he drifted away.
Home…
~~~🗡️🤡🐊~~~
~~~~~~
~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~
“Morning, Y/N— well, afternoon by now, isn’t it?”
You shuffled just to have something to focus on while you simpered for him. 
The traitor. 
“Good afternoon, Shanks. I’m looking forward to our date this evening. Since you already won, I’m afraid you’re out of the running for the next date. We have to give everyone a chance, of course.”
“Of course.” 
You couldn’t fucking believe the charm that oozed off of him when he beamed at you. 
“I’d still like to try your little game though, if that’s alright, gorgeous?”
Shanks stayed quiet while you laid out the cards, some face up, some face down, before you counted down twenty two from the remaining deck. 
A comforting rhythm, the answer already dancing in your mind. 
“It’s the Eight of Clubs,” Shanks purred, touching the back of your hand. Lingering against your skin.
He looked so fucking smug. 
A sick stillness went through you before you revealed his answer. 
Of course, he knows this trick. He probably learned it before the first time he betrayed—
“Let’s go again,” Shanks ordered, the heat in his voice sending shivers across your shoulders, crawling up your neck. 
The eyes of his competition were on you, but the Emperor looked at you like you were already his. Like you were spread out before him, venison for the skilled hunter to devour. 
“Shuffle,” Shanks threatened, catching your chin in his dangerous fingers. 
Just smile. Just pretend.
“I’m not done playing with you yet, little bunny.”
~~~🌲🌲🌲~~~
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Likes, comments, and reblogs bring me much ✨dopamine✨ thank you!!
Author's Note:
Oh my goodness. Thank you so much for waiting, and for reading that giant chapter!! 🥰🙏🏼 I hope you enjoyed it, I've been going bonkers waiting to hear all your thoughts on this big ol' mess!
Let me know in the poll if you'd be interested in a separate post of my OP canon + Numbers Game canon timeline. It would give away reader's specific age, so I don't want to share it if people don't want to know!
Note on the Brochure: All of the character details included in the brochure are from Oda, except for the quotes and the missing details for Giberson. I found them on the One Piece Fandom Wiki if you’d like to go check out more about the characters' history. I live on that site, and have to give those fans the credit for compiling all those details! I already spend hours searching for specific parts in the anime for things like lines for speech patterns and such, I’d be lost without the wiki!
Note on the Card Trick: I must confess, I am not as skilled with numbers as our Numbers Girl. This is the same trick I had Buggy use during the flashback of their first night together, and I have no idea if this 15 year old youtube video is full of shit or not, but if you'd like to try it out, here's the tutorial!
Note on this line from the beginning of the chapter: "The White Stag. The hunted. The prey." Kiki Rockwell's voice has been living in my brain, and I realized this line is similar to hers in Burn Your Village "You do not dance everyday with the fear Of living in headlights, the hunted, the deer"
That song is so good, and fits so well! 🦌😭
Anyhoo, I'm off to try to catch up on all of your wonderful comments! Y'all mean the world to me, thank you so much!!! 🙏🏼💜
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Tag List: @shewrites02 | @caniseethefourthsword | @hey-august | @chaoticqueen33 | @destinationmars | @novakitten0901 | @h0n3y-l3m0n05 | @dorky-birdie | @szired | @pinejayy | @laws-wife-things | @jadeddangel | @gingernut1314 | @urlocaltwink | @blue-rae18 | @bontensbabygirl | @bbnbhm | @0-sparkling-lace-0 | @ihearthazuki | @mikisspeak | @djloveyou3000 | @mercymccann | @horse-and-writer97
Part 33
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Operation Olive Branch has compiled a working spreadsheet of ways to help families fleeing from the genocide in Palestine. If you enjoyed this fic, and are able, please click the link to find a list of GoFundMe's, as well as other ways to help.
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seiishindraws · 1 year ago
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I noticed when looking super close at your line art that the there's slight red green and blue on the sides of the lines like an old 80s anime and i think that's super cool! How do you do it?
oh, that's chromatic aberration! i guess you could say its a kind of colour/visual distortion.
it's pretty simple to do, but i usually just use a csp auto action to do it for me to make things go quicker, but i can teach you how to do it manually in most programs.
i'm going to use this silly doodle of me as pompompurin as an example lol
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youre gonna wanna merge everything onto a single separate layer first and then we're gonna work with that merged layer. make two copies of that merged layer so you have three of them in total.
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the top merged layer will be our red layer, so youre going to want to got to EDIT > Tonal Correction > Level Correction
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the level correction graph will pop up. since the top layer will be our red one, select the green level and drag the rightmost arrow on the Output scale all the way to the leftmost side. do the same for the blue level.
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the image should be red like this afterwards.
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the middle layer is going to be our blue layer so do the same thing we did for the top layer except youre going to reduce the green and red levels instead, and the middle layer should be all blue like this.
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for the bottom layer, it will be our green layer. same process as before, reduce the red and blue levels so its all green.
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your layers should be looking like this now
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from here, you want to set the layer modes of the red and blue layers to Screen, DON'T do the same for the bottom green layer though. you'll notice once you've done that, the image will look normal again!
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from here, all you need to do is shift the red layer in one direction, and the blue layer in another, to as much of an extent you want. the further they are from each other, the more drastic the effect will be
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and that's how you do it! my other personal tip would be to add a layer of noise set to Overlay or Soft Light at a lowered opacity over the drawing bc it goes well with the aberration, or even sharpen the image.
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if you dont want to do all that hard work though and you happen to have clip studio paint, just use an auto action, like this one!:
https://assets.clip-studio.com/en-us/detail?id=1713222
anyway i hope that helps? ^^;;;
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astronomodome · 9 days ago
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Astronomodome's 2024 US Presidential Election Liveblog
First of all I want to say I have other stuff to work on today so I might not be super up to date with stuff but I'll try my best to give my thoughts as to what's going on.
So first, how do we tell who wins?
In the U.S., the popular vote doesn't decide who wins the presidency. Instead, we use the (much hated) electoral college. Here's a helpful visual.
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Every state (and DC) is given at least three electors, usually more based on population (which is why states like California and Texas have so many). There are 538 in total. To win, a candidate needs more than half of these- half of 538 is 269, so a candidate needs at least 270. (Interestingly, it is possible for both candidates to receive exactly 269 electors, in which case the universe corrupts and we all die infinitely the House of Representative chooses who wins, with each state getting one vote.)
The national popular vote may not matter, but the popular votes of each of the states do. Whoever wins the popular vote in each state (except Nebraska and Maine bc they're weird but that's not too important) wins all the electors for that state. It's very all-or-nothing which is why a lot of people don't like it.
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This is a map from election forecaster 538, one of many such organizations that use polling and algorithms and election magic or something to predict who is likely to win each state. They have a lot of good graphs and stuff to look at on their site if you want to learn more about the stats of everything. As the key notes, we can see which way each state is expected to vote, as well as a few states highlighted in bold as likely swing states.
Swing states are basically wherever the election is close and the number of electors is high enough to 'swing' the election. Basically, while all the other states are mostly decided based on precedent (though surprises are possible), these states could reasonably go either way. This is why both candidates hold so many rallies in Pennsylvania, for example- it's competitive, and they want to boost their chances of winning those electors by currying favor directly with those voters.
One thing this map doesn't show is what I lovingly refer to as the Bar. It looks like this. I bring it up because if you follow the election news you'll see it. A lot.
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The arrows in the middle point to 269.5, the exact midpoint. Whoever reaches that midpoint by filling up the bar wins (the beige in the middle are the tossup states who could go either way).
For example, let's look at 270towin. (the forecast websites love their special numbers.) They have a fun interactive map where you can make the votes go wherever you want to see what would happen.
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^ Here's their prediction based on consensus.
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^ Here, I changed Florida so it votes blue. Not likely unless I can bribe enough officials to make it so my ballot is the only one that counts (fair and just). We can see that the Bar has shifted, and the blue side has almost reached the arrows. Let's see what happens if we add another blue state. Let's say... Georgia, for example.
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Wow! If the states were to vote this way, the Democrats would win, even if all the other undecided states went red. Is it likely? No. But, well, how do we know that?
In short, we don't. But we can guess, and that's what polls are for. There are several different types, but the most important ones for right now are exit polls. They'll start coming out soon, I think. I'm not sure if they have to wait until all the polls close (so people don't see them and decide not to vote or something because of it) but I think they do, at least in some states. Exit polls are conducted right outside of voting locations as voters exit, which makes them more accurate than other polls. They're not free of bias, though, so as always take them with a grain of salt. They're the first indicator we'll have of how it went, but they're not the final numbers.
One ray of hope I want to point out is the currently infamous Selzer Iowa poll (not an exit poll but still relevant). Ann Selzer is a really trusted pollster, known for a long streak of accuracy. She published a poll a day ago that indicated that Harris was beating Trump (!) in Iowa (!!) by 3 points (!!!). Iowa is... not considered a Democratic state; it went for Trump last election by 14 points. So this is really surprising (understatement). And yes, it could mean absolutely nothing... but it certainly shocked a lot of people, including Trump, who tweeted angrily about it.
States count their votes in different ways. Some results will be out within the day, others might take weeks. But usually most states can be 'called' for a candidate before every vote is counted. This is because the leading candidate will have more votes than can be overcome by the other one, even if every vote counted was for them. The important thing is that, as polls close over the next couple hours, they'll be counting. I saw one report that said election officials in Idaho, for example, plan on counting every vote "before they go to bed that night," which I thought was kind of a cute way to put it. Most states will release vote counts in batches or by county, which means that other batches or counties might still be counting as others submit their counts. That last sentence had a lot of 'count' related words in it, huh.
One thing to note about vote counting is that absentee or mail-in ballots often take longer to be received and counted than in-person votes. This can cause a phenomenon called "blue shift"- basically, a lot of mail-in ballots are cast by college students (like me!) or people who live overseas, and those groups tend to vote more Democratic than in-person voters. That means that late in the counting process, totals will often shift more towards the Democratic candidate. Famously, this is how Biden ended up winning Georgia in 2020- initially it was forecasted to remain red, but it inched over slowly as mail-in ballots were received.
So, in short, that's how we figure out who will be president. I'll be keeping track of what happens tonight, but it's very possible we won't know who wins until tomorrow morning or even later. Let's hope for the best :)
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effloradox · 3 months ago
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An Act of Magic
pairings: hitachiin twins x gn!reader, haruhi fujioka x gn!reader
summary: after watching you struggle through a rough day at school, Haruhi gets her first real glimpse behind the curtain of how you and the twins interact with each other when most people aren’t looking.
notes: set early into the series but not tied to any episode in particular
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Haruhi noticed from the moment she walked into class that you were having what could kindly be described as a bad day. Your usually perfect appearance seemed frayed at the edges, like you’d tried to hide it but something was going on. You were quiet during classes, hardly ever raising your hand to answer questions, and it was so unlike you that Haruhi was beginning to worry.
It only seemed to get worse the later into the day it got. During your shared study period she caught you stifling a yawn no less than thirteen times and when the school day finally ended she fully expected you to head straight home. She only looks on with surprise as you walk the familiar corridors to the host club. Usually you walk straight towards the twin’s table so she’s surprised by the divergence to your routine when you instead head to an empty table in the back corner of the room that she swears isn’t usually there.
You drop your bag with more force than strictly necessary, all but collapsing into the chair and dropping your head onto the table. There’s a barely audible thunk as your forehand makes contact with the wood of the table and she winces slightly.
The next thing Haruhi knows, two arms are being leaned on her shoulders in tangent, and that’s how she knows it’s the twins and not Tamaki. Given how close the three of you are, she figures now is a good time to ask the question she’s wanted to ask you all day.
"Is it just me or do they seem more annoyed than usual?"
"This is what happens when they get the proper amount of sleep." Haruhi waits for one of the twins to start laughing, or give any sign that they’re joking, but it never comes. She blinks at them as a few beats pass.
"What?" The two of them roll their eyes at her in a way that makes her want to throw something at them but she waits for them to explain, which they finally do. Hikaru pulls a complicated looking graph from somewhere within his jacket. At the top is a chibi style drawing of you and the graph shows some kind of pyramid with an arrow pointing towards the bottom right angle.
"That's why we aim for them to get no more than 5 hours. Any more and they're too aware." As Hikaru pushes the graph into her face, Haruhi notices that along the X-axis it says ‘Hours of Sleep’ and she can only assume the Y-axis is related to your mood.
In an act of magic that only the twins could pull off, Kaoru seems to pull a coffee from nowhere and makes his way towards you. He knocks his knuckles on the table twice to get your attention and he succeeds, but the look on your face when you raise it from the table is downright murderous. Haruhi watches on curiously as the frustration on your face softens at the gesture and you take the drink. All the tension seems to seep out of your body as you take your first sip and the two of you begin to speak softly, barely audible from the other side of the room. It seems to be going well as Kaoru slips into the only other seat placed by that table. Haruhi only looks away for a second to examine the look on Hikaru’s face.
It’s serene, and so unlike the usual expressions that settle on the faces of the twins that Haruhi almost feels like she’s looking at a stranger. For the first time in a while, she feels like she’s overstepping a line bearing witness to this; like it’s something only the three of you should be aware of. Her eyes leave Hikaru’s face before he catches her staring and the two of them stand shoulder to shoulder watching as (Y/N) and Kaoru continue their conversation.
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peonypaint · 6 months ago
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Prompt: ankh with a different hair cut
Id under the cut!
[ ID: two digital drawings of ankh from kamen rider ooo drawn with long hair. in the first drawing there are two busts of ankh from different angles, one from the front and one from the side. ankh is drawn with a neutral expression in both, and in between each bust is a smaller drawing of eiji holding his hands up to his cheeks with hearts on either side of his face. the background is pale pink with a darker pink graph pattern. the second drawing is several black and white sketches of ankh with hina and eiji. on the left ankh is sitting with his arms and legs crossed as hina sits behind him and braids his hair. there are two speech bubbles above them, which read "snarky comment" and "talking about school". to the left of ankh is an arrow with text that says "hes actually happy about hina braiding his hair". on the right side of the page eiji is drawn hugging ankh and saying "my handsome bird" with a heart. below this ankh is shown returning eijis hug with an embarrassed blushing expression. there is a heart by eiji and text next to ankh which reads "happy bird noises". /END ID]
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another-goblin · 6 months ago
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I've been thinking. Are Aventurine and Dr. Ratio supposed to be fighters in-universe? I mean, most other characters (with the exception of some Harmony characters, who are not expected to deal dmg) are either professional warriors, or they have weapons, or some object they realistically use as a weapon, or there are some mystical powers they possess. I can imagine most of them fighting in a serious cutscene the same way they fight in-game.
And then there are these two, throwing casino chips and chalk. Realistically, you can't do any damage by throwing these (even the tiles Qingque throws look quite heavy, I wouldn't want to get hit by one of these). So in an actual in-game fight one of them thinks really hard about geometry and imagines dropping some ancient architecture on the enemies, and the other just daydreams about gambling so vividly that it hurts the enemies. Is it, like, the Imaginary thing? Is it what other characters see? Some formulas and graphs appear and hurt the monsters? Does a giant roulette wheel appear under a monster?
My theory is no. They are adequate fighters because they are playable characters in a gacha game, it's just a convention. Outside of fights, they are just normal people (as far as I currently understand them). Because other Imaginary characters deal dmg in ways that I can actually imagine happening in-universe, in a cutscene, for example (Welt yealding the power of a black hole with his cane, IL with his magic, Yukong with her bow and arrows, Loucha with his rapier and his freaky abundance magic). I mean, if Aventurine gets confronted by a robber in a dark alley, he isn't going to throw chips at them or turn the floor into a giant roulette wheel. He'll probably apply his street smarts.
So without his stone, Aventurine is just a guy, that's why he had to be saved by Argenti. Ratio is just a teacher, that's why he didn't help us fight the giant bug on the Herta station (I saw somebody complain about him not helping us), and that's why he needed our help dealing with that phase flame.
upd. People were very kind to remind me that Aventurine is actually a competent fighter and very proficient with a gun. It would be funny if one of his fighting animations was him going "fuck it" and pulling a gun at the enemies.  Still not beating the "normal guy" allegations, though.
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todays-xkcd · 4 months ago
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IMO the thymus is one of the coolest organs and we should really use it in metaphors more.
Organ Meanings [Explained]
Transcript Under the Cut
[A graph is shown with X and Y-axis without arrow or ticks. To the left of the Y-axis and below the X-axis there are labels with an arrow pointing up from the top of the Y-axis label and an arrow pointing right above the X-axis label, just beneath the x-axis.] Y-axis: How well I understand what it means when used in metaphors X-axis: How well I understand its actual biological function
[On the graph is a scatter plot with 13 labels. Each label is written inside a line that goes just around the words. There are most in the top right corner, but they are spread all over the graph. Here in approximate reading order from top left with indicating of where on the graph the words are located:] [Top left:] Appendix [Top middle:] Nerves Spine [Top right:] Heart Bones Stomach [Center left:] Liver Spleen [Center right:] Lungs [Bottom left:] Thymus Pineal gland [Bottom middle:] Kidneys [Bottom right:] Tongue
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