#i could care less if you ship this. by all means go ahead. this is just my take on the ship and why i personally dont like it

[ataraxiaspainting]

Black and Blue.

Yan Blade x GN Reader.

Synopsis: Blade has a habit of leaving swords on his opponents’ graves. You have a habit of picking flowers near those who are dead. Unfortunately for you, those two things combined had you meet the immortal Stellaron Hunter for the first time.

Warnings: Yandere themes, descriptions of past violence, and implications of a future unhealthy relationship/stalking.

Word Count: 700.

*~*~*~*

“Why… are you staring at me?”

Your body isn’t well covered, Blade notes as he steps a bit back to take in the full sight of you. Your arms are paler than the snow here.

One of your hands grasps the stems of the flowers you had just plucked from an important resting place. It’s deep and just as old as Blade is judging by the crumbled stone bricks and withering vines yet none of the winter elements seem to cover it. Someone or some people must keep it clean to honor the dead. 

Your grip is so tightly that the thorns have dug into your skin and have started to make you bleed. Aside from the roses, your wounds and Blade’s eyes are the only bright red things in the vicinity. 

The clouds of Morana haven’t set in a long time. They cast over this planet like a mist so thick Blade had trouble navigating himself to the top of this mountain. The humans here have angered the long-fallen Aeon, causing her to seek revenge on her people.

It isn’t the first time an Aeon has made sure their followers have tragic fates ahead. Blade knows, and so do people that the Xianzhou have long removed from their historical records.

“You’re a thief,” He replies, his voice slow and steady – afraid that you will run if he is too harsh. “This grave belongs to the late Caterina the Great.”

“Flowers only grow here and nowhere else,” You reply, your tone less scared but more annoyed now. Perhaps you have realized that Blade isn’t from Morana. “It’s too cold down there. This is the only way I can pay for food without stealing it. Please understand…”

He only hums as he listens further, yet he only tries to make sense of his emotions in this present moment.

Is this pity he feels?

No. It’s something else.

Something not like pity, but relatability. 

You have been through plenty; it is as obvious as a fact like a dog’s nature is to be loyal. Your clothes are tattered. You’re shivering from having no warm place to go. But unlike when he was a wanderer with nowhere to go and nothing to hold but his sword, you could die in so many ways here. Someone can have you executed if there are other witnesses to you stepping on a war hero’s grave so carelessly. The elements can freeze your bloodstream if it gets too cold. The mountain itself can have a tree fall on you like your fallen Aeon put all of her hatred into a singular action and positioned it at a singular person. 

The old sword is pushed into the snow in front of your bare feet, and you stop speaking.

“Be more careful next time,” Blade says. “You’ll get hurt if someone sees you.”

He points and you follow his gloved finger. 

“Take it.”

“What?”

“Take the sword,” He orders, and then quickly removes his gloves. He puts them in your palm. “It’s old. It should be enough for a while.”

“Do you mean… sell it?” You are bewildered.

“If that is what you wish, go ahead.” Blade then removes his jacket and sets it on your shoulders. “Or use it to defend yourself. I am not familiar with Morana culture, but you most likely are. Trust your gut when making this decision.”

He’ll follow you after, he decides. For a while. Maybe forever, if Kafka doesn’t allow you on the ship.

[quin-ns]

Matchmaker (Joel Miller x Reader)

Word count: 1.8K

Summary: ellie knows joel has feelings for you and proceeds to annoy him relentlessly about it

Tags: basically just all fluff, humor, age gap, ellie being ellie and messing with joel, mutual pining, love confessions (more of a realization but whatever), friends to lovers implied, ellie is a great wingman

Request: anon: “It would be so cute to have Ellie basically shipping Joel and the reader, like her being a little matchmaker. If you chose to write this do with it what you want that’s all I got. Would love to see what you do!”

A/N: this was actually my first time writing for joel while having ellie play a part and I gotta say it was super fun! I really loved this idea <3

TLOU masterlist + main masterlist

“You are so,” Ellie argued, a cocky grin on her face as she taunted Joel from his side.

“I’m not,” he grumbled back, not wanting to be on this topic with Ellie. 

The kid had gotten the idea in her head that Joel had feelings for you. Thing was—she wasn’t wrong. But Joel had yet to tell you and he didn’t need Ellie blabbing or pestering him about it.

But Ellie was Ellie, so the latter was exactly what she was doing. It had been a while now and he couldn’t get her to quit it. Denying it wasn't going to work it seemed.

“You’re definitely into her. I won’t say the L word again, but you’re not fooling anyone. You’ve got, like, heart eyes for her, dude,” Ellie pointed out. “God—how did I not notice before?”

“Drop it,” Joel told her. You were walking ahead of them, curiosity driving you to increase your pace. You weren’t that far because Joel could still see you—he would’ve been too worried if he couldn’t—but you were far enough ahead that thankfully you couldn’t hear Ellie clearly. Still, he didn’t want to risk it.

After everything that had happened, he couldn’t risk a strain being put on your relationship. Not when you and Ellie were all he had in the world right now. You all had bigger things to worry about, like the fact that the winter was growing harsher as you were heading north.

“She probably likes you too,” Ellie commented, sounding awfully sure of herself. “I mean, there’s gotta be a reason she’s put up with you this long.”

Joel let out a scoff. “You’re not gonna let this go, are you?” 

Ellie shrugged. “I will if you tell her.”

Joel shot her a confused look, a slight frown on his lips and his eyebrows furrowed. “Why do you care so much?” he asked accusingly. 

“Because I like you, and I like Y/N, and I think it’s nice you make each other happy,” Ellie explained easily. “Plus, you’re less grumpy with her and that’s pretty refreshing,” she threw in the slight jab at the last minute. It’s not like it was false.

Joel just made a sound, like a “hmph,” and looked back ahead. His eyes landed on you. As if you could sense it, you looked over your shoulder and threw him a reassuring smile. 

A smile of his own tugged at Joel’s lips. 

“See?” Ellie spoke up. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about.”

The smile faded into an annoyed expression as he looked back at Ellie. She was just smirking to herself, like she’d busted him or something. 

She stared up at him for a moment, then looked back ahead. “You’re just grouchy because I’m right,” Ellie sassed. She didn’t need to look at Joel to see his eye roll. 

They walked in silence for about a minute. During that minute, Joel was relieved. He didn’t feel the need to discuss his inner thoughts and feelings about you with someone that wasn’t you. As far as he was concerned, his love for you was none of Ellie’s business and wouldn’t even be yours until the time was right.

He was going to tell you. Eventually. Maybe it was taking him longer than he thought because of how complicated things had gotten on the journey, but he’d find the time. Soon… if he could work up the nerve to.

There were moments where Joel saw a spark there, between the two of you. And apparently he wasn’t as good at hiding his feelings as he thought, so maybe on some level you knew and even reciprocated. If Ellie thought there was something there, than maybe—

“All I ask is that can you not do it near me if you guys want to have se—”

“Ellie!” Joel snapped, cutting her off. 

Because of the sudden loudness, you halted and turned around. “Everything okay?” you called back to Joel and Ellie, concern present in your voice.

“We’re fine!” Ellie shouted back and gave you a thumbs up. 

Joel didn’t say anything, still thrown off. He had not been expecting her to go there and really, really was in desperate need of a change of topic with the fourteen year old. He gave her a look, silently telling her to knock it off.

“What?” Ellie asked defensively, but also clearly very amused with herself. “It’s a valid request.”

“Knock it off,” Joel said out loud this time instead of just thinking it like before. 

“Fine,” Ellie feigned defeat. She fiddled with the straps on her backpack, gripping them in her gloved palms. Then, she took off in a light jog. 

“Where are you going?” Joel yelled after her.

“I’m gonna bother Y/N now!” she called, not looking back. Ellie caught up to you and slowed her pace. Joel didn’t know if he should be worried or not, but he hung back anyway. 

“Hi,” Ellie greeted you when you noticed her presence. She was kinda hard to miss.

“What’s up, Ellie?” you asked kindly, giving her a once over. “Everything okay?” you glanced back at Joel and found he was fine too. 

“Yeah, yeah, everything is fine,” Ellie assured. “Just thought I’d check on you.”

“You’re checking on me? I’m touched,” you told her with a hint of sarcasm overlaying your appreciation. Ellie didn’t do much without a reason and between her and Joel’s muffled argument behind you and the devious little smirk on her face, you suspected she was up to something. “Seriously, what’s up?”

“What do you think of Joel?” Ellie questioned vaguely.

You laughed a little. “That sounds like a loaded question,” you commented.

“Huh?” She furrowed her brows, not getting the term. “I mean like, do you like him?” she clarified. 

Another laugh from you. So you were right. “Of course I like Joel. What kind of question is that?” you wondered. “He’s my friend, has been for a long time.”

“Okay but, like, do you think he’s handsome?” Ellie pried bluntly, looking up at you for your reaction. You were a little taken aback, then amused.

“Where is this coming from?”

“Just… curious,” she lied. Ellie looked over her shoulder at Joel briefly. “So, do you?” 

Ellie looked up at you and found you glancing back at Joel yet again. A small smirk appeared on your face. You leaned down a little and whispered to her, “Of course I do. I’m not blind.”

Ellie laughed at that, enjoying the feeling of gossiping a little more than she realized. You were going along with it—you were always a good sport. 

“Do you think you’d date him?” Ellie pushed, seeing how much she could get away with in this ‘girl talk’ scenario.

Ellie considered you a close friend at this point, something she never had that many of. Sure Joel was a friend too, but he was also like a dad. And there was just something special about having a girl friend that she could talk to. While with Joel she usually had to annoy him into talking about life stuff (a few minutes ago being an example), you would be open to the conversations just because. You didn’t treat her like a kid despite being older—probably because you were closer to her age than Joel’s anyway.

That’s why if you liked Joel, Ellie wanted you to know that he did too. Even if she gave Joel a hard time and sometimes (but very rarely) did the same to you, you both deserved to be happy. 

“What do you think?” you turned the question. 

Ellie shrugged. “I know he’s kinda old and kinda grumpy, but he’s a good guy,” Ellie campaigned on Joel’s behalf. “He cares about you a lot.”

You smiled to yourself. “Yeah, I know,” you admitted. “I care about him too. A lot.”

“As more than just a friend?” Ellie needed to know, the anticipation was killing her. 

She didn’t know when she suddenly got so invested in your and Joel’s relationship status. Of course because she cared about you both, but she could also blame it on the months of boredom. Finally something interesting was happening. 

And what you said next was definitely interesting.

“Yeah,” you revealed with a little nod. “For a while now.”

There was a light smile on your face that made Ellie smile too.

Ellie looked over her shoulder at Joel once again and her gaze met his. She wondered what he’d say if he heard what you had just said. She didn’t think he did because he looked suspicious, silently asking her what she was doing. She looked back forward. Oh boy, if only he knew.

“That’s interesting,” Ellie mused. “Because I happen to have some information.”

You raised your brows at her, hearing the knowing tone laced heavy in her voice. “Oh?”

Joel couldn’t take not knowing anymore. You and Ellie had both kept looking back at him—definitely talking about him. He picked up the pace a little, not really jogging but more like speed walking. You and Ellie had slowed your pace a little before, caught up in conversation, so it didn’t take him long to place himself on your opposite side.

“How’s it goin’ up here?” Joel asked as casually as he could manage, drawing attention to himself. 

Ellie moved to walk backwards in front of you and Joel. She didn’t miss a step as she eyed you both. 

“Good news, Joel,” Ellie addressed him cheekily. “She likes you too.”

His eyes went wide. Ellie just bit back a laugh and left it at that, turning on her heel and picking up the pace to get ahead of you two. She stayed in line of sight, but out of the strangling zone (she wasn’t actually worried, but she knew she was being a menace so she kept a distance). Not a far enough distance to be out of earshot, though. 

She had to hear this after all her work.

“So,” Joel started flatly. He looked down at you just as you looked at him. Then you both turned your heads straight forward and kept walking in tandem. “I guess I should ask what she said?”

“Well, she was asking me a lot of questions about how I felt about you,” you recalled, sounding very entertained by the whole situation. “Kinda had a feeling for where it was going.” 

Joel heaved out a dramatic sigh. “Kid’s not subtle, is she?” he asked rhetorically. You both knew the answer to that.

You laughed. “Not at all.” 

The sound of you laughing and your words made Joel relax. He let a chuckle fall past his lips. 

Ellie looked back at you and Joel, the sound of you two laughing together making her smile. 

“Oh look, she’s staring at us,” you pointed out, nodding your head at her. Ellie whipped her head back around as if trying to pretend she hadn’t been watching you two. “Did we really just get set up by a fourteen year old?”

Joel scoffed out an amused sound. “Yeah, I think we did.” 

joel taglist: @the-ice-frozen-ground-red-rose @dontphunkwithmylove @cilliansangel @amethystwonders11 @frogsmuahh037 @andy-rocks @melllinaa @alitaar @melanie451 @b00kw0rmsworld @reverieisaway

if you would like to be added to the joel taglist just send me an ask or a message!

[donut251155]

The "Yugi twins situation" is NOT incestuous

I'll just analyze stuff people used to "prove" the opposite of this, as someone with a close (PLATONIC!!!) relationship with a sibling

I'll just get straight to the point

This scene is NOT incestuous. They hadn't seen each other for DECADES, it makes sense that Tsukasa reached out to touch Amane - usually if you can't believe you're seeing someone you reach for their face, no? And he just moved his head up (+ the つ (translated as "rub" could just be his hand moving and could be a translation error. Like the "ah…" from Amane, he says "つー" (Tsu) which would've probably been him calling out for Tsukasa)

Also Amane was blushing because he WAS ABOUT TO FUCKING CRY??? IT'S NORMAL TO GET RED WHEN YOU CRY??? That's basic knowledge I fear

He'd seen his brother after AGES, AFTER HE KILLED HIM. I WOULD'VE HAVE CRIED TOO IF I WERE HIM Y'ALL HE'S CRUSHED BY GUILT, GRIEF AND IS HAPPY TO SEE HIS BROTHER AGAIN

I also think that if the scene was supposed to have some incestuous undertones, Tsukasa wouldn't have moved his thumb back.

Someone said this

I believe it doesn't have incestuous undertones for three reasons:

1. He had a dreamy and hopeful face in both cases. Usually, when characters dream of doing anything, even eating a cake or something like that, the artist adds blush to make the desire stronger. Tsukasa's desires were just having fun with his brother at a festival, something COMPLETELY PLATONIC, and knowing that his brother genuinely cares about him (another COMPLETELY PLATONIC thing driven by a sense of insecurity that he got because of how grumpy Amane was while sick. He wanted to hear his brother say "I love you" (PLATONICALLY) for the last time. It's less ambiguous in the Italian version because it's "Amane, tu mi vuoi bene?" which can only be seen as platonic (voler bene is platonic, amare romantic))

2. He looks cuter blushing. He's a child, children are supposed to be cute. He looks depressed without the blush in the first image 💀💀

See? He's cuter with the blush

3. He blushes for like 90% of the time. It makes him cuter, more childlike, he's FOUR YEARS OLD. The blush disappears when the drawing is too small for it to be added, when he's supposed to be confused, scary/creepy or serious.

This part fucking hell. Y'all do not know how four year olds think, do you?? Let me enlighten you

To the four year old Tsukasa, you either love or hate someone. No in between. He isn't talking about romantic love, he's talking about caring about someone, usually deeply. He means the platonic kind of love, it's all he knows. Nene reacted that way because she's 15, to her "love" is the romantic kind of love and she's in love with Hanako, same with Kou - they're teenagers who learnt that romantic and platonic love are different. Tsukasa doesn't know. He loves Amane in a platonic, brotherly way and thinks Nene loves his brother in the same exact way, like every other 4 year old would've assumed

(I reached the max of images :(( I meant the part where Tsukasa asks Nene if she loves Amane and says they're the same after she says she does, her mistaking it as romantic love and him taking it as platonic. Mb guys I'm new to Tumblr)

For the pose where the early manga showed us how Amane supposedly killed Tsukasa: it's not suggestive in any way. It just looks like Amane pushed Tsukasa down, stabbed him and that his knees gave out after he noticed he actually did what he did because of the wave of guilt and grief he felt (he even dropped the knife)

That's all I can think of atm :D

If you have any questions about this, ask ahead and I'll answer them!! I'm ready to answer

And sorry if I sounded a bit pissed off, but I am. I'm so sick of people misunderstanding sibling love lolol if you ship them go fuck yourself and do not talk to me, do not even breathe the same air as me I hate you and you're a disappointment to humanity

[luffyvace]

Vinsmoke Sanji x male reader

Wano Sanji>> 😍🧑‍🍳💋

I won’t tolerate any hate for me writing Sanji x a male reader if you don’t like it block me :)

Sanji loving a male has two possibilities of how it happened: A) an au where he’s bi or smth or B) he loved women until you. Now he respects women and loves you!

let’s go with B for the sake of making you feel as special as you are 😉👌

honestly from here you can basically just read any Sanji headcanons and know what your relationship is like so I’m not gonna repeat the traditional sanji things 😅 but from now on male reader will be heavily implied/mentioned :3 💗

Sanji as a boyfriend is a great punching bag if you have anger issues and sparring partner! 😁 if your a hot headed person he’ll let you punch him as many times as you want til you get all your emotions out. He knows what it’s like to bottle it up and he’s rather have you take it out on him then implode it on yourself. Now, others he doesn’t care about unless they’re a woman. Will still side with you tho

”hey watch where your going!”

- you

”excuse me??”

- random woman

”please excuse us, my lady, my lovely boyfriend~ (😍) is trying to get through”

- Simpji

Sanji is really strong so as a sparring partner he’s great! You can tell him to stop holding back as much as you want but you can’t rely on him for that. 😊 He would rather just be used as a punching bag honestly, he doesn’t wanna hurt you!! 😓 Will be 00.1% less lenient if your strong like the monster trio buuuut not a big difference. He’s not underestimating you at all! You can tell by his constant praises on how strong you are- but he just doesn’t wanna hurt his DAAAARLING FUTURE HUSBAND~ (😍)

if your weaker, he insists you won’t have to train much because he’ll always protect you. Just like he has the instincts to detect a woman’s tears, he now has the ability to tell if you need help! His heart will clench and his stomach will twist before he darts off to find you without a word (despite worrying your crew-)

Will spar with you if your really serious about getting stronger to help protect you and your crewmates. But he might suggest you get a weapon built by Usopp (or Franky) first.

”MY LOVELY BOYFRIEND IS SO KIND~ HE WANTS TO GET STRONGER TO PROTECT EVERYONE!~~ The rest of you jerks better be grateful!! 😤 -not you! Nami-San! Robin-Chwan!”

No matter your body type Sanji will dote on you! 😘 ABS⁉️ AN ALL OUT NOSE BLEED!! YOUR SO HANDSOME HE JUST MIGHT PASS OU- 😴 A dad bod?? 😍😍 AWOOGA~ Sounds sensual and sultry to him 💋💋 On the chubbier side? STILL HOT!! Mwah! Come over here sugar lips 😜

- his words not mine 😚

his dates can vary from really romantic to more casual, depends on what type of guy you are. If your in tune with your emotions like him you guys’ll probably seem a lot more cheesy- IN A GOOD WAY‼️💗 Otherwise, if distant or just put up a front, etc then he’ll tone it down. His side of the party will still be uh, not necessarily dramatic but dramatic, on the other hand. What I mean by that is he’s still a simp but your dates won’t be so cliche, at the least. More so activities like festivals, carnivals, roller skating, all that good stuff!

of course he can always arrange a time on the merry/sunny for a food date where he cooks all your favs!…one prob tho..Luffy. 🤦‍♀️ Actually, a good time to get away with a dinner date is when Luffy’s not around! And by that I’m talking when he’s on an island exploring and Sanji tells the others to go on ahead, leaving you two alone on the ship! 😁👍

Sanji thinks your so cool when you fight tbh. It doesn’t matter how strong or weak you are, you’ll always look tough while fighting 💪 If your weak he’s got your back!! Of course, likewise if your strong, but he worries 0.1% less if you are. He will forever be concerned about his boyfriend’s well being 🤷‍♀️ At the very least he knows you could handle yourself on your own if there’s a 0% chance that he can’t come to your aid. (He will always show up for you 🙏)

The op men seem to be more annoyed with Sanji’s simp behavior so if that’s you….it still won’t change anything…feel free to kick him tho! He’ll let you 😘 He has a nose bleed after too (not only cuz you kicked him but bc you looked hot while doing so 😍) Yeah the grind never stops, and that’s on simping 😜👍

Will let you call him any nickname! Or insult- you could practically hate him and he’d still be your loyal lap dog 🐩 Bro is down on his knees down bad 😭🙏 ‘Even when he calls me crude cook~ HE’S STILL THE MOST GLORIOUS MAN IN THE WORLD!~ 😻” If your pet/nicknames are more romantic or loving it’ll give him an even worse nose bleed for sure. He gets butterflies either way- of course. 😂

If you were to ever get hurt he’s going to quite literally hurl his boot at their face, and I’m not implying he takes his shoe off. Naturally, this outcome only happens with a man. If a woman is beating you he will prioritize your safety and run away with you. Or distract her so you can get Nami or Robin.

⚠️Skip if you haven’t watched Whole Cake arc⚠️

(Now, for a head’s up idk how Sanji’s fam works bc I’m not on whole cake yet-) Sanji’s family will likely diss him even further for being a man who likes other men. Reiju might support him- but his father will be utterly disappointed! ‘Now he can’t even marry a women to strengthen they’re bloodline!’ (Sanji’s dad<< ��) But don’t worry ik for a fact his super awesome boyfriend came through to save the day 🦸

(Back to regual hcs, mini Whole Cake spoiler over 👍)

This hc right here kinda gn but he will give you the biggest, happiest, silliest smile ever if you compliment his eyebrows. Or at least say they don’t look silly/you like them. IK he’s not necessarily insecure of the look overall but bc his doesn’t look like his family’s eyebrows, but it still makes him feel better about it ❤️‍🩹

so yeah please do compliment him on it 💗

I don’t really like to talk about who’s the “dom” in the relationship but I’m gonna mention it just this once and hear me out‼️

He’d be so flustered if you were!! Like?? Your taking care of him?? Being protective over him?? 😻🙏 AWOOGA- 💥 (he passed out) You could practically demand anything from him anyway but imagine him having a nose bleed all down his face as he stutters out a “yes sir” and immediately gets on the job 🙌 Bonus points if you have a deep voice 🤷‍♀️ (Not even in a suggestive way, btw, just genuinely having rizz 🤪🙏)

Or maybe he’s the “dom” He’d be so happy to take care and protect you, as he always is. But this time he cranks up his flirting game x200. Like he’s actually trying and not just using simp, servant, slave rizz (LOL- 😂)

Think about him leaning in real close to your ear, lowering his voice, before saying “I’ve cooked you a meal 😏” (or smth I ain’t the rizz master-)

You get my point! Case closed ok? Point is he’d be a lot more smooth than a simp. Ya got me? Good.

Edit: I added more! ψ(｀∇´)ψ

Reqs officially back open!! Now I’m just gonna freelance and write from my list

[ruruumin]

blisters on the wall

₊˚ ᗢ college au! alhaitham x gn! reader.

⤷ when the noise gets too much, he reaches out to catch you.

it was rather common for the average college student to be stressed. it just came with the job, some would say. for every class, you must maintain perfect attendance. every hand raised must be accompanied by irrefutable fact. all while paperwork flood the hall as seasons pass. desks become messier by the day. loose pens and coffee cups left abandoned. liquid having dried into a crude crescent.

from corner to corner, wall to wall, there will always be a new bundle of words waiting to be solved. a new equation. a new theory. a new thesis. a new idea. the world is filled with mysteries that you must uncover and reveal. and it can't be anyone else. not the adults or elders in your life, it must be you. it had always been you.

you forced a smile as your professor raised your hand, presenting your essay in front of the class. sounds of awe echo alongside joyous claps. but your cheeks were beginning to hurt. with teeth clenched so tightly, you thought your gums might split.

you must uphold this standard. if not for yourself, then for your parents, friends, peers, and instructors. eyes will always be on you when the spotlight follows. the weight of the world's future comes down to you. change must be produced. sacrifices must be made. with blood, sweat, and tears, you rip through the fabric of this earth, desperately reaching for answers that could prove you worthy. searching endlessly through space to deliver what you think the people need.

you have a test next week. one that you estimate will take a four days to fully prepare. a paper is also due this friday, cutting your time to study short. your thesis is right around the corner. you're so close to breaking through and showing it to your advisor. your club was depending on you to manage the event organization. you had friends to take care of and spend time with. family to attend to and see. dreams to fantasize. and all this work, you don't know what to do. where to start. where to go. what will you do when everything is done?

where is the end?

in the corner of your eye, you failed to see a familiar, silvered-haired student slowly clapping. unimpressed by the fake smile that you've taped across your face.

he reads you so easily. he knows you like the back of his hand. he knows the bad habit you have of biting the tips of your fingers, the uneven surface having dragged across his skin with a hiss. he knows when you're stressed, you become quieter and distant. replying less and less to his messages, he knows this all too well.

he has always seen you, even if you've never looked back at him. it was like that since you were children. only a few months older than him, he trails behind you in every park. you were one step ahead of him. sports, science, math, english, art. everything.

you were his light.

and yet, he can see you flickering on and off. the radiant brilliance you've always surrounded yourself was beginning to fade in front of his eyes. you were dancing between uneven ships, struggling to keep afloat in this never-ending storm.

when he places a cup of coffee beside you, will you see his support? when he lets you lean your head against his shoulder, will you see the authentic smile he gives as he brushes your hair? when he lets you study at his apartment because you were locked out of your building, will you understand how much he cares?

when your friends approach you, dragging you through the busy mall to buy you new clothes, will you see how much you mean to them? or must you be so blind that you cannot see how brightly everything is when you're here?

how much longer will it take for you to see, what you were doing is enough?

standing in front of your club, you stare in shock as each person raises their voice. shouting over one over the other. arguing over simple plans, something you were in charge of. they were pushing and shoving. screaming insults that they can never take back.

and you try to pull them apart. trying not to lose your voice as theirs grow louder. the buzzing in your ears is an explosive firework that is going off. and your heart was pounding at the forefront of your chest. you could feel it bouncing off of your ribcage and into the back of your throat.

things were going horribly wrong. it was just a plan you pitched in your half asleep state and now everything is plummeting downhill. oh, how you wish you could turn back time and rewrite those words. maybe they wouldn't fight anymore. instead, because of your careless mistake, your desperation to finish your papers, you failed to foresee this.

you feel tears threaten to break your happy facade. oh god, everything is your fault, isn't it? they're fighting because of you.

getting off the floor, you run through the halls. shoving through crowds to search for the familiar pathway to your home. clutching your ears in the hopes of deafening the noise, you pray that someone could take you away from this hell you've created for yourself.

it's all your fault.

if you had more time,

if you were better,

it wouldn't be your fault.

in the blur of tears, you see your friend's face.

"alhaitham!"

you crash into him with a heavy sob as he wraps his arms around you tightly, catching you a mere seconds before your knees buckled. squeezing you close to his heart, he holds his hands over your ears. his name is like a breath of fresh air, your head creeping out from the waves that drown you.

the world goes quiet.

for once in his life, he pleads for you to ignore the flushed pink color of ears and see how much you mean to him. move past these papers and see him. hear him when he tells you that you're enough. feel the warmth in his skin so you know the way he burns for you.

⤷ notes; mainly a vent/comfort post. it feels way more unpolished and raw but i think it sort of matches the overall tone.

[epickiya722]

Folks, you're not going to like what I have to say. I just know it and I'm warning you of that. I said it once before, but leaks really do make some folks act out in ways that I can't understand. We ain't even got a full translation and already people are saying this ship is canon and that ship is canon... and whatever else. Jumping to conclusions when you don't even have all the facts.

Look, I'm not saying Hori is the best writer. I'm not saying Izuku and Ochako is a bad ship (it's not, there's worse... a lot worse).

But I do think some people are jumping ten steps ahead and I doubt that they are canon romantically. This isn't me being in denial because I could care less about the ship. It's not a ship that makes me sit up at night and cry and want to punch a wall and harass people. No ship for me does.

So far, from what I can gather from the very little information Izuku wants to see Ochako more because... THEY LITERALLY HAVEN'T SEEN EACH OTHER A LOT. In the last chapter, Izuku states that the class haven't been able to catch up and whatnot because over the years they got busy with their careers. The last time they probably had a proper conversation was in high school.

Izuku and Ochako wanting to meet up more doesn't automatically mean they're going to date. Let's not forget, Ochako is one of the first people to become a close friend of Izuku's in their first year. They clicked because they were so similar. They mirror each other even!

They're best friends if anything and wouldn't you want to see your best friend after not seeing them for a long time?

So far, it just feels that this epilogue is them accepting their own feelings about everything that has happened, like a self-reflection and self-acceptance type of deal.

Sometimes, you realize something about yourself when encountering someone who is like you. That's how Izuku and Ochako are to me.

It takes them identifying with the other to come to terms about themselves.

"But the blushing! The handholding!"

So blushing automatically means "I have romantic feelings for you", is what some of you are saying?

Just gonna forget all the times they and others have blushed out of embarrassment or happiness? That even some characters have the blush stickers to show their sweet innocent nature, like Ochako for most of the story?

Izuku blushed at Katsuki in the final chapter out of happiness, so it can't apply here, too? Why does blushing got to only be used in a romantic sense?

Seeing Izuku blushing looking at Ochako is funny when considering he's holding an (possibly) alcoholic beverage in that same shot. My guy is probably drunk. 😆 Jokes aside, jokes aside.

This is Ochako and Izuku, we're talking about here. They're the Queen and King of MHA characters who blush a lot, no matter what is going on.

And the handholding? In MHA? It happens a lot between characters! It's not like anything new or Izuku and Ochako are going to get cooties.

Look, I might make some people laugh or hate me for this one but when I saw this... I was reminded of this.

For those that don't know, that is from the Predator (1987). Yes, that Predator.

Two characters that have been friends for a long time and just happy to see each other.

We seen this kind of handshake like this before between characters of different and same genders. Either as a greet or as an agreement.

Izuku and Ochako are just agreeing to see each other more and that they should allow themselves to live happy lives. That doesn't mean they're going to start dating and having babies the following week.

"Bakugou is being treated like his wingman!"

Ah, stop right there. Katsuki encouraging Izuku to talk to Ochako isn't like that strange because between Izuku and Katsuki, Katsuki is the one to most likely reveal his emotions. He is more in touch with his emotions than Izuku who while emotional tends to keep everything in.

Katsuki isn't playing wingman. He's playing advisor and someone who has experience with emotions.

Seeing Izuku stumbling over his words and being all nervous trying to talk to Ochako is so in character for him. He has never been too good expressing his emotions.

I doubt Katsuki would be like "go tell her you want to marry her". He is more like "go talk to her, you're friends, remember? Been forever since you had a proper conversation."

It's the same case with Himiko pushing Ochako towards Izuku. She is encouraging her to be happy and not be stuck in the past. Not "go get married".

Happiness doesn't mean you must be in a romance.

Just me, again, but I feel like some people are really just jumping the gun here. If you really are thinking Izuku and Ochako being canon is bad for your ship, that's... I'm sorry, this will be mean of me to say, but that's ridiculous.

A ship being canon shouldn't stop you from enjoying the ships you do like. What ever happen to "ignore canon"? Oh, I guess that becomes irrelevant when you want to cause panic and bash and panic and bash and panic and bash.

Like a handhold like that shouldn't make you feel threatened by that ship.

Just continue shipping your ships! Take it from someone whose favorite ship is of two characters who haven't been seen interacting before.

Even still, with just leaks alone, it doesn't mean they are canon. I have my ships and there's moments in whatever the story makes me ship them but I also don't think every little behavior is meant to be romantic.

The thing I know I'm going to hate about this epilogue isn't even the chapter itself. It's the reactions.

I know some people are going to say this chapter is queerbait and use to it to even go as far as to bash Ochako given she is the woman and it's routine to hate on the woman. It ain't queerbait if Katsuki and Izuku wasn't going to be explicitly a couple themselves. Let's not forget it's Shonen Jump and even though the queer coding can be there, we can't have everything.

Also, I also know that some fans of IzuOcha are going to use this chapter to justify their "authority" of "best ships" and harass people like "my ship is better than yours" and be only concerned about Ochako being a housewife.

I don't think Horikoshi is the greatest human and MHA is a flawless story but some of you are no better to these characters and the story.

[veryintricaterituals]

I know I'm a perfect stranger, but I'm a fellow fan, and I need to vent this shit to someone. That was the most heartbreakingly dissappointing and infuriatingly insulting half hour of television I've ever personally experienced. Especially because they had Guillermo there as the perfect audience stand-in relating to all of our pain. I was in tears watching him desperately grapple for some kind of character development, meaning, revelation, resolution, something, ANYTHING. Amid unfunny and often straight up insulting, callous jokes at his and our expense. Plot points brought up and left unresolved, character development left uncompleted. All the obvious Nandermo hints straight up queerbait, Nandor will remain romantically lonely and never discover the love "right under his nose" that was obviously seemingly intended to be Guillermo, Colin will never know Lazlo really raised and cared for him, Memo too, Guidja was never going to happen, Lazlos Dad locked in the closet with Colins Funkos seemingly hinting at making a comeback, not happening. Jerrys betrayal arc anticlimactic, badass parts of Guillermos last fight scenes with his cousin pointlessly cut for unfunny pointless bullshit, Nadja never getting an independent business or whatever, Guillermo and Sean mortal and destined to die and be lost to their friends forever someday. WHY THE FUCK DID COLIN BEAT HIM!?? they were hinting towards him being an EV but now that scene makes no fucking sense missing an opportunity to also explain where EVs come from. The Guide being pushed to the wayside. None of the other characters were brought up again. 3 fake endings obviously meant to insult us for, of course, being upset by this real bullshit one, one of them insulting us for wanting the Nandermo they had hinted at themselves, needlessly stretched between 3 episodes. The shitty Nandermo mocking 'cameras off' comment near the end. We were strung along with Guillermo for SIX FUCKING YEARS, and all of it wasted, none of it mattered. It was all pointless. The writers didnt care. And by the end seemed to hate us for loving and being attached to the show they made for so long and wanting more, and wanting Nandermo, which they set up, and just queer ship rep that they had been setting up in the first place. I guess you could say Guillermo grew the most, but I would've liked to see more about where he ended up. They had the option of another episode they turned down. There was just so, so, much wasted potential with what this show could have been and how much more time could've been spent on it without 'jumping the shark' as Waititi claims if it had competent, progressive, brave, writers who gave a shit all the way through and it didnt need to have constant jokes later on with less dramatic breathing room. They just wanted to be done with it. I can see now why Matt Berry seemed so unenthusiastic in interviews and apparently Harvey seemed annoyed with Simms in promos, and that comment he made in an interview about his last moments on set reminding him of Titanic and "Nandor and Guillermo finally being able to be, y-know" So fucking heartbreaking him experiencing this after getting invested in these characters and their relationship as a queer man himself. I was sitting there watching Guillermo walk into the foyer and just sit there silently defeated in tears, staring into the void as the other characters sang "we'll meet again" in the background, and I'm just crying with him.

The good thing about fandom is that we're all perfect strangers and great friends at the same time, as high school musical once said: "we're all in this together".

Go ahead and vent in my comments! Scream your truth! They fucked with us!

I guess I'm actually not that angry because I could see it coming from a mile away, I feel like I've been grieving this show since season five ended and they destroyed Guillermo's arc, I just didn't think it'd be this bad.

There's just nothing there, no purpose, no aspirations, no character development. I get what they were going for, they been trying to ram it in since season 4 "Vampires don't change and everything stays the same" but the problem is that they have changed and significantly so throughout the seasons, they have grown and learned and loved and lost.

It's just fucking disappointing and such wasted potential, like not even thinking about Nandermo, but in general. They couldn't give an ending to any other character because they had destroyed their characters and arcs so completely there was nothing to say. And they knew that, they had a whole season to figure it out and instead just went, ehh let's use Guillermo as a stand in for the audience and gave us nothing anyway.

I have so many thoughts because I've been watching since season 1 and ughhh, I have so many drafts that I'll be posting in the next few days. All I'm going to say is thank G-d I have interview with the vampire because I would be way more devastated if I didn't have beautifully written gay vampire media to fall back on.

Anyway feel free to come and vent to me!! It's the way to get through this! also we're totally friends now 💜💜

[janesurlife]

Normally I'd see tweets like this and move on but Today I have my day off so I'm gonna deep dive into this "carlando has ruined f1" narrative and the particular part of fandom that's behind it. Spoilers alert it's charles fan aka lestappies

This bitch has the audacity to say this about carlando while posting this shit..ok sure ma'am, carlando is the one ruining the sport and not a fictional ship which has made it to top-65 of ao3 tags...sure it's carlando yeah

I mean I could be generous and say "enjoy your ship but don't be annoying" but I am not in a generous mood so I'm gonna spit facts. Carlando although is a ship that people like, it's actually a real friendship between two people who have been teammates with each other, know each other's family very well, went to family weddings together and have celebrated each other's wins without any malice (unlike sour puss). Meanwhile lestappen exists only and only in certain people's imagination and on ao3.

So tell me, dear viewers which one of these two is ACTUALLY the k-popification of f1 and ruining the sport? I think we all know the answer and it's not carlando.

saying "carlando was a mistake" as if that's something fans have "created" and not an actual friendship between two grown ass men (lestappies can dream).

The reality of the hate behind carlando is the fact that Charles fans LOVE to blame carlos and Lando for everything and anything that goes wrong in the sport. They hate those two drivers and go to stupid lengths to justify that hate. Bitch grow some balls and own it!

They have this delusion that "everyone loves charles cause he earned it" and I'm gonna tell you a very harsh but true fact and it's that most of you like Charles cause he's a decent looking white man who drives for a prestigious f1 team. If he wasn't in ferrari his fanbase would be half of what it is now or maybe even less. Although it's not a crime to like someone for their appearance but trying to say that it's not what it actually is, that's the problem. So please go ahead and write lestappen fics on ao3 and leave Carlos and Lando out of your delusion.

I would also like to address something here that's been bugging me for a while. These people in their attempts to make carlando the big bad evil of f1 take the conversation away from the real evil of f1 that's fia and liberty media. Fia being inconsistent in their penalties and trying to control very personal aspects of drivers like what they wear and what they speak, is doing more damage to f1 than two men being nice to each other. The rich countries throwing money at fia to get a grand prix without caring about the fact how dangerous it could get for drivers like Qatar was. And fia continuously allowing more and more GPs to be held in US even after the absolute cluster fuck that miami and las vegas was last year. The increasing number of street circuits even after knowing how unsafe they are IS THE REAL EVIL not carlando you fucking dufus.

[jester-lover]

You have no idea how much I yearn for a Perfect4 (Kuro) poly! headcannon or imagine WHATEVER I need them

Pretty please 🥺❤️

fair warning for a discussions of trauma and spoilers for the manga ahead, gn! reader

A polyamorous relationship between you and the Prefects would go like...

(takes place in a post! Blue Cult reality)

These boys are bonded together after the horrific events they’ve all endured together; there’s a sense of union in the relationship they share. Besides that, after Weston and their individual exits from their families, it was enough to pull them together. All they have in this world is each other now, and you.

There are many ways you could have joined them; you could have been one of their betrothed, a particularly unlucky fan from their cult days, or just someone willing to understand and help them as they navigated the world now. Whatever led you to cross their path, all four boys adore you entirely.

After the various troubles that befall them, I’d assume they’d be left with little in terms of money or status and therefore have to pick up jobs to sustain themselves like average people do. Life would go around like clockwork with each of them picking up household jobs to keep everything running.

Edgar gardens, perhaps selling flowers at the market when he gets the chance, and writes in local poetry journals for surplus money. Lawrence maintains the finances of the household, as well as learning how to cook. Herman does the manual labor; he can easily chop firewood and build furniture. Gregory does odd jobs and draws for money, hoping to find a patron.

All of you can’t fit on one bed comfortably, so oftentimes you sleep in sets of two and three. In the colder months, you might find yourself cuddled up all together on the couch.

While polyamorous relationships, or queer relationships of any kind, were taboo and even criminal offenses in Victorian England, that didn’t mean they were nonexistent. There was most definitely an underground community of people similar to you, even if interactions with others regarding your relationship were kept to a minimum for your own safety.

Most of the time, all of you are out together, going to pubs and public parks and the such; you tend to hold on to one another by the pinky or by the sleeves of your shirts, to be close to one another but not close enough to stir suspicion.

The happiest times you’d all share together are dinners, laughing and sharing bites of food as you let the world around you drift away. 

Gregory was definitely the one who initiated the relationship between all of you; in a time when these young men would be greatly sheltered and unable to conceive bonds beyond the heteronormative, he would be the one pulling everything together.

Edgar would be the most affectionate one towards everyone else, especially you and Herman, as he deems you two easy to fluster and make blush. Lawrence reads to you and the boys about old Greek and Roman myths, where love was unfiltered and unique like yours is. 

Herman would probably hold the most reservations at first, but he finds himself comfortably surrounded by love and tenderness soon enough. That’s what makes up the majority of your bond with each other.

You hold the group to a certain amount of accountability as someone who was a bit of an outsider at first, reminding them to take care of themselves and each other. You’re less the glue that holds them together and more a working cog in the bond itself.

A lot of healing needs to be done in this situation, but the overwhelming support and care the boys have for one another and you keep you calm in the fact that nothing can ever hurt any of you so severely again.

AN: I think this is my first time writing a poly ship, hope I did it justice :)

[buddiebeginz]

If you’re one of the people saying things like we have Buck/Tommy now who cares if we get Buddie or we don’t even need Buddie now, or Tommy treats Buck better (yup I’ve seen that), or Buck/Tommy is a better ship or has more chemistry etc etc etc you can go ahead and unfollow me.

I’m not telling anyone what they can and can’t ship but the second Buck actually kissed a guy a select portion of the Buddie fandom forgot the ship you all have been begging to go canon for 6 years.

The comparing of a guy Buck has known for all of minute to a man who knows Buck better than anyone. The dismissing the importance of what it would and hopefully will mean to see a ship like Buddie go canon. To also see a character like Eddie Diaz come to terms with his own sexuality. The complete erasure by some of you of the family Buck and Eddie and Chris have built and how Buck has been a parent to Chris for years now. And how important it would be to have that finally confirmed. It's honestly just painful to watch parts of fandom being so dismissive of all of this. So willing to just take scraps of a nothing relationship (because literally nothing has happened with them yet besides a kiss) all because you're eager for a canon queer ship. It shouldn't be enough to just have any queer ship but one that has been lovingly developed over time.

I love Buck and I know him being bi exists separate from Eddie and I can't tell you how happy I am the show is finally letting him be his authentic self. Still Buddie and Eddie's journey are of equal importance. I don't know how anyone who has shipped them all these years could think anything less.

[t00thpasteface]

i very deeply respect your mashposting and even though im not as enthusiastic about hawkahy as you are i think the content you make for them us delightful and some of the best mashposting on this godforsaken website. that being said, i wanted to know ur takes on the hawkeye & trapper dynamic, and the hawkeye & bj dynamic. Not in a shippy way, just in the World of Hawkahy what role do trapper and bj play in their relationships with hawkeye :3 this because i love that one comic u did where hawkeye is spunchbop and bj is Patrick its one of my fave pieces of mash fanart lol

(⁠๑˘❥⁠⁠ ˘๑⁠) first off, THANK YOU!! i'm soooo crazy about hawkahy and i really enjoy contributing to my fellow shippers, but i'm glad my art can also still appeal to people who are less interested the ship itself.

second, VERY fun question!! i wish i had definitive answers for yall, but you know me... i love to go "well idk it could go either way" ^_^;; really, it depends on what kind of tone and theme i'm looking for. i don't really write heavier stuff (because i have so much fun writing funny fic) so that kind of narrows my options, but there's a lot of potential i'd love to explore— or see someone else explore, if they're so inclined!

TRAP:

generally the trapper reading i typically default to is that he and hawkeye have a pretty casual FWB thing going on. trapper considers hawkeye a very close friend and hooks up with him at an intersection of bicuriosity and deep platonic affection, but hawkeye catches baddddd feelings and ends up genuinely heartbroken to find out their thing was lopsided. in this case, hawkahy would happen only after trapper leaves— mulcahy has a tough time trying to get noticed before that point :( but at the same time, i don't think mulcahy would pounce at the first opportunity, because i don't think an immediate rebound would be good for hawkeye nor mulcahy... but it could happen for dramaaaaa...

another version of the hawkeye-trapper rapport that i love playing with in my fics is trapper being generally very supportive but nonetheless slightly grossed out. i think there's a lotttt of comedy potential with hawkeye thinking it's okay to fuck a priest but NOT a married woman, and meanwhile trapper is pro-infidelity but anti-priestfucking (for whatever reason), and they squabble and tease each other about it the whole time.

it's also funny to think about is trapper trying to figure out whether mulcahy now gets the "one of the bros" back-slapping beer-chugging dude treatment, or if instead he's now slotted into the "go easy on 'em trap" category that protects hawkeye's ladyfriends from hearing trapper's bawdiest jokes and comments when hawkeye brings them along as a plus-one to the swamp.

trapper seems like he's pretty likely to sniff out that hawkeye and mulcahy are seeing each other even if they try their damnedest to keep it secret. i like to think hawkeye trusts trapper enough that he would go ahead and divulge it it up front pretty soon after it's official. trapper could probably even pick up hawkeye's crush beforehand... maybe even before hawkeye knows about it!

i don't see trapper as being too jealous of hawkeye spending a lot of time with mulcahy, even if it means hawkeye is now exclusive and not sleeping with trapper anymore. if anything i think he'd be pretty stoked that he's got one less guy to compete with for the nurses' attention. pretty sweet deal as far as he's concerned.

i do think there'd be some tricky navigating between how hawkeye acts with trapper and the STARK difference with how he acts around mulcahy, which you can see clear as day in the s1 finale, where hawkeye gets soooo soft and careful while talking to mulcahy. i don't think either one is disingenuous; i think hawkeye contains multitudes. hawkeye's not the type to fake sincerity. and to that end, i really don't think hawkahy should hinge on hawkeye totally giving up all the cruder parts of his personality (especially since mulcahy is really no saint either), so it could be pretty interesting to see that manifest in whether/how he's still maintaining a close friendship with trapper now that he's been seeing mulcahy regularly and trying to make a good impression.

BEEJ:

the direction bj goes in depends on whether hawkahy are already an item before he gets there. he does form that almost instantaneous trauma-bond with hawkeye on his first day, but i think if hawkeye admitted "yeah by the way the chaplain is my boyfriend" as soon it seemed safe, bj would be able to take it in stride as another weird little quirk of the mash he has to get used to. he's too hung up on dealing with all the gore to worry about who's banging who.

by contrast, i think he could potentially get pretty upset/jealous if hawkeye and mulcahy paired up a little while later. i can see him feeling really betrayed, like, "what do you normally do when i'm gone?" "wait for you to get back!!"

if bj still doesn't feel like he's really enmeshed himself into the unit— which i think on some level, he never wants to, because he's banking on dropping everything like a hot potato the second he can— then i can totally picture him just feeling completely lost and isolated when hawkeye is suddenly forgoing their boys-nite boozathons in favor of getting some priest pipe. like, at least trapper could always go find his own cuddle buddy to pass the time and had nurses lining up to volunteer; bj has basically nobody and doesn't seem inclined nor equipped to fix that. hawkeye is his liason to the rest of the camp, and bj isn't so great with people without having hawkeye there to help as both teleprompter and safety net.

basically i think bj wants to keep hawkeye within a very specific arm's-length radius— not too close, but not too far either, and hawkeye having so much private time with someone else could really get under his skin.

you could also have bj think the priestfucking is gross/bad on sheer principle like trapper did, even without the jealousy angle, and it'd probably hold a little more water coming from bj than trapper. however, it'd be funny if he's insisting it's definitely not a jealousy thing and he's being fully objective about it, but you can totally tell he's just jealous. x)

i admit i kinda love seeing bj get tormented, because he's got such obvious buttons to press and yet sternly insists that they don't even exist, similar to houlihan and frank. like, you can't just set that up and not expect me to rub my hands together and SLAM those buttons as hard as i can. ergo, bj getting jealous about hawkahy is supremely funny to me. i'm not too proud to admit that!

[writingdungeon-inactive]

Just a apple

I decided to write for my comfort ship, cus I'm depressed and fighting writer's block/imposter syndrome, this is essentially me making chicken noodle soup for my soul

Penny x Shane, fight me

Looking down at the apple in his hand, Shane let out a low groan. The fruit stared back at him, dull and unpolished—nothing like the shiny, wax-coated ones from Joja Mart. Some dirt still clung stubbornly to its skin as it had been plucked straight from the branch just yesterday, not washed yet. He turned it over, noticing a few scuff marks where it looked like Jas had dropped it a few times.

He recalled how Farmer had let Jas pick a few from their orchard the other day for her to feed the animals. But this apple wasn’t meant for them. Jas had cradled it in her small hands, determined to give it to her teacher, Penny. "So I won’t forget!" she’d declared proudly, placing it on the kitchen counter with a smile that made Shane’s heart ache a little less, knowing she would be a positive force on the world as she grew up.

Now, that same apple sat where she’d left it, a silent reminder of Jas’s disappointment. She had woken up with a fever, her cheeks flushed and forehead hot to the touch. Disappointment had flooded her eyes when she realized she wouldn’t be going to school. "But… but I wanted to… to give it to Miss Penny," she had murmured, her bottom lip trembling, her resolve crumbling in the face of illness.

Tossing the apple up once, then catching it in his calloused hand, Shane’s eyes narrowed. He could just leave it there, let Jas deliver it when she felt better. But something in him resisted that idea. Perhaps it was the gratitude he’d been nursing for a while, seeing how Penny took care of Jas—patient and kind—always ensuring she got the care and education he feared he couldn’t provide her.

“Fuck it…” Shane muttered under his breath, his resolve hardening as he gripped the apple tighter. He’d drop it off on his way to work; her house was on the route, after all. Just a simple gesture—a little thank you from an uncle who didn’t know how to say the words out loud.

Stepping outside, the cool morning air nipped at his skin. He set off down the familiar path, boots crunching softly against gravel. One of the few perks of being up early was the solitude—just Shane, the road, and the endless stretch of sky warming with the first hints of dawn. For a moment, he could almost convince himself the world was just his, silent and still, untouched.

Morning doves cooed from their perches, joined by the rhythmic buzz of cicadas hidden in the grass, their song rising and falling like the tide. Each step felt instinctive, every dip and curve of the road familiar. He could probably walk it blindfolded if he had to, honestly having walked home from the bar without releasing it a few times.

The apple grew warmer in his hand, grounding him, reminding him of the task ahead. What would he even say to Penny? ‘Hey, this is from Jas,’ and then just walk away? Or maybe try to say something more meaningful, and end up making a ass of himself.

He let out a heavy sigh, breath misting in the chilly air. It wasn’t like he was doing anything special—just delivering an apple. But it felt bigger, like it carried more weight than he understood. Maybe because Jas had put so much thought into this gesture, or because he felt he had so little to give in return.

As he approached the old trailer, Shane slowed his steps, taking in the sight of the once-vibrant home now dulled by years of wear, the shiny exterior was now rusting over. Empty beer bottles cluttered the ground around Pam's white plastic smoking chair, their glass glinting dully in the light. Shane let out a soft sigh, half-tempted to turn around and shove the apple in his locker at work, but he was already here. He’d even left earlier than usual, meaning he’d be standing outside Joja waiting for Morris to open the doors if he bailed now.

He leaned his head back, groaning softly, shaking it to summon the courage that always slipped through his fingers. Finally, he climbed the creaky steps, each one protesting under his weight. Lifting his free hand, he rapped quickly against the metal door and waited, telling himself he'd give it a minute—just sixty seconds—and then he’d be out of there.

As he began to step back, relieved by the lack of response, the door creaked open as if on cue to stop him. Shane paused, heart jolting as he saw Penny’s green eyes and bright red hair peek out, her expression a mixture of surprise and curiosity. “Shane?” she whispered, her voice barely cutting through the morning air as she stepped outside. He caught a glimpse of Pam passed out and snoring on the couch behind her before the door clicked shut, leaving the two of them outside on the small porch. “What can I do for you?”

For a moment, he stood there, awkward and unsure, the apple now feeling like a rock in his palm. “Uh,” he cleared his throat, embarrassment creeping up his neck. “Jas picked this for you. Said you were a good teacher or somethin’.” He held out the apple, trying to sound casual, as if it didn’t matter.

Penny’s expression softened as she reached out, her fingers brushing against his. “Oh,” she said, eyes brightening in a way that made Shane’s chest tighten with unexpected warmth. “Thank you. I’ll make sure to tell her how much I love it.”

Silence fell between them, and Shane shuffled his feet, searching for something else to say. “She, uh, wasn’t feelin’ great this morning,” he muttered, scratching the back of his head. “But she wanted you to have it.”

Penny nodded, her gaze warm and understanding. “I hope she feels better soon,” she said softly. “I know how much she looks forward to coming to school.”

“Yeah,” Shane replied, the weight of his words hanging in the air. He didn’t know how to articulate the mix of guilt and gratitude swirling inside him. “She really cares about you, you know? It’s nice to see someone look out for her.”

Penny’s smile deepened, and for a brief moment, it felt like the world around them had faded away. “Thank you, Shane. That means a lot,” she said, her voice steady but laced with sincerity. “It’s easy to forget how much these little things matter.”

Shane shrugged, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets. “I don’t do much, but… I try to be there for her.” He could hear the slight tremor in his voice, an unfamiliar vulnerability surfacing as he spoke.

“You do more than you realize,” Penny replied, her tone gentle, as if she could sense the struggle behind his words. “Jas sees you as a role model, you know?”

The warmth of her words surprised him, a soft ember igniting in his chest. Shane shifted, feeling an unexpected swell of appreciation. “Yeah, well… don’t go spreadin’ that around… Got a reputation to maintain,” he shot back, attempting to mask the fluttering sensation in his chest.

“Your secret’s safe with me,” she replied, her playful tone laced with sincerity. For the first time in a long while, something inside Shane eased. He felt his mouth twitch, an involuntary smile threatening to break through, but he fought it back, maintaining his gruff exterior. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” he grumbled, though there was no bite to his words.

“You’re not as scary as you think,” Penny teased, tilting her head, her hair catching the light. It wasn’t fair how easily she got under his skin. “Deep down, you’re just… kind.”

“Alright, now you’re just talkin’ nonsense,” he muttered, heat creeping up his neck. He shifted, feeling like a teenager caught in an awkward encounter. “It’s just an apple, Penny. Don’t make a big deal outta it.”

“But it is a big deal,” she insisted, her voice gentle but firm. “You didn’t have to, but you did. And that means something…”

For a moment, Shane didn’t know how to respond. The sincerity in her eyes made it impossible to brush off her words. “Yeah, well… someone’s gotta thank you. You work real hard,” he said quietly, the admission slipping past his defenses.

Penny’s expression softened further, her eyes shining with something deeper. “You’re the first to say that,” she murmured, fingers brushing anxiously against the apple’s smooth skin. “Sometimes, it feels like no one even notices.”

“Doesn’t mean you’re not doin’ a damn good job,” Shane replied quickly, surprising himself with his certainty. “Jas, Vincent—they look up to you. And I… I’m grateful for that. Don’t think I say it enough.”

There was a beat of silence, heavy with unspoken words. Penny’s cheeks flushed a faint pink as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re not as bad as you think you are, Shane,” she said, a teasing lilt underscored with belief.

He let out a soft, self-deprecating laugh. “If you say so.”

Penny smiled, lighting up her face. “I do say so,” she replied, winking as she reached back toward the door. “But you should really give yourself more credit. It’s okay to be kind, you know?”

He felt heat rise in his cheeks again, rubbing the back of his neck harder, as if to erase it. “Yeah, well… maybe I’ll think about it,” he replied, voice gruff but lacking real bite.

“Good,” she said, voice softening again. “I’ll see you around, Shane. And tell Jas I hope she feels better soon.”

“Will do,” he nodded, feeling strangely buoyed as he turned to leave, the weight of the morning feeling lighter.

As he walked down the steps, he glanced back one last time, catching Penny still standing there, watching him with that soft smile that felt like sunlight breaking through clouds.

He waved goodbye, feeling an unfamiliar warmth spreading through him, grounding him. With each step away from her porch, he realized that for the first time in a long while, he felt seen—not just the drunk who stumbled through life—but as someone worthy and capable of kindness and connection.

The world around him felt different, alive with possibilities he hadn’t noticed before. Perhaps it was true; maybe he was more than just a shadow in the background. He could be a part of something meaningful, all because of something as simple as an apple.

[blurglesmurfklaine]

4, 7, 9, 12 for the ask game <3 (all glee if possible)

Yay, thanks for these Crys! 7 was previously answered so I went ahead and skipped it :)

4. say something nice about a ship you don't ship (it can be another ship in your fandom, a mutual's OTP, etc)

I don’t ship St. Berry, but I am of the opinion that if it couldn’t be Finn, I’m glad it was Jesse. He and Rachel really are two sides of the same coin and they seem to love each other very deeply and I hope they’re happy together!

9. a ship that isn't your OTP but that you enjoy

Samcedes 😭 they are my emotional support heterosexuals your honor. But also, they are two genuinely good people who care deeply about one another samcedes you will always be endgame to me

12. compliment someone else in your fandom

Okay this is gonna be a lot because I AM going to do all the active fandoms I’m in! So under the read more!

Glee:

First of all you, Crys! And @backslashdelta You are both so talented with your gif making that it kind of drives me insane.

@kurtsascot is probably one of the most talented writers I’ve ever had the pleasure of interacting with. I feel so lucky that we’ve gotten her so late in the game! I feel similarly about @rockitmans and @thelegendofjenna

@esilher @twinkkurt and @justgleekout make the most BEAUTIFUL fanart I’ve ever seen, and I also wanna thank @carsonphillips for klainegifs and keeping the fandom interesting with their events!

@somefeministtheatrepls is not only an amazing friend but the most thoughtful beta reader and honestly partner in my writing?? Writing is much less stressful because I don’t even worry about things being clunky or weird because I know her ass will help that chapter SHINE

@nancysgillians @kurthummeldeservesbetter also get shoutouts because they are wonderful people to have in your life

Newsies:

I could fill novels with how much I love and appreciate @somanywords! Their amazing storytelling and also volunteering to make art for the MiniBang I hosted earlier this year??? On top of listening to my insane ramblings?? They don’t make em like this anymore folks

@one-paper-bag is also SOOOOOO incredibly talented with their art, and their lovely comments on my Spider-Man AU keep me going (on GOD we are gonna get you another chapter ON GOD!!!!)

@livesincerely and @agentsnickers are some of the most prolific and INSANELY TALENTED writers I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading, and also genuinely lovely people! You know when you see someone on your dash and ur just like “wow. I hope they are having a FANTASTIC day and life. They deserve one.”

@piedoesnotequalpi and @regina-cordium are also so incredibly FUNNY and have the most correct takes on every single newsie and that’s on that ❤️

911:

I’m relatively new to this fandom, so I don’t know a ton of people yet, but there are def people I see on my dash that I have noticed!

@cranberrymoons @lesbianrobin @insertlovelyperson have written some of my absolute FAAAAAAVE fics! I feel like they really have a handle on who the characters are in a way that’s true to the show and kind of difficult to pull off!

@texasbama makes amazing gifs and honestly anytime I see her on my dash I laugh bc genuinely she’s so funny. Also on the list of hilarious contributors is @buckgettingstruck

And a couple of people who I think have genuinely great vibes are @buckera @leathercouchcushion and @yaz-the-spaz

And of course I can’t talk about 911 without a second mention to @regina-cordium who puts up with all my Texas!Buddie nonsense andbansndbsk

-

Okay yeah so that was a LOT sorry!! I didn’t mean for it to get so long BUT I do mean every single word! I’m really blessed to have met so many amazing people through fandom and my experience on this site has been nothing less than superb because of yall ❤️

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

Yandere V + H: Epel Felmier

He’s your henchman…until he isn’t

When you first start working together its a way out for him

A way to go against society 

Following you: the one who already has been doing villainy for awhile

“I-I want to make them pay!”

“That’s a bad boy! Now come let’s plan. Their demise will be sweet!”

“Like Apple Pie!”

“Yes!”

But Epel’s impatient

He’s rowdy 

He can’t be contained and whatever rules you’re trying to implement are stupid

Therefore he’s going to usurp your villainy

Taking the rug out from underneath you to do things his way

Because no rules and society sucks

But don’t think you can escape anytime soon

No rules don’t mean no loyalty

You agreed to take him under your wing

Now let him take you under his

Don’t struggle it’ll be less painful that way:

“Mwahahahaha!” 

When you awoke to the fizzling of the machine almost drowned out the maniacal laughing of your...no…what used to be your henchman. His adorable face was contorting to maintain his widened eyes and smile, facing the ceiling with the height of their laugh. 

Scanning the room you eyed the fallen heroes no longer mildly struggling but laying still. The splatters of blood near them and various objects are also caked in similar colored substances. It awoke you harder than you would have liked. Registering the stabbing pain in the back of your head, you attempted to pull yourself up. Leaning on nearby debris you slowly tried to inch toward the raised platform.

“Ah (Y/n)! You’re awake? Already?” He tilted his head looking like a turtle with the raised collar of his leather suit. “I guess that’s okay for now. I’m sure you’ll be impressed to see how much I’ve done.”

“W-what have you done?”

He didn’t seem to listen to you or care about whatever you had to say instead he smirked gleefully through the rounded glass of the abandoned planetarium. You slinked to the side of his stage making your way to the window ahead; showing the city. Just below the building you could see stores being looted and people attacking one another. 

“Just a little bit of liquid animosity and suddenly so many are willing to go to up and arms…all at my command.”

You could feel your conscious slipping, no doubt fighting a concussion. Eyelids slipping close you turned around barely able to hook your fingers around the tip of his cape, you pulled.

“Please…Epel…they’ll turn on…you.”

Your knees began to wobble slipping on to the floor, only to be stopped by leather gloves holding you till. He pulled you close warming you face with his excited breaths, smiling at your droopy expression. 

“Awww you’re still worried, I’d let them walk all over me too? No, no never again. I have a way to  curve their chaos.” 

He slowly released you watching with a sly smile as you fell into the clutch of giant leaves. He stood up, pridefully watching his plant monsters cradle your form. He cooed at you doing a light jump for joy at the perfect outcome to his major scheme.

“Go ahead and take them to my garden. We have so much to catch up on!” 

The giant plant creature held you close enveloping you in soft violet petals as it stumbled to the parked ship. Epel took one last look outside before turning to follow suit to the ship. 

“Mhmhmh.”

He stopped his walk, turning to see one of the heroes groaning as they awoke. The villain brandished his bat, dragging it along as he came upon the slowly awaking hero.

“No body’s taking them or my newfound freedom away.”

[duchessonfire]

Savior Carl!AU re-read Part 2 Chapter 1

Follow-up of my re-read of Part 1 Chapter 4. If you're not interested and don't want to have your dashboard spammed, you can block the tags Duchess reads and Savior Carl AU reread.

Commentary for Part 2, Ch 1 below the cut (spoilers for part 2 ahead):

I posted part 2 just a little over a year ago on December 20, 2023. I still remember what if felt like opening my word document for the Savior AU, which I had been adding to little by little during my 3-year hiatus between parts 1 and 2. I started part 2 while in the middle of a creative rut. My last fic (for the Marvel fandom) had been posted in May of that year and I had written nothing at all since. Stucky and Stony (my main Marvel ships) had lost a bit of their appeal to me creatively. I still liked them, but I had no desire to read or write about them. I knew I wanted to write a fic and be creative, so I thought: 'Hey, I have this amazing TWD fic that is just waiting for me to pick it up again, maybe now is finally the time to write that sequel'. So, I did.

It was not easy getting back into a universe I had barely touched in 3 years, especially when I was so afraid of messing up a story I cared about so much. In the end, I took the leap by telling myself that if 2021 Duchess could post a TWD fic for the first time, then 2023 Duchess had no excuse not to do the same. I told myself to keep my expectations low and to enjoy the writing process without putting any pressure on myself. So, I wrote the first chapter and kept it short and pretty much posted it without overthinking it (something that was especially difficult to do on my own, because I had grown used to having Beta-readers in the Marvel fandom).

I always knew I was going to start part 2 in medias res, immediately after Carl had killed Shane, picking up right where part 1 left off. I also knew I wanted part 2 to have flashback entirely focused on Shane and, more specifically, the good sides of Shane. After all, Carl had just killed his stepfather/abuser. What better way to make things as angsty as possible than to make him remember all the ways Shane had been good to him in the past? I do love a good angst, it has to be said.

One thing I was also excited to share was the AO3 summary for this sequel, which I had written years ago and which had been patienly waiting in my word document. To this day, I still love it:

Shane has been a lot of things throughout Carl’s life. In the old world, he was his godfather and his uncle and his best friend. When the dead started rising, he became his protector, his step-dad, the only thing standing between the Grimes family and the things that wanted to destroy them. Then, when his mother died, Shane became his drill sergeant, his commanding officer, the one person whose orders Carl had to follow without question, to ensure his sister’s survival. Now, with Shane gone, it feels like Carl is untethered, floating adrift in a dark sea with nothing left to guide him. Nothing but Negan.

Honestly, looking at part 2 now, I can't believe how quickly I wrote it. I posted chapter 1 on December 20 and chapter 7 on February 10. Which means I wrote 70k in less than 2 months. It's insane. But at the same time, it also makes sense, because I knew I wanted a part 3 and I knew I wanted part 3 to focus entirely on Carl and Negan's sexual relationship. Being a horny writer, I wanted to be done with part 2 as quickly as possible so I could finally enter my smutty era for good. However, at the same time, I really wanted part 2 to honor all the heavy lifting I had already done in part 1 and keep going with the slow burn. I was eager for the smut to start but I also didn't want to rush a process that had been 3 years in the making. I wanted Carl and Negan's relationship to grow organically from mentor/student to lovers and this meant a slow burn.

Because my draft for this sequel had started years ago, I already had big events highlighted which I was excited to get to (Negan threatening to cut off Carl's arm, the almost-kiss in the cell, or the Claimers for example) so a lot of times my problem with part 2 was about filling in the blanks between those very exciting moments. One of those filler episodes was the panic attack that Carl had in his room after killing Shane. I knew Carl had to grapple with the enormity of what he had just done. This was Shane, the most important person in his life since his mom died. There was no way Carl could just walk away from his murder unscathed. So I knew I wanted Carl to freak out, to be horrified at what he had just done, what Negan had talked him into. What I hadn't really planned, howver, was the hug:

He could die here, he realizes in a moment of clarity that hits him like a lightning bolt. He could suffocate in this room and no one would know, not until it's too late, not until he’s turned and started roaming the halls for warm flesh to eat. Please, don’t let me die here, he begs silently. He doesn’t even know who he’s talking to. He doesn’t believe in God, doesn’t believe that some higher power might be listening, but like an answer to his prayer, a warm hand materializes between his shoulder blades, and an arm wraps around his torso, making him recline against an even warmer chest. When Negan speaks, the smell of peppermint candy on his breath grounds Carl back to the here and now: “Shhh, it’s alright, kid. You’re alright, I told you that. Just relax, you’re golden.” The man keeps whispering, his voice a low rumble that Carl feels against his back. “That one’s on me. I shouldn’t have left you alone. I swear, Carl, you keep impressing me so much I keep forgetting you’re not like the rest of the psychos in this place. That’s my bad. But to be fair, you really do know how to hide that soft lil’ heart of yours behind your cold-hearted, badass, takes-no-prisoner-motherfucker exterior.” Negan chuckles and tightens his arms around Carl’s stomach. Pressed so close to Negan’s chest, Carl can feel every single one of his inhales and exhales.  He doesn't know how long they stay like this but he realizes he's instinctively started to match his breathing to Negan’s, until he finally regains control of himself, his heartbeat slowing down and his shoulders relaxing. Distantly, Carl wonders who last held him so close. Maggie, probably, long before Glenn died. “There you go,” Negan says, patting Carl on the chest one last time before letting him go. A cold shudder runs through Carl without the warmth of the man at his back, and he is immediately ashamed of this thought.

I have to confess, I'm still unhappy about this moment. To me, it feels a bit rushed. Every physical contact between Carl and Negan has been so sparse until now, so heavy with meaning, that this panic attack/hug still feels a bit too easy for me. But I didn't know how else to make the story progress and, even now, I still don't know what else I could have put as a filler to move the plot along. At least people have told me they like the hug so I'm comforted by the thought that even if *I* don't like it, other people still do.

“Hey. Who are you?” he barks. The feel of Negan’s fingertips against his jaw is strange. He is used to Shane’s hands. Big, calloused hands clasping the back of his neck or slapping him playfully over the head. Hands that locked around his throat and wrists when he trained him to fight. Hands that wrapped around his own when he taught him how to hold a gun and shoot. He knows Shane’s hands more than he knows his mother’s or father’s. Those were the hands that molded him, shaped him, turned him into who he is now. He doesn’t know how he feels about Negan’s hands, his long and thin fingers that the man likes to hide under leather gloves to better grip the handle of his baseball bat. These hands are foreign to Carl. But then again, it’s not like he’s got anyone else left. “I’m Negan,” Carl answers obediently. “That’s damn right. You’re Negan. And Negan’s got nothing to be ashamed of. So stop hiding your eye like a pussy and fucking own it. You took a bullet to the head and you survived. Anyone who’s got a problem with that, you have my permission to kick their ass. Got it?” Then, when Carl doesn’t answer fast enough, Negan’s hand tightens its grip, forcing Carl to relax his jaw to avoid pain. “I said, did you get it?” “Yes, sir.” Negan scrutinizes him, looking for a lie, or a flicker of doubt. When he finds none, he releases him but doesn’t lean back, staying so close to Carl that his head starts to spin from the smell of him, peppery and sour and animal-like. Negan never made direct physical contact with him before, not without layers of leather between them, not until he pressed Lucille's handle between his fingers. Now, to have the man's bare hands on him, to be so physically close to him without the threatening length of the bat between them, it throws Carl off his axis. Unaware of his confusion, Negan keeps going, “I don’t want to see that bandage again. And tie your hippie hair back. You just made the rest of the guys piss themselves back there, which is the only way you’ll survive this place. Shane’s not here anymore. You’re on your own, so you need to make sure that everyone else is too scared of you to even think about starting shit. You can’t afford to look weak. You get me?”

This was really the moment I was building to, that pivotal scene in chapter 1 that starts the whole of part 2. Shane is gone. Negan has now replaced him as the most important person in Carl's life. And it's now Negan's turn to mold Carl into who he wants. Shane wanted a soldier but a quiet one. He taught Carl to be invisible and to follow orders silently. Negan, however, is, like in everything he does, showy. He doesn't want Carl to be quiet or invisible. He wants him loud and proud and with his scarred face on full display. This, of course, is directly linked to what the scar means for Negan: it's a proof of what Carl did for him, saving his life and sacrificing his own; it's the visual symbol of Carl's loyalty for him, as well as the mark of Carl's resilience. Of course Negan wants Carl to show it proudly.

Conclusion; tldr: This chapter is very much Negan telling Carl that things will be different now that Shane is gone, but that Carl isn't alone in spite of this. He has Negan, and Negan will watch out for him, but Carl also needs to make an effort. Negan is fully aware that Sanctuary is a dangerous place filled with dangerous people, because he built it that way. Gone are the days of Carl hugging the walls, avoiding the market place, and being a loner. Negan wants Carl to embrace his place as a Savior of Sanctuary and by his side.

You can read the commentary for the next chapter here.

[quinloki]

Now you've got me thinking about Shsnks using you to keep Marco compliant. You're on the ship too, but treated well (for a captive) as long as Marco listens.

Ohhhhh I love this.

Cw: gods uh, coercion, imprisonment, yandere, non con, dub con, collaring, threats of violence, mdni, dark dark content.

>.>

Shanks had mentioned you, at the start, if Marco was good he’d keep you safe. Nothing would harm you. To be good Marco had to just accept things, not try to run or anything like that.

He agreed, and he tried, but missing you was a terrible pain all it’s own, and he couldn’t release the desire to run from Shanks, not entirely. His mind wandering to you and the memories he was already fearing would fade, even when the red-head was showing him the sweetest of pleasures.

One day Shanks wakes him up, gently with a wide warm smile on his face.

“Wear the bracelet,” he says, honeyed words smoothing over Marco’s morning confusion. “We’ll take the collar off and go out on deck.”

Time outside was a rare treat, but Marco didn’t question it. Slipping on the sea stone bracelet, he sat up and let Shanks remove the collar. Care was taken to keep it from marring his skin, but in the event it did Shanks would grant him a second without any sea stone at all - not that a chance for escape was included in that.

Shanks has Marco walk ahead of him, opening the door to the hall that led outside. Marco didn’t reach for doors unprompted, even in the short time comparatively that he’d been a “guest” on Shanks’ ship. He’d lost a hand that way, even if only temporarily.

The door to the deck is opened and the warmth of the sun on Marco’s face isn’t enough to soothe the terror in his stomach.

You’re new the bow of the ship, laugh carrying on the wind as Limejuice and Yassop regale you with whatever stories they deem fit. He can’t even muster rage, fear takes hold too harshly with Shanks’ hand on his arm.

“They’ll be safer here than on that island. Without you there marines and pirates alike could end up doing all manner of nefarious things and I… simply couldn’t bear the thought of that.”

His lies are so sweet, but Marco knows better. Knows Shanks caught on, knows that his feelings toward you hadn’t waned. Knew that he was desperate to find a way back to you.

Shanks pulls the bracelet off Marco’s wrist smiling up at him. He didn’t need to limit Marco directly anymore. The truth of the words didn’t even need to be spoken.

Marco couldn’t heal others the way he could himself, the healing power of the Phoenix was much less when extending beyond his own self.

“Despite what you might think, I don’t have any issues sharing. Especially with how much they mean to you.” Shanks explains, and there’s no layer of deception. “With time they might even become just as important to me, eh? So let’s all get along.”

And maybe it goes smooth for a while.

Maybe it’s not so bad.

Shanks makes sure the island is safe.

Marco gets to see you and spend time with you, and you have your own cabin for the two of you. The crew is so nice to you, but you know something is wrong. Marco can’t hide it from you, you two know one another far too well.

You piece the puzzle together yourself, and also the dilemma, because Shanks’ observation haki is terrifying in its capacity. There’s no way to safely plan between yourselves. You can’t even plan in your own mind because solidifying your choices could telegraph them.

But realization alone is enough, and the shift is enough to break the fantasy, and one night the rules are set for both of you.

Bound beneath him, you and Marco are both collared, a short lead connecting your collars. Your beloved is buried deep inside of you, but it’s Shanks who is thrusting into Marco, controlling you both.

You comfort, your pleasure, your pain, it’s all his to give or withhold. Harm will never befall whoever defies him, he will always punish the other, and how severe will be only for him to know. His limbs will regrow, but the agony could last hours before Shanks lets him heal.

And you? He doesn’t need you to be anything but alive, and there’s not much you need to fill that definition.

But oh your cries are sweet, oh so sweet, and he’d rather give you both pleasure and comfort, more than anything else. So be sure to behave, and don’t test his convictions.