#i like putting mishanks in situations

[manofbeskar]

i always think about how interesting it is for mihawk to keep saying he wants to live a peaceful life, but he has never once passed up an opportunity to run into danger. like his past of hunting marines, and then getting excited when he was getting hunted by marines again after marineford. he moved to a war-torn island inhabited by violent humandrills. he sought out shanks daily for at least a decade for duels. sure he has calming hobbies like gardening, but his actions show him as a man who lives for exciting places and people

i also think sometimes about the possibility that mihawk thought of (and still thinks) of shanks as the only real option for the pirate king. mihawk doesn't care to have the title himself despite being one of the leading pirates at the time (since the golden pirate age had barely started) and standing quite a good chance. compared to shanks, mihawk has more experience leading a grand line voyage. shanks then would have no experience leading a crew or successfully charting a voyage to the grand line himself. mihawk saw shanks's potential for greatness and believed in it, duelled him every day and watched his power grow stronger—to the point of shanks even developing a haki that directly opposes his own (and being the only known user of it so far, so there's a possibility he invented it from how much time he was spending with mihawk?) as roger's son, maybe mihawk expected that, while shanks wasn't ready at the time to find the one piece, that he will be in the future. he's helped shanks grow a reputation (since shanks got famous from how often he was fighting mihawk), grow in power (anti-observation haki and improved swordsmanship over the years). he's watched shanks's crew grow over the years (since there's a chance he might've known shanks before he even recruited his first crewmate)

the big betrayal comes when shanks gave up his arm because of his belief in luffy being able to be pirate king someday. because to mihawk, the title has always belonged to shanks. he's bet everything on him. he's the one who sought him out daily for a decade. he's the one who's helped him hone his skills. he's the one who believed in him when most of the world didn't even know who he was. and now shanks threw away all of that for a little boy? so mihawk stopped duelling him because there's no point if shanks isn't as invested in this as he is. but shanks still had hope mihawk would eventually return, possibly because he may not be aware of how much mihawk believed in his potential >> when mihawk came back with luffy's poster, shanks for some reason still thinks mihawk wants to fight him, even though mihawk just says he lost interest many years ago

mihawk also refuses to fight shanks on other people's orders. and even when he was fighting shanks regularly, despite their duels being so wracked with power that whitebeard said the grand line would shake, somehow shanks never leaves with so much as a scratch on his person. didn't whitebeard even say he thought his scars were given by mihawk? and yet as far as we know, mihawk and shanks have never had any real intention to hurt each other, and have never done so. mihawk left marineford after being ordered to attack shanks, and then questioned buggy for thinking he would attack shanks (and the other emperors) for him >> if even a little part of him still believes in shanks's potential to be pirate king, there's really no reason for him to hinder his progress. adding on that, as shanks doesn't seem to have any interest in competing for mihawk's title of greatest swordsman, mihawk also has no interest in competing for his as the pirate king. they've avoided each other's goals the whole time

mihawk also tells zoro "when a man like you throws away his pride, it is always for someone else" (when he begs mihawk to train him so he can protect luffy). maybe i'm reading too much into this one, but i always thought it was an interesting detail to throw in that mihawk apologises to shanks when he decides to attack luffy. he apologises even though shanks is not there yet, and specifically apologises because he is not going to hold back. it almost implies he has promised shanks to hold back on luffy and his crew—more likely that shanks might've requested this of mihawk when they celebrated his bounty than mihawk volunteering to do so lol. mihawk cares a lot about pride. when he first fights zoro, he humiliates him by not going all out and using kogatana. he apologises to mock zoro. he's cocky and prideful. mihawk doesn't apologise for doing anything because he feels he has nothing to be sorry for. he does whatever he wants, and everyone lets him because he's strong. yet his apology to shanks at marineford could imply he agreed to stand back. and his sincere apology to a man who isn't there, about being unable to continue holding back his power... idk to me that reads as something mihawk would consider shameful. mihawk enjoys being powerful and unstoppable, yet here he is apologising for that because of shanks —who again isn't even there to hear it!

this even ties into my "theory" (i say theory in quotation marks bc honestly it's more of a hope than something i seriously believe in) that mihawk may eventually leave the cross guild and join up with the red hair pirates—either because he's secretly been their swordsman the whole time, and why the RHP has never had a swordsman on the crew (in terms of rank like zoro, not just people who wield swords) or he feels this is his best option—to find the one piece. because if he stays with the cross guild, he'll have to find the OP for buggy who he thinks is a fucking idiot. if he has to find the OP no matter what, mihawk might prefer to spend his efforts on the same man he's believed in from the very start. also just think about how everything we know about mishanks's rivalry is all hearsay from other characters and behind-the-scenes stuff, and we haven't seen either of them go all out yet. just imagine when we finally get that, it's them teaming up. the world's most legendary rivalry teaming up to find the most coveted treasure. i think that'd scare everyone, pirate and marine alike (and not to throw in non-canon stuff here but i mean... mishanks vs the straw hats is already a battle that exists in one of the games 👀 )

and to tie it back to the first paragraph here. because mihawk can't run in the opposite direction of what excites him. and he has spent the past decade trying to find someone who excites him more than shanks. and he has very clearly failed. marineford ended with mihawk being excited to return to his past of when marines used to chase him, and maybe he could be excited too at the prospect of returning to the only man who ever made him feel alive

idk idk i have a lot of thoughts about them!!!! you can tell i'm very brainrotful about them!!!

[andaniellight]

idk if it's been brought up before or not, but "Chandelier" by Will Paquin is MiShanks-coded

[theseventhstar]

Mishanks Soul Eater AU concepts! As Always read more for rambles!

-Mihawk will only turn into a weapon for those who are worth of wielding him

-Shanks obviously had to fight teeth and nails to obtain his (basically unique) privilege when he was a student

-Obviously for Angst TM the moment Shanks loses his arm Mihawk stops deeming him worth and he refuses to turn for him ever again

-Mihawk also has very lose morals that put him at risk of becoming a kishin, at some point Shanks had to force turn him back to human during a fight, which, as you can imagine, wasn't very appreciated

-I fully believe Mihawk would refuse to turn over the pettiest shit like Shanks finishing his bottle of red and refusing to admit it.

-When they're cooperative they actually get their job done in like 4 seconds (keyword: WHEN)

-After the left arm gate, I imagine they get put in a situation TM where they're forced to collab and Mihawk realizes how no other wielder will ever come close to Shanks in his eyes.

[reineydraws]

For the mishanks body swap au, how would luffy/zoro/perona react? How would other people they know react?

hi! this got long so i'll put it under a cut, and there aren't really any drawings since that's a bit more effort and time i don't have rn 😅 but i wanted to answer this!

the people i cover are:

benn & yasopp

perona

zoro

luffy (and rayleigh, kinda)

kid luffy

buggy & croc

kid uta

thanks for the ask!!! :)

this is how i had some of shanks's crew react:

i think yasopp and benn, who have likely known him the longest and best and who have probably seen the most of mishanks together, would recognize mihawk's body language, even when it's on shanks. i also think ppl who spend a lot of time together and/or love each other a lot pick up each others' mannerisms, so benn and yasopp have probably already seen their captain exhibit little tells here and there that clearly come from mihawk. when mihawk himself somehow ends up in their captain's body, it's weirdly familiar for them, and they realize it's 'cuz they're not just seeing echoes of the swordsman in shanks, but the real thing.

for perona, i imagine shanks would roll up to kuraigana thinking like, "i should try to be like mihawk so as not to alarm them, esp 'cuz hawky probably would rather they not know" but when he steps off hitsugibune, he waves to perona and greets, "perona," and she's immediately like, "who are you!" she noticed that shanks buttoned the shirt he picked out of mihawk's coffin-crate wrong, and mihawk would never wear that shirt with those pants like that! and she thought maybe mihawk was having an off day until "mihawk" waved in greeting and called her by name. at this point, shanks is sweating lol.

zoro, i think he'd probably notice something is Off right away (shanks continues the charade bc he explains the situation to perona and perona thinks it's hilarious and wants to see how long zoro goes without noticing) but wouldn't really care until "mihawk" draws yoru for some training. zoro would scowl, annoyed but not alarmed bc perona's not alarmed, and he'd be like, "okay, that's it. mihawk would never hold yoru like that, he keeps at least another hand's-width distance in his grip for better support, what the hell," and shanks is just like, of course i got the sword thing wrong. of course his sword student would notice. 🤦🏻‍♀️ mihawk would only train interesting and competent people, and that's luffy's swordsman! c'mon shanks.

(i am a firm believer that shanks is the only other person that's ever been allowed to handle yoru in the time she's been mihawk's sword, and as an extension of that, i think it'd be cute if he held her in a slightly different grip bc shanks's style when using yoru is a little more hilt-heavy and defensive. he hasn't done this since losing his arm though, so it's actually nostalgic to be able to wield her with both hands.)

(i say this but i suppose, like with all body swap au's, there might also be an element of muscle memory involved. in that case, zoro probably confronts shanks when shanks reaches for beer instead of wine at dinner. but i like the sword thing better haha.)

luffy? luffy and mishanks aren't interacting in canon rn so i can't imagine where he'd meet up with them body-swapped, unless one of them goes to rayleigh at sabaody for help. (i say "one of them" but while shanks would be alone, poor mihawk would definitely have the red-hair pirates as a peanut gallery following along lol.) in this case, i think luffy (and rayleigh) would just laugh. like, a lot. so much.

if it was mihawk (looking like shanks), luffy would probably ask him a lot of questions regarding zoro and proclaiming his time is almost up as wgs, and then hang out with the rhp to catch up, show off his improved abilities a little, and tell yasopp about how usopp's been doing. with shanks, i think they'd catch up and then end up horsing around, and it would be extra funny bc from the outside it looks like dracule mihawk is having an eating contest with strawhat luffy. rayleigh will take photos for posterity.

if it's kid luffy and this happens before luffy's a pirate, i think luffy would probably ask mihawk-as-shanks what being a pirate is like, and also stories about being the wgs. and mihawk would tell him about fighting marines and his coffin boat and luffy would get a little starry-eyed but also maybe want to fight him lol.

other people they know... i can't help but imagine what kind of fuckery shanks would come up with if he rolled up to karai barai looking like mihawk. 😂 buggy and croc would be so unnerved.

i think shanks would take the opportunity to fuck with buggy a little by bringing up inciting incidents between them from when they were kids, like their really stupid arguments, and buggy would be caught between arguing back heatedly, creeped out that mihawk knows and is smiling all i-know-something-you-don't-know at him *shudders*, and wondering if the weird amount of knowledge on buggy's childhood mihawk has means that mihawk and shanks are fucking or something. (they are, but buggy doesn't know that. mihawk is a little annoyed at shanks for getting this revealed 'cuz he was holding onto their relationship for a more dramatic reveal if it ever presented itself, and he wanted the source of the blackmail he had on buggy to be a little more enigmatic. now, he can't creep buggy out bc he'll just assume all his blackmail material is from shanks. ugh.)

croc would be a little baffled that "mihawk" has suddenly started interacting with the clown way more than he used to, before realizing there's something deeply wrong with "mihawk". he seems too personable, too trusting, too... smile-y. it's weird. he doesn't like it. he is forced to go to buggy about this when his own henchmen don't seem to know what else to do about it, and they end up relictantly working together to find out what caused this personality change. when it eventually gets figured out that "mihawk" is actually shanks, buggy is livid and crocodile's already thinking about what this might mean for the cross guild, if the red force is going to come to karai barai, if that will cause problems for what he's trying to do, and of course, how he can use this situation to blackmail mihawk in the future. it's annoying but he can admit it's also kinda funny.

totally self-indulgent addition, but kid uta would take the oportunity to play dress-up with her dads since they've now effectively switched fashion senses. both let her, bc they are both charmed by how happy this makes her.

[giurochedadomani]

Something, something, wip, something, something, a more serious take on the mishanks reconciliation, something, something, it's unintentionally hilarious to write misunderstandings in the middle of a situation that is quite angsty.

“Shanks”. 

Benn was right, probably. Certainly. For sure. He was right about the whole, trying to make it work with Mihawk without talking things out first. It's kind of Shanks’ fault, really, the fact that things have gotten so carried out before he dared to breach the subject. 

“...It's just that you treat me like I’m made of glass, kind of? Like…”, he trails off, not sure how to state in cold facts what he perceives as Mihawk’s general unease in his presence. “With the, the migraine. Or the other day, at the bar”, or that first day, the moment he suggested going for a walk alone. The words start tumbling down in a rush the more he thinks about it. “And I get it, I do. I know you, uh, have your reservations about my current situation, but—”. 

“Shanks”. 

“I don’t think that’s fair for me, either, because it always feels as if I have to make it up to you for some unknown slight and. And. What I'm trying to say is that I know that you’re like, personally offended because I don’t have an arm, but that is much more your problem than it is mine, and while you make up your mind about—”. 

Mihawk’s hand is clammy when he puts it over his mouth, or perhaps he’s just sweaty. In the face of the swordsman’s visceral anger, Shanks almost follows the first instinct which tells him to lick it. 

Instead, he breathes laboriously through Mihawk's improvised gag until the other deems him calm enough to speak. 

“—I really, really do not need your pity”, he finishes the moment the swordsman’s hand stops silencing him, and faces the ensuing glare without so much as a twitch. 

But then the other’s shoulders’ slump and he looks… Dejected? Kind of sad. Helpless, even, even if it feels wrong to describe Mihawk as such. 

Shanks cannot, for the love of all that’s beautiful in the Grand Line, actually parse the swordsman’s behavior. He’s the one who crossed an ocean and offered him a metaphorical olive branch in the form of Luffy’s poster. If he regretted being on speaking terms with him, why has he kept coming back? What, did he expect him to have grown out his arm again, all of the sudden? 

He has even vaguely contemplated the hypothesis that Mihawk might want to get him into some kind of trap for the Marines, that the whole reconciliation is some sort of ruse, yet not even Benn buys the idea the times he’s discussed it with him. It doesn’t sound like Mihawk, agreeing to come back to Shanks just for the sake of doing the tedious, roundabout and kind of humiliating work of playing honeypot, yet— 

“...You invited me over for a drink”, Mihawk starts slowly. Weirdly insecure, for some reason? Punctuating the words as if he’s talking in a language he doesn’t totally get and wants to make sure that he’s being understood. Shanks nods, encouraging. “That then turned into a visit to Robelle, which then turned into—” us cuddling drunk on board, “me staying overnight”. Another nod. A bit puzzled, he sees how Mihawk… hesitates? And seems to think through the words before settling in: “I wasn’t sure you’d want to do that sort of thing with me. Again”, with a kind of intensity Shanks would personally reserve for relaying the location of Laugh Tale. 

…

“What, go on a date?”, he blurts, stopping on his tracks when Mihawk.

Stares.  

[beanghostprincess]

I have this thought for quite some time, coming mostly from my twitter and Reddit interactions.

I kinda love the amount of hate I see towards Buggy. People hate how Oda loves this clown and keeps bringing him up, how he is getting more connections to story, how he gets that high bounty. They hate him because he doesn’t have powers, or isn’t smart.

And the fact that so many of them try to cope by putting Mihawk in place of Buggy is incredible. Mihawk is not some lost friend who is having insanely deep contention to shanks, BUGGY IS.

But I guess he’s not “cool and powerful” enough and they don’t get why shanks could be friends with “someone like that” (actual take I saw a lot).

I can’t wait for buggy to be more important just to see everyone lose their minds. If he gets to laugh tale, the best day of my life. And I’m not even that big on Buggy

These takes make me so angry because they're just??? Not true at all??? Most of these opinions come from the general audience and dudebros who don't take the time to analyze Buggy and just accept his character the way other characters see him. Instead of stopping for a second and thinking about why he does what he does and why Oda likes him so much, they just assume he's the lame clown everyone in the OP world thinks he is. Which is, in my opinion, extremely sad. And you don't even have to analyze shit?? Like, okay, I get it. Chapter 1082 is crucial for his character and perhaps if you don't read that you might think he's useless and Oda uses him too much for what he actually does for the story (bullshit, by the way, I'm just trying to find a reasoning behind their shitty takes). But after reading 1082??????????? Okay???? Whatever. Buggy haters get on my nerves, not because they don't like Buggy, but because they don't understand him.

Saying Buggy isn't smart is uhhh. It's just not true. The fact that he's constantly placed next to the biggest, most feared, and strategic pirates in the world just doesn't help him at all to prove that, tbh. I'd be scared af if I had gone through all the things he has, honestly. Like- People- People just ignore Water 7 and the whole thing with Usopp being a coward but wanting to be more than that because of his dream and that being scared doesn't necessarily mean something bad??? I think people just forget entire arcs and scenes to post these things. Buggy might not be the bravest but he understands the pirate world better than anybody and he's genuinely smart, he's just constantly placed in situations that force his character to be scared af (for obvious reasons) and everyone looks down on him for that. Which makes total sense for his character because his whole thing is feeling inferior and being compared to others when he has many talents himself. He isn't dumb, he just has the worst luck in the whole fucking world. Or the best. It sort of depends.

I think he lost his bravery and sense of adventure when he gave up on his dream, but now that he's being more confident in the fact that he could achieve it, we will see him using his full potential. And I am so, so excited for that. The speech he gives in chapter 1082 changed my life and it's easily my favorite chapter from the whole manga. I really, really hope they do something with that. I want him to have all the wonderful scenes he deserves.

And, okay, about the Mihawk thing: I don't agree with that that much? Like, okay, I can see people often making Mishanks relationship more than what it actually is, but tbf, Mihawk is barely a character here because Oda hasn't given him screentime of his own. He's always there for another character (Shanks, Zoro, Cross guild, etc). What we do know about him is that he went all his way to find Shanks and tell him about Luffy?? Like. Okay, babe, I know what you are. What we do know is that Shanks and him have something going on and I would really like to know WHAT exactly. I'm not even a huge Mishanks shipper but I completely understand why people like it. I prefer other ships like Shuggy and Cross Guild but, well, I don't think they use Mihawk to take over Buggy's place. I think they just want Mihawk to have some story because Oda barely gives him one. But I can see where you're coming from, though. I can see a lot of people using Shuggy's dynamic for them sometimes and it bothers me because these two have their own thing and they could easily just?? Ship both things??

People saying they don't understand why Shanks would be friends with somebody like Buggy is so funny to me, because we barely know anything about Shanks either, lmfao. He's the cool and powerful role model of the main character. He's literally the most cliché thing in the whole wide world, shut up. And I absolutely love him and he has wayyy more personality than these types of characters usually have, but I am tired of seeing takes like this as if Buggy wasn't one of the most interesting characters in this manga. But, also, Shanks would just?? Kick these people's asses for this shit. Saying you don't understand why Shanks would be friends with Buggy is just admitting you think the same way people in-world think about him, which is just admitting you don't understand his character. At least people in-world think that way because they don't know Buggy's story. You know Buggy's story. You should know why Shanks is friends with him and cares so much about him. But also?? Even if Buggy truly was a fucking loser with no talent and no dreams. Saying Shanks needs a reason for being friends with him is so dumb. Have you considered that... Sometimes... Most of the time... People don't have a reason for being friends with somebody and you don't need to find a reason for somebody's love?? Like- Perhaps Shanks just fucking loves Buggy because that's his childhood friend and he doesn't care about his abilities or talents. Perhaps he just loves him for who he is. I don't think it's that hard to understand, honestly.

You're not that big on Buggy, but I am. I really am. He's probably getting a tragic ending with Shanks but I do not care. If he ever gets to Laugh Tale or- Or if he ends up believing in himself finally. If he gets closure with him (which he will get, because Oda loves these two too much to leave them without closure). I will be the happiest person in the whole world. My mind and body say "Luffy king of the pirates!!" but my heart cries of happiness every time I think about Buggy being the king. I love him so fucking much.

[alenseress]

Okay I thought thoughts and I really want to fixate on some horror for the month so here's the modern mishanks horror au breakdown

Mihawk and Shanks grew up and went to school in the same town on a gloomy coast. Never actually interacted, I mean, beyond small town casualty.

Shanks graduates and dives head first into the fishing industry instead of college and lives completely off-shore, inspired by Roger, who at some point retires and takes on the local lighthouse.

In the meantime, Mihawk stays put. He's Ray's kid, who's the town's preacher but more in an idgaf way. They come from a long religious line but by the time it comes to Ray, the church on their property is a complete ruin and Ray fulfills more of a governor's role than a spiritual guide. They're an okay family, actually.

Ray passes from cancer pretty young and Rodger follows soon. By that time Mihawk already has teen Perona and Shanks has already lost his arm, work and life long passion. So, he goes back home for Roger's funeral, learns that Mihawk is now kinda the town's phantom of the coast with his enormous empty property and the lighthouse, so he takes on the lighthouse for "the full recovery and rehabilitation period".

He asks Mihawk one day randomly, as his basically only immediate neighbor, to help him dye his hair and they kinda just bond after it becomes a regular occurrence.

Only kids present from the main-er cast are Perona, Zoro and Luffy per phone calls.

Perona is, again, Mihawk's kinda weird alternative kid, 16-17 something years of age, lived her whole life in the town

Zoro (14-15) volunteers to move back to town with his divorced dad after Kuina (his sister in this) has the stair accident and requires constant home care. They all hope for a quick recovery but the situation doesn't change even after a year (by the time of Shanks' arrival). So Zoro, even tho he loves his sister very much, becomes kind of a demotivated glass child. So Mihawk makes a deal — Zoro can come in and tweak with Ray's old abandoned bike projects any time and if he gets one of them moving, he can do with it whatever he feels like on Mihawk's enormous empty property under Mihawk's watchful eye. And that's he basically becomes the extra child in the house

Luffy (13) lives with Garp very much far away from the action but Shanks and Garp (coast guard his whole life) kinda have a long history of Shanks being a bastard, so at some point he became the unspoken uncle mentor hero family friend. Luffy calls him a lot because he feels that Shanks is lonely and sad for now

Haven't decided on the horror aspect yet but I'm getting there

[lockes-woods]

Stuck Chapter 22

A/N: Just a heads up I wasn't able to fit angsty/possessive Mishanks in this chapter. This chapter lowkey ended up being almost 4,000 words and I didn't want to make it longer than that. It also ends on a bit of a cliffhanger; so if you'd like to avoid that I would wait til chapter 23 comes out to read. Final warning there is heavy drinking in this chapter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“There’s no fucking way,” Himiko laughed at Sanji’s retelling of their notorious regular’s fall.

“Yes, he literally fell over nothing and spilled his ‘extra extra hot’ latte all over himself. He then started screaming because no one helped him up. He threatened to sue the coffee shop for the burns.”

“Damn, maybe karma does exist; I’ve had to remake his latte at least twice every shift I’ve worked there since I’ve started.” Himiko said, applying setting powder, “I’m not happy he’s hurt, but maybe he’ll finally stop coming.”

“I hope so. If it’s not his order, it’s him trying to learn every girl who works with us’ schedule.” Sanji said from his spot perched on the closed toilet seat in Vivi’s guest bathroom.

“Yeah, there’s no denying he’s a creep.” Himiko agreed, finishing her makeup by applying her lipstick.

“Shit,” Sanji said staring down at his phone.

“What?” Himiko asked as she put away her makeup.

“Um, do you know that Luffy’s bringing his friends from the poly sci program?”

“Sorta, I said he could bring whoever he likes. Why?” Himiko said looking through her accessory bag.

“Um, he invited Ace,” Sanji said, showing her a picture of them pregaming at Luffy and Zoro’s place.

“Okay?” Himiko replied, putting on her dangly star earrings.

“Won’t that be awkward?” Sanji asked.

“Sanji, we fucked once almost 3 years ago when I first moved to the city it’s fine,” Himiko responded, giving herself a once over. She was wearing a two-piece dark blue-almost black velvet dress that had white and silver stars all over it. The first piece was a sleeveless dress that hugged her in all the right places and had a sweetheart neckline. The second piece was a wide collar that connected down to billowy sleeves made from the same printed fabric. It was slightly shorter than what she was used to, but she had to admit that her legs looked amazing especially because of the lift her chunky Mary Jane was giving her.

“I don’t know he flirts with you every time you’re together,” Sanji said standing up from his seat.

“He’s a fuckboy, Sanji, that’s what fuckboys do,” Himiko argued, as they stood side-by-side.

“I guess I just hope him flirting with you doesn’t affect your whole DILF situation,” Sanji said.

“Why would it?” Himiko asked.

“Aren’t you exclusive with the DILF’s?” he asked.

“Not exactly we never really nailed down whether or not we’re exclusive. Last time we talked about it we agreed it was too early for that kind of commitment. We’re more in a wait-and-see-if-it-comes-up kind of situation.” She explained.

“Okay, just let me know if he makes you uncomfortable at all,” Sanji said as they posed for a mirror selfie.

“Okay,” Himiko agreed as she snapped a photo and posted it on her Instagram and snap story. After they were done, they grabbed the empty glasses of wine and joined Nami and Vivi in the living room. A smile stretched across her face as she took in their outfits. They had matching two-piece outfits in black and white. They had swapped tops so that their outfits were mix-matched. The outfits consisted of a tight long-sleeved lace crop top paired with a tight skirt and heels.

“Aw, you guys look great,” Himiko greeted them.

“Thanks, hopefully the matching outfits will make us look like a couple,” Vivi said.

“It sucks that every time we go out it doesn’t occur to men that you’re a fem for fem couple.” Himiko agreed.

“I don’t know I’m hoping it dissuades enough men so that they don’t bother us, but also leaves enough to buy us drinks,” Nami said.

“I mean tonight’s on me, so you don’t have to worry about that,” Himiko replied.

“Yeah, Himiko’s Daddy tonight,” Sanji said jokingly, causing Himiko to roll her eyes. She pulled out her phone to check the time when a text came in from Zoro saying that they were leaving downtown and heading up to meet them in center city.

“Kay the guys are leaving Zoro and Luffy’s apartment now.” She relayed.

“Do we want to do one more round of shots before heading out? It’ll probably take us just as long to get there since 3/4 of us are wearing heels.” Nami said.

“Yeah, it’s also for the best we get there at the same time. We don’t want a repeat of last time where we went in separate and not all of the guys got to go in right away.” Himiko agreed.

“Ugh, don’t remind me, me and Usopp had to wait over an hour in the cold because they were at the ‘male capacity’” Sanji sighed.

“At least we’re all over 21 now, so it’s not like we have to worry about being caught,” Vivi said.

“True,” Himiko agreed as Nami lined up four shots of cheap whiskey. They each picked up one before toasting.

“To the DILFs,” Nami said raising her shot. Himiko rolled her eyes playfully at Vivi and Sanji seconded Nami before she took the shot. Himiko bit her tongue to stop herself from grimacing at the alcohol. She always hated the cinnamon aftertaste. It always reminded her of the stomach aches she used to get after eating too many red hots as a kid.

“Everyone ready?” Sanji asked, grabbing his jacket.

“Yeah,” Himiko said sliding on her jacket and grabbing her clutch. The quartet made their way down to the street and headed three blocks north to the club. Nami and Himiko led the way as Sanji walked arm-in-arm with Vivi behind them. Vivi could normally handle walking in heels, but the combination of booze and poor city maintenance of the sidewalks left her stumbling.

“So, how are you doing?” Nami asked, bumping shoulders with Himiko.

“Good, I’m so happy to finally be done with this semester.” She replied.

“How are the DILFs?” Nami asked.

“Good, Shanks has off tomorrow so I’m going to head up to help him get everything sorted and packed for the trip,” Himiko answered.

“You’re leaving Sunday morning, right?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Himiko nodded, “We’re going to the hospital gala the night before,”

“You’re going separate to that right?” Nami asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be going as Zoro’s date. Mihawk said it was fine as long as we are discreet. We already agreed I’ll be taking a separate car back to their place so we can leave first thing in the morning.” She answered, “How have you been?”

“Good, I’m also elated that the semester is over. Though I am going back to working 5-6 days a week until winter breaks over.” Nami answered.

“Taking advantage of all the rich people’s generous tips?” Himiko asked as they approached the line into the club.

“Always,” Nami answered with a smile, “Though I do wish I saw you more, I feel like I have to make an appointment to see you.”

“Aw, I’m sorry Nom,” Himiko said sincerely. “I promise I’ll try to make more time for us.”

“I’m gonna hold you to it Ko,” Nami said as they crossed the street. They easily spotted the guy’s group by Luffy flailing his arms to get their attention. Himiko bit her lip when she spotted Ace in the back of the cluster. She could only see his hat from her vantage point, but there was no mistaking his cowboy hat.

“Hey, guys!” Luffy shouted as they got into earshot of each other. They configured themselves in groups of 3 as quickly as you would expect 9 buzzed 20-somethings to take. Himiko tried to brace herself as she got paired up with Sabo and Ace in the end of the line. Ace’s gaze hadn’t left her since they arrived.

“How’s your girlfriend doing Sabo?” Himiko asked politely as they waited.

“Koala’s good she has one more final tomorrow, or she’d be here.” He responded.

“That sucks,” She replied sympathetically.

“Yeah, we’ll probably go out again tomorrow night before she has to head home for the break.” He responded.

“How have you been?”  Ace asked, pulling Himiko’s attention to him. She bit her lip to hold back a shiver. His voice was deeper than she remembered.

“Fine,” She answered, “Just happy to finally be on winter break. How are you?”

“Good, I’m in the accelerated program at the law school. So, I don’t really get a break.”  He responded as they made their way up the line.

“That’s rough,” Himiko replied.

“Yeah, but I knew what I was doing when applied. I know if I took the standard three years, I’d get restless during breaks.” He replied. Their attention snapped to the front of the line before Himiko had to make any more small talk. Himiko peered around the line and saw the commotion. A group of at least 6 girls were being turned away. Even from Himiko’s vantage point, she could easily see that they were underage. If their baby faces weren’t a giveaway them opting not to wear jackets was. Not using the coat check was a mistake only teenagers would make on a 20-degree night. The line started to move quickly once the girls realized there was no way they were getting in. Before Himiko knew it the bouncer was letting them in after charging Ace and Sabo.

They hurried to check their coats before climbing the stairs up to the club’s main floor. The ground floor of the club had three bars meshed with the walls. A DJ was occupying the last wall up on a stage. There were standing tables scattered near the bars around the perimeter of the dance floor. That was all standard for center city warehouse clubs, what made this club special was the raised lofts above the first floor that were occupied with different games. One was dedicated to darts, another had mini bowling, but the last was the reason that Himiko always came back. It held three pool tables where she had hustled the most money she’d ever gotten as a pool shark.

Himiko led the way through the crowd to the bar that was closest to the stairs leading to the pool loft. She spotted the Sanji as he raised his arm to wave them over. She could see his mouth moving but couldn’t hear anything over the overwhelming beat of the bass. She handed Nami her card before she and Vivi headed to the bar with Zoro to get the first round of drinks. After the first two rounds of shots, Himiko switched to slipping on a rum and coke while the others continued to drink on. Vivi and Nami pulled her from the table to dance before she could finish her drink. She slid it to Luffy to watch it. She couldn’t contain her laugh as she saw him immediately down the drink. It had been so long since they had gone out together that she forgot that Luffy’s philosophy was that if he was going to watch a drink it was safest in his stomach. She grabbed Sanji’s hand who in turn grabbed Usopp’s hand as the couple dragged her to the dance floor. The group of five carved out a space on the dance floor as they rocked their bodies to the beat of the song. Himiko danced between Usopp and Sanji while Vivi and Nami danced together a few feet away. Himiko could feel the tension of the semester ease out of her muscles as she let loose with her friends. She danced freely for a while until her feet started to protest. She pulled back from the crowd on the dance floor and headed back to their table with Sanji. She debated whether she should drink until she no longer felt the pain in her feet or if she was done dancing for the night.

She opted to order another rum and coke before making her way up to the pool loft above them. She leaned over the railing on the side of the loft as she did a mental check on everyone in her group. She crossed Nami and Vivi off the list as she watched them continue to dance with each other. A smile tugged on her lips as she took them in, she was so happy that Nami found someone who made her happy. Her eyes roamed over the crowd until she spotted Usopp who had found someone else to dance with. Next, she spotted Zoro and Sanji making out in the corner drawing a huff of a laugh from her. She finally looked down and saw Sabo and Luffy at their table, she paused before glancing around for Ace. Before she could do a proper scan of the dance floor a voice interrupted from her left causing her to almost drop her drink.

“Looking for someone?” She heard him ask leaning against the railing next to her close enough that their arms were brushing together.

“What do you want Portgas?” She turned to ask him after she recovered from fright.

“Nothing,” he said looking down at her, “Just thought you might want some company while you make sure all your ducklings are in line.”

“So, you’ve just come up to keep me company?” she asked skeptically.

“Yeah, unless you want something else from me, sweetheart,” he answered smirking down at her.

“Yeah, no I’m too sober for that kinda mistake,” Himiko said shaking her head as she fixed her gaze on the crowd again.

“Ouch,” he said with a laugh, “I’ll have you know I’ve turned over a new leaf.”

“Oh, is that right?” she asked, doubt clear in her voice, as she looked up at him.

“Yes, I haven’t had a one-night stand for the entire fall semester,” Ace replied with a sense of pride clear in his voice.

“Congrats. Do you want a gold star for your effort?” she asked dryly.

“Sweetheart, I’d take just about anything you’d offer me,” He responded sincerely leaning down to her height so that his hat cast a shadow over both their faces. Himiko wasn’t sure if it was the booze, his charisma, or possibly a combination of both, but she actually felt herself start to unintentionally lean in.

“You just said you don’t have one-night stands anymore,” Himiko responded.

“That’s a streak I’d happily break for you,” he replied, making no move to pull back. She felt herself getting hot under his unwavering gaze.

“Oh, and what makes me so special?” she asked teasingly. She mostly said it to continue the volley of their conversation, but there was a small part of her that was genuinely curious why he always singled her out.

“Are you really going to make me say it?” he asked pulling back slightly, “Isn’t it enough just to know that I’ve been pining for you since the last time we were together?”

“Ace, it’s been almost three years, whatever torch you’ve been carrying for me has to be embers by now,” Himiko responded.

“You’d think that’d be true, but my biggest romantic fumble was not seriously pursuing you.” He replied, with a level of sincerity that Himiko didn’t know he possessed.

“There’s plenty of girls out there, why me?” she asked. They were now leaning so close together that they were sharing breaths.

“Only a fool would let go of someone as beautiful on the inside and out as you are.” He answered, their lips just barely grazing each other’s. His confession broke the single strand of resolve that was holding her back. She pressed up on her toes and closed the sliver of a gap between them. Her body reacted before her mind could process what was happening. He nipped at her bottom lip; she gasped in response allowing him to bully his tongue into her mouth. His hands rested firmly on her waist, pinning her between his chest and the railing. Her hand not holding her drink found its way up to the nape of his neck where she tugged at his hair pulling a deep groan from his chest. Himiko pressed a hand to his chest forcing them apart before he could deepen the kiss any further. Their breaths came out in light pants as they leaned their foreheads against each other.

“We can’t do this,” Himiko said looking up at him through her lashes.

“Why, not?” Ace asked making no movement to leave their embrace.

“How am I supposed to trust that you won’t spit the second after you cum?” she asked. She was shocked that she was able to even maintain this level of conversation. Between the kiss and alcohol, her brain was fuzzier than normal.

“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully.

“I don’t know if I can handle that kinda of emotional risk right now,” Himiko responded.

“Give me a chance, let me earn it.” He said bordering on begging.

“Earn it?” Himiko asked, pulling back.

“Yeah, I’ll play you in any game here and if I win you give me a chance,” Ace replied.

“And if you lose?” she asked.

“You can have anything you’d like from me,” he answered.

“Anything?” she clarified.

“Yes,” Ace answered.

“Even your hat?” she asked, gauging how serious he was over this proposition.

“Yes,” he answered without hesitation, “If I win, we go on a date, if you win you can have my hat.”

Himiko paused for a moment before throwing back the rest of her drink.

“Okay,” she conceded.

“Okay,” Ace confirmed with a smile. Without any other prompting, she walked in a straight a line as she could to the wall where the pool cues were kept. She wasn’t at her normal level of confidence. If she knew she’d be playing pool for a wager she wouldn’t have had as much to drink as she had had. She was relying solely on the muscle memory she had been building up since she was a kid.

“Do you want to break?” she asked Ace as he pulled off the rack from around the balls.

“Lady’s first,” he answered. Himiko nodded as she set up the cue ball. She took a deep breath as she lined up her first shot. She took one more deep breath in as she pulled back and released it as she hit the white ball. The familiar clinks of the balls bouncing off each other calmed her nerves. To her luck, she had sunk two striped balls and one solid ball. It was dumb but she always felt like luck was in her favor when she got to be striped.

“I’m keeping striped,” she informed Ace as she walked around the table and examined it. She opted to go for a lone striped ball first that was on the opposite side from the 8-ball. She let out a sigh of relief as the ball just barely dropped into the pocket. She sank one more ball before her luck left her. Her third attempt went nowhere; the ball she had tried to line up bounced against the side an inch away from the side pocket. The only silver lining was that she hadn’t hit any of the solid balls. She still had to sink three more striped balls and the 8-ball to beat Ace. That was unless Ace hit the 8-ball that was currently surrounded by solid balls. He took a strategic move and broke up the clump his balls surrounding the 8-ball. Himiko sighed as she missed again, allowing him to immediately have his turn again. He was able to sink two balls before he accidentally knocked one of her balls into a corner pocket. Himiko took a deep breath before lining up her next shot.

 A quiet had fallen over them, as their attention was fully focused on the game at hand. The steady beat of the music below was the only thing that could be heard. She was able to sink one ball on her first move, but her second shot didn’t lead anywhere. Even though she wasn’t sure what outcome she wanted she was determined to play to the best of her ability. In her tipsy mindset, it made perfect sense to leave it up to the fate of the game. She only had to sink one more ball and the 8-ball to win. She worried her bottom lip as Ace was able to hit two more of his balls into the pockets. He was now only one ball away from Himiko’s lead. The next few shots were throwaways for both of them. She was finally able to sink the last striped ball before turning her attention back to the 8-ball. She took a deep breath as she lined up the shot. It was going to be tricky because one of Ace’s balls was sitting in the way. She went for a risky maneuver that would be easy if she was sober, but incredibly hard in her current state. Her risk paid off as the ball bounced from one wall to the other and sunk the 8-ball and then one of Ace’s last two balls. By the time she looked up from the table Ace was passing her. He placed his hat on her head before making his way down to the main floor. Himiko quickly followed behind, but she immediately lost him in the crowd.

She circled back to the table where the crew was having another round of shots. Despite her better judgment she joined them and had a few more drinks to avoid the conflicted feelings brewing inside of her. It worked as the edge of her vision became fuzzy and she was once again dragged to the dance floor by Nami.

MASTER LIST

***

A deep groan escaped Himiko as she flinched away from the bright light of the sun shining through the window. She sat up from her pillow on the floor, aka Zoro’s stomach, and grimaced at the taste of her morning breath. She picked up her phone that was vibrating on the floor next to her. Her eyes immediately widened as she took in the missed texts from the DILFs, along with two missed calls from Shanks and a DM request from Ace Portgas. Himiko held her head in her hands and groaned as she tried to remember what happened the night before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Hey, I hope you enjoyed the latest update. I will hopefully be able to update this fic soonish; I only have three more weeks of classes this semester. A Rose's Thorn babes I haven't forgotten about that fic; I'm just kinda on a roll with this one. Thank you all so much as always for taking the time to read this,

-Locke

[mega-ringsandthings-world]

Oh Rings—can I call you rings?— with every Analysis and au you post my mind becomes intrigued you really understand and get to the heart of are favorite sometimes divorced most times fight couple that is Mishanks. I adore it and your post make you day.

But this Loguetown AU... now, that's some sadness and angst waiting to happen. And genius, truly. It makes sense to draw all these pirates and people to the execution and snap them up as they come rushing in. I'm guessing a lot of Marines and civilians died, but I’m sure that was a sacrifice the World Government was willing to make. Did Doflamingo get caught? He’s got friends or at least blood high up, so I assume he wasn’t caught for long.

And I’m certain just as how Shanks isn’t our fun-loving, calculating Yonko, and Mihawk isn’t our ever-bored, apathetic gardener warlord, as we know and love them in the future. Familiar faces will definitely have differing personalities, yet to face the horrors of paradise and the new world, yet to have their Sabaody arc(or maybe this is their Sabaody) and oh Mihawk you ambitious, vicious, little teen you. I can’t wait for you to earn your new epithet, i’m sure it will be… bloody. And I’m also assuming in this timeline that whoever decides to bring him the offer becoming a warlord is laughed at and then bisected for the gull.

Also total forgot Dragon. Mans is in his prime.. I’m sure he got away maybe he even run into a blue haired red nosed clown? Maybe not we can only guess but ahh that’s the fun of it! Who lives who dies who becomes a revolutionary? pirate? who gives up? that’s what it is really all that aren’t they?

All that to say, I love this au I will now place it delicately into my one piece brain au folder we’re it will be chewed on like a pit bull with lock jaw.

Rings is great! I have to say, I'm thrilled my mishanks posts are such a hit, with you and everyone else enjoying them! I was having fun putting my random thoughts on them out there, and now it's even more fun. Angst and sadness is the key! Maybe it's horrible (and I'm not apologizing for that, lol) but I love drama and discord and awful high-stake situations. And what can give more angst than messing with Shanks right after Roger's death? And throwing Mihawk in there for the ride? The entire pirates-are-captured-by-the-World-goverment-at-Roger's-execution is one big excuse to get Shanks and Mihawk into Marine custody together, where they have only themselves to rely on. And since they are going to meet and fall in love in Marine captivity (they will be there a while) their dynamic will be more intense from the start. Their natural connection + the trauma bond. There's going to be a huge fight and many dead for sure, because none of those pirates are going quietly, but the marines had a plan from the beginning, of course. If they didn't they wouldn't have been able to take anyone. And I will say that they were also gunning for Shanks specifically. For reasons. The marines/admirals/world goverment will certainly be the villians of the story. Doflamingo knew enough to get out of dodge before anything went down, as did certain other people. Coincidence? Well, maybe not. I do love young!mishanks, so Mihawk and Shanks being earlier versions of themselves is half the appeal about this AU. You can see their older selves in them, but they are younger and there's everything that comes with that. They are not quite the men they will become. (and that goes for all the other characters too!) Which means they can be hurt much, much more easily.

I said this was one of my darkest wips because Bad Things are going to happen to them, it won't just be threats or easily patched wounds. This being their Sabaody is spot-on! Everything will be All Right in the end, but they're going to go through things to get there. Mihawk's rise will be bloody. (so will Shanks') and maybe it's too early to talk about this plot, but they're also going to get revenge. through some interesting means. After what Mihawk suffers in the time spent as a captive, the very idea of him becoming a Warlord would be nothing but the highest insult. (That's not to say that becoming one is off the cards, but that's a different story) Ahh, Dragon. He's one of the ones who gets away, with someone else important. Buggy having got away is crucial, because him being free comes into play later. I don't plan on killing many people, but making them suffer is fair game. And this entire scenario is going to change the course of the future for sure. All that is too say, I have all this I need to write and get out there to you guys already, lol. I love how much you love it!

[thehoardofthegreatdragon]

You are the no.1 Shanks Understander™️ to me so I’m gonna ask your thoughts on this if you’re interested:

How do you see Shanks reacting to Mihawk getting ill or injured?? Especially since Mihawk responds so so badly when it’s the other way around, and would obviously detest what he perceives to be weakness in himself AND any hint that he might need to rely on another person

Tbh I think it’s another classic Mishanks case of unstoppable force vs. immoveable object, in this case shanks’ protectiveness over his loved ones vs. Mihawk’s complete alienation from the notion of being cared for. Also unlikely, since Mihawk is so insanely strong, but imo that makes it even more interesting and devastating :)

oh this is a fascinating ask-- i think the answer is going to vary wildly depending on the situation, and i can see it splitting into a few broad camps.

its a cold, or otherwise light illness that is very standard for people to get. I think in this case Shanks would play it off, and enjoy getting to take care of Mihawk. Mihawk would probably be fine with being taken care of to some extent for an illness of this kind-- it's not weakness, it's just annoying, and if that means Red brings him extra wine or lets Mihawk uses his shirts as tissues in dire times, that's mostly fine. (though Shanks shirts are in dire straights too and he will never live that down). I think somewhere in the back of his head Shanks would have a thread of irrational fear, but he's very used to pushing past things like that. He'd laugh and make Mihawk sleep more and be okay

its a serious terminal illness of some kind. This is the worst case, illness wise, and I think would raise major memories of Roger. I think Shanks would start to look for cures-- scour the world over, talk to every doctor he could, and focus on fixing what he could. If he couldn't, then I think Mihawk is the kind to accept it as the fate of how he dies, and Shanks is the kind to rally against that in increasingly desperate ways. DEPRESSING, in summary, and definitely the one where Shanks is openly most upset. Brittle, I think. I think his smiles would be brittle.

any injury at all, and/or an illness that knocks Mihawk out for a while but won't kill him. this one is most interesting to me, because I think it's where Shanks would have the wildest irrational responses that he has to control-- he'd want explanations, beyond what Mihawk could offer and is willing to offer. He'd go tight, wound up and tense. I think in this scenario he'd never leave Mihawk, and it's also the most likely to make them fight-- Mihawk would find the attention stifling, and the weakness unacceptable. He'd want to leave, and Shanks would be in a headspace where he just wouldn't allow it. Like physically picking up Mihawk and putting him back in bed, etc. I think he'd smile least in this case-- he'd be more openly angry or resolute, and less brittle.

[demonzoro]

do you have any mihawk-centric fic recs? sorry if youre not the right person to ask, youre just The Mihawk Person in my head, so i thought you might have a few

no need to apologise! i actually haven't ever ventured into mihawk's ao3 tag or hunted down any written content for him, just because i'm pretty content with putting him into situations in my head. i know my mutual @eastbluesaga writes a lot of mishanks though, if you'd like!

anyone is happy to drop recs in the replies if they have any

[giurochedadomani]

I'm doing the last work assignment before Christmas, so have a sketch of a plot and let's hope I can do this next week during holidays:

I need some young mishanks in which a Spicy Dream absolutely throws Mihawk out of his loop because having Shanks parrying him two centimeters away from his face suddenly evokes certain kind of feelings, not to say anything about what Mihawk feels that time during the duel in which he ends up tumbling to the floor, Shanks' new blade to his throath and-- nope. nopenopenope.

And it seems that Shanks knows it! (he doesn't) And takes advantage of it! (he does). Mihawk's like 25% sure that he's reading his mind, and he definitely doesn't want to think about how Shanks would react if he knew that Mihawk's mind has been playing little scenes from that Spicy Dream all the afternoon they've been together.

This is all an excuse to have Mihawk being the most morose drinker that night at the red force (in part because he's getting really in his head, in part because if he hypothetically wanted to make the Spicy Dream a reality, he's definitely NOT making the first move, and why can't just Shanks magically know without Mihawk having to undergo the horrible ordeal of telling him about it?)

Maybe being kind of very uncharacteristically affectionate with Shanks? Like, at this point he's half lying on top of him because Shanks moved Mihawk's legs a little to let people use the stairs of the ship in which they're sat and Mihawk kind of? left his legs on Shanks' lap? He's been idly running his fingers over Mihawk's hand for the past hour, but every time he tries to take his hand away Mihawk sounds a bit displeased, a takes his hand, and puts it in the same position. Don't get me wrong, Shanks is 110% okay with the situation, feels the kind of bliss when a little feral kitty decides to nap on your lap, but he's also lowkey freaking out because this is so very uncharacteristic of Mihawk? And he's a very, very, very reserved dude. Shanks' 25% sure that Mihawk is going to decimate the red force if someone even vaguely mentions that he looks cute or that he's trying to hoard Shanks' attention.

This probably ends with Shanks taking Mihawk to his cabin, and Mihawk being absolutely gutted because WHEN has Shanks had to take one of his crew members out of a party? Mihawk must have been really making a scene (he wasn't). Which develops into something about: how rude of you to inflict me with feelings, Shanks (horny feelings! and other feelings he can't quite parse!! It's been one hell of a ride for him since he had that dream, okay? bear with him a little)