#might be basically living there for a few days

[opbackgrounds]

The Romanticism of One Piece VII: The Sea, and Conclusion

AO3 Part I Part VI

“Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off - then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.” —Herman Melville

There is nothing more Romantic than to yearn for the sea. In his book Image of the Sea: Oceanic Consciousness in the Romantic Century, Howard Isham describes what he calls the “cosmic liquescence” that artists, writers, and musicians so often tapped into during the Romantic era. These were the last days of the sail, the world teetering on the edge between eras. To be alive during this time was to endure change, and the image of a ship being tossed about by the sea was a metaphor for those caught up in the spirit of the age.

Even more than our own, the world of One Piece is one of water. The ocean as metaphor has the benefit of being extremely broad, at times, paradoxically so. With a little bit of effort, the sea can represent basically whatever you want it to. In the real world, it can mean freedom for those who sail it, but with the proliferation of the Atlantic slave trade, Barbary pirates, and young men being press-ganged into service against their will it can just as easily be a symbol of oppression, terror, and slavery. Pirates were known to be somewhat democratic, but sailors stuck serving under cruel and unreasonable captains could be led to a watery death with no say in their fate. The ocean is life, sustaining countless people with its bounty and giving employment to sailors, fishermen, and any and everyone related to those trades. It is also death, cold, impersonal, and certain. 

A ship might be stuck helplessly in the doldrums or ravaged by savage wind and waves. It is adventure and mystery, for no one knows what lies beyond the horizon or what lurks beneath the surface. It is the thing that separates us, but also the means by which we travel, enabling new connections and the exchange of trade, culture, and colonialism. Depending on their purpose for setting sail, ships of this era were one of the few places where people of vastly different national origins, languages, religions and cultures not only lived together in close proximity, but depended on one another for their livelihoods and survival. An excellent example of this in Romantic literature can be found in Moby Dick, where the American point of view character Ishmeal becomes fast friends with the Pacific Islander Queequeg while working on the international whaling crew.

The sea can be feminine, the primordial mother of us all. Aphrodite was born of sea foam; mermaids, sirens, and nereids roam the waters to tempt, seduce, help, or destroy unwitting sailors. Ships are almost always referred to as she. Via the tides, the ocean is connected with the moon, also traditionally feminine. But the sea is also be masculine. Characters such as Old Man of the Sea, Poseidon, Oceanus were all male, as were the winds all ships depended on.

During the time that the Romantics wrote, sea-side vacations were increasingly prescribed as a health cure while sailors themselves suffered from ailments such as scurvy, typhus, and dysentery. Several poets reminisced longingly about their youthful childhoods swimming care-free in the sea. But the ocean is unfathomably ancient and supremely haunted by the souls of countless lives lost beneath its waves. 

In Moby Dick, the titular whale could represent God, the Devil, or Nature itself. To Tennyson, the breaking of the waves represented grief. The journey across the sea in Rime of the Ancient Mariner deals with life and redemption. To Wordsworth, the sea was immortal. To Byron it was freedom. Shelley writes of the West Wind stirring the sea—and thus the dreamer—awake from a deep summer slumber. To quote Keats, “Oh, ye! who have your eyeballs vexed and tired/Feast them upon the wideness of the Sea”.

I could go on, but let’s not belabor the point. In light of this vastness of metaphor, it is fair to say that in One Piece that the sea isn’t representative of one single thing. The New Era is brought in with Whitebeard’s crashing waves during the Marineford War. The terrible power of the Agua Laguna shows the force of Robin’s darkness breaking the Straw Hats apart, while the stormy skies of that time show the turbulence going on within the crew. Sailing brings people of different cultures, societies, and ideas together, and that forced interaction can break down prejudice and foster understanding between different species and cultures, as shown in both the Fishman Island and Skypiean flashbacks.

The Grand Line itself is portrayed as a cogwheel of fate, bringing the strong together in a clash of wills, and the limited navigational tools means that it is difficult, if not impossible to backtrack—you must live your life without regrets, and continue to move forward as you grow stronger as a person and crew. The sea represents the life of a pirate, often cruel, unfair, and dangerous but ultimately liberating. The promise of adventure exists somewhere beyond that unbroken horizon, a place of wonderland and dreams (Carrot in Zou, Usopp Syrup Village, Luffy). The World Government may rule over a hundred and seventy allied nations, but no one owns the sea. Thus, as Luffy says at Sabaody, the Pirate King isn’t about conquering anything, but to become the freest man in the world.

I would also be remiss not to mention that the Sea Metaphor of One Piece is incomplete, and will be until the secrets of the Devil Fruit are finally revealed. It is curious that the force that’s presented as the epitome of freedom completely rejects Devil Fruit users, including the one representing liberation. Egghead also added the interesting element of the sea being an existential threat to the entire world, when the destructive power of the sea over land had been previously limited. It would be interesting to revisit this topic after the series has ended to see how Oda resolves these seemingly competing ideas.

But if there is one metaphor I think rules above all else, it is the sea as home, specifically home for the outcast. Robin says during her flashback, even before the Buster Call comes, that she’s studying to become an archeologist in order to go out to sea with her mother. Her home life on Ohara is one of ostracization. Even the archeologists, who love her dearly, don’t let her in on their deepest, darkest secrets. This is for her own safety, but to an eight year old girl who’s been rejected by everyone else on her home island, even her own family, it’s enough for her to seek solace in the promise of the sea. Then, during the Buster Call, Saul promises her that in the vastness of the sea she will find friends, and she will find family, that no one is born to be alone. It’s a sentiment Reiju echoes to Sanji during the Whole Cake Island flashback.

The sea is an escape. Most of the Straw Hats in one way or another have complicated relationships with their places of origin, and for many returning would be difficult if not impossible. Even a character like Nami, who is universally beloved by her hometown, spent eight years thinking that the people of Cocoyashi Village hated her, making her relationship with them relatively fraught while she was a member of Arlong’s crew. During that time the sea, and the treasure she found therein, was her only hope of freedom. The only Straw Hat who ends up staying behind has strong ties anchoring her to someplace other than the Going Merry. It’s not until hundreds of chapters and many real-world years later that an even greater force usurps Vivi from her homeland.

Similarly, fights with the marines and other enemies often end once the Straw Hats hit the open water. The society that tries to squeeze the citizens of the world into a specific shape loses its power over the boundless ocean. This is, of course, a double-edged sword. Water 7, the bandits of chapter 1, and Garp’s blackmail of Dadan show that it also deprives outlaws like Luffy the benefit of society’s protection. But those who refuse to conform to the whims and pressures of the world gain from fleeing to the sea, and what is to dream if not to refuse to conform in one way or another? Every single one of the Straw Hats want something that conventional wisdom says is impossible, but they search anyway, and in doing so find like-minded friends with which to band together. And like how a cord of rope is stronger than its individual fibers, together this found-family has the ability to challenge society and win, finding their own freedom in the process. 

The reason I hone in on the Sea as Home metaphor so strongly over the more general Sea as Freedom metaphor is developed during Luffy’s post-Marineford flashback. It’s here while he’s forcibly befriending Ace that Luffy reveals to him that being alone is the worst pain in the world, worse than being punched all day by a grown man in spiked boxing gloves. It’s after this that he, Ace, and Sabo discuss the freedom of the seas and piracy, and the moment they become brothers. It is this desire for connection, the longing for the outcast to find their place with other outcasts, that drives Luffy to the sea in the first place. It’s there he finds his people, and while he’s not able to navigate, or cook, or do anything remotely useful on a sailing vessel, he’s able to protect the people flying under his flag. It’s a symbiotic relationship between captain and crew, a complete and total interdependence that is required when sailing the treacherous waters of the Grand Line. 

During the Davy Back Fight, Luffy makes a prophetic statement when fighting Foxy that he’s willing to fight to the death for his friends. It’s an idea echoed during his fight with Bleuno on Enies Lobby, when the latter wonders how long Luffy will keep fighting against the combined might of the World Government. It’s the reason why the death of the Merry, the fight against Usopp, and Robin’s supposed betrayal is so devastating both for the reader and the Straw Hat Pirates. The found family that had developed over the course of the manga has ruptured, and they lost the ship with which they’ve called home.

The Water 7 Saga ends with a reconciliation between brothers and their home built anew, this time stronger and more able to weather the stormy waters that wait ahead, the peaceful lamb exchanged for a fearsome lion with a mane as bright as the sun. Nothing has challenged the internal fortitude of the Straw Hat Pirates quite like that saga and nothing ever will again, because both their home and family has been forged into something unbreakable, allowing them to sail the sea, and pursue their freedom, any way they wish.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

”Then stirs the feeling infinite, so felt in solitude, where we are least alone” —Lord Byron

I want to end on this point, because despite all the similarities between the Romantic movement and One Piece, in this we see one great difference. For all that the characters in Moby Dick are forced to depend on one another and the good judgement of their captain to survive, the book ends with everyone except Ishmael dead. Romantic poetry calls for solitary contemplation, and the landscapes of this era diminish the individual in favor of the wide, open spaces of nature. The zeitgeist of the age celebrated the misunderstood, melancholic genius. If One Piece were written during this time, Luffy would never have been the main protagonist. The rise of the Byronic hero would have made sure that honor went to a darker, more brooding character like Law or Ace.

In 1770, a boy of 17 named Thomas Chatterton committed suicide in his small garret apartment. Having grown up fatherless and in poverty, this young genius of a poet was unable to scratch out a living with his writing, and after battling both depression and the pressure of changing his profession, he instead chose to end his own life.

The death of Chatterton sparked a cult following. His life and death would be commemorated in art, plays, and operas, with poets like Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelly, and Keats all dedicating works to his name. His influence can still be felt today in the trope of the suffering arts that he and countless others helped codify.

One Piece is the story of a boy who rejects the confines of society in search of his own freedom, but he does not do so alone. Luffy is driven as much by the desire to be with his friends as he is by his desire to find the One Piece. The series agrees that risking death is an acceptable part of chasing one's dream, but rejects the notion that it should be sought out or celebrated. In One Piece, it’s better to live an undignified life in the hope of a better tomorrow than to give into an easy death. 

It is ironic that for all that the Romantics emphasized the self, many were friends with one another, Wordsworth and Colridge collaborated in writing Lyrical Ballads. Mary and Percy Shelly were married, and Mary Shelly famously wrote Frankenstein while on a retreat with Lord Byron. The German Romantic movement kickstarted with a group of men who wrote and studied together at the University if Jena, with similar groups later popping up in Berlin and Heidelberg. The American Transcendentalists even formed a club, with Thoreau only able to conduct his two year stint in the woods because the property was owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson, while his mother did his laundry. 

One Piece recognizes that genius is not a solitary venture. Those seeking their freedom cannot and should not do so alone. Existence isn’t a crime, the sea is vast, and your people are out there somewhere.

There are of course other differences. One Piece is written in a post-nuclear, modern world. Among other things, the mysterious, idealized past of the Void Century is not one of primitive nature but hyper-advanced technology, and the progress of man is something to be embraced rather than rejected. 

Yet the biggest difference I keep circling back to is One Piece's unabashed celebration of life. At the end of the day, it’s a story meant to make people laugh. Oda is unafraid of plunging into the depths of despair and tragedy, but he doesn't linger there before pulling the reader back into joy.

LP Hartley once wrote that, “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there”. One Piece can never be mistaken as a story of the historical Romantic movement. There’s just too much difference between the world of today and the one where these works came.  But I hope that I've shown how it carries some of that legacy into the present day. Intentionally or not, Oda has taken an old idea and used it as a guardrail for the entire series. Like the sun, guiding the dawn of a new era. The dawn of Romance, if you will.

A Romance Dawn. 

[usagiarchive]

angel of the codeine scene — [04] the traveller.

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"I feel sick, and I know that I'll lose, but it's not living, if it's not with you."

sypnosis. [ 1.4k words. angst + ??? ] — the moment you make up your mind to talk to xiao, you can't, because a traveller appears.

It continues on for weeks, Xiao will make sure your basic needs are met, but will be distant outside of that, and you provide surface-level medical practice.

You were beginning to think that the problem with Xiao is more of a mental thing… One you were not sure how to help him with, seeing as he doesn't actually talk to you out of pleasantries and one-sided conversations.

(Other than that, you were still confused as to why he treats you so fragilely, as if you were mortal.)

You've done countless hours of research over what karmic debt is, there's no cure.

You've even met Xiao's previous healer (from which you learned from Verr), Baizhu, who has taken you as an apprentice of sorts as you learn how to construct better medicine and would teach you better methods of more effective medicine.

But it never did help Xiao.

(“Human medicine does not work on me,”) you remember him telling you once after you made him drink a new concoction.

The only upside of this that you've been experiencing is that you've learned how to help others, and that Baizhu has praised you for being such a fast learner.

“You would work better as an apothecary rather than a healer now,” he jokes.

Xiao seemed not to mind going to these lessons, though he was definitely indifferent. As per the contract, you must always be with him, and he must always be with you, to protect and to support, at all times, he never left your side for too long.

Most times, when you were having your lessons, you learned through Baizhu that he was with Ganyu.

“What do they do?”

“Well, they talk, mostly, Ganyu has mentioned to me that Xiao has been more communicative these days,”

“Oh… okay.”

Baizhu notices the tone in your response and puts the mortar and pestle down, “Is everything alright?”

You sigh, “Can I… Can I say something that might be out of line?”

Baizhu’s eyes dart to the window behind the two of you and goes to shut it and the door, “What is it?”

You lean against the table, “I don't know, I feel… useless? I'm not doing anything to Xiao-xiansheng, I learn how to make medicine and you tell me I'm good at it, but… it doesn't improve his condition,”

You see him form a line with his lips, “On top of that, he doesn't talk to me, whenever I approach him, there's this… wall, I feel.”

“He feels so distant and I don't know how to talk to him about it because he always tells me he's fine, and I'm here thinking that “If he's fine, then what am I here for? What use do I have for him if he really is fine?””

“I haven't even figured out how to heal him at all! The most I've done was heal minor wounds, which have been like pulling a tooth out of him, by the way, I had to convince him for a long hour to let me hover my hand over the wound on his stomach to heal it,”

Your mentor sighs, “Patients who do not want help, cannot be helped,”

You put your hands over your face.

“I don't know what to do, I feel so useless,”

Baizhu comforts you for the rest of night, “Have you talked to Zhongli about it? Morax?”

You shake your head, “Should I?”

“It would be best that you do.”

…

If Xiao notices that you are quieter than before when he comes to take you back to Wangshu Inn, he makes no notice of it.

…

You do not get an opportunity to talk to Morax the following day.

A traveller appears.

Lumine, you learned her name through Verr, had worked together with Xiao during a nation-level threat from a few months ago. She returned because she had to ask him for help with something.

She looked like the sun, you thought.

“Adeptus Xiao is not here, Lumine,” Verr supplies, “Just call him,” she says and gets back to arranging papers. You watch her curiously from the kitchen as she goes up to the balcony.

You follow but take a different route to your room and settle for watching her from the window.

“Xiao,” you hear her say and he appears.

“You called?”

Hm.

You close the window and open a book.

The sinking feeling in your stomach has spread to your lungs this time and you think you're the one who's sick. You write this down on a piece of paper and address it to Baizhu.

There aren't any classes today and you prefer not to leave Xiao's side, but you cannot get sick either, asking help from Baizhu on your condition is crucial.

You step out of the room and hear the two still talking. You take a look and see Xiao facing her, back to you, as he listens to the traveller explain her request.

You turn and head for Verr.

“Miss Verr, can you please send this for me? I need this to reach Dr. Baizhu of Bubu Pharmacy by this afternoon,” you tell her.

“Of course, sweetheart, hold on,”

…

Xiao listens to Lumine’s request with crossed arms, the moment he appeared, he hears you close your window.

He swears he's listening to her, but all that occupies his mind is him listening to your footsteps descend down the stairs.

“Xiao? Are you still with me?”

“I apologize, what was it?”

The traveller sighs, “I received a commission to cleanse a hoard of hillichurls, and I would like your assistance, they seem to be… different, they're just like the ones with Starsnatcher,”

“Fine, wait here, I need to retrieve someone,” he says and then disappears.

Xiao catches the end of your request for Verr.

“... reach Dr. Baizhu of Bubu Pharmacy by this afternoon,”

“Of course, sweetheart, hold on,”

“Why do you need to reach Baizhu urgently? Are you ill?” his tone takes a more concerned route.

You shake your head.

“Have you eaten?”

“Yes,” you nod.

“Good, we'll be going with the traveller,” he tells you, “ she requires my assistance,”

You nod again, “Of course, xiansheng.”

…

Xiao insists that the four of you (you meet the traveller's companion, Paimon, a bit later) walk, because he doesn't want to risk you, or so he says.

Thankfully the traveller had no problem with walking and had actually proved to be a great conversationalist.

With her, you had talked more in the short time you walked than you had ever talked with Xiao in the past two months.

She had asked you about your favourite things and interests, including stories of her own when you found things you both favored. Paimon also offered you snacks.

It was a nice change of company.

The moment you reached the clearing, Xiao carried you over to a higher point of view, one where you can see him and he can see you, but you were out of harm's way.

“Stay here, do not surge into the field, no matter what,” he always says.

Then he leaves.

You're thankful that Paimon floated over to you moments later.

…

“Why'd you put her that far away? I can barely make Paimon out from down here,” Lumine squints as she tried to spot you from atop.

“She is weak, she will be a liability in battle,” he says.

Lumine winces, “Archons, isn't that a bit harsh? You don't mince your words at all, do you?”

“It's the truth,”

She walks towards the field where a camp has set, “I thought you'd be kinder since you're dating her,” she says, summoning her sword.

“I'm what?”

Lumine stops walking and faces him, the look of horror on his face paints the same look on hers.

“You're not?!?”

“No??”

“What in the actual- you know what, sure yeah, I'm not that surprised, let's talk later, Paimon wants Adeptus’ Temptation for dinner,”

The two approach the miasma infested creatures and began to slay them swiftly. The malevolent hillichurls do more damage than normal ones, but Xiao slices through them with his spear. Killing each and every last one he can see.

Just as they think it's over, a hillichurl appears from out of nowhere and throws a bomb-like concoction at Lumine, and Xiao shields her body with his.

They cough as the powder suffocates them and suddenly Xiao spits out a black jelly-like liquid from his mouth and falls to his knees.

“Xiao!”

usagi's note: happy new year!! ☺️☺️☺️

taglist (open!): @irenedoesthings @cherrysnows @makuzume @smoochi-modest @bvtterflyyy @original-person

@usagiarchive 2024. do not repost, translate, or use for AI, likes, reblogs, and comments (very very) appreciated!!

[melitherion]

~This went a much different direction than I had originally intended, but here's whatever this is~

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🔞Minors Do Not Interact🔞

TPOF Fox x MC/Reader

Reader finds themselves struggling with stockholm syndrome, and the slow attachment they're beginning to create towards their captor.

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The familiar weight of the collar settled against your shoulders as you achingly sat up in bed. A warm down comforter and probably the most luxurious sheets you'd ever found yourself settled beneath did nothing to ease the anxiety the cool metal stirred within you, nor did it soothe sore muscles under layers of carefully laid bandages across your body. You could feel the stitches itching unbearably underneath.

Sliding out of bed, your steps as quiet as you could manage against the wood flooring, you crept to the door, reaching out to slowly turn the handle. Stepping out into the eerie silence that blanketed the entirety of the house, there was a moment of hesitation before you allowed your voice to fill the empty air.

"Fox?" You called out, your voice cracking, a reminder of the strain against your throat and vocal cords brought on by minutes...hours...days of screaming. The glare of monitor screens and illuminated vulpine eyes fixated upon your bleeding battered body flashed in your thoughts for just a moment before you managed to push the memories back into the hazier parts of your mind. Dizzy, you took a gasping breath you hadn't even realized your lungs had been desperately crying for.

Despite being alone, at least for now, you kept your footsteps light as you crept down the hallway and into the living room.

There's a vague memory somewhere of being spoon-fed soup when your shaking hands couldn't handle the minute exertion of lifting a utensil to your lips. The affectionate way his eyes crinkled as you took the food into your mouth could have been a lie crafted by the copious amount of drugs still floating through your system.

You knew the basic layout of the house, but due to still healing injuries you'd not had the energy nor the presence of mind to explore your new cage. Your home, he'd called it. Your body jerked as phantom claws gently caressed your shoulders, your neck, lingering under your jaw for just a moment; a loving caress or a sharp reminder that the life pulsing just beneath the beastkin's fingertips was no longer yours alone. Home? A bed of nails. A bed fitted with luxury cotton sheets and the finest down comforter that money could buy. Fingers so cruel but so gentle as they caressed your head guiding you to the pillow to sleep, drowsy from pain meds and the physical exhaustion that came with recovery.

Fox broke you into pieces. Then Fox put you back together again, a little less perfect each time. A beloved doll he couldn't help but play with too roughly. How he adored your cracks though.

You recalled rust-tinted water draining away with your sanity as you were wrapped carefully in a clean towel, and later redressed in comfortable clothing just your size. So gently, so as not to further pain your wounded body.

Fatigue gripped you in its claws as you found yourself wandering out of the kitchen, the contents of the refrigerator, fresh bloody meat and a not too small supply of raw chicken hearts tearing away any sense of appetite you might have had. It wasn't often that you reflected upon the fact that you too were meat. Fox seemed to enjoy his meals best when they were bloody and raw.

You found yourself at last silently stepping into Fox's bedroom. You'd been in here before, though the memories were foggy. Your self-inflicted wound from Fox's stream finale promised no easy recovery and as such for the first few nights in Fox's house you spent your days resting in his bed, under his watchful eyes. He'd made certain you weren't alone for even a moment until you were recovered enough to handle your basic needs by yourself. Whether it was purely for your sake or for his you didn't know.

You were lonely, and you wanted, no–craved his presence, like a starving stray animal. It made you feel sick, a knife twisting deep into your core, an agonizing pain that you could feel this time. He hurt you and broke you open in ways no one else ever could, and yet afterwards you'd find yourself leaning once more into the beastkin's touch as he turned stinging pain into ecstacy and warmth. A prey animal with no survival instinct.

Burrowing beneath the sheets of his bed you were enveloped in his lingering scent, stirring your pulse, though out of desire or dread you couldn't be certain. You pressed your face into his pillow, almost reveling in the way the lingering fox fur tickled your skin. A strange sense of comfort confronted you. Somewhere else in the house a door opened and closed, and your name echoed through the air, but sleep had already washed over you.

~

[violetsandshrikes]

How do you even end up in these situations? Not in a bad way, but the idea of talking to people in public like that little girl with the makeup or yelling back at that lady is so terrifying, my social anxiety could never, but I wish I could?

Hard to pinpoint. I think for context, you have to know that at 18, when I was first starting out in university, I had such bad social anxiety that I couldn’t stand in a crowded lecture theatre to go pee because the idea of people looking at me was so scary to me. Medication didn’t help, and therapy worked up to a point. I sympathise, because social anxiety is literally the devil. It made my life so hard, and I remember being really frustrated with people around me who could just…do things.

Things that personally helped me:

• Majority of my friends are major extroverts. I find having extroverted friends, at least a few, is really helpful because the majority of the time they’re happy to bring you along to whatever they’re doing, they basically act as social lubricant (introducing you to people and vice versa, softening the scary parts of initially meeting people) and you can learn a lot by watching how they interact with other people and conduct themselves.

• In the same vein: joining any sort of hobby group, or group that has at least semi-frequent meetings. Easier said than done, I know. The good thing about this is that with similar or shared interest, again, you shave a lot of that awkwardness off of first meeting people and trying to establish initial contact.

• Similar but not quite the same: volunteering. Volunteering helped me a lot, because volunteering groups and movements tend to be an incredibly diverse mix of people. Especially older people, people in retirement, quirky old women, etc. A lot of these people in volunteering won’t even blink if you are a little shy or socially awkward at first, and much like extrovert friends, are great to observe and see how they do it. Plus, I find regular volunteering really helpful for confidence.

• This might be controversial but: I worked a shitty retail job for 3 years while studying, because I financially had to. If you’re young, you can physically handle it, and you’re in a good place to do so, even some casual or part time work can be a game changer. I’m not going to lie: 9 times out of 10, these jobs suck. The general public can be a nightmare. However, you are quickly forced to adapt. I view it almost like in the Sims, levelling up charisma, because you have to deal with people. In the right kind of workplaces, it’s also an okay place to meet other people and socialise more.

• I wish I could remember what she said to me word for word, but my mother had sat me down in my later teenage years when my social anxiety was at it’s height, and broken down some aspects of what I was doing. A lot of the time, I was curled in on myself, eyes down, head down, frowning (if not outright glaring), and generally giving myself a very hostile aura. At the time, I was pissed about this advice don’t get me wrong. Once I started actually using it a few years later though, it worked. She had pointed out that the vast majority of people are actually pretty friendly or genial in their day to day lives, and it really pissed me off when I realised she was right. I smile at pretty much everyone - most people, even people who look hostile or angry, smile back. I would say an easy 80-90%. I hold doors open for people, I say please and thank you, I ask cashiers and things how their day was. These little social interactions cannot be taken for granted, because yeah, sometimes someone is in a bad mood, or not interested in engaging, but the vast majority of the time people respond positively, and that feedback is an incredible tool for building social ability. This is pretty much how I’m able to strike up conversation with random strangers now - once the little interactions got familiar and stopped being scary, the idea of turning and talking to a stranger in an aisle becomes less of terrifying task.

I say this about a lot of things, but again, I think a lot of times, people mistake social skills for something inherently innate, and not a skill you can build much like a muscle. It’s especially really hard for those of us who suffer/have suffered from social anxiety, because there’s a whole other mental health aspect to it, but even trying little things if you can will pretty much guaranteed help you feel a little more secure.

(One of my best friends since early teens is autistic, and has always struggled really badly socially. Around mid-university, she began to transform into a social butterfly; she’s involved in so many committees, groups, parties, events. People love her. I asked her curiously once how she’d facilitated that change over coffee, and she shrugged and told me she basically decided to project the same energy as a golden retriever or Labrador, and go from there lmao.)

[trashisstillhere]

After being outside for quite awhile.. again. I finally get to post this doodle, here!

This is supposed to (kinda) show New Ninja’s relationships/bonds with the few main characters!

I’m also gonna talk about them right here which is why I made this doodle in the first place! And this time, I had written it all down before this. And as you can see, Howard seems to have a slight different design, especially his hair… it actually has something to do with a part of the story! The clothes might be kinda changed tho later.

Anyway, here we go!

(Since English isn’t really my first language, the writing still kinda sucks lol)

————-

Randy:

you all already know this duo! The mentor and his student!!

Just when the kid thought there was no chance for them as the new chosen ninja of Norrisville, the old chosen ninja came right in out of nowhere and somehow things slowly started getting easier for them ever since. he is the reason why they still have hope now today.

To New Ninja, Randy is a good mentor, basically the best one ever! (No offence Nomicon-) and one of their best friends. he gives them the help they need with ninja stuff, supports them and sometimes even cheers them on during battles (while hiding himself so no one will know about two ninjas existing of course.) he sometimes also gives them praises for their hard work, making them very flustered and bashful but they still really appreciate it. The kid always feels safe around him, you could say they got attached to him and so has he with them.

if they have any trouble with something such as not understanding how a certain weapon really works and should be used in battle, big brother Cunningham is always there to teach them!

Yeah you heard me, i said ‘big brother’! Randy Is like a big brother figure to New Ninja, a sibling that the kid has never had but honestly wished they did. One who is so kind and patient with them…and also almost very overprotective over them. No seriously, he is. It mostly shows when, for example: The Nomicon makes the kid have to go do things that could be considered very dangerous or just anything he doesn’t agree with or an enemy he’s familiar with tries to kill them. (This may or may not kinda refer to Mcfist along with that one old comic i did-)

And of course, Randy likes and still keeps calling New Ninja nicknames such as ‘kid’ which is more common.

New Ninja before didn’t know about Randy’s true identity before but now they do after a certain incident (another old comic also showing that), which makes them also get to hang out outside of their ninja lives. However, the kid still calls him ‘ninja’ anyway.

Their bond is very strong and won’t be broken that easily, New Ninja and Randy care for and trust each other deeply and will continue on staying together as the super bruce team they are!…

…….until the day Randy has to mind wipe himself with the ‘ultimate lesson’ in the Nomicon once and for all finally comes…. at least they get to say some last words and goodbyes before that happens.

———-

Howard:

both him and New Ninja barely knew each other at first. To the kid, Howard was just some random guy….that their mentor seemed to always talk to for some unknown reason.

They have seen the two guys together so many times that curiosity got the best of them and they started investigating, soon finally getting the answers they needed and getting to know the chubby guy more! Now in the present, they’re also friends! And after showing their true identity to him, they hang out sometimes too along with Randy.

To New Ninja, Howard is a pretty chill dude to talk to. Both him and Randy were the ones to first introduce them to Gregs game hole along with all the video games to exist, letting them join in all the fun they had been missing out on.

Howard is like the second big brother to the kid, the one who they might sometimes maybe get into crazy yet fun shenanigans with. There are literally times where they both got into some trouble and Randy had to go and help them, he was kinda mad about it but couldn’t stay like that at them for long. After all, they’re his friends who he adores very much.

Their friendship was normal at first but once one certain event with one familiar demon bird (along with a certain more then one tailed fox that was the cause for that said familiar demon birds return) happened which led to Howard being effected (such as his hair getting a…. ’bit more color’ then usual) by it quite a lot, New Ninja started getting extremely worried for him.

Now every time they get to meet again, New Ninja always first checks up on him and ask him if he’s feeling okay. Howard always says he’s fine and waves it off, trying to reassure the kid and calm them down.

But no matter how many times he says he’s okay, New Ninja can’t help but feel guilty for what happened to him…they think it’s their fault.

————

First Ninja:

Now this one’s…a little complicated. The kid currently barely talks to the old legend himself. Why? Cuz he’s kinda afraid of him of course!

To New Ninja, First Ninja is really intimidating. And by intimidating, I mean TERRYFYING. The kid feels so small and pathetic compared to him, thinking that they ALWAYS have to be respectful and obedient around him without a single screw up. He’s the FIRST ninja of Norrisville to exist after all, the last thing they want to do is piss him off in any way, especially after seeing that dragon fire punch of his for the first time during their .

Because of their fear, New Ninja can barely say anything in First Ninjas presence. Meeting Randy for the first time when they just knew him as the ninja was okay, they got used to him pretty quickly…but THE First Ninja!? Oh hell nah-

Now First Ninja on the other hand, doesn’t really hate New Ninja or anything. In fact, he actually wouldn’t mind getting to know them better just like he did with Randy. He doesn’t understand why the kid seems to not talk to him so much, did he do something wrong?

Don’t worry tho, this doesn’t last long. New Ninja will soon slowly warm up to First Ninja later on and they can finally talk to each other more properly, maybe even have the man be a father figure of some kind. But for now, it’ll take a lot of work.

————

Plop plop:

Their relationship is a little bit similar to the one with First Ninjas but opposite and better.

New Ninja wasn’t intimidated by Plop Plop like they were with First Ninja but they still were too anxious to talk to him, he noticed this but it didn’t stop him from trying to talk to them. Though he didn’t try to get all over their personal space, he instead just went easy on them by giving them a chance to speak only if they wanted to and stayed patient with them for as long as he needed to.

Before he knew it, the kid soon finally started replying to him one day and once he heard their voice, he was very thrilled!

To New Ninja, Plop Plop honestly seems like a nice and gentle man. He can even be humorous at times, he was able to get a little giggle out of the kid a few times. He showed the kid that they have nothing to be scared of, that with him, they can tell him anything. And to his delight, they do just that!….well maybe not like EVERY single thing but hey, he got their trust!

Even if Plop Plop may not still currently know much about the stuff in the Morden times/ future yet, he still willingly listens to New Ninja’s ramblings whenever he has the time. He’s just glad to see the kid feel safe around him, it makes him smile.

He is aware of how nervous they are around First Ninja, feeling kinda a little bad for the poor old ninja cuz of it. Right now, he also kinda tries to get the kid to get more used to his ninja friend, yet it ain’t so easy..

————-

And that’s it!

[cosmicjoke]

Do you think Levi is the strongest Ackerman we know of? I am sorry if someone else asked this before but I recently read the Bad Boy and his feats as a newly awakened child is incredible.

Oh, for sure. I don't really think there's much of an argument to be made for any other Ackerman that we know of being as strong or stronger than Levi. It's obvious to me that Levi is the strongest. I kind of tend to look at Ackerman powers the way one might look at natural talent. Each, individual Ackerman is going to have varying degrees of ability, since, of course, they're individual people. When we compare Levi to Mikasa, for example, as fast and as powerful as Mikasa is, Levi has a pretty distinct advantage over her in both categories. I view that as him simply having a greater natural ability, and that might come down to how Levi is built. He's short and compact and very stout, and those sorts of builds can generate a lot of speed and power, in a way someone taller and longer can't, generally. That's just a theory, of course, but I think it kind of makes sense.

There's also the fact Levi shows an extraordinary ability to take down Titans that no one else shows. Mikasa ends up getting caught and nearly killed by Titans a few times. First in the Female Titan arc, when Levi has to rescue her, and again, after Reiner and Bertolt kidnap Eren, Mikasa ends up getting caught by a Titan and nearly killed again. Meanwhile, Levi never even comes close to being put in danger by any Titan, including shifters, let alone being caught, and we see him dispose of dozens of Titans at a time as if it's absolutely nothing to him. Every fight he has with any Titan, either pure or a shifter, is always just a one-sided beat down. I'd say this also comes down to Levi simply having more skill than Mikasa. Levi was taught how to fight by Kenny, regardless of his Ackerman powers, and he grew up in an environment that required him to fight every day simply to survive, so he also simply has more combat skill than Mikasa, and I would say probably more than Kenny, too, at least when it comes to fighting Titans. But I would say probably also in terms of dealing with and fighting people. Kenny didn't grow up in the Underground the way Levi did, and he wasn't forced to stay there, the way Levi was either, and so probably never faced the kind of day to day struggle for survival that Levi lived with from infancy onward.

We don't really have any examples of Kenny fighting Titans, other than Uri's Founding Titan, where Kenny gets pretty easily overpowered and ends up at Uri's mercy. Of course, Kenny didn't have any ODM gear in that moment, so it's not really a fair assessment. But I think it's a fairly reasonable assumption to make that Levi would, at least, have the speed advantage over Kenny, and we do eventually see Levi overpower Kenny in their one on one battle during the Uprsining arc in the anime, so I would also say Levi is likely physically stronger, at that point, than Kenny. Of course, Kenny is older here too, so that may have diminished his abilities to some extent. Who knows, really. But I would say Levi would always have been faster, even in Kenny's prime.

It's funny too that some people have tried to claim that Levi isn't as physically powerful as Mikasa. Even before "Bad Boy" came out, that was a ridiculous claim. We see Levi kick the thick, wooden door to Eren's basement in and reduce the thing to splinters. That isn't something any normal person could do. In "Bad Boy", it only gets further driven home that Levi has a kind of superhuman strength. What he does to those men with his bare hands is equivalent to what a tiger or a bear might do to a person, I'd say. Ripping one guys face clean off, tearing another guy's whole head in half, basically, side kicking another, grown man over the edge of a cliff. We're talking about a ten year old boy here. One can assume his strength grew exponentially once he reached adulthood. Who knows how strong he actually is. I made a post about this when "Bad Boy" came out, actually, pointing out that the restraint Levi was exercising in those moments when he hit someone else (Eren, for example) was extraordinary, and puts to rest any claims of Levi being out of control or recklessly violent. If he'd been using even half his strength in those scenes, he would have killed Eren then and there. So it becomes clear Levi was only ever using the smallest fraction of his true strength whenever he used violence to keep others in check.

Anyway, hope that answers your question, and thank you for the ask!

[lumaconstante]

Currents Between Worlds

You placed this request a few days ago, I apologize for the delay in delivery, I hope you like it! ✨

Summary

An AU based on The Little Mermaid, with William James Moriarty as the mermaid prince who trades his tail for the chance to live on land, and Sherlock Holmes as the eccentric human who guides him in the terrestrial world.

William's POV

The library was utterly silent, save for the soft sound of pages turning and the faint rustle of waves in the distance. Sitting on the floor, surrounded by piles of books, William hungrily scanned a volume of advanced mathematics. The faintly salty scent of his skin, still carrying the ocean's touch, mingled with the aroma of aged pages.

He had never imagined that humans stored so much knowledge on mere sheets of paper. The sea had carried these books to him years ago, remnants of a shipwreck. It was the equations and theorems that had sparked his fascination, planting the idea that the human world might offer something more than just legs.

However, living among them was far from simple. There were rules, customs, and a language he still struggled to master.

"You woke up early."

Sherlock Holmes' voice sliced through the silence like a blade. William looked up, meeting the detective's mischievous grin.

"Did you sleep last night?" Sherlock asked, eyebrows raised as he gestured dramatically at the chaos around him.

William slowly shook his head, not letting go of the book in his hands.

What followed was something he didn't expect: Sherlock threw his head back and erupted into a fit of laughter so loud and spontaneous that even the birds outside stirred.

"My dear William, if anyone saw this scene, they’d swear you’re a reclusive professor, not a… well, let’s say, curious visitor."

Sherlock approached, his steps agile and confident. He picked up one of the open books on the floor and read a passage.

"Mathematics. Always mathematics. Why not poetry? Something more… human?"

"Poetry is confusing, full of conflicting emotions," William replied with a frankness that made Sherlock raise an eyebrow.

"And mathematics isn’t?"

William didn’t answer, but the glint in his eyes said enough.

Sherlock's POV

Sherlock had always known William wasn’t like the others. From the moment he found him disoriented near the coast, there was something otherworldly about his presence. It wasn’t just his ethereal beauty or the way he seemed fascinated by the most mundane things—it was his hunger for knowledge that intrigued him the most.

Teaching William to read and write had been an unexpected challenge. For someone who already knew so much—from astronomy to navigation—he had glaring gaps in basic knowledge. But William learned quickly, absorbing everything like a sponge.

That morning, seeing him surrounded by books, Sherlock felt a strange warmth in his chest. There was something almost childlike about the way William treated the human world, as if every discovery were a rare gem.

"You should rest, you know?" Sherlock remarked, throwing himself into a nearby armchair.

"And you should stop giving advice you don’t follow," William retorted without looking up from his book.

Sherlock laughed again, but this time the sound was softer, almost affectionate.

"Touch. Capture. Counterattack," William murmured to himself, scribbling something on a sheet beside him.

"Chess?"

"A strategy I thought of for the game."

Sherlock leaned forward, his eyes gleaming.

"Oh, so now you want to challenge me?"

William looked up, and for the first time that morning, he smiled.

When the full moon finally shone in the sky, marking the final deadline for William to decide whether to remain human or return to the sea, Sherlock brought him to the top of a hill where the ocean seemed to merge with the horizon.

"You have a choice, William, but..." Sherlock hesitated, a rare moment of vulnerability surfacing. "I hope you stay."

William looked at the moon, then at the man beside him. He knew the ocean would always be a part of him, but the human world, with all its mysteries and contradictions, offered something he had never found beneath the waves: companionship.

He smiled at Sherlock, and for the first time, spoke without hesitation:

"I’ll stay."

And when Sherlock took his hand, William knew he had found his true home.

A little Mermaid Au of Moriarty the patriot. Borrowing elements of Hans Christian Anderson’s story and a little of Disney’s. With a happy ending of course. But the dead line is till the next full moon. Both William & Sherlock’s POVs.

Idea for a scene where Sherlock finds Liam in the library “your up early “. He looks around sees all the books spread out and stacked on floor. “Did you get any sleep last night?” Liam shakes his “no”. Sherlock then throws his head in hysterical laughter.

This would imply if Sherlock where to teach William to read & write. Unless he already knows how to read and only knows what he’s read in books from sunken ships about the human world. One of the ships was carrying books left behind by a university professor on broad. They were of several subjects and Willian took a liking to the books mathematics.

[frizzy-frizz-frizz]

"the kevjean dynamic has me in a chokehold i cant stop thinking about them." SAME and I think its so valid of us there's too little of them out there whether it's romantic or platonic it's actually a crime

"i should reread it again" lmao that's exactly what I'm doing I'm currently halfway through chapter 3 (now 5 now the sequel and I'm done i might reread it again now since its complete). Also lost??? Omg you're so so correct here. "But if only you could see yourself in my eyes you'd see you shine, you shine I know you'd never leave me behind but I am lost this time" you are so so correct here

"these three will be the end of me i swear." THIS ENTIRE PARAGRAPH WILL BE THE END OF ME I SWEAR

"even the AGES are right." I KNOW HOW DOES IT FIT SO WELL

"my interpretation is VERY self indulgement." Self indulge away I'm here for it

"i associate my tears ricochet with post-baltimore kandrew." Lmao listen I thought this but then I was like perhaps that's too controversial idk but I'm so glad you went for it anyway

"FIRMLY believe andrew has had some horrible horrible thoughts about being like every person who's hurt kevin." I AM SO WITH YOU HERE THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I THOUGHT

"listen those two are practically melded together okay" they rlly rlly are okay I'm in the middle of Andrews pov in tnotg sequel and I'm having feelings

"SOBBING THESE TWO THEY END ME I WILL NEVER STOP TALKING ABOUT THEM" hurting each other = hurting themselves

"once again, about kevin running away to the foxes and jean being at the nest" ykw this is such a valid interpretation but I refuse to believe that they didn't at least somewhat repair their relationship post canon okay I need them to be roommates okay

"BUT for extra sad you can remember all the drafts nora wrote where Jean died." BABE LITERALLY WHY THE FUCK WOULD I WANT TO REMEMBER THAT I ACTIVELY TRY AND NOT THINK ABOUT THAT I'm so fucking glad we had him joining the trojans instead that's so so much happier I remember the previous drafts and I need to lie the fuck down

"Andrew digging his heels and yet following Kevin and he promises andrew the world and them drags him towards it" YOU GET IT they were fucking attached at the hip

I am now actually incapable of listening to willow without thinking of kandrew the same way I can't listen to liability without thinking of kevin or dorothea without kevneil or two birds without kevjean

YOUVE ADDED THIS IS ME TRYING listen the way this song gets to me "I had the shiniest wheels now they're rusting" Literally him breaking his hand "Could've followed my fears all the way down" KEVIN "I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere fell behind on my classmates, and I ended up here" is this not him going from a raven to a fox???? "but I didn't pour the whiskey" the song's also about alcohol addiction this song's now linked to him in my head

Okay I have listened to silence before but with them??? "I found peace in your violence" yes I can see this "Can't show me there's no point in trying" is this not the entire point of their deal??? Kevin constantly trying to get him to try and to give him something to build his life around??? But also in reverse andrew giving him the chance to learn how to play again??? "I'm in need of a savior but I'm not asking for favors" GODDAMN "I'm so used to being in the wrong, I'm tired of caring" andrew core

I'm not ok is so pre-canon kandrew the way I dont even know which lyrics to start quoting first "I can be a handful but that's why you have two hands" lmao accurate I don't even know which one of them that could refer to "I can be a danger, danger for you" I THINK IM JUST GOING TO HAVE TO QUOTE THE WHOLE SONG "Too many issues, so I wouldn't blame you" ITS THEM???

505??? I LOVE 505 "If it's a seven hour flight or a forty-five minute drive" yk how in tnotg andrew flies to Boston bc kevins team would be there. Sorry I'm never shutting up about this fic ever "I'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck or I did last time I checked" I NEED A MOMENT SHIT HOW DID I FORGET THIS LINE WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WHY WOULD YOU SUGGEST THIS IM NEVER GOING TO BE ABLE TO MOVE PAST THIS OH MY GOD "But I crumble completely when you cry" BABE YOU KNOW THAT ONE BIT IN TNOTG SEQUEL "If Andrew turns his head now, and finds Kevin quietly crying, it'll be the only thing that has ever happened to him." Yeah I'm def rereading this the way I can never stop thinking of it its THE kandriel post canon fic. "It seems like once again you've had to greet me with goodbye" Post graduation vibes everytime they meet they know it won't last long FUCK I'm obsessed with this song with them you've given me crack

I am not a robot okay okay you mention a song by marina and you've got my attention with every lyric I keep flip flopping between who the song is talking about "You've been acting awful tough lately smoking a lot of cigarettes lately" bc this is clearly andrew right but then "you don't always have to be on top better to be hated than loved loved loved for what you're not" which is so kevin??? Lowkey the way raven fans turned on him when he joined the foxes "I'm vulnerable I am not a robot" this could honestly be either of them the way both of them are viewed by the ppl around them

WOLVES WITHOUT TEETH YOURE SO RIGHT FOR THIS “Open my chest and colour my spine” I DONT EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START WITH THIS the idea that andrew was doing his best to hold up kevins spine for like months until he could do it himself "I'll be the blood if you'll be the bones" I don't know why but in my mind kevin is clearly the blood while andrew is the bones "hover like a hummingbird haunt me in my sleep" they were fucking attached at the hip obsessed with each other and OKAY SO THE CHORUS you would not believe what i found on genius lyrics "They are not running from the physical thing, but from what the thing represents emotionally. A wolf prostrate and panting is seeking permission for something, it wants it, but needs consent. The “tearing with out teeth” is the emotional pain of the mutual love and attraction they share, but cannot express." I actually can't look at this any other way now wtf was this person on when they wrote this annotation why does it work so well for them my god "how can I keep you inside my lungs" listen I'm sorry to keep bringing up tnotg but also tnotg andrew to kevin

Ghost of you by 5sos kinda reminds me of kandrew but like post baltimore (PLS I ACTUALLY WROTE THIS BEFORE YOU SENT THAT ASK and yes you absolutely should create a kandrew playlist if you want i'll be here for it) yk the whole missing someone who isn't there's anymore "still can't sleep on your side" them not being able to sleep in the same bed bc of a whole host of issues for both of them but also bc kevins gone and moved out "dancing through our house with the ghost of you" he's not there anymore when he's been within arms reach before "when you ran away, and no one could feel your hurt" LIKE ITS THEM

Also idk if this is bc I've just started twisting every song I listen to until it relates to aftg but endgame for kandriel??? Like first part is Kandrew the second verse is kevineil and third verse is andriel?? This either works rlly well and I'm correct or I've completely lost my mind (but like "I protect you with my life...reconnected when we were little bit older...i hit you like bang...calling my bluff on all my usual tricks"???)

Have you considered Dollhouse by Melanie bc it lowkey describes the nest/perfect court the idea that the public sees smth that it totally false while shit is going down behind the scene like "everyone thinks that we're perfect please don't let them look through the curtains" "smile for the picture pose with your brother"

LAST WORDS OF A SHOOTING STAR IN ON YOUR PLAYLIST "All of this turbulence wasn’t forecasted" him expecting to stay at the nest for college and then having to leave and all the drama that came after "I am relieved I left my room tidy" HIS ROOM AT THE NEST and when neil was there and it was like all perfectly preserved "they’ll never know how I’d stared at the dark in that room with no thoughts" again the nest?? It has just occurred to me that this could apply to jean as well "my dreams made music in the night" both of them dreaming of being able to get out one day "I was going to live" THEM FINALLY BEING ABLE TO LEAVE "you’d say you love me and look in my eyes but I know through mine you were looking in yours" okay okay but is this not kevin and rikos entire relationship riko looking at kevin but only viewing himself through it bc kevin was just an extension of himself and not his own person

Also Life on your playlist works so well???? "twenty-two and confused" this is like nothing new all over again bc HOW DOES THE AGE FIT "broken miss America" kevin being one of America's sweethearts is like so personal to me. WHICH REMINDS ME Miss America and the Heartbreak prince fits so so well for kandrew I feel like I've definitely seen someone mention it somewhere but I can't for the life of me remember who or where but god does it work I mean "I saw the scoreboard and ran for my life" pls see the vision I need your opinion

Queen of the night also works so well for them you're right EVERY LINE IS SO THEM "I've bandaged your bruises you've held back my hair who'd've known when this started that we'd end up here" pre canon to post canon them growing into ppl who can be good to and for each other "you reach out and touch me, say my name like a prayer" I need to go lie down how dare you suggest this song "all my friends say you're dangerous but I don't fucking care" okay my first thought was pre-canon ppl warning them to stay away from each other bc kevin could potentially bring down the mafia on andrew and Andrews whole stay away I'm dangerous vibe but like the only friends they had pre canon were like jean and renee??? So lol no there was no-one telling them to keep away from each other "This holy redemption tears us in two but I can't turn my back to you" Post baltimore divorce era vibes babe "one hand on the wheel and one hand on my thigh" lmao listen its a cliche but I feel like andrew would enjoy it with like Kevin or Neil in the passenger seat as long as no one is watching them "you're kissing my fingers, and I kiss your tattoo's" HOW DARE YOU RECOMMEND THIS SONG TO ME HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SURVIVE THIS also I'm a strong believer of multiple tattoos older kevin (his dad has them and there's this one fanart by lucky-slice that's so lovely and you can rip this out of my cold dead hands). "and talk shit forever" lmao domestic kandriel shit talking ppl and gossiping is my jam

This got long I'm slightly concerned it won't send lol

line break for my lovely mutuals <3

lol my answers is just as long and i lowkey wanna post this without a paragraph break and plague people's dash

'there's too little of them out there whether it's romantic or platonic it's actually a crime' RIGHT?? kevjean is soooo scarce so of course we get to make everything about them. their specific dynamic is just so special and i am hooked on it

SAME im currently rereading tnotg this series is my lifeline. dayurno is a genius i owe them my life

' Lmao listen I thought this but then I was like perhaps that's too controversial idk but I'm so glad you went for its anyway' I couldnt bear to remove it!! i have so many feeling about this song i had to sit there and process it bear to remove this song not when it so so perfect and i am always in need of more material about the

YES someone agrees with me about my tears ricochet this is so validating. and YEAH the cherry liquor ice cream in the tnotg sequel!! i was never the same. i think of that scene a lot while listening to this song. they are SO- canonically attached at the hip kandrew really will end me huh 'Lmao listen I thought this but then I was like perhaps that's too controversial idk but I'm so glad you went for it anyway' oh there was no way i was skipping THIS SONG i have sooo many feeling about it its essential kandrew divorce era shit

i am DESPERATE for kevin and jean to get something of a happy ending I want them to find peace so badly they will absolutely rebuild post canon this is not up for argument.....but I may or may not read an unhealthy amount of kevjean agnst. but honestly if nora had killed off jean after ALL OF THAT I would've just put the book down right then and there i couldn't that bro i COULDNT

"they were fucking attached at the hip" they were they really were like- knowing each schedule and every little habit THEY ARE BASICALLY MARRIED

YEAH willow is so so perfect i listen to it on repeat i cant help it and i understand you so completely its impossible to separate liability and kevin in my mind now

' "I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere fell behind on my classmates, and I ended up here" is this not him going from a raven to a fox??? ' god yes this lyrics is what did it for me. this song is so so so inherently kevin with his stubbron single minded focus. kevin who's never done anything halfway flying or fighting or falling. ' "but I didn't pour the whiskey" the song's also about alcohol addiction this song's now linked to him in my head' YES YES cause it is absolutely criminal how little his alcoholism is addressed in this fandom i NEED more fics where its a main plot point.

' is this not the entire point of their deal??? Kevin constantly trying to get him to try and to give him something to build his life around??? But also in reverse andrew giving him the chance to learn how to play again??? ' akdnfnsjnndj YEAH YOU GET IT ITS SO THEM i cant believe it took me so long to consider this but now. i cannot stop.

'I THINK IM JUST GOING TO HAVE TO QUOTE THE WHOLE SONG "Too many issues, so I wouldn't blame you" ITS THEM ' JUST THE WHOLE SONG I COULDNT BELIEVE IT WASNT WRITTEN FOR THEM

"yk how in tnotg andrew flies to Boston bc kevins team would be there" not andrew Afraid Of Heights minyard getting on a fucking plane to got to an EXY event of all things just cause kevin will be there and- ngl that was may favourite kandrew scene in tnotg its PERFECT I LOVE IT. 505 KILLED ME AND BROUGHT ME BACK TO LIFE THAT LINE JUST ENDED ME RIGHT THERE HOW IS IT JUST SO- if i have to be stuck on this forever so do you "BABE YOU KNOW THAT ONE BIT IN TNOTG SEQUEL" EXACTLY you get it!! I was actually rereading tnotg when 505 came on and I FROZE it was SO PERFECT. I feel you I'd forgotten that lyric existed but now I listen to it on repeat I cant stop its so so so perfect it might as well be crack

'I keep flip flopping between who the song is talking about' right?? and every other line could be about either of them god they are so complementary but also theyre so much more alike than people realise at first and this song shows that so well. THIS WHOLE SONG IS BASICALLY KANDREW ARGUING BACK AND FORTH DONT YOU SEE "andrew, mockcingly: Who you never really liked and you never trusted But you are so magnetic, you pick up all the pins", "kevin: Never committing to anything, You don't pick up the phone when it ring, ring, rings", "both of them: Don't be so pathetic, just open up and sing"

' "I'll be the blood if you'll be the bones" I don't know why but in my mind kevin is clearly the blood while andrew is the bones' I HAD THE SAME THOUGHT!! it just fits so well?? youre right. And no no PLEASE continue mentioning tnotg i actually added this song because of tnotg. remember that one scene where neil thought andrew would slash his chest open for kevin and kevin walk into his chest and never look back?? YEA this exactly. omg omg i hadnt see the analysis of the song "I actually can't look at this any other way now wtf was this person on when they wrote this annotation why does it work so well for them my god" SAME this now lives rent free in my head i cant see it any other way either

'Ghost of you by 5sos kinda reminds me of kandrew but like post baltimore (PLS I ACTUALLY WROTE THIS BEFORE YOU SENT THAT ASK ' THE COINCEDNCE LMAO. no no but youre right and this song is so them like im supposed to hear "and i chase it down with a shot of truth, that my feet dont dance like they did with you" and NOT think of those dramatic fuckers?? when its clearly about them finding their sides feeling too empty?? their schedules out of balance?? their steps ungraceful after each movement was complementary...steps in a dance....give and take....at eqilibrium with each other for years?? how does one walk when the constant comforting weight by their side has been ripped away leaving bruised skin in his wake?? disgracefully that's how.

ENDGAME i hadnt considered BUT YOURE RIGHT I SEE IT. or maybe my brain is the saame and twits everything into being all about these exny idiots...perhaps we'll never know. immediately the kandreil of it all with the "oh and i got big enemies" and these dramatics fucks and their very different reputations. and THEN "you hold me down and i protect you with my life" VERSE ONE COMING IN WITH KANDREW.

i really really like the kevneil portion in endgame sooo much tho ' "I protect you with my life…reconnected when we were little bit older" ' THIS IS SO NEIL SINGING "Even when we'd argue, we don't do it for long, And you understand the good and bad, end up in the song" them CONSTANTLY arguing on and off court and kevin being the only one who understands all of neil, who knows the whole story, neil being the only fox who GETS what the nest is like....even BEFORE the nathaneil reveal kevin SEES him he picks him out of hundreds of potential players because he understands, KNOWS his game, his potential ON SIGHT (im confident this would be the case in any universe, kevin constantly finding him).

GOOD GOD THE ANDREIL AT THE END "calling my bluff on all my usual tricks" literally end me now cause they learnt each other so fluently in so little time "And I can't let you go, your hand print's on my soul" THIS LYRIC?? , andrew's hands always firm and decided yet always always kind....how could he go very long without his touch now that he's felt it? now that the memory is cooling balm on his skin on his soul?? "I hit you like bang" neil coming in like a whirlwind becoming essentially so quickly!! (and also andrew hitting him with the raquet in tfc lol)....imma put this song on my kevin playlist..the andreil portion can be like a fun extra in the middle of all the kevin vibes

dollhouse is very interesting i dont listen to melanie much i hadnt considered this.....but damn the vibes are so so much like the nest. kevin having to play the part of #2 of the perferct court...riko's brother...the raven with the perfect life...the media darling. no one really knows what goes on in the nest behind closed doors. no one can ever hear what kevin actually wants to say and that's the thing!! he's been voiceless his whole life....being torn apart in private and then paraded around like a show pony in public. god kevin day has been trapping in plastic wrapping for so long. I NEED THIS SONG IN THE PLAYLIST

LIFE IS SO PERFECT YOU GET IT. tbh the age mentioned is why i started thinking about kevin with this song in mind and now i cant stop. yessssss kevin day the media darling the broken miss america!!! a large part of my playlist is based around this i cant- "SHE WROTE IT ON THE BATHROOM WALL IN HER FAVOURITE SHADE OF LIPSTICK L I F E" there's just something so- kevin about that action. its barely thought through yet desperate yet so so resolute somehow. I CANT EXPLAIN but this song?? it is EXACTLY the emotions/attitude i imagine kevin would have during his healing process especially post baltimore. "Call it a night when the lights in the club dont shine no more" AND THEN "Call it a night when the lights in the studio dont shine no more" i mean come ON

'EVERY LINE IS SO THEM' RIGHT?? literally every part of it is perfect ilisten to this while imagining them on a drive alone to wherever they like aka a date not that andrew would call it that, and andrew gets to watch kevin bask in the sunlight and kevinn gets to watch him unwind and just- the heavy comfort these two can find in each other WHILE being the person one who can fully rile the other up (until neil). ' "you reach out and touch me, say my name like a prayer" I need to go lie down how dare you suggest this song ' HAHA i had the same reaction this song is on par with 505 in terms of utterly destructive lyrics in the context of kandrew.

ngl one of my favourite songs on the kandrew playlist is alone with me by vance joy like i heard the first line and i sold immediately this song is SO THEM YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO IT "i saw you smile, i knew you had spirit" ISNT THIS THAT ONE SCENE "so, did you have fun?" "youre despicable kevin day, dont know why i keep you around"?? IM SOBBING THIS IS ABOUT KEVIN BEING PROUD OF ANDREW!! and seeing him actually *try* and show courage and being like "i told you so i told you you could do it, i knew from the beginning all that you are and can be" AND THEN "isnt it odd the way we tell ourselves we've go limits" THIS IS BOTH OF THEM?? GOD THIS SONG

[crazyhickofftheirrocker]

Lads, when Lisa finds out Betsy is responsible for Carla getting hurt in the robbery next week...

[eggmeralda]

do you ever feel casually suicidal? like you're not depressed or anything you're doing fine but also it feels like a convenient option

[itsalwaysdark]

i think itis funny in the past when i would list my interests as if i post abt them i donot post abt the shit im into rly Mainly bc im not rly Into Into anything anymore i occasionally watch or read or play something but i dont do fandom stuff rly much.... just sometimes i get brainworms

[icewindandboringhorror]

Recent game related things .. hrmm...

[guinevereslancelot]

how is my friend's baby 12 days overdue and didn't come during the massive blizzard we had yesterday

[hehosts-moved]

.

[thelastspeecher]

some fucking French chef on Chopped was just like "why are French techniques so important for food? bc they are centuries old"

my guy. you aren't fucking special. techniques from like. every culture are centuries old.

[save-mohamed-family]

My campaign is verified and added to the Gaza Donations page with number 192.

Thank you for documenting my campaign from the following accounts:

@sar-soor @heba-20 @el-shab-hussein @90-ghost @soon-palestine@ibtisams @marnota @riding-with-the-wild-hunt @i-am-aprl @northgazaupdates @fallahifag @fairuzfan

I love you all 🙏🙏♥️🌹

I am Mohammed Almanasra, 32 years old, married, and a father of three children: Abdulrahman, 6 years old, Sarah, 4 years old, and Lina, 3 years old.

My story began with the loss of my parents and four of my sisters, who were bombed and lost their lives along with their children after the events of October 7 and the severe war on Gaza. Now, I am facing a severe injury to my leg, which is at risk of amputation if I do not receive the necessary treatment. My wife, children, and I are displaced, without parents or siblings, and my wife is also suffering from uterine cancer.

Recently, I moved to the south of the Gaza Strip, fearing for the lives of my children. We left behind our memories and our new home, for which we had not finished paying the installments, in addition to losing my job. Currently, I live in a tent that does not protect me from the heat of summer or the cold of winter, and without the minimum necessary livinng basics including water, food medical care, clothe and even bedding .

I suffer from a chronic asthma and severe attacks from tightness and an extreme allergy in the ear and I need medicine that are not available, or very expensive .

Under these difficult circumstances, after five attempts at displacement and narrowly escaping death from the bombing, I am trying with all my might to protect my family, the most precious thing I have.

My dreams were shattered, and my house was destroyed, and I found myself living in a tent no larger than 4 square metres. My work turned from a tailor to a street vendor in order to barely buy a few crumbs of bread to feed my children.

Look at what happened to my children because of the intense heat and the insects that thrive in the summer season. Every day, I take them to the hospital to treat them due to poisonous insect bites. I implore every kind-hearted soul to help me protect my children.

My son, Abdul Rahman, has a deep passion for playing football and is a devoted fan of Real Madrid. He always dreamed of playing football at his school, but the war prevented this dream from coming true.

Where are you, Real Madrid fans ?

Help Abdul Rahman achieve his dream.

Every donation will make an enormous difference in helping me save my family.

I feel very sad and embarrassed to ask for help, but I have no other options left. I know that this request is difficult, but I also know that there is still humanity and living consciences and I believe in miracles.

Your support during this extremely difficult time will give us hope in the midst of devastation and despair.

If you have any inquiries or questions, feel free to ask me, please!

To everyone with a compassionate heart,

To all who understand the essence of humanity,

This is a message from my innocent children, who trust that their words will reach everyone who truly understands the meaning of childhood.

We cry out to you, asking you to feel our sorrow and pain, and to extend a helping hand to us in this time when we are in desperate need of your mercy and compassion.

My name is being repeatedly added to many public and private donation campaigns. Please, be a support for me in this difficult situation.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1yYkNp5U3ANwILl2MknJi9G7ArY4uVTEEQ1CVfzR8Ioo/htmlview

Sincere greetings & thanks

Mohammed & the family