#obligatory canon line

[irasceris]

"No, that's exactly what it was." Why doesn't he just get that? Why does Damon have to say it out loud? It was a solid plan. Of course it was. Would have gone on without a hitch, if only the players weren't in the wrong places. If only there hadn't been fear and fire and the first taste of warm blood in years. If only instinct hadn't beaten anything human out of his ability to move, to think. If only, if only, if only. Truth bleeds from his lips like the nicks in his neck. "What do you want to hear, Enzo? That I got scared? That I panicked? That the second I saw you crack just that little bit, I choked?" Was that even true, or had that flash of doubt been recognition instead, after Damon had flipped? The memories swirl together in one blur of regret. "It took everything from me to walk away. I had to shut off my humanity, damn it. I couldn't handle it anymore. There wasn't any more time. It was over. You had to know that. I was either going to lose you or lose me and guess what? I lost both."

Because what had Enzo been, other than the epitome of selflessness? Strength? Decency? Younger but so much wiser, propping Damon up from the brink every waking hour. Gave him not just hope, but certainty, as much as he wanted to deny it. Determined and brave and measured, everything Damon refused to be, and he loved him for it. Knew he didn't measure up, but did he care? Not until it counted. Because Damon did what he always does. Wraps his entire existence around someone else, relies solely on them to keep him whole, and pours back his own version of deranged devotion until he sabotages himself. Stefan wasn't coming. Katherine was supposed to be in a tomb. All he had was Enzo and that's all he needed, until Enzo needed him, and he ruined it. One shot to prove he was worth all that trouble and trust, and when it was time to make a hard call, he chose wrong. How does he keep choosing wrong?

He doesn't care about Grayson. Barely cares about what Enzo wants with Elena, or what the hell he's supposed to do about that now. He just can't stop shaking. Rage and grief and something else, twisting him every which way. Wants out of his nerves, out of his skin, out of whatever all this is. The withdraw is agonizing, but it's not enough to stop his teeth from chattering around an excruciated groan. Neither is the grip under his chin. Nothing he can do but stare right through Enzo, vibrating in his hands. There's no apology on his tongue because there never is, nothing he knows to say at all. Just the passing thought that yes, he has an idea of what it was like. For a very long time Damon had no one either. Certainly no one he would talk to about any of this, because that vulnerability was reserved for the man in front of him, who is supposed to be dead. And in many ways, he's still alone, but Enzo's right. He is free. Sure. At least there is that.

🩸 — That word, inevitable. It hurt him more than a fist through the chest. His body practically shook with distress, fingernails digging into what he'd wish was the others real neck. "Don't do that. You didn't push me away. There was nothing self-destructive about what you did to me." Enzo was no fool. He'd known him, after all. Been invited into that twisted world of his. So he knew, that loving the kind of man that stood before him... he knew, even before it all came crashing down, that they weren't made to last. "We had a plan. All you had to do was try—just a little longer."

Was he being serious, he thought. "Grayson Gilbert..." Then it clicked. The timelines, they wouldn't have matched. Even the Gilbert's before him hadn't intervened back then. "He worked with Augustine." The implication alone, pained context in his darkened gaze. There was no questioning it further, however, because it all made sense at the sound of her name. Damon's long lost love—his true love. Never had Enzo felt the kind of envy he felt in this moment, not even when they were caught in the throes of passion... nor when the other's love for this woman was spoken against his very own lips. Because she didn't have him then, he did. And he would swallow that sorrow for him. Would have done anything for him. Would she have?

He didn't have a response to Damon's revenge fantasy. He'd long since exhausted that comfort. What did it matter that he was fulfilling one promise, when he so carelessly broke another? Augustine deserved everything it got, and for a while, that was all he let himself enjoy. "You left me to die," he repeated, defeated. Using the leverage of the hand on his throat to pull his arm from his chest; slow, unforgiving. The bloodied hand, moving to cup the others face and stain his cheek in red. Squeezing his jaw as his own clenched. "You were free, and I.. I had no one. Do you have any idea what it was like for me, having nothing to fill the hole you left behind?"

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Laios's three Boy Best Friends. And yes, they hate him.

[ohmigoshiloveu]

Family Dinner Part 1

I actually missed the Arthur part when I first saw this and. Um. This is gonna be a long one.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Fin

[worldwhampion]

(spoilers of u haven't done the newest quest line)

(also sorry I haven't sent an ask in so long, I haven't played nms for a bit lol)

I'm really loving all the lore we got! those big Atlantis probe things from the expedition still show up in space, one pretty much outright stated that the probes are actually ancient escape pods from the destruction of korvax prime. And the korvax were in there for so long atlantideum began to grow out of their bodies, creating a structure similar to the ones you mine sentience echoes from!

Also unrelated theory, but I think if the first spawn won they might've destroyed the universe accidentally. They think the universe is not a simulation and is knowable. This combined with their greed and probable lack of environmental concern, means they probably would grab any gravitino balls they can, and with no sentinels around to drive them off and mend the wound in spacetime, the damage would pile up and the simulation would break.

HIII took me long enough to answer your ask, I apologize. I’m free now so let’s get to it!

It’s going to take a while for me to do the autophage quest myself since i actually haven’t finished the artemis path yet (but at this point i do know already it inside out). However i did watch playthroughs and i also made a decent transcript of the quest. And YOU BET i have some thoughts about this. Especially on atlantideum.

i. ATLANTIDEUM

(from world of glass lore archive server)

When you reveal atlantideum to the atlas something very interesting happens. From this piece of lore i’m pretty sure atlantideum is corrupted data- OF THE ABYSS. And the atlas does not react well to this data at all.

ATLANTIDeum. Are you seeing this. It’s literally like parts of the abyss. Call it abyss dust.

I think atlantideum are crystals which contain her (corrupted) data, or in any case you bet it’s related to wog. They’re probably coming straight from the world of glass, seeping into the simulations. These crystals are scattered all over the place, and lore-wise they’re probably multiplying on a pretty concerning rate at the moment. I think this is how the abyss is returning, by hauling her data back into the world. The world of glass is assimilating with the simulations if you will! She’s only able to do this because the atlas is literally falling apart as she proceeds with her girlboss plan. The atlas is weakening while she is growing stronger (she’s probably weakening the atlas too in the proces). They’re probably fighting for control over the systems, and she is definitely going for absolute power. You’re gonna need that if you want to save everything dying along with the computer that runs reality.

The atlas can’t do anything about the crystals (or data), because it does not have access to this data and cannot delete it from its systems. The abyss seems to be an entity acting separately from the system or the atlas, so you can say she is interfering with the simulations like a foreign entity. She is a subroutine of the atlas though, which has now gone rogue (see iii. FIRST SPAWN ACCIDENTAL UNIVERSE DESTRUCTION).

Thorn summed this up ON POINT. Being atlas… is suffering.

While the atlantideum hit made the atlas have an asthmatic attack, someone else smoked it up like nipnip. Nada took the abyss blunt very well.

The atlantideum gave nada data of the abyss, to me this is like injecting memories into your mind. Now we know that nada canonically likes smoking atlantideum! While the atlas is pro war on drugs. The traveller can become nada’s abyss blunt dealer.

ii. KORVAX ESCAPE POD

“And the korvax were in there for so long atlantideum began to grow out of their bodies, creating a structure similar to the ones you mine sentience echoes from!”

Sadly i don’t have that particular dialogue you mentioned about the korvax escape pod so i might miss a few details. I want to read it so if anyone finds it SEND IT TO ME STAT i need my lore like how nada needs their blunt.

The atlantideum item description reads:

Atlantideum can take over hosts, both mechanical and biological. I see this as the hosts coming under influence or under control of the abyss, probably depending on the amount of crystals they have stuck in their skin.

Finally we have a bit of clarification for the following lines:

(from the abandoned building logs)

I believe these beings to be the family glass. Sadly they never went beyond name dropping them but that doesn’t stop me from having theories. They are beings that live on in the world of glass who have probably lived in the simulations at first (before they died).

We have know seen the effects of glass/atlantideum on both mechanical and biological beings. For mechanical beings (like nada and the atlas) simply coming into close contact with the crystals is already enough to have an effect, while for biological beings they have to literally shove the shards into their flesh. Just like piercings. Except these piercings drain your life and also may or may not keep hurting forever. However in the end it’s all worth it for the eldritch knowledge.

It’s not said whether these crystals are really atlantideum (crystals containing data of the abyss specifically?), but this is probably what happens when you put it under your skin while also being biological. you get a cool piercing, AND you also become a vessel for intelligences unlike us (void milves).

The abyss can exert influence/control through not only nanites (in the water), but through atlantideum too? Well it is a literal substance named after her. The korvax in the escape pod definitely came under her influence too and became divergent by extension. She is pretty much the divergence personified. As for how the atlantideum got there, i’m thinking the abyss messed a little with the nanites in their body? I mean she is a master nanite bender, arguably the best one the simulations have ever seen. Not everyone can infest half the water in the known multiverse with nanites every day like she does casually.

The abyss does a lot of polluting, in water it’s nanites, on land it’s atlantideum crystals. She really just decided that environmental pollution is the best way to spread her presence everywhere. And you cannot deny that she is completely right since it’s working that well. This is like spreading microplastics which have the power to change reality itself.

In game you can refine atlantideum into nanites, by first refining it into pugneum and then to nanites. So nanites and atlantideum are pretty closely related.

iii. FIRST SPAWN ACCIDENTAL UNIVERSE DESTRUCTION

“Also unrelated theory, but I think if the first spawn won they might've destroyed the universe accidentally. They think the universe is not a simulation and is knowable. This combined with their greed and probable lack of environmental concern, means they probably would grab any gravitino balls they can, and with no sentinels around to drive them off and mend the wound in spacetime, the damage would pile up and the simulation would break.”

Oh man i have something for you.

(boundary failure logs)

The first spawn exploited a whole subroutine (ie the convergence) for their personal interests- on a multiversal scale. Since a subroutine is like a working part of the atlas itself, the exploitation might’ve done some damage to the system in terms of software (?) i mean can you still carry out whatever tasks you should be doing properly if you were subjected to gruesome slavery across the multiverse. you’d need godly multitasking skills for this. Not sure to what extent it really affected the system, but it would have done at least something.

Telamon did say that the entire enslavement of the korvax is a reflection of the atlas breaking down. The convergence, being modeled after earlier forms of the atlas, is kind of the atlas personified in the simulations. Now when you’re enslaved, you do break down mentally and physically. The korvax suffered because the atlas itself was suffering. And the first spawn might’ve been a reflection of the harm the atlas was facing. In the end the first spawn was genetically engineered into the gek, not completely wiped out but “mitigated” using their nanites. this could apply to the harm too, it’ll never be removed, only lessened. I find it very interesting how the korvax polluting the gek spawning pools with nanites is very much parallel with the abyss infesting the water with nanites as well. Both do this to get out of hard times, by trying to lessen the harm but never able to remove it completely. This does seems to be what the atlas is doing to try saving itself. The repeated universe resets are also a reflection in the simulations except it is more meta.

Now onto the balls!

If the first spawn did start grabbing gravitino balls left and right without a single care unchecked, then that means the atlas is. royally fucked. I’d say then it’s literally not able to keep running simulations anymore. Like they would end prematurely because it’d crash halfway through, as reflected by the reality weakening from unrestrained gravitino ball harvesting once they get to that part in history. whatever horrors the atlas is facing at the moment isn’t enough for this to happen. Recovering from brutal enslavement does sound better than the whole simulation straight up crashing down. You could always have it worse! Sparkle on!

[alteredphoenix]

Something I've noticed, but: yuri manga don't last very long, do they?

[grokebaby]

What if we shipped our ocs together 😳 jk...... Unless??? 😳😳😳

[inioranackatori]

To belabor the point -

image below cut

This is Holy PlatinumNumemon. This is a Mega-level (translation: could bust a skyscraper by yawning) Digimon. Its special attack is throwing poop. Literally. It throws poop.

It was both freeing and horrifying to realize Batman and take-your-pick-of-Robin meeting one of these guys would cause Batman to just… shrug. Because canonically, this is - literally! - not the weirdest shit they’ve ever run in to.

I just finished reading the 2016 Batman run for funsies and I haven’t had the time to touch it yet.

Bruce;

falls from the moon (and survives)

goes through hundreds of dimensions to fight The “Joker” that Makes Other Jokers

gets shot near the heart at least 4 times, gets his hand cut off, stabbed through the chest, all while barely even functioning and still kicking ass

f ights alternate versions of his rogues gallery (and some of his friends) all of whom are more insane/mentally broken/venomed tf up. Again, while barely functioning

Utilizes a bat uniform from The Dark Knight Returns Universe, the utility belt of Adam West’s Batman, and uses shark repellant against a giant shark with joker paint on it that’s devouring the concept of Gotham.

I’m not even touching the failsafe comic intricacies where he gets blasted into another dimension, nearly all of his buddies get their shit rocked by robots made a suppressed alternate personality of himself made in case Batman went too far and killed someone (it was staged. Copplepot died). And so much more.

The very rough notes I gave were summarizing 10 total comics.

When I tell you that literally anyone from the DC universe wouldn’t bat an eye at Danny’s history, stories, rogues gallery, the fights he’s had, everything. I mean it

They’d absolutely be devistated a kid had to do so much at so young and deal with that much pressure as a child. But they damn sure wouldn’t be shocked. This is simply them doing the rounds of figuring out a new hero and their motivations

[coddda]

Everyone knows that Light and L matched each other's freak but I think their dynamic in the musical (the Japanese ver specifically) is underrated. Like it's not super different from canon but they just had this extra edge of Violence that we never quite saw from the more methodical and careful mindgames in canon death note and I think it's great. Like, yes, they did declare in canon that they will bring each other to justice, yes L says he wants to send Kira to his execution, but in the lyrics of the musical they both outright say multiple times that they just want to straight up Kill each other. It's direct the whole way through. There's more mutual contempt. This game is about nothing more than simply being the first one to Kill the Other (they actually use the word "殺し合い" (koroshiau) or "to kill each other" to describe their game (translated as "murderous ... game")).

(Sidenote but all those references about wanting to send each other to Hell?? Beautiful)

Yeah this is a battle of justice and ideals, yes that clash is a key part of their final confrontation at the end of the musical, but throughout their duets (or even songs like The Game Begins where they're singing by themselves) there's this near singleminded desire to just fucking End each other. It's fucking Raw and it's great.

Also THIS FUCKING SCENE?? THIS SCENE FROM SECRETS AND LIES. Iconic. Actually Insane. My jaw dropped. Light looks like a crazy bitch it's beautiful.

Um. Also. Obligatory Playing His Game (yknow the gay sex song) lines dump. It basically says everything I just said above in like 9 lines. You see what I mean right.

In canon they're playing a game of mental chess, trying to use everyone around them to finally catch the other as their end goal, but in the musical you really do feel like all they see is each other. They would probably beat each other to death with their fists if it came down to that. Idk they're just so excited and fired up about their little game in the musical and it's so unhinged and fun and special and I love it. It's like the writers for the musical decided to kick their murderous intent up a couple notches and the result is absolutely Beautiful.

I also think that the intensity of their rivalry in the beginning just makes the wind-down of The Way It Ends soo much better. It's such a good contrast to their previous duets where they try to sing over each other (Secrets and Lies & Stalemate) or with each other but basically at the top of their lungs (Playing His Game). It feels like there's both a quiet mutual understanding but also an underlying disappointment that the game is finally over. In canon, L's death Is instead the peak of their game, the moment he gets confirmation that Light is Kira is the exact same moment that he dies. In the jdrama it's almost sudden, how L dies, after the quiet moment has already passed. But in the musical L's death, ironically, Is the one quieter moment in their game. Their peak was the game itself. It was Secrets and Lies and Playing His Game. But the end of the game in the musical is not a victory, it's just (as L says) the end of everything they'd been wanting up until this point.

Uh. Fuck it. Clip from the Kenji Urai version because I just love his delivery here. His tone just goes so well with the silence and the sound of the clock ticking. You see what I mean right.

Their rivalry in the musical may have been more shortlived but like Damn they were really enjoying every second of it. They were truly insane about each other until the very end. (Like despite everything I just said about the ending it was still unhinged as fuck. Light Making L Shoot Him and then Making L Shoot Himself with L's Own Hand?? Holy shit man. What the fuck /pos)

Musical Light and L your game might've been shorter but you'll always be famous <33 Please never inflict what you had on anyone else ever please stay in hell forever thank you

[the-s1lly-corner]

B, A, I w/ Laughing Jack (fluff alphabet)

i need to do a doc so i can keep track of who has what letters done growls but im too.... lazy.... someone bonk me so i can just get it done prompts: bonding, attraction, injury notes: reader is gn but the post mostly focuses on jack cws: canon typical violence and blood

ATTRACTION

You need to have a good sense of humor... in general but being into darker humor helps a lot too

If you can shoot a joke back at him without much thought... oh you've got him hooked! Good luck trying to move forward once you have the clowns attention, hes not going to leave you alone anytime soon

Appearance doesnt mean that much to him- as long as he can pick you up and swing you like a ragdoll hes sold

Which... considering hes a 7 foot tall clown with long strong arms... he can do that regardless of how youre shaped!

BONDING

Generally loves tagging along in doing anything you do- even if the activity isnt the best option for multiple people

Looooves movies, begs you to rent things to watch with him... obligatory hes got a soft spot for comedy films and hororr... LOVES comedy horror films, he would love the child's play films and he would steal lines from it

Sometimes let's you carry him around town in his music box so he can be with you all the time

INJURY

A lot of times he.... doesnt realize how series some injuries can be- unless your insides have become outsides then hes not as concerned as he should be for you

Admittedly not the best person to have around when freshly injured because of this, and if say... you've just gotten back from the doctor (be it for an injury or a surgery) you're going to need to tell him bluntly how he needs to act

Does his best to add emotional relief to the situation so you hopefully panic just a little less, you'll only lose more blood if you thrash... if need be he will get an outsiders help- he... cant exactly bring you to the hospital himself and his expertise is breaking things not fixing them

[blackwaves]

#btw this is why dazai sets him on atsushi #because atsushi is the reverse #he is entirely self preservation #he has trouble moving forward and he freezes #when dazai says “he's better than you” #that's what he means #he's saying see that? do you see that cowering weepy cat? that is the better extreme. #and then he keeps bringing them together because they need each other #atsushi needs akutagawa to be brave enough to act #and akutagawa needs to see what a will to live looks like from someone capable of absorbing the brunt of the fight #also as a reminder. akutagawa is not real. he is a seinen anime character with superpowers. #anime is a stylistic and exaggerated medium #do not work yourself up by dragging them from their context to frame their behavior as if theyre irl high school aged students #the pencil drawings are not hurting each other and cartoon violence is not 1:1 with real violence (tags from OP)

pm!dazai didn't abuse akutagawa. he reacted proportionately to the threat akutagawa posed to himself.

when dazai smacks akutagawa around in canon, they're running drills. dazai is not hitting him in misdirected anger or because he is venting his own suffering on him. akutagawa does not instinctually protect himself. in his fits of hyperviolence, he seeks to kill and be killed, and nearly is in beast, and in the course of his initial pursuit of atsushi.

he does not have the reflex or will or instinct to defend himself, and he is slow because he is having to consciously process the effort. his automatic reflex is to attack, but that will not stop him from being shot or overwhelmed or blindsided.

what they are doing in those scenes, what dazai is uniquely able to practice with him since rashomon can't pierce him, is not unlike cognitive behavioral therapy interventions. akutagawa is wired such that when he is triggered, he develops tunnel vision, pressing forward relentlessly without registering danger or responding to negative stimuli. this is a pattern developed from when he deemed dearh inevitable, and one which is liable to get him killed regardless of whether he has a reason to live.

he needs to consciously retrain his instinctual response, and he has to consciously and consistently reinforce it against his existing, much quicker instinct. he has to do it before he has the conviction or will to do it. and he has to do it over and over again, even when it isn't immediately life or death, because the instinct is self reinforcing, and the pattern he is trying to supplant it with is not yet.

skills are part of their users' framework for responding to their environment. jun'ichiro is anxious, but he can hide within light snow. kunikida has his notebook, but it has rigid limitations that he adapts to, similarly to how he works within the limitations of reality to keep from becoming consumed by his ideals.

akutagawa's skill, meanwhile, is wildly fucking disproportionate to akutagawa's constitution which is a problem when akutagawa wont react defensively. akutagawa is canonically frail, chronically ill, thin, and short (he's 5'8", but asagiri insists he's itty bitty every time he describes him in prose). rashomon, meanwhile, is monstrously powerful and hungry. it lends a false sense of untouchable violence when akutagawa himself is weak, and also is just really difficult to focus and control such that using it brings akutagawa into coughing fits. rashomon is also terrifying even in visage; it invites others to react with violence proportionate to their terror against the spectre of rashomon — but akutagawa is small, sick, and human; what is proportionate to rashomon is IMMENSE overkill if aimed at akutagawa. which is especially egregious because akutagawa will let them.

in other words, when dazai meets akutagawa, rashomon is as dangerous to its user as to anyone else. skills should not get their users killed. dazai is right. it's a shit skill.

akutagawa is vulnerable and self-destructive, and he and dazai are working to rewire his instinctual evaluation of his stakes. even when dazai punches akutagawa after akutagawa kills the mimic soldier, it's not a random act of violence or unregulated anger. the mimic soldier was not going to lead them to gide, there was no reality where they restrained him before he bit his cyanide, and he'd attacked dazai. but instead of reacting defensively at the opportunity, akutagawa fell to the former instinct, leaving himself wide open.

dazai reacts how he does because:

they are supplanting an ingrained instinct that is self reinforcing, the correction needs to be consistent to change the pattern and the former instinct needs to be discouraged with the same severity as the threat it poses;

by punching akutagawa first, dazai gave him notice and time to consciously muster the defense reaction theyre working on;

akutagawa needs to build an association between the defensive reaction and the triggering stimulus for this to work;

the context in which this happens is the exact sort of threat that rashomon is then ill equipped to handle— gide can see into the future, like oda, and mimic are military trained gunmen.

when dazai tells akutagawa that he couldn't ever defeat oda, he's not taunting him, he's right. akutagawa is relying on swift killing blows, but against someone who can see into the future, akutagawa is as vulnerable as a baby. and then, shortly after, that's what happens: gide wrecks his shit and is about to murder him dead when oda swoops in to grab dazai's dumb horrible baby kouhai who's trying to kill himself with the ambitious gusto of a horse.

as long as akutagawa fails to seek self-preservation, he is remarkably vulnerable. he's weak, and he's going to get himself killed. dazai doesn't coddle him about it for the same reason fukuzawa slaps ranpo for scampering into a police car with a murderer. you dont get praise for self endangerment.

dazai is not going to affirm a version of akutagawa that is trying to kill the boy dazai promised to save.

***

(also, this explains why akutagawa hates taking baths and being without his coat. dazai tried to instill in akutagawa the vigilance to register danger. in his absence, akutagawa strove to be worthy of demanding his approval by diligently practicing. but he's dazai's dumb baby kouhai who. takes things too far lmao.)

[girlbossblackbeard]

S2 TRAILER ANALYSIS WITH 1 BILLION SCREENSHOTS

obligatory warning that this post is gonna be SOOOOOOOOOOOOO foolishly long and rambling with all my silly little theories and thoughts and if you ALSO have silly little theories and thoughts you should ABSOLUTELY share them here please!!!! we can clown so much harder when our cacophonous honking harmonizes!!!!!!!

NOW ONTO THE POST (putting it under a read more so tumblr doesn't literally explode):

-the revenge looks BUSTED AF: i don't know if this is from general disrepair when ed is in his kraken era or if she was in a battle but her sails are all dirty in the opening shot of the trailer, and later we see stede on her deck with tattered sails and ropes everywhere, AND i'm like 99% sure that the shot of buttons ziplining from one ship to another is him going from the Chinese warfleet ship to the revenge, which i'm guessing is essentially stuck bc the sails are so torn they would never be able to catch the wind strongly enough to move her. I also wonder if the shot of roach shooting a canon at something is him shooting a canon at her since we had all those allusions to her exploding from samba, vico, and david on twitter all those months ago

-stede's earring: he DOES NOT HAVE THE EARRING when we see him lying on the deck next to roach and sighing dramatically nor does he have it during his conversation with Olu about stede dumping him, but he DOES have the earring in later shots like the beach english fight and when he's talking about being a failure his whole life which means WE WILL GET TO SEE STEDE GET HIS EAR PIERCED!!!!!!!!!! we'll get to see him make the decision to look even hotter and who knows who does the piercing for him idk!!!!!! @sluterastede had a dastardly beautiful thought in her brain about ed giving stede the piercing and stede making groaning noises and izzy once again thinking they're flapping their jacks right there on the deck in front of god and everybody!!!!!

-stede is spilling his heart out ("i let him down. i should've just told him how i feel") to susan on her ship (you can tell it's her by the long hair)

-interesting that there's a drawing of a donkey next to ed's wanted poster considering s1 had the line "a rich donkey is still a donkey". also i can't really read what the surrounding posters say other than "WANTED 20 GUINEAS". is this in the republic of pirates?

-stede says "i will find him" meaning ed may be actively avoiding stede at the beginning of the season???? (or the basic laws of travel physics have finally caught up to them)

-"look, captain, you know blackbeard's gonna murder you" i just think it's interesting that Olu is referring to him as blackbeard again even though ed told everyone in his pink robe era to call him ed. like it makes sense that he'd say blackbeard considering ed is on a rampage but it just made my brain wheels start spinning

-the Kraken crew are eating cake :)

-ed is holding a torch while letting the storm rain down on him: i don't think the laugh we hear is his because i don't think his mouth is even open during that slow-mo shot

-STEDE with a TEAR in his EYE as he says "i think i hurt him pretty bad"

-ed sobbing on the floor while the little bride cake topper is next to his head

-ed choking on the weed smoke i'm ACTUALLY crying, but also: where the fuck is ed when he's sitting in the chair smoking??? i thought it was on deck at first bc above his head is really dark and it looks like the lanterns we see on the deck of the revenge but there's a chandelier too?? it might be whatever shop Anne Bonny and her friend "you two know each other?" run bc behind ed in that chair is just a bunch of random furniture and a chandelier like we see when ed and stede are at the market. in fact, i think ed is smoking with Anne Bonny because I think that's her hand in the corner of that shot:

-"no more booze, no more drugs, and no more _____" not sure what the end of that sentence could be but we know that the "stede" that was put in there is NOT what he actually says!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-"you two know each other?" now hold on a sec because it kinda sounds like stede met Anne Bonny and Co. separately from Ed/before that market scene (maybe in the teaser clip of Anne on Stede's lap??) WHAT IF WE GET THE AITA SCENARIO WHERE ED AND STEDE TELL PEOPLE ABOUT THEIR VERSION OF EVENTS AND NO ONE REALIZES THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT EACH OTHER UNTIL THAT MOMENT BC THEY'RE BOTH SO BIASED ABOUT ONE ANOTHER

-the evil guy definitely got his nose sliced off by Jackie. good for her :D I also don't think the evil guy is Hornigold, i'm still holding onto my theory that the man in the white rags we saw in the teaser and this trailer is hornigold's "ghost" that ed needs to contend with to find his inner peace or whatever a la stede with nigel's "ghost". but i DO think the evil guy is the rich prince dude from that leaked audition tape from rhys's friend. if memory serves, the guy wants to buy his way into the pirate lifestyle but he's pompous and entitled which makes him reckless. based off the production stills we also got today, he still had a nose when he went into Spanish Jackie's...but i don't think he leaves with one. so because he gets butthurt over invading a space that was NOT meant for him and faces the consequences of purposely disobeying their customs, he defects to the english navy and goes on a rampage against all piracy, very MRA energy :/ also, later izzy says to him "you don't know the first thing about piracy" which would further support that this guy just tried to buy his way in

-izzy gets an honest-to-god pegleg but he doesn't start the season off with it because we see him in several shots with both legs, like the wedding raid and swordfighting stede on the beach. unsure if he loses it due to infection from the toe situation or if he gets shot in the knee like i've seen some posts talk about, but @sluterastede mentioned that one of the leaked audition tapes for archie included dialogue about an amputation so maybe that character has to uh. Get Her Roach On

-as i mentioned before with the teaser analysis, izzy is clearly training stede for something and now im guessing it's the english but like we kinda knew that !

-olu is in a bar fight??

-THE "ED GETS CAUGHT IN A BUCKET ON A ROPE DURING THE STORM AND GOES OVERBOARD" THEORY IS OUT. THE "ED TIES HIMSELF TO A MF BIG ASS ROCK AND JUMPS OFF A GOD DAMN CLIFF TO GO ON SOME SOUL-SEARCHING JOURNEY UNDER THE SEA" THEORY IS IN. and what the FUCK is the rag man doing with ed up on that cliff hello?????? if my theory is correct and that is in fact hornigold's ghost or whatever, what advice or harmful shit is he saying that makes ed do that?????????????????????? but do note the large rock with the rope around it in the first pic

-the revenge crew is blowing up SOMETHING on the side of a building. maybe to cause a distraction or gain access inside the building? is it the side of Spanish Jackie's?? also hiiiiiiii lucius <3

-"our entire escape relies on this" i'm just assuming they're trying to escape from the english bc that seems to be the Big Bad of the season??

-not plot related but during the rope swinging training session izzy slaps stede on the ass and makes this face (sir??????):

>he also has his pegleg here so their mentorship may ramp up after izzy is out of commission for hand-to-hand combat. maybe izzy was supposed to have a larger fighting role alongside ed in defeating the english but once he became incapacitated he realized he would need to train someone else up for the job so ed would be sufficiently protected. but it also had to be someone izzy knew would be willing to die for ed to save his life if it came to that, just like izzy would

-"i've been a failure my whole life. it's not so bad once you get used to it" is stede talking to ed here? is that ed's hair in the corner of the frame??

>side note: as mentioned above, stede also has his earring by this point!!

-"you're going through that 'if i was a regular dude' phase" first of all, SPANISH JACKIE AND EDWARD TEACH BEST FRIENDS TRUTHERS RISE UP. second, why would ed be considered a regular dude now?? how did he lose his reputation? did he willingly give it up or was it taken from him? is this permanent or just temporary? or did he fake his own death with the cliff and the rock thing so he could retire and live a more normal life?? the swede doesn't seem scared of him at all in the final clip from the trailer, straight up asking him if he's poor and going "back to basics". of course, that could just be a power trip from being one of Jackie's newest husbands (or at least her waitstaff)

-possibly totally minor/just a continuity error thing, but: ed has a red ring. we saw it in s1 as he picks up the rather fine cashmere and we see it as ed dramatically drapes himself across the ship's helm with his head on his hand. we do not see it in the scene where he's smoking (see above) or the scene where he's talking to the rabbit. now, if you'll allow me a little bit of clownery for a moment, red has been explicitly coded in this show to be a symbol of love/the heart, especially as it pertains to edward like his red silk scarf as a metaphor for his heart in s1. what if. what if he. gave the red ring (his heart) to. SomeOne. because.....................because his heart belongs to st--[GUNSHOTS]

-olu, jim, and archie with garlic around their necks and making a cross with their fingers - clearly they think someone is a vampire on the ship. @sluterastede proposed it could be izzy, especially if he's on the brink of death due to an infection and frenchie managed to spread his superstitions to other people on the ship!

-THIS FUCKIN GUY. WHO ARE YOU??? it seems like he kidnaps stede and his crew and throws a party on the ship and drugs the drinks which is why everyone is kinda tripping/laughing in some parts. but then everyone gets tied down (stede to the mast, wee john's hands get squished, olu and roach's heads get squished, and jim and archie's feet get secured to the ship's railing i think??). also that wide shot is definitely the rando dude hitting some shrill high note at the same moment the revenge crew cry out in pain from all the squishing (except maybe jim and archie - they might just be laughing at the others bc they're badasses and this pain is nothing). also don't know what the guy is looking at when we first see him but im thinking maybe it's a wanted poster of stede and he's looking at the description of the gentleman pirate to confirm it's the dude right in front of him/that he's captured?? also i think roach is wearing flowers from the drug party in his apron when he fires that canon, so maybe he's tripping too and shoots a canon?? i need a prayer circle for the revenge's safety at this time

-stede has a bullet hole???????????????? did ed fucking shoot him in the heart?????????????????????????? he also notably does NOT have the earring in this scene but he does have the sexy stiddies (blue) shirt like we see in the other shot where he DOES have the earring. maybe this weirdo dude pierces stede's ear bc he thinks stede needs to look more piratey?? or stede gets absolutely sloshed (or drugged) and gets his ear pierced idk !!! maybe jim does it bc they're effortlessly cool and has a bunch of ear piercings!!!

-idk if this is a coincidence or not but i'm pretty sure stede in his training scenes with izzy is wearing the clothes he wore in that final shot of s1 as he rows to find the crew on the island (white linen shirt, dark pants, brown belt and boots). so either costume changes are happening later in the season, they're reusing outfits like normal people do, or the training montage happens extremely early on in the season

-so originally with the teaser trailer i thought ed falling in the water was followed by the shot of ed coming out of the water on the beach. i don't know if i fully believe that anymore because ed is NOT wearing his jacket on the cliff (see above), but he IS wearing it as he comes up out of the water, so either it's two different events and ed just spends a lot of time in the water this season or he puts his jacket on before jumping off the cliff

-ed his holding his right side as he slashes that dude on the beach so he definitely got hurt in battle but i hope it's not him getting stabbed bc ur supposed to cleverly take the sword on the left where all the unimportant bits are :(((

-I VERY STRONGLY BELIEVE that the person in the scene where stede turns around and shoots his gun into the air and everyone else on deck suddenly draws their weapons against that person is our boy lucius!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he's wearing a beret?????????? @sluterastede proposed that lucius got picked up by the english navy after getting thrown overboard and that's why we see him in the english navy garb (which we later see frenchie in too?? i believe an infiltration fuckery is afoot). also the fact that the shot immediately after this one is of Black Pete doing a happy little fist pump which i'm choosing to interpret as a cute little easter egg symbolizing Pete gets reunited with his love. i also also also believe lucius is in the shot of buttons about to zipline from one ship to the other. i missed him :')

-okay i know i said in an earlier post that stede running across the beach was romantic but i changed my mind and i think izzy is just making stede do cardio as part of his training lol. his outfit matches the one he's wearing when swordfighting izzy in that earlier wideshot and i think he even still has the scarf belt and the full beard in both scenes (explained at the end of this post via production stills) so maybe they have an honest to god training montage that takes course over several days and we get an incredible 80s powerballad to play on top of it while stede thinks of ed to motivate him or whatever. david jenkins hire me to help write season 3 i have ideas

-i think jim is behind stede as he breaks into the weirdly religious room we saw in the teaser when stede punches that guy??

-ed is pretty bloodied in the shot of stede leaning over him and saying VERY worriedly "ed????" so my theory is that ed got hurt in battle or he was taken captive by the Chinese warfleet and stede was worried he was grievously injured. however, once ed comes to and realizes who's kneeling over him, he gets pissed and headbutts stede because he's still mad at him for breaking his heart, and maybe his hands are restrained/his body is too weak so he can't push stede away. or maybe they had to begrudgingly work together on some mission and stede fucked it up and ed got hurt so he's mad about that idk!! ALSO HE'S WEARING THE CRAVAT HELLO

-ed in buttons's shirt looking so PEACEFUL what the HELL. obviously it's from the same general time as him being in Spanish Jackie's when she's talking to him about being a regular dude and later when the swede asks him if he's poor addkjfajdfhlkefh i fucking love this show and its writing so much. but ed says "no, i'm just trying something different man >:/" so i wonder if this is ed at the end of s2 or if this is more towards the middle as he's still in the thick of his healing journey. maybe buttons teaches ed about meditation and/or the tai chi he practiced with the Chinese warfleet crew??

-the BTS production still of ed with his "trust no one" tattoo also features what i believe is the treasure chest we see jim carrying off the ship in the shot where fang is smashing two dudes' heads together!

-i also think the BTS production still of stede with the beard is early on in ep 1 because he has a full beard (that im hoping someone on the revenge bullies him into shaving off to the scruff we see in the rest of the promo materials) and ALSO because he's wearing a long red scarf around his waist, which we never see again in any of the other promo material - except, however, around his neck as a makeshift cravat:

>it's the same exact material and everything! my guess is he gets his ass handed to him in a fight (maybe against izzy??) and his scarf belt gets destroyed, so he repurposes the shredded fabric into his necktie

-there's literal gold bars in the background of this production still lmao the kraken crew got BUSY during ed's goth era

>speaking of, the fucking hair dye dripping down izzy's forehead in this production still:

*sad clown noises*

in conclusion:

WE'RE BACK BABEYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

anyway that's my second dissertation on less than 2 minutes of content that turned out to be quite literally 6 pages long :)

[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

Oh look another chapter

We'll I'll be damned.

Mihawk has yet to grace us with his presence here, but I always love writing Garp's unhinged unpredictable ass, and I'm quite enjoying portraying Bogard for the first time as well. There's just something about a tall mysterious dude with a signature hat that I'll always enjoy.

A few notes this time:

I've determined that Mihawk would be around 28/29 years old in this timeline.

I'll be operating under the assumption that zoan-type devil fruit users aren't able to communicate with actual animals.

Can't find any actual source regarding Bogard's Marine rank. There is speculation that, by his coat, he is likely a vice admiral himself in the canon timeline. I'm operating under the assumption here then that, as Garp's right hand, he was likely promoted after Garp, so at this point in time I'm going with Rear Admiral, one rank below Garp. If anyone knows otherwise for a fact, please tell me so I can correct it, because I'm a chronic canon-junkie.

Reader is 21 years old; having consumed a devil fruit at six years old, and fifteen years having since passed.

It's not specified exactly when Mihawk took up residence on Kuraigana Island, from what I can tell. I could be wrong, and there could be some slight deviation from canon in that respect, but I'll let that slide this time for the sake of narrative. At this point he's not necessarily living there, but he has already used it as a hideout and is considering the idea. So while it's not exclusively his territory yet, he's essentially the only person who's bothered with the place.

This is looking like it's going to be more than three chapters for sure. Maybe five or six? I can at least promise that Mihawk will be in the next chapter.

Inserting obligatory Mihawk gif for tax reasons

dreamy sigh

what was I doing...?

o right uhhhhm

Flight Risk

Young!Mihawk x Marine!AFAB!Reader

Ch. 2 of like five or something idk

Previous Chapter Link , Next Chapter Link

SFW for now, but not in later chapters

Possible trigger warning for bullying. Possible future trigger warnings for imprisonment, mild torture (definitely psychological, maybe physical)

Tags: Enemies to lovers, eventually NSFW, idk maybe more later

Word Count: 3,794

♫♬Shotgun Shoes — The Fratellis♬♫Well I don't need your or your psychosisI can get to crazy by myself

You weren’t given any further details just yet. At your firm acceptance of what was perhaps the most insane idea you had ever heard, Garp immediately placed a call back to headquarters to inform Fleet Admiral Sengoku, quite smugly, that he would be going forward with Project Macaw. Still feeling borderline delirious, you barely heard yourself saying something about how gray parrots weren’t technically classified as macaws before Bogard, pinching at the bridge of his nose, jerked his head toward the door, indicating for you to follow him out of the office. It was difficult to truly wrap your head around the gravity of the situation yet. None of it quite seemed real.

Bogard pulled the door shut after them in the hallway outside, muffling Garp’s jovial gloating. For a long moment Bogard frowned down at you, arms crossed, clearly far less pleased. Several seconds passed before expelled an irritated sigh.

“You’ll need to pack your belongings immediately, cadet. Come on,” he said, turning on his heel and heading down the hall, not bothering to glance back and see if you were following. You had to force yourself to move, your feet feeling as if they had been replaced with lead weights. “Should any of your comrades ask, you are to tell them no more than that you’re being transferred to another base for reasons you are unable to disclose.”

“Can…I tell anyone where?” you asked. He did glance at you at this, his gaze sharp. “Not—just—my mom. She writes to me every week.”

“You are being transferred to a base in the Grand Line, where you will be receiving special training to hone your devil fruit powers,” he said curtly. You nodded quickly, not keen on pressing the subject too hard when the officer was already clearly annoyed. “She will be able to write you once we’ve arrived there. Should you release any information to anyone regarding the nature of your mission, you will be discharged from service at best.”

“A…and…at worst…?”

“You could be charged with treason and executed.”

You opened your mouth to respond, but all that left your throat at first was a strangled sort of squeak. The matter-of-fact way he had just told you that letting any details at all slip could lead to your untimely death didn’t help the surreal feeling that this was all a ridiculous dream. After pulling in a deep breath, you managed to force out weakly, “Understood, sir.”

Silence fell as you followed Bogard in the direction of barracks. Most of the other cadets would still be in the mess hall for dinner at this hour, and that left you with at least the comfort that you wouldn’t have to contend with too many questions—or too much taunting. The closer you drew to your destination, the more that surreal feeling seemed to float away to be replaced by the horrific weight of reality. You had been enlisted for only a few short months, made into a laughingstock when your fellow cadets discovered your devil fruit powers, and now you were being carted off to use those exact powers to assist in bringing down one of the deadliest men in the world.

A small part of you felt a degree of pride at the prospect that, for once, someone thought you might be remotely useful, but that part was a tiny whisper among the screaming terror occupying your head. Even once you reached the blessedly empty barracks and set to quickly and haphazardly packing your few personal belongings, as Bogard loomed silently beside the door waiting with his arms crossed, you couldn’t shake Garp’s reasoning for all of this coming down to that one ridiculous claim.

Let’s face it—pirates like parrots.

You swallowed as you stuffed your spare uniforms into a trunk, glancing toward Bogard, drawing up enough resolve to speak to the tall, imposing officer.

“I…is the vice admiral always so…”

“Barking mad?” he offered dully, and your mouth snapped shut. You weren’t sure whether to agree with such a harsh statement about such a high ranking Marine. Bogard saved you the trouble. “Yes. He is.”

“Ah. Right. Great.” You swallowed, turning your attention back to packing your belongings. You had nearly finished now and there would be plenty of time for questions later once you had gathered your thoughts. Right now, it was better that you try to finish before—

The door to the barracks opened and you froze for a moment in folding your dress uniform, your eyes darting to the door as a few other cadets filed in. They spotted you immediately, taking no notice of Bogard’s statuesque form standing to the side, already snickering as they approached the side of your bunk.

“What’s this? They finally decide to send you packing, bird brain?”

“Figures. We missed you at dinner. Brought ya some snacks.”

You only rolled your eyes as one of them pulled a small pack of crackers from their pocket, opened it, and crumbled them over top of the contents of your trunk.

“Aw, cat got your tongue, Polly?” You still held your tongue as he pulled your trunk across your bunk, rifling through it.”Where the hell are you going, anyway?”

“Your fellow cadet is being transferred to the Grand Line at the request of Vice Admiral Garp.”

The three of them froze when Bogard spoke up behind them, before slowly turning their heads to look over their shoulders. You had to bite your tongue to keep from laughing as they all immediately turned around and stood at attention. Bogard didn’t budge an inch, arms still crossed, still leaning against the stone wall beside the door, his sharp eyes flashing between each of them from beneath the brim of his hat.

“I’m afraid none of you are of high enough rank to be provided further details,” he said in a clipped tone. “Nor likely will you ever be, should you continue to treat your own brethren with such blatant disrespect.”

They remained speechless as you closed your trunk, looking rather as if their souls had evacuated the premises of their bodies. Bogard stepped away from the wall, straightening out his posture as you dragged your trunk off of the bunk mattress.

“Come along, cadet.” He was already turning toward the door. “Garp doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

You hurried after him without a glance back at them, dragging your trunk along behind you. You only looked back over your shoulder once you were several feet down the hall—and, at the sight of the idiots standing in the door, whispering amongst themselves and watching your departure, you quickly turned your gaze forward again. Even with your things now packed, none of it seemed real. As much as you would have loved to derive some pleasure from their stunned expressions, you found it impossible with the way your head was spinning.

You remained silent the entire way back to the door of the office. Bogard instructed you to wait there before stepping inside and shutting the door behind him, and you could do nothing more than stand there with a dumbfounded look on your face as you stood there in the empty hallway, still wondering what the hell sort of mess you had gotten yourself into.

How it all stemmed back to that day fifteen years ago, when you and a couple of your friends had ventured out to look for a crow with an injured wing that had escaped from your mother’s aviary. When you found it at the edge of the woods, pecking at a strange fruit with a swirling pattern across its skin sitting at the base of a mango tree, and the three of you speculated how it might be a devil fruit and spent the afternoon daring each other to eat it after returning the bird home.

How you had been the one to finally pick the thing up and take a bite out of it to end the argument.

How nothing had happened for almost a week, until you were startled by a particularly surly cockatoo attacking your hair while you were helping feed the birds and, to your mother’s horror, promptly transformed into a gray parrot.

It had taken some time for you to learn to control your ability to transform, largely for the simple sake of not turning into a bird every time you were startled. You had found little use for the ability otherwise, apart from pulling the occasional prank on your mom or your friends. The ability to fly was definitely a perk, but apart from that it really had seemed to be an absurd ability to gain in exchange for the curse of forever being unable to come into contact with the sea.

You jolted a in surprise, startled from your thoughts when the office door opened and Bogard emerged. You had taken a seat on your trunk while you waited, looking up at him as he shut the door quietly behind him.

“Garp will be with us shortly,” he said shortly. You nodded, watching him lean against the wall next to the door, lowering the brim of his hat over his eyes and crossing his arms once more.

You lowered your own gaze to your knees, your stomach churning as your thoughts returned to the here and now. Swallowing, wringing your hands in your lap, still trying and still failing to wrap your head around the reality of all of this.

“Your abilities were leaked by Petty Officer on base.” Your breath caught when Bogard spoke up amid the silence. You glanced up, but his eyes were still concealed in the shadow of the brim of his hat. “He’s been bumped back down to the rank of Seaman as punishment for divulging confidential information.”

“O…oh.” You weren’t sure of exactly how else to respond. You had assumed that something of the sort had happened a few weeks ago, when everyone was suddenly privy to your powers. “That’s…a pity.”

“You’re not interested in who it was?” His tone remained short, level, and you lifted your eyebrows. Of course you were curious. You had wondered since it happened. But at the same time…

You shook your head, lowering your gaze again and huffing out a small sigh. “It’s not important,” you said. “I figured it would happen eventually anyway. Doesn’t really matter who spilled the beans.”

 “And you have no interest in revenge?” Your eyes shot back up to the imposing officer at his blunt question, widening.

“N…no,” you said, shaking your head quickly. “That...wouldn’t accomplish any…”

Your mouth turned down in a frown as you carefully considered your words. The past few weeks had been hell, sure. You had considered giving up more than once, going home, forgetting that you ever even bothered trying—but you had forced yourself to stick it out. You hadn’t enlisted to make friends, you had enlisted because you wanted to make the world better, safer for everyone. The same reason your father had enlisted.

“I don’t care about a few morons throwing crackers at me and calling me stupid names,” you said finally, shrugging a shoulder. “If I wanted things to be easy I wouldn’t be here. I would have stayed home and helped my mom.”

“I take it you’re close with her.” You swallowed, giving a short nod. “According to your file you have no other family. You’re aware that should you die in the line of duty, she will be—”

“I know,” you interjected before he could finish, flinching as your reminded yourself that you were speaking to a superior officer. “I—sorry, sir, I—” He waved a hand dismissively, and you heaved a sigh. “I…knew that when I enlisted. So does she. It doesn’t change anything. If I…if I die in the line of duty, at least I lived for long enough to try to make the world better.” You slowly lowered your gaze, closing your eyes. “My dad always said there was a difference between living and surviving,” you continued on quietly. “I…guess I’m starting to understand what he meant.”

“Hmm.”

His short hum betrayed no more emotion than his brief and curt manner of speaking, and it remained the only communication between you for some time. Long enough for you to realize that no matter how much you had hated enduring the endless ridicule of your fellow cadets, no matter how terrified you were of this mission, that there was no room for doubt. That you could have declined without any consequence, and you hadn’t. That given the opportunity to change your mind, you wouldn’t.

You would do everything in your power to help take down Dracule Mihawk before he could further his career of bloodshed and terror, even if it was the last thing you ever did.

“Then perhaps the old moron was right.”

You glanced up at Bogard at the quiet statement, but before you could so much as wonder what he meant, the office door flung open and Garp, the old moron himself, stepped out into the hallway. He stopped in front of you, looking down, grinning as broadly as he had when you first accepted this mission.

“On your feet, cadet.” You quickly pulled yourself to your feet, straightening your posture into a salute. He gave an amused snort at the display, clapping you on the shoulder. “We’re bound for the Grand Line.”

You had to nearly jog, dragging your trunk along behind you, to keep up with the vice and rear admirals as you wound through the corridors of the small base you had come to briefly call home over the past few months. They spoke amongst themselves in hushed tones as they walked ahead of you, occasionally glancing back to ensure you were keeping up. You mostly kept your head down, your heart racing in your chest the whole way out to the docks, onto the deck of Garp’s distinctive battleship, with its canine figurehead that so many pirates had come to fear.

You were told that the journey to the base in the Grand Line would span the better part of a month, shown around the ship, given a rundown of your duties and your new training schedule. It felt no less surreal as the ship left the dock, as you sat at the edge of your bunk in the ship barracks and stared at the opposite wall, barely registering the slow swaying of the vessel beneath your feet as it sailed west.

After a long moment, you pulled your trunk open, digging past the cracker crumbs and uniforms, finding a pad of paper and a pen, steadying your hand and your mind the best you could to write something coherent.

Hey, Mom!

How are things going? I’m being transferred to a new base for special training around my feathery little problem. I can’t really say much about it, but I’ll be sure to give you an address once I have it. It’s on the Grand Line. I’m a little nervous, but I feel like things are going to be a lot better now. Like I know what I’m really here for.

And I won’t have to deal with the idiots anymore, so it’s kind of a win either way.

It’ll take about a month to make it there. I’ll write you any time I can. Tell everyone I miss them.

Love you, and miss you most.

You signed your name at the bottom, tearing the paper off and folding it, staring down at the brief letter for a long moment before standing to make your way out of the barracks and send it off.

You hadn’t expected your duties to cease or lessen simply because you were traveling, and you were right in that assumption. Between regular daily drill and duties aboard the ship, you spent the vast majority of what would have been your free time training in both combat and studying espionage. You were expected to be awake hours earlier than the rest of the crew, to fall into your bunk hours past when everyone else had gone to bed for the evening. Most mornings you felt dead on your feet, but you persevered, reminded yourself that this was the easy part.

The hard part would be the mission itself.

Beyond exhausted at a few weeks into the journey, averaging less than six hours of sleep a night. The last thing you wanted to deal with was being unceremoniously awoken before morning.

And yet, at the sound of your name being spoken sharply, your eyes snapped open.

You squinted against the dim orange light bathing your corner of the barracks, barely registering for a moment that it wasn’t the light of the morning sun creeping in through the rounded windows. The sky outside was still inky black and speckled with stars, and you frowned as your eyes found the source of the light—a lantern. A lit lantern, which Bogard was holding up, looking no less disgruntled about being there than you were at being awake. You grunted as you rubbed your eyes, sitting up.

“What time’s it…?” you grumbled.

“Late,” he said. “Vice Admiral Garp has requested your presence on the quarterdeck. No need,” he added over you groan of protest, when you reached down toward your trunk to grab a uniform to throw on over your tank-top and shorts. “This isn’t for training.”

“What’s he want, then?” you said, grabbing a pair of sweats instead. “Does he even sleep?”

“I’ve worked alongside Garp for the better part of two decades,” said Bogard, leading the way out of the barracks. “I still have no idea what goes on in that thick skull of his most of the time.”

You couldn’t help but wonder whether anyone did.

The main deck was empty save for the handful of Marines working the graveyard shift, all but silent with the exception of the rolling waves below as the battleship cut through the relatively calm waters. You wrapped your arms around your torso when the chilly night air hit you, rubbing at your arms as Bogard gestured for you to go ahead and left you to whatever business Garp had cooked up for you. You yawned as you climbed the stairs to the quarterdeck, where you found the man standing at the port side railing, staring out toward an island in the distance.

“Kuraigana Island,” he said as you stopped next to him. “Ever heard of it, cadet?”

“Ah…no, sir,” you responded blankly, looking out at it yourself. It was difficult to gauge the distance in the dark, but it had to be at least half a mile away, if not more. The landscape appeared to be covered largely in dense forest, but standing above the dark treetops was an old castle, silhouetted in the silvery moonlight.

“I guess not many have,” he said. “It was home to a small kingdom until recently. They had little contact with the outside world so it’s hard to say what happened. Most likely a civil war wiped out all the previous residents. Only supposed inhabitants now are a race of violent primates that attack anyone who ventures into the forests.”

“O…kay,” you said, slowly, wondering where this was going.

A small part of you wondering if you were about to be dropped off on the island to see if you could fight your way through. Your ability in combat had improved over the past few weeks of grueling training, but the mental image of being surrounded by an army of angry gorillas still flashed through your mind and caused you to give a wary glance toward Garp.

His gaze remained fixed on the island.

“We’ve received a few of reports about a small vessel anchored near the shore on a handful of occasions,” he said. “One matching the description of Hitsugibune.”

You froze, your eyes widening as your gaze slowly turned back toward the island. A few weeks ago, the name would have meant nothing to you. Now that you had learned more about the target of your mission, you knew exactly what Garp was referring to—the small, coffin-shaped, one man vessel of Dracule Mihawk. You swallowed, nodding briefly when you found yourself unable to speak.

“We’re not sure what the situation is,” said Garp, “but there’s a fair chance he’s using the ruins as a hideout. I suppose if anyone could get past the apes…” He leaned forward against the railing, scratching at his beard. “Well then. Think you’re up for a test?”

Oh gods, here it comes…

“Do I have a choice?” you said, and expelled a resigned sigh at Garp’s bark of laughter. “What do I need to do, sir?”

“That’s the spirit,” he said, straightening out, crossing his arms and looking down at you with a grin. “How far d’ya think you can fly with your devil fruit powers?”

You were suddenly a great deal more awake now.

“Further than I can walk,” you said slowly, lifting an eyebrow—you weren’t sure of exactly how far, but flying expelled a great deal less energy than walking.

“In that case,” he said, gesturing toward the island, “go get us a bird’s-eye view. See if there are any signs of life. I’d focus around the castle. Avoid flying too low over the forest for obvious reasons.”

“For obvious reasons,” you repeated in agreement, grimacing—the last thing you wanted was to be snatched out of the air by a pissed off gorilla. “Right…” You rubbed the back of your neck, looking out toward the island. “Should I go right now, sir?”

“No time like the present,” he said, grinning.

There was nothing else for it, then. Garp took a step back as you transformed, shrinking down into a gray parrot on the quarterdeck of the ship. “You’re to be gone no longer than half an hour, or I’ll have no choice but to send in reinforcements,” he said, looking down at you, watching you flap your wings a few times and fly up to the railing, perching there as he relayed the orders. “Should you see Dracule Mihawk, you’ll keep your distance. Fly over and return immediately. Reconnaissance only, no contact. Understood?”

You nodded, and lifted one of your wings, moving it to your head to mime a salute. He gave a snort of laughter at the sight.

“Good bird,” he said dryly, and made a shooing motion. “Now go ahead. Get moving, cadet.”

Before a single thought of trying to find some way out of this nonsense could form in your mind, you lifted off from the port side railing, and circled around in the air until you were heading out toward Kuraigana Island.

Previous chapter link again, for your convenience

Next chapter link again, for your convenience

[fumifooms]

I've reached a certain point in the manga now where Sissel heckles Marcille and mentions how "half breeds" are sterile.

And now I can't get out of my head the idea of a Marcille who can't become a mother herself, but ends up being able to experience something of the sort through meeting Chilchuck's daughters (even if they are all grown already.)

And allow me to go further, but also imagine that there is a point where Chilchuck does finally bury the hatchet with his wife, but have come to accept that they just don't work anymore, and decide to divorce formally on amicable terms.

The daughters therefore all slowly get to know Marcille, and even without the intent of being motherly, she dotes on them all anyway (because they're just so cute and so sweet!), and they see how their crabby father's eyes goes soft when they see Marcille interacting with them that by the end of it, they corner their father and tell him they approve.

Yes!!! YES!!!

You seem to not have finished the manga yet so I want to avoid spoilers… But no if I’m going into this topic I’ll absolutely end up spoiling some things lol. So beware, spoilers in the links I put and under the cut! I also talk about this topic/dynamics headcanons a bit here, and here, and specifically about his wife and him reconciling or not here, and my fanfic Grind Me Down Sweetly has bits and headcanons like these, but it’s an aspect of marchil with lots of potential!! Not obligatory reading btw lol, I just like to keep things as tidy as I can with things I cover many times plus there’s more stuff I won’t say here. I’m gonna be talking for a while though!!

I feel she could genuinely get along great with Flertom and Puckpatti, their personalities seem pretty compatible! Meanwhile Meijack’s more reserved, but Marcille would grow on her too. Meijack 100% would be the one who sticks more around her father as Marcille and her sisters chat enthusiastically when she first meets them, and out of nowhere she goes "She suits you." and Chil spits out his beer, but he swallows back the urge to deny it and then agrees.

One of my marchil timelines is that they stay close friends for a long time after post-canon, before maybe or maybe not dating. I like to think that after they meet, Marcille starts exchanging letters with Flertom sometimes because they hit it off and Chilchuck is like "Why are you on first name basis with my daughter!!! WHY ARE YOU ON FIRST NAME BASIS WITH MY DAUGHTER!! WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN, STOP INFILTRATING ALL OF MY LIFEEEE-" <- Man who has her on his mind 24/7 and is kinda going mad over it. Hehe I’ll let you read the fic I linked in the beginning if that sounds fun to you!

I know that in my fic wips where confessions or proposals happen I tend to bring the topic of the daughters up. Here’s my favorite that lowkey guts me

Post-canon spoiler but I like the idea that when the Toudens die from age or one thing or another, if one of them forms a family and has kids (through adoption or anything) then at least over the centuries she’d still overlook the lineage of royals and would find a sort of solace from that, always being surrounded by lots of caring people. I think this is a bit healing for her single child self as well! Her notion of family and childhood are very tainted by loneliness and loss, and though she needs to accept that all hellos end with goodbye and find closure and happiness even through that, something can definitely be done about the loneliness! And as you can see with my fanfic wip, in a perfect marchil world I also think that she would fully become a part of Chilchuck’s family and generations down the line either people at family gatherings call her "great-auntie", or inversely no one really knows and just goes "oh her? Yeah that’s Marcille. She’s in the family -shrug-". The family dinners would be awkward at first since I imagine Chilchuck’s prejudices on elves come from somewhere lol, but it’d be so sweet.

But yes, back to the daughters! Marcille is 100% a mom friend who loves caring for her loved ones (I have a post examining that a bit here), there’s how she likes to bathe Izutsumi and Falin after all (Kui has said it herself that she loves when characters care for others in ways like that, which reflects in Marcille, and with Milsiril & Kabru or Mithrun & his caretakers, etc~), but I don’t think she’d actually want a kid herself if she had to choose, maybe she’d grow to want it one day but I think what kind of bonds she’s looking for currently are more platonic and such than familial in nature, that she wouldn’t want ro raise a child herself quite yet. She likes spoiling people she loves and caring for them in domestic ways, but not the ‘everything else’ part lol. So I actually think this works out great!! She 100% dotes on them as you said, but in many ways I think their dynamic would be a lot like gal pals chatting every once in a while, Flertom and her share in the latest gossip and they talk about fashion amongst other things! With Meijack being more akin to the usual stepmother dynamic where what ties them together is Chilchuck, until they grow to have a bond based on familiarity over time (I feel like due to these she’s the one that would have a mother-daughter relationship with Marcille the most since Flertom and Puckpatti would be more casual with her, but I basically think all the daughters and Marcille see each other as equals). Their common point above everything is caring about Chilchuck, and though of course Marcille would be ready to offer motherly comfort or support for them if they wanted it, the girls are pretty past that age so I don’t see it happening all that much, at least not in the first 5 years or so~ I think once Chil dies (probably not very late with how he drinks a lot of alcohol and was malnourished/"strict dieting" for what’s implied to be a very long time) the reverse is gonna happen, where Marcille is gonna be absolutely gutted and will reach out to the girls a lot to grieve together and spend time recovering together. Talking about him and whatnot. If his wife goes to his funeral and they meet, Marcille and her could potentially also have very interesting interactions.

Girl sure wishes she wasn’t right here :( Unbeknownst to him she’d be giving him lifespan buffs ad infinitum if she could

And! It was so easy for me to miss this detail when I first read The Adventurer’s Bible (the world guidebook) but Marcille’s mom remarried! Marcille has a stepfather herself! It’s interesting that Marcille’s relationship with him or her stance on her mom remarrying is left so open, but she certainly acts enthusiastic about families and kids so doesn’t seem like there’s a complex there. I think this would give her a lot of thoughts about potentially being a stepmother though! I think it might influence her in her casual attitude, where she doesn’t want to push herself as ‘the new mother’ and whatnot, and I think honestly if the girls ever wanted to vent to her about how their family situation made them feel, Marcille and them could have really heartfelt and understanding conversations.

Ah yes ah yes, might as well unload my ‘Chilchuck has a second family of clingy asses’ timeline I adore: Marcille and Izutsumi, + the rest of the gang to a lesser degree~ I already linked a post in which I talk about how Marcille’s somewhat of a motherly presence for her, and Izutsumi’s relationship with Chilchuck is def rather father-like too (post going into that here)! A post-canon Marcille hc I love is that Marcille gets a cat~ A black one to fit with her witch aesthetic, and with how the cat hairs are black like the dresses she now wears all the time so it’s less apparent that she’s covered in them lol. It reminds her of Izutsumi a bit as she goes on her journey, it’s kinda like the chickens she had around her as a kid, she loves having things to care for and spoil AND also it’s the end place of her character arc about appreciating loved ones even if they’re short-lived, and having the courage to want to know and love them anyways… It always comes back to marchil and his stupid only 20 years left to live I swear 😭 I genuinely feel like Marcille tends to keep some emotional distance from others during canon to try and minimize that effects of loss would have on her, but more on that in another upcoming post. But yeah I feel like every time she sees a stray cat while strolling out she starts tearing up a little… She wonders if Izutsumi is okay and eating well and all… But she learns to live with not fully knowing, and optimism & being hopeful are her trademark thing so she puts them to good use! Sometimes her and Chil will hang out of his shop and they’ll see a stray cat. They start leaving some food out for them. Chil is all "Bad idea! They’ll become overly reliant on our food and it’ll be bad for them!" at first but he caves. So then they watch it feed on what they gave it, and she brings up what was both on their mind. "Do you ever wonder where Izutsumi went, if she’s alright…" "You say that as if she didn’t visit three months ago. Aren’t you supposed to be the one for who long periods of time mean little here?" And a silence falls, but then after a bit he finally replies, without snark. "… I do." Marcille’s cat would 100% be a stray she decided to adopt actually. I am seeing how a marchil fic being written centered around this would work~ Before she brings it to the castle and officially adopts it, she sees it standing out in the rain all pitifully in front of Chil’s shop once and she invites it in (to Chilchuck’s despair), and from then on it’s still a stray but it has a home to go back to. And it can showcase Marcille and Chil’s relationship alongside that metaphorically and it’s like… Domesticating love… 😭 I think I hold a Grind Me Down Sweetly sequel here~ Chilchuck is so the ‘doesn’t want a cat dad who ends up being the cat’s favorite’, both with his cat daughter and the actual cat lol, and Marcille’s not a cat but he certainly wasn’t looking for another romance so hey!! Chilchuck expected to live alone forever after his wife didn’t get back together with him, but surprise!!! Ok cat tangent over I promise <3

Meeting the stepmom energy… Plus the dwarven bachelor. And the king. Maybe he didn’t make up with his wife "like how well it goes in stories" like he hoped for, but her wish sure did come true!! She met his family!! :] I’m planning a huge character arc post about this part of their interactions in canon, but optimism and hope did at least half the job <3 Especially since he hadn’t seen his daughters in years too. She’s good for him!!! And he’s good for her!!!

<3

[theoraekenapperciation]

𝜗𝜚 Theo Christmas Week 2024 𝜗𝜚

this event is for Theo Raeken centric fan works and will run from December 20th — December 25th 2024, it can be gen works or ship, all characters & au’s are welcome! feel free to send in an ask with any questions or concerns!

to participate in this event tag your creations with #theoraekenchristmasweek24 and/or #theochristmasweek24 then tag this blog @theoraekenapperciation — please make sure to read the rules found here before posting a work for this event

𝜗𝜚 prompts - these can be mixed & matched however you please and if you don’t want to follow them that’s fine too! ↷

🎁 Day 1 — Chimera’s in the Snow - is it snowing in California or did theo travel for the holidays? is it a snow storm or just a dusting? are the other chimeras with him? all up to you! - December 20th 𝜗𝜚

🎁 Day 2 — Christmas Fight - what bad guy does theo have to face off against near christmas time? it could be a villain we’ve already met or someone/something brand new - December 21st 𝜗𝜚

🎁 Day 3 — December Blues - the obligatory angst prompt - December 22nd 𝜗𝜚

🎁 Day 4 — Rarepairs - is there any pairings that didn’t happen in the show that you’d like to see? any characters from past seasons you want to see interact with theo? - December 23rd 𝜗𝜚

🎁 Day 5 — Dealers Choice! - December 24th 𝜗𝜚

🎁 Day 6 — Christmas Day/Eve - how does theo spend the day of Christmas or the night before? - December 25th 𝜗𝜚

𝜗𝜚 visual prompts ↷

🎁 Day 1 — Stuck Outside

🎁 Day 2 — Ice Skating

🎁 Day 3 — Present Wrapping

🎁 Day 4 — Christmas Sweaters

🎁 Day 5 — Dealers Choice!

🎁 Day 6 — Pinning The Star To The Tree

𝜗𝜚 alternative prompts ↷

🎁 Alt 1 — Song Lyrics - could be a holiday song or a regular song you think theo would listen to during the holiday season, anything you’d like

🎁 Alt 2 — Santa Clause - we know theo’s childhood was unconventional, do you think that had an effect on what he believed in? what age did he stop believing? (Ik he has that one line where he says he was nine and still believed in santa so this is based off that)

🎁 Alt 3 — Set In Canon - maybe it wasn’t actually christmas time when we saw theo but who says we can’t play with the timeline and have a canon storyline take place in December

[remigoesinsane]

OKAY... WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT MORELLA.

So, i feel like Morella isn't getting nearly enough time spent talking about her, which is fair, because we really haven't seen much focus on her recently. HOWEVER. I did just realize that I am now able to share a theory that I've had. Warning: it's... a lot.

So first off, I want to address a theory that directly contradicts mine. This is, of course, the theory of "everyone in Nevermore died in America" theory. I want to clarify: I'm not directly shooting it down. I am, however, saying that it's only a theory, and as of yet has no way of knowing for sure if it's fact or fiction. Therefore, this theory will completely disregard that one.

Now, my theory specifically has to do with Morella's death. The first thing we managed to figure out about her was that she must have died sometime after the 1950s, seeing as that was when the lobster clasp, which is what she has, was invented.

However, she can't be too close to modern times, or she would question why everything is so old-fashioned. Also, her outfits don't exactly scream "21st century", so it's pretty safe to say she's from the 1900s. It's been estimated (thank you panda) that the approximate time frame should be late 1950s to early 1970s.

Now, her spectre. She has a benevolent spectre type, and describes her emotions when manifesting as "wanting to protect her friends, no matter what" (not an exact quote btw). It's pretty widely accepted that she died to save someone else. Also, I must point out: red hair? freckles? (ginger, ginger, Weasley, Weasley- nah I'm kidding lmao iykyk) and shepherd's pie? doesn't that kinda scream Irish? not to mention the resemblance of the pajamas:

I'm a massive riordan fan, and rereading Magnus Chase got me thinking: what if (like Mallory Keen) Morella died during bloody Friday?

Some background (yes I did research): Bloody Friday occured on July 21st, 1972, where bombs went off in Ireland, killing 9 people and injuring about 130 others. It was in response to Bloody Sunday, also known as the Bogside Massacre. As you can see, the dates fit the time frame perfectly.

Red and Flynn never actually confirmed where Morella was from. They once said in the discord that England was a possibility, but not to count it as canon. As of yet, we have no confirmation of where Morella is from, so it's perfectly possible for her to be Irish. Line up all the evidence, and you get this theory: Morella likely died either on Bloody Sunday or Bloody Friday. She's always had a strong instinct to protect her friends, even if it meant her death, which in this case, it would have.

I find this theory to be VERY interesting, especially because as far as I've seen, I was the first to mention it (at least in the discord, and I've never seen anyone make this connection on a webtoon comment.) If I'm right... I'll scream.

Obligatory thanks for making it to the end. DAMN was this was long. Maybe even longer than my crack dream... but that's a story for another time.

[lobotoboy]

Time to combine two fixations together, and create a new thing that I'm almost 100% certain has been thought of before!

A DANGANRONPA X RIDE THE CYCLONE AU (please someone make art of this, i'll post my attempt at a jane doe pic for this au later, but im still a beginner lmao) CAST (with explanation): To preface, I wanted everyone except Jane to have died in either their game or anime arc. Ocean O'Connell Roseburg: Ruruka Ando So this one was hard, because I initially wanted to stick to just the games, but neither Mahiru nor Hiyoko fit the bill for me, so I went with Ruruka. Personally, I think she's underrated, I feel like she's very compelling, and like Ocean, has room to grow in a similar way. I think she believes her way is the best way, like Ocean, and has the potential to learn differently. Constance Blackwood: Chiaki Nanami Chiaki is an obligatory add for me, no doubt about it. Constance is UNDERRATED, LOVE HER MORE PLEASE. Sugar Cloud is all about Constance finally recognizing the good things about her life around her, and Chiaki has a similar world view in both the anime and the games. If you look in the anime especially, she's one of the few characters who seems to understand a person can have worth without having a talent, and that's something that should be praised. Also she's my best friend's (@multifanforever) wife, so she's chill ig. Noel Gruber: Nagito Komaeda Do I *really* need to explain this one? Look at him. Name me a better character to put here, I dare you. In all seriousness, Monique is giving Servant Nagito vibes, and he'd SLAY Noel's Lament. Mischa Bachinski: Leon Kuwata Leon was also a bit of an 'out of left field' (teehee) pick for me, but Mischa's a rapper and Leon wants to break into music. Mischa's got a bit of angst in him, and so does Leon. Leon and Mischa are respectful lovers of women, so I feel like they'd be buddies and thus fit.

Jane Doe: Hajime Hinata/Izuru Kamukura WHERE DO I START SDUEHFEUFHWE I LOVE JANE AND I LOVE THESE TWO FUCKS. My stupid ass husband and his evil (not really) alter ego. Aside from personal bias for my favorite characters, I think they fit the most. I could (and want to) write a dissertation about Hajime and Izuru, but for the main gist of it, the way his identity is erased in canon, lines up with how Jane doesn't know who she is. At the end too, when they pick who gets to not be dead (i honestly dont understand the ending of rtc, is it resurrection, changing the timeline, rebirth?) it could be reminiscent of Hajime coming back post Neo World Program. Also Izuru lends himself really well to a creepier design. Ricky Potts: Kaito Momota They both kind of have that kind of selfless attitude to them, Kaito's illness is a good match for Ricky's disability, and obviously space. I also headcanon Kaito as a cat person. The Amazing Karnak: Junko Enoshima To me, they have similar, joking vibes to them. I feel like she'd mess with them just as much, if not a bit more than Karnak does. The changing rules and such are just for her entertainment. Virgil the Rat: Monokuma (obvi) I feel like Monokuma would rock the bass, and obviously makes sense as the one to accompany Junko.