#otp: chasing that horizon

[thievinghippo]

The bottom right-hand picture is the world's best description of Elis.

Elis grew up terrified of her own shadow, but refused to let anyone know. To deflect her fears, she turned to humor. She started to laugh at things that scared her and after awhile, these things didn’t scare her so much anymore. 

She and Bethany were incredibly close growing up, even with their age difference. Having magic lessons day after day helped a great deal with that. Even though Bethany was killed years ago, Elis still feels her loss. Which became even worse after she lost Carver in the Deep Roads.)

During her time in Kirkwall, Elis had a number of lovers and potential romances (including a fling with the king of Ferelden!), but kept finding herself in Isabela’s bed. Until the incident with the Arishok, of course. Though it took time for them to find their way together again, Elis is convinced that the time apart helped them both. 

Once Corypheus returned, Elis was happy to help as best she could. Isabela, too, which surprised her. So while Isabela became a field agent, Elis helped the Inquisitor directly. But now that the fighting is done, she and Isabela are retiring, on Isabela’s new ship. The woman is an admiral now, after all. And Elis decided Isabela deserved a ship to match her glorious hat.

Important Links

#elis hawke

#otp: chasing the horizon

[esseastri]

Aliena/Isabela, military SF

MY BABES, OH GOD OKAY UM

.

“You know I can’t stand a girl in uniform,” Isabela said, a sly whisper that curled around Aliena’s heart like her first officer curled over the back of her chair on the bridge, hair spilling out of its regulation bun to brush the commander’s cheek. Aliena turned her head a fraction of an inch, just enough so that her lips grazed Isabela’s jawline for an instant before she pushed herself out of the chair and pressed several buttons on the control console. “You could always take me out of it,” she said lazily, trailing her fingers along the console as she switched the ship into autopilot and locked the bridge’s doors.

[gaminginsanity]

"I'm sorry I abandoned you in the Fade. That was foolish of me. I mean, I didn't even get the ship in the end!"

[skyland2703]

This isn’t for a game or anything I’m just remembering the ask you gave me about my otp and I have a similar question for you with valentines on the horizon lol. Sorry if it’s random, feel free to ignore if you want!

Aside from SPD and Dino Fury, if you could take one season and make one pairing canon; who would you and why?

This was so much harder than id thought it’d be— oh shit.

One season, and make one pairing canon…. Its a tie because I can’t pick between these two.

Chase and Riley, kiddo me, watching Dino charge for the first time, felt things between these two dumbasses and I came to tumblr to find out I wasn’t the only one. I just despise the choices writers made in the season, and definitely my go-to choice.

BUT I can’t leave these two behind either, because while I never liked the canon pairings in Megaforce, this has started appealing more and more to me, when I rewatched.

Thanks dor coming to my ted talk :D

[shemsplaining]

This is your damned influence, Hawke.

[windupnamazu]

let me find you

ffxivwrite2020 #25: wish

⮞ lunya/g’raha. 928 words. ⮞ a missing scene from the end of 5.3. spoilers for the patch. title is ... my otp tag, which is from the flock of dimes song you, the vatican, and is also the title of the luha playlist cyan to-the-voiceless made for me for last christmas whiiich included this song ;w; ⮞ “this singular, spectacularly selfish wish of mine—to be there when you wake up,” or, lunya goes to wake up sleeping beauty.

“to desire (a person or thing).”

Her desperate sprint through Mor Dhona is enkindled with a fire beneath her feet, a spirit vessel held to her heart more protectively than anything she has ever carried before. More than her hopes, her dreams, her burdens, the weight of the very world—

Maybe if she were gentler, or patient, or soft, like she's always felt she's never been and yearned to emulate the friends she had that were, she would have stayed longer at the Respite. It is not as if his soul was tearing at the seams of its limits like the Scions' were. She could have afforded a few moments more to help Krile and Rjoli, to wait until the others could come along—though they didn't stop her to begin with, all encouraging her to go, to follow the sun in the east with their smiles if not their words.

(It is funny that he calls her his guiding star and that the family she has built from the ground up are lodestars and balefires and they are all as beacons in the night, bringing those who are lost home, and now she is the one chasing a familiar light—)

Is it wrong for a girl who has only ever given her whole life to want?

Her life has been consumed with selflessness and if there is one thing in this world she wants to be selfish about then it is him, and when she gets him back she is never going to let him go. If she was born with a destiny—if there is a cog in the wheel of fate that even she cannot turn—then it has to be one where she was meant to find him, in this lifetime, in the one before it, and in all the lives to come.

It is an exhausting thing, to climb the endless stairs of the Tower when she's already spent, her near-limitless light pushed to its breaking point just scarcely a day before with no time set aside to recover. Her legs threaten to give out beneath her but she pushes onwards and upwards, through the floors she knows by heart now, over its shimmering stairs and the crystal walls. The throne room is just as it was on the First, the same as it was when they last stood here on the Source over half a decade ago. All that is different is the throne itself. There he slumbers, the king in the mountain, a prince on a throne that once stood as a symbol of ruin but under his hand became a symbol of hope.

When she places the spirit vessel in his hand and it begins to glow, she doesn't dare to breathe.

It doesn't matter if the soul transference works, she knows, because she will love him anyway. The G'raha Tia of six summers past and the G'raha Tia of a future he made for her are both Raha and she will will love him all the same no matter how he wakes up because—and a crystal in her pocket brands its heat against her heart, reminding her of a woman with hair darker than the midnight sky and a man with eyes that sing of twilight—an old promise to find him again is entwined in her soul, in the core of her very being, in the essence of what makes her herself.

His eyes open ever so slowly, a crimson dawn breaking over the horizon, searching. When he finds her there he breaks into a smile, mesmerizingly bright as he moves on instinct, more fluid than the soothing rush of waves along the shores of Vylbrand, to reach for her left hand and bring it to his lips, kissing her wedding ring as it gleams in the thin dredges of sunrise, she knows.

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" she weeps as the new day breaks behind them, her voice watery and deliriously overjoyed as his fingers entwine with hers. The sun is dazzling as it ushers them to a brighter dawn together in a future where they never need to be apart again. "'Tis good to see you awake!"

He laughs so brilliantly in the rising morning light, so beautiful even though he's wearing that horrible coeurl print she told him to throw away years ago but he never managed to before he went and put himself to sleep, and they're both crying when she grabs his collar and yanks him down into a kiss. They topple off the throne and she mutters a joyful ow against his lips when her back hits the crystal floor and he whispers a panicked sorry! but she doesn't care, not when he's in her arms again and he's awake and he's hers and neither of them can stop smiling, not when everything they have fought for and sacrificed until now has been so wholly and irreversibly worth it.

Though sleep has held him for so long he's warm when she curls her hands in his hair and rejoices in his weight pressing down on her, the crushing reality of his presence at her side once more overwhelming next to the lightness of her heart, a heart that could just about soar and leap from her chest to sing. When he breaks away to kiss her forehead, her nose, her lips again, the eternal wind dances through the open throne room, but not even that is strong enough to tear him nor his first words away from her as he grins from ear to ear.

"Good morning, my inspiration! 'Tis good to be awake!"

[obvidalous]

The view is breathtaking.

The whole planet is lying at their feet, the horizon of its wild beauty stretching as far as eyes can see. The distant mountains provide enough shadow and freshness to cool down the heat of the late afternoon, birds are singing in the sky over the waterfall and butterflies are lazily chasing after blazing rays of sunshine high above their heads. 

There’s not a soul in sight, no one to disturb their reunion. They escaped the tumult of the city as soon as they could and landed the shuttle in the uncharted wilderness, far away from all civilization. A fertile and unexplored territory is offered to them; if they listened carefully, they could hear the soft splashes of the water in the lagoon nearby or the buzzing of insects flying around. The jungle is a hive of activity, the opulence of its nature flowering in so many rich and luxuriant colors.

Yes, the view is stunning. They would notice it, if only they were able to take their eyes off of each other…

| MERweek2019 |

A gifset to celebrate my endless love for my OTP. Because this totally happened, and nobody can convince me otherwise. We were robbed, this should have been possible in the game!! 

Bonus under the cut xD

[felicia-parker]

If your ask box is still open, #102 for Peter x Felicia?? 💕

#102 - “You’re the only person I want to be with tonight.”

She collides with him in a way he would compare to being hit by a very warm freight train. The infamous thief slams into him with such force that they both go through the glass of the window. It rains in glittering pieces around them as they plummet towards the dark streets of the lower west side. Platinum hair obscures his vision, but he feels her wrap her arms around his middle in a tight grasp. 

“Do something!” She shouts at him, it’s an order, she’s panicked for once. Years he’s chased her and he can’t remember the last time her voice was laced with such a tone. One of his arms instinctively curls around her and he holds tight before his other goes up and he fires a line of webbing across the way, feeling it catch and then swinging them along almost effortlessly. He knows this city inside and out, knows every curve of the metal skyscrapers that kiss the clouds when he pulls them up onto an old building. This used to be an office building and now it’s a call center, full of contractors and unknown working folk but it’s got a perfect view of the tower that is now lit up like a proverbial Christmas tree, with a hole gaping out of the top level. 

“Cat,” He breathes as he settles them both down, “What the hell were you doing in there?”  His voice is full of both curiosity and disbelief as he lets go of her and gestures to the building, “Do you know who owns that building?” 

Felicia pulls herself up to her feet, much like a cat would, stretching in a dark suit before brushing off faint traces of glass that cling to the fur, “Oh Spider, I know exactly who owns that building. Why do you think I was there? The better question though is what were you doing there? Aside from ruining my night?” 

“Ruining your night?” There’s that disbelief again, she smiles at his flustered tone, watching him move his weight foot to foot as he weighs the words in his head, trying to fight with his own moral code of getting onto her for breaking and entering into a building owned by one of New York’s worst and deadliest.  He finally exhales sharply, shoulders slightly slumping before he holds himself high, head tilting upwards, “I don’t think getting you out of there can be considered as ruining your night. Unless you wanted to be swiss cheese on the front page of the paper full of bullet holes.” 

Felicia rolls her shoulders and shrugs once more, “I had it covered you know. I wasn’t even spotted until you gave me away.”

“We both know they would have found you the moment you got a little too handsy in that vault.” 

“Don’t like it when I’m handsy, Spider?” She asked with a step forward, one gloved hand stretched out towards him as she puts a single clawed finger under his chin, “I can think of a time when you did.”

Her words are heavy and meant to fluster him even more. He fights the rising heat to his cheeks under his mask, his mouth going slightly dry as he resists the urge to step into her form. Instead he tilts his head away from her finger, “What were you doing in that building? Fisk has it bugged inside and out, everything is state of the art and I thought you were smarter than to mess with that Cat.” 

“Maybe I’m not. Maybe there’s something in there worth going after.”

“Nothing is worth losing you,” He says the words before he can stop himself. Peter Parker, a man with a broken filter, letting his words fly without warning, spilling them like a glass of wine on white carpet. Felicia cocks her head now, silvery hair falling almost past her waist as she watches him, emerald eyes narrowing on his form. For a moment she stays silent, lets the sirens pierce the air as the alarm company no doubt has called the authorities while private security secures the building. She was almost free with a pocket full of nano tech when the hero dropped in on her. Well, he dropped in the wrong spot and security caught him on tape. The lights had come on then.

The lights, the alarm, the guns and their bullets, all of it had come when the infamous Spider-Man had dropped right in the middle of the room from the vent he had crawled himself into. Felicia had to drop the goods, drop the small talk and get them both out of there. It had been instinct to get him out. If he had been any other man she would have left them there, every man and woman for themselves. She wasn’t in the charity business of helping anyone who would hinder her work, but he was different. Felicia inwardly sighed, he was always different. 

Some part of her ached in the way it did when she let herself think back when life was good, warm and sweet. Slowly she swept all those feelings aside as if they were nothing more than dust on her costume, “I’m not going anywhere Spider, go home.”

He doesn’t move, neither does she. Another minute passes them by and the wind picks up around the two of them, cutting through the city as a reminder that fall weather is on the horizon. Felicia finally moves first, light steps barely making a sound and all his senses go haywire when she leans in to press a kiss to his jawline, “Go home.” 

She mutters the words against his mask. He doesn’t go home. Instead he moves his hand through her hair once more and pulls her in closer. The two of them with very little space left between them, his gloved hand smoothing down the curve of her face, “I’m staying with you tonight. I can’t have you going back in there tonight. I don’t know what you were after but it’s not safe.”

A sigh leaves her dark painted lips before she gives him that infamous smirk once more, punctuating her statement with a wink to unnerve him all over again, “Honestly Spider, you’re the only person I want to be with tonight.” SEND ME ONE OF THESE & AN OTP.

[swishandflickwit]

Deckerstar — if life is a movie (you’re the best part) 1/1

Summary: In which Lucifer divulges a bit of his divine history to Chloe.

Ratings: General Audiences

Words: 666

Warnings: Post-reveal. Established relationship. Cotton candy fluff.

AN: Story inspired by Tom Ellis’ body cause he really does have a lot of beauty marks albeit tiny ones and when Inbar Lavi (who, if you don’t all ready know, plays Eve and whom I love with all my mind, heart, body and soul) did this because of fucking course she can sing.

It’s also where the title is from, specifically, Best Part by H.E.R. & Daniel Caesar, which I highly recommend ya’ll play in the background while reading this for maximum feels and good vibes all around really.  

EDIT: Changed "moles" to freckles, CAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY ARE AND MY DUMBASS BRAIN COULDN'T REMEMBER??? Thanks a bunch to @thepoisonofgod for being literally heaven-sent and pointing this out to me!!! You have my heart!!!

Also on ff.net | AO3

Other writing

The Devil’s Lucky Number series: I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X | XI | XII | XIII | XIV | XV | XVI | XVII | XVIII | XIV | XX | XXI | XXII | XXIII | XXIV | [ XXV ]

Lucifer thinks about Heaven more often than one would assume, given his loudly-documented distaste for the locale.

(Just not in the way that’s expected)

Chloe’s breath is hot on his skin and still, shivers dance forth his spine.

“You have,” her finger trails the curve of his shoulder as she murmurs, “so many freckles.”

He barks a surprised laugh at that.

“Is that what you think they are?”

She meets his amused stare with a confused one of her own.

“What else would they be?”

He cocks his head, contemplating whether to tell her—because that’s a thing he can do now… share with her his unfiltered celestial past and have her actually believe him.

It’s odd, after bearing her ignorance for so long. It’s strange and novel and uncharted and exhilarating and wonderful and, well—s’pose there’s no question after all.

“They’re scars.”

She startles at that.

Equally baffled, he glances downwards and says, “What? They’re not that bad, are they?”

She plants a chaste kiss on his sternum as her surprise, and his brief flare of insecurity, dissipates at the touch.

“You’re perfect,” she hums, and he can sense rather than see her smile blooming. “Vain, sure. But perfect.”

She sits up and runs her palms tenderly down the length of his arms.

“There’re just so many of them?”

“The perils of building your own stars, I’m afraid.”

Her eyes widen, almost comically. He purses his lips to contain his charmed chuckles.

“You… got these creating—creating stars? Like, the stars?”

“I know what you’re thinking—” he sighs.

“I seriously doubt that.”

“—how could I have gotten injured when I make everything I do look so effortless?”

(She shakes her head and mutters, “Not even close.”

He elects to ignore this)

“Well, I was a wild and experimental thing in my youth—”

“Yeah, cause you’re not like that at all now.”

Rude.

Abruptly, he hefts her over his shoulder and stands. She squeals.

“Lucifer,” she pinches his bum even as she giggles.

“Oh, spicy detective!” he exclaims, joining in her chortles.

“Put me down!”

He doesn’t—not until they’re on a chaise in his balcony, the sky a canopy of diamonds at this late hour and this far from the light pollution of LA. He seats her so that she remains on his lap as she had on his bed, except with her back to his front now.

He parts her hair to one side of her shoulder. His lips descend onto the delicate curve of her neck where he breathes in the scent of her—of the frankincense of his sheets and the citrus of her perfume, like the fantastic 1787 Chateux Margaux and the mind-blowing sex they’d partaken in earlier that evening.

He trails his own hand down her arm before twining their digits and lifting them towards the piceous empyrean, where he proceeds to narrate the creation of the earliest light forms of the Universe.

“Stars were such unwieldy things then. I oversaw their genesis till, well,” a shadow falls over his visage. “Till I didn’t.”

She swivels to face him so that she may cup his cheeks in her hands, nipping gently at his bottom lip and eliciting a low moan from him that banishes whatever demons might’ve eclipsed his mind.

“Which one is your favorite?” she breathes.

He looks to the horizon.

“Shall we wait for it together?”

She nods, seeking haven in the hollow of his throat as she settles her exquisite form aloft his.

Except they don’t make it to dawn, languid as they are in repose and merely waking when they’re bathed in a patch of sunbeams. Other, lower parts of him arise, and Chloe offers to… relieve him, only to bolt. A matter of pride, he gives chase.

And when they fall into each other, tittering and turned on, Lucifer thinks about Heaven—in that he need never yearn for its divine delights.

Heaven was all ready here—right in his arms.

 AN:  Guys, this one was seriously the most fun and joyful for me to write. Had I not put a limit to my word count, there would have been balcony sex like that’s how deliriously happy I was writing this it was like I was possessed lmao. This is legit peak!cai (that’s me btw hi I’m Cai hahaha) writing because like, this is my favorite way to write my otps, lazy and loving. I was grinning like a fool the entire time I wrote this while listening to these covers of Best��(this one’s the literal best cause they were legit in a guitar shop and just did their thing like they were in a recording studio hahaha) Part because no one does only-one-awake-on-a-cool-morning-with-a-cup-of-coffee-watching-the-sunrise acoustic like Filipinos do. Sorry I don’t make the rules lol (as you can see I am ridiculously patriotic haha).

The Devil’s Lucky Number series: I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X | XI | XII | XIII | XIV | XV | XVI | XVII | XVIII | XIV | XX | XXI | XXII | XXIII | XXIV | [ XXV ]

[dangoesque]

« you and me, chasing that horizon »

nsjkdhsalkdhhlae I’ve been a big fan of @lonicera-caprifolium for a long time and I finally got a chance to commission them. I love the soft and warm feeling of their line work and how intimacy comes through in their pieces. So I had to commission a piece of Sorell and Isabela, my DA OTP forever and it’s just so... perfect! Thank you so much for accepting my request and being so lovely :) I couldn’t be happier with the result <3

[thievinghippo]

OC of the Week - Elis Hawke

Name: Elis Hawke

Game: Dragon Age 2

Class: Spirit Healer

Romance: Isabela friendship

Tag: Elis Hawke

opt Tag: chasing the horizon

World State: from the dragon’s heart (world state with Denravi Tabris and Fredgar Cadash)

#

Elis grew up terrified of her own shadow, but refused to let anyone know. To deflect her fears, she turned to humor. She started to laugh at things that scared her and after awhile, these things didn’t scare her so much anymore. 

She and Bethany were incredibly close growing up, even with their age difference. Having magic lessons day after day helped a great deal with that. Even though Bethany was killed years ago, Elis still feels her loss. Which became even worse after she lost Carver in the Deep Roads.)

During her time in Kirkwall, Elis had a number of lovers and potential romances (including a fling with the king of Ferelden!), but kept finding herself in Isabela’s bed. Until the incident with the Arishok, of course. Though it took time for them to find their way together again, Elis is convinced that the time apart helped them both. 

Once Corypheus returned, Elis was happy to help as best she could. Isabela, too, which surprised her. So while Isabela became a field agent, Elis helped the Inquisitor directly. But now that the fighting is done, she and Isabela are retiring, on Isabela’s new ship. The woman is an admiral now, after all. And Elis decided Isabela deserved a ship to match her glorious hat.

[dixxymouri]

Dixxy vs One Piece Chapter 902: End Roll

IT’S TIME.

First, some ground rules. Where possible I’m going to use the official ViZ translation for chapters. That means we’ll probably get to revisit this whole affair on Monday when the chapter officially drops. Stephen Paul has been THE most trusted source for One Piece translations going back to well before he was officially working with ViZ so where comparison is available, that’s the translation I’m going with. Also, like, if he really needs to I believe he actually does have a contact at Japanese Shonen Jump if there’s something he doesn’t know how to translate in emergency situations. So in regards to dialog in 902 I’m going to take everything with a grain of salt until the official release. 

So I’m going to focus largely on THAT subject and ignore most of the rest of it for now. If y’all are good and get me lots of likes and reblogs maybe I’ll do a deeper dive into the rest of the chapter but yeah let’s talk about SanPu.

So, if you’re part of shipping culture in the online One Piece fandom and you just got back from being under a rock or on the moon for the last two months or so, here’s a quick visual representation of what the whole Luffy Nami Sanji Pudding ship war discourse looks like right now:

To recap the last few chapters, Pudding made some sort of last request of Sanji that we, the readers, didn’t get to see until 902 leaked online early this morning or late last night or whatever time it was in your particular time zone. In short? This:

Yup. A SanPu kiss happened. 

So on the one hand there’s probably some concerned Sanji x Nami shippers out there and there are definitely some Luffy x Nami shippers who are acting like total fucking assholes.

“Hurray! People who have never done any wrong to me or my loved ones are potentially really upset and unable to enjoy something that brought them a lot of happiness! This is a great day for me!”

(I mean, look, I get that schadenfreude is a thing for a reason but this isn’t it. If this is you, fuck off, you’re not some champion of your OTP, you’re a fucking asshole). 

So let’s break this down.

Is SaNa sunk/SanPu canon?

Short answer? No and no...maybe. 

While it’s very clear that Pudding still has feelings for Sanji, I don’t think Sanji returns them. Okay, yes, he’s gone all heart-eyes for her but, well, this is Sanji we’re talking about, of course he did that when a pretty girl kissed him, it’d be like asking Luffy to not stuff his face at a Meat Buffet that’s just not where his character is right now. But let’s take a look at him from a few chapters ago in 896:

Sanji’s pretty ready to part ways with her here. And once Pudding snips out the memory of said kiss:

He’s confused as to why Pudding ran away but he’s not chasing after her and there’s really nothing in the chapter showing him upset over not being with her right now. The only one who’s upset is Pudding.

This can be read a couple of ways - it leaves the door open for SanPu later if she comes back into the fold (more on that in a bit), or this was a bittersweet ending for their story. This, by the way, is one of the things I REALLY want to see the ViZ translation for, because the “song” going through the chapter seems to have multiple interpretations floating around with varying degrees of finality to this situation, which leaves things in even more flux.

Here’s the thing: SanPu hasn’t become canon (which means that, no, SaNa didn’t sink). That doesn’t mean it won’t later on, but at the moment it just isn’t. Sanji doesn’t have feelings for Pudding and doesn’t remember the kiss, nor was his reaction particularly strong. Pudding is distraught right now, sure, but we really don’t know what’s next for her. Is she going to try and leave the island and follow in Lola’s footsteps? Is Big Mom going to try and use her for another wedding plot? Is she going to get on a bus, go to the big city, and try to make it in show business? I don’t know and neither do you. 

“Sanji and Pudding kissed that means they’re married now!”

No it doesn’t.

“But they kissed! They’re man and wife now!”

...no, no they really aren’t. 

A wedding ceremony and a marriage are technically two different things. A wedding is a ceremony, whereas a marriage is a legal contract. Marriage doesn’t actually take place until both parties sign a contract and it’s officiated by someone with the legal authority to do so, usually a religious leader like a priest, a rabbi, or an imam, or a non-religious affiliated justice of the peace.

But that’s the real world and probably not something Oda put thought into for the manga. All right, I’ll give you that, but it still doesn’t matter. Let’s say that in the One Piece world all that matters is the ceremony.

Well, the ceremony was never actually finished and the kiss took place long after the wedding party disbanded. I’m not even sure the priest is still alive. Whether you like it or not or whether you think it helps your ship or not, the alley was not a wedding and no marriage has taken place. 

That being said this feels like something that might come up in an SBS but I’m guessing Oda is going to say “no”. 

Conflicting Ships - Luffy x Nami vs Sanji x Nami vs Sanji

This is one I think we all have feet of clay in regards to, but if your ship relies on the instability of another ship that’s not really a sign you have a lot of confidence in your ship and you can’t enjoy it unless it has at least a CHANCE of becoming canon. This is why I’m skeptical of Sanji x Pudding fans - I really do think a lot of them (not all of them, mind you) are just Luffy x Nami fans eager to get their biggest threat out of the picture without killing him. I’m sure there are plenty of Luffy x Hancock “fans” who want them same thing, except they’re actually Sanji x Nami or Zoro x Nami fans. Guys, that’s probably not a healthy attitude to have when it comes to shipping.

“So you’re trying to say that your reasons for not liking Sanji x Pudding have nothing to do with Sanji x Nami?” What part of “I think we all have feet of clay” did you not understand? Yeah, it’s one of the reasons I’m not big on Sanji x Pudding - I find it difficult to ship characters together if one or more characters in the pairing have a canon partner. I don’t know that I NEED Sanji x Nami to be canon but I’d be pretty sad if a conflicting pairing actually happened, with varying degrees of being okay or angry depending on the execution and characters involved. I mean I’d even be mad if Sanji and Nami happened and it was done really, really badly. 

This is why I think the best case scenario for all parties involved is One Piece ending without any of the big ships becoming canon, probably excluding Usopp x Kaya (which, while it’s KIND OF a forgone conclusion isn’t very heavily shipped) and possibly excluding Robin and Franky (who seem to have moved onto Dorky Middle Aged Married Couple Who Like to Embarrass Their Kids while no one was looking). Why? Because unless one of the pertinent parties is dead, that leaves everyone free to draw whatever conclusion they want.

Like, do you have any idea how much happier the Bleach and Naruto fandoms would be if Kubo and Kishimoto didn’t canonize any pairings? A LOT. Yeah some fans would be salty they didn’t get confirmation, sure, but they’d be free to think whatever they wanted happened after end of series. 

Imagine if One Piece ends with something like Luffy, now the Pirate King, is on the ship with the other Straw Hats (now all having achieved their dreams) and he’s sitting on his special seat and he points to the horizon and he’s like “okay guys let’s go that way and have another adventure!” and everyone else is like “YEAH!” and then they coup de burst into the sunset and the words “The End” appear on that very last page. Luffy and Nami fans are free to think that their king and queen got together. Sanji and Nami fans are free to think the cook will continue to dote on his angel. Sanji and Pudding fans are free to think that Sanji returned to Pudding to marry her for real this time. Etc, etc.

Unfinished Business

That’s another thing about this chapter and this arc as a whole - I can’t think of another arc that has THIS many obvious dangling plot threads that really feel like they should have been answered before the arc ended. Like, yes, there are other arcs that have dangling plot threads but many of those really feel like things that were blatantly meant to come up in future arcs, like the threads from Fishman Island. But for THIS arc? 

- What’s the deal with the Three Eye Tribe and will Pudding’s third eye have its true awakening? - What’s the backstory behind Germa 66 and that story Judge was talking about? - Speaking of Judge, what’s the deal with his eyebrows? - Speaking of Judge AGAIN, what went down between him and Vegapunk? - Why did that one homie recognize Pedro? - Is anything going to happen to all those people/creatures in the prison library? - Why doesn’t Lola realize Big Mom wants her dead? - Why didn’t Pudding ever get an Oda box? Yeah, that NEVER happened but we got them for like, Smoothie’s underlings and those decutuplets. The fuck, Oda? - What went down between Snack and Urogue and how did he escape? - Did Chiffon and Bege get away? - What the fuck happened to Casear Clown? - What’s going to happen when Big Mom finds out about the Tamatebako box?

...and probably more I’m not thinking of. Thing is, that’s a LOT of dangling plot threads for one arc, a lot of which feel like they could or should have been addressed here. Thing is, they probably will be addressed because you may have noticed there’s one big plot thread I didn’t list above:

- Big Mom and Elbaf

I’ve been on this particular bus for a while but it occurs to me a lot of my fellow fans didn’t think that was going to happen or at least didn’t want it to happen. But when you look at everyone that happened between Big Mom and Elbaf and how much of it we’ve seen ON PANEL, it would be REALLY WEIRD for her to not make an appearance on Elbaf. Let’s do another list:

- Murdered one of the two elder giant heroes - ATE Mother Carmel and a bunch of innocent orphans - Hey look a bunch of the giant kids from Big Mom’s flashback are part of Harudin’s crew now I bet that’s important - Whatever the hell happened between Lola and Loki

The only other option I can think of if a return to Fishman Island since, well, we kind of need to go back there at some point (Luffy’s gotta destroy it somehow, remember?) and thanks to the Sun Pirates and Praline I wouldn’t be surprised if she decides to take out some of her anger there. Plus everything with Big Mom actually STARTED back in Fishman Island. That’s the first time Luffy crossed her, it’s where we met some of her people (including Pudding...kind of), and yeah that would probably a believable scenario for the island to be destroyed, I guess.

Oda is Still Drawing Sanji Showing Affection for Nami

Okay, granted, we haven’t seen a Sanji “love cook” moment with Nami since he got back on the ship, but there still is stuff Oda’s drawn very recently that would be REALLY WEIRD if the intention was to make SanPu canon.

If 902 is the start of canon Sanji x Pudding, then this is a REALLY weird thing for Oda to draw, even if it’s not canon. Like, REALLY weird. 

Oda DIDN’T Draw Pudding’s Interior Thoughts When Nami Was Around

So we saw a bunch of Pudding’s thoughts during key scenes during the arc, including some between her and Sanji,

But something that was kind of weirdly absent? Anything involving Nami. Such as the bridal carry, which we saw Pudding react to, and when Sanji returned to the Sunny the first time and freaked out when Nami hugged him.

If Pudding has feelings for Sanji, she should have reacted to these incidents but we don’t know how she reacted to them. That feels intentionally left out. Now, granted, it’s probably Pudding (correctly) assuming that Sanji has feelings for Nami, but I think this was intentionally left alone. 

Why?

Because having Pudding point these things out would strongly hint at Sanji x Nami as end game, which Oda doesn’t want to do at this stage of the game for one of two reasons. Either that isn’t his intention or it’s way to early to show his hand. Both are valid reasons to not do that, by the way.

Are we sure Oda even likes Pudding all that much?

Here’s an SBS question and answer from volume 87.

I’m not sure Oda would say something like that about a character he plans to pair up with one of his main characters. Again, weird choice if that’s the case.

Okay I’m sure I’ll get some responses to this and I’d love to clarify/discuss in the responses and reblogs. But for the moment...

Conclusion

Blech these are never easy to write.

The short answer to this whole thing is that I don’t think Sanji x Nami fans have reason to throw in the towel, nor do I think Sanji x Pudding fans (and by extension Luffy x Nami fans) really have anything to “celebrate”. Right now it feels like an ending, but since a lot of the Big Mom stuff is unresolved the door on Pudding isn’t closed...but I’m not really sure what would be on the other side.

[esseastri]

you know what else? Rebel Hawke persuading smuggler Isabela to help the rebellion out.

gaaaaaAAAAHHHHHHHH

“I’m not in this for some great, wonderful cause, darling,” Isabela said, leaning back into the pilot’s chair to put her boots up on the console. How she managed not to press any of the myriad of buttons amazed Aliena. “I’m in it for the money. I was promised a reward.”

“If that’s really all you care about, you’ll get it,” Aliena said, sighing, and leaning back in her own seat, the borrowed co-pilot’s chair. She stared out at the blue of hyperspace, thinking. Worrying. There was nothing she could do for the next five hours, but she couldn’t turn her brain off. She couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen if they failed.

“This is my favorite part, you know,” Isabela said, and Aliena’s gaze flicked to the smuggler, who was staring out the viewport, too. Her face softened as she watched systems streak past, and the glow made her dark eyes glitter. “Just me and the stars, passing by one another.”

“Too fast to get to know each other,” Aliena murmured.

Isabela shrugged. “Fast and light,” she repeated the mantra from earlier, their discussion about droids and dead weight and always working alone surfacing in Aliena’s memory. “A girl’s got to make a living.”

“Isn’t it…I don’t know. Lonely?” Aliena asked, and she saw the corners of Isabela’s mouth tighten a fraction before the smuggler controlled her expression and raised an eyebrow in casual disdain.

“I’m just fine, princess,” she said. “I don’t need saving.”

“Perhaps not,” Aliena said, standing.

“You can’t save everyone,” Isabela said over her shoulder, pulling her feet from the console to sit forward, to lean away from Aliena, to curl protectively in around her heart. Her voice was cutting, biting, raw. Aliena just heard how much she cared.

“That won’t stop me from trying,” she said quietly, and left the cockpit and the smuggler to her thoughts.

She didn’t see the frown clouding Isabela’s face, didn’t feel the conflicted emotions eddying through the Force like clouds disturbed by a ship’s passage, didn’t notice the moment that the walls around the smuggler’s heart cracked, just a little bit. Just enough for her words to squeeze in and begin to tear them down in earnest.

She didn’t see the moment Isabela decided to change her mind.

She didn’t see the moment Isabela fell in love.

[undesirablenumberone]

⟦ otp tags: arctic monkeys edition. ⟧

under the cut you will find 90+ SHIP TAGS taken & adapted from multiple ARCTIC MONKEYS lyrics throughout their entire career. don’t forget to like/reblog if you found this helpful!

otp: i've dreamt about you nearly every night this week otp: do i wanna know if this feeling flows both ways? otp: crawling back to you otp: ever thought of calling when you’ve had a few? ‘cause i always do otp: i’m constantly on the cusp of trying to kiss you otp: i don’t know if you feel the same as i do otp: too busy being yours to fall for somebody new otp: she’s a silver lining otp: the thrill of the chase moves in mysterious way otp: maybe i just wanna be yours otp: love at least as deep as the pacific ocean otp: once again i was just dreaming of bumping into you otp: why’d you only call me when you're high? otp: and when she needs to shelter from reality she takes a dip in my daydreams otp: the horizon tries but it’s just not as kind on the eyes otp: just might have tapped into your heart and soul otp: her lips are like the galaxy’s edge otp: her kiss is the color of a constellation falling into place otp: when you look at me like that my darling what did you expect? otp: i’d probably still adore you with your hands around my neck otp: i crumble completely when you cry otp: you’ve had to greet me with goodbye otp: i’m yours until the stars fall from the sky otp: i’m yours until the rivers all run dry otp: i’m yours until the sun no longer shines otp: i’m yours until the poets run out of rhyme otp: nothing in the world can drive me away otp: i’m yours until the mountains crumble to the sea otp: you cured my january blues otp: each had a half of a king and queen seat otp: your love is like a studded leather headlock otp: your kiss could put creases to the rain otp: be cruel to me ‘cause i’m a fool for you otp: i was made to break your heart otp: stop making the eyes at me & i’ll stop making the eyes at you otp: without a sound you’re calling me otp: i just cannot make it through the day without thinking of you otp: i thought i was yours forever otp: i want you to do me no good & you look like you could otp: how to tear apart the ties that bind? otp: stop the world ‘cause i wanna get off with you otp: love is a risk otp: would it be outrageous to say we're either shouting or shagging? otp: would a kiss be too much to ask? otp: she moved in ways that kept her in my mind for days otp: surrounded by the what if’s and the maybe’s otp: close but never close enough otp: we do it anyway because we love a bit of trouble otp: you knew that it’d be trouble right before the very first kiss otp: wishing that you’d made the most of her when she was there otp: somebody told the stars you’re not coming out tonight & so they found a place to hide otp: just think of what he’s capable of with his kiss otp: you send a shiver down my spine but do you read my mind? otp: i think you should know you’re his favorite worst nightmare otp: makes my head pirouette more than i would be willing to confess otp: the thoughts will soon revert to you otp: call me something no one else calls me otp: how do you get your kisses to fill me with electricity? otp: be my midnight otp: she greets you like a long lost rock and roll otp: you’ll go wherever she goes otp: it’s more a hunger than a thirst otp:  everything i touched told me it would be better shared with you otp: and we woke up together not quite realising how otp: give me a kiss or three and i’m fine otp: love buckles under the strain of those wild nights otp: coax me out my low and have a spin of my propeller otp: and there’s nothing like a dirty look from the one you want otp: the saving grace was the feeling that it was a heart that he was stealing otp: all the little promises don’t mean much when there’s memories to be made otp: when she walks her footsteps sing a reckless serenade otp: the type of kisses where teeth collide otp: when she laughs the heavens hum a stun-gun lullaby otp: he’ll rekindle all the dreams it took you a lifetime to destroy otp: you’ll see him in your nightmares & you’ll see him in your dreams otp: tangled in the boredom where our brittle kisses lurk otp: and the shades of our attraction lie visible otp: she’s thunderstorms otp: she came and substituted the peace and quiet otp: she does what the night does to the day otp: under these lights you look beautiful otp: you know nothing but i’ll still take you home otp: jealousy in technicolor otp: temptation greets you like a naughty mate otp: keep your charm where i can’t see it otp: made me kiss you with a whisper otp: and when i’m in the confines of crawling walls you hold me in place otp: together we’ll find something to direct some laughter at otp: tonight there’ll be some love & tonight there’ll be a rawkus otp: and even places she’s never been with you seem awful empty without her otp: i like the way you look at me otp: one look sends it coursing through the veins otp: never again will there be another one that’s as desirable as you

[reynaarellano]

ya lit meme: [2/8] otps ≡ percy jackson & annabeth chase

She raised an eyebrow. “You got something to say to me, Seaweed Brain?” “You’d probably kick my butt.“ “You know I’d kick your butt.” I brushed the cake off my hands. “When I was at the River Styx, turning invulnerable … Nico said I had to concentrate on one thing that kept me anchored to the world, that made me want to stay mortal.” Annabeth kept her eyes on the horizon. “Yeah?” “Then up on Olympus,“ I said, “when they wanted to make me a god and stuff, I kept thinking-” “Oh, you so wanted to.“ “Well, maybe a little. But I didn’t, because I thought-I didn’t want things to stay the same for eternity, because things could always get better. And I was thinking …” My throat felt really dry. “Anyone in particular?“ Annabeth asked, her voice soft. I looked over and saw that she was trying not to smile. “You’re laughing at me,” I complained. “I am not!“ “You are so not making this easy.” Then she laughed for real, and she put her hands around my neck. “I am never, ever going to make things easy for you, Seaweed Brain. Get used to it.”

[violeteyedvampiremolloy]

🎶

Send 🎶 for a set of lyrics I associate with my muse.

//Devils minion/the chase feels for otp - couldn't decide so posted whole lyrics 💜

My head is haunting me and my heart feels like a ghost

I need to feel something, 'cause I'm still so far from home

Cross your heart and hope to die

Promise me you'll never leave my side

Show me what I can't see when the spark in your eyes is gone

You've got me on my knees I'm your one man cult

Cross my heart and hope to die

Promise you I'll never leave your side

'Cause I'm telling you you're all I need

I promise you you're all I see

'Cause I'm telling you you're all I need

I'll never leave

So you can drag me through hell

If it meant I could hold your hand

I will follow you 'cause I'm under your spell

And you can throw me to the flames

I will follow you, I will follow you

Come sink into me and let me breathe you in

I'll be your gravity, you be my oxygen

So dig two graves 'cause when you die

I swear I'll be leaving by your side

So you can drag me through hell

If it meant I could hold your hand

I will follow you 'cause I'm under you spell

And you can throw me to the flames

I will follow you so you can drag me through hell

If it meant I could hold your hand

I will follow you 'cause I'm under you spell

And you can throw me to the flames

I will follow you, I will follow you

I will follow you, I will follow you

So you can drag me through hell

If it meant I could hold your hand

I will follow you 'cause I'm under you spell

And you can throw me to the flames

I will follow you, I will follow you