#out for you to see

[cebwrites]

achilles, i’m talking to you

a/n: something of the boys needing companionship, we feeling melancholic in this house tonight... 💔

oc x canon, they/he law word count: 1k

Kirin’s birthdays are always quiet.

His crew mill about their duties but keep to themself - out of his way in hushed tones, even the bubble of laughter or obnoxious cackles that have become so commonplace can’t break this somber wave that seems to envelop the entire ship once late November rolls around. 

This year, Rio’s quiet scratching of pen to paper is absent. Izzy’s quill in their office hardly takes up half as much presence. Everyone feels the way their captain’s bones ache with the weather and the how he wishes to disappear with the swirl of his drink, downed.

Some wayward Hearts, catching wind of the date but not the crew’s protocol, come in guns blazing with balloons, streamers, and a cake Penguin, Bas and Laeno agonized over for hours to make just right - taking into consideration that Kirin never really did have a sweet tooth. They’ve all even wrestled their captain into a spotted party hat over their regular one for the occasion, begrudging as ever.

The reception when they show up for a surprise party is frigid.

‘Course, it’s no one’s fault. The Hearts had no idea and Hiraishin are still happy to see familiar faces, reunite with long distance partners, drink the night away - a celebration just wasn’t what anyone on this ship had in mind for this week, let alone on this of all days.

Kirin manages to peel himself off the underside of his blanket for long enough to announce that everyone’s free to party for as long as they like and that he’ll be around, just not in the spotlight for today. Gotta let someone else take center stage for once, right? Law can see that his heart’s not in it, sharp eyes soften upon being told the reason why, among a few others.

Still, everyone manages to get a pleasant buzz going after a while. Even with gloom from before, it’s hard to stay that way once the sparks of comradery begin to shine through - rubbing shoulders with old friends and catching up with stories of the adventures they’ve had without the other parties around.

Laughter returns to the Aura Nimbus, the Tang comfortably joins her as crew members slowly spread out when day turns to dusk.

Late into the night, long after they’d stopped catching the other captain flitting around circles of conversation - rarely taking part and almost ghostly in his presence, Law finds Kirin drinking below deck. Deliberately avoiding interaction, the small voice in their mind mentions, not that they were in any place to judge. Law was no stranger to these behaviors, they were familiar, a comfort.

But patterns of isolation weren’t healthy.

“Sorry, you know,” Law clears their throat, “for springing this all on you unannounced.”

Kirin glances at their backlight figure in the doorway, only a step below divine, vaguely registering how the crumpled shape he’s contorted himself into against the wall must look in contrast.

“Nah, s’alright. I would’ve rolled out a better welcome met for ya any other time.”

The smile that falls into place is one he knows well but wrong - no, this isn’t the smile he’s supposed to give Law. Or Izzy when he came by earlier with dinner. Or Reiji, any time he popped in to check on him. This smile is cold, dead behind the eyes, the instinctive one his facial muscles pull out of reflex whenever he’s hiding something.

Kirin can’t see it but he knows the exact look, it’s a shadow of actual delight saved only for others to mirror their disdain for him. He obscures it with a drag of his hand, ashamed, hoping he’d be able to force something a little more genuine by the time Law gets close enough to look at him in this dim light. He doesn’t see whatever expression Law has in response to that, either.

He doesn’t want to be perceived, yet yearns for the warmth of another person’s presence. Kirin doesn’t flinch away when they take a seat beside him, but does wince audibly at the question of what he’s doing here stewing alone in self loathing when everyone above wants to help.

Kirin doesn’t have a quippy comeback. Law’s words cut deep because they’re parallels, he sees right through him, Kirin can’t ignore the metaphorical arm extended his way. He leans - slumps - against their shoulder, Kirin’s grateful that Law doesn’t pull away but does whine when they swipe his booze for a swig of their own. 

A glimmer of his regular self coming through.

“I,” Kirin begins, ruefully, “don’t think I should be here.”

“Mm?”

“My parents were practically kids when they had me. Twenty with their whole lives ahead of them. Even with marines on their asses, maybe if they didn’t have their hands full with a baby, maybe then they could’ve...”

Law cracks one eye open to follow the faint clicking in their periphery. It’s Kirin fiddling with a lighter idly - a passing mention from someone that he used to smoke comes to mind, they’re just as guilty though. The memory of smoke, lipstick, and cherry cologne on woefully lonely nights fill their thoughts.

No, not now. That was too painful. Law tamps down the thought with different memories. A dull throb in their chest rather than direct stinging behind the eyes.

“Flevance’s destruction was always going to happen. Nothing a single person being born or not was going to change that after the Word Government decided that our suffering was worth exploiting for profit,” they take another sip, Law makes a face. It’s the cheap stuff.

The given well, yeah is on the tip of his tongue. The unfathomable tragedy of a genocide isn’t something Kirin wraps his head around easily - though he’s seen enough of what the world’s worst was willing to offer elsewhere - so he holds it, takes the empty bottle from their hands to set it next to the ones just out of Law’s direct line of sight. They hear the clinking, though, Kirin’s not spared a levelled stare but he chooses to ignore it.

“In any case,” Law sighs, “you—we’re here now.”

“Yeah? So what’s the plan, capt’n?”

They cast their gaze to the thumping above deck; the party isn’t as loud as it could be - Law’s well aware that both their crews were capable of and have been far rowdier than this. Muffled laughter and cheers still make their way to them through the floorboards. For the moment it’s peaceful that way. So they shift to get comfortable, cheek nestled snugly on Kirin’s head.

“Learning to live.”

[amartworks]

had a fun experience on the subway the other day

[tawnysoup]

Found my fav Slay the Princess route recently. Dragon my beloved. Your horrifying beak mouth was an impossible-to-refuse lip syncing challenge 💖

Shoutouts to @blacktabbygames for making such a cool game!

[pookapufferfish]

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

"i'm too old to trick-or-treat" what the HELL are u talking about. that is FREE candy. in this economy. "i'm too old to make responsible financial decisions" you sound like a goddamn lunatic

[batcavescolony]

Katniss is such an unreliable narrator. She says "Then something unexpected happens. At least, I don't expect it because I don't think of District 12 as a place that cares about me" girl you deliver strawberries to the Mayor, you hunt and trade for the district, when you fell at Prim being chosen someone caught you, when you went to Prim people parted for you, when you volunteered EVERYONE stopped. Idk how to tell you but I think you're a pillar of the community.

[perrieedwards]

i feel like people are skimming over the uk riots in a way that makes me want to tear my hair out. muslims in the uk are in active danger. immigrants in the uk are in active danger. refugees in the uk are in active danger. people of colour in the uk are in active danger. asian communities in the uk are in active danger. black communities in the uk are in active danger.

there are massive far right riots throughout the country right now and people like fucking elon musk and nigel farage are inciting it and still have a platform to speak. people have used three young girls deaths, people's genuine grief in southport, to try and gain traction for their own racist bullshit and it's working.

a lot of refugee charities have been forced to close leaving many people without support, homes, funding, food, etc. if you aren't able to donate please consider sending a message via the conversation over borders campaign! it will send a hopeful, welcoming letter to a refugee in the uk. there is also a guide to staying safe here.

please do your own research and donate to refugee charities, anti-islamophobia charities, mosques who are trying to rebuild after being destroyed, counter protesters, here are some i've heard positive things about but the list is extensive; southport strong together (support for the southport victims and their families), southport mosque rebuilding, riot repair fund, middlesbrough vulnerable residents, nasir mosque rebuilding, hull help for refugees, bristol welcomes migrants,

[zytes]

this manatee looks like it’s in a skyrim loading screen

[pangur-and-grim]

one thing that took me embarrassingly long to learn is "sometimes when people say things, they will not be true."

I used to tell people about this revelation and they'd be like yeah.....duh.....but like, why wouldn't my base assumption be that you're communicating to me in a straightforward manner. anyway, I get scammed a lot.

[fanaticalthings]

Bruce Wayne except he texts like an ominous boomer

wdym you can't tell if he's threatening them?

Based on this post by @mysterycitrus :)

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Bonus:

Happy birthday, Tim 🥰

[monstermonger]

Now the ash dances with the snow....

Lil winter dragon stickers ♡

[humming-fly]

I love how Gerald was trying to keep Shadow from spoiling anything about the future meanwhile literally everything Shadow says and does around Maria is the biggest death flag ever

[tariah23]

White people are miserable, racist losers period. They’ve even been getting mad at Japanese people for correcting them about Yasuke as well.

[druid-for-hire]

[image id: a four-page comic. it is titled "immortality” after the poem by clare harner (more popularly known as “do not stand at my grave and weep”). the first page shows paleontologists digging up fossils at a dig. it reads, “do not stand at my grave and weep. i am not there. i do not sleep.” page two features several prehistoric creatures living in the wild. not featured but notable, each have modern descendants: horses, cetaceans, horsetail plants, and crocodilians. it reads, “i am a thousand winds that blow. i am the diamond glints on snow. i am the sunlight on ripened grain. i am the gentle autumn rain.” the third page shows archaeopteryx in the treetops and the skies, then a modern museum-goer reading the placard on a fossil display. it reads, “when you awaken in the morning’s hush, i am the swift uplifting rush, of quiet birds in circled flight. i am the soft stars that shine at night. do not stand at my grave and cry.” the fourth page shows a chicken in a field. it reads, “i am not there. i did not die” / end id]

a comic i made in about 15 hours for my school’s comic anthology. the theme was “evolution”

[gongyussy]

(✿◕‿◕) die (ꈍ ꒳ ꈍ✿)