#swordsman rambles

[pooks]

i just had a very hilarious idea

at the end of the WCI arc, when the Retrieval Squad are safe and heading towards Wano, Nami laments that she had somewhat hoped to get the chance to steal some money from Big Mom

and then Ichiji, the madlad, just untucks his shirt and lifts it up. what happens? sacks with Berry and jewelry falls down on the lawn deck

Ichiji casually reveals that that he, just hours before the Whole Cake Wedding Assasination, decided to sneak and raid so much treasure from his and Sanji's sire.

"child support." he simply says. "with interest, of course."

Nami, of course, get Berry sign in her eyes and just says "Ichiji...you know that you're my best friend, right?" and Ichiji just smiles, a real genuine smile for the first time since Dressrosa, and says "of course, Nami dearest. would you have the honor to keep these safely?"

but it's on one condition; Ichiji wants to keep a specific jewelry box that belonged to his and Sanji's mother Sora.

while Nami is busy counting the money, Sanji and Ichiji sits together and looks in their mother's jewelry box, remembering and admiring the beautiful necklaces, rings, earrings and bracelets she used to own. there is also old photographs, hand-written notes and small bottles with perfume from the North Blue.

Sanji wanted Nami to have some, but she declined and said she didn't need it. Nami understood perfectly well that it was Ichiji and Sanji's late mother's things

none of them are sure what to do with the jewelry box and its' contents, but Ichiji simply stole it back because he didn't had the heart to leave it behind

also later

Sanji: *cooking lunch* WAIT you stole all that from the treasury and then fought with sacks of gold and jewels in your clothes?! Ichiji: what, like it's hard? *sips wine like an absolute icon*

also bonus

post-Wano, Zoro absolutely threw himself in the ocean for a swim when he saw Sanji wearing his mother's sapphire and gold earrings. the marimo claimed the weather was hot when they were actually closer to a spring island.

Nami called bullshit on that lol

[isabeauwolf]

That challenging smug smile 🫣🤭🥰❣️😍 Law's not giving up, he's just getting started! Get'em, my snow leopard 🐆 Go kick some ass!

[anthurak]

Random little Yugioh idea/headcanon I’ve been mulling over lately:

Post-DM/DSOD, Joey becomes a Pro-Duelist as he alludes to during the movie. However, Joey doesn’t actually play Red Eyes Black Dragon anymore in his pro-career, instead, playing a full warrior-focused deck.

Specifically, one based around Flame Swordsman and using all those very nifty new cards for it that came out IRL recently.

Really, I think this only makes sense. Despite Red Eyes being his iconic ‘ace’ monster, Joey’s ‘bread and butter’ has always been warriors, and Flame Swordsman is still basically his Spirit Monster. So I think it’s pretty cool to imagine Joey ‘returning to his roots’ with a warrior deck focused around his favorite monster.

So what happens to Red Eyes Black Dragon if Joey isn’t playing them anymore?

Well, while the obvious option might be that Joey ends up passing Red Eyes to a young and starry eyed fan by the name of Atticus Rhodes in setup for GX, I’ve got a more fun idea:

In this hypothetical sequel fic/series idea, it’s at first a bit of a mystery as to what happened to Joey’s Red Eyes, as in we see Joey playing a few duels all conspicuously NOT using his once-iconic dragon.

Only to get a surprise reveal where all of a sudden, Serenity breaks out Red Eyes Black Dragon in a duel. And not just Red Eyes, but also a pure Red Eyes-focused deck with all the requisite support and the advanced fusion versions like Red Eyes Slash Dragon and Archfiend Black Skull Dragon.

It turns out that Serenity wanted to get into dueling around the same time Joey was getting ready to go pro, and after teaching her everything he knows, Joey passed Red Eyes on to her. Both as a gift, and because Joey saw it as giving Serenity his most powerful and trusted monster/companion to watch over her.

Like when magic chicanery starts happening, it turns out that Red Eyes the monster spirit is absolutely watching over Serenity and keeping her safe.

Also, I’d say there’s even something of a precedent for this. The only time in the show that Serenity duels, during the Virtual World arc, she used Goddess with the Third Eye as her deckmaster, which of course had a fusion effect. So Serenity playing a fusion-focused deck would certainly be thematically appropriate.

So yeah, Serenity with Red Eyes Black Dragon. I think it would be pretty awesome :)

Actually come to think of it, this would fit perfectly into the Tea/DMG-focused ‘Successor of Dark Magic’ storyline I’ve been workshopping for years now…

[littleswordsman-au]

Is the battle between zoro and mihawk at the baratie any different in this au? Love your blog btw!! :D

Yeah kinda! I've wanted to make a comic for a while now but I don't think I'll ever get to it, so I'll try to summarize it here instead.

First of all, Zeff & Sanji immediately recognize Zoro now when the straw hats show up. Not too much is different on this front, it just opens up more room for Zeff & straw hat interactions. As well as Zoro & Sanji bickering 👍

The actual Mihawk fight goes really similar to canon, but the general feelings and dialogue are different. Mihawk would probably say something like "I didn't realize this day would come so soon" and Zoro would clench his teeth harder around Wado like "You said the next time we saw each other we'd fight."

Sanji probably also stays back for this version, ofc he quietly begs his best friend not to throw his life away, he clutches at his suit's lapels and wonders why he's friends with such an idiot, but deep down he can only picture the All Blue, he can only picture his own little hands playing with a stove for the first time, and he looks at Zoro and can only picture an 8-year-old boy with stars in his eyes.

Mihawk might skip his kogatana this time and immediately unsheath Yoru, since he already knows and respects Zoro's skill. It's still a super one-sided duel, but Zoro does seem to stand a minor chance. (He's had 8 years to observe Mihawk's fighting style to try and prepare for it, of course).

There's also ofc the angst of the aftermath, of Zoro writing home to Koshiro and explaining what happened. Koshiro isn't thrilled that they fought so soon after Zoro first left to hunt bounties, he isn't thrilled it's only been 3 years, he's never been thrilled in the first place about the concept of two people he adores feeling the need to fight to the death.

And then there's his conversation with Mihawk. The disappointment, the tension, the bittersweet understanding. Koshiro just wants what's best for his son, he wants his son to succeed and to follow his goals. He knows Mihawk only wants the same, he knows Mihawk just wants someone to overtake him so he can finally settle down and live that quiet life he only mutters about.

But um yeah the baratie fight is a big highlight in this AU hehe.

Also thankies!! Ik I don't post here much anymore but I do still love this au a lot, I'm glad people haven't lost interest

[desultory-novice]

...You won't win...

You beat me but... I'm just one battle. Go ahead, make me your monster. You want me that badly? I'm yours. Put me front and center of your army of the damned. I'll be your blade, leading the charge.

As long as you remember, whatever the hell you are... I know a force exists out there that's more powerful than even you. I've seen it once before. And she's only the beginning. There are more like her...

So know, damn you... that while I'm your swordsman, I'm also your destined destruction...! And the moment I fall...You'll be next!!

---

Noir with the eyemouth inspired by @camachine

[the-owl-tree]

I'm just saying I think Ashfur being Hollyleaf's mentor would have been more interesting than him being Lionblaze's...

soooooo true, i think with tbc it would have been really interesting if we got to see more of this code revering side of ashfur who hammered in the importance of being faithful to it in hollyleaf. like not only does that add to both their characters, her murdering the mentor who instilled her values into her.....mwah very nice

[dkniade]

headcanon/scenario (I’ve been thinking about team dynamics again)

In Fontaine, Childe learns about (the play) Cyrano de Bergerac, and learns some Cyrano monologues

Next time he does the weekly spar, he starts throwing in some French Fontainian into the list of things he say in battle

— Oh ! frappé par la seule arme noble qui soit,

Et par un ennemi qu’on sait digne de soi,

Sur un gazon de gloire et loin d’un lit de fièvres,

Tomber la pointe au cœur en même temps qu’aux lèvres !

If I’m not mistaken (though I’m by no means fluent. Do correct me, if there are mistakes), I do believe it means…

-- Oh! struck by the only noble weapon there is,

And by an enemy who you know is worthy of yourself.

On a field of glory and far from a feverish bed,

Falling off the peak of one’s heart at the same time of one’s lips !

…?

[romance-rambles]

questionable decisions were made

[i am 30 paints poorer now]

i regret nothing until summer kicks in

[smilesrobotlover]

Sometimes I realize that Rusl would be absolutely jacked

[silverselfshippingchaos]

this h.ikari voice line... AHSU3UJSHAJSH

[eye-of-yelough]

fun thing about developing my rook while the game isn’t even out yet so i don’t know what kinda Situations he’s gonna be in is the fact it’s making me ‘develop’ him as just like. a run of the mill da/bg3 companion and the kind of things he would say. the greeting lines that depend on approval, the things you’d be able to ask him, etc…

[ofcowardiceandkings]

had dumb thought might draw it later

[lynne-monstr]

I am obsessed with recontextualizing that scene in the tka novel, where huang shaotian is helping ye xiu and they battle the tyranny guild in a private arena. huang shaotian is using flowing tree and zhang xinjie is there fighting too.

everything is exactly the same except huang shaotian and zhang xinjie are best friends.

[mattis-flo]

How does Dark Matter Swordsman feel about Mettna?

He's thoroughly annoyed by her but has a liking and intrigue for mettna somewhere in him. he's interested in learning who she might be, as she has a familiarity to her that he cannot recognize.

mettna doesn't speak a whole lot to him, and has him believe she's unable to communicate.

[longagoitwastuesday]

Do you have favorite actors for the various roles in "Cyrano de Bergerac"? I would love to hear your thoughts!

I do! I actually rambled a lot about this while I was watching the different productions I could get my hands on (I tagged it "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "I talk too much").

My favorite productions are the one with José Ferrer and the one with Benoit Solès, and those actors make the best Cyranos in my opinion. Though that's probably something in part beyond the actors' choice, their dynamic with their respective Roxane and Christian are the best ones, I think, and I find how Cyrano moves around these two particular characters at the core of a good Cyrano characterisation.

José Ferrer's use of his voice, which is arguably Cyrano's true most characteristic feature, is unmatched imo (although McAvoy does a very good job with this too), and he manauvers very well several of the different aspects of the character, such as his playfulness, his shittiness and longing. By the end of the play you believe he is the most beautiful man on Earth. Cyrano, however, is a bit pathetic (not just in a "pathos" way), and I'd say Ferrer gives off an air full of dignity very fitting of many scenes, but that eats almost entirely this aspect of Cyrano; Benoit Solès manages this very well, while also playing well with some of the other ones, such as the playfulness, the longing, the pain and the despair. Both Ferrer and Solès are hilarious, tender, a bit shitty, vulnerable, playful and sad. Albeit neither of them portrays 100% what Cyrano is, I think both come pretty close in slightly different flavours, and by the end of the play one ends up being terribly fond of them.

My favourite Roxane is Clara Huet in the production with Benoit Solès, but Mala Powers in the 1950 film is a close second. I think they portray wonderfully Roxane's spunk, and her mix of honest playful cheerfulness and her haughtiness, her intelligence and wit, and how much like Cyrano she is.

I've not come to love for now any Christian as much as I've loved Ferrer, Solès, Huet and Powers, but again I think the Christians in the 1950 film and the Solès productions are very very good. I love the dynamic they have with their Cyranos, especially the one Christian and Cyrano have in the 1950 film, enhanced positively by the added scenes (they actually work so well in showing their developing as friends, their deep love and care for each other!). I don't want to expand too much on this to avoid spoilers (beyond the already known 'Christian dies' ones I mean), but some things they do with both these Christians are a thing of genius, and both feel vulnerable, kind, ready to fight and truly desperate at times; I like when they do that.

There's an Italian production which has a Cyrano I truly enjoy as well, despite how they dumbify him more than I usually like my Christians. His mix of anger and deep pain when he discovers Cyrano's feelings for Roxane were so well made, and his physical presence makes you identify who Christian is even before the play starts.

The Podalydès production has two different Christians. The one in the version on youtube isn't bad, but @ride-a-dromedary likes Éric Ruf a lot. I actually adore him based on the clips and gifs she's posted of him, but I haven't been able to find the version with him online, so I can't know. But he truly seems one of the best. Based on what little I've seen, I love his intense gazes and subtle gestures.

I'm not entirely sold on any Le Bret, De Guiche or Ragueneau yet.

I think the German musical has a decent Ragueneau in vibes, and the 1990 French film does as well. I found his poem made song for what I think is a Spanish production (I'm not sure if it's a fan creation based on the Spanish production), and while I've not been able to find that production online, the song works well in vibes too I think.

The German musical's Le Bret in vibes is very good. He encompasses well his deep love and worry for Cyrano while also being done with his shit. They truly feel like close friends. The 1950 film kind of combines Gaston de Castel-Jaloux and Le Bret into one character, which sadly changes Le Bret's dynamic with Cyrano a bit, but that's a very good Le Bret as well. The one in Solès' production is pretty good too. He has my favourite delivery of the scene in which Le Bret chastises Cyrano for risking his life sending letters.

De Guiche is complicated. I think productions often make him too pathetic and laughable or too bad, so bad it makes the last act kind of not make sense. The 1950 one, the 1990 French one, the Kevin Kline one and the Solès one are all good, but I am not passionate for any of them either.

And basically that's it!

[archaictunic]

just making some notes for myself for things to elaborate on in the future. read more because there was more than i thought and this got LONG lmao

link's past lives, good and bad - how he feels about them now. ( for potential interaction with other link blogs! just in general to get out his feelings about 'himself', if it were someone else [for lack of a better way to explain it] this isn't gonna be something super negative or whatever, but just... he's a little like... its weird. he doesn't dislike other links. he just. its weird. he asks around about clothing he finds. he hears the legends. he doesn't know how to feel about his 'destiny'. )

dissociation! as well as a general very weird feeling about his Arm. has no negative thoughts towards rauru (how could he?) but is still sorta fucked up about the arm. doesn't really miss his arm, and enjoys the new abilities, but... like.... what the fuck.

more direct thoughts on zelda and ganon.

especially because he doesn't like that zelda had such a negative view on him at first. its better now. of course it is. he does still have some weird stomach feelings about doing Knightly things for/around her, or things that really show off how quickly he settled into the master swords power. he doesn't like how terrible it all had made her feel. he's read things since the calamity. he's seen memories again. its all sorta.... sad.

+++ especially because it is rather dramatic to be living your life knowing that you're fated to fight someone you don't even know- only learning about him as a person through someone elses memories, or through battle with a giant beast that appears every however many thousand years.

his weird quiet hyper-empathy. he cares so disgustingly much about so many things but the resting bitch face and the weird self-inflicted trauma nonverbal stuff really makes it hard to SHOW how empathetic he is. this man is hearing people talking to themselves lamenting about not having a thing and is bending over backwards and breaking his own bones to get things for them.

animals- the compendium in general. completing it because he knows its something that zelda would've loved to see.

romance... romantic partners. there are so many people in both games that i think he could hold hands with just a bit. but then also the fact that his loyalty runs so deep- potential weird grey-aro stuff?? (as an aromantic who is SOSOSOSO loving. me too buddy) like he loves. but does he love? is there room for an actual romantic love in his life. does he know he can seek romantic love? or is he convinced that his life is For Zelda now, and therefore, he's kinda like... forced himself to believe that he's going to be by her side forever (regardless of where she is)??? he does love zelda. not in an explicitly romantic way, but in a way that IS undeniable.

anyways if you want to ship w/ my link it is going to take a while i'm so sorry