#this is my application to this fandom. let me in

[bishopinblue]

It has been about 3-4 years since I had been as active as I was in the Nefarious fandom (Indie game/comic). I have gripes with multiple people in that fandom, but one/two of them thought it was a good idea to make a "call out" blog a few years ago about the Official Server, the RP server, SoR, and myself. Unfortunately for them, I remembered and felt the vigor to do what I should have done as soon as this shit was published. 

Let me start this by saying I am about 95% confident I know who is responsible for this blog. Because they thought it was okay to name drop me I'll be doing the same under my assumption and dissection as well.

From here on, my own replies will be italicized to differentiate the caps from text. Please know this is going to be a very long post. 

If you read it in full, thank you for your patience.

So hello chaoticmelody3805 and khimer_zherki. I have full reason to believe you two are the ones behind all this belly aching.

I will mainly be referring to Melody in this post due to the knowledge and proof that she has talked about most of the points in this blog to a near identical degree in private. All the while, Khimer appears to have been more of a support than a driving force. Considering he also hasn't done much harm to me I will be overlooking him. Still, I think acknowledgement is due for my reasoning on this.

To start, I think it is important to mention the fact that I was a mod in the Official Server and only that server. There are some references later on stating I was a mod in the RP server as well, which are false. I was never a mod in SoR and only held a sort of Teacher Role for a whole of 12 hours before asking to have it removed. This was early on when I was still fresh into the server.

With that being said, let's get to it.

Iceberg Post link for reference.

I want to address the reddit post first and make it abundantly clear that the creator himself was the only one with the power to edit, delete and monitor the reddit page. I don’t even have a reddit so being responsible for deleting it isn’t possible. When this iceberg was posted, Josh was the one to see and delete it. No one else. That is the only thing I wanted to address in the opening remark.

These two points have to do directly with the Official Server, as shown in the iceberg image.

"Bugs in the game"

No shit. It's a small indie game with the efforts of a handful of artists and coders to complete it. Even then, the plot was fun, the characters charming, and gameplay was enjoyable for what it was worth. It's the first stepping stone to the fandom and was often asked for a second game. 

This entry is simply pointing out the obvious for most, if not all indie games and is just mean spirited towards the creator for his efforts. 

The comics came after the game, buy the way. The server mostly pandered to the comic over the game. 

"Bot raids"

Bot raids happen on bigger public servers. This is not something that was 100% preventable and precautions were put in place to MITIGATE the amount of bot raids that occurred. All things considered, it would have been leagues worse without the clearances put in place once the initial raids kicked up. 

I say mitigated because for it to be 100% safe, the server would have to be private invite only.

I was a mod during some moments in the Official Server where I and helped think up ideas to help keep users as safe as possible. Once again, not 100% bullet proof and some still found a way in. They were dealt with swiftly each time, however.

Once again, only applicable to the Official Server.

"Important comics are Patreon exclusive"

The creator does these comics and the game as FREELANCE WORK. Of course he has the right to put some of the content behind a paywall! It's his main source of income! You and other users like you are lucky there was even a public version of the comic. 

Instead of complaining about a freelance artist asking for compensation for their creations, maybe you should be happy with the free material he gives you in bulk.

"Comic is an incoherent mess"

 This is an opinion, not a fact. Like all stories, some things bounce around and some details are hidden for later. Is it perfect? Hell no! But it's also not a damning factor either, let alone one valid for a fucking slander post.

Both of these points are opinion driven and hold no weight against their argument. Honestly, it feels like it was put in just to be mean and spiteful towards an artist who wants to make a living off his work. Pay your artists and show appreciation for the work they do!

This level can be applied to both the Official Server and SoR, despite one being only for the Official Server in the diagram.

"Bullying fan content that doesn't fit canon"

Josh has been very encouraging to artists and fans to make content they like for the fandom. The only times he has kept his mouth shut on details are for parts of the story that haven't been made public yet. He doesn't want spoilers. 

There haven't been any caps provided to support this claim for him. This can be disregarded as opinion as well.

On the other hand.

SoR was notorious for restricting content allowed in its server, but also had a harsh vetting process that prevented most players from utilizing the creations they made. 

Do you remember the Vetting Document? The one users had to fill out and then be judged upon if their muses “fit the universe enough”? I do. I also remember telling the mods to go fuck themselves because they wanted to change an aspect of my OC they didn't like. They didn't attempt to do that again.

If anything, SoR was much more restrictive in regards to following cannon content and even frowned upon most ideas that didn't adhere to the timeline. The worst of it was when I first joined that server, but over time it lessened a bit as more ideas were entertained. Only a bit, though. It was still a suffocating environment to play in thanks to the regulations and time slots for rping.

"Gaslighting"

For something as serious an accusation as this is, there are no caps. No proof. No nothing. 

If anything, that makes this a null point too. To accuse someone of gaslighting, there needs to be proof or examples given. You have provided none.

Speaking for myself, I would say I was a victim to this multiple times in SoR. By mods and users alike. Even in the three posts of this blog it's present. It did lasting damage to my mental health and stability. So, while I will not acknowledge this point due to lack of proof, I will agree that it was done to me in SoR and the after effects show in my daily life. This is my own opinion in return for yours. Tit for tat.

"Comic released on Pride Month about an 'insane' character with rainbow hair"

One of the other mods answered this more gracefully than I could. A copy and paste of their answer is below.

*Lark does have rainbow hair, and she was in  an asylum, correct. Her relationship preferences are unknown, and she is in fact- not insane- there is plot reason on why she is there, and it gets explained in the very same comic.*

Also, there is a cannonly gay character named Owl. One of Crows brothers. Macks fathers are also gay and married. Mayapple and Malice are also together and lesbians. There is plenty of LGBTQ representation in his comic if you want to claim it's only there as one moment of negativity.

"Being 'Progressive' for money"

Another opinion rather than a fact. 

The above paragraph shows examples of the LGBTQ representation in the comic. Healthy ones at that!

You can say many of the characters in the comic are touch and go, sure. Something multiple fans have also noticed. But it's not just for LGBTQ ones.

There isn't much development on already existing characters and their relationships outside of Crow. So you can't pinpoint this just to a proposed lack of LGBTQ material when a lot of other characters outside of this lack the same attention. Malachite is a good example! One of my favorites when I was still a supporter.

It isn't being progressive for cash. It's focusing on the main character and developing the world around him. Albeit, in a quick paced way, in my opinion, but not one meant as a cash grab.

"The K&B incident"

This

Is where I get longwinded.

This was the thing that pissed me off the most.

As I stated at the start of this post I was NEVER A MOD IN SOR and was ONLY A MOD IN THE OFFICIAL SERVER. I don't know who started this rumor, but it is blatantly wrong. On top of that, no one had ever come to me to confirm it! This Is coming straight from the horse's boney mouth now. I have no reason to lie about this.

I had just as much power in that rp server as any other user did.

In regards to the Official server, however. 

After leaving SoR, once I finally came to terms with how toxic that environment was and how two faced the head moderator, Fancifool, was, I did still want to rp and interact with some of the friends I made in that rp server. However, I did not want to use the Official Servers rp room as that was a place Fanci could still see me and I didn't want that. I like the privacy a private server gives.

Most of the strife, lies, rumors and manipulation all stem back to Fanci and I believe fully that any of these false accusations were fabricated from her to make herself look better, and me as a monster. (Another very long post for another time.)

Once I left, I kept away from anything to do with SoR and her. I wanted to mind my own business on the main server and enjoy the fandom. Even then, she was the one who persisted in watching and going after me whenever it seemed she could.

From things like trying to sabotage me making a pin design for the Official Server to spreading lies about why I left the rp server, she continued to harass me at a distance to the point my friend, Kaly, had to step in. She came in hot and told Fanci off before blocking her. Approaching with courtesy and a calm nature didn't work before and I continued to be targeted for minding my own business. Enough was enough. 

That is where Kaly unfortunately got her big bad rep from Fanci, despite being more than polite to multiple people who didn't deserve it in the end. The ones who made this blog are examples of some of them.  

That is all I will say about that aspect of my experience for now. SoR was an entirely different kind of trauma I had to go through and this post will never end if I tried to fit it all in here.

So back to the point at hand.

I brought up in the general chat in the Official Server that I was thinking about making my own server for folks who still wanted to rp with me, because I was NOT stepping foot back into SoR. I wanted to gauge who would still like to play with me outside of the server after I left. Not once did I say I wanted it to be a server to rival SoR nor be dedicated to Nef content. And I absolutely NEVER wanted to hog the unused rp channels in the Official Server. The same server they would host an rp in once a week or so as a type of stage to flaunt their writing outside of their server. If there was one thing Fanci loved, it was an audience. Which is also why she got so bent out of shape about the rp rooms being archived.

Fanci took this turn of events as me trying to undermine her stage, despite me saying that was not its intended purpose. She went to the SoR server owner and made up the hairbrained assumption, that you typed in this post, to get people riled up. 

As a matter of fact, I still have the original transcript of the ENTIRE CONVERSATION IN THE MOD ROOM THAT OCCURED ABOUT IT!

I was at work at the time and couldn't join in until the very end, but I think this speaks for itself well enough on how little these people actually listened to anyone other than themselves. I also have caps showing that in their group chat after the fact. 

Also, it was a majority of the OTHER moderators in the Official Server that wanted to shut down the rp channels. I was one of the only ones who tried to convince them to keep it open after Fanci demanded an audience with them. But the majority ruled and in the end I did agree with their choice as well. 

In reality, it was Fanci who ultimately pushed the mods to decide to close the rp channels due to her persisting that it would be unfair to them to have BASIC RULES IN PLACE. Rules you can read in the doc transcript at the end when I was finally free to say something on the matter. Thus, the rooms were archived and a direct link to SoR was put in its place in case anyone still wanted to join their server. That archive is long gone now.

This is just one example of how facts were twisted to make certain parties look better than they were. Making mountains from molehills to make a group look better than another.

TLDR: Fanci made a spectacle over me wanting to see if people still wanted to rp with me outside of SoR, made up lies about what my PRIVATE INVITE ONLY SERVER would be used for, and ultimately why the rp rooms were shut down.

By the way, I still made that server and it's still invite only for close friends. It's called Blue Lagoon and it's beach themed. Don't worry. I'm not stealing her number count.

"Complaints about anything on this being ignored/excused"

Any issues or complaints brought to mods from both servers were handled to the extent they thought it appropriate enough to do so. This isn't their fucking day job! It's a damn fandom server. 

I will admit, SoR neglected its own 25+ page rulebook often so they could keep numbers up. Because I was only a mod in the Official Server towards the end of this shit storm, I don't have much I can add to this point. But also, once again, no caps. No proof. No examples.

Another opinion rather than a fact.

"The Purge"

I was not around for this event and know nothing about it.

One thing I will make very clear is that the Syndicate of Roleplay was NEVER THE OFFICIAL RP SERVER FOR NEFARIOUS!

Josh never deemed it so and never once considered it a direct branch of his server for him to foresee. He has stated this multiple times. This was a self proclaimed title that held no weight in the servers validity.

"Sexualized art"

People make 18+ content. This is universal. Literally every server ever made has this happen from time to time, but at least there exists an 18+ server for the Official Server where it can be isolated to. Whether people use it is up to them. The mods usually followed up about that too. In both the Official and RP servers. Your second post actually proves that on its own.

"Provoking suicidal people" 

I don't think I know of this instance so I'm skipping it. No comment via lack of information and proof.

"ERP with minors"

You can say this was in regard to Dusty and you, Melody. I don't know what really happened between you and Dusty in that timeframe, but calling him a pedophile during a time when he was also young and unaware of some things is downright malicious. In fact, I did the math at one point and I think he was ALSO a minor during that time. So referring to him as the ADULT in this point is painting him in a worse light than he was.

Is he an asshole? Absolutely! I will not disagree with you on that. But I will never label someone something as extreme as a PEDOPHILE unless I know for sure they are one. Going to such an extreme label like this is alarming, but something you are known to do.

It's perfectly valid if you regretted that interaction with him, though! I've had moments like that in my time rping and interacting with different people. There was a lack of consideration from him and that's one of his major faults. He's inconsiderate.

As for how the mods responded to this instance. Once again, I was not there for this and there's no proof, once again.

But if this is true. You did not deserve to be treated like that and their response is more alarming than Dusty's idiocy.

"Exposure to drawn child porn"

My brother in Christ.

This is one of those instances of 'makes a character that's fully grown, but was Freshly Brought To Life recently'. I can't comment on this fully because it is also a matter of opinion in a way. One I also am not fully comfortable with. Yeah. I also don't like this trope. I think it's too close to the line in the sand.

In regards to the Event that provoked this bullet point.

It is so fucking easy to post an image or text in the wrong chat. I have done it so many times because, guess what? HUMANS CAN MAKE MISTAKES.

It doesn't matter if he had to press "several buttons" to post it if he didn't see he was in the wrong server. Which is what he said after it was all said and done! It was a huge screw up on his part, but the big takeaway is he didn't do it ON PURPOSE. He was extremely embarrassed by it after the fact and you even showed that in your second post.

Just say you want a reason for everyone to hate him as much as you do. To make him out to be a horrible person rather than someone you just don't vibe with. Cause my dude, I also don't vibe with him, but I'm not going around making shit up to make him look like a perverted pedo. That's fucked up and frankly you're fucked up for doing that!

"Active Pedophile in the community"

This is literally your last point in Level 5 just jumbled with different words. 

However, I will agree that Dusty usually had risqué muses that didn't fully belong in that space. Which once again, should have been properly addressed by the mods in that server and weren't. If anything, instead of saying Kaly gave him passes for this, what about Fanci? His best friend and overall main power holder of the server who was letting him get away with it long before Kaly even entered the server. 

But once again. No caps. No irrefutable proof. No evidence.

That's all for that post!

Now onto the second.

Accusations Post link for reference.

This part only has to do with the RP Server and the bullshit that happened in it. 

What I will be doing for this post is simply debunking the outlandish claims made in them about ME. I'll explain why they are framed in ways meant to demonize rather than inform of anything actually malicious.

I'm not going to touch the top of this post as it's just another jab at Dusty and his idiocy. The guy's inconsiderate and I'm leaving it at that.

Where I will start is right here.

Allow me to start by genuinely asking WHAT SUICIDE BAIT?????

Where??

Do you even know the meaning of that word because I don't think you do! 

And once again throwing around extreme words and phrases without understanding what they truly mean as well as the extremity of them. There isn't a single instance of that in any of these caps!

The only thing I can feasibly piece together that is close to that is when Dusty say's he's going to kill his phone and then himself.

Out of embarrassment. 

A phrase that is so commonly used that everyone has heard and used it at least once in their lives. No one is being fooled by this. It's NOT suicide baiting. 

I will go over the following main accusation against me (number 1) and why it is completely false, written and framed in a way to try and make me look like a horrible person. I will NOT be speaking for Kaly in this as her experience differs from mine. But I will touch on a few things involving her.

All the caps below are the extent of the conversation taken from this post as "proof".

Now.

I find it very convenient that the actual offending pic wasn't captured and that is because these caps were not taken at the time of offense. Not because you didn't want to capture it.

I know Khimer is most likely the one that took the caps before he left the server about a year or so ago. The reasons I think this is because of two things.

1. The date of each post alone is a baseline. This indicated that these caps were taken WAY after this happened.

I also want to point out how none of these caps are full screen caps that hide the full story and and additional context. To me, that devalues them and makes it look like certain things were framed or cherry picked. Something Melody is notorious for and also did often to make others look like unsympathetic assholes. Notably, something she attempted to do to Kaly and got caught for.

It's manipulation and gaslighting. Something she accused so many other people of. So yeah. Projecting much?

2. If you look at the first cap you will see chaoticMelody's name is one of the only ones that are white. This means that she wasn't in the server at the time of the cap being taken.

Based upon the timeline of her ban and when I knew Khimer also left the server, I can safely assume this was taken during my time still in the server considering my name isn’t in white like hers, but most certainly AFTER she had been banned and Kaly was no longer a mod.

This narrows it down to a chunk of time for me and deduces that it was not taken during the time Kaly WAS a mod in that server. While I was never a mod, Kaly was and demoted herself because she was sick of all the bullshit. She was never kicked from the role. She stepped down herself. I know for a fact this moment happened after she took that step down into just being a normal player in the server too. And if that’s hard to believe, then the proof given isn’t viable either as it says otherwise. I’ll get to why.

And no. The one user below Melody is not white as well. It is a pastel yellow. One of the other tiers they had in the server was that color and this user had it as their main color. The whole role system was a gradient from light yellow, to orange, and then purple. Purple being the owner/mods, orange being the standard users/players, and yellow being other roles like artists, viewers, etc. These were also the main colors of the main character in Nefarious, Crow. 

That's not important really, but just a tidbit of logic behind it.

My username is orange just like all the other standard users. The moderator, Fancifool, and server owner at the time, Lock Jaw, have distinctly different purple colors to their usernames and that is because Fanci was the main mod at this time and Lock Jaw was the owner with the same privileges as the mods. Even when this cap was taken they still reflect that. 

They were the ones responsible to handle this. Not me. Not Kaly. 

If this were the case, then users like MasterofMemes, who was also orange, should have been on the chopping block too, no? And what about the blatant ping in the same color as Fanci and Lock Jaws usernames? Any discord user knows the role color matches the role, so how do you deny that one?

Even then, Memes and Fanci both acted before either Kaly and I did, so in either retrospect, once again, why am I being targeted for hate in something I wasn’t even responsible for, let alone was too late to get to? Is it because certain people coupled me and Kaly together as one entity? You all sure treated us like one, which was just fucking rude and demonizing.

With this information, this accusation that I 'favored' Dusty and let him get away with accidentally posting an nsfw pic in the server flops like a dead fish. 

It’s so easy to take a cap, put it out of context and say whatever hate comes to your brain. But this was sloppy. Really sloppy. I didn’t say anything or engage with you on it for years because anyone with eyes and half a brain cell can put 2 + 2 together to make 4. Well… almost anyone, apparently. 

And allow me to state again, because this seems to continue to not be committed to memory.

I WAS NEVER A MOD IN SOR!

Not once. Never wanted to be. Never was.

On top of this, the event happened in the middle of the day when most people with jobs were AT SAID JOBS as well as school. (Don’t think I need proof of that.) We weren't tethered to our phones for any beck and call that may happen. Assuming people with lives outside of a fucking discord server will come running at any instant is, frankly, ridiculous.

But it looks like it took Fanci and Lock Jaw roughly “2 minutes to get on scene” in this instance. 

It doesn't matter if you have screenshots if all you're going to do is use them to make up lies about someone. None of what you know about me is even close to true. You can’t even dig up one cap that shows my username in the purple color Fanci’s is in because it doesn’t exist and won’t ever exist now because that server is either shut down or private.

Either way, this was a long time coming and I know by now Melody is probably in her early 20's. No longer a minor as you loved to flaunt about like a shield. So how about you act like a big girl and mind your own damn business from now on and stop spreading lies? You must be mature enough by now to do that. After all, your Harry Potter blog has been on hiatus for quite some time. That’s a good sign.

I will never deal with this brand of bullshit ever again. Not from the likes of them or others in kind. If anyone tries to stir up anything else aside from what is already on this blog I will no longer hesitate to act upon it.

If you're done embarrassing yourselves, then delete your blog and never utter my name again.

[cairoscene]

Brian David Gilbert on Sad Boyz

feels fandom relevant.

[ID: A series of screen captures of Brian David Gilbert speaking on a podcast: "The thing that you invest your time in can feel so important to your identity that occasionally you feel, like, you need to close it off from other people in order to keep it safe. And I think that's where a lot of nerd culture, all that gatekeeping stuff, all of the toxicity stems from that thing where it's like, "In high school I didn't have a lot of friends or connect with a lot of people, but I did have this comic book, and now this comic book is super popular, but these people don't like me. That must be because they're not real fans."" End ID]

[ulteri0rm0tives]

brain? rotting.

[orange-sunshines]

who can send me an ao3 invite

[thedogslegart]

21.6.23

[equalperson]

My two self-contradictory PDs fighting for dominance whenever I'm under stress

[floorpancakes]

i keep running into people in my fandom circles being elitist pieces of shit conflating popular=bad or 'i saw a teenager like it once so it and everyone into it are all awful uneducated assholes' with feigned moral superiority and it's pissing me off bad. if you want to be a hater at least be honest about it. stop pretending like you care about people's media consumption habits when you actually just want to hate anything you don't know and make yourself look better than everyone else. especially if you only start making these assumptions and comments the moment a piece of media blows up in popularity and you thought it was cool or left it alone before. this shit can have serious consequences but mostly I'm just sick of seeing it hate ethically please. and not in a 'im claiming my taste in media is ethically superior and everything else is for snivelling uneducated heathens and probably has bad rep in it or something and isn't a classic™ as deemed by the fandom elders so it's probably vapid and worthless and has something wrong with it and everyone that likes it is bad' way

[opashoo]

Yongasabi, Slugcat language of the Rain World Undergrowth AU

Yongasabi originally started as an attempt to turn Rain World's glyphs into a functioning writing system for the slugcats, and that eventually inspired me to make a language for the writing system to support. As it grew, it became increasingly intertwined with my own ideas for Rain World worldbuilding, and my own project, the Undergrowth AU.

Now I'm publicly opening my language to the Rain World fandom! Seven months of work from start to the official release, with fully functioning grammar and over 1500 documented words just at the time of writing this post, I'm excited to finally release this language for other people to view, and potentially even use.

Note that Yongasabi is made with the Undergrowth AU (which is an anthro AU) in mind. It presupposes that the slugcats are humanoid, and their technological development is further along than in the game. Despite that, the language should be otherwise applicable to regular slugcats.

While Yongasabi has been developed through the lens of my own projects (Rain World Undergrowth AU and its worldbuilding) and understanding of Rain World's themes and lore, it's something I want to be accessible to the entire community. Consider it something of a gift. Anyone has permission to use Yongasabi in their projects—credit would be appreciated, and I would actually be so excited if you messaged me to let me know what you were doing. If I'm available, I can translate things too, if you need, or explain concepts from the document. Just send it to me and I'll see what I can do! Good luck!

[prettygirl-gabi]

Title: Dawg Mentality

Pairing: Paige Bueckers x Reader

Word Count: ~2.5k

POV: First-Person

Tags: Fluff, Angst, Basketball, Protective Paige, Established Relationship, UConn Women’s Basketball, Tournament Game, Trash Talk, Revenge Arc, Soft Moments, Humor

Fandom: UConn Women’s Basketball

Summary: don’t mess with what’s Paige’s… or you’ll get hurt…

🏷️: @yailtsv , @elalfywhore , @azziswrld , @paige05bby

Flashback – March 2024

I stared at my phone screen, rereading the email for the tenth time.

“Dear [Y/N],

We are pleased to inform you that your transfer application has been accepted. You are officially enrolled as a sophomore student-athlete at the University of Connecticut for the upcoming academic year.”_

My breath hitched.

This was real. I was officially out.

The toxic cycle, the whispered apologies that meant nothing, the empty promises that “it would get better”—I was leaving all of it behind.

I was leaving her behind.

A weight lifted from my shoulders, and for the first time in months, I felt like I could breathe.

I went to her dorm the following week to break things off.

“I can’t do this anymore.”

My voice wavered slightly, but I kept my chin high as I stood in the dimly lit dorm room, arms crossed over my chest. My (now ex) girlfriend sat on the edge of her bed, jaw clenched, eyes burning with something between disbelief and irritation.

“The fuck are you talking about, bro?” she scoffed, shaking her head as if I had just told her the sky wasn’t blue.

I exhaled, already feeling the familiar exhaustion that came with every argument. The manipulation, the guilt-tripping, the way she always found a way to make me feel like I was the problem—it was a cycle I was finally breaking.

“You,” I said, my voice firmer now. “I’m talking about you. The way you treat me. The way you act like I owe you my patience when you don’t even try to meet me halfway. I’m done.”

She laughed, the kind that wasn’t really amused. “You’re really about to throw this away over some dumb shit?”

I shook my head. “This wasn’t love. This was you using me as a crutch and tearing me down when I didn’t bend to your will.”

“You deadass just gonna leave?” she asked, voice laced with irritation.

I exhaled sharply. “Yeah.”

“You think UConn’s gonna make you happy?” She scoffed, stepping closer. “What, you think Paige Bueckers gon’ save you or something?”

I rolled my eyes. “This has nothing to do with Paige.”

She leaned in, tone dropping to something more condescending. “You’ll be back.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “No, I won’t.”

I turned on my heel and walked out.

And for the first time in what felt like forever, I felt free.

Big East Tournament, Semifinals – March 2025

The energy in the arena was electric, the crowd buzzing as we battled for a spot in the Big East Championship game. I had worked my ass off since transferring to UConn, determined to prove myself, and this moment felt surreal.

My ex scoffed. “You still soft as hell, huh? Thought running to UConn would make you somebody.”

I had already ran back to defense so I heard nothing even though it was directed to me.

Paige, however she heard it clear as day. Now with just over five minutes left in the quarter, my ex sagged off Paige, daring her to shoot.

Bad idea.

Paige took one dribble, stepped back, and let it fly. The ball swished through the net so cleanly it barely touched the rim. The crowd exploded.

And then it happened.

That’s when she turned, eyes locked on my ex, and let it rip:

“Fuck is you talkin ’bout?”

The TV broadcast caught it too, her expression sharp, unimpressed—borderline disrespectful.

Paige didn’t care though. She was already back on defense, jaw tight, locked in. The clip however was already trending before the quarter even ended.

And the crowd’s reaction to her 3 pointer was instant. The bench was on their feet. Even the commentators took a second to process what they had just witnessed.

Even thought they couldn’t hear it they knew, that it was to someone on the opposing team.

Paige wasn’t the type to get into it with opponents. Unless we’re talking about Hopkins Paige; or Paige who constantly at the refs for a “genuine conversation”, but this March Madness Paige. She was calm, calculated, a silent assassin.

But when my ex had the nerve to call me out my name, Paige flipped a switch.

And now? Now she was playing even more like she had something to prove, the she already was.

By halftime, we were up by 10. Paige had 21 points. She was playing angry. Not sloppy, not reckless—but with a different kind of edge. One that sent a message.

And the message was clear: Don’t fuck with mine.

I had been on the bench the third quarter enjoying Paige be a menace, but came the fourth quarter i was my time to shine again, at least what was left of it.

The fourth quarter had been nothing short of chaotic, but in the best way possible. The team was buzzing, and the energy in the gym had only amplified as the game came to a close. With the game already in our hands, Coach let me take the court for the final 2 minutes, alongside Caroline, KK, Jana, and Allie. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride as I jogged out onto the floor, ready to contribute in any way I could.

Caroline had just drained a three-pointer with 1:22 left, and the crowd erupted into cheers as our lead grew even more solid. There was a certain magic in the air. I could feel it, the weight of the moment. But as the final seconds ticked down, I was more focused on something deeper. Something personal.

My ex, every time I glanced at her, I felt a sense of resolve settle in my chest. She’d never thought I’d be here, playing on this stage, with a leading and trusting team. She thought I was weak, but now? Now I was stronger than I ever was with her.

The clock wound down. The energy in the gym was buzzing, everyone anticipating the final moments of the game. KK had the ball, and it was clear we were running down the clock. But instead of taking the last possession herself, she did something unexpected—she handed me the ball.

“All you, girl,” KK said, her eyes flicking over to me with a smirk. “Finish it out.”

I nodded, my fingers curling around the ball as I took control. The play was simple: run out the clock. But as I started to dribble, something else took over. My gaze locked with my ex’s across the court. The moment felt like it was frozen in time. She was looking at me, trying to project that same sense of power she once had over me, but I wasn’t the same girl who had left her a year ago. Not anymore.

I dribbled slowly, letting the seconds tick away. But I wasn’t just running out the clock; I was making a statement. My ex could keep trying to undermine me, but I wasn’t going to let her affect me anymore. I wasn’t some girl she could push around. I was here, at UConn, playing in a championship-caliber game. I was thriving, and she had nothing to do with that.

The crowd started to chant, the cheers growing louder with each second that passed. My eyes stayed locked on hers, unwavering. I could see the frustration building in her expression as she realized that she couldn’t touch me anymore, couldn’t control me.

With 22.6 seconds left, I kept dribbling. I stared her down. And just as the buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the game, I let the ball bounce a little more before gently passing it to the referee.

And just like that, the game was over.

We’d won, but more than that, I’d won. The girl who once doubted me, who tried to tear me down—she was nothing now. Because the only person who mattered was me.

And Paige. The girl who had been beside me every step of the way. The girl who made sure I knew that I was worth so much more than what my ex had ever made me believe.

As I turned to the bench, I saw Paige waiting for me with that look—soft and knowing. She’d seen it all. And without saying a word, she pulled me into a quick hug, her smile saying everything. We did this.

The energy on the bus was high. Azzi and KK were clowning Paige for her outburst, Ice was scrolling through Twitter looking at all the reactions, and CD… well, CD was trying really hard to pretend she hadn’t heard it.

“Why you lookin’ at me like that?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

I smirked. “Because you’re insane.”

She shrugged, a small grin tugging at her lips. “She started it.”

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t fight the warmth blooming in my chest. “Still. That was so unnecessary.”

Paige turned in her seat, eyes locking onto mine. “Nah,” she said seriously. “Nobody talks to you like that. Not on my watch.”

My stomach flipped, and before I could overthink it, I leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. Paige grinned, her hand immediately finding mine and lacing our fingers together.

“You love me,” she teased.

I scoffed. “I tolerate you.”

She gasped dramatically, clutching her chest. “Wow. After I just risked getting fined for unsportsmanlike conduct? This is crazy.”

I bit back a laugh, shaking my head. “You were wild for that.”

“Worth it.”

Before I could respond, CD’s voice cut through the chatter on the bus.

“Paige.”

I winced as Paige turned in her seat, facing CD, who was now standing right in front of us.

“You know I should be chewing you out for that little… exchange back there.” CD’s expression was stern, but there was something almost amused in her eyes.

Paige, to her credit, looked somewhat remorseful. “Yeah… my bad.”

CD let out a long-suffering sigh pinching the bridge of her nose, before shaking her head. “Just don’t make it a habit.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“No promises, though.” Paige muttered under her breath as CD had made it back to her seat. She nudged me. “She let me slide.”

I laughed, squeezing her hand. “She knew why you did it.”

Paige smirked. “Dawg mentality.”

I snorted, nudging her. “You wild for that, you know.”

Paige turned to me, expression softer now. “She shouldn’t have said that shit to you.”

I shook my head. “You didn’t have to—”

“Yes, I did,” Paige interrupted. Her voice was firm but gentle. “You don’t deserve that. And if she thought she was gonna talk crazy and get away with it? Nah. Not happenin. Especially not bout my girl.”

I smiled, leaning into her. “My hero.”

Paige smirked. “Always.”

I rested my head on her shoulder, exhaling as the adrenaline from the game finally started to wear off.

She kissed the top of my head, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I got you, ma.”

“I know, baby.” I say left my eyes flutter shut as we go back to the hotel.

The hotel room felt like a calm oasis after the chaos of the game, and I was grateful for it. The only sounds filling the space were the quiet hum of the air conditioning and the soft clicks of our shoes against the floor as we moved through the room.

Paige and I had just finished our game day recovery routine. She was lying back on the bed with a towel draped around her neck, still a little sweaty but relaxed now that the intensity of the game had worn off. I, on the other hand, was sitting on the edge of the bed, carefully pouring myself a glass of Cheribundi Tart cherry juice. It was part of my usual recovery routine — carefully concentrated with melatonin and magnesium, the perfect way to help my body unwind after such a grueling game.

Paige, curious as always, watched me pour the juice with an eyebrow raised.

“What’s that stuff?” she asked, scrunching her nose in curiosity.

I took a sip of my drink before looking at her. “It’s Cheribundi. Tart cherry juice. Helps with recovery and sleep. It’s part of my routine.”

“Let me try some,” she said, sitting up and leaning toward the glass.

I handed it over, and she took a hesitant sip, her face morphing into one of exaggerated disgust. “Whoa. That’s… strong.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “I told you, it’s tart.”

She took another sip, this time cringing a little less. “Okay, I mean, I can get behind it, but only if there’s like… a bunch of sugar in it.”

“I wouldn’t recommend that,” I teased, taking another sip of my own drink.

She shook her head. “I’ll stick to my smoothies.”

I smiled and leaned back, feeling the warmth of the moment wash over me. For the first time in a long while, I realized just how healthy the love I had with Paige was. No drama. No chaos. Just simple, genuine affection and understanding. She supported me through everything, and I felt the same for her. I never knew it could feel this safe, this right.

After finishing our recovery routine, we both collapsed onto the bed, too tired to do much else. The lights were off, but we kept the TV on in the background.

Paige was flipping through the channels when she landed on SpongeBob SquarePants, a childhood favorite of both of ours. We exchanged a look, and I could tell Paige was about to make some smart remark about it, but instead, she just let out a little laugh.

“I can’t believe we’re watching SpongeBob,” she muttered, settling into the bed beside me.

“It’s a classic,” I said, chuckling. “Plus, we deserve a chill night.”

“Fair point,” she said, shifting so she was closer to me. “You’re right. This is what we need.”

As the TV played softly in the background, I grabbed my phone and opened Instagram. I took a quick photo of the screen—Paige and I both slumped in bed, half-watching, half-listening. I posted it to my spam story with a caption: Post-game recovery with my girl 💕 #tiredbuthappy and tagged Paige in it.

Paige grinned at me when she saw the post. “I can’t believe you just put that on your story.”

I smirked. “Hey, I’m documenting this beautiful moment of us bonding over SpongeBob. You should be honored.”

Paige rolled her eyes but didn’t seem bothered. She scooted even closer to me, wrapping an arm around my waist. “I’m honored, I guess.”

I smiled and rested my head on her shoulder, letting out a contented sigh. There was no place I’d rather be than right here, with her.

We spent the rest of the night laughing at the absurdity of SpongeBob’s antics, until my eyelids started to feel heavy. It was the kind of peace I hadn’t known before.

“Goodnight, ma,” Paige murmured, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead.

“Night, babe,” I whispered back, feeling my body relax completely.

The screen flickered, the quiet hum of the show still in the background, but I was already starting to drift off to sleep, my body and mind finally at rest.

And as I fell asleep with Paige beside me, I knew I was exactly where I was meant to be.

---

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■

                 -Thank You For Reading!🩵🩶

                             -prettygirl-gabi🎀✨️

[the-other-art-blog]

Violet to Colin: "You're one of my most sensitive children."

The fandom: "How can she say that! Anthony, Benedict bla, bla bla..."

Colin is ONE of her most sensitive children. ONE, just ONE of them. And she's right.

ONE OF HER MOST SENSITIVE CHILDREN

He was the only one who indulged Violet and let her introduce him to debutantes in s1, while Anthony fucked his mistress and Ben went to orgies.

He was a complete gentleman with Marina. AND defended her when Anthony implied something about her.

And when he learned the truth, he confessed that he would have married her if she had told him the truth. 🥹

He danced with Pen after Cressida bullied her.

He wrote dozens of letters that his family of 8 could not care to respond to often. There are 8 of them!

He worried about Ben in s2 and supported him on his application to the Academy.

He learned the truth of Jack Featherington and instead of simply leaving, he did something about it. Not only did he help the Featherington family, but he saved other lords from being scammed.

He apologized to Will, explained why he acted rudely AND made amends to repair the damage by bringing men to Will's club.

He returned with gifts for everyone, but he seemed particularly thoughtful to his sisters and mother. A perfume for Hyacinth, music for Francesca, and a book for Eloise 🥹. Violet was so moved by his gift and here we have a lovely headcanon on the watch:

Then with Pen...

He runs after Pen, despite other men wanting to know about his adventures.

He acknowledges his mistake and immediately tries to apologize to Pen in the Four Seasons Ball.

The next day, he comes back with a heartfelt apology.

Then, he offers her help, despite the risk of scandal and embarrassment for him. He knows Pen has no one else.

He goes to see Pen at night to make sure she's ok. And when she asks him for a kiss, he does it so sweetly.

He is brave enough to leave the men who just want to know about his sexual life.

HE WAS BRAVE ENOUGH TO ASK, as soon as he put himself together and understood his feelings. He didn't play jealousy games like others, he went and put his heart on the table. He didn't even know about Pen's feelings and he risked it!

Some extracts from Colin's journals show that his family is always in his thoughts.

You can see why Violet, as the good mother that she is, can tell how sensitive he is.

Colin travels during the summer and comes back during the season to be with his family. It angers me that people think he's selfish for this when Benedict also abandons the family to fuck.

And yet, both Colin and Ben are sensitive. BOTH OF THEM, Francesca too. I wouldn't call Hyacinth or Gregory sensitive right now, and before s3, I wouldn't include Eloise either.

Anyway, I needed to get this out because I am so fucking tired of Kanthonies and Benophies making tantrums about this line.

I'm sure when s4 comes, we are going to see a moment between Violet and Ben where she acknowledges how amazing he is and everything he has done for the family. But not now, because this is COLIN'S SEASON.

(NOTE: If you are thinking of reblogging this post with the tag #Colin is the most sensitive, kindly fuck off. I made this post to fight the Kanthonies and Benophie that are attacking Colin, not to validate your own need to make Colin superior to other characters. HE IS ONE OF THE MOST SENSITIVE CHILDREN, ONE)

[12daysofchristmas]

Join us in the 2024 12 Days of Christmas Challenge as we hope to spread a little ✨holiday joy and cheer✨ through the magic of writing fanfiction & creating art!

About & Rules

The challenge will run from December 13-24, 2024.

The challenge is open to any and all fandoms.

Submissions must include at least one of the prompts for that day but can combine two, three, or all four.

Prompts for the day always include: a word/words, a scenario, a quote, a "famous" quote (taken from songs and movies)

Tag your submissions with #12daysofchristmas2024 and/or mention this blog so that we will be notified to reblog your submissions here. (Also, it would be super cool if you gave this blog a follow!)

Submissions for the day must be posted before midnight YOUR time. We're not super hard-and-fast about this rule, but posting within time is very much appreciated! 

If you’re posting your submission directly on Tumblr (as opposed to linking to an external site such as AO3), you MUST use a “keep reading” cut!

Edit: We're now also allowing ALL KINDS OF ART: drawings, edits, aesthetics, mood boards, videos, podfics, fiber arts... go wild!

!! Absolutely NO AI creations !!

Please format ALL submissions with the following heading:

Title Day/Prompt(s) Fandom/Character(s)/Ship Warnings (if applicable): Word Count/Medium (in case it's art):  Example: Santa, Baby Day 8 - “Prompt(s) for that day” AEW - Adam Page x OC Warnings: Alcohol, cursing, sexual situations (explicit) Word Count: 7,290 or: Medium: fan video

You can also include a summary, gif, edit, whatever you want! Just don’t forget the “keep reading” if you’re posting directly on Tumblr!

If you're posting on AO3, here's our collection: 12 Days of Christmas Collection

2024 Prompts

Day 1 ❄️ First snow ❄️ Getting soaked ❄️ “Your hands are so cold.” ❄️ “I suppose it all started with the snow.” —Frosty the Snowman

Day 2 ❄️ Little lie ❄️ Trapped together in a snowstorm ❄️ “I thought you knew where you were going?!” ❄️ “I don’t know what to say, but it’s Christmas, and we’re all in misery.” —National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

Day 3 ❄️ Accelerated heartbeat ❄️ Kissing in the snow ❄️ “Here, take my coat.” ❄️ “Let's hope the snow will make this Christmas right.” —Queen

Day 4 ❄️ Mulled wine ❄️ Playing board games ❄️ “I have no regrets.” ❄️ “Cheer up, dude. It's Christmas.” —How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 2000

Day 5 ❄️ Cookies ❄️ Holiday-themed contest ❄️ “That definitely looks… interesting?” ❄️ “That is exactly why you want a high-quality fire extinguisher right in the kitchen.” —The Santa Clause

Day 6 ❄️ Present ❄️ Making a new Christmas tradition ❄️ “Not another Christmas movie!” ❄️ “You say you hate Washington’s birthday or Thanksgiving, and nobody cares, but you say you hate Christmas, and people treat you like you’re a leper.” —Gremlins

Day 7 ❄️ Decorations ❄️ A little accident ❄️ “I was just trying to help!” ❄️ “I want my house to be seen from space.” —Deck The Halls

Day 8 ❄️ Touch starved ❄️ Telling secrets around the fire ❄️ “Sometimes the hardest part is forgiving yourself.” ❄️ “Santa, can't you hear me?” —Ariana Grande & Kelly Clarkson

Day 9 ❄️ Christmas fair/market ❄️ Late shopping (together) ❄️ “Hmm, this is actually not bad.” ❄️ “When you're still waiting for the snow to fall, doesn't really feel like Christmas at all.” —Coldplay

Day 10 ❄️ Surprise visit ❄️ Lighting scented candles ❄️ “I didn’t know you were here.” ❄️ “You’re skipping Christmas! Isn’t that against the law?” —Christmas with the Kranks

Day 11 ❄️ Fairy lights ❄️ Christmas party/ball ❄️ “I never want this night to end.” ❄️ “I won’t even wish for snow. And I’m just gonna keep on waiting, underneath the mistletoe.” —Mariah Carey

Day 12 ❄️ Feast ❄️ Indoor picnic by the tree/fireplace ❄️ “I baked your favourite cookie/pie/cake.” ❄️ “You are all I need tonight underneath the Christmas lights.” —Sia

Extra Challenge

Angst or fluff, romance or platonic - you're unsure in what direction your fic should go? Spin our

Wheel

and let it decide for you! You can spin it once and write all fics with what comes up, you can spin it daily and change course accordingly, you can spin it as often as you need or not at all - it's all up to you.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions! Also, feel free to share this post and help spread the joy and cheer!

Happy writing, and good luck 🍀

[sammis-svsss-brainrot]

Theoretically if I were to host an event in which the Scum Villain Fandom tried to write PIDW would people be interested?

I discussed this with my good friend @spaced-out-scribbles a while back but here few details that I have in my head, please stop me if someone has already done something like this before

As we all know PIDW, written by Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky, was the source material that Shen Yuan transmigrates into

So wouldn't it be funny to have a "canon" source material for people to reference?

Step 1 would be to compile every reference to PIDW in SVSSS to figure out how long Binghe's white lotus arc lasted and how long actual plot occured before it devolved into shitty smut

Step 2 would be to compile a list of fic writers and maybe artists perhaps that would be interested in recreating PIDW based off of the information occuring in Step 1

A discord server is put together with everyone interested in this project

There could maybe be a list of people assigned to each referenced arc that would maybe hold applications the way that a zine would perhaps? With people applying to write specific portions of PIDW if they wanted to write the marriage of a specific wife or a portion of a specific arc

And anyone else that wanted to participate is assigned a random wife number and told to go wild with the longest, shittiest description of how Luo Bingge was a total stallion lead, and married his new wife of the week

All of these fics and/or accompanying art are submitted to a GIANT ao3 collection (bonus points if everyone involved creates a pseud that's named as Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky for this project) and with everyone's contributions all put together you get a semblance of what PIDW would have looked like

Bonus points if no one else has any idea what happened in a previous wife plot, so the story is not at all coherent towards the later chapters, because I fully believe Airplane had no idea what the fuck he's written before as he got to the end of PIDW

Someone is assigned to write the final shitty ending that made Shen Yuan so mad he died and transmigrated

If anyone wants to contribute to PIDW after the project, the collection could remain open but moderated to make sure chapter numbers/wife numbers stay consistent and that's about it

Obviously this would be a huge project to wrangle and would need a lot of people involved to actually make it work and take a lot of time, so if this is something people are actually interested in, it would more than likely not be able to come to fruition until the start of 2025 at the absolute earliest with all the prep work it would take to get a project like this accomplished but I thought I'd throw it out there to see if people would be interested, so reblog to spread the word if this is something you'd like to see!

Once again, if someone has already done something like this please let me know, I've only been in this fandom for like a year and a half so I'm aware that a lot of fandom events have occured before my time in the fandom

[nekropsii]

ALPHA TROLLS RANKED BY HOW WRONG THE FANDOM AT LARGE IS ABOUT THEM:

This is a personal challenge, based entirely on my own experience and perspective, and also ranked from Most to Least Correct. I was bored, and thought this might be fun.

Putting this under a cut, because it's long as hell.

MEULIN LEIJON

People get her mostly correct, from what I’ve seen… Most of the time, fan content of Meulin is absolutely recognizable as Meulin, but her pride in her deafness + joy of learning new ways to interact with the world through/due to her disability is always removed, and I do not often see people tackle the Toxic Positivity aspect of her character. That seems less like character assassination, though, and more like a combination of people not actually playing through the Openbounds, people not being able to fathom disabled people (especially those who gained a disability later in life rather than being born disabled) being happy, and general fandom distaste for the idea of touching anything uncomfortable, especially when that uncomfortable topic is highly mundane, normalized, and potentially applicable to them or their loved ones. Meulin’s toxic positivity was, of course, commentary on Tumblr’s ecosystem at the time, so… It was much harder to touch back then.

ARANEA SERKET

People tend to get her general, broad strokes personality right, but unfortunately she gets treated pretty roughly for the crime of Being A Serket. People refuse to understand her motivations, and she often gets demonized for what she was doing around/during [S] Game Over, even though that was something she’d gotten pushed to and also was cool as fuck to watch. God forbid a woman do anything.

DAMARA MEGIDO

People are right about the racism, 100%. It is completely despicable, hard to look at, and extremely blatant. She does, however, have character outside of that. No, it isn’t “whore”, it’s more like “angry, dysfunctional abuse victim”, and she’s genuinely a very interesting and tragic character. But, again, people are right about the racism, so she gets to be placed way up here.

MEENAH PEIXES

She is such a chaotic little bastard. I love her. I really do. Please understand that she genuinely does not understand the concept of consequences. This girl didn’t have a Lusus, she didn’t have parents, it was functionally illegal to tell her “No, you can’t do that.” That would fuck up literally anyone’s moral compass. That’s not me hand waving away all the fucked up and bad shit she’s done, we all know what she did, but people tend to forget this aspect of her character and it pains me deeply, because it is a very genuinely interesting concept that I want to see more of. She’s capable of regret, we’ve seen her feel it, I just don’t think foresight is her forte. No one raised her to consider consequences, or help her experience them in a healthy way, because nobody raised her period.

Also, her ass is not butch, she is the girliest girl in the entire comic. She is about hot pink and glitter and kiss marks and unicorns and cute little puns and you will respect that. She is not masculine. Her ass is not masculine nor is she butch. Let her be her hyper-feminine self.

LATULA PYROPE

Please for the love of god there is more to her character than “Gamer Girl” and “Mituna’s Girlfriend”. You are falling for her fucking ruse. Please. Please. Please recognize that her entire character is about internalized misogyny, and being forced to overcompensate for misogyny in gaming circles as a gamer who happens to be a woman. Please. I’m begging.

KURLOZ MAKARA

His character is not that deep, it’s mostly just a string of events he is mysteriously, inexplicably involved with. The Makaras are extremely Function Over Form- their characters practically do not exist, they're mostly just plot devices that exist to push the story along. I'm sorry to Makara fans. You just invented a guy in your mind and decided he was real. He is also not that soft, though, and his relationships with both Meulin AND Mituna are not healthy. Hard to stop people from ascribing cutesy squishy lovey dynamics to random men who happened to have looked at each other once, though. Some people truly haven't graduated from 2012.

HORUSS ZAHHAK

I am begging people to consider that maybe the biggest issue here is not that he is “Bad Otherkin/Therian Representation” and is in fact maybe the fact that Hussie was actually making fun of Systems when he was writing Horuss. Because Horuss is canonically a system. He uses the word system. He uses the word switching. He uses the word host. He literally talks about his Plurality at length in extremely upfront, plain terms. I don’t know how him being “Bad Otherkin Representation” was and still is the main discourse about him. It makes me insane. That is a commentary that truly writes itself. Talk about having your priorities out of wack, honestly...

PORRIM MARYAM

No, she is not a MRA, she’s just a regular feminist who happens to live on a different planet with different politics and social hierarchies from Our Real World Earth’s USA. Whatever argument you’re about to pull out of your ass to say that she sucks is bad. She already explained what she meant by that, in more detail, very clearly, and she was right. Half the time she’s literally just giving you factual information about what Beforus was like, and literal plot synopses. She isn’t saying anything insane. She’s literally normal. I don’t know why people cannot handle or process this. Porrim has not ever said anything controversial. If you disagree with this you’re either misconstruing her on purpose or you fell for Kankri’s bait, and that’s just fucking sad at that point.

Also, she’s more than a sex object, and her tits are not huge. Honestly, half the shit she was saying was just “I am more than my sex life”, and so many people took that and made her main character trait her sex life. Just pathetic.

RUFIOH NITRAM

This man is a fucking war criminal and I will stop at nothing until he is behind bars for his crimes against Damara. Raging misogynist. Total fucking cunt. Just the worst. If I talk any more about this, this part will be 1,000 paragraphs long. But also, I’m begging people to recognize his relationship with disability, too. He was similar to Meulin in the sense that he didn’t mind his disability, and his biggest gripe with it was the way that Horuss tried to “fix” it… Which is an interesting way to expand upon how Beforus’s culling system is not only very explicitly ableist, but mimicking real world systemic ableism. I also want people to recognize that Hussie is actively having a conversation about the reclamation of slurs with Rufioh’s character, and how not letting people reclaim such language is doing nothing but giving the word power against them while stripping away their own personal agency. Rufioh’s a complicated guy, and he’s interesting and also the worst, and I am really tired of how he gets watered down to nothing but “Pretty Boy Victim Of His Inexplicably Psycho Ex”.

MITUNA CAPTOR

Holy Fucking Shit, You Guys Are Ableist.

KANKRI VANTAS

To this day I see people saying he was just Hussie making fun of SJWs. To this day. To this day people think Hussie was trying to make Every Tumblr Leftist look bad, and that he hates them Because They Are Leftists. When will people recognize him as a bootlicker to the oppressive class and the violently bigoted. When will people recognize that. When will people recognize that this is more of a commentary on the legitimate real flaws of Tumblr’s politics at the time. When. When.

When will people stop portraying him as a lovey-dovey Catholic Whore. I’m going to stab my fucking eyes out and then kill everyone in this building. Me when it's based and cool to ship an aroace character with a sexual predator. I GUESS.

CRONUS AMPORA

I say this with every ounce of sincerity I can possibly muster as a person: What the literal actual fuck.

[ur-local-anti-hero]

Speak now (Marauders' version) Masterlist

Hi! this is the first time I'm posting in the Marauders fandom, and as my formal application I decided to write a series of different one-shots and drabbles based on Speak now :)

Therefore I present to you: Speak now (Marauders' version), in which each song has its own piece of writing for a diffent marauders era character.

Here is the masterlist, I'll be uploading it weekly, (at least once a week). First piece of writing will be up tomorrow.

Some clarifications: reader is fem! unless stated differently. English is not my first lenguage, so some mistakes are bound to happen, if you spot any don't hesitate to politely reach out.

If you want to be added to the taglist send me a message or ask!

Mine - Remus x reader

Remus swears he's never been more in love. "Flash forwards and we're takin' on the word together, and there's a drawer of my thing at your place" "You are the best thing, That's ever been mine" Domestic fluff

Sparks fly - Sirius x Pure blood Slytherin!reader + What happened after.

Dating a Black was not the problem, the problem was that is Sirius, a known bloodtraitor. “I run my fingers through your hair and watch the lights go wild. Just keep on keeping your eyes on me, it's just wrong enough to make it feel right” Hurt/comfort

Back to december - Remus x reader

Remus feels like he will regret that night the rest of his life, the marauders convince him to do something about it. “So this is me swallowing my pride standing in front of you, Saying I'm sorry for that night" It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you. Wishing I'd realized what I had when you were mine” Hurt comfort, second chance romance

Speak now - James x Malfoy!reader

If the marauders are against something, its agaisnt pureblood families ideologies. Sometimes that implies to wreak havoc on a white veil occasion. “So don't say yes, run away now, I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door. Don't wait, or say a single vow, You need to hear me out” Hurt/comfort, Fluff, arranged marriage

Maybe you should have listened to your best friend's warning about Regulus, you didn't. Now you just have to deal with the consequences. “Maybe it's you and your sick need To give love then take it away. And you'll add my name to your long list of traitors, Who don't understand" "And I'll look back and regret. I ignored when they said, "Run as fast as you can" Angst

Dear John - Regulus x reader

Mean - Lily x reader

You had some words you'd like to say to Snape after he insulted the kindest girl you've ever met "All you are is mean. And a liar, and pathetic, and alone in life" Hurt/comfort

The story of us - Sirius x reader

Sometimes your relationship with Sirius looked like a contest of who could be more prideful, but this time it's gone too far and all you want is to have him back. "This is looking like a contest, of who can act like they care less. But I liked it more when you were on my side, the battle's in your hands now." Angst, fluff

Never grow up - Wolfstar x daughther!reader (No voldy au)

Remus and Sirius watch their daughter grow up and wish she could stay as their little girl forever. “Don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simple. I won't let nobody hurt you, won't let no one break your heart. And no one will desert you, Just try to never grow up, never grow up”  Fluff

Enchanted - Remus x reader (Soulmate au)

As soon as you saw him walking through the door you knew you'd love him forever. His first words only verified it. Your eyes whispered, "Have we met?". Across the room, your silhouette, Starts to make its way to me The playful conversation starts, Counter all your quick remarks Like passing notes in secrecy. And it was enchanting to meet you” Fluff

Better than revenge - James Potter x reader

Maybe fake dating your ex's best friend wasn't the best way of getting revenge "The story starts when it was hot and it was summer, and I had it all, I had him right there where I wanted him She came along, got him alone, and let's hear the applause She took him faster than you can say"Sabotage"" Fake dating

Innocent - Regulus x reader

After he realized what his parents have done Regulus can't help but breakdown, good thing you are there for him. “Did some things you can't speak of, But at night you live it all again. You wouldn't be shattered on the floor now, If only you had seen what you know now then" Hurt/comfort

Haunted - Remus x reader

Remus' worlds shifts entirely when his worst nightmare becomes true and he isn't sure if he is ever going to be able to look at you again when he is sure he has destroyed your life. “Something's gone terribly wrong, You're all I wanted.Come on, come on, don't leave me like this, I thought I had you figured out Can't breathe whenever you're gone, Can't turn back now, I'm haunted” angst hurt/comfort

Last Kiss - Sirius x reader

Breaking up with sirius was the hardest thing you've ever done. You can't help but miss the way his lips felt against yours. "I love how you walk with your hands in your pockets. How you'd kiss me when I was in the middle of saying something, There's not a day I don't miss those rude interruptions”  Angst

Long live - poly!Marauders x reader (Band!Au)

All your hard work as a band has led you and the boys to this moment, nominated as the best new artist and attending one of the most prestigius galas in the music industry. “I passed the pictures around, Of all the years that we stood there, On the sidelines wishing for right now When they gave us our trophies, And we held them up for our town, and The Cynics were outragedScreaming, "This is absurd!"” Fluff

Ours - James x reader (Band!Au)

When people start to comment on James' personality is your job to make sure he knows how much he means to everyone, but specifically how much he means to you. “So don't you worry your pretty, little mind. People throw rocks at things that shine And life makes love look hard, The stakes are high, the water's rough. But this love is ours”  Hurt/comfort

Superman - Remus x reader (Spiderman!Au)

Remus worries that his girlfriend will leave him when she learns the truth. You worry he is too oblivious to realize you already know. "I'll be right here on the ground, When you come back down. Tall, dark and beautiful. He's complicated, he's irrational, But I hope someday he'll take me away, And save the day fluff

From the vault tracks

Electric touch - Sirius x reader (College!Au)

Your friends are tired of telling you that he is going to break your heart. You'd let Sirius gamble with your heart as long as the chance of hapiness is there. “All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life. Got a feelin' your electric touch could fill this ghost town up with life And I want you now, wanna need you forever. In the heat of your electric touch”

When Emma falls in love - James x reader

You navigate what's like to be in love with James 'Cause when Emma falls in love, she's in it for keeps She won't walk away unless she knows she absolutely has to leave” fluff Hurt/comfort

I can see you - Remus x reader

As much as you hated him, you couldn't deny his natural charm and the way he seemed to have a magnetic field around him that made you gravitate towards him, once and once again. “Passed me a note sayin’, "Meet me tonight", Then we kiss and you know I won't ever tell. And I could see you being my addiction, You can see me as a secret mission. Hide away and I will start behaving myself" Rivals to lover

Castles crumbling - Regulus x reader (Royal Au)

You loved him more than anything, you were the best thing that ever happened to him. But your love is impossible and forbidden. When he doesn't have anything left he runs to you, wondering if you'll love him now. “And I feel like my castle's crumbling down And I watch all my bridges burn to the ground And you don't want to know me, I will just let you down You don't wanna know me now” Hurt/comfort, forbidden romace, fluff

Foolish one - Peter x reader

Peter is used to being the second chance, but he can't help but feel betrayed when his bestfriend and crush starts to get closer to Sirius. "Foolish one, Stop checking your mailbox for confessions of love That ain't never gonna come You will learn the hard way instead of just walkin' out" Hurt/comfort

Timeless - James x reader (Soulmate!Au)

James and you are fated to find each other in every life you live. "Cause I believe that we were supposed to find this, So even in a different life You still would've been mine. We would've been timeless" Fluff

[touchstoneaf]

You know what baffles me? It's actually two things, but it's both related to Doctor Who's fandom. Clearly I've been here for a very short time, so I guess I just missed something? But frankly it makes no sense to me when ppl argue between NineRose and TenRose. Like... it only matters when you are picking which era to write/read/draw in! Sure, their interactions are different, but why would anyone look at the two of them and think one is better than the other, when they are literally the same two people loving each other in beautiful ways?! It's a continuation of the same story, part of the arc of the exact same love affair! You can't take one away from the other! Yes their interactions have a slightly different cant, but you can literally hear moments where you could hear Nine saying a line that Ten said, or vice versa! It's just...

I don't get it. And why in the hell would somebody claim the age gap exists with Nine but not with Ten?! They're the same age? They're both 900 years old? Just, like, what?! Ten specifically acts younger because he's trying to make Rose (and Jackie) feel more comfortable with the relationship, but that's all! (I also write ships with aliens and humans and vampires and humans, so at some point I think the age gap thing just does stops being relevant, and it's just about experiences... but that's just my mileage. But IMHO you can't complain about it with one iteration but not the other of the same person!)

The other thing that baffles me in this fandom is people arguing about the whole Tentoo thing. It seems I've missed some kind of historical quarrel or something? Like... I personally don't prefer it for a couple of reasons, but it's not (as ppl seem to want to accuse others) because I don't think Tentoo is really the Doctor, or whatever ppl like to think is the basis, so stop accusing me of that! That's not the reason at all!! He *obviously* is, and just by the way he is able to say those three words to Rose without hesitating (and of course a little bit of anger), they were obviously going for a sort of combination of Nine and Ten so that Rose would get the best of both worlds there. And that's great. My issue with it is just that Ten prime has to go off by himself after, when Rose told him she would never let him do that, which... My main issue with that ending is just that Rose is only like 22 years old, and I don't think she needs to be settling down and having a kid already, and I think people shortchange her character when they say she only wanted to take him somewhere and settle down with him and quit traveling, when she *clearly* loved every minute of her life with him, and was the happiest she had ever been when she was out traveling with him, so I feel like it's character assassination to say she wanted to stop entirely and go get a house and have a baby with him right away. I'm sure she wouldn't have minded it after a little while, but I certainly wouldn't have wanted a baby at 23, I'm just saying. So my issue with it (though I understand why they had to do it, that they were doing their best to give Billie the correct sendoff with what they had), is that I think that it breaks the character's promise and her clear intention to stay with the Doctor who's stuck traveling... but...

Look. I don't think that the argument about whether Tentoo is "really the Doctor" makes any sense at all. I mean like it's just not applicable to my conceptualization of the characters, so why are am I getting accused of that when it's not even a consideration for me?! I understand for instance arguing about the shape of the triad between NineJackRose (or the existence of TenJackRose) and whether or not you think that was going on (which I don't think is even an argument either, it was at least emotionally happening, & whether any physical action was happening as well is up to interpretation! But why is that an argument, again? It's clearly there, and as to what you think the fallout is... that this entirely up to viewer's mileage and how it varies!).

Is it just me alone by myself thinking that none of these stupid wars even make any sense or should exist? Am I crazy, that i don't understand the purpose of these nonsensical arguments, or the necessity to keep having them at this point, years on?!

What am I missing, here?!

[diminuel]

Crocodad analysis~

I've finished my reread of Impel Down and Marineford and spent most of today typing up this Crocodile analysis applying Crocodad theory ;3

Under the cut I went through Iva's threats, what info we have on when they met and what Iva might have done for him, then I go on to track Crocodile across the battlefield of Marineford. It's just text, no images, but it does have the chapters mentioned so you can go check it out.

I tried to structure these 3000 words a bit but don’t expect a clean essay.

Also, there is nothing new under the sun, I'm sure all of his has been said before by Crocodad scholars, I'm just sorting through it for myself.

(Disclaimer: I read an English scanlation so there’s a chance that there is a mistranslation or missing nuance.)

Iva’s powers

I'm generally someone who likes to work within the parameters provided by canon. But in terms of Iva's power I have been letting fandom (which displays an interest in a more real world depiction of transitioning) guide me more than canon. But Iva’s powers are not a reflection of the real world (other than maybe wishes that it could be so easy), neither do they even try to be.

Iva says that they can rework a person from the "inside out" (chapter 538) and there doesn't seem to be much of a limit to what they can do to someone’s body, apart from the cost of the healing powers.

If we go with the idea that Iva used their powers on Crocodile, it's likely that it would have been an instant effect. Therefore, the potential switch from female to male would have been complete and it would have been a one time application of Iva’s powers. Since we know what Crocodile looked like as a child, we know that they did not completely change his appearance.

The blackmail

When Luffy protests the suggestion that they free Crocodile, Iva says that they knew Crocodile “a little (…) back when you could still call him a rookie” (chapter 540) and that they are aware of one of Crocodile’s weaknesses which they will use against him/ reveal if he betrays them. Let’s first look at this secret weakness.

Since I have seen it mentioned before, I checked out the vivre card information that has been provided by thelibraryofohara (https://thelibraryofohara.com/2019/01/12/vivre-card-databook-vol-5-all-the-new-information/) in the January 2019 card releases. I quote:

“[Crocodile]’s got a “weakness” when it comes to his past that he can’t oppose. He definitely owes something that Ivankov gave him.”

I don’t know if the word choice is a matter of translation but it is rather ambiguous. That weakness is in quotation implies that it is most likely not an actual physical weakness like his weakness to water. Instead, it might be comparable to how Dragon calls Luffy his weakness. Additionally, what does “oppose” mean in the context of a weakness? Does it mean that if Iva revealed it, he would have no chance to refute it. Does it mean that the weakness is of such a nature that Crocodile would do what he can to avoid Iva from saying it? Maybe both? Considering the context the threat was uttered in, this would mean that he will not betray Iva and Luffy’s interests. (Which he doesn’t. When he goes off to attack WB and Luffy stops him, he calmly states that they had an arrangement (chapter 557). While Luffy forbids him from touching WB, Iva doesn’t threaten him into obedience, so Crocodile does pursue his attack on WB once Luffy is gone.)

Continuing with the vivre card quote, there’s also the fact that Crocodile owes something that Iva gave him – which can either mean that Iva gave him something that he’ll have to give back or that Crocodile has something that he only has thanks to Iva. I assume it’s the latter. What could Iva possibly have to give to Crocodile more than 20 years ago that Crocodile doesn’t want to be known (and can expect not to be known unless Iva shares it)? And, maybe more importantly, is it something that Iva can take back?

I am going to say yes, a reveal of the secret might as well come with Iva taking back what he has given Crocodile. Considering that Crocodile in prison has pretty much nothing but his hook, we can assume that what Iva gave this young pirate just starting out, was something to do with their powers. A change to his body in one way or another which of course means that Iva can undo it, revealing things about Crocodile that he doesn’t want to be known.

Considering what we’ve seen Iva’s power do, it does not take a big stretch of the imagination to wonder if he might have been a girl in the past. There’s of course the option that Crocodile has always been a boy, aware of his transness from the beginning. But even if that wasn’t the case, there are other reasons to want to change. The seas of One Piece are tricky to navigate and while there are successful female pirates, we have also been shown certain limitations and prejudices. How was it nearly 30 years ago, when Crocodile was just starting out? When there were pirates such as WB who would not have women on his crew? What did other men’s limited faith in a girl’s capabilities do to a teenager who wanted to chase her dreams? But that’s another layer of speculation. Let’s just assume that Iva gave Crocodile the body he now has.

Timeline

The complete female to male switch makes sense with Iva’s skills as I’ve mentioned above, but the timing is arguably tricky for Crocodad purposes. To repeat: Iva knew Crocodile “a little (…) back when you could still call him a rookie” (chapter 540). It’s unclear to me whether Iva’s comment that they know Crocodile “a little” is meant to be taken as an understatement and they do know each other well or if we should take it at face value. But even the offered time “when you could still call him a rookie” is very vague.

If they only knew each other when Crocodile was a rookie, then Iva would most likely have used their powers on Crocodile back then, turning him before he had properly ended up on the marine’s radar and before he could have had Luffy. What exactly counts as Crocodile’s rookie years isn’t particularly clear. At this point in the manga we do not know anything about Crocodile – his age, how long he’s been a Warlord, when he used to be a rookie, etc. However, we do know now that he became a Warlord in his 20s and challenged Whitebeard and lost to him shortly after (SBS, Volume 78). So his rookie years must refer to the time before that where “similar to Luffy (…) Crocodile's name spread across the seas with incredible momentum.” (SBS, Volume 78) It’s possible that at that time, due to the vastness of the ocean and the slower spread of news, people in general did not know what he looked like (even 30 years on it took a while for all the Strawhat crewmembers to get recognizable bounty posters). Due to that it’s possible that the meeting with Iva could have taken place during the time that he was gaining fame, but before he really got on he marine’s radar enough to make him a Warlord in his early 20s.

Interestingly (for me), around the same time as Crocodile’s was starting out, Iva and Dragon gained notoriety with their Freedom Fighter group (according to the Wiki’s timeline, it became the Revolutionary Army after the Ohara Incident, when Crocodile was 24), so it is likely that when Iva and Crocodile knew each other, Crocodile also met Dragon. (He might even have been part of the Freedom Fighters, but I think if his name was spread across the sea in connection to the Freedom Fighters, a link between Crocodile, Iva and Dragon would have been mentioned or taken into consideration by Sengoku. Sengoku did know of the history between Crocodile and WB and thought it would work in their favor. If he knew about a potential connection between Crocodile and Luffy – via Iva and Dragon – he would have been more wary I assume.)

As an aside, how did they even meet? Did Crocodile hear about Iva’s powers and seek them out? Was their meeting purely by chance and Crocodile seized the moment?

Long story short, if Iva only knew Crocodile while he was still a rookie and used their powers on him then, it would have been years before Luffy was conceived.

However! One could argue that Iva did not have the same control over their powers 20 years ago as they do now, so that the change was mostly external, affecting how Crocodile presented without changing him “inside out.” Which would still have meant that he could get pregnant if Dragon and Crocodile continued seeing each other (or at least saw each other one more time, 19 years ago.)

Now, since Crocodile at Marineford is somewhat of a part 2 of the Crocodile theories, I kept my Crocodad goggles on.

A look of Crocodile’s movement across the battlefield

One of the main arguments for Crocodad are his actions on the battlefield. Judged by the reactions of the other characters, all of Crocodile’s actions on the battle field of Marineford apart from his attack on WB are surprising.

The reason we are given by Crocodile for joining the prison break is that he wants to take Whitebeard’s head. (Crocodile could have escaped from the holding prison, but chose to go to Impel Down instead. However, Iva claims in chapter 538 that Crocodile isn’t too happy about ending up in level six.)

We know from the above mentioned SBS that Crocodile challenged WB shortly after he received his Warlord title. During this battle Crocodile was “completely and utterly crushed by him.” Whether that defeat is the main motivation to challenge him is unclear.

Just like he announced, the first thing that Crocodile does after posing for a group shot, is to go straight for Whitebeard’s head.

So far so predictable.

What are often seen as hints for Crocodad is a series of events that go like this: Dragon is revealed to be Luffy’s father (chapter 558). Everybody and their pet clown gets to have a reaction shot to that, but Crocodile does not. Crocodile is one of the first after Luffy to charge into the plaza after they’ve got the siege walls up and stops Ace’s execution (chapter 566.) He orders Daz to protect Luffy and one Daz is down he himself stops Mihawk from attacking Luffy (chapter 570). After Ace’s death he steps in between Akainu and Jinbei, making Luffy’s escape possible (chapter 578). He eventually joins a line of Whitebeard pirates to protect Luffy.

Now, Crocodile’s change of plans doesn’t present as an instant switch the moment Sengoku announces who Luffy’s father is. While he might have had an off-screen “oh shit, that’s my baby” reaction, it didn’t immediately make him drop everything to protect him.

I do of course believe that Luffy IS his baby because I find joy in that, but I generally see Crocodile as a pragmatic character. On one hand there is Luffy, a reckless but resilient kid that shares his blood (that he spilled and Luffy used against him) that is charging across a battlefield with a group of people protecting him. On the other hand here is Whitebeard right in front of him and other than the baby that has slipped out of his fingers, he held on to that grudge for 20 years.

Tracking Crocodile across the battlefield leaves plenty of gaps, but it still offers insights into why he changes direction. I’m presenting it here and then we can think if this hurts or helps the Crocodad agenda.

Tracking Crocodile

As mentioned the first thing we see him do on the battle field is to go for Whitebeard who is on the ship next to them. Luffy stops him and then he is approached by Whitebeard pirates, their weapons drawn. Luffy then leaves and takes the point of view away with him. When we see Crocodile again, two chapters after the reveal that Luffy is Dragon’s son, he is on the ice in front of Whitebeard’s ship. He must have been pushed back or retreated to join up with Daz, as they are fighting off masses of WB pirates, trying to get closer to the man himself. After he sends a lot of them flying with a sandstorm he is stopped by Yozu. The force of the attack makes him fly back (he is injured and loses his cigar) where he lands right next to Doflamingo. The man is of course not passing up the opportunity to be chaotic – he stops Yozu and asks Crocodile to join up with him which Crocodile rejects (chapter 560 – 561). When we next see him he is fighting off some invisible force (most likely more WB pirates) but at least he has a new cigar.

When WB is stabbed in chapter 563 he is still on the ice in front of WB’s ship. He has an agitated reaction, revealing that he has lost to Whitebeard in the past (“I didn’t lose to such a weak man!!!”)

Even though Sengoku tries to get the other fleets under WB’s command to turn against him, WB proves his integrity and power. And he also gives a speech about how even if he is attacked by his son, he still loves him and he also explains that the son does not bear the sins of the father. It is either this absolute display of love and appreciation of his sons no matter whose blood they have and what they do OR it is his display of power and integrity that Crocodile reacts to, visibly distressed, but no longer showing the explosive shock and anger of his previous outburst (I’m not horrible at reading facial expressions but I’m not great at describing them. Look for yourselves in chapter 563). Also, following right after the panel showing Crocodile’s face we get Whitebeard thinking to himself: “A “weak man,” am I…? What an insolent man… I’m only one man, with one heart… And you’re the same… They call me a demon and a monster… But I won’t always be the “strongest” out there…!!! If I can bring one young life into the future, isn’t that enough…!?” And then he joins the battle.

He now focuses on bringing that young life into the future (saving Ace) and this is the point where Crocodile’s unusual actions start. After a talk about unconditional love for his sons and the statement that protecting a son is worth much more than being the strongest. Could Crocodile too have decided that protecting Luffy (his son?) and Luffy’s interests is more important than his grudge against Whitebeard?

The answer seems to be yes, because in chapter 566 he is the first one to follow Luffy across the siege wall and into the plaza where Ace’s execution was supposed to happen. And he stops it after Luffy is pushed back by the Admirals. The reason he gives to Sengoku for his unexpected action is that he “wants to wipe the smile from your faces.” After Doflamingo chops off Crocodile’s head they engage in a fight.

It is after Luffy uses conqueror’s Haki, which again seems to confirm his relation to Dragon, WB gives the order for everyone to support Luffy in chapter 570. Whether Crocodile has chosen to follow Whitebeard’s lead or if he is acting for himself, he gave Daz the order to protect Luffy. Daz stops Mihawk’s attack and once Mihawk cuts him down and goes for Luffy again, Crocodile is there to stop him and allow Luffy to continue one. He must have shaken off Doflamingo in the meantime.

And then Ace and Whitebeard die (chapters 574 and 576 respectively).

And while the battlefield descends into further chaos and Luffy is unable to protect himself, we get a panel of Crocodile (chapter 577), apparently standing still in the chaos that is around him. He does not seem to face the same way as the retreating WB forces or the Warlords and Pacifista in pursuit of the retreating pirates. Maybe he is looking at Whitebeard one last time.

And then he’s off, apparently crossing the entire battlefield in an instant to stop Akainu from dealing Luffy the killing blow. And after that he gets physically between Akainu and Jinbei and Luffy before he sends them flying out of reach with his sands (chapter 578.) He yells the order for someone to grab them and get them to a ship, followed by one of my favourite lines directed at Jinbei who has tasked himself with protecting Luffy: “If you want to protect something, do it right!!!” Since we generally speculate that Luffy’s parents (or Dragon at least) chose to sacrifice their chance of raising Luffy in order to protect him from exactly what is happening on this battlefield, that line suits the Crocodad theory well. Whether Crocodile left behind his child to protect it from being punished for the sins of his fathers or if he left him behind because a child would get in the way of his ambitions, right in this moment protecting Luffy is all that matters.

He then joins a group of Whitebeard pirates, forming a protective barrier against Akainu. Akainu taunts them that all of them are willing to give their lives for Luffy. Marco repeats what Whitebeard thought earlier: they will see this boy off into the new age.

All of these actions could also simply point towards Crocodile maybe having been part of Whitebeards crew at one time, but the timeline has some difficulties. It does not seem like anyone who is on the crew now treats him like they knew him or at one point cared about him like a brother. We have also not seen Crocodile or someone who looked like him in the Wano flashbacks. Teach, who joined when he was 12 (and Crocodile would have been 18) doesn’t seem to know him as a crewmate either. If he ever was on WB’s crew, he would have left as a young teenager. (And as a sidenote, WB was an old-fashioned guy, he did not want any women on his crew apart from medical staff. This would not have been a good environment for Crocodile if he had been a girl before meeting Iva. And he clearly was making a name for himself as a rookie without being attached to WB’s crew.)

It could also symbolize how great of a pirate Whitebeard was that even Crocodile, bearing a grudge against him, shows him respect by following his orders. But that seems a little bit boring to me.

That said, I do think a Crocodad reading of his actions is rewarding.

After this battle we also get to see Crocodile read about Luffy’s actions so he clearly is interested in him now. And there’s this great exchange between Daz and Crocodile in chapter 593 where Daz comments that Luffy’s scars take a while to fade which Crocodile takes as a comment on his own (old) wounds. Crocodile insists that his scars are “fully healed” and that he’s ready to return to the New World now. He has put the old wounds of his youth to rest, he is ready to return to tackle the New World once again.

And maybe any wounds and scars left on him regarding Luffy’s birth have started to heal too. The kid will be fine.

If you read through all of this you have my respect X’D

And if you have comments, additions and objections let me know~