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ur-local-anti-hero · 9 months ago

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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

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nekropsii · 1 year ago

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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.

#homestuck #homestuck fandom #alpha trolls #beforan trolls #dancestors #damara megido #rufioh nitram #mituna captor #kankri vantas #meulin leijon #porrim maryam #latula pyrope #aranea serket #horuss zahhak #kurloz makara #cronus ampora #meenah peixes #nekro.pdf #nekro.txt

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diminuel · 4 months ago

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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~

#One Piece #Crocodad #meta #sort of #long post

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sammis-svsss-brainrot · 7 months ago

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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

#svsss #luo binghe #sammi speaks #airplane shooting towards the sky #pidw #proud immortal demon way #poll #tumblr polls #fandom event #fandom #fan event #if this gets enough yes votes ill make a separate blog or hell even a Twitter account and send out a formal interest check/timeline

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atariakana-art · 21 days ago

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Have you heard of the Best Frames Ever project?

it's a super cool fanart project where different artists draw frames from The Hug(tm) scene, that will later be put back together to make a gif of the scene out of all of our artwork!

The project still needs many more artists, as there are still lots of frames left to draw!

Here are some WIP shots of two of my frames~ I'm sooo excited to share the finished frames once the project is done! It's been super fun to work on these and talk to other artists in the fandom, everyone is super nice :)

If you want to join in, we'd love to have you! As far as I know there's no current application form, but if you let me know you're interested, I'll point you in the direction of the new form as soon as I have it :)

EDIT: application form is here!

#dead boy detectives #dead boy detectives fanart #charles rowland #edwin payne #BestFramesEver #best frames ever #save dead boy detectives #art only

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incorrectbatfam · 6 months ago

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Fanfic commissions for Palestine now open!

I know I said I won't take commissions on this blog but we all know I love to break the rules for causes I believe in so here we go!

As part of the @dcufans4palestine event, I will be opening up fanfic commissions from now until August 10th.

Since I have a sizable following and I want to be able to fulfill what I say, I'll be limiting it to 5 commissions with a 1.5k word maximum for the time being, and it'll be first-come, first-serve. And so it's fair to everyone, each person can only commission 1 work. If I'm able, I may open up a few more slots down the road.

Slots available: 2/5 (as of August 10th)

Each fanfic commission will be a flat rate of $5.00 USD donated to any of the charities linked here. To do so, make a donation and send a screenshot to this Google Form. Additionally, please message @dcufans4palestine so they can verify your donation and put us in touch.

Characters and relationships I'll write:

Platonic batfamily, including extended members and We Are Robin

Young Justice, platonic or romantic

Birdflash, platonic or romantic (Dick Grayson x Wally West)

Jayroy, platonic or romantic (Jason Todd x Roy Harper)

Super Sons, platonic or romantic

Super Pets, platonic

I'll cover the humor, fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, and character study genres.

All stories will take place in the mainline comic universe by default. If you would like me to use a different continuity or want to request an AU, please DM me before making a donation so I can let you know if it's a viable option.

Things I will NOT write:

NSFW, explicit or implied

Violence beyond canon-typical

Fandom crossovers. If you're not sure whether your idea counts, DM me

Multi-part fics. All commissions will be one-shots

BONUS: If you want a custom Spotify playlist (20 songs) to go with your fic, you can add an additional $3.00 USD to your donation. Please indicate that in your donation form and leave a note in my DMs. Playlists will not be made without a fanfic commission.

All fics will be posted the week of August 17th to Tumblr and the event's Ao3 collection. Donors will be tagged on Tumblr and gifted on Ao3 unless otherwise specified. Donors will also receive a copy of their fic on Google Docs, a link to their private playlist (if applicable), and a personalized thank you/roast you note where I vibe check your blog.

If you have any questions about your ideas or what I'm able to write, please send me a DM. If you have any questions about the event, including the donor raffle, please contact @dcufans4palestine.

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mtomauw · 8 months ago

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Here's my open application to the furry fandom: let me in

#art #scribbles #furries #furry

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h2g2-gift-exchange · 2 months ago

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Welcome to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Gift Exchange 2024!

Quick QnA below.

Q. What is this?

A. This is a holiday gift exchange for the H2G2 fandom, you make a fanwork for someone and someone else makes one for you.

Q. What kind of gifts can I make?

A. Anything that’s created by you and related to H2G2! Whether that be a drawing, fanfic, music video, plush or anything. The only rule is it must have your own time and effort put into it, which means no AI generated works or otherwise anything you didn't make yourself.

Q. What’s the deadline for signing up?

A. The last day to sign up will be Sunday, November 17th.

Q. When will I know who I’m making a gift for?

A. Ideally everyone will receive their prompts a day or two after the application closes. This is a small fandom but all the pairings still have to be checked for compatibility so please allow a few days.

Q. When can I post my gift?

A. You may post your gift any time between December 24th and January 1st but please don’t post it before then.

Q. What if I need to drop out?

A. There’s no shame in dropping out if you can’t complete your gift! Just please let me know so I can quickly assign a pinch-hitter. You may also ask for an extension, mostly I just want to make sure you haven’t forgotten.

#Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #H2G2 #HHG #HHGTTG #Secret Santa #H2G2 Gift Exchange #if the application looks different this year its bc i straight copied the one from portal secret santa to make things easier on myself

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echantedtoon · 4 months ago

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A Lovers' Circle (Poly Haishira x Reader) Ch8 A Scarred Heart

(How many hearts can Y/n conquer? Let's find out on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z- Jk. Warnings for death mentioned.)

Taglist: @shadyd3ar @jcrml @tengensangel

@miniverse-zen @mysteri0uz @jjamsbangtan

@the-unknown-fandom @lavenderdropp

@mimisweetz. @purplesoulsapphire

Remember if you want to be added to the taglist lemme know

Your heart was fluttering. Soaring like a plane even. As you walked down the road with your head leaned against Gyomei's arm, arm wrapped around his own, and holding hands. It was the perfect start to your new morning and walking outside only to be surprised by Gyomei patiently waiting to walk you to work.

Although you both did stop by the cafe where you had your first date to grab some coffee and something to eat. Chasing after kids all day meant you'd be needing the energy, however you were surprised by seeing a small box next to the cash register. A sign above it advertised some kind of raffle.

"What's that?," you asked pointing towards the box out to the cashier.

He brightly smiled. "It's a raffle to celebrate Kimetsu Academy's fiftieth anniversary! If you leave your name and contact info, you get a chance to win a thousand dollars and a certificate for free cafeteria meals for the rest of the year! Only registered students can enter though." He nudged the box closer to you. "Would you like to enter? I just need to see a student ID to confirm you're a student and you can enter for free!"

"It's going on today?"

"Actually students have until classes are over this Friday to enter, and the winner's gonna be drawn Saturday. How about it? Wanna enter?"

A thousand dollars AND free lunches for the rest of the year!? You could use a thousand dollars to help pay off your car! Or pay bills for a while! Or get Gyomei a great present! And free lunches for the rest of the year would save you SO much money!...Buuut the chances of you getting picked within like thousands of other students was slim. Oh what the heck. It was a free raffle. Even if you didn't win what's the harm?

You did end up digging your student ID out of your bag to confirm your student status to the cashier before writing your contact info on a piece of paper, slipping it into the box, grabbing your coffee, and then leaving with Gyomei.

He himself felt his cheeks and ears burn up a bright happy pink as the smaller hand squeezed his. He was still half convinced that it was all just a dream and he'd wake up to no one being there. But as she held onto him as they crossed the campus and towards your workplace. You were surprised to see that he came inside with you until your coworker came up to you with a baby currently nomming on their hand in her arms.

"Y/n, there you are! Practically everyone dropped their kids off already and we've been swamped!," she grumpily said. "It's about time you and the new guy got here!"

You blinked staring at her confused. "New guy?"

He gestured to Gyomei behind you bouncing the drooling baby on her hip. "Yeah? Himejima. The boss liked his application so he got the job."

You blinked in surprise blinking before turning to Gyomei who still only smiled at you. "Is that what you meant by 'the job interview ' you had?"

He nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry for not telling you beforehand but I didn't know if I would get the job here. It's only going to be for a year anyways before I finish my last year and earn my degree."

You beamed. "Are you kidding?! That's amazing! I'd love to work with my boyfriend! This is like a dream come true for me-"

"Then would you two PLEASE get changed and help me with playtime?," your coworker interrupted with a raised brow.

"Oh! S-Sorry."

You two quickly got changed into the signature pink aprons (honestly you were surprised they were able to find one that fit Gyomei-) and quickly just got to work helping your coworker take care of the infants that the parents dropped off before going to classes as your manages escorted Gyomei somewhere else. Guess she wanted to walk him through his first day on the job, and help out considering the increase of children that came into the daycare last month. But I digress. You only busied yourself by helping in the infantry wing of the daycare. Getting to work changing one crying baby's diaper before going on to sit down and attempt to rock a stubborn baby down for a nap. However he was stubborn and kept waking up just as he started to nod off and give an angry babble in protest.

"Stubborn little guy aren't you?," you asked him still gently rocking him in the chair.

Again the baby made a noise pouting and waving his tiny hands in protest making you chuckle-

RING!!

Until the front desk bell rang out. The noise caused you to stop rocking and your coworker to look up from counting the diaper supply in the nearby closet, both of you looking towards the doorway.

RING RING!!

The noise came back louder than before and one of the sleeping infants gave a small noise of protest in their sleep.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Your coworker mumbled before lightly placing her head on the closet door.

DING DING DING DING!!

The constant dinging of the bell made her inhale deeply and turn to you. "Give me the baby and go see who the heck is there before I go and ding that thing against their heads!" She was already holding out her hands for the baby in your arms just as another two ding sounds sounded from up the hall. "And tell them to shut up before they wake up these babies!" She hissed already plucking the half asleep baby boy from your arms and heaving him onto one shoulder.

"Sure." You stood up with a smile. "I'll get right on th-"

"WAAAHH!!"

Your head whipped behind you as finally the previously stirring baby woke up and started crying. Your coworkers eye twitch as only more dinging came from the front desk. You only quickly scurried out promising to come back soon and help her.

DINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDING-!!

A rapid ringing sounded as someone repeatedly just mashed the bell at the front desk making you frown annoyed. What kind of Karen were you going to be dealing with today? With a frown you poked your head out the doorway making out half the figure of a man turned away from you looking around the front lobby, a toddler on his hip and two bags slung over his shoulders. You frowned before inhaling deeply and forcing a customer service smile on your face.

"I'm coming!," you called out making your way towards him to which he turned around sharply.

"Oh thank fu-.." He paused looking at the boy in his arms. "..Fudge! Thank FUDGE!! I've been standing here forever and I'm late for my da-..DARN classes! It's doesn't usually take this-.."

He paused seeing who came out from the back hallway and you also paused seeing who it was. You blinked once. Twice. Before the realization that SANEMI was the one standing in front of you hit you. The same thing must've been happening to Sanemi because he slowly blinked, face surprised. You both probably would've continued if the little boy in his arms didn't look up from his toy and gasped happily!!

"Y/N!!," he cheered tugging on Sanemi's shirt and pointing the toy at you. "Nemi it's da nice lady!!"

Sanemi jumped as his little brother squealed out and looked at him. "What?"

"Hi, Sanemi," you greeted making him look back to you sharply however you just smiled. "It's nice to see you again. Were you looking for Gyomei?"

He seemed to finally snap out of it before shaking his head. "No. I'm dropping off my baby brother for my mom. She's busy trying to fix an emergency at work." Without saying anything he leaned his little brother forward into your awaiting arms. "And I'm already late for my dam classes-"

"SWEAR!," Koto tattled pointing back to his brother hurrying to get the diaper bag off his shoulder.

"Here! He's got some clothes n' stuff. I'll pick 'em back up when my classes are done!" The bag dropped on the counter with a plop sound before reaching out to ruffle his little brother's head. "Be good. I'll see you later."

With that he turned and practically ran out with Koto waving at his big brother. "Bye bye, Nemi!" A toy was shoved up to your face. "Play?"

"Not right now. I have to work but I'll drop you off somewhere you can play with the other nice kids."

In the end you dropped off both Koto and his bag with your manager in the daycare room before you left back to help your frustrated coworker in the infantry wing. Luckily it wasn't too much of a problem afterwards to get both babies to sleep again and help her with a supply count. It was a bit of a pain to have so many children with a few workers but somehow you all made it. However you can't say you weren't happy when the day started to tick closer to a close and slowly parents started filing in, some carrying backpacks or books from classes, and picking up their kids after showing confirming identities. You waved goodbye to a little girl who was picked up by her tired dad after coming back from chemistry class and waved goodbye to you with a smile! You couldn't help but wave back with a chuckle before returning to the back to help clean up and disinfectant everything else for tomorrow, passing by your coworker hauling out some trash and stopping by one room which lead to what was essentially a giant playroom bigger than your kitchen and bedroom combined.

A few people were already in there sweeping, and picking up toys, and wiping down things with wet wipes. One being your boyfriend who was still holding a familiar toddler in one arm and wiping spilt grape juice off a table with the other.

"How was your first day?" His head turned to you with a smile already on his face as you leaned on the doorway. "By the looks of it, you had a wild snack time."

He chuckled and you swore his deep chuckles would make anyone blush. "Just an accident with a leaky juice box. Overall it was rather well." He slowly stood back up turning his head in your direction. "They seemed to like story time."

"You should've seen him!" Your boss proudly looked at him from spraying the toys with a disinfectant spray. "The kids all adored him! And he put them all down for naps in record time! I knew I had a good feeling when I saw you!"

He chuckled a bit flustered at the older woman's praise. "I thank you for the compliment."

"Is he the last one here?," you asked nodding at Sanemi's brother in his arms.

"Yes," Gyomei confirmed, "But Sanemi might be a bit behind today. He's been really busy with classes and helping his family these days."

"Oh no. I hadn't known about that."

It was then Koto looked up at you and gasped. "NICE LADY!!" He cheered making Gyomei blink at him. "Now we play?!"

You couldn't help but laugh at the two year old. "No sorry. I have to help clean up."

A loud whine escaped his throat but Gyomei only hummed. "I had no idea you already knew Sanemi's family."

"I don't. Well not all of them." You gestured to the boy in his arms still giggling in his arms. "I've been working here since Koto was a baby, but I had no idea that Sanemi was his older brother."

He nodded wiping the table again. "Yes. His mother uses his student discount for the daycare since his other siblings are already school aged. I'm afraid Koto still can't attend the local preschool until he's four or five years old."

"Oh, that's why he was dropping him off. But it's strange I've never seen him drop Koto off before."

He hummed brows furrowing slightly. "Well it could be because of the recent strain his family is going through."

Recent strain? What recent strain? You didn't think Sanemi looked stressed yesterday when you all went to the onsen. Other than arguing with Obanai on horror movies but with how those two acted you got the sense that's how they were all the time. So what could it possibly be?

"He didn't seem that stressed when I saw him Friday or yesterday even. Is he alright?"

Gyomei looked at you before again his head tilted at the boy playing with a toy car. "... We'll talk later."

You weren't sure what he meant by that but you respected his choice. For now you you left to go help clean up the nursery room before it was time before you all left. By the time you got done helping to wash and change the sheets and wiping down the surfaces, Gyomei was already standing outside waiting for you still in his giant pink apron and still holding Onto who looked like he tuckered out and decided to take a nap in his large arms. He turned towards the directions of your footsteps and smiled brightly.

"Ah. There you are. Are you finished with your duties?," he asked politely.

You nodded. "Yes. Oh." You stopped seeing Koto still asleep in his arms. "Has Sanemi not arrived yet?"

He shook his head no. "No but he'll probably be running a little late. He also tutors for an hour after classes to help make some extra money."

"What does he do for a living anyways?"

"He tutors math lessons and currently works online part-time for a telemarketing company that sells magazines."

"Oh. He must be really good at math then."

"The best actually. He's smarter than he looks."

"I don't doubt that." You giggled at the memory of him using those skills to get more girls on Tengen's back Friday. "Did you want to come over to my house for dinner tonight? I can make a mean spaghetti with mushroom sauce."

He hummed and was about to say something but before he could say anything a loud shout from up the hall caused both of you to snap your heads to the left towards the front lobby. It sounded like a woman's voice.

"No identification! No pick up! Now leave before I call security!"

You knew that voice. Your coworker.

"Fucking hell! That's my student ID! You want my dam driver's license too?!"

Uh oh. You definitely knew THAT voice. Quickly you approached the front peeking around the corner and sure enough found the sources of the cussing. Sanemi was looking annoyed down at your coworker with gritted teeth and his student ID was laid out on the counter by his hand. You coworker looked angry but slightly intimidated by the way he was leaning over the counter. She remained firm crossing her arms.

"You're not on the registry for pick up or emergency contacts. You're not allowed to take any child unless you're on the registry or the guardian calls to confirm alternative pick ups which neither have happened."

"Fucking-" A hand gripped his hair before running down his face. THUD! She jumped as both of his hands slammed down on the counter and he leaned farther onto it to shout at her face. "We have the same fucking last name! I dropped Koto off this morning!! What other fucking 'confirmation' do you want?!"

"S-Sir, if you don't calm down a-a-and leave I-Ill call campus security."

"I AIN'T LEAVING WITHOUT MY BROTHER!!"

Oh no. This was escalating quickly. You had better step in before things got out of control.

"Lacey." Said woman jumped up and both of their heads snapped up as you smiled walking in calmly. "Is everything ok?"

"Oh thank fuck! It's you!" Sanemi sounded relieved before snapping Lacey another accusing look. "This walking clown is refusing to give Koto back! Tell 'er that I dropped him off!"

"Sanemi, we are a daycare. I'll have to ask you not to use cuss words and foul language or I'll have to ask you to wait outside." You lightly scolded him with a smile which caught him off guard with a blank blink. You just hummed turning to Lacey. "Now what seems to be the problem?"

Lacey scowled. "He's not on the registry. No registry or guardian notice means no pick up."

Sanemi looked about ready to combust with an eye twitch and a few viens popping up on his body.

"Here. Let's just take a look at it to confirm just in case." With a hum you just gently nudged her out of the way so you could have access to the computer. Humming to yourself you just typed into it with both watching you. "Koto Shinazugawa. Right here. Now let's see...Oh. it does look like only his mom is listed." Lacey sent a smug look at- "Let's see if we had any missed calls from her." You continued into your database and with a few clicks of a mouse found something. "Oh. It looks like we have two missed calls from Mrs. Shinazugawa."

"Yeah! My mom tried calling you guys to let you know I'd be here!"

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Let's just call her back real quick just to make sure everything's lined up. Alright?" You stayed professional smiling at him as he continued to glare but slowly relaxed. Leaning off the counter and crossing his arms as you grabbed the phone and redialed the number. A few rings went by your ear before you perked up. "Hello, Mrs. Shinazugawa! I'm sorry to call you-...Yes. I know you are probably busy with deliveries. No. Your son is fine! Sleeping like a baby! I just wanted to call you back to make sure Sanemi was supposed to pick up his brother....Really? Great! Sorry for the missed calls. We were swamped today. You have a nice day, Ma'am. Sorry for bothering you." The phone hung up with a click as you smiled at Sanemi. "Sorry for the inconvenience. I'll go get Koto's bag for you."

Lacey's face dropped as Sanemi huffed. "It's about time."

"You're really going to give him the kid?"

You turned to Lacey. "Their mom confirmed it just now." She opened her mouth- You pointed at her. "You know you're supposed to check the database before denying or confirming anyone who comes in here. We provide good customer service which means we check first. You know that from training."

"It's not my fault." She hissed at you. Before half nodding back towards the now much calmer man. "Have you seen him?"

"I have actually. What are you getting at?"

She looked at you like you were crazy. "uh-..Are you blind? He looks like he just got out of jail!" Sanemi's eyes shifted over. "By the way he acts, I wouldn't be surprised if he's done some crap too-"

"Lacey. Do me a favor. Shut up."

Her face blinked at your happy smiling one. "I-..What?"

"You heard me. Shut up. I don't care what you think, discriminating someone just because he has scars is as stupid as saying that someone is dumb because they're blonde. And if I hear that again I'm telling our manager. So why don't you just get the broom and start sweeping the front like you're supposed to?"

She didn't say anything as you turned to leave- Blinking at Gyomei standing there still with the sleeping toddler in his arms and tilting his head down at you. However you only patted his arm with a smile and informed him that you were going to grab Koto's overnight bag before leaving to go grab it from the cubby closet. He stood there still before tilting his head at Sanemi and could guess the surprise that was plastered all over the other man's face right now. Staring wide eyed in silence.

You returned a moment later with the bag Sanemi left with you and by then Gyomei was already handing him back his baby brother. Koto yawned half way woken up by the jostle however lit up when he saw his big brother.

"Nemi!" He tiredly reached out to him and tiredly curled up on his shoulder with a yawn.

"Here's his bag." You smiled handing him the duffle bag he just slumped over his shoulder with a blank look.

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Sanemi, are you going home after this?"

Said white haired man looked at Gyomei with a frown. "My mom doesn't get off work for another three hours. Genya and Teiko can watch the other three for a little longer. I'm just gonna work on my project until my mom picks up Koto."

"In that case do you want to join us for dinner?" The loom Sanemi gave you was like if you just slapped him. "I'm making spaghetti tonight."

"Sketti!" Koto peeked up immediately turning around to you with a smile. "YUM!"

Sanemi continued to stare at you.. before he shook his head and turned. "No. Kanae's picking up something. I'll see ya round Gyomei."

You frowned at him. Was it something you said? Koto waved at you from his big brother's shoulder and you waved back until they left out the door. Well safe to say that was strange, but you supposed that since he's been going through a lot it wasn't that out of the ordinary. You also decided not to pry Gyomei for answers. That was between Sanemi and his family and partners so you'd respect that privacy. Although you couldn't say you weren't curious about it all.

Tuesday went by better. This time you got there early enough to be informed that Sanemi and Koto's mom called. Apparently Sanemi would be dropping off and picking up Koto for the foreseeable future until she became available and to put him down as an emergency contact in the daycare's registry. You remembered Mrs. Shinazugawa. She was a middle aged woman who was oddly small and always looked tired when she came in starting to drop off Koto as a baby three years ago. At the time you assumed that she was going back to college to earn a degree and that's why she was using Kimetsu University's daycare.

But finding out she was using Sanemi's status as a student for a discount on childcare was both a more believable answer and only more curious about it. But again you respected their boundaries and only tended to Koto and the other kids until it was time for his big brother to pick him up. You thought it was adorable. He'd get so excited and shout 'NEMI' every time he saw him regardless of just seeing him that morning.

Each time he'd give you a strange look before just taking his brother and leaving. You were confused about the looks but they weren't angry looks just almost confused. He probably just was still getting used to Gyomei having a new girlfriend. You were still getting used to having a boyfriend yourself so it was understandable. Lacey continued to give him and you dirty looks..but hadn't done anything since Monday's fiasco so you didn't worry about her anymore. It wasn't until Thursday morning that your curiosity was finally sated. You forgot your lunch at home while fishing out to work one morning, so again you decided to stop by the campus cafe to grab a sandwich to eat later when you ran into two familiar faces. One was a woman with long black hair and pink eyes. The other was a tall man with white hair and red wine eyes. They were shuffling around the side of the register as people walked by.

Hey. Wasn't that-

"Kanae?" Your voice asked before the woman turned her head around with a blink followed by the white haired man. "Tengen?"

On cue he smiled. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the future Mrs. Himejima." He winked sending you a finger gun making you chuckle. "What's cooking good looking?~"

You couldn't help but giggle at him. "I forgot my lunch at home so I was just grabbing a sandwich for later. What are you guys doing here?"

"Entering that raffle. Tomorrow's the last day you can enter."

"Oh. Planning on getting that paint set you mentioned if you win?"

Tengen frowned shaking his head. "Actually it's for-" He paused looking back to Kanae and jabbing a thumb to you. "Actually it's ok to tell 'er right? Or is that stepping over a boundary?" She looked at him then at you.. before nodding. "Alrighty then." Red eyes looked back to you. "It's actually for Sanemi."

You blinked. "What?"

"Well if any of us win that is. No guarantee that any of us will." He waved a hand. "But the more of us that enter, the better chances there are of us actually getting it."

"Why does Sanemi need it?" You didn't think he was anymore broke than you were.

"It's not exactly for him really. It's so his mom can pay off that debt faster."

That's when it all clicked. The mentioning of Mrs. Shinazugawa struggling, Sanemi helping to take his brother to daycare, Gyomei's reluctance to talk about it- You almost didn't catch what Tengen said next with a distasteful bite to his voice.

"Ever since that asshole died, his family's been having nothing but a hard time."

"Let's not speak ill of the dead Uzui," Kanae lightly scolded him. "He's still Sanemi's father."

"Wasn't much of a father in the first place."

"Wait. His father passed away?" You went wide eyed at them when Kanae nodded.

"It was an accident. A hit and run driver ran him over when he was crossing the road at night-"

"Right as he was coming back from the casino." Kanae shot Tengen a scowl this time. "Oh come on, Kanae. Don't sugarcoat it. If we're gonna tell her might as well tell it how it is." He looked at you with a mad look. "The greedy rats ass was killed coming back all high strung from the casino. Good riddance I'd say but because his mom wasn't divorced yet from the deadbeat now she has to pay off his gambling debt! At least they didn't have to pay for the funeral."

You could only stare at him in shock. "That's awful. How much was it?"

"Seven thousand dollars." Tengen threw up his hands. "How do those debt collecting sharks expect her to just magically come up with that money?! She's already trying to raise like six other kids!"

"Seven thousand dollars?!"

That was a lot of money! If Mrs. Shinazugawa was already struggling then this would've put a lot of strain on her already.

"A thousand dollars ain't much but it'd be a thousand dollars she doesn't have to pay. ...*sigh* Anyways you said you wanted to get a sandwich?"

"Uh.. Y-Yeah. I was."

You made sure to be extra nice to Sanemi after that and play with Koto when he asked, despite the confused looks Sanemi still gave you. He wasn't ever mean to you and after finding out about his family situation you didn't have any reasons to be mean back. Soon Thursday and Friday turned into Saturday morning and you FINALLY got a day off to yourself to finish up some real work.

"Are you sure you don't want to come join us at the park? I heard there's going to be a vendor that sells delicious homemade ice cream."

You smiled one shoulder holding up your phone to your ear as you continued to write down on a piece of paper. "Sorry, Mei. I'd love to but I have to get this report done before Monday and I already planned on cleaning my house today. Maybe tomorrow."

"I understand completely. I'll swing by later today to make sure you're not overwhelming yourself."

You smiled. If there was one thing that you already loved about your boyfriend is was how understanding of you he was. "Alright. Have fun on your date with Giyuu and Shinobu. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun."

With that out of the way you were able to get your project mostly done. Mostly because of a second phone call you got right in the middle of trying to finish up your health class report. Which honestly did annoy you a little bit. You wanted to get this done TODAY and then get all of your household chores done TODAY so you could have TOMORROW off with your boyfriend! It continued to ring so with a sigh you dropped your pencil to pick it up and hold to your ear.

"Hello?"

"Y/n L/n?"

"Yes. Who is this?" You frowned but soon that frown disappeared and your eyes widened. "Shut up. You're kidding? Wha- No! I'm not busy! I can come over right now and pick it up! Where?" You stood up quickly nearly knocking over the papers on your table as you ran to grab your shoes. "Dean's office! Right! Are you sure this isn't a prank call?....Ok! Im on my way right now! Holy cow this is unbelievable! Yeah! I'll see you soon! Bye!"

You squealed in utter astonished happiness as you ran to go grab your shoes! What should you do first?! Pay off your car? Get that pet ferret you always wanted? Maybe take Gyomei out for a really fancy dinner? The possibilities were endless! You happily skipped out of your house and ran down the road towards the academy. Running and running and running...

But slowly your running slowed.

And the giddy smile turned to a thin line.

And you stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

Staring at nothing in particular until you blinked and looking back to your house.

......

THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD.

"Nemi, chill! You're gonna give yourself brain damage if you keep that up!"

Two small hands on his head stopped Sanemi in his pursuit of hitting his head against the table repeatedly. Only stopping so he didn't painfully smash Suma's fingers between his forehead and Tengen's table. Not like it'd do anyone good even if they stopped him.

"I just found out Genya and Hiroshi got a part time job to help my mom pay bills and Teiko started babysitting for money." His head lifted up to glare angrily at nothing. "HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO BE CALM?! THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO WORRY ABOUT BEING KIDS NOT HAVING TO HELP MY MOM PAY BILLS!! NOW TEIKO IS STUCK TRYING TO WATCH THE OTHERS AND OTHER BRATS AT OUR HOUSE AND MY BROTHERS ARE FLIPPING BURGERS AT A WACKDONALDS!!"

He ended his rant by slamming his fists on the table and letting veins bunch up in anger. Most people would flinch but considering how used to his anger they were, his girlfriend and Suma only looked on in growing concern than actual fear.

"Honey, it's not going to be forever." Kanae attempted to soothe her boyfriend with a gentle hand softly rubbing his back. A small kiss pressing to his cheek. "They promised you it's only going to be until that big debt bill is paid off, and you guys already paid off a good portion of it."

That seemed to calm him down somewhat as he ate least unclenched his teeth and relaxed back a little bit. "I know. I just don't want them to get it in their heads that they have to work at an early age! They should be worried about school and getting good grades not paying bills... Maybe I should drop out and get a full time job."

"WHAT?! NEMI, NO!!" Sum hopped from one foot to the other. "You came so far! And you'll graduate after next year!"

"She's right! You only have a year and a half more then you'll graduate. Your mom wouldn't want you to quit."

"Maybe that's not what she wants.." Body deflated. Head hung. "But that might be what she needs."

There was silence as both women stared at him then at each other in lost. He couldn't just quit. He worked so hard to get to where he was at, already sacrificing lots of things. If he did this now..then he'll regret it later. But with his family struggling as it was how could they ask him to change his mind? They would've continued to sit there in silence if there wasn't a loud knock on the door that had them all look up. Again there was silence before the knocking came again but a bit louder. After exchanging looks, Suma eventually stop up and went to go answer the door. Pulling it open, blinking...and then beaming into a smile.

"Y/N! Oh my gosh! Hi! What are you doing here!?"

"Hi, Suma. Is Sanemi here?" Said white haired man perked up hearing his name. "Gyomei told me I could find him here."

"Yeah! You wanna come in?"

"Can't. I have to go pay some bills and finish cleaning my house. But can you give him this for me? It's really important he gets it."

"Sure! I'll do that right now!"

"Thanks! You're a life saver!"

They were surprised when Suma closed the door a moment later before turning and revealing a large manilla envelope in her hand.

"The hell is that?"

She shrugged. "No idea. Y/n said it's for you. OOH!! Maybe it's the recipe for that ohagi you liked! Y'know she ones she made that weekend."

"Tch. That'd be one good thing outta this dam day."

He mumbled under his breath as Suma walked over to him and he just bluntly took it from her. Giving a look at the front and back before just tearing off the top and peeking inside. In an instant his face went from bored and annoyed to cartoony shocked in one second. Both girls watched his expression change rapidly, looked at one another, before Kanae just reached over to pull the opening up more to look inside and VERY quickly gained the same shocked expression.

"Oh my," was all she managed to say.

"What is it?! Tell me!"

"Money."

"What?!" Suma quickly joined the two gasping out. "HOLY COW!! LOOK AT THE ZEROS ON THAT CHECK!!"

Sanemi continued to stare at the envelope blankly until Kanae pried it from his hands to peer inside with a raised brow. "There's a card in here too." Holding it up, narrowed pink eyes were able to read it. "It's a gift card of some sort."

"Hey. Wasn't this stuff like...the prizes for that raffle or something?"

Again there was silence as a realization of what exactly was sitting in Kanae's hands washed over them all...until a loud scraping of a chair caused both ladies to jump as Sanemi abruptly stood up and just..stared at the table. Silently stirring something around in his head before both hands landed with a loud thud sound on the table.

"Sanemi?" "Honey, are you ok?"

"I'll be damned...Kanae."

"Yes?"

"If Gyomei doesn't marry that woman we will."

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