#i could do a post-timeskip version of this as well | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

revenantghost · 1 year

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Tristamp Wolfwood is a bit different than his counterparts, yeah? And I don’t mean that in a bad way, Orange is going somewhere with it, but it’s very different from what they’ve done with Vash and Meryl imo. With them, I feel like we got a glimpse of pre-canon. With Wolfwood... Orange is up to something, and it goddamn terrifies me. I love him dearly, he has some many moments that make me smile and go, “Yeah, that’s Wolfwood, my beloved asshole.” But it’s different. Oh so very different.

I’m just gonna point out a few examples of things I think are different enough to note here (drawing comparisons from Trimax since that was the source for Tristamp, but I’ll try not to spoil much--just don’t Google names you don’t recognize), and then go a little off the rails with a couple theories (spoilers there, click the read more at your own peril). This is DEFINITELY not everything, and maybe my takes are a bit off, idk. If there’s something you’ve picked up on, definitely feel free to add it!

Well, here goes:

My dude is a mess. Wolfwood is typically put together and some would call him smooth (he’s a mess inside always, though) in his other incarnations. Orange pointed out at Sakuracon that the characters are supposed to look younger and more immature in Tristamp, and Wolfwood specifically is supposed to look like he can’t dress himself (lmao). They said they have their reasons but just didn’t have time to explore them in canon. So, I can make assumptions, but I’ll wait to see what comes in the future.

Another one that staff talked about in a recent interview is that Wolfwood is technically a priest according to his contract, but he calls himself an undertaker. Yeah, yeah, edgelord Tristamp Wolfwood and all that, but I’ve seen people call back to how, in the manga, it’s Vash that always takes the time to bury the dead. Wolfwood even chews him out a bit for this. But it’s literally in our introduction to him in this version. He carries the weight of the dead with him enough to make it part of his title, and that’s different for him.

I could be misremembering with this one. But I distinctly remember being surprised when I read Trimax because Wolfwood going into the Eye of Michael seemed more of his own choice than it is in Tristamp (not that a literal child could consent to, you know, torture and abuse)? But either way Wolfwood loathes the Eye of Michael from the get-go here, he doesn’t stay by choice and actively tries to escape. Just like all these choices he makes in Tristamp (which is MASSIVELY different in general), he does it for someone else. He can’t try to escape again, because they have Livio.

Speaking of! Livio!!! This was another thing that caught me by surprise going from Tristamp to Trimax, their relationship is so much different here, so much softer and it hurts in a beautiful way. I feel like less is more here to avoid spoilers, but this introduction pre-Trimax-canon and any future conflict with this backstory... is very different.

Holy hell, a moment like this happening so early?! Vash and Wolfwood having ideological differences and not understanding each other takes up so much time in Trimax. But over the course of three episodes, we go from Wolfwood killing someone that Vash wanted to save (props to Tristamp for making that gutpunch even more personal, ouch--though points deducted for not having the, “Shoot,” moment there), to Vash seeing how very similar they are and getting a grasp of why Wolfwood is the way he is. Wolfwood is so much softer in Tristamp. He’s way more emotional, he cares so deeply for things outside of himself, and he doesn’t have that apathetic bitterness. Staff have said that our main characters will be a lot more recognizable post-timeskip, so some shit is gonna happen to this man, but this is a fundamental shift in the early days of their relationship.

AGAIN!!! Wolfwood is doing this whole mission, betraying Vash, to save the orphanage. He didn’t have to listen to Vash trying to save the sandsteamer. It doesn’t matter if Vash is pissy if Wolfwood blew up the ship to save the orphanage, because that’s his end goal. He has a giant laser that just blew through an entire giant worm, this ship is nothing. Wolfwood’s trying to cling to the monster that he sees himself as, trying to stay the Punisher, but he’s not. He already has enough faith in Vash to trust him with everything he cares about. This takes a lot of development time for Wolfwood to trust Vash like this in Trimax--and even in the very end, he still doesn’t trust Vash with this. (If you know, you know.)

AGAIN!!!!! Wolfwood cares!!! He does not need to question if Vash is sure, if he thinks he can make up with or convince Knives or whatever, in fact he shouldn’t. He should give Vash no reason to question getting to July. But Wolfwood, be careful, your feelings are showing. Wolfwood’s getting worried about Vash. Even though all he needs to do is keep his head down and get this dork to July.

This was never Trimax Wolfwood’s motivation. Whatever drove him left him hollow and empty, he did not care. Even when he saw things starting to go south and he wanted out, Vash ended up being right: he was too much of a coward to do anything about it. (If you know, you know.) I had wondered, after Legato tried to bulldoze everything he loved, why the hell didn’t Wolfwood just desert the mission and team up with the gang. He already has such a deep connection with them. But this would be why.

WOLFWOOD IS NO LONGER CONTRACTED BY THE EYE OF MICHAEL AT THE END OF THE SEASON??? Some people say that Wolfwood still works for them, but tbh for what reason? They’re about to end the world. And then what about this line? He wouldn’t exactly have a choice, would he? I do think we’re gonna meet Chapel (right before Livio shoots himself, you’ll hear a voice and see a silhouette (not Razlo, though he’s there too) that seems to be a “new” character), and Wolfwood might end up working under him for some fucked up reason... But if not, this changes everything. It already changes everything considering how big Wolfwood escorting Vash to Knives is. But that’s done now. And because Vash saw right through him the first time, if Wolfwood comes back to do the same thing again, it might feel cheap and a little silly.

MERYL!!! Trimax is basically the Vash and Wolfwood show, right? The girls are around, but mainly their interactions are with Vash. But he and Meryl interact so much just over the course of twelve episodes. They even have that adorable group shot. She matters enough that he came back to rescue her, and the two of them worry about Vash together in the finale. Who knows what happened post-finale, but Wolfwood’s self isolation is already shot to hell. He’s more big brother Nico than he’d had the chance to be in awhile, he has so many people to care for.

So the danger has passed, Vash’s roots are back inside of him, the orphanage should be fine. But Wolfwood comes back for them. Yeah, yeah, the stupid cigarette excuse, but this is Wolfwood, not Vash. He didn’t come back because of the cigarette debt and we all know it. (Also kinda hoping that him saying what he does about fighting Knives being crazy is foreshadowing for some ridiculous 1v1 fight between them, had to throw that in there)

Now, theories Trimax spoiler time bby (I’ll also post any corrections under the cut):

EDIT 1: I was bonkers wrong on the Tristamp timeline (it takes place from May 25th to July 21st, not including the epilogue), so I just deleted that bit from the og post. I cannot remember where I got that number in my brain.

They are doing something with this man and I hate it as much as I love it. Every other character can go off and follow similar paths but they just nuked the entirety of Wolfwood’s storyline by having him be finished getting Vash to Knives and him choosing to trust Vash so goddamn early. And in less than a week of canon time!!! ORANGE WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!!

They’ve knocked everything out of the park so far, I had so many concerns about what they were doing while watching, and they squashed most of them. So I choose to have faith that Orange has a brilliant plan that will crush my emotions in mind. It will probably eviscerate us just like Trimax did. But I have two theories as to how this could go:

First: And by far the most likely: all roads lead to that goddamned couch. They changed a ton of things, but just to make it all hurt in a new and exciting way. Don’t get me wrong, this was the final straw in making Trimax one of my favorite manga ever--Wolfwood’s character arc is one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever read. I’m a bit nervous because we’ve already shifted that arc so much, but there’s a lot of room to fuck us all up in this one. I imagine the final confrontation will still be between the two brothers, but I imagine the context will be different.

Wolfwood’s already chosen to spare Livio, so that won’t be the clincher, but there are so many things that Wolfwood wants to fight for now to use against him. Something in the timeskip will probably firm up his ideals to be the opposite of Vash’s in a different way than before, but I imagine we’ll get at least a season of them being goofy and learning how to live and regain their humanity together before they’re couched. :’) And now the girls are going to be a bigger part of it to make the grief all that greater :’))) Thanks in advance, Orange :’))))))

Second: No couch??? I know, then what would be the point? He’s doomed in every universe, how will it be as powerful if they don’t do that here??? And I agree, I think this is way less likely. But Wolfwood has already accepted the power of anime Jesus friendship into his life, and that’s a huge part of what lead to his death. Not that I don’t think it’s still likely for Tristamp Wolfwood to think it’s too much to ask Vash to step away from the conflict with Knives for whatever his personal struggles are, but... man that sandsteamer incident is foreshadowing something and I’m afraid. It shifted so much in a way that is so significant, I feel like I’m not doing it justice with my words.

Speaking of possible foreshadowing: Wolfwood isn’t the product of random experimenting like he was in Trimax, he’s the product of plant experimentation. And Vash can heal plants. Again, that’s a big ol’ stretch, as I think that they made the Gung Ho Guns a product of plant experimentation to try and explain the magic powers they all have, and it’s a very smooth idea imo. But it haunts me. Also, given that Conrad has probably been kept alive through fucked up plant methods and how long Rollo remained the same, and Conrad said the only flaw in his experiments were that they had to eat and drink... does Wolfwood and Gung Ho Gun friends have an extended lifespan??? Okay, getting off topic, sorry :’D

Basically, Wolfwood has already made huge leaps and bounds in trusting Vash, even listening to Meryl, and growing a heart for humanity. To the point I was half-afraid this guy was going to die in the finale, because we’ve already seen so much of his character arc. (It would have been a poor choice and I’m happy it didn’t happen EVEN IF I’M STILL AFRAID). And he’s based off of Trimax Wolfwood quite heavily! You can see it in the core of his personality still!!! WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO WITH HIM???

I doubt either of these ideas are going to be quite right, watch as Orange works in a secret, third thing that I can’t even imagine lmao. But this has been driving me absolutely bonkers and I had to share. This is still Wolfwood, and I have a feeling he’s only going to be more and more of the lovable asshole from here on out. But I have no idea where we’re going with it.

Holy hell, this was a long post. If you made it to the end of my insane ramblings well, uh... congrats??? I hope it was somewhat worth the read???? I’m so sorry?????? Thank you??????????

#Trigun #Trigun Stampede #Tristamp #Trimax #Trigun Maximum #Trigun Meta #I'm so tired I'm sorry about any and all typos #And also if this is stupid #It's just been GNAWING AT ME #WOLFWOOD I LOVE YOU BUT YOU SCARE ME #Long Post #My Trigun Meta

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pls-hold-me-im-justa-weeb · 1 year

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Hello 👀 I see your asks are open and u write for One Piece so I'd like to ask for my 4 favorite strawhats, Sanji, Brook, Usopp, and Franky with a reader who is very romantic and likes to take them on dates and do really romantic gestures like buying flowers or randomly hugging them from behind and being generally flirty like a sort of Casanova but is not used to the same type of affection towards themselves so whenever it does happen they get sort of flustered or choked up.

For Sanji he cooks the reader a special dinner. For Brook he writes them a song. For Usopp he makes them like a matching ring. For Franky he maybe he puts on a special show of fireworks for them. And the moment is very special for both of them.

Thank u 💗💗

Yes my lovely!!! I'm honestly the same as the reader, so this was a fun thing to write and I think I fell in love with these characters a lil more.

G/n reader, and neutral nicknames. No use of Y/N.

Warnings: Cheesy, sappy romance. Reader crying from happiness from a romantic gesture. (these aren't really warnings but whatev) It's a lot of fluff y'all.

No spoilers, and all characters can be either pre or post timeskip. (except in Franky's version, because Usopp has his plants and seeds but that's it, and really you can pretend it's pre timeskip)

Brook

"Hey there, handsome. I brought you some tea" you said, winking at your boyfriend as you set the tray down.

"Ah! Thank you so much, I love you down to your bones! YOHOHOHOHOHO!"

You giggled at his bad joke, and curled your arms around him for a hug. You breathed in his scent- sea salt and paper, with an underlying scent of whatever he used to polish his violin. You nestled your face in his afro, letting it tickle your nose.

"Well I love your music" you whispered, pecking his cheekbone. He stiffened, and you could've sworn he was blushing, but it may have been a trick of the setting sun.

"Th-thank you" he answered, wrapping an arm around you as you sat beside him. You noticed scrapped paper crumpled into balls nearby, tossed carelessly behind the skeleton's shoulder.

"Whatcha workin on?" you asked. Brook spluttered on his tea, and you thumped his back.

"Ah! Nothing, nothing!"

You tilted your head in confusion, frowning. He never hid songs from you.

"C'mon babe, you know I'll love it even if it's bad"

"...I want it to be perfect before you hear it."

You looked at him, blinking. He was acting odd.

"Fine. But I'm taking you on a date tomorrow" you said, shrugging.

"Alright... Wait- that makes no sense!"

You laughed. In your mind it made perfect sense. He was working so hard on composing a song that he needed to be perfect even for you to hear- the person he trusted with his worst and best songs. If it needed to be perfect for you, it must be really stressing him out.

"Let me treat you since you've been working so hard on this" you said gently. Brook sighed, looking defeated as he slouched.

"Just... would you be so kind as to come see me tonight? Perhaps on the balcony of the crows nest?"

"Sure, the usual time?" you asked with a smile. He nodded, looking at you softly. Or at least you thought so, sometimes it was hard to tell, but usually you could read his emotions pretty well. You kissed his cheek as a goodbye and got up to go bother Sanji as he prepared dinner, hopefully sneaking bits of food when he wasn't looking.

Dinner was as delicious and chaotic as usual, but you noticed your boyfriend seemed a little out of it. Was that song bothering him more than he was letting on? Was something else going on? You decided to ask him about it when you met with him later. Dinner ended, and you decided to join Chopper, Luffy, Nami and Usopp in the aquarium for dessert and tea while playing a card game. You were surprised Brook wasn't joining, he always seemed to be around when tea was served.

You played a few rounds of the game, throwing down your cards in defeat as you groaned.

"Well losing is great and all, but I got a date with my lovely boyfriend. Have fun, guys!" You left with a smile and a wave. You climbed to the deck and then scaled the ropes up to the crows nest. An odd light was coming from the direction of the balcony, and you furrowed your brow. You entered the crows nest. Moonlight streamed in through the windows, silver pooling on the wood of the floor. It smelled nice for once, not like the usual sweat and booze of Zoro. You looked around, and gasped when your eyes fell towards the balcony.

A trail of rose petals lined by candles led to the balcony door, which was propped open. Cushions and blankets were deliberately placed to make a sort of nest, and more candles lit the area in a soft glow. The stars above shone bright, the full moon adding to the delicate light. Brook was standing looking out into the night. You took a few tentative steps forward, soaking in the floral scent of the rose petals.

Brook turned around, holding sheets of paper in his hand. If he had lips, you knew he'd be smiling softly at you.

"Brook..." you whispered, trailing off.

"Come here, my love." He held out a hand, and you followed the candle-lined trail into his arms. You held him tightly, crushing his ribs. He chuckled painfully.

"Please, sit down. I wrote this for you." His voice was deep and smooth, sending warmth cascading over you like a warm blanket.

"W-what is all this? Why?" You let go of him, bewildered. He eased you down to sit on the cushions and wrapped a blanket around your shoulders. His feet shuffled him away behind two music stands you hadn't noticed before, each holding a piece of paper. He picked up his violin and bow, letting it hang a little in his grip.

"You do so much for me. You take me on dates, bring me things, listen and adore my music, and so much more. I wanted to do something for you, just because... well, you deserve it. I wrote this for you, but I'm still not sure I captured how just beautiful your soul is. So please, bear with me."

You tried so hard not to cry. Your throat was burning with the effort, and you could feel your eyebrows scrunched upwards. You looked at him with wide eyes, chin wobbling.

He chuckled at you, and brought up his violin to his chin, readying himself. He took a breath in, and began to play. It was beautiful, pure, and sweet. It had a slow tempo, but slowly increased as he opened his mouth to sing.

It was dark, all alone.

A promise I kept, but I yearned for death.

I met a man, who accepted me and took me in

and I thought I had a reason to live again.

But you. You stole my breath.

If I had a heart, you would've stolen it too.

The promises to keep living were almost forgotten

'cause when I'm with you, darlin

I could never wish for us to part

I may not have a heart, but I have a soul.

And that, I give you entirely.

Accept my love, because you've shown me yours.

Please, my angel.

Be mine, forever.

Tears were streaming down your face by the time the first word came out of his mouth, and by the time he ended the lyrics, you had to clamp a hand over your mouth to stifle the sobs. You wanted to listen to him, but you were so overwhelmed with love, you could only cry.

The music faded off with a gentle, smooth note, and you finally let yourself let out a sob. You heard shuffling from your boyfriend, and he grabbed one of your wet hands to place a handkerchief in it. You stuttered out a thanks and he brought you to his chest.

"Please tell me these are good tears" he murmured in your ear. You nodded frantically, and threw your arms around him.

"Please sing it again sometime. I can't handle it right now but another time? I just... I just love you s-so muuuuch!"

"Oh my angel. I love you too"

Note: I wrote the lyrics myself so if you don't like it don't tell me because I'm a baby

Franky

There were strange sounds coming from Franky's workshop, luring you to the belly of the Thousand Sunny to wonder what the hell your boyfriend could be doing. You approached the door, ignoring the 'keep out' signs that you knew weren't aimed at you. Muted voices you recognized as Usopp and Franky floated through the crack at the bottom of the door. You pressed your ear against the cool metal, picking up words here and there.

"...gotta be... for her... can you... shavings or would... better?" Franky's gravely voice muttered.

"Hmmm... be loud... but there's this that'll... does that sound alright?" Usopp responded. Obviously they were planning something, but what? Nobody's birthday was coming up, at least that you were aware of. Maybe Nami asked for some improvements on her weapon? You knocked, curious.

"Babe? It's me!" you called opening the door. You heard quick shuffling and a fearful squawk from Usopp.

"Oi! Careful! That stuff's explosive!" he hissed at your boyfriend.

A small smile curved your lips as you raised a brow. Franky was obviously hiding something behind his broad frame.

"Thought I told you to include me in projects with explosives" you teased, crossing your arms.

"I-I... Uh... It's not what it looks like!" Franky stuttered, waving his hands in front of his face. You giggled.

"Relax hon. I don't know enough about Nami's weapon to be of any help. I just heard some weird noises and wanted to see what was going on"

"Nami's-?" Franky was cut off with a loud exclamation from Usopp.

"Oh! You wanted to see my plants, right? See what they can do and how I harvest the seeds?"

That effectively caught your attention, despite the obvious tactic, and your eyes lit up in curiosity. His plants were much more interesting to you than the complexities of Nami's weather science.

"Oh right! I forgot I said that!"

"I have some spare time now, want me to show you?" he asked, with a smile as he crowded you towards the door. You glanced at your boyfriend over his shoulder. He just sent you a small wave with a grin.

"Bye my love! My sweetie! My genius cyborg! My-" Usopp cut you off as he shut the door, leaving you with an imprint of your boyfriend turning more into a blushing mess with each exclaimed pet name.

"Gross" he muttered. You stuck your tongue out at his back, but didn't say anything. You didn't want to ruin your rare opportunity for him to explain the weird plants he cultivated on board. The two of you talked for hours, getting distracted easily when the captain pulled the two of you into a weird game that you ended up winning, much to your confusion.

Eventually it was dinner, and Franky showed up late before promptly chugging some cola. He seemed... off. Nervous? Excited? Whichever it was, he was preoccupied. He barely spoke during dinner, and gave short answers when he was addressed. Dinner finally ended, and you were tasked with helping Sanji do dishes, but knew the cook would understand if you wanted to check on your boyfriend first.

"Franky?"

"Hm?"

"You okay?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. I'm fine" he said easily. You tilted your head, keeping eye contact.

"You seemed preoccupied during dinner."

Franky sighed, "I am. The project I'm working on... can you meet me tonight?"

You smiled and nodded eagerly. "Sure thing, I'll meet you after I finish helping Sanji out. How can I say no to my Superrrr hero?" you struck the pose he often did, wrists above your head and a wide grin on your face. It drew a laugh from Franky's broad chest, and the sound washed over you like a warm wave.

A hand gently ruffled your hair as he passed by. You caught it, and raised his knuckles to your lips. He smelled like metal. His cheeks tinged red as you let go of his hand and walked back into the kitchen, swaying your hips just a little more than usual to grab his attention. You looked over your shoulder, catching his gaze flicking up from your ass to meet your eyes. A blush tinged his cheeks and ears, and he quickly spun to walk out. You snorted, and exchanged a knowing look with the cook.

You talked pleasantly with Sanji, discussing each other's day. He asked about what you learned with Usopp, and you gladly filled him in. You asked him about his professional opinion as to whether he would change any of the dishes he served today at all, and he told you his plans. It was easy conversation that accompanied your dish washing system, making it seem to go by quickly. Soon enough, the dishes were washed, dried, and put away. You dried your hands, grabbing some cola from the fridge for you and Franky to share while he showed you your project. You happily said goodbye to Sanji, who sent you a knowing look. You blushed with a chuckle.

You made your way to the deck, searching for Franky.

"Oi! Up here!" he called. Your head whipped around towards the sound of his voice at the helm. You smiled, jogging up to him.

"I brought us some Cola!" you announced proudly, holding up the jug. He took it in his large hands and placed it on the ground with a soft smile. You cocked your head. Normally he opened it and offered you the first sip. What was he doing? He stepped back and gestured behind him.

"Come here. I want to show you something."

You were confused, but trusted him whole heartedly, so you stepped towards him. Once close enough, he put a hand on your shoulder and turned to reveal a cozy setup- a wide, freestanding hammock with pillows and blankets for optimal comfort. The hammock wouldn't curl up and around the person, but rather was held open by wooden slats at the short ends of the hammock that had holes drilled in for the many ropes that tied back to the wooden frame. The hammock material obviously had a high thread count according the the gentle sheen you could see in the moonlight. The wooden frame was carved into swirls, suns, and moons. You gasped. It was beautiful craftsmanship.

"This is the project? It's... amazing" you whispered.

"This? No. Just took a couple hours. The real project you haven't seen yet. Now sit down and get cozy!" he urged with a nudge on your lower back. You needed no further encouragement. You sunk into the hammock with an appreciative sound. He sat next to you, and you let yourself fall into his embrace under the blankets.

"So what's the real project?" you asked. Your new pillow rumbled as Franky laughed.

"You'll see." He pulled out a tiny den-den mushi and called someone on it. As soon as the person on the other end picked up, he said a simple order, a handsome smirk curving his lips.

"Light it up"

"Roger" Usopp replied from the other end. You gawked at your boyfriend. What in the-

BOOM

You flinched reflexively as the sound cracked through the sky, and you swung your gaze towards the direction of it. Beautiful colored streaked down in a sparking sphere before fading to nothing. You gaped at the sky, frozen in awe.

BOOM SHHHH BOOM

Firework after firework was set off, shape after shape. They slowly got more intricate. A blue star, tangerine, kitchen knife, katana, straw hat with a red ribbon, skull, slingshot, flower, pair of antlers, and finally, as the finale, a portrait of you. You gaped at the glimmering lights falling through the sky, painting a line drawing of what was undeniably, you. You looked beautiful though, smiling happily into the distance as your form faded into the stars.

"Franky..." you breathed. You clutched a fist over your chest, trying to fight down tears. He did this... for you? His large form shifted so he was looking at your face.

"Baby, now you see how I see you. You're the day to my night, the moon to my star. I love you with everything I am, but you fluster me too much for me to say much, and we're so busy every day that I can't find the time like this very often to show you. You deserve everything you could ever want. I love you."

His confession broke the weak dam that was holding back your tears, and you sniffled as you looked at him, gripping onto his unbuttoned shirt. You finally thudded your forehead against his hard chest, and he chuckled, running a hand up and down your back soothingly.

"Frankyyyyy!!!" you wailed. He held you closer, picking you up and letting you lay on top of him.

"It's okay. I know you love me too."

You nodded your head, unable to speak through the overwhelming emotions of love for your boyfriend.

(yes the carvings on the hammock and what he said were on purpose)

Sanji

You crept into the kitchen quietly, sneaking up behind the cook as he hummed to himself standing before the stove. There was only a single pan sizzling. You quickly wrapped your arms around his lithe waist, startling him.

"Wha-? AHN~~ MY LOVE!" he swayed dangerously on his feet, hearts in his eyes as he comprehended the situation. You giggled, and pecked the back of his neck. He turned in your arms, and hesitantly wrapped his own around you. The relationship was still somewhat new, and despite your assurances that you loved when he touched you (in any way), he still seemed hesitant. You had a hunch that he was so used to rejection that it was strange to be flirted with so blatantly, but he was adjusting.

"How's the best chef on the Grand Line?" you cooed. He tensed a little at the compliment.

"Best chef on the Grand Line, huh?"

"Of course! But I had a question for you"

He pulled back slightly, his ear twitching towards the pan behind him. He spun the two of you around so your back was facing the stove, and he stirred the ingredients.

"Yes, mon amour? Do you need a snack? Or want me to try a recipe? or do you need a drink? I got some fresh fruit at the last-"

"Sanji!" you said, laughing as you looked at him. He blushed, realizing he was rambling again.

"Sorry! What did you want to ask?"

You cradled his cheeks in your hands, looking deep into his eyes, a smile curving your lips.

"Have you thought about it? What you'll cook when you find the All Blue?"

His blue eye widened, and his jaw was slack. His hands froze behind you, stopping his precise movements.

"Y-you... I don't... mon... Mon Ange" he stuttered and whispered. You cocked your head at the French phrase, not having heard it before.

"Hm?"

In response, he shifted one hand to rest on the middle of your back, and the other curled around your hand that was on his cheek. He swung you to the side, dipping you as he kissed you deeply. Your squeak in response was swallowed by his lips, and a quiet moan squeezed from his chest. You kissed him back desperately, your free hand gripping his flexed bicep as he held you up. He tasted of tobacco and the savory dish he was preparing. He pulled back, licking the connecting string of saliva from his lips with a devilish smirk. He still held you at an angle, hovering above the ground. He placed your hand he was holding gently onto his shoulder, and traced a finger down your arm and held the back of your neck. His thumb brushed over your jaw, and he brought his hand forward to run the back of his index finger down your cheek. You were so sure he could feel the heat of the blush radiating from your skin.

"My Angel" he whispered. You blinked at him. He huffed a small chuckle and pulled you back onto your feet so you were in the same position as before. Your knees felt weak from the sudden display of affection, but he held you steady in his arms.

"Yeah... what?"

"Mon Ange means My angel. That what you are to me."

"O-oh... thank you?"

He smiled, and pressed a kiss to your forehead.

"Don't thank me for telling the truth, darling"

You giggled almost deliriously and hid your face in his chest as he resumed his movements stirring the food on the stove. You stayed there a few more moments, basking in his radiating warmth and adoration. You finally turned your face up to his, a smile curving your lips.

"I came in for a glass of water. Luffy decided that he's going to teach me one of his made up games."

Sanji hummed, smirking.

"Let me know if you need anything stronger than water to get through it" he teased. You rolled your eyes. It couldn't be that bad right? Luffy was... simple.

"I'll let you know" you said, pecking his cheek. You tried to slip from his grip but a hand caught your wrist gently. You looked back, curious. His pale cheeks were tinged a soft pink, and his blue eye flicked between the pan and you, as if he couldn't decide what to look at.

"Sanji?"

He cleared his throat a little.

"Tonight... would you do me the honor of having a private dinner with me?"

You felt your face heat, and you looked to the side, hoping futilely to hide your flustered expression.

"O-of course!"

His hand slid to cradle yours, and he brought your knuckles up to his lips. He placed a gentle kiss on each one before flipping your hand to kiss your palm and the inside of your wrist. You couldn't help but stare at his movements, entranced in the feeling and the pure adoration emanating from is actions. His one visible eye finally met yours with a soft smirk.

"Merci, Mon amour"

Your stomach swooped with butterflies, and you were frozen in place, too flustered to look away or move. You felt your lips start to curve in a dopey lovesick smile.

The door to the eating area suddenly banged open, startling you out of your daze.

"SANJI!! I'M HUNGRY!" Luffy whined. You jumped back, snatching your hand from Sanji's grip. You were usually fine with the PDA he showed you, but the moment felt too intimate to share with anyone else. You could only giggle as the cook turned to glare threatening at your captain.

"Food'll be done soon." he replied in a clipped voice. Luffy blinked at his tone, but was quickly distracted with the scent of the snack Sanji was cooking. You watched as deft, elegant hands plated the food and shoved it towards the ever-hungry captain.

"Thanks for the food!" Luffy chirped to the blonde. He turned to you.

"C'mon! Help me prank Usopp!" He grabbed the plate and bounded out the door without waiting for your response to the sudden change in plans.

"Bastard's a pain in my ass" your boyfriend grumbled under his breath. He handed you the glass of water you had came into the kitchen for. You giggled at his crankiness towards Luffy.

"He can be. I'll see you tonight though, okay? Let me know if I can do anything to help. I'll even wrangle Luffy and Zoro for you"

Sanji rolled his eyes at the name of the swordsman.

"I appreciate the sentiment, but the damn marimo would only sully your hands"

A shout of your name from the deck called you into action. You pressed a quick peck to both of Sanji's cheeks, his forehead, and finally his lips before parting with a final kiss to the back of his hand.

"I'll be waiting for you, my prince!" you cried dramatically as you exited the door. Hearts danced in Sanji's eyes and he swayed as he clutched at his chest.

"AHN~~ MY LOVE!" He collapsed to his knees dramatically as you closed the door.

"Disgusting" rumbled a deep voice from nearby. You rolled your eyes.

"Oh shut the fuck up and go wash your stank, hairy ass, Zoro" you griped. He nearly choked on his sake at your language. You cheerfully ran off to make mischief with the captain, ignoring the swordsman's indignant "Oi!" from behind you. You hoped Sanji heard your remark. Loud laughter from the kitchen made you think he did.

~~~~

It was hours later when you finally were getting ready for the date. You had a busy day, between pranking Usopp, saving Luffy when he fell overboard from Usopp's retaliation, and trying to get Franky to teach you more about the mechanics of the ship. Your brain hurt from the cyborg's lecture, and you finally gave up and decided that you probably just wanted to tinker around with things like Usopp does. That ended rather quickly after you had to make a trip to visit Chopper not even five minutes of working with Usopp.

You dried off the rest of your body from the shower, looking through your clothes for an outfit. This was obviously a date, so you wanted to look somewhat decent. You finally decided on an outfit that was appropriate for the warm weather, and knew highlighted Sanji's favorite features of yours. You stepped out of your room, wondering where on the ship the cook set up.

"Ready?"

You looked to the side. Leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette was just the man you were looking for. You smiled, nodding.

"You look amazing." He stepped forward to kiss your cheek, and pulled back to look into your eyes

"You said you'd do anything for me right?" he murmured. You nodded.

"Close your eyes for me, my love."

You looked him, curious. He held up a silken tie with a smirk.

"It's going to be a surprise, so close your eyes please."

Your heart skipped a beat, but you followed instructions. The silken strands of the tie tickled your cheeks and eyes. He tied it loosely enough so it just barely touched your lashes, but still somehow stayed up. You felt him step away, as if admiring his work. Strong arms suddenly swept you off your feet, and you just about swooned with the pure strength that was hidden under his typical long sleeves.

He carried you through the ship, and you felt somewhat ridiculous like this, but you wouldn't change it for anything. Keeping your eyes closed made you feel more aware of your surroundings. You could guess as to where he was taking you, but you didn't know for sure.

He finally came to a stop and lowered you to a standing position.

"Keep your eyes closed while I take off the blindfold" he warned. You nodded slightly, anticipation whirling in your gut. His hands dragged up your arms, behind your ears, and finally drifted to the knot behind your head. The silky material released easily, caressing your face with a cool touch. You heard him take a deep breath, as if to calm himself.

"O-okay. Open your eyes"

You blinked a few times to let yourself adjust to the light, and gasped in awe. You were in the aquarium bar. Fairy lights draped from the ceiling, adding a soft light to the area. A table was set up in front of the aquarium glass with a crisp white cloth, fancy plates and bowls and silverware, and a rose placed with obvious care over one. You looked to the side, noticing what looked to be a portable cooking station nearby. Fresh seafood sat in an ice tray nearby. What-?

Sanji cleared his throat, obviously nervous at your lack of response.

"I-I can change a few things, of course. But since you asked earlier, I thought I'd show you what I'd want to cook once we find the All Blue... will you cook and dine with me?"

Overwhelming love and affection washed over you. He was letting you intimately see and experience his passion. You couldn't help but get choked up.

"S-Sanji!" you all but slammed into him, hugging him desperately. His arms wrapped around your back hesitantly.

"Is this too much? Is this bad? Why are you crying my love? Please, I'll do anything"

You let out a wet chuckle at his frantic response. His arms tightened around you.

"It's g-good tears, love. God I'm so in love with you I can't help but cry. Of course I'll cook with you!"

He pulled back, holding you so your hips were still flush but he could look into your eyes. All he could see was unbridled joy and happiness through the tears, a genuine grin puffing your cheeks. He quickly swooped in and kissed away the tears with tiny pecks, tickling you. Your laughter sounded like the bells of heaven to him.

"Mon Ange, I love you."

hhhhhnnnggggg i love this man so much he's such a romantic and so am i and just sdkljlkdfjdfsfdsjil

Usopp

"Usopp! My love! My dearest boyfriend! Captain of 8,000 men!" you called liltingly as you waltzed into his workshop. You snapped your gaze over to him as you heard sudden fumbling and a muttered curse.

"O-oh hey!" he responded, obviously hiding something behind his back. You furrowed your brow. He was always begging to show you his inventions, no matter the failure. He always showed you what he learned.

"What uh... what you got there hon?" You were almost fearful of what he was hiding. You had experienced his slingshot ammunition first hand, and knew he was a prankster. Put those together and you had no clue what you could be in for.

"N-nothing!" he squeaked. He was turning into a really bad liar. You raised a brow, highly skeptical.

"Uh huh. You know better than to prank me in certain ways, right?"

"I do, I do!"

You narrowed your eyes at him. His gaze flicked around the room, avoiding yours. He cleared his throat exaggeratedly.

"So did you need something?"

You sighed with a smile and a shake of your head. If he pranked you, he knew the consequences.

"Oh yeah! Sanji has lunch ready if you're hungry."

His gaze lit up at the mention of food, and immediately turned back around towards his desk. He rummaged around for a second before turning back to you with a wide smile.

"Let's go before Luffy eats it all!" he said, dragging you with him to the deck.

Lunch was great as usual, but Usopp delved back into his workshop after eating enough to make him full. You kept yourself occupied during the afternoon by playing a game with some crewmates. It was obvious he wanted to keep it a surprise for you, and you respected that, but you couldn't stop thinking about it. What would it be? How would he prank you? Was it even a prank? Was it something bad? Why did he want to keep it a secret?

A tap on your arm grabbed your attention again, and you turned towards Chopper.

"It's your turn again. Are you okay? You keep zoning out"

"Hm? Yeah I'm fine. Usopp was just acting a little strange earlier but I'm sure it's either another prank or something like that" you shrugged, grabbing the dice to roll. Chopper hummed at you, quickly absorbed back into the board game.

~~~~

Dinner rolled around, another amazing meal courtesy of Sanji. Usopp showed up late, but you had protected his plate fiercely from the hungry captain.

"No! My boyfriend has been working really hard on a project ALL DAY and needs some food! Take Zoro's or Nami's food!" you chided. Luffy pouted, and you ignored Zoro's and Nami's sounds of indignation. Sanji finally stepped in with an extra plate just for Luffy.

The door finally opened, and your expression changed quickly to a grin as you laid eyes on your long-nosed lover.

"I saved your plate!" you exclaimed, patting the seat beside you. Usopp returned your smile, and eagerly sat next to you. Everyone on the crew knew what it meant to keep a plate untouched from Luffy.

"How was your day?" he asked around a mouthful of food. You started chatting away about the games you played. You started describing how you kept zoning out because you were so curious about his creation.

"That's what I love about you though. Your curiosity and imagination" he murmured in your ear. Heat flooded to your face, and his words effectively shut you up. He looked at you after you were silent for a minute, staring at your now-empty plate. You saw him smiling sheepishly out of the corner of your eye as he shoved the last bite of food into his cheeks, puffing them out. He leaned forward, and booped the tip of his long nose on your temple, almost in place of a kiss.

Dinner finished quickly after that, and your boyfriend gently grabbed your wrist and guided you out of the eating area. He lead you onto the deck, and brought you up to Robin's flower garden. His hand shifted to cup yours, palms touching as he held your hand up. His palms felt clammy, and he shifted anxiously.

"You okay babe? What's going on?" His nervousness was affecting you.

"I had a whole speech, but for once... it doesn't feel right for the moment."

He took a deep, shaky breath and exhaled slowly as he stared at your joined hands. You waited patiently, curious but not wanting to press him. He looked into your eyes determinedly.

"You... I love you. So much. I love what you do for me. You take care of me all the time, and profess your love every day. You love me for who I am, all of me. I just- I want to show you. I don't feel like telling you like this is enough. I want you to be reminded of my love for you every damn day like you show me every day, so... I made something for you."

His free hand reached into his pocket bringing out a pair of matching rings. They were stunning, smooth, and shiny; simple, but intricate. You loved it.

"Usopp..." you whispered in reverence. Tears pricked your eyes at the sentiment.

"I want to promise you that I love you, through my bad days, through my cowardice, through anything. I made these rings so we can always know the other loves us. One day, I'll make you a better ring and propose to you with it, but will you accept this for now? As a promise for my love?"

You blinked, tears streaming down your face, framing your grin with wet trails.

"Of course, I'd be honored to accept your love" you repeated the line you said when he first asked you to date him. He grinned in response, tears shining along his long lashes.

He put the ring on, and you couldn't help but notice it fit perfectly. You stared at your joined hands, now decorated with matching rings that promised a future. You laughed wetly, and jumped into his arms. He laughed and spun you around once before he placed your feet back on the ground and kissed you. He nipped at your lips gently, smiling into the kiss. You couldn't help but return his grin, and you both had to pull back so your teeth wouldn't clack together.

"I love you, Usopp"

"I love you more" he answered.

I actually liked writing for Usopp more than I thought I would!

I'm so sorry this took me forever to get out! I've been swamped with my depression and my job with hellish hours but I loved writing this, and wouldn't mind doing more fluff for more characters :)

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ladyluscinia · 7 months

Text

BLACKHANDS GIRLIES WE ARE REALLY IN IT NOW!!!

(aka Lady's OFMD 2x01 - 2x03 BlackHands rambling)

Link to the general non-BlackHands thoughts.

Screaming. Whooping. Cheering. *Singsong voice* My fucked up pirate husbands had mutual love confessions while the main fucked up pirate husbands are "on a break" after admitting they made each other happy! AAAAHHHHHH!!! Can't murder-suicide the other half of yourself! I am winning!!!

ADJSKLDFSKJFKDL

Ok. Deep breaths. This will be rambling but coherently (<- lying)

---

Breakup Boat - Izzy's Version

Fuck, I said in my general thoughts post that the extremities of Edward's cruelty & Edward's suicidal pursuit were working well, and nowhere is that more noticeable than in what Edward and Izzy have going on.

So in the timeskip between S1 and S2 we find out Edward has been raiding ships at a breakneck pace, uncaringly trauma bonding his crew (R.I.P. Ivan), going hard on murder & booze & drugs, and tormenting Izzy to the point my guy is literally having a breakdown in front of the crew. He lost the 1st toe for threatening to resign and accidentally setting off a Stede-hurt timebomb, and Edward goes to take a 4th because Izzy doesn't convince his whole crew to happily dump their pay in the ocean. "Threaten me again" has become "Give me any excuse" it seems, and Izzy has been complying. 😬 Edward (casually): "Take your boot off." 😬 Earlier Edward offers him rhino horn, too, and Izzy just says "No, not right now" leading Edward to call him a "lightweight", so I'm thinking Edward hasn't had exclusive rights to substance abuse as a means of coping, either. (Note: the rhino horn itself does nothing, so the substance abuse is booze and any actual drugs he's gotten his hands on.)

Oh, and they didn't include the shot where Edward throws a knife at Izzy? Did it just get cut, or are we getting flashbacks with more conversation later?

Going to rewatch the end of 1x10, Izzy's "smile" at declaring Blackbeard was back lasts a fraction of a second and looks just like his "everything is totally fine I swear" grimace-smiles from the beginning of the episode, so I think it's pretty safe to say Izzy did not ask for this and hasn't thought everything was fine for a single second since.

The Breakup Boat atmosphere is definitely fucked.

Now, personally, I'm still of the opinion we're not supposed to read this as a version of a domestic abuse arc (even with the intervention talk). (EDIT: clarifying thoughts and phrasing.) Because they still inject too much of it with humor and I can't imagine Edward comfortably coming out the other side at a happy ending if we frame it that way. Like there's black comedy and then there's "Wait, we're really just laughing this off?" I think horrific domestic abuse of your ex-situationship in a romance counts as the latter. But I do think it's revealed to be functioning as something adjacent - namely Edward's depression and suicidal tendencies have massively spiked post-Stede and he's actively seeking to a) confirm his own belief that he's unlovable, and b) get killed so everything stops hurting.

And Izzy? Izzy loves him and wants him alive. Worst thing Edward could hear right now.

Like oh my GOD IZZY LOVES HIM. As soon as Izzy hits his breaking point and realizes the crew have his back, he's emboldened to go stand up for them and himself to Edward. (He has been defending them already - the pre-intervention conversation open with him quietly alluding that they need a break - but this is more.) He ignores the boot order, ignores the threat, and finally asks the damn question:

"Who am I to you?"

This is where my linear coherency falls apart btw 🥴

---

Who KNOWS You?

"We've worked together for years. You know me better than anyone has ever known me, and I daresay the same is true for me about you. I have... love for you, Edward."

Oh fuck backstory implications oh FUCK.

Ok, I've already seen the posts doubling down on Izzy realizing he doesn't know Edward at all and I'm drawing my line in the sand. That's bullshit. That line there? That's straight truth.

To quote my own posts:

People will act like you are making bold and unsubstantiated claims if you say Izzy likes Edward as a person not just as Blackbeard, but I find the notion that “Blackbeard” as a human guy you live down the hall from is somehow substantially different / distant enough from the real Edward 24/7 that only liking Blackbeard is plausible to be a very bold claim.

(That conclusion comes from this post, but Izzy knowing Edward vs Stede knowing Edward was also a major point in my original overarching Edward Meta from Season 1.)

Of course Izzy knows Edward. He knows his talents and his weaknesses. He knows the shifts in his mood, his favorite foods to find in a hold, what tasks he used to pass off as often as possible. He talks about work with him because they live on a ship. Their state of dysfunction when we meet them doesn't negate that knowing.

Knowing each other so well actually made their dysfunction worse. Let them escalate more than two people less intimate could have managed, while also exacerbating their misjudgements into ruinous disasters. Izzy didn't know - probably in part didn't want to know - Edward was falling hard for Stede so fast. Edward didn't know or want to know that Izzy was reaching a breaking point for their relationship.

But still, crucially, Izzy did know Edward well enough to clock that something was fundamentally wrong in 1x10, and he knows what's wrong now. He knows Edward is hurting him and hurting the crew because Edward himself is hurting, and the whole point of this "I'm worried about you" talk is to try and fix it.

Unfortunately, Izzy has Stede so unspoken at the front of his mind that he accidentally quotes the man, and that sets Edward off on his interrogation / further terrorizing the crew Izzy is trying to stand up for. Which is why Izzy finally makes his choice to stop talking around the issue...

"The atmosphere on this ship is fucked. Everyone knows why." -> "Your feelings for Stede fucking Bonnet."

...and then Edward shoots his leg out. Not even looking at him.

Jump ahead. Edward says to Frenchie, "The new First Mate always kills the old First Mate. It's always been like that." - Has it though? Because that has some wild implications for Izzy murdering someone to secure his spot in Edward's circle of trust (...hot). And some interesting gaps for Edward if he was ever a first mate under Hornigold or anyone else. Or is this just him fucking with Frenchie because he knows "Trust is king. And queen. Trust is everything" is bullshit? Go, repression boy, go. Who am I talking about? Both. Both is good.

And then of course we get:

"Did you think I wouldn't know the smell of my rotting former First Mate?"

Knows him by the smell of blood and infection. By the avoidant look in his crew's eye. By the fact he doesn't know Izzy is dead. Their relationship is rot and ruin by his own hand but he would NEVER assume Izzy's dead until he knows.

"He was your friend," Jim spits in Edward's face.

Edward wakes up Izzy and even delirious, literal seconds after realizing he's down a leg, Izzy knows what Edward wants the moment he flips the gun. And he wants nothing to do with it.

He knows he can't. Won't. No matter how much Edward openly wants him to pull the trigger. (Edward knows him well enough to doubt, too. It's real convenient that his final staging has Izzy looking at the back of his head. No chance of his face giving anything away.)

Izzy's absolutely brutal in his assessment, trying to give some hurt back, but he's not wrong:

"Ohhhh. Oh, are you scared, Eddie? Too scared to do it yourself, eh? Go on, clean up your own fucking mess. I'm not doing it, I've been doing it all my fucking life. Fuck off."

All his fucking life.

I have to wonder... is this a conversation they've had before? Echoes of one? Izzy has a tactic here - dismissal. Refuse to play along with Edward's melodrama. Treat "I dreamt that you killed me" as though he's throwing a snit like a toddler. "Good for you" could have sounded like a question egging him on, but it comes out flat. A sarcastic sneer. Edward has always thought he'd go out with more of a bang. Loves a good fuckery. In his Purgatory he desperately wants Hornigold to recognize how unique and over the top his mutiny was. Not like those ordinary mutinies. Even his imagined death is being pitched over the highest bluff tied to a rock???

Izzy knows Edward is serious or he wouldn't be so fraught and sobbing as he laughs, but his words don't treat him as serious. Maybe a bit of derision has been effective at ruining the fantasy before? Suicide of a great leader is just so banal, you know? Quit daydreaming and pull off an impossible fix.

(Maybe "Fuck off" normally doesn't end the conversation, but starts the real one?)

Also "Eddie". First off of Izzy's lips at his cruelest, then Hornigold's. We heard it in S1 right before Edward committed to becoming the Kraken. At the time I thought he was bristling at the disrespect - "Eddie" is not "just Edward" - but maybe Frenchie stepped on a bigger landmine than we thought. Edward is so particular about names, and Izzy knows all the rules best, doesn't he?

Either way... This time the conversation ends with Edward leaving. "Farewell, old chum," he says without turning around. And when he hears the gunshot, he's not surprised.

Edward knows Izzy, too. Knows that the farewell may count as "closure" but Izzy is only going to take the ending one way. Izzy lifting the gun to his temple was the inevitable result of leaving that room. It takes seconds. Edward is still rising out of the stairwell when it happens.

We can't talk about knowing without touching on Purgatory, where Edward goes to know himself.

Lots of interesting stuff about Edward modeling his toxic spiral off of Hornigold as the fucked up example from his past. Probably where he picked up a lot of his piracy philosophy too. But the really juicy bit related to Izzy is the spectre of Hornigold confronting him about killing his dad and Edward's instinctive:

"I've never told anyone about that."

Hornigold calls him out for telling Stede, but it seems pretty likely that Stede is the only one he's ever had the conversation with.

However.

I still think Izzy knows. Hornigold even tells us how:

"A grown man covered in tattoos? Eh? With daddy issues?"

Edward didn't tell Izzy, and Izzy didn't ask for confirmation. But Edward will tell a whole crew of strangers about "the Kraken" killing his dad to win best ghost story. And that his dad was a dick. Izzy, who Edward loves and trusts and "outsources the big job" to, would not have much trouble connecting the dots between any version of that story / troubled childhood anecdotes / Edward's issues with killing / Edward's daddy issues.

I sincerely doubt "killed your abusive old man" is even an uncommon pirate backstory.

Izzy does know Edward - at his best and worst and everything in between. Knows him better than anyone. Suspects with certainty his darkest secret.

Izzy knows Edward, and Edward knows Izzy, and that's why everything fundamentally quakes for Edward in this self-destructive rampage when Izzy breaks their unspoken rule and tells him that he loves him.

---

Who LOVES You?

Jumping back to the (first!) literal, actual love confession we got, let's talk phrasing. Because yeah there's love there, but at the moment there's also a lot of other stuff.

"I have... love for you, Edward."

This is such a passive way of confessing, and there's the long pause as Izzy forces it out. People have attributed it to repression, or feeling ashamed of his love for Edward, or just not wanting to push it on him. I think "love" isn't a word they use out loud, so saying it is hard, but I also think Izzy's being passive because at the moment it does just feel like he "has" love. He doesn't want to actively feel it or offer it up right now, not with the complicated knot of anger and hurt and, tbh, probably some of his own depression. He "has" love because, despite everything, he still loves Edward.

And he does, is the thing! The whole goddamn reason Izzy is here, still trying to be a support for Edward is because he loves him. Literally anybody else would have left by now, or killed Edward, considering he's actively trying to push Izzy to the breaking point. And even at said point, when Izzy's finally standing up for himself, he offers Edward another chance to realize he's loved.

Edward starts dismissing him the moment he says the l-word, but Izzy continues:

"I'm worried about you - we all are. The atmosphere on this ship is completely poisoned. But if we could all just, maybe... talk it through?"

Izzy knows what's wrong and while he didn't originally think Stede was that important to Edward, he's put it together by now. And he's a huge fan of trying to talk through their problems, tries it multiple times even in the peak communication failure / stress powderkeg of S1, so of course he tries one last time to get Edward to accept he's not alone.

Instead, he accidentally invokes the ghost of Stede Bonnet and reminds Edward why he's doing all of this in the first place. Reminds him that he is unlovable while having the audacity to confess to loving him.

So Edward makes a big show of going out on deck, shoots Izzy in the leg, and tells Frenchie to get rid of him.

Frenchie doesn't, naturally.

And when Edward finds the crew saving the man who he just shot for daring to love him - because of course they are, he's their dick now - well... "He was your friend," Jim spits in his face, having just been thinking about their best friend (who they are more than a little bit in love with 👀).

How long do we think Edward stands there, looking at what he's wrought? How long does he sit at Izzy's bedside, looking at him "rather still" while he weighs if the missing leg proves his point where the toes didn't?

And you know Izzy's love is so bone deep and rooted in that it's unconditional by this point, because Edward did NOT prove his fucking point. Nothing he's done so far is enough to get the man who loves him to pull the fucking trigger. Down 3 toes and then a leg, asking first thing whether Edward was there for the other one, and STILL. STILL IZZY IS HEARTBROKEN AT THE REALIZATION THAT EDWARD IS READY TO END IT FOR REAL.

Still he won't pull the trigger himself. Not on Edward, at least.

And only after Izzy is gone can Edward return the words.

"I loved you. Best I could."

*screaming crying tearing at the walls*

He loved him.

HE LOVED HIM.

Edward's perspective of his relationships is fundamentally warped. Alongside his self-image. Probably has been for most of his life, going back to the self-hatred he ties to killing his dad. Stede leaving hurt him immensely (and predictably, Stede) in ways Stede will have to own up to, but it was Edward's own unaddressed issues - independent of Stede AND Izzy - that determined the appropriate response to that hurt was "realize that vulnerability and hope are lies and every dark voice in the back of your mind ever was telling the truth, actually."

Edward's conviction that nobody loves him and that he's not capable of successfully loving someone back is literally his depression talking. It is not rationally based in the reality of his life or relationships, Stede or otherwise. He may even have successfully beat back the sentiment for most of his life, with that getting harder and harder as time went on.

(He's expressed this kind of depressive-episode-driven warped view before, btw, and they explicitly parallel it in Purgatory just for me! The flashbacks of the bathtub scene while he attacks the spectre of Hornigold are my huge W in that episode. "It all boils down to this - you're afraid you're unlovable", said by the actual manifestation of Edward's suicidal self-hatred in Purgatory, is the new "That's why I don't have any friends." I think it's fair to question if he was a reliable narrator of his experiences back then, too. Jim and the crew certainly think he had at least one friend.)

Basically, "Best I could" now can mean a lot of things before. Young Izzy and Edward could have been much healthier than they are at present. Probably were, to be honest. It wasn't enough to save them from going sour, but it could explain why they've stuck together so long even as it has.

Izzy loves Edward. Edward loves Izzy.

LOVE LOSES. BUT LOVE WINS 😭😭😭

---

Kraken Era = Murder-Suicide, but Edward Wants to be the Murdered One

So, uh... *scrambling for notes* Where am I going with this? Fuck, I'm not even writing it linearly... OK!

Izzy KNOWS Edward - knows him going back ages, has seen his darkest and weakest moments - and even after 3 toes and a stress breakdown he still LOVES him enough to say it out loud (which I doubt these guys do, uh, ever). Which really throws a wrench in Edward's "Stede realized I'm inherently toxic and unlovable" theory, and prompts him to redouble his "prove to Izzy he doesn't love me" efforts by casually shooting him.

Afterward, he finally makes his passive suicidal intents explicit when talking (practically sobbing, in truth) to Frenchie:

"Never going back to land. We're gonna sail, rob, raise hell forever and ever, without end."

He's set on it, now. Izzy's potential last act was to finally rip down the illusion, give name to the hurt Edward had been running from since he first put on his Kraken makeup. So he pushes his little wedding toppers out the window, cleans himself up, and goes out to wave every single red flag imaginable for poor Frenchie's locked box.

Except it wasn't Izzy's last act, now was it?

But that's fine for Edward. That actually works better. He wants the hopeless situation to end, but he doesn't want to pull the trigger himself or he would have done it by now. After everything, surely Izzy should be ready to murder-suicide him??? He can't still love him, not after Edward so effectively proved he's exactly as toxic as his self-loathing depressive episodes say he is. It's poetic.

Edward underestimates Izzy. Knows him with his head, but the depression makes him underestimate his heart.

Edward doesn't get a bullet through the head, be hears the gun go off and - well - that's one way to spin "not even Izzy loves me any more" into a true statement.

Edward wants to live slightly more than he wants everything to end. It's the only reason he's alive. Before Izzy said Stede's name he was floating high on denial like that bird who never lands, keeping his depression and his destruction as a blast radius more than a dagger. He was lurching in the direction of dying by combat or by crew mutiny or by simple self-destructive behaviors, but he avoided thinking about anything long enough to have intent.

After Izzy's desperate attempt to intervene, Edward can't hide from his own reasoning anymore. Or his hurt. Or his self-enforced hopelessness. And with that comes aims. He has his rough night and then starts the massive red flag upswing. Cleans up. Gets ready for the big finale. He pushes Izzy with the "closure" conversation, trying to find a pressure point that will get him killed to close off the narrative with a artful bow.

Murder-suicide sounds like a fix to his problems, but he still wants to live slightly more. He still can't turn the gun on himself. He aims to be the murdered one.

After Izzy is gone, though, by Edward's own actions? That's the last straw he needs to commit in full. Thanking Frenchie? Just another final goodbye to get his affairs in order. "Take the day off, brother. Go live." The moment Izzy dies they all become dead men walking.

Thank FUCK that Edward a) still would prefer it if they snapped and murdered him / something out of his control killed him (he still wants to live), and b) still wants to die dramatically. A different man would have walked right back to his cabin and not missed.

Sidebar to appreciate the breakup boat crew some more because I love them:

Fang: "So... do we think he's better?" Jim: "Fuck no!"

Edward is ready to be the murderer with his cannon pointed at the mast, but he stalls on damning the whole crew to a watery grave (r.i.p. half of them), gives Izzy time to wake up and drag himself out to protect said crew, and then finally gets what he's been after.

Edward's motivations are already perfectly clear, but just to really hammer it in - he thinks he just drove a man he loved to suicide, and then he demands the couple he found kissing fight to the death with the reasoning:

"All love dies, I'm just hastening the process."

Jim literally just learned last season that was bullshit, my guy. It makes sense they are the one who finally puts a stop to him.

(Except the cannonball doesn't hit. There's no head wound. And Edward is alive when they take him back to the secret room, laying him out respectfully instead of letting the waves take him too. They don't even know if they'll survive. They certainly don't have anywhere to take the body, or a working ship to get there. Maybe they didn't notice because they didn't want to notice.)

(AND EDWARD STILL WANTS TO LIVE)

Both Izzy and Edward try to die. Both of them do - maybe, in the bottom of their hearts - want to live just a tiny bit more. They shoot each other. They say OUT LOUD they love each other (though Edward I swear to fuck you better say that to Izzy's face ohmygod). They are on this journey together.

BOTH OF THEM LIVE. AND NOW THEY HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT.

(I feel like I wanted to add stuff about Stede & Izzy meeting again but like. I don't even know. Izzy doesn't even know. Is he protecting the crew? Deflecting? Edward's dignity (-ish)? Stede's good opinion of Edward? Dealing with his own massively fucked headspace? Ask me again on Friday. Fuck.)

My fucked up guys are in toxic fucked up LOVE!!!

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sporesgalaxy · 4 months

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i can't wait to see him in jail!!! I initially wasn't sure if i *could* read the manga because white on black on screens hurts my vision, but I ended up stumbling onto the digitally coloured manga! Which! as well as being really pretty is much easier on my eyes! <- Sayingt all of this to ask, as a clown connoisseur, what do you think of Buggy's more orangey manga colour scheme? I personally really like how it makes the blue stand out !

Hey Im glad the colored manga worked out for you! I was interested in the color version too at first but I get too scared when I see White Usopp...

As for Buggy's outfit, the extra orange does make his hair pop! But I miss his pink necktie-scarf-thingie.....his dedication to the pink accent even post-timeskip (3rd img) is EVERYTHING to me...........

#asks #1pc

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whumpsday · 8 months

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i'm gonna talk about my very first ocs because i feel like they deserve it :) when i was a kid i didn't quite have the imagination yet to create whole worlds, so my ocs were often inserts into existing things i was into.

this is a very long post with a lot of useless personal information, and is more a diary entry than anything.

i had many more ocs than what's listed here, but i can't remember most of them, so here are just the ones i remember.

childhood:

at 7, the very first oc i can ever remember making was Maya, a pokemon oc. she was the fourth member of team rocket in the anime canon, and could shapeshift between being a human and a celebi. i remember her being "older" but that could mean anything from a middle schooler to an adult.

also pokemon-related but not quite an oc, i had a lot of fakemon around that time. the only one i remember was a raccoon-like one named Tyco.

at 9, soon after was Tanya, a fairly oddparents oc. she was a little girl who was friends with the main character.

at 10, i really got into oc-making, and the next bunch are all from when i was about 10.

i started getting into "somewhat whumpier" things and made my first "edgy" oc, Deepheart, for warrior cats. she was a black cat with purple eyes and a tragic backstory i can't remember, who eventually got with stormfur.

i was very into danny phantom and continued my tragic backstory experiments with Chelsea. she was a ghost and the younger sister of ember (she was basically an ember recolor) who died in the same fire. she also had fire+music powers, but a polar opposite personality to ember (she was nice).

i can't remember the specifics or names of the ocs i made for a bunch of these, but i also made oc-inserts for the following around this time:

total drama island - multiple ocs, i think i had a whole fancast, which was the closest i got around this time to making an original story.

monster buster club - character existed to be friends with chris, who was my favorite. she was a monster in disguise or something of that nature.

percy jackson - i definitely had one and i was REALLY into it, but can't even remember what god she was a daughter of.

in middle school as i entered early teenhood, i started reading YA books. sadly, my taste was not that great.

preteen:

at 12, i made Chelsea (reused the name from the danny phantom oc because i just rly liked the name), a twilight oc. she was the first vampire oc i ever made, so i guess she was the start of All This. she was the youngest cullen at 14 years old (i do not remember if this was a chronological age or just a physical age and i think i was too oblivious to realize just how significant that difference was), and had a Forbidden Romance with seth, the werewolf kid.

at 13, i realized i could have ocs that were boys! a fantastic revelation! technically i already had ones from the total drama fanseason i had in my head but they were all side characters. made my first main guy, Oliver, a scott pilgrim oc and ramona's 8th ex-boyfriend.

i made a LOT of other ocs for YA books in middle school, but i don't remember much about the others.

teenhood - homestuck:

at 15, i got into homestuck, and that was when things got out of control.

i started with a literal self-insert with my birthname, who eventually got split into 2 alt-timeline versions of herself (i was a girl at the time), one who went with dave and rose during the timeskip and one who went with john and jade during the timeskip. when they met back up, they fell in love and got together, which i think might be the truest expression of self-love i've ever had.

but it didn't end there. i got really into making fantrolls, and made TONS of them. i don't remember their names very well (esp bc they were all made up alien names) but i remember my favorites: a bronzeblood with an eyepatch whose name started with a P, and a violetblood whose name started with an I.

the violetblood was probably my first true whumpee. while violetbloods are normally amphibious, he was born with lungs that don't work, and was forced to remain underwater at all times since he could only use his gills. when sgrub caused the apocalypse, he had a little tank he would stay in on the ship. and when gamzee started killing everyone, he couldn't get away.

this was also where i branched out into creating original characters not tied to an existing IP!!! FINALLY!!! it all started with fantrolls. i made two more significant sets of fantrolls: one centering around an abnormally overpowered purpleblood who had his memory erased and used to be a cruel whumper-type (and a set of supporting characters to go with him), and one centering around a purpleblood who'd been tortured and the lowblood who acted as his caretaker. you can tell i was very much getting into whump at this point, despite not yet knowing the term.

i eventually decided that homestuck's lore was not equipped to carry the stories i wanted to tell for those two, and split them each off into original universes. i am not into homestuck anymore and it's really a relic of its time, but it impacted me quite a lot creatively.

teenhood - original stories:

the amnesia guy came to be named Nova, my first wholly-original character. he existed in a magic/fantasy type universe, and was the most powerful magic-user in his world. he'd previously been extremely evil and caused untold carnage, countless people tortured to death. the heroes, after realizing they could not stop him, decided to try to wipe his memory instead. this did, in fact, work. Nova became a character saddled by EXTREME ANGST about his past wrongs. to make it worse, his pre-memory-wipe evil self eventually started to slowly come back as a separate entity in his mind, essentially haunting him. i daydreamed about Nova for a long, long time, and occasionally still do.

the whumpee-caretaker duo became Dwar and Clobu, members of an original alien species i came up with. unlike Nova's story, which became so divorced from his fantroll beginnings that his origin was basically unrecognizable, this one remained heavily homestuck-inspired. the aliens here were grouped/inspired by the layers of the atmosphere, rather than the signs of the zodiac. Dwar (the whumpee) had skin that looked like the night sky, dark blue with stars all over, while Clobu (the caretaker) looked like a cloudy day. they were pretty :) these guys are a very very early inspiration for the Kane & Jim dynamic.

i also started making non-IP-related ocs without "converting" them around this time. in particular, i became very interested in demons.

first i made Charlie, a teenage demon raised by humans who just wanted to be A Normal Kid. he played the guitar and used tumblr and was all in all very nonthreatening and normal. he was a bit boring.

at about 16, i later made Nicky, a "redo" of the Charlie concept but with more pizzazz. his mother had brought him on a hunt (for humans to kill and eat) while he was an infant, and she was killed by a demon hunter. the hunter couldn't bring herself to kill the baby, so she took him in and raised him instead. Nicky's story is very very long, because he is the only oc from my childhood i still regularly daydream about to this day, and i have been building him up for a decade. some highlights:

accidentally burns his adoptive mom when he's a little boy who's just gotten his fire powers, and it's what makes him realize he never wants to hurt people. she forever has a scar shaped like his tiny little 5-year-old hand.

demons generally need to eat human flesh to be healthy. this is obviously not something Nicky wants to do or even feasibly can do when he's younger. he eats a lot of other meat (mainly pork), and is basically constantly hungry. he carries jerky around with him all the time to snack on.

as a young adult, he and his (human) best friend (mutual pining crush) are stuck in a cave (entrance blocked by rocks) with a bunch of demons waiting to kill them when they leave. Nicky knows he's not strong enough to defeat them, but he could be if he wasn't malnourished. in a moment of desperation, his friend ends up giving him a few fingers to eat so they can make it out alive, and he feels guilty forever that it's the best thing he's ever tasted.

his mom is killed by demons in a fight in his early 20s, and he goes on a ballistic rampage murdering everyone in sight. after this, he runs away and ends up moving to hell.

when he's in his 40s, he sees a little human girl who's been captured and brought to hell, and quickly rescues her. he can't find a way to smuggle her back to earth, so he ends up raising her in his apartment.

when he does eventually get her back to earth years later, he moves in with her dad and they co-parent. becomes a love triangle thing with the dad and his childhood friend who he eventually reconnects with- not for the usual "you have to choose one!" reasons that i hate, but because his relationships with each are honestly very tumultuous.

my other early demon oc was Crimson, a magicless demon who'd been captured by hunters and tortured until a kind hunter rescued him and became his caretaker. this character would later become Kane, but originally there was no "former whumper" backstory, he was just a pathetic little guy.

at 16, my other main obsession as a teenager was dangan ronpa, and of course i made several dangan ronpa ocs whose names i can't remember. one of them was a girl who had a fierce rivalry with togami. i started getting into g/t around this time, and liked to play around with that with my dangan ronpa oc for some reason. i don't know why, it's not like DR had any kind of g/t in it. but i would always imagine a story where togami became tiny and he and my oc came to a begrudging alliance as they tried to fix it.

i also ended up converting this into an original story, taking place in a low-fantasy universe, where a bully character Damien got shrunk by magic, kept in a jar, and was tortured by some of his former victims. his one victim who thinks this is fucked up (can't remember his name) rescued him, and they put aside their differences to fix it. i just love reluctant caretakers and whumper-turned-whumpees.

and that's all the notable ocs i can think of from my childhood! figure they deserve at least a small space on my blog :) and i still might write Nova, Nicky, or Damien's stories someday.

#txt

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levmada · 8 months

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Hii regarding your tags on that autism fueled-rant post, you mentioned talking about the ramifications that the aftermath of the rumbling would have and!! I have been thinking about that nonstop for the past couple of weeks and I’ve been searching everywhere for posts discussing it and I haven’t found much in depth stuff!! I haven’t read the entire manga but I have read the conclusion and I really don’t like how it just timeskips and doesn’t discuss much about what life is like after. So rn I’m working on a post-rumbling fic to fill in the blanks of what things would be like the following year. If you’re cool with exchanging ideas about it, what do you think would have transpired?

MANNNN you have no idea how long i've wanted to talk to someone abt this!!! i totally feel your pain😭

sooo we know that the world map of aot is just backwards + upside down version of the real world. this is even more supported by names like the Port of Acrifa (Africa) and Salta (Atlas) - to explain the names of regions in the map below.

what we don't know is just about everything else. cultures, technology, populations everywhere except for Paradis, Marley (and very roughly) Hizuru? nope. so this is going to require some speculating.

credit to this reddit post for the best approximation of aot's world map.

I highlighted Paradis in yellow, marked L for Liberio, and i marked X where Fort Salta is. really all you need to know about that place (if you don't already) is that's where the Rumbling stops.

therefore, the Rumbling got this far:

so, what the fuck does THIS mean?

WELL FIRST OF ALL...

this is a map of where the Walls are canonically situated on Paradis Island:

...did Eren actually get the Titans to stomp out all life on the majority of the fucking island???? did the Wall Titans just step around all people inhabiting those areas?? are there enough gaps between the individual Wall Titans to preserve the island?

also, did just the Wall Maria Titans walk? otherwise the only preserved part of Paradis would be all the land in Wall Sina.

if i'm missing something, please let me know. i'm going to operate on the assumption that it's a plot hole, because otherwise, Paradis would be a destroyed nation after the Rumbling.

therefore, the timeskip where Paradis is shown to be a thriving fascist military state simple wouldn't make sense.

moving on, during the Rumbling, 80% of humanity is just exterminated. so the vast majority of the human population was apparently concentrated in Marley (the African continent), and parts of the Middle East and Asia.

we're never given a number for the human population on AOT's earth before the rumbling, but say we placed it at 1.5 billion like our earth in 1920—to adjust for the technology apparently available seen mostly in Marley (black and white photographs, model-t cars, etc).

120 million people. so it seems a bit more realistic that 120 million people could be left in the unshaded region.

it doesn't need to be said that Marley has practically been wiped out. so what does that mean for the world?

at best, it's gone from the leading world power to a “third-world” country. That's pretty much the bulk of the devastation from a political perspective, but the leading world power is gone.

imagine modern China or the USA just disappearing off the face of the earth. Marley contained the majority of the world's population too. so total economic collapse, right?? a global recession, economic ruin for decades to come.

would war immediately break out for that land?

FUCK NO!! it's pure wasteland coated with blood, flattened ruin, and carrion. totally inhospitable. there is nothing left. (that's depicted in a panel from ch139 that i won't show just in case of spoilers.)

but you can bet your ass that nations after the Rumbling are going to turn on Paradis. right, Eren frightened the world into submission—but he said himself that it'll be decades before there's a counterattack. so in the meantime, Paradis canonically becomes a fascist military state.

WORLD WAR.

a few decades after the Rumbling ends, there will be all-out war, and not just out of the fear and hatred we're familiar with.

however, in the following year like you asked, by-far i imagine people globally would be in a complete state of shock, still reeling—especially politically—from the devastation. that's the best way I would sum it up.

probably imagine the state of the world after WW2, except the political and socio-economic equivalent of the USA and parts of western Europe were bombed into nothingness.

and resources?

what effect did such decimation of life on earth the Rumbling caused do to the entire continent of (what is) Africa, the Middle East and a part of Asia?

i don't know enough about Africa, the Middle East and Asia to explain accurately, honestly. but undoubtedly, Eren fucked everyone over in severe respects globally and he didn't even succeed in exterminating humanity.

But also, we can't assume that the world of AOT is a perfect replica of our own in terms of... well, anything besides size and climate. the most useful info we know is that the vast majority of the world's population is (was) situated in those places.

climate map:

the majority of the world's deserts and tropical grasslands + much of the grassland is just.... gone.

so much farmland. at least I don't think that the world would be starving, but considering the economic breakdown i mentioned earlier, there would be plenty of anarchy in the first year following the Rumbling.

surely there would be a global shortage of oil? essential minerals found only in deserts? many types of animals would be extinct or pushed to the brink of it.

as for the ocean, Wall Titans are seen swimming through it, but what kind of impact would all that heat have on marine life?? NOT GOOD ONES.

sorry that i'm simply not knowledgable enough to give out many specifics, but for anyone who is, please add on if you'd like :) there's a ton of factors to consider in what the world would be like post-Rumbling, many of which i think would have to be filled in by fans since Isayama doesn't fill many blanks.

#i hoped this helped somewhat :(#another question in my mind is.. unsurprisingly where tf levi onya gabi and falco are #i never imagined them anywhere but marley #paradis island?#i wish i knew #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #snk #snk anime #snk manga #aot anime #aot meta #aot spoilers #snk spoilers

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jaycrakhead · 2 months

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MY OC SQUAD (info and drawings)

Sangria Coyote; Why the name "Sangria"? Besides being a cocktail and sounding goofy, in history or in other laguanges "sangria" means "bloodletting", "bloodshed", "bloodbath", etc... or well in latin means "sanguis" which is blood. So the name is basically "Blood Bath Coyote" or something like that, the association with blood just makes the squad look more lethal which goes along with Zura's quote for the Squad: "Doesn't matter how. We finish the mission." Why "Coyote"? This Squad is meant to be full of Wildcards. Besides normal squad mission (in and out of the Clover Kingdom), the members can be assigned or requested by other Captains to work with the squads frequently. If a member is always assigned to a squad, they can be promoted as an "official Wildcard". The Captain can be a "Grand Wilcard" too. So why "Coyotes" as the animal/symbol of the squad. Soen, which is Zura's spirit, is a canine. Coyotes are highly adaptable predators known for their intelligence and cooperative hunting strategies. Their adaptable nature and opportunistic behavior would likely be considered more of a wildcard nature which goes along with what Zura wanted for a squad. Their behavior is less predictable compared to wolves (which was the second option for the name). So yeah, a lethal coyote gang. Well now the members. The COYOTES.

(Forgot to note that her heels add more to her height as it's obvious so if her height isn't consistent... yeah)

So I didn't draw Touya's cat (Gray) or June's cat (Gingerbread), but Gray has "Sleeping Magic" (doesn't talk like Geister) and Gingerbread is just a normal cat. Anyways, These are an updated version, so here's some notes: -Before Hera becoming a captain together with Zura, her cape had a "round back" like the one Kai's wearing on the sheet, since she was the vice captain. Of course after becoming a captain, she changed for the one with the same back as Zura and Kai changed for the Vice Captain cape. -The outside members (Shau and Linus) have a different rope and Damon has one for his size but it's still different from the regular members' ropes.

-Geister (human) didn't want a rope so he just has the symbol on his suit. -When I created the characters, I gave them mainly madeup or japanese surnames (and some first names too) however I did want to change that... but I also wanted to honour my 15y ass so I kept it... anyways Kai would be Spanish (as the surname can tell ofc); Hera doesn't really have a place where she could be from since she is from the Witches' Forest; Touya would be Finnish; The twins would be Mexican; Geister would be British; Linus would be Belgian; Shau and Damon would be Italian (no they are not related); June doesn't really have a place she would be from;

-Damon, Shau and Linus were recently added to the squad (2022-2023) -Some characters have a "?" on their sexuality, since they aren't straight but don't exactly have a clear definition like Ryu, Touya, Hera and Zura. In other words, it doesn't take a big part... However Shau and Linus are kind of a suspicious duo- -In a possible Timeskip, Damon is the captain of a new squad called "Raven Crows" (yes I wanted to play on words and it sounds like "Ravenclaw") and he is dating Marie; Geister would be now Damon's caretaker; Zura would still be around in Magic Knight stuff but Kai would be the Captain of the Sangria Coyote; Hera would still be around but not involved as much in Magic Knight stuff but I do see her being a teacher; Touya and the twins would still be Coyotes; Shau and Linus I see them living in other Kingdom having their own journey but they would visit Damon; June would have her own squad too and be the "Aloe Sylphs"; sorry for the long post

#black clover #black clover fanart #black clover art #fan art #oc #ocs #oc info #my ocs #black clover oc #oc art

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sneakydraws · 1 year

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i wanna see fifty five goldfinch pieces 💔💔

OKAY!! So I have this little series I like to call the great decompartmentalisation of Theo decker... Let me walk you through it. I promise there's art after the massive paragraph of meandering analysis alright

You know how Theo's life is segmented into these distinct episodes? And how he himself is split into multiple different identities, and how much shame and fear there is associated with the idea of those identities mixing? For example: the straight a student living a completely, delusionally idyllic life with his adoring mother and the vanilla teenage troublemaker breaking into people's summer homes with his shady homoerotic bestie. When the two identities come into contact via his suspension, it leads to the most traumatic event in Theo's life, and honestly I suspect that might be the origin of this tendency towards compartmentalisation... I could go through the whole book here but the most prominent examples are Theo panicking at the thought of Mrs Barbour or his therapist finding out about Hobie, his cutting himself off from New York when in Vegas with his other shady homoerotic bestie (the amount of times Vegas is compared to an alien planet...) and his dual post timeskip identifies of charming antiques salesman/fraudulent art stealing junkie. And this often manifests in Theo's reluctance to let people from his different periods interact - see him rushing to stop Boris from talking to Pippa, and him keeping Hobie in the dark about the blackmail, and isn't it kind of weird that the barbours - Theo's soon to be legal family - don't really interact with Hobie and Pippa? Anyway. Basically I thought it would be cool to make a series of little vignettes of theo allowing the people and places and things that represent various versions of Him to interact and thus symbolically healing the disconnected parts of himself... Or something. I have more ideas scribbled down but somehow the only ones I ended up with proper art for is the various holidays (which, holidays are also a weirdly prevalent theme in tgf? Idk whats up with that but it's a good tool for this purpose) so we have:

Christmas Eve at Boris's, featuring Pippa and Hobie - I feel kinda bad for only ever portraying Boris with polish customs but let's be real I'm just using him to show off my own heritage lol. In Poland the main Xmas celebrations happen on Xmas Eve, traditionally with the appearance of the first star in the sky. You eat the mostly inoffensive barszcz as well some truly vile shit, such as mushroom and cabbage dumplings, mushroom and cabbage salad, other items made of mushrooms and cabbage, and finally the most disgusting dish of my life: Jewish style carp. No, it's not quite the same thing as gefiltefish, although that's the Wikipedia page you might use to get to the actual dish. All washed down with compote which I hate. You also break and eat communion wafers while wishing each other stuff, which Pippa is doing with popchyk here hehe

Christmas breakfast as a little bonus despite it not having much of a tradition - I associate it with lots of hams/cured meats, gherkins and maybe Tatar sauce (yum). Much superior to the Xmas dinner imho. Really I just wanted Theo and Boris to have a moment to themselves haha

Christmas proper at the barbours, featuring Boris and Tom cable! I could talk about all the tension and who's diffusing it but honestly I think y'all can draw your own conclusions lol. I just think it would be really funny for the infamous dis-engaged couple to each bring their delinquent boytoys and for Boris the drug dealer to actually come out looking superior

Vegetarian friendly Thanksgiving at Hobie's, as tradition requires! I think he'd love to throw one of his big Thanksgiving parties purely for all of Theo's families to get to know each other... you know, kind of an elaboration on that Thanksgiving illustration I drew a while back! This would be before all the Christmases I think. Boris is winning Mrs Barbour over with his roguish charm lol I think old ladies would like him... Theo in the corner freaking the hell out as per this project's mission statement lmao

And on a slightly different note I wanted Theo Pippa and Hobie to all visit weltys grave. I'm borrowing slightly from the polish tradition of all saint's day, when you clean, decorate and light candles on the graves of loved ones.

#the goldfinch #theodore decker #pippa blackwell #james hobart #boris pavlikovsky #kitsey barbour #samantha barbour #platt barbour #toddy barbour #popchyk #featuring: toddy as the eternal peacekeeper and also mrs Barbours dogs #whose breeds i cant be bothered to check lol #boreo #tom cable #ask #anonymous

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mytragedyperson · 2 years

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I feel like I tricked myself into liking kageyama. Like it kinda went from like kinda liking him, preferring him over to hinata because I felt like I could relate more but he wasn't my favourite character or anything. And then I thought about his character more and read some good angst fanfiction and now he's kind of one 9f my favourite characters, but I can't decide if I actually like the Canon version or the version I made up in my head.

And then I tricked myself into shipping tsukikage. Like don't get me wrong enemies to lovers is great but tsukikage man. Like they'd be an absolute power couple. Everyone would be scared of them. They'd judge and insult people so much, most of the time kageyama insults people without meaning to. And how annoyed they'd be when they realise they like the other, they'd hate it, and you know they'd both be too stubborn and prideful to admit they like the other first and would probably just end up kissing while bickering or something. Like I didn't watch haikyuu to ship tsukikage but thinking of them together brings me so much joy.

And oikage or iwaoikage, if I want angst I go to these and yet the ones where they're not sulfate AUs and they just get together later in life when they're both more mature are some of my favourite fics. Like I rarely read angst but when I do it usually includes oikage. The missed opportunities, the Canon relationship, the unrequited love turned requited love. Like God kageyama crushing on oikawa in middle school but thinking he just admires him as a setter. Kageyama realising his feelings by his first year in highschool. Oikawa being jealous of and thinking he hates kageyama but also being proud of him and just can't bring himself to completely ignore or stay away from him. Then post timeskip nothing much has changed. They pretend not to care while keeping up with each other's careers or lives. And after the Olympics Argentina vs Japan game they get together. Being a multishipper is hell in this fandom honestly.

Also kageyama and sakusa friendship is great but there are to SakuKage fanfics on AO3 where they try to make atsuhina jealous and end up falling in love and one of them is probably one of my favourite fanfictions. Like don't get me wrong I love atsukage and I can tolerate kagehina but the SakuKage in this fix was so cute and well written (maybe not in character) it really left me no choice but to ship. Also atsumu fake dating hinata to make sakusa jealous only for sakusa to start fake dating kageyama to make him jealous, leading to sakusa falling in love with kageyama., theres just something so beautifully tragic in that, like your own actions causing the end of what could've been a beautiful relationship. It's kinda like (but actually completely different) to Babushaka by Kate Bush, you know the song where she tests her husband by pretending to be someone else and flirting with him, only for her husband to fall in love because she reminds him of her (his wife) when they were happy together. Also I tried to tag sakukage but it didn't appear to ba a tag yet and that made me kinda sad

#haikyuu!!#kageyama tobio #tsukikage #oikage #oikawa tooru #tsukishima kei #sakukage #sakusa kiyoomi

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ladyandherbooks · 11 months

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So this week I got a sudden urge to rewatch some of Voltron (only the Lotor scenes and episodes minus the Lotura break up, Romelle's Lotor backstory and Lotor's break down, I'll never be in the mood to rewatch them) and here are some of my thoughts since its been 5 years since this shows cataclysmic end.

The Lotor vs Zarkon fight is still great 5 years on. The best fight in the show by far.

Lotor's escape from Zarkon in season 4 is also great and one of the best examples of his skills as a pilot.

Lotor really was one of the most powerful characters on this show. He went up against so many foes who had a huge advantage against him and still managed to come out on top.

The Galra civil war with Lotor and Sendak as the leaders on either side with Honerva/Haggar plotting and manipulating from the shadows should have been of the main storyline post Lotor's ascension to the throne. They could have done so much with it.

For example, the reasons why certain Galran controlled planets and Galrans would choose either Lotor or Sendak. Perhaps some half or part Galra choose to follow Sendak and the paladins try to find out why. And some Galrans may only choose Lotor because they want to be on the winning side and believe that they will be rewarded for doing so. You could see a range of reasons as why certain Galrans chose a specific side and why.

There needed to be more focus on the prejudices faced by half and part Galra and what Lotor and his generals being in power would mean for the future of the empire.

Speaking of the generals, there really should have been 2 episodes dedicated to Team Sincline's backstory. We should have seen how they all met and how they became so close. And only 1 break up between them, when they reunited in season 6 they should have stayed together.

Speaking of staying I'm now imagining a better version of Lotor's break down. Allura defeats Lotor in space, not in the quintessence field. But when they (Voltron) approach Lotor to retrieve him Lotor, injured and still in the midst of a breakdown gets one more burst of energy and he tries to take them down only to be stopped at the last second by his generals who, knowing that Lotor wasn't truly himself quickly snuck back into the Sincline mech. They subdue him, take control of Sincline and flee before the paladins can react. They then take Lotor somewhere safe to hide out and help him. You could even include the 2 year timeskip and have Lotor be in such a bad way physically, emotionally and mentally that it takes him 2 years to heal and recover. Can you imagine how great that would have been? The angst, the emotions, the friendship, the fact that Axca, Ezor and Zethrid refuse to give up on him no matter how bad he gets in those 2 years. Add in Dayak at some point and it would be great.

Also Axca, Zethrid and Ezor should have learnt about what Haggar did to Narti in season 4 and Lotor should have also provided them with an explanation as well.

We should have also have seen Team Sincline fight in their mech at least once per season.

The show really did suffer from the split seasons from seasons 3 - 5. I know that LM and JDS had a set number of episodes but these seasons would have been better if they had all been 13 eps each. That way they could have explored all their storylines without the rush.

Too many cool and interesting concepts introduced but never explained or explored e.g. Lotor using the black bayard and being able to create 2 different weapons with it.

The moment that Honerva/Haggar remembered that Lotor is her son is still a great emotional moment.

The colony was a good idea that was executed with very little planning or care. It could have been a really good plot point to create a temporary rift between Lotor and the paladins e.g. have the reveal happen at the beginning of season 6, have a season or possibly 2 of angst and then have them work together again after Lotor has atoned in some way. Lotor could provide his actual explanation of what happened to the other Altaeans, the alliance would have remained intact just with the added rift between the paladins and Lotor where the paladins would still help Lotor stop the civil war but they would keep their distance and would only meet with him in public. Then once they had all truly reunited Allura and Lotor finally become a couple.

Also have their relationship be used against them by Sendak and his supporters who believe that this is evidence that they will soon be ruled by non-Galra and the hypocrisy in this belief considering how many planets and people the Galra rule.

#Lotor #vld #Voltron #just some rewatch feelings

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dailybrandonrogers · 1 year

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BRCU Timeline Ramble

I'm creating this as a reference point for any of the major events we have canon dates/time-frames for. I apologise that this will be very disjointed so I'd like to make an offical list eventually too.

Just for clarification, these are the timelines I'll be mentioning.

Pre-BtH Timeline - "Old/Original Timline"

The British Timeline

The Elmer Revolution Timeline

Post-BtH Timeline - "Current/New Timeline"

Bryce Tankthrust's Presidency

In the Post-BtH Timeline, we know that Bryce Tankthrust became president in the 2016 election (in BtH, a subtitle states that it was 2020, however this has been retconned and I stand firm with it being 2016 instead.) In the 2020 election, Bryce Tankthrust lost to Joe Biden, and the events of Madam Ex President ensue. From this, we know that Madam Ex President takes place after November 2020. Episode 3 of Normal British Series also corroborates that Bobby Worst was kidnapped after Bryce lost the election, meaning it's a safe assumption that Episode 5 and the non-flashback segments of Episode 4 take place in 2021.

In Normal British Series, we also find out that the Mingeworthies stole Queen Elizabeth II's ring in 2016, and Episodes 1 through to 3 before the 4-year timeskip all take place in 2016. Moreover, we can actually narrow this down to the Mingeworthies being well and truly British in Episode 1 by November 2020, as Bryce's election campaign advertisement specifically mentions "voting for me (Bryce) this November."

A Day At The Beach

We know A Day At The Beach takes place August 3rd, 2018 in the pre-BtH timeline, which is also mentioned in episode 5 of BtH (A Botched Beach (ABB)). Ep5 of BtH is the second time we see the events of ADATB, this time in "the British timeline" even though Blame technically arrived before the Mingeworthies could obtain the time machine, go back to 1865, and initiate the British timeline in the first place. This is gonna get really confusing, but now I'm going to talk about how this impacts all of Blame's iterations. To avoid further confusion, I'm going to refer to the collective setting of ADATB and ABB as simply "The Beach" and unless otherwise specified I'll be specifically referring to the depiction of the Beach in ABB.

Firstly, we have a good reference point to keep track of the two Blames seen at the beach:

The "main character" Blame who we've been following in BtH up until ABB has the colourful Jesus tattoo, while the "original" Blame who showed up to remove his tattoo still has the gang sign. Moreover, the "original Blame wears a chunky gold chain. I'll be referring to them as MC Blame and Original Blame respectively.

However, we also two versions of the time machine too: MC Blame's time machine, and Original Blame's time machine. The MC time machine gets smashed to bits by Lord Mingeworthy in ABB, forcing MC Blame to steal Original Blame's time machine. After ABB, the only time machine left in existence in the Original one.

In ABB, after some persuasion, the Original Blame comes to the conclusion that MC Blame needs the time machine more than he does, and decides to stay in 2018 to "get a second chance at life." This is the Blame that we see in Stuff & Sam, which occurs (chronologically) after the events Blame the Hero, as well as in any subsequent Brandon Rogers videos. At this point in ABB, MC Blame has already prevented the British timeline from occurring, and has allowed Tattoo Shop Elmer to become educated on the time machine's lore. This means that even before the Eldest Elmer has physically initiated the Elmer Revolution via nuclear b0mb in 2033, the "Elmer Revolution" timeline has already began. (Also note, Tattoo Shop Elmer and the Eldest Elmer are the same person in the most literal way possible.) I'm gonna go over everything to do with the Elmers in another post (likely after the next episode of BRYCE which will hopefully reveal some context and implications about what became of the Elmers in the post-BtH timeline) because figuring out how Stuff & Sam takes place after Blame the Hero despite it having explicitly pre-BtH events is gonna take a lot of brainpower.

We know that Sebastian Hernandez is the "real/correct" iteration of Blame that is meant to exist in 2018. He is canonically 7 in 2018, which means he was born in 2011. This also matches up with Blame's age, who is 22 in 2033. Due to the time travel Debacle, the Original Blame is also 22 in 2018. MC Blame is the one who goes on to become Grandpa, as MC Blame is ALSO 22 in 1942 (as indicated by the title cards in episode 6 of BtH). It is Donna (in WW2) that gives Blame the new identity of George (aka Grandpa) after serving his extensive head trauma. Physically, Grandpa would be 96 in ATATB in 2018. However, now we unfortunately need an explanation for how he was around in pre-BtH timeline. The same could technically be said for the depiction of Blame in "Thug got Secrets," however there's nothing in that video that disproves it taking place in 2033, right before Blame purchases the time machine. This is definitely a headcanon for the sake of simplicity, but I think it make enough sense as an easy explanation. At this point, MC and Original Blame would essentially be one in the same person, but if you wanted to be very specific, you could say TGS Blame is MC Blame.

Thank you so much if you read all that, let me know if there's something I left out an alternative explanation for anything! I love to hear other perspectives on the timelines.

#brandon rogers #bryce tankthrust #brandon rogers bryce tankthrust #normal british series #brcu #blame the hero #brandon rogers blame #stuff & sam #brandon rogers elmer #elmer phitts #brandon rogers grandpa #brandon rogers sebastian Hernandez #sebastian hernandez #brcu timeline #Timelineramblings

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fantasyinvader · 2 months

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I was thinking about something.

The devs talked about how they hoped that players would immerse themselves into Fodlan, while Claude's route talks about how by getting to know someone by spending time with them you can clear up misconceptions you may have about them. I feel like these two aspects are supposed to go hand-in-hand, that we are supposed to have misconceptions early on about Fodlan and those misconceptions are cleared up by playing the various routes. That's what the red herrings surrounding Rhea and the Church are for, we are meant to distrust them early on but as we play we are meant to come to realize that they are the good guys just like Claude does in Verdant Wind. After all, the devs did also confirm that Fodlan was written to support Silver Snow's story, a route where the player leads the Church and the only one they can S support Rhea.

But that also means the world was built around the fact that Edelgard was a twist villain. The idea that Edelgard is a good guy is the misconception, as when you play her route and get to know her some red flags pop up. These red flags reveal the truth about her.

For all her talk about “merit,” she takes credit for Byleth's leadership and will end up appointing Caspar to lead the Imperial army. In the Japanese script, this means she put someone in charge of the army who can't keep them under control as they invade other countries. Likewise, Dorothea isn't given any title or status, in Flower she's not even listed as a general unlike the noble students.

For all Edelgard talks about history being corrupted, it's confirmed even before you find out about the knowledge that supposedly is passed down emperor to emperor that Edelgard's father was an Agarthan puppet. Edelgard will still tell you this version of history even after that event revealed that she knew the truth about her father and the experiments. So either Edelgard is knowingly ignoring the truth or just straight up lying. And considering how she lies repeatedly in Flower as well as her path being called out as the Animal Path in the Japanese, it could be either one. Of course, this stands in contrast to Claude and his evolving view on the Church in Wind.

And if you finish her route and S support her, in the Japanese she calls her path the path of supremacy, aka hadou, while Claude does the same thing in Verdant Wind. So Edelgard's methods in Flower are the same as the Edelgard you'd fight in Wind, such as how it's mentioned that she uses Demonic Beasts as “war assets.” And considering that Byleth's sword, called Sword of the Emperor of Heaven in Japan, is linked to the whole hadou thing it's pointing out that Byleth's duty was to remove Edelgard from power, not support her, which adds another layer to them losing Nirvana and the ability to use the Sword at the end of Flower. Hell, Edelgard's “Hero's Relic” is really an Agarthan tool to boot. She says that her path is no longer that of hadou in that support, now walking together with Byleth... but she's been shown to be a liar and that S support doesn't change the endings talking about invading other countries or Hubert's secret police. And, she still consolidates power on herself rather than give it to the people.

The game is written with Edelgard being the villain, and joining her means the player is still acting on their initial impression of her.

But there's also an aspect of this to Claude. In his support with Cyril, Cyril's first impression of Claude was someone who would smack down anyone if he needed to before Cyril gets to know Claude and see that he's not that different from Rhea. But then you look at Hopes, where in Wildfire Hilda's support post-timeskip with Claude has her initially see him as a free spirit who'd leave someone else in charge like he does at the end of Wind. Hilda is known to be good at reading people, hence why she doesn't join Edelgard, and she read Claude as the same type of person he was in Houses only for Claude to do the unexpected and crown himself King of the Federation. Considering that many players expected the same and the devs confirmed they wrote Claude and the Deer out of character, it's a sign that the Claude post-timeskip is a very different person than the Claude we knew. A Claude, according to his shadow, that is merely pretending to be the good guy, meaning that deep in his heart Claude knows he's the bad guy in Hopes.

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bronyinabottle · 10 months

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Gauging interest for something...

Hey everyone, I thought I'd put up something of a poll that might bring something of a change for both I Dream of Twilight Sparkle and Geniequestria.

Asks and/or Submissions have become so rare at least from my side of Tumblr. And I miss having some sort of community input. Right now both IDOTS and Geniequestria seem to be just on my part... putting up the next story... but I don't want the more small-talk and/or interaction to just disappear. As such...

What I'm considering, is opening sideblogs each for both IDOTS and Geniequestria. Where they are purely roleplay blogs with text only replies to questions and/or interactions. I know it may be odd to just now have a more public roleplay come into play for IDOTS when the blog is more than a decade old. But it also provides some opportunity to sort of flesh out further and/or put up some more awareness of the AUs that take up both I Dream of Twilight Sparkle and Geniequestria each.

Though one more thing I want to note before getting to the details. I am a bit... nervous about opening up roleplay to both so publicly. As I know some roleplays can end up with nasty behavior. If I feel like someone is starting to be too mean or too attempting to be controlling of where a story is going. I withhold a right to end an interaction at any moment. Please be kind and considerate as possible. If this turns out to be more trouble than it's worth, I also withhold the right to just deactivate the roleplay side blogs. But I certainly hope it never has to come to that.

If you're interested enough, I want to make them separate blogs so they don't clutter the main pages since I know some roleplays can come across many, many, many reblogs. Wouldn't want those who just want to see the stories and/or asks I've done for both, and have to climb through pages of roleplay. And as for how each would work...

If I Dream of Twilight Sparkle gets a roleplay spin-off blog...

It'd open up for many of the characters in the IDOTS/Ask Genie Twilight universe. It wouldn't just be with Genie Twilight, Spike, and/or Starlight. Recent stories has made it so a much larger cast is capable of being interacted with. Just name a character (Though preferably a recurring canon character, one of the few OC's that are involved in IDOTS, or significant one-shot characters that I've featured in recent stories) and I can see what I can do

Maybe even some room to expand towards the Genie Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Sci-Twi from Ain't Never Had Friends Like Us as well if it's requested.

These would be mostly wholesome interactions. Many of which that would fit in line with the show. Although certainly some subjects could go dark (Ex: Talking to any of the spirits of the deceased like Applejack's parents about death for example) in tone.

Also, if you've been paying attention to the recent Earnest Empathetic Change story. You'd see that there's a timeskip by about 10 years. You won't be restricted to these future versions of the characters however. If you want to specifically talk to a more... present day version of the character (As in Post-S9 and probably shortly after Secrets of the Dragon's Tear) you'd fully have that option.

Just pick a character you'd like to interact with from the IDOTS AU, decide whether you want the Post-Ending of the End/SOTDT version or the 10 year timeskip version of the characters depicted in Earnest Empathetic Change. And we can arrange something.

If Geniequestria gets a roleplay spin-off blog...

It'd fall under many of the same rules that are in the pinned post over on Geniequestria. Although one big difference is, there's no promises that the interactions are canon to the story if you're portraying a character that hasn't had a story yet on Geniequestria. They may at least influence something whenever a certain character is brought up. But otherwise many canon character interactions with a Geniequestria genie would be more like a what if scenario that may or may not come to play later. (For any G5 fans who are roleplayers, yes this opens up the what if scenario depicted in the story from last September when the Mane 5 were genified as a possible scenario)

And if an OC is interacting with a Geniequestria character. Especially if it's with one of the genies. The interaction is mainly going to be about getting them to genify your OC. Potentially, this could result in eventually a visualization of your OC as a genie made by myself. But I can't promise that'd come too quickly after we've interacted. And just like how I mentioned in the pinned post, if I end up visualizing your OC as a genie. I will do only one of them. Do not roleplay with me purely to get all your OCs genified with sprite art.

As for what characters would be opened up. Basically anyone who's currently a genie (Which you can check over here to see who is, though it's everyone but Nova and Ember currently. As those are friends of mine's OCs). You do have the option of interacting with some of the non-genies. But I'm unsure if anyone would be going to interact with an AU called Geniequestria if they weren't here to speak to the genies. I figure that's kind of the main draw for interactions, especially as more and more characters are genified.

Many of the same do's or do not's are in play as in the pinned post. No god-modding your OC out of genification, or no helping the remaining non-genie members of the Mane 6 after genification. OCs are still not allowed to impact the main story too much. Even if it's in-character for your OC to disagree with Starlight's methods per se. It's not up to them to get her to change. And fighting her post-genification would only lead to a stalemate. (And in most cases, your OC should feel too good to outright deny everything Starlight says. That's kind of the nature of genifications in Geniequestria. Even the most reluctant change their tune once they've felt the transformation)

The tone of Geniequestria to far more mature subjects that are normally too much for IDOTS. But I also must warn that I don't want to go too far off the handle. Even as it seems Tumblr has sort of let-up in some regards to mature content. What with the whole "Are you sure?" screens. I don't want to get involved with roleplays involving explicit descriptions of sex, nor any mention of genitals or er... certain bodily fluids. Try to keep it in tone with Geniequestria stories where yes, naughtiness gets very much implied... but never too explicitly described and/or happening offscreen.

Also, reminder that any filly and colt-aged character was aged up by a wish in an earlier part of the story. And all male characters are Rule 63'd/become mares before or at the same time that they're transformed into genies. Any and all characters involved in the genification part of Geniequestria will become adult mares as Genies. That's a strict rule that I hope can be abided. In short... No filly-aged genies, and no male genies once transformed.

________________________________________

Anyhow, I can now show the poll. I'd like your feedback if any of you would be interested in either of these.

#mod post #i dream of twilight sparkle #geniequestria #poll #roleplay #mlp roleplay #my little pony #my little pony friendship is magic #g4 #generation 4 #my little pony roleplay

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