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oshiawaseni · 1 year

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“Are you alright? Can you stand up?” The day Katsuki upheaved the status quo!

These panels of Katsuki learning Izuku was the only person still unconscious and fighting through pain and restraint to see him are honestly among my favourite Katsuki scenes and it was probably right here when I first realised how deeply he cared for Izuku and when the reality of this ship really hit me.

Something so fundamental had changed in him. It was like he had fully accepted Izuku into his heart, accepted his feelings for him and no longer wanted to leave his side anymore. These hospital scenes perfectly encapsulate how much he now loved and valued Izuku.

Ever since the moment he thought he might lose Izuku, Katsuki became overwhelmed with urgency to be by his side and to apologise for everything but Izuku was in a coma and so Katsuki had no outlet for those feelings. He expressed his worry for Izuku with anger and feral rage, it didn’t take much to look past that. All I could see was his love. It truly was the birth of a new Katsuki. Except rather than new, it felt more like something long buried was waking inside Katsuki that had simply always been there.

Sadly, these renewed feelings towards Izuku he was finally embracing were only met with Izuku running away from own feelings towards Katsuki, leaving them behind in a bid to not bring Kacchan more pain from getting involved in his fated fight against AFO. When actually... it was far more painful for him that Izuku left him behind...

Bkdk’s feelings for each other, that should be bringing them closer together, sadly have a tendency to tear them apart. It’s a recurring dynamic of theirs. AFO using Izuku and Katsuki’s feelings of closeness with one another to punish them and physically ripping them apart as a result of those feelings is another huge example of this. And then there is the river incident.

There is kinda an uncanny parallel that can be found between this scene and Katsuki’s hospital scenes when he finds out Izuku can’t stand up. Izuku responds to Katsuki’s distress with kindness, and Katsuki responds to Izuku’s distress with anger... but what’s at the very core of both reactions is unmistakeably the same...

Katsuki fell in the river and was so moved and intimidated by Izuku’s kindness, he didn’t know how to process that feeling. Take this exact scene they had, but place it in another manga. It’s actually what should be the beginning of falling in love with someone, not pushing that person away. I think that is why Katsuki’s mind often goes back to this scene.

While he is regretting his actions from this point on in their history, I think he also came to realise that his love for Izuku started right there, in that river. It was the moment Katsuki acknowledged Izuku’s kindness and strength that is different from his own… though cherishing Izuku and his caring, gentle heart only really caught up to him when they made it into high school together, somewhat cleared up his misunderstandings and grew close again.

This is a major reason why I think these two will be the canon couple. It’s clear as day that they both love each other to pieces, but the way they’ve handled this love for each other has been so repeatedly bad. Even fate doesn’t allow them to discover how much they both affect each other. It has me believing in the day their feelings will connect and this pattern of running away from what’s right in front of them will at long last come to an end. That they’ll open their hearts to one another, feel what they each want to give and accept it completely.

#bakudeku #bnha meta #i can't wait for these hospital scenes to get animated #lots of anime onlys are gonna see what we see :))#bakudeku is canon #bkdk canon #op #kacchan loves deku #deku loves kacchan #fave #I say 'grew close again' but... Izuku probably always felt close to kacchan on his end #that part about them makes my heart ache lol #fate = horikoshi.. AND HES BEEN DOING THIS TO THEM ON PURPOSE T_T Stopppp #must read meta

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selfish-solace · 6 months

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"why cant i romance nick valentine" simple answer the public wont like:

#op #not canon btw #just in my heart #fallout 4 #nick valentine

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taizi · 8 months

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could you write something about the crew saving sanji from captivity, like maybe he was caught by marines or somthing, and they hadnt been feeding him, and the crew gets to cook for sanji for once or something like that?

It made sense that they would run into a halfway intelligent Marine grunt sooner or later.

“You don’t fight with your hands much,” he said, opening the file on the table in between them. “Weak arms? Nah, I’ve never heard of a sailor with weak arms. There must be another reason.”

He wasn’t anyone special. Sanji was familiar enough with the uniforms by now to tell at a glance that he wasn’t decorated the way the real heavy hitters were. Chief Petty Officer, maybe. Warrant Officer at best.

Sanji was a Straw Hat. He wasn’t going to break a sweat for anyone less than a Vice-Admiral. He made sure to say as much, to clear up any misunderstandings. The officer didn’t appreciate hearing it for some reason.

He put out a hand without looking up from the file. A guard by the door stepped forward and placed something in his palm.

It was a ball-peen hammer.

“You’re the cook. That’s why you protect your hands. You wouldn’t have a place in that famous crew of yours if you lost those.”

“Well, you’re partly right, at least,” Sanji admitted. “For someone stupid enough to spectacularly piss my captain off, that’s far more than I expected.”

The extraction team arrived in the form of an unhinged skeleton and a six-foot-tall reindeer that tossed his knife-point antlers hard enough to put a decent-sized hole in the doorframe, but only after two fingers were mangled on Sanji’s right hand and one was freshly broken on his left.

The officer whirled around at the sudden appearance of uninvited company—surprised for just a moment, and then gray-faced with fear.

“About time,” Sanji snarked, and wrenched his shackled hands hard enough that the chain links binding him to the floor snapped. He stood, stretched his spine, and flicked a disinterested look at the Marine officer, who went melting towards the back of the room on legs that wobbled like jelly. Disregarding him, Sanji added, “Did Robin have time to get those files she wanted? I stalled for ages.”

For a beat, neither of his nakama answered him. Then Brook’s jaw made a cracking noise like a gunshot, the way it does when he’s grinding his teeth, and Chopper shrieked, “Your hands!!”

Sanji glanced down at them. “Oh, yeah. Our mutual friend over there wasn’t very creative.”

It hurt like a bitch, but it was far from the worst thing he’d ever felt. If it had gone much further, he might have seriously considered deviating from the plan, but a few broken bones? His brothers used to do that just for fun.

Brook tossed his guitar over his shoulder, where it hung against his back by the strap looped across his chest, and withdrew his sword instead.

“I can be very creative,” he said, sing-song.

“We’re leaving!” Chopper proclaimed, and herded Sanji toward the door with his antlers. Sanji went, amused by the pushiness.

It’s much less amusing an hour later, when his fingers are splinted and wrapped carefully, and Chopper tells him in no uncertain terms that he’s banned from work until Chopper’s satisfied with how they’ve healed.

Sanji agrees easily, because Chopper is equal parts adorable and terrifying when it comes to the health and safety of their family. But when he slips into the galley to begin preparing supper, the reindeer is right on his heels, scolding, “Sanji! That’s work!”

“Hardly,” he scoffs. Then, “Wait, are you serious?”

Chopper throws up his little hooves, as exasperated as any healthcare professional four times his age. “Why would I joke? Your bones are broken. Put down that spatula or I’ll scream!”

Sanji puts down the spatula. He’s never felt this wrong-footed before in his life. What does one do in a kitchen they aren’t allowed to cook in? He shifts his weight and looks sideways at the pantry.

“Oh my god,” Nami says. She points at the table. “Sit.”

“This feels kind of absurd,” he says.

“So it’s completely on-brand, then,” Usopp says, frog-marching him to a chair. “Good to know.”

Sanji lets himself be bullied with a scowl, and tucks his hands under the table where they can’t get him into any more trouble. Zoro, from the other side of the table, snorts into his tankard. Carrot drapes herself over Sanji’s shoulders, faux-sympathetic, but her chest rumbles with subvocal animal laughter. Franky and Jimbei are grinning openly.

It’s not funny. It’s time to eat. After all that action, their bodies need to replenish nutrients. They need carbs and proteins. He could at least be making smoothies while everyone argues with him—he can multitask!

Luffy, whose face has been a thundercloud ever since they returned to Sunny, leaving the Marine base actively on fire in their wake, brightens suddenly.

“I got it!” he announces, and that’s his trainwreck tone of voice. The very familiar, always inevitable, ‘you can try to stop me but it’ll just end in tears if you do’ tone of voice. Sanji braces himself, but nothing could have prepared him for Luffy cheerfully declaring, “We’ll make dinner!”

“Uh, no,” Sanji says quickly.

“Captain’s orders,” Robin says peacefully.

She was angry with him before—in that careful, soft-spoken way she gets angry with her nakama that always leaves them feeling lower than dirt—for letting himself get hurt in even this unremarkable capacity. But now she meets his eyes with a smile that only the people aboard this ship are privileged to see, and he fumbles his half of the argument before he even has a chance to make it.

Within that time, half his crew have migrated to the kitchen proper, and Nami is heaving open the huge recipe book that lives in place of pride on the counter.

“Hey, hey, Sanji!” Luffy yells. “What do you want to eat?”

“This is really unnecessary,” he says, shifting to stand. Carrot becomes deadweight on his back, dangling there like the world’s weirdest scarf.

“We’ll survive without five star food for a few days,” Jimbei says dryly. “If I were you, I’d answer their question before they take matters into their own hands and decide for you.”

In the kitchen, things are already rapidly devolving. There’s a lot of clamoring around and shoving of shoulders. This crew would never agree on anything they couldn’t argue about for hours first. Luffy clambers up onto Yamato’s back to get a bird’s-eye view of the recipe book, stretching an arm over Nami’s own shoulder to point out every dish that catches his eye. Yamato is a cheerful, agreeable jungle-gym, not even batting an eye when Luffy’s grip on one of his horns causes his head to tilt slowly to the left.

If Sanji had known letting that measly little officer play his shitty power games would end like this, he would have kicked the creep in the mouth hard enough to shut him up permanently.

He taps his bandaged fingers against his knees, frustrated and restless. Normally his friends’ stubbornness is weaponized against other people. He doesn’t like being on this end and he doesn’t understand why it’s happening.

“They want it to be special for you,” Zoro says suddenly, interjecting for the first time all night with that infallible wisdom he likes to pull out of thin air when it suits him. Then he takes another drink and adds, “God knows why.”

There’s nothing Sanji can do for a moment but stare at him. From the corner of his eye, he can see Robin and Jimbei’s knowing smiles, Franky looking as though he’s about to laugh. Carrot is still purring, tickled pink by the whole thing. All around them, Sunny shifts and groans as she bears them across the sea, and somehow it sounds like she’s in on it, too.

Sanji, who can’t remember the last time anyone cooked for him, refuses to feel touched. Honestly. This isn’t touching, it’s goddamn annoying—but he might as well let them have their fun, right?

“French toast,” he finally says. Not very loud, all things considered. But the anarchy in the kitchen comes to a sudden halt, and Luffy’s smile is bright enough to put that sun god lurking inside him to shame.

“With strawberries and cream,” he says importantly. “I remember! Sanji’s favorite!”

“Oh, that sounds good,” Yamato exclaims, still standing at a weird angle and unbothered by it. Next to him, Brook is imitating the pose, for no immediately apparent reason. “Do we have strawberries?”

“Strawberries!” Chopper yells, in what is either accord or a demand, and Usopp opens the fridge to investigate.

Sanji lets his chin sink into one of his hands, overseeing the chaos from his seat at the table. That itchy, uneasy feeling in his chest settles down. Now he just feels reluctantly fond.

He can’t help thinking about what the officer said to him back on the base.

Sanji is a cook, and he does protect his hands, but that’s the extent of what the self-important stranger got correct. Luffy would drag him back from hell if he died, so the idea of being cut free because his usefulness has expired is outright laughable. Sanji doesn’t need to secure his place here.

The reality is much simpler—providing food for the people that he loves is a privilege, one he doesn’t take lightly. It just honestly hadn’t occurred to him until now that the street goes both ways.

Dinner preparation takes twice as long as it should that night.

Somehow, it tastes twice as sweet.

#one piece #opfic #black leg sanji #tony tony chopper #nakamaship #my writing #op #prompt #anonymous #me pushing my french toast agenda #in my heart carrot and yamato joined the crew so thats why theyre both there #its canon to me and thats all that matters thanks for understanding #it isnt quite what u requested anon but i hope u like it anyway #food as a love language aka (one of) my ultimate weakness(es)

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moongothic · 1 month

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I'm watching Impel Down/Marineford for the first time (I know what happens but seeing the How is. painful. ouchie.) but I'm really loving how competent?? Croc is?? between reminding the escapees that 'we have cannons too' and calling them idiots for not knowing how to handle a tsunami and squaring up with a variety of heavy hitters. IDK it's just nice.

It is delightful! Especially considdering Crocodile had been living a life of luxury for well over a decade in Alabasta (not having to lift a finger to do anything and probably not going out to the sea much if at all) followed by spending an undisclosed amount of time in prison; like the man hasn't been participating in The Yar-Har Pirate Life in a long time, and yet he's such a veteran that all comes back out seemingly naturally. It's really impressive

But it just goes to show how independent Crocodile is (when he wants to), which makes sense. If the man doesn't trust others then it's very likely he's spent time alone even on the seas and could take of himself and whatever funny little boat he might've had. Like yes, having people who can do shit so he doesn't have to is nice and convenient (especially since there are things that would be a pain in the ass to do with just one hand, like the hook only helps so much), but like. Push comes to shove, he can handle it by himself.

Which would make him kind of a cute opposite to Luffy who 100% would not survive without friends around

#Moon posting #Asks #OP Meta #Sir Crocodile #Also this just brings out the wonderful mental images of... Domestic Croc #Crocodile cooking meals for himself... Doing the dishes... Folding laundry... Cleaning his little yacht...#I think I hauve covid #(Croc canonically does not have a little yacht but the mental image is funny to me so it's canon in my heart let me be)#On a less wholesome note what do you think guys. What're the odds Crocodile had to amputate/close his arm wound by himself #Me thinks quite likely

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lawomi · 2 months

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Heart Pirates depart from Zou! Part 2/2

What they see is... over here 🔞 BlueSky💃. ...She's genuinely an airhead. (Its on tumblr too now. Lol)

OC Omi is She/Any nonbinary

Blah blah blah... and brief devil fruit summary.

He gives in to Shachi and Penguin and lets her board, but with the catch that she's required to escort Nekomamushi! Of course, she stays... thanks to some situations I might draw. Oops.

Hito Hito No Mi: Model Werewolf gives a mink a semi-human form & boosts power + speed under Any moonlight.

Its awakening allows minks to sulong regardless of time or moon phase with the catch that it takes further intensive training to control compared to the typical sulong.

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dykelizard · 6 months

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hi yeah g-8 is actually the funniest anime filler of all time because this genius marine vice admiral is playing 4d transdimensional chess and thinks that the strawhats are too but luffy is actually just playing candyland while utterly oblivious about how this dude is literally doing mental gymnastics trying to figure out what his angle is. comedy fucking GOLD

#also im a total sucker for the “dressing up as the enemy and sneaking around their base” schtick soooo!#i am a proud filler enjoyer down to my core #its canon in my heart #g-8 arc #one piece #monkey d. luffy #1pc #op #straw hat luffy #txt

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geonij31 · 8 months

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(Legends) Organa-Solo Family Portraits

Han, Leia, Jacen, Jaina and Anakin :)

I was raised being told Han and Leia had three kids in the extended universe, and now I’m reading any “New Jedi Order” novel I can find in a thrift store. I love the Solo kids they’re insane.

#they’re canon in my heart #op Jedi with Han’s personality #it’s chaos #it’s beautiful #han solo #leia organa #star wars #star wars fanart #han solo fanart #leia organa fanart #fanart #han and leia #jacen solo #jaina solo #anakin solo #star wars legends #the new jedi order

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tinycurlyfry · 1 year

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Matching Scars

Drawn for Day 3 of Heart Pirates Week!

#I've had this drawing in my head for a long while now #I cannot stop thinking about both how both Penguin and Law have matching reattachment scars on their arm (if you count Novel Law as canon)#I imagine Penguin being shocked upon finding out but Law would just make a joke about how they match now #The heart pirates deflect with humor around each other #Penguin One Piece #Trafalgar Law #trafalgar d water law #One Piece #Heart Pirates #heartpiratesweek #heartpiratesweek2023 #Op fanart #myart

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r0semultiverse · 3 months

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Cursing & other wild things said/done in the Kingdom Hearts 1 manga that weren't in the game.

#it's just wild to me that these characters said some of this stuff #I'm over here reading everything in the character voices & then they start swearing 😂#I said in my other post I'd make a cursing compilation so here it is lol #kingdom hearts characters are so much fun in the manga #I know 'hell' isn't technically a curse word but in the west it's often considered one & there's no way they'd let them say that in kh1 #back in like 2007 or whatever lmao #please go read the final mix manga; it's such a gem!#donald leaving a lasting impression on sora & teaching him curse words on accident lmao love that #again this could all be a translator error but i find it absolutely hilarious if they curse in manga canon #I feel like Riku will drop an f bomb before Sora does; place your bets! lol I'll be making cursing compilations for the other kh manga too #kingdom hearts #mine #op

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sunbudc · 1 year

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equality :)

based on the edit @kuravix made for usopp and sanji's outfits in chapter 1064! go check them out ya goob. give them a follow even.

[ID: Two panels depicting Usopp from Shōnen Jump series One Piece by Eiichirō Oda.

A nearly full-body cell-shaded digital drawing of Usopp in his Egghead Island Arc outfit; however, this version has a heart-shaped hole over the chest and removes the pant sleeves entirely, leaving the bodysuit akin to a turtleneck leotard instead. Usopp is visibly laughing as if in conversation. He is set against a solid yellow background.

A close-up of Usopp's face of the drawing described in the first panel. End ID.]

#this may not be canon but it is in my heart okay #let me have this #also these futuristic boots are my worst enemy so i gave up a bit and just cut them off at the shin lmaooo #coby draws stuff #update: eventually just cropped the original image to better fit tumblr layout. this one is should be the better looking one btw #one piece #fanart #op usopp #god usopp

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dark-magical-ships · 2 years

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Y’all what was the post that led you to discover the self-shipping community? Was it the post itself, or a tag on it, or op’s url? How’d you find it in the first place?

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oshiawaseni · 1 year

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It ever just hit you how Katsuki spent most of his life cursing his rotten bond with Izuku that he couldn’t get rid of, until he was hit by the realisation he actually loves and needs Izuku so much that he would feel like he died himself if Izuku ever were to leave him

and then during a time when Izuku left him, Katsuki really did freaking die…?

The symbolism?? Like talk about a bond with love so strong, that person literally holds your life in their hands and you would willingly give it up for them a countless times over, without question.

Even though Katsuki was forced to endure so much suffering all on his own because of what he means to Izuku, he could choose only him in his final moments.

When one stares into death, often they will expose the true shape of their heart. For Katsuki that’s Izuku. It’s always been Izuku. In his search for comfort, he could see and feel no one else. Thinking of him, talking to him, longing to be by his side again… wanting for nothing other than to be the hero Izuku believes in and loves… right ‘til the very end.

Katsuki knew Izuku’s love was why he had been horrifically beaten down first and that he was going to die, but he held it so closely and dear to him, as if it were the most precious treasure.

Like it was the only thing that mattered.

#bakudeku #💔😭#it’s impossible to move past these chapters #every time someone says bkdk won’t happen I can’t help but think of Katsuki’s last scenes #he didn’t die (temporarily) for you to dismiss his final moments like this 😭#bkdk canon #I’m in pain bc #I don’t think Katsuki felt pain worse than Izuku not being by his side 😭#that’s why he talked to the Izuku in his heart #the idea of Izuku being there at the end was his only relief…#knowing he is loved by Izuku gave Kacchan so much comfort 😭 at least he was able to focus on that #they have so much dedication for each other 🫠#kacchan loves deku #deku loves kacchan #kana writes #op #when this gets animated I’m probably gonna cry until there’s nothing left in my body

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ghoulishautism · 2 months

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Sorry if I come off as a bitch today, I dont think I ever fully recovered from what I saw earlier today

#I blocked OP but I dont feel clean #I feel like I need to bite someone to feel ready to fully move on #Ive had people break my heart 5 separate times and came out of it barely affected #But seeing the one canon jewish character in THAT context- no I shallnt I spoketh too mucth

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lawomi · 2 months

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Heart Pirates depart from Zou! Part 1/2

OC Omi is She/Any nonbinary

🔞Bluesky💃

Lmao my art style for Bepo is not consistant yet Im trying. For whatever reason I cant make him look quite right. Was going to do some NSFW of him sometime 💃 so i do wanna get used to him.

The fucking shambles thing i doodled makes me laugh like a moron.

#heart pirates #trafalgar law #trafalgar d water law #law fanart #law one piece #bepo fanart #bepo #one piece bepo #op bepo #bepo one piece #one piece #oc x canon #one piece x oc #law x reader #law x oc #comic #my art

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ikkaku-of-heart · 1 year

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The High Priestess and the Magician

(Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. True insanity comes from getting that result.)

Stalking into his quarters, Basil Hawkins slammed the door behind him so hard a few straw dolls on his bookshelf fell over. It was unusual for him to show much emotion, but his temper had been growing dangerously short as of late. Even Faust was not exempt from his displeasure. A rare thing, as he valued the feline Mink more than the rest of his crew, but his mind had been ill at ease since his reading one hundred days ago.

In truth, he should have known better than to ask them such a dangerous question. It had been his own hubris that had driven him to ask about his own future. To demand to know when he would reach Raftel and claim the title of King of the Pirates.

Instead, the cards had foretold his failure. Predicted his eventual, inevitable death. They hadn’t specified exactly when, but he had received enough information to paint an unpleasant picture. At the time he had brushed it off, as the Tarot was up to interpretation, even if his readings were generally highly accurate. Except he received the exact same reading when he’d tried again the next day. And then the next. And every day since.

Ninety-nine days. Three cards. Always the same.

The Magician reversed. The Ten of Swords. The Emperor reversed.

Hawkins had always treated the Magician as an avatar for himself. He had claimed it as his epitaph for a reason, after all. Even reversed he accepted it, and the cards had never presented it in a reading that did not end up directly involving him. So it was concerning he had drawn it in succession with the two other cards. The Ten of Swords meant painful endings and betrayal. The Emperor reversed referred to domination and lack of discipline, which made him think that his fate was in the hands of one who embodied these traits. And there were four Emperors standing between him and the title of Pirate King…

Growling in frustration, he shoved a pile of books off of his desk, the hardcover tomes scattering as loose pages flew about. Since the twentieth identical reading, he’d been furiously researching ways to potentially avert his fate. The cards did not lie. Not to him. They told him the odds of overcoming any obstacle that stood in his path, allowing him to act accordingly. They gave him an undeniable advantage. At least, they did most of the time.

Now, they spoke of his inevitable failure.

So far, the odds were nearly 100% that he would not succeed in his ultimate goal, and in fact he would fall disgracefully. He was a man of control. He enjoyed telling others that their fates were out of their hands. He did not appreciate that misfortune being reversed. He did not appreciate his own cards defying him.

“You don’t scare me, Hawkins. I’m from Joras. As far as I’m concerned, your spooky ass barely registers a 7/10 on my weird shit-o-meter.”

A feminine voice danced blithely through his head, its very presence as mocking as the words themselves. The speaker had been the catalyst for his current fit of anger. He’d encountered one of the Heart Pirates while attempting to find more obscure literature that might help him reinterpret his cards’ message.

Ikkaku, the submarine’s engineer. The sole woman he knew of aboard Trafalgar Law’s vessel. He’d glimpsed her in the past when his and the fellow rookie’s paths had crossed. A pretty face, and an attractive figure that was shamelessly put on display in her wanted poster. A point he would acknowledge briefly on lonely nights, but no more than that. He was not one to be brought to his knees merely by a woman’s body. However, despite recognizing her, this was the first time she’d spoken to him. It had started as empty politeness on her part, which he’d responded to with an idle threat to her life. He had no time for pleasantries. Yet instead of cowering or even just leaving, she’d jutted out her hip and spat out a disrespectful retort. The woman was far bolder than she had any right to be. She didn’t even have the decency to fear him despite their clear gap in power! She was a normal woman with a distinctly non-combative role, while he was a powerful pirate captain and a Devil Fruit wielder!

She was as infuriating as her smug bastard of a captain. Had Marines not stumbled upon them, he would have gladly shown her their difference in strength before handing her over to Trafalgar in pieces. Or perhaps challenged the man to a fight and used his Straw Man technique, making her captain slaughter her in Hawkins’ place. That would serve them both right.

Inhaling deeply, Hawkins forced his face back into its usual stoic expression. He needed to focus on the task at hand, not some irritating woman. She was hardly worth his attention, much less his fury. Just a subordinate of one of his rivals. Nothing special. Her arrogance would get the better of her sooner or later.

He had no reason to concern himself with her fate, anyway. He had his own to consider.

Sitting down at his desk, he pulled out his deck of tarot cards. There was only one question on his mind – was his fate truly set in stone? Was his death 100% certain?

One hundred days. Ninety-nine identical card readings. This would be the last attempt, no matter the outcome.

He shuffled the cards for a solid ten minutes, though he acknowledged deep down he was merely stalling for time. It didn’t matter how he cut the deck – the cards would be drawn as they were meant to be.

With a sigh of acceptance, he gracefully slid the first card off of the top of the deck, setting it down on the surface of his mahogany desk face-up.

The High Priestess. This was…unusual. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d drawn her. Yet there she was. She symbolized the divine feminine, sacred knowledge, and the subconscious mind.

Why did he draw her?

Brow furrowing, he set down the second card. The Tower reversed. Personal transformation, fear of change, averting disaster. Now that was far more positive than anything he’d drawn in months. Were his cards telling him he might have a chance to avoid his fate? He scarcely dared to hope.

His hand shook faintly as he pulled the last card. The Devil, also reversed. Releasing limiting beliefs, exploring dark thoughts, sexuality, and detachment. Quite the swerve from the past two cards.

He sat back in his chair, attempting to make sense of his reading. He felt as much confusion as he did relief. Three of the major arcana had been drawn, which was unusual. More than that, they implied a woman was involved. But whom? Could she really avert his fate? And where did the Devil come in?

“You don’t scare me, Hawkins. I’m from Joras. As far as I’m concerned, your spooky ass barely registers a 7/10 on my weird shit-o-meter.”

Ikkaku’s voice once more drifted through his skull, and this time he actually listened. Joras. She was from Joras. Of course he knew of that bleak, superstitious island. It was a land once known as Innsmouth before it had been heavily industrialized. A place of fog and darkness, full of stories that were fantastical and frightening. Dead bodies rising from their graves, plagues that drove people mad, ancient rituals and sacrifices that were used to gain favor from eldritch horrors that slept deep beneath the ocean waves.

It was a land Hawkins had often been accused of coming from himself, and while it was not true, he had always felt a sort of longing for it. He’d greedily read every bit of information he could get his hands on, enthralled by the twisted lore of the Old Ones. He’d always held a strong inclination toward the morbid and the supernatural, and though he’d concluded they were likely nothing more than stories, he’d still gladly taken a copy of the Necronomicon from a book seller who had attempted to sell it to him for an extortionate price. A book bound in human skin and written in mermaid blood made a lovely addition to his collection, regardless of the validity of the myths and rituals etched on their pages. He’d even taken the time to learn the language of Innsmouth so he could read and appreciate it properly.

His earlier irritations towards the woman shifted into intrigue. Now her lack of fear made sense, and his ego was soothed. It was rather hard to measure up to eldritch horrors, though he’d still be happy to give a demonstration of his powers to remind her that while they were stories, he was very much a reality.

More importantly, her appearance had broken his losing card streak. The cards had ceased predicting his failure to instead speak of her. There had to be a reason for that.

“Tell me more about this woman. Who is Ikkaku of the Heart Pirates?” he whispered to the deck, praying his cards might give him more insight.

They did not disappoint. First, he drew the Sun. Not that he needed the cards to tell him she was a woman of positivity, warmth, and vitality. The woman practically glowed with it, especially compared to her dark captain. Perhaps that was why Trafalgar kept her at his side. He could imagine many found her easy to like and were drawn to that warmth.

Nine of Swords reversed. Inner turmoil, deep-seated fears, and secrets. How interesting, considering the previous card. Perhaps she hid some insecurities beneath that sunny shell. A dark secret, perhaps? She was a subordinate of Trafalgar Law, after all. No one innocent would bear to be around that man, or if they did, they didn’t remain innocent for long. And she spoke so casually of being from an island renowned for twisted beliefs. People with happy, well-adjusted pasts didn’t become pirates. There was certainly more to Ikkaku than meets the eye.

Long, pale fingers set down the final card. The Star. It represented hope, faith, and purpose. Another card seldom associated with someone who sailed with a pirate crew. Stars were often used to guide the lost. To navigate vast, unforgiving seas and guide them to safety. But she was no navigator as far as he knew. That job belonged to the polar bear Mink. So why was it associated with her?

It was all quite interesting. He’d drawn two forms of light when he’d asked about Ikkaku. Very curious, especially for a pirate who willingly followed a man like the Surgeon of Death. Especially for a woman who came from such a bleak, oppressive island. Yet he could not deny that the cards suited her. It appeared despite the darkness that surrounded her, she kept a bright, almost blinding aura.

An old story tickled his brain. Most of the tales of the Old Ones he’d heard whispered throughout the North Blue, as they were common campfire stories and bedtime fables to scare the cowardly and superstitious. But the Necronomicon had told him tales he’d never come across before. Getting up, he strode quickly to his bookshelf to pull out that morbid tome. Flipping through the pages, he at last came upon the deity he was looking for.

The Creator Turtle. The sole being of light in the pantheon who existed to counterbalance the twisted and shadowy Old Ones. He had gifted the humans he’d vomited into existence with the lighthouse that sat upon Joras’ jagged cliffs. The story stated he’d given his chosen Light Keepers the power to stand against the darkness and alter reality with their belief. It claimed they’d willed a weakness into the otherwise unstoppable Old Ones’ reality.

Through pure belief, they’d found a way to make the impossible possible. To rewrite reality and fate.

A fantastical story? Most certainly. But his cards did not lie. They had shown her to him for a reason. Was she a Light Keeper? Were the legends true? Did such a power lay within the heart of such an ordinary woman?

Maybe, maybe not. Yet even if the stories were just fables, it was undeniable that Ikkaku was still a key player in avoiding his fate.

Hawkins hated jokes, and because of that, he was a man who seldom laughed. Yet the raspy sound of elation that escaped his mouth and throat could only be described as such.

At last. He had his answer. A way to cheat destiny. It was a 1% chance, but it was still a chance. An opportunity Hawkins would greedily grasp with both hands.

Being told ninety-nine times how you would die was enough to crack even “the Magician” Basil Hawkins’ mind, it seemed. And like a weed in a sidewalk, an idea sprouted and began to grow through that narrow opening.

“To think I considered killing you,” he chuckled, a twisted grin on his lips as he stroked the illustrated cheek of his High Priestess. The woman on the card even bore a stunning resemblance to Ikkaku, now that he looked closely. A warm smile and dark curls peeking out from beneath her veil. He found himself wondering what they would feel like between his fingers. He pictured them twisting like tentacles around his digits, her disrespectful tone now full of reverence as she gazed up at him with adoration.

Was he the Devil? Were the cards telling him he needed to release the beliefs he had and instead explore darker thoughts? Because oh, his thoughts were already straying into rather unsavory territory. If she was the key to diverting his path, he couldn’t simply let her galivant about with Trafalgar. No, he needed her at his side. He needed her to be utterly devoted to him. To believe in him enough that perhaps this fabled Light Keeper power could make him unkillable. Failing that, perhaps she could spill the secrets of the Old Ones. Tell him who might give him the knowledge and power to twist reality himself. Perhaps in exchange for a lovely sacrifice upon their limestone altar?

Even the more mundane option of her simply dying in his place to whichever Emperor he was unfortunate enough to cross was an acceptable outcome. Sometimes the best solution was the simplest.

But how to do this? Well, she was a woman. Were they not all slaves to love? Puppets pulled by the invisible strings of emotion? Surely, she was just as easy to manipulate. Hawkins simply needed to take advantage of that weakness. To seduce her and make her love him. Surely, that would not be difficult. The only real complication was her captain. He would be forced to either kill Trafalgar Law or manipulate Ikkaku into betraying him. The former would take cunning and force, while the latter would take subtle seduction and perfect timing.

And, well, if that failed, there was always old-fashioned kidnapping and torture. Even the strongest will could be broken with enough pain and creativity. And a man desperate to defy his fate was willing to commit atrocities a lesser man would balk at.

Plan taking shape in his mind, Hawkins opened his cabin door, calling out for his first mate. “Faust! Did you happen to see which way Trafalgar’s ship sailed?”

The cat Mink paused mid-step, surprised at the uncharacteristic grin on his captain’s face more than the question. Had he not been angry less than an hour before? “Trafal-nya’s ship? It seemed to be headed towards the next island, based on the log pose.”

“Excellent,” Hawkins purred, patting Faust’s head before heading towards the top deck. “Tell the helmsman to stay close, but not overtake them. We don’t want them thinking we’re following them.”

“We don’t?”

Blonde locks draped over Hawkins’ shoulder as he glanced over it. “No. Because we’re not following them. We’re following her.”

“‘Her’?”

“My High Priestess. The woman who will make me a god,” he replied before leaving a confused Mink with no further explanation. Not that one would have made sense to anyone but Hawkins. But he didn’t need his crew to understand. He just needed them to obey. To remain devoted, just as Ikkaku would be when he was through with her. She’d sealed her fate the moment she’d crossed his path. The cards had spoken. Light would succumb to darkness. The High Priestess would submit to the Devil. The Magician would become Pirate King.

Hawkins would not die. It was not his fate.

Deep beneath the waves, shadowy tendrils writhed as an ancient being laughed to itself, pleased that the seed of madness it had planted in the mortal’s fragile mind had taken root so perfectly.

#Imaginative Blueprints (Drabble/Fanfic)#The Engine is the Heart of the Ship (canon)#Light Keeper (Old Ones)#High Priestess and Magician - Hawkins x Ikkaku #Major Arcana (Hawkins)#Wear My Heart on My Sleeve (Shipping)#obsessive behavior cw #madness cw #(*kicks my feet back and forth*)#(writing Hawkins was fun)#(it's a blast watching this terrible man obsess and spiral and I'm sure if he got his hands on her my girl would be in for a bad time)#(this is why being fixated on fate is the worst)#(thank you to everyone who is tolerating my bullshit with this recent obsession. you are very much appreciated)#op ikkaku #basil hawkins #op fanfic

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