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thejudgingtrash · 4 years

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Annabeth is a good person,but not a nice or pleasant one,IMO.

YES.

That’s it. That’s the post. Pack it up everybody, we just cracked the case and cleared up one of the most compelling fights in the PJO fandom since forever. Good job everybody, clap it out and there’s the door! Don’t forget ordering the drinks at Starbucks, Mitch! They’re on me!

Okay, but on a more serious note: YES. YES EXACTLY.

And before some of you roll your eyes or grab your pitchforks – put your biases aside and hear me out for once. I like Annabeth. She’s my in my top three characters only second to Percy himself. I love Percabeth. It’s my favorite ship in the entire series and to be frank, the only ship that I care about PJO wise. Hell, I spend my time creating my own headcanons or writing my own fanfics with Percabeth being the star in them.

But that is not to say that I’m unable to see how certain things have developed over the years or where they stand now in regard to Annabeth. I’m not here to ignore things that have been said and/or done due to or in the name of Annabeth and I’m not here to vilify anyone that doesn’t like her. And I’m here to admit that I’m guilty of some of the things that may be addressed in this meta essay that you will read in just a second. However, I try my best to assure you, that I’m for once able to recognize my own bias.

Warning: a monster essay lies right upon you.

This should count as a paper of its own.

Back to the statement on top: I would go out even further to reframe your claim, anon:

Annabeth Chase is a good character but not a nice or pleasant person.

Annabeth is a wonderful character but she isn’t a nice one. Or at least not nice to everyone. She is (construction wise if I dare say) the best character out of the series. She has her positive traits (she’s caring, she’s emotional, she’s encouraged and volunteers, she fights for what she believes in, she forgives (even if doing so begrudgingly)) but she also has her negative traits (she’s stubborn, she’s brash, changing her mind takes forever, she is prejudiced, she baits others). That balances things out. She is branded as the intelligent kid but does irrational things (like I’ve just said a) she’s a kid and b) she’s not a robot). She should probably know better, but we all make mistakes and hopefully grow and learn from them. The clouds in the sky do blur and cover our visions sometimes.

Annabeth had clashes with other characters or was about to have fights due to her stubbornness or jealousy (Rachel, Reyna, etc.) and has of course her problems with the mortal world and her family but she also found new friends, some things cleared up throughout the narration and she was/is quite popular in Camp Half-Blood.

The thing is: she doesn’t have to be nice or pleasant (as a character). Or at least not all the time. Her character is humanized. That is what or who she is. Human. She does stand out as a character, not just because she’s the (future) love interest. She feels like someone you could meet in real life and either adore from the top to the bottom or declare as your biggest enemy. And that’s totally okay if you lean either way – liking or disliking her. Or even feeling indifferent about her. Also great!

To say that she has been the best character that Riordan has crafted is easy to say, because she has been sculpted after Riordan’s wife. He had a model he could rub some of real-life events or traits on. That’s not the problem. The problem truly doesn’t lie on Riordan’s side for the most part for once.

The problem is inherently on the fandom’s side. What the fandom does, how it acts and how it treats Annabeth as a character is the problem. The problems vary but it’s mostly the mischaracterization of Annabeth, starting fights and fan/ship wars, internalized misogyny (in some cases) and how some of the Annabeth stans lash out (ha, got firsthand experience in that field among many of my friends and mutuals!). There is a reason why many people are wary of people that have Annabeth or Percabeth related URLs.

The fact that we see Annabeth mostly through Percy’s lens and (until the Heroes of Olympus saga hits) we never really see her in chill everyday situations is essentially Riordan leaving the back door of the house open, ready for all of you asshats to rob his mansion in Boston. Because a frame on a character means that we don’t get to see the character in its entirety (unlike we do with Percy in PJO for the most part). That means a bunch of stuff is left open for interpretation which is the reason why Annabeth gets so many polarized headcanon and opinions tossed around. I think that is one of the true appeals of Annabeth. You can add on stuff and it necessarily doesn’t have to contradict itself.

We have people calling her abusive due to a (n admittedly stupid and unnecessary) judo flip and we have people that act like she’s never done anything wrong. People sorta use this excuse to form and shape Annabeth however they want and distort her characterization.

People in the fandom act like Annabeth is some weird prized possession. We perceive Annabeth mostly through the eyes of others (Percy, Apollo, etc.) and when we had some sort of insight in her ways (MOA, HOH) it felt… weird? Somewhat? Like Riordan left two bullet points of her characterization and told the ghostwriter: aight, fuck it up, gringo, see you on Tuesday and greet Fred the next time you see him for me.

There have been many posts lately (by Tharini, Simi, Sawasawako, Jewishpercy and Annie I believe?) that HOO Percabeth felt weird. That they felt weirdly constructed, that there was no conflict, no growth. It felt stagnating, like we’re turning back. We had five books prior where we had Annabeth and Percy slowly shifting from disliking to liking and crushing each other. True development. And when we finally got the cake it felt… dissatisfying. Like the cheap box stuff and not the delicious exquisite taste that we were promised.

I said it previously in my Percabeth ship roast, but let me repeat myself: many Percabeth related things are straight up fanon. Some of it is very old fanon so that’s been unable to distinguish unless you’ve read the books recently and subtract nearly 99,9% of things you see on Tumblr (and occasionally the other shitty parts of the fandom like Reddit, IG, Twitter. Although they mostly steal and recycle tumblr stuff oh well. But back to the topic).

The way people treat Annabeth is so strange. She’s either an innocent fluffy smush baby that’s never harmed a fly and all that she wants for Christmas is being Percy’s lapdog or she’s the devil incarnate, broke into your house, killed your parents Batman style, kicked your puppy and didn’t flush the toilet on the way out. I think this is what mostly makes people hate her or the ship Percabeth. And both extremes are wrong and right at the same time? She is multifaceted so both stereotypes are true and untrue and sorta cancel each other out in the same way.

The true reason why people dislike Annabeth is because the stans are doing the most. (The haters as well, don’t get me wrong, but oh boy. Piss of a stan and you’ll know what I mean). That isn’t inherently new. Are you guys old enough to remember the ship wars that have happened cross platform? Perachel vs. Percabeth? Oh boy, oh boy. I saw some kids on tumblr a few months ago trying to infiltrate both tags and start shit (and also fail). The fact that Rachel still gets used as the bitchy (ex) girlfriend in fanfics? It’s 2020 guys. I know this apocalyptic year is far from perfect and over but I think we can let this trope die, right? Right? I thought we’ve established that Rachel is a pretty chill charcter by now… right?

If you posted your stuff on FFN back in 2010-2013 and it wasn’t the typical cutesy Percabeth story (Goode High, the gods read TLT, punk/prep Percabeth, college AU, etc.) people would’ve come for your fucking throat. Not because the story or the narration was shit. But because the pairing wasn’t Annabeth and Percy (in the sense that Annabeth had to be paired with Percy. I mean Percy gets shipped with everyone and their mother but for Annabeth it was strictly Percy. As annoying as this whole Connabeth thing is – the people behind it actually had a point. She never had a different love interest unless it’s a Percy centered story and he goes off dating Athena, Artemis and Zoe at the same time for some odd reason. Yeah, FFN Percy ships are something). Or it wasn’t the action filled canon compliant story or it wasn’t an AU that was popular.

People were really stubborn, snobbish and wanted their stuff in the four five boxes that were the most popular ones and that’s it. People have been bullied off the site in many fandoms, so it’s not a PJO-only thing but it’s still sad that it happened. (Off-note: most of these FFN tropes are still alive and well and thriving on AO3. Don’t be so snobbish and pretend that every piece you’d find there is a holy grail. There’s a lot of trash you have to waddle through. Same with Wattpad, Tumblr or anywhere else where fanfics get posted. Also had this discussion with Annabeth stans. Sigh).

And Tumblr back then? Forget it, wasn’t much better.

That view has sorta changed (at least for people that have been in the fandom for several years or have managed to find a way to navigate through it) but some of the negative sentiment from back in the day has survived. Be it by new fans coming in or from old fans that never let their stance die. The aggression feels differently and somewhat not. (I don’t know if the anon function had been abused that much back in the day. I was an observer not a participant in the fandom).

Crack a joke at Annabeth’s expense (Kal’s famous “Annabeth is a Republican” post or Dee Dee’s and many others “Annabeth has the education of a second grader, chill with the college plans, girlie” stance) and you have people insulting you, making callout posts, unfollowing and blocking you (based on only that? Okay, honey), making aggressive counter-posts, etc. in a minute. If you respond with “It’s a joke, it’s not real” you have a 50/50 chance of either getting blown off or embarrassing them so that they apologize for once.

This isn’t just about jokes. You can make a headcanon that’s not the cozy cute convenient mainstream saga and people would react the same way. Or art piece (no, not including the whole Tannabeth Blackchase shtick done by Viria and others) or fanfics.

People project so much onto the unfinished canvas that is Annabeth Chase that any form of negative sentiment as little as someone not liking her to straight up criticism, regardless of how tiny it may be, seems like an affront. Like an invitation to a fight. Like an insult to them, their character, everything they believe in. Let me state something:

You are NOT Annabeth Chase. Annabeth Chase IS NOT you. Annabeth Chase is NOT real. Her feeling cannot be hurt. Someone criticizing, disliking, joking about her or even insulting her will not bother her. Someone making a statement about her is not an insult to YOU.

Let me repeat that:

Annabeth Chase isn’t real. Annabeth Chase isn’t you.

So think a little before you act? I get it when you’re a kid and new to fandoms or haven’t been up with fan cultures in the past and are back in the scene. But if you’re in your late teens or even older as an adult and you’re unable to understand that you aren’t what you like – you aren’t the extension of a fictional character – I feel incredibly sorry for you. Because that’s just incredibly sad. Someone disliking something you like isn’t an attack of your character. It shows you that you are you and the other person is a human just like you. That they just have different taste. Disliking something you like isn’t a crime, you know? But me feeling sorry for the way some of y’all act won’t mean that that’s even remotely okay. Especially if you’re no longer in the intended audience for PJO age wise and should know better.

This isn’t a “white stans” only thing. I’ve seen and witnessed firsthand how people of color, mainly women of color, act the same or not even worse when it comes to her character. People have projected their problems and real-life occurring events into her character (I’m sure that she isn’t the only character nor that this is the only fandom where this is happening) and in some cases like I’ve said cannot separate their own personality from the fictional world. Fights with woc happened because of Annabeth fucking Chase. So many things have happened in the fandom the past few months, mostly due to people being forced staying at home because of the quarantine but I’d say it’s 10% on quarantine and 90% on people for acting up like this.

So here’s a little story: There was the act of Riordan blowing the fandom up because of his own stupidity and being unable to apologize for his mischaracterization and lack of research (the whole Piper fiasco) back in June (?) and admits the upset fandom, people on Twitter, Tumblr and Discord legit thought that none of that mattered and that the outcry was destroying Annabeth Chase’s birthday. That’s right. People thought that Annabeth Chase’s non-existing birthday because she’s a fictional character had a higher priority than the rupture and prevalent racism in the fandom. Okay. This isn’t a great look, Annabeth stans. And this of course pissed a lot of people off. I made a post about it and someone not only berated three other people on said post but no, we had a mighty argument which had disrupted many friendships in our circle which haven’t recovered until this very day. We both had our parts in it and no one is innocent. But the cause of this still remains Annabeth Chase or how people prioritize her non-existing well-being. Anyway. I’m getting agitated just thinking about it.

Let’s go back to the characterization thing with Annabeth. Let me remind you:

Annabeth Chase is an asshole. There I’ve said it in a post ages ago (too lazy to look it up, sorry) and I’ll say it again. And that’s not me insulting her. That’s me actually loving that about her. Annabeth is one of the very few unapologetic female characters that really showed all young readers across the world that you can be a girl, a badass, smart, strong, standing up for yourself and what you believe in. You don’t have to be nice. You don’t have to hide your feelings. You don’t need a man in all cases but it’s also okay to accept help and defeat.

A large reason why I think she’s an incredibly important character in children’s literature/YA because many other novels (mostly (sadly)) have the “Oh, I’m a white skinny dark-haired girl that likes unconventional things like READING. I’m not like the other girls, that take care of themselves and pamper themselves by enjoying shopping and wearing make-up. No, I’d rather be one of the boys but a sweet cute little boy and not the jock fuck that drank vodka shots out of a filthy shoe once. Despite me calling myself hideous every man in a 10-kilometer radius falls in love with me and tells me I’m oh so sexy and by the way I’m only 16 years old” shit going on for no goddamn reason.

Yes, I do blame Twilight for this mostly in recent years, but this trope isn’t by any means knew. Pretty sure that you could even use classics as Pride and Prejudice and dissect them in the same manner (Bold statement: Lizzy Bennet is the OG Bella Swan. There. Go fight somewhere in the corner, people). The new wave of YA focuses on girls belittling themselves and only starting to believe in themselves because someone else (mostly the male love interest) tells them they’re worth it. And these books hit the mainstream because they’re incredibly bland and picture perfect white.

With Annabeth it’s different. She shows up for the job and is done with it. (Brie Larson would probably be the perfect in real life version of her. You either like or dislike her. Or you really don’t care). That is what is so refreshing about her. Her unapologetic nature. Can it be off-putting? Yes. Is it annoying? Yes! Hell, every time I read The Lightning Thief, I want to rip her goddamn head off. And it’s just so well written. Her shift from mistrusting Percy but secretly still believing in him to her opening up. Wow, Riordan did something right there.

Annabeth Chase isn’t a young character. She has existed along with PJO for 15 years. She’s on her way to the second decade. I’m pretty sure that with the success of Percy Jackson (and Harry Potter) many lives have been warped and shaped.

But when I say the problem lies mostly in the fandom, it doesn’t mean that Riordan’s completely innocent. The only problem that I have with Annabeth lies not truly with her but the fact that Riordan is only able to produce three variations of female characters:

The sweetheart (Hazel, Silena, Calypso, Hestia)

The strong feminist (Annabeth, Piper, Thalia, Reyna, Artemis)

The bitch (Drew, nearly every female goddess in the goddamn Riordanverse next to every female monster)

And these female characters only know three endings:

End up married with a mortgage, three kids, two dogs and a cat somewhere in Connecticut by the age of twelve

Get dumped into the hunt

Chill on Mount Olympus and only come down to be a nuisance and/or give a cryptic message before going back and doing a godly rave party or something

We know Annabeth as the badass strong female first (or the bitchy character we’re supposed to actually like. Choose your approach), the blueprint so to speak, so some of the other characters feel almost pale in comparison and almost not needed? Doesn’t mean that other characters can’t behave similarly, but it feels kind of redundant especially if their character arcs end in a rather anticlimactic way (Thalia, Reyna). The new additions are the much needed woc as the main story with PJO was inherently white (anyway stan black!Percy and Grover, folks). So it’s not to bash on the new characters, it’s more Riordan’s fault more than anything.

Since Riordan only knows three female character arcs it feels like he tried to copy the formula several ways with different nuances. Some more or less successful. This is where fandom actually comes in handy and helps create more distinguished and fleshed out characters in form of headcanons or fanfiction.

But even in these cases people still make it about Annabeth when it’s time for characters of colors to shine. Remember that whole spiel and discussion that broke out when people (Kal, diver-up, Caitlyn, Bee, reynaisalesbian, etc.) joked about or criticized that Annabeth thinks that she’s having it harder because she’s a blonde? In front of Hazel and Piper? If she would’ve been a real person that’s an invitation for getting decked. And then all hell broke loose because Annabeth stans couldn’t accept the fact that in the real world and/or in fictional worlds the woc/coc have it harder? That the white woman wasn’t the victim that needed the coddling? Yeah, that was mad pathetic.

I hope you people get my point?

Well fuck. I wrote so many things and have the feeling I’ve said nothing. Anyway, I hope I made sense. This is way too long.

TLDR: Chill about Annabeth please. She’s an important character but that doesn’t mean that everyone has to like her, regardless of being a character in the books or a reader/fan of PJO in real life. She isn’t nice or a sweetheart all the time. She also isn’t the monstrous asshole that some try to make out of her.

Peace out.

#Mel answers #pjo #percy jackson #Annabeth chase #percy jackson and the olympians #Percabeth #pjo Meta #Heroes of olympus #hoo #trials of apollo #toa #hazel levesque #piper mclean #reyna avila ramirez arellano #rachel elizabeth dare #pjo fandom #coc #rick riordan #riordanverse

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kickingitwithkirk · 3 years

Text

Greetings from Austin pt. III

Pairing: Alpha!Jensen Ackles x Alpha!Jared Padalecki x Omega!OFC

Summary: Jensen and Jared are at odds over a monumental decision that changes their lives in a way they couldn’t have envisioned.

WC: 3825

Warnings: a/b/o, bisexuality, biphobia, homophobia, angst, cursing, self doubt, depression/anxiety, married life/disagreements, medical stuff, sexual dysfunction, infertility/surrogacy

*flirting, m/m oral sex, Jensen’s insecurities are coming out, Jared gets arrested, both get counseling

A/N: This part consists of several time jumps over four month period.

A/N II: Hey, sorry took me a way longer to get done than planned, rewrote Oct 23 a dozen times alone and hoping makes sense, trying to flesh out characters more and has some stuff that plays into story line in later parts.

Part II

Masterlist

@winchesterandbeyondbingo square filled-Jensen Ackles

*Series Inspired by this art.

*no beta-all mistakes are mine

September 8th

7:30 am

Jensen was sitting in the makeup chair clenching his extra strong coffee container to help warm his hands. He’d spent a second, uncomfortable night in his trailer on location as Vancouver was having an unusual cold snap this time of year and with the covid restrictions the director decided that everyone needed to stay on site.

While he wasn’t happy about the weather, missing his own personal heater but at the same time grateful for a brief break from Jared now that they were heading towards the next phase of starting their family.

Jensen jokingly said they needed a code name since they were planning on keeping their plans a secret, even from their families, until the pups were born, playfully suggesting a cartoon from their childhoods.

Of course with Jared’s weird sense of humor, he loved it and started throwing ideas like operation: pound puppies.

“Penny for your thoughts.” Frieda said as she applied a concealer under his eyes to hide the dark smudges from not sleeping well.

“Huh?”

“You asked about my new job and haven’t heard anything I’ve said, wanna talk about it?”

“Sorry, not focusing very well today.”

“Yeah, we’re all feeling out of sorts with this being the last couple days.”

Jensen couldn’t believe he was down to his last two days of filming.

“Too bad this virus messed everything up, it would’ve been a hell of a send off if everybody could have been here.”

Alex and Misha had left right after they’d finished but Jim Beaver was back for the ending. It was only right for Bobby Singer to be there at the end, having been such a pivotal character in the brothers lives.

Frieda continues chatting about random things while finishing his makeup. A PA stuck his head in calling Jensen to the set. He stepped out of the trailer and smiled seeing his Baby sitting near the building being used as the exterior of Harvelle's Roadhouse.

***

September 12th

“Jen, I’m taking out the bags,” Jared calls out seconds before the apartment's front door shut.

Jensen was doing one last check around the place for any forgotten anything. Satisfied, he walked into the living room containing neatly marked boxes ready to be shipped back to Texas, relieved they had downsized from the big house Jared had years ago.

He stopped to gaze out the picture window when a pair of strong arms wrapped around his waist, molding his back to the muscular chest of his mate, who rested his chin on his shoulder quietly saying, “I’m gonna miss this view.” Jensen hummed in agreement tipping his head back as Jared nuzzled his neck.

“We need to get going if we’re gonna make Seattle by seven,” Jared softly muttered as they’d stood there for a few heartbeats longer before releasing him. They walked to the door and Jensen turned once more to gaze out the window at the view of Vancouver.

***

September 21st

“This has been a great trip but man, I’ll be glad to be in our own bed tonight.” Jared remarks as they drive past a green highway sign saying Austin 312.

“Can’t wait,” Jensen drowsily says having not slept much the last couple days. They had decided to road trip it back to Texas, stopping at a few places they had wanted to visit for awhile.

Jared somehow managed to finagal, okay so his mind numbing blow job combined with those lethal long fingers that always makes Jensen agree to anything got him a couple extra days in southern Colorado.

Jensen enjoyed the beautiful scenery and hiking in the mountains but hated camping out. Well, it wasn’t technically roughing it the way Jared liked but still.. a frigging yurt in late September?

Oy vay, what he did for love.

The sound of Jared singing along to some classic country song on the radio as he drove finally put Jensen completely out.

***

October 23rd

Turning from the open fridge with a puzzled expression on his face, Jared senses the same vague something he’s felt God knows how many times in the last couple months.

Shutting the door he walked over to the island counter where his husband was seated pushing his unfinished dinner around on his plate.

“Jen, what’s going on? Are you worried about the implantation? Dr. Rodgers said the embryos were healthy and optimistic the surrogate took this first try.”

What Jensen wants to ask, the question that’s plagued him since that day in August choosing their Omega surrogate...how the hell does he phrase it without upsetting Jared?

“Did you choose her because you knew she’d be the one I’d pick?”

Jensen slapped his hand over his mouth, eyes wide, disbelieving he blurted it out.

Jared worked to find a response squeaking an actual squeak before he could get control over his vocals, “That’s what I’ve been sensing!” Gripping the edge of the counter with his big hands, “Are you seriously going there again? I was honest about our interactions when I realized she was the one I knocked down at the clinic and FYI, you weren’t exactly in full control either Alpha!”

Jensen clenched his teeth at being reminded his inner need to be in control at all times slipped.

“I’ve racked my brains trying to figure it out how to ask something like that without upsetting you!” Jensen yells getting up and pacing around the kitchen.

Jared huffed, “So all this time instead of talking to me, you’ve conjured up some..”

“For the last two years I’ve gotten the sense you feel somethings missing, kept telling myself it’s your unfulfilled biology. But ever since you meet that Omega you’ve been.. I can’t explain it and now I’m second guessing our marriage Ja....” his rant abruptly cut off.

Jared’s eyes were glowing red, pinning him with an eerie wolf expression, the intensity disconcerting him. “I chose you, my husband, my soulmate, my everything!“ The words should have been reassuring but Jared’s voice was pitiless, something Jensen's never heard pass from his lips before.

Jared took a deep breath and with normalcy returning said, “I love you Jensen and I thought you understood, for me, in my mind, both of us having pups with the same donor means my offspring won’t be seen as just step relations but will grow up having strong familial ties with JJ, Arrow and Zeppelin.”

Jensen started to speak when a low, reverberating growl from Jared warning him not to interrupt.

“I consciously listened to my inner wolf when it came to choosing the person who is biologically the Om of our children and I,” Jared emphasizes tapping his chest with his long index finger, ”have no regrets but apparently you do.” Taking a deep breath Jared drops a non sequitur, ”The dogs need to be fed,” and walks away.

At the sound of Jared’s SUV leaving Jensen’s legs gave out and he drops to the floor curling up in a fetal position wrapping his arms over his head. Arlo and Koda laid down, one on each side, cocooning him between them.

***

Thanksgiving

“The kids are in a tryptophan coma,” Jensen announces as he walks in through the kitchen's back door. He had followed Danneel home afterwards helping get JJ and the twins cleaned up and put to bed, “they’ll be out till Monday.”

“Good, cause I’m dead on my feet,” Jared replies yawning while loading the dishwasher. It had been their turn to host the holiday with Danneel, the kids, Clif, Jared’s siblings and their broods.

“I told you to wait and I’d help finish the cleanup when I got back.” Jensen said as Jared started the machine.

“I figured you’d wanna stay awhile and be too tired and I didn’t want to deal with it tomorrow. All that’s left is to put the trash and recycling out, could you grab it?”

“On it,” Jensen picked up the bags walking around the side of the house dropping them into their designated receptacles.

When he came back in Jared was switching off the lights downstairs. They made their way up to the bedroom taking turns in the bath getting ready for bed.

Jensen was sitting with his back against the headboard checking his messages when Jared drops heavily next to him, “I plan on sleeping for the next three days.” He mutters resting his head against Jensen’s shoulder.

“Sounds good to me babe, I’m glad we didn’t schedule anything extra this weekend, be nice to spend some time alone.” He finishes wiggling his eyebrows.

“Hmm, do you remember last year's Thanksgiving?”

Jared closed the kitchen pantries door, pushing Jensen against it seductively lowering his fox slanted eyes huskily whispering, “I’m so fucking horny I need my dick you now.”

“Dude, we’re re in my sisters...“

“..you’ll have to be quiet,” Jared dove in for a deep, dirty kiss, grinding against Jensen until he was begging to be fucked.

“You’re the one who got us busted..oh fuck Jensen..so fucking tight..fuck..not gonna last..then later I get Mac saying it sounded like your dick...”

“Okay..buuut,” Jared tilts his head slowly running his tongue up the column of Jensen’s neck, “you gotta admit,” hand slipping under his sleep shirt, “our sex life,” long fingers tip toe up the smooth, freckled chest, pads teasing his left nipple as Jared nibbles on his earlobe, ”is never boring.”

Jensen groans, dropping his arm, still clinching the phone, tipping his head to expose more of his neck to Jared’s wondrous lips, enjoying the scratch of his short beard.

“I thought you were sleeping the next three days.”

Jared answers by removing his hand and straddling his husband's thick thighs taken the phone placing it on the nightstand and starts nibbling along the other side of Jensen’s sensitive neck, working his way to his slightly raised claim mark flattening his tongue licking the ultra sensitive spot that always drives his Alpha wild.

Jensen slides his hands up Jared’s back finding a grip in his shortened hair, unhappy about how much he’s cut off for Walker, unable to tangle his thick fingers into the soft tresses like he used to.

Finding a purchase he pulls hard making Jared groan at the pleasurable sensation tips his head back till it’s the perfect angle for Jensen to run his tongue across those candy pink lips, teasing them open to grant him access, continues teasing, alternating between caressing Jared’s tongue with his and sucking on his lips.

Moaning, Jared rocks his hips seeking friction, breaks their kissing long enough to work Jensen's sleep shirt off. They end up wrestling a few moments before Jared tosses it as Jensen’s lips attack his more desperately.

Tapping Jared’s thigh, Jensen rolls them kneeling between sleep pant clad legs watching as Jared reaches up gripping the strategically placed bar in their custom made headboard with both hands, his pecs flexing in anticipation of what’s to come.

Not breaking eye contact Jensen bends forward, his lips a hair's breadth from Jared’s, slowly slides backwards hovering, caressing the acres of golden skin beneath him with only his warm breath, pausing to hook his fingers in the pants waistband and pulling them with him as he continues journeying south.

Slowly making his way back north he leaves wet, open mouth kisses along the now naked, extra long, muscular legs he loves, sucking on the insides of both thighs, nipping hard enough to leave marks before arriving at his designated stop.

He hasn’t even touched Jared’s beautiful cock yet it’s fully engorged, resting against his flat stomach vigorously leaking precome. Jensen dips his tongue into his bellybutton lapping up the liquid collecting in it, cause fuck, he’s loves how more sweet than salty Jared’s always tasted.

Hips rolling Jared rubs his cockhead against Jensen’s tongue and he kitten licks the dribbling slit before resting his head on Jared’s lower stomach and wrapping his lips around the velvety head.

Shifting his grip on the bar Jared’s makes nonsensical noises, toes curling at the mixed sensations of his mates silky beard tickling his lower regions while sucking on his cockhead, alternates swirling his tongue over the nerves underneath and teasing his slit sending spikes of pleasure radiating through him.

After all these years Jared’s still amazed at Jensen’s knowledge of his body, his ability to keep him on the edge of not enough for however long he’s in the mood to play.

“..pleease...need to cum...got to..so fucking..uhh..Alpha!”

Raising up on a forearm Jensen starts bobbing up and down his shaft, pausing briefly on each downward pass, working his throat open to take Jared further in until he’s nose deep in dark, trimmed pubic hair. Holding his mate's substantial cock in his throat swallows around him as Jared’s knot inflates, pushing his jaws apart till it’s too much.

Letting the knot slip out from between his plump lips Jensen wraps a hand firmly around it and starts vigorously bobbing drawing out a litany of obscene noises, feels Jared’s balls drawing up and backs off swallowing the warm, thick, spurting liquid.

Leisurely licking until Jared hissed, too sensitive for anymore kisses the tip one last time crawls back up the bed searching for his pillow and face plants on it.

“Dude, you’ve finally sucked out my last brain cell.”

Purring deep in his chest, Jensen gives Jared a self satisfied smirk, who mutters, “wasn’t trying to give you a bigger head.”

Rolling onto his side Jensen displays his turgid cock needing attention, “okay, he’s the bigger head,” Jared concedes reaching down running his fingers over the weeping tip, wetting them with precome spreads it over the shaft firmly fisting Jensen’s pulsing thickness, moving his hand up and down excruciatingly slowly.

“So,” his honeyed voice lowers an octave watching Jensen dissolving into a breathy mess, “how does he want me?”

Jensen opens his mouth to answer when a phone rings. Glaring over his shoulder, “not mine,” he growls. Still stroking him Jared stretches for his, “it’s the clinic..hello? Dr. Rodgers, hey, how are you sir?” He lets go sitting up against the headboard.

Why’s the doctor calling them at such an odd time, on a holiday no less?

Jared's brow wrinkles before he turns to Jensen, eyes sparkling breaks out his wondrous smile making his dimples pop.

“Jensen, she’s pregnant!”

Jared's practically bouncing on their bed like he’s on a massive sugar high discussing what comes next with the doctor. Jensen feels his erection rapidly diminishing, gets up heading into the bath and turns on the shower.

Climbing in he crosses his arms against the far wall, resting his forehead against them closing his eyes as hot water bounces across his broad shoulders.

Jensen knows he should be elated. Jared’s getting the pup (or pups) he’s desired for years and the possibility of being a father himself again. Instead, his heart seized up in conflict.

***

After that god awful argument in October he ended up at Josh’s, who confessed his mate and him were seeing a counselor because they were having marital issues too. Spending the night drinking and reflecting Jensen came home the next morning to a still angry Jared cause he didn’t know where the fuck his husband was all night.

Filling him in about his talk with Josh, Jared seemed somewhat mollified but a few nights later...

Walker star Jared Padalecki arrested near the one year anniversary of Stereotype bar altercation.

· Jared Padalecki was arrested once again in Austin, Texas, early Sunday morning on one count of public intoxication…

When he got released Jared sat Jensen down pleading with him to sit in on his next therapy session, saying they couldn’t keep going on like this, it was tearing him apart.

He wants..no..needs Jensen to completely open up, stop trying to protect him and discuss what’s going on in his head, what he’s really feeling.

Jared’s therapist started off informing both of them he wasn’t a marriage counselor but after a brief conversation with Jared knew the situation was having a detrimental impact on his mental health.

He listened to them separately, then together, about their observations and thoughts on each other’s behaviors came up with a hypothesis:

Since Jared’s last depressive episode, his random thoughts/emotions were feeding more into Jensen’s deep seated insecurities over his mate’s open, flirtatious personality and how he perceives others attraction/interactions to him.

And now Jared’s inner wolf is demonstrating an intense attraction to an Omega, something never encountered before with past preferences in Beta females, with this new dynamic Jensen didn’t know how to handle it.

Jensen opened and closed his mouth several times sputtering before saying this was complete bullshit and stormed out.

***

Lost in thought Jensen didn’t notice his husband stepping into the open shower stall until his considerable frame was blocking the water, Jared’s voice drew him out of his musings.

“I can hear you thinking clear in the other room.”

Cupped Jensen’s face between his large hands he gazed into those spring colored eyes that captured his heart the moment he looked into them years ago, “Hey, no matter what happens next, we’re good.”

***

December 16th

Jared was sitting in his chair chatting with Lindsey and Keegan while the crew was finishing setting up for the next scene when his phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number but excuses himself, stepping away for some privacy answering.

“Hey, everything okay?” Lindsay asked after he hung up, concerned by the visible tension rolling off the big Alpha.

“Umm..I don’t know, I need to make another call...” Jared said, waving the phone, “yeah, let us know if you need anything.” Keegan says and Jared nodded his thanks.

The phone rang three times, “Hey Clif, I need a favor.”

***

December 19th

Clif pulled the SUV into the parking lot, “Are you sure this is the right place?” Jared inquires looking around taking in the old motel located in a very questionable area of Austin.

“This is the name the guy mentioned.” Clif replied, getting out heading for the office. Couple minutes later he climbed back in, “the manager said the laundry out back.” He started the vehicle and drove to the rear of the property.

Clif got out again and knocked on the building's door. An older Hispanic woman answered engaging him in a brief conversation before stepping back inside.

Clif nodded to Jared and as he got out of the vehicle that piquant scent hit him seconds before the door reopened. The person he’d spent days searching for froze in the doorway upon seeing him.

***

December 22nd

Jensen, claiming out of the Uber, grabbed his bag thanking the driver, walked up the front stone pathway relieved to be home from L. A. after a hopefully final costume fitting for his new role as Soldier Boy, this flying back and forth every week for the last couple months had gotten old real quick and he was looking forward to enjoying the holidays at home.

Jared’s parents were coming tomorrow and staying for a few days as was Danneel and their pups. Josh said he was still planning on dropping by a few hours Christmas Day since he and Mac were scheduled to spend most of the holiday with their parents.

Jensen felt that mixture of anger and sadness he got thinking about his parents. He was raised in their church and though he never believed in it, respected their choice.

Too bad they couldn’t reciprocate.

***

Alan and Donna belonged to an ultra conservative church. The foundations of child rearing was to be found in the good book and in the Ackles household-spare the rod, spoil the child-was gospel.

When they were growing up neither parent was the physically or emotionally demonstrative type, only showing their offspring a reserved affection, especially in public.

The saving grace was their Beta nanny who gave them unconditional love, especially Jensen, who was shy as a child already knowing he was different from his siblings. She instilled the confidence in them to discover who they truly were inside and encouraged Jensen to come out before moving to California.

Shortly after graduating he told his family about his bisexuality and his boyfriend was moving to L.A. with him.

Alan and Donna tried to stop him. He was to go to their pastor and confess his transgressions, beg forgiveness for his sins against the church and its teachings, threatening to pull the agreed upon six month financial support while he auditioned for parts before going to college if it didn’t work out.

Jensen refused, packed up, took his boyfriend and left. He got his first break shortly after and quickly learned Hollywood didn’t care what his sexual orientation was as long as he kept it behind closed doors.

His management agency decided early on to promote Jensen as the good guy/boyfriend type. They also set him up on dates to events with many up and coming female artists of the time. He had no problem playing along when he wasn’t actually dating a woman.

His big break came on the CW. After co-starring in a couple series for the network he was offered the chance to be a lead in a new series created by Eric Kripke.

At the audition he met former Gilmore Girls heartthrob, Jared Padalecki, flashing his infectious smile, dimples for days and the most beautiful, incredible color shifting eyes Jensen’s ever seen, he was done for.

Jensen might not have his biological parents in his life anymore but his now in-laws, the complete opposite of the Ackles, helped fill that hole.

It’s easy to see where Jared’s personality comes from. His Om, Sherrie, is overly affectionate, excessively physical and verbal with everyone she considers family, biological or not.

The first time he accompanied Jared home on a holiday break Jensen was literally bowled over by the five foot nothing Omega and instantly became part of her brood.

***

Barley getting the front door open Jensen is hit with the piquant scent of orange blossoms and spices he couldn’t quite place.

Dropping his carry-on bag in the foyer he followed the scent further into the house. Arlo sat up near the large picture windows facing the backyard where he and Koda are napping and gets up coming over to greet him.

“Hey big guy, where’s daddy at?” Jensen asked rubbing around his ears like he liked having thought Jared would still be on set before the holiday break.

He heads towards the kitchen where the scent seems to be coming from, “Babe is that coffee shop back open, what’s it called, has those sweet rolls you're obsessed with..” he abruptly stopped and blinks not believing what was in front of him.

More accurately who was in front of him.

“Babe is in his office and dinner will be ready in twenty.”

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?”

***

tbc

GFA: @babypink224221 @waywardjoy @let-me-luve-you @all-4-wincest

SPN: @donnaintx @lyarr24

Sam/Jared @idreamofplaid

Dean/Jensen: @flamencodiva

#jensen ackles #jared padalecki #j2 husbands #winchesterandbeyondbingo #alpha!jensen ackles #alpha!jared padalecki #alpha!jensenxalpha!jaredxomega!ofc #j2 au #j2 fanfic #j2alphas #a/b/o ofc #spn #supernatural #slow burn

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youllallriseintheink · 3 years

Text

Like a Heart Needs a Beat, chapter 1.

Hello, everyone. This is part one of two of an Abby x Lacie story. The first chapter is pretty much just going to be pure fluff, and next chapter the ink-related angst will kick in.

This story, and the next two two-part shipping stories I write, will be “canon” to my version of events.

---

It wouldn’t have been the first time that Bertrum had dragged Lacie to one of the parties he hosted, but that didn’t mean that she had to like it. She got it, she really did- Bertrum thought she deserved to experience the finer things in life (some of which, to be fair, Lacie did enjoy), and didn’t get that no amount of exposure would make her enjoy this. Still, as she was now, forced into a suit once owned by Bertrum’s son and listening to Bertrum trade compliments that were really insults (or whatever they were. They had a strange way of communicating with each other that Lacie didn’t think she wanted to understand) with his client while dozens of men were flirting with each others’ trophy wives in the background, she felt out of place and a little irritated at Bertrum for insisting she come. It was as Joey and Bertrum were getting especially petty that Lacie just had to look away, and across the room, Lacie saw a woman who looked twice as miserable as she was and only slightly more in-her-element.

Lacie approached her. It was a pretty girl, despite looking like she was completely done with this party. She was wearing a grey suit, clearly tailored for her, and had short, curly hair, dark eyes, clear, dark skin. Her body was pretty nice, too. Yeah, Lacie was going to do this.

“Hey,” Lacie said, “You look like you could use some air. Want me to show you a place where we can get away from the party for a while?”

The woman slowly turned her head to look at her. “Sure. Why not?” she replied without changing expression. Lacie would have to hope that would change and that the woman wasn’t just a natural sourpuss.

Lacie smiled. “Come with me.”

Bertrum was a nice man. He allowed Lacie to step out of parties when she needed to, and even gave her one heck of a place to go when she did: Bertrum’s bird room.

Bertrum loved birds. Bertrum raised birds. It was his favourite hobby. The bird room contained two cages of small, pet-store birds, a larger cage for his doves, and a number of nests for his other birds- three chickens, two ducks, a goose, a swan, and (out of place as they looked amongst the farm fowl) two peafowl. It was easy to keep so many pets when you could pay people to look after them. The bird room opened up to an outdoor enclosure, but this time of day they were all in their nests.

“Pretty cool, right?” Lacie said. “Wanna feed em’? I’m the host’s plus-one. Don’t worry, he won’t mind.”

The woman seemed pretty impressed. “Sure,” she replied.

Lacie showed her to the plastic barrel of dried corn in the corner. The birds crowded them, eager, which made them laugh.

After they’d spent a while feeding the birds, the woman had cheered up significantly, and so Lacie tried to make conversation.

“So. My name’s Lacie. And you know why I’m here. What’s your name, and why are you here? And why don't you want to be here? Because it's obvious you don't.”

The woman rolled her eyes. “Abby Lambert. Nice to meet you, Lacie. I’m here because Joey Drew begged me to be his plus one so he wouldn’t have to come alone. And... instead of telling people that I was his friend or his coworker, or lying and telling people I was his girlfriend, he made up this lie that I’d won a contest to get to go with him. That I was his biggest fan. I’ll be honest- that pissed me off. He didn’t think it was right for his image, I guess."

“Oof, that sucks. You know, I’m just one of Bertrum’s engineers, and I don’t know an eighth of the high society stuff he does, but he would still never do that.”

“Thanks. And thanks for taking me out for some air.”

“No problem.”

It was a few more minutes of feeding birds before Lacie decided to throw her shot. “If Joey wants to be a jerk he can stay here on his own. Wanna get out of here?”

Abby looked Lacie up and down, and suddenly Lacie wished she were wearing something a little more revealing than this ill-fitting suit- especially since Abby’s was accentuating every curve of her body. But Abby clearly liked what she saw.

“Yeah. Yeah, that would be nice.”

The two took a cab to Abby’s apartment, where they spent the night.

---

After the one-night stand, Abby had left Lacie her number. If one night was good, why not make it several? And then, Lacie had surprised her by asking her out. To an art museum.

“You like art, right? It’s not just a job? I mean, I wouldn’t want you taking me to a construction site.”

God, she was a dork. A muscular, handsome dork. Abby had to roll her eyes at herself for being so caught up on a woman, but she eventually broke down and asked Joey a few pointed questions during their lunch break a few days before the date. “So, Mr. Romantic- can you give me some tips about how to sweep a woman off her feet? I’m meeting someone tonight.”

Joey had smiled teasingly at her. “Oh, my. The ever-serious Abby Lambert is lovestruck!”

“You’re gross. It was good sex. That’s all.”

“Right. That’s why you came to me for advice. Well, I’d say just be natural. Be friendly, make jokes, find common interests, all that common-sense stuff. And then at the end of the night invite her over for some wine and radio, read her signs, and that’s when you start getting physical.” Joey suddenly went from smiling and talking with his hands to being much more serious. “Oh, and... I’m sorry about the other night. You know how it is... I respect you, the art department respects you, but I can’t trust random people to do so, and I can’t avoid interacting with people who won’t.”

He didn’t even have to say that it was because she was a black woman. It was the same reason why Joey had promoted someone else ahead of her as head of the art department- he hadn’t trusted that the others would accept her authority. But, after she’d handled the art department while her ex-superior was on vacation and there hadn’t been any problems, Joey had snatched the promotion right out of his hands and put it in Abby’s. Not fair to the ex-head of the art department, but Joey rarely was. Even if he wasn’t perfect, though, he was still one of the few in this day and age who would hand a high position to her under any circumstance, and one of the few she could discuss her relationships with.

“Maybe we should just not talk about that. See you soon, Joey.” Why think about that when Abby had more cheerful things to think about?

---

When Lacie showed up to the art museum, she was wearing a leather jacket, scuffed jeans, and heavy boots. She’d definitely stand out in a dainty place like this.

“So, do you know anything about art?” Abby asked as they went to the first section, which featured a number of surrealist paintings.

“Not a thing!” Lacie admitted, not at all ashamed. “Are you the type who likes to teach, or the type who just wants me to shut up and enjoy it on the level I’m at?”

“I... guess I wouldn’t mind explaining some things.”

“Okay. So, this one,” Lacie gestured at a painting of half-melted clocks hanging off of tree branches and the like. “It must represent something real deep, right?”

“Well, there’s more to art than symbolism, and surrealist stuff doesn’t have to have a deeper meaning. But... maybe it means that time just melts away when you’re having fun.”

It was midnight before Abby was back in her apartment. The museum had closed before they’d felt like any time had passed, and so they’d gone for a walk together in the city and stopped at whatever shops caught their eyes. It had been fun.

Abby’s apartment was the apartment of a chronically single woman in her thirties who had made it. It was clean and organized, but not too clean and organized. It had a large window overlooking the city in the living room, and near it, an eisel had been set up, with a half-done painting on it of a sunset over a city skyline. There was a rack of oft-used wine glasses in the kitchen, lesser-used exercise equipment in the laundry room. Abby’s bedroom contained her collection of houseplants, two floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and a closet full of suits her mom had tailored for her at a reduced cost.

Joey had always said that he never wanted to get married because he didn’t want to share space with anyone else. Abby had rolled her eyes and punched his arm for that. Joey was always coming up with reasons why he didn’t want a relationship, and none of them were true. Abby, on the other hand, had just assumed and accepted that it just wouldn’t happen. The chances were against it unless she made it a priority in her life, and she was focused on career and art. Could it really happen with this hooligan? It was hard to imagine letting her into this apartment- this apartment of a woman who had made it- on a permanent basis. But, maybe. Only time would tell.

---

Things went from there. They continued to date for over a year. Abby taught Lacie how to draw, and Lacie taught Abby how to fight. They started spending more nights than not over at each other’s places. Joey still didn’t know about it, because Abby knew how jealous Joey got when it came to relationships. Shawn on the other hand definitely knew, and teased the hell out of Lacie for it and later came to Lacie for help with his own relationship once he got into one.

Christmas that year, Shawn had scrapped together enough funds to visit Ireland. This was a problem, because Shawn and Lacie usually spent their Christmases together. As per usual, Lacie didn’t have the means to visit her home state of Alpaccia, so it looked like it would be a lonely Christmas for her.

“You want to come visit my family?” Abby offered as Lacie had been complaining about it.

“Yeah. I’d love that,” Lacie admitted. She hadn’t had a Christmas with a real family in... well, a long time, at any rate.

Abby’s family consisted of her mother and her two-years older brother, who had brought a wife and two kids. The father had died in the war while Abby was a child. They had a traditional Christmas together- old Christmas records, decorating a tree, staying up late to play cards and chat once Abby’s niece and nephew were in bed until they could barely keep their eyes open, and then watching the kids open their presents in the morning.

It kind of hurt Lacie to see such a beautiful family, but it was nice, too. It hurt because she remembered having to go off to her friends’ houses when her parents were too high to remember to feed her. She remembered having to make her own doctor’s appointments at the age of nine, and running off to live with her big sister at fourteen. But it was still nice to be there, just because it was.

As they were packing up in the guest bedroom, Lacie started crying, and Abby took notice. She’d never seen her cry before.

“What’s wrong?

“Nothing,” she said, and thankfully Abby had left her alone about it.

It was a week later, after Lacie had had some time to think, that she made her offer. “Abby, I want to start a family with you. I know we can’t get married in the traditional sense, but we can get a place together, find some man to give us a kid, and stay together for the rest of our lives. I could even buy you a ring if you want. Do you wanna do this?”

Abby was awestruck. “Lacie... oh my God, yes. Let’s do it.”

#Bendy and the Ink Machine #abby lambert #lacie benton #lacie x abby #my fanfiction #joey drew #thanks to lovelykitten2017 for the Bertrum headcanon!#(the one of him owning lots of birds)

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tema-makes-art-sometimes · 3 years

Note

002 for gercanmano please?

002 | send me a ship and I will tell you:

GerCanMano

when I started shipping it.

Maybe a year to two years ago? It’s hard to say I can’t really remember. I don’t know what sparked it, but either way I know it started with my friend Lemon. Either we were doing things with the BFT and I had made a joke about baby BFT with Romano, Germany and Canada and it just developed discussions from there. Or it was me struggling between the three proponent ships and Lemon being like ‘why don’t you just make them a poly’ and like sun coming out from behind the clouds it finally dawned on me by the power of citrus. Either way it was something I kept messing with, and the more I talked about it the more people hopped on board with me. We’re still just a raft in a sea of ships but I made this baby and I’m proud of it.

I will say I have had a lot of people talk to me like I made it, and while I do want to take some credit cause I put a lot of time into them, I have heard it used to be a ship back in the old hetalia days. But I haven’t found any old fanworks of it. And trust me I scoured every fic and art site I could think of. Maybe it was something only seen in RP groups so it never got published fic or art but I crave content for it so if it was originally a thing and there’s content around let me know please I don’t wanna take credit for it fully but I have not found another person who shipped it before they talked to me.

my thoughts:

Literally some of the only serotonin I get in these trying times. I love them so much they make me so happy. An unbelievably strong power house trio who could do damn near about anything together. They have it all.

I could go on for hours about small scenarios or aus with them. Like I’m a multi-shipper but fuck man they’re my OTP. I can and do ship other things with them, but man they make me melt with joy.

I made a playlist for it, I’m still building it but I like ti so far. I wish I could find more three person love songs but for now I have songs for each of the three lads, and the three ships that make up it, so it works! Might change some of them but I like what I have so far!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC4nWN-9zrnEOeLgihkaqQOpPO6nEnc81

Germany and Romano: A Lovely Night and If I Could Tell Her

Romano and Canada: Best Worst Mistake

Canada and Germany: Guy That I’d Kind of Be Into

Germany General: When He Sees Me and Little Miss Perfect (President Perfect)

Romano General: I Won’t Say I’m in Love (so original I know)

Canada General: Would You Be So Kind? and Piece of Art

What makes me happy about them:

Literally everything. Their characters, the dynamics, the growth they create together. They may not work in every story of mine but when they work they really work. They push each member of the ship to grow as a person. Germany finding support he may not have originally had, Canada finding the confidence and support in a group that won’t forget him, Romano finally feeling safe enough to open up to others in a way he didn’t feel safe doing before. It’s just the good fucking food. You can put it in different settings and it just works, they’re able to play off one another in a really great way and pull them out of their comfort zones in ways that other ships don’t hit me as hard with.

What makes me sad about them:

That I am literally one of the only people who makes content for it. I have scoured the internet I can’t find anything, ANYTHING. And often I cannot get people to follow me on it, I’ve been getting more people on board slowly but surely but STILL-- That or they really try to push the whole ‘i ship it with (ship thats similar but with one of the brothers swapped out for the other)’ on me when I’m talking about it and I’m just like. I asked for GerCanMano I didn’t ask for your opinion. I’ve thought about the other ship conbo’s with their other brothers, I just like this one the best.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me:

When this ship is treated as a lesser to other ships around the three characters. People going like well I think it would be better if it was ‘swaps one of the brothers out for the other’ but that’s not the point. Also this is a general problem I have with Germano/GerCan as well but people making it all about their family’s or brothers reactions and how it effects their brothers instead of their relationship. ESPECIALLY between Romano and Italy.

It’s almost always a cheating on their ‘true love’ or some sort of affair fic and it doesn’t focus on their love and living together and more about them bouncing around to avoid getting caught and I just don’t care enough. I just want to see them in a loving happy relationship, and interacting with one another. Prussia, America’s and ESPECIALLY Italy’s reactions don’t matter to me. When it comes to say GerIta fics, there are a few that address Romano’s feelings toward Italy’s relationship, but not all of them. Hell some of them don’t have a mention or hair of Romano, but when the position is reversed with Germano suddenly even if he’s not in the fic it’s all about how Italy feels about it or how it effects him or hiding it from him.

I dont want to watch Germany go back and forth about which Italy brother he likes while dating both. It’s one just not in character and two its uncomfortable. I read this fic for the gercanmano Im not here to hear that Germany’s cheating on and warring with his feelings toward Italy or Canada sleeping around behind Prussia’s back. It’s boring and I’m tired of reading it. I’m digging into specifics of the three component ships cause there are no fanfics of GerCanMano so I can’t talk about what annoys in their base fics.

I had like one person write GerCanMano into their RusPrus fic, which was cool. but then they were a nazi apologist. So I can’t exactly read it anymore. I have nothing else to compare to but the base three ships of Germano, GerCan and Canmano

Things I look for in fanfic I don’t ask much I just want them to exist without me having to write all of them. I wanna find content other people have made, not that I’m lazy and think peopel should make content for me, just that I get bored of reading my own writing. If I wanna be really picky, letting it be a quickly established relationship and getting to see them in the relationship, learning about each other living together dealing with problems together that doesn’t just have them break up after one fight.

Having them in a functioning relationship before the story is over. Letting that relationship blossom past the start or the first date before the fic is finished. It’s sad when a romance story ends with them getting together cause there’s so much more relationship to have-- ;^; what about cooking together and cuddles on the couch and date nights and small fights and family gatherings--

My happily ever after for them:

It’s hard to write a happily ever after for nations or for anything to be honest cause life keeps going, growing, changing etc. But I’d love them to have a wedding and just a calm, slice of life kind of life together. A nice house, a big garden, a pond in the back where in the winter Germany and Canada can ice skate. A nice big garage where Germany and Romano can work on cars, Maybe near the woods so they can all go hiking,

Nothing fancy. A nice place that smells like warm coffee in the morning, that’s lively with sound of loved ones and shenanigans during the day and quiet whispers of affection at night. They get together but meetings are less boring, they have plans with their family and friends. Spain, France and Prussia loving to tease their little siblings/kids about things and make sure they’re doing okay. Veneziano always trying to help Romano come up with romantic shenanigans to use against his husbands. America just being happy his bro is happy.

Just soft wholesome life stuff. ;;

My kinks:

These are going below for discussions of not safe for work topics. I’m not going light so dive below at your own risk. (sex discussion, kink discussion, general ns//fw content)

I exclusively write top Canada. Like, I just do. I don’t really draw or write him taking it, I don’t know why I just don’t. Doesn’t mean he isn’t put under someone’s thumb in bed, but they’re still riding. There are very very few instances where I have written him taking. Again I don’t know why. Maybe it’s just the concept of soft pastel uwu boy slamming Germany into a wall, maybe it’s the thought of Canada in heels and leather just with the vibe of ‘go ahead tell them. no one will believe you’.

Canada isn’t any kinkier than Germany, but he’s more confident than Germany about it. He’s got a little bit of jealous neediness in the back of his brain so when it comes to sex he loves when his partner’s attention is on him. He loves to spoil and get spoiled and is the roughest of the three. Just a tiny, tiny bit of masochism/sadism. Very small. It’s very much he’ll do it (with safe words set in place and everything) but he will feel eh about it afterward and make sure that they don’t take away that he hates them or anything. In the inverse hes very very good at fluffing people up and body worship, as well as demeaning talk. Loves role-playing, hence slipping into the mind where he’s got the confidence to throw Germany around the bedroom. He loves especially tying them up and just watching them writhe-

Germany is a switch, fight me on it. If you think that man who has very little canon confidence with romance and no experience is a 100% big daddy top you’re just wrong I’m not sorry. Mind you, he can top and he often does, but being rough and demanding and forceful is not something he’s good at he’s so nervous about injuring his partner, even if they tell him it’s fine.

Germany is into all the rough play, like it’s canon. He loves to tie and be tied up and he likes when power is taken away from him. He likes when people push him under their thumb it’s why Canada gets to be rough with him. But at the same time, Germany is the most wholesome lover out of the three. Because it can be so hard to coax him out of his shell with his kinks, he can often be the inverse. Very gentle, very praising. Absolutely loves to body worship his partners. He’s not really all that good or comfortable with giving people blow jobs, however he loves kisses and touches all over. Mind you getting a blowjob is something he really enjoys, hes just not good at giving. Good thing that both his boyfriends are amazing at it. Favorite thing the two do is Canada having Germany Ride him and then Matteo either riding him on top or giving him head during.

Romano oh, Romano. He’s a bottom. The most bottom-y bottom. An absolute pillow princess and a brat wanting to be tamed. He tops very very rarely, and out of the three has the most experience both giving and receiving and with all different partners. Even if he’s bottoming doesn’t mean he’s always at the whim of his partners though, he loves riding.

Romano is the least kinky out of the three, while the other two enjoy being tied up, Romano isn’t really a fan, he doesn’t mind collars or handcuffs but full shibari like what Canada or Germany would be fine with doesn't really fly for him. As I said before, he’s also the loudest, and gets very whiny when left to hang (not like either of them mind the noise). Romano loves giving and receiving blow jobs/hand jobs. Especially giving. It’s how he gets the good vibes of watching his partner squirm in the good way. He also loves to leave nibbles scratches bites and hickies if he’s allowed to. Catch him giving Germany a bite right above his collar before a meeting. Despite what might be expected, he can roll with degradation in bed really well but he falls apart quick with praise. He likes both but he will tear up when Germany gets overly gushy and feelsy. Loves double penetration and being spit-roasted.

#gercanmano #hws #hws germany #hws romano #hws canada #ns//fw discussion

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seercayder · 3 years

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No but I feel as though artists are probably experiencing one of the most hostile years of posting art online that they’ve ever experienced for maybe forever. And I mean this for both amateur artists and professionals (with maybe a lil bit of bias since I also do The Art).

Tumblr’s nudity ban has crippled any piece that is either NSFW or uses nudity as artistic expression and it ultimately drove away both the artists themselves and a lot of their fans, which destroyed any remaining traction for the artists who managed to remain. Tumblr is no longer an artistic freedom-friendly site and it shows, which is a fucking shame bc they genuinely have one of the better tagging systems than other sites and I believe that most feedback on art there has been positive and friendly, which has now gone the way of the dinosaur much like Deviantart.

Twitter has problems with image compression but their biggest issue is toxic abuse, which I find to be the most damaging to artists out of all the other problems i’m listing here. Both the lure of anonymity and the mindset that ‘Speak Loud In Little Words To Make Point Means You Are Important And Right’ has fuelled the absolutely vile comments I have seen directed at artists on the site. Although it’s mainly aimed at fanartists and ship artists, I have noticed unwanted (even rude) criticism on immaculate, well-done art pieces, which is extremely belittling and insulting because the artist (although they may be open to criticism) if they haven’t asked for criticism then that means that they are not in the right mindset to receive any, and therefore it is not your place to throw disparaging comments at them.

But the biggest issue with abuse on Twitter is obviously aimed at fan-artists, especially those those that draw NSFW or “problematic” content. I could go into a whole spiel about how a drawing of a fictional character doesn’t affect reality but in short: If you find disturbing art of a non-existent character (or hey, even non-disturbing art, it’s just something you don’t like) then ignore it. Don’t go and fucking bully the artist you psychopath. If it is truly illegal then report the piece and then see if it gets taken down. Because 90% of the time it won’t be taken down because it doesn’t go against guidelines and you’re just trying to police the site like you’re the thought-police, monitoring other peoples art as if you have the god-given right to. And if you’re a minor stay the fuck out of 18+ accounts. Don’t comment, don’t follow, don’t even look. I am absolutely amazed by the mindset that some children have to waltz into a space not made for them and having the balls to insult the 18+ artist, who have specifically said “no minors”, for posting icky content. It gets even worse when you see how they abuse the Privatter or Curiouscat links the Twitter artists provide, made for anonymous feedback or for being the final barrier for an adult piece that says “hey this stuff is NSFW, don’t click if you are underage, last warning”. I’m gonna go into this more when I cover TikTok in the next few paragraphs. But ultimately, the artists on that site are having to be constantly vigilant against abuse, and it’s not unusual for them having to spend hours going through their 1K+ followers and having to block every underage follower who just didn’t fucking listen to their warnings. Imagine how exhausting and irritating and down-right uncomfortable that must be; having to monitor every fan that sees your work out of fear that they’re a minor seeing adult content or that they could throw abusive comments at you. Horrible.

Instagram is saturated with bots attempting to steal your work or advertise it on their own page and feedback isn’t really a ‘thing’ on there. Also, their algorithm (which may have also been implemented on Twitter, I believe that the Twitter algorithm now avoids promoting popular artist terms, but I can’t be certain bc the Twitter post that pointed this out is long-lost in the depths of my timeline, bc again, no tagging system) is based more around sharing than likes, which can be a huge barrier to artists. Sure, you may like someones art and even leave a nice comment on it, but do you really want to share every piece you come across, especially if it’s not something you would show dear Aunty Susan who follows you? It’s infuriating that a whole site dedicated for images is so difficult to use for artists, and with Instagram implementing features that are similar to Snapchats ‘stories’ it’s clear they’ve moving in a different direction, focusing on momentary attention-grabbing photos. This is simply because Instagram is advertising itself as more of a promotional influencer site nowadays, and anything that could sully their reputation has to be thrown into the algorithm trash. NSFW art or just plain ‘bad’ art? Trash. If you’re not gonna make money for them then why should they bother? You wanna promote your art? Pay for it because the algorithm will absolutely be working against you.

Now, the biggest fucking offender for worst art-sharing site of the year is TikTok (no surprise there), which is absolutely rampant with reposts and uncredited artwork and a gateway for abusive comments against artists. Like the Ouroboros snake, it goes through the same pattern every time; People (usually minors) find art on Twitter or Pinterest and repost it, usually without credit or going against the artist’s wishes about reposting. Then it either goes two-ways: Firstly, if the piece is SFW it will get about five-seconds of interest, a like for the reposter and people will then just move on. TikTok is built entirely around short bursts of satisfaction, feeding a a constant loop of serotonin for a few seconds before you move on. So ultimately, people rarely then hunt down the original artist, especially if their credit isn’t readily available, and usually the original artists doesn’t see any rise in likes, followers or popularity and are usually unaware that their art is even getting any attention on TikTok.

Or, if the art is NSFW, it can go down the second way. It is reposted and, as the majority of TikTok users are under-18, many users find the image uncomfortable, especially if it is a bit more ‘out-there’ or of a ship they don’t like. The reposters sometimes find the image off of Privatter, which is even worse since the piece has been posted to Privatter not just as a final barrier against minors, but also as a form of directing the piece to a specific and niche audience due to it’s... spicer than usual NSFW content. I’m talking really specific pieces with really specific kinks. Now that piece is floating around TikTok, widely seen by the general fans of a fandom, who again, are usually underage. The viewers grow uncomfortable, as the piece is not made for them, especially since sometimes the reposter only posted the piece for shock-value, and would even encourage insulting comments by only posting the credits for the purpose of getting fans to throw abuse at the artist (”The artist is ***** but they ship **** and are icky”) and so the viewers finally decide to make the effort to hunt down the original artist, only to throw insulting and bullying comments at them, made worse by the fact that they are children who don’t have the sense to hold back and have been fuelling their mindset in the echo-chamber that is TikTok.

And as a result of a lot of this hostile feedback for artists, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a space for amateur artists who are just starting out, since the art community is becoming a little bit scary. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that new (or not even new but recently promoted) sites such as Artstation are becoming a better place for professional artists only, but it is very intimidating for learner artists. That’s not necessarily a bad thing - I believe that part of the reason for Deviantarts decline was that the tagging system was horrible, so good art was being drowned out by amateur, fetish content, so more advanced artists were distancing themselves from the site, especially if they were trying to build a portfolio for employment. I also find that fanart usually gets far more likes than more original art pieces, even if the original piece is amazingly good, which isn’t a criticism against fanart but posting your original piece on a site more aimed at professional pieces may help you reach your target audience better and improve likes and interaction. However, that does mean that if you are an amateur, or hell, just an average artists who is still learning, your best bet for exposure is posting your piece across multiple sites and very, very regularly, braving any abusive comments if you try anything slightly “spicy”. Which, obviously, become a very potentially toxic atmosphere and it’s not uncommon for artists to feel burn-out or depressed at their lack of attention or the cyber-bullying they may receive.

I’m not trying to say that posting artwork has always been easy, but there is definitely a more aggressive culture surrounding it and I think artists have to be aware that chances are they will face insulting comments, reposters, frustrating algorithms, cyber-bullying, a lack of interaction and burn-out as they try and appeal to websites that would do the bare minimum for you in terms of promotion.

This isn’t meant to be a post to scare away artists, I just wanted to point out that there is a big fucking problem and it feels as though it’s getting worse. Nowadays, websites have become a bit too comfortable targeting creators rather than fans when it comes to monitoring content and artists have been put under more and more pressure as they face more and more abuse that is rarely addressed, especially by the sites themselves that host the content. Things that are a huge punch in the face for artists, such as NFT’s, are becoming more normalised and it’s honestly just sad.

#art #sorry for the long post but I get passionate about art #and I feel like every day i'm seeing more and more cyber abuse towards artists and it's honestly depressing #artists #twitter #instagram #tumblr #tagging is the best invention and i'm confused why Twitter doesn't even have a better system for it

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anubislover · 4 years

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Welcome to the Heart Pirates, Nami-ya chapter 17: Getting Hands-On

Neither navigator made an effort to hide the despair on their faces as they walked into the infirmary. Why bother? Law would figure out they failed the second he realized they didn’t have the antivenom they’d set out for; just some canned goods and a journal describing the horrors that had taken place on the ship. That, and the bloody scrapes from the vulture’s attack stood out starkly against Bepo’s white fur, so even if they wanted to pretend everything went swimmingly, the doctor would call bullshit in an instant.

The large cat halted in the middle of the room, his pacing disturbed by their entrance. His brow furrowed at the subdued mood and nose twitched at the scent of blood and seawater. He gave a curt, questioning meow as he bounded over, circling the pair as he took in their minor injuries.

“I’m so sorry, Law,” Bepo said despondently, kneeling down so his captain could get a closer look at the shallow cuts across his muzzle. “One of the pirates flew off with the antivenom.”

“The captain’s a vulture in every sense of the word,” Nami sneered, tossing her own bag to the ground as she marched over to the cabinets to grab some antibacterial cream for the bear. She was wet, miserable, and trying to hide her internal panic with anger. “He told Bepo that if we want it, we need to trade the old man for it. But we can’t!”

Law snorted, which Bepo translated to “‘Why not’?”

Tossing Bepo the cream, she glared at his captain’s heartless response. “Law, the man was a prisoner on that ship,” she argued as she pulled out the leather-bound diary from her bag. “I read the captain’s journal—turning him over to those bastards is the last thing he deserves, even if he did attack us.” Flipping to one of the damning entries, she shoved the book under his nose. “They exploited his powers and tortured him. Made him help in what was basically slave trafficking. He had to turn children into animals to be sold as exotic pets or skinned for their pelts. Hell, I can’t blame him for panicking when he saw us—I’d have done the same!” Or worse, she thought to herself, remembering the cages and tools she’d seen in the cargo hold. I’d definitely turn the captain into a bug and squash him.

Yellow eyes darted across the page, taking in the captain’s cruel words before Law let out a few grunts.

Dabbing one of his cuts with the antibacterial cream, Bepo winced at his captain’s harsh retort. “Uh, Law says ‘The old man certainly suffered, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m literally dying because of him’.”

Nami’s heart twisted in her chest. Not just at how callous his words were, but at the fact that he was technically right. It was the doctor’s fault; if he hadn’t turned Law into a leopard, or his former captors into deadly snakes, none of this would be an issue. If they didn’t betray him, the venom would paralyze Law’s lungs and basically suffocate him from the inside. But then again…

Teeth gritting, she bit out, “Fine. If you want a more practical reason not to turn him over, how about the fact that we need him to turn you and the crew back into humans? Did you think about that?!”

Spotted ears flattened against his skull as he growled. “‘Of course I did! We’re in a no-win situation; I’ll either die painfully or spend the rest of my life as a snow leopard’.”

Bepo’s shoulders sagged further as the full weight of their hopeless situation hit him. “And who knows how long it’ll be until you go completely feral? Or the others? And if we can’t get you all human again, we’re stuck on this island forever—Nami and I can’t sail the Tang on our own.”

Tears of frustration welled up in Nami’s eyes at that. Damn it, things really were a mess, weren’t they? Nothing had gone right since the King Game! “It’s not fair! That was supposed to be an easy errand for some barmy old man! Law was supposed to learn a valuable lesson about letting his crew handle things, and the Hearts to not rely on his powers for everything! This was supposed to be a vacation!” she shouted, kicking the examination table in frustration so hard some of the zoology books tumbled to the floor.

“Nami…” Bepo whimpered, worried about his friend, but Law held up a paw to keep him from going to her.

Yanking off her wet boots and throwing them across the infirmary, she continued to vent. “I swear, I should have stayed in Weatheria! Then I wouldn’t have to deal with psychotic poachers or creepy octopus-men or underworld power struggles or any of the other crap I’ve run into since I agreed to this stupid deal! I’d be safe and sound with the Weather Wizards, training to be the best damn navigator Luffy could ask for!”

For a few moments, the only sound that filled the infirmary were Nami’s heaving pants as she caught her breath.

“I’m sorry we’ve caused you so much trouble, Nami,” Bepo finally said, hanging his head in despair. Law said nothing, but he too looked away from her, and the way his brow was scrunched up made it clear he was berating himself for all the danger he’d inadvertently put her in.

Anger spent due to her little temper tantrum, she rubbed her forehead and collapsed into a chair. “No, I’m sorry,” she sighed. “This isn’t your fault; danger’s par for the course when you’re a pirate. I’m just scared. I don’t like being backed into a corner like this. It makes me lash out sometimes. It’s like…it’s like when I first met Luffy. I was given the choice between shooting him with an explosive cannonball, or the pirates I was conning killing me. I didn’t want to die, but I couldn’t kill some helpless idiot in cold blood. There was no way I could win.”

“What happened?”

“One of the pirates decided that maybe I didn’t know how to light a canon, so he took the matches from me, and I…I attacked him. I couldn’t help myself! And then Zoro showed up and saved us both, and I stole the key to Luffy’s cage while we escaped in the confusion.”

“Sounds like your crew really has your captain’s back,” Bepo said, giving Law a sideways glance.

A tiny smile came to her face at the memory. “Heh. We weren’t even a crew then—just a misfit trio. Zoro’d known Luffy for like, a day, and I’d met him that afternoon. But the three of us still managed to save a village from Buggy and his crew and get a map to the Grand Line.”

Law let out a begrudging string of meows, and the corner of Bepo’s mouth lifted a bit. “He says, ‘If Mugiwara-ya was able to trust you and Zoro-ya to save him after just meeting you, I suppose I can show a little more faith in my crew’.”

“I’d be a lot happier to hear that if there was a chance you all could come out of this alive and human,” Nami sighed. “Except we’re still stuck in a no-win situation.”

“Maybe we could fight the pirates for the antivenom?” Bepo asked. “I know Law’s supposed to take it easy and not strain himself, but we’re kind of desperate. Snow leopards are supposed to be great jumpers—maybe he could snatch that vulture out of the air!”

“Or he could miss and it could fly off with the antivenom and drop it into the ocean out of spite while we’re stuck fighting whatever the rest of its crew was turned into.” She shook her head. “We’re at a major disadvantage—we don’t know what they are, their abilities, or even how many of them there are. Hell, we didn’t even think to ask the doctor about any of that—we just assumed none of them would be on the ship.”

Law sighed and grunted a few things, which the Mink translated. “‘It was an oversight on all our parts. We should have pressed the old man for intel before going in. Our desperation made us blind to the obvious pitfalls and our ignorance allowed the enemy to get a leg up on us’.”

Suddenly, his eyes lit up as if he had an epiphany. Putting an enormous paw on Nami’s leg, he gave a few growls before a smirk spread across his muzzle.

Bepo blinked before grinning happily. “He says, ‘Call the doctor, Nami-ya—I have a plan’.”

XXX

One Den Den Mushi call later the trio was back on the beach, waiting anxiously at the destroyed party site. Naturally, they were all cautious and alert, keeping an eye out for venomous snakes, large birds, or other animal attacks that could come charging out of the jungle. After all, the vulture might have demanded a trade, but that didn’t mean he didn’t plan to betray them the moment he got what he wanted.

While Law prowled the jungle perimeter, Bepo built a small fire to keep the evening chill away and provide some extra light.

“Do you smell anything?” Nami asked, shifting her weight from foot-to-foot nervously as she guarded the bags of supplies. She didn’t know all of the details of Law’s plan, but she was positive it would be ruined if the enemy appeared before they could spring the trap.

The two animals shook their heads. “Nothing fresh. I’d recognize the vulture’s scent if it were nearby; he reeked of rotting meat. And Law says he can’t see or smell anything suspicious, either. Seems we’re safe.”

“Well, I don’t trust that to last long. They never gave us a meeting place, so they must be expecting to find us, and this is the most obvious spot.”

There was a curt chuff, which Bepo translated, “‘True, which is why we need to be on our guard and hope the old man doesn’t take too long to get here’.”

She double-checked the bags, which were filled to the brim with supplies. At the top were a pair of Law’s best black leather boots and one of his long coats, reluctantly donated by an extremely grumpy captain. “Is there anything we might be forgetting?”

Law responded with an irritated growl, and Bepo said, “Um, he’s a bit mad that it’s mostly our stuff you’re giving away and none of your own.”

“Well, it’s not like my shoes or clothes would fit him, Law,” she said breezily. “And I doubt he’d be interested in any of my books.”

“He says that everything we need to replace because of this is coming from your paycheck.”

“No, it’s all coming from the money we’ll get from selling the extra antivenom. Do try to keep up with the plan, Law,” she quipped, tossing a smirk over her shoulder.

The tip of his tail flicked back and forth crossly as he growled something under his breath. She noticed Bepo sweating as he busily set about adding more wood to the fire, his fake whistle making it clear he was simply pretending to have not heard whatever was said so he wouldn’t have to translate.

Nami found she didn’t mind that, mainly because arguing with Law just didn’t have the same thrill when he had to speak through a third party. Nor was it as engaging without glaring defiantly up into a pair of smug eyes, watching his mouth twist into a scowl or smirk in response to her verbal barbs. And though they’d never really been shy about fighting in front of other people, having Bepo actually involved felt…wrong. Like he was unwillingly intruding on something intimate.

She shook her head, refusing to dwell on that line of thinking. She needed to focus on the plan and the task at hand, otherwise she might never get to properly fight with Law again, and that would be an absolute tragedy.

The leopard’s ears perked up, and he let out a meow as he loped to Nami’s side, placing his body in front of hers protectively, shoulders tense and ready to pounce should the worst happen. “‘He’s here. I recognize the scent’.”

There was a rustling of leaves, and as predicted, an old man stepped out of the jungle and onto the beach. He was tan, gangly and thin, at least Law’s height, with a tangled white beard that reached his navel. His face was thin and gaunt with prominent wrinkles across his bald head and around his sunken brown eyes. He wore nothing but a pair of tattered trousers and what appeared to be a thin cloak made of woven grass, and while he was muscular from what was likely a physically intensive lifestyle of living in the jungle, Nami could easily count his ribs in the firelight.

She could just as easily count his scars, too—lashes, lacerations, claw marks, and Nami swore she even saw faded evidence of a branding iron. It also appeared that he was missing two of his toes on his left foot, though it was difficult to be sure with the sand and shadows.

Anxiously, he glanced around as if expecting an ambush, though his attention was quickly stolen by Bepo. “I don’t recall turning anyone into a polar bear,” he said suspiciously, stance shifting as if about to bolt back into the jungle, “and where’s that guy I talked to on the phone?”

“Oh, uh, that’s me,” Bepo said, raising his paw helpfully.

He gasped in surprise. “A talking bear?!”

“I’m sorry,” he replied, hanging his head gloomily.

“Wait, bears can’t talk, which means you must be a Mink, yes? I’ve heard about your kind, but I’ve never had the pleasure of encountering one face-to-face!” he said, eyes getting a little starry as he took a few steps closer to get a better look. “Simply magnificent! Look at those claws! And you’ve got actual fingers! Your coat is remarkably glossy, too! Tell me, what’s your daily diet?”

Sweatdrops fell down both Nami’s and Law’s heads at seeing the old man practically fanboy over Bepo. That was…unexpected to say the least. For his part, Bepo was extremely shy and flustered at the sudden positive attention from a stranger.

“Uh, hate to interrupt, but we’re supposed to be having something of a business transaction right now,” Nami said awkwardly.

That seemed to snap the old man out of his fascinated haze and he practically leapt away before coughing into his fist. “Ah, yes, right. Do you have the goods?” he asked, eyeing the bags skeptically. He kept close to the edge of the jungle, one foot back as if he were ready to flee at a moment’s notice.

Treating him like a skittish deer she didn’t want to scare away, Nami carefully began removing items from the satchels, making broad, obvious movements to show she meant no harm. “Most of the stuff on the shipwreck was unusable, so we replaced them with some of our own supplies. We’ve got pots, pans, blankets, canned goods, a can opener, boots…”

Law growled irritably as his clothes were handed over. The old man ignored him, instead admiring the shiny leather in the firelight. “These are high-quality. Normally I’m not fond of wearing animal skin, but beggars can’t be choosers.” He immediately slipped them on, along with the long wool coat, sighing happily as the warmth encased him. “To be honest, I don’t think I’ve worn real shoes in years. The most they ever gave me were sacks to put on my feet, and that was only after I lost a couple little piggies to frostbite,” he said, wiggling his booted toes for emphasis.

Given what she knew of his treatment, it didn’t surprise Nami, though it did further solidify in her mind that those pirates needed a harsher punishment than just being turned into animals.

“We even brought you books from the library!” Bepo said cheerfully, holding up the stack of encyclopedias. “Nami said you were a conservationist, so we thought you’d like these.”

He studied the titles before wrinkling his nose. “Do you have anything else? Maybe a juicy romance novel or historical fiction?”

“What happened to ‘beggars can’t be choosers’?” Nami asked, a little annoyed. If he wanted a specific genre, he should have said something before they’d gone out of their way to haul a pile of thick, heavy books across the water.

Chastised, the old man shrunk back instinctually at her tone. “Ah, I suppose you’re right. It’s just that I simply hate reading my own writing; especially my older works.”

Three jaws dropped as they connected the dots between the ragged man before them and the author of the zoology books they’d spent the evening reading. “Wait, you’re Dr. Monroe?”

“I am indeed, though no one’s called me that in a long time,” he said with a melancholy smile.

Head jerking between the old man and the stack of encyclopedias, Nami found herself both shocked and further infuriated at the pirates on his behalf. He’d been a respected naturalist, someone who’d researched and written detailed books on thousands of animals, and yet he’d been reduced to a prisoner and tool for a monstrous captain’s selfish gain.

Turning the captain into a vulture was an insult to carrion birds.

“I…I’ve got a few novels I could give you, Dr. Monroe,” she said kindly, ignoring the way Law raised his eyebrow at her. She wasn’t sure if it was due to the realization that she might have a juicy romance novel to offer or that she was offering up her own stuff for free. She hoped it was the latter. “I can understand not wanting to reread your old work for the rest of your life. There are plenty of maps I’ve drawn that I just can’t stand to look at anymore.”

“I…well thank you, missy,” Monroe said, genuinely surprised at her generosity.

“Heck, come check out the sub’s library; you can take your pick of anything there!”

Law gave a vicious snarl in response, ears flattening and teeth bared.

“Uh, except for the medical texts,” Bepo explained nervously, making it clear he was giving the significantly more polite version of his captain’s outburst. “Those are off-limits.”

“Oh, don’t worry; medical stuff has never been my cup of tea,” Dr. Monroe assured him, surprisingly less afraid of a large bear or an angry snow leopard than an annoyed young woman. Looking over the bags of supplies, he gave a grateful smile. “Besides, it seems you’ve held up your end of the bargain, and I admit, you’ve gone above and beyond what I expected. Oh! Were you able to find the antivenom?”

Nami’s teeth sunk into her lip as she recalled their failure on the shipwreck. “I’m so sorry,” she said, nails sinking into her palms because of how tightly her fists were clenched. “We had the antivenom, but then this vulture showed up and stole it from us—”

“The captain,” he deduced sadly, visibly deflating. “He gave you an ultimatum, didn’t he? You plan on trading me for it.”

“Sorry,” Bepo answered, hanging his head. “I tried to fight him off, but it was too risky with those glass vials.”

“We don’t want to,” Nami stressed. “I read the captain’s journal. I know what they’ve done to you. But Law’s dying—”

Dr. Monroe held up a trembling hand to silence her. Skinny legs started to tremble while his hands shook, but his eyes were resolute as he looked at the trio. “I understand. I…I guess you have no choice, then. I’ll turn you and your crew human again. A deal’s a deal, and I’d like to have one last moment of moral high ground before those bastards rip me to shreds.”

Quietly prowling forward, a low chuff came from the snow leopard as he looked up at Dr. Monroe with intelligent gold eyes.

Bepo gave a small sigh of relief as he translated, “Law says, ‘It’s good to hear you have a sense of honor. That’s why we’re not handing you over. Turn me human, and we won’t need the antivenom. My powers will take care of it’.”

“You can talk to animals?” Dr. Monroe asked Bepo, shocked and amazed.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry.”

Stars filled his eyes once more as he gazed in awe at the Mink. “Don’t apologize! This is marvelous! Oh, if only I’d had an assistant like you back in my naturalist days—the discoveries you could have helped me make…”

Law took this moment to cough rudely, interrupting the scientist’s daydream.

“Ah, yes, right. Turn you human. Well, if that’ll save your life and keep me from being handed back over to those psychopaths, I’m more than willing to comply.”

With more confidence than Nami would have expected from the old man, Dr. Monroe strode forward, gently placing his hand on Law’s head. There was a shimmer in the air around him, almost like heat in the desert, before the snow leopard began to transform. As his body shifted and changed, Law stood, once again human and on his own two feet.

Human and not wearing a stitch of clothing.

“Oh my god, why are you naked?!” Nami shrieked, hands flying up to cover her eyes as her face turned beet red.

“Because he wasn’t wearing clothes,” Dr. Monroe supplied matter-of-factly.

“Why didn’t you warn us first?!”

“Because on the off-chance that you really do plan to betray me and hand me over to those pirates as a twisted form of revenge, I might as well get the last laugh.”

Scoffing in annoyance, Law said, “Bepo, hand me Kikoku.”

“Shouldn’t you get dressed first?” the Mink asked, though he dutifully retrieved the nodachi from its hiding place behind a tree.

“I’ll take care of it once the venom’s out of my system. See if you can find me something to wear once I’m done.” Nami could practically hear the smirk in his voice as he added, “Don’t worry, Nami-ya; your virgin eyes will be safe soon enough.”

Instinctively she wrenched her hands away to properly glare at him, only for all the color to drain from her face as she witnessed Law’s body parts floating around in the dome of his Room. As they flew about, blood was slowly being drawn out of them, and she could see little particles of what she assumed to be the venom filling the air like a mist.

“I told you not to look, Nami-ya,” he scolded, though humor laced his voice.

She immediately spun around to face the jungle, feeling fairly sick at what she’d just observed. She was suddenly reminded of that time in the alley when he’d drawn the faulty birth control from her bloodstream. Was this what he’d done? She recalled feeling floaty and strange during the procedure. No wonder he’d ordered her to keep her eye closed.

“Monroe-ya,” Law began, unperturbed by his audience, “though I’m not in the habit of helping people who have both massively inconvenienced me and kidnapped my crew, my navigators are sympathetic to your plight. That, and I’m in even less of the habit of giving into the demands of lesser pirates. So, I’m going to take care of your former captors, but I’ll need your expertise to do it.”

“Good god,” Dr. Monroe said, his voice filled with horrified fascination as he unabashedly stared at the unnatural display before him. “What kind of powers do you have?!”

“That of the Ope Ope no Mi. Believe me, you’ll see far more of what I can do before the night’s over. Now, you said the pirates that are still alive are much worse than those we’ve already faced. Tell me what kinds of animals they are.”

He crossed his bony arms, mouth set in a frown that was nearly hidden by his tangled beard. “Besides the Eurasian black vulture, there’s a red spitting cobra, diamondback rattlesnake, hippopotamus, chimpanzee, and wolverine.”

“A cobra?!” Nami shrieked, horrified. She didn’t need one of the zoology books to tell her that was bad news.

Dr. Monroe waved his hand dismissively. “Spitting cobras don’t bite; as the name implies, they spit their venom, which is generally harmless against intact human and mammalian skin. However, you don’t want to get it in your eyes, as if left untreated it may cause chemosis and corneal swelling.”

“Noted. The rattlesnake’s bite is still dangerous though, yes?” Law asked.

“Quite. However, it’s the hippopotamus you should really worry about—naturally aggressive, charges like a tank, thick skin, and powerful jaws. He’s their heavy-hitter. The vulture is their leader and scout, often flying over the island to find me. Meanwhile, the wolverine is extremely ferocious for its size. The chimpanzee’s vicious and crafty, and has the advantage of thumbs, so he’s been able to disassemble several of my traps.”

“It’s a wonder you’re still alive.”

The old doctor shuddered, seemingly recalling the various horrors he’d endured. “I’m sure they’ve been dreaming of ripping me to shreds and feasting on my corpse, but up until now, it’s been too risky. Even if killing me did turn them human again, they’d still be stuck on this island. At least as animals, they didn’t need as much food or shelter. But I knew the moment your submarine showed up in the bay, my days were numbered.”

Nami could now understand why the pirates were so desperate. After all, they were on an island that wasn’t on any map, had a magnetic signal that was too weak to be detected by a log pose, and was basically a death trap for most vessels; this was likely the only chance they’d have to escape before their minds went completely feral. And of course they couldn’t just ask the doctor to turn them back—not after the hell they’d put him through.

Trying to think about anything besides the journal entries, Nami said, “I’m surprised that the snakes and vulture survived considering how little native wildlife there is on the island. You’d think they’d have starved to death after two months.”

Dr. Monroe shook his head. “From what I’ve observed, they’ve been getting by on birds and the rats that escaped the ship, with the occasional baby sea turtle for good measure. And of course, the vulture’s been feasting on the remains of his former companions.”

Once more, she felt ill. She wondered if those rats were the normal kind, or the humans they’d been using for making antivenom. Then again, the journal had said they’d eaten their former cabin boy, so it probably didn’t matter to them.

“What about you?” Law cut in, interrupting Nami’s thoughts. “You’re not as malnourished as I first thought, but you’re still surprisingly skinny considering all the fresh fruit and fish the island provides.”

“The crew goes out of their way to make my life difficult as a petty form of revenge and intimidation tactic,” the old man groused. “I try to fish, but if I stay in one spot for too long, they find me and chase me away. Same with the fruit—the chimpanzee and baboon would steal it for themselves, or otherwise just destroy it to spite me. And of course, whenever I’d make a fire to cook or keep warm, it made finding me so much easier, so they’d typically charge in and destroy my camp.”

“Wait, doesn’t that make having this fire dangerous?” Nami asked, concerned. “They’ll find us in no time!”

“That’s part of the plan, Nami-ya,” Law assured. “They think we’re going to make a trade, so of course they’d expect us to make ourselves easy to find.”

“Here’s a pair of swim trunks, Captain,” Bepo said helpfully, pulling the garment out of the beach bag he’d been rummaging through.

“Thank you,” Law said, and Nami could hear rustling as he slipped into them. “You can look now, Nami-ya, assuming you weren’t already sneaking peeks,” he sniggered.

Despite the glare she threw at him, Nami had to admit it was nice seeing him bipedal and blessedly human again. And though she refused to say it aloud, it was very nice seeing the way the firelight flickered across his taut muscles and reflected in his cunning gold eyes. The shadows cast across his lithe figure made him almost look unreal, and she found herself tempted to touch him to assure herself that her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.

Of course, Nami had the feeling she didn’t have to voice her appreciation. The way Law smirked knowingly at her blatant staring said it all.

“So, that power of yours really pulled out all the venom?” Dr. Monroe asked, full of scientific curiosity.

Law tore his attention from the feisty thief to the inquisitive naturalist. “Most of it, at least. I’ll still want a shot of that antivenom to ensure I’m completely cured, but I should be out of the woods for the time being.”

A sigh of relief left Nami’s chest. She was so glad Law had decided to actually reason with the old doctor instead of selling him out. She was even more grateful for the fact that, despite what he’d been put through, he wasn’t a malicious person—just a scared one. That had been clear enough when he’d told them about the antivenom and had agreed to wait until they’d gotten it to make the trade, but his willingness to help them even when he thought they were giving him up to his tormentors proved he deserved their help. It seemed that, while the pirates had done their best to turn him into a timid slave, they’d failed to rip away his humanity.

It was why she now had faith in Law’s plan; people like the vulture and his crew never expected people to act altruistically. They’d naturally assume that all pirates were as monstrous as them. They’d never expect their enemies to talk things out like civilized people and come to a mutually-beneficial agreement.

Rubbing his chin in thought, Law continued his line of questioning. “You said you can’t always control what kind of animals you turn someone into—that if they have a strong will, they can overcome it. Yet their whole plan was having you turn people into rare animals.”

“Yes. Most of the time they kidnapped civilians, so it was easy to assert my will over theirs. It’s a bit like Conqueror’s Haki, I suppose; it can dominate weaker people, but the strong can resist it and turn into something else.”

“Ah, that makes sense. Out of curiosity, what were you trying to turn me into?”

“Well,” Monroe said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, “I was trying to turn you into a spotted seal. That way, you’d be unlikely to pursue me through the jungle.”

Nami could have laughed at the mental image—Law would have made a very grumpy seal. At least as a snow leopard he was able to maintain some grace and dignity, kitty antics aside. As a seal he’d have to flop around on the beach and make loud barking sounds to communicate.

He seemed to notice the humor on her face as he tossed her a glare before returning his attention to the naturalist. “And you got a snow leopard instead. However, I was able to take out two of your former captors in that form. Which brings me to my plan; did you change any of my crew into creatures that might be good in a fight?”

Dr. Monroe’s eyes lit up in understanding. “Ah, I see; use their transformations to your advantage! Yes, several of them could be quite effective in a fight, but my camp is on the other side of the island—how do you propose we get them before the pirates get us?”

Instead of answering, Law activated his Room, spreading it out across the entire island, eyes closed in concentration. In a blink, the bags and debris left from the party were replaced with an assortment of animals, several looking overjoyed to see their captain again.

Before any of them could raise a ruckus to celebrate their reunion, Law held up his hand for silence. “We don’t have much time; the enemy will be here soon. I was poisoned earlier, and while I’ve removed most of it from my system, they still have the antivenom I need to ensure I’m completely cured. They want us to trade the doctor for it, but as he’s the only one who can turn you all back, we’ve agreed to an alliance.”

Most of the animals appeared concerned at that, but Law continued, “Normally, I’d insist on you all being returned to your human forms first as a precaution, but Dr. Monroe has informed me that several of you have abilities that could be useful. So, I’m going to trust that, no matter what species you are, you’re still my capable, top-notch crew who can handle these beasts. Don’t let me down.”

There was a moment of stunned silence before the crew roared in approval, and Nami found herself smiling at the obvious love and trust they had for their grumpy, morbid captain. Though, honestly, she wasn’t quite certain about this part of the plan—sure, there was a gorilla, what appeared to be a four foot-tall bird, a mongoose, and a bear of some kind, but there were also significantly less-threatening animals like a tapir, a ring-tailed lemur, an armadillo, some kind of weasel, and a walrus.

Turning to the doctor, Law waved him forward. “I need your expertise, Monroe-ya; who should fight, and who should stay back.”

Though he seemed nervous to have the attention of his former hostages suddenly on him, Dr. Monroe looked them over carefully. “Right. Let’s start with the snakes—I’d suggest the mongoose take on the rattlesnake while the secretary bird handles the cobra.”

Looking at the three avians in the group, which included a puffin and a tiny, aggressively-buzzing hummingbird, Bepo pointed at the tall bird with long eyelashes and impressive plumage. “You mean that one?”

“That’s her. Very unique—there’s no other kind of bird like them, so they have their own classification! Most importantly, she’s tall enough to avoid the spitting cobra’s venom, and her stomp is strong enough to snap its spine. She’s like a ninja eagle on stilts!”

The bird puffed up proudly at the description and gave a hoarse croaking sound as she stood beside the mongoose who gave a little salute. Bepo grinned and stated, “Ikkaku says that she and Clione are ready for action!”

Law nodded in approval while Monroe once again looked at the Mink wistfully. “Oh, to have had you as my assistant…”

“Monroe-ya, stop fawning over my navigator,” Law cut in irritably. “We only have so much time to chit-chat. I’m assuming the gorilla will be suitable enough to take on the chimp?”

“Your extremely large friend has the advantage in strength, but that particular chimp is quite clever—he was the crew’s inventor, as it were, which meant he came up with most of their…contraptions,” he said with a shudder. Nami could easily guess he was the one who created the mechanisms used to torture the poor man.

The silverback gorilla grunted something and pointed at a porcupine, who nodded in understanding. “Jean Bart says he’s no idiot himself. In fact, he’s already got an idea for taking him down with Uni’s help.”

“Perfect. Which leaves the wolverine.” A large badger marched forward, glaring up at the doctor. “Hmmm, while a honey badger is remarkably tough, a wolverine is infinitely more aggressive, especially one as hateful as him. I’d suggest you recruit a larger animal for backup.”

Nami pointed to the large bear by the fire. “How about him?”

His wrinkled face twisted in disdain. “Missy, that’s a panda—lazy, stupid, and frankly the bane of my conservation efforts. Every time I requested funding, most it would go to saving them, even though they have absolutely zero survival instincts. I mean, they won’t even mate! Even with a human’s intelligence, I wouldn’t put a single belli on him in a fight.”

“What poor soul got saddled with this pathetic creature?” Law asked, amused when the panda in question scowled at him.

“I believe I heard his companion call him ‘Shachi’.”

Law’s smirk turned absolutely wicked as he approached the bear. “Are you at least still capable of doing kung-fu?”

Stubbornly Shachi tried to strike a fighting stance, only to wobble and fall straight on his ass, unused to his bulk and stubby legs. Pouting at his lack of agility and balance, he crossed his arms and sulkily growled something that could easily be interpreted as “shut up or else.”

The captain’s shit-eating grin showed he was less than impressed. “Oh, how frightening. What are you gonna do, big guy? Sit on me?”

“He says not to tempt him,” Bepo warned, ducking as the hummingbird dive-bombed him furiously. “And Penguin says he hopes you got turned into a sloth or something.”

“My first and second mate are a fat panda and a tiny hummingbird? I’m deeply shamed.”

“Law, for god’s sake, mock them later!” Nami groused, stomping her foot in frustration. She might have faith in his plan, but there wasn’t time to waste on teasing his buddies over their less-than-impressive forms. “We’ve still got a hippo problem!”

Resting his nodachi on his shoulder, he smirked at her over his shoulder. “Relax, Nami-ya. I know exactly which mighty beast in our arsenal can take him out,” he replied, indicating Bepo.

“Who, me?” the Mink asked as he glanced around, certain Law meant someone else.

“While I have no doubt he’s strong, I’m not completely sure a polar bear would win a fight with a hippopotamus,” Dr. Monroe interjected, mouth twisting in concern. “I mean, it’d be fascinating to debate with my old colleagues, but I’d rather not find out first-hand, especially with our lives on the line.”

Smirk widening, Law explained, “Except Bepo’s not some ordinary bear; he’s a Mink. I doubt even a hippo would have much luck against his Electro technique.”

“His what?” Nami asked, eyebrows raising. She knew Bepo was skilled in hand-to-hand combat, but she’d never considered he might have other abilities.

“Electro. It’s a power all Minks are born with,” Bepo explained. “It’s kind of like your Thunderbolt Tempo, except my body generates the electricity. I nearly used it against the vulture when he attacked us, but I couldn’t risk accidentally frying the antivenom. But you’re right, Captain—that hippo won’t stand a chance!” he said excitedly.

She felt a spark of hope. When Law had explained that he had an idea for dealing with the pirates, she’d assumed he’d meant he’d fight them himself. With his powers back he could easily take down the poachers in a second, but instead he was deliberately strategizing around his crew’s new abilities. He was allowing them to feel empowered after what was likely a frightening and frustrating night, while demonstrating his trust in them by letting them handle the situation.

He’d taken her words to heart, and Nami found herself oddly proud of him.

“What about the captain?” Dr. Monroe asked nervously, understandably not sharing her same confidence. “Secretary birds can fly, but she doesn’t have the experience to keep up with him if he tries to flee.”

“Let me worry about the vulture,” Law said dismissively. “I think it’s time we show those third-rate pirates who’s really king of the jungle.”

He turned to the rest of the crew, motioning for them to listen closely. “I know there are several of you who might feel slighted that I’m not requesting you join the battle. I did it not because I don’t have faith in your abilities, but because I have a far more important job for you—protect Nami-ya and the doctor. The enemy will be gunning for him, and if he dies, none of you will ever be changed back. You’re our last line of defense; I’m trusting you to put any grudge aside for the sake of the crew’s wellbeing. And mine.”

Though the leftover crew—which included an otter, raccoon, aye-aye, rabbit, and what appeared to be a deer with fangs—seemed disappointed that they weren’t being called to arms, they immediately perked up at his order. Nami had to admit, it was a good move on Law’s part; it kept the weaker and slower animals from getting hurt without damaging their pride.

Expanding his Room over the island once more, Law stated, “Everyone get in position—I’m bringing the fight to us.”

Nami, Dr. Monroe, and the crew only had a few seconds to comply before a bunch of seashells were replaced with a confused-looking group of animals. Just as the former naturalist had said, there was an enormous hippopotamus, a chimpanzee whose face was crisscrossed with scars, a cobra whose scales were the color of dried blood, and a brown rattlesnake with a striking black diamond pattern on its back. And of course, the black vulture stood at the front, its shoulders hunched as it focused its hateful gaze on Dr. Monroe.

It let out a low hiss as it stepped forward menacingly, only for the Heart crew to gather round their charge, with the walrus in particular using its massive bulk as a shield.

“He says, ‘You know our demands; hand over the doctor and we’ll give you the antivenom’,” Bepo translated helpfully, even as he glared at the angry bird. He wrinkled his snout, the red cut reopening slightly at the movement, the sting serving as a reminder of the last time he’d let the vulture get the drop on them.

With a scoff, Law replied calmly, “I do know your demands. I just don’t give a shit. You attacked my navigator and my cat thief; something I wouldn’t take kindly to, even if you hadn’t stolen the antivenom. I skimmed your journal, too—you’re a real piece of work. I actually have to applaud you for your commitment to being absolute scumbags.” Adjusting his grip on his sword, he gave a slow, mocking clap, his grin turning utterly sadistic as the animals glared daggers at him. “Ah, that feels good. Nothing like clapping your hands to show your contempt. Wings and paws just don’t give the same satisfaction.”

“Law, he’s saying that if you keep doing that, he’s going to peck out the soft flesh of your eyeballs.”

“Is he? Well, guess who has two thumbs and would like to see him try.” He stopped clapping to instead point both his thumbs at himself. “This guy.”

Nami was torn between yelling at Law for his childishness or cheering him on for being just an absolute asshole to a truly deserving piece of shit. She settled on giving an exasperated sigh even as she grinned slightly.

“He’s either extremely arrogant or utterly insane,” Dr. Monroe whispered to her, looking far more worried. Not that she could completely blame him—he didn’t know the Hearts or Law like she did, so this whole affair was much more of a gamble on his part.

Sympathetic, she patted his arm. “Believe me, Doctor, with him there’s no ‘or’,” she stated encouragingly.

Infuriated by Law’s disrespect, the vulture let out another hiss, spreading his wings in a grandiose gesture.

“He says ‘You don’t seem to understand the fact that we’re the ones holding the power. You’ve heard of supply and demand, haven’t you’?”

“As a matter of fact, I have. The thing is, you don’t have the supply.” Law held up the backpack, pulling out one of the vials to further emphasize his point.

Five sets of eyes widened as the pirates looked around, making a series of angry hisses and roars when they realized the same power that had teleported them to the beach had also snatched the knapsack right from their claws.

Realizing that they’d lost their advantage, the hippo gave a loud bellow as it charged forward, aiming straight for the doctor, determined to trample any of the animals that might try to get in its way. It didn’t expect Bepo to jump in the way, though, nor for him to grab it by the snout and release a crackling electric attack, blasting it with enough volts to stop it dead in its tracks.

Chaos swiftly broke out. The two snakes attempted to use the hippo’s distraction to sneak around, but the Hearts were prepared for such a maneuver. Ikkaku darted for the cobra, slamming her foot down on its back over and over, pounding it hard into the sand and ignoring its pained hisses until it was sure its spine was well and truly broken. In contrast, Clione used his agility to avoid the rattlesnake’s swift lunge, sinking his teeth deep into its neck at the base of the skull so it couldn’t fight back, holding on tightly while it writhed and slowly bled out.

In contrast, the chimp didn’t even get that far. Jean Bart grabbed Uni and gently tossed him to the smaller ape, who foolishly reached out to catch him. The porcupine’s sharp, barbed quills pierced the chimp’s hands, and Uni smacked him in the face with his tail for good measure. With his opponent suitably distracted and unable to use his hands, Jean Bart grabbed the chimpanzee and put him in a headlock, his muscular arms easily choking him out.

Meanwhile, the wolverine’s fight with Crozier was much less one-sided. It managed to sink its teeth into Crozier’s skin which, while his thick and loose hide protected him from the powerful jaws, left him pinned. However much to everyone’s surprise, Shachi lumbered over and swiped at the wolverine with his claws. On instinct the smaller mammal released Crozier, who took the opportunity to shuffle back, glancing up at the panda curiously. With a grunt that was likely some clever quip, Shachi turned around and sat down hard onto the wolverine, crushing it beneath his mass.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Law stated, blinking in surprise but sounding mildly impressed at his old friend’s contribution to the fight.

Seeing his comrades get taken down so easily by what should have been lesser animals clearly threw the vulture for a loop. He beat its wings, preparing to take to the air, when something small and quick shot forward. A horrific hiss of agony escaped him as Penguin furiously stabbed him in the eye with his needlelike beak.

Catching the two birds in his Room, Law Shambled Penguin over to his side before drawing Kikoku, vivisecting the vulture.

As the scavenger bird lay on the ground in pieces, showing as much terror as a creature like him could, Law looked at Dr. Monroe over his shoulder. “Considering how he tortured you for, what, two years? I’m open to requests regarding his fate. Shall I throw him into the fire and make roast vulture? Pluck his feathers to make a hideous hat? Feed him to the sharks?”

The naturalist appeared conflicted. His chapped lips were set in a frown while his wrinkled, sunburned brow furrowed. His eyes darted across the fallen forms of his former tormentors, internally mulling over Law’s offer.

“It’s ok if you don’t want to kill him,” Nami assured, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Dr. Monroe gave a little huff before shaking his head. “Oh, no, I want him dead. I want all of them dead. These bastards destroyed my life, killed my friends, and have put me through hell. It’s just…well, I simply hate seeing an animal in pain. I’m starting to regret transforming him. I suppose I’m still a conservationist at heart.”

She blanched, but she supposed she couldn’t blame him. After all, she wouldn’t have complained if Luffy had actually killed Arlong instead of merely defeating him. She just wouldn’t have openly admitted it, either.

“Well, if you don’t have any preferences, I suppose I’ll just help along the Circle of Life,” Law said, expanding the bubble to encase the other fallen animals.

“Tact.”

The former poachers were levitated into the air before being flung out across the cove, beyond the reef and rocks to land with a splash into the ocean. Nami wasn’t sure which would be a kinder fate—drowning or being eaten by sharks.

Either way, the battle had been won.

“We did it, Captain!” Bepo cheered, embracing him tightly. “Your plan worked perfectly!”

“Only because I had a capable crew to execute it,” Law said, smiling faintly as he allowed the happy Mink to cuddle him. The rest of the crew quickly surrounded him, chattering and squawking loudly in celebration.

Dr. Monroe, meanwhile, stood at the edge of the water and stared out at the spot where his former captors had been deposited.

“You ok?” Nami asked, standing beside him.

“Sorry. I suppose I’m just trying to process everything that’s happened. They…they’re really gone, aren’t they?” he asked, voice barely more than a whisper.

“They are. It’ll take some time for that fact to really sink in, but it’ll happen. I’ve got some experience in that department,” she said ruefully.

“Do the nightmares ever go away? The memories of what you’ve done to survive?”

Nami mulled over whether to tell him the truth or comfort him with a lie. Eventually, she settled on saying, “Not completely, but it gets easier. What’s important is that they didn’t completely take away your humanity. And now you’re free to live as you please.”

“You’re right. Thanks, missy,” he replied with a small smile. “And…and I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve put you and your friends through. You’re good folk. Well, your captain’s a little sick in the head, but there aren’t many pirates out there that would help someone like me the way you did.”

“There really aren’t. I don’t blame you for being scared. Hell, it took me way longer to warm up to them. So, what are you going to do now?”

“Stay here and live a peaceful retirement. Study the birds and sea turtles. I figure I’ve only got a few more years left, so why not enjoy it in a tropical paradise where no one can bother me?”

With a wide grin, Nami replied, “Sounds perfect for a guy like you.”

They were interrupted by a low squawk, and the pair turn around to find Ikkaku looking at them inquisitively.

“I’m not gonna lie, Ikkaku, I’m wholly jealous of your eyelashes right now,” Nami said, studying the bird’s face. She got a playful bat of her eyes in response before she jerked her head over at Dr. Monroe, tilting her head in question. “He’s ok. He’s just…got some damn good reasons to mistrust pirates. I’ll fill you in later.”

She nodded before indicating the rest of the group, her question clear; “can we turn back now?”

“Yeah, we should take care of that before something else crazy happens. This has been the worst vacation ever.”

She got a squawk in agreement, to which Dr. Monroe muttered an embarrassed apology. Nami turned towards Law, who was chatting with Shachi and Bepo over by the fire.

“You actually sat on him. I’m not sure if I should be impressed or appalled.”

Bepo frowned as Shachi grunted something. “What do you mean you got the idea from me?! Law’s the one who suggested it!”

The panda let out another grunt, which made Bepo droop. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Uh, guys, can we hurry up and get everyone back to normal before Bepo has to change his job to full-time animal whisperer?” Nami asked, strolling over.

“I suppose it is time for Monroe-ya to make good on his end of the deal,” Law replied.

The doctor grinned. “Absolutely. You kids have done me a huge kindness. If you’d never shown up, I’d still be plagued by those bastards. Now I can hopefully live out my days in peace. I think I’m looking forward to a nice, quiet hermit life.”

“Well, the sooner you change back my crew, the sooner you can get started on that.”

“Gotcha. Though, I gotta say, I kind of envy you—I can’t transform myself, so I’ve never been able to experience what it’s like. And you,” his eyes lit up, “were a snow leopard! One of the most beautiful and mysterious creatures I ever had the privilege to study! I sure as hell wouldn’t have minded trading places with you.”

“It had its pros and cons,” he admitted reluctantly, eyes flicking towards Nami. “Though I’m sure I’d despise it by daybreak—all that fur on a summer island would have been hell.”

Dr. Monroe’s eyes widened in understanding and chagrin. “Ah! I hadn’t even thought of that! You’re right; we should get you all back to your human selves before any of you get heat stroke.” He turned to some of the furrier crewmembers, giving a deep, apologetic bow. “I’m so sorry; I should have turned you all into animals more suited to the climate. I’m also truly sorry for keeping you in cages, and for ruining your vacation.”

Shachi grunted something which made Bepo frown. “Hey, it’s not Law’s fault that he got turned into something cool and you didn’t!”

The panda growled and crossed his arms.

“What’s wrong with being a bear?!”

Another grunt, and Bepo hung his head. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

Watching the exchange, Law frowned at his second mate’s bullying before he got a wicked look in his eye. “Monroe-ya, how many people can you change back at a time?”

The old doctor lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. “As many as I can touch or can touch me. I can probably get your whole crew back to normal in a few rounds.”

He indicated the panda. “Make sure Shachi’s in the first wave, then. I’d hate for him to make good on his threat of sitting on me, after all.”

Bepo nodded in agreement before a thought seemed to strike him as he glanced around at the crew with concern. “Um, Law, shouldn’t we wait—”

He immediately shushed Bepo. “It’s almost morning and they’re all impatient to become human again, right? I’d say we should get a move on.”

Nami sighed. She knew what he was doing, and part of her was tempted to stop him—the crew’d suffered enough that evening—but after everything that had happened throughout the night, she had to admit Law could probably use a laugh. And Shachi definitely deserved this for being mean to Bepo. So, she simply ushered Ikkaku to the side and whispered, “Don’t look—trust me.”

A moment later, about a half-dozen indignant yelps rang out, prompting Nami to chuckle and roll her eyes as Ikkaku looked up at her in confusion.

“I want you to remember the next time you decide you want to pull an embarrassing prank on me that I did not allow you to be seen naked by the rest of your crew.”

Secretary birds couldn’t make much by way of shocked expressions, but Ikkaku’s eyes definitely widened in understanding before nodding emphatically.

XXX

“Please tell me you’re not making coffee.”

Law glanced up at Nami as he reached into the fridge. “Relax; I’m making myself some warm milk to help me sleep. I’ve had an exhausting few days if you recall. So has everyone else, really.”

She couldn’t argue that. After the crew had been returned to their original forms, Nami had expected Law would make them leave right away, but he’d allowed them to spend a few more days on the island. Ostensibly it was so he could recover from the residual effects of the venom and finally collect the aloe he’d been looking for, but she suspected he was giving them all a little more time to relax considering the unexpected direction the trip had gone.

However, several of the crew had used that time to make sure Dr. Monroe was set for his much-desired new life as a free man and hermit. Upon hearing the doctor’s story, Jean Bart had been especially sympathetic and had strong-armed Seiuchi and Malamute into helping build a cozy cabin and permanent campsite. Cousteau had been kind enough to donate some of his fishing equipment and Crozier had given a bunch of tips for surviving in the wilderness, though his experience was admittedly more geared towards arctic survival than jungle.

Surprisingly, the Heart Pirates grew rather fond of their former captor. He and Cousteau had quickly bonded over a mutual love of nature. When he’d seen the greenhouse plans, he’d happily given his input, as he’d worked with many notable horticulturists. By the end of the second night, Penguin was laughing while telling the embarrassing tale of how he’d been trapped under his own hat upon being transformed. Even Law had warmed to him, as they’d conferred over better ways to treat Bepo’s injuries.

When they sailed away, Dr. Monroe had tearfully seen them off, though Shachi had joked that he was just sad he hadn’t managed to recruit Bepo as his new research assistant.

Yes, it had been a busy few days, but instead of being snuggled up in bed, Nami found herself in the galley watching Law pour milk into a saucepan.

“Tch. We’re tragically low on cookware. Ermine must have given the old man more of their stuff. I’m beginning to think recruiting you was a terrible idea—you’re turning my men into a bunch of charitable fools,” he said with a scowl.

Nami rolled her eyes as she poured herself a glass of orange juice. “Oh, hush—he more than paid for their labor with the antivenom.”

“Labor and supplies. He seemed especially happy to raid my library. By the way, were you able to provide him with any ‘juicy romance novels’?”

She attempted to hide her blush behind her glass. “No. Don’t be ridiculous.”

A midnight blue eyebrow raised along with the corner of his mouth. “Then I wonder where that racy paperback I found him gleefully reading on the beach came from?”

Pink deepened to red as she bit her tongue. Law realizing that she read erotic novels was nearly as bad as the fact that she was going to have to buy a third copy of To Catch A Turtle Dove. “It’s a mystery that may never be solved.”

“Pity. I was hoping the owner might be able to give me some advice on seducing you.” He gave a long, appreciative leer at her sleepwear; a pink spaghetti-strap tank top and matching booty shorts that definitely didn’t leave much to the imagination where her curves were concerned. “After all, you’re looking especially tempting tonight.”

“I think I liked it better when you couldn’t talk,” she groused, chugging her juice.

“Well, if it wasn’t the stimulating conversation, what brings you here, Nami-ya?” he asked, critically glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

She tried to give a casual shrug, only to wince as a twinge of pain shot through her back. “I wanted a drink. That, and I couldn’t sleep,” she admitted, rubbing her shoulder. “My back’s sore from when I crashed through the deck of the shipwreck. Add on all the hard work from the past couple days and I’ve gotten kind of stiff.”

“Do you need something for the pain?”

She waved off his concern. “I’m not seriously hurt and Ikkaku already got me a few aspirin; I’m just waiting for them to kick in. Sure wish she hadn’t already fallen asleep, though—I’d kill for another one of her massages,” she laughed. Ikkaku would probably do it, though; upon learning that her modifications to the Clima-Tact had made it harder to control, the mechanic had basically shut herself up for the past few days attempting to fix it. It was clear she felt guilty, even though Nami had assured her that there were no hard feelings.

“She does give exceptionally good ones,” Law stated, reaching into one of the cupboards. While he was distracted, Nami took a moment to cast an admiring glance at his once-more human form. He really was very lithe and muscular, especially when he deigned to wear a tank top instead of his usual sweatshirt. The tattoos decorated his long arms so beautifully, too, the swirls of the hearts in particular drawing her eye. And while his fur had been wonderfully soft, she found she rather preferred the dark blue of his hair and goatee contrasting with his olive skin.

“See something you like, sweetheart?”

Grateful that she’d gotten better at suppressing her blush, she gave a casual shrug. “Just glad you’re human again, though I kinda miss the ears and tail. They were so soft and fluffy,” she cooed, giving an exaggeratedly wistful sigh.

“They would have been hell on my reputation, though,” he said bluntly, taking the milk off the stove. “I’d be mocked or fawned over constantly, so my body count would at least double. And that’s assuming there aren’t any other side-effects to my brief feline phase.”

As he spoke, he carefully poured the steaming milk into a saucer. Nami’s eyes popped as he lifted it to his mouth and, instead of drinking it like a normal person, began lapping it up with his tongue.

Kyaaaaaaa! she mentally shrieked, ready to run to the control room to demand they head back to Cousteau Island—Dr. Monroe had assured everyone that they hadn’t been animals long enough for it to have affected their minds, but clearly Law had sustained some kind of kitty brain damage!

Those fears were immediately quashed when gold eyes flicked up to her, a mischievous smirk curling his lips.

“Oh, you asshole,” she growled, sorely tempted to smack him over the head for his stupid prank. “You’re lucky I don’t have you neutered.”

He let out a little chuckle at her annoyed expression, tipping back the saucer to finish off the last of the milk. “You could try, but I’d easily reattach them. That, and I can assure you, you’ll want those particular…parts of me intact.”

She rolled her eyes at his arrogance but decided this wasn’t an argument worth continuing. Instead she occupied herself with cleaning and putting away her glass, ignoring his expectant look as she refused to take the bait or get embarrassed at his suggestive teasing.

“So, Law, I hope you learned an important lesson from this little adventure?” she asked, rolling her shoulders in hopes of loosening the muscles.

“To appreciate having the use of actual hands. Never again will I take them for granted,” he answered bluntly, admiring his tattooed fingers like they were the most valuable treasure on the Grand Line.

“I was going to say ‘to put trust in your crew’ but I guess that’s true, too,” she replied with a shake of her head. “I get that you’re a control freak, but really, was it so hard to stand back and let someone else fight for you? To trust in someone else’s judgement and abilities?”

“Are you really still lecturing me about this?” he asked, jaw twitching in irritation.

“I’ll stop so long as you get it through your head that you’re not some all-powerful deity that needs to watch over us weak, stupid mortals.”

He chuckled slightly at her description and twirled his finger in a circle, indicating that she turn around. Curious, she obeyed, jumping slightly when she felt his calloused palms gently rest on her bare shoulders. However, any resistance she might have shown was swiftly vanquished when he proceeded to press his fingers into the tense muscles, rubbing small circles against her back to ease the hard knots he found there.

“Ikkaku may be the better masseuse, but she taught me a thing or two,” he murmured as he firmly dragged his thumbs down the length of her spine. “Tell me if anything hurts.”

Nami couldn’t stop herself from arching her back, groaning happily as she felt a satisfying pop. His touch was warm and sure, applying just the right amount of pressure to the points of her back that had grown stiff and sore due to their last adventure. The pads of his fingers worked in tight circles along her rhomboid muscle, easing the tension that had made sleeping so uncomfortable. “Ok, yeah, I’m beginning to appreciate your hands too. Almost makes up for the talking,” she moaned as he switched to long dragging motions downwards.

“I’ll admit, being a snow leopard was a unique experience,” he purred, rubbing his thumbs in small circles along her lower back, gradually increasing the pressure with each rotation to coax her tight muscles to loosen. “Frustrating as the circumstances were, having such heightened senses was a hell of an experience. My eyesight and hearing were keener than you could even imagine but having such a powerful sense of smell was absolutely fascinating.”

“Really? I thought you were annoyed that you couldn’t track scents?” she asked, tilting her head to the side as his skilled fingers began working up her neck, massaging the sensitive flesh at the base of her skull.

“That had to do with my inexperience. But the scents themselves were just so enhanced. It was like I’d gone around wearing a surgical mask my whole life, and I was taking it off for the first time!”

Nami had to smile a bit at his enthusiasm. She supposed it had to do with him being a doctor—having such keen senses for the brief period of time must have shown him just how limited humans were, and he was probably wondering if he could replicate any of it through his medical procedures.

Which, honestly, was pretty creepy, but also kind of charming in its own way.

Hot breath fanned against her ear as he murmured, “And I must say, Nami-ya, you in particular smelled absolutely delicious.”

She blanched, remembering the way he tore into those steaks in the infirmary. “You were thinking about eating me?” she shrieked, trying to jerk away.

He let out a low chuckle as he spun her around, pulling her against him so their chests were pressed flush together as his hands rested on her waist. “Hmmm, not in the way you’re thinking, though it’d be what you deserved after taking such blatant advantage of me.”

She was too flabbergasted to blush. “Excuse me?”

Tongue clucking like he was scolding a naughty child, he explained, “There I was, laying on the examination table, dying from a deadly snake bite, and you simply couldn’t help yourself; you just had to put your hands all over me.”

“I—what—you—you nuzzled me!” she defended, poking him in the sternum.

“I was offering you comfort, and you took that to mean you could fondle me? For shame, Nami-ya.”

She stared at him, flustered and aghast. “Are you seriously complaining? You were practically begging me to touch you!”

“I never gave you any kind of verbal consent, though.”

“The way you were practically melting into my hands said plenty.”

A wicked grin spread across his face, and she intuitively knew she’d walked right into his trap. Before she could attempt to wiggle away, he used the muscular length of his body to pin her against the counter.

“Let me go, Law,” she snapped, though she couldn’t quite hold back a groan as his skillful fingers once more worked at the tight knot of muscles that had formed between her shoulders.

“Mmm, are you seriously complaining? You’re practically begging me to touch you.”

“You’re such an ass.”

“And you’re such a tease,” he whispered, nipping the shell of her ear. “Don’t even try to deny you’re enjoying this; the way you’re practically melting into my hands says plenty.”

Said hands strayed down to cup her rear, giving a playful squeeze before backing up just long enough to hoist her up onto the counter, stepping between her legs so she couldn’t kick out at him. “Consider it positive reinforcement. I did go out of my way to give my crew the chance to save the day, plus I helped an old man who I really should have tossed into the sea along with his captors for daring to attack my crew in the first place.” Pressing his nose to her neck, he inhaled her scent. “You pet me, so I’m petting you. I’m just taking what I’m owed.”

“You—”

“Or I could demand monetary compensation for all the supplies you gave away.”

Her jaw dropped and she angrily smacked him on the head. “The antivenom will pay for those!”

“Yes, but not until we actually sell it,” he growled, grabbing her wrist and pinning it to the counter. “I should really be making you pay in the meantime. Instead, I’m being nice and letting you off the hook in exchange for sitting still while I have some fun.”

The angry retort she intended to make died in her throat as he pulled her flush against him, burying his face against her neck while his hands roamed her sides, grasping and squeezing the soft flesh beneath them. The soft sensation of his warm mouth brushing against her sensitive throat made her shiver, though it turned into a full-bodied jolt when he bit down slightly and massaged the firm meat of her ass.

She prepared to strike him again, but something stayed her hand. Law was groping and mouthing at her skin, but it didn’t feel sexual. Or at least, not nearly as much as it usually did. It wasn’t electric and coaxing, nor was it hot and dominating. It was desperate, but not in a way that said he wanted to ravish her on the counter. It was clingy, needy. Like a freezing man seeking warmth. Or like he had awoken from a vivid nightmare and needed some kind of contact to prove he was back in the real world.

“Law, what’s really on your mind?” she asked, confused and concerned.

“Nothing. I’m just enjoying the chance to feel up a beautiful woman,” he replied bluntly, giving her pale thighs a suggestive squeeze.

Pressing her hands against his chest, she pushed him back enough to get a good look at his face. Brown eyes met gold, and for a moment, his expression wasn’t that of the smug pirate captain, but of a worn-out young man. “Bullshit. I know your style; you like to tease through subtle touches. You’ve only blatantly groped me when you had to put on a show for Drake or Smoker. And since we don’t have an audience, there has to be another reason.”

His face twisted as he internally debated giving her a straight answer versus brushing her off. She could practically see him composing a list of pros and cons. So, Nami sat there quietly, refusing to back down but not pushing.

Finally, he said with a scowl, “Maybe I’m doing it because, powers or not, getting you flustered is something I can control. And maybe I spent an evening dying of snake venom wondering if I’d ever experience human contact again.”

She suddenly remembered how on-edge he’d been during his ordeal as a snow leopard. How he’d been pacing while she and Bepo had been retrieving the antivenom. Nervously checked over their injuries and snapped at them when they pointed out his limitations. How hard he pushed himself making his plans for Atifakuto because he didn’t know what to expect and felt he couldn’t leave anything to chance.

He wasn’t touching her because he wanted to mess with her. He wasn’t even flirting. Law was simply desperate for comfort but was too proud to ask for it. So he went for the next best thing.

“Being a leopard really scared you, didn’t it?” Nami asked softly. The coarse hairs of his sideburns tickled the soft skin of her palm as she cupped his cheek. “I get it; not having your powers must be terrifying. Especially for someone like you Captain Doesn’t-Sleep-for-a-Week-Because-He’s-Obsessively-Planning. But we had your back, didn’t we?”

Despite himself, Law leaned into her touch, all but nuzzling her hand. “…it’s been a long time since I’ve felt that helpless. It was more than not having my powers. I was slowly dying, and yes there was a cure, but the last time someone put their life on the line for me like that, they died, and there was nothing I could do to save him.” He averted his gaze, though she could still see the haunted look in his eyes. “When you and Bepo went to salvage the wreck, all I could think about was all the ways you two could die. If you failed, not only would I die powerless and alone, but the rest of the crew would be doomed. And there was nothing I could do about it.”

Hearing that, Nami found herself feeling much more sympathetic towards the Dark Doctor’s obsessive tendencies. He’d experienced enough pain and hardship to make him paranoid about losing people, and took on so much because when things went wrong, he was far too likely to blame himself.

The soft pad of her thumb rubbed soothingly against his cheekbone, just under the dark bag beneath his eye. “I’m sorry, Law. I still think you’re a massive control freak but…I get it.” She really did. He clung to control as desperately as she clung to freedom and money. He grew up without it, lost someone he cared for because of that, and was loathed to let it go.

Without thinking, she pressed a comforting peck to his forehead before giving him a warm, gently teasing smile. “Next time you’re turned into a snow leopard, I promise to be a bit more considerate.”

That coaxed a wry half-smile from him. “If Monroe-ya ever does that again, I’m demanding he make you one, too. After all, a conservationist like himself could surely see how beneficial it could be to his repopulation efforts—”

“And we’re done,” Nami groaned, pushing him away. It was easily done, too, with Law stepping back with little prompting, making it clear that he would have let her go if she’d shown any real resistance.

Jumping down from the counter, she started towards the door, only to pause at his side. Nimble fingers wrapped around his wrist and gave it a comforting squeeze. “Get some sleep Law, ok? Your capable crew needs their powerful, scheming captain at his best.”

Though there was no smile on his face, his eyes were warmer, and he seemed more at ease. “I suppose they do. You should get some sleep, too; I need my cat thief ready for the job I have in mind.”

“And what job is that?”

“To help me win an auction for a vase laced with one of the deadliest poisons in the world.”

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ngame989 · 4 years

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SVTFOE: A Retrospective

Happy Mama Star Day!

OK, first and foremost, a quick update on TGG: I plan to have something ready for at least one of the major anniversaries coming up, and hopefully will resume slightly more regular updates from then forward. Thanks to everyone for your continued support, it’s been a rough year so far for me personally and for everyone in in the current pandemic situation. The anniversary of both STH and Mama Star seemed like a fitting time to get some things off my chest, both good and bad, so I’ll do that now and get it out of the way to focus on bigger and better things in the future. Fair warning, this is gonna be long and rambly and personal more than it is any sort of serious show analysis. If you’re looking for fun, feel-good celebration of what definitely were some of my favorite moments in the series, I’m not so sure this is gonna be the post for you.

It goes without saying that Star vs the Forces of Evil, for better or worse, is incredibly important to me and has been without fail for years. How are you supposed to feel when something that important lets you down so hard? Is having such strong, mixed emotions and attachment better than having nothing you care about at all? The past year hasn’t answered these questions for me, and this post certainly won’t either. There’s no thesis or likely any kind of closure here, just me baring a bit of my soul here on tumblr dot com.

It’s been a rough year or two for me. I don’t want to get too much into the specifics, but let’s just say I hit a crossroads where the entire path I’d envisioned for myself in life came into serious question, and I had been spiraling into depression and paralyzing anxiety over a complete lack of any fulfillment in my “professional” life for months before I even recognized it for what it was. Season 3 finished airing around the last few months of my undergraduate degree, which (while obviously it significantly emotionally impacted me) was a generally happy and stable time in my life. As things started to change and get worse for me, SVTFOE S4 was my ray of hope. I’m not kidding when I say that some days in the hiatus leading up to it, the thought of S4 delivering on its potential for emotional fulfillment and Starco goodness (consistently, not just at the end) was the only thing that got me out of bed in the morning and the only positive thing I could see in my future.

When we got the S4 we got, it shattered me, utterly and completely. This isn’t an attempt to dunk on S4 in some “objective” manner - hell, I even like a lot of the things about it that the fandom despises (the ending prioritizing character closure over lore, the upheaval of the political structure rather than just having Star become the Goodest Queen, etc). I’d still make the argument that a lot of the character development was very flimsy and poorly paced, a very clear effort to force the relationship resolution to be delayed until the end at all costs, but that’s not the point here. Life felt dull and lonely and warm fluffy Starco was my vicarious escape from that, and the season we got left me so completely hollow insid that it felt like I couldn’t breathe for its first more-than-a-dozen episodes, and I was so burnt out that I couldn’t even properly enjoy the parts that were genuinely good.

Even earlyish on, I was already fearing that things wouldn’t be resolved till the end and that there’d be almost none of the content I actually longed for from the show. As I’ve mentioned before, The Greatest Gift was born the morning after Lake House Fever’s late night release, out of salt and spite and a need to give myself something good to look forward to, even if it would be something I’d be making myself. I completely removed myself from even passing conversations with my best friends in the fandom because it hurt too much to even think about. I even had Seddm give me summaries of episodes before I watched them so I could take some time to emotionally prepare (at least until the 2nd to last week). And to the show’s credit, its last few weeks of episodes (with some exceptions) tried their absolute damnedest to right the ship (pun intended) and bring back the sorts of things I wanted with a vengeance. I was smiling like a complete fool for 12 hours straight after Here to Help. The ending didn’t fix my issues with the show, not by a fucking long shot, but it at least left me on a positive enough note that there was a feverish enthusiasm to continue it further on my own.

But it’s been tough. Have you or a family member/friend ever gotten bad food poisoning from a restaurant you really liked, and the smell of it makes you queasy afterwards even though you do really like it? That’s probably the best analogy I can draw to a lot of my relationship with SVTFOE since it ended. PLEASE NOTE I’M IN NO WAY TRYING TO EQUATE THE MAGNITUDE OF MY IRE WITH A CARTOON WITH SERIOUS DISORDERS THAT PEOPLE SUFFER FROM, but I’d almost be tempted to liken it to PTSD. Seeing reminders of the painful parts can put me in a bad mood for hours, and on some days even just dwelling on the show in any way will invite creeping negativity and “why the fuck couldn’t it have just-” types of thoughts taking over. There have been some days writing TGG where having to draw inspiration from or reference events/dialogues in S4 was so emotionally taxing that I had to stop writing for the night. I blocked Seddm’s entire askbox tag because I’d find my own emotions frothing into a rage over things in the show people would bring up. I’ve lost acquaintances and potential friendships over my bitterness. I instantly block anyone who posts even a hint of Tomstar/Kellco content in the Starco tags on any site because it induces such palpable negativity in my heart - I think I’m up to 1000 accounts blocked on Instagram right now, which is why Toxic runs the TGG page over there. If you’re one of the people out there that tried to strike up a conversation with me over a shared interest in the show and I vomited bile into your DMs, I sincerely apologize. And to anyone who got wrapped up in the brazen high hopes I put forth here every day as S4 approached and came crashing down with me as a result, I’m sorry for that too.

And yet... I can’t say there’s not a genuine love I still have for a lot of it. I still have my little shrine of stickers and pictures that I’ll sometimes just get let myself get lost in. There was a recent postcanon fic started by someone who just caught up on the show that brought such a depth of warmth into my chest that I’m smiling like an idiot just now thinking about it. I haven’t watched even a clip (let alone a whole episode) that Star and Marco’s voices in my head feel distant and abstract, but when I’m writing chapters I can still get emotional imagining them saying and doing things out of their devotion to one another. I’ve made no secret that I (to put it very very very lightly) have a strong distaste for the vast majority of this fandom, and yet the joy of knowing I could make people’s days or lives brighter gives me a satisfaction I can’t put words to. Don’t get me wrong, writing quickly just isn’t my thing normally anyway - I’m not trying to suggest that the sole reason for TGG downtime is that I’m driving knives into my own heart and pouring my blood onto the page. Just that that’s part of it, and it takes its toll.

The last few months, although I have missed the joy of brewing up fluff ideas and seeing them come to life, have admittedly been a welcome reprieve just not having to think about this stuff so much. In the last few weeks I’ve finally been coming around to a bit of a better place where the good bubbles up without bringing as much of the bad with it. It will likely still wax and wane, and I can’t guarantee if or when TGG will fully finish. And this isn’t my entire life - I have MMOs and card games and all kinds of other hobbies that suck up lots of my time, so don’t worry about me just lying in bed sobbing over S4 for 12 hours a day. I don’t know if the day will ever come when I can truly be at peace with it all, but I don’t want to toss out the good with the bad. All I can ask is for your patience as my own journey evolves alongside my writing, until the day comes when perhaps this story can finally come to a close. Thanks for reading, and stay safe.

Ngame

#starco #tgg svtfoe #ngame

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daeneryswhitehorse · 4 years

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Dany hate throughout the years.

( This is base on a reply I made in post create by @yendany . I also want to precise that it is only my perspective of the fandom as a dany stan, other people probably have a different opinion of what was going on. )

I came in the asoiaf/got fandom in 2011, when the show first came out. I fell in love with dany on my first watch and still like her after reading the books. I started to get involved in the fandom because I wanted to learn more about her.

I didn't know tumblr at the time so I was on westeros.org. The mad queen dany theory was already a thing, mostly for the persons who didn't like that dany could be azor ahai and not one of the male character. But the forum still liked her for her baddass moments in asos or her portrayal in the first season of got.

Everything changed when adwd came out. The incels in this site really didn't liked dany having sex with daario after rejecting jorah/quentyn. They also didn't understood her plot, were tired of her staying in Essos or not interacting with main pov character. It was enough for them to think she was boring.

From then on, there were a lot of bad take of her character. Grrm wanting to talk about the consequences of her mistakes and her decision of staying in meereen was understood as dany being dumb and incompetent as a queen. People made fun of her long list of titles and thought it make her look arrogant. They claimed she was nothing without her dragon, in contrast to male character like stannis. Or not a true warrior because she spend her battle hiding in her tent, unlike stannis or jon who fight with swords. Or that she didn't car about the common people, because she try to negociate with the meereeness nobles. Most of those claimed exist to prove why character like Jon or Stannis would be azor ahai or the true king of Westeros.

After season 3 of the show came out, a lot of people were rightfully offended by the final scene with daenerys where she surf on a sea of brown people. A lot of fans start seeing Dany as a white savior in both books and show, and a lot of essay were about how how her storyline was rooted in racist orientalist ideas. If you were a person of color and still stan her, it was probably because of internalized racism.

Before this season, feminist critized the butchering of most of dany storyline, like they did with other female characters. But none was as talk about then Sansa's, because the most popular female character like Dany, Arya and Brienne were seen as the cash grab of the show. It was considered more important to defend her in particular, and liking Sansa over them was seen as resistance act against D&D misogyny.

The intellectual part of the fandom really went out of their way in defending her. They liked her because she was a gateway to the political part of the story in King's Landing and the Vale. They didn't like how some fans victim-blamed her for the abuse she suffered with the Lannister, and praised the fact she didn't end up with stockolm syndrome like Dany or Theon. "Not everyone can be an Arya" did they said, as they wanted people to acknowledged she was the more relatable point of view and how her traditional feminity shouldn't be put down. They emphasis a lot on her kindness, her emphatie, or her observational skills but and said those qualities were unique to her and are what separate her of the rest of the cast. She was the representation of humanity in this crapsack world. And after outsmarting Littlefinger would probably be rewarded with an important political position and would be one of the builder of the new world after the apocalypse.

All of this probably wasn't meant to be interprete as hate toward other female and some of the male characters, but it sure did for the Sansa stan! Who would then create their entire defense meta around putting down any character they found and upliftting her above them. Their favorite target was Arya, but you could found from time to time one on Dany. I remember someone defending Sansa innocence in trusting Cersei in the first book, by emphasing on her age and naivety, and putting down dany for not knowing mirri maz durr would get revenge on her khalassar.

Talking about Dany, the intellectual part of the fandom didn't really like her. I mean they didn't hate her, and didn't diminish her importance in the story, but she clearly wasn't a fan favorite.

There was two angle in their analysis of daenerys: the political leader and the messiah.

For the first part, they were trying to define daenerys position in the story, and came to the conclusion she was the destroyer of the old world. In their point of view, dany didn't free the slaves in asos for pure reason but because she couldn't pay for an army, and then didn't know how to build a new economy, leading to the horrors in astapor in adwd and her failure in maintaining peace in meereen. For them, Dany is unable to control her emotion and confuse revenge with justice. They also think she is an incompetent queen who make decision on a whim and never listen to her adviser. Her relationship with Daario represent her want for easy solution through war, wich she embrace at the end of adwd. When she can't remember Hazzea name, it meant innocent would die in her violent path in twow. Because of this, the expression "the path of hell is paved with good intention" became popular to define her arc from asos to beyond.

For the second part, they were clearly interressed by the mystical part of her story. Dany has a lot of prophecy around her that can be used to determined the next plotlines post adwd. For some reason, they pushed their own obssession with it on Daenerys, who they now believed is blinded by her own destiny. They claimed she think she is the hero of story and is unable to see when she does something wrong. This until she will blow up King's Landing in ados. This would push her toward her true destiny in the fight against the others where she will sacrifice herself for the greater good.

And lets not talk about the weird part of the fandom who are obssessed with deconstruction and who would only acknowledge dany as azor ahai reborn if it meant the hero is actually the true villain of the story, and the Others misunderstood victims.

2015 arrive as well as season 5 of got. This season was so controversial it manage to divided the fandom in three.

The first one were book purist who were disguted by the total butchering of affc/adwd plotline to replace them with offensive mess, and decided to stop watching the show and focus on the books. While some of them were dany friendly, they all seem to favor character like Sansa, Stannis, Brienne, the Lannisters, or the Martells. A lot of effort were put into their metas to uplift their book plotline and personality above their show counterpart.

The second part is similar to the first one, exept they didn't stop watching the show but decided to view each season through critical lense to try to understand the sexism and racism of D&D. They were mostly Sansa and Martell stan.

Both of those point of view were seen as too radical and annoying by the dudebro show apologist. Being a Martell and Sansa stan also become a sign of being a woke feminist, a book purist and a show anti.

The third part of the fandom decided that the failure of season 5 was the responsability of Grrm for not finishing his books in time, and that the show writer had run out of material and were forced to improvised. Plus the book plots were too complex and boring to be adapted, they had to simplify them. And they were also given futur plot point by Grrm that could explain some of the controversial decision this season. Like Sansa wedding with Ramsay, it was probably made because the character would end up in the North in one of the next books.

Thoses three point of view are important to understand why when the theory saying dany is a villain not a hero became more popular, dany stan were pretty isolated.

And why did this theory became more popular? Well it's a mix of all thoses perception of daenerys that I mention above but mostly because of the peoples who decided that dany in season 5 was Joffrey.02. Like I say there were people who thought that D&D were now working with futur plot point given by Grrm. And since dany storyline was read as one of a white savior, and the fandom believed Grrm can't do no wrong, and dany did some stuff this season they disapproved of, they decided it meant dany should be seen as a villain. And in a way, it manage to reconciliate the feminist anti racist and the pro D&D point of view , now united in hating daenerys. It allowed them to still trust the show, because it meant it was not D&D and grrm who were racist but dany, and it made them feel smart for having figured out this big plot point. Plus a chunk of the show!jon stan decide the parallel between them this season meant he would become the true hero of the story. Because they thought janos execution was more honorable than mossador's, and jon fight against the wight walker to defend his brothers and the free folks was contrast with dany running away on drogon.

But there were people who didn't like dany and didn't think she would become a villain. Thoses people were feminist who thought daenerys, as the face of the show, was the embodiement of D&D fake feminism responsible of the ruined of character like Sansa or the Martells. Sansa in particular because they felt the show hated traditional feminity which is something Dany was not, which was what allegedly gave her more priviledge and love by the writer and fandom. When season 6 came out, they criticized the double standard between Cersei and Dany, where the former was demonized for burning a Church and the later was celebrate for burning the khals in their holy place. Obviously, the criticism of orientalism and racism within her story didn't make her very popular with feminist.

Season 6 end, and the sansa fandom decide to ship their fav with Jon Snow. But unfortunalty for them, it was obvious that jonerys would become a thing in later season.

Now Sansa was pretty well beloved by the fandom. Like I said earlier, the intellectual part of the fandom and the sansa defense squad really went out of their way to give a better image of the character, wich was fairly popular now that show sansa had a more active role. Plus the feminist adore her!

On the other hand, daenerys was seen as either a villain in the making, or the representation of the show fake feminism and racism. At this point dany stan were considered the dumbass of the fandom.

So, what happen when the jonerys vs jonsa shipping war happen? Well the jonerys shipper were seen as the big bully who victimized the poor sansa stan. Since in their point of view, dany stan were racist people who can't read, and the sansa stan were the woke book purist. Since Sansa was the underdog unfairly hated by the dudebro of the fandom, but beloved by the intellectuals. And Dany was the popular girl who got dumb stan and is only loved by pop feminism. People were naturally more incline into believing jonsa shippers as the victime of this war.

Even when the sansa stan were saying the most heinous things about dany and other female character to prop her up. Even when they were using the villain dany theory, the dark!dany theory, the white savior theory that had now become about dany being a colonizer and imperialist, or the ableist mad queen dany theory wich they backed up by diagnosis her with all the real life disorder they hated. It was seen as normal and dany stan just can't handle criticism. Even when multiple blog were created on tumblr to hate on daenerys which had almost no equivalent for the sansa/jonsa fandom, the jonerys shippers were the bad guys.

Jonerys was made canon in season 7. The intellectual part of the fandom either accept it but thought it was a cliche uninspiring ship, or they defend it for the themes but didn't see it as a complex relationship like jaime with cersei or brienne. The feminist, particulary the one who hated house targaryen, were shocked that grrm could romantize incest. And obviously, the jonsa hated it, and there ugliness started to be notice more with the weird theory they builted, like political!jon. The Jonerys fandom were finally getting some justice.

Plus more big name essayists in the fandom started debunking of the baseless incel hate dany receive post adwd. Dany had now the right to sleep with Daario, Jorah was a creep, Dany rejected Quentyn for peace, and Drogo being Dany rapist was getting more believed by the fandom.

During the hiatus before season season 8, @rainhadaenerys wrote down a lot of meta as a defense against the worst claimed that the fandom made about Dany. It gave hoped to dany stan, but it was crushed by season 8 with D&D deciding to make the mad queen theory canon the worst way possible.

Now the feminist and the intellectual part of the fandom are both defending daenerys. But there is the dominant idea that certain event of the last season could happen in the books, like dany burning King's Landing. And the possibility of her going insane should be accepted by the dany stan, and if not, it mean we are not real asoiaf fans.

#dany #anti got fandom #anti asoiaf fandom

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ravenforce · 4 years

Text

Manhattan 2

Word Count: 3583

Warning/s: None. (Would you believe that? Lol.)

A/N: Thank you so much for everyone who likes, and follows this story. You guys are amazing. Please leave your reactions, bloody or otherwise, on the comment section. My inbox is open too if you’d like to pop by. Oh, and please note the ff:

1. If there are any grammatical mistakes I’ve still overlooked, I apologize.

2. Since you’re already reading this part. Please, be careful out there. Protect yourself from NCOV. Wear a mask if you’re going outside. Wash your hand regularly, and bring alcohol everywhere you go. Take your vitamin C seriously, and stay hydrated. If you feel flu-like symptoms, get yourself checked by experts. Don’t self-medicate. The world is a better place because you’re here. Stay with me. Xx

Manhattan Parts: 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

***

The Morning After - Lou’s POV

Lou can faintly see that the sun is already up and peaking through her curtains. Rather than get up, she shut her eyes tighter, the events of the night prior rushing to the forefront of her brain. She sighed happily as she remembers how soft you were against her hands, how obedient you were, and how beautiful you sound begging her to go faster, harder, and most especially when you screamed her name. She groaned when she remembered how you moaned as you come undone in her mouth and hands. She rolled on her back like she’s been struck by lightning when she remembers how you look in her bed, sated and peaceful.

She was disappointed when she found your spot on the bed empty. She sighed, no one leaves her in bed. It is her that always leave, and the other party begging her to stay but she never does. She sat up, she decided she’s not gonna wallow and think that you leaving is some sort of karma for every girl she left satisfied, yet heartbroken. She decided she’s going to shower because you both did plenty of dirty stuff last night, and then she’s gonna come downstairs to find her brothers and their merry gang of beautiful misfits and have breakfast with them.

Dressed in a crisp white button-up shirt, dark jeans, and black boots, Lou barged into the service kitchen where she knew everyone was holing after a night of partying.

“Good morning, children,” she greeted happily. Amidst being disappointed about your departure, she’s still positively lighter.

The soft morning conversation came to a stop. It took a minute for everyone to process her presence, that Lou, their big sister is home for once. She’s rarely home ever since she opened the art gallery, The Heist, in Manhattan with Debbie, Daphne, and the crew.

“Sestra,” Loki greeted when Lou rounded the corner towards the coffee machine. “Your after-sex-glow can be seen from outer space.”

The Avengers choked on their breakfast items, Loki and Lou started laughing.

“Loki!” Thor admonished after successfully gulping down his french toasts.

“What? She looks great!”

“You could have gone with that,” Tony complained, blushing profusely and pointedly not looking at Lou. They’ve all been close to her, growing up with the boys but they still don’t like being privy to Lou’s sexual affairs.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Loki, ever the sassiest, said.

Thor watched his big sister for a minute, and the three of them have been closed enough to know that Loki’s right. Lou’s definitely glowing.

“Please tell me you didn’t pick up a random college girl from the party last night,” Thor said warned jokingly.

Lou smirked and intentionally didn’t answer the question as she makes her coffee.

“Lou?” Thor asked, squinting his eyes at his sister’s back.

Lou turned around to look at her blonde sibling with an infuriating smile on her face.

“Well,” she started, intentionally pausing a beat or three to annoy her brother. “I didn’t actively look for her. She stumbled on my lair, what am I supposed to do?”

Loki and the rest of the gang laughed, while Thor continued mumbling and complaining about having to look at the poor girl sulking at school because the legendary Lou Odinson won’t pick up their calls.

”Besides, how am I supposed to walk away from her? She’s breathtaking,” Lou said with genuine fondness.

***

Heavy Breakfast - Your POV

Before everyone can grill Lou on who she slept with, you barged in the service kitchen looking slightly dishevelled and with a deep frown on your face. The conversation dropped, while the tension rises. Everyone looked surprised that you’re on-site, their collective gaze fell on Nat and Carol in an instant. The two looked terrified and wholly unprepared for your arrival. They still haven’t quite polished exactly what they wanted to stay, even though they’ve been trying to reach you since the sun started to rise.

“God, Odinsons’ your house is insane,” you said dramatically.

“I went outside to make a phone call, and I got lost on the way back,” you ranted before looking up from your phone and quickly looked at your friends.

Your perfectly constructed poker face nearly slipped when you saw Lou standing behind Tony and Maria by the coffee maker. She looked mildly surprised but more entertained at the idea of being in the same room as you and the two women she helped you forget - temporarily - last night. You held back the urge to roll her eyes at her.

“You’re not the first to complain about that,” Lou quipped. “I told the boys to put up signs but I guess they’re both lazy idiots.”

You cracked a smile remembering how she called her brothers that last night before threatening to beat them up, assuming they made you cry. Tony and Maria caught the smile, no matter how small it was and quirked an eyebrow.

“Putting up signs around the house is ridiculous,” Thor complained as you walk towards the coffee machine.

“Not to mention tasteless,” Loki backed his big brother up.

Lou handed you her mug of coffee before starting a fresh brew. Thor and Loki stopped talking in an instant, as everyone watches you drink from Lou’s cup. You let out an ungodly moan as you let Lou’s perfectly brewed black coffee with two sugars wash over you, and warm you inside out. Your friends are watching the two of you like hawks. You can hear the cogs in their heads turning, piecing every action and reaction together.

Any minute now, you thought.

“You look good in my shirt,” Lou commented, full-on grinning now.

“Holy shit,” Tony exclaimed.

“What?!” Thor yelled as he stumbles out of his stool.

You just shrugged before turning to your friends. You don’t care much that they know. You’ll tell them eventually, anyway. You just worry that you sleeping with Lou will change your dynamics with Thor and Loki. Wanda looked surprised while Maria looks worried for a second, she knows you best. So, she knows you slept with Lou as a coping mechanism.

Loki and Tony look impressed while Thor looks like he’s still processing but he doesn’t look angry. Nat and Carol looked pissed as hell.

“You slept with Lou?” Nat asked, voice clearly on edge. You frowned, not liking the tone she’s using. “Why?”

“Because I can,” you answered simply, voice neutral. “And I wanted to. Last time I checked I’m free to do whatever and whoever I want.”

“We know we fucked up last night,” Carol started to say. “But this retribution is brutal.”

You can feel your blood starting boil at that. You wanted to yell that you didn’t sleep with Lou as revenge for them kissing Steve and Val, you did it for you. You did it to forget, sure but you did it also because you’re attracted to the woman for fuck sake. You wanted to scream so many things, some of them probably spiteful but you weren’t able to as Lou’s warm, soft hand landed purposely on the small of your back. Everyone caught the action, Nat and Carol’s frown dipped deeper as they watch all your anger dissipate.

“I can’t do this right now,” you sighed before putting Lou’s mug on the sink next to you.

Lou just nodded at you before stepping away from her. You walked towards Maria and Wanda before planting a soft kiss on both their cheeks with a soft promise that you’ll explain everything soon enough. You walked towards the Odinson boys next, pulling them both out of the kitchen and into the hallway. Once out of everyone’s prying eyes, you tugged the boys into a hug which they immediately reciprocated, sandwiching you between them.

“I’m sorry about all of this,” you whispered. Thor’s hand landed on the small of your back, while Loki placed his around your shoulder. “I hope we’re cool?”

The boys can hear the worry and hesitation on your voice. Loki smiled at you, before tucking a loose hair behind your ear. “I’m cool with whatever you and Lou are up to. I ship it.”

You smiled at the raven-haired boy before turning towards Thor.

“I don’t understand it but it’s not my business. I just hope you understand what you’re getting into,” Thor said, worry lacing his voice.

The truth is, he secretly ships it as well but he knows her sister’s reputation in New York. She’s been living in Manhattan for a couple of years now, and never had Lou ever dated anyone seriously. He knows her sister’s not the relationship type. She beds girls that caught her interest for a small amount of time until she gets bored or until the girls started developing real feelings for her; then Lou bolts.

She doesn’t care how long the arrangement has gone, if romantic feelings are involved, she’s out. She doesn’t care much if it hurts. For their sister, it’ll hurt worse if she pretends she can give them something she couldn’t. For their sister, it’ll only hurt worst in the long run because what she gives won’t be enough. Lou has been leaving a trail of broken hearts everywhere she goes that’s why Thor worries about you.

You sighed happily. All things considered, you know you’re gonna be okay now that you’ve secured your friendship with the Odinson boys. You were about to leave when the door opened revealing Nat and Carol.

“Wait, Y/N. Please stay,” Nat pleaded.

“Let us explain,” Carol added. “Let us try and fix this, please.”

You wanted to ignore both of them but the sadness in their voice stopped you on your track. You turned towards them and saw the two woman you truly adore nearly in tears.

“I can’t,” you started. Nat and Carol visibly deflated. “Not right now. I need to go home and get ready. I have an interview for the internship program. We’ll talk after, I promise.”

“Okay,” they answered smiling softly at each other.

At that moment, you decided that there’s no point holding on the hurt and anger. No matter what, you still love Nat and Carol but you decided you’re not gonna be a player in their game anymore. When you met the two, you knew they still have feelings for each other but they’re too stubborn to admit it, yet you still willingly played. You decided though that if you can’t be with them, you’ll help them get who they deserve.

No more running away. No more mind games, no more using other people to make each other jealous. No one else is gonna get hurt, just because Nat and Carol can’t be honest with each other but that’ll have to wait after your interview.

***

The Heist - Lou’s POV

“You’re late,” Daphne stated the obvious as Lou walked in leisurely in the conference room two hours after she’s supposed to be in.

Debbie noted the soft smile on her best friends face but said nothing. Lou just shrugged as she plopped down on her designated chair beside Debbie.

“I’m sorry,” Lou said but didn’t offer any other explanation.

She didn’t really have to explain how she stayed up all night just to make you come undone. She didn’t really have to explain how she offered to drive you home as an excuse to spend more time with you. She didn’t feel like sharing how she drove leisurely back to Manhattan because a part of her wants to stay in Ithaca, and risked being teased by her friends for immediately having a soft spot for a girl she barely knew.

9Ball looked up from her laptop to regard Lou for a moment, then every one to check if they’re seeing exactly what she’s seeing.

“At least one of us had a good weekend,” 9ball said with a smirk.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with an after-sex-glow, like ever,” Tammy said making everyone laugh and Lou to roll her eyes playfully.

“Agreed,” Debbie seconded.

“See, even Debbie agrees,” Constance said, “So who’s the lucky girl?”

“There’s no girl,” Lou lied. She knows that Debbie can tell she’s lying but she doesn’t care. She’s not ready to share you with her vulture friends yet.

Before anyone can call her out on her bullshit, the gallery secretary, Charlie poked her head in the conference room.

“She’s here,” she said looking at Debbie.

“Saved by the bell,” Amita teased, prompting everyone to start giggling again. Debbie shushed them after a minute. Charlie who has been working in the gallery since it opened didn’t bat an eye on her bosses weird antics. She just waits patiently for instructions.

“Send her in,” Debbie instructed before Charlie nodded and scurried away to get the last interviewee for the gallery intern position. Whoever gets the job will join her, and the second gallery assistant, Kurt at the bottom of the corporate ladder.

Lou looked at her best friend with a silent question but before she can answer, the door opened and the applicant walked in.

***

The Interview - Your POV

You stopped dead on your tracks when you saw Lou, while the other paled a little.

Holy shit, you thought to yourself.

When Lou said she’s a businesswoman, it didn’t occur to you that she might be the owner of the art gallery you’re applying for an internship. You internally cursed the alcohol you consumed the night before for missing dead giveaways that Lou owns the Heist, like the number of artworks and art pieces in her home office, or the magazines on her coffee table featuring her and her crew.

You were pulled away from your internal musing when 9Ball jumped out of her chair to tackle you softly in a hug.

“Y/N!!” 9Ball exclaimed as she rubs her pretty face on the side of yours. Lou frowned at the action.

“You know each other?” Lou asked carefully keeping her voice neutral.

9Ball extricated herself from your person before dragging you to the table. “This is Y/N Y/L/N, she’s my friend from MIT. She’s eighteen when we graduated uni,” 9Ball bragged.

“We know, nine. We read her file” Rose said smiling.

Lou frowned because she doesn’t know, she forgot to read your file. She meant to do it yesterday but well, she met you instead. Though she knows things about you, it would be inappropriate for her to divulge them in this interview. She had to bite her lips to stop herself from smiling, thinking about all the tiny details she knows about that isn’t in your resume. Daphne caught her though but decided it’s not the time to discuss what’s going on.

“Y/N you’ve been vouched by Nine, and your credentials are spot on,” Debbie started to say, using her CEO voice. “So I’m wondering why you still want to do this interview rather than just get the job?”

You smiled up at your potentially new boss. You can easily see that Debbie is the level-headed one in their group.

“I work great with Nine. You all work great with Nine but that doesn’t mean you will work great with me,” you said softly, confusing everyone some more.

“I need you to assess me as a person, not just my credentials.” You paused to let that information sink in. 9Ball looks at you with pride in her eyes.

“I’m great in the paper, sure. I possess the technical qualities to perform an excellent job, but I believe all of it is to go to waste if you find my personality doesn’t match yours.”

Smart. Debbie noted on your resume without breaking eye contact. She smiled at you, clearly impressed. She looked around the table to assess her team’s reaction, and by the happy look on their faces, she knew they liked you as well. Everyone was enamoured by you if their attempts to engage you in a conversation all at the same time is to go by.

“What do you think?” she whispered towards Lou.

Lou didn’t take her eyes off you as she answers. “I think she’s perfect…for the job,” Lou caught her slipped up early on but by the look on Debbie’s face, she knew she caught it.

Debbie cleared her throat to draw everyone’s attention back to her. She looked at you intensely, the pregnant pause is giving you anxiety. “Y/N, when do you think you can start the job?”

You heaved a great sigh of relief. “Can you give me until next week to find an apartment, move, and get settled?”

Debbie nodded before standing up, walking to you and shaking your hand.“Welcome to the Heist,” she said smiling. Then everyone came over to congratulate you and give you hugs, except Lou.

***

You were standing at the side of the gallery entrance, texting Maria the good news when someone stood toe-to-toe with you. You’ve seen that boots this morning but you opted to finish your text with Maria before looking up at Lou.

“Would you prefer if I turn down the job?” you asked tentatively. You’re a little worried that she didn’t come over to congratulate you awhile ago.

“What?! No! Unless you don’t think you can’t work with me,” she teased. You laughed softly.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Ms Odinson.”

“Miller,” she said. You tilted your head confused. “I don’t use Odinson here. It attracts too much-unwanted attention.”

You wanted to make a joke about how such a face would attract a lot of attention but the seriousness in her voice prompted you to let it go.

“Well don’t flatter yourself, Ms Miller,” you corrected yourself, trying to imitate the way she talks. Lou laughs at your antics. You’re such a child but instead of running for the hills, she’s craving you more and more.

“Anyway, do you have plans tonight? Thought maybe since you’re here, we can celebrate.” Lou wanted to smack herself for being unable to resist vomiting her words. She doesn’t do nervous but something about asking you out, platonic or otherwise, feels daunting to her.

“I can’t tonight. I promised Maria and Wanda I’ll be home for dinner,” you said with a frown. “And you know I promised Natasha and Carol we’ll talk too.”

Lou mirrored your frown. Something about you, and Nat, and Carol in one sentence ruin her good mood. “Okay. Some other time, maybe?”

“Now, who can’t get enough of who?” you teased, effectively eradicating the frown on the blonde woman’s face.

“Shut up.”

You laughed. She started laughing too while hailing a cab for you. When the famous yellow car pulled up on the curb next to you, you bid her farewell. You stopped before entering the vehicle to look at her.

“Maybe you can help me warm my new apartment soon.”

It wasn’t a question. It’s an offer, and Lou knows it.

She smiled broadly at you.

“It’s a date,” she said before the yellow taxi rolled you away.

Taglist: @kaytoopio @marvelfansince08love @marvelb00kwolf @shycucumbersandwich @subject7creed @inkstainedhandsofgold

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