#in pk's opposition: dude. fucking really

[ruthlesslistener]

New headcanon just dropped (partially courtesy of @bettsplendens and @slimeel ): Hollow naturally has a tail that grows slowly with each successive moult, much like a rattlesnake's rattle, but because it didn't greatly affect their balance and was just a potential liability in fights, PK used to dock it at each moult (as lost limbs regrow in insects, and while Hollow is an insect-mimic thanks to PK, that's a trait that was included in the whole deal). They remained docked from the Sealing through their escape of the Black Egg Temple because they were incapable of moulting to regenerate it while under Radi's posession, and it took a long while and a lot of stern talking-tos from Hornet about them no longer needing to be battle-ready before they stopped docking it themselves and just let it grow back

#hollow knight #the hollow knight #the pure vessel #hollow knight headcanons #self harm tw #in pk's defense: he had a genuine reason and would also do the same to himself if he thought it necessary #in pk's opposition: dude. fucking really

[ximca]

Evidence.ZIP: Nami's slow descent into love

Before we start I want to make clear a few things. This is not paid work which means it's substandard trash, all of the scans used are unofficial, but all the interpretations are mine.

Ready? Set. Go.

This first panel is not a shipping panel. LuNa or SaNa, it's not. However because it's been some days since Sanji took off, that means between that day and the day Luffy and company arrived, he's been on her mind. Again I stress, this is not a romantic sign or symbol of any note. Her tears are of worry and relief because she's been worried sick for her nakama and relief because finally, Luffy's here, let's get the rescue rolling.

The next two pictures are about Nami being eager to get off their butts and go after Sanji right away. But Luffy and Zoro are in no hurry, and even Chopper and Brook in other panels are just sad that Sanji is gone but they're not like Nami who's gung ho about chasing him right away. Does that mean they’re not worried about Sanji? No, of course they are, but Nami obviously is the most worried here.

Right before everything happened, Nami was pretty belligerent towards Sanji. She's used to everything he does, including his antics. But by no means does that mean she's apathetic to him. After all, even as early as FI our guy Sanji put in the work. In PH even if he didn't like it, he followed Nami's wish to save the kids and his body serendipitously saved Nami from Caesar's explosion. Nami knows that Sanji would save any other of his nakama, but it was only during the time skip that she began to see how much special attention Sanji actually paid her. And she doesn't even know yet, that Sanji gave her body respect when he dived that lake to get Kinemon's torso, when just a few minutes ago he was cupping her breasts like a madlad for a punchline.

Nami also remembers quite clearly what little Sanji told them about his family. It doesn't seem anything special until you realize that when this happened, Nami asked Chopper right before to dig a spot up for gold, and forgot all about it entirely when Sanji was telling them about Liar Norland.

So then Sanji and co. got captured. This is what I think triggered Nami, the "I'll be back but not really" smile she's seen twice in her life now: Sanji's and Bellemere's. She never really knew what she had until he was gone.

In this panel Nami is mad at Zoro for victim blaming Sanji. Both sides have a point, but take note of Luffy. He noticed, as well as I did (and a few others), that Nami was being a teensy bit overreacting at this point. Why I judged that to be his action instead of Luffy observing the back and forth, is because he’s of the same opinion as Zoro...marriages are no big deal, it’s not like somebody won’t return from a marriage. But Nami’s uncomfortable with it, so in order to remedy the problem, he decides to go up to Sanji and ask him to come back, because their navigator was being cranky when he wasn’t around. Also because he didn’t want to be a Big Mom subordinate, but if it was really the basis of his decision then he should have decided the chase before Nami’s overreaction.

The other two victims, Brook and Chopper, had very different stances. Brook was the calm and mature narrator while Chopper just kept apologizing.

See again Luffy in this panel. But, in addition to noticing Nami's vehement objection to Sanji's Vinsmoke lineage, there's also what I call the "wait a minute!" graphic. It's those small lines that form a semicircle near a character when something catches their attention during someone else's monologue. So now he knows something's definitely up with Nami, if he wasn't sure before.

That face isn't a "wait a minute, what are Vinsmokes?" but rather a "wait a minute, why are you objecting?"

For comparison, this is Nami’s “wait a minute, I know who you’re talking about” panel.

After the Jack ownage, Luffy was open to another banquet like he wasn't done with one the night before. Nami feels once is enough, let's get going, and gives her usual excuse of "you can't go anywhere without a navigator" spiel like Luffy doesn't know what she does. Go back to when Luffy visited Pekoms, he was still saying no to her because the fewer the members the higher the chance of stealth. But now all he says is OK. He knows that somebody on his crew can't wait to see Sanji again, and he's all too happy to oblige.

Even in this catfight prelude, Nami wants to hurry up, giddy up. But when Pudding elaborates on her situation...

THIS is where I think Nami caught herself slippin'. Luffy's just happy with someone complimenting his cook, Chopper is concerned with fact checking, but Nami...is concerned about Sanji's emotional well-being? If she really didn't give him the time of day then why the hell does she care whether Sanji marries for love and not just for political reasons? Just Nami well-wishing? Can't be, because well-wishers would not question whether or not the bride loves her groom in a political marriage.

ANYBODY else would give the happy bride-to-be a congratulations but only a "former-gf-who-has-accepted-the-reality-of-the-situation-who-still-has-residual-feelings-of-love" would confirm for herself if the man she left/who left her is being loved by his bride-to-be.

And before someone says “But family members and to an extent nakama would ask that too!”, they won’t question the bride’s/groom’s feelings, but whether or not he/she is ready to take care of their partner for the rest of their life. Nami isn’t asking “Will you take care of Sanji for the rest of his life?”

Also I think this conversation makes One Piece finally fail the Bechdel Test after all these years.

Fast forward to when they caught up with the Germa, that's Nami's face of relief from being worried about not being able to see each other again. If Sanji were his normal self this is probably where he'd ask her Do you love me now, Nami-san? or something. And after Nami fighting about quarter/half of 11 hours vs Cracker (this dude could take several G4 punches too), she'd probably reply to him in kind at that point.

I have no doubt in my mind that this Nami was one who already recognized her feelings and had no problem acting on them.

But reality is cruel...Sanji wasn't taking any chances. Even going as far as mock Luffy for his dream...and she believed it...despite hearing about a week ago from his own mouth that Luffy was going to be PK!

Luffy never believed the cockbull Sanji was cranking out, so why did Nami? Well for starters, Nami never experienced Sanji lying to her. Ever. You can even search the whole manga for a panel up to that point where Sanji lied to her, you won't find it. That's why she believed Sanji's lies so easily.

Do you remember the Usopp vs Luffy fight? The stated reason is because Usopp doesn't want to leave the Merry behind, due to his own insecurity about being weak and his projection onto the boat being useless and needing replacement which snowballed into him cracking. But was that really all it was? Of course not, Usopp wasn't selfish enough to fight for himself. Flee for himself maybe. He wasn't just fighting for the Merry Go, he was also fighting for Kaya because Merry was his reminder of her.

Scour the manga, all of Usopp's most emotional fight moments are because he was fighting for someone else.

Back to Nami, what did the slap mean? Was it anger at beating Luffy up and spitting on his dream? Yes. Was it because of all the stress and worry for him being useless at that point? Yes. But as a natural opposite of Usopp, Nami's most emotional fight moments are about herself.

Nami decided to fight Arlong because of his continued tyranny towards Cocoyashi Village despite her doing her best to pay up their freedom, but the bulk of her anger was about how much Arlong fucked her life up. Thanks to him she never grew up with a normal childhood.

With Nami vs Ms. Doublefinger, I think Nami even decided to leave her to Zoro. However because she was being labeled a weakling (and underestimated), she decided to stay and fight. Nami vs Kalifa was a similar case of underestimation despite her taking the fight because Sanji was useless against Kalifa.

I think Nami was also mad that Sanji wasn't the same man she realized she fell in love with. Gone was the kind, humble, and goofy man who would stick up for his nakama and their dreams. In his place was a snotty brat who acted superior to everything and believed status gave them the right to shit on other people's dreams. Nami thinks Sanji has changed for the worse because of his newfound status, and drops the endearment term “-kun” which she only used for him.

It's framed like in TV dramas where the lady slaps the man out of passion. Yonji even lampshades it: "She's the fiery type!"

The last pic is just Nami’s “oh shit no” look compared to Luffy’s “oh shit” one.

I’m too tired to continue so I’m stopping this here.

Better researchers than I can spot where Nami first got infatuated by Sanji.

All I’m saying is, they don’t really care about us Sanami shippers should not worry about the character development Oda gave Nami in the Year of Sanji. It’s been a long time coming for us but it’s the last stretch before the game ends.

Don’t expect Oda to give them a flashy confession or an extraordinary action to validate the ship.

But if I read Oda right and this is where he wants Sanji and Nami to take the next step into their relationship, we’re in the green.

Naysayers will say things like “but Nami would do the same for the other nakama” or “so and so would act like that too” but take heed and remember, Oda does not write without reason. He MADE Nami overreact because he wants US to care that Sanji was taken from the crew. He WROTE Sanji into catching Nami with both of them sharing a brief smile because he wants US to feel the relief of both parties safe in each other’s hold.

And he DREW Pudding being jealous because that’s how some other ships feel about this arc. jk ilu guise this is just banter

Thanks for reading.

#sanami #sannami #sanji x nami #sanjixnami

[junker-town]

What’s the worst sports loss you experienced as a child?

Everyone who has played sports as a child or teenager has a soul-crushing defeat etched in their mind forever. Today, the SB Nation staff shares their tales of woe from fields and courts. Feel free to laugh at us. One day we might be able to do the same.

Graham MacAree: My dad was always took me to my soccer games. One day, when I was 13 or 14, he couldn't make it, so my mother did instead. She'd never seen me play before. We were on one of those horrible artificial pitches, like they'd painted the parking lot green or something. Because there was no grass the game was absurdly fast and out of control, which is exactly the opposite of how I like to play. My team lost 2-0, I was playing left back and got smoked for one of the goals. It was one of the worst games I've ever played.

When I was walking back to the car, my mother said, "I have no idea why your dad told me you were good." We drove half an hour home in silence.

Jessica Smetana: June, 2012. Benet Academy women’s soccer was on their deepest playoff run in 8 years and about the play their bitter rivals in the State Super Sectional. I had just graduated high school at Benet. This last state run was the only thing separating me from summer, college, and the start of my adult life.

I came off the bench in the first half to score the only goal of regulation for Benet. A beautiful side-net pass, taken in stride. The second half came around. I sat on the bench and watched as the other team tied it up. Then I watched as we proceeded to play four overtimes. One-hundred fifty minutes of scoreless soccer. Scoreless. Both teams’ energy drained in the scorching June heat. But, alas, I was never put back in the game. Why? I will never know. The four overtimes ended. It was time for penalty kicks.

I was naturally one of the team’s best penalty takers. I went up to the line. I lined up my ball. Hundreds of fans began to chant at me to miss. I took my shot, aiming straight for side net. I held my breath. The ball nicked the right metal post...it ricocheted to the left. The goalie wiffed. I watched as the ball skidded across the goal line behind her, in a straight line, to the left side post. It bounced off of the left post, and forward, away from the net. No goal.

It was the first PK I ever missed, at the highest stage I had ever played in. For a second, I was devastated. But then I realized, eh. fuck it. it’s summer.

Matt Brown: I once lost a churchball basketball game by 70 points when I was 14. Our team only had five players, and one of them was sick. Maybe one of us could actually dribble a ball. The other team could platoon swap, had multiple really good high school basketball players, and was all older than us. By the end of the game, they were draining shots from midcourt, just because they could. I’m pretty sure they brought in some ringers.

I did not handle the result in a Christlike manner, leaving the gym while directing some decidedly un-Mormon language to my opponents.

James Dator: Before 1998 I was a three-time All-Star in my youth league. I dominated the paint for my beloved Sonics at forward, but my league hiked its rates three-fold before the season began. As a single mother, my mom couldn’t afford for me to keep playing — but there was a solution. I could change teams and become a “mentor.” This meant that I could play for free, but would be assigned to a team needing more leadership.

Normally there was a B-League for kids without basketball skills, but there weren’t enough players that year to make one. I was assigned to the Hornets, who had seven other players, the majority of which were refugees and had never played basketball before. Three of them had never touched a basketball before our first practice.

The first game of the season was against the Sonics, my former team. All my former teammates, the same coach — everything was the same except I wasn’t with them. Ahead of the game I told Daniel and Chris, their two best players, that our team would lose. I asked my former coach if they could go a little easy on us in the second half.

40 minutes later we’d lost 142-12. I scored all 12 points for my team. I was triple-teamed for most of the game, and ended up inbounding the ball to myself after most possessions. With three minutes left Chris ran up on me and said “Wow ... you’re trash without us,” and I punched him in the dick and got ejected. It was worth it.

We didn’t win a single game all season and our closest game was a 55 point loss.

Brittany Cheng: I tackled a dude while playing tag at recess in second grade and they didn’t let me go to recess for a week. Does that count?

Adam Stites: I played water polo in high school for a team that was really, really bad. We went 0-10 in league play and 1-21 overall. That one win was against a team that traveled from another state for a tournament and I’m not sure they’d ever played the sport before.

The worst of our 21 losses was in a game to decide the team that finished 16th in a 16-team tournament. The school that won the whole thing actually fielded two teams in the tournament and the second team consisted entirely of freshmen.

Now, again, we were terrible, but the team we were playing were significantly smaller and slower than us. I’m not even a big guy myself, but I was tossing defenders out of the way like it was nothing. We should’ve won handily, but because we were water polo’s Bad News Bears, we blew it every chance we could and the game went to overtime. It took the tiny freshman team all of 20 or so seconds to score a goal in overtime and end it.

We lost a couple games by at least 15 goals that season, but losing to players half our size is the one that really felt like rock bottom.

Harry Lyles Jr.: In 2003ish when I played baseball, our team went 12-1 in the regular season and coasted throughout the tournament. Another team that coasted throughout the tournament that we met in the championship went 0-12 in the regular season. It was a double-elimination tournament — we were on the winners bracket, and they were in the losers bracket — so they had to beat us twice.

Instead of starting our best pitcher, our coach started his son in the first game, who was kinda trash. We were not happy that he was starting, and of course he got lit up. We also lost the second game, and the championship to the worst team in our league.

I never played baseball again.

Whitney McIntosh: I’ve played tennis basically my whole life, and for the most part am pretty average. But some years have been better than others based on priority, motivation, and of course luck from time to time. While on the tennis team in high school I played as a member of 1st and 2nd doubles teams, and as 3rd, 2nd, and 1st singles. Our team was only okay - and we never made a state tournament - but we pulled out thrilling wins over the years and had some genuine talent that upset various league favorites. This is not one of those anecdotes.

By the time I got to Senior year, I was playing 1st singles as more of a sacrificial lamb than an actual player. Even though in the hierarchy of our teams singles players I was the best one, I’ll fully admit that my skills couldn’t match up to most of our competitors’ entrants at the number one slot. So it mostly turned into me losing, but 2nd and 3rd hanging on and then only one doubles needing to work some magic for a win. A strategy was there, but my wins were not. Even so, many of my losses were at least respectable - a 6-4 set one day, a crazy rally that ended in an impressive shot another.

But then there was the match, about midway through our season, against a future D1 player that was the absolute most brutal and ruthless loss I had (and still have) ever experienced on a court. During the entirety of the match (which yes, was a double bagel extravaganza) I won a whopping two total points. Yes. Two. The entire time. And most of the other points weren’t even close. It got so bad about midway through the first set that even when I got my racket on the ball while returning serve (nonetheless sending it back over the net) every parent on the sideline would cheer for me. They definitely meant well but...ouch. Even though I never came close to turning pro or anything of the sort, for 42 minutes I was able to embody the spirt of a player who steps out onto a court ready to play some good tennis and gets summarily smoked like a pig in Texas.

Christian D’Andrea: I grew up in Rhode Island, which is known for one thing and one thing only: elite high school football. My father, who suffered a series of knee injuries playing the sport, had banned me from playing in pads until I got to high school, where a perpetually 2-8 Pilgrim High School team awaited. At a burly 130 pounds I was an drop back quarterback who somehow split time with a future AA-ball pitcher who could throw the ball over them mountains over there. Combined, we threw approximately six passes per game and gave our parents a collective reason to drink on Friday afternoons.

An uneventful season led us to our first big home game against an in-city rival. Bishop Hendricken was the private school a few miles away that attracted the state’s best athletes. Current Washington safety Will Blackmon was the centerpiece of their freshman team that year. Conversely, two-fifths of our starting offensive line wore Airwalks to games.

The game was the slaughter it had every right to be. Our top linebacker was ejected two plays into the game for blindsiding Hendricken’s quarterback a good six seconds after a handoff. We trailed something like 43-0 in the third quarter. That’s when I got the call.

The play, as described to me by my coach, was just “f—- it, just throw the ball as far as you can.” I rolled right, found an open receiver sprinting downfield, planted my feet, and then time-traveled several hours into the future. Video evidence would later show I got blindsided so hard I pulled nearly a square foot of sod out of the turf with my helmet when I got up. I fumbled the hell out of the ball, leading to another Hendricken touchdown. We lost something like 120-0.

But hey, for one fleeting moment, I got to feel like Rex Grossman.

Kyle Robbins: Y’all wanna hear the story of my last ever youth sporting event? The 2009 Indiana high school golf state finals? Fun! Here we go.

For a my relatively small-town, southern Indiana team, we’d had a pretty stacked roster for the past three seasons. We were highly ranked (Yes! Indiana high school golf rankings exist! Really) and all of us would basically go on to pay for pretty decent college programs, but we could never put it together in the regional round before state. Always blew it. The Sergio Garcia of high school golf teams, so to speak. I was a central reason for such failure. Extremely fun!

But, alas, that was set to change! We finally pulled through, made it to the state finals my senior year. Finally get there and it’s pouring rain, awful day. Scores are super-high, including for most of my (extremely talented) teammates. For whatever reason, I’m playing one of by better rounds of the year in the monsoon. We’re set to miss the cut as a team, but I’ve got the opportunity to make the cut as an individual start the final round a couple shots off the individual lead myself. Most of the hometown crowd starts to follow me. I make birdie on the par-5 15th. I am about three shots off the lead at the state finals. This is Valhalla.

The ensuing 16th hole is one of those big, amphitheater type par-3s — and all of a sudden I’m playing in front of easily the biggest crowd of my life. Biggest moment of my life, state title on the line, kinda playing for my entire small little town. This is my moment! I’m finally gonna Do It!

I hit a cold, hard shank. Like, almost-kill-people-walking-on-the-road type stuff. I made double bogey, sulked through the last two holes, the narrow cut line for individuals came down, and I missed it by a shot.

Never ever play a sport.