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alexsfictionaddiction · 1 year

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Review: The Backup Plan by Jill Shalvis

Although I know she has been a well-known romance author for years, this was my first Jill Shalvis book. I am very grateful to the lovely Isabelle at Headline for sending me a copy dressed in its beautiful winter jacket as seen above and for giving me the opportunity to read it!

Alice is about to come into a big inheritance and it happens to be the delapidated Wild West themed B&B where she spent much of her childhood. She’s inheriting the place with two of her former friends because all three of them helped out the recently deceased owner Eleanor. Now Alice, her ex best friend Lauren and long-time crush Knox find themselves thrown together to renovate the place. They know that they’ll need to lay some rules down if they’re going to get along and survive the partnership. Little do they know that friendship, love and acceptance are all just around the corner.

As this is a romance with a forced proximity trope, I knew that the rules that they laid out would probably be broken. This predictability is something I love about rom-coms because it means they’re easy reads and my mind can pretty much relax while the story unravels. The drama is handed over to the characters and that’s exactly what happened.

Alice has dreams of following her passion for cars and opening her own mechanic shop, employing only women. Her love for cars is a hangover from her childhood when she spent many happy hours with her dad. Alice came across as very driven and stubborn, so I had no doubt that she would do whatever she set her mind to. I knew that the only thing that could possibly steer her off course would be a handsome face and a string of flirty comments.

Much of the humour comes from Lauren, the local historian and librarian. She was definitely my favourite character and I got really excited about her budding romance with local hardware store employee Ben. Lauren definitely has her secrets throughout the book and as a private person, I found her much easier to relate to than Alice. I couldn’t really understand all the reasons for her estrangement from Alice but I could tell they really cared about each other, so I was begging them to kiss and make up for the majority of the book!

A lovely little bonus was Pickle the Samoyed. I would have really appreciated some more Pickle content but I really enjoyed what I got. Any cute dog in a rom-com always needs to be amplified and Pickle fitted in perfectly with the cosy, warm vibes of the entire narrative.

The Backup Plan is a light-hearted romance with some lovely characters and some steamy sex scenes. It’s about patching up old wounds and finding where true happiness is, so if you’re looking for a very low-stakes, sweet story about friendship and found family, look no further!

#the backup plan #jill shalvis #romance #rom-com #blog tour #book review #review #books #bookworm

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sandythereadingcafe · 1 year

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REVIEW

THE BACKUP PLAN (Sunrise Cove 3) by Jill Shalvis at The Reading Cafe:

‘excellent, heartwarming story’

http://www.thereadingcafe.com/the-backup-plan-by-jill-shalvis-a-review/

#books #reviews #The Backup Plan #Sunrise Cove #Jill Shalvis #The Reading Cafe

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thereadingcafe · 1 year

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#Jill Shalvis #The Backup Plan #Sunrise Cove #Romance #Contemporary #Review

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bookwyrmshoard · 1 year

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The Backup Plan, by Jill Shalvis

I have been drifting away from contemporary romances and contemporary fiction lately, but I plowed through The Backup Plan in under 24 hours. The characters grabbed my attention early on, and kept it -- especially Alice. Which surprised me, because Alice is not the sort of heroine I usually relate to.

Shalvis writes "prickly, hard-edged heroine who is really protecting a soft and deeply wounded heart" in a way that reminds me of some of Nora Roberts's heroines. Being a heart-on-my-sleeve type myself, it's not a personality type I identify with or even understand well outside of fiction, but Shalvis completely sold me on Alice. And I was almost as invested in Alice's partners in the inn, Lauren and Knox.

To my mind, The Backup Plan is not technically a romance; it's a novel with a romance subplot. (Two of them, actually; one major and one minor.) The main plot isn't "two people fall in love"; it's "three people, all running from painful pasts, learn to stop running, face their fears and their pain, and (re)build relationships." Although their personalities and lives are different, all three main characters are on the same emotional arc, more or less: facing their past traumas, healing, and finally taking the emotional risks they have been avoiding for years.

Their approaches to this reflect their individual personalities, of course. And it's all complicated by the pieces of the past that they share… in particular, the departed Eleanor, whose influence on their lives was profound, and also the death of Alice's brother Will.

As characters, Alice, Laurence, and Knox are almost equally important in the book. Almost, but not quite. And Alice and Lauren's broken friendship is every bit as important as Alice and Knox's growing relationship. But Alice is at the very heart of the novel. She's the one in the most pain, the one with the most self-destructive coping mechanisms, the one who most needs the other two in order to heal (though she would never admit it.) And so she was also the one I was rooting for the most.

There's a lot I like about this novel. I love the interactions between the characters, both the snarky interchanges (and the growing list of rules!) and the occasional deeper, more heartfelt conversations. I appreciate how each character grows throughout the novel, and how they become more supportive and understanding of one another. I also really enjoy how well Shalvis establishes a sense of place. The old inn and the Tahoe mountains felt real, to the point that I could almost smell the pines and feel the crisp mountain air. In a similar way, she uses small details to ground the reader in each scene and make the characters and their interactions come alive. But it's the characters and their growth and interactions that kept me turning the pages.

I'm still not ready to load up my TBR with lots of contemporary fiction again; the siren song of other genres is too strong right now. But I'm glad I took a chance on The Backup Plan!

#book review #contemporary romance #jill shalvis #sunrise cove #the backup plan

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introspectivememories · 9 months

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goddd i just know that tim never takes off that fucking necklace. and you know bear doesn't have that much money so tge necklace was kinda cheap and it wasn't anything the bear meant for tim to wear regularly it was just like a keepsake y'know? wear it on a date or a nice outing. maybe when they're both home together. but tim is practically feral over it. like straight up refuses to take it off. it's turning his neck green at this point and everybody is soo done.

#bruce who's allergic to anything under $10000000 breaks out into hives everytime he sees it #bruce trying not to gag: sweetheart what if we replaced it? bernard wouldn't even know!#tim: if you try to replace my necklace i will leak that video of you pole dancing at the penguin lounge #bruce who's had worse things leaked: do it #tim 'backup plans for my backup plans' drake: i will send talia a compilation of you drunkenly rambling about how much you love her #bruce: .... okay you win #dick gets it #your first gay relationship does that to you #bear is a little worried tho #🐻: you know you don't have to wear it right? you could take it off #tim trembling and shaking: you don't want mw to wear it? 😢#🐻 immediately caving: no no! wearit as long as you want!!#dude even ra's gets in on it #ra's going over his master plan: so you see detective i will then- what the fuck is going on with your neck #tim seething cause he can hear his siblings laughing at him over the comms: shut the fuck up #dc #bernard dowd #tim drake #timber #timbern #could not stop thinking about the ra's scenario yesterday. kept making myself laugh

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andrea-lyn · 9 months

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It's a classic plan -- if Sokka and Zuko aren't married by the time they both turn thirty, they'll marry each other. It's one of Sokka's best plans, even if it's only meant to be a back-up. Most people don't spend their time making sure that the other person doesn't get married until the plan comes due, but most people are not Fire Lord Zuko.

Based on the below post even if "rivals" might be an outdated description of their relationship given that they're, you know, stupid in love with each other:

#zukka #zukka fic #atla #avatar the last airbender #sokka/zuko #backup marriage plan #mutual pining #romantic scheming

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telekitnetic-art · 3 months

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Also just out of curiosity, here’s an interest check.

I know some people have considered simply not leaving or just abandoning social media altogether, but like if you had to choose a site to jump to, which one would it be?

#tumblr polls #reblog for a bigger sample size #tumblr update #telekitnetic's silly mind box #yeah I’d love to know where everybody’s backup plans are

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cellystickss · 2 years

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he has one plan and one plan only

#he's a silly lil man #its his backup plan and his backup backup plan #omniscient reader #omniscient reader's viewpoint #orv #kim dokja #celly art

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sesamenom · 6 months

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co-high kings galadriel & celeborn

since elrond doesn't want the kingship, galadriel & celeborn are the eldest in middle-earth of the lines of Olwe and Elmo respectively. olwe is older but hes the king of the teleri not specifically doriath sindar so there might be some dispute between which line the sindarin high kingship jumps to, but they very conveniently happen to already be married and so can skip all that and just be twice the headache for sauron

#silm #silmarillion #galadriel #celeborn #doriath #they picked yellow (like the mallorn leaves) as their accent color in place of melians pink #imagine if this was their backup plan if the aragorn distraction failed #oops the first long-lost heir claiming an ancient kingship wasnt enough to draw saurons attention away from mordor?#how about TWO not-so-long-lost heirs claiming one and a half ancient HIGH KINGSHIPS #now i wonder what would be the plan c after that #elrond agrees to claim the kingship for the good of middle earth and then promptly throws the crown away finrod-style the moment they win?#give arwen the noldorin high king/queenship and a really big dog?#let the twins share?#wait what would be the line of succession for the sindarin kingship if elrond doesnt want it #of the line of olwe galadriels the only one of the grandchildren left in middle earth #celebrian would be next or possibly gildor if hes actually finrods son #of the line of elmo celeborn and possibly thranduil (if oropher is celeborns brother) are still around #celebrian also goes next on this line and legolas on thranduil's side #and cirdan is floating around somewhere in the vague realm of 'kin of thingol'

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silverwhittlingknife · 6 months

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good coping mechanisms [not pictured]

nightwing 116 & red robin 12

#is it self-sacrifice or self-destruction? why not both #dick grayson #tim drake #i think tim's red robin fight is probably better known bc dick fans tend to focus on the angst at the beginning of the renegade arc #instead of the angst at the end of the renegade arc #HOWEVER at the end of the renegade arc blüdhaven is exploding #and dick - who's been extremely down on himself and convinced that maybe he's kind of a bad guy -#gets a brief new lease on life by being highly-motivated to charge into the exploding city with a borderline suicidal plan #which very predictably ends in him charging into an explosion and passing out and getting rescued by batman #(bruce is then a jerk about it but never mind that for the sake of the parallel)#and so dick spends his whole charge-into-the-city-on-fire soliloquy thinking about how he's gonna do things RIGHT now #and he's BETTER now - no more shades of gray!! only black and white!!!#and on the one hand this is clearly genuinely felt and it's a huge relief for him to be able to see himself as a hero again #but it's hard to miss that. like. the actual plan that he has.#involves putting himself in extreme danger with no backup and probably dying #and there's a strong implication that maybe to dick that part is a feature and not a bug

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pooksbedamned · 5 months

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Ok.

Just hear me out

#gavle goat #Godzilla #hear me out #what if #being devoured by birds is taking too long #we need a backup plan #burn the goat #gavlebocken

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wolfjackle-creates · 7 months

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Bring Me Home Arc 2 Part 17

Damn, how did this get to a part 17????

Here's the promised WIP Wednesday (on a Thursday)!

I had a lot of fun writing this part. The words just flowed so easily.

If you didn't notice, I now have the first arc posted on AO3. It covers the first three parts I've shared here along with some extras that I never did.

Story Summary: Tim and Danny are both neglected by parents who care more about their work than their families. They deal with this by spending too much time online and find each other playing MMORPGs. They keep up their friendship as Tim becomes Robin and Danny becomes Phantom and don't bother keeping secrets from each other.

Part 1, Previous

Word Count: 1.9k

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By the time morning had rolled around, Tim had also signed them up for a 7:30 AM and a 6 PM TV interview. Hopefully they could do enough damage control to mitigate the worst of Walker’s bad PR, whatever that turned out to be.

Tim nudged everyone awake at 5 AM. Conner and Cassie got up the easiest.

“Morning, Rob,” Conner said through a yawn. “Time to prepare for our interview?”

“Yep. We’ll be going in uniform since this is an interview for the Young Justice.”

“Great,” said Cassie. “We’ll be ready.”

Tim went to Danny next. “Hey, Danny.” The boy didn’t move, so Tim shook his shoulder slightly.

“Wha…?” Danny blinked his eyes open. “Wha’s goin on?”

“Me and the others are going to our interviews. We’ll be back in a few hours, kay?”

Danny just blinked at him and Tim laughed fondly.

“I’ll leave a note.”

Tim skipped breakfast on their way out, though Bart offered him some breakfast bars.

“It’s too late to be up,” Tim yawned.

Conner laughed as he hugged Tim and wrapped him in his TTK. They rose several feet into the air. “You should not have pulled that all-nighter.”

“How else was I supposed to be awake in time?”

Tim could feel the way Conner shook his head. “Just tell me where to go. I’ll get us there.”

Tim pointed to an area in town. “It’s over that way.”

Bart grinned. “I’ll meet you three there!”

“We won’t be long,” said Cassie.

With the benefit of flying, they were at the radio station within fifteen minutes. Sometimes being friends with metas made life so much easier.

As soon as they entered, a team of people greeted them.

“You were actually serious!” exclaimed a tall, white man. “Thought for sure it was a joke when I got your email last night. I’m Steve and I’ll be your interviewer this morning.”

Tim shook his hand. “Good morning, Steve. Robin at your service, and these are Superboy, Wonder Girl, and Impulse.”

Then they had to be introduced to all the producers, sound engineers, and assistants. If it hadn’t been for his parents’ gala training, Tim was certain he would’ve forgotten all the names instantly.

The employees knew how to do their jobs, however, and despite everyone wanting to meet the heroes, in less than twenty minutes, they were set up in the recording studio.

“So,” said Steve. “I just want to make sure I get this right. You, Robin, have been friends with Phantom for a while now and wanted to tell our listeners the truth about him. That he’s actually a hero and not a menace.”

“That’s right, Steve. I knew him before… Well, he’s a ghost. You know what before implies. He was there for me when I first became Robin. Now I want to be there for him when he’s dealing with similar struggles.”

“That’s not what any of the experts believe.”

Conner snorted. “The so-called experts in this town want to completely destroy any and all ghosts. Don’t think they’re unbiased.”

Bart nodded. “Yeah. We may not have known Phantom as long as Robin, here. But he’s a good guy. Helped us out when we got stranded here.”

“Stranded, eh? Mind if I ask you more about that on air?”

Tim laughed. “You can ask whatever you like. But I can’t guarantee we’ll answer everything. Secret missions and all that, you understand.”

Steve sighed theatrically. “It was worth a shot. Now, we’ll be going live in about five minutes and we’ll have three segments of eight minutes separated by two minute ad breaks. For a total of thirty minutes in the studio. Anything in particular you want me to ask?”

Tim pulled a sheet of paper out of his utility belt. “I wrote some down, if you don’t mind. They should be engaging and broad enough to please your audience and personal curiosity.”

“I won’t ask only from this list, you understand,” said Steve as he took it.

“Of course not. The first three are ones I do request that you ask, however. Beyond those, they’re just suggestions.”

Steve skimmed the list and nodded. “I can work with this.”

Beyond the window, the sound technician made a signal.

“All right, everyone. That’s the one minute mark. Let me introduce you before you say anything, capiche?”

Tim gave a thumbs up and the others added their assent.

The “on air” light turned on and Steve spoke in a voice much more performative than the one he’d been using. “Good Morning, Amity Park! This is Steve Boyce here to help you bring in the day. How are you early birds doing? Have I got a treat for you today! So last night I got absolutely no sleep because at nine thirty, shortly after our newly implemented curfew, I got a surprise email. From no other than the heroes who helped us out the other night when we were attacked! That’s right! The one and only Robin from Gotham emailed my and asked to come on my small, local show. So he and the Teen Titans are here with me. Let’s give them a warm Amity welcome, what do you say?”

Cassie laughed. “Thanks for that introduction, Steve. I’m Wonder Girl and I’d like to clarify one point. The former Teen Titans have kept the name Titans even if they’re no longer Teens. So we’ve decided to go by a new name.”

Bart nodded. “Yep. We’re the Young Justice now.”

Steve laughed. “Looks like I’ve already put my foot in it. Let me correct myself, let’s give the Young Justice a warm Amity welcome.”

Tim put on the happy gala voice his parents had drilled into him. “Not at all! It’s a new change and we’ve never really operated out here before. Even back home in San Francisco or Gotham we get called the Teen Titans more often than not. We’re just on a crusade to get the name change to stick.”

“Well I’m sure all of my listeners will be sure to get it right going forward. Now, let’s get down to business. We’re all thrilled that you were around to help us out the other night, but what brought you to Amity to begin with? Mayor Montez has publicly stated he never even had a chance to reach out for help before you were on the scene.”

“That was all Robin’s doing,” said Conner. “He’s friends with Phantom, you know.”

“Yep,” agreed Tim. “We were in the area when our transport broke down. Impulse figured out where we were and I knew of Amity due to my friendship with Phantom. Since we weren’t on a time limit, we decided to pop into town for a visit. Imagine our surprise when our very first evening here, we experienced a ghost invasion!”

Cassie laughed. “Oh, come on, Rob. With our lives, it really wasn’t that surprising.”

“Yeah,” said Bart. “We’ve totally had weirder things happen to us.”

Steve leaned forward and pitched his tone lower as if conspiring with them. “Well, I’ll definitely be asking for some of the details on what those might’ve been later. But first, I have to ask. Robin, how did you meet Phantom? He’s that ghost in the black-and-white jumpsuit, right? As far as I know, he’s only ever been seen in Amity. And you’ve certainly never been here before.”

Tim took a breath, this was the moment. “Yep, that’s him. And, well, it may be strange, but I knew him before he was ever Phantom.”

“Before he was Phantom? Do you mean…” Steve let his voice trail off.

Tim let out a low sigh and closed his eyes. He really had to sell this. “Yeah.” He made sure his voice was rough. “Yeah. I knew him before he died. He was one of my best friends growing up and we’ve known each other for years.”

Conner put a hand on his shoulder. “Rob…”

When even Steve needed a second to figure out how to reply, Tim figured he did a good enough job. “So you know him when he was alive,” Steve said. “Who was he? Where did he live?”

“I’m afraid I can’t answer that,” said Tim. “He was young when he died and his family don’t need people harassing them. They’ve been through a lot. And I know Phantom’s reputation isn’t the best.”

Steve let out another put-upon sigh. “And there you go being reasonable when all I want is the hot gossip. Fine, no questions about who Phantom was. I’m sure you were thrilled when you found out he came back as a ghost, though.”

Tim laughed and was glad Steve was able to change the mood of the interview so quickly without him doing anything. “Oh absolutely. I near about had a heart attack when he called me up out of the blue to say he was a ghost now! This was my first opportunity to visit him since, you know.”

Conner nudged him. “So he brought us along for the ride.”

Steve hummed. “So for the rest of you, this is your first time meeting Phantom?”

“Yep,” said Bart. “I like him. He’s cool.”

“So, Impulse, you think he’s trying to help us. Because it seems like whenever he shows up, things get broken and we have to spend days or weeks and tens of thousands on repairs.”

“Robin knows more about it than I do,” said Bart, “but I guess what let Phantom cross back over to Earth is allowing other ghosts to cross back over. Phantom just wants to spend more time with his living family and friends. The others ghosts…”

“They want more than that,” finished Tim. “Phantom’s explained it to me a bit. They all have something driving them that can only be fulfilled on Earth. And they don’t care what they have to do to satisfy that drive. So Phantom steps in to try and prevent them from causing too much damage or hurting anyone. Then he forces them back to the dimension they come from.”

“In fact,” added Cassie. “We spent all night talking with Phantom and we got his side of the story on several of his fights since he first came to Amity. We’ve written it all up and submitted them to the local paper, so look in the OpEds over the next few days if you want to know the truth.”

“Oh, well now you’ve definitely got me intrigued! I think I will. Anything you'd be willing to share with us now?”

“Do you remember how a month or two ago, a giant robot was seen in Amity?” asked Tim.

“Not something I’m likely to forget!”

Tim laughed. “I’m sure! Well, what you don’t know is that he crossed over to Earth from the Ghost Zone about three or four days before you ever saw him. Phantom kept him from gaining a physical body for days before Technus was able to get past him.”

“Really? So you’re saying that without Phantom, we would’ve been dealing with that robot for a lot longer?”

“Yep.”

Steve asked several more questions about Phantom. Some serious: How does he plan to decrease property damage going forward? We’re coaching him on how to move a fight and deescalate conflict. And some light hearted: So I heard he’s a dog person? Oh, absolutely. A ghost dog adopted him a few weeks ago.

Then the questions turned more personal as he moved on from Phantom and asked about their lives and exploits. And before they knew it, the interview was over.

“Thanks for reaching out,” Steve said as soon as they left the recording studio. “You are by far the biggest guests I’ve ever had on.”

“Thanks for agreeing to have us on so last minute,” said Tim.

“How could I possibly say no?”

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Hope you enjoyed the interview! I probably won't go into detail for the TV one since it'd just be rehashing the same information.

I no longer do tag lists, but I do have a Subscription Post if you want to be notified of updates.

#dpxdc #tim excels at interviews #his parents trained him for it from the cradle #and the rest have done them before #and they actually care about making danny look good #so theyre gonna behave #steve didnt sleep a wink before this interview #he got the email and was half convinced it was a prank #had a backup show planned and everything #the staff totally made copies of this show #and everyone took home a tape #(management turned a blind eye though thats usually discouraged)

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moongothic · 1 month

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If being weak is a "sin" in Crocodile's mind, then isn't a painful defeat and maybe even death rightful punishment for it? A punishment you deserve for your crime of "being weak"? That's an intriguing mindset from him because it makes me wonder how Crocodile might view his own past and the things he has gone through? I might not go as far as to say Crocodile "blames himself" for the things he's gone through, as he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who dwells on the past like that. But I do feel like Crocodile has accepted in his mind that things like losing his hand happened because he was weak, and it was his own fault. That he can not blame anyone else for what has happened to him. He fucked around and he found out.

It's just interesting because to some degree, One Piece thematically does agree with this sentiment, this is a world where the strong eat the weak. (One example at the top of my head; Luffy refusing Katakuri's apology when his sister intervened with their battle, saying he should've dodged the attack properly if he didn't want to get hit.) Chaka falling in this scene and being unable to stop Crocodile may lead to the deaths of so many more, including his loved ones, and if that comes to pass, it's is Chaka's own fault. For being too weak. But also Crocodile has twisted that idea; Crocodile is using his worldview here to justify himself and essentially saying he can do this (take over Alabasta and kill a million innocents doing so) and get away with it because he's powerful. When in reality "weakness is a sin" isn't about the survival of the fittest, but how this is a world where the strong are meant to protect the weak. (See: Luffy) (Also how Pell told Baby Vivi in that flashback about how he trains so he can protect the Royal Family; again, he he craves power not to oppress the weak but to protect them)

But, just to get back to Crocodile again, I feel like this worldview might also give us more insight as to how he acts in certain situations post-Alabasta. Like when we see Crocodile towards the end of Miss Goldenweek's cover story, both when he declines to escape from jail and in his Impel Down mugshot, Crocodile has a smile on his face. That really is the face of a man who has accepted his fate, is it not?

"Welp, this is what I get for losing to a child in flipflops"

Or when we see him come collect his debt from Buggy; Crocodile seemed quite relaxed and fully admitted he had assumed Buggy would've ran away before he even got there to collect his money. Of course, considdering his trust issues Crocodile would've been mentally prepared for Buggy skedaddling anyways, but the fact that he loaned the clown money to begin with while assuming he'd probably never get that money back-- like Crocodile knew that was going to happen and he just accepted it. And just rolled with it.

Of course, when things take an Unpleasant, Unexpected Turn, he will blow a fuse. Multiple, even.

Him angy

IDK man this is all just interesting to me

#Moon posting #OP Meta #Sir Crocodile #No I did not really have a proper thesis for this post #More just that like. IDK although I talk about Crocodile probably having a whole lot of Unresolved Trauma #I don't mean that in a ''he cries himself to sleep every night'' kinda way (doesn't seem like something he'd do anyways)#More in a ''shit changed the way he views the world forever in a negative way'' kinda way #Does that make sense? IDK #But yeah he does seem like he accepts what he has gone through and has moved on from it (taking 'important lessons' with him)#Sidenote I did check what he says in Japanese in this scene and the ''unforgivable'' was added by Viz here. Good localization #Also that does tie in nicely to how Crocodile always seems to have backup plans for his backup plans #How he seems to considder every potential thing that could go wrong and tries to account for them.

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