#and who can blame him honestly | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

zmediaoutlet · 1 month

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Well, Sam wasn’t wrong. The panic room wasn’t any kind of paradise to be locked in, no matter how much the occupant needed it. Cot’s a piece of crap, too. Dean knows Bobby doesn’t go for the softer things, much, but man. Given that being shut in here had a pretty decent chance of turning into your last night on earth, he could’ve at least sprung for a mattress pad. A decent blanket. Something.

Dean sits on the edge of the bed. He turns his wrist against the handcuff and looks at the underside, the blue veins. Knows he could pick it if he had any damn thing left on him to pick it, but Sam didn’t leave him much but his boots. Knows he could pull, and bleed, and dislocate or even break his thumb and force his way out that way, but Sam’s locked him pretty tight and he’s not positive he could drag his way out, and if he screwed it up then he’d just be in a bunch of pain, and Castiel’s probably too mad at him to heal it. He could just bleed out. He turns his wrist in the cuff again, grips the edge of the mattress with both hands. Easy to imagine. The blood sluicing down—and it’d take a while, unless he hurried it along somehow—snapping a spring off the bed and making the wounds jagged and wide and red—making the world slow and slide and shut down, hopefully permanently, so he wouldn’t have to bear it anymore. So Bobby and Cas and everyone who ever relied on him wouldn’t have to bear it, anymore. Except of course it wouldn’t be a solution because he can’t. Everything he was ever taught flooded up against that last lead door and stopped. More’s the pity.

The panic room door opens, creaking. He keeps looking at the floor.

“You want some water, or something?” Sam says.

Dean smiles at the iron between his boots. “I’m good.”

Drag of metal on metal—Sam pulls the desk chair over, sits a yard away from Dean. Not far enough away that Dean couldn’t grab him, if he made the lunge. If he wanted to. He doesn’t know why Sam isn’t worried about it.

“What’s in the box?” Sam says. Dean smiles at the floor. “Don’t make a Brad Pitt joke. The box you had, in the motel in Cicero. I put it in the trunk before I drove the car back up here.”

Dean looks up. Sam’s watching him. Small frown but he’s not mad. He doesn’t even seem disappointed, even if Dean’s been—everything he’s been.

“What I had,” he says. His voice is rough and he clears his throat. “Just… stuff. I thought maybe you’d…” He shakes his head. “Feels stupid. Talking about, you know, crap maybe you’d remember me by, except here I am. Just stuff. Dad’s jacket, my gun, my keys. Wrote a letter.”

Sam raises his eyebrows. “A letter.”

Dean shrugs. “Doesn’t matter, now.”

Sam looks like he’s not sure about that. Dean wishes he hadn’t mentioned it. Imagines Sam ripping off the duct tape and reading the stupid crap he’d written down and thinking that it was all Dean had wanted to say. Felt too messed up to leave without even a note but he couldn’t—formulate it, not out loud and not in writing either, turned out, especially if Bobby or someone else might see it too. How much he loved Sam and resented him and needed him and how this hole in the center of his gut that had started who knows how long ago had just gotten bigger, and bigger, and he’d worried that what he felt for Sam would fall into it and get lost but it didn’t seem to work that way, somehow. The hole got bigger and what him-and-Sam meant got bigger, too, and stranger and stronger and more unwieldy, until there were days that Dean thought he’d suffocate under it, or drown maybe, or that he’d lose his mind with worry, or that he’d—start to hate Sam, maybe, for making him this terrified. For being this thing he couldn’t stand the idea of losing and yet that had been lost to him over and over. Until the hole felt like it took up all of him, just this absence held vastly empty under the barrier of his skin, and what him-and-Sam meant was going to destroy the whole planet, and it felt more right to just—simplify the equation. Subtract the thing by half and maybe there’d actually be something left, afterward. Even if Dean weren’t around to see it then at least there’d be something.

“I wish I could make you believe it,” Sam says. Dean refocuses. The spinning shadow of the fan above cuts random light over Sam’s face. His mouth tucked up on one side, sorry. “I don’t know how. There’s not any—evidence I can show, or logic. It’s not a case. It’s just something I know and I can’t make you understand.”

“Guess I shouldn’t have dropped out,” Dean says, and Sam smiles in this weird flat way that doesn’t look like smiling at all, and Dean can’t make him understand, either, how sorry he is, and how little it matters that he’s sorry. That he has to say yes to Michael because there is no other way he can think of in the world to save as many people as they can but also to save Sam, from Michael and from Lucifer and from himself, most of all, and to save Dean from having to see that, too. He’s thought about how it’ll go. When they got to talk to Jimmy Novak he explained that being possessed by an angel was like being chained to a comet: terrifying, absolute, a blaze of blinding light, and Dean thinks—hopes—that that’s true, that with an archangel it’ll be worse, that he can close his eyes and sink into it and there’ll be pain, he’s sure, but he’s been through hell and pain’s nothing he worries about, if he won’t have to see his brother fall.

“I’m kinda jealous Cas got to beat you up,” Sam says. Dean snorts. Then Sam leans forward, quick, takes Dean’s face in both hands. Dean stiffens but Sam doesn’t—hit him, or choke him, or kiss him. All equal possibilities considering the day. Sam only looks him in the eyes, with this expression like—he’s five years old and wishing for answers Dean can’t give. Dean reaches up with his uncuffed hand and grips Sam’s wrist. His pulse fast under Dean’s thumb. Sam takes a deep, shuddery breath in, closes his eyes tight. When he opens them they’re damp but he doesn’t look five anymore. “We’re going to save Adam and you’re not going to say yes. I don’t care if you don’t believe it. I know.”

This year’s been too terrible for the empty pit in Dean to feel any smaller. “Okay, Sam,” he says, because it’ll get him out of this room. Sam nods and stands up and goes for the keys. Dean watches him, tall and broad and beautiful, and wishes he had faith.

#happy wincest wednesday #my writing #ww lottery #a random ficlet for episode 100 #and what an episode it is #dean's ultra turbo mega depressed #and who can blame him honestly #but sam's an absolute hero through this thing #...he sounds like an idiot every time he talks to adam #but otherwise. hero.

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rubydubydoo122 · 3 months

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I think the funniest thing about how the Fandom perceives Tim (especially obnoxious Tim fans) is that he is was deeply hurt by the actions Jason, Damian, and Dick have done to him, but lowkey that’s just the fandom projecting

Tim lowkey did not give a fuck. Maybe a little at first, but he definitely does not hold a grudge against any of them.

#Tim Drake #unhinged tim drake #like will Tim eternally hate you if you take a sip from his Soda? yes #but attempted murder… he can get over that #Damian and Jason were just having a really bad time #(looks at that one panel where Tim forgives Jason for being an asshole supreme)#and he can admit that Dick was under a lot of stress during the time Bruce was lost in the time stream #angst is fun though #so I don’t BLAME Tim fans for it #just sometimes it’s annoying because Dick is a really good older brother and doesn’t deserve the hate for handing off a mantle he created #and Damian was a child who only grew up knowing that violence was the only way you can earn your place #and it’s shown in multiple panels that Tim understands that #Tim was literally snarking while Jason beat him up at Titans Tower #(honestly that was most accurate sibling portrayal in media… so…)#I say that as a younger sibling who has had so many injuries from my sister beating the crap outa me #and my younger brother emotionally decimates me on a daily basis #really #certain Tim fans just make him a wimp

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uhbasicallyjustmilex · 9 months

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they’re actually incapable of keeping their eyes off each other and it’s my favourite thing

(x)

#there’s literally the most gorgeous woman between them and they’re still gazing at each other #if that doesn’t say it all idk what will #alex in particular REALLY couldn’t keep those lingering glances away from miles in this photoshoot #and honestly who can blame him #miles looks fucking incredible #(they both do)#god i will just never be over the way their eyes are just constantly and helplessly drawn to each other #completely lost in each other’s orbit 🥺#milex #tlsp #the last shadow puppets #milex gifs #miles kane #alex turner #lulu posts

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captainkirkk · 26 days

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I think the Goblin Emperor hurts in a different way from HOTE because it's from the pov of the Maia, the trapped emperor

In HOTE, we're inside Cliopher's pov, who only understands but only glimpses moments of his Radiancy's pain and isolation. And Cliopher is so full of hope and stubborn determination and competency - the system may be full of imperial prejudice but he knows that he WILL dismantle it for the sake of the people and his emperor. Plus his career is established and he has spent centuries acclimatising to and shaping the world within the Palace

Maia, on the other hand, is barely an adult and has lived most of his life in isolation with his abuser. He's overwhelmed and out of his depth and can barely trust his Household, who he has known for maybe a few days or weeks. He's kind and determined, yes, but it's overwhelmed by loneliness and confusion. Don't get me wrong, I'm really enjoying TGE, but not as much as I loved HOTE

#i take it back - maia doesnt just need big brother fitzroy #he needs an uncle cliopher too #i want to see maia travel to the palace of stars for uhhh diplomacy reasons or something #and fitzroy and the household see this baby emperor and immediately r #*welcomes him #maia suddenly had several uncles he does not know what to do with #i feel like csevet would lowkey be in awe of cliopher #and honestly who can blame him #my posts #tge #hote

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finexbright · 10 months

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#as i said i'm only now catching up on what happened at red rocks and honestly i'm just so confused as to #why people are getting hate mail for being at a show???? like unless you were right there at the show you will NOT know what's going on #you can't just ''leave'' a venue because there's security measures ensuring that people don't run and cause a stampede #i get that the team there sucked and should've been much better equipped for an outdoor venue but why the fuck are we blaming the fans????#and then being mad at louis??? yeah i get that his tweet wasn't the best but i'd imagine that he was trying to help out as much as he could #ensuring fans were safe and taken care of. pretty sure he is the one paying all hospital bills and stuff as well #yeah i know he's an artist and he has people doing things for him but also it's louis. he might not have been at ground zero #but i bet he was doing everything he could to help get fans to safety and he had to tweet something amidst all that #just to reassure fans a bit more and he did what he could #besides. i'm sorry but instead of being all ''louis/his team should've done more'' can we all just make sure that the fans #who were actually in that hail storm and who actually got horribly injured and who actually went through such a scary situation #are feeling okay? like why are we arguing about trivial things when what matters the most out of this situation is the fans and their safety #i honestly need people who were not at the venue and people who do not understand how traumatic things can be #to just shut up and log off #anyways to everyone present at red rocks i'm sending you so much love and i'm so sorry something so traumatic happened #i hope everyone is safe and is being treated for their injuries 💌

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queerofthedagger · 2 years

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Modern!Merlin would have a tongue piercing and the moment Arthur finds out he completely loses his mind pass it on

#merthur #remember when I used to write actual meta posts? those were the days #acbb is frying my brain but honestly I'm right #like if Arthur had any doubts about being bi they're gone now #who can blame him really #mona's rambling

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deep-sea-horror · 1 year

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*points you at xie lian letting guzi get kidnapped by the cannibal ghost possessing his father because his boyfriend is in the middle of an omegaverse moment* is this your hualian would be good parents?????????????????

#honestly who can blame him.#hualian are very nice. but they are very much a FUCK THOSE KIDS. type of couple godbless them #get me out here i cant stop cringing. right after the blackwater arc she did this.#tgcf

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sage-nebula · 5 months

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Martha didn't get a Tennant Doctor because she didn't want a Tennant Doctor. Martha was the only one of RTD's companions who left the Doctor of her own volition, and only ever called him back on her own terms, when she had need of him.

Rose didn't leave the Doctor willingly. Rose was trapped in an alternate universe because it was either that or be stuck in a void with Daleks and Cybermen for the rest of time. And when she returned (primarily to warn the Doctor about the oncoming darkness caused by Davros but also because she wanted to be with him), she left with the Metacrisis Tenth Doctor and their own TARDIS because that was the only way to give her a satisfying ending from the viewpoint of the audience. (And even then, there are some fans who will tell you that nothing short of her being with the Time Lord Doctor in the prime reality is satisfying, but that just couldn't happen for reasons outside the narrative story.)

Donna didn't leave the Doctor willingly. Donna absorbed all of the intelligence of a Time Lord into her human brain, and this was going to kill her. She had to have her memory erased and be kept away from anything alien for presumably forever or else the knowledge would return and literally kill her. Donna begged the Doctor not to wipe her memory anyway, because she would rather have died than give up that life. Just like Rose, Donna had planned on staying with the Doctor for the rest of her life.

This was not the case for Martha. Setting aside the fact that Martha was treated like garbage for the duration of her season from a writing standpoint, by the end of season three Martha has realized two things: 1.) that she is goddamn brilliant and never deserved to feel like she was second best, and 2.) that she doesn't want the Doctor anymore. Unlike Rose, Donna, and Captain Jack, Martha leaves the TARDIS of her own free will, to pursue her own life and career outside the Doctor. Even Sarah-Jane says in "School Reunion" that she waited for the Doctor to come back for her; she didn't want to leave, not permanently! But Martha did. She chose to step away. The only other companion to have done this during RTD's run is Mickey, so I guess Martha wasn't the only one; still, she's the only one of the primary companions, the three women, to want to leave. She made that choice herself.

Now, does that mean everything about Martha's ending was perfect? No. As much as the "Smith and Jones" wordplay of her ending with Mickey is amusing (get it, like her first episode), it makes no sense when you consider that she was engaged when she returned in season four, and yet we never hear of that fiance again. I mean, I guess it's fine since it's not like we ever saw him? But what happened there? Why was no thought given to Martha's story there? What was she doing with Mickey in an active war zone? Why no mention of her in these three specials even though, last we heard of her, she was working with UNIT in a really important position? I like Mel well enough, but why couldn't Martha have been there instead? Especially since Martha and Donna had a preexisting friendship, and would have been delighted to see each other again?

With that said though, she doesn't need a Tennant Doctor. She didn't want a Tennant Doctor. Frankly, Tennant's Doctor doesn't deserve her with the way he acted ("Rose would know" right to her face, like -- dude, I get it, you're grieving, but that's fucking rude and Rose would NOT approve you using her memory to make another woman feel bad about herself). Martha's character arc was about recognizing her own brilliance and her own worth; standing on her own two feet as a PROPER doctor, Doctor Martha Jones, walking the earth and saving the world without a TARDIS or Torchwood or a Time Lord brain. Just her own fucking determination and brilliance.

Rose and Donna got Tennant Doctors because that was the way to make their final send-offs satisfying. Rose and a Tennant Doctor got to be in love and happy together in a parallel world, which is fitting considering that they were in love and never wanted to leave each other. Donna and a Tennant Doctor get to be besties and happy together in this reality, so that RTD has a convenient excuse to pull Tennant back into a story if he ever wants to again (since it'd be hard to explain why Tentoo came over, versus having Fourteen right there) . . . but also because, like Rose, Donna never wanted to leave the Doctor, she wanted to be with him forever.

But Martha didn't want that. Martha left on her own accord. She left with a smile on her face and her cell phone on the TARDIS console, so that when she said "here boy!" the Doctor would listen. She left on her terms, with him at her call, only there when she has use for him.

And honestly? Good for her.

#like it was a fucking waste that we didn't see Martha at all in these specials #or even get a mention of her but like #she wouldn't WANT a Tennant Doctor. she was the only one of the 3 who left willingly!#(and honestly who can blame her like fr . . . the shit she put up with bc of him)#(the shit in the Family of Blood episodes gave her just cause to beat his ass into next week honestly)#(she hugs him at the end but honestly she should have beat his ass. just started swinging)#(how dare he do that to her? honestly?? i'm not talking about the love plot bit bc while that was ugh it's like #small potatoes to making her as a Black woman have to WORK IN SERVITUDE TO WHITE PEOPLE #and like the scene where he grabs her arm and throws her from the room? BITCH?????#GOD i'm mad again just THINKING about it #she should have beat his ass so hard he regenerated right then and there. AGH.#ANYWAY #Martha Jones deserved better but getting a Tennant Doctor is not better #not for her. it would be like a punishment honestly #she walked away from him and then you put his sad boy ass back on her doorstep?? hello??? no thank you #doctor who #martha jones #dw spoilers #this probably sounds like I hate Tennant's Doctor but I don't #I just hate how a lot of season 3 was written wrt how Martha was treated #like Martha having very legitimate concerns in the Shakespeare episode about being a Black woman in that time period #and Ten mocks her for being concerned like ???#ARGGGHGHHGHGHGHG #ABOUT TO FLING MYSELF INTO THE TV TO BEAT HIS ASS MYSELF ISTFG #A N Y W A Y

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innytoes · 5 months

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For the generated AUs, I got Supernatural Is Known AU + Orphanage AU ^^

Okay but Caleb Covington's Home For Extraordinary Orphans. He's not exactly evil, but after 20-plus years of dealing with everything from mermaids to were-elephants, he is Grumpy.

The Molinas always wanted a big family. Most Werewolves do. Something about a big pack just makes them happy. Not all of them turn, Julie and Victoria don't, but Rose, Ray, and Carlos do. (There have been So Many Arguments in the past about Carlos chewing on Julie's shoes.)

Except Rose found out that after her cancer, she wouldn't be able to have any more kids. They'd been trying for some time but hadn't had any more after Carlos, and now there was no more chance to have any at all. They mourn for a year, before talking it over as a family and deciding that pack is pack and they don't need to be blood related to be family. When Julie is fourteen and Carlos is ten, they finally get approved to adopt.

Victoria goes with them, if only to make sure they don't 'bite off more than they can chew'.

They meet a lot of kids, and just like Victoria expected, they want to take home Everyone. She has to be the voice of reason that no, they do not have a big enough back yard to convert into a lake to adopt that mermaid girl. And adopting Willie, the raccoon shifter, was a terribly unsafe idea because Carlos still hadn't learned to control his chasing-prey instinct. Do they not remember the ordeal with the Henderson's cat?

Eventually, Carlos and Julie come running up to their parents, dragging just about the palest young boy Rose has ever seen.

"Mami, this is Reggie!" Carlos proudly proclaims. "He likes dogs and music and pizza so he has to be our big brother."

Reggie is a sixteen year old vampire who is just grateful he got turned after he was allowed to drive. It's better than being fourteen for the rest of his (after)life, that would be rough. Oh shoot sorry Julie. It gets better, he promises.

Ray and Rose are just so charmed by Reggie and the way he naturally fell into a big brother role for Julie and Carlos that they decide yes, they will adopt a sixteen year old vampire. No they do not care that he won't age. Once he actually matures mentally into adulthood (which vampires do, just a lot slower than than humans) they will help him get emancipated.

Victoria is not there to talk them out of it. Victoria, in fact, is in Caleb's office, getting the paperwork done to adopt Willie.

("What? I said it was dangerous for him to be around Carlos until he gets his prey instinct under control during the full moon. I don't turn, my prey instinct is fine! The only thing I hunt is a good bargain.")

So they take Reggie and Willie home, and things are great. Willie and Reggie were friends at the orphanage, they get together for Family Dinners every Friday except on Full Moons, everything is great. Reggie fits in really well and admits that even before he was turned ten years ago, he didn't have a great family, so having two parents that care about him is really nice.

Except sometimes Reggie acts in a way that can't be attributed to being a vampire, or adopted, or maybe a little traumatised from spending ten years in an orphanage run by a grumpy werepanther. He zones out, and sometimes he talks to himself, or laughs at nothing. Ray and Rose love Reggie, and are fully willing to support their new son and all his quirks (Ray immediately started learning about Star Wars when he realised Reggie was obsessed), but they also want to make sure this isn't anything mental illness related that will hurt him.

So they talk about getting Reggie evaluated, about asking Doctor Turner if she has any recommendations for therapists who specialise in vampirism... But Reggie overhears them.

And then Rose overhears Reggie. Talking to himself in his room again. Except this time it's not under his breath.

"No dude, don't worry about it. I'll just... I'll make something up. I mean, you've always said that I might be autistic, maybe we can just... Nobody's going to find out and send you back, I promise."

Which is of course when Rose pushed open the door before adopting a now Very Familiar Pose to Reggie. The Mom Pose. Hands on her hips, eyebrow raised.

The boy on Reggie's bed slowly started going invisible again, and Rose pointed at him. "Don't you dare!"

He stops fading out of view. He looks to be about Reggie's age.

"Can you just turn invisible, or are you a ghost?" Rose asks. "Because if I find out you've been letting someone go hungry under our roof, Reginald, you are grounded, mister."

"I'm a ghost," the boy in the bed said. "I'm so sorry, it's just that, you were taking Reggie, and your sister was taking Willie, and they're all I have and I just couldn't stay there and I'm so so sorry..."

The more he talks the more solid he looks and Rose is not sure if that's a good thing or not, so she just interrupts him. "Right, we need to call Caleb right now."

"No, don't send him back!" Reggie said. "Send me back instead, please, you'll love Alex, he's great, he's funny and cool and he likes music and pizza too. I mean he can't eat it anymore but-"

"We're not sending anyone back," Rose promises, wrapping Reggie in a hug and hovering a hand near Alex' shoulder. "But we do have to arrange some paperwork so Ray and I don't get brought up on any kidnapping charges, alright?"

#julie and the phantoms #AUs are awesome #make Reggie a Molina 2kalways #fanfic #I wrote a thing #rose talks to victoria about it and victoria is just like: I didn't notice but to be fair Willie is a way better liar than Reggie #and also causes so much mischief that him sitting quietly and staring off into space while wearing one earbud was honestly kind of a relief #caleb didn't even realise Alex was missing but he's not going to SAY that #he's been a little busy with the literal demon child and fire imp that were dropped off a few months back okay?#luckily they started dating and now dante and fuego are no long making his life a living hell #sorry this did not stay at the orphanage but can you blame me my whole brand is Make Reggie A Molina #Ray just like: it's free bonus son #and then of course Julie and Alex and Reggie start a band with Luke who is part siren on his grandmother's side

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ghostofchaos-past · 7 months

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lucius giving off some major "you're not my REAL DAD!" vibes this season

#and honestly #who can blame him #ofmd #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #not really but just in case #lucius spriggs #lucius ofmd

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demonrubberduck · 7 months

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Dracula Daily, Sept 18th

Reminding us, no matter what Horrors are going on, that when Quincey Morris, Texas Cowboy appears on the scene, every other character has to pause and remark upon that fine hunk of American Beef.

#dracula daily #quincey morris #jack seward is so thirsty #and honestly who can blame him #sept 18

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vigilskeep · 7 months

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the arthur with cassandra divine thing is pretty messed up when you consider arthur is also intended to leave keir in the fade. would not be an ideal hypothetical worldstate for anders it has to be said

#hi everyone i am still awake. i believe this will be rectified shortly #in the circumstance i would probably go all out schism canonising and pull a fade rescue mission so its not all bad but like #man.#you go get the cure to the calling with surana and you come back and everything is Fucked #husband gone. circle back. wolf dread #can he live #honestly i can see joining the fade rescue mission being an early time cass has to cover up for Unsupervised Absences #because otherwise justice is going to fucking toast my boy and who can blame him

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theperrylleluniverse · 8 days

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Yeah fucking right, Perry.

Me 🤝 Gail 🤝 Perry

Putting Paul in goofy little outfits

#perry mason #paul drake #he just wanted to see Paul in a hawaiian shirt and honestly who can blame him #his smile is so mischievous in the last gif hehe #also damn william hopper really looks incredible this episode he is thriving in hawaii

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uhbasicallyjustmilex · 1 year

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just miles almost forgetting how to play the guitar because of alex turner

#seriously who can blame him #honestly i’m amazed he manages to keep playing at all sometimes when there’s a clingy alex draped all over him #the man deserves a medal #milex #tlsp #the last shadow puppets #miles kane #alex turner #my gifs (as evidenced by how awful they are lol)#lulu posts

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missmungoe · 1 year

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I couldn't help myself, so here's my take on the Elbaf scenes in 1076, featuring pirate!Makino. Follows a pirate's idea of peace.

This is what the kids call couple goals

“Kyaa! He’s so cute!!!”

“And so charming!!”

“And those cheeks!”

From his seat beside her, Shanks pouted, his eyes trained on the spectacle happening across the tavern. “That used to be me. And my cheeks.”

On the other side of the bar, their son’s shrieking giggles lifted over the din, hoisted in the air as he was passed between the giants who’d flocked around him. For his part, Ace seemed as unperturbed by the attention as he was by the giants, but then as in so many things, he was his father’s son; Makino knew of no one else who could become an attraction simply by setting foot somewhere.

Patting his back, warm through the fabric of his cloak, “I'm sure they haven’t forgotten you,” Makino said. “But you can't blame them, he is ridiculously cute.”

“That’s not the point! I used to be ridiculously cute!”

As though on cue, Ace made an adorable little coo, which had the whole tavern of hardened warriors erupting into a frenzy.

“You’re still popular, my love,” Makino said, with a nod at the boy seated by the bar, wearing a similar pout, his petition to join their crew rejected. “See? There's someone who still looks up to you!”

His shoulders sagging, “It’s not the same,” Shanks sighed.

“Give it up,” Ben said. “You’ve been replaced.”

“But it's too soon! I'm still in the prime of my life!"

Grinning around his toothpick, Ben looked like he was having the time of his life. Makino almost asked him to go easy on him, but given what he’d put up with for so many years, a little schadenfreude was probably warranted.

"It was bound to happen sooner or later," their first mate said. "Aren't you the one always going on about the new era overtaking the old?"

"First of all, so not the same," Shanks said. "And secondly, these cheeks can't be out of date, they're still firm! You could bounce a coin off this ass!"

"Don't," Makino said, when he turned towards her, his mouth already open, and when he pouted, spluttered, "I'm not bouncing a coin off it!"

"I think the barmaid would if you asked her," Yasopp said, a grin flashed at Makino that had her averting her gaze demurely, but then those shrewd eyes missed nothing, least of all the fact that in spite of their captain's griping, their son wasn't the only one drawing longing looks from across the tavern.

Shanks didn't seem to have noticed, and with a wolfish grin, told her, "There's only one barmaid I'd want to bounce a coin off my ass."

Her laughing sigh didn't succeed in being as suffering as she'd hoped, but then it was hard when he was beaming at her like that. "You say the most romantic things," Makino sighed.

Shanks just grinned, his look adoring, and she held her tongue from saying that if he kept looking at her like that, she might actually take him up on the coin thing.

Her gaze swept the crowded tavern, the rough wooden floorboards and the burning braziers warming the room, the cheerful din like any other bar they'd visited, and it might have fooled her into thinking it really was just any other bar if it hadn't been for certain noticeable differences.

Observing the enormous tankards and ceramic cups on the tables, not to mention the giant-sized plates and cutlery, Makino tried her best to look like a fabled island of giants had been what she’d expected when she’d gotten out of bed that morning, to the sound of their ship’s bell announcing the first sight of land. Shanks had already been up, their son on his hip where she'd found him at the helm, observing their approach, and that alone should have told her it wasn't just a normal island, but his smile hadn't surrendered anything as he'd kissed her good morning and told her to get ready to disembark.

And from afar, it had looked like any other island, and only when she'd asked where they were and Shanks had told her, breezily, "War-Land", had she realised something was up, although hadn't been given the chance to ask what that name suggested when a tuna the size of their ship had breached the surface right next to the hull, and she'd screamed so loudly she'd nearly sent Fen tumbling out of the crow's nest.

So yeah, the giants had been a surprise.

She jumped when a massive ceramic cup was dropped on the table before her, the mead within sloshing against the sides like waves in a pool.

“For the little Empress!” the giant whose name she'd learned was Brogy announced.

“Drink up!” his companion laughed, lifting his own cup in encouragement; Makino had learned his name was Dorry. “Knowing how you drink, Red-Hair, your wife must have quite the stomach herself, ge gya gya gya!”

Makino stared into the vat of mead. It could have fit her. “Er―”

“I’ll take that,” Shanks said, lifting the giant cup with ease, a grin flashed as he told her, “Since I’m drinking for two.”

She was about to point out that it wasn’t how it worked, when the two giants blinked, exchanging a look, before their eyes shot back down to her, and it took everything she had not to flinch, but then either one of them could have easily plucked her from her seat with a single hand.

Then, in booming timbres that shook the table where they were sitting: “Apologies, lady!”

“We didn’t realise you were with bairn!”

Their bellows had drawn the attention of the rest of the tavern, and holding up her hands, her laugh was predictably flustered, but then even terrifyingly big, their blustering personalities were hard not to like. “That’s alright,” Makino said, smoothing her fingers over the bump glimpsed between the gap in her cloak, the fire in the copper braziers dancing over the silver and the velvet. "But I hope you don't mind that I don't partake. The mead looks very―", she glanced at the giant cup again, and the daunting amount of mead, and was suddenly thankful her pregnancy had saved her from attempting to take a sip, when she doubted she would have been able to lift it, "―refreshing."

Grinning down at her, “I’m sure you’d show us your drinking prowess if you could!” Dorry declared with a booming laugh.

She caught Shanks’ smile, which knew full well she got tipsy after a single human-sized cup of sake, but, “Oh, you know it,” Makino said, with a laugh that sounded unconvincing even to her own ears, but the giants only looked delighted.

“Barmaid!” Brogy bellowed, and so forcefully she jumped. “Some meat for Red-Hair’s wife! An expectant mother must be kept well-fed at all times!”

“Aye!" Brogy agreed. "She’ll need it to birth a strong warrior!”

"To the little warrior maiden!"

Rousing hollers sounded from around the tavern as they all thrust their tankards and cups into the air, their crew included, whose beaming delight at her predicament hadn't escaped her.

For her own part, Makino tried her best to gracefully endure the attention, while also politely declining the continued offers of food, their table already filling up, with cuts of meat as big as she was, and pickled herring, and a bowl of stew so big she would have needed to climb it to see the top.

“Are you pleased?” she murmured, catching Shanks’ grin as more giants appeared to offer their congratulations, and their wishes for the child in her belly to grow big and strong, to which she was tempted to say that after her last birth, a twenty-hour pelvic nightmare, "big" was the opposite of what she was hoping for.

“For the delight showered upon my tiny warrior wife?” Shanks asked, nodding his thanks to the barmaid who appeared with another plate of food, even as he hadn’t taken his eyes off her. “It’s what she deserves.”

Makino huffed, but lowering her voice, murmured, “I think they’d be disappointed to learn the truth.” That unlike her husband, she didn't have the constitution to hold her own in a drinking match against humans, let alone giants, or that while she carried a sword, she'd just started learning. She wasn't a warrior. Not like the ones on this island, anyway.

“What truth?” Shanks asked, his head tilted to look at her. “She’s one of the strongest people I know. And if anyone knows the value of strength, it’s these guys.” Lifting the ceramic vat like it weighed nothing, he raised his voice to call across the tavern, “To my wife!”

The toast was returned with cheers so deafening it shook the foundation of the whole building, the sound like a battle-drum where it reached up through the bench where she was sitting to fill her chest, and despite her immediate instinct to retreat from the centre of attention, her smile was helpless, subjected to their rousing approval now.

Shanks just grinned, although his look was gentler, holding her eyes as he tipped the cup back.

The din from his toast was still settling, and observing the tavern, she felt a moment of displacement, the kind that had become increasingly common in her new life, as Makino wondered how she’d ended up here, on an island of giants with one of the most feared crews in the world.

Her eyes drifted in the direction of the bar, and the boy who’d so proudly proclaimed his desire to join them, the image resurfacing memories of her own bar, and another little boy pouting into his glass. And for a brief moment the wooden walls and furs and braziers were replaced with summer green paint and soft curtains, and her neatly stacked shelves, the glasses polished to gleaming. Even the barmaid behind the counter had changed, smaller now, her fair hair darker and drawn back by a kerchief, a shanty hummed on her breath as she polished the glass in her hand, stealing a glance across the crowded bar to the handsome captain at the nearby table.

She blinked, and Party’s was gone, the noise of the Elbaf tavern rushing back around her, and the giant barmaid polishing a glass behind the counter was the same as she had been, although her gaze remained fixed on their table, Makino saw; one of the few whose attention hadn’t been stolen by their son.

But in spite of his earlier dramatics, Shanks didn’t appear to notice, his eyes on her, but then even if she'd grown accustomed to the attention her husband compelled whenever they were in port, he never indulged it. And she knew he hadn’t missed where her thoughts had gone when he asked her gently, “Thinking about Party’s?”

Her smile gave her away, she knew, but, “I’m just not used to being on this side of the bar,” Makino said. But then, her voice lowered between them, "But I miss it sometimes."

His smile understood, but then he always did. “I miss flirting with the barmaid there,” Shanks said, a finger hooked under her chin to lift it, and her eyes where they'd lowered. “But now I get to flirt with my wife, so I’m not complaining.”

Despite several years of marriage, her reaction wasn't any smoother than when she'd been nineteen, and she couldn't help her flustered grin, or the gratifying little flip her stomach did, hearing the envious sighs from the women around them, and saw Shanks had caught it when his grin widened.

“Oh?” he purred, and gripped her chin before she could turn her face away to hide the evidence. “Is someone preening over being the captain’s girl?”

She huffed, puffing up her cheeks, although it was hard to look serious when he looked so delighted. And so instead she asked, prim, “And what if I am?”

His grin had forgotten all about his earlier dramatics, but his chuckle was softer as Shanks told her, “You know, this might actually make up for our son stealing my spotlight.”

Makino shook her head, although his gratification made it hard to keep a straight face, or to look directly at his, handsome in a way that never failed to steal her breath, and most of her thoughts, observing the chiselled angles of his jaw and the clear grey eyes, hooded under his scars, and the dark stubble of his beard ruggedly sweeping his cheeks. The silver scar on his lip, tugged by the roguish smile that stretched along his mouth, wide and made for smiling. Well; that, and other things.

But it wasn't about his looks, even if it was hard to explain the feeling, one she’d been intimately acquainted with ever since their very first meeting but that had only grown stronger since coming out to sea with him, and witnessing the way he was greeted wherever they docked; the kindness and grace he showed that was returned in equal measure. To be chosen by someone like him...

The lump in her throat made it hard to speak, but they'd never needed an excess of words to understand each other, even if it felt important to say this, and so, “I’m proud to be yours,” Makino said simply.

She’d caught him by surprise, she saw, and for all his confidence and years of being accustomed to the fawning attention of strangers, it was an uniquely gratifying feeling to be able to catch him off guard with her honesty. But then even confident, he’d never taken her feelings for granted.

Taking his hand to kiss his fingers, Makino felt how they shook. And if it was a claim, let them see it.

His eyes hadn’t left her, gentle under his scars, but then for all the adoration he garnered, he made no secret of where his own affections lay.

Of course, it wasn’t just his fawning supporters competing for pieces of him.

There was a commotion happening outside. Makino had been trying to ignore it, already suspecting what it heralded, although wasn’t given the chance to ask Shanks what he planned to do about it when Rockstar appeared in the doorway.

“Boss! That bastard’s actually attacking us!" He sounded genuinely offended on his captain's behalf, but then Makino had always liked that about him.

"So far they’ve just been scraping with our youngsters, but what do you want to do about him?" Rockstar continued, with a glance over his shoulder. "At this rate it’ll turn into a full-on battle soon!”

Her heart stuttered, but then unlike her husband's fan-club, this was something she had not gotten used to, the months she’d been at sea with them.

Shanks sighed, although took the news of an impending battle in characteristic stride. “I don’t know whether to call this good or bad timing. We were just about to head out. Mah, guess I lost track of time catching up with everyone,” he said, his hand falling from hers as he rose from his seat. “But it can’t be helped when you suddenly come across old friends who you thought were dead.”

Holding out his hand to her, Makino smiled as she placed her own into it, allowing him to draw her to her feet. And she knew what he was doing, but indulged him, feeling how her stomach fluttered, and when he lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles, heard the dreamy sighs from the surrounding crowd. Their attention had shifted away from their son now, but even flustered by the attention, Makino could only laugh, seeing the rakish grin stretching over her knuckles.

“Catering to your adoring fans, Emperor Red-Hair?” she murmured.

“Our adoring fans,” Shanks corrected, with a pointed look. “Or have you failed to notice that it’s not just our son who’s been causing a spectacle ever since we came ashore?”

A glance around the tavern room proved him right, noting their starry-eyed onlookers, although they appeared enthralled rather than envious, she saw.

"She's so beautiful!" someone whispered, to vocal agreement from the room.

"They look so good together!"

"The cloaks!!"

Her heart skipped, and looking up at Shanks found him smiling. And even if she wasn’t used to this kind of attention, Makino found she didn’t mind being in the spotlight all that much, if she could share it with him.

Their eyes held, the din of the tavern fading like the watchful gazes of the crowd, but then for a man who drew people around him like a magnet, he’d always had a way of making her feel like the only person in the room, a peace under that hooded look that made the rest of the world disappear, leaving only the two of them.

Releasing her hand, his fingers brushed the high collar of her cloak where it enclosed her neck, tracing the silver embroideries, before his smile warmed, his eyes lifting as his hand did, to the red scarf holding back her hair. But then while she'd adopted a pirate's lifestyle, sword and cloak included, she was still a barmaid, even if they called her something else now.

A crooked knuckle tipped her chin, his eyes curving with a look she knew intimately, and her breath hitched when his hand reached to cradle the back of her head, a display that was a little more public than she was usually comfortable with, but she wasn't thinking about their audience now.

And maybe she wasn't the only one staking a claim, and she felt the flutter in her chest as Shanks bent his head, his beard scuffing her cheeks with his smile, but just before their lips touched, a throat was cleared loudly.

"Um, Bosses?”

The voice dragged their eyes from each other to their crew, on their feet now and watching them, their arms crossed and their expressions somewhere between patient and shamelessly delighted.

“If you’re done inventing romance over there, there’s a battle going on,” Yasopp said. "Remember? Angry guy, missing arm, vowed revenge?"

“Oh, right,” Shanks said, with a bashful grin. “Should probably deal with him first.”

The little giant who’d asked to join their crew jumped from his seat, his eyes round with an awe that made Makino think of Luffy, and felt a pang of affection as he exclaimed, all wonder and no fear, “You’re going out there to fight, Shanks?”

Smiling, Shanks nodded, and when he spoke, it was to the whole tavern, the warm timbre of his voice lifting with an authority that seemed to come as naturally as breathing, and that could compel even a room full of giants into silence. “I’d never let this island become a war-zone.”

The barmaid cupped her cheeks, sighing wistfully, “He’s so dreamy!”

Makino only smiled, although watching him, privately agreed, but then she was right: he was dreamy.

“They won’t be happy you’ve kept them waiting,” Ben said, as they prepared to leave. He looked like he needed a smoke, and Makino felt a pang of sympathy, knowing she was the reason he'd quit, but the smile he slipped her left no room for guilt as he moved to stand beside her; his usual place, if he wasn't guarding his captain.

“Do you think Kidd will appreciate hearing that it was because Boss was too busy making googly-eyes at his wife?” Yasopp mused.

“I say we send Makino to deal with him,” Lucky Roo said. “That’ll teach him some manners!”

“Honestly, if anyone could teach that guy some manners, it would be you,” Shanks agreed.

“From what you told me, he’s probably right to be angry,” Makino said. “He did lose his arm.”

“So did I, but unlike someone, I handled my amputation with grace,” Shanks said.

"The first thing you lamented when you were lucid enough to speak was that you now had to use your non-dominant hand to get yourself off," Ben said, as Makino's cheeks flushed. She had, regrettably, been in the room at the time.

Shanks ignored him, turning to ask Rockstar to deliver a message to Captain Kidd: to leave his poneglyph rubbings and scram, or to risk fighting him. It was a more generous offer than any of the other Emperors would have given, at least barring one other.

Their crew had gathered around them, although she felt how her breath shivered, but then she’d only witnessed him dealing with enemies from afar. This time, they’d be sailing right into the breach.

She touched a trembling hand to Siren’s pommel, the sword’s presence at her waist another thing she hadn't yet gotten used to, and even then she'd only ever sparred with Shanks. She'd never used it against a real enemy, even to protect herself.

Shanks had noticed, his scars furrowed above his eyes, and looking towards their son, in Bonk Punch’s arms now, “I don’t want to cause any major trouble here,” he said.

A bit too late for that, my love, Makino wanted to say, but before she could, “Dorry, Brogy,” Shanks said, with a smile at her. “Mind helping me make sure my wife stays out of harm's way?”

The grins from the two giants might have sent her bolting in the opposite direction if Makino didn't know them, as with bellowing laughs, they agreed,

“Aye, brother! We’ll keep the little Empress safe!"

“Ge gya gya gya, and the littleuns!”

Smiling, Shanks took the lead, his cloak flaring as he turned for the door. Makino fell into step beside him, the rest of their crew and the giants following behind them as they made their way towards Red Force where it waited.

Outside, a crowd had gathered to observe their departure, only this time their attentions weren’t on the baby in Bonk Punch’s arms.

“Look at them!!”

“Make way, the chief and his wife are coming through!”

"What a power couple!!"

"We love you!!"

Their eyes met, and when she ducked her gaze, he grinned and kissed the top of her head, to the shrieking delight of the crowd.

They’d reached the water, and she could see the ships covering the horizon now. And these were different crews than the one she knew and loved, although they’d pledged their allegiance to her all the same. And even if she knew now what it meant to be Emperor of this sea, like the attention he compelled, her Emperor, it stole her breath, seeing with her own eyes the forces he commanded.

And that was something else she'd had to come to terms with. That however highly regarded he was, her husband had as many enemies as he had supporters, and that being his wife meant they were hers, too.

“You can stay behind if you’d rather,” Shanks said, his eyes lowering to hers, and she knew from the serious look in them that for all his outward ease, he wasn't taking their opponent lightly. “It would be safer ashore.”

His knuckles brushed her belly through her cloak, before he splayed his fingers over the bump, his bigger frame shielding her from their audience now, but then unlike his display in the tavern, this wasn't for the benefit of the crowd.

The broad spread of his fingers was warm through her shirt, but the child beneath his hand was quiet. And there was no judgement in that look, his eyes anchored in hers, although beneath the seriousness, Makino saw what he hadn't shown the crowd in the tavern. Not fear, never that, but the feeling still threatened to sweep her feet out: a protectiveness that carried the same promise he'd made their adversary, of just what he risked, facing him.

She felt a moment of hesitation, but then he had a point. This was Elbaf, the fabled island of warriors. Even without Dorry and Brogy, there’d be more than enough warriors to protect her if she stayed, and out at sea, there were a lot of things that could go wrong even without factoring in an all-out naval battle.

The memory found her, recalling the Admiral they'd encountered outside of Wano Country. The way his haki had singled her out, like she'd been marked, and that had confirmed, and more than any wanted poster or bounty ever could, just what she was now.

And if it had been her bar behind them, she would have stayed, Makino thought. She would have gone back to polishing her glasses, waiting for news of the battle, her lonely court held from behind the safe enclosure of the sturdy wooden counter. Her bar, and her shield that had always protected her from the wider world.

But it wasn't her bar, or even her island, and she knew where her place was now.

And where she felt safest, above anywhere else.

“No,” Makino said, and moving to stand on his left, wrapped her fingers around Siren’s pommel. “I'm right where I want to be.”

Then with a glance at the crowd behind them, she lifted her eyes to his, hooded under his scars as she said, “Besides, if we’re catering to the crowd, we should probably give them what they want.”

Shanks grinned, his cheeks lifting with boyish delight. “Battle couple?”

Her smile was her answer, and drawing her sword from its sheath, the steel-song stirred the air, her grip around the hilt still a little clumsy, used to glasses and dishrags, but the way he was looking at her, Makino thought she might have been a master in that moment.

And while she'd once thought that behind the counter of the bar was where she'd felt the most like herself, there was something to be said for this feeling, standing beside him, nothing but danger ahead, and yet she didn't feel afraid.

"So then, Captain," she said, with a glance towards the sea, and the new ship she could glimpse through the mist.

"Should we teach him some manners?"

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