BETWEEN YOU AND ME (AND THE SEA)

BETWEEN YOU AND ME (AND THE SEA)

pairing ༄ zoro x gn!reader

warnings ༄ suggestive content (this takes place after sex). slight angst that ends in sweet comfort. brief descriptions of violence and wounds. love as religion/love as worship.

word count ༄ 911

notes ༄ this fic is just an insanely intense pillow talk session with my favorite man (i don’t know how to be normal). it’s brimming with love. please enjoy!

p.s. i use the word “bokken” to denote a wooden practice sword.

“i would die for you.”

your breath caresses zoro’s heaving chest, his tawny skin damp, glistening under the moon’s pearly glow. the air is still in the crow’s nest; the only sound to disturb the lulling midnight is the gentle lap of the wine-dark sea.

it takes the swordsman several moments to process your words, his mind still hazy from the events of your shared watch. one wide palm rests on the soft curve of your lower back while he absentmindedly strokes the arch of your neck.

“hm?” zoro belatedly rumbles, brows knit in confusion.

you raise your head to meet your lover’s steel gaze. the look in your eye—zoro knows it well. beneath the heady cloud of contentment is the crazed glint of worship, shining like a honed blade. it’s a look that both terrifies him in its depth and comforts him in its earnestness.

will he ever be worthy of your devotion?

“i’m not particularly brave or strong,” you start, a fingertip etching love into his flesh as you trace the jagged edges of the scar that slashes across his torso—the ghost of an injury that almost took him from you.

“but i would do anything for you, zo. i would die for you. and it should scare me, that i feel so deeply.” your finger stills, hovering above his heart, beat steadfast as the foamy tide. “but when it comes to you? i lose all my inhibitions. i would die for you in an instant.”

even in the dusky quiet, zoro’s hands are broad and warm as the sun. they are an extension of his weapons, instruments of death. yet he cradles your cheeks with devastating care as he pulls your face to his own. his jaw flexes resolutely as he grits out, “don’t say shit like that.”

“not saying it doesn’t make it any less true,” you murmur.

few things scare the swordsman; he knows death’s face, having brushed shoulders with the endless ether more times than he can count. when he dreams, he wades through a river of ichor as asura, violence incarnate.

but your vulnerability frightens him—how you lay your heart bare and expect nothing in return.

the way you live goes against everything zoro has ever known, against his basest instincts to keep his emotions close to his chest, to fight the burden of existence with blood in his maw, to survive at any cost.

(it’s a bitter january evening and snow flurries paint the eaves of the dojo white. zoro’s stomach growls, hunger gnawing at his intestines. his young, scrawny limbs ache with overuse. the room is frigid; his simple robe is not nearly enough to keep the color in his cheeks.

this dreaded overnight practice is punishment for pilfering onigiri from the kitchen several days prior. hunger is but a distraction for the weak. he must repent with grueling drills. but in the middle of an overhead swing, he loses feeling in his arms, the bokken clattering to his feet.

his sensei tsks in disappointment. “the way of the sword is absolute, roronoa. you eat and sleep and breathe by the blade. the second you lose focus—the moment you lose sight of what is important—you will cease to be a swordsman.”

tears of frustration prick the young boy’s eyes, but he holds his tongue, picking up the bokken without sound or complaint. he doesn’t realize that his palms are cracked and that the wooden hilt is stained sanguine. he continues training until dawn.)

zoro licks his chapped lips. his tongue is always loose when it’s just the two of you and the sea. “i’m not worth it.”

a frown pinches your features. adorable, he wants to say as you wrap your arms around his neck with a huff.

“what makes you think your life is worth any less than luffy’s? than chopper’s? than mine?”

zoro assesses you for a moment, feline eye unreadable. he measures his words with unusual care. “my role is to protect. it was—it is—my vow to luffy.”

threading your fingers through his mint tresses, you tug, concern rolling off of you in waves. “then who’s left to protect you, zo?”

his mind answers without hesitation: no one. (the little boy with the bloodstained bokken weeps.)

“let me protect you,” you entreat, lips brushing his, ardent as a prayer.

the fates, in their divine and impartial wisdom, must have made a grave mistake: spinning the claret thread of your fate, meting it out, and mistakenly intertwining it with the swordsman’s. zoro is certain that it’s a miscarriage of justice—not that the gods have ever been preoccupied with fairness.

did he do something in a past life to deserve your reverence?

“i can’t,” he breathes. but his iron resolve is rusting, fissures compromising the once-gleaming surface.

“you can.”

zoro has never considered himself to be a good man. you are eager to give, and he wants nothing more than to receive. he drinks in your affection so greedily that he doesn’t notice how his lone eye burns when he claims your lips with his own, heartfelt i love yous exchanged between spit and tongue.

the tears are silent as they drip down his freckled cheek; you swipe each of them away with a thumb before dotting kisses across his salty flesh. zoro has half a mind to be embarrassed—swordsmen don’t cry.

but if there is one absolute truth in this cursed world, it’s this: his heart is safe with you and you alone.

Songs that sound like Gyutaro singing

Daki songs also featured

(sorry for this unprompted showcase and unintentional rant/essay but it's midnight I needed to get this off my chest bc it's been on my mind for a year and I need to have other people know)

Cw: a lot of these songs contain lyrics describing toxic relationships and death/suicide. If these topics trigger you, then please don't listen to them. I'll apply a warning to every song mentioned just in case

So, Gyutaro and Daki are the only characters in care about in Demon Slayer (no joke I skipped season 1 and the first few episodes of season 2 bc I only wanted to see them lol) and I absolutely love their voices oml.

Ryōta Ōsaka is now my favorite voice actor. His rasps and growls hit hard.

So I feel the need to assign playlists to all my favorite characters. And I have this weird thing where I like to imagine the characters singing these songs specifically so I try to find artists who sound similar.

So here are some covers by the YouTuber Chogakusei that I think sound close to Gyutaro (and what I think he'd personally sing in a modern au setting lol).

All of the original songs he is covering are linked in his video descriptions back on YouTube if you ever wanted to check them out.

Also all 3 of these songs have English captions available!

1. Hindrance

Cw: people being deceitful, people being paranoid of each other(?), general animosity and spite towards others, jealousy against other people, mention of children fighting

I could honestly write an entire essay on how the lyrics coincide with Gyutaro's entire life and backstory. It all fits so well with his spitefulness towards the world and how quick he is to resort to violence.

Especially in the beginning when he's mocking this person for being so "good" and seemingly perfect. It just reminds me about how he mocked Tengen and the samurai that tried to kill Ume by burning her.

And the lyrics "Children turning into fighters in an instant" makes me think of how he was essentially forced to resort to violence back when he was a human bc everyone treated him like shit (also him having to be Ume's bodyguard bc she also had to become a sex worker just so they could get food. "Fighters" doesn't always have to mean a physical brawler. It could also refer to someone who's pushing back against the shit hand life gave them via taking whatever opportunity they can)

And when Chogakusei sings "jealousy let's run" my heart just went agh yep that's Gyutaro

2. Neroism

Cw: mentions of a suicide note, person lamenting on how bad life is, person telling others to go die

I'm pretty sure this song is actually about a girl who decides to commit suicide bc of how much her life sucks. But the way Chogakusei sings it just changes the whole vibe into a man so spiteful and hateful towards the world for making his life so terrible, which just matches Gyutaro perfectly

When he sings "Yes, just be sad and die" I'm again reminded of how Gyutaro treats Tengen for being so handsome and wanting him to go die

The growls are just on point with this song oml

(also at the end when he starts the "ahahaha" I imagine it as his head getting cut off and tumbling to the ground like in the anime if this was an animatic :) just to make you feel as sad as me)

3. Bocca della Verità

Cw: mentions of an abusive/toxic relationship, complete hatred towards another person, original music video/lore alludes to a deal with a devil(?), alludes to the abusive person getting killed(?), lyrics mention the singer being dragged into the abyss/possibly hell(Presumably I think???)

I've got no excuse this is just bc he's an angy man.

The screams and growls just fit him, y'know? So does the very harsh "I HATE YOU" mentality

That being said y'all should check out his channel just bc he's an amazing artist and he deserves all the support in the world for his amazing voice!

Now ik I only picked 3 songs for Gyutaro but pretty much any of the songs Chogakusei sang on his channel can be interpreted as gyutaro singing bc he does the good growl voice in basically all of them. I just picked the ones that had lyrics similar to Gyutaro.

But there's still more to talk about my dear friends bc I want to mention Daki as well (don't worry Gyutaro is involved here too and he'll be back in another song lol)

First of all Daki's voice actor (Miyuki Sawashiro) is my second favorite voice actor now bc do you guys know how hard it must be to sound like you're sobbing and whining like a child? I know I would be absolute shit at it and too embarrassed to even try. She's got mad vocal cords and that deserves praise

But I feel like it's harder to find a match with any one singer. It's not as distinct and unique as Gyutaro's but still feels like no one can really replicate it? Idk man

I have two different options currently but I'm biased towards them bc I don't know a lot of Japanese singers that are women so oops on my part.

This is also all based on my headcanon that Daki would sing with a raspier voice than compared to how she normally talks as a sort of allude to her brother

(also bc a while back my choir teacher taught us that the human vocal cords like to mimic other people's vocal cords when they sing/talk. That's why your throat hurts after listening to screamo/metal music all day. Your vocal cords are vibrating to try and mimic the artist who is straight up screeching into the mic - except their throat is trained to do that and yours isn't. My teacher called it vocal mimicry but when I try looking it up, all google shows is of parrots mimicking human speech so maybe this is all made up crap ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

But anyway I feel like growing up around someone with a raspy voice you'd start picking up on it yourself)

Here's some links of Daki talking if y'all want a refresher on her voice:

-- https://youtu.be/2EuJL1m8dEA

-- https://youtu.be/CKzCrkCoOsE

-- https://youtu.be/HlIhNxSqp_c

(just watch like the first 3 minutes)

-- https://youtu.be/eXlCav0N4QY

(just watch like the first 3 minutes)

Daki can clearly be high pitched but also can get pretty low. There's also a little squeakiness in her speech, like maybe little hitches/voice cracks but it's not overpowering. What I hear most of tho (correct me if I'm wrong lol, my hearing could be off) is that she has a certain cadence to her voice, like there's a resonance in the back of her throat that makes her almost kinda echoy??? Or at least a layered voice?? Am I making any sense here????

But either way. I needed to find a singer who can growl, go to both high and low pitches and who has a resonance in their voice.

So my wonderful friends that is why I have chosen our first option as...

Ado 🎉

I feel like this is a generic/expected response when finding female singers who can growl but I still think it can work.

I'm also mostly focusing on the songs she sang before her debut (as in before the release of Ussewa)

I'll be staying whether these songs are covers or not under their titles.

And Tokyo Cannibalism is the only Ado song on this list with English captions. The rest don't but you can suck it up and appreciate good music without knowing the words. I know you've done it before.

1. Brain Revolution Girl

Cover song. Original from Maretu

Cw: picture alludes to self harm, lyrics possibly allude to suicide, sexual abuse or online bullying( the meaning is up for interpretation)

Like just from listening to the first 1:30 of the song and I can already imagine Daki screaming into the mic. Especially with the voice crack when Ado screams "ah!" at 1:11

2. Tokyo Cannibalism

Collab with YouTuber biz

Cw: visuals of people being eaten, visuals of giant bugs, visuals of people being eaten by said giant bugs, general gore with blood and body mutilation

This one leans more into that high pitched, whiney sort of voice Daki has. Y'know, when she has a meltdown in front of Tengen and when everyone compares her to a boiling teapot? Yeah that.

Also the song's premise kinda goes along with her being a demon and eating people

3. Bocca della Verità

Cover song. Original by Hiiragi kirai

Cw: mentions of an abusive/toxic relationship, complete hatred towards another person, music video/lore alludes to a deal with a devil(?), alludes to the abusive person getting killed(?), lyrics mention the singer being dragged into the abyss/possibly hell(Presumably I think???)

:)

Also the best part about imagining Daki as Ado and Gyutaro as Chogakusei means that their Collab video is the perfect song to imagine the siblings singing together!!

4. Eraser Girl

Cover song. Original by Maretu

Cw: (I genuinely don't know bc I can't figure this song out so I'm looking online for the meaning) life generally sucking for two people and treating them like crap(?), maybe those two people kill themselves in the end (??), maybe those two people are girls and are gay for each other but society is just a bunch of homophobes(???)

Ok so maybe not a perfect song for the siblings lyrical wise, but vocally speaking it still works (at least in my book lol)

That's all I have from Ado. Once again show your support over on YouTube by watching more of what interests you bc she's an amazing artist.

Now I'm about to fall asleep (it's 1:40 in the morning as I write this sentence) so I'll quickly go by my second option for Daki which is...

Raon 🎉

She was one of the first Japanese artists I listened to so I'm definitely biased here. But her voice is just so good like she can do so many cool pitches it's crazy.

For here I'll be showing the ones where she has a sort of raspy-growl in her voice.

This is what I imagine Daki's voice would be in a modern au if her profession was ever singing - a slight whisper of something unhinged but still very smooth and alluring.

Most of these picks are focused on the voice aspect, so what the lyrics say aren't really of importance.

And all of these songs have English captions.

All of these songs listed under Raon are covers. The originals will be linked in the description of her YouTube videos.

1. Envy Baby

Cw: abusive/toxic relationship

2. Darling

Cw: abusive/toxic relationship

3. Ameotome (Rain Maiden)

Cw: abusive/toxic relationship

The voice isn't what I imagine exactly, but I feel like the lyrics are something Daki would actually sing.

So that's all I have in terms of songs.

Remember to show support for all 3 creators bc they are so talented and deserve the attention.

It is now 2:37 on the morning, so I'm gonna go pass out. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk. Until next time my friends :)

reblog if you’ve read fanfictions that are more professional, better written than some actual novels. I’m trying to see something

heart-shaped box

hi everybody! i'm back with posting stuff. i finished my final paper (i still need to make a presentation, but that's the easy part), this paper made me tired of writing, so I didn't post this before, sorry! and i'm having quite a week lol (just for example, one of the things that happened to me was that i had my scalp sutured!)

~1.2k words

from this post. a lots of fluff, A LOT, TOOTH ROTTING FLUFF. no use of pronouns. organs (heart). mentions of Law's backstory and light novel.

Hey, Cora…

Law's slender fingers hovered over your chest with the same delicacy he would use to sheath the blade of his own sword with the thin blue layer of his ability. He kept it at a reasonable distance, as if trying to sense the vibration of your pulsating heart in the air. The only thing breaking the silence in the room was his breath, but your heartbeats raced into your eardrums, making the place sound louder than it should.

Both of you sat cross-legged, facing each other in a room separate from the rest of the… guests.

Law wanted it to be just you and him, no one else. You were outlaws, without the right to a traditional marriage, whatever was traditional for both of you; that's why he wanted to do it still in Wano, away from the eyes of the world.

The marriage that usually involved you, your partner, the Government, and God would this time be confined between the two of you. But you insisted; after all, you wanted to share this joy with your friends, and with Wano closed, there weren't many risks of this information leaking.

"Don't you think this happiness should be just between you and me?" Law lifted his hat and scratched his head, looking seriously at you.

"Don't you think we'll have other kinds of happiness that will be just between us?" With your response, he only hid his eyes behind the brim of his hat.

Law must have been worried about the possibility of the Straw Hat crew showing up and ruining everything. In the end, he agreed, but on the condition that the two of you had this moment alone.

You took his wrist with both hands and pulled his hand towards you, your fingers touching the kimono while his palm rested on your chest with hesitation.

"Law…"

"Are you sure?" He murmured and lifted his eyes from your chest to your face; that golden gaze was unwavering, covered with a layer of uncertainty, though. His fingers trembled, perhaps out of insecurity or the weakness of removing his own heart.

You didn't say anything, just pulled him into a kiss; your thumb stroked just below his eyes, the skin warming under your digits with each second you kept your lips pressed together. That was a perfect confirmation for him. When you separated, you smiled at him and turned your back to Law.

"You already took yours", he laughed lightly.

"Not as if it's difficult to put it back", he replied, and you looked at him over your shoulder. "Room."

Law tilted you slightly down; his arm was around your torso, and his open hand was on the upper part of your chest to hold you. You embraced his arm and took a deep breath, letting your body relax. "Are you ready?" He asked, the phalanges of his fingers stroking your back calmly; you nodded and closed your eyes.

"Mes", he whispered and tapped the bottom of his hand on your back, on the left side. You felt your body weaken before the light blue box fell from your chest; he was skillful in catching your heart with the hand that was on your back.

You gasped for air; Law sat you upright as your body adjusted. That, in the hands of your fiancé, beating faintly, was your heart, out of your chest, right in front of you. The idea was so absurd that you would refuse to believe it if you didn't know about Law's powers and hadn't seen them before.

You lowered your kimono and felt your chest; there was now an empty, square space, open; you felt like you could pass your hand through it, but you didn't want to test it due to the nauseating sensation of just feeling the hole.

"Are you okay?" He asked, placing a hand on your shoulder, his eyes once again staring at you with the same rigidity; your gaze fell to your heart in his hand. You just nodded.

Law nodded too and placed your heart on the small table next to you, right next to his, on top of a cloth. You sighed, watching the two hearts beating at different rhythms, slightly different in size, but still, two hearts.

They were fragile but valuable, pumping the blood that magically flowed through your veins, even outside your bodies; it was even a bit mesmerizing to watch them, but Law didn't seem very surprised, after all, he had seen at least a hundred of them.

Law gently picked up his own heart, placing it in the palm of his hand. He turned it as if he found the best position, something you didn't think would matter, but he was a perfectionist, so you didn't bother saying anything. Your mouth went dry when you swallowed, and he approached, his eyes on yours again, looking for any sign of hesitation to stop immediately.

"Ready?" He asked in a whisper, and you were so excited that you just nodded.

The man took a breath and exhaled with deliberate slowness, his hands approaching your chest carefully. The small light blue box holding the heart fit so perfectly into the hole in your chest that you wondered if that wasn't yours; he stopped halfway, looking at you.

You responded with a smile, enough to remind him that this was as symbolic as exchanging rings and could be undone as easily; but you still accepted his idea without even asking questions, without asking for a ring or laughing at his idea—a smile enough to remind him that you understood all the symbolism and importance of this and that you accepted who he was, no matter what. With that, he finished pushing the box into your chest, closing the hole and restoring the skin as magically as it was removed.

The sensation was strange; it was like having two hearts in the same place. You could still feel your own heart pounding frantically, while you also felt Law's heart inside the chest, beating against your ribs, settling against your lung, beating as rapidly as yours, not in the same rhythm, but in the same frequency.

"T-This is… funny", you said with a smile, your hand on the place where Law's heart now resided.

With trembling hands, you held the organ ripped from you, beating rapidly against its confinement; the small light blue capsule was somewhat gelatinous and a bit smooth, seemed very malleable, but at the same time resistant.

"Relax", Law whispered to you, the corners of his lips curving upwards gently. "Let me help you", he asked, adjusting the small box in your hands, turning it, pointing to the left side. "These are your right atrium and pulmonary artery, they should be turned to your left, so they will fit correctly", he pointed as he spoke, and you just nodded.

With the tips of his fingers under your hand, he guided you to the hole in his chest, where the box fit perfectly. When you looked at him, he was smiling, not the same smile he gave when he was boasting or teasing someone, it was a genuine smile of happiness, one that you saw a few times but loved every time.

You felt like crying when you fitted the box containing your heart in the place that would reside for the rest of your life, where you lived for so long, in the core of the person you loved the most. When the skin covered the hole in, now, your husband's chest, you felt as if you were receiving the most intimate hug you had ever received—and could never receive again.

You hugged him, feeling the warmth of your tears warming your face; Law also cried silently, but unlike the tears of cold nights, there was a warm feeling in his chest, maybe from the new location of his heart, but the joy you felt was genuine.

His head rested on your shoulder, you felt his heart gradually calming down in your chest as he enveloped you in a warm hug, pulling you into his lap.

Law could still feel the cold of that night, how the snowstorm blurred his vision, the sound of the lines cutting the ground, how humid that chest was. He felt like he had spent all the years that followed trapped in that memory, walking through the forest, crying desperately while looking for the nearest town. However, in recent times, the snowstorm seemed weaker.

Until he reached the nearest town, right when Doflamingo finally hit the ground. When he found himself comfortable in the bed of a kind stranger, he finally understood the reasons for his savior. And when he drank that warm soup after years of hunger, his heart was finally at home, protected by your ribs.

"Law…" you whispered. "I love you."

Your now husband (husband!) put his hands on your shoulders and pulled away from you a little, so you could see his face; there was a smile so wide that his eyes closed, and you could only smile back at the sight. "I love you."

… I'm home.

We all know about the DDOS attacks on AO3 as it is still down. So it is very important we talk about the KOSA(Kids Online Safety Act) that is going to hit the floor soon. Because if that act goes through this could very much be the new reality of not only AO3 but online fandom spaces within the next year. The point of this act is to limit queer media and to eliminate online queer spaces.

Let me stress, the politicians are lying to you. Democrats and Republicans are lobbying for this. It is not pro trans rights and it is not pro lgbtq rights. This is very reminiscent of the Restrict Act! Politicians can SUE websites for having QEEER CONTENT. This act will not protect kids, it will further separate and marginalize the queer community!

If this bill goes through AO3, Wattpad, TikTok, Tumblr, and Twitter will be limited and fanfiction websites could be wiped out all together. If you are apart of fandom spaces pay attention and ACT! Call and email your senators! AND SIGN THE BELOW PETITIONS!

Reblog this! Send the links to people who aren’t on Tumblr! If you care about fandom, fandom spaces, your ships, your blorbos, fanfiction writers’ works, freedom to create, etc. Spread this!