#alternatively: luffy and his two freaks

[starrynightarchive]

one piece post-ts character designs are insane but one that makes me go particularly wild is how intrinsically zoro and sanji's design is linked with luffy (and each other).

pre-ts, sanji covers his left eye and zoro is very much not blind in one eye. so so here's the thing right. zoro is considered luffy's right hand man and naturally sanji is his left. zoro and sanji, wings of pirate king. coincidentally (or not), zoro can only see through his right eye post-ts and sanji only through his left. the right and left wing. it's almost reverant in a way; like their purpose and even their body has been molded to make luffy pirate king. like they are devoting themself to luffy, like the entirety of their being exists to make his dreams come true.

what's even more insane is how their design compliments each other. i will see what you can't. i will be your eye, your compass, your strength, if you need me be. you are everything i am not. i will be everything you cannot be. you won't need to turn your head all the way, because with me by your side, your back will never have to scar. you don't have to raise your fists to fight armies your eyes couldn't scout soon enough, i will bring them down to your feet to crush. you are my mirror, my shadow. we are complete without each other but with each other, we are glorious. untouchable. invincible.

[sakurasnowfall]

Sick Strawhats

Just a general headcannon that back on Drum Island, Chopper used to not like the taste of medecine. So what did Dr. Kureha do? She falvored it. So even to this, day, Chopper flavors all the medicine he gives the crew.

Luffy

Sore throat and scratchy voice

Feels “icky”

Tries to drink the entire bottle of medicine

Cold flashes, shivering under a blanket

Complains/whines a lottttt, OR he passes out alseep

My guess is that he goes between being drained of any and all energy and just feels gross, or he hates just laying around and whines, no in between

Zoro

If you know what a barking cough is, this made is the DEFINITION

Coughs up a lung every 5 minutes

Hates feeling “weak”

Sanji laughs at his congested, nasaly voice, but still makes him soup

Tries to still train, but Chopper throws hands and gets really, REALLY upset, so he stops

Chopper force feeds Zoro strawberry flavored cough syrup.....

Sleeps it off

Naps when Zoro is sick are like death

Has to breathe thorough his mouth

Nami

Takes full advantage of Sanji’s doting

Drinks a lot of tangarine tea with lots of honey

Probably is still working on her maps in bed

ONLY trusts Robin and maybe Franky with the navigation

Likes to be really warm with a lot of blankets or a big, soft sweater

Usopp

The worst nasal congestion imaginable

Runny, stuffed up nose

Can’t breathe out of his nose

His throat hurts

All of his energy is completely GONE

Gets bad aches in his arms and legs

Sanji - (Sanji dose’t GET sick, but we can imagine)

It is either one of two ways

Either Sanji has that Mom strength where he just pushes through it and carries about his day with a short nap in the middle of the afternoon

Or this man is DOWN for the count

Fever

Alternates between hotflashes, and shivering under a pile of blankets in fetal position

His voice sounds like the 4Kids dub

Either wears gloves while cooking, or washes his hands RAW beforehand to make sure he won’t  get any of the crew sick

If he’s not better in a few days, the crew takes him hostage and forces him to let THEM take care of HIS, which is something he’s not used to, so he probably gets a little emotional (he deserves it)  

Chopper

Awwww, Chopper

If he does get sick, he feels guilty

Poor baby is sniffling, sneezing, coughing

Robin and Sanji dote on him

He knows to drink lots of fluids and try and get a lot of sleep

Recovers somewhat quickly

Robin

Is prety chill, but Chopper dotes on her, and she thinks it’s sweet how worried he is

Reassures him she is fine

Drinks a lot of tea

If it’s really really bad, she’ll get a headache  

Spends a couple days in bed reading and sleeping it off

Franky

.......okay when he coughs, it sounds like there is metal rattling around inside his chest...which there kind of is

But it freaks everyone out, especially Chopper

Actually, Frank dosen’t really get sick

If/when he does, he usually takes a long nap and then a shorter one later, drinks more cola thank usual, and he’s good to go 

Brook

He gets a runny nose

At least he would if he had a nose YOHOHOHOHO (I’m sorry, please forgive me)

[sonicasura]

I just see Luffy meeting Kafka Hibino from Kaiju No 8 and just asking the man to join his crew. He would go nuts in excitement once he sees Kafka's kaiju form too. Although the himbo definitely freaks out about Luffy stretching for a second before he accepts that rubber powers are pretty interesting.

I do wonder how the two would meet as it's going to be chaotic either way. The Strawhats absolutely have the luck or misfortune for the sea to somehow isekai their ship to Japan. Kaiju attacks is like ringing the dinner bell for Luffy as he would ask Sanji to try and cook the giant monsters. Lol

The Strawhats would definitely drive Reno up the wall with their antics since he's already trying to cover for Kafka. Our himbo absolutely befriended and assist the group throughout their stay. The Defense Force will feel similar to Reno if they spot the Strawhats.

Other way of possible first contact is Kafka getting dropped into OPverse during the 3 month period after he just got his powers, most likely to land in the sea. He would absolutely mistake a Sea King trying to eat him for a kaiju and One Punch Man's the thing near the Thousand Sunny. Luffy be pissed at first since Kafka nearly hit their ship only to realize it's a 'super cool monster dude' then bring him aboard.

Nami somehow relieved that this man actually has some common sense. He's still a dorky himbo but he isn't always all gum-ho for a really stupid plan or 'Luffy' scheme. Also Zoro and Kafka bonding as both are similar when it came to their goals/dreams. Childhood friend with the same idea but always kicked their ass in it(Zoro) or left them in the dust at some point(Kafka).

Kafka also just being a dad figure to Chopper. Both have alternate forms or abilities that made others scared of them. Although Kafka isn't up for the whole reindeer stew gag that the foodies in the Straw Hat gang come up with if they're feeling hungry.

The man's kaiju powers definitely get mistaken for a Devil Fruit though. Also Kafka would lose his shit if he gets a wanted poster during his stay. He wants to join the Defense Force(if possible) and a criminal record isn't gonna win pity points.

Whacky good hearted pirates meet an equally nutty himbo kaiju undergoing his mid life crisis stage. The results would be very fun.

[possessionisamyth]

Not sorry, but I believe Sanji's arranged marriage made WCI worse. I didn't like the arc that much already, but the marriage was extremely unnecessary.

I know the framing is supposed to show Sanji is kind, but to me Sanji's kindness was never called into question. Whole Cake did not bring it back or highlight it. We knew Sanji was kind when he was told to leave Gin to die on the baratie and Sanji fed him anyway. We knew Sanji was kind when he trusted Nami even after barely knowing her and tried to reassure the rest of the crew there must've been another reason for her leaving. He extended that same kindness to Usopp by defending him from Luffy during Enies Lobby. He even blamed Zoro for Usopp leaving at all!

He's kind enough to remember everyone's favorite foods and preferences BEFORE Whole Cake Island. His kindness is shown equally to men, women, and kids in multiple arcs both main, filler, and in one piece movies set during pre-time skip. Of course Sanji is kind. THIS KNOWLEDGE CAME FREE WITH YOUR PRE-TIME SKIP ANIME.

The poor attempt Whole Cake does is try to remind people Sanji is a nice guy after the horrible character assassination of making him an even bigger pervert which are two separate problems. The kindness was never drawn into question! We knew! We always knew! It's Oda's fault for deciding over and over again to make Sanji behave one step removed from "accidentally" groping women!

Like, Sanji's fandom wasn't built because he's strong like Zoro or fun like Luffy. Sanji's fandom derived from his gentleman schtick pre-time skip where he's genuinely fucking sweet when he's not twirling around like an idiot. If he was actually an intolerable gross pervert, it wouldn't matter how well he cooks. People would either have mixed feelings about him or they'd hate him. But post time skip Sanji???????? They were riding the fucking edge with that behavior. Like REALLY riding the edge! It was the cushion of his history that kept him popular along with the hope that they'd fucking tone it down!!!!! They wanted the grossness toned down! They didn't need a reminder of the kindness!

Add the fact that he didn't need A SECOND ALTERNATIVE BACKSTORY???? Apparently nearly starving to death on an uninhabitable island with a man willing to eat his own leg so the child had a shot at survival wasn't tragic enough for some people?!??!?? What does Judge's relation to Sanji add other than a last name he doesn't want and never claims? What do his supposedly emotionless family generate when Sanji has already been the character that chooses kindness when surrounded by cruel people. He's a freaking pirate! That's a normal Tuesday on some of the islands they go to! What did this arc add to him that made me look at his behavior differently? Should I thank Oda for adding another dead mom to his corpse arsenal, or will I acknowledge the fact he probably just wanted to add a super sentai reference so he could cover every style of anime in his giant storybook?

And I don't want to say Whole Cake was a bust. I mean Jinbei is there!! We finally get to see what kind of real threat Big Mom is!!! The Charlotte family is a colorful and tasty looking cast!!!! Sure the Katakuri fight wasn't nearly as exciting as other big encounters but there were big plot relevant things within the story including a connection to punk hazard! Yet, the whole thing with Sanji's biological family and this arranged marriage was the dumbest segway for us to get this information!

[bluegalaxygirl]

Zosan X reader Halloween Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist Link

----------Halloween series -

^ Trick or Treat - P1 - P2 - P3 - P4 - Plot: You, Zoro and Sanji celebrate Halloween with your two kids while staying in a holiday house.

^ Ruthless - P1 - P2 - P3 - P4 - P5 - P6 - P7 - P8 - P9 - P10 - NSFW - P11 - Plot: Beast off the walking dead series. After the governor attacks your people you head back to help plan an attack back. Luffy's not happy with being left out so ends up following only to end up at the governor's town.

^ Am i crazy? (Trigger warning) - P1 - P2 - P3 - P4 - P5 - P6 - P7 - P8 - Plot: Reader hasn't been sleeping or eating, they wont let anyone touch then and keeps having accidents. Everyone if worried or thinks they've gone crazy but the reality is so much worse.

^ Extinction - Plot: While exploring a snow island the crew uncover an extinct Gnoph-Keh that awakens and tries to distory everything.

^ Im ready to fight god or become him - P1 - P2 - Plot: Zoro, Sanji and Luffy all fight Cthulhu while Reader and the crew try and stop the cult who summoned him

^ There not fish men - P1 - P2 - P3 - P4 - P5 - Bonus -Plot: During a freak storm the sunny gets battered sending Nami, Robin, Reader and Chopper over the edge and into the water. Deep sea creatures save them but the rest of the straw hats think their crew mates are going taken.

^ Its not just a dream - Plot: Nightmares plague the readers head and when confiding in Robin is told that the things they see are real creatures who feed off your dreams.

^ Full moon - P1 - P2 - P3 - P4 - P5 - Plot: While out taking photo's Sanji and reader get attacked by a strange creature. While the crew decide to hunt it down to save the village Sanji starts acting strange.

^ Ghost ship - Plot: One day while out at sea a strange fog rolls in form out of nowhere almost making them crash into a torn up ship.

^ Horror movie Night - Plot: You decide to set up a horror movie night for the crew to celebrate Halloween but first you need to know what everyone likes. NSFW part (Minors DO NOT read) - Plot: After decreasing Horror movies with the boys things get hot and heavy in the kitchen.

^ Blizzard Castle P1 - P2 - P3 - P4 - Plot: A vampire has their sights set on reader capturing them and taking them to his castle. It up to Sanji and Zoro to save them.

^ Dead Rising - plot: Trying to find food in an abandoned town takes a turn for the worst when a dead man walks to you. - Alternative Ending

^ Halloween party - headcannon: what a Halloween party is like with the straw hat crew.

^ Haunted house - Plot: Reader drags Zoro and Sanji into their first haunted house.

[jaynosurname]

(82) One Piece Live Action

This didn't need to exist, but it's good, so I can't complain too much. Going into it, I was cautiously optimistic. The trailers looked fine, but the CGI, especially for Luffy, didn't look great. I was worried that it would make the show unwatchable for me. And then I watched it and was pleasantly surprised. It was actually good. While it may not be as good as the manga/anime, it's still a good alternative, especially for people intimidated by the series length.

The biggest strength of One Piece Live Action is the cast. They all fit their characters perfectly. Sanji especially felt basically one-to-one with his manga counterpart. I wished he and Ussop were in the show longer, which relates one of the bigger problems of the show; the pacing.

This show needed more episodes because arcs like Arlong Park were not done justice. Thankfully, the "help me" scene was still there, handled masterfully, and probably the best scene in the show, but the rest of Arlong Park felt off. I wished there were two more episodes to tell all of Arlong Park's story. It sucks that the best arc in the East Blue Saga got butchered hard.

What surprised me the most was Syrup Villiage. It was the weakest arc of the saga in the manga. It went on for far too long. Kuro was a weak antagonist. But the live-action gave this arc a major glow-up, and in all honestly, I prefer this version over the original. It has its flaws, but it's a vast improvement. I love what they did with Kuro. They turned him into almost a slasher-like villain, with how he hunts down everyone in the mansion. He's genuinely intimidating. I also love the change that has most of the arc play out inside the mansion.

Most of the changes the show made were valid. Getting rid of Orange Town and having that arc take place in Buggy's tent was a great change. However, there is one major change that isn't great. The Introduction of Garp. He feels so shoehorned into the story and he doesn't even feel like him. I liked getting more of Coby, but not at the cost of character assassination for Garp. His inclusion in the story is the only major flaw of the show.

The music is shockingly fantastic. It really got me in the mood. I loved that they played Bink's sake during Luffy's flashback. The song that played during the "help me" scene made that already near-perfect moment better. Also, I freaked out when "We Are" started playing in the show.

Oh, I forgot to mention the CGI. Easily the part of the show that worried me the most. It's fine. The only part that grossed me out is when Luffy inflates himself to reflect a canon ball. Everything else looked great, especially the Chop Chop Fruit abilities.

This show was great. It's flawed, but it captured the heart of the source material, which most anime adaptions fail to do. I'd recommend checking it out, even if the ad campaign on Tumblr was god awful. (I seriously hope they never try that again)

(3/5)

[gildedmuse]

Why I Adore These Dorks Of Wano

(Part 42)

I maybe, kind, sort of perhaps have in the past made a fleeting mentions of my fondness for the Red Scabbards. What did you expect? Seriously, t's like if you got a whole team of Zoro variants together, I don't know, did something absolutely insane. like, say, throw themselves right at a giant

Mystical, Immortal Dragon God 🐉

Which, I mean, is pretty much my dream I mean, is pretty much my dream Zoro arc. Too bad about how they got there.

Kin'emon is obviously the most Zoro-Like of Oden's Zoros (personality wise it's somehow a weird toss up between Okiku and Cat Viper, but in this situation we're defining Zoro-Like as being less reflective of his personality as a whole and more "being just a stupidly loyal swordsmen who will never stop believing in his captain his master his idiot he's sworn to follow and, if they die, he will travel through the very depths of time itself to slay a giant fucking empire dragon in their honor".

Which, to be fair, I feel like is what Zoro would WANT his name to mean in that context

In case you need any more convincing, here is my break down.

Kin'emon

Zoro Ranking: 8.5 / 10

Despite leadership not being one his his defining qualities, he often fills that position in their leader's absence. He's got Zoro's loyalty, determination, sense of revenge, and also if you hurt his captain this man will track you down to the end of reality itself and make you pay.

Also, surprisingly good with children.

Okiku

Zoro Rating: 8 / 10

Zoro's Samurai Girlfriend Self

The traditionally Wano trained samurai that Zoro is deep inside. Also, proves his theories that gender stuff is bullshit, people aren't just trying (not just girls, most people suck compared to Zoro.) Okiku that calmness that post time skip Zoro has. She is his Traditionally Trained side.

Also, she freaks out the second Luffy is in danger. So that's a definite Zoro trait.

Ashura

Zoro Ranking: 6.5 / 10

So imagine a world where Zoro had grown up exactly how all those people in the east blue thought he was - just a sword demon pirate hunter killer from hell - go with that, add twenty years then have him meet Luffy and basically this. He seems heartless, but let's remember, he tried to stop those men from sacrificing himself, and not doing more has haunted him. But he's stubborn, and not to believe just anyone who comes along with what seems like good news. If Zoro had grown up exactly how all those people in the East Blue thought he was - just a sword demon pirate hunter killer from hell - go with that, add twenty years THEN have him meet Luffy and basically this.

Alternatively: Luffy dies, orders Zoro not to do anything. This is what you end up with twenty years later.

Denjiro/Kyoshiro

Zoro Ranking: 6.5 / 10

Law Ranking: 8 / 10

If Law and Zoro had a child and he was mostly raised by Law except the nine years he spent by Zoro's side learning the most important lesson: You find a captain, then you kill for him or die for him, those are your only options.

I will justify this more later, but let me just say that Denjiro's original plan seemed to be, "get drunk and beat the fuck out of everyone" then paused and thought, no, I can use this.

That is a child who has been raised by these two drama queens right here.

Izou

Zoro Ranking: 6 / 10

To balance out that Samurai side of him is Izo, Okiku's little brother. This is the part of Zoro that got dragged only half willingly onto a pirate ship by some insane kid and decided, fuck it, this is his home now. Izo even stays with Whiteboard after Oden leaves ("but I called him my captain!"). He's clearly got that pirate spirit to him, and is longing for adventure, but will always make time to avenge his friends.

Also, he is hella pretty like Zoro in his Skypiea outfit.

Cat Viper & Dogstorm

Zoro Ranking: 7-5 / 10

They are both loyal and will protect those they've sworn to protect even if it means undergoing extreme pain, because it's for their nakama damnit!

Cat Viper is more like Pre-Time Skip Zoro. He's a lot more upbeat, a lot more careless, lot like Luffy. Dogstorm, on the other hand, is a lot more like Post-Time Skip Zoro who tends to play the more responsible (*cough*) vice captain. At least captain to his own. Or like early Zoro when he had to balance out Luffy being an idiot.

Regardless, they both are basically Zoro whenever he argues with a crew mate. Cat Viper is Zoro when he's arguing with Sanji or early Robin/Nami. Dogstorm is like Older Zoro with Sanji/Zoro With Perona

Raizu

Zoro Ranking: 5 / 10

Usopp Ranking: 7 / 10

Franky Rating: 9.5 /10

If Law and Zoro had a kid also that kid only inherited one father's loyalty and one father genetic disposition for being a total dork about ninjas, and then that child was raised by Franky and Usopp but they let Zoro have visitation rights (because they're literally on the same ship). You'd basically end up with Raizo.

He cries whenever anything is poigant

He refuses to sacrifices himself for others

He's smarter than you think despite his appearence

He's actually fucking amazing at what he does

He believes in honor and tradition

He got separated from the main group

He will ditch either of those to make Chopper and Luffy happy

He says nin-nin (that part is from Law)

Ninja powers are basically major bullshit (that part is also from Law and his "OverPowered-OverPowered Fruit)

Kawamatsu

Zoro Ranking: 4 / 10

Okay, so imagine if Robin wrote a children's story about Chopper and Zoro being bestest bros and it was Zoro's chop to protect Chopper no matter what.

Look, Kawamatsu has no problem starving for Hiyori. He's a sweetheart with Hiyori. He eats poison fish while stuck in a jail cell all so that he can get to Hiyori. And the second he sees Luffy, he protects him.

Also, he's primarily green. I rest my case.

[boygirlmeetsworld]

Under the Mistletoe with You.

ONE-SHOT.

Disclaimer: One piece and all it’s characters belong to Eiichiro Oda, I just like to write about them.

Rating: General Audiences

Author’s Note: so this is apart of my modern american alternate universe thingy therefore ive sprinkled some ZoNa in there bc zoro is a bisexual disaster who is in love with his best friends

Summary: Luffy’s never seen a mistletoe plant before.

AO3 Link.

“What’s that?” 

“What’s what?”

“That.” Luffy pointed above Zoro’s head at the top of the kitchen doorway.

The swordsman looked up and spotted a little sprig of green leaves tied together in a red bow.

“I think... it’s called mistletoe?” 

“What’s a mistletoe?”

“It’s an old Christmas tradition,” Zoro scratched the back of his neck, frowning, “I bet that shitty fuckin’ cook put it up because he wants to lure some poor girl here. Freak.”

“Why would he want to do that?” 

His gaze finally returned to his captain, “There’s a made up rule that if you stand under it with someone else you’re supposed to kiss them or it’s bad luck,” he put air quotes around the last two words, “it’s complete bullshit.”

“How do you know it’s bullshit?” Luffy tilted his head curiously, his eyes widening slightly, “Did you not kiss someone then you got bad luck??”

“That - doesn’t matter! It’s just a stupid excuse gross dudes use to get girls to kiss them,” Zoro snorted, leaning his back against the door frame as he crossed his arms, “Bad luck my ass.”

“So you don’t know for sure,” the shorter man blinked in earnest and then stood up a little straighter, settling his hands on his waist, “well - I don’t wanna risk it.”

Floored by what he said, and all the first mate could respond with was, “…what?”

“I said I don’t wanna risk it!”

All of a sudden Zoro’s heartbeat started to hum like an electric current of nauseating anxiety, and he felt lightheaded. Half of him wanted to leap at the opportunity, the other half warned that if he did he could potentially screw their friendship up. 

‘And he didn’t want that. He may have thought about expressing how deeply he loved this brave, mindless buffoon when he wasn’t sober - but he was disciplined so he never acted on his urges-’ Zoro interrupted his own internal conflict to remind himself that he had acted on those urges the last few times Nami came over, ‘...but that was different! Wasn't it..?’ 

His frown sank deeper into his features as he fought to keep the way he felt about her buried inside his psyche. ‘He only slept with her because she was attractive,’ the swordsman lied to himself as he glared through Luffy, lost inside his own head, ‘It was not because.. because he... loved her, or anything.... FUCK-‘

“What’s wrong Zoro?” Wearing that same doe-eyed expression that broke his friend’s resolve every time Luffy leveled him with it, he touched his palm to the taller man’s forehead to check for a fever, “D’you not feel good?”

An almost pained look crossed over Zoro’s face, ‘...what the f u c k why was this asshole so god damn cute all the fucking time!’ 

Before he knew it he made the decision to uncross his arms and surge forwards to crowd the rubber man against the side of the door frame. ‘Fucking hell..’ he grabbed Luffy by the tops of his arms, then craned his head down and kissed him firmly, ‘....s h i t.’

Surprised by the sudden shift in his friend’s mood, Luffy gasped, and for a few seconds he didn’t know how to respond. ‘Zoro hadn’t pecked him on the lips like he’d expected - he’d kissed him. Like he was a character in one of the cheesy romance movies that Nami and Franky made them all watch sometimes on movie night. And.. he didn’t mind all that much. Actually it felt... nice, kinda like when he snuggled up with one of his friend’s after a nightmare. But less calming, and more.... exciting.’

Not totally aware of what he was supposed to do next, since he’d never been kissed like this, Luffy rose onto the balls of his feet and looped both arms around the swordsman’s waist. Mimicking him by catching his lower lip, he returned the kiss with a chaste but nonetheless giddy one of his own.

Zoro kissed his captain until he started to feel faint from the speed of his pulse and the hormones roaring through the rivers of his bloodstream. ‘Hell.. he loved this idiot so fucking much,’ he sucked in a deep, shaky breath as he broke away, no idea what he should do or say. His eyelids cracked to gauge Luffy’s expression, and he was still blinking at him with those wide, gentle eyes of his.

“Am I allowed to kiss you if you’re not under the toe plant?”

The swordsman snorted and took Luffy’s face in both of his hands, drawing him up into another kiss to hide the smirk that stretched the corner of his lips up. “Sure, dork,” he said quietly as he pulled back, and the scrunchy-eyed, dazzling grin that the rubber man replied with nearly blinded him.

[soyouareandrewdobson]

Alex ze Pirate “Mini Review” 1: About Male Abuse

Alex ze Pirate is in my opinion the WORST “comic” series Dobson has ever written up until this point (date for archives: June 2020). Sure, I agree with people that his “hot take” comics on Star Wars Fans, political issues and virtue signaling for the sake of making brownie points are worse overall cause they are uneducated propaganda that give insight in how much of a loathsome human being driven by spite he genuinely is, but Alex “offends” me as someone who enjoys fiction. It may not be the worst thing ever written, but it just does so many things wrong in terms of storywriting, storytelling, presentation and creating fictional characters, I can’t help but wonder what went wrong that Dobson even remotely thought this thing would be a “successful” comic series to establish him as a creator. Cause I can tell you, having read the likes of Don Rosa’s work on Disney, Hilda, Cleopatra in Space, Spirou, Asterix, One Piece (of which I will talk a lot in my next few posts) and many more, I can confirm by comparison that Dobson’s pirates as a published comic would have only one use on the public shelves: alternative for toilet paper during the COVID-19 epidemic

 Believe me, I would love to write an in depth analysis of everything wrong with Alex ze Pirate, from the lazy artwork up to even the publication history of this trainwrack. But doing so would take a lot of time and there is one individual part of this I think deserve at least extra attention. Something that in my opinion embodies quite well a lot of things I consider wrong with this comic. So before I am going over Alex in its entirety (and believe me, the day will come) let me just talk within the next few posts about one certain aspect and story of the comic, that genuinely got me to loath this comic to the core: Sam the Cabin Boy and “his” own individual story Dobson drew in three parts around 2010.  

For starters, lets talk who Sam is: Sam is one of the main characters in the comic and actually the first person who joined Alex and Peggy in the initial pages of Legends, the “original” form of Alex ze Pirate.

See, back in 2004, Dobson released Alex ze Pirate in form of a single comic volume called “Legends” which features Alex trying to recruit a crew. The thing is around 78 pages thick and based on what I saw pretty terribly paced. For comparison: When Luffy in One Piece got his crew together, he spend multiple volumes and at least three minor story arcs to get Zoro, Nami, Sanji and Usopp to join him. All while also giving us good insight into the kind of people his new crewmates were (especially Sanji’s and Nami’s backstory got to me), defeating the likes of Buggy and Captain Black, meeting Dracula Mihawk and defeating one of the biggest bastards Eichiro Oda ever created in form of Arlong. What is the story how Sam joins the crew? An orphanage organizes an auction and sells kids off. Which I assume was even illegal in pirate times, so kudos for already showing us how despicable the world of Alex ze Pirate is to begin with and how much it deserves to be nuked in some sort of alien invasion.

 Sam also doesn’t really get anything to do when he is introduced, just helping Alex escape on a small boat. Which is weird because he does not know her at all, she is just some stranger who bought him off and has no means to keep him in check, so why even bother following her and not let the mob get rid of Alex? 

Anyway, I wish I could tell more about Sam’s involvement in Legends, but I don’t have really more than some scans of it in the beginning and near the end. So I don’t know his involvement in the rest of the volume. I also can’t say how he plays out in volume two, because that does not exist at all. Cause for reasons I will never understand, Dobson just abandoned the idea of telling a “coherent” and ongoing story with Alex ze Pirate and instead went to his colored one page comics/strips with it, turning it into what some people called “Garfield with Pirates” (which I consider a genuine insult towards any newspaper comic out there, even something as Boondocks). And the first thing we see of Sam in “classic” Alex ze Pirate?

 The perverted dwarf of the crew showing of his shota underwear so that Alex and Sam stop bickering who is the cutest, leaving him embarrassed and humiliated.

 Which kinda sums up his role in the comic to a t. Cause this is what Sam is: He is the buttmonkey of the crew. And honestly, I would not have a total problem with Sam being a buttmonkey, if a) he wasn’t it all the time, b) he would actually do something to deserve any form of humiliation and c) if the other characters in this comic itself would not be some of the biggest assholes I have ever seen, who get away with abusing the poor lad.

 See, here is the problem: In a crew featuring a choleric homophobic soulless ginger

 A black rat person who wants to fuck the ginger even without her consent

 A furry abomination that has the same brain wavelengths as Chris Chan 

And a perverted dwarf who tries to impersonate Happosai from Ranma 1/2

 Sam is the only decent person in the entire crew. He works hard, he even questions the morality of his friends at times, he is honest, he is not perverted, almost good to the point of childish innocence and he has a very humble “goal” which is he wants to own his own piece of gold. Not even a big pile of treasure, just one single coin would be enough for him.

 So he is likeable and relatable. In fact, if anything goes by, he may have been one of the most popular ones in the comic. And yet he is the one who gets constantly abused by “fate” and his friends, because as Dobson would say it, he is supposed to be the buttmonkey. There is just one problem: People do not necessarily like buttmonkeys.

I can primarily speak only for myself here, but I hope what I have to say resonates with others too. See, I get it: A character who is the butt of a joke can be fun. Like Daffy in Duck Amuck. But there is a fine line where a character being humiliated for the sake of a joke is fun (and perhaps even deserved because of his own shortcomings or deeds/actions that make the humiliation sort of kharmic, like lets say Johnny Bravo) and a character being humiliated to the point it feels disproportional, unfunny and mean spirited if not outright sadistic, can be crossed. Take Meg Griffin from Family Guy for example whose only “purpose” for existing within the last 12+ years is to get shat on by her family and the writers. People have no idea for a plot with her, so what do they do? Have her father physically and emotionally abuse her, fart in her face for what is supposed to count as a joke and then add additional insult to it by acknowledging that they are only doing this, because they have no other idea for her and think abuse is fun. Let me just tell you from experience, it is not.

And that is essentially what Sam is: He is the Meg Griffin of Alex ze Pirate, used by his creator as the butt of very unfunny jokes, even if he does not deserve any of the things said or done to him. Want to see some examples?

 How about the description Dobson gives Sam within the introduction of one of his volumes, showing how little Dobson as the creator even cares for him.

Why is he called an unworthy “slob” if he is the only one who actually works? Shouldn’t a slob be someone like Dobson, who can’t even take care of himself anymore? Also the confirmation that he was kidnapped at the age of 16. And as we have no clarification how much time passed between Legends Vol. 1 and anything afterwards, that means that in a way Alex is a child abuser.

And now, here some examples by the rest of the cast. Like Uncle Peggy framing him for all sorts of his perverted actions and even trying to kill him for no apparent reason?

Alex trying to kill him with chicken pox…

…Destroying all his worldly posessions which is hilarious because he is a poor orphan…

…Essentially describing him as worthless because he was born with an Y-chromosome…

… doing the kind of thing Dobson claims women would never do to man, using their sex appeal to hurt them…

…forcing him to do some unnecessary and rather petty work for her in a physics defying manner (seriously, the way he holds the axe does not compute with how he swings it. Try it out yourself)

… stealing his food and just being a cruel sadistic cunt to him just because it is fun.

Which is “funny” in so far as that there are a few comics indicating she would jump his dick and ride it like a little pony if she could.

 By the way, Talus and Atea are not better. None of them calls Alex out on her bullshit on average, Atea uses Sam to trigger traps in one story arc…

And Talus, the closest to a “friend” he is supposed to have, once for no apparent reason made him dig through his litterbox

And don’t get me even started when the characters decide to gang up on Sam, to the point he gets sexually harassedor is called to be less worth as a human being than the dirt you find in your belly button

Fuck’s sake, even in fanart everyone gangs up on him, even the freaking big bad of the story everyone is supposed to hate or be afraid of

 Bottom line, Sam is an abuse victim played for laughs in this comics. And just to clarify, I do not think this was Dobson’s intention. But if the character is undeservingly the butt of jokes for the majority of over 120 strips, it turns nasty. The way Sam is treated, I just find disgusting and indictive of just how unlikable any other character in this comic is to the point I do not want to see this being turned into a proper “franchise”. And I assume others were disgusted by it too, cause Dobson eventually decided to make a story more or less addressing the treatment Sam receives, while also attempting to prove that deep down the assholes with starring roles in this trainwrack care for him. How did this play out? Well, I am going to talk about it, so likely not well. If you want to see the details, grab yourself some popcorn and take a toilet break before we tackle part 2 of this thing.

[the-bucket-lover]

This is my @onepiecesecretsanta2018 for @pingo1387. I wish you only the best and I hope you enjoy this. This is the first time I'm writing for this ship, or any OP ship for that matter. I hope it is good and that you will like it! Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year! :D

~~~

Sanji started cutting the potatoes for tonight's dinner, only to have something to with his hands. He finished the soup he made for Zoro already and even though it was way too early to get started on the food, just waiting around was killing him.

The door to the sick bay opened and the small reindeer walked out.

“How is he?” Sanji asked attempting to be as nonchalant as possible and failing since Chopper gave him a weird, worried look. It wasn't every day that Sanji expressed his concern for the marimo.

“He got a couple of broken ribs. He just needs to rest. Nothing to be worried about,” Chopper replied with an encouraging smile.

“Who says I'm worried?!” Sanji exclaimed determined to make the doctor change his opinion.

Chopper's smile widened before he slipped out the door leaving Sanji alone in the kitchen. He glanced at the chopped potatoes before he sighed and moved to sit down at the table. He wasn't really in the mood to do it anymore, which was highly unusual for him.

He lit a cigarette, brought it to his mouth and took a long drag. He leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes remembering the battle from before.

It wasn't anything they couldn't handle. Just some noname pirates who had more numbers than any real combat skill. The problem was that they showed up during a storm. And they liked to play dirty.

Who would have thought that they would fire freaking canons at the Straw Hats? Certainly not Sanji who was too busy making sure that those bastards would keep their filthy hands away from his kitchen. That’s why he wasn't on the lookout for cannonballs.

If asked he would never admit to letting his guard down. But he did. He thought that these small fry would not be worth the effort. In the end it wasn't him who paid the price.

He didn't hear the first shot, or he assumed it was thunder, so Sanji never really checked behind him. He only looked when he heard the sound of a cannonball hitting something and then a deep groan. His breath hitched when he recognized who it belonged to.

He kicked the heads of the three pirates in front of him and dropped down on his knees besides Zoro. He let out a breath of relief when he saw that the swordsman was still breathing.

“What are you doing? Are you an idiot?” Zoro groaned as he attempted to stand up. He stabbed the floor with Ichimonji and leaning on it, he stood up clutching his side. Sanji briefly wondered how many canons it would take to put this guy down for good.

“Wait, what are you doing? You just got hit by a canon!” Sanji shouted, being met with only silence.

“Hey!” Sanji insisted and he heard Zoro click his tongue.

“Shut up. You’re annoying!” Zoro put Wado in his mouth and unsheathed his other katana. “Tatsumaki,” he barely whispered before about a dozen enemy crewmembers flew up into the air.

Sanji spent longer than necessary watching Zoro's back before he sensed two enemies trying to sneak up on him. He turned towards them and kicked their skulls with ease.

It wasn't long until all of the enemy pirates were down. The only thing they had to worry about now, was the storm. It took about an hour or two for the skies and waters to finally calm down and it was only then they had time to breath.

Just as everyone debated celebrating their victory Zoro began coughing loud and violent and Chopper was near him in an instant. A few second later, they disappearing in the infirmary.

Sanji opened his eyes again when the door opened, watching as the Straw Hats walked inside chatting merily. He looked through the small window noticing the darkened sky and the rain falling.

“Is everything going to be alright, Nami-san?” Sanji asked nodding towards the rain.

“Yeah, it should be fine,” she replied as everyone moved to take a seat at the table.

“More importantly are you going to be alright?” Usopp asked with a sly smirk.

Sanji raised an eyebrow. “Why wouldn't I be?”

“Your knight just took a hit for you, Mr. Prince,” Robin replied with the same weird smile.

Sanji narrowed his brows and looked around the table. Everyone except Luffy and Chopper had weird look on their face. As if they were all let on on something and he wasn't.

“What are you talking about? What's going on?”

“Oh, please, Sanji-kun. As if you could ever fool us,” Nami said her tone indicating that she had just solved a mystery.

“I really don't know what you guys are talking about,” Sanji replied dumbfounded.

“Nami-san is talking about how much closer you and Zoro-san have gotten lately,” Brook said followed by a small “Yoho.”

“Yeah, so much closer,” Usopp said with a suggestive wink and Sanji finally understood what they were implying.

“What?” Sanji sputtered and he felt his cheeks heat up like he was fifteen. “That's ridiculous! No way!”

“Is that so?” Robin asked before she laughed at his bewildered expression.

“I love women! Women! Not men and most certainly not that marimo in there!” Sanji exclaimed feeling more unsure with every spoken word.

“Wait? Sanji loves Zoro?” Luffy asked suddenly joining the conversation probably getting bored by the game he was playing with Chopper.

“I do not!” Sanji yelled feeling that it most certainly won't change anyone's opinion.

Everyone around the table laughed at his reaction before Usopp began singing. “Sanji and Zoro sitting in a tree,”

Sanji clicked his tongue in annoyance even though he still felt the blush on his cheeks. “What are you, five?”

“K-I-S-S--”

Usopp stopped abruptly when Sanji glared at him. He could see him gulp before he pressed his lips into a firm line and not say anything anymore.

Suddenly, a groan was heard from the sick bay and Sanji was on his feet even before Chopper. The reindeer rushed into the infirmary and Sanji glared at everyone in the room. Except for Nami and Robin. He would never hold anything against them.

“Not a word,” he warned.

“Ou, no need to be ashamed! Love works in strange ways!” Franky said loud as ever and Sanji wondered how it took him so long to say anything about the subject.

Chopper stepped out of the infirmary and he turned to Sanji. “Is the soup ready? He should eat to gain strength again.”

Sanji nodded and walked up the stove, grateful for the distraction. He got a bowl and poured the soup in it. He grabbed a spoon and walked right past the expectant reindeer.

He looked down at Chopper who seemed confused. “I was hoping to-” Sanji pointed to the door.

“Sure, go ahead. I think he wanted to see you as well,” Chopper said moving to sit down at the table.

Sanji ignored the suggestive looks thrown his way and entered the infirmary. Zoro was on the bed his entire torso bandaged. Sanji already felt guilty enough about Zoro’s condition without seeing him all beat up like that.

“Hi,” Sanji breathed out after he realized that he didn’t say anything for a good minute.

Zoro only nodded in acknowledgement and Sanji walked up to the bed. He handed him the soup and spoon and sat down on a chair.

“Thanks,” Zoro barely muttered before he dug in. It didn't take him long to finish it and handed the bowl back to Sanji. “I don't suppose you go some booze, do you?”

While eating, the silence was heavy and almost awkward and Sanji found it hard to believe all that heaviness would evaporate with only one sentence.

“You're not serious right now, are you?” Sanji asked in disbelief. “You don't seriously think I would sneak booze in Chopper's infirmary?”

Zoro shrugged and Sanji felt irritation build up inside him. He gazed at Zoro’s chest and decided to confront him. “What were you thinking?”

The swordsman raised an eyebrow. “What was I thinking? What were you thinking? You let your guard down!”

That made the comeback on Sanji's tongue die down. Silence followed, the cook not knowing what to say anymore. He decided on the question that had been nagging him since he first saw Zoro lying on the ground from the cannonball. “Why did you take the hit for me?”

Zoro didn't answer and for the first time since Sabji had known him, he averted his gaze. It seemed to take him a great deal of effort to say what he said next. “I just didn't want to see you lying here on this bed.”

If Sanji didn't know what to say before, now he was completely speechless. He studied Zoro's face for any sign of deceit or something to prove it was a joke, but he couldn't find anything. Not for the first time, the cook noticed how handsome he looked and he felt he had to look away in order to stop his thoughts from straying too far. But he didn’t look away.

Zoro must have felt his gaze on him, but he still looked at Sogeking's wanted poster on Chopper's wall. Sanji wasn't sure, but he thought he saw a blush on Zoro's cheeks.

He suddenly felt like it was too much. How could he feel this way about Zoro, Sanji didn't understand so he averted his gaze again, deciding that his lap would be a much better alternative.

He looked at Zoro's hand, who was close to Sanji’s knee and he suddenly the urge to hold it. So he did. His fingers barely brushed Zoro, but in that moment the swordsman abandoned the King of Snipers to look at Sanji again. He seemed surprised and confused.

Since he didn't pull away, Sanji took it as a good sign so he took Zoro's entire hand in his own. It was calloused and rough and nothing like a lady's. But Sanji didn't mind.

“Don't do it again,” Sanji finally said.

“Do what?” Zoro seemed even more confused than before.

“Take a hit for me,” Sanji replied quietly. “I was worried.”

Zoro smirked. “Were you now?”

“I'm serious, you dumb marimo!” That made Zoro shut up.

The swordsman sighed before he put his fingers under Sanji's chin to make him look at him again.

He didn't think he could ever get used to this. To Zoro being so gentle; to wanting to be close to a man so much and that man being Zoro. It was weird and new and Sanji didn't really know what he was supposed to do.

“I don't think I could ever get used to this,” Sanji whispered saying his thoughts against Zoro's lips only then realizing how close they got. He didn't really know why he told Zoro this, but maybe being honest was best.

“There’s plenty of time,” Zoro answered and Sanji couldn't stand it any longer. He closed the distance between them with a kiss.

It wasn't the best kiss he’d had, far from it but it was so different than the rest and it felt good and he wondered why it took so long for this to happen.

Brook and Usopp were right: They became closer lately. Not only during battles when they had each other's back, but even their fights were different and they lacked the fire from before. Sanji could understand how those fights could be mistaken for flirting.

The door opened and Chopper entered. They pulled back the moment they heard the creak of the door but it wasn't quick enough. Chopper had seen and Sanji idn't really know what to think of that.

The doctor's eyes widened and he stepped back. “Luffy was right. Sanji does love Zoro!”

That was one way to put it, but the triumphant smirk on the swordsman face made everything that happened absolutely not worth it.

“Does he now?”

Sanji sighed and shook his head. “You'd sure like to hear that. Well then, you won't. Sleep well.”

With that Sanji was out the door trying his best to ignore the Straw Hats who were cheering at him. He stepped out onto the deck, lit a cigarette and took a long drag. He couldn't help but wonder what would happen from now on, but whatever it was, Sanji knew he would not regret it.

[thisisarealtagwhy]

Day 16: Love

Or, alternately known as She Smells Like Mikan And Treasure

Pairings: Nami x Nefertari Vivi

Vivi loves many people, she loves her father, she loves Pell.

She loves her sun-burnt country.

But most importantly, there is a little tattoo on her arm that she loves almost as much as what it represents.

It represents her friendship with the Straw Hat Pirates, even that Nico Robin that tried to take down her country.

After truly discovering the truth behind the dark haired woman she couldn’t help but pity Nico Robin, or Miss All-Sunday.

Oh, and the fact that Luffy had declared war on the entire freaking world for the woman. And what was more frustrating was that he didn’t care about it.

Well, it wasn’t infuriating per say, it was more like an itch that could not be scratched.

But more importantly, she remembered learning of a day when the man she loved as dearly as a brother was subjected to such an awful war.

Wars are always terrible, especially if the ones you care about are within the crossfire of the enemies and the allies.

And Vivi cries in anguish for Luffy because where is the crew?

Separated at the Sabaody Archipelego by a warlord apparently.

Where is Luffy now?

Where is Luffy’s big brother who Vivi had only met once within her sunburnt country under the reign of the enemy?

Gone, gone, gone.

She likes to think that if she was there she could have done something but then Vivi sobs and thinks that there was nothing one could do for the son of the King of the Pirates.

She doesn’t care that Ace is the son of Gol D. Roger, the man was a completely different person and after hearing of what Ace’s mother did for him she can’t help but feel blinding, white, hot rage.

Rage for the man who was Luffy’s brother that they would so carelessly announce his heritage to the vultures of the world.

But, Portgas D. Ace was dead and Luffy was in the wind so Vivi does not sleep.

She does not eat for there are people she cares about. Where are the rest of the crew?

And then Luffy appears in the paper, in mourning, she wonders over the meaning of the 3D2Y mark tattooed onto Luffy’s arm.

She doesn’t think that it’s a coincident that they reappear two years later.

Nami is more beautiful than ever and Vivi thinks that the hair suits her.

Vivi wanted to meet up with them one day when they had fulfilled their dreams, maybe after…

After she was crowned queen and had a suitable heir to succeed her, not saying that she wanted to have children or anything…

She may have been a child once but she didn’t always enjoy their company, oh, and the fact that one had to have sex with another man always put a damper on things.

Vivi didn’t usually label herself as anything explicitly but when she had known Nami…

Well, let’s just say that she knew what she liked.

And Kohza… she loves him, maybe not as much as another woman on another ship (in another world, maybe they could have lived happily ever after) but still enough.

But not enough to bear his children, the entire process seems… laborious.

And Vivi isn’t complaining about her relationship but it is kind of painful to be seas away from your lover, the one who is travelling the world with the future King of the Pirates.

And Vivi knows that eventually one day, when she is older and there is somebody waiting for her to pass away and give away her country like one gives life, she will go to the orange-haired lady waiting for her and live out the rest of her days,

As free as the King of the Pirates.

Vivi fingers a strand of her blue hair in the breeze, idly watching a News Coo approach, “Caw!”

She grabs the paper and pays it the correct change, ignoring the stirring of activity below on deck because they all finally realised just how high up she was.

“You haven’t changed one bit, Luffy.” She says fondly, looking at the new bounty poster and the latest exploits of the straw hat crew. “How many warlords does that make now? Two?”

Although, there has been rumours that they took down another warlord just before hitting the Archipelago.

She begins to outright laugh at Nami’s wanted poster. “You still managed to get a beautiful pose in there. Congratulations, Sanji, you have a new poster, although, I wonder why it is only alive…”

People that warranted ‘Only Alive’ on their posters were more often than not, either ex-marines that had deserted or the sons and daughters of incredibly wealthy people who had also left the family.

“Hmm.”

“Vivi-sama, please get down from there.” One of the guards cry desperately, huffing a sigh, she tucks the wanted posters into her bra and leaps from the crows nest, officially terrifying the entire ship’s occupants.

Except for Papa, he barely seems fazed by her capabilities, and Pell too, although, they knew she’d been undercover in Baroque Works so…

She ignores the Navy escort ship travelling beside them on their journey to Mariejois, ‘the land of the holy’.

“Papa!” He was looking a little better today, just a little on the pale side. “Look, they took down another warlord.”

She proudly shows him the articles and the attached wanted posters. The King just grins, “I’m very delighted that they’re back wreaking havoc.”

She grins back. “Now, Vivi, my dear, can we talk in private?”

She complies, pushing his wheelchair into the deep confines of their lush cabin. “Yes, father?”

“I want you to know that I fully support you, in your desires to be reunited with the straw hats.” He coughs a little, grimacing before continuing. “And I know how much the navigator means to you, I just worry that you won’t have any-”

Vivi sighs but cuts her father off anyway. “If I want to have a child, father, I could probably get a donor, I just…”

“I get it, she’s free as a pirate and so were you.” King Nefertari Cobra grins widely.

Vivi squirms a little, she’s glad he doesn’t care. She never really tried to hide her feelings in front of him so it isn’t a surprise that he worked it out.

But it’s reassuring to know that he supports her.

So she just smiles and pats his leg. “I’ll figure something out when Luffy becomes King.”

Nefertari Vivi is a woman with many people and things she loves.

And one day, when the second Pirate King has his coronation, she will join them, for the navigator with the dream to draw a map of the world will need some relatively sane company (and she wants to get to know the new crew members).

[genogenocrazycatman]

Stillwater - Chapter 9

Stillwater [Archive of Our Own, FanFiction.Net, Mibba]

Characters: Original Female Character, Monkey D. Luffy, Rorona Zoro, Vinsmoke Sanji, Nami, Usopp, Tony Tony Chopper, Nefeltari Vivi

***

"We build as only children know to build

We made a way where there's a will

No slowing down or standing still

Innocent and reckless

"How did we get so old and never notice

How did we gain the world and lose the moment

Rise and fall, the tide surrounds us

And drowns us all"

-Hands Like Houses

***

I was standing at the stove, boiling water for coffee and tea. I couldn’t sleep, the day’s events replaying in my mind. I had gotten off fairly easy. Between the giants, Baroque Works the goldfish, and Nami coming down with a fever, I had managed to avoid any questions about my eyes, about how the hell I had found Zoro, how I’d known about giants and any more questions about my abilities.

I thought it would be easy to keep everything a secret, but clearly I was wrong. Paradise was far more complex, far more dangerous than I had thought it would be. It was nonstop, Baroque Works, straight into dealing with dinosaurs, from dinosaurs to giants, from giants back to Baroque Works. I didn’t have time to plan, to make up a solid story or think of any alternative moves.

I was careless, more so than ever before. I had spent centuries hiding myself and my family from the world. But this time I wasn’t afraid for them. Luffy and the others had no clue, where I was from, how to get there, who they would find. Even if he did, I doubted he would go after them. That just wasn’t his style.

I was honestly more afraid about how they’d react. Would they hate me? Turn on me? Kick me off? Try to kill me? I was enjoying myself. Being aboard the Merry with these guys was exciting. I was visiting places that I had never seen, some that I had never even heard of, meeting new people, and seeing people I hadn’t seen in decades.

“Mimi, why are you up?”

I nearly jumped out of my skin, when Luffy’s voice broke through my thoughts. I realized my water was boiling. I pulled out the coffee, the coffee press, the tea leaves and the infuser.

“I couldn’t sleep, and it’s getting cold. I’m making Sanji some coffee, and I’m gonna take him his jacket and a blanket.”

It wasn’t too too cold, but the temperature was dropping. We must’ve been nearing a winter island. Sanji was up in the crow’s nest, on watch for the night. He was the only one, who wasn’t burnt and didn’t have any open wounds. I would’ve offered to relieve him of his watch entirely, but I knew that he wouldn’t go for it. Even if I wasn’t injured, he’d talk about how it was an honor to protect, Nami, Vivi and I or something like that. Just the thought made me roll my eyes.

I looked over my shoulder at Luffy. He was standing in the doorway, head cocked to the side. I couldn’t help but smile softly at him.

Luffy was a child still, seventeen years old, yet he’d beaten up highly skilled assassins, pounded some of the most dangerous pirates in the East Blue. He’d escaped a would-be execution and marine capture. He’d survived one of the worst storms this side of the Red Line. He was a damn pirate. And here he was standing in front of me with a tired expression, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes, looking more like an adorable child than any criminal had a right to.

“Why are you up?” I asked.

“I’m hungry.”

I chuckled. “I don’t know why I asked. I’ll make you something.”

I poured the water into the press and into my tea cup, and gathered up the stuff to make Luffy a sandwich, while the beans and leaves diffused in the water.

He sat down at the table, watching as I worked. “Is Nami okay?” he asked.

“She’s no worse off than she was,” I responded. “I’ve been doing what I can, but this isn’t something I’m familiar with.”

I had been doing what I could to help, but whatever it was that was wrong was something that I had never seen before, and even if I knew what it was, I couldn’t do anything to sure it. I knew how to take care of sick people, but I didn’t know how to cure them. I knew basic remedies for some minor bugs, ways to soothe upset stomachs and scratchy throats, but that was it.

It was so frustrating. How long had I been alive? How many sick people had I seen? How many had I helped Cal treat? And now I was standing here useless, taking coffee to Sanji and making Luffy a sandwich, because I wasn’t able to help the one person on the ship, who actually needed it.

“She’ll be okay,” Luffy said. “We’re gonna find a doctor, and everything will be fine.”

I looked back at him. He was so confident. There was no way to know how our course really looked. The eternal pose only pointed to Alabasta, our log pose had never set, and the only person on board who could possibly figure out a way to the next island given these circumstances was sick, and somehow, I believed him. Everything was going to be fine.

“Luffy?”

“Hmm?”

“Why did you ask me to join?”

“Huh?” My questioned seemed to catch him off guard.

“Why did you ask me to join your crew?”

“Because you’re from the Grand Line,” he answered like it was obvious.

“And that was enough? You didn’t know anything about me. Hell, you still don’t know much about me.”

“So? You’re a good person, Mimi, and even if you weren’t it all would’ve worked out in the end.”

“You can’t possibly know that.”

“I do.”

“And that’s all that matters?” I questioned. “You just know that everything’s gonna work out?”

“Yep,” he responded.

“What if I turn out to be an undercover marine or a thief?”

He shrugged.

“Luffy, what if I told you I wasn’t nineteen?” I turned fully to face him, to gauge his reaction. “That I’d never eaten a devil fruit? That I’m nearly a thousand years old? What if I told you that I wasn’t human?”

Luffy’s mouth split into a grin. “That would be so cool! Would you be a vampire? Or some kind of monster? Would you fly?”

“You wouldn’t care?”

“Nope.”

I was still skeptical. After all hypotheticals were lost on him. I had to hit him with the truth and hoped that he actually believed me.

“I’m not human,” I said, slowly watching his reaction.

He nodded excitedly. “Alright.”

“I’m 992 years old.”

“Hey, you’re older than Dorry and Broggy!”

I ignored his enthusiasm. “I never ate a devil fruit. I was born with my powers.”

“Cool! Can you do anything else?”

I didn’t answer his question, going straight for the source of all this. “My father’s the sea devil.”

“Can I have my sandwich, now?”

I just blinked at him.  “Your sandwich?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t have anything to say about me telling you that my dad is literally the sea devil? I don’t mean he’s an asshole, and I’m just calling him a devil, because I don’t like him. He has powers. He created the devil fruits. He’s caused disasters. He’s the reason for that storm that hit us after we hit the iceberg on our way to Whisky Peak.”

“Nope.”

“You don’t care?”

“Nu uh.”

“Do you even believe me?” I asked.

I didn’t think Luffy had it in him to toy with me like that, but the longer I went on, the more it felt like I was being played, that this was all part of some joke. I was gonna stop, and then he was going to burst out laughing. Sure, I could believe everything was going to be alright, when Luffy said it, but it sure as hell didn’t work, when I thought it. How in the hell would this be alright?

“Mira,” he said, voice surprisingly serious for once, using my actual name. “You’re a part of this crew. I don’t care who your dad is.”

“And the rest of it?”

“Who cares? Our stewardess is a super cool vampire!”

I let out a sigh of relief. Clearly Luffy didn’t fully understand what I had told him, but there was no point in correcting him about it, because he just didn’t care.

“I’m not a vampire,” I said, finishing his sandwich, and setting it down in front of him.

“Can you turn into a bat?”

I started making a sandwich for Sanji.

“No. Luffy, if I was a vampire, I wouldn’t be able to go into the sun.”

“You’re right,” he agreed seeming to take my vampirism or lack thereof more seriously than the information I had actually given him.

“Luffy, can you keep this a secret, until Nami’s better?”

“Why?”

Luffy had handled this well, but Luffy was admittedly an idiot. He should’ve been way more concerned. He should’ve thought I was insane or something. If not that he should’ve been at least pissed off that I had been lying to them. The others were more sensible than our captain, and I was sure that my admission would create tension on the ship. We didn’t that right now. Afterwards, we could deal with that. We still had a ways to go, before we got to Alabasta, enough time for them to kick me out, pick fights, interrogate me, whatever.

“Cause I Nami’s sick, and I don’t want to freak anyone out until she’s better.”

Luffy nodded accepting my logic. “I will on two conditions.”

“And they would be?”

He looked at the sandwich in front of me.

“You are a bottomless pit,” I said, handing it to him, and making yet another for Sanji.

“And the other?”

“Once you tell everyone, no more lies.”

“Luffy, it’s not that simple. There are things that I don’t know if I should tell you.”

“Then say that, but no more lies.”

I sighed. “No more lies.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

“Good.”

***

Notes:

***

Previous | Next

***

Master List | Mobile Version

[starryburglar-archive]

Momoko Info

Full name: Momoko Akatsutsumi

Species: Human

Age: 13 - 18 ( verse dependant )

Sexuality: Heterosexual 

FC(s): Lisara Restall ( So, I Can’t Play H ) || Yabuki Nako

Bio: Up until that fateful day, Momoko Akatsutsumi was your regular 12-year-old girl living in Japan. She was the eldest of two daughters in a family of 4, her father had a regular job while her mother was one of those stay-at-home moms that take care of the house and her children and does most of the chores, fights with her younger sister are part of the routine, her grades are average and her friends are limited in number. Like I said, a normal girl with a normal life.

Then, that fateful day came out of the blue. It happened after school hours, right when she had finished buying a new stack of sweet and gushing over the boys of the football team on her own. She saw a white beam fly through the sky and towards the direction of a small child playing with the yoyo; without thinking twice about what to do, Momoko ran towards the child and stood in front of them, protecting them from the beam which hit her instead. That beam, which she later found out was caused by Professor Utonium and his son with the power of science, gave her extraordinary powers.

From that day forward, Momoko became a full-on superhero ( literally one of her biggest dreams since she was seven ) with two other girls who went thought the same thing she did -- protecting a kid from a white beam. Fortunately, they went to the same school! And so, they all became the Powerpuff Girls Z.

Note: Follows anime but can diverge in some aspects.

[ MAIN || INBOX || HEADCANONS || VISAGE || MUSINGS ]

                                 -----------------------------------------------

V001: Hyper Blossom

Default main verse. Momoko is a normal girl, living a normal life as a lazy but dedicated and smart High School student, with a love for anything sweet and comic books; she also happens to be one of the Powerpuff Girls Z, the one known as Blossom.

NOTE: While her canon age is of a preteen (so 13) I leave it open to all her years of High School so it can be more interesting to me. So the age range can go up to 18, and her FC for her teen/young adult self is Lisara Restall from “So, I Can’t Play H”.

V002: Powerless Strawberry

Alternate main verse. What if the white Z ray never got to her? Basically, an alternate timeline in which Momoko never got her powers and is just a regular student, living her daily life and still being lazy but somehow the top of her class. The monsters that terrorize Tokyo freak her out but fortunately, she avoids getting stuck in the middle of the conflict. With this amount of free time available and thanks to her excellent grades, Momoko is able to be a transfer student whenever she wants to.

V003: tba college

tba college verse

V004: tba medieval or fantasy

tba medieval or fantasy verse

V005: tba idol

tba idol verse

V006: tba rock band

tba rock band verse

V007: HeroAca

to be developed better when im not feeling lazy but some data:

she has two quirks, one from her father and one from her mother. she can stretch herself like luffy from one piece or elastic girl from the incredibles, and she has ice breath.

her little sister, however, can only stretch.

her hero name is, of course, hyper blossom

V008: Shugo Chara

to be developed better later but some important notes

no, she doesn’t have powers in this verse

her wish was to be taken more seriously by her classmates and the people around her, to not be just some klutz who eats too many sweets and appears to be ditsy and not that smart, when in reality she is incredibly smart

her egg is, of course, pink. a combination of light and dark pink with different sized hearts and some brains here and there

her chara, after the egg hatched, is a tiny female with pink hair tied up in a messy bun, round-shaped glasses, dressed in a long lab coat. her name is Kokoro.

                                 -----------------------------------------------

CONNECTIONS

The Powerpuff Girls Z

:: Momoko ♣ An unbreakable connection ( PPGZ ) ::

:: Momoko ♣ Kindness in a small package ( Miyako : Bubbles ) ::

:: Momoko ♣ Reckless fighter ( Kaoru : Buttercup ) ::

[ask-justin-and-angel]

Jag: Surprise! New format time! (also an actual story post) That speech/action alternating style has been holding me back for a bit. I'll still use it from time to time, but story posts are gonna actually contain some STORY now. Time to let my inner writer out of its cage. So let's go. Time to get this story rolling again. Let's dive in where we left off!

"* *" signifies communication via telepathy or some other nonverbal means.

I'm so, so sorry about the length of it ahead of time.

Justin starts to go down the stairs, but hesitates a few steps down. Angel puts her hand on his shoulder. "*Come on Justin, you can do this. I'm here.*" Justin takes a deep breath, then keeps moving. As he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he looks over to see Nick and his father Daniel, a tall man with an impressive moustache, talking, while his mother plays with Mimi, the family Eevee. He can hear his mom making silly sounds at her, while Mimi runs around making small, trilling sounds. In the back of his mind, he can hear an approximation of what she's saying, something along the lines of "Play play play play play fun yay wheeeeee!" He chuckles despite himself, causing Nick to turn around. "Hey little bro. 'Bout time you came down. Mom said you wanted to talk to all of us 'bout somethin'?" "Um, yeah. She asked me how the trip to Johto was, and I told her that I wanted to wait until I could tell all of you. "Well then son, come sit down and tell us then." "Okay dad." "Come on Abigail, Justin's ready to talk to us." "Oh, okay, I'll be there in a moment dear!" As they all move to the dining table, Mimi follows closely behind Abigail, still going "Play?" Justin smiles, then sits down next to Angel. Once the rest of his family has finished sitting down, he takes a deep breath. "Okay. So. Um... How to begin... Well, first off, as you can see, both Angel and I are okay, so please keep that in mind while I talk, because this is kinda... complicated..." He is greeted with silence. "I think you freaked them out Justin." He turns to look at Angel, surprised she isn't using Telepathy. "Okay, so maybe that wasn't the best way to start, but still. It's not like I can really start on a happy note, is it?" "You still could have handled that better." "I get that. But how else was I supposed to start?!" "Please don't yell at me." "Well what am I supposed to-" He stops, noticing just how quiet it is, then looks over to see his brother with raised eyebrows, his father with a stern look on his face, and his mother with her hands over her mouth. "Um...." "Bro, were you just... talking to Angel? Without Telepathy? Care to explain?" "What makes you think she wasn't-" "'Cause her eyes weren't glowin'. I'm a Pokemon researcher kiddo. I notice this kind of stuff. It's kinda my job." Justin closes his eyes and lets out a sigh. "Okay, yeah, I was talking to her. Please don't ask how. Not yet. It's... kinda part of the story." "Well now I really wanna hear 'bout your little trip." "Okay. So, the actual story doesn't really start until Angel and I were already heading back home." He then proceeds to tell them about how, when they stopped to have a quick snack, they were greeted by an unknown man, who then proceeded to attack in an attempt to kidnap Angel, when he was interrupted by his father. "I take it that you beat this ruffian then?" Justin rubs the back of his neck. "Actually... no, we didn't. He attacked with all of his Pokemon at once, which wouldn't have been as bad if he hadn't also taken the chance to attack me." At this point, his mother lets out a small gasp. "I'm fine though! I'm fine! See? Still here." "Not gonna tell them you were poisoned?" "Of course I'm going to tell them Angel, I just..." He shakes his head. "Anyways, he attacked me with Toxic, then followed up with a Venoshock, which had me floored pretty fast. Only reason he got Angel was because she turned her back on him when I got hit. Ricky was the only one still up at that point, but the poor guy got taken out as well. Then he grabbed Angel and..." He falls silent, clearly upset. "Anyways, a nearby Picnicker ran over to help me up and give me an Antidote, then she helped me get Ricky, Sandra, and Luffy to the Ecruteak Pokemon Center." "At which point you got medical help and called the police, right?" His mother asked, clearly terrified. "Um." Angel just shakes her head. "Maybe if I had been in the right state of mind, I would have. As it was, the Antidote had only dealt with some of the poison, and I was a bit loopy. So, I might have, in a delirious state, climbed one of the towers nearby in an attempt to get a better view, hoping to see her, while simultaneously leaving all of my Pokemon at the Center?" He said, rather sheepishly. His father just puts his head in his hands. "You've gotta be kiddin' me bro." "Sadly, no. And it's about to get, well... impossible. Strange and impossible." "I'm listenin'." "So, um, you're a scientist, I'm sure you've heard about the Ecruteak towers and the legends around them, right?" "I have once or twice, yeah. What of it?" "Well, what about the legendary trio? The ones brought back to life by Ho-oh?" "...Yeah. Where you goin' with this kiddo?" "So, um, don't ask me why or how, but once I reached the top of the tower, I may have succumbed to the poison and... died?" "...What." "Heh, that's how Angel reacted." "Focus Justin. Keep telling them the story before your mother has a heart attack." Justin looks over to his mother, who has gone a bit pale. Mimi is whining next to her, clearly worried. "Anyways, that's obviously not the end of the story, right? So... why I brought up Ho-oh and the trio is, well, that may have kinda happened to me?" "Son. What exactly do you mean by that? Justin says nothing, but rather gets up from the table, steps back, then summons a glowing blue bone. Nobody says anything, until Nick breaks the silence. "Is... is that a Bone Rush?" "Um... yeah?" "You can use moves now." "Yeah?" "How." "I have no idea." "Wonderful." "So, that's not all I can do. I can use Bone Rush, Flare Blitz, Protect, and Metronome. Oh, and I guess I have an ability too, I think it was Magic Guard? And to top it off, I can understand Pokemon now. Like, they talk, I hear the normal sounds, but I also hear a kind of translation in my head." "That's... impossible." "Didn't I say that?" Justin sits back down, having released the bone. "Anyways, I died, and then I woke up in the forest to the north. From what I understand, Ho-oh returned to the tower, picked up my body, took me into the forest, then revived me. When I woke up, I couldn't remember anything, then to top it off, I was attacked by a group of Magnemite. Long story short, I got upset enough running from them that I used Bone Rush without meaning to, knocking out one of them. When I realized I could fight, I stopped running and dealt with the rest of them." "*It was around this time that I woke up in a dark room with a metal collar around my neck." Everyone turns to look at Angel. "*I had no idea where I was, but I, unlike Justin, had not died, and remembered what had happened just fine. After thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided to do that broadcasting trick I used to do whenever Justin got lost, the feelings one.*" "While I wandered around the forest confused, I felt the broadcast, and it sparked my memories back up. I ran off in the direction of the thought, while the rest of my team was apparently not far behind, having also felt it. It wasn't long before I came up to a small mansion in the middle of the forest." "*At this point, I could feel him, so I opened my mind and told him where I was.*" "That was when I learned I could use Flare Blitz. I kinda football tackled the door down to get in. As well as to open her cell door." "Wouldn't that have left ya fairly hurt though? "...Yes?" Nick sighs. "Go on." "So, after checking on Angel and seeing that she wasn't in any immediate danger, I sat down next to her to catch my breath, since she had told me the others were on their way. Sandra broke the collar, and we all started to leave. We had just reached the exit when the guy attacked us again, this time telling his Tyranitar to use Hyper Beam. That's when I learned I could use Protect. Also, what kind of scorch pattern a Hyper Beam leaves on the ground. Anyways, I told the others to take Angel and run, which she wasn't happy about, but she followed." "Bro, this sounds like a comic book or somethin'." "You're telling me. So, the guy tells me that his name is Midas, and that he's a Team Rocket executive. Go figure. He then sends out all of his Pokemon again, and he tries to poison me yet again. Quickly learned I have Magic Guard. He then tried to send half his team to chase down the others, but I used Metronome for the first time in a panic, which turned into a Magnitude 10. He only has his Tyranitar now, which attacks with another Hyper Beam, I use protect again, Midas pulls out a gun, and I throw him off balance with another Flare Blitz, though I'm almost out cold myself at this point, then I use another Metronome, hoping I get a good one. I used Fissure, which split the land in front of me in two, collapsing part of the mansion." He stops, looking around the table. "I... think I might have killed him. When I made the fissure, he fell down it. He shot me in the shoulder on his way down, but still. I couldn't see the bottom. I never heard him hit the bottom. And he had a servant of some kind in the mansion, who was helping keep Angel hostage. I don't know what happened to him either." He stops talking, unable to look up. Angel leans over and puts her arms around him. He just leans against her, silent. "*Not long after, Officer Jenny found him wandering through the forest, with a bleeding shoulder ready to pass out. She had gone out there due to both the news of the attack on us and because Justin had caused at least two local tremors and set the mansion on fire, causing some concern. She brought him to the Center, where the doctors took care of him, though we didn't tell them everything. Just what they needed to know. And Justin's new... abilities... they didn't need to know about. Nothing else of note really happened beyond that.*" Everyone at the table is silent, still trying to process what they just heard. Daniel is the first to speak up. "Son. It sounds like... like you did a good thing. Well, maybe not a good thing. But I don't think any less of you for what happened. What's done is done." Next, his mother, trying hard not to cry. "I'm just glad you're okay! I... I don't know what I would do if I lost you..." Finally, his brother. "...Justin. This is a lot to take in. For multiple reasons. I'm sure you can guess some of 'em, so I won't bother you with 'em now. But... know this. I'm not sure what I would 'ave done if I was in your place. So I've got no room to judge. However, once your feelin' better, I want to talk to you. 'Bout several things. 'Kay?" Justin is silent. He doesn't move, though he does take a few shaky breaths, trying not to freak out. Nick gets up and heads outside. Angel shifts slightly, then stands up. "Come on. Let's go upstairs." She helps him up, then guides him towards the stairs. As the two of them head up, she can hear Justin's parents talking quietly. She opens her mind, curious. "Sometimes Abigail, I'm not sure if that Pokemon is the best thing to ever happen to our boy, or the worst." "Daniel! You know how much he cares about that Pokemon! He absolutely adores it!" "That's what I'm worried about." "Well, she was his first one after all." "I know that, I'm just sayin' that-" She closed her mind off. She had heard enough. Looks like their decision not to share everything was right. Not that Justin could know. He was having a hard enough time as it was.

Jag: So, for those of you who actually slogged through this, thank you. Question though, did you have any trouble reading it? Anything style-wise you want me to change? Cause I want to make sure people can understand what's going on when I write large amounts like this. Anyways, hopefully this is the start of me being more active again. Thanks to everyone who's stuck around till now, and welcome to any new readers I have, of which there are several (according to my follower count). Toodles!

P.S. Christ this is bigger than I thought. I am so sorry. XD