namisweatheria - Tumblr blog

namisweatheria · 8 days

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OKAY WOW THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR RESPONSES TO THIS. I saw someone say they want to draw fanart, and absolutely no pressure or anything, but I would be THRILLED. I mean, I already am thrilled with the enthusiasm this has received, truly thank you!!

Someone mentioned Usopp backing Sanji up in fights, and I was only thinking of the gag potential before but now I'm considering it more seriously. Something I've long wished for in One Piece is more combo-moves. If AU Usopp and Sanji always fought side-by-side to make up for their individual weaknesses, I think it could be SO cool. Even the simplest combination techniques can be difficult, but are so compatible with their two fighting styles. Sanji kicking someone up into the air so Usopp can shoot them down, Usopp shooting someone with one of his special trapping plants and Sanji taking them out- for them it's remarkably easy.

(Adding Chopper into their It's Okay Not To Have Monster Strength [Like Some People] club and having some combo moves with him, too, could be so sweet.)

It'd be fun if Nami and Zoro had combo moves too. Oh my god, remember when Zoro drowned himself in order to force Nami to save him, because he knew she would? I'm imagining that, but in battle. Doing his part of a combo move, which leaves him lethally vulnerable unless she finishes it. Forcing her to face her fears and fight, in the most irritating way possible. Holy shit. He would have the absolute best time tormenting her with this, I can just see his shit-eating grin. Oh, that's evil. He would.

Even when female characters in shounen get to fight, and aren't just relegated to support roles, it's normally in a much less gritty and visceral way. It's often tactical moves from a distance, magic or technology involved, some kind of wand or gun or avatar used. Personally that has created an insatiable hunger in me for tooth and nail bloody fists shounen women violence. So while Nami's abilities are more suited to powering-up Zoro's, it's important to me to try to get creative and think of another way. Not that her intelligence shouldn't be utilized, it should, but so should her muscles! For me. For my sake.

I loved when she used to just hit people with her staff directly, lol. OH HEY THAT REMINDS ME! I HAD A BEAUTIFUL TIME-SKIP ERA NAMI THOUGHT! What if instead of old wizard men collecting data from their lofty sky-ship, it was rough-and-tumble middle-aged-and-older butch women collecting geological and climate data on-the-ground in extreme conditions. They HAVE a sky ship but only to get between insane locations of weather extremity. Don't you know the most reliable data is collected in-person! So Nami's huge Time-Skip Power-Up is becoming largely immune to extreme temperatures and lightning, being able to see through fog, and being unaffected my unstable and dizzying environments. (Due to a combination of One Piece-typical 'If You Train You Can Just Do This' logic and scientific modifications.)

That way she could hit people with lightning AND her staff at the same time >:) Also it would be wicked and I think about on par with Canon Sanji's Post-TS and then Post-WCI flying and cyborg damage resistance.

I've also been thinking about Sanji's obsession with gender roles and how that would be effected by all this as well. He seems to enjoy being saved by Nami and Robin when it happens, but that might be only because 1) Their opponents were women and 2) Their normal dynamic is still overwhelmingly him saving them, so his idealized self-image of being a dashing prince charming who saves the beautiful woman isn't threatened.

If those two things were no longer true, well. >:) I THINK HE WOULD SUFFER. >:) And I think Nami would put up with a lot less shit. She wouldn't be able to hide behind him when she's scared, because he'd get himself killed against opponents she could take down herself. Nami would not do that. Sanji would still try it. Nami would be forced to make him see reality. There's only so much getting in the way in dangerous situations due to misogynistic ideals that a person can take. That could be a very interesting confrontation...

I think afterwards, he'd have to learn to disentangle his care-taking, protective instincts from heterosexual gender roles. I think he'd end up doing his dashing protector act at Usopp, lol. Who would love it. And in a cool older brother way at Choppa. Who would also love it. Wait it'd end up so cute.

Of course Nami's already formidable lesbian powers would increase to an un-foretold scale, as she'd be in there saving random women herself rather than sending someone else.

God, okay, there's still a lot more to think about but I have stuff to do so I have to leave it for now. But, basically: Monster Trio Nami AU. It's good for everyone!

I really miss the romance dawn trio where it's Zoro and Nami on either side of Luffy. The monster trio is great and everything but it does make me sad how Sanji took Nami's place. I miss the times when Zoro and Nami would threaten someone simultaneously, weapons drawn in sync. It felt so good in a gender way.

I've only just started thinking about this but I'd love to create things for an AU where Sanji just never gets that strong, and Nami powers up alongside Zoro and Luffy instead. I think it could be good for both Nami and Sanji's characters in different ways.

I think Sanji's whole thing about being made to feel subhuman for not being strong enough could be explored in such an interesting and even more powerful way if he really never got that strong. If he didn't ever have to be the warrior, if just being a cook like he always wanted to be was enough. Of course all the Strawhats contribute to the fights, but if he had more of a supportive role like Chopper that could be so interesting when it comes time to explore his insecurities. Going from 'the standards you were being held to are completely unreasonable and there's nothing wrong with being human' to 'you don't have to be strong at all, it's okay to just be you' could be soooo good. HE WOULD SUFFER SO MUCH MORE. But I think he'd end in an even healthier place. The journey could be so interesting.

AS FOR NAMI!!! She could be more like Zoro, fighting with the words of someone she lost in her mind. Bellemere told her to never lose to anyone, that girls have to strong too. It could be such a good what-if parallel to Kuina. If Kuina had a supportive adult encouraging her that she can be strong too, if her father hadn't been sexist, she could have gone just as far as Zoro does. The proof that her gender never made her inferior fighting right alongside him. God it'd be soooo satisfying and it'd make the message so much stronger. Also, Nami's slow development of becoming braver could be in the forefront. She'd have to fight herself so much harder to constantly be on the front lines. Plus, the comedy of an incredibly powerful person being a scaredycat is too good.

Which of course brings up, what happens to the scaredycat duo? I think the answer is related to what happens to Sanji's advice to Usopp in Water Seven. I think just because AU Sanji isn't strong, that doesn't mean he becomes any more fearful or less likely to put himself in harms way. Instead of the background gag of Nami and Usopp cowering together, it could change to Usopp constantly having to brave the battlefield to drag Sanji back out of it. I think they'd fight a lot, but very differently from Zoro and Sanji's fighting. Usopp gets mad because he doesn't want Sanji to get hurt, and it's hard to be truly hostile to someone with those kind of intentions.

Remember when Usopp reassured Chopper that 'it's okay to run away, just do what you can do'? And some of the others kinda made fun of him, like, 'That's your motto eh Usopp?'. He was telling Chopper what he wanted to hear, but much later we find he didn't really believe it, not when it's for himself. He also told Chopper it's okay when Merry's mast broke under his watch, "because we can replace the mast, but we can't replace you!" I think AU Usopp would be saying this kind of thing to Sanji all the time. They'd be very close. So when Usopp's insecurity gets the better of him in Water Seven, it's a huge betrayal for Sanji specifically. How could he say those things to him if all this time, he didn't really mean them? If it's not true for Usopp, where does that put Sanji?

It could go a lot of other ways too, though. Maybe their close relationship based on not being the strongest and being okay with it together would enable Sanji to talk Usopp down from leaving. Or, bad version, Sanji could take it just as personally as Usopp does, since Usopp is to him what Merry is to Usopp, and they both leave. God, they'd all be so heartbroken. Lots to think about...

As for Nami, I think she'd be a lot closer with Zoro. They'd be bickering all the time, but it would have that trust that Zoro and Luffy have underneath it. That if one of them needs a break, the other is there to pick up the slack. This is already their dynamic in a different way, both acting as secondary leaders, keeping things from getting too out of control. To me the best example of that is Whiskey Peak, when they're the only two who weren't fooled. I think it would help both of them retain their silliness if they were always on equal footing, fighting side-by-side. Some of my favorite East Blue moments are the couple of times they played jokes on the others together, and I think we'd see a lot more of that. When you trust the person next to you to be perfectly in-step with you, it's a lot easier to have fun even in dangerous situations.

I think especially Zoro needs help keeping his goofy side, and for Nami it'll help her get over her fears to have her reliable best friend right there egging her on. I just think they'd have a lot of fun!

Nami & Usopp, Zoro & Sanji, they're both fun dynamics, but I'd love to switch it up. There's just so much possibility to explore...

#monster trio nami au #my posts #my aus #nami #sanji #sanuso #sanji & chopper #nami & zoro

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namisweatheria · 10 days

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Nami & Usopp, Zoro & Sanji, they're both fun dynamics, but I'd love to switch it up. There's just so much possibility to explore...

#my posts #my aus #nami #nami & zoro #sanuso #I mean. yeah. it would be.#plus i miss the poly triad vibes of the romance dawn trio. bring them back to me....

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