Franaud - an introduction
Sooo, the genius of @ticiie willed the pairing Franjo/Arnaud into existence and while on first glance I was a bit 🤨 I am now fully converted and convinced they are skiing's next power couple. They have similarities, for example their tragic pasts, and they have differences that make them a perfect fit for each other. Because I have nothing better to do (I do but my hyperfixation doesn't let me...) I wanted to do a short introduction on both of them (it's just an excuse to post a few pictures).
First, there's Franjo
He is the blueprint of an average Swiss zoomer from the boonies, in the picture above visible by his stance. Born in 2001, he lives in a constant traffic jam in Boltigen (the town is on the only road to some of Berne's biggest ski places and is basically backed up with cars from Dezember-March). He loves speed in every form, not just on skis but also on motorbikes and in cars.
Because he is from the Canton of Berne and specialised in downhill he is hailed as the heir of Beat Feuz. With his third place in the second race in Garmisch in the past season he did nothing to mitigate these hopes. He was on the podium with Odi, and like Marco he is genial and easy-going and loves a good time with friends. But he has something not even Odi has: a drink of his own.
He almost had to give up racing though because his father died when Franjo was just 17 and in the middle of his apprenticeship as carpenter. Thanks to a crowd-funding however he managed to get enough money to keep going.
Btw I swear I read in an article that his name his an amalgamation of Franz-Josef but for the life of me I can't find it anymore.
On to Arnaud:
He is from Martigny in the French-speaking part of Switzerland and has the most charming accent when he speaks German or English. (also I listened to a radio interview and he could seriously work as the guy who speaks the dialogues on tape for students learning French; he's very easy to listen to) He joined the world cup for the first time in the past season together with Franjo. Unlike Franjo, however, he is already in his mid-twenties (only one year younger than Odi). The reason it took him a bit longer to get into the big league is that he was fate's punching bag for the past few years.
He showed passable results in the European Cup before the pandemic (this one's from the last season but there's Gilles too, so I was powerless) and was allowed to compete in the team try-outs for Wengen 2020. Back then, Lars Rösti (who lives not far away from Franjo) was the reigning youth world champion in downhill. Arnaud beat him in practice but despite his results, the coaches chose Rösti for the last starting place in Wengen. This threw big waves, especially in Valais where people (probably a teeny bit rightfully) assumed that head coach Stauffer, like Rösti and Franjo from Canton of Berne, had shown preferential treatment. Arnaud was promised a start at one of the remaining downhills that season but only one week later, he broke his knee in the European Cup and was out for the season.
(Small parenthesis: Judging by his social media he is a more talented hustler than Franjo whose charm is more...rustic. Here he is listening to one of his sponsors while having very petable hair.)
Once his knee was okay again, he broke his arm, and was out another season. He returned in 2022 and won that season's European Cup in Super-G, which meant he had a fixed place for the past season and no chance to lose it anymore. He was not nominated for Beaver Creek and the first downhill in Val Gardena. Because he won points in his very first Super-G in the World Cup though, he was finally allowed to start in dh too, and the rest is history. He won his first podium only a few weeks after Franjo when he came third in the Super-G in Saalbach.
Btw, a little added shit-dollop to that shitty decision in Wengen: Back in 2020 his father was still alive. He died in 2022 though, and thus never saw his son race in the wc. In the interview I read Arnaud doesn't explicitly talk about that but he mentions that he was very hurt by the decision, and also mentioned his Dad in the post before his first start in the wc.
Why they are perfect for each other:
On first glance, it would be understandable if these two would be nothing more than co-workers. All that is missing from Franjo's entire existence being a pure cliché of a proud Swiss hick is a cow in his profile pic, while Arnaud is more...cerebral. He studied economics and works part-time in a bank over summer, and one of his best friends is Tanguy (that is Dartmouth alumnus and expert-straddler Tanguy Nef to you). Their characters, however complement each other and make them a perfect fit. They are both popular and well-liked by the people around them, and they are both funny as hell. Franjo's humor is more of the straight-forward kind, he's a happy-go-lucky man like Odi while Arnaud can be a downright sarcastic little shit (evidence).
In conclusion, I think there should be 173 fics about these two in all stages of relationship. Thank you for your attention.
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Sometimes, I think about how much Alhaitham's entire adult life has been shaped by Kaveh and I just... have to sit down for a second.
Kaveh was Alhaitham's first, and, as far as we've been told, only friend until recently. At the very least, Kaveh was likely his only close friend throughout Alhaitham's entire schooling years, from teens into adulthood.
Alhaitham lives in the house he received for his work with Kaveh. The house Alhaitham lives in wouldn't even exist without Kaveh.
Alhaitham's ideology and behavior have been shaped by his diametric opposition to Kaveh's perspectives. He acts and thinks the way he does in part because of how their debating over years shaped how Alhaitham sees the world.
He's become an active part of a friend group almost entirely because of Kaveh. Alhaitham's story quest says that he didn't become particularly friendly with the rest of Sumeru's saviors even after they saved the archon, but now we see him hanging out with Cyno and Tighnari all the time because Kaveh was friends with them first and eased the way.
He even drinks a particular brand of coffee because he and Kaveh picked it together.
If you removed all trace of Kaveh from Alhaitham's life, virtually nothing would be the same. He wouldn't live where he does now. His house wouldn't look like it does inside at all. He very likely wouldn't have a single close friend. His ideology would probably be significantly more pragmatic and cold. Literally the only thing in Alhaitham's current life that hasn't been shaped in some way by Kaveh is Alhaitham's job. Which is... probably why work is Alhaitham's least favorite aspect of life.
Meanwhile, Kaveh is honest to archons over here wondering "What does Alhaitham even think about me?"
I don't know, buddy, probably that you're his whole world?
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Crocodad AU where immidiately after having left Dragon and his baby boy Crocodile finds an 11 year old Robin. And while he's 100% only recruiting her so they can make a beeline for the Poneglyph and Pluton in Alabasta by the two of them... Crocodile accidentally sorta kinda adopts Robin.
At this point Robin's been running for her life from the Government for three years so her deep trust issues and fear of betrayal are starting to take root in her little heart. Like perhaps they haven't taken fully over yet, and being still a child I'm sure Robin might've still had that genuine hope that she could find a safe place to stay in. But I'm sure the though of "what'll he'll do with me once he gets what he wants?" would be nagging at her at the back of her mind.
Meanwhile Crocodile's struggling between the pain and hurt he's already gone through and given him his trademark trust issues, as well as the aftermath of The Dragodile Divorce. But he also has his Fresh Paternal Instincts and probably misses his baby. So when given a small, scared child who is running for her life, being chased by the very same Government that'll want his son dead if they ever find out about him... Yeah that might fuck with your brain a little
You know this post was supposed to be just that first paragraph and just a few footnotes from the following two paragraphs. And then I kept on Having Thoughts. And I kept on writing them down. And oh no what happened when did this post get so long (Look I was going to either kept on writing my Additional Thoughts in the tags or I just put them in the actual fucking post)
Like considder this: based on this one SBS, we can kinda tell that if Crocodile was given a chance to raise a child, that child would be a spoiled little shit, right
So in this scenario, where Crocodile's looking after lil Robin, would he be kind of torn? Unsure how to feel about her?
Because on one hand, this strange child would have the potential to not only ruin his plans, strip him of his Shichibukai Privileges by outing him and his plans to the World Government, but also put his son in grave danger by extension (if she found out about him having been involved with the Revolutionaries and/or having a child).
But on the other hand, his paternal instincts could make him want to spoil this poor little girl rotten. But only because he needs to (perhaps literally) buy her trust so she'll behave. No other reason, he doesn't feel sorry for her one bit, no sirree. (But maybe he did feel sorry for her, since his son could very well end up exactly like her. Poor little thing) (Which is why he needs to nuke Marijoa out of orbit as soon as possible, no matter the cost, and this child can't get in the way of Crocodile protecting his son) (But also this is a child. Like how bad could she be. Besides all he really needs to do to win her trust is be nice and make her feel safe, right?)
Of course, while I'm suggesting Crocodile could have some parental instincts, realistically, he hasn't actually spent any time being, you know, a father to a child (looking after his newborn for an unknown though short amount of time aside), so it's possible he wouldn't even know how to parent Robin even if he wanted to, would he? (Like taking care of a newborn and an 11 year old kid aren't the same either) So if he was kind of just emotionally flipflopping between No Trusting Ever and It's Just A Kid for God's Sake, Crocodile trying to be nice to Robin to make her feel safe and then telling himself to stop being so soft and vunerable... Yeah that would make for an absolute mess of a relationship.
(Not to mention, let's be real, dude's a scary motherfucker too, and a bloody giant compared to itty bitty baby Robin. He could keep on accidentally scaring the shit out of Robin (who would be On Fucking Edge To Begin With) by just Being Himself. Like for example, can you fucking imagine if he caught Robin trying to cheer herself up with a little "dereshishishi" only to tell her to stop because "it was stupid"? 'Cause I can imagine him doing that, and boy howdy would that make Robin feel bad)
Or who knows, maybe Crocodile was just Born To Be A Dad, maybe he just Fucking Gets It. Like Crocodile is canonically pretty good at manipulating people to do what he wants them to do (see: how he played Vivi like a fiddle), so knowing Robin's position and understanding how she feels, maybe he COULD completely nail how she needed to be treated. Not being too familiar but still making her feel safe and happy, knowing exactly when to be stern and when to spoil her, etc. Dude just goes off and wins the Dad of the Year Award while being a deadbeat dad himself.
The only thing Crocodile would have to worry about then would be making sure HE doesn't get too fond of her. And certainly that could never happen, he's so in-touch with his own feelings and so grounded, he's not a softie, get outta here. Or maybe he does but never realizes until it's too late and good luck backpedalling on those emotions now dumbass
Alright so, the reason I went on that whole rmble is just that like. I'm so interested in the relationship Robin and Crocodile already have in canon. I'm so facinated and curious about how the two feel about each other, considdering they did spend 4 whole years of their lives together as criminal business partners, though neither ever trusted the other. A partnership that was only ended because Robin betrayed Crocodile, out of her own trauma. (God, I want to see these two "reunite" so bad, I want to know how they feel about each other now after the timeskip and Robin joining the idiot in flipflops who foiled Croc's plans)
My question here is just that... if they had met 13 years earlier, would things have been different? Especially if Crocodad Real?
Because as I mentioned in the begining, Robin would've been on the run for only 3 years by this point, as opposed to 16 years before running into Crocodile. Simultaneously, this would be before Crocodile went onto spend an entire decade all alone, slowly losing his marbles in his emotional solitude. They'd both be emotionally traumatized, yes, but would it have been as bad in this scenario?
Like I did start this post kind of joking about Crocodile adopting Robin, and for clarity's sake I don't think they'd have like a father-daughter relationship nececarily. But it would be a strange relationship still, because we'd have two broken people, both struggling to trust anyone. One who had lost her mother and her only friends, leaving her all alone and afraid while running for her life. The other a father who had just given up his son whom he probably missed dearly. Both having these holes in their hearts from loss of family, holes that could not be filled with replacements. But could they find comfort in each other anyway, because they still as people occupy similar roles to their respective loved ones? If they both could just get over those trust issues?
Okay I've been going off on the Emotional Side Of Things for this AU Concept, THERE'S PLOT TOO
So if Crocodile did pick Robin up like 19 years ago, that should be before he set up base in Alabasta, long before he had built is homebase and financial empire etc.
Now the thing is, while we don't know when, where and how Crocodile learned about the Ancient Weapons, Pluton specifically and how the lead on it would be in Alabasta... Considdering Crocodile did once upon a time aim to become Pirate King, it would make perfect sense if he had learned about Poneglyphs during his past adventures, as he would have needed to get the Road Poneglyphs to find One Piece.
And while the World Government did bury the truth about why Ohara had been burned down and why Robin had been given her bounty (remember, the WG claimed it was because she had sunken a fleet of battleships, which she had not, it was because she could read the Poneglyphs), considdering this is a Crocodad AU specifically, you could totally make an argument Crocodile could've learned about what actually happened to Ohara from Dragon and co.
So, just to make this AU work, you could just assume Crocodile learned about the concept of the Ancient Weapons from Dragon. And who knows, maybe he overheard the truth about why Robin had been given her bounty from Dragon too (maybe Dragon was able to get intel from Garp in secret) or while going to Marijoa himself to attend a Shichibukai meeting or something IDK.
Maybe he learned about Pluton being in Alabasta before finding Robin by accident, and maybe they made a beeline for Alabasta the second Croc recruited Robin. Travelling takes time and the guy would've most likely had to find an Eternal Pose to Alabasta just to get there (also canonically Robin didn't enter the Grand Line until her 20s so they should've met in West Blue probably, since that's where Ohara was)
Or maybe Crocodile had to haul Robin around for a few months while looking for That Missing Piece of Information that would lead him to Alabasta. (Imagine the two travelling from like island to island, library to library, Crocodile trying to find that leads while Robin's just so excited about ALL THESE BOOKS (she's helping too with the research) (but to her, research is playtime, so she's just having the time of her life) (Also, notice how Crocodile's Theoretical Child is a fucking loser ass nerd? Yeah Crocodile would encourage Robin reading and studying, surely. And that would be fucking cute))
But like, once they set sail to Alabasta...
Sure, Crocodile could try to do it The Slow Way that we know he tried in canon, building trust and creating his little empire etc.
But also, in canon, Crocodile couldn't have jumped into action head first because without Robin, even if he had found the Poneglyph he couldn't have read it and found the location of Pluton. Crocodile choosing to do it the slow way may have been partially because he didn't have much of a choise and it could've felt like the smarter move long-term.
But in this scenario, he already has Robin.
Yes, he could do it the slow, secure way.
But what'd be there stopping him from infiltrating Cobra's palace and kidnapping him (in the night, when nobody suspects a thing), demanding Cobra to spill the beans lest Crocodile kills him and/or his pregnant wife*
(*Vivi was born 10 months after Luffy so depending on how long it's been between Crocodad leaving Luffy behind and this scenario... Yeah either the wife is there, still pregnant, or there's a newborn Baby Vivi)
Like it'd be a risky move but depending on how ballsy Croc's feeling and how confident he feels in being able to kidnap the king without being noticed... Yeah he could probably do it. And I'm sure he'd have no problem killing Cobra either, if anything it'd be required if he didn't want the Government to find out he was out to find Pluton, and god knows Cobra would tell on Crocodile if left alive.
I could see Crocodad being maybe a little iffy about killing Baby Vivi though (it's not like the newborn baby could report him to the WG anyways), but if nothing else, he just needs to be able to pull off the bluff of his life to convince Cobra to do as he's told. And we all know Crocodile's good at convincing people.
The only question is, how would Robin take that?
Watching Crocodile go into Full Murder Mode, hearing him say he'd kill a pregnant woman/a newborn baby if he didn't get what he wanted? Like yeah, I'm sure 11 year old Robin would be fine with that, that wouldn't make any alarm bells go off in her head at all, it'd be fiiiine.
IT WOULD NOT BE FINE, SHE'D BE SCARED SHITLESS. That fear of "what will he do with me when he gets what he wants"? Well, Robin may not have found the answer to that question in particular, but she certainly found the answer to the opposite question, and it's not good
So say Cobra, kidnapped (perhaps with Baby Vivi) by Crocodile in the night, guides the two to the Poneglyph under the tombs. Crocodile puts Cobra out of his misery because he's not needed anymore. And he asks Robin to read the Poneglyph for him.
Robin, who has spent the last little while, be it weeks or months with Crocodile, him having become her "guardian", the thing keeping her safe. Crocodile, who has now shown how cold blooded and cruel he can be. Robin, who might be scared out of her mind. Of him.
And the Poneglyph says Pluton, the thing Crocodile wants, isn't there. It's in Wano.
What's she going to do?
EDIT: I wrote a sequel post, enjoy
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Help Me Get a Service Dog to Live a Better Life!!!
I have been waiting for years for and an opportunity like what I have just been given. I have been researching service dogs extensively for years, and now I have an opportunity to get a prospect for one…… but in 2 WEEKS! I need help funding the cost of the puppy as well as the flight ($2500 approx) to get across the country. While this has been on short notice please know that this has not been a rash impulse choice, this all has been in the making for sometime now, and there is already a dog picked out that is perfect for my needs. My community is ready and willing to support me through this process of training a service dog and think it could be one of the best things for my health.
Having a service dog would allow me to work a traditional job again, would allow me to have more freedom and autonomy, this is going to change my life in a very impactful way. I want to be able to leave my home without fear of passing out and falling, I want to be able to work again, I want to be able to get out and be a human being again, to finally have the ability to do things by and for myself!\ For the first time in a while I have hope for my future, hope that my quality of life can improve, hope to feel like me again.
Please if you can share and donate! This is vital to my health, my quality of life and future.
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CA: $sleepyhen
VN: wildwotko
Dm for Paypl
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