#anyway she gets back to her ship and her captain is just like ''what trouble did you get into this time :/''

[a-substantial-trash-pile]

Catalyst

so in my au which i'm totally not using to cope or anything haha, after realizing that curly isn't going to do anything about jimmy, anya confides in swansea and he goes Protective Dad Mode. i'm calling this the "Responsibility AU." ramble below cut.

swansea doesn't immediately go after jimmy with an axe or anything because 1. they're not in a high stress life/death crash situation and 2. anya specifically requests that swansea not enact violence upon jimmy after swansea says, and i quote, "i'm gonna beat his ass." anya just wants to feel safer and more supported on the ship—she doesn't want swansea to get in trouble even if jimmy does deserve to get destroyed by 10000 punches.

what swansea can do is watch out for anya and make sure she's never alone in a room with jimmy. if there's a situation where she has to be alone with jimmy (like the psych evals), she and swansea have a system where she can signal for help. with anya's permission, swansea asks daisuke to help look out for her too (without telling him the details as to why since that's anya's right to share or not). daisuke has already picked up at this point that something is wrong based on how much more hostile swansea's become towards jimmy, and he trusts his boss, so he agrees without much question.

anya, feeling less alone now that she has people watching her back, gains more confidence to stand up to jimmy. which makes him angry because his unwanted advances are being denied and swansea and daisuke keep getting in his way. he just can't understand why he's being treated as the bad guy here (this is because he is a delusional asshole).

meanwhile curly is slowly realizing that he needs to actually do something here because the tension in the crew is palpable and increasing by the day. also swansea is being mighty passive aggressive to him and talking about "responsibility" a lot. curly keeps trying to talk to jimmy about it but the guy just keeps downplaying it and blaming everyone else but himself. and curly is realizing that his friend isn't who he thought he was.

it all comes to a head one day when an angry jimmy tries to confront anya alone and swansea steps in. things get heated, people start yelling. curly show up to see swansea and jimmy on the verge of fighting with anya and daisuke trying to hold them back respectively. curly breaks up the fight. jimmy storms off. curly follows him and finds him trying to get the gun from the case in the cockpit. curly asks him why he's doing this and jimmy claims it's for his own protection because he feels "threatened by swansea." he tells curly to give him the code. curly, the sheer wrongness of the whole situation hitting him, finally calls jimmy out on all his bs. jimmy just laughs in his face, still believing that he's not in the wrong and curly doesn't have the guts to do anything anyway. so the captain fires him on the spot. jimmy snaps and he and curly get into a fight in the cockpit. jimmy is trying to crash the ship and curly is trying to stop him. then the rest of the crew show up and anya knocks jimmy's ass out with the gun case. swansea is so proud.

they throw jimmy in the cryopod so they don't have to worry about him pulling anything else and he can be properly dealt with once the stupid delivery is over. everyone's like, "wow that was a close one—could you imagine how messed up it would be if we ended up in a crash because of jimmy? thank god that didn't happen." curly makes swansea the copilot until they can get a replacement and swansea's like, "goddammit as if i don't already do enough shit around here."

anyway my whole goal here was to get rid of jimmy early so i can have beautiful Found Family shenanigans in space with the rest of the crew. apologies and healing and happy times will happen. no the whole getting laid off thing doesn't happen. no i don't have an explanation for it. sorry for the essay.

[onepiecestarry]

A Different Kind of Pirate - Part 1

Hi Everyone! This is my first time writing a story so please be gentle! But I would love feedback :) I plan on making this a series just for funsies and want to see where it goes, I have some plans for the future parts but I won’t spoil. In my head, I’m picturing this before the Dressrosa arc but it honestly can be any time you prefer, I’ll make sure not to follow any plot. If you all would like more parts please let me know so I can be faster! Anyway, enjoy the story!

Zoro x Reader

(intro part)

Future fluff (maybe some smut)

Masterlist

Part 1: Introductions

I yank at my hands another time trying to get free. I stare at the water below me trying to think of a way out of this. I feel the stick they’ve been pushing me with hitting my back again. 

“Either jump in yourself or we’ll dump you in” a gross voice says. 

I can’t believe I got caught by such losers. As I close my eyes for one last second I hear crashing. I open my eyes to a ship crashing into the side where I was just about to fall. I quickly jump onto the other ship hoping to find something to cut my ties. 

As I look around I take in the huge ship I had landed on. A bunch of people come rushing up to the side of the boat, one of them, a tall, dark, and beautiful woman comes to help untie me. I thank her and she smiles at me warmly. 

The rest of her crew start arguing with the other ship, while everyone is distracted I take a rope and swing over to my captor’s ship to grab my stuff. I quickly find my sword and bow but cannot find my hat. 

The crew notices I’m there and tries to attack me, I quickly disarm them and with my sword to the captain’s throat ask “Where’s my hat.”

“You seriously came back for that?” he questions. 

“Tell me or I’ll kill you.” I retort.

“It’s in my office.” He says exasperated. 

I quickly run to his office and grab the rest of my belongings, as I come out I knock out most of his men, just in case. I jump onto the large ship that saved me and push the other boat away. I wave goodbye as we sail off. 

I turn around to the, what I’m guessing, is the entire crew. They look at me in bewilderment as I adjust my hat. 

“Well thank you all for saving me, that would’ve been bad if you hadn’t!” I said with a smile. 

They all look a bit relieved, except for this tall broody man with green hair. 

A small creature comes up to me and asks “Are you injured at all? I can help you!” with a smile. I smile and pat him on the head, “No, I’m perfectly alright but thank you.”

I see the crew start to relax, the broody man sits on their bench swing laying back while the rest start to find seats as well. Then, from above me a man’s face drops in front of mine. 

“Hi! I’m Luffy! I’m gonna be king of the pirates!” he says excitedly. 

“Oh! I’ve heard of you, you have a much kinder face than most describe you as, which is surprising since they say you are the kindest man they’ve met.” I laugh. 

The crew looks at me confused. 

“What do you mean? Most people are scared of us because we are pirates, even though they know nothing about us.” a beautiful redhead questions. 

“Ah well, I am not most people.” I say with a smirk.

I walk over to the bench swing and place my sword and bow on the tree next to the swing. 

“Mind if I sit here pretty boy?” I ask the swordsman before taking a seat next to him as he ignores me. The rest of the crew gathers around and mentions they have a lot of questions. 

“I would love to answer all of your questions, but let's do introductions first” I say as I smile. They all look approvingly. 

“I’m Chopper! I’m the ship’s doctor, and I’m not a raccoon so don’t ask!” He exclaims. I let out a little giggle at this and looked to the next person. 

“I’m Robin, I specialize in archeology.” she smiles. I smile back, she is a lovely person I think to myself. 

“I’m Nami, I’m the navigator and person who keeps us out of trouble.” she says laughing, I laugh with her enjoying the moment. “Oh! And that's Zoro next to you, he’s not very talkative, or warm, or nice, but I’m sure you can see that.” as she says that he scoffs next to me. 

“I can see that” I laugh, “but, he sure is pretty.” I remark. As I say that the whole crew starts giggling and I can see Zoro fighting the redness coming to his cheeks. 

We continue sitting there with introductions until finally Luffy gets too impatient and starts asking me questions. 

“How do you know who we are?” He asks quickly. 

“Well, that's a bit of a long story” I say. 

“We have time.” He smiles. 

“Haha alright. I decided to become a pirate, not because I want to be ‘king of the pirates’ or anything like that, but because I simply want to be free.” I say as I lean back and look at the blue sky. “I started sailing the Grand Line and quickly found my calling, I would sail from island to island and help the villages there with whatever they need in exchange for food and housing. I would stay there for a few weeks and move to the next island. I’ve done things like take down other pirates, taking down marines, to just planting and harvesting crops. Once I felt that the town I was in, was in better shape, I would leave. I’ve been doing this for quite a while and as I move, a number of islands have told me about the Straw Hats and how kind they were and that they are grateful for pirates like us. So, as you can imagine I’ve heard some great things about you Luffy.” 

Luffy looks at me with a big smile. “I like you y/n.”

We continue with the interview until a blonde man and a tall skeleton walk out of a door yelling for dinner. As everyone looks over, the blonde spots me and it looks as if he’s about to faint and his nose starts bleeding. 

“Is he okay?” I question. 

“Yeah this is normal, you’ll get used to it” Nami remarks.

The blonde man starts hurtling towards me and before he gets too close, Zoro takes his unsheathed sword and pushes him away. 

“Hands off shitty cook” He says with a growl.

Everyone looks pretty surprised Zoro stopped him, but not too surprised as they have a known rivalry. 

“Thank you” I whisper to Zoro and he grunts in return. 

Everyone then leads me to the dining room, where everyone begins to sit. I then see three open chairs, I go to sit in one with an empty seat beside it, but before the blonde man can sit next to me, Zoro grabs the chair and sits. I whisper thank you again as he sits.

Dinner went well as we all continued to share stories and get to know one another better. Eventually, I knew I needed to bring up my passage. 

“Well, thank you all for saving me today. If it’s not too much to ask I would appreciate being dropped off wherever you dock next.” I smile nervously. 

“What! You can’t leave so soon!” Luffy exclaims.

“I don’t want to be a bother.” I explain. 

“Nami set course for the farthest island you can” Luffy tries to whisper but fails. Everyone laughs at this attempt. “What’s so funny?” He questions everyone. 

“Oh, nothing” Robing manages to say between giggles. 

“Well y/n, unfortunately, the only open bed is in the crow’s nest with Zoro, I hope you don’t mind snoring.” She winks at me.

“Haha, it's alright, I probably won’t sleep much tonight anyway” I say. 

We all go our separate ways to bed, but Robin shows me the bathrooms and where the crow’s nest is. I see Zoro heading up there. 

“He usually stays up for watch most nights, so if you get uncomfortable you are welcome to come stay in our room.” she says kindly. 

“Oh it's alright, I usually do the same.” I say with a smile. 

We say goodnight and I go off to make some tea. I decide to make some for Zoro as well, as sort of a ‘thank-you-for-letting-me-sleep-in-your-room’ gift. I climb up the stairs to the crow’s nest and don’t see Zoro anywhere. He must be in the bathroom up here. I place his tea on the table and head out to the balcony to sit and sip on my tea. 

Eventually, I hear a door open and footsteps to the sliding doors. 

“You aren’t going to bed?” he questions plainly. 

“Eh, I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep. Oh! By the way, I made you some green tea, it's on the table.” I say without looking at him.

He huffs in response and goes back into the room, a few minutes later he returns and says “You can have the bed in the corner, I like to sleep in the hammock anyway.”

“Oh okay, are you sure? I don’t mind-” I try to say as he cuts me off. 

“Yes, yes” and he walks off into the dark room. 

I stay on the balcony for a bit more, finishing my tea, and eventually decide to try to get some sleep. As I walk in I see Zoro looking out the window, I’m guessing this is the ‘watch’ Robin was talking about. I then realize I have no pajamas, and my typical pirate outfit isn’t very comfortable while sleeping. I quietly go over to Zoro. 

“Zoro…” I wait for a response.

“... What do you want, you should go to bed.” he replies snarkily. 

“Yeah about that, I kinda don’t have pajamas and forgot to ask the girls if they have any. Could I maybe borrow something?” I ask as nicely as I can, hoping he feels kind today. He groans and gets up walks to a closet and throws a shirt at me. 

“Don’t ruin it.” He says as he moves back to his original position. 

I whisper a thank you as I go to change and slip into bed. 

The bed was more comfortable than I thought and before I drifted off to sleep I see the empty cup of tea I gave Zoro. I smile as I fall asleep, happy he liked the tea.

-

-

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Thank you so much for reading, I really appreciate it! Feel free to reach out with any advice or comments!

Part.2

[lost-technology]

SEEDS Security Codes and Why They Matter

So, I've been thinking about one of the details in Trigun: Stampede that was not present in either '98 or the manga. In '98, Knives just hacking into the SEEDS codes was left as-is. He walked up to Captain Joey and shot him and apparently took his pilot's seat. Did the Captain have the navigation open at the time? Was it closed and Knives had to do some hacking? Anyway, there, he did it on his own. Now, in Trigun Maximum, which treats Vash and Knives' childhood differently (just Rem there raising them), there is a foreshadowing of what is to come. In Volume 6, Rem is depicted waking up to an emergency signal in the middle of her sleeping-hours. (Aw, she sleeps in her regular clothes, mom-jeans and all...). Panicked, she yells at Knives for him and Vash to lock themselves in their rooms and not to come out or speak up for ANY reason, even if they hear voices outside. She tries to handle the situation, but it goes from bad to worse and the automatic crew-wakening protocol goes into effect, which she is very concerned about (for reasons that we who have read the manga know about)!

In the beginning of Volume 7 the crew wakes up, there's a situation-update. The ships are going off-course and will collide if things are not corrected. They're working through the issues and suddenly, there's an unknown factor that kicks in to correct the course. Rem then gets the crew all settled back in again for nappy-time... And proceeds immediately to Vash and Knives, where she scolds Knives with (Rem's angry mom-face, my beloved)! Knives was playing around with the ship codes and systems. He'd apparently hacked his way into the system and was curious about SEEDS' functions. (One would assume that Rem changed some of the codes after this, but I bet they were in some kind of hacking-war, with her trying to stay one step above curious Plant-twins). Knives did not mean to nearly cause a catastrophe, but this shows that he can and is a foreshadowing to when he DOES mean to cause one later. Now, in Trigun Stampede, it is stated by Nai / Knives that Vash gave him the ship-codes, also that he spent a lot of time and trouble changing the codes for every human ship. (The manga lists the ship they are born on as the Mothership, presumably guiding the entire fleet, in Stampede, it is just Ship 5, which implies multiple guides with multiple navigators). I am wondering where Studio Orange is going with this. Will it be a situation like the manga where the kids are just playing around? Little prank-war with Rem? Maybe Vash is sharing a ship code innocently, as part of their games? Or is it going to be darker, more sinister? I wonder if Vash was originally of the thought of "maybe we need to crash the ships and kill all humans (except Rem) because they're scary and dangerous because of what happened to Tesla" and then had a change of heart and backed out of it? - I can see that happening... him having his cathartic alone-time with Rem as in the manga and then talking things out with Nai and thinking that they weren't going to go through with it. And then Nai betrays him. I've been wondering about the guilt Vash carries over the Big Fall in Stampede. Is it an unnecessary, undue guilt like he seems to have about a lot of things? Or is there a guilt born from "I had originally planned disaster / we had originally planned disaster" and it came true even after he'd backed out? It's just that... in both '98 and Maximum, he does carry his cross (that is not Wolfwood's), but he seems to feel less specifically guilty over this (the Big Fall). He's really more like "Knives, how could you do this to everyone / Rem?!" He just seems more guilt-ridden in Stampede than in the other media and I am wondering if there is a dark secret behind it. I can see it going either way.

[sanjisboyfie]

๑ keep safe : don't you know? "lover" outweighs "boyfriend" (13)

one piece x male reader

you push it hard, i pull away,

i'm feelin' hotter than fire 

i guess that no one ever really made me that much higher 

te deseo, cariño,

boy, it's you i desire 

your love, your love, your love 

『 prev 』

“how could you lose luffy? idiot, you were the one holding him! [name], answer me?!”

“it just happened, i don’t know!!!” [name] said, getting tired of nami’s scolding.

“you were holding his ear weren’t you?!”

“i was!!”

“and then?! where is he?!”

“hell if i know!”

“are you giving me attitude, seriously?! right now?!”

nami and [name]’s screaming was heard throughout the entire ship and the others tried their best to not meddle with their argument. the two were going to keep going back and forth no matter what.

vivi was getting exasperated with the yelling and eventually sanji stepped in. literally. he kicked [name] in the face and made sure to make him land far away from nami.

“quit yelling your head off, especially at nami!!! who taught you manners?! why are you raising your voice at such a beautiful woman?!” sanji cried out, anger and fury in his eyes as he berated [name].

the navigator walked away from the argument, rubbing her forehead to try and ease down her headache. she commanded the rest of the crew to get the ship moving, not wanting to risk sitting at the harbor for possible navies to find.

sanji and [name] were now fighting in a corner of the ship that no one dared step near. vivi was still observing them with a deadpan look on her face. she wondered how long it would take for this to feel normal. the others on the crew, even chopper, was not caring towards the chef and [name], who were actively trying to rip each other’s heads off.

as the merry was gliding across the ocean, a good distance away from the shore, there was a sudden shout as someone had spotted luffy.

[name] bruised and hair ruffled looked over the railing, “is it really him? is ace with him? do you see ace?!”

sanji kicked down on [name]’s head, making the man face plant into the wooden deck of the ship, “huh, it really is him. there’s not any other idiot who could look like that.”

“i’m baaaaack!!!”

luffy’s yells change in volume indicated that he was approaching them at a fast rate. but since [name]’s head was previously suffocated in the wooden planks, he didn’t get enough time to properly tell where luffy was. or more importantly, where he was landing.

and just as he lifted his head up, he went tumbling backwards at the weight of luffy crashing into him, sanji, and chopper.

“sorry about that, sanji, chopper, [name],” luffy said lightheartedly, not caring that [name] was still face down on the deck.

“i should have accepted ace’s offer and left, my deadbeat captain is too much,” [name] said, voice murmured as no one could understand what he said as he was speaking directly into the deck.

“do you know how much trouble you caused?” nami’s voice shouted, “try and act more like a reliable captain!”

[name] got up from his position on the floor, sitting upright with his arms crossed over his chest. with a pursed look on his face, he looked out to sea and squinted.

“oh, that’s right, ace!!” luffy exclaimed after apologizing to nami, half-ass apologizing. “well, whatever, he’ll be fine!! ace is strong anyway,”

“he’s strong?” chopper echoed.

“yeah, stronger than me. i could never beat him! tell them, [name]!”

[name] stayed silent. but then the rest of the crew began asking him all sorts of questions, which he answered easily.

“is it true? luffy never won against that guy?” nami asked, seemingly unable to believe it.

“oi, i always beat luffy, too,” [name] said nonchalantly, still ignoring his captain. “but yeah, ace is strong.”

“i guess the bigger brothers of a monster are going to be even bigger monsters,”

“ew, [name]’s not my brother,” luffy said, his face scrunching up in confusion, “who told you that?”

“what do you mean?! you said that you grew up together!!!” the crew shouted in unison, wondering what on earth luffy was even talking about.

“he’s not my brother, though,” luffy stubbornly argued, looking at his crew in bafflement, “i never said that,”

“don’t be an idiot, it’s insinuated!!!” they once again raged on luffy, who was standing there as innocent as possible.

“but, i’d win now if we fought!” luffy laughed, going back to the original discussion - thoroughly ignoring the shouts directed at him. the crew all face palmed, listening to his hearty laugh echo on the deck.

“i assume that’s another groundless claim,” zoro spoke in a bored tone.

“definitely groundless, luffy can’t even beat me,” [name] chuckled, earning a couple of snorts from people on board.

“what?! i could totally beat you and ace!!” luffy argued once more, trying to save face.

as if on cue, ace appeared from behind luffy and kicked him down from the ship’s railing.

“who…” as he landed, he smirked at the crew and looked down at luffy, “would win against who now?!”

[name]’s face immediately brightened up, making people on the crew almost shocked at the new expression. the last time they'd seen [name]’s grin that wide was on their first encounter, when he tackled luffy to the ground.

“oh, ace! this is the crew i was talking about!” luffy said, an equally large grin on his face.

“thank you for taking care of my younger brother and [name],” ace sheepishly bowed his head down to the crew, who returned it with the same level of respect uttering a, “eh? oh, no not at all,”

“he might be a bit much for you to handle, but…”

“no, not at all,” the crew once again echoed, plainly lying to ace’s face.

“and as for [name],” ace said, making the man shoot forward in joy and wrap his arms around him, “thanks for taking care of him as well,”

there was a different fondness in ace’s voice as he spoke about [name], one that the crew didn’t really pick up on. instead they replied in the same monotonous tone they’d been using for luffy, saying, “eh? oh, not at all,”

[name] laughed, hugging ace tight and bringing him to properly stand on deck, “come on, join us. sanji, could you put some tea on for ace?” [name] politely asked, as if a switch was flipped in his mind.

‘this guy’s putting on an act,’ the crew all thought with sweatdrops rolling down their heads.

“no, no, please, don’t do it on account for me,” ace said politely, bowing his head several times to not impose. his arm was still wrapped around [name]’s waist, but his other hand that was free lifted up and lit the end of sanji’s cigarette.

“i’m surprised he’s not as brash as [name] and luffy,”

“there’s no way that this sensitive person is related to luffy!”

“he’s a brother that cares for his younger brothers,”

“ah? i never said [name] was my brother,” ace said suddenly, brows furrowed, “[name]’s not my brother,”

[name] rolled his eyes, slapping ace on the head, “why do you always bring this up at the least convenient of times?”

“never a convenient time to tell the truth, you should always be telling the truth,” ace teased back, earning an annoyed grunt from [name].

“what do you mean you guys aren’t brot-”

“oh, you guys have company,” ace said, suddenly cutting off nami’s question. “i can take care of them,” he offered, earning nods from other people in the crew.

“no, i wanna beat someone up,” [name] said, a grin on his face. but he was physically held back by ace.

“you guys just relax, i’ll do it!” he shouted, jumping off of the side of the ship and onto his own transport.

“asshole,” [name] said under his breath, but he happily watched the fight go down with a grin of excitement on his face.

with ace’s destructive devil fruit and his battle awareness, the ships were ruined and discarded into the sea in seconds. all it took was one attack form ace and wood from the ships was floating in the water.

it was like they blinked and the job was finished.

ace was soon back on board the going merry and [name] was attached to his hip once more. the duo grinned back at each other. sanji broke out some of the booze they had, handing a cup of coffee to [name], and joined in the celebration of ace’s arrival.

questions were being thrown at ace from every direction, but no matter what they were talking about or who was talking to who, [name] stayed right on top of ace. almost literally.

he was hunched over ace’s back, grinning from ear to ear as ace answered all the strawhats’ questions and wonders.

“so whitebeard pirates, huh?” usopp said with a gleam in his eyes, “are they as strong as the marines say?”

“no, stronger,” ace grinned, “if there’s any pirate crew out there that’s like a family, it’s my old man’s.”

usopp and chopper had sparkles in their eyes as they listened to ace talk about his pirate crew. there was nothing but fondness in his voice. [name] played with the ends of ace’s hair as he continued on telling about whitebeard, humming a song to himself.

ace looked at him briefly once he started, but simply turned away with a smile on his face as he went back to explaining.

”so why are you around here, ace?” chopper asked.

“i’m hunting for a man, a pirate,” ace easily answered. “his name is blackbeard,”

“more beards…” [name] murmured under his breath, making ace flick him on the forehead.

“that’s the pirate that attacked drum kingdom.” vivi gasped, wondering what the connection was between the two.

“he used to be a member of the second division of the whitebeard pirates,” ace continued explaining, “but he committed the worst possible crime on a pirate ship, he killed a crewmember and jumped ship,”

[name] stiffened at the idea, eyes darkening. imagining if someone on the strawhat crew had done that, thinking back to the other pirate crews he’d ever encountered as well. it left a sweet taste in his mouth and it made him want to vomit.

“so, as the commander, i gotta find him and get rid of him.”

“so that’s why you’re chasing after him?” usopp mused.

“i came here because i caught word that blackbeard was seen in yuba,” [name] grit his teeth, imagining the ugly face that was causing ace to go out and into harm’s way. if they ever found blackbeard at alabasta, he’d make sure to do a number on him before ace finished him off.

unnecessarily taking ace away from the pirate crew he deemed a family, that selfish bastard. [name] had to hold himself back from voicing his anger, instead choosing to rest his cheek on ace’s shoulder and leaning into the inside of his neck.

“oh, that means your destination is the same as us!” nami cheered, looking relieved to know that luffy’s older, more responsible, respectful, and put together brother was going to be able to keep him in check for a little longer.

“it looks like we can travel together longer than we thought!” the navigator cheered, taking [name]’s cup of coffee and lifting it up as if it were a jug of booze, “cheers!”

“yeah! luffy’s big brother is more than welcome here!” usopp said, immediately joining in the cheers and drinking his share of liquor.

everyone joined in, slamming their cups into each others. they drank happily and [name] laughed as he saw everyone’s relieved faces.

ace kept [name] close, laughing into his h/c hair and basking in his presence. ace’s arm was resting on [name]’s shoulder and held tightly in place so they wouldn’t separate.

it was obvious to the other crewmembers that ace seemed to want to monopolize on [name]’s attention and skinship, seeing as he didn’t let go of him for even a second.

“oh, ace, when you’d get this tattoo?” [name] asked, tracing his finger tip over ace’s skin. the man almost shivered at the sensation, but just as quick as he was to shiver, he was as quick to bursting into flames - or certain parts of his exposed skin were.

right over the area of ace’s heart, in between the pectoral and his ribs, were the neatly written words, “together in chaos.” [name] recognized the words immediately, feeling flushed when he read them.

“are you serious?”

“obviously. permanently there, isn’t it? i’d say that’s pretty serious,” ace mused, rubbing the area, “oh? are you blushing? did i really flatter you that much? no, no, let me see your face, [name]!” ace teased, trying to pull [name]’s hands away from his face.

as chaos was bubbling above deck, there was a quiet conversation being had in the woman's quarters.

“i wonder when the last time they all saw each other was,” nami mused vivi as the princess sat in their quarters writing a letter to her father. “he’s real attached — ace,”

“well, the bond of brothers is a sensitive topic for both of them, i’m sure,” vivi entertained, wondering what it was like to feel like that. but a grin came onto her face as she realized she shared a similar experience with her relationship with nami. overtime, sailing with the pirates and going through different adventures together, vivi felt safe where she was.

she felt in place.

“but the thing is, ace and luffy both say [name]’s not their brother…i wonder why,” nami thought out loud.

“well, i’m not sure, but…thinking about it — has [name] told anyone his past? he could have real family members he holds close to his heart, maybe luffy and ace are being respectful to not include themselves in that,” vivi hummed, wondering where [name] was from and how he came to be such a strong individual.

another person vivi came to cherish on the crew, finding solace in him and his welcoming demeanor. in many ways, he was similiar to their captain. but she had seen him become serious, intimidating, and more aware than luffy has ever proven himself to be.

not to mention, that price on his head wasn’t put there for nothing. and the sword he carries around definitly makes her uneasy. its natural aura, she assumed.

but no matter how many times she’d hear [name] yell or see him scowl, she can’t help but think of how grateful she is to him. she’s indebted to him like she is to the rest of the crew.

her cheeks flush ever so slightly as she thinks of the major sacrifices [name] had made in order for nami to get better. how gently he was taking care of her, speaking to her in soft tones. it showed a side of vulnerability, which to vivi, was undeniably…nope! vivi wasn't going to get caught up in those thoughts, she had a whole country to be concerned over instead! she almost smacked her head to scold herself, but dialled back on the action since nami might've thought she was going insane. it was as if her mind wanted to run its own course without her permission. she had no time for thinking about [name] like that, whatever that was.

“you really think so?” nami voiced, looking at the ceiling in thought.

“really think what!? i wasn’t thinking anything, nami!” vivi shouted, shaking her head rapidly, almost knocking over the books that were on top of the desk she was working on, “i didn’t think anything!!!”

nami sweatdropped, seeing that she caught vivi in her daydreams and put her hands up in surrender, “i wasn’t talking about whatever you’re referring to, vivi. i’m talking about what you said earlier.”

vivi stilled at the realization and waved her hand, “oh, obviously!!!…sorry,”

“it’s alright,” nami chuckled, finding vivi’s flustered state entertaining, “i was saying, though, i don’t think that’s the case…there’s probably something they’re not saying, for [name]’s sake.”

nami hummed in thought, wondering if it was something very serious between the three men. and assuming that was the truth, she stepped back and decided to no longer think about it. or wonder about it, either. she wasn’t going to ask luffy or ace, seeing as she didn’t want to pry too heavily into [name]’s past.

ace or luffy, or maybe even [name], could bring it up on their own.

but one thing did bother her quite a bit.

the fact that she, and no one else on the crew really (besides luffy), knew anything about [name]. he was an enigma to them. despite being on this life threatening journey together and him saving her life, nami blanked when she tried thinking of things she knew about [name] besides the surface level.

she walked over to vivi, ruffling her hair and telling her to not burden herself too much with the letter she was writing, and then walked up the stairs to go back to the deck.

as she was walking through the ship, she saw through the kitchen window that [name], ace, usopp, and luffy were keeping sanji company. she saw the way [name] had a tight grip on ace’s bicep, the victim of his steely grip smiling in a carefree manner as he had a hand resting on [name]’s leg.

she truly did wonder who [name] really was. but she walked off, choosing to not observe the scene so heavily anymore.

after a scolding in the kitchen, thanks to sanji’s shouts and usopp and luffy’s childish antics, the ship decided to take a short break.

vivi seemed to have finished writing her letter and needed karue to deliver it to her father for her. [name] accompanied her to say goodbye to her dear friend and vivi confided into his side as she had to watch karue leave. it seemed to pain her a lot, so he gently rubbed up and down her back to comfort her.

”he’s a strong chicken, he’ll be fine,” he said reassuringly, not seeing the flash of annoyance cross her face.

she smacked his cheek with her hand, not too roughly, and shouted over the crew’s laughter, “he’s a duck, not a chicken!!”

“what did i say? i thought i said that!”

“[name], vivi, let’s go sailing already, hurry up!”

this cause the man to perk up, angrily yelling at luffy, “don’t leave us here, you baffoon!”

he held vivi by her waist and easily jumped on board, gently landing them back on deck. she thanked him quietly, watching as he nodded his head and then ran into ace’s side.

”let’s go get changed, ace,”

“mhm,” the ravenette easily answered.

“wait for me! [name], ace!!” luffy childishly shouted, jumping onto [name]’s back and getting carried the rest of the way to the boy’s room.

“you seriously never change, luffy, always running after me and ace,” [name] teased, pulling on luffy’s stretchy cheek and then letting go to snap it back to place.

“if you guys just waited for me, i wouldn’t have to run,” luffy pouted, resting his chin on top of [name]’s head.

“whatever, just learn how to keep up,” ace chimed in, throwing an arm around [name]’s shoulder, much to luffy’s annoyance (at both his words and his actions).

“oi, ace! lay off [name], will you?! you know he’s apart of my crew!” luffy shouted, jumping off of [name]’s back and slamming the door shut.

”i can do whatever i want, luffy, like hell i’d listen to my little brother,” ace shot back, seemingly winding his fist up for a fight.

”you two will be the death of me,” [name] grunted, going through the chests of clothing to find the outfit he had stowed away for alabasta desert purposes. “luffy, here wear this over your clothes.”

the boy easily obeyed, putting on the robes and securing some cloths around his hat so it wouldn’t fly away. meanwhile, ace dressed into his own robes that he had brought, pulling them from his green knapsack.

[name] grinned in glee when he finally found his. the exposed tattoo on his back was covered up and he was soon wearing (suffocating) layers of clothes to protect against the heat.

“i can already tell this trip is gonna really kill me,” [name] whined, putting a headpiece over his head to protect against the sun.

“just stick close me when night falls, [name], or else you’ll get really cold,” ace advised, making [name] hum in agreement.

luffy puffed out in annoyance, “who says [name] has to go to you? what if he wants to be with me instead?”

“when has [name] ever wanted to be with you, nasty kid?” ace said once more, seemingly wanting to always be in fights with luffy over [name]. “me and [name] are closer, don’t you know?”

“liar, [name]’s mine, always has been!” luffy shouted in return, “he doesn’t wanna be all close and mushy with you when he’s got me! isn’t that right, [name]?!”

“are you forgetting i have a natural heat because of my devil fruit, idiot?! that’s what i meant in the first place,”

“then why do you talk about it so weirdly, speak more with your chest, ace!!”

“like hell i’d take advice like that from an idiot like you!” ace shouted in fury, if it had not been for [name] physically stepping in between the two, they definitely would’ve clashed heads.

“please, shut up!!! let’s just go, the crews probably all waiting!!!” [name] said, grabbing the two of them by their hair and dragging them out of the room, “when are you two ever going to put your childish bickering aside?”

“for you, my dear, never,” ace said in a mockingly dreamy tone, he even giggled at the end to sound like a person speaking about a childish, shy crush.

“don’t ever make a sound like that again, ace, i’m serious,” [name] threatened.

luffy, despite being painfully tugged along by his hair, grinned in glee seeing [name] somewhat take his side, “yeah, stupid, ugly, rude ace! listen to what [name] says!”

“who are you calling stupid?! seriously!” ace shouted once more.

a rough tug to both of their scalps had them shutting up in an instant, instead yelling for [name] to let go and give them mercy. but the h/c haired boy kept tugging them along.

“i said enough, stop acting like children. those silly bets you guys made when we were young are also coming back — both of you not calling me your brother? seriously, what’s your guys’ issue?”

“because you’re not our brother,” ace and luffy said in unison, finally agreeing on something.

as the three came out from under deck, the crew couldn’t help but eavesdrop on the conversation.

“why do you two keep saying that?!” [name] said in annoyance, pinching both their cheeks. his own face was red, hoping to god that they really didn’t remember the words they spoke all those years ago.

but from the mischievous grin on ace’s face and the carefree smile on luffy’s it seemed they were referencing exactly what he was dreading.

“you’re my lover! / cause you’re my boyfriend!” the two shouted at the same time, making [name] drop them onto the deck in disbelief.

the crew that was trying to stealthily listen to their conversation…half of them ended up gagging in shock.

nami let out a shriek of surprise, the water usopp was drinking was spit out of his mouth, the dumbbell zoro was carrying crashed onto the wooden planks, sanji spat out his cigarette and grunted in surprise, vivi looking onward with an expression of fear, and chopper was just looking around in confusion.

“what?!” the entire crew, including [name], shouted in unison.

“what?” luffy echoed, wondering what the big deal was.

“what do you mean what?!” nami screeched, wondering if her captain even knew the weight his words held.

”[name]’s my boyfriend!” luffy grinned, pointing a thumb in [name]’s direction. “are you guys shocked? but i said he wasn’t my brother! you guys, seriously, are slow to catch up,” luffy seemed exasperated with his crew’s seemingly disability to understand his words, “i said it plain and simple,”

and the usually cheerful and smiling [name] was nothing but a mess, face red and hair sticking up in all sorts of angles due to him running his hands through it several times (in stress). it was almost like steam was coming out of his head.

”oi, luffy, don’t you know? the ranking of lover outweighs that of silly boyfriend status,” ace chimed in, causing even more chaos to come from the rest of the crew. they sincerely thought they heard wrong, but ace’s repetition of his previous sentence proved that they - unfortunately - did hear right.

“like i care!” luffy stubbornly replied, crossing his hands over his chest.

“[name], please, drink water,” vivi said, rushing over to the burning up man’s aid, “you look pale, too,”

“those idiots. plain, mindless, don’t-think-before-they-speak idiots. surrounded by idiots since childhood up until now. will i ever catch a break, vivi? be honest, don’t spare my feelings. i can take the truth.”

vivi deadpanned at [name]’s seriously troubled look on his face. she helped him up, supporting him with her shoulder, “it’s alright, it will get better, [name],” she said mindlessly, unsure of how to comfort the very obviously stressed man.

“this is going to be the longest trip of my life, isn’t it?”

just as he asked that question, luffy and ace got into another minitature argument over their (supposed) love for [name], making everyone on board go still once again.

finally, vivi spoke up, “i’m sorry, [name]-san.”

“yeah, i am too,” he sighed.

[ miniature : BONUS ]

“luffy, define the word boyfriend.” nami had to get to the bottom of this. there's no way stupid, idiotic luffy even knew what that word meant.

“boyfriend means [name]!”

“no! the definition of boyfriend, c’mon, you can't just go around saying things you don't understand,” nami scolded him.

“what? but boyfriend means a boy important to me - thats [name]! he's my boyfriend!” luffy proudly announced, an invisible spear being thrown into [name]’s already deflated body. the captain carelessly throwing around the word only made [name] more stressed.

“okay, you can't just call [name] your boyfriend because the definition definitely doesn't mean that,” nami said, hoping her words were not just going over luffy’s head, “if you care about [name] that much, then he's just your friend. boyfriend is a different level,”

“but if [name]'s a boy and my friend, doesn't that just make him my boyfriend?”

“is usopp your boyfriend too, by that logic?”

usopp made a sound of surprise, shouting at nami in anger, “don't drag me into this mess!!” and luffy, in return, made a disgusted face.

“ew, i don't want usopp as a boyfriend, only [name],”

“hey!!! that's really rude!” usopp cried out, but his shouts fell on deaf ears.

“[name] can't be your boyfriend, luffy, you're not understanding at all,” nami said, rubbing her forehead in stress, “a boyfriend is someone you really, really, really like and care about - more than normal. how can i put it so you can understand…oh! it's like if [name] was hungry and you had the last piece of meat and you were also hungry, you wouldn't give him the last piece.”

“i would,” luffy said without hesitating.

“no, you wouldn't,” nami countered, growing increasingly more annoyed.

“i would!”

“no- you're hopeless…just don't go around saying things as serious as that so casually when you don't even know what it means, idiot,”

luffy shrugged, definitely not understanding nami’s words and running off to join usopp.

_

[ .ᐟ ] IT MIGHT SEEM EXCESSIVE, but i doubt there'd be another chance i'd get to say EXPLICITLY, that luffy and ace do not think of [name] as a brotherly figure. THAT WOULD JUST BE WEIRD !! LMFAO that's why i just put it in there as much as i could because literally ew if they did bc then they'd feel romantically attracted to their brother....yeah, definitely not <;3 

[ .ᐟ ] also luffy not completely understanding the definition of boyfriend, but knowing that to him [name] is boyfriend is so fucking funny i couldn't help myself IM SORRY 

[ .ᐟ ] shout out lana del rey by the way 

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taglist (lmk if u want to be tagged ! <3 :

@skullr0se , @strawberrii-tea, @triangulartriangles, @anotherlovefool

[timetravellibrarian]

Daughter of the Sea One Piece x reader

Just an extract of my story. The story has about 9 chapters so far. Available on Wattpad if you're interested. Goes by the same name as the heading. Initially it supposed to be a x black reader but anyone can read it since there are no specified feature.

_________________________________________

"Y/-"

'Luffy?'

"Y/n."

'Huh?'

"Y/N!"

The girl's eyes opened at the feel of her captain frantically shaking her. His face seemed like he was slightly panicked.

"What's wrong?"

"You were calling for help in your sleep."

"I was?"

The two stared blankly at each other. Luffy's eyes seemed to be scanning her soul. The girl lay on the couch as he bent down to be at eye level with her. Luffy's braincells worked for a moment. He had never really questioned her past, a feeling having coming over him when his eyes met with her's from the first time. But now he wanted to know what troubled her. Even if it was something small, he wanted to be there for her too. He is her friend afterall.

"Y/n is there som-"

Zoro's voice could be heard outside."Hey, get your butts out here!"

She stood up first and headed to where Zoro was calling them, Luffy following close behind, hand holding onto the fabric of her coat to catch up. Soon Ussop, Sanji, Y/n and Luffy looked up at Zoro.

"I find it hard to get motivated when you're giving the orders," Sanji commented.

"Shut up!" Zoro said to Sanji, irritation clearly showing at the blonde's remark before he focused on the topic at hand. " We need to catch the portside wind."

Sanji turned to Nami, who seemed to be placing her weight on the ship's bannister."Nami what's up? It's a perfect day. The sun is shining, waves are quiet."

"The wind." She let out tiredly.

"The wind?"

"There's a powerful wind coming this direction."

Y/n closed her eyes to feel the wind against her face. 'She's right.'

Luffy placed his hand on Nami's forehead and then retracted it after feeling her temperature and yelling at how high it was before the woman claimed it was her normal temperature.The wind began to pick up and the crew began to follow Zoro's orders.

"THE RUDDER'S NOT WORKING!"

Ussop announced. The sound of thunder with a flash of lightning came into everyone's line of vision. Out there, not even a few kilometres away was a large cyclone and the current was slowly pulling the Going Merry toward it.

"Oh no. It's too late!" Nami yelled in worry,.

"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"

"How the hell did this even happen?" Y/n asked no one in particular.

"Zoro was in charge of navigating." Nami simply stated.

Y/n abruptly turned to look at Zoro , her eyes looking bewildered at the green-haired swordsman. "WHAT THE HELL, MOSSHEAD?!"

"That's my line."

She turned to Luffy. "What do we do?!"

He scratched his head. A faraway look in his face. "Don't know."

"YOU'RE THE CAPTAIN!"

Y/n paused for a moment.She heard a faint voice coming from somewhere on the ship as it filtered into her mind. "He never really knew much anyway." Her eyes caught sight of a white rock and it was moving on its own? Not now. Now was not the time to question her sanity.

She turned to Nami up ahead. "Nami what do we do?" The navigator was still too busy trying to stay conscious.

"Nami what's- y'know what, I'm taking the lead, you head back inside." (Y/n) ordered. The navigator looked at her, confused by her sudden change in tone but obeying nonetheless.

"Zoro, Sanji!"The both of them turned to her. There was a serious look on her face. Her stance emanating a tad bit of power.

"Hmn?"

"~Yes ,Y/n-swaaan?"

"Furl the sails. Make sure everything is tied up."

"Okay." The two made their way to their assigned stations. She turned to Ussop and Luffy. Ussop was on the floor curled into a ball and Luffy was staring at the cyclone intrigued.

"Ussop! Pull yourself together and man the rudder, pull it the moment you feel the ship moving. Luffy, Help him."

The two looked at her confused. Their eyebrows raised at the order.

" Just do it!"

"Yes ma'am!" Ussop ran to his assigned post, Luffy trailing behind.

Y/n ran to the head of the Merry. The ship was metres away from the large storm and frankly she was as confused as to how she'll save every one.

Zoro and Sanji had furled the sails. Luffy and Ussop were at the rudder and Nami and Vivi were safely inside. It was time for her part.

'Guess I gotta wing it.'

She ran as far as she could away from the ship's railing before stopping to face the direction from where she had ran.

As she was about to sprint back she stopped and took off her boots, coat, scarf, beanie, t-shirt and lastly her warm pants. "I paid money for these I ain't about to lose em."

She took a rope and tied it loosely around her belly. Zoro caught sight of this her actions.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, WOMAN?"

"Fixing your mistake!"

Zoro turned away from her, an irk mark visible on his forehead. "Y/n's so beautiful when she puts people in their place." Sanji noodle danced a few metres beside him.

"SHUT UP!"

She went back to looking at where she would run and then began to sprint.

Her breath came out with short inhales and long exhales. Skin slowly shimmering in the sunlight that was slightly covered by clouds. She jumped onto the railing before diving and plummeting towards the dark blue waters, a rope following behind.'Please let this work.'

Sanji nearly had a heart attack when he caught sight of her jump.

"Y/N!"

The sound of a splash could barely be heard from their position atop the sails. There was a deafening silence before Sanji tried to get off the sail to go and rescue her from her sudden actions.

The ship came to a sudden halt. The blonde chef losing his balance as he climbed down and ended up landing on his bottom.

"What was that?"

Soon the ship started to move away from the storm's direction. Ussop and Luffy began to turn the rudder that was previously jammed.

"What's going on?"

The sound of a whale call echoed all around them. The ship turning a different direction completely.

Sanji ran towards the head of the Merry only to find the rope that Y/n had tied around herself on a giant Blue whale.

His cigarette slowly dropped from his lips. (The cigarette's a paid actor.)

Zoro could see the creature moving the ship before piecing two and two together. A proud grin became apparent on his face.

Once the ship was far from danger,Luffy ran out to see what was happening outside. Once he stood beside Sanji to see what he was looking at his mouth dropped in awe and his eyes had turned into bright stars.

"Did that whale pull our ship? SOO COOOL!!!"

The large whale let out some water from its blowhole. A smile evident evident from its smiling eyes. Ussop ran out to see what all the commotion was about. He let out a dramatic gasp at the sight of the whale."Where's Y/n she has to see this."

"That is Y/n." Zoro simply stated as he pointed at the whale.

"What?" Luffy looked at the whale in confusion.

"That's rude of you to say Zoro." Ussop shook his head at the statement. His eyes narrowed at the swordsman as if scolding him.

"No, that actually is her."

Looking closely at the whale it looked like any other whale but it's eyes were similar atleast.

"Oh."

Before any of them could anticipate it the whale shrunk back down and all that could be seen was Y/n's head above the water.

"ZORO!"

"YEAH?"

"COULD YOU GET ME A LARGE TOWEL!"

"SURE!"

Once Y/n was dressed, everyone sat around Nami's bed in the women's quarters.

"Why didn't you tell us you could shapeshift?" Ussop asked as he took a sip of his tea.

"I didn't want Luffy to mistake me for food."

Ussop nodded at her reasoning without question."Makes sense."

"I'm not that bad!" Luffy sounded offended, a pout evident as he crossed his arms.

'You are ' Everyone thought at the same time.

[adashoflavendermelancholy]

Hunting

Ace was acting strange. Stranger than normal for him. Which was saying something about the young man. He walked around the ship like a man on a mission. Looking over his shoulder and around corners. Haruta walked up behind him and he leaped out of the way. Leaving everyone confused as to why. Not that Ace answered any of their questions about it. Even when pops asked him, Ace just brushed it off. “Don’t worry about it.” He would tell them. As if that made things easier.

Then it happened. “Strawhats coming in!” The scout called. Marco looked up. Was it time already?

The strawhats pirates had been at sea for a few years now. They had taken the world by storm with all the antics they got into. From overthrowing a government, to stopping someone from taking over a government, they were in the news. Then everything with Nico Robin came to light. Making her one of the most protected women in the world. No one could touch her, not CP9, not any pirate group. The others monsters on the crew keeping them at bay. Whitebeard wanted to meet this Luffy. Might have even wanted to claim him as a son.

When Luffy finally arrived in the New world, things changed. He charged forward to take on another warlord, Doflamingo. From there, he pissed off Big Mom and Kaido. Taking both take on at the same time. With help from Captain Kid and Captain Law. If what the paper said was true. Then it was off to mess with the world government more. As if the world Government couldn’t hate them more.

Marco figured it was going to happen eventually. That he would set his sights on Whitebeard. Being the strongest man in the world, it only made sense. If Luffy wanted to take that title.

Ace, however, showed on deck. Watching the ship get closer, while hiding around a corner. “What are you doing?” Thatch asked, blinking.

Ace hissed at Thatch, waving his hand to get the other to go away. “SHHHHH!” Not once looking at Thatch. Marco braced himself for a fight and for helping Ace get out of trouble. It wouldn’t do to have him running in only to get killed. Based on how he was acting, that was what they were looking forward to.

“Let me goooo~” a voice whined, as they were close enough to see the people on the Thousand Sunny.

“No, we haven’t met Whitebeard. I’m not letting you get us killed!” Another voice called. When an orange-haired beauty showed up on deck. “Can we come aboard?” She asked, smiling at them.

Marco wanted to tell them to get lost. That there was no way they were getting close to Whitebeard. But it wasn’t his call. “Come on.” Pops called back. His hand resting on his weapon as the air was tense. Ready for anything that happened next?

The beauty opened her mouth when something flew past her. “LUFFY!” She yelled.

Fire lit up the deck. Luffy sliding to a stop as he turned. Ace had booked it around using the fire as a distraction. He barely managed to get to Pop’s chair when two arms wrapped around him.

“GOT YOU!” Luffy yelled. Ace was now trapped. By one of the strongest men in the world right now. No matter how close Ace was to Pops, nothing could be done.

“UGH!” Ace groaned, struggling to get free. “That’s not fair, and you know it!”

“Shshshsh!” Luffy laughed, “You’re just mad you lost first.”

The orange-haired beauty walked over to them. Smiling as she did so. “Sorry Ace. We couldn’t talk him out of it. He kept yelling about tradition.”

“It’s fine. I was planning on losing, anyway.”

“Oh?” Zoro asked, from his ship. He didn’t look intimidating, but neither did Rayleigh. “I thought the first loser had to hunt the others?”

Now the Whitebeards were not only lost but very worried. Just what was going on here. “Son?” Whitebeard asked.

Ace turned to them. “Oh, right? Luffy, Meet Whitebeard. I’ve decided to help him become the king of the pirates and not you.”

Luffy turned to look at Whitebeard. They weren’t sure why Ace was trying to start a fight like this. It wasn’t fair. Luffy looked back at Ace. “Okay, but I’m not gonna lose.” He sounded uncharacteristically stern.

Ace smiled, “That’s fine, because Pops will still beat you!” Luffy laughed.

Robin caught everyone’s attention. “Captain, shouldn’t we start the party? It’s been so long since we last saw your little brother.”

The words catching on everyone’s ear. “YOU’RE FIRE FISTS BROTHER!” The Whitebeards yelled. Not sure if they were shocked because it was Ace or if this made too much sense.

Ace and Luffy, for their part, only laughed at them. The Strawhats knowing the feeling. Having been through this several times already. “Just wait until you find out who else is in this family.” Nami said, thinking about the other top names.

Whitebeard laughed, not sure if this was the best day of his life or not. He worried, secretly, about Strawhat coming for his head. Out of all the pirates in the sea, they were most likely strong enough to kill him. Not that he minded that. Dying in battle would be a good way to go, but what of his sons then? Would they be spared afterward? Or killed. There was no telling with them. Strawhat had left many of the crews that he took down alive. But there were a few that didn’t make it.

Still, the more the merrier. “Strawhat.” He called, making the other look at him. Whitebeard and Luffy stared at each other for a minute. Taking in the other before, Whitebeard smiled. “It’s good to have another son.”

Luffy stared at him, then blinked. A smile taking over his face. “Shshshshsh!” He laughed, not telling anything about what he jsut tried to claim. After all it wasn’t Luffy’s fault that two men felt anger run down their backs. Wanting to fight something for overstepping.

“Pops- “ Ace tried to warn. But it was too late. He was swept away in the crowd. Making it hard for him to tell Pops that Luffy was already taken.

[rabbitbakery]

A brief reprieve (black Pearl cookie x captain caviar cookie)

I’ve been cooking an au in my silly little brain ever since I started hyperfixating on cookie run yet again. I call it the ✨reformation au✨

Warnings: a little angst but comfort, heavily implied that black Pearl cookie was in love with frilled jellyfish cookie before she “died”, man tits 😔

__________________________________

She doesn’t know what this….MAN has done to her brain but she’s not exactly….thrilled about it. Black Pearl cookie told herself she would NEVER trust a pile of worthless crumbs ever again, it’s only brought her trouble anyway! They are nothing but pathetic- weak! Yet, here she was, waiting for her… captain to visit her once more.

Ever since he and that sentient fish tank dared disturb her in her sunken kingdom, he’s been visiting. She tried to drown him for the first few times, but he was nothing but stubborn- stupidly so in her opinion. He was a persistent little pest, yet she found herself waiting for him at noon on the dot everyday. If he would come, it was always at noon, no sooner or later. Over time she…dreaded his visits less…. The constant storm making the Dustgloom sea’s nearly inhospitable calming with every visit. She doesn’t know what’s wrong with her, her first love betrayed her… took Frilled Jellyfish cookie away from her… but yet she finds herself at the same little alcove underwater, silently watching the horizon for a all too familiar ship.

“Lass? You ‘ere?” Captain Caviar cookies deep, raspy voice called towards the watery blue. That voice… ugh she can’t stand it…After a few minutes she decided to make her appearance, her large, titanic form rose from the depths, looking down at the spec of a man in front of her. 

“What do you want…” her intimidating siren-like voice as loud as always, yet she’s never seen him flinch as many others have.

“There’ ya are pearly, ominous’ per usual huh lass?”. That nickname…that damn nickname… 

“You didn’t answer me…”. Part of her thinks he’s still trying to get something from her, yet she had no Pearl to lose anymore anyway…nothing she would be too beat up about parting with. 

“Can’t I come see ya without needen’ somethin?” He says with a deep chuckle, his hand looming over his pocket on his coat. She never knew why he wore the damn thing, he never buttoned it up anyhow. 

“I gotcha somethin’….”. She tilted her head like a curious cat, her usual slit pupils dilating. He grabbed the mysterious treasure from his pocket, waiting for her to hold out her hand to gift it to her. Black Pearl cookie reluctantly complied, it was probably some kind of cookie junk-

A Pearl. A big one too, full of shine and no imperfections, the lustrous surface shining pinks and grays perfectly… her… her Pearl. 

“Oyster cookie found out bout’ me lil trips down ere’ from me crew, the little scallawags, said she had somethin’ of yer’s from an old family member. Poor lass sounded so torn up bout’ er family stealin’ it.” 

“…” ah…it’s been that long… hasn’t it? He moved on without her…had a family…pasted away…

…

She suddenly dove back under the surface, her long white hair revealing her diving deeper and deeper till she could no longer be seen.

“Wait!- Lass? Ya alright? I’m sorry if I upset ya…” his voice started concerned, fading into disappointment… he was really hoping she’d like it. She might as well be part of his crew by now, and he wasn’t leaving his spot till he was certain she was in tip top shape, so he dropped the anchor and… waited.

…She had it back. Her Pearl, her perfect pearl, her most valued treasure returned to her. All that hatred for Lord Oyster cookie, all that venom she had for him taking what’s rightfully hers…. 

She feels…better. For the first time in centuries she felt like she gained just a little piece of herself that she had ripped from her. She felt…happy, not the joy she felt from watching those crumbs dissolve into nothing by her own hand, no. Content, she felt content. It brought her too tears, and she hasn’t cried in centuries, her cold, vitriolic heart beating with joy. She held it close, clutching it like it would be taken once more…

A tiny, calloused hand touched Black Pearl cookies scaled arm, bringing her back into her senses.

“…Pearly..? Are ya ok..?” His voice was soft, concerned and weary. She doesn’t know what to say, how to feel… and seemingly her face reflects that.

“…what…what does dat’ Pearl mean to ya?” That was all he could think to ask, clearly it meant a lot but he’s never seen her cry, it was unnerving to be frank. The highly feared sea siren, her name could strike terror into even the most experienced sailor, crying.

“…it’s my Pearl…” she mumbled like a scared child.

“…it was a gift to…..” she doesn’t finish her sentence. She hates feeling this weak, this PATHETIC. He’s the pathetic one- HIM. She’s the legendary Black Pearl cookie for almighty seas sake!- She’s a GOD compared to him…. Yet…

“…like… a boyfriend or somethin?” Captain Caviar cookie asked, confused that she even might have had a boyfriend before. Like, jeez poor bloke must’ve been idiotic to upset her this bad. 

“…he got my best friend killed over…THIS.” Her voice was full of venom and vitriol. Her  ginormous trident flew to her claw with a loud ‘SHINCK’. Black Pearl cookies tail shot her to the surface, memories she’d long buried swirling in her mind like a typhoon. The clouds above darkened, a grand thunderstorm forming…

“Why won’t that pest leave me BE!?-“ ‘WAM’ lighting struck a nearby rock face, jagged stones falling into the deep blue.

That pest took her way he got her killed by that stupid land cookie then had the gull to beg for forgiveness she will never forgive him she will ripe everything one of his next to kin to shreds-

“…I’m sorry lass…” his voice interrupted her rage, Captain Caviar, in the most sincere voice she thinks she’s ever heard. Her gaze returned to the water, watching him float next to her, his face etched with worry and a genuine care she’s not seen in  a millennia. 

“If i’dda known givin ye that woulda’ brought back such bad memories I woulda’ kept it to meself’…” Black Pearl cookie felt a pang of something she didn’t know she could feel anymore. Guilt.

“….no…no it’s not…I appreciate it, truly, I do…” the storm calmed, her trident sinking back to the sea floor.

“It’s just…I’m still so….” All his hard work, all his visiting and his care was paying off, she was finally opening up…

“Angry. He just… moved on like he didn’t do anything wrong… like he wasn’t a murderer..” Sharp talons dig into her skin as she said that last part, her eyes slits once more.

“…lass… I don’t mean to sound insensitiv’ but… holdin a grudge against that scurvy dog ain’t gonna change what he did… it’s no good for ya too keep makin urself’ miserable thinkin bout em’..” Captain Caviar cookie was trying his best to be as helpful as he could, but he ain’t trying to get himself turned into fish food quite yet. She just looked… tired now. A deep seeded tiredness that had built and festered, destroying the happy little moon she once was, even if she was insecure she was happy. Now look at her… how pitiful she was now…

“…perhaps your right…but it’s so hard not to be angry at…everything.” She was mad at the Almighty Sea for not protecting tearcrown, her sisters, or her precious servant when she needed her most. She’s mad at her sisters for not allowing her to grow stronger, to train incase of a battle so that maybe, just maybe she could have saved Frilled Jellyfish cookie. She’s mad at ….him. She gave him the ability to quite literally thrive underneath the tranquil waters and he threw it all away as soon as money was offered to him. He sold a part of her to a man who killed her true first love… her Frilled Jellyfish Cookie. She’s mad at herself… her sisters would be so disappointed if they saw her now.

“…I know lass… I know.” From the little things she’s told him before, he knew she had many valid reasons to be so hateful. To look at any living thing with distain, to distrust any cookie she saw. He just wishes she saw him the way he saw her. Captain Caviar cookie would never admit it out loud, but she truly was the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen, cruel yes, mean? Absolutely! But he doesn’t mind, maybe there’s baby sturgeon’s in his brain eating away at his senses but that’s kind of what he liked about her. She was so strong, a force to be reckoned with, yet here he swims next to her, gently speaking to her as she’s in a distressed state.  

After a beat of silence she turns to her more docile small state, while still bigger then him by at least a foot. What Captain Caviar Cookie didn’t expect was for her to launch herself into his arms, curling around him like a boa constrictor. She’s NEVER been affectionate, other then the few pets she occasionally let him do on her head, they never touch.

“! Wow there lass-“

…he smells nice…like salt water and outside.. this was so nice. She can’t remember the last time she hugged someone, sometimes she forgets how touch starved she is. 

“…I like when you visit…” she mumbled into his coat, which she was heavily judging him for not taking it off before he jumped into the water. 

“…what was that lass?” He said smugly and light heartedly

“Shut it you worthless pile of crumbs and let me hug you!” Black Pearl Cookie hissed. There’s his girl. 

“Pfft- oh come on lass I’m teasin!”. She grumbled a bit more before focusing on snuggling up to him more, a deep purring in her throat. 

‘Hehe, like a cat…’ Captain Caviar thought to himself, happily accepting the affection from the siren he had been trying to get the attention of for weeks now. 

…This was nice…it was like all her anger and hatred was gone for but a moment…she felt.. lighter. Her mind more clear.

“…aye… lass you feelin’ alright? Yer scales be turnin…”.

“?” She gazed down at her tail, towards his gaze… pink. The tips of her scales were now pink, how they used to be… 

“WHAT THE?!-“ Black pearls voice screeched, a look of confusion and a little horrified shock on her face. How was that even possible??? All the pigment disappeared from her body when her mind was tainted- what happened???

“Wow wow Pearly calm down, I’m sure you caught a fever or somethin’”. She hates how his voice could always calm her. 

“You should rest lassy, it’s no good for ya to be havin all this excitement if ye are gettin’ sick.” He gently rubs her back, yeah…maybe it was that…

He bid her goodbye, her retiring to her hoard of valuables she had stolen from republic ships over the years. She was not to sleep till she placed her Pearl in a chest she had laying around, hiding it for no other but herself. Her hoard was like it’s own little story, the history of cookies long passed all within this submerged cave. She curled up in her lavished nest, maybe she’d be ok in the morning…

… but she wasn’t.

Her Pearl began gaining its pink shine back, the black pigment swirling and fighting with the soft pastel. The tips of her tail gained its rosey shade back in a soft gradient, her skin less grey… but it wasn’t sickness. She felt….calm. Like a weight had been lifted off her chest even if just a little. The constant storm within her seas calm, grey clouds. While the pain was still there.. it wasn’t in control anymore. 

She didn’t think a measly cookie could make her fall in love ever again….

But clearly she was wrong.

[skeefee-sky]

'I am no Cybertronian...'

@thunder-tober Day Prompt: 1 - Trouble (combined with day 2 - Protection) Characters: Virgil Tracy, Thunderbird Two Word count: 570

I really wanted to write at least one crossover with a Transformer, and this felt like the perfect opportunity >w< alas, I may be slightly rusty with this one, but anyway x'D He wants something from them. Thunderbird Two won't let him get it. Virgil's just trying not to get stepped on...! (who 'he' is? that's up to the reader's imagination~)

💙💚TB ~~~ TB ~~~ TB ~~~ TB ~~~ TB ~~~ TB ~~~ TB ~~~ TB 💚💙

“I have no idea of anything you just said…”

“What’s this? Trying to protect him? What are you going to do? Fight me!?”

Virgil pushed himself off the ground. He had to get up, had to get away. His body ached from that fall, but he managed to find his feet to drag himself out of harm’s way. This robot had come out of nowhere, and it certainly wasn’t anything like they’d seen. Thunderbird Two hadn’t had much time to react when she’d suddenly been barrelled into, and unfortunately lost her grip on her pilot. She missed being able to check if he was okay before being assaulted again… Dust was stirred around them as Virgil slipped away, ducking to hide behind a large rock cropping but still keep watch of his Thunderbird. The 'trouble' that had been reported turned out to be a trap, it seemed…

::I can be there in 10 minutes… Virgil, what the hell’s going on?!::

“Hate to shut you down, Scott, but I don’t want anyone else over here at the moment!” second-eldest protested, flattening himself against the rock when the two 'bots approached his position, just missing his hiding spot by mere inches. “I’m having a hard enough time solo as is-!”

He winced at scraping metal, shifting his gaze to look up. Thunderbird Two had a hand twisted around the other robot’s wing; VTOLs on her shoulders flaring as she kept her balance. The flier could only smirk, keeping his blaster pointed at a spot between her optics.

“Impressive. Are you sure you’re not Cybertronian-?”

“Shut up,” the cargo ship ground out. Rescue vehicle aside, she wasn’t letting him touch her pilot. She’d do her best to protect him from this threat, no matter what. “You made a mistake going after him.”

“To get to you, of course. And you’ve responded so well,” came the sneered response; the more lithe of the two behemoths still clearly uncomfortable in her grip.

“You’re quite insistent, even though I still have absolutely no idea what a Cybertronian is…”

Another resounding clang of metal on cahelium, and Virgil had to shield himself as the sound thundered around him. Just when he thought he’d been safe, he’d ended up in the middle of their squabble again. Without a second thought, he got to his feet and ran.

“No..! Captain!”

He’d stumbled at the cry, but Thunderbird Two had been quicker. Her attacker had spun out of her grip and made a reach for her pilot, but the green craft had managed to catch his other wing and yank him aside, upsetting a shot into the rock-side. Virgil paced back as far as he could before he stopped running and turned back to watch them. John was calling his name through the comms, but was deafly ignored. Thunderbird Two hauled the smaller robot up by a crook in his armour, half-minding his flails and attempts to win back the upper hand.

“You’re just a piece of worthless Earth technology! A mindless machine! … Unhand me, you… you…!”

“If you call me a Cybertronian one more time, I will tear your wings off…” Two muttered. But she wouldn’t, because it wasn’t in her spark to. The threat felt good to call though. She then narrowed her optics, giving the Decepticon a hard shake. “I’m a Thunderbird of International Rescue, and no one gets in the way of us doing our job.”

[its-short-for-jackalope]

OKAY, WE GOT A TRAILER AND A TITLE AND I HAVE THOUGHTS

You know what that means: it's brainrot time.

🏝 TITLE REVEAL: WHO IS THE SEARCHER IN THE SHADOWS?

quick note, I love this title. It's rad as hell. 10/10. anyway—

of course when I hear the word "Searcher" I immediately think of the one and only Addison Arvad, missing captain of the Antikythera and beloved wrecker of journals.

look at her. I love her. she's beautiful. also I am lowkey obsessed with how Jackie draws hair. (please teach me your secrets.)

We didn't get to learn much about Capt. Arvad in episode 3, but we do know that she was a Searcher who disappeared without any explanation, along with the rest of her crew. Kal probably had something to do with it, since he was attempting to retrieve the ship's orrery and said some vague stuff about fog and vortices, but even he doesn't seem to know exactly what happened to her and the crew.

Whatever the case, her disappearance is the reason most of the events in TGOA even happened, so it would make sense for her to be a big part of the next episode. And if Addison is the Searcher and the Searcher is in the shadows, then I have two (and a half?) theories.

The first is that she (and her crew, if they survived, who are also presumably all Searchers) are lost somewhere and that whatever "fogging the vertices" entails led to her getting whisked away somewhere else. She could be trapped there, trying to get out, and/or maybe she is in shadows in the same way Margaret was—maybe she has lost her memories and her magic.

The second theory is actually an idea @man-down-in-hatchet-town proposed that promptly blew my mind: what if whatever happened to Addison led to her getting corrupted and going dark and she is the villain of the episode? I honestly love this idea so much and I think it would be fun and also delightfully heartbreaking after hearing that entry from Addison's journal and getting a glimpse of the person she once was.

(also every pulp fan I know is in complete agreement that we want a cool female villain, pretty please Matt— 🥺🙏)

🏝 OH GOD, THE TIME TRAVEL

I've already yelled a bit about Rose being separated from Samuel and the others, so I'm not gonna repeat myself here, but I also have other thoughts about the time travel!

The trailer has confirmed that Rose was indeed sent two weeks into the past like Ahlaam said she would be. I think it's safe to assume that Rose will have to wait those two weeks until she can reunite with the others, and I also believe we're gonna have to wait with her.

Rose’s two weeks are going to be important—she's meeting Dakkar and hopefully getting some Travelore™ about the island and The Blazing World, and probably getting into some sort of trouble that better not require a printing press plate to resolve, since she doesn’t have it right now—so I don’t think they're going to just blip by. Otherwise what’s the point of sending her back in time?

I think it’s a pretty safe bet that we (the listeners) are probably going to be doing some time travel ourselves, hopping between Rose's two weeks with Dakkar and the rest of the brick family in the present as Sia takes them to the island and they get started on all that mysterious work they have to do. I have no idea what they're going to find there except maybe a rocket? but I can imagine Samuel and the others following Rose's trail as they piece together what's happened to her and learn about this place and its inhabitants, and then the storylines will connect by the end of the episode and we'll get the twins back together and they'll never be separated again!

Isn't that right, Mr. Dahan?

/lh

Alternatively, I suppose the Ellen Austin could be met on the shore by a Rose who has already spent two weeks on the island and then we could get relevant flashbacks here and there, but I don't think that's as likely. It might be too impractical for this medium when we have a lot of story (and lore) to cover and only so much time to sing about it! Plus, that"By the time our heroes are reunited" bit really makes me think that they won't see each other until closer to the end of the episode. The reunion is absolutely gonna make me cry. I can't wait.

🏝 TRAVELER ISLAND, BABEY!

The island's inhabitants have magic similar to Margaret's, and are led by a new group of powerful Travelers.

...Well, maybe it's not Traveler island, exactly. I'm guessing that most of these ~inhabitants~ are actually Searchers. Sia might not be the only Traveler, but I don't think there are a lot of them out there. It makes more sense for there to be less Travelers and more Searchers to balance things out if the Travelers are significantly more powerful like they've been implied to be.

I definitely think Ahlaam is one of the "new group of powerful Travelers" and I'm super excited to get to know her more. (I am also hoping that maybe we'll get a Jackie Traveler character? 👀) I still don't know if Dakkar is a Traveler or not, but I'm inclined to believe he might be a Searcher—mostly because his portrait doesn't have glowing eyes and flashy gold jewelry like Sia or Ahlaam. (I also feel like it may not be a coincidence that he's wearing a light blue-ish colored shirt like Addison, even if it's a different style and looks considerably less like a space suit, lol.)

They speak of a lost kingdom, The Blazing World, and how what occurs on Lincoln Island will impact an entire civilization.

The Blazing World!!! Rose hasn't heard this name yet, but we have! (and Margaret and Samuel.) The people on Lincoln Island could be survivors/refugees from the Blazing World, or perhaps they are all here on a war mission and this is simply their base of operations. Either way, I'm sure the civilization being impacted is the Travelers'; even if this island isn't currently sheltering all that remains of their people and this is only an outpost for the war, they still have some valuable people here—like Margaret, who is recovering her memories and I am certain has an incredibly vital role to play in this war—and the aftermath of whatever happens will undoubtedly be felt beyond the shores of Lincoln Island. Either our heroes succeed in whatever they're trying to do here, or it goes wrong and the Blazing World potentially loses valuable warriors & resources, and the war against Itzal takes a turn for the worse.

🏝 THE "D" WORD: DESTINY

By the time our heroes are reunited, they will be closer to understanding their destinies than ever before...

Destiny... oh, I've had many thoughts about this and been part of multiple discussions with various friends about fate and coincidence and puzzle pieces coming together in this story. enough that I'm almost not sure where to start.

...Eh, chronologically, I guess.

1817 — the year the Stratford family paper stand was established and the year Anna Hanover's father lost his place in the world. Both of these events affected the characters' lives, helping to cement the twins' love of stories and giving them an eventual connection to the New York Sun that would allow them to publish the moon hoax, and giving Anna her tragic backstory and a goal that would drive her to construct her own moon out of brick rather than ink.

1829 — the year I believe Margaret Cavendish arrived in New York City. She lost her memories and her magic, and the Travelers set her up here to live in comfort and safety and loneliness. We don't know why this happened yet, but I think it's safe to assume the location isn't a coincidence when we know at least one Traveler with precognitive abilities and it's only a handful of years until...

1835 — the year of the moon hoax and the brick satellite. Samuel and Rose Stratford write a story that takes the city by storm, attracting the attention of both Margaret Cavendish, who has been looking for answers and winds up with more questions and magic she doesn't remember or understand, and Sir John Herschel, who doesn't want fantastical stories written about him, thank you very much—but wait, how did he get here? He was in South Africa, a whole other hemisphere! How did he find out about the hoax so quickly?

Well, someone brought him the newspaper that made him come to New York, meet the Stratfords and Margaret, and invite them all to work on the brick satellite with him. They go to British Guiana, manage to finish the satellite alongside Anna, get it into the sky thanks to Margaret's Radiance, and finally meet the Traveler out in space, who somehow knew they would be there and knew Margaret's magic was returning but is surprised that her memories weren't. The Traveler knows more than she's telling, but rather than explain she sends the quartet back to Earth.

1874 — the year the quartet are teleported to. They happen to meet a friendly bosun who offers them a place on a ship that'll take them to New York, right where they want to go. Perfect, right? But in reality it takes them to a ghost ship that just so happens to contain some stuff that helps Margaret remember some things. There's a crazy awesome magic battle, sailors vanish, the ghost ship vanishes, and by the end of it all they're sailing towards a mysterious island and the Traveler, Sia, is telling them they have a lot of work to do.

...okay, the point I'm attempting to make here is that yeah, it definitely seems like something has been leading them here, to this time and place. I just can't tell if it's ✨️destiny✨️ or if it's just Sia, who can see into the future and had a clear hand in at least some of these occurrences. She sent our heroes to 1874 in a flash of light, right into Morgan's path, into Kal's, into the Antikythera's. And if she did that, who's to say she hasn't been guiding the quartet in more covert ways this whole time? Someone had to get that paper to John. Someone—specifically a Traveler someone—had to get Margaret settled in New York.

You could say that it's all destiny and that Sia's foresight and her actions are simply destiny's way of getting shit done, that it was all going to happen this way no matter what. You could also go round and round questioning how destiny and precognitive abilities work & influence each other until your brain feels like it's melting (why yes, I am speaking from experience) but I think I'm going to skip that and focus on a different question instead:

What does destiny (or Sia) have in store for our heroes?

I don't know, of course. probably a rocket at some point? gotta wait for the episode to find out.

but regardless of who or what has been pulling the strings, it took a lot to get our heroes to this point and the idea that they're meant to be here, that they've always been headed toward something that's more than this the lives they had before is so unbelievably exciting??? even if you don't care for the idea of destiny or fate, you know great things are coming and that the story is gonna get bigger and wilder.

🏝 YEAH I KEEP MENTIONING THE ROCKET, DON'T I?

might as well actually give it its own little section on this ramble-y ass post, lol.

We've had hints that there'd be at least one rocket in the story from the very first M.A.I.A. transmission. (If you haven't seen those, you're missing out!) Now that we're getting new cast photos where everyone has been posing with a little red rocket, it looks like it's time!

Maybe the quartet are going to help the Travelers build a rocket. Maybe they're going to help repair a rocket that already exists. Maybe they're going to go to space again, or another planet—The Blazing World?—or maybe they're only going to see the Travelers off and that'll be it. (Okay, that last one would be a little disappointing, lmao.) Hell, maybe they're only going to Lincoln Island to meet a rocket that hasn't arrived yet! So many possibilities!

...hmm. I think that's it? I think that's all the thoughts I had. I have been putting this post together off and on since last night so if I missed anything or it seems a little disjointed then that's why, lmao.

this is admittedly less of a theory post at times and more of a John impression (it's not my fault I have questions!) but why wait for M.A.I.A. transmissions and more information when I can shout about it all now? the universe simply wouldn't be right if I didn't seize every opportunity to scream about Pulp Musicals.

anyway, if you read all of this then I hope you enjoyed it! you can expect/dread more posts like this in the coming weeks, as soon as we get more info and M.A.I.A. transmissions. can't wait to see my best girl again. 💙

...I really hope Matt and Jackie have gotten that window fixed.

[blue-jisungs]

HI! QUESTION

What is your opinion on rival pirate reader x rival pirate woozi???

:)))

enemies to lovers speed run.

sea salt flavoured kisses

author's note. hehe i feel like this was inspired by the hoshi pirate thingy i wrote….. and my opinion on that is: smash. would write. 10/10 would and will recommend. like. this is my jam, i love writing fics in those settings + WOOZI? E2L? he’s perfect for that. i have another e2l planned with him lmao bye anyway, i hope you enjoy this :D

also tagging @l3visbby bc i promised!! u deserve a gift for working so hard and i hope this can make u feel a bit better teehee

summary. while visiting your hometown, jihoon gets you in trouble. and luckily for him, he (somehow) gets you out of it too

word count. +- 2.9k

warnings. umm swearing, alcohol consumption, blades (dagger), blood, violence (people get slapped and kind of hurt but uh it’s not specified if they’re dead or not 😇), ment (?) of being hung ++ lots of cameos :D

stepping out of your cabin, the smell of sea filling your nostrils and warm sunshine hugging your skin; you stretched lazily, trying to shake off the rest of slumber in your body.

“oi, captain! you’re finally awake!”

you turned your head and sent yunjin a sleepy smile. her and chaewon giggled at you. nodding, you decided to take a stroll on your deck and observe your crew.

the girls who greeted you were fixing the ropes and gossiping. as usual, but at least they did their job well.

sakura, the oldest (after you) on the deck and your quartermaster, was sailing while you were asleep. you sent her a wave and she waved back. eunchae and kazuha were listening to taehyun as he walked them through the usage of canons. well, of course they will have to only clean them at first but later on they’ll be able to fix them if necessary. and shoot, like taehyun or yeonjun. they just needed the training.

beomgyu and soobin were out of sight, probably scanning the maps for the next journey. kai wasn’t near, so he probably sat with them and observed them curiously (like he always does).

the youngest members of your crew were cleaning. you all’ve been there so it was nothing strange. sure, they complained but due to their youthful nature and vigour they did the job fast. and fun.

riwoo, jaehyun and leehan were mopping the floor while splashing each other. sungho alongside taesan and woonhak were in charge of food today… which means it might be interesting. and hopefully not burnt, like the last time yeonjun and beomgyu cooked together.

walking up to the railing of the upper deck, where sakura was navigating, a smile spread on your lips.

“we’re close” you breathed out, heart swelling in your chest. your homeland…

you fixed your hat and leaned a bit, admiring the land from afar.

“do you think the boys will be happy?” you asked, turning around. sakura took a deep breath and shrugged.

“no idea… they wanted to leave but it’s been a long time, so maybe they won’t mind a quick visit” she hummed

“it’s been a long time for them, huh? then i wasn’t here in ages” you whined and sakura just let out a laugh.

“you’re ancient, captain”

you were born and raised in hybe, one of the biggest islands. growing up in a poor household, a neighbourhood filled with thieves and poverty made you adapt quickly to such environment. at the age of 6 you started pickpocketing. by the age of 10, you were a quite good – you’d say so yourself – thief. your parents didn’t really care, as long as you brought money or food home.

because of that you wanted some freedom, to start a new life. stories about pirates always fascinated you and you always sneaked into the docks whenever a bigger ship would arrive.

and one day you just snuck on a ship… and stayed there, thanks to the pirates’ kindness. this made you realise they aren’t always the bad guys.

during one of the visits back home, you met the young boys on a street. doing exactly what you did as a kid. you knew how can it affect them negatively so you decided to offer them a somehow better future. and of course they agreed, because y/n of hybe became a famous yet mysterious pirate known here and there. they heard about you; hell, who wouldn’t? besides, you remember when they were born – or more like dropped off by the orphanage next door.

so will they miss their hometown? they weren’t there as long as you… and you… you missed the town, not the people.

arriving at the land, you stepped almost hesitant.

“we’re leaving tomorrow, this time. go have some fun, rats” you grinned and ruffled woonhak’s hair.

you let out a deep sigh and started walking. no, you let your legs lead you.

you found yourself walking amongst the old, sketchy paths of your old town. memories flooding back, too deeply in the nostalgic feeling you failed to realise that another ship docked.

visiting a bar at the end of your small journey when the sun has set, you ordered a glass of rum and sat back at the dark corner of the room. thinking about your next trip, you watched the people there. most of them were just drunkards or hazard addicted people.

then you frowned upon noticing – or thinking you noticed – a familiar face. it was a quick movement so you weren’t sure. maybe it was someone else…? but still, you had to remain cautious. you need to return to the ship tomorrow anyways.

playing with the dagger that you stuck into the wooden table, you took a sip of the alcoholic beverage.

you’ve come to a conclusion this may be your homeland, but certainly not your home. your place is on the ship, with your crew–

“well shiver me timbers, who do we have here?”

you looked up lazily, knowing the voice too damn well.

“jihoon” you sighed, meeting the man’s gaze. he sat down in front of you, placing his own glass. also filled with rum. you pointed at it “amongst all those things we disagree on, at least our alcohol taste matches”

he tsked and took a look around.

“what are you doing here?” you hissed, leaning forward. jihoon observed the gold coin dangling on the necklace on your neck.

“what are YOU doing here?” he back fired, ebony irises almost black due to the faint light.

“it’s literally my island. you’re not from here, so stop acting like a local” you grunted and tightened your fingers on the wooden grip of your dagger.

“we agreed not to cross paths ever again” he said, voice low. you let out an amused huff, looking away. the door from the bar were constantly opening and closing.

“i remember. i said i’ll kill you when i see you next time” you said through clenched teeth. jihoon swiftly grabbed the dagger and started sticking it between his fingers, palm flat on the wooden table.

“i’d like to see you try. from what i know, you rather barely visit your home. so why you’re here?” he asked.

jihoon was your… enemy? any other pirate was your enemy, technically. but he… he was a real bastard. always stealing your treasure, almost as if he knew where exactly are you heading to next. and he’s cocky about it to – leaving notes and visible tracks. last time he went way too far.

he sunk your ship.

luckily, no one got harmed but the damage was done in your heart. the black cat, your beloved ship has kissed the sea’s bottom. since then you promised yourself to get revenge – and that’s why you may or may not insisted on visiting hybe.

because apart from you being the island’s hidden gem, there’s also illegal but very effective gun powder and explosives business. bang sihyuk, the driving force behind it owned you a favour so–

wait. if jihoon’s here, then he must have discovered it.

your eyes snapped back at him just when you felt the cold metal tip poking at your exposed throat. the dangerous glint in jihoon’s eye and handsome smirk made you even more angry. because he just played you and read like an open book.

“hah… oh, y/n. you’re real cute sometimes” he cooed, tilting his head. your dagger in his hand pointing at your throat. for seven seas, this is humiliating. you felt a trickle of blood run down your skin “i could easily kill you right now. quietly and quickly, but where’s fun in that–“

before you said anything, someone pulled jihoon back. and you as well. cold metal suddenly making contact with your wrists made you gasp.

“well, well, well… who do we have here… y/n l/n, lee jihoon. the two most wanted captains”

you turned around and if looks could kill– well, jihoon would already be dead months ago. and this man too.

“i’m the chief of city guards, kim namjoon. and you two are under arrest. with no way out.” the man crossed his arms and grabbed your chin, tilting it up.

namjoon. you remember him. he was…

“by tomorrow you will hang, together. and i’ll get a promotion. oh woah, who knew this day will end so well…” he smiled.

“namjoon?” you breathed out. your partner in crime, quite literally. he helped you steal when you were younger.

“officer namjoon to you. i’ve cut ties with you, y/n the moment you ran away. and now, look at me and look at you. you’re a shame to the society” namjoon huffed and let go of you harshly, causing you to stumble and fall onto jihoon. then he spat, right in front of your shoes “fucking pirates… take them to the arrest”

“this is all your fault, moron!” you grunted, kicking the metal bar of your arrest.

of course they had to put you in one cell with jihoon.

“mine? wha– this is ridiculous!” he scoffed, hands crossed on his broad chest.

“if you minded your business, you wouldn’t draw attention to me or you” you pointed at him and were met with silence. he knew you’re right “great. we were supposed to leave tomorrow? or today? there’s no bloody light in here”

“my crew will save me” he snickered.

“as if mine won’t. i bet they’ll be here soon” you mumbled and sat down on the cold floor because he was sitting at the bench. or something that was supposed to be it. he tsked and stood up.

“you should go to sleep” he murmured quietly, awkwardly standing next to the bench.

“no”

the man let out a deep sigh, eyes tracing the walls. the only source of light was a small lamp lit on the corridor wall.

“go to sleep” jihoon said, voice more stern this time.

“why? so you could arrange me in my sleep? no thank you” you huffed, pulling your knees closer to your chest and resting your chin on them.

“no. so you could finally shut up” he mumbled. obviously. it’s not like he cared. certainly not because the floor was cold and you would be cramped if you fell asleep on it.

you let out a small sigh, eyes observing the moths that gathered next to the lamp.

“i can’t believe i’ll hang in my hometown with my enemy” you muttered, closing your eyes.

when you woke up, you were laying on the bench. immediately sitting up straight, you startled jihoon out of his slumber. on the floor.

“why did you do move me? i’d cut–“ you started

“my hands off. yeah, yeah. that’s why i did it while you were sleeping” he yawned, arms shooting up to stretch lazily “i figured you’d want to get some sleep for the last time in your life”

you were about to say something when you heard footsteps. in no time five guards arrived.

without saying anything, they grabbed you out of the cell and handcuffed you both. sending jihoon a confused stare, he shook his head.

your legs weren’t really cooperating, so the guards dragged you along. after a long, monotonous journey in the dungeons you finally stepped outside.

the sudden sun blinded you both, especially after so much time spent in the darkness. then you realised you’re being walked down to the platform with hangman’s noose already prepared for the both of you. one walk downstairs and you’ll die because of a public hanging… and bloody hell, that’s a lot of people–

you halted your movements, digging your heels into the floor and pushing back.

“i refuse to believe this” you let out an airy laugh and caught jihoon’s shocked expression.

the guard suddenly slapped you; the impact so powerful that you fell on the floor. you felt your eyes water and cheek sting.

“yah! what do you think you’re doing?! you’re a guard and you hit a woman?! pathetic scum” jihoon hissed and nudged the guards that held him.

he kneeled down, pressing his head against yours. before they lifted him back up, you felt his breath fan over your skin

“i have an idea, just trust me” he whispered “are you alright?”

you nodded and jihoon got dragged away. then you heard another slap.

“she’s a pirate, i don’t see a reason why i shouldn’t hit her–“ the guard started.

you got lifted by two men and watched jihoon spit on the man in front of him. a smirk of satisfaction painted on his lips as the guard’s eye twitched.

“next time try punching someone your size, eh?” he cooed and the guard slapped his other cheek. his face turned to you, eyes squeezed shut.

“jihoon!” you yelped, jumping to him. before the guards could yank you back, jihoon turned around and spat at the man in front of him again. then he kicked the man with full force, so he fell down the stairs. using the distraction, he swiftly (almost as if he had experience) put his handcuffed hands in front of him by bending his knees and quickly moving them to the front. you did the same, definitely less gracefully and almost losing your balance.

then you felt his hand awkwardly grab yours and–

“go!”

you ran down the stairs with him, jumping over the man at the bottom. the rest of the guards followed you, shouting and screaming.

jihoon ran through the crowd, pushing with no hesitation whatsoever. his grip on your hand remained steady, scared to lose you.

“which way? you know the city better!” he asked, turning his head back.

“this way!” you ordered, leading him to the right.

even if the guards will follow you to the poorest place on whole town, there’s a plenty of good hiding spots. running through the houses and dirty streets, people watching you and pointing fingers.

you arrived at the local market. it wasn’t too sanitary but that wasn’t the most important thing right now.

you ran up to the butcher whom you knew, distress all over your face.

“yah, hoseok! would you mind?” you asked, putting your hands on the table. he gave you a weird look but without hesitation – and with terrifying force and speed – cut your handcuffs with his chopper, covered in blood.

“your lover boy too?” he asked unbothered, almost as if he was trying to sell one more pound of meat instead of helping the prisoners escape. you nodded. once your hands were separated there was a sudden noise

“they went that way!”

jihoon turned around and saw the guards in armours that shone in the daylight. you were about to bend and dive under the stall when he dragged you away, next to the stall with flowers.

“i deeply apologise” he breathed out, the guards’ shouts becoming louder. they’re approaching rather rapidly and…

“about my ship?” you furrowed your brows. the men will walk directly next to you and he’s…

“no” he scoffed and before you could realise, he spun you around and leaned against the wooden bar supporting the stall “about this”

the men ran next to you as you felt jihoon’s lips crash on yours. one hand cupped your cheek, the other was resting next to your head. the kiss was chaotic yet somehow soft, his lips rough and teasing like sea salt.

you kissed him back, realising what was his plan. you pulled him closer, trying to hide your faces as much as possible.

the kiss turned more passionate, your fingers tightening on his linen shirt. the steps and shouts started fading away.

jihoon stopped and leaned back but not too far. head buried in the side of your neck, hot breath fanning over your skin. your stomach was making flips, almost like you were sea sick.

“they’re gone… i think” you breathed out, scanning the market.

the sellers chatted between themselves, fixing the products that have fallen due to the rapid movements of a bunch of men in armour.

“what… uhm, what was that?” you whispered. he rose his head up, boyish smirk blooming on his lips.

“dunno” he shrugged “i just wanted to kiss you”

“oh fuck off” you grunted, trying to walk away. but jihoon had you caged between his arms and the wooden bar. you stared at him – partly in disbelief, partly in amusement… and slightly in participation.

“are you alright though? that bastard slapped you pretty hard” jihoon asked, worry in his eyes. your fingers lingered on the cheek you were hit on and then you shook your head.

“it’s fine. it’s been worse, like having a dagger pointed at my neck” you snickered and hesitantly brought your hands to his red cheeks “what about you?”

“been worse” he repeated after you “although…”

you suddenly pecked his cheek, then the other one. using his taken aback state, you escaped his hold by walking under his arm.

“hope it will soothe the pain. thank you for helping me escape” you hummed “even though i take back what i said about killing you next time i see you… be on guard, jihoon. your ship will sink”

“yeah. we could kiss next time” he smiled nonchalantly and watched you walk away.

some part of him wanted to stop you but he knew you’ll cross paths anyway. and then he’ll make you stay, maybe for a little longer. and maybe his heart will stop fluttering like sails on a strong gust of wind.

wait.

his ship will sink?

[ masterlist <3 ]

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[zorosangell]

⛥ﾟ・。 protector: chapter twenty-five

synopsis: " you were supposed to stay a crewate, just another back to watch, " he tightened his hold, " i didn't even notice the change until i woke up one day and realized i'd take a bullet for you "

cw: violence, gore, fighting, mature themes, profanity, MAJOR/MINOR ANIME SPOILERS, follows the plot of the anime, slowww burn.

a/n: reposting from another account

"You know, I oughta punch you for scaring us like that," Nami scolded, a hand on her hip as Usopp sat up in the bed.

"Yeah, no kidding," Sanji agreed, "Though it looks like you've taken enough punches already, if you ask me."

He took a drag from his cigarette.

"What were you thinking taking those guys on alone?"

"Yeah, you can't just run off and fight whoever you want," Zoro crossed his arms

You scoffed with a smirk, "That's a good one coming from you..."

Luffy laughed loudly at your joke, but Usopp didn't look in the joking mood.

"This wouldn't have happened if I was strong like you guys. I'm sorry!" he sniffled, looking down at the sheets, "It's all my fault! I'm so ashamed of myself!"

He quickly got off the bed, dropping to his knees and hugging Zoro's legs, crying into his pants.

"Hey, hey, stop! I get it! I know you're sorry, but you don't have to get all touchy-feely on me okay?!" Zoro exclaimed, uncomfortable, as he tried to shake the boy off.

"But all our savings! All that trouble we went through! What about the Merry?!"

You breath hitched at the mention of the ship, now remembering that Usopp had no idea of her condition.

'Shit...'

"Take it easy! You shouldn't be out of bed yet!" Chopper tried to calm him down, ushering him to bed.

"C'mon, calm down. Stop your whining and listen to the doctor," Nami agreed.

"So..." he started, sitting back down, "Is there a chance we might get our money back after all?"

"Well... maybe," Luffy smiled, "We won't know for sure 'til that Franky guy shows up."

Usopp hung his head, "I see. I'm sorry."

"Hey, even if we can't get the rest back, we still have a hundred million berries! Don't worry!"

The captain broke out in a couple chuckles, but Nami wasn't having it.

"Yeah, but he lost twice that much!"

"Nami..." You warned, wanting to spare the sniper's feelings.

She suddenly realized what she said, dialing it back, "Eh. Sorry, Usopp."

"No, it's fine," he assured, "More importantly, is Merry gonna be okay?"

The room suddenly fell silent, and everyone turned to each other, nervous.

"I mean, can we get her repaired with the money we have left? We're lucky we have all these awesome shipwrights to work on her. But I know things are gonna get rough out there, so I want her to be stronger than ever before."

No one knew how to break it to him.

No one wanted to be the one to break it to him.

But it was cruel to let a friend believe something untrue.

"We gotta do a lot more than just a little touch up. So do you think those guys'll still do a good job if we only have a hundred million to pay with? You talked to them about it, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Luffy started, taking a deep breath, "But we aren't having them repair it."

Usopp cocked a brow, confused.

"We decided to get a new ship instead."

The sniper's face quickly morphed into shock, somehow not understanding.

"I know that we probably should've asked you first, but we didn't have much choice. Either way, I've made up my mind," Luffy sighed, "The Going Merry has taken good care of us. But it looks like our journey with her has to end here."

Usopp still had the same shocked expression stuck on his face, and you could feel in your gut that something was wrong.

'Crap...'

He was silent.

Too silent.

"Anyway," Luffy tried to start back up, picking up a magazine full of ship prices, "Ice Pops gave us this awesome ship catalog to flip through. There's all kinds of different ships we could pick from in here. And if we decided to shop for a used model, we could go bigger than the Merry, and still keep our budget under a hundred million."

"Wait," Usopp cut through, suddenly smiling, "I get it, Luffy, but the joke's gone on long enough, okay? See? Chopper doesn't know you're kidding."

Your eyes went wide.

'Oh shit...'

"Look how upset this is making him. Jeez, Captain, you should know better than to treat your crew like that. C'mon, (y/n), back me up here."

You were at a loss for words.

It was clear the poor boy was in denial, and doing his best to deflect from the reality of the situation.

But when he landed his eyes on Luffy's dead serious face, his own features fell.

"Hold up, does that mean we... don't have enough for repairs? It's 'cause I lost the two hundred million, isn't it?! And now we can't afford the work on the Merry! Is that what this is about?! After all, a first-class shipyard is gonna cost a lot, right!"

"Would you stop and listen to me?!" Luffy tried to calm him.

"What is it?! Tell me! Don't try to sugarcoat it!" Usopp shouted.

"I'm not, okay?! I don't even care that you lost all the money, that's over now!" Luffy shouted back.

"If that's how you feel then what's with all this crap about buying a new ship?!

"Both of you, stop it!" Zoro quickly interjected, wanting to stop things before they got ugly, "Fighting isn't gonna help! Just calm down for a sec."

"I don't see what I'm doing wrong! He's the one saying all this dumb stuff!" Usopp scoffed.

"I know how you feel, but you shouldn't get so worked up right now," Nami chimed, worried.

"Listen to Nami, Usopp, if you don't get any rest, you're not gonna get better!" Chopper agreed.

"Who cares about me?!" he stood up, "How can you just sit here when he's making jokes about getting a new ship?!"

"I'm not joking about anything! This was a hard decision for me, too!" Luffy exclaimed, starting to get frustrated with Usopp's stubbornness.

"Oh, yeah, I feel really sorry for you!" Usopp snatched the catalog out of Luffy's hands, throwing it on the ground, "Already window shopping for a new toy!

Luffy was shocked for a moment, glancing down at the magazine before looking back up at his sniper, clearly upset.

"You trying to pick a fight with me?!"

"I don't want your damn pity, got it? If you tell me it doesn't matter that I lost the money, then why are you talking about buying a new ship?! Just spit it out already! If we can't afford the repairs 'cause I screwed up, then tell me! Don't show me some stupid catalog and change the subject! I want the truth!"

So Luffy gave him the truth.

The hard, sad, and ugly truth.

The sniper was devastated, and clearly spiraling at the news.

So much so that he had to sit down.

"Wha... What did you just say?"

"Don't make me repeat myself," Luffy clenched his fists, "I told you, the Merry can't be repaired any more. No matter what we do... we can't fix her. Otherwise, I wouldn't say something like that."

"You mean this ship?! This ship that we're riding on right now is broken?!"

"That's right. It's only a matter of time before she sinks."

Usopp scoffed, turning away, "What're you talking about Luffy? That's nuts."

"No, I'm serious. The shipwrights took a look at the Merry themselves. They said she wouldn't even hold out until the next island."

"And it's settled? So that's it? A bunch of strangers tell you to scrap your ship and you don't even ask any questions?!" Usopp glared.

"That's enough..."

"I understand that these guys know what they're talking about, but this is just wrong! Don't give up on the Merry!" the sniper shouted.

Luffy's breath hitched at the sight of tears welling in his crewmate's eyes.

He hated seeing his friends cry.

"What about all the adventures we've gone one together?! What about all the battles we've fought?! She's our friend! She's one of us! Are you gonna abandon her for another ship without a second thought?!"

Usopp's scowl was set directly on Luffy, his brows furrowed angrily.

"After all we've been through, is that how little the Merry means to you, Luffy?!"

Tears began to stream down the boy's cheeks, and Chopper moved to rest a hoof on his shoulder. 

"I know you're upset, Usopp, but you need to calm down," the reindeer tried again.

"Sorry, but no," the sniper denied, "I'm not backing down 'til we settle this."

This entire situation had got from bad to worse in a matter of minutes.

And you could only imagine just how far it could tank.

"Usopp, please," Nami begged.

"What? So you know better than the shipwrights? If we had someone on the crew who knew about this stuff, we wouldn't have asked them in the first place!" Luffy exclaimed, looking down at Usopp.

"Then forget them! We don't need those guys telling us what to do," the sniper scoffed, "I'll repair the Merry myself, just like before! We've made it this far, so there's no reason why we can't go on that way."

He started to scoot towards the door.

"Here, I'll get started right now. C'mon, guys, help me out."

"That's not gonna work," Sanji's tone rose, starting to get frustrated.

"That's right, we don't have enough lumbar, do we? I better go buy some at the shipyard. We got a lot of work to—" "You're not a shipwright, Usopp, you hear me?!" Luffy shouted.

"Stop it, Luffy!" you exclaimed.

"Yeah, you're right, I know," Usopp grabbed the papers from the catalog, "But so what?! I don't see why you're so hung up on everything those stupid shipwrights say! If they knew what she'd gone through, they wouldn't give up on the Merry so easy! They just want your money!"

"Usopp..." Nami tried again, keeping her tone soft and calm.

"The Merry's our ship so it's our job to take care of her without someone else butting in! I'm not giving up! I won't let them take the Merry away from me!"

He weakly stood up, turning to look at Luffy angrily.

"The Luffy I know wouldn't cave to some sales pitch from a total stranger! He'd believe in the strength of the Merry and the strength of his crew!" 

He stormed over, yoking up Luffy by his shirt.

"But here you are, acting like you know everything and ignoring your friends! I can't believe that's the kind of captain you turned out to be! I thought you were better than that!"

"You're not being fair, Usopp. Luffy felt the—" "You stay out of this!" Luffy shut Nami down, staring down Usopp.

"It was my call and I stand by it! There's nothing you can do! This is the end of the road for the Merry!"

"I'm not leaving her here! I don't care what you say!" Usopp shouted, shaking the captain, "I know you're always trying to think about the future, but not everyone on the crew is like that! I see the Merry as one of our friends, got it?! And I won't abandon her when she's hurt!"

"Don't be stupid! Even if she is a friend, that doesn't make her a person!"

"She is to me! And she still has the strength to live! But you wouldn't understand that, 'cause all you care about is getting a new ship to play with!"

"Alright, that's enough!" Sanji interjected, stepping forward, "Just calm down and we can settle this later!"

"Would you listen to yourself!" Luffy tackled Usopp, sending each other to the ground.

"Luffy!" you exclaimed, standing up.

This was getting out of hand.

If it went on like this, they were going to hurt each other.

"Don't act like you're the only one who's torn up about this! We all feel the same way!"

"If that was true, then you wouldn't be looking for a new ship!"

"Alright, fine! If you don't like the way your captain does things, why don't you go ahead and get off-" Sanji was quick to kick Luffy away before he could finish the sentence, you, Nami, and Chopper going wide eyed.

"Sanji!" Chopper exclaimed, in utter shock as Luffy went straight through a table.

The cook let the dust settle for a moment, allowing everyone to catch their breath in the tense air.

"This is going way too far! What the hell is wrong with you?!" he scolded, specifically at Luffy, "If you don't watch it, you're gonna say something you can't take back! So calm down!"

The man was panting, the look in his eye very telling of how he saw the argument going down if Luffy had finished.

You walked over, and placed a comforting hand on the cook's shoulder, silently asking him to calm as well.

And he did, taking a deep breath, and allowing his shoulders to drop.

"I'm sorry," Luffy apologized, sitting up and dusting off the debris, "I don't know what I was thinking."

"You don't have to apologize," Usopp stated, his tone far away, "'Cause that's how you really feel, isn't it?"

"That's not true!" The captain was quick to correct, not wanting his friend to get the wrong idea.

The sniper rolled over, carefully pushing himself off the ground, "Just get rid of your dead weight and move on before they can slow you down."

'Shit, shit, shit, don't say it...'

"If you're gonna throw away the Merry, might as well through me away, too."

[jpitha]

Just a Little Further 12

Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Singing. Of course.

I sigh. I'm annoyed at all the attention, but really, I have only myself to blame. I'm the one that just had to touch the directory stone. I couldn't just like, not touch it, oh no.

I stand. "I'll go out and see them. Maybe I can get them to disperse or something before security comes. I have a feeling that the people in charge here aren't going to like this, and I'd rather not have people get beat up in front of us who are trying to worship me, and yes, it sounds odd to me when I say it out loud too." Smiles at that.

Selem stares at the screen, not even turning to face me. "Yes, thank you Melody, that's... probably a good idea"

Something seems off with her. It's like she's having a real hard time with the things going on. More so than the usual stress. Maybe I'll ask her about it later.

"Melody, are you going to don your pressure suit?" FarReach asks.

Ugh, it's still scratched! I haven't even gotten time to play with the "translator" let alone fix my suit. Nobody will give me a couple hours to myself to putter. If this is what being a Living God is, I don't want it.

Too late now though.

I make a snap decision. "No, I won't wear it this time. It's still scratched and we can breathe the air fine. Plus, I'll look less intimidating in my uniform" I gesture down. I'm in my regular ships uniform. Blue shirt, grey pants with sensible shoes. Only decoration is my rank on my shoulder, and my name tag in brass on my breast pocket.

"Are you sure Melody? Last time out they shot at you." FarReach sounds unsure. Hah, I wish FarReach had an avatar, maybe I could read her body language better too!

"I'll be fine Far, it's not like they'll try and kill their own god."

Omar chuckled darkly at that, and Kieran gave me a look. I wonder why.

I headed up to the airlock. It was a long walk from the Command Deck; the Command Deck was in the front of FarReach and the airlock more towards the middle, but now that I know this ship was built during a war, I wonder if it's so far away to help repel boarders.

When I get there, Gene is there already. He has popped open a weapons locker and is taking out a long range rifle. Not one of mine, but I know the model, it's decent.

"And just what do you plan on doing with that?" I ask.

"Captain said I should cover you." He replied without looking up. He was checking the rifle and examining the magazine. It's impeccable though, I was the one who cleaned and inspected it last.

"Cover me?" I said incredulously. "From what?"

This time he stopped and looked up at me. "Melody, have you noticed how Captain Q'ari has been acting lately? She's completely out of sorts and is having trouble making decisions. She wants to leave. Her sense of duty and not wanting to have blood on her hands is the only thing keeping her from ordering FarReach to blow the umbilical and attempt a link home."

I nodded. "I did notice that, yes. I think it's something else though. She started to... act differently when she learned that the people here think we're Gods."

Gene stopped and looked at me. "I didn't notice that." Hah! It's like I have a superpower. I can read people's body language so easily now. It's always been hard for me before and now I just... know. Gene went back to the rifle. "Well, we're not Gods. Just look at our history. I'd be more inclined to agree if they thought we were demons or something. That I can see. Anyway-" Check complete, Gene slots the magazine and racks the bolt." I'm going to stay on FarReach and watch you. I think you'll be fine, but it's foolish to go out there unarmed and with no backup when they've already shown us they're willing to shoot.

I wasn't going to win this one. "Fine." I said. "But stay out of sight, and keep that targeting reticle off my back."

"I'd never aim at you Melody, you know that."

Without answering, I turned and cycled the airlock. I stepped into the inner door with Gene and we waited for it to finish. The outer door opened and Gene got down on one knee and hunched in a corner, just out of sight while I walked down the short umbilical. I was feeling that giddy nervous feeling again. I hated all this attention, but I also loved it. Have you ever felt that? Ugh. I need a coffee.

I pressed the open button on the iris and the sound.

It was breathtaking.

There were way more people here than FarReach let on, and the mics by the airlock didn't pick up the richness of the sound. It must have been three hundred people standing there, all singing and swaying in time. Even with my nanotech, I didn't understand the words, it must just be sound.

I stepped out and stood there, taking in the wall of sound. It was very impressive to be the one hundreds of people were singing about. All at once, they noticed me and stopped. One of them, an Aviens wearing a... robe of pure white approached me.

I struggled at the description because yes, it's a robe but the cut is...

like a space suit.

With a beatific smile the Aviens said "Holy One! You heard our cries! You have come to us in this, our darkest hour! We are at your command!"

With that, he dropped to the floor, on his knees, his head scraping the floor. Everyone - and I mean everyone - followed him.

Oh no.

There they stayed, nearly shaking with joy. I mean, I guess if you were religious and God showed up, you'd be happy too? Ugh. I hate it.

"Rise please." I said "There is uh, no need to supplicate yourselves before me."

The Aviens stood up quickly and with a rustle of clothes and a clank of pressure suits everyone followed. "Oh, but Holy One, you are too kind. We know The Way. We know how you are to be treated." They said, nodding with each thing they said."

"Oookay" I said. "Why are you here then? What do you need? Oh, what's your name too?"

His feathers puffed out immediately when I asked his name. He was very proud. "I am known as The Smell of Soil after Rain and this-" he gestured behind him "-is my flock. We are more than three hundred strong here on this part of Reach of the Might of Vzzx and there are at least twenty more congregations across the the Might."

There are how many?

Oh no.

"That's... impressive to hear" I say worriedly. "The Smell of Soil after Rain, why is it you are here?"

He nods again "We're here to welcome you, of course! It's not every day a Holy One comes back to the World they have wrought to Right the Wrongs that have been put upon Us."

I hear a lot of proper nouns in his speech. This is going to be more trouble.

Just when I'm about to ask for clarification on which specific wrongs I'm supposed to Right, there's a commotion from the rear of the congregation. Turning, Rain and I look. There is a group of Mariens who are wearing a dark unifo- no, I look closer. Their skin has been colored to look like a dark uniform. That's a neat trick. More worryingly they are carrying batons and there looks to be another one of those pistol like weapons the Aviens shot me with earlier on a belt around their middle.

"Disperse! Disperse!" They shout. "This is an illegal gathering! All religious gatherings must be approved by the council of regents, this is known!"

Rain turns back to the security officers and shouts "Your tyranny will be tolerated no longer! The Holy One is here and stands before us! She hears our pleas! She and the other Builders have returned to liberate us. You will be as dust to them and they will take back their rightful place as ruler of the Known, the Unknown and the Unknowable!"

Wide eyed, I turn and stare at Rain. Then, I turn back and stare at the security guards. They actually are faltering. They believe it too! What is going on here?

From behind them, another Mariens, this time flanked with two of the insect people - I haven't leaned their name yet - approach. This Mariens's coloration is more complicated than the security guards. They are probably the supervisor. I do see that the insect people are carrying much larger weapons too. They're like a rifle, but the barrel on the end has no hole. I wonder if it's some kind of energy weapon.

"Enough!" They shout. "You will all disperse or you will be made to disperse. This-" they point at me "-person is no God. They are Not Holy."

Finally, someone speaking sense.

Rain's feathers fluff up and down, they're upset at that. "You blaspheme! She speaks the Tongue as if it were her own, She is a Builder! They comes in a mighty ship through the disabled Gates as if they made it themselves. She is Holy."

The boss, wavers, but only for a split second. I think I only noticed it because of my newfound ability to read everyone's body language. They have someone they fear more than me. "You must disperse!" He makes a clicking noise and the security guards take out their batons.

Rain crosses his arms and glares at the supervisor. "Make. Us."

Oh no. No no no no.

As I realize what's about to happen, I feel something. I get this overwhelming feeling that I need to not only stop them from fighting, but to demonstrate that Rain is right and the supervisor is wrong. I barely have any time to question the feeling when almost automatically I step between them.

"S̵̳̦͑́͋t̶̨͚̑o̸͎̎̂ṕ̴̹̦̚ ̵͍̜̳̔T̷̛͇̓̆ḩ̸̼̜̀̌͝ȋ̸͕̹̺s̷͚̻̬͋̿͆ ̸͓͊a̶̖̗̞̓͊͐t̶̨̜̒ ̷̝̝͎̄̒Ó̷̳͖N̶̢̬̜̕Ċ̸̱É̸͔̫̹͋̋"

My voice has an odd timbre. Everyone - and I mean ev-ery-one - stops and pivots to face me as if they are compelled to obey.

What's going on?

But, only a small part of my mind can wonder at what I'm doing. I'm on automatic now. With a righteous finger, I point at the supervisor. "Who are you that thinks they have the authority over me here. Who are YOU to threaten these sapients with harm over coming to sing and welcome a Builder. WHO ARE YOU to deny them their right to worship me."

As I yell, the supervisor shrinks down, and eventually is kneeling down head scraping the floor just like the congregation did when they arrived. "I-I-I am known as Gemeli H-H-Holy One" The answer is muffled by the ground.

What am I doing?

"Gemeli, you are out of your depth." I snarl.

Why am I taking like this?

My head snaps up and I look at the crowd. As I glare at them, they all shrink from my gaze.

The congregation looks like they just won the lottery though. They all are smiling and nodding.

I want to stop doing this, please.

I feel a breeze around me but I'm too wrapped up in what I'm doing to stop. It's probably just the wind or something.

I turn to face Gemeli but I'm speaking to the crowd again. "All who come before me have the right to worship. All who live here live at the pleasure of the Builders. All who work to usurp that right are known to Us as enemies. Who are you Gemeli?"

More shaking. "I-I-I-I do not usurp your right, Holy One. I am not an enemy."

"Then rise Gemeli, and take your place in the congregation."

Why can't I stop?

"Holy One, my congregation is in the northwestern lobe near my home."

I say nothing and just look at him. He squeaks and lines up next to Rain's people.

I hear a noise. I don't know what it is. Probably nothing. I turn back to the crowd. "Now then, where is-"

A shot rings out from the rear of the crowd. In my fury, I can immediately pinpoint who it is. It's the Aviens from before. The one who shot at me earlier. They're far in the rear of the crowd. This time they're carrying a heavy rifle. Not an energy weapon by the looks of things, a slug thrower.

Huh.

I can see them slowly sliding the bolt to load a new shell.

I can see one of the insect people - one of Gemili's assistants - start to fall. They were shot by the Aviens.

A shot that was meant for me.

This will not do at all.

Without having any ability to stop what I'm doing, without any desire to stop what I am doing, I reach my hands out together and separate them firmly.

The crowd parts, their feet sliding on the panels that make up the floor. It half looks like they moved, and half looks like I moved them. I have a clear line of sight between myself and the shooter.

With a fire in my eyes, I point at them and say:

S̸̢̯͎͍̮̣͈̤̩̼͎͊͒Ţ̵̢̛͉̮̮̩̹̭̭̬̺̠͇̟͓́̂͒̈́̋͂̑͌̏̓͠͝ͅƠ̸̩̦̞͐̋̏̏̂̈́͊̕P̴̙͙̭̪̞̹̙̮͍̐ ̵̢̨̠͙̜̠̰͖̩̝͈͕̭̟̾̉̎͋T̵̡̥̤̤̲͝H̵͍͎̘̥͚̫͔̹̠̤̻̖̼̪͉̑̓̚͜Ȉ̴̛͙͓͈̪̗̩̤̉̌̈́̈́͒́S̷̡̮̺̟͚̟̼̞̪̻̮̰̹͉͊.

Uh oh.

They drop the rifle, and their knees buckle. Bright blue blood trickles from their mouth. They're on the floor.

No.

I look to the crowd and say "What are those who usurp my rights called?"

"Enemies!" The crowd shouts. Even Gemeli and the insect people guards with him join in.

I want to stop.

"What happens to enemies?" I call out.

"THEY ARE NO MORE!" And the crowd descends upon the Aviens.

Please stop.

In no time at all, the Aviens is... gone. Only a violent blue stain remains.

What am I doing?

"MELODY!" It's my radio. "MELODY! What is happening to you?"

The spell broken, I'm myself again. "What do you mean?" I say confused.

It's Captain Q'ari. "Look at yourself Melody! LOOK DOWN"

I look down at myself.

I'm...glowing? My uniform has been replaced with...

Oh shit.

I'm wearing a gown, like the gown Rain had on, but made up of the material of my uniform. It's a deep royal blue. The nanobots are doing something. Not just my brain, I have enough now that they can effect matter around me.

I look behind me worried. Made out of dust and light and... matter from all around me are,

Wings.

On my head is a,

Crown.

The nanobots can do this?

Of course they can, you're a Builder. Builders build. a Voice tells me. It's the voice of who was shouting at the crowd.

Oh no, now I'm hearing voices. Did the Nanobots imprint a personality on me?

Funny. Calling a part of yourself "A Voice" won't negate the fact that you were the one who controlled the crowd. Won't negate the fact that you told them to obliterate the shooter. Nicely done by the way. No half measures here. Everyone here today and everyone who will see the video feed will be one thousand percent sure you are a Builder.

Stumbling and feeling faint, I turn and run back into the airlock. Before I step back in, I turn to The Smell of Soil after Rain and say "Take your congregation and go. Enough blood has been spiled today. I will come and visit you later." with that kind of promise, he practically floats off the ground he's so proud. He turns and starts directing the group to leave.

I enter the airlock and lean against a wall. I feel sick.

Gene sees me, his eyes wide.

"Why didn't you shoot?" I yell.

"You did your... thing with your voice and the crowd descended on them before I could do anything!" He cried.

I drop to my knees panting. Good, good. The voice - part of me? says. Never let them see you weak.

"FarReach, we have a problem." I say, gasping.

"Gee Melody, do you THINK?" She replies, almost shouting.

"I'm a Builder now, and FarReach?"

"I think the Builders were the bad guys."

Part 13

[blacklegsanjiii]

North Blue Language CH. 7

“We got company!” He yells pointing up.

“They’re just bugs! Why the hell are you scared of them!” Zoro demands of him and Sanji can't say anything about the iron mask and how Sanji couldn't fit his tiny, bony, malnourished hands into it to get the bugs to stop eating him. His mother cried looking at him during their escape or how his dad had found him in a panic attack because he got bit while outside once.

“They're a cook's worst enemy.” He says because that is also true.

“So you act like a little girl?” Zoro laughs at him. “Pathetic.”

“Stop pissing me off, asshole! At least I don't get lost!” Sanji yells as he lands a solid kick against the green haired man. He wishes he could be honest but he can't, he can't it will kill them if he is. The crew only just found out he's from the North Blue talking to a descendant of Noland the Liar, Cricket, and he's not sure people believe him.

Sanji fights a man who claims to be God in order to protect Nami and Usopp. He's electrocuted several times and he doesn't die. Sanji wonders if his death would be payment for the suffering his mother went through, especially if it was for protecting his crew. Would it be worth enough?

Luffy wins against God, he's Luffy. Of course he won. Enel, God’s name is Enel. The golden bell is ringing and it's gorgeous. He can't help but sing to the dead god under his breath as they leave Skypiea. The hymnal to a god of slaves as they leave. It's comforting as they head to Water 7.

The Foxy pirates are an interesting group and Sanji is made to be the ball in the final game. He's getting his ass kicked with Zoro. All the illegal moves are legal for them and Sanji can feel his ribs break. They win luckily. Luckily. They make it to Water 7.

The Merry is no longer seaworthy unfortunately and Usopp doesn't believe the builders as he starts to work on the Merry. The crew is fighting about it and Usopp leaves and Sanji, regrettably because it's Zoro making a good point, he agrees with the Mosshead that he'll have to make gracious apologies to come back to the crew.

They just don't expect Robin to leave either. They save her with the help of Franky. And Sanji takes on the Sea Train mostly by himself. He finds Usopp and they watch Robin and Franky be saved by Luffy and as they head back to give Merry back to the sea Nami catches it.

“Sanji! You're bleeding! What happened?” She yells at him as she rips the sleeves of his shirt up and sees the scabbed over cuts up both his arms.

“They're not that deep, they've already stopped bleeding too, don't worry!” He says, deflecting easily. “It's not my hands, I'll be fine! Promise!”

“I'm sorry you went through all that trouble for me, Cook-san.” Robin apologises.

“Nonsense, I would have done it for anyone on our crew.” He smiles at her as he fends Chopper off. He wouldn't expect the crew to do it for him because a cook is more easily replaced. Maybe they could find one Zoro got along with. Franky, Paulie, and Iceberg promise to have a ship ready for them in three days. The fourth day the ship is revealed and it's magnificent. Sanji loves the galley, it's for them and their ever growing crew, like Franky. They hang everything up from before.

Nami's trees are back on deck, Luffy and Chopper have a swing, Zoro can lift weights in the crows nest. There's more room in the bunk rooms. Nami's navigation room is huge and she's in love, the aquarium has the bar and library and Sanji finds more books from his childhood than he thought possible.

When they sail and find a skeleton named Brook and a ship island called Thriller Bark. Usopp, Nami, and Chopper are terrified and for good reason. Of course they go investigate the island despite Brook telling them not to. Luffy has to get this skeleton’s shadow back. Sanji will follow his captain to the end but he knows a warning when he gets one, a real one anyway.

After he saves Nami, because she got kidnapped and almost married off to the guy who had the clear-clear fruit and Sanji. Sanji has issues okay and he's so glad his crew isn't around or conscious enough to hear it. His shadow gets stolen and he sees his zombie fight Zoro and maybe they're meant to be enemies after all.

“Okay but we need to get our shadows back because the fog is gone and it's almost dawn!” Sanji yells at Zoro.

“And what do you take me for, Shit-Cook?” Zoro yells back as they fight Luffy's zombie until all the shadows are free. Luffy is passed out from exhaustion and Moria is gone. Somewhere. Sanji can't feel him or that pink haired girl anymore but there's someone new.

“We got company!” He yells pointing up.

“Who the hell is that?” Zoro demands and Sanji could tell him it's Kuma, he could tell him about the paw-paw fruit but he stills in fear because he needs to protect his crew, his captain. Sanji gets thrown away when he attempts to attack as do most of the crew. “Leave my captain alone!” Zoro demands of the Warlord.

“If you take your captain’s pain I will spare him. I will not take his head.” Kuma says.

“You got a deal.” Zoro says and then Kuma gives him a taste and it's awful. Sanji can hear his haki scream in agony and pain. Sanji wishes he would never hear something like that again.

“Tell the crew to find another, Zoro.” He demands as he lights a cigarette and stands in front of Kuma. Except Zoro knocks him out and when he wakes he follows the searing pain until he finds Zoro. “Zoro? What happened?” He asks gently as goes and holds the man upright and starts leading him back. There's so much blood. Too much to be outside a normal human body and live and Sanji feels anger that Zoro, the one Luffy needs most, did something like this.

“What happened?” Zoro breathes raggedly as he lets himself be dragged. “Nothing, nothing at all.”

“Stay with me Moss, we’re almost to Chopper, okay?” Sanji says as he tries to go faster. Faster and faster because the crew needs them back and for Zoro to live. He lives and Chopper is thanking Sanji for finding him.

“You have as much resolve as he does, it was quite beautiful.” Brook says as he plays the piano.

“I thought you were a violinist.” Sanji says instead.

“I know a good amount of instruments.” Brook answers. “Do you have a request?”

“No, it's alright. Thank you, Brook. I'm happy you're joining the crew.” Sanji smiles at him as he goes and sits next to Zoro. “Fucking idiot Mosshead.” He sighs. He watches the crowd sing Bink’s Sake with Brook and wishes he was in Zoro's place. The nicotine steadies his shaking hands as he sings the lullaby about moon softly to Zoro. He sings again when Luffy climbs into his bunk shaking and clinging to him.

“Captain?” He asks at one point, clearly concerned because Luffy hasn't climbed out or fallen asleep. “How about some hot cocoa then? That's what I do-” he cuts himself off but Luffy is nodding and rubber arming himself around the cook so he gets up and makes his way to the galley.

“Luffy, I need you to get off me and free my arms, okay? You can still hold on if you want but I need my arms and hands.” Sanji explains and Luffy nods and his haki is scared and frightened. Sanji makes it and sits with Luffy at the table.

“What happened? I'm his captain, I'm supposed to protect us.” Luffy asks as he burrows into Sanji's side as the elder lights a cigarette.

“He's the first mate, Captain, his job is to protect you.” Sanji explains and Luffy buries himself into Sanji's side.

“Can you sing the song about the moon again?” Luffy asks and Sanji obliges, petting his captain’s hair. If it was him Luffy wouldn't be as sad because a cook is as replaceable as an oil lantern. Eventually he and Luffy both fall asleep and there's a photo of it on the wall the next day.

~*~

The next one comes out two weeks later and Sanji looks both less ridiculous and more ridiculous. Mihawk and Sora stare at it perplexed because this one is an actual photo at least but his heart eyes are sickening.

“I hope it was a cat.” Sora murmurs.

“It was definitely a type of cat.” Mihawk sighed and took a light slap to his shoulder as penance.

They do not get another bounty poster, instead a wailing pink haired teenager, younger than Sanji floats into the parlour. The look Mihawk gives Sora as she observes the girl and flicks her hair.

“Well, she's not Reiju.” Sora says after going to sit on Mihawk's lap. The girl huffs indignantly at them as Mihawk wraps an arm around her and gives Pink Hair a look of anger.

“Ew, what an ugly name. So not cute.” Pink Hair sneers as she looks around. Sora stiffens and Mihawk is furious. He knows Sora didn't have much of a hand in anything involving her kids until her and Sanji's escape. The names were numbers and codes for experiments.

“I suggest you apologise and leave or I will make you leave.” Mihawk snarls.

“I would love to leave but I have no idea where my captain is! Where the hell am I?” Pink Hair snaps.

“Kuraigana.” Mihawk snaps back, grabbing Yoru’s hilt. Pink Hair follows his hand and her eyes widen in shock.

“Oh shit, you're Dracule Mihawk.” She whispers in horror.

“Yes, I am. You just so happened to insult my wife. Who the hell are you?” He demands.

“Dracule, she's a child.” Sora chides quietly.

“She's a pirate.” He says, fixing Pink Hair with a look. “And not a very bright one.”

“Gecko Moria is my captain, he's a warlord as well! I'm Perona!” She squeals out in terror.

“Moria? I haven't heard about him in ages.” Sora says. “You don't know where he is?”

“No, some stupid rubber kid wrecked everything.” Perona groaned. “I haven't heard anything in like a week.”

Sora fixed Mihawk with a look that made him frown at her. They both knew if Sora said the word Perona could stay. They both knew that she held so much power over him that if she told him he would die for her. It didn't take much as he released Yoru.

“She can stay as long as she's polite to you.” Mihawk relented. Sora nodded as she stood once again. She led Perona away to a spare bedroom he assumed. Perona and Sora appeared to be about the same size so she could wear Sora's dresses until he went on a supply run.

[ct7567scyarika]

Dreams

Summary: In a rare moment, Captain Rex gets to enjoy some peace during the chaos of the war after a mission. Brief Rest, Relaxation, and Reflection with the woman he loves.

Pairing: Captain Rex x Mando OC, Pyrrha Eskel (established relationship)

Warnings: None

Ao3 link

Also not me copying @agirlunderarock format of posting stories on here. Anyway, this story was based on my commission from @agingerpanda! I still cannot get over how beautiful they look, and the background??? SO PRETTY?

Strokes of gentle maya and aureolin painted the partially clouded sky, silhouetting the distant mountaintop’s arching curve. A light fog blanketed the floor but could not shield the low gusts of wind that rippled through the tall grass like inbound waves. The ends of the dark green blades crashed against legs clad in dirty white armor. As Rex stood in the open field he closed his eyes and took a slow, deep inhale as the breeze blew on his face. The clean air was refreshing albeit a little chilling due to the morning mist.

A light clink sounded as something brushed his left arm. He partially opened an eye, his brown hue meeting the welcoming warmth of her bright blue gaze. His body relaxed and gravitated in her direction. The golden beskar that Pyrrha wore could not even compete with the gleaming smile she mirrored from him.

Stars, she was as beautiful as the early sunrise before them.

Rex lifted his hand from his hip to rest around the devoted bounty hunter’s waist, drawing her close to him, their armor clattered on impact. Her arms wrapped around his side with a squeeze then transitioned into a relaxed hold. He nuzzled against her temple before pressing a kiss there, his smile growing at her short hum. He felt her lean even closer to him. He missed being able to hold her without their armor getup on as they had done only half an hour ago. However, he was comfortable. His eyes slid shut.

“So ner golden alor’ad ,” she addressed in gentle Mando’a “can we just go back to sleep?”

“Mm, we’re already up and also stayed a night longer than we should have, ner cyar’ika ..” he spoke quietly against her temple, beginning to slowly sway with her.

“An action I advised as someone experienced in this type of mission; or, that’s what I wrote for the report.”

“Oh? How will you justify that?”

“Easy. We needed to lay low for at least the night so it would be less suspicious,” she turned her head to place the side of her face on his shoulder. “All while not wasting too much time.”

“Wouldn’t going back to bed be, as you will debrief, wasting more time?” he raised a brow in amusement.

“Well, I wasn’t going to clock the exact time we headed out. If push comes to shove, I could always say my ship ran into troubles on the way back.”

He stopped their swaying opened his eyes. “Lie on a report?”

“Wouldn’t be a lie if I said we ran into Hondo and I had him meet us on the way back.”

“You think that pirate would cover for you?”

“Hey, he knows I have the credits to bribe him… and the means to hurt him if I threaten him.”

Rex smirked and shook his head while she giggled. “Pyres,” he exhaled, “getting that pirate involved seems to be a lot of effort just to get a few more minutes more sleep.”

“See, I was aiming for a couple more hours. This mission was exhausting.”

“Yeah, it was, but I don’t think it will compare to the burnout that surely will follow from stringing Ohnaka along.”

Pyrrha laughed, a delightful sound he would always cherish during these dark days. “You’re not wrong, love. Although, I don’t believe it would be nearly as tiring as our last undercover mission with just the two of us.”

“Mm, the mission where you mostly had fun throwing me under the transport.”

“Well, that had been our first time working together alone, and you betrayed me, remember?” She released one arm from his side to place the back of her hand against her forehead, her body slouched against him. “My fiance hiding the truth that he was one of the Republic soldiers that had occupied my totally-not-made-up home planet!” 

He shifted his other arm to catch her from falling to the floor. “And you let that Seppie with his clankers take me!” Was his obviously feigned complaint. His heart nearly melted from the way she looked up at him, a goofy grin on her face.

“It was only, like,” her fingers wiggled before showcasing the proper number “four of them and I got you back once I was given the information we were looking for.” Rex sighed and chuckled, though hindsight made it easier to laugh about that case now. 

Pyrrha set her foot on the floor and Rex aided in easing her back onto her feet, his hands resting on her sides again. She turned her body to face him, hands laid on his armored chest. He reached and brushed the dark brown wavy locks from her face, her very fair complexion dusted a soft red. He kept his hand on her cheek, a little irked at how his glove hindered him from being able to feel her skin. She leaned forward and he copied, their foreheads pressing against each other. She gave an extra little push, a small declaration of her love. What began as a keldabe kiss during missions at the start of their relationship expanded into happening without their helmets. He pushed back in response with a short hum. With his body so comfortable against Pyrrha, the idea of returning to sleep with her in his arms grew more and more tempting. 

He opened his eyes partially, seeing she was doing the same. A quiet, short inhale through his nose as her smile softened and she had that starry-eyes look. He knew what she was thinking, what she wanted.

He wanted it too. 

He leaned forward, his heart raced and he felt rapid fluttering in his stomach. This wasn’t the first time they were doing this, yet he still felt just as giddy as he did then. The breeze that could reach him attempted to cool his heated cheeks. She followed his lead and closed the gap between them.

His eyes were closed as his mind was fixated on how softly this Mandalorian’s lips pressed against his, yet she was firm enough to assure him that she wasn’t parting any time soon. Her hands on his chest shifted slowly, one to wrap around his waist while the other slid up to cradle the back of his neck. The warmth in his chest spread while his hand on her cheek pulled her closer. In his life, he had been grateful to survive each battle, but he had never felt so alive as he did when he was with her. Alive and incredibly loved, the galaxy stood still for just the two of them. He wanted to share such feelings with Pyrrha and wanted her to feel just as loved. He wanted to convey all the feelings that he couldn’t quite put into words through the kisses they shared. Time didn’t exist in these moments, he had no idea how long this tender kiss lasted. Not long enough. He stole a quick kiss after they had begun to depart and he smiled widely when she giggled in response. They both glanced down bashfully.  

Stars above, he wanted to hold her even closer but the armor was in the way. He looked back at her while her head was still turned shily away, so he leaned to nuzzle her temple, then lowered to rest his head where her neck and shoulder met, nestling into her scarlet scarf. He could feel the tips of her fingers combing through the ends of his blond hair, the small ringlets were growing back in. He didn’t keep his hair as closely shaven as he used to because of this exact reason. 

His eyelids felt heavier as he opened them a little, an attempt to remain awake while not moving from the embrace. He looked at the scenery before him that was now basked in the morning’s glow. It wasn’t very often he got to come to a planet without it having some mark from the war on it. Right now, the only footprints of the war had been discreetly left by himself and Pyrrha, although his print had a stronger impression of the ongoing conflict due to his direct link to it. He and his brothers trailed a path of destruction. They were made to be weapons for this exact purpose. The natural beauty of a planet was often lost in the smoke and debris. Swift attacks that would take generations to heal… if ever.

He frowned and eyes shut once more, concentrating on her silent breaths. Every one she gave was a gift that he never wanted to take for granted. 

Which was why he was also back to focusing on his surroundings. One could never know when an enemy would attempt to ambush you in such a vulnerable position. He tightened his hold on her a bit.

Outside of their synchronized breathing, it was silent. Rex wasn’t used to the quiet after a mission, at least like this. Usually what followed were the sounds of troops moving and thunderous rumbles of heavy combat vehicles rolling through the remains, which then led to the hum of being on a Jedi cruiser and all the background noises that came with that environment. And still, after all that, they would return to the busy city of Coruscant. It was never serene. Eerie silence he was very familiar with, but… relaxed? 

Well, there was only one place he ever felt that, and, as much as he loved his brothers, it wasn’t the barracks. It was down, down in the dirty lower levels of the city in a small apartment. Pyres’ apartment; no. 

“Our home ,” she had said many months ago with a smile. “You live here too. It’s your home as much as it is mine. You’re my husband, we’re a family. ”

A family. 

He exhaled. For most of his life, he had never imagined having a family outside of the one with his brothers. He didn’t think he’d get this far, one could never be sure. There was also how Kaminoans made sure to sell him and his brothers more as property than people. Finding love and someone wanting to spend their life with you was not something he believed had been in the cards for him. He was going to be outlived either by the war or his age acceleration, so being romantically involved seemed to do more harm. But yet here was Pyres.

He froze for a moment as the silence was broken by the sweetest sounds he knew. Pyrrha sang in a hushed but clear tone, a song that was familiar to him. A tune she created and sang whenever she was stupendously happy. A song she wrote about him that she shared with him the night of their wedding, one that only they shared with each other. Their secret song.

He smiled. Yes, here was Pyres. His mesh’la, kotyc, nuh’la riduur . Beautiful, strong, funny wife. Here she was as always, dedicated and never hesitated to aid him when he needed her the most; nor was she hesitant to shower him with affection. If he called, she always dropped everything to get to him as quickly as possible. She always called him her brightest star in space’s endless dark, empty voids. Her lifesaver. Yet she gave him a future to look forward to, a new meaning to his life that was beyond fighting. They gave each other hope, to become more than what they had been shaped to be now. They had plans for after the war. A home on Alderaan where they could be far away from painful memories. To lay down their weapons, live in peace, and hopefully grow their little family. His heart raced again at the idea, a future he held tightly to. He knew following this war when they won would be a matter of clones finding a place in the galaxy. He knew his place and would fight for it.

As for now, he could wait. There was plenty of time they’d spend in battle. For now, he wanted to enjoy the minutes they had left alone. He lifted his head, their gaze reuniting as she continued into the end of their song. Although he wanted to hum with her, he did not want to interrupt. Her voice was soft and soothing, lulling him to quietly rest with her. He watched her with a smile and she tilted her head. Her hand moved from the back of his neck and skin brushed over the side of his face, his body reacting with a shiver. His blinks slowed as he nuzzled her hand and cradled her wrist. He planted a soft kiss in her palm, then to the inside of her wrist, smiling as she giggled. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek, his hold tightened slightly when she whispered: 

“Sing with me, please?” Had those Force meditation sessions with Kenobi made her able to sense his hesitation? Well, persuasion was not a Force skill she needed to learn, for as soon as she asked, he nodded and joined her in the song. He shifted his hand from her wrist to hold her hand, brought her closer to him, and began to sway with her in a slow dance. The wet blades of grass rustled against their movements, the light of the sun highlighted their figures and gave their armor an extra gleam. Although the light fog had lifted, the wind continued and strands of Pyres’ hair blew against her face, laughter occasionally breaking her part of the duet.

Rex sank in every moment, noticing every detail so he could revisit this memory in the days to come. He knew Pyres would take a holoimage of them shortly, however, he wanted more than visuals. He wanted to easily recall all the sensations he felt, such as how the weather was a perfect blend of cool and warm, the smell of the wildflowers, the sounds of the duo’s voices softly fading to an end. What he wanted to remember the most was how he felt when he ran his fingers through her hair to cup her face and they leaned in for another kiss, giving into the hunger for more. His eyes opened for a moment as he moved away for a split second, allowing just enough time to partially open his mouth before diving back in for another, deeper kiss. Her lips moved against his as both inhaled through their noses in an attempt to prolong the intoxicating exchange.

If there was anything certain in this galaxy, it was that Rex loved her. He loved her so, so much and he knew she returned the feelings. Each and every single rotation in all the galaxies she would choose him, and he would always choose her. She gave him her love, she gave him the galaxy, and all he could offer was his heart. 

“ It’s enough ,” she had replied when he told her this months ago. With dreamy, glazed eyes and a warm smile, she had continued. “ More than that, more than any treasure in existence. I am lucky to have you; you are more than enough. ”

“ You are as well ,” he had answered and noticed how her hold on him tightened. “ You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. ”

“ The best for each other? ” “ Forever. In the best of ways. ”

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #317: BUSINESS AS USUAL

May, 1990

Guest-starring the Amazing Spider-Man -- -- But not for long!

Okay. That almost makes all the "Guest-starring the Amazing Spider-Man" cover captions worth it.

Can't believe Peter Parker, Spider-Man is going to die in an Avengers book.

Well, it is the 90s. He's better off dead in space.

Zing.

Anyway.

Last times in Avengers: Nebula accidentally broke the universe in an attempt to gain unfathomable power. The Avengers and special-guest Spider-Man fix the universe. Then, chase her to her spaceship but find that her prisoner Starfox has already freed himself and zonked out Nebula and her crew.

And then the Stranger bursts through the wall, very mad at Nebula.

Perhaps because her media footprint is unfathomably bigger than his in modern times. Or maybe because she stole a thing from him.

Both equally likely.

The Stranger really did just OH YEAH through the hull of the spaceship like the Kool-Aid Man.

Good thing for vague sci-fi technology that keeps all the air from rushing out.

Then again, all the heroes that need to breath have air buckets on their head.

Show of hands: who would be broken up if Gunthar the Rigellian died of no air?

Actually, the best part of this being the start of the issue is that Nebula is STILL zonked out by Starfox's pleasure power so she's smiling and not treating any of this seriously.

Spider-Man tries to tell the Stranger about the pleasure power zonking. But he first pulls continuity receipts and reminds the Stranger that they met in Marvel Team-Up #55.

The Stranger remembers but doesn't care. So he fucks off with Nebula someplace where there's less interruption.

The Avengers and special guest Spider-Man all take a moment to reflect on how little a shit the Stranger gave about them. Like they were nothing to him, what with his cosmic might.

Which is definitely the exact case.

Thor: "Mayhap, to a being of such enormous powers, our presence was unimportant." Sersi: "It was almost... demeaning." Spider-Man: "Well, I get de-meaning of it. We're good enough for him!" Captain America: "Be that as it may, troops -- we've got a job to do!" Spider-Man: "innocuously slinking back home, maybe?" Captain America: "We have to find out why the Stranger was so intent on getting Nebula!"

... Do you though?

You saved the universe. You were nearby when Starfox saved himself. Nebula will be less of a problem in the Stranger's custody. That's space justice. What more do you have to do here?

That aside, love this exchange.

Having Spider-Man around certainly does add something to the banter.

Cap asks Sersi to try to psychically scan the Stranger but she puts her foot down.

She's still exhausted from scanning the world and also holding that communications room together and Cap wants her to poke around the brain of a cosmic being?

Captain America: "All right then, I understand -- but if you are going to be an Avenger, we'll soon have to gauge the extents and limits of your abilities!"

Well one limit is not poking around the brain of a cosmic being.

He has a point though.

Sersi's powers are less straightforward than a lot of Avengers.

She's psychic: but how psychic?

She can transform matter but what are the limitations on that? Can she just transform anyone the Avengers fight into pigs? Could she polymorph Thanos? Or does it only work on mooks?

Anyway, the Avengers rush toward trouble and...

Hey, you remember last issue how the space Quinjet was dwarfed by Nebula's spaceship?

Well, Nebula's ship is dwarfed by the Stranger's.

He's a big cosmic man and he needs a big cosmic ship.

(Big in this case is estimated by Spider-Man to mean the size of Argentina.)

Spider-Man: "Uhm... Listen, guys, much as I'd like to invade a ship roughly the size of Argentina... shouldn't we reconsider, or plan a comprehensive strategy... or run and hide somewhere?" Captain America: "This is all in a day's work, son. If you're going to be an Avenger, you'll have to learn to deal with the unexpected!"

To which Spider-Man thinks "Okay, the unexpected I can deal with... as long as I'm expecting it, that is..."

Cap makes plans for the Avengers and special new recruit Spider-Man to be ferried across by the fliers, while Iron Man stays behind and makes sure all of Nebula's henchmen are secured.

But before they even leave, they're interrupted by the Stranger not taking kindly to them even thinking about barging into his house/spaceship.

He sends over a robot called Blockade. Who has his one and only appearance in this issue.

Like his name suggests, he's here to put up a stern hand and tell the Avengers to stop getting involved.

And on top of the robot telling them to kindly fuck off, the Stranger even astral projects and doubles down on the message.

Avengers, kindly fuck off. The Stranger has this handled.

Captain America tells the Stranger that they can't leave until they find out what the Stranger wants with Nebula.

The Stranger really does just want the Avengers to kindly fuck off because instead of pulling the 'nunya bizness' card, he exposits.

That or he's a comic book character who secretly loves any excuse to spill the tea.

The Stranger reveals that Nebula stole from him. Which we knew but the Avengers didn't. Not that Cap is surprised. This is the most in-character crime he could have heard Nebula was accused of.

But she specifically stole from his homeworld, while he was gone doing whatever the Stranger does. And his homeworld is so well-hidden and so well-guarded that nobody had ever heisted him before.

Nebula is like Space Black Cat. Was like. I think modern Nebula, because of the movies, has a skillset more tailored towards assassination.

But back in the day, Nebula ran with a crew of pirates and was a super-duper space thief.

It was thanks to her best minion Gunthar, who is a Rigellian and not a penguin, that she was able to strike while the Stranger was gone. Rigellian tracking tech, yo.

Although, despite him being essential to this heist, Nebula isn't afraid to claim credit for herself for this bit.

And what Nebula stole was "the most powerful weapon in the multiverse."

Which I'd guess was the Ultimate Nullifier or the Infinity G- oh wait, we haven't revealed how powerful the gems are yet.

But Infinity is still the word to throw around to make things sound important.

Because she steals the Infinity Union!

Which is three devices mooshed together which combined can channel "all forms of ambient energy into the user!"

Hey, the Stranger, why do you have this? Why does it even exist?

Like, the Ultimate Nullifier and the Infinity Gems have gotten explanations for why they're even a thing. But why build three devices and then smoosh them together to control all ambient energy and then just leave it in a storage room somewhere? Why?

And this Infinity Union really didn't have any staying power or maybe it got overshadowed by the Infinity Gauntlet in a couple years but the Union doesn't even have it's own page on marvel wiki.

(I do like that the Stranger's homeworld is so unfathomably huge that it takes Nebula and Gunthar two hours just to cross the room to get to the Infinity Union.)

Also, while Spider-Man's silly jokes were appreciated last time, he's apparently running thin his welcome.

Jokingly comparing an Infinity Union to the teamsters causes the Stranger to call Spider-Man an idiot. And when Spider-Man jokes that it sounds like a rerun that they're saving the universe right after saving the universe, Thor tells him, hey bud, this is serious time.

Meanwhile, Iron Man and Starfox have finished interrogating the zonked out Gunthar, who has given them basically the same exposition about the Infinity Union.

Iron Man: "But what does Nebula want with such a weapon, Gunthar?" Gunthar: "What she has always wanted, Earthling -- ultimate power -- and the attainment of her goal, the chance to create ultimate entropy -- the death of all there is!" Iron Man: "That's insane! It would wipe her out, too!" Gunthar: "That is not my concern -- I only serve my mistress in being the sole player in this deadly gambit! If any other than Nebula touches the device, it will annihilate this entire sector of space!"

Hang on. Nebula's goal is to wipe out all life?

I call bullshit.

For one thing: Why would she want that? Thanos wanted something like that at various points. Because he thought it would make Death want to smooch him. He had personal reasons for doing what he did.

Nebula is going around telling everyone she's the granddaughter of Thanos. Later, it will turn out, that she's lying for clout.

But every Nebula appearance (discounting the Kang Nebula, since we've reached retcon territory on that) has had her want power for the sake of power. She wants conquest.

When she accidentally broke the universe, instead of being thrilled, she was annoyed that she was close to achieving infinite power and now had nothing to use it on.

Is this a swerve? Byrne deciding in his last issue to just change directions? Or did Fabian Nicieza add this in when he finished up this issue? Is Gunthar an idiot?

Let's assume Gunthar is an idiot.

Stupid, dumb Gunthar.

Anyway, Iron Man leaves Starfox to watch the stupid, dumb prisoners and flies off to go warn the Avengers not to touch the thing.

Do you not have radios? Communicators in some fashion? You're wearing a computer and Vision is a computer. And you can't just ring him up?

Get your shit together, Stark.

In the medical-science section of the Stranger's "continent-sized spaceship" (so Spider-Man was way off when he thought it was only the size of Argentina), the Stranger continues to be annoyed that Nebula's brain is still zonked.

Medical crystals! What, is this Kryptonian tech?

Because of the zonk (the pleasure zonk) from Starfox, the Stranger can't probe Nebula's brain for where she hid the Infinity Union.

And he knows her intentions for it are bad.

Also, weirdly, the turning off the universe plot is relevant here. All the energies gathered by the compressor have been absorbed by the Infinity Union. So if Nebula uses it, she'll become even more infinitely powerful than she already would have.

I guess that links the stories together.

Considering all the build-up was for the compressor, this part of the plot feels rickety. It feels almost like we're in a post-script season. We had this story about Spider-Man helping the Avengers when the universe goes all photo-negative and now we're in a different but linked plot.

Him joking about going from the universe being at stake to the universe being at stake, feels a little self-aware in that light.

The Stranger tries a stronger PSYCHIC PROBE on Nebula's ship but all he accomplishes is causing agony to the Avengers. Even Vision. And his brain is a computer.

This is apparently a bridge too far for Captain America.

Captain America: "Enough is ENOUGH! Anything that is wanted that badly by people like Nebula and the Stranger shouldn't be had by either of them! It's our responsibility to find this Infinity Union before they do -- and once we find it -- destroy it forever!"

I'm not sure it IS the Avengers' responsibility. The thing is the Stranger's and he did have it pretty well under lock and key. Well, before Nebula stole it.

Hm. Maybe do destroy it.

Iron Man shows up to back up Cap and explain that the Union is booby-trapped to blow if anyone other than Nebula touches it.

So Cap tells the Avengers to split up to cover more ground that way. But if you find the Infinity Union, don't touch it!

... Hey. Do they even know what it looks like?

They're going to search an entire huge spaceship and not even know what the thing they're looking for is?

Great plan, Cap.

Spider-Man is getting a little nervous about what he signed up for.

Spider-Man: "Sure is one heckuva way to spend my first hour as an Avenger! The really scary thing is that these guys play for keeps each and every day! Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is a little more used to your common type of thugs. Like Doc Ock or Hobgoblin, or geez, even Leap Frog! Saving the planet as an appetizer, then the universe as a main course is a little out of my league! Well, they say the cream rises to the top so maybe it's time to curdle up and hide!"

Quite a bait and switch this story is pulling. Insisting Spider-Man would be a perfect Avenger in one issue and then having him second-guess it the next.

I did dimly realize that obviously Spider-Man didn't become an Avenger in this era. But one can't be faulted for hoping.

Now, that's a What If? I'd like to see. What Ifs Spider-Man joined the Avengers for this story and for the one where Monica Rambeau joined.

But despite Spider-Man not wanting to be involved, he turns out to be the best guy to find the Infinity Union. It's so dangerous that it's setting off his spider-sense and by playing hot and cold with the headache it gives him, he's able to find where the thinger is hidden.

He can't figure out how to open the door so he just rips it open.

Despite Cap telling him not to touch, Spider-Man worries that the Stranger or Nebula might stumble in and find it before he can get the others so he tries to snag it with a web-line so he can drag it without touching it buuuuut

I guess he activated Gunthar's trap card.

Looks like Spider-Man is super dead now. We'll have to bring in Ben Reilly early.

Meanwhile, back on Earth in Manhattan, Quasar arrives at the Avengers Construction Site.

I legit forgot that he was sorta one of the core members right now.

Even Quasar comments on the fact that he's been so busy in his own book that he hasn't done a lot of Avengersing.

Quasar sees that not as much construction has happened as he's expected and weirdly the Avengers Sub-Basement is pretty abandoned. John Jameson and whoever else apparently ditched between issues.

But Jarvis is in the communications room... a communications room? That one communications room is still hanging off the PolyDyne building.

Anyway, Quasar goes to see Jarvis in a communications room, where Jarvis explains in brief where the Avengers are. Before the monitors explode in their faces.

Since it makes the same SHEEKAK noise, this is probably Spider-Man's fault.

Looks like Jameson was right. Spidey is a threat AND a menace.

This extended Spider-Man story guest starring Avengers ends next time. But our next time is back over to Avengers West Coast for a weird fill-in which is also technically part of the arc Byrne was setting up before he left.

Follow @essential-avengers for more fun times. Fun not guaranteed. Offer void where prohibited. Like, comment, reblog, and whatever else. But only if you want.

[ribbonverse]

y u do dis?

Fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57162358

I feel like by the end of the Soul Society arc, the Bleach universe already had plenty of width, and what it needed going forward was more depth. Instead it kept piling powers upon powers and retcons kept accumulating on top of reveals. And for what?

To use an in-universe metaphor, Bleach lost its heart and became a Hollow long ago, and has been haunting the people who loved it ever since. That's the case for me, at least. It's very frustrating to me that a great series with a ton of potential was completely squandered because the author is apparently allergic to relationships or something.

Anyway, I think it's fair to say that along with just being Really Cool, Bleach until the end of the Soul Society arc had an emotional core that appealed to many people. It was pretty clear that Ichigo wasn't just saving Rukia because he felt it was his duty or whatever. He was saving someone who completely changed his life on multiple levels, including an emotional one, and he was saving her because he felt very passionately about it. This was clear because it was set up in the previous story arc, starting all the way in chapter 1.

But instead of what it was actually set up as, the story of Bleach until the end of the Soul Society arc became "boy meets girl, girl saves boy and his family by giving him her powers, boy and girl work together and become close, girl gets in trouble and is going to get executed, boy pushes himself to a breaking point and corrupts his soul to obtain the power to save girl, gets almost killed many times but finally saves girl (or thereabouts), boy and girl go their separate ways as friends."

A pretty ridiculous ending if you ask me, but it had to happen because it was in the script.

Hey, what's that on the ground there, is that the script? Let's have a look, shall we.

Huh? The main character doesn't get a moment's rest before being targeted by the Bad Guys and is now basically useless? And two seconds after obtaining the One Ring Hōgyoku that was supposed make his Hollow experiments a success, Aizen already has his own Budget Gotei 13, which is just the Captains and no other characters, and none of them are interesting because they're literally just self-centered and unhinged Bad Guys with no other purpose than being antagonists?

And when they're not out antagonizing the Main Character, they're just waiting for him in Budget Soul Society, a dimension that's literally just an empty desert with some simple geometric shapes passing for buildings here and there, like someone made their first 3D models in Blender and tried to create their own MMO?

And why's everyone got Spanish names all of a sudden? Where's all the cool Japanese stuff?

Wait, what's this? The girl that the boy almost destroyed his soul in order to save is back, and now she's grabbing him and shoving his face at the Budget Magical Girl and basically telling them to kiss? It's like she broke the fourth wall, saw that people were shipping her with the Main Character, and said "NOPE".

But I thought Bleach wasn't about relationships anymore, and now we're going with one of the least likely pairings in this particular universe?

Well, it's in the script, so it had to happen.

The so-called story really goes off the rails as time goes on. I don't even know how many people actually cared about Bleach past a certain point, because people don't keep reading/watching stuff they don't care about. And as a consequence, the fans that are left after a while are the ones who think the current state of the work is actually good for some reason.

Basically what I'm saying is, f the script, 'cause it's really dumb. I guess that's the essence of fanfiction a lot of the time.

In slightly less ranty terms

It seems to me that it became a less-than-generic, angsty series about endlessly fighting for some nebulous reason that everyone's long forgotten about, where Ichigo is stuck in an infinite loop of wearing a scared or desperate expression because he's failing, then getting a powerup, and either winning or losing before repeating the cycle. And the impressive part is that all of this happens without any major emotional significance or growth as a person.

It also didn't help that I found the attempts at Spanish influence that appeared post-Soul Society to be supremely uninteresting and strangely executed. It's basically just words that are entirely unconnected to the rest of the universe, making them feel really out of place.

The Japanese stuff, the characters and the exploration of certain aspects of the Shinigami world was what made things so fascinating. But then everyone put on these white Halloween masks and started playing Hollows, like someone was inspired by the least intersting parts of the first story arc and begun writing bad fanfiction (no offense).

The setting changed from an actual Society to a literal desert, the only purpose of which is to contain the Bad Guys that the Protagonist needs to defeat, like a cheaply made RPG where there's only one significant landmark in the entire game world and enemies just keep spawning on a flat field for the players to grind until they level up.

What's the point of an uninhabited place that's only populated by hostile NPCs with overinflated egos and nothing of interest to say? If I ever want to subject myself to that, I'll go play a Souls game (note: I'm not actually going to do that, so don't call the hotline. I'm not prone to self-harm).

Not that Soul Society was a masterpiece of worldbuilding either. Pac-Man, anyone? You could probably write a melancholy song titled The Walls of Seireitei in which Kenpachi laments how he can never find a worthy opponent in this endless maze, and if only he was programmed to have the ability to jump he might be able to escape this fresh hell. But the game only has quick-time events, so he can only jump at pre-determined points in the story.

I guess these days you could have an AI write and compose that song for you, and it would be pretty good.

But in any case, you can look at almost anything other than the empty environments in Soul Society and notice that at least an effort was made. Inspiration was taken, there was some really Cool Stuff in every volume, if not every chapter. And I don't mean the cosplayers-wearing-Hollow-masks kind of "cool" that things devolved into, I mean interesting things being said, characters/Zanpakutou shown, and events unfolding, putting the actions of our characters into a larger context.

In other words, worldbuilding. Now that was cool. And characters can only really be cool if the concept of "cool" is properly defined and established within the context of the fictional world they inhabit. Like the Bankai, for example. But who cares about seeing yet another one when everyone finds a Bankai under their seat and it becomes a requirement for participation?

It should also matter why someone attains a Bankai or any sort of power. Oh, what's that? The main character puts himself through training that amounts to torture and corruption of his soul, gets nearly killed in almost every subsequent fight he participates in, goes through yet more torturous training to attain the Ultimate Power, visibly ages during his journey to save a woman he has a very special relationship with, has some kind of evil demon take residence within his soul due to how far he went for her, and in the end they're Just Friends?

Sure, now tell me the one about the one-armed Shinigami and his rabbit-shaped Bankai.

All of this was probably said a million times over 15 years ago, but I don't particularly care. What I do care about is that great things were done and there was amazing potential for the future, but it was flushed down the toilet. Along with the Only Correct Ship™.

So I wrote a fic. It's an IchiRuki ship at its core, but I also added some things to the world when inspiration struck. I mostly wrote this as a form of emotional expression and to let out the ideas that came to me in the small hours of one morning.

So far there are over 70k 50k words that are mostly ready to be published, as well as some stuff for a possible follow-up series. However, some finishing touches need to be put on still, so it's not all going to come out at once.

Also, this is the first fanfiction (and really the first creative work of any kind) I've ever written. So keep that in mind.

It's also not going to be for everyone, because I've been heavily influenced by certain things (mostly David Eddings' Belgariad-verse and Harry Potter). And not everyone finds value in the same things. So if you find it long-winded, it's probably not just you.