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beanghostprincess · 3 months

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I will forever love seeing Luffy and Nami holding Zoro's swords. He's so protective of those three but it's not even because he fears something might happen to them, but because he's scared something might happen to the crew and himself if he doesn't have them with him. They're like extra limbs. The ones he uses to fight and protect and breathe. He feels uneasy whenever his swords aren't around him, and that is just a fact. You can't deny that he feels comfort in having them by his side at all times, knowing that he'll be able to protect the crew from any dangers. They're tied to his heart and soul in a way that if he loses sight of them he might actually lose himself too. So he does not enjoy seeing his swords in somebody else's hands. They can disappear, he will find them. They can run away, he will follow. They can break, he trusts them not to but if they do, he will keep going carrying their bond with him still. But he doesn't like seeing them in somebody else's hands because those are his swords. His limbs. His heart. His soul. It's just not right. It never feels right. But.

But.

But sometimes Luffy acts like he knows what he's doing and actually asks for permission instead of just taking what he wants. As if crossing Zoro's boundaries would be unforgivable, when he knows Zoro would give him anything he wanted to take from him. But he asks. He asks, with a careful, polite, deep voice Zoro isn't used to hearing. But it always ends with the softest of smiles and the petition reaches a place inside of Zoro's heart that he just knows has also touched his swords. So he lets him, because how could he not, and he runs his fingers through all of them. Amazed. Astonished. Respectfully talking to them as if they could hear him. And they can. Zoro knows they hear and feel and love and crave and long for his captain's touch. He knows, because he does too. Because who wouldn't? Luffy holds them in a way he never holds anything else- Carefully. Like they aren't his. Like befriending somebody he fears might reject him. Like taking hold of Zoro's heart and holding him so gently in case he might break him. He worships them as if he weren't the god in this relationship. He looks handsome, too. Not pretty. Not cute. Handsome. Mature. His hat covers his adventurous gaze but leaves his mischievous grin for the whole world to see. And yet, the swordsman trusts him enough. Without any look or any word. He knows Luffy's face by heart, he realizes, now that he can picture his eyes quite too perfectly under his hat. His skin glistens under the sun and his tender fingers hold the sword with so much clumsiness it looks dumb. He doesn't know how to hold them, yet they don't want to move away from him. It's clumsy but it takes over them. Maybe it's his haki. Maybe it's the effect the future king of the pirates has. Zoro thinks it's just him. Luffy. And his heart stops the second Luffy smiles, as if he had just heard the sword respond to him. He wants to kiss him. Bite him. Let him bite back and draw blood and eat him. Let him hold him the way he holds the swords but tighter. Closer. Maybe he's in love. Zoro. With Luffy. It's not a maybe. Who is he trying to trick? He knows he is in love. With the way he smiles and the way he holds and the way he wants but respects and loves. It's funny like that, the fact that Luffy keeps being so careful when Zoro would let him tear his heart apart and eat it if he so desired. It's funny that the swords love him with such gentleness when they often demand power. Perhaps kindness is the most powerful weapon of all or, at least, Luffy's most powerful skill. Zoro hates it when somebody else holds them because they don't own them. They don't own him. He doesn't even own his swords, anyway. Nobody can. They're his the same way he's theirs, just with a bit more dominance and respect. But Luffy isn't owning them. He's praying to them. Talking to them. Befriending them. Loving them. And they would bow to him if he so desired. Zoro knows they would, as fierce as they are and violent as they seem and as sharp as they cut. They'd bow to him because Zoro would too. The uneasiness does not exist when Luffy is the one to hold them because, if Zoro had to give out his soul for somebody to take care of, that would be Luffy. And if he has to be unprotected. Naked. Bare in front of a thousand soldiers. He will if it's Luffy the one fighting instead.

Sometimes Nami wants to hold them just to feel what it's like to be in Zoro's shoes. It's a stupid reason. He refuses to let her do it as an instinctive reaction at first. She doesn't seem as interested in following the protocol as Luffy is, but she knows where to stop and she knows what to say to get on Zoro's nerves, anyway. She's equally as fierce. Equally as sharp. He won't let her hold any cursed sword, but it's not like she wants to. She's smarter than that. Careful and respectful but not that interested in the swords and what they mean, more in how they feel. Zoro gets it. Kind of. Somehow. She says something about always letting them eat her precious tangerines, so he should humor her by letting her hold Wado at least. She isn't pushing him. He knows she wouldn't. She's just teasing because she knows. She always knows. She knows he will say yes. Because he always does what she says, although he keeps demanding a bit of respect to not be treated like a dog. But Nami never forces him to do anything. He could refuse. She would give up at some point. But there's just something about her- Stubbornness. Strength. Love. So much love and care and worry and anger. And Zoro likes her. She's selfish, too, like a pirate should be. Stronger than Zoro in the ways that matter. Smarter, too, even if he wouldn't admit it out loud. But she leads the way and he follows, not because that's a dog's job, but because he wants to. He trusts her. Something he never thought he would. But he does. She's smart. She leads the way. She knows where they're going. They somehow are the same and totally different at the same time. Zoro grounds Luffy when he gets lost. Nami leads them both so they won't. So there's something about her curiosity that makes him soften. He never knows exactly why he does what she says. Why he indulges her like that. But it's satisfying, for some reason he refuses to read within himself, the satisfactory and pleased grin on her face when he hands her Wado. She's careful with her. Awful at holding her. Bad posture. Great smile. Horrible movements. Beautiful eyes. It's okay, though, he thinks. Wado likes her because Zoro likes her. Nami loses interest within a minute, complaining about the weight and the sudden realization of "you always have this thing in your mouth" which makes her want to give her back. But she stares at her for a whole minute. It isn't her thing, but her eyes spark when the sword is returned to Zoro. Trust. A smile. Thankfulness. Her bangs are getting a bit longer and one strand of hair gets in the middle of her teasing smirk. She says she prefers her clima-tact, but swords are fine, "I guess". "She's pretty" she says. Zoro thinks she is pretty. Nami. In a way he can't quite describe because he has never really been good at that. But she is. Like a blade. Sharp. But in the right hands this time for her not to cut the ones she loves anymore. She hands him a tangerine next, every time he lets her hold his sword. An exchange. "I give you something that matters. You give me something that matters". Zoro wants to say it's not the same, but the tangerine is sweet. Juicy. His fingers then smell strongly of citrus. Almost as similar as steel. If he can feel Nami's heartbeat in every bite, he wonders if she has been able to hear his in the hilt of his sword. Calm. Peaceful. Safe.

Zoro doesn't like seeing his swords in somebody else's hands because those are his swords. His limbs. His heart. His soul. It's just not right. It never feels right. But.

But sometimes it does.

#romance dawn trio my beloved #btw it's not meant to be romantic between zoro and nami they're besties and love each other deeply #however it is meant to be extremely romantic between zoro and luffy zoro is very very gay #what is this? idk. why did i write this? idk.#this maybe does not make any sense and i do not care okay #i am just vibing here #as you can see this was supposed to be a short post. it wasn't #i just think there's something about zoro letting nami and luffy hold his swords it makes me soft #this was supposed to be about ALL the crew but the bond these three have is important to me so let's leave it like this #one piece #roronoa zoro #monkey d. luffy #cat burglar nami #nami #romance dawn trio #zolu

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soap-ify · 4 months

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simon can't be with you anymore.

cw gn!reader , angst , hurt / no comfort, simon doesn't know what he's doing.

notes streets said that it's angstmas !! didn't know that it existed until recently. anyways, since i'm having the worst week of my life, i'm gonna ruin it for simon too.

maybe simon was being stupid.

he probably was. not that he could think of any other options besides leaving you.

his work was too dangerous, and the next deployment was probably going to be his last. especially after the recent briefing he went to where the captain spoke about the upcoming mission — a highly risky one. in fact, even the most skilled like ‘ghost’ was bound to either get severely injured or just die. probably the latter. especially since he wouldn’t be with the rest of the taskforce 141 in the fucking warzone.

just a sacrifice for the better of the world, yeah? even though a part of him didn’t want to. fuck the world. you meant so much more to him. but he had chosen this job right. he had agreed to the mission.

and after all, he never considered himself deserving of you, deserving of this relationship he had with you. he knew he was somewhat of a distant boyfriend — barely opening up about his own feelings or past. at least he had shown you his face. you didn’t deserve someone as dangerous as him, someone so… damaged.

he didn’t want to die knowing that you’d be waiting home, all sad and lonely. he didn’t want to leave you like that, but at the same time, he didn’t want to stay and just watch this sweet bubble you two were in shatter. in both ways, he had to leave you. he had to somehow make this less painful, to make it easier for you to move on.

god, he was an asshole. he knew he was. he spent the week just distancing himself from you, responding to your words with nods and grunts while barely reciprocating to your affectionate touches. his heart was breaking more and more everyday, noticing the pained look in your eyes.

he couldn’t keep doing this for much longer. eventually, he had to end this, and he did.

“we can’t be together.”

his words hit you like a brick. literally on a random friday evening. not so random now, it seemed.

“what do you mean, si…?” your voice got quieter with each word, uncertainty towards your own state of mind flooding inside you while a lump formed in your throat, restraining you from properly even speaking out. your eyes stared at him in pure confusion and heart, noticing how he was cladded in his uniform, how he wore that damn skull mask balaclava — building up those walls again that you had managed to break so easily with your love.

simon hated this. he didn’t want to see you so confused and defeated. he had to stop himself mentally from doing something irrational. he was doing this for you, for your own good. though hearing you call him ‘si’ seemed to somewhat crack his composure.

“look, we can’t be together. s’too dangerous. too risky for you. you never know when i might die.” soon, but he held himself from saying that. you didn’t need to know about his deployment, not at all.

“w-why so sudden?” your voice cracked as you tried to properly make sense of his words, emotions taking off your being while you tried to hold in the tears that had begun to sting your eyes.

too dangerous, too risky — maybe somewhere in your heart, you had known that a day like this would come. simon riley was too careful about safety, too dedicated to his work while simultaneously being madly in love. suddenly, all of his sudden distant behavior made sense, and you felt somewhat stupid. stupid for, well, everything.

he was the plague that had infected you, and now he needed to leave so you could heal.

but you never thought of him like that. he was your rock, the anchor that held you from slipping away into loneliness that had always somehow stuck with you throughout your life, a sting that only simon could soothe. it was simon who would craddle you in his arks every night, it was simon who would listen to your rambles. it was simon who your heart was so willing to give love to.

and now he was going to leave.

simon had expected you to scream, to somehow target your anger and frustrations at him. he wanted you to yell at him, he deserved it.

but you didn’t. you sniffled, beads of tears beginning to roll down your cheeks as you took a wobbly step back, too exhausted to fight back or anything.

you didn’t blame simon. how could you? even now, you couldn’t find a flaw in him. too in love? maybe.

as silence filled the living room of the apartment you used to share with him, he slowly picked up his duffel bag and sighed, trying to keep his brown eyes cold and unfeeling, to make it look like he didn’t feel remorseful, to hide his heart was threatening to tear out of his own skin.

“i’ll always love you, simon…”

you said after a few seconds, causing his head to turn over to look back at you — your eyes teary and puffy while your cheeks were streaked with tears, his hands aching to wipe them away. your voice was weak, reluctantly defeated. you know that there was no point in stopping him.

i’ll always love you too, he mentally thought, though never said.

"one final kiss...?" simon froze at your request, knowing that if he were to look at your face any longer, he'd actually stay. he sighed and pressed a soft kiss on your forehead before pulling away, brown eyes hardening up.

he gave you a final nod and exited the apartment from the front door, leaving you alone all over again, your heart torn in pieces as you fell down on your knees, shattering into pieces that no one was going to bother picking up now. only simon could, but he was gone.

simon riley had died three months after that, and you never found out. for you, ge had just disappeared, leaving no traces behind.

just a memory that you were afraid you’d forget eventually, forget his touch and his voice, forget his face — just a memory that was going to bury itself no matter how hard you may try.

#i don't know what i am doing #literally writing everything EXCEPT the simon oneshot i am actually supposed to be writing #evilly ruins simon's life.#teared up while writing this #WHO GETS THE REFERENCE HERE !!#ghost x reader #simon riley x reader #simon ghost riley x reader #simon riley #simon ghost riley #cod x reader #call of duty #rurufic

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mishapen-dear · 7 months

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oh im gonna be SO annoying about bbh in a minute. i keep saying the same thing over and over again but his character is too fucking complex motherfucker is like:

"i'm a demon who is 11,000 years old and i refuse to acknowledge that im a demon nor that i do bad things (like steal furniture) but i will help people every chance i get despite saying im going to stop doing that and i am going to devote my life to protecting these fragile little eggs even though i know im going to lose them one day because i love them too much (and i know i can do that and it will one day be okay, because i have an immortal diamond to keep me company even if he isn't here now). when my friend throws himself beneath the spokewheel of the federation i will be there, bitter about my loss, but i will not start a revolution until he proves he deserves one. i will do what i can to safeguard his system against corruption because i am afraid the federation will use him to hurt us. i know he doesn't want to hurt us. he keeps hurting me. he is isolated by our distrust in him and he is still working hard to try to be a good person in an inherently corrupt system that cannot be fixed so i will build him a statue. i will not kill him when he takes a picture of me in the presidential chair (that was almost mine) and puts it on his wall and calls me 'employee of the month.' i didn't do all of that work for the federation i did it for him like i do it for others because they are my friends. i will exhaust every option i have to build a reason to NOT start a revolution. to not kill him. because i have to say that i tried. i feel like i have made so many compromises. i have held myself back to try to find reason. i will still remove his access to my base. when the island turns against me and he locks me in a cage for a crime i did not commit, i will remove everyone's access (except for my family the french and my family the eggs). i am having fun. when the eggs appear the next day with cracks and dirty shells i will worry, but i know they're strong. they'll be okay. (when i find my son's secret lab and his unethical experiments that cause him harm i will be proud because he has done what i do. he has helped. i want him to be safe but we are never safe and i trust him more than anyone else. i know now, and i can help him be safe.) when the eggs go missing i will be silent. i will look for them, and i will destroy for them, and i will bargain for them, and i will cry for them, and i will not accept their loss. when my friend who is president who once built a safehouse that saved my eggs' lives is finally damaged by the federation (like i knew he would be when he became president) and he starts to hurt people by pushing the same treatment onto them i will not be surprised. i will be surprised when he tries to marry me. i will not blame him (much) when he tries to kill me. our children are missing. he is forced to pretend that his is not. i wish i could too. i will not tell him yes or no because i need an open avenue to manipulate him (because to save him i will have to manipulate him). i will not marry him because he is out of his mind. i have said marriage is overrated. i have also said that i want to live with him in a house with our kids and my skeppy. when he tells me that he wants to be happy with me i will still say 'aw' because it is the most genuine thing he has said to me and i miss my friend. i will still try to kill him. i fail to kill him with someone else's plan. i don't place a block to lock him in place. i hesitate. it doesn't matter if it's on purpose because the next plan works. i will reveal an item that could destroy me to my closest allies (and tubbo) because it will let us save him. we save him. when he kills himself 18 times over i back away from the explosion in surprise and then step close again. while i have grieved i have thrown myself into mines. it doesn't matter. i am numb and want to feel something. everything has lost colour. we save him.

i visit federation workers and ask them about my eggs and they do not tell me anything. i know they are lying. i visit the graveyard to talk to my lost eggs. i have lost all of the eggs. i do not know how to save them. i lay in the mud. it rains and rain signifies the monster has returned to kill my children but my children are not here and so i do not care. when i go home i will become so angry and i will go down to my basement (which i have locked like my friend locked the entrance to his greatest fantasy. we are so alike and our delusions are different. he child was real; here is the secret to finding my children) where i have locked a federation worker away. i will not wash away the blood stains.

i am also part-time grim reaper and i only ever dress up in robes to make people drink more water."

#this was supposed to be a quick summary of his character. help.#this is a quick warning about the other bigger post i am writing about him and how his Whole Deal and World View is and why he's being so #soft with forever despite the Nightmare Horrors #to put it more simply: he's built different #qsmp #bbh #q badboyhalo #qsmp character analysis #<- more like qsmp character 'here is everything about this character but hang on there's even More'#HELLPPPPP IM IN THE TRENCHESSSS #did you know there's a 4096 character limit on a block of text. guess how i found that out #but everything is SO IMPORTANT to how he reacts to everything else #he holds grudges like nobody's business but he's also a hypocrite and plays favourites #he's stubborn and Chooses enemies and friends and there are always lines to cross but he understands context #and the forever thing has the context of bad looking at him and going 'i know what you're feeling. i know why you're doing this.'#'i know i would be worse'

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lord-yiikes · 1 year

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pepperman more like pissman amirite

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detroit-become-moomin · 9 months

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Hey there! Completely forgot to post about this here, but - charity project for trans kids!!

POINTY THINGS, a folk horror collection written by me, illustrated by @ehlihr, and edited by @nimagine is now available for purchase online through Pride 2024. All revenue raised during the upcoming year will go to LGBT+ mutual aid orgs defending trans youth! In this collection you'll find:

55 pages & 22k+ words of story

unsettling megafauna

a trans take on red riding hood

fun facts about 16th-century beheading practices!

deeply unsexy vampirism

haunting-as-dysphoria

3/5 stories brought to life in spooky, atmospheric detail by elisar's illustrations!

The charities we'll be donating proceeds to include Equality Texas and the Transgender Education Network, but I'm also keeping an eye out for other mutual aid orgs defending the rights of trans youth in the American Southwest.

🩸PURCHASE HERE (GUMROAD) 🩸

🩸 OR HERE (KO-FI)🩸

#if you wanna support but you're not a big horror fan or just new to the genre #you can find a list of content warnings next to the table of contents #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #horror #folk horror #creative writing #i never post and i neverrr know how to tag things lmfao i'm doing my best here #horror story #horror fiction #queer books #trans writers #lgbt horror #queer horror #uhhhhh god what are the hashtags you're supposed to use #genuinely i am so bad at social media #trans horror #lgbt writers #my writing

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theminecraftbee · 1 year

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“So I’m beginning to think I’m the problem,” Impulse says, and given Bdubs didn’t even know he was there it makes him jump a bit.

“Hey! Don’t sneak up like that! We were just playing a death game, don’t go standing in my blind spot!” Bdubs shouts, pointing as he does.

Impulse snorts. “I think you’d recognize someone stabbing you in the back either way. I know I would.”

Bdubs scowls. “Hey!” He’s ready to defend himself—he’d have you know he didn’t stab nobody in the back this time around! He was loyal to Cleo and Scar until the end, no matter how many jokes about Etho they made! And, you know, just because he wanted Etho to be with him too—wanted TIES back because so screw him maybe he regrets Team BEST a little—wanted, wanted, wanted, wanted—

Bdubs pauses. Bdubs closes his mouth again and thinks.

“What do you mean, you’re the problem?” he says, instead of any of that.

Impulse shrugs lightly. “I mean, this time, it wasn’t you who betrayed me. No clocks involved at all, just good-old-fashioned letting down my guard. Stupid me, right?”

Bdubs frowns harder. “That’s stupid,” he declares.

“I killed you by the way,” Impulse adds. “I know it was unclear. I was excited about it.”

“Oh, yeah, I know, I figured out afterwards, really rude of you, you know, I was fighting someone else. Basically kill stealing. I’m impressed. Good job.”

Impulse blinks. “Thank you?” he says.

“You’re welcome!” Bdubs says.

“You were supposed to—”

“You aren’t a problem, you’re a solution,” Bdubs says, finally having figured out his response to the earlier statement. “Oh, by the way, Mom carved some new stuff on your clock. She called me her favorite.”

“None of what you just said makes sense,” Impulse says, frustrated. “Don’t you get it? I finally got back at you and I’ve realized that fine, I don’t need to blame you for stabbing me, apparently it’s my fault!”

“Hey! Don’t take away my brilliant decision-making skills! I stabbed you in the back perfectly on my own, thank you very much. And I stabbed no one in the back this time. I—I—you made it to the top two for team BEST you know! I mean, TIES? Don’t ask me questions.”

Impulse stares at Bdubs for a while. Bdubs stares back. He’s very handsome. Perfect to go with someone like himself. They were the most handsome soulmates, back when they did that, and now—

“You know what, I’ll never understand you,” Impulse says.

“That’s good. I’m trying not to allow that. People are looking right now and I’ve gone to great effort to hide everything that makes me understandable, this go around. I think what’s in my head should stay secret.”

“This was pointless,” Impulse says. “Why did I come over here? This hasn’t made me feel any better at all.”

“…I could give you a clock,” Bdubs murmurs.

Impulse laughs, and laughs, and laughs at that. Bdubs doesn’t think it was very funny, but to tell the truth, no matter how much he’s acting to hide the thoughts he would hope no one saw, he doesn’t find it very funny either. He just finds it sad.

Some things are just sad. He hates it.

He hates this.

He hates it.

It was a lot easier when it was easy not to care.

“You’ll get them next time,” Bdubs says. “You got me.”

“Hah,” Impulse says, wiping his eyes. “I guess I did.”

#limited life smp #impulsesv #bdoubleo100 #a bee fic #wrote this instead of what I am supposed to be writing don’t kill me fellow bloodpact members #anyway I think they should talk about this but this turned into bdubs desperately deflecting instead #so here that is

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ripplerain · 8 months

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Gummies, a short comic

(I’m no writer so bear with me)

Nika is acting strange

grabbing hold of the mechanic’s hand

Chuchu takes Nika to the Earth House dorms to see what’s up

Once standing now her back suddenly against the floor

Chuchu realized

she was the bottom of this relationship

Woah…Nika…

She’s on top of her

uniform unzipped

Where did the tie go?

The mechanic was leaning closer

she’s so…wobbly…ah…she fell over

Nika was now lying beside her making grunting noises

What’s gotten into her?! This isn’t like her at all…

“Nika-nee…”

Wait, what is that?

What the hell?

Gummies?

Is this what’s causing her to act so strangely?

Where did she even get these?!

Chuchu glanced over at Nika

She’s sitting now

and…chewing something..!!

She got it out

Nika on the other hand was now clenching Chuchu’s jacket tightly

She would NOT let go

Damn it Nika…

The mechanic brought the jacket down to Pom-Pom’s feet and pulled

Chuchu reluctantly stepped out of it as Nika kept pulling

The mechanic fell back, jacket in her grasp

Ah…she took my jacket…

Chuchu raised a hand to reach out towards Nika to give it back

but she was hugging it dearly

no clear sign of giving it up

Chuchu blushed

Cute…

She turned around, scratching the back of her neck

Well, it can’t be helped..

She looked back at Nika who was rubbing her face all over her pink jacket

Nika…

Chuchu walked over to her mechanic

squatting down, arms over her knees

Nika fell over to her side, giggling with the jacket in her face

Chuchu chuckled,

“You’re so drunk, Nika-nee.”

This wasn’t the time to play around though

even Chuchu knew that

She placed her hands under Nika and lifted her up

carrying her in her arms

Yeah she can carry her

Nika was taller but it wasn’t going to stop Chuatury Panlunch

Chuchu had notified the other Earthian girls via text to come to the dorms

She explained the situation and handed the near-empty bag of gummies to Aliya

Lilique placed her hands on her knees and looked down at a now sleeping Nika

She was worried

Nika wasn’t looking too good

The three knew they couldn’t take Nika to the nurse’s office

They would get in so much trouble for having these kind of gummies on campus

knowing they wouldn’t even get a chance to explain because they’re Earthians

then again

How did Nika even get these? There’s no way she’d eat these if she knew what was actually in them

Did she not notice the taste? Well, Chuchu didn’t know how they tasted like

For all she knows they could taste the same as regular gummies or even better!

Someone must have given these to Nika, saying they were just normal fruity gummies

Chuchu was going to get to the bottom of this

but for now

she’s going to stay by Nika’s side and look after her

Bonus:

#wow I finished this at 6 am #writing isn't my style but I wanted to provide more context to the images #idk if I’ll continue this but yeahhh #Nika is going to have a big tummyache and headache when she wakes up #but she’ll be okay bc Chuchu is there #and Aliya will provide remedies #this was all an excuse to draw a drunk Nika #which I want to explore more on if I continue this #her drunken state is supposed to reflect on her how she feels about being a go-between and having to endure the torment from the Spacians #bottled up emotions leaking out #that obviously wasn’t shown here but I have ideas #her love for Chuchu spilled out more #wanting to hold onto what she holds dear to her from the fear of losing them because she’s lying to them #nikachu #chunika #nika nanaura #chuatury panlunch #chuchu #gundam witch from mercury #g witch #my art

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nari-writes · 3 months

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Tim Drake has Problems and Issues, and Batman is a capital-B-bad word. (ft. Jason Peter Todd, The Second Robin and Incorrigible Creature of Sass and Child Protection). aka. Blogging (and other dangerous activities likely to get you adopted by the Batman) chapter 2 (HECK). Part one | Ao3 Link

Tim finds out the next morning that the hecking Batman stole his camera’s memory card. He hadn’t even seen Bruce take it! Granted, part of his distraction had been the dark and the late hour and the suddenly-woken-from-sleep by what could probably be constituted as someone’s sleep paralysis demon, but wow. The slight of hand required, when Tim’s attention had been worriedly and entirely focused on his camera? He’d been paranoid that Bruce would take the camera as punishment for his photos - but he hadn’t even noticed Batman stealing his SD card.

He’s prepared to write it off as the price of his identity being discovered - because he’s got two others and can fetch a third next weekend for backup - when he has the sudden, horrified realisation that he hadn’t finished formatting the card last night. It had been cold and he’d wanted to make Jason smooshing into a snowbank into a gif for his blog, and by the time he’d finished that and posted it, his eyelids were basically shut and he’d still needed to pull the other photos off the card. He thought he’d have time to format it this morning because his dad had a golf thing early, and Tim and his mum were only going later for the brunch and the mingling after everyone had finished playing, but-

But he doesn’t have time. Because Batman had stolen the card. The card he hadn’t finished formatting, and last night he’d been playing around with slow exposure shots and taking pictures of Wayne Manor. He'd been playing around with the long lens he doesn't get to use often because it was too bulky and he'd been taking pictures of Wayne Manor.

Oh he’s so doomed. He’s got to get the card back before Bruce has time to look at it, if he hasn’t already. The photos are definitely going to be called creepy at best and at worst they’ll highlight Tim is well aware of his neighbour’s nighttime activities. Thankfully, the lack of alien mind-probing and Bruce Wayne at his doorstep at least indicate Bruce hasn’t had time to go through the photos. Yet.

Probably.

Freaking heck, he's so screwed.

Plan one is to just...break into Wayne Manor. It's a stupid idea, so he doesn't even put it on a back burner to muse over and discard later because there are way too many problems with it. How is he going to break into a) the home of a billionaire and b) the home of the literal dang Batman, most paranoid and prepared person on planet Earth? It's not happening. It would be nice if it was that straight forward, but it's not happening.

Plan two is his parents. They are technically home this week, and he's pretty sure he can get them to invite themselves into Bruce Wayne's house if he pretends Bruce wants to talk business. He knows how to get into his dad's emails, and if he acts fast enough he can get them to organise some sort of business meeting before his parents jet off again at the end of mid-semester break. It's still dependent on his parents staying till the end of the mid-semester break, though, and also on Bruce not being suspicious that Tim Drake, guy he just stole a camera from and also threatened, is coming to his house. It’s a pretty bad plan.

Plan three makes him feel kind of slimy, but it's the one that's most likely to work if he can't get around his parents.

Jason's self-defence classes, the ones Bruce totes as an ‘anti-kidnapping measure’, are run by the same person who teaches Tim’s classes on the other side of the city. He’s built up enough goodwill with her that he’s pretty sure if he looks dejected about his parents not being able to come to his Tuesday class to see his progress, she’ll let him join Jason’s Thursday class as a temporary measure, even though that class got booked out a day after Bruce’s kidnapping commentary.

From there it’s just a matter of prior parkour practice making him a fun match for Jason and Jason’s Robin training, and then Jason enjoying his company enough to chat to him after class so they’re still together when Alfred or Dick comes to pick Jason up, and Tim then letting on that he lives next door and oh no, looks like his parents aren’t picking him up, would it be at all possible to be dropped off? Then pretending to forget his key and his parents not being home to let him in - which, at least, is the part of the plan most likely to succeed, and it makes him a bit miffed that there are so many other points of failure - and getting himself invited to stay at Wayne Manor until his parents are free to pick him up.

On Thursday he’s pretty sure they have a dinner date with the Khadirs, and they actually like each other. It means his parents won’t be home till eleven at the earliest, which will give Tim plenty of time to search the manor.

Unless, of course, Bruce didn’t take the memory card into the manor and has instead stored it in the Batcave, which Tim knows exists but has never been able to access, or he’s given it to Dick or Oracle to look into, or even just Tim not being enough to keep Jason's attention-

God, he’s going to have to figure out how to make plan one work, isn’t he.

There just isn't time for plan three, because Bruce will totally have free time between now and Thursday and so much of it hinges on Jason wanting to talk to him when Tim's three years younger and five feet shorter, and it runs the risk of Jason recognising him from jaunts in Gotham. Plan two is better, but not by much, and he's concerned that Batman's legendary paranoia is going to have negative effects on Tim's success rate.

Plan one…maybe he can pretend to be selling cookies for the girl scouts? He's young enough to get away with it - but there's no way Mr. Pennyworth will let him inside, unless maybe it's raining. That'd be a weird situation to get into though - to walk between their properties when there's a better road, and to lug behind whatever eclectic collection of cookies he can find, and then invite himself into their house to get out of the rain. It'd look totally suspicious. And what respectable girl scout would sell things without the rest of their troupe? Or supervision. Or checking the weather. What respectable Gothamite would go out without checking the weather?

He would need it to be raining - which, to be fair, happens often enough in Gotham - but not have the day be dreary, so he has an excuse to have forgotten his umbrella. And, as everyone knows, when it rains on a day that's not dreary, it's normally acidic, and Tim's not keen on dealing with the raindrops burning scars into his scalp.

Scratch that, no girl scout impersonation is in his future. He could try and just break in and pretend a friend had dared him? But that wouldn't give him a lot of time to investigate, and no access to the Batcave.

Although. Why does he have to break into Wayne Manor?

Tim's eyes narrow in the mirror, lips twitching upward. Why not use Batman's paranoia against him? If there's the risk his memory card will be in the Batcave, why not start in the Batcave? He'll have two perfect excuses either way - there's likely no way to tell the Batcave is under Wayne Manor, so he won't be risking his knowledge of their identities - and Batman stole his memory card, so why wouldn't he track down Batman to get it back? Plus if he needs to go upstairs to find the card, he can always claim pre-teen prankster status, or even just leave and get back into Wayne Manor some other way. His parents will kill him if he gets caught in Bruce Wayne's house, but he'd rather be 'grounded' for the rest of the break then let Batman realise Tim's a stalker.

…Okay he probably already thinks that, but still. Tim’s not letting the Batman know about his collection of Wayne family photos. He'll never be able to walk around Gotham again.

He’ll never want to walk around Gotham again, on account of the fact that he’ll be dead from embarrassment.

So…now he just needs to break into the Batmobile and get himself driven into the Batcave. He's totally got this.

—-

Several hours later he’s still sure he’s got it, even if it’s not at the same level of total assurance it was that morning. He’s followed Batman and Robin around all night and neither of them have caught even a glimpse of him, and he knows they were keeping an eye out because they swung past his usual haunts twice. As if he’d be dumb enough to use the same spot after it’d been blown. He’s young, not dumb.

He’s also not dumb enough to beeline straight for the Batmobile the first time they leave it unattended, either. A few carefully thrown rocks from the fire escape reveal no perimeter alarms summoning Batman and Robin back if someone gets near the car, and even the ones he lets very carefully - he didn’t throw them hard at all, and made sure to stand closer he could aim better! - hit the tires and the door didn't set off an alarm.

It’s kinda stupid, actually. When Tim gets his SD card back he’s gonna send Commissioner Gordan a message about it so the Commissioner can use the information to make fun of Batman. That’ll be a good revenge for taking Tim’s stuff.

The lock’s harder than testing the perimeter alarms, though. His palms are so sweaty he has to keep wiping them on his hoodie to stop himself from leaving marks, and every noise makes him scamper back to hide behind a group of stacked cardboard boxes, just in case it’s Batman or Robin. It takes forever before he can get the trunk unlocked, but when he does he sighs in relief and quickly scampers inside.

There is…very little space. It makes sense, all things considered - what's the best use for a car, bar travelling storage space? - but Tim's thankful he's small and flexible enough to fit around all the junk. His mother’s yoga obsession is serving him well right now, because he's got one foot pressed against a spare tire and the other wedged by his ear, and if he were any less dedicated to Dick Grayson’s gymnastics routines he'd have already started to cramp.

He really hopes they have a short patrol tonight. It is a Monday, so chances are good that Jason at least will be sent home, and Bruce at least visits the Manor to (presumably?) put Jason to bed and (probably?) drop off evidence, but that still means at least two hours of this squished discomfort.

Except also it’s winter break, so Jason doesn’t technically have to be back at the manor for school the next morning. Tim scowls at the realisation that he’s probably gonna be here for ages. He breathes deep, trying to relax so he doesn't cramp up, and then pauses.

How does the trunk of Batman's car smell better than his dumb gloves?

There's a faint motor oil smell, but mostly it's just clean carpet and mint and a vague smoke, like the remnants of a campfire. It's nice, way nicer than the other times Tim has been shoved in a car boot (though at least he normally had more wiggle room when being kidnapped, even though handcuffs had made it impossible to utilise) and Tim's got plenty of time…his blink feels a little too long, but he doesn't bother to fight back a yawn. At least if he can get some sleep it'll make the time go faster and he can finally get to looking for his memory card.

His neck spasms, and Tim hisses between his teeth, awkwardly shifting his arm to try and ease the cramp. Sleep hovers out of his reach, but thankfully the pain eases and he slips into a drifting lull, the muted noise of late-night traffic enough to mimic the trees that normally rustle outside his bedroom window.

By the time the engine rumbles under his cheek, Tim's stumbled through half-dreams of Robin and long exposure shots and his knee is stiff enough that he knows getting out of the car is going to be difficult. Still, he's been lucky enough so far that Batman hasn't found him, and he's not about to trade a sore leg for a frogmarch back to his parents.

The pull of acceleration makes a tire press against his ribs, but bar the squish of things moving around, the actual drive is surprisingly smooth. He can't hear anything from the front seats, but it's still making his heart rabbit in excitement; he's so close to Batman and Robin, and they have no idea.

…No wonder Rouges pull plots all the time, if this is the amount of giddy adrenaline that hits you when you get away with something under Batman's nose. Tim feels like he's going to jitter out of his skin, and it's only the lack of space in the car that's stopped some excited hand flapping and gleeful wiggles. He can’t help it. It’s just so exciting to know he’s so close to Batman and Robin, the shadowy vigilante heroes of Gotham. He’ll never be able to talk about it, but it’s exhilarating to know his classmates will never experience anything like this.

The car rumbles through Gotham, her engine a purr of power, and Tim feels every corner and twist, even if he can’t figure out the road they take back. It doesn’t matter, though: he still knows where he’s going, and he knows his plan for when they arrive.

He needs to be careful. He has to wait. Tim tilts the edge of his watch towards his face and manages to wiggle it into the light coming through the brake light. It's just after 2am - but that doesn't mean Bruce has finished up his work as Batman. He'd made himself promise he wouldn't leave the car until 10am, which is when he normally sees Mr. Pennyworth drive Bruce into the city, presumably for work.

Theoretically he could get out earlier, but he knows 10am is the only verifiable time, and points of failure decree that he should limit them with available evidence whenever possible. That's rule number one in making sure your plans work with minimal adjustment - and he's already gonna have to do major adjusting when he gets out of the car. Like, for example, do they have cameras? How will he access them to hide his presence? What if Jason or Dick is in the Batcave instead of the Manor? Tim will probably hear them, but things are pretty muffled in the car.

Then the SD card itself - would Bruce put it somewhere logical, like near the computer? Should Tim check the computer to make sure no files have been copied across? Is what Tim considers logical going to be what Bruce considers logical?

And finally, getting out. Sure, they'll be way easier ways of getting from Batcave to Manor than vice versa, but what if someone sees him? Or what if there are extra cameras upstairs on a different security system?

He hates not having every point of information available for easy access, but there's nothing he can do here but his best.

Which. Disgusting. He hates that he just said that to himself but it's all he has to combat his nerves right now so unfortunately his best will have to do. After all, it's not within his power to get a blueprint of the Batcave, or he'd have just hacked the batcomputer and deleted his photos manually.

He sighs to himself longingly at the thought and hears the tires change from pavement to stone, and then an echoing reverb of machinery. The Batcave; it must be. He’s in the freaking Batcave. His heart pounds in his chest and he grins to himself, a tiny noise of excitement squeaking out of his throat. This past day-and-change has sucked in terms of his stress levels, but holy heck the fact that he’s currently in the literal Batcave has almost made everything worth it. How could it not, when Tim is in a sanctum so very few get to see? He’ll never be able to tell anyone, but that’s just par the course at this point - and he likes getting to keep his secrets.

Who cares if his parents never ask about what he’s been up to, when Tim can hold in his heart the knowledge that he is one of the privileged few that knows the Batman’s identity?

Sure, Bruce didn't tell him, but isn't it even cooler that Tim figured it out by himself? He'd only ever admit the daydreams on threat of telepath, but sometimes he's thought about Bruce finding out Tim knows and being impressed with him. Bruce would compliment him on his discovery, on the deductive reasoning and the evidence he collected to prove it; what else would impress the greatest detective in the world but someone of similar calibre?

It'd be amazing to have Batman invite him into more secrets, impressed by his faithfulness, but...

Tim's not stupid. Kids are a seen-and-not-heard subsection of the human species, especially kids like him, and Batman would likely only be pissed at Tim for being an uncontrollable liability. Better to make sure that, like everything else Tim thought important, it was kept his own personal secret. No need for Batman to get involved with Tim Drake if Tim Drake is a normal kid, and no need for his parents to drop him off at another boarding school for bringing trouble to their door in Gotham.

There's a sudden click, and Tim startles, head twisting as the trunk lifts. It gets him into the perfect position to be blinded as the trunk opens, and then-

“Ah,” he says, staring up at the cowl and cape, before swallowing thickly. “Hello.”

“This is breaking and entering,” says Batman, and Tim can't stop his scowl.

“That's super hypocritical. You literally broke into my house yesterday.”

“Your window was unlocked.”

“That's not an invitation!”

Batman makes a noise in his throat, and Tim tries to wiggle out from around the spare gear and the tire he'd wedged himself around. His attempt ends when Batman takes him by both biceps and physically pulls him from the vehicle, sitting him against the ledge of the trunk when he's free.

“I think breaking and entering requires you to not have driven him here,” says Jason, his voice a drawl of sarcastic displeasure, and Tim flushes and looks down at his shoes. Batman had known the whole time? He'd just…let Tim stay in the boot for the whole drive, and not done anything to stop him? How humiliating, to find out his oh-so-clever plan hadn't even survived first contact.

Batman's looking at him. Tim can feel eyes resting heavy on the back of his neck before Bruce says, “The Batmobile is well-outfitted with sensors and cameras to prevent theft or tampering. Prior experience assisted in advising me of the…issues with my security system.”

Jason's weight shifts, like he knows he's the ‘experience’ that highlighted the Batmobile’s weak spots, but Tim's stomach just feels wobbly.

“Do you enjoy lying?” Batman asks, and Tim's head snaps up.

“What?”

His stomach no longer feels wobbly. Now it just feels…gone. Like it dropped into his feet and took his guts with it. Is his face pale? It certainly seems like it should be, with how his fingers have begun to tingle, the too-hard pulse of his heart depriving him of oxygen.

“I distinctly remember you saying that I wouldn't see you out again at night-”

“You weren’t going to,” Tim says, feeling light-headed, the sentence cut off by his own recognition of a pitiful defence. Bruce’s mouth is a hard, flat line.

“Did you or did you not understand the intent behind the instructions I provided, Tim Drake?”

“Yeah,” he mumbles, shoulders hunching. Because yeah, he had, but Batman hadn’t caught him in three years and he’d figured that his lucky streak would continue. Especially if he didn’t post anything on the blog, and Batman had no further proof of his existence and/or his defiance of Batman’s rule.

“Then, with that in mind, do you understand that your behaviour directly violates the rules we discussed, and additionally endangers your safety?”

He’s been scolded before. It still hadn’t felt like this, with humiliation making heat prick at his eyes. Batman's impassive, but you never look at Batman to know how he feels: you look at Robin. Tim chances a glance and sees Robin’s shifted on his heels, looking awkward and unhappy.

Bruce must be so mad.

“We didn’t discuss anything,” Tim says softly, his throat tight and his hands shaking as he tries to keep his emotions under control. “I’m careful. You just - you just ordered me around, but you don’t know me.”

“Kid,” Jason says, and Tim’s nails bite into his palm. “It’s our job to protect the people of Gotham-”

“You stole my stuff! You stole my stuff and deleted my archive and do you know how many people were upset? Twitter blew up about it. They like you! They like seeing you. It was important to them! It was important to me.”

…But why should Batman care? Tim’s long since learnt that things that are important to him don’t get to be in plain sight - his dad has broken his stuff before, and Tim’s not let that happen to anything he actually cares about for so long that he’s forgotten what it feels like. The feeling that he’s stupid for letting it get to him, when it doesn’t even really matter, the helpless, melancholic kick of being unable to change anyone’s mind-

“Aw, kid, hey,” Robin’s kneeling in front of him now, hands on Tim’s shoulders, and Tim’s mortified to realise he’s been sniffling. Can this day get any worse? Bad enough that his clever checks and foolproof plan were literally ignored by Batman so that Tim would stay out of the way tonight, now he’s crying? Like a child too emotional to be up past his bedtime? “Come on now, squirt, B-man’s an overbearing prick but the translation here is he’s terrified for you. It was dangerous for the site to stay up. Your photos were amazing - but you were so close to us. ”

“I wasn’t,” Tim says, wiping his runny nose across his sleeve, and then suddenly a black handkerchief drops into his eyeline. He pauses, tracing it up to Batman’s hand, and then pettily says, “...if this smells as bad as your gloves I don’t wanna use it.” Jason snorts and mumbles something that may have been a proud, I told you so.

(He still takes it. He’s not petty enough to refuse having a handkerchief from the Batman. This night has been a nightmare - at least he can still have the world’s most pity-present souvenir.)

“Distance,” Batman says softly, “was not the problem.”

“Okay,” Robin says, when Tim’s expression takes on a mutinous edge, “think of it this way for me, yeah? There’s a blog that’s gotten crazy popular because it’s started semi-regularly posting really good photos of us. Batman and Robin. And you, you’re Penguin or Riddler or Marone, whatever, you wanna know how the blog gets good pictures of us. Wondering how the photographer knows where we are. You start thinking maybe Batman’s trying to drum up good PR and then suddenly you’re thinking: hey, maybe this blogger knows the Bats.”

“I don’t!” Tim says quickly, and Jason looks over his shoulder at Bruce. Tim, desperate, follows his gaze, and-

Batman’s holding his SD card.

“Don’t you?”

#tim drake #bruce wayne #jason todd #batfam #batfam fanfic #nari is writing #tim drake sticks his foot in his mouth and gets adopted #tim drake & bruce wayne #tim drake & jason todd #dc fanfic #Robin #batfam fandom #I was NOT meant to write a chapter two. this wasn't supposed to happen. what am I doing here wtf #........anyway #more sass boy 👀#are we all ready for tim to LIE!!!!!!!!#little guy needs to commit some crimes <3 #oop

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hyp3rfixation-h3ll · 5 months

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not to get into discourse mode on here but the recent shit w/ ao3 being once again called out for being run by racists/genocide supporters and seeing so many fucking Absolute Gormless Shitheads blindly defend OTW and going " dOn'T bRiNg FiCtIoNaL PoLiTicS iNtO tHis!!!111!1 " as if they are not immune to propaganda is wild . my siblings in sin , ao3 is literally The Racism Fetish Fanfiction site , and propaganda via fictional work is exactly how racism perpetuates. ao3 and the otw are a part of the problem whether you choose to acknowledge it or not because they contribute to the cycle of violence , fetishisation and colonisation of marginalised groups via complacency (and sometimes even blatant PASSIVE ENCOURAGEMENT) , and then they cover it up by using soft cutesy buzzwords like " anti-censorship " and " free speech " and their dumb ass complex tagging system to appeal to white people , so when Actual Minorities and people affected by the shit they put on there speak up about it they're met with all kinds of bullcrap about "jUsT bLoCk ThE tAg If It'S a PrObLem1111!111" or "YoU'rE jUsT bEiNg a fAnDoM cOp!11!!"

You're a part of the problem if you support ao3 and actively continue to use it & donate to them , especially in the wake of the OTW being actively chockful of zionists who will , ironically , silence those who speak up and rally with Palestine for liberation . And If you decide to take this as me being hostile towards you or trying to " bring fiction into real world issues " , remember that at Any point in time you can go on ao3 for yourself and find thousands and thousands of raceplay fics and other various works that glorify and condone racism , and that the otw and their large userbase (primarily composed of white people!) has a track record of trying to shut up POC when this issue is brought to light .

Idgaf if ao3 is for " anti-censorship " , because there's a difference between anti-censorship and HIDING BEHIND the concept of free speech and the 1st amendment to do and say awful , horrendous things and believe you're above critique , punishment or consequences for it .

tl;dr: fuck ao3, fuck the otw, free palestine, and most importantly: you are NOT and will NEVER be immune to propaganda if you choose to ignore it because it benefits you.

#the captain's rambles #ao3 #archive of our own #racism cw #free palestine #🍉#otw #ask to tag #also its dumb to request not bringing politics into the topic of ao3 #the concept of anti / pro-censorship Is a political statement #anyways. this isnt even touching on the nasty shit ao3 will let you put on their site about Real People (INCLUDING REAL CHILDREN)#mfs be like “you guys are so worried about fictional kids!11!!” yeah cuz if thats what youre willing to write about fictional kids #then how the Fuck am i supposed to trust Your bitch ass with writing about Real Children in a Normal manner #btw ao3 / otw bootlickers who try n come in here and go ERM ACKSHUALLY will be shot at on sight by my rocket launcher #fiction bleeds into reality and can and DOES influence it you dickless jabronies . that's Literally why The Jaws Effect is a phenomenon #and why racist propaganda (like what the IOF spreads) is so effective #you cannot rally against the oppressor and side with them at the same time because “muh fanfic site”#pick a side or get out you spineless fucks #oh and btw. if you try to equate this with just mindless discourse you're incorrect and undermining the larger issue here #which is Literally #otw and ao3 are built off of racist and arguably white supremacist values and THAT is why they fire people --#-- for having the oh so heinous opinion of “hey. racism is Bad.” and allow fics that condone racism and fetishise it on their site.#and post. this has been your once in a lifetime tumblr rant from sonic t hedgehog about why white people in fandom more often than not #fucking suck Butt Ass & absolute Balls #im gonna go shower and get some tuna now

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beanghostprincess · 4 months

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Sanuso Childhood Best Friends AU in which Sanji ends up in Syrup Village because the Orbit has to stop there for a while. They send little Sanji to buy food on his own with a bit of money (or, just, do whatever until he has to meet the crew again. They're a bit careless with the kid) and he meets Usopp when he sees the younger kid trying to steal food from the market. Usopp gets caught easily and the stand owner tells him to go away. Usopp replies with something along the lines of "If you don't give food to the great captain Usopp I will just send all my allies to destroy your business!!!" but it doesn't work (quite obviously) and the guy just ignores him. That just makes Usopp start begging because he doesn't have the money to buy anything and he doesn't want to go to Kaya's again. Besides, he doesn't want to go to the people who usually help him out because it's embarrassing and he doesn't want them to know. It's better to just either steal from this guy or beg. That makes 9 y/o Sanji's heart ignite with a passion and strength he didn't know he had inside, and he approaches the kid, staring intensely into the man's eyes and saying (with the angriest voice a 9 y/o can make) "Food exists to help the ones who're hungry!! You don't deserve this job!!" and the man stares down at him (Sanji's literally shaking, poor boy) saying that food is business and nothing else. And if he doesn't have anything to buy it with, he can go fuck off along with little long-nose. Usopp is amazed by Sanji's bravery and heroic behavior. Sanji hands him some beris, starts listing some stuff he has on display, and buys it. The man just has to give him the stuff, after all, but once he does he looks at Sanji like he's about to murder the kid. Despite being visibly shaking, little Sanji turns around at Usopp, his tiny hands being barely enough to grab everything he's carrying. So Usopp helps him, and they get out of there as quickly as they can once the man starts shouting at them.

They run for a while until they end up finally far enough to not see the man. Usopp is catching his breath when he turns to Sanji. "That was great! I- I could've handled it on my own, of course, the guy was super afraid of me, but-" And then Sanji just- He starts crying so damn loud. Usopp is completely lost as to why he's the one crying, but Sanji is literally shaking like a leaf and Usopp doesn't know what to do. "What's wrong?! I- Did- Did he hurt you or-"

"It was so scary!!" He holds the food tighter to his chest and tries to hold back the tears. "And- And he was so loud- I- Why were you arguing with him, dummy?!"

Usopp is, uh, a bit confused by the change of tone and meaning behind the kid's words. But he keeps crying and crying and shaking and Usopp can't help but feel awfully lost. "And why did you come to help? I had everything under control, you know?!" He really didn't.

"Because I-" He tries to wipe the tears away but they just keep on falling. "I'm a cook. I don't like it when people treat food like this. Especially when people are hungry." That catches Usopp a bit off guard, Sanji calming down for a few seconds before the crying starts again. He really tries hard not to cry. Like a man, or whatever. But his lower lip is betraying him. "He was so loud." Usopp really, really wants to do something to help, but right when Sanji says this, somebody riding a bicycle passes right behind Sanji, so close and loudly it makes him jump and sob harder. He makes himself even smaller. "Make it stop!" And so, of course, Usopp, as the hero of the village and bravest pirate and warrior of the seas, he takes Sanji's hand and leads him somewhere the older kid can't see because he refuses to open his eyes. But Sanji asks anyway, with the softest and smallest voice ever. "Where are we going?"

Usopp squeezes his hand. "You're a cook, right?" He turns his head around to Sanji, but doesn't stop walking. A huge grin shows up on his face when he sees the kid nodding. "Then you're gonna have the privilege to cook for the great Captain Usopp!"

And-

Usopp swears to this day that he will never forget Sanji's laughter at that moment. "A captain?" And it's like all his worries suddenly faded away with the simplest of lies. Usopp doesn't know if he's being genuine or if he's making fun of him, but the kid's smile makes his hands sweat. "Then I better make a meal worth of a king!"

Long story short, Usopp takes Sanji to his home and lets him cook in his very lonely and depressing kitchen. While the kid works, Usopp can't help but stare at him with impressed eyes. Sanji, on the other hand, has never felt such a rush when cooking for somebody. Not ever since- ... Mom. They talk about that too. They learn everything about each other. Usopp tells Sanji about his dad being a pirate and his mom passing away not long ago. He tells him about how the village and his best friend Kaya help him out most of the time, but he refuses to keep being so dependent on them, even if he has to beg strangers. He tells him about all of the adventures he's had and how people call him a liar out of jealousy. Sanji often believes what the kid says, being the naive kid he is, but he's smart enough to always think twice and realize that, okay, Usopp's stories might not be true, but if they make him happy, then they make Sanji happy too! If his dreams are told in the form of lies, it's kind of like Sanji's wish to find the All Blue. And so he tells Usopp all of that too. He skips the whole, um, family thing to talk about his dream. He tells Usopp about wanting to be a cook because of his ill mom (something they have in common!!). He tells him about his abilities in the kitchen! He keeps saying he'll be the best cook in the east blue!

It's nice having a friend. Usopp thinks Sanji looks really young for being two years older than him, and Sanji complains about Usopp being taller when he's younger. But it's nice, after all, to be with somebody who doesn't want to take anything from you.

Sanji's food is surprisingly good for a kid his age, and he's really glad Usopp likes it because he's been practicing for a whole year with the crew! Even if he makes the simplest of dishes, he's really proud of himself when Usopp won't stop praising him!

One thing leads to another, and when Sanji's crew finds him, they tell him they have to stay for a long while because their ship needs repairing and it's pretty grave. Sanji wishes he could say he's disappointed and sad, but he looks behind him at Usopp, and it kind of feels exciting to stay.

So they grow closer.

Sanji is always going back and forth between his ship and Usopp's home, but he barely spends time with his crew the days he stays in Syrup Village. Most of the time he even sleeps with his new friend! Sanji cooks for him and borrows money for them to buy the ingredients, explaining to Usopp everything that is to know about them. Usopp, on the other hand, is awesome at fishing, so they spend whole days at the beach trying to catch their food. It's the most fun they've ever had in their life. Usopp stops feeling lonely, and Sanji finally finds somebody who loves him for who he is. Usopp shows him beetles and insects and finds out that they make Sanji cry... He isn't proud of this, but sometimes (only sometimes) he places bugs on Sanji's way so he can save him. Sanji calls him his hero with the shiniest of looks, and Usopp just- He feels really warm inside. Sanji is always going to his crew to ask them about new recipes and things to learn while they're there, and he always makes them for Usopp because every praise about his food goes directly to his heart. They just keep on enjoying each other's company and many talents. Usopp even introduces him to Kaya! She's the cutest girl Sanji has ever met (not that he has ever met other girls besides his sister) and he's a bit jealous because it's obvious she likes Usopp, the guy just doesn't notice! If little Sanji isn't sure of who he's jealous of, that's something he refuses to think about.

"We're best friends." Sanji once says.

That gives Usopp the courage to respond with: "Then, when I become the bravest pirate of them all, you'll be my cook! You- You will, right?"

"Of course!" Sanji doesn't think he has ever smiled this much in the short period of time he has been alive. "Captain Usopp and the best cook in the East Blue- No! In all the seas!"

Loneliness is a word that now feels foreign to them.

But then, of course, Sanji has to go.

They promise to see each other again. They will, someday.

Sanji asks Usopp to come with them, though, but Usopp refuses.

"Come with me, Usopp! It's your chance to become a pirate!" (Don't let me go).

"I- I'm already a pirate, Sanji! Did you forget? I need to stay to protect this village from any harm and evil pirates that aren't like me!" (I'm so scared that not even wanting to go with you helps my legs move).

"But you said I'd be your cook!" (You promised).

"You'll always be my cook! And I'll always be your-"

"What kind of captain lets his cook go?!" Sanji yells, but he's the one crying the most.

"Sanji! Please! I- I'll do it. I'll sail someday and we'll see each other and we will be together but- But not now." The shame in Usopp's voice is obvious, and he can't tell lies from promises anymore.

"But I- What if-"

"I'll find you. The sea will bring me to you, don't worry! I told you I'm so good at fishing because I can speak their language, right? I'll just- I'll just send you messages through the sea! Just talk to the fishes and they'll tell you all you need to know. I'll always be with you!"

That, at least, makes Sanji laugh. "Liar. I know you can't speak-"

"But I'm not lying when I say we'll see each other again! Really! Believe in me!"

And Sanji has no other option but to believe.

Usopp tries to live years and years without regretting his decision that day, failing miserably. And Sanji keeps trying to talk to fishes even if he knows it won't work. He even asks some of them to save him (to tell Usopp they might not see each other again, at least) when he's stuck at that damn rock with Zeff, but they don't do anything. They don't even talk back at him. But he keeps believing for a while.

Until someday a gorgeous pirate asks him: "You're not in any crew, right?" Because she apparently wants him to go with her. And he would. He really would. But he owes too much to Zeff. So much he can't give it up. Not even for a girl, even if it hurts.

Her question is more painful than denying her the pleasure of being her cook, though. Because he has to respond with: "Huh? I- No. Had a captain once, though... Not that it matters now. Just- Not anymore."

When Luffy asks Usopp to come with him, he can see the shape of their long-lost best friend in Kaya's eyes. She always knew there was more between them than what they wanted to admit, but then again, they were just kids, so she couldn't really know at the time. Usopp hates having found out so late about it, but now this is a chance he won't waste. He can accomplish his dream and fulfill his promise at the same time!

And they do find each other, earlier than Usopp was actually ready for. Sanji drops a glass of wine when he sees him. Usopp basically trips and falls over the table and makes Zoro's food fall on his lap. Sanji's eyes never move away from him.

There's a long silence and a few weird looks being shared between the rest of the crew, but Usopp can't help but smile. He's extremely scared of what Sanji might say.

"I told you I'd find you, didn't I?" He tries to sound confident, but his voice falters.

Sanji can't stop smiling. "Took you long enough, captain."

Nami almost chokes on her food. "CAPTAIN?!" And the other two share the same startled expression.

But Usopp doesn't look at them. He's still over the table. It definitely looks ridiculous. "You- You're taller."

"And your hand is ruining my Quiche Lorraine." Sanji groans. "Could you not-"

"I'm sorry! I- I'm sorry. But don't speak to your captain like that!"

Nami interrupts him. "I thought you were lying when you talked about this guy!"

Oh. So he has talked about me. Sanji pretends he isn't forcing his heart to slow down.

So he just smirks at the redhead. "To be fair, madame, even if he tends to lie a lot-"

Nami rolls his eyes. "No shit, I figured."

But Sanji keeps going looking at Usopp. "Even if he does, he also keeps his promises."

By the way, you have to imagine them like this:

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