✨️ Looking For Some Good Books To Read On Filipino History, Culture, And Folklore? Well I'm Currently

Fanfic idea #01

Inspired by this idea of Vinsmoke siblings gaining emotions, here is my first take on fanfic idea: (I'm not good at writing so just throwing it out there...)

After WCI, Reiju and Ichiji rescued Niji and Yonji from Big Mom's territory, and they were quite injured on the way out. They all needed blood transfusion, especially Niji and Yonji whose blood was left at the bare minimum amount for keeping them alive (but not awake). However, the blood supplies in Germa's lab was not compatible with them, even that it was their original blood. Neither Reiju nor Ichiji's blood could help solve the situation as their own blood were modified to their own abilities. Turned out that during the fights at WCI, Sanji's blood somehow got into their veins, mixed up with their own blood and miraculously created a new kind for each of them, which Germa's lab had no control over. Judge was, of course, furious as the 'failure' messed up his 'perfect solders'. He decided to toss them and created a new batch so that they were not affected by any blood-related issues. (Judge may or may not tell the scientists to end them or let them be without any blood transfusion, and in the event that he did, Ichiji and Reiju had to fight to escape and took their brothers with them.)

Even though she was not fond of the three brothers, growing up with them did have some bonds to Reiju. After all, they were influenced by Sanji's blood, and she experienced that from the very early stage when she took care of him. So when Ichiji asked Reiju to sail with him and the two unconscious brothers on a stolen snail ship to follow the Straw Hat's ship, after knowing that they were tossed aside, she agreed.

Their snail ship caught up to the Straw Hat on Wano's land, after Wano's fights finished. Reiji spoke to Sanji about the situation while the rest of the Straw Hat stayed alerted, notably Zoro whose hand was on his swords the entire of the conversation. He did not like the presence of the cook's siblings, especially the death path that the cook asked for if he ever lost his mind by the genetics awaken. Yet Sanji, being the kindest man of himself, agreed to donate some of his blood. And Chopper, being the genius doctor of the ship, found out the compatible blood kind for each of them (meaning Reiju, Ichiji, Niji and Yonji) and utilized the facility on the snail ship to multiply the blood supplies. (And Robin being the protective mom, accompany Chopper to the ship.)

And with Sanji's blood in their system, they started to encounter things that were not registered in their systems before.

Physical pain. The pain of injuries, bruise, burns coming from the organs, from the flesh as a result of constant practices and fights.

Invisible pain. It came as the sorrow of their mother's passing that they could not express at that moment, the guilt of bullying their own brother for being different, the remorse for all the horrible things they had done that would haunt them till the end of life.

Some weird 'feelings' that could be described as 'an interesting annoyance' that centered around Zoro and Sanji.

Zoro, despite his hateful behavior towards Sanji's siblings, respected the cook's decision. After all, it was Sanji's call, not him. Instead, he presented around Sanji most of the time: in the ship's kitchen when he cooked something for the siblings (because in Sanji's mind they all needed food and Sanji fed others); he followed Sanji when he brought the food for the siblings: he may or may not guard the kitchen when Ichiji attempted to talk with Sanji... To the point that Sanji assured him that he would not run away again. Regardless, Zoro definitely threatened 124ji with Enma the moment they recovered without Sanji presence. To which Reiju actually encouraged Zoro to ask Sanji out, as she saw through his actions, while the three brothers pretentiously protested and ticked him off in the similar way that Sanji usually did. No doubt they were his siblings. (I like the original idea in the post that the 'highlight' of their awaken emotions was to see Zoro's flirting through the usual bickering with oblivious Sanji.)

The siblings were now granted a new life. Once again, they owned Sanji their lives. Sanji just dismissed that and told them to take a good advantage of this second chance to live with freedom. Sanji may or may not tell them to stay away from Germa as the kingdom would fail eventually, or if they wanted to take over, form an ally with the Revolution Army and rebuild the reputation then.

Side note: I also like the idea of the cooking competition at Wano (with the prize of all the rarest spices and ingredients to the wining party, of course, Sanji wanted it) having both the siblings and Straw Hats supporting Sanji. Like, Niji and Zoro was fighting over who would offer their sword to Sanji to handle a delicate fish or a tough cut of meat. Or Yonji and Luffy fought over who helped finished more dishes that contributed to the dominant result at the end. Ichiji, deep inside, was a little bitter on not contributing to the help while putting on the pretend modest elder brother face (he may or may not ask Sanji if he needed help igniting the wood oven/grill or roast the meat, to which Sanji refused at the risk of Ichiji may blow up the kitchen). Reiju, Nami, and Robin had a blast witnessing some comedic moments of their lives. To Nami and Robin, it was on a daily basis, but to Reiju, it was the first time. Their first time, freely enjoyed 'feelings' to their heart content.

The proposal

"How do you get married?" Wei Ying asked as he scooped porridge to his mouth.

Jiang Fengmian choked on his scalding hot coffee and started to cough. Yanli, bless her, pushed a napkin towards him. Yu ZiYuan frowned at Wei Ying from where she was feeding baby Jiang Cheng.

"You don't. You don't get married for another twenty years. Not under my roof."

"But Lan Zhan said we should get married so I can go live with him."

Jiang Fengmian dabbed the tears off his eyes.

"Don't you think you should wait for your mama and papa to come back before you get married? Marriage is a big decision, and you are, if you don't mind me saying so, kinda small."

"I am this many big." Wei Ying showed three fingers.

"No, add one more finger." Yu ZiYuan showed him. "You can add another one from next week after your birthday."

After much confusion between his thumb and pinky, Wei Wuxian held up the correct number of fingers.

"This many, auntie?"

"Yes. But you need to be able to show all your fingers and all your toes too before you can get married."

"Why?"

"That's the law."

"What's the law?"

Before Yu ZiYuan put a foot into the trap, Jiang Fengmian intervened. They'd spend the entire day at the breakfast table if they got into a circle of questions and answers with Wei Ying. Even two adults combined were not enough to answer all the whats and whys of an almost five years old.

"Hurry up and finish your porridge, A-Ying. You don't want to be late for school, do you?"

Wei Ying considered his options. On one hand, as soon as A-Cheng was finished with his bottle, he could be enticed into an exciting game of catching Wei Ying's fingers. On the other hand, Lan Zhan had pretty-pleased him to come to school early so they could talk some more. He could play with A-Cheng later. Wei Ying made up his mind and started to shovel porridge into his mouth. The rest of the breakfast was uneventful. Yu ZiYuan burped A-Cheng as she kissed her husband goodbye. Jiang Fengmian herded the children out of the door before they could go back for another goodbye kiss for the baby.

In the evening, once Wei Ying was done telling his parents all about his new friend and they were done patiently explaining to him how come it was still morning where they were even though it was late evening where A-Ying was, Yu ZiYuan took the phone.

"Your son," she looked specifically at Cangse Sanren, "is planning to get married."

As expected, Cangse Sanren burst into a fit of laughter. Her husband was less amused.

"I hope he's not bothering any poor girl in his new school."

"It's a boy. And from what I could gather, the proposal came from him."

Cangse Sanren wiped her eyes.

"Ah, puppy love. Remember how Fengmian was so besotted with you? So cute."

Jiang Fengmian felt warmth rising in his cheeks. There were some obvious disadvantages with having childhood friends who were witnesses to his early childhood transgressions.

"We were in middle school!" He hissed. "And I didn't ask her to marry me until uni."

Yu ZiYuan patted her husband's cheek to comfort his delicate sensibilities. Missy Jiang still had the same thin face as always. She tried to divert the conversation.

"But good for the kid, though. I was worried A-Ying would have a hard time making friends."

Cangse Sanren turned her head to look at her husband.

"Remind me to buy something for the kid before we return. After all, it's our son-in-law."

She broke into a fresh bout of cackles. Wei ChangZe smiled helplessly before bidding goodbye.

Jiang Fengmian found Wei Ying and Jiang Yanli taking turns to blow raspberries on a giggling Jiang Cheng's soft tummy. Soon, A-Cheng managed to grasp a pudgy fistful of Yanli's hair, and Fengmian had to extricate Yanli from a protesting baby.

"Come on baobao, bedtime." Yu ZiYuan picked him up. Jiang Cheng had a half an hour window after his dinner when if he fell asleep, he would sleep through the night until morning. A minute past that he'd get overstimulated and cranky. Yu ZiYuan carried him to his bedroom. Wei Ying followed her with his eyes.

Jiang Fengmian cleared his throat.

"Do you miss your mama too, A-Ying? She'll be back soon."

"No, no. I am not a baby." Wei Ying made a face. "Lan Zhan says I am going to be the mama for his rabbits. I don't know how to, though. I don't think I can carry a rabbit like the way auntie carries A-Cheng. Or give them baths," He confided.

Jiang Fengmian struggled to find answers.

"That's why you need to wait until you are a grown-up," Yanli chirped in unexpectedly. "You can carry two rabbits when you are old."

Jiang Fengmian smiled gratefully at his daughter.

"Twooo?" Obviously, the amazing feat of carrying two rabbits simultaneously blew Wei Ying's mind away.

"Even three, if you start working out and become strong." Jiang Yanli said sagely.

Wei Ying remained awestruck at the idea of carrying so many rabbits in his arms throughout bathtime. Jiang Fengmian switched the overhead light off and sat down on a chair between Wei Ying and Jiang Yanli's beds with the storybook in his hand, ready to pick up from where he had left it off. Wei Ying squirmed under his blanket as five-year-olds often did before bedtime. Jiang Yanli kept yawning but forced herself to stay awake for the ending.

The next day, when Yu ZiYuan picked up Wei Ying from school, he fished out a folded piece of paper from his pocket excitedly.

"Sit still, A-Ying. I am trying to buckle you in."

But A-Ying wasn't paying attention.

"Look at this! Lan Zhan drew this for me!"

Yu ZiYuan clicked the buckle into place and squinted at the paper. It was a red and black rounded blob.

"Er, that's a lovely- , um, ladybug?"

"Nooo," Wei Ying giggled at her ignorance. "That's me."

"Mnnn, an artist, eh? A bohemian? A debonair rogue? Is that how he lured my poor, innocent darling?" Cangse Sanren pretended to faint over videocall that evening.

"I doubt a five years old is indulging in cigars and absinthe wearing a dressing gown in a studio, my love."

"What an old-fashioned idea you have about artists, ChangZe!" A postgraduate in art history, Yu ZiYuan couldn't let the comment slide. But Wei ChangZe only smiled.

Jiang Fengmian interrupted.

"We are taking the kids to the beach tomorrow."

"Enjoy. I wish we could take some time off on weekends as well." Cangse Sanren sighed.

"That's not fair. You deserve some time off. You're working too hard."

"Well, it's a critical moment in the research. We are almost there. Anyway, we are travelling to attend Xingchen and Song Lan's wedding in California next month. That is something to look forward to."

The next day, Yu ZiYuan was woken up by soft hands patting her arm before the crack of dawn. She grabbed the squirming, squealing mass and spoke in a stage whisper,

"Fengmian, I caught a mouse!"

The squirming mass in her embrace giggled.

"I am not a mouse. I am Wei Ying."

"No, you are a mouse. Wei Ying is still sleeping in his bed because he's a good boy."

Wei Ying continued giggling. Jiang Fengmian spoke in a sleepy voice,

"Just feed the mouse to the cat, my lady, then go back to sleep."

"No, no. Don't feed me to a cat!"

Yu ZiYuan hid her smile in Wei Ying's curls. They didn't have any cats. The only pet in the house was a shy betafish in a small aquarium.

Wei Ying calmed down.

"When are we going to the beach? Lan Zhan will be waiting for me."

"Let's sleep a bit more, darling, ok? It's still dark. And we can't wake up A-Cheng too early or he'll cry."

Wei Ying nodded and then closed his eyes. Soon enough, his eyes were closed and his breathing became regular.

They all overslept that morning. As a result, they were quite late when they finally reached their destination.

Jiang Fengmian started to carry everything to the beach. But he almost tripped when an excited Wei Ying got in his way.

"Come on, A-Ying. Let's go buy ice cream."

"Yay! I want a chocolate one."

"Strawberry, please." Jiang Yanli started to dig at the sand with her toy spade. Jiang Fengmian spread the beach towel and put a bottle of water on each corner to stop it from blowing away in the wind. A woman slightly older than him walked towards them, carrying a picnic basket in one hand and holding a child's hand in the other. The child was about Wei Ying's age, cute with chubby cheeks in a blue t-shirt. They both had light honey golden eyes.

"Perfect," Jiang Fengmian thought to himself. A potential friend for A-Ying. He smiled up to the woman.

"Nice day, isn't it? I was worried it might get cloudy."

Jiang Cheng, who had drifted off in his sling, shifted and let out a small cry of protest. The other child moved closer to his mother.

"A shy one! Pity!" Jiang Fengmian thought to himself.

The woman put a reassuring arm around her son's shoulder.

"This is Lan Zhan."

Bingo! Jiang Fengmian observed his nephew's potential suitor with a new interest. It was hard to believe that the shy child hiding his face against his mother's midsection was actually forward enough to propose to Wei Ying in recess.

"Hello, A-Zhan. This is A-Li, and A-Cheng." Jiang Fengmian pointed at his children. "My wife has taken our nephew for ice-cream."

However, it seemed Lan Zhan had already spotted said nephew because with a sharp cry, he sprinted off like an arrow to where Wei Ying and Yu ZiYuan were walking back carrying icecreams.

Wei Ying must have noticed him too because he dropped his icecream and ran towards him. Yu ZiYuan made a split second decision to follow them.

She caught them by their arms and dragged both of them towards Jiang Fengmian and Lan Zhan's mother.

"A-Zhan, why did you run off like that?" Mrs Lan admonished.

"A-Ying, that's dangerous. Don't run..." Jiang Fengmian started as well.

"Look what you kids make me do! The icecreams..." Yu ZiYuan lamented.

But everyone came to a halt when Lan Zhan grabbed Wei Ying's hand and spoke with pride and admiration,

"This is XianXian."

Jiang Fengmian caught Yu ZiYuan's eye and nodded. She understood.

"Oh my, you must be A-Ying's A-Zhan. He has been talking about you for weeks now."

Lan Zhan nodded solemnly. It was absurdly adorable to see a child his age act with so much gravity.

Yu ZiYuan turned to his mom.

"We don't know how to thank your little boy. You see, poor A-Ying had to move in with us because his parents are on a research trip. We were so worried he'd have a bad time getting along with his new classmates. But, it seems like A-Zhan here was a perfect angel."

Mrs Lan asked a pertinent question at this point.

"Why does he call him XianXian?"

Jiang Fengmian extended his arm to ruffle through Wei Ying's curls.

"His courtesy name is Wei Wuxian. A-Ying is more of a nickname."

Wei Ying made a noise of dissatisfaction and jerked his head away. But he didn't let go of Lan Zhan's hand. Soon, the boys were in their own world.

Jiang Yanli was the first to remember.

"Mom, the icecreams?"

Yu ZiYuan sighed.

"Those brats! I'll go get some more. Would you like some as well?" She asked Mrs Lan.

Mrs Lan shook her head,

"Thanks, but my brother-in-law is bringing along my eldest child and his friends. Maybe I should wait."

"Oh, don't worry. I'll grab a few extra." Yu ZiYuan started walking towards the icecream van. But she stopped midway. Lan Zhan was staring at the adults defiantly,

"XianXian and I are getting married today."

"Oh no, you aren't! You two are collectively not even ten yet. No one is getting married until they are at least twenty-one." Yu ZiYuan put her hands on her hips.

Little Lan Zhan looked at his mom imploringly for support. But Mrs Lan looked like she was too shocked to speak.

Jiang Fengmian spoke in a soothing tone,

"Why don't we talk about it later? I mean, you still have to meet A-Ying's mama and papa and ask them for permission."

Lan Zhan slowly nodded while maintaining eye contact with Jiang Fengmian. What a curious little boy! Soon, a man leading three other children joined them. One of the kids looked like an older and smiley-er version of Lan Zhan. Jiang Fengmian knew the other two. They belonged to the Nie family. HuaiSang was at Wei Ying's age. The moment Lan Zhan spotted him, he put himself in front of Wei Ying.

"Saozi, what happened?" The frowning man asked.

"We met A-Zhan's XianXian."

"Oh, hello." The boy who was most definitely Lan Zhan's older brother waved. "I am Lan Xichen."

Wei Ying waved back. There was another round of introductions.

"So you are really real? Uncle kept saying you are just Lan Zhan's imagination." Lan Xichen sounded curious.

"Xichen!" Both his mom and his uncle exclaimed. Both the uncle and the youngest nephew were exhibiting matching pairs of reddened ears.

Jiang Fengmian laughed.

"No, he's real alright. Very much so. You can touch him to be sure if you want."

"NOOO!" Lan Zhan was standing in front of Wei Ying with his arms outstretched in a protective stance. " Xiongzhang, don't touch my Wei Ying."

"Okay, didi." Lan Xichen spoke in a soothing voice.

Jiang Fengmian sighed. This will certainly be an interesting summer.

GOD I just want to be CREATIVE but all my energy is being used to survive

Here is a free pdf of the players handbook

Here is a free pdf of xanathars guide to everything

Here is a free pdf to monsters manual

Here is a free pdf to tashas cauldron of everything

Here is a free pdf to dungeon master’s guide

Here is a free pdf to volo’s guide to monsters

Here is a free pdf of mordenkainen’s tomb of foes

For all your dnd purposes

What does your favorite Scum Villain's Self Saving System ship says about you

(Inspired by Eldena Doubleca5t's series on YouTube)

Disclaimer: Everything here is meant to be taken as a joke. There is nothing serious here. Ok? Ok.

Let's go

BingQiu

You are a firm believer in keeping things canon and keeping things kinky.

QiJiu

You are a firm believer in the inherent eroticism of the tragedy of what it could have been.

BingJiu

Same joke as QiJiu, but you probably also love some hate-fucking.

LiuShen

You are a firm believer in the inherent eroticism of borderline unhealthy devotion.

TianXi

You are a firm believer in men 👏 getting 👏 pegged 👏.

MoShang

You would 100% Ship Jakken and Sesshomaru from Inuyasha, if Jakken was a bit attractive.

BingLiu

You are a firm believer in the inherent eroticism of using your sword to tilt the head of your rival after a bloody fight between the two of you.

BingLiuShen

You surely have, at least once, used the "x character has two hands" meme to justify shipping a throuple before.

GongyiXiao X SY!Shen Qingqiu

You just wanted good things for Gongyi Xiao. And really, who wouldn't?

ZhuShen

Either you just wanted good things for Zhuzhi-Lang OR you are really horny for snakes.

MingLing

You probably were around some shonen anime fandoms (ie Naruto and Bleach) and started to see fights as low-key first dates.

NingMing

Your interest in the main cast os overshadowed by your interest in cute girls being in love with one another.

MingLingNing

You probably think that Bingge's harem would be much happier if they were actually a big sapphic polycule.

Zhuzhi-Lang X Gongyi Xiao

One day, your addiction to good boys ™️ got so bad thar tou thought: what's better than one good boy? TWO good boys.

Mu Qingfang X Liu Qingge

You probably hate Mu Qingfang's donghua design.

BingYuan

You like BingQiu, but think it could be less messy if Shen Yuan didn't have the Shen Qingqiu persona to fall into.

BinggeYuan

Your favorite relationship dynamic is two red-flags finding happiness with each other.

CumPlane

Your favorite relationship tag on AO3 is Dumbasses to Lovers.

Shencest

Your favorite relationship dynamic is "messed up character" X "person who wants to fix them".

BingBei

Your addiction to demon lords got so bad that one day you thought "what's better than one demon lord? Two demon lords!".

Yue Qingyuan X Liu Qingge X Shen Qingqiu

You are a firm believer in the inherent eroticism of loving Shen Qingqiu.

The reason the establishment is so terrified of Aaron Bushnell's protest, is because they understand a point many of you seem to have missed

Aaron wasn't sending a message to the government (we know they don't care)

No, I think Aaron's message was meant for other service people like him. Because if the military refuses to participate in the genocide, it's over

And if you thought YOU were moved by Aaron's actions...

imagine how Aaron's unit is feeling right now

Mutinies have started for less

The exact moment every protest turns into a revolution, is when the army refuses to defend the establishment any longer.

And THAT was the message Aaron was sending out. How many units now are ready to reject orders? How low does their morale have to sink before they say 'enough!' How long until they stop pointing guns at the protestors outside, and run over and join them instead?

This is dangerous territory for a government that is hellbent on ignoring every crisis it creates

Hello! Might I ask if there are any recommended IFs where you can play explicitly as an asexual MC without being locked out of romancing characters? Becuase there had been times where chosing to play as ace resulted in some games removing all romances completely, Thank you for your time!

Hi Anon! Here is a list of what you're looking for:

Completed:

Crème de la Crème by @hpowellsmith

Royal Affairs by @hpowellsmith

Demos:

Attollo by @attollogame

Birds of a Rose by @reinekes-fox

Checkmate in Three Moves by @checkmatein3moves

Coffeelock'd by @perpetualnovelboyfriend

Crown of Exile by @ramonag-if

Drink Your Villain Juice! by @drinkyourvillainjuice

Our Life: Now and Forever (VN) by @gb-patch

Shepherds of Haven by @shepherds-of-haven

The Exile by @exilethegame

The King’s Hound by @the-kingshound

The Northern Passage by @northern-passage

The Spirited: Origins by @yuveim

Wayfarer by @idrellegames

When Twilight Strikes by @evertidings

Please let us know if you know others that fit this list as well, thank you so much!

๑ keep safe : zoro being annoyed at his captain and [name] (16)

one piece x male reader

maybe you're the same as me 

we see things they'll never see 

you and i,

we're gonna live forever 

『 prev 』

that night, no one really pressed [name] for answers of what ace and him talked about. they left him alone, except for luffy who had zero social cues. but it seemed like [name] didn’t mind his company.

he was grinning ear to ear as he talked with luffy about whatever luffy wanted to talk about. the crew was worried for [name] to an extent, but it was good to see their captain take some of that stress off of his shoulders. and just by being himself. luffy was attentive to [name], clinging onto him and pouting for attention every now and then. and since [name] was feeling rather sentimental, he gave every ounce of attention he could to luffy. 

[name] and luffy talked the whole rest of the night, falling asleep in each others’ arms. a whispered i love you was barely heard as it was carried away by the wind, but the tightening of luffy's arms around [name] let the man know he did hear it. to some extent, the setting reminded him of their treehouse. just using each other for body heat when the nights were cold. it made [name] only more grateful that he did end up finding luffy when he did.

but, despite how peaceful their night together was, the next day, [name] was filled with nothing but unbridled rage towards his captain. once more.

“you’re fucking with me,” [name] rasped, looking at their surroundings.

a couple hours prior — “alright, zoro, [name], it’s up to you then,” nami called out to the duo, making them immediately refuse the idea. seeing their reluctance, nami pulled her trump card, “do you want me to talk about your debt?”

luffy had gone and drank water from a suspicious cactus. it caused him to start hallucinating and essentially going feral. and no one else wanted to deal with him, zoro and [name] included. but when nami commanded them to, using their debt as a means of pushing them to act, they cursed under their breath. 

unfortunately, it worked and it got them stepping to work immediately.

“if you don’t end up in hell, i’ll kick you down there myself!”

“cursed navigator.”

“don’t talk so badly about me!” nami said in a sing song voice, “and zoro — i look forward to it!” she continued in the same tone, making zoro and [name] even more annoyed.

“b-but, nami, what if something bad happens?! we need [name] here to fight them!!”

“i’m stronger than both of those idiots combined, don’t panic, usopp,” sanji said in a relaxed tone, stuffing his hands into his robes pockets, “let’s just go on ahead, though, they’ll follow after us.

now, chopper was their only hope in getting luffy back to normal. but, of course, out of nowhere luffy began attacking zoro. [name] cursed in annoyance, allowing the first-mate to take care of this business. in the meantime, [name] was going to unbury chopper’s small body from the sand.

the two got right into throwing punches at each other and after a couple minutes in, chopper woke up.

“ah, thanks [name] for getting me out of the hot sand,”

“no problem, just do the same for me if i ever run into that problem,” [name] grinned, making chopper nod in compliance.

“oh, what are they doing though?”

“fighting it out, i think it’s the only way to get luffy out of that stupid state,” [name] sighed, leaning into the sand and watching the fight with not a single emotion on his face, “how stupid is luffy and why does he have to be the captain,” he rasped out.

chopper took his seat, waiting for something pivotal to happen so he could intervene. and when the two fighting finally struck each other in the face - properly - he ran down with his medicine bag to help.

he put some potion underneath zoro’s nose to wake him up and then soon, luffy followed after.

“where are the others?” zoro coughed.

“don’t know, was busy making sure you two didn’t actually kill each other,” [name] said with a shrug, “doesn’t matter, let’s just follow the footprints, can’t be too hard,”

“right, right,” zoro agreed, getting up from the sand and looking around.

at the same time chopper came to the same conclusion.

“right…the footprints,”

another breeze blew past them, sending their own previous footprints to be erased completely.

now — “don’t leave me behind!!” luffy shouted and [name] sighed, crouching down and offering his back.

“get on, before i change my mind,” [name] said. luffy took the chance with no hesitation, sighing in content at no longer walking in the hot sand.

“say, is it always like this?” chopper asked zoro and [name], seeing as luffy was quickly in a sleepy state the moment [name] started carrying him. “always climbing snowy mountains, crossing deserts…”

“ain’t that the truth? but, no, we’re a little out of the ordinary right now, then there’s our captain,” zoro sighed.

“i think i’ve gotten on board a not-so good pirate ship,” chopper groaned, feeling the heat attacking him once more.

“what a coincidence, i was just thinking the same thing to myself,” [name] grunted, adjusting the grip on luffy so that he wasn’t slipping off of his back, “why am i playing babysitter for this grown man?”

“ah, did you often have to watch out for luffy when you were younger, [name]?”

“yeah, plus the fact he’s younger than me too, doesn’t make the situation much better when he starts abusing his privilege,” [name] sighed, “he always knew i’d go in and save him, but i really hoped he’d grow out of that habit. especially now that he’s a real pirate!”

“so, it’s kind of like, you two are the most veteran people that have known luffy, right?” chopper asked, making zoro and [name] share a look with one another. “since zoro you’re the first mate and [name] you’ve known luffy since he was a kid…”

“no, you’re right,” [name] confirmed, nodding his head.

“but there’s not that much of a difference between us - all of us," zoro added.

“why did you join, zoro?”

“why do you ask?” zoro immediately countered, feeling an ulterior motive to the question.

“to me, since i just joined, it seems like everyone’s a maverick. especially you, zoro.”

“that’s true,” zoro said, a hint of a smile on his face, “in my case, things pretty much just turned out this way. i told [name] this story already, but me and luffy meeting just happened…not really something i sought after.

“but for everyone on board the ship, we’re just trying to get by. we differ in our goals with luffy, we’re trying to do what we want to do. on the outside, we have no teamwork at all. especially given our captain!”

“but…in the end, teamwork doesn’t matter at all,” [name] proudly grinned, “it’s just a mutual understanding and respect of each other,”

zoro glanced at [name] from his side view and subtly nodded his head, “it’s more so, giving something your all and turning to your crewmates and saying, “i did it! you’re up next! if you can’t do it, i’ll kill you!””

chopper and [name] sweat dropped at the explanation, but it seemed to make sense…at least a little bit, for both of them.

“but being by luffy’s side, it’s exhilirating, isn’t it?” [name] said, smiling so wide that his eyes were crinkling at the end, “for as troublesome, stupid, and reckless as he is, he makes things more interesting. and i’d rather live a stressful, adventure filled life than a boring, stale one!”

the reindeer blinked at [name]’s words, as did zoro, as the only word to describe what [name] said being: genuine. you could see it in the way he regarded luffy, the way he smiled whenever the captain was brought up, and just the way his demeanor turned generally more relaxed.

zoro grinned, familiar with that feeling and nodding in agreement.

“being by his side all the time’s given me another goal to strive for,” zoro said lightly.

“another goal?”

“sorry, dunno how to explain it,”

“and [name]? what’s your goal in being in luffy’s crew?”

[name] perked up at the question, opening his mouth to answer, if it weren’t for luffy’s head knocking into his own.

out of nowhere, luffy had woken up from his sleep and squinted off into the distance, “i see shade!!!”

he stayed attached to [name]’s back, thanks to his legs hugging [name]’s hips, and shot his arms forward. zoro and chopper paled, realizing what was about to happen.

“gum-gum…rocket!!!”

the four of them crashed into the cave — well, technically three since chopper landed more on the outskirts of the cave and face down in the sand.

[name] groaned, rubbing his head and standing upright. unfortunately, the moment he stood up, he began to fall through the sand below his feet.

“you’re fucking with me, right?” he rasped out, feeling the ground beneath him beginning to disappear. “luffy, i’ll kill you!!”

he fell through and was met with stone cold ground beneath him after his fall. he landed on his ass, cursing at the pain, before standing up.

“luffy! zoro! chopper!!” he shouted out, listening to the way his voice echoed off of the walls, “bastards!!”

and just like that, someone else came crashing down into the ruins.

“oh, i really did summon them,” [name] said in glee, running over and kicking the fallen figure, “zoro, get off your ass, come on!”

“don’t kick me!!” zoro said, swinging his sword every which way to try and cut up [name]. “of course your dumbass would be down here,”

“yeah and your idiotic self followed after me,” [name] exaggeratedly batted his eyelashes at zoro, making the swordsman move away, “say, are you that interested in me like that you’d really follow me to the ends of the earth, zoro?”

“shut the fuck up! what the fuck conclusion was that?!”

“wah, it’s so cold down here,” came luffy’s childish voice and it was only a second before they realized that he had followed them down into the hidden room.

“idiot! what are you doing here?! if you’re down here, then there’s a good chance we might lose chopper!” zoro shouted in frustration, his face glowing red from anger at his captain.

“well, we’re alright though because i saw him falling down here as well,” luffy easily explained, pointing at the direction of sand now falling into the space from a different entrance point, “see, he’s right there!”

“that’s a relief he’s fine,” [name] said, walking over and helping the reindeer up. with a quick tug, [name] got him standing on his two feet.  

“now, where exactly are we?” zoro said, scratching his eyes to get them to adjust to the darkness faster, “is it a dome?”

“seems like it,” [name] said, walking around and grunting when he stubbed his toe against some rock, “cunt!!” he shouted in pain, holding onto his foot.

he looked up and immediately punched the first thing he saw to let off some of the steam. his fist was stopped immediately by the rock, zero cracking forming on the surface.

and now he was just hopping around on one foot while his hand was caressing his knuckles.

“fucker!!” he said, helplessly hopping around in pain.

“idiot,” chopper and zoro said in a monotone voice.

“well, whatever, doesn’t matter where we are, let’s just stay here for a little longer,” luffy said, taking in the cold atmosphere with open arms.

“hold on, i recognize these picture letters,” chopper said, walking over to the stone that [name] had just stubbed his toe on and punched, “this is an ancient language,”

“i fucking hate history then,” [name] said, still blowing onto his knuckles to ease the pain.

“you can’t seriously be in that much pain from one punch!” zoro accused in a shout.

“no, zoro, you don’t understand, i’m nothing but a sensitive man,” [name] said in an exaggerated innocent tone, holding on his hand as he willed fake tears to spring to his eyes, “a man like me shouldn’t be so roughly handled!”

“wow, he’s a good actor,” chopper said, impressed with the show [name] was putting on.

“cheesy motherfucker,” zoro groaned, looking at [name] pathetically weep about his “injured” hand. “weren’t you the one to do that to yourself anyway?”

“details, details, details,” [name] said, shrugging, “won’t you kiss my pain away, zoro?”

“fuck off, for fucks’ sake!! get serious!!” zoro said, punching [name] down on the head, and then internally wondering what was he did in the past life to deserve a punishment as terrible as this.

“luffy, come on, get us out of here, the others are waiting for us, probably,” chopper said, deciding to be the one to collect their captain.

“what?! no, i don’t wanna leave, we just got here, i don’t wanna leave!” luffy whined, rolling back and forth on the ground like a child throwing a tantrum.

after zoro and [name] physically knocked some sense into luffy, he was then determined to get them out of the weird dome. he missed the opening of the hole zoro had fallen from, though, and instead sent a portion of the ceiling crashing down on himself.

“what the hell was that…” [name] said as he gazed at his hopeless captain.

“i missed because it was too small, it’s alright, this time i’ll get it,” luffy said in determination. and he did seem to get it for a second, but then the ceiling came crashing down once more and burying him in rubble.

“what [name] said - what the hell was that?!” zoro shouted in annoyance, “just grab onto the boulder above the cave and shoot us up from there!!”

it seemed luffy refused to listen to reason, though, instead destroying the hole even larger. the ceiling came crashing down tenfold and [name] shielded his head in preparation for something to crush them all to their deaths.

surprisingly, nothing had immediately injured them. and luffy was left walking over to some pillar and wrapping his stretchy arm around it, at least two dozen times.

“chopper turn little,” luffy commanded, “and everyone grab on!!”

[name] sighed, walking over and taking his place as luffy’s backpack. zoro’s arm came around his back, to support him and made sure he wouldn’t fall, whilst also grabbing onto luffy’s robe. [name] had a tight grip around luffy’s neck and on chopper’s clothes too.

and then they were spinning around the pillar, over and over and over again until they were shot up into the air. it felt as if they were flying. with how fast they were soaring through the sky and the wind beating against their faces, it definitely felt like they were flying.

but unlike most things that could fly, they had no way of landing. chopper cried out for what they were going to do, but luffy just shouted how he had no idea either.

[name] winced, holding onto luffy and chopper tight as they braced for impact. he felt zoro’s arm flex behind him to make sure he was really secure. and then they all bounced against the sandy ground a couple of times.

[name] spat out sand from his mouth, kicking himself up out of the sand and tried very hard to not murder luffy in cold blood. he walked over to chopper, easily pulling his smaller form out from the sand with one hand and placing him on his head.

then he made his way over to zoro and tugged him onto his feet, earning a grunt of thanks from the swordsman. chopper still seemed out of it so he made sure to keep him steady on his head to make sure he wouldn’t fall.

“i think i really did get on the wrong ship,” chopper rasped, still catching his breath.

“we’re on the same wavelength today because i was thinking the exact same thing,” zoro echoed, breathing heavily as he shook sand out from his hair.

“i think i might really kill him this time around,” [name] said under his breath, trying to quell his anger and not let it get the best of him.

“hey!!! guys, what are you doing all the way back there!!! we need to catch up with vivi,” luffy shouted, jumping up and down and waving his arms for them to hurry up.

“idiot,” [name] murmured softly, taking ahold of zoro’s wrist and leading them to luffy. “let’s just go, so he can shut up,”

the four walked together for a long time before chopper finally caught a whiff of nami’s perfume.

“it’s the way of the sunset, come on, luffy!” [name] said, unknowingly sending his captain into an excited running frenzy.

“hey!! guys, we’re coming!!” luffy cheered as if the rest of the crew could hear him.

they came up over a tall sand hill and on the other side of it, nami, sanji, usopp, and vivi were walking in a straight line. luffy was jumping up and down in excitement of finding the rest of the crew while chopper, zoro, and [name] were breathing heavily in exhaustion.

now that the crew was all back together, they were able to continue on their trek to yuba without worries. [name] adjusted the headpiece around him to cover his mouth and nose seeing as the wind was starting to pick the sand up even more.

on his back, usopp was resting and sleep talking about defeating crocodile. [name] smiled at the murmurs and kept his head up to see ahead.

“did we make it to yuba? i can’t really see with all this sand,” luffy said, making everyone squint at the small glimmer of light that in front of them.

“the city doesn’t look right…” vivi said, blinking a couple of times before stiffening and jumping off of lashes the camel. “it’s a sandstorm!! yuba is being hit by a sandstorm!”

just as they were about to arrive, a terrible sandstorm had to hit their destination. with a new urgency, the crew began rushing forward to see the affects of the sandstorm.

[name] cursed under his breath, adjusting his hold on usopp when he was finished running, and looked at the city. it was almost completely buried in sand, it looked just like the city they had come across at first.

“wasn’t this supposed to be an oasis city, vivi-chan?” sanji asked, making [name] step forward and look at the terrain.

he squinted very hard, focussing in on any sign of an oasis being present. vivi spoke with a strained voice. “the sand has raised the ground, meaning the oasis has been swallowed up,”

“there’s…very little of it left,” [name] said under his breath. “it could be saved…but it’d be hard,”

just as he said that, there was a sound of someone digging with a metal shovel. the crew looked over a couple of feet and saw an old man, trying his best too dig a trench, it looked like.

“you travelers must have had a hard journey in the desert. although our oasis has completely dried out, we still have some of the best inns ever! they’re the pride of our town, you see,” he croaked, looking completely exhausted in digging as he spoke. [name] furrowed his eyebrows in concern for the old man.

“we’re here to see the rebel army, are they not located in this town?” [name] asked, although seeing from how desolate the town was, the answer was a given.

what they didn’t expect was for the old man to go on a miniature rampage on them. he began throwing things at him, which [name] slapped away if they got too close to him or vivi.

“those rebel scum!! they abandoned this town long ago,” he informed them after his throwing was finished. vivi looked shocked at the news and a sense of dread was filling the crew’s minds, “they relocated to katorea,”

“huh? katorea? vivi, is that close by?” luffy asked innocently, making [name] smack him on the head. when his captain turned to him in annoyance, [name] only put his finger to his lips and pointed at vivi, his eyes screaming, “you just exposed the princess, dumbass!”

but vivi didn’t even seem to notice the slip up, only answering, “katorea, is a town that was near nanohana…”

“you’re fucking with me, right?” [name] asked, blinking as he processed the information. if they were in nanohana when they first set anchor down in alabsta, that means the rebel army was only a town away from the beginning.

“nanohana? then we wasted our time coming all the way out here,” zoro said gruffly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“oh! i met lashes in katorea,” chopper said in surprise. lashes began to “speak” and chopper translated it. the camel offhandedly said, “i was transporting goods for the rebel army and they were stationed in katorea,”

[name] threateningly began to unsheathe his sword, “you asshole, you didn’t say anything and we were wasting time this entire journey?! i’ll cut you up!! sanji, are you ready to cook camel meat?!”

“more than ready! i’m itching to kill this bastard too!!” sanji shouted, kicking into the camel’s side.

“why didn’t you say anything earlier!?” luffy screamed in frustration.

“whatever,” chopper said, translating for the rest of the crew what exactly the camel said, which only sent them into a bigger fury.

“wait, did you say, vivi? are you princess vivi?” the old man spoke up, walking up the sand trench he was building and reaching for the princess. [name] stepped forward, in between the old man and vivi, not about to take chances with the guy’s intentions.

“slow down there, gramps,” he sad in a warning tone, “so what if she is?”

the sword that was resting on [name]’s hips was very slightly shining in the moonlight, making the old man gulp to ease his nerves.

”vivi-sama, do you remember me?” he asked quickly, seeing how eager [name] was to spill some blood, “i don’t blame you if you don’t, after all, i lost a lot of weight,”

[name] looked at the man, not taking his eyes off of him. suddenly, from behind his protective position, vivi shot out and brought the old man into her arms, “toto-ojisan?!”

“you do remember!”

“huh? who’s that?” luffy and [name] asked in unison.

“long story,” nami said simply, a haze in her eyes as she realized who the man was. her and vivi were exchanging stories while they were riding on the back of lashes and the man in front of them was a pretty pivotal person in vivi's stories.

“vivi-sama, please stop those fools!!” the old man screamed, tears rushing out of his eyes. [name] averted his eyes, feeling ever so slightly bad for intimidating him earlier.

“toto-ojisan, don’t worry. we will stop the rebellion,” vivi assured him, handing him her handkerchief to dry his tears.

the crew decided to take shelter at yuba for the rest of the night. [name] was thankful because it meant they could be shielded from the cold air outside. and just as he was about to get comfortable, he noticed that their captain was missing again.

“huh? [name]? you’re not going to bed?” vivi asked, already comfortable under her blankets near nami.

”i will, i’m just gonna check in with luffy,” [name] said, waving his hand, “he might be caused the old man out there some unneccesary trouble,”

“beat him up if he is,” nami called out over her shoulder casually.

“yes, yes,” [name] said softly, waving his hand. when he made it to the outside trench, he saw the old man throwing sand over his shoulder and working tireslessly.

“aren’t your bones aching, gramps?” [name] asked, announcing his presence to the man.

“not at all, this is normal work for me!” toto said stubbornly.

“where’d the idiot go?”

“oh…he was digging right behind me…”

[name] jumped down into the sand pit and hummed in thought when he saw luffy was sleeping in the hole he had dug. he murmured the word “idiot” under his breath before wordlessly lifting him up out of the hole.

toto watched in confusion as a simple wave of [name]’s hand had the boy’s body lifting off of the ground. in a couple of seconds, luffy was then resting on the sand next to [name]’s feet.

“how did you do that?” toto asked cautiously, looking at the stoic look on [name]’s face.

“i have magical powers,” [name] said childishly, wiggling his fingers around as if he were to cast a spell.

“not funny, young man,” toto said, unimpressed with the behavior coming from [name].

“hm, i’ll get him inside and then i’ll come out and help you look for water,” [name] said, picking luffy up with ease and holding him bridal style, “i think if you moved a little bit more to the left, though, you’ll be able to hit water sooner than you think,”

and with that being his last bit of advice to the old man, he walked back into the inn where everyone else was sleeping. dropping luffy onto a straw bed and covering him with a blanket was easy. he gently took of luffy’s hat, to not ruin it, and placed it close by for him to find in the morning.

when he came back out of the inn, he saw the old man did take his advice and was digging from the surface again.

“you don’t have to help me,” toto said, about to refuse the help, but [name] shook his head. the pirate held his hand out to the old man, urging toto to hand him the shovel.

“let me dig, i can do it better than you anyway,” he joked, enjoying the pissed off look on toto’s face. wordlessly, the old man handed him the shovel and took a seat on the side.

quickly, [name] got to work in finding water. it was deep, very, very, deep, but it was there. and he would hit it before the sun came up if he worked hard and with no breaks.

"has vivi always been so reckless?" [name] curiously asked, looking over his shoulder for a moment.

his company grinned at the question, "yes! she never cared about her status as princess as child and insisted to be friends with even the common folk. she would always get herself into trouble," there was a pause and then the man spoke again in a shaky tone, "but now that she's grown into a young woman - i can't help but worry for her and her safety!"

"well, there's no need to worry anymore ojisan!" [name] grinned, wiping away his sweat, "with the strawhats here vivi won't ever get hurt again. we're gonna help her save this country!"

the man looked at him with furrowed brows, "what makes you so confident? you travellers have just arrived in this country - we have been struggling for years."

"it's cause you guys didn't have us," [name] easily and cockily replied. this made the old man laugh to his heart's content - whether it be from amusement at his confidence or in mockery, [name] didn't know. nor did he need to. he'd keep his end of his promise and protect vivi as she saved this desert country.

toto wanted to stay up and keep [name] some sort of company, but eventually his eyes were beginning to droop in exhaustion. [name] laughed at the sleepy look on toto’s face.

with the motivation of making the man’s day when he woke up, [name] began working even harder.

sweat was dripping from every crevice of his body, his muscles were begging him to stop from how they ached, but he kept his main goal in mind. and when he finally hit some sort of watery sand, he felt himself almost begin to laugh.

he wiped his face, grimacing at the gritty feel of sand on his skin, and pushed his hair aside. his hair, which was usually tied in a neat, small ponytail, was completely unfurled and shadowing his face.

he sighed, continuing to dig to get deeper into the water supply. he pulled out a small cannister that was resting on his hip, collecting water for himself first, and then deciding to go back up for more cannisters to hold the water.

when he finally drained as much water as possible, he left the cannisters to rest near toto. he smiled as the man’s expressions were moving in time with whatever dreams he was having. [name] carried him inside the inn with ease before collapsing onto his own bed, which was near chopper.

he grabbed ahold of the reindeer and kept him close, holding him tight for some sense of warmth. chopper didn’t seem to mind, cuddling closer into [name]’s skin in his sleep.

and despite [name] only catching less than a handful hours of sleep, it was still pleasant.

-

[ .ᐟ ] DID U GUYS SEE THAT ZORO AND [name] MOMENT??? (zoro flexing his arm around [name] to make sure he was secure, so romantic right guys?!) WOOWWW I THINK THEYRE SO IN LOVE RIGHT NOW WOOWWWWW EVERYONE CHEER (its going to take so long for these two to even remotely progress im fucking DEAD) 

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

@skullr0se , @strawberrii-tea, @triangulartriangles, @anotherlovefool, @haratatsu, @sinmp, @3v37773, @taru-nami, @disc0dild0s

Hey everyone, I know it's going to be a busy day for a lot of people, but Google enrolled everyone over 18 into their AI program automatically.

If you have a google account, first go to gemini.google.com/extensions and turn everything off.

Then you need to go to myactivity.google.com/product/gemini and turn off all Gemini activity tracking. You do have to do them in that order to make sure it works.

Honestly, I'm not sure how long this will last, but this should keep Gemini off your projects for a bit.

I saw this over on bluesky and figured it would be good to spread on here. It only takes a few minutes to do.