Maybe in another world the poison Sanji’s mum took didn’t work on Sanji, or at least not in the same way.
A child with black hair and dull eyes, and like his brothers he’s made to be a solider who follows orders.
The difference is that he follows his mum’s instead of Judge’s.
She’s distraught that the poison wasn’t enough, but she raises Sanji as best she can to be someone free, even if he can’t really be.
He learns to cook because she asks him to (she wonders if she’s fooling herself when she sees just a glimmer of excitement in his dull eyes).
He guards her like a dog as she grows sick, this six year old who can’t even see over the counters. But he’s strong and can fight and all he knows is that what his mum says is what he does.
And when she’s dying, she tells him to run. Says whatever happens, get away from Judge.
And when she dies, that’s what he does. Because he’s an emotionless machine, but he’s following her orders. She told him to be free from Germa, and to seek friends. He doesn’t understand the second part (“friends are a weakness” Judge had said) so he ignores it, but he goes.
He finds the Orbit at age seven and he already has cooking skills (and he’s super powered— he’s good at what he does). They’re creeped out by him, most of the cooks just try to ignore him or slink around him, this terrifying little kid who can dice hundreds of onions in an hour.
He doesn’t interact with them either— his mum said to be free, and he assumes this is “free”. He assumes these aren’t “friends”, at least they’re not like in the books she read him. No one has fought for him or offered to share their things with him, so these must not be them.
And then, of course, the Orbit is hit by pirates, and then hits a storm. Sanji ends up stranded with Zeff on that cliff. Why’d Zeff save him? Maybe it was the way he stood emotionless in front of him with those dead eyes. Said he had to get back to cooking like nothing mattered.
Maybe it was the way everyone else looked at him like they were scared of him, this little ten year old unaware of his effect.
Maybe it was the almost imperceptible way he flinched when another cook came near him, like he was waiting for the next attack.
It doesn’t matter now.
What matters is that Sanji’s on the island with Zeff and they’re starving, but Zeff gives him food. Zeff loses his leg for Sanji. These things are adding up, Sanji thinks this might be what his mum wanted him to find.
He’s not sure.
Uncertainty doesn’t fit well with him.
But his mum said to find a friend and Zeff fits what he knows, so he devotes himself like a soldier. When they get off the island, Zeff can’t get rid of him no matter what he tries (he doesn’t try too hard).
They get a restaurant.
Sanji works like a machine in the kitchens.
Zeff puts him on food prep for years and Sanji does it without complaint. No one is as good as him at finely dicing, at weighing and measuring to the letter. He even does the dishes when they’re behind, and only breaks one before he figures out not to grip with all his strength.
Zeff makes him a full fledged chef at fifteen.
He always feels a little… conflicted about making Sanji work. The boy doesn’t have friends and doesn’t seem to desire them. He doesn’t have emotions. It feels wrong to make him work when he doesn't have the fight to object.
But Sanji’s his responsibility for some reason, and he’s accepted that.
And once, just once, when Sanji is seventeen, Judge comes down in the middle of the night to find a full five course meal prepared. It’s nothing the Baratie makes. It smells of unfamiliar lands.
He doesn’t mention it to Sanji, and there’s no trace of it the next day.
He wonders, though.
When Sanji is nineteen, Luffy arrives with a cannonball through the wall.
Zeff’s not too happy about that, but Sanji’s on red alert. He goes after Luffy with a vengeance.
Because that’s ZEFF, and if Sanji knows one thing it’s that he has to PROTECT ZEFF.
Luffy’s enamoured with him immediately. He wants Sanji. He wants this man who cooks and fights with his feet (Zeff taught him that, Sanji added it to the rules— no hands, be free, find friends).
Sanji’s dull eyes barely blink as he tells Luffy no, that he’s here for Zeff.
But then Luffy says the magic words.
He introduces Sanji (who stopped fighting at Zeff’s directive) to his crew and says, “this is my new friend Sanji! He’s going to be our cook!”
It’s confusing in a way few things are. Sanji lives in black and white— but Luffy says they’re *friends*. His mum told him to find friends. But he can’t leave Zeff, who is also a friend.
Sanji stumbles a little.
And then the green haired swordsman mocks him for it. The smallest flame of anger lights in his belly, a single momentary spark.
But that doesn’t matter because right now in this moment Sanji is processing having TWO friends.
That processing comes to a halt when Zeff yells at him to leave.
It’s simple again.
He follows orders.
He joins the Straw Hats.
He cooks.
He fights.
Luffy talks all the time about being free, and Sanji doesn’t get it but he figures Luffy will tell him when they manage to become “the most free”, something he has no metric of.
Also, Zoro is there.
Zoro is a complication. Sanji’s not sure if he’s friends with everyone or just with Luffy. He THINKS it’s everyone. He doesn’t like living in greys.
And Zoro likes to fight.
He tries to rile Sanji up, every time. Makes comments about his food or eyebrows.
Sometimes it… well it doesn’t *work* but it makes that little spark hit deep inside of him again, and for a split second the world is brighter. And then it’s gone.
Then Zoro pulls out his swords, which means they’re sparring, and Sanji is good at sparring.
They add more crew members. They go from island to island. Sanji protects his friends because that’s what he’s supposed to do, and he cooks, because he’s supposed to.
And then some time around Water 7 he starts to dream.
He’s never dreamed before.
He dreams of his mum and her warm smile. He dreams of his sister and her complicated expressions that he could never understand.
He dreams of Zoro and the grin that stretches over his face and the way his earrings dance.
He doesn’t get it. There’s no point to dreams.
What does it, what finally lights the spark inside of him, is Thriller Bark. It’s “nothing happened”. Zoro pushes him out of the way, stops him from doing the one thing he’s MADE to do, and then Sanji wakes up and realises what’s happened.
And a whirlwind alights inside of him.
The world has colors and depth it didn’t before, as he’s flooded with ANGER, that Zoro would do that, WORRY, that Zoro won’t make it, PAIN and HEARTBREAK for his mum, and a new sort of loyalty, deep and unending, for his crew.
He watches Zoro sleep as he processes.
And when Zoro finally wakes, when that worry abates a little, he YELLS at him. SCREAMS that he was a SELFISH ASSHOLE and HOW DARE HE and he’s IMPORTANT.
And through it all, Zoro stares at him, wide eyed and probably high on pain meds.
And then, when Sanji finally exhausts himself, Zoro grins. That same grin from Sanji’s dreams, and he says, “I knew you’d make it.”
Which is DUMB and makes Sanji EVEN MORE MAD because what does that fucking MEAN and he YELLS SOME MORE and by that time all the Straw Hats have gathered in shock outside the infirmary door.
“Welcome to the crew, Curls,” Zoro says and Sanji wants to KICK HIM but he’s on death’s door already and Sanji knows how strong he is.
So instead he collapses onto him and weeps, his emotions a confusing mess inside of him.
And eventually the door creaks open and Chopper slips in because he HAS to check Zoro’s vitals and then Luffy BOUNDS in and wraps his arms around Sanji and says “SANJI, MAKE ME MEAT” and Sanji SNAPS that he’s BUSY and Luffy LAUGHS and says “Okay but AFTER YOU’RE BUSY, MEAT.”
And later that night, after he’s made a MISTAKE in the kitchen because he got EMOTIONAL chopping vegetables, he sits in the infirmary again, forcing Zoro to drink broth. And he says, “I don’t know what happened. It’s like there’s too much of me inside me now.”
And Zoro says yeah. “That’s what living feels like,” he says.
“I don’t like it,” says Sanji.
“You ever disliked something before?”
“No.”
“Then congratulations.”
Then Zoro reaches out and grabs his hand. His grip is weak still, shaking.
He says, “this is the point. You have to find things to live for, now.”
And Sanji thinks. “I’m supposed to live for friends,” he says. “And freedom.”
“The you’re on the right ship,” Zoro says. “What else?”
And Sanji remembers a book his mum used to read. A long time ago.
“Have you heard of the All Blue?”
ok so I wrote a little over 500 words and the next day went back to read/write more and I hated everything!! It's my first attempt at any creative writing that wasn't assigned to me and my fiance read what I had and said it was good but idk, maybe i'll start over completely??
trying my hand at writing. idk, just a zosan one shot. i just love these cartoon pirates man, and i wanna make them pathetically in love with one another.
thinking about zoro and sanji in thriller bark and how insane it is that their shadows knew each other. like. a person's shadow never really retains past memories or any memories regarding other people in their lives. you lose the main characteristics that make you you. sanji doesn't remember his name. he kicks robin- he would've never done that even under the threat of death. zoro knows nothing but his swords and the need to destruct. not his name, not his captain. they think they serve a person who they have never met before that day. they are them but at the same time, they are not. sanji's shadow's kick could break a man's skull but it doesn't know kindness like sanji, the real and human one, does. zoro's shadow can win all the battles it faces but it doesn't feel the same unwavering loyalty towards luffy, his captain, his king. they lose parts of themselves that make them who they are.
but they know each other.
sanji can be a fucking doguin now but he knows the bastard next to him. he knows he wants to kick his face in. zoro might now have scars all over his back and have a goddamn chandelier around his waist but that motherfucker next to him is just begging to be slashed. they've known each other in every lifetime. they will find each other in every universe. they will die in each other's hands. how much must one's existence be etched in your soul for your shadow to know them? to know them when you don't know yourself?
it's like when achilles says, "I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world." or when hozier says, "No grave can hold my body down, I'll crawl home to her."
insane.
As someone that loves ATLA and is recently getting back into the fandom and has also been spending alot of time in the One Piece fandom as off late
Luffy and Aang have a very similar energy that I enjoy. They are just both so precious oh my god 😭. They are so different but they have very similar narrative functions in how they inspire the people around them to embrace silliness and childlike joy.
But also I love the way they move their powers are fun and they love using them. They are constantly using it's ungrained in the way they move Aang loves airbending he's never not jumping around with it and Luffy loves being rubber
Which makes their differences all the more exciting and seeing how that same scale of personality
they both deal with inherited will Aang more literally and directly that Luffy (as of yet) and they interact with that differently. Aang's inherited will is a weight on his shoulders a burden he has to bear while Luffy's is a pleasant surprise to those around, and the source of his desire for freedom. And this comes through in how they interact with the ultimate version of their powers the literal embodiment of these inherited wills. The avatar state and gear 5
The avatar state for Aang represents a destiny he is still to young to bear, it is unpredictable, overwhelming, uncontrollable, it is something to be feared and worried about, it represents a loss of control for him and he struggles to reconcile that kind of destructive power with himself and his values. It scares him, and That’s why it remains lost to him for much of the series till he makes it his own.
Meanwhile for Luffy Gear 5 represents freedom, he is literally being freed from the constraints of reality. It is the culmination of everything he’s ever been. It’s everything we love about luffy turned up to a 100. Gear 5 is silly, goofy, cartoonish, unserious, fun loving, filled with laughter, insanely power and lowkey a little scary. Even tho Luffy is technically transforming into another person (or god) but god it is still him it is everything that has ever embodied him. And Luffy loves to be in it he has so much because as he said it’s him at his freest.
Aang and Luffy have very different character philosophies, priorities and move through the world differently. Aang is very much concern about the people in the general sense while Luffy is very much focused on helping his friends which then spirals to helping the general population, it just so happens that he is very good at making friends
But at their core they are just both fun loving little boys refusing to let their tragedies define them as they and their rag tag group of walking disasters rove the world like criminals, freeing the people from oppression.
made a personal blog a couple of weeks ago if any moots wanna know how i am outside of simping for sanji/kid/usopp, i mostly journal over there but i also reblog and post about my other interests
@emmydoingemmythings
thinking about newly dating kidlaw where law is tentative with physical affection at first but after the first few times kid loops an arm around him during movie nights or presses an embarrassed, too-hard kiss to his cheek before leaving for work, law deems it safe to get bold.
he starts craning up for a peck when kid drops his lunch off, stuffs a hand into kid’s back pocket to firmly grip his assets when he walks kid back home from work, even starts nuzzling him and brushing past him without any other word or acknowledgment— like a cat. on one night, two minutes into a lame action movie, law plops himself down into kid’s lap instead of the well-loved couch cushion next to him.
the sudden, violent weight makes kid jolt, landing a little too close to… precious things. he grabs for law, trying to shove him aside so he can reposition and ease his weight away with a “what the fuck,” but law simply fights back, twisting around to push him.
and they wrestle like that for a bit, nipping at each other and snarling and grunting without any real bite. a hand shoving at kid’s shoulder, elbow jabbing into law’s side, tumbling pillows, spilled popcorn. eventually they wind up lying down, law flat on kid’s chest.
“be careful,” kid grumbles lowly, narrowing his eyes at him. his mussed black hair and disheveled clothes are too attractive, but kid’s too appalled to say anything. “since when were you this fucking annoying?”
law simply levels him with an unimpressed yet overwhelmingly fond look. “when have we ever been careful with each other?”
and kid can’t help but bark out a laugh, smothering an exasperated grin into the crook of law’s neck as he roots him to his body by the waist.
was gonna make a post abt usopp w an image attached but all the images i had saved were too cute so we gotta not do that or i’ll fold and not make the point i wanna make
i can see why people wouldn’t wanna do this because of the insane insane insane INSANE amount of hate he already gets from powerscaling types of people but i wish we as usopp fans would aknowledge the ways that he sucks, a little more. i understand wanting to adopt a ‘my precious baby boy who did nothing wrong’ attitude in the face of all the people who refuse to see even a sliver of good in his character but like….. he is flawed. i wish we could aknowledge that more in a like, normal way.
like, other characters right. like sanji. very common for people to call him a bastard and say they love him in the same sentence. makes sense, the ways in which sanji sucks are a lot lot lot lot more viscerally uncomfortable to deal with than the ways in which usopp sucks.
but a lot of usopp’s flaws are my flaws, so i guess that’s why it feels personal to me. he is so viscerally me and he is so complicated and he is so viscerally still loved by his crew and that’s really special to me. i’m not saying quit the ‘he did nothing wrong’ posts because they’re funny and fun and i get that, but it kinda reminds me of what people do with some female characters too where to combat the hate they just girlbossify the shit out of them and it can feel idk, like a slightly less interesting way to engage with a character who is flawed
TLDR: usopp kind of sucks!!! and i love him!!!!!!!!!!!
trying my hand at writing. idk, just a zosan one shot. i just love these cartoon pirates man, and i wanna make them pathetically in love with one another.
You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I gathered together in one place. Now you just have to find it.
trying my hand at writing. idk, just a zosan one shot. i just love these cartoon pirates man, and i wanna make them pathetically in love with one another.