Notes: Reader is female and a former slave. Illusions to past violence and abuse. Fluff - well, as fluffy as a green-haired idiot can be. Set pre-time skip, pre-Drum Island.
Word Count: ~2k
Rating: PG?
There are a lot of things that have been hard to get used to as a “normal person.” There were tons of unspoken rules to learn, decisions to make, and more emotional processing than you could shake a stick at. Thankfully, you’ve been able to take more or less in stride with the help of your newfound crew.
The Straw Hats have been the picture of patience as you adjust to your newfound freedom. There are no stupid questions (Luffy sets a really low bar), and everyone respects your decision when you say, “No.” Has it been easy? Absolutely not, but you haven’t had to do it alone, and that in itself is a blessing.
But there’s one thing you still struggle with — crowds. Who knew there were so many people in the world? So many bodies, each going about their own business with their own hopes and fears. And they were so loud! Dozens of conversations going at once, each one oblivious to the others. How did people function like this on a normal basis?
every time i start to feel cringe for being too deep in the hyperfixation i remember the intense depression i have waded through and have to remind myself that enjoyment is fleeting (so grab it with both hands), and life is for loving (so hold that love close), and if anyone thinks i’m cringe they must not be having a very good time (and i hope they can find a good time soon).
Makes horrible puns. Any time she asks, “Does anyone need a hand?” the crew audibly groans because they know it’s a trap. She loves it. Franky thinks it’s hilarious and will actively encourage her.
Nami:
Leaves/donates a lot of her clothes to shelters and people in need on the various islands they visit. She’ll say it’s because ships only have so much storage and she doesn’t want to give up shopping, but really it’s because she knows what it’s like to go without and they see so much hardship on their adventures.
Usopp:
Sends drawings of the places they visit back to Kaya. The man is a phenomenal artist, so the drawings are always gorgeous. They aren’t always landscapes either, sometimes it’s the people they meet, the creatures they encounter, or something stupid Luffy did. Kaya has them hung up all over her room. She’s even framed some.
Sanji:
Does not like certain foods, he’s only human after all. But you will never know what they are because he puts the crew’s preferences above his own — he also knows the best way to cook the things he doesn’t like so he can cover up the taste. Some of his favorite dishes are actually very plain.
Zoro:
Is actually a little insecure about his appearance. He’s always looked intimidating, even as a kid. He’s used to people crossing the street or moving to a different table when he sits down. Sure, he leans into now and will use it to his advantage at the drop of the hat, but a small part of his (pushed deep down, of course) is a little sad/pissed he gets judged before he even has a chance to act.
Chopper:
Sheds his antler’s once a year and is super self-concious about it. The first time it happened, everyone was understandably shocked, but they saw how much it hurt his feelings and quickly changed tactics. Nami, Robin and Sanji pretended not to notice. Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp said it was metal as fuck and encouraged him to use it as a scare tactic toward enemies. He appreciates both.
Franky:
His body requires regular maintenance. Before he joined the Straw Hats his upgrades were all things he could manage to maintain on his own, but after their loss to Kuma, he understood that was too limiting. He made more extreme upgrades, that required a second (sometimes third) set of hands to keep working. That was the price of power. After the crew reunited, everyone quickly learned what to do. (There is a legit Franky Manual.) After all, what is nakama for?
Luffy:
Suffers from nightmares ever since Ace died. He tried to hide it at first. Unfortunately, he uses his Devil Fruit abilities in his sleep on occasion so it didn’t stay secret for long. Everyone has their own way of helping him - Sanji makes tea and snacks, Zoro offers to spar, Usopp tells stories, Robin listens, Franky asks for help on a project, Brook plays music, Chopper acts as a living plushie, and Nami will play cards. No one sees it as a weakness.
Brook:
Hates being alone. He did that for 50 years, he’s had his fill of solitude. He doesn’t need to interact, per se, he just needs other people around. This is known fact around the crew, to the point where he never gets night watch and usually carries out his chores with a passive observer nearby. Does he need them to take it that far? No. But like he said, he’s had his fill of solitude and the others are happy to accommodate.
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen iron giant, but adult peter parker reminds me of the artist guy really bad and now I’m really nostalgic for that movie
like seriously their brain-to-body size ratio is equal to that of a chimpanzee
They vocalize anger, sadness, or happiness in response to things
they are scary smart at solving puzzles
some crows stay with their mates until one of them dies
they can remember faces
SIDENOTE HERE BECAUSE HOLY SHIT. They did an experiment where these guys wore masks and some of them fucked with crows. Pretty soon the crows recognized the masks = douchebag. But the nice guys with masks they left alone. THEN, OH WE’RE NOT DONE, NO SIR crows that WEREN’T EVEN IN THE EXPERIMENT AND NEVER SAW THE MASK BEFORE knew about mask-dudes and attacked them on sight. THEY PASSED ON THE FUCKING INFORMATION TO THEIR CROW BUDDIES.
They remember places where crows were killed by farmers and change their migration patterns.
A colleague of my dad’s lives next to a lake, and looked out the window one morning to see a duck trapped in the ice. A crow swooped down. “Oh hell,” she thought, expecting carnage, because crows are opportunists. But the crow chipped at the ice with its beak until the duck was free.
Idk of this counts but a few crows saved me from a magpie swooping attack once ,they’re bros who can tell when magpies are being unreasonable and need to chill
I love crows so damn much. When I was fifteen, I hit a pretty serious bout of depression, to the point I was in my room for months. Well, a family of crows made a nest in a tree outside my window. There were two parents and two chicks. One chick was healthy and strong. One was weak, and had a caw like something being strained. It sounded more like a rooster crowing and so my parents jokingly named him ‘Buck’.Well… months passed and Buck’s sibling was taught to fly. His parents focused on the sibling because the sibling was strong. The father stayed behind to try and teach Buck, but I saw him try to fly, fail, and crash to the floor. His father helped him back up into the tree.
Every day, I would watch Buck from my window until one day I opened it and started talking to him. He was small and gangly and he couldn’t caw right. His feathers were all over the place and I felt a kinship. So I made a deal with him. I told him that if he could do it, if he could fly, then I could find the strength to get up. Well… near the end of the season, after talking with him every day, I finally saw him get out of the nest. He went to the edge of his branch, braced himself, and jumped… and just before he hit the ground, he soared back up into the sky. I cheered harder than I ever had before.
That winter, Buck left the area. I was crestfallen. I felt like I’d lost a friend. But I was so damn proud of him.
Cut to the next spring? I’m walking up the driveway one day when suddenly I hear a sound… a broken caw. I look up, and Buck is sitting in a tree above my head. He stared at me and puffed his feathers, then hopped down in front of me and cawed again. I was so damn thrilled, and I told him how proud I was of him. He ruffled his feathers and then soared off into his old tree.
That summer? I heard two broken caws. One from Buck… and one from his chick.
Cut to ten years later? We have a family of crows who all have a very distinct caw and they come here and spend every spring, summer, and fall on our property. Buck still greets me every spring.
that last reply made me wanna cry. that’s so beautiful.
this one morning i kept hearing really loud caws, i remember it was like 5am, LIKE REALLY LOUD AND ANNOYING AND AGGRESSIVE, so loud that i could hear it through a closed window, and i eventually went outside to check it out. there was a crow on my front lawn, it had an injury on its head and couldn’t fly and there were two other crows circling right above it, and they were cawing like mad.
i tried to get close and take a better look and one of them dived super low and tried to attack me. so i went back in the house and chopped some sliced raw meat and tossed it at him from a distance.
a few more times later, very soon after, they could tell i was trying to help, and did not attack me. i was “allowed” to walk up close and pick him up, he couldn’t drink water properly so i had to dip my finger in a bowl and stick it in his mouth.
i did this few times a day and it went on for about a week before he disappeared, i thought he recovered and left, but he came back the next day and lands on me, and i see him around the block quite often, and he would come sit on my shoulder for a few minutes and then fly away again. i feel like i’ve adopted a son.
Best birbs !!
your son is Beautiful and Strong
every time I see this post it has different crow stories and every time I reblog it again because all crow stories are good stories
Like, I wouldn’t want to be on bad terms with a crow, but they are a really smart animal, they aren’t scary You just want to be nice to them because they will know and they will remember, and they will pay you back if you treat them a certain way.
As a side note, I volunteered at a rehab (Hope for Wildlife), where they were rehabbing a crow with a broken wing–who was named Russell Crow. He kept pulling his bandage off so a sleeve was cut off some old clothing and put on him like a little sweater.
!!!!
I don’t think I’ll ever not reblog this. This posts makes me cry and smile at the same time.
arthur weasley, aka the world’s biggest muggleboo who probably larps as an office worker on the weekends
officemaster: you have… *rolls dice* successfully transferred the call to your boss’ voicemail! you hear the distant ringing of the fellytone from the inner office for a moment before the machine picks up, securely delivering the regional manager’s message to its intended recipient.
arthur weasley: *pumps fist in air, high-fives xenophilius lovegood*
sirius black: is it my turn yet?
officemaster: no.
xenophilius lovegood: i search the supply closet for binder clips.
officemaster: *rolls dice* you find a small cardboard box with three binder clips in it, but in the process of retrieving it from the high shelf, you knock a bottle of toner off. it hits your left pinky toe. *rolls dice* you lose 1 HP.
xenophilius lovegood: best fetch quest EVER.
sirius black: so is it my turn now?
officemaster: no, shut up. remus?
remus lupin: wait, is arthur still at the front desk?
arthur weasley: yeah
remus lupin: i approach the front desk. *clears throat* “Hello, Shirley. Were there any messages for me while I was out?”
arthur weasley: “Yes, Mr. Crumplebottom. Phillip Smythe from home office called about your business trip. I put him through to your voicemail.”
remus lupin: “Good work! Thank you very much. I shall remeber this come time for your Christmas bonus.”
sirius black: is it my turn yettt???
officemaster: merlin’s balls man, yes, it’s your turn
sirius black: i attempt to seduce the visiting sales representative
remus lupin: what? you can’t do that
sirius black: sure i can, i have like 25 charisma points
remus lupin: but we’ve all got the casual friday modifier right now, and if you get a sexual harassment lawsuit we can’t advance to the next meeting until the litigation phase is over
sirius black: i’m chaotic neutral, what were you expecting?
remus lupin: besides, arthur’s receptionist character found out she was married in the last session, remember? you would have to roll a natural 20
arthur weasley: hey, no metagaming–sirius’ character wasn’t there at the time, he was trapped in the fax machine
xenophilius lovegood: i still don’t think that’s how fax machines actually work
officemaster: sirius?
sirius black: yeah, arthur’s right, i couldn’t have known about that. *shrugs* i attempt to seduce her.
remus lupin: oh my god i hate you so much right now
sirius black: get bent lupin
remus lupin: you wish
sirius black: i don’t have to
officemaster: *rolls dice* *winces*
sirius black: what? what happened?
Yeah! What happened?!
Sirius botched both his action and his save. His character was fatally bear-maced in the face. Remus’ character was forced to spend an entire session on sensitivity training for his remaining employees. Sirius returned in the following session as a dual-class IT guy and paladin.
but real question: who’s the officemaster??
I just came across this again and I realized I never addressed this very important question: the officemaster is and always was Aberforth.
I have a headcanon that Hermione insists her children attend some primary muggle schooling before Hogwarts, just as she had done. Now, imagine Arthur Weasley attending his grandchild’s science fair, being the ultra proud grandfather….and yet also completely geeking out over absolutely EVERYTHING.
Canon
“That is a volcano, that is a VERY SMALL VOLCANO, how - young lady, how did you make this? Baking soda and food coloring? MARVELOUS!”