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sainamoonshine · 24 days

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My unpopular opinion is that in languages with grammatical gender like french, it does make sense for Murderbot to be referred to by whatever pronoun is usually used for robots or constructs. (In french, therefore, grammatical masculine.) Because there are no traditional « it » pronouns in these languages for objects, and while there are neo-pronouns, they are things one must choose for themselves. Do you honestly think MB actually spent time thinking about its pronouns?! No it didn’t. On forms it picks « non-applicable ». When people ask it what pronouns they should use, its honest opinion is « why do you even need to talk about me. Just don’t fucking do that. Don’t think about me either. Just fucking stop perceiving me altogether! »

Thinking about what pronouns to use probably makes it way more uncomfortable than letting people call it what they’ve already been calling it. Making a conscious choice about its identity? And telling other people about it??? No thanks bye, it’s just gonna walk into the ocean now, see you never.

Lbr it probably thinks the only bots that get fancy pronouns are comfort units, and the pronouns are probably shoved into them by humans same as everything else. MB would meet a bot using a neopronoun and it would wish it could barf. Because in a language like french, he/him and she/her, when applied to objects, ARE fulfilling the function of the english « it ». Nobody is saying the table is a woman or related to feminity in any way outside of stand-up comedy; when it comes to objects grammatical gender really has fuckall to do with human gender even if we use the same words. Even animal species names have grammatical gender and everyone gets that there are male and female turtles even if the word « turtle » is a female word, it’s not that confusing.

(I know this is strange when your language has different pronouns for people and for objects, but understand that english uses the same word to indicate if I’m addressing one or many people, and that is confusing to me.)

TL;DR; stop harassing international fans for not getting the correct MB pronoun in english right off the bat. Yes in english calling it « he » or « her » or « them » is upsetting because it’s projecting an identity unto it. But same goes for trying to get a foreign language translation to use a pronoun intended to express or showcase an identity (or even a lack of one!). Murderbot has not thought about it this hard, refuses to think about it this hard -> and that is its only canon accurate gender identity.

#the murderbot diaries #taking a bat to an hornet’s nest there but I said what I said #I go by she/her because that’s the default people use for me even tho my own gender identity is also #ugh I would sincerely prefer not to have to deal with this think about it or even be perceived #and I would be hella pissed if a book of my life came out and people got into fights about my pronouns #trying to assign me the most politically accurate agender pronoun possible #when my own choice has always been specifically to let people call me the default because idc #and I don’t want to be identified by any identifier that might indicate I do care #and using a different pronoun even if its a gender neutral one is a CHOICE!#it does indicate a preference! and caring about it enough to pick a word and tell people about it!!!#Murderbot didn’t pick IT that is specifically the point!#it was used for it and MB just kept going with that #I mean imagine it if wrote down a different pronoun on its ID form one day and someone actually called it that #it would set itself on fire #its discomfort at having made a personal choice and the personal choice being respected would be off the charts #maybe it a later book after hella character development but I just don’t see it happening tbh #respect the agenders who just don’t want to get involved and use the pronoun equivalent of the default avatar that came with the account #PLEASE #that is all

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namisweatheria · 5 months

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I'm sure people have talked about this before BUT I AM thinking about an au where Rouge had a terrifying Devil Fruit power and ridiculously strong Haki (like Boa but... you know. not like that at all thank you.) and managed to have HER OWN ISLAND that The Navy refuses to touch. (Like Boa! Without the Warlord part.)

What if Ace got his good navigational instincts from her, and the island was somewhere basically impossible to get to. (Unless you're a navigational genius.) Which immediately connects it in my mind to a Bell-mere lives au.

Things I'm imagining happening:

-Rouge raising Ace herself on that island

-Garp finding her as he promised he would, and seeing a good opportunity, promptly dropping Luffy off forever

-Sabo sneaking on Garp's ship to get away from his parents, and managing to make it there as it happens to be where Garp is heading next for another quick visit to try to indoctrinate Luffy (and Ace) into The Marines

-ASL brothers again<3

-kid Ace being fucking crazy in an entirely DIFFERENT way. He didn't suffer from living under Roger's shadow (Rouge never even mentions that deadbeat) but he and his mom are very much alone on this island so he goes Insane

-Luffy and Sabo are still the best things to happen to him and slowly make him calm down a lot

-Rouge DOES want to bring more people to the island because obviously she does not want her son to be deranged but it's difficult to trust people when The World Government wants her son dead so badly. Also a nearly-impossible-to-reach incredibly dangerous jungle island is a hard sell. lol

-She is going insane in her own way but she throws herself into raising them well and training them and herself to be as strong as possible, so they can protect each other if the government comes for them

-She definitely knows about Dragon being Luffy's dad, tricking that out of Garp was Not Hard. lmao

-Sabo opens up about his backstory to her eventually too. Someone protect these kids from the damn government!!!!!!!

-In this au, Bell-mere is strong enough to get Nami, Nojiko, and herself out of Coco Village when Arlong takes over, but not strong enough to defeat them and free the village

-She tries to get Navy assistance but is met with bald-faced corruption. Extreme disillusionment follows

-They travel for a few years, Bell-mere always trying to get stronger so they can return and save the village one day.

-Nami studies hard and has plenty of opportunities on the sea to polish her skills as a navigator.

-Nojiko remains deeply hurt and outraged by The Navy's betrayal. Since she was older she had been told many more stories from her mom's time with them, and thus had a much stronger attachment to the idea of them. Being left by The Marines, with her whole community, to suffer and die, shook her entire world. She seeks out people who don't look kindly on The World Government everywhere they go, collecting stories. She has hopes of joining The Revolutionary Army one day

-This is also a Sora lives au. (@ Oda Stop killing all the moms! Let them unionize!) One day on their travels they come across a sickly woman and her two kids, Reiju and Sanji, who are on the run from a mysterious (in the East Blue) Mercenary Army.

-It goes like this: the two groups are in the same diner. Soldiers of Germa 66 bust in and try to grab Sora and her kids. They scream and cry for help. Nearby Marines intervene. This obviously doesn't look good for the Germa soldiers, attempting to kidnap a sickly woman and two young kids in broad daylight. They try to pay off the highest ranking Marine there to look the other way, with an absolutely outrageous sum. It works.

-Nojiko charges. Bell-mere didn't expect her usually cool-headed daughter to do something so reckless, and doesn't realize she'd gotten up until she heard the crash of Nojiko kicking the top Marine in the head. Nami had been paying more attention, and is already primed to hit the same Marine in the back with a diner chair before he can retaliate on Nojiko.

-Despite their training, they're kids, and these are Marines. If Bell-mere wasn't there, it would've been a world of hurt. But Bell-mere of course is right there, and takes down all three Marines before they know what hit them. In the chaos, Reiju takes down both Germa Soldiers with her superior strength.

-Now they're a group, standing in a public place, with a pile of Marines (and Mercenaries) at their feet. Yikes.

-They run together.

-Reiju and Nojiko, both being oldest girls about the same age, recognize each other and bond instantly. They convince their mothers' they'll be stronger together.

-Bell-mere was easy to convince, suffering from survivor's guilt from the occupation of Coco Village, she's very quick to take on other's burdens. Sora, despite feeling an instinctual trust for and deep attraction to this tough butch who saved her life, is much more hesitant. Putting her life and resources in the hands of one very powerful person was what got her into this mess.

-But it's not easy to make Reiju happy, a girl who takes responsibility for both her mother and younger brother, who orchestrated their escape, who defends them physically, who has a childhood of training to repress herself to unlearn. Sora saw Reiju actually laugh with someone other than herself and Sanji, and she can't take this new comrade away from her. Not to mention having another protector in Bell-mere could ease Reiju's burdens. She has to say yes.

-And it's a good thing she does, because the top Marine they knocked out kicks up an absolutely ginormous fuss. Suddenly Bell-mere, Sora, and the kids are wanted criminals with posters strewn everywhere. It takes all their wits and strength combined to survive.

-They're on the run together for years before they make it to Rouge's Island.

-Nami is younger than Sanji, but at this age she's bigger than him, and he's a huge crybaby while she keeps a very brave face. She's utterly delighted to treat him like a little brother, much to his annoyance. "I'm not the youngest anymore!" "Yes you are! Stop it!" "You can't be bigger than me when you're such a baby." "I'm a baby?! I saw you get scared too!" "No you didn't! Shut up!" They get very competitive.

-Reiju and Nojiko have the kind of weird little girl best friendship that has the intensity and power to destroy worlds. They are on levels of telepathic connection previously unheard of. And they are so serious about it and so fucking goofy. The SCHEMES they get up to.... And of course constantly being made to drag their little siblings along for the ride

-Picture this. They've been docked at the same island for a couple weeks. They're having an easy time, they've just gotten comfortable with a good doctor for Sora and a nice place to stay for a bit. The kids see a Marine Ship out sailing nearby while they're playing on the beach. If they tell their moms, they're sure to pack up and leave immediately. Of course the answer is to scare off the Navy ship themselves with a fake sea monster.

-Yes it's the end of the world if this mission fails. They'll have failed their families, and the concepts of bravery and justice, and they'll all die and get killed and never join the resistance or anything ever. Yes this fake sea monster needs to have extra whiskers.

-So serious. SO GOOFY.

-Meanwhile their moms are having the most repressed intense butch-femme erotic slow-burn romance of all time in the background.

-Bell-mere, in her head: How much of this is coming from my fucked-up desire to save people? Am I fetishizing her weakness? What's wrong with me? If I have to see the glow of her soft skin, shiny with the sweat of illness, peeking out from beneath her long dress one more time I am going to faint and die.

-Sora, in her head: How much of this is coming from my fucked-up desire to be saved? Am I fetishizing her strength? Do I just want to give up responsibility so badly? Am I appreciating her as a person or do I just want what she can give me? If I hear her loud laugh of victory after buying food for what barely counts as a bargain one more time I'm simply going to explode with love and desire.

None of the kids notice this at all even a little bit.

-Of course with Nojiko's story-gathering and Nami's navigational genius, and the Marines still hot on their tail, and Sora and Bell-mere's desire to find a place to finally stop for the sake of their kids, they do eventually make their way to Rouge's island.

-Rouge, at this point deeply deranged with isolation, fear for her sons, and suspicion, does not greet them well.

-Bell-mere does not take no for an answer.

-Their fight leaves a giant crater in the side of the island. It lasts for days, and only ends because while they were distracted all their kids did an enemies-to-best friends speedrun.

-Lead of course by Luffy, who despite loyalty to Rouge and natural suspicion of her apparent enemies, has little willpower against the smell of Sanji's cooking. His completely earnest undignified begging by the campfire endears him to the others, as well as his heartfelt thanks, and their kind and patient treatment of him endears them to his older brothers.

-Also they're all lonely as hell so it truly does not take much. They're running around the jungle, being given a tour of the best spots on the island by the ASL brothers FOR LITERALLY HOURS before at the same exact moment Reiju, Nojiko, and Sabo all go Oh Shit We Should Probably Stop Our Moms From Killing Each Other.

-Lol.

-I have other ideas involving Robin, and I want to save Banchina (Usopp's mom) as well. I think what this au needs is a doctor character. Someone Rouge trusts to help her give birth, who is also an enemy of the world government, who can stay on the island with them. Who can treat Sora when they arrive. (Treat not heal, her being chronically ill and disabled is important to me.) But I can't think of anyone who isn't needed elsewhere.... I guess I have to make them up....

#this was so much fun. i love women and girls they should all live and kill and do lesbianism and bestfriendship together forever and ever #at this point i'm just. the world has surpassed the need for male anime characters we no longer need male anime characters.#I'M SO BURNED OUT WITH THEM.#unless they are explicitly trans (that's freeing) or their non-binary energy is off the charts. (luffy. to me. he does not know gender.)#anyways i was never someone who came up with au's before. this was so much fun. also it is what one piece has done to me. lmao.#one piece aus #bell mere #nojiko #sora #nami #reiju #portgas d rouge #rouge lives au #sora lives au #bell-mere lives au #jesus. stop killing all the moms!#asl brothers #bell-mere x sora #my aus

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