Platonic - Blog Posts

A Good Liar

Shanks x gender neutral reader. Platonic. 744 words. 'thought' "speech"

You and Shanks walk through town, you’re lesser known so you don’t have to wear any disguises but Shanks is wearing a cloak to avoid anything happening. A fight isn’t a problem, but it’s a bother. He puts the hood down to let his hair air out, it’s humid so it’s a bit suffocating having it on. When he’s airing it out a civilian notices. Shanks looks at them and they slowly pull out a transponder snail, before your captain can knock them out in public you stop him and walk to the person. “Noticed you saw us.” You say and they nervously put their hands up. “Relax, this happens kinda often, just came to clear things up. You think he’s Red-Haired Shanks, yeah?” You point back at Red-Haired Shanks who keeps a straight face watching you.

“No I didn’t- I mean-”

“No it’s fine, but he isn't. Sorry for the confusion, that’s why he usually wears the hood when he’s out. It’s easier than having to explain it to every person who misunderstands. The civilian looks confused, looking to Shanks who quickly changes his expression from also confused to a nervous smile while putting his hood back up.

“Huh? Not him?”

“Yeah my friend gets confused for him kinda often, the Marines have been starting to get kinda pissed off since they keep getting called for false alarms. It’s kind of a shit coincidence they look alike, especially since he lost an arm during a construction accident years ago even before Red Hair lost his arm.” Shanks stares at you as you speak, trying to keep his expression while he watches you shamelessly lie to this person.

“But the scar, and the facial hair?” You only take a split second before coming up with more.

“Ah, man.” You put a hand to your head like you’re annoyed. “Sorry, it's not your fault. He keeps his facial hair like that because it looks nice, I mean Shanks kinda has the attractive ruggish look yeah, though would be better if he weren’t a criminal doppelganger of my friend. For the scar, well look closer.” You pull his hood down and the civilian puts his transponder snail away. “Hair’s a bit more orangey, and his scar’s on the wrong eye.” Shanks’s hair just looks like that from the afternoon sun, and the scar part is just a straight up lie. However, memories can be slightly altered and the person starts to look unsure.

“True, Red Hair is said to have completely red hair…” They stare at Shanks who’s biting the inside of his cheek to stop a smile.

“It is. You can call Marines if you want but they’re not gonna do anything except ruin me and my friend’s outing and probably yell at you.” You say, the civilian looking unsure.

“It is on the wrong eye..” Gaslighting works wonders, especially with fear of being wrong.

‘They bought that!?’ Shanks almost widens his eyes but keeps it in.

“Looks older too.” They add.

‘Ouch.’ Shanks closes his eyes in pain.

“Shoot, I’m really sorry.” You did it, they apologize and you pat the person’s back while looking into their eyes.

“It’s okay, I just don’t like wasting the Marines’ time nor do I want to get you in trouble.” You say, having a sympathetic look on your face like you actually care. The person nods and you motion for Shanks to put his hood back up, which he does. After that you share a few pleasantries, joking about the “first few times” your friend got “mistaken” as Shanks. Charismatic conversation and a few words from Shanks with him changing his voice a bit is all it takes until you two leave completely safe. Once you two get somewhere more private Shanks puts a hand on his face and crouches down, bursting out into laughter. You’re shameless, absolutely and utterly shameless.

“Construction accident? O-On the wrong eye?” Your captain stutters in between laughs as you smile.

“Hey, it was for the greater good. Aren’t you glad I'm good at improvising.”

“Improvising my ass, you’re a straight up liar!” He manages to stand back up straight, still cracking up a bit as he wipes a tear from his eye.

“We’re leaving this place tomorrow morning anyway, doesn’t matter.” You say with a shrug.

“Good to have you on my side, I’m never playing poker with you again.” He pats you on the back.

“Darn.” You snap your fingers.

All the child fics I see have the child as a little ray of sunshine that’s loved to pieces by everyone, but I think it would be a little funny if they found a kid that was rather awkward instead. If you have any suggestions on other awkward kid reader like scenarios or other characters go ahead and request.

Shanks, Buggy, and Smoker with an Awkward!Child Reader.

Shanks

“Oh! Hey, there’s some kids here.” Shanks crouches down and speaks to you, but you quickly shake your head. “Listen, I know you aren’t the best at socializing but just try it out. Just for a bit?” He’s a bit worried, you don’t get to be with other kids much being on the Red Force. Looking into his eyes you start to feel a bit guilty, eventually nodding your head. Shanks smiles brightly “Great! C’mon, I’ll make sure you’re safe, okay?” He picks you up and goes over to the kids playing. Once you’re both close enough he sets you down, but you just stand there. He gives you a little push and you stiffly walk to the kids. They spot you and you freeze.

“Huh? Who are you?” They walk over to you and you go as still as possible. “Hello?” One of the kids waves a hand in front of your face but you just stand there like a statue. Shanks looks on, worried that you’ll get bullied. He shakes his head.

‘No, I should have faith in them as their father.’ He thinks to himself as the kids gather around the new strange child. They just kind of stare at you. One of the kids pokes you and you flinch.

“They move! How do you get all frozen like that, are you made of stone?” Your eyes slowly trail to your dad, nervous. He just gives you a thumbs up. Shanks gets approached by someone.

“Chief? Oh it’s you!” Shoot, he’s starting to get recognized, this damn hair. He has to entertain them a bit before they finally go away. Shanks quickly looks back to you, worried. The kids have.. started stacking things on you.

“Woahh…”The kids marvel at you. You have multiple blocks on your head, your stillness keeping them from falling. That’s… one way to socialize I guess. Your record is 10 blocks.

Mihawk

Mihawk holds you in his arms, he had taken you in a few months ago even before Cross Guild. To be honest, he was hesitant to bring you with him, but it was already known he had a child by this point. It’s safer to keep you where he can be with you, it’s one of the reasons he joined. Having a stable place to stay is best for you. Another worry he had is that the clown and Crocodile would be a bad influence on you, that you would turn into some sort of delinquent. Children can be unpredictable, and easily manipulated. However, that ended up not being the case. In fact, they seemed to be a good influence. Not because they were passing on good features, no, it was simply because you disliked them enough that you marked them as “bad examples”, he couldn’t be more relieved. It’s unfortunate you don’t make friends but this is better than becoming anything like Buggy or Crocodile. They had even attempted to appeal to you, trying to befriend you to have some sort of connection to Mihawk. Buggy so that Mihawk would be softer on him, Crocodile so that Mihawk would have incentive to be loyal. It didn’t work out. Crocodile realized very fast you were terrified of him, he isn’t the best with children either; and there’s too much risk trying to get close to you when your father hates when you’re scared. Buggy however…

“Hey, kid, here.” Buggy offers you candy, you stare at it then slowly back away, clearly uncomfortable. “Ah, uhhh.. What about this?” He starts to juggle, but you also look nervous, looking away. ‘This damn brat, aren’t kids supposed to like clowns?’ He curses in his head, but keeps a smile on his face. Finally, in one last effort, he pulls off his head and starts to do tricks with his limbs. “See? Cool isn’t i-” When he looks at the spot you were in you’re gone, like a mouse that skittered away. “God dammit, fucking kid.” Right as he says that he feels an intimidating presence behind him, hawk eyes digging into his back. He might be fucked.

Smoker

“Sea prism works on devil fruit users like Captain Smoker and this person. That’s why you don’t have to be scared, they can’t do anything to you.” Tashigi explains to you, holding the sea prism cuffs. She’s babysitting you for a bit while Smoker is taking care of business since you can’t exactly be left alone at your age. You had gotten startled by a prisoner being led to jail earlier, so she was explaining how they’re harmless with the cuffs on; even showing them to you. “You want to hold them?” You slowly nod and hold them in your little hands, they’re kind of heavy. While you’re looking at them Tashigi looks to the door, Smoker is back. “Ah Captain Smoker you’re ba-”

Click

…Oops. You put them on by accident. Immediately you start to panic, trying to get them off your wrist. “Ah, wait, I can just take them off for you. Stand still!” You’re panicking too much though, waving your arm around while Smoker sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. Before she can grab you though, you end up flinging the cuff off of your wrist. It was too big to fit you anyway, the key wasn’t needed. Unfortunately, you end up flinging them directly at your dad, hitting him on the head. He flinches and falls back, the sea prism making him weak. “Captain Smoker!” He falls to the ground and you freak out like a startled cat, running around the office while knocking things over. Tashigi, flustered, doesn’t know what to do first. The cuffs slide off of his body and he moves again, grabbing you by the back of your shirt like a kitten. “I’m so sorry, sir I didn’t think-” He raises a hand to stop her.

Your father looks at you, your face guilty, and sighs. “It’s fine.” The office is a mess now, it’s actually a bit impressive. At least he doesn’t have to worry about people catching you. “No more cuffs.” He’ll worry about the office later, you’re more important.

relationships between characters will always be my favorite thing. seeing these characters have flaws, strengths, passions, hardships, just like people in the real world and then having someone who accepts them completely is so beautiful. all the ships i love are so comforting because it isn’t JUST the romantic aspect that is special but the bond between the characters is so natural. their relationship didn’t just happen in one day, but it slowly grew over time to become something meaningful. almost like they had been waiting their entire lives to find someone who accepts them as they are.

ITS ANOTHER LIST OF HAZBIN HOTEL FIC RECOMMENDATIONS! Specifically Alastor fics. I don't really read anything else. Also yet again, Platonic/ Non Ship fics. (All on AO3)

For the Hotels Sake by ThatMissedBullet

https://archiveofourown.org/works/50784673?view_adult=true

Alastor is actually being a good friend to Angel after a bad night.

Soft and Platonic Angel and Al. Very fluffy with angst.

When the Morningstar Take Action by Charlie_W_Hawthorn

One of my favorite Alastor Angst writers! I love all their fics.

So, this one is kinda an AU of if Lucifer was a bad person and had a really big grudge against Alastor. He's a real jerk throughout the whole thing.

Everyone gets protective of Al and I love it even if he doesn't. I 100% recommend. There's a sequel that's still updating too.

Of romance and whatnot by DasIchigo

https://archiveofourown.org/works/53899156

This is one about Al's Aroace-ness. Angel and Charlie ask if he and Rosie are dating. Spoiler Alert the answer is no.

Love, I'm Just A Sinner, I Can't Be A Savior by HellTeaAndBiscuits

This one is ANGSTY and has a lot of nonconsensual touching. Some of the gang learn about the deal Al made and how he's treated. BAD Lilith in this one.

Here's my first list:

So I know it can be hard to find aroace Alastor and Alastor/ platonic relationships content. But I have put together a list of Al bonding with the others platonically. (All are on AO3)

Escaped By A Hair by PurpleArrowandLeather

Alastor's retreat to lick his wounds nearly costs him his life. Thankfully, Charlie is worried enough to go looking for him.

Post Season One

Mother, Dearest by WritingSoupBowl

In Episode 6 instead of having a meeting Adam tries to kill Charlie and Vaggie. Trying to escape, they run into Al's mother.

You've Got A Face for Radio by ckret12

This one is specifically about how Alastor is Aroace and I love it.

"He's never wanted sex. He's never wanted love. He's never seen a problem with this.

It's taken about a century, but he's pleasantly surprised to discover that the rest of the world is finally starting to catch up with his perspective."

Staff Infection by ItAllStartedWithANightFuryLovingGirl

This one is adorable. Everyone gets sick and Al won't admit he needs rest.

To Make A Skirt by another_athena

This has to be one of my favorites in this list and it's longer. It focuses on Al and Angel a lot. It's incredibly clear that Alastor is Aroace in this one and I love it. Also boys wearing feminine clothes together. It's just adorable and it has some angst.

In sum: Angel is bored so Al teaches him how to sew.

(I love touch-averse Alastor so much)

Good Friends To the Second End by Neo_followthe whiterabbit

More platonic Al and Angel. It has a coming out scene with Al too and that's pretty good.

I love these two being friends.

Okay, those are all for now but I was wondering if anyone had any like these? I love reading stuff like these