#lore masterpost

A time travelling anomaly, the Wanderer doesn't have a true home. They have had many families, but none that the universe permitted them to stay with for long. Starting from early childhood and growing more frequent with age, the Wanderer developed a tendency to time travel to different eras throughout time with no control of the when, the where, nor the how.

The only link is that it only happens when they sleep. Not every night, not even most of them, but some. Always some.

Sometimes the Wanderer would be allowed to stay in one era for years at a time, growing more and more content with their life and their found family until, one night, they would inevitably wake up to a new sky, a new era, a new life. Never given any time to adjust (no time to grieve when they need to get employment in order to not starve on the streets), never given an explanation.

The Wanderer had three families by the time they were ten, though they were too young to remember much before their third. They have vague glimpses of a young couple with smiling faces, then a different couple with a child, then the family they remember the most: a foster family that they lived with from ages ten to thirteen.

After another time-jump, they ended up with a different foster family from the ages of fourteen to sixteen. After their next uncontrolled time-jump, they weren't accepted into another foster family, now told they were too old for adoption and the foster system at the age of sixteen. Seen as close enough to adulthood to send on their own, the Wanderer was thrust out into the world.

As the years passed and the Wanderer was yanked from life after life, one after the other, they recognized the persistent factor in each nonconsensual time-jump: sleep.

They began to avoid sleep in any way they could, whether by distraction, caffeine, avoidance or substances, they steered clear of any form of rest. To their surprise, they found that they could go days, even weeks without sleep. Now with another factor of their existence to ponder, the Wanderer despises their body and their abilities for not matching that of other humans, while also feeling paradoxically uncomfortable when their body does act particularly human.

Thrown through yet another time-jump (and growing deeply resigned to their misery more and more with each lost family through time), the Wanderer finds themselves in 1920's Soho. With no relevant skills, no useable knowledge of the times, and not a single possession to their name aside from what they donned before their time-jump, they trudge along to find a way to survive. The bright, shining interior of the Mr. Emporium toyshop is enough to lure the Wanderer in, not to mention the odd under-the-skin thrum of energy that radiates through the entire property like a trap about to snap shut.

The Wanderer may dislike kids, but they enjoy bright colours and tinkering with toys. It was their best option for employment, as temporary as it might end up being.

They enter and greet the shopkeeper, unintentionally using a phrase that wouldn't exist for at least sixty more years. Curious about the eccentric man who calls himself the Toymaker (though admittedly more interested in employment), the Wanderer politely introduces themselves and explains that, if the Toymaker is ever looking for an assistant, they'd be happy to help.

To their partial surprise, the toyshop owner instantly agrees. Detecting an odd energy from the Wanderer, as well as noticing their out-of-date phrases and mannerisms and the lack of reaction to the Toymaker's more out there comments, the Toymaker opts to keep this new toy close to him, able to examined at any moment.

The Wanderer is unaware of this. Though, when they do learn of the Toymaker's abilities, their search for answers about their own existence may be relit.

Whether they find these answers, is unconfirmed.

After all, why would the Toymaker let such an interesting specimen out of his clutches? He coyly implies that he can help the Wanderer find his purpose and even avoid time-jumping, as long as the not-quite-human stays and does as he says.

The Wanderer enjoys it too much to want to leave anyways.

Where did it go Wrong?

as previously stated in the previous link for laws lore, laws crew died in the battle with blackbeard.

it was blasted all over the newspapers. the heart pirates, defeated by blackbeard. everyone suspected to be deceased.

luffy didnt find out that his crew died until it was too late. and he was pissed. he only found out after he left elbaph, and he still needed time to heal before targeting blackbeard.

★

at first, came the denial. law couldn't be dead. there was no way. law was strong! he was luffys friend. luffys friends could never die. not again. not like ace.

then, the anger. how could law be dead? they were friends. why would law do that to him? it was betrayal. he knew how bad ace's death fucked him up, now he had to go and die too?

bargaining. there had to be a way to get him back. or at least part of him. if he went to winner island, maybe there could be something left of laws. there had to be. blackbeard would be willing to let him grab that, right? he got sabo back, it was laws turn too, right?

depression. it wasnt fair. he lost so many people already. why did nobody want to stay with him? crew, what crew? they didnt care about him either. they barely checked up on him because he pushed them away.

acceptance. law was dead. thats all there was too it. like ace. like cobra. like his mother.

★

luffy spent a month or so healing (for spoiler reasons i cannot name...) before finally coming up with a "plan", though it really wasnt one, knowing luffy.

that was until he got a call on the ship's white snail. unexpectedly, it was law, who he believed was dead.

law was alive.

and so was bepo! that was good!....

but the rest of his crew..? the rest of them...werent. laws crew was dead. and luffy was going to help him get revenge.

The Plan

they gathered many people to attack blackbeard. even the kid pirates swore to help!

they shouldnt have. oh, how they shouldnt have even planned this in the first place.

the fight was going great. they were winning! it was good! blackbeard was going to get his ass handed to him, finally!...

until it wasnt.

and oh, how the "wasnt" happened so, so fast.

van augur was planning something with that stupid awakened devil fruit of his, planning on warping something, which could not happen.

so, all three of the supernovas, law, kid, and luffy, dove in head first.

luffy instantly went into gear five.

bad, bad idea.

the electricity from laws, kids, and luffys combined attacks - law using gamma knife, kid just being a giant magnet, and luffy wielding lightning - seemed to supercharge van augurs ability in a sense, the electricity forcing energy into him.

and then? nobody was there anymore.

not in the right timeline.

everything warped around them, until suddenly, timelines were merging, universes forced to collide with their counterparts.

Losing Himself

there was something very, very wrong with luffy after the timelines merged. something in his dna - no, his core - shifted. it was bad.

he was hearing a voice in his head. his crew, who was unluckily dragged into the same timeline as him, were worried. luffy was dying and he knew it. luffy was acting strange, lashing out for no reason, getting antsy.

but so were they.

they were all experiencing their own problems from the timelime shift.

★

zoro was too weak to hold a sword. something about his appearance was undeniably feminine, but nobody dared to speak up about it.

nami didnt have her tangerine tattoo. it was arlongs mark again.

usopp was terminally ill. he couldnt leave his bed at all.

sanjis hair was black, and he seemed cold. standoffish to the world. his eyebrows were flipped and he seemed devoid of emotion. usopps sickness began to spread to him.

chopper was sick as well. why were so many people getting sick? and he couldnt leave his beast form no matter how hard he tried. none of his medicine was working, it was just making it worse.

robin couldnt control her own devil fruit. she had to isolate herself from the rest of the crew before her devil fruit tried to kill everybody.

franky was being ignored. nobody acknowledged him. he was abandoned, yet again.

brook has his flesh back! but he was rotting. he couldnt move. nobody cared to help him. it was like he wasnt even there.

jinbe gained a slave marking. hes never had one before. why was it there now? why was his body aching so bad, as if hed been worked past his limits?

★

why should they care about luffys issues, when they had their own?

Luffy's Final Act of Liberation

it was his fault, wasnt it? his crew was suffering because of him. he wasnt doing anything to help.

how could he help?

how could he take the pain away?

he needed a guaranteed way of freeing everyone from their suffering. to keep them safe. to make them feel better.

luffy didnt have an idea, but nika did. nika, the little voice in his head, was egging him on. nika knew how to help. nika explained that drastic times call for drastic measures, and if everyone wants to be truly free and painless, hy could help.

nika could help.

luffy wanted nika to help. luffy needed all the help he could get.

so luffy let nika help.

luffy let nika take over.

★

his crew was free, right? this was what he asked for, right? he wanted them to be painless. he wanted them to be free.

they were all free now. but luffy wasnt.

and nika wouldnt let him be.

without nika, luffy would die. luffys body died a long, long time ago, after kaido killed him. the devil fruit has been keeping luffys body alive this whole time.

nika liked having luffy as hys host. he was strong and capable. and he was so fun! without luffy, nika would be trapped again.

but luffy had freed hymn!

and after the incident with van augur and the huge mix in the timelines, nika had a mind of hys own! finally!

the books always said that zoans had their own will. but now hy really did. nika could talk to luffy whenever! luffy would never be lonely without his crew because nika was there!

nika could keep luffy alive and happy. right? even if his body would decay without nikas help, at least nika would always be there.

so everything was fine! luffys crew was free now that nika had killed them, and now nika was free as long as luffy was alive!

but luffy wasnt free.

and he never could be.

so, this au is overall. super dark. so sorry to anyone reading this. ahah.

uhh, some information im going to add very quickly because writing this is hell

┆ luffy fakes being the same joyful self as he always was because he doesnt want to worry anybody ever again.

┆ nika is part of luffys entire self. there is no way to get rid of nika without killing luffy.

┆ luffy is EXTREMELY mentally ill after everything

┆ luffy has a tendency to talk to "himself", which in reality is him talking to nika, though nika isnt always audible to others unless nika makes himself audible.

┆ nika has the ability to take over luffys body with his own will, though luffy can sometimes fight him off.

this is mostly all of the main points i think.... if not i might go back and tweak it. but yeah! hope you guys LOVE and ADORE my VERY WHOLESOME au!

ahah! yay

this actually wasnt supposed to be as immersive as i made it. oops. way more immersive than laws. oh well.

uhh

feel free to ask questions in the comments or in the inbox!

expect luffy to use plural pronouns occasionally, because of nika. nika is part of him.

WILLIAM: -> reference sheet -> lore page (personality, relations, history, likes, etc) -> how william treats his kids -> william's relationship w/ his kids -> yes william was pregnant yes he hid his pregnancies -> william's childhood (slightly outdated) -> does william regret it

HENRY: -> reference sheet -> lore page (personality, relations, history, likes, etc) -> headcanons! -> more headcanons (crimes, company role, charlie's origin) -> henry's childhood -> how henry discovers the MCI -> MARIA!!!!! (henry's wife) ref + thoughts

CLARA (MRS. AFTON): -> info -> lore page -> reference

AFTON KIDS: -> evan (CC) info -> evan + william hcs -> evan reference -> lizzie info -> lizzie reference -> lizzie is henry's daughter -> charlie and lizzie are half siblings -> michael reference -> michael's adolescence -> scooped michael hcs

PHONE GUY: -> info -> reference

CASSIDY: -> info -> reference

THE MAIN CHARACTERS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE BACKSTORIES:

No Way Back (he/him) (ref + toyhouse info here) is an Iterator who was created specifically to try as little as possible and to put no effort at all into solving the Great Problem. The Ancients thought that by being effortless NWB would actually end up solving it in the end somehow, but that's not what happened, and so his creators turned out to be quite disappointed in him, which resulted in him being blamed, neglected, and more. However, there was one Ancient, who, after finding out that NWB was a dissapointment (just like them), decided to befriend him. The both of them ended up being best friends, close to family, spending almost all of their time together and teaching each other new things about life. In the end, though, despite promising to never ascend and to always be there, Wade ended up leaving NWB along with the rest of the Ancients. Ever since then NWB has been pretty much alone, just making music and trying to still find meaning in life, all the while repressing his emotions regarding the Ancients (including Wade, too). Needless Separation (they/he) (toyhouse) is an Iterator who was created specifically to work as hard as possible and to put all their effort into solving all problems, not just the Great one. In the beginning, they were handling it just fine, even finding the time to indulge in art and many more things that they found joy in. However, after NWB's failure to provide any results, all of his workload got transferred to them, all because their creator was too prideful to let any other Iterators handle it. NS was obviously struggling to keep up with it all, which is when Waves decided to take matters into his own hands and make his creation more 'productive'. Waves ended up purging NS' memories, even those of skills they have taught themself, until all NS could think about was work. Waves ended up ascending before NS could truly fulfill any of his expectations. Ever since then they have been overworking themself to death, unable to come to terms with their trauma, instead blaming NWB for most of it. Wade (any pronouns) (ref here) was an Ancient who was never like the rest, who came from a traditional family consisting of her parents — Waves and Breeze — but hated everything about tradition. She was just a chill guy who wanted to get away from everything and to live the life she always dreamed of: by the sea, with her best friend, doing whatever they wanted. It has not yet been revealed why or how Wade ended up ascending and leaving NWB.

IMPORTANT SIDE CHARACTERS:

Weaving Tales (they/them) (toyhouse) is the senior of the Entwined Local Group. They are most concerned with NS and his overworking habits, even though WT chose to share some of their senior duties with him. Weaving also seems to always be worried about CD and FTA, although for vastly different reasons.

Cognitive Dissonance (she/they) (toyhouse) was an experimental model who caught a virus and basically ended up rebooting. Before that, her and NS used to be very close, although neither of them remember that now.

Fates Torn Again (he/she) (toyhouse) is a younger Iterator who, paradoxically, is both best friends with WT and has a secret vendetta against NS. Is it really just jealousy? Or is there something more to it? MISCELLANOUS STUFF:

NWB has a pet lizard, Slinky (who at one point got the Mark of Communication), and NS has a pet lizard-slugcat hybrid, 33. You can see more of those little guys on the askblog! Both Iterators are also part of an entire local group, who you can read about here — the characters from it will show up in the story and be important (specifically WT, CD and FTA, but others will also play a role). THE CURRENT STORYLINE: NWB opens his broadcasts and begins receiving anonymous messages. That's cool. However, after a bit, he starts getting messages about the Ancients, specifically about how they mistreated him. Which is not something he wants to think about! Ever! But everyone just keeps bringing them up, and NWB ends up having a breakdown over it, all his repressed emotions coming to the surface and making themselves known.

After he is forced to finally start unpacking his issues, he stops messaging NS — who, by the way, he's kind of enemies with! They're the entire opposite of everything he stands for, and he just thinks they suck, and they say they hate him anyway, so he usually only interacts with them to troll them or something (even though they both did share a few good moments together).

But anyways — he stops messaging NS, who, by this time, has gotten used to talking to NWB (and slightly started caring about him because of that, and started getting slightly worried because of the radio silence, but they'd never ever admit it). After fighting with themself over it, NS, with little warning, decides to contact NWB to see how he's doing, which results in, well...

So, now NWB has to deal with both the Ancients' and NS' bullshit (as well as some not-so-pleasant memories), and he crumbles under the pressure just a little bit. He decides to take a break from receiving messages (he goes to host the Iterator OC Swag Awards specifically, which you would think would be a non-canon event, but, err...) and instead lets NS take the wheel.

Long story short: they do not have a good time. Despite being painfully aware of the fact that they messed up, they try their hardest to avoid admitting it. In the end, after a panic attack regarding their past leaves them vulnerable, their conscience sneaks up on them and forces them to face everything they've been trying to ignore. NS doesn't take it too well and also stops responding to messages, even though they do still read them.

They decide to go to Weaving Tales, their mentor and close friend, for help, who tells them to own up to their mistakes and apologize. So that's what NS does. Or, at least, tries to do — it doesn’t go like they expected at all, but maybe that’s for the better? The both of them make up, in the end, a new start to their relationship. And — even though they do come across some bumps in the road — it seems to be the start of something good.

Well, keyword: seems. Because while NS is indeed trying to be better like they promised, and while they have fun answering messages together with NWB, they keep speaking out of turn. They come to the conclusion that, perhaps this one time, NWB isn't the problem, they are.

So how does NS deal with this information? They do some research on how to improve your relationships with people. And it actually works! Look! See? Or, wait, that's not right... Why does Wayback look so bothered? Could it be that Sep's self-improvement plan actually made everything... worse? Well, there goes that idea. But hey, at least now they know they should be (2% more) honest with each other.

Extras

GA Regions: Toxic Marsh Radio Towers, Sky Bridge[OLD] Pump Station Sundown Canopy Lush Valley 1 , Lush Valley 2 Unkempt Forest Space Collective 1, Space Collective 2 Extracted Prism Sunsets Endless Beyond Last String of Life Ruby Skies by Sapphire Shores Sunrise Solar Starlight Lunar Twelve Far Away Dreams

Spotify Playlists

GA Fauna and Flora: Dart Worm, Pixie Lizard, Swan Divers, Flora page,