Ma, well.... I've decided to help out on an as needed basis. If you need general assistance, or in searching for a shard, let me know. Ah, but... I don't really care about the shards... Is it that important? I suppose it must be.

Let me know, or not. Either way.

Oh...and...welcome...new people. Though... it is a bit late. Well, never mind. Welcome anyway.

[A cheery and slightly pompous violin piece plays in the background, as the gentle click of a tea cup being placed on a saucer can be heard.]

*Ahem*

I would like it to be brought to the attention of the crew, that I will now be serving tea on the main deck, and that those of you who consider yourself too unpolished for tea time need not show up. However, for those of you who don't show up, I will be holding a lecture on the proper manners for tea with royalty. Those who fail to attend either of these events will be hunted down, and receive an even harsher punishment from me than I would give to a captured murderous pirate. Am I perfectly understood?

[Why yes, Maribelle did just give her whole crew an ultimatum even though she's not captain. She'll just guilt trip anyone to death who would question it.]

For those of you who are not a member of our fine crew, I would ask that you take a moment to think on what it means to be a fine upstanding citizen to you. I am curious as to the general consensus of the masses.

[Before the journal closes, Brady can be heard in the background grumbling something under his breath while continuing to play for Maribelle]

[well... he did talk about this to...someone(?) at some point he faintly remembers. He hears a few new voices so perhaps it's time to help orient people the best he can. He doesn't imagine he'll be able to cut down on the chaos but--perhaps]

Welcome, new people...I suppose.

If you have any questions that can't be solved by common sense... I guess I can answer them. [scratches the back of his head] There's a lot I don't know. Or...maybe there's not a lot to know?

Well, it doesn't matter. This is a welcoming committee of sorts.

I'm Aokiji. [though saying he was one or the other didn't really matter in this environment...but perhaps there were Marines from home? It would help them feel more at ease]

Try to stay out of trouble.

The race is almost at an end, and I wonder if it's truly worth it. Is the reward really that great? It's truly been an exhausting journey.

[says the man who has spent most of the time protecting the ship with an ice shield as he lounged around on deck and occasionally lounged around on an island, 99% of the time with his sleep mask on. All the energy everyone else spends is wearing him out]

I wonder if a certain man has done anything indecent yet. [said casually to prick a certain man's ears as slight punishment for being strange and going to waste his attentions on a boy that is half his age.]

Maa, well, I suppose it all works out in the end. I hope the competition ends well for everyone. At least for the moment there is music. [odd singing. Probably heralding some disaster or another no doubt. That was the way of the sea, though.]


[for all those on Dnsali who wish to find Kuzan he is...lounging on an ice deck chair on the island having frozen over most of the ponds within a certain radius of himself. It's the least he can do to help the dubious cause. Almost quite literally in fact]

This is Kuzan. Better known as Aokiji to pirates in our world, because like most logia users, he has a signature fighting style that is based on his attacks.

Don't let the almost awesome afro hair fool you, however, he's as torpid as they come.

You see this fearsome would-be marine has a ten-speed bike he rides around over the ocean like the worst kind of MC loser there ever was. That's right. A ten speed bike. What the hell does it use ten speeds for? The only one he ever uses is a slow cruise that is like watching ice cubes thaw! It's not even a motorcycle! That's how useless it is.

He's got the gloves and boots like a real rider, but on a bicycle, he might as well just have the gear to deal with the cold.

So uncool.

He does make a mean ice cream though. So you know, if you're anywhere near the Friend Ship or Justice Penguin, get some. Unless you're a pirate. Then you're even more of a loser than him.

[Yup. That's it. This is a public service message brought to you by: Smoker, the worst friend ever. Carry on.]

Maa, well... the wind seems to be dying down a bit.

[though it's still howling outside. He's been in the hold for the better part of three days because, among other things, his sleep mask kept blowing off. An ice shield on the deck was always an option, of course, but when it melted, Coby gave him long dramatic inward sighs and went to get the mop bucket.

So here he is, cross legged in the hold, playing cards, contemplating life and generally trying not to get a crick in his neck]

I hereby petition for a bigger ship. Though I'm not entirely sure which island would be the best choice for that.

[Flips over another card. Diamond. He can't help but think of Diamond Jozu -- Though he is not here. Twelfth Division Haruta, then. Haruta diamond, Portgas spade, Phoenix Marco the club and the hearts were for an entirely group of pirates all together so a high and low joker, then for the two relative uknowns. Fishman Namur. Fourth Divison nee Headhunter Thatch, rumored to have been assassinated by a former nakama but very much alive here. Though perhaps he was in the same boat with Portgas.]

Otherwise, who else would want to make peace with the Navy? [Club. Spade. Heart... he thought he'd shuffled all those out. To the side it goes. There was not a card for Marines of course. They were generally supposed to be the players]

[After some time of contemplating things: reading and listening to the other voices of the journal, Kuzan decides to add a little mark of himself, just because. The handwriting is neat and practiced if a little big]

It seems that with the nature of whatever is going on, that we are younger than our future self. My future self is a Marine. That sounds like a lot of work, but there is a lot that needs to be taken care of. Since it is my fate, I think I want to use it to change the world.

Do you know your fates? If so, what do you think of them?

-Kuzan (Marine)apparently


[with that he'll get some food from the galley and sit on deck, alternately napping and waiting for responses]


[ooc: replies will come from hie_hie_baby]

 [If there's one thing Maribelle got right about making her son into a gentleman, it's his penmanship. It is fabulous. But Brady's not here to brag. No, after doing some talking, he's gotten some serious thinking to do about the past, present, and future.]

You know, after learning about all these different worlds, it's hard to believe anything's impossible anymore. So I bet at least someone else out there is familiar with time travel. Has it ever worked out? Gone the right way?

I mean, I know it won't fix the original timeline. Just another one. The world I'm going back to is still going to be a living nightmare. But at least one world will be all right. I guess I just wanted someone who knows what they're doing to confirm it.

I can't get all warm and cozy in this place like the rest of you. I have to go back someday.

Forget it. I'm just wasting space with this stupid entry.

[And with a sigh, he finishes... and for those of you who choose to use 'Voice', you're going to hear a lot of CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP in the background. Because he kept all the easter chicks. All of them.]

Guests or prospective guests of the Royal Host and Hostess Club,

The Royal Host and Hostess Club will be on Isla Empieza from the fifth of May until the fifteenth.

However, the ship and club will not be open to the general public. The company of the hosts or hostesses may be acquired by contacting individual hosts or hostesses in advance and arranging it with them.

We do offer companionship via the journals for a discounted rate. That, too, is done on an individual basis.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this delay and hope to fully resume operations in June.

Thank you,
Kyouya Otori
Vice-President of the Royal Host and Hostess Club
First mate of Antoinette

[It needed to be done. They're all still licking their wounds from the battle with the Navy, even after the success of Candy Mountain. He, for instance, is still exhausted, still trying to sleep off the stress and strain of his time away from the crew.

...And they seem to be equally strained by his time apart from them.

Still, they're all still standing. It will just take a little time for everything to get back to the way things are supposed to be. For the dust to settle and for issues that have been neatly swept under a rug to go back to being that way. It just takes a little time.

Which is why, several hours later, he writes in the journal again, this time less formally.]

There seems to be a lot of talk about the balls Scurvey Dog mentioned in her last message to us. [Even he'd considered it. Taking his fellow hosts, being in their own world. But there's a warning that needs to be given.] Please be careful, especially at the Navy-hosted one. We do not need to give them another reason to regroup and hunt us down.

- Otori

It's a better idea to leave Navy Balls to the Navy.

[as much as a warning he'll give to pirates and not quite pirates alike. Though it is the not quite pirates and those otherwise trapped that he's trying to speak to. Nevertheless, who will hear it will hear it.

Just underneath is a doodle that may look to some like an "M" to others like a lazily drawn sea bird in the distance, and to Smoker and Coby a sign to get over here now.]

It seems we're all trapped here against our will, though from what I've been given to understand, some have taken it better than others.

[not that he had any jurisdiction here, and he still wasn't sure what to do about that or if there was anything to do]

Still, there's much to do in the sea without resorting to piracy. It is possible to make an honest living even here. [difficult perhaps. And maybe he's talking to the wind. But sometimes in order to study the path of justice, you had to give it a little push]

If you choose otherwise, well, it's on your head.

[one way or the other]

[and at the bottom he has signed "Aokiji" with a steady hand, but also a slight flourish.]