Dead Men Do Tell Tales

[Brook is bouncing around the various locations of Luceti, seeming to be filled with some sort of hyperactive energy as he sings. It seems he's brought an accordion with him this time, and is playing with a broad grin this weird song. His journal seems to be open on a little musical stand he attached to his accordion so that he could broadcast his playing.]

I'll be mellow when I'm dead! I'll be mellow when I'm dead, I'll be mellow when I'm dead! When are you cosmic cowboys gonna get it through your heads? I'll be mellow when I'm dead, I'll be mellow when I'm dead I'll be mellow when I'm dead!

[Then he pauses mid song realizing something.]



Oh wait! I am dead...



[Upon this realization, Brook sits down with his accordion, puts it to the side, pulls out a cup of tea, and begins to read a newspaper as if nothing had ever happened. Where did he get the newspaper? It's an old article from the library that doesn't exactly make much sense, but it's mostly just a prop anyways. Feel free to talk to him as he's bouncing around hyper, or while he's reading his newspaper.]

To anyone who actually reads my journal... shocking as that may be. I would like some assistance in seeing if this application is actually any good. My last app to Luceti was rejected, and with much soul searching and effort, I am working towards rewriting my app to be better, bigger, and stronger! To this end, any assistance people would like to give me with this task would be more than welcome! So without further ado... here's my rough draft. I still need to patch up the strengths and weaknesses section, and write new samples (seeing as how these samples were considered especially heinous by the mod team in regards to character assassination or some such.)

Mun

Name: Moosey
Livejournal/Dreamwidth Username: MooseChangerPat
E-mail: MooseChangerPat@gmail.com
AIM/MSN: MooseChangerPat
Current Characters at Luceti: N/A


Character

Name: Brooke
Fandom: One Piece
Gender: Male
Age: 90
Time Period: Chapter 679
Wing Color: Bone.
History: http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Brook/History

Personality: When we first meet Brook in the series One Piece, Luffy, Nami, and Sanji encounter him on his ship. Brook comments about how he is simply astounded by Nami's beauty, and then asked if he might please see her panties. His laugh is a cheery Yohohoho! And he's almost always cracking jokes about how he's already dead such as, “You sure are a beauty to my eyes, although as a skeleton I don't have any eyes, Yohohoho!” Brook has a bit of a lecherous streak as is evidenced by the fact that whenever he sees a girl he asks if he can see her panties. He even manages to have nosebleeds without any blood, such is the power of his dirty thoughts and his devil fruit.

Brook's social awkwardness is not simply rooted in lecherousness though, as he had been trapped alone for 50 years without any social interactions. Before Brook died he was a bit of a social butterfly, having quite a large crew of musicians that he spent all his time with. Then when he was suddenly all by himself, he started to go mad with the lack of human interaction. He grew a habit of saying his thoughts out loud, just to hear the sound of somebody's voice. As such he can be quite socially awkward, with a mix of etiquette that is dated by at least 50 years, and slight madness from being alone all those years.

Brook has a firm belief that the best way to make people happy or smile, is through music, and humor. As such, he will often sing songs and make horrible, and occasionally funny jokes. Brook is often self-contradictory, such as when he states that a man should be patient and polite while waiting for dinner, and then acting in the opposite manner himself. To further his impoliteness, he will often fart in public, quite loudly, but he will always say “Excuse me” afterwards. All these ironies and contradictions of himself, are part of his way of being humorous, as well as him simply being too old to control his own body.

This doesn't mean he lost everything about himself during those fifty years, and before he died he was a pirate in his own right. Being part of a large crew of musicians, they were often loud, boisterous, and fun loving, encouraging each other in their music. When Brook's captain, captain Yorke was dying and they had to part ways, Brook managed to keep the crew together uniting them in their common cause. They had all made a promise that they would return to Laboon one day after sailing through the grand line. To cope with the sadness of leaving behind their beloved captain, Brook focused his crew on their music, relying on the strength of song to keep them going. Music is very important to Brook, and it was what his crew had been all about before their untimely demise.

As part of the Rumbar pirates, their motto was that they could make even a crying child laugh and smile, and so Brooke lives that motto to the fullest. He's happiest when he's trying to make others happy, and will try his hardest to make people smile... Even if that means making a complete fool out of himself. While Brook is almost always trying to be cheerful, he does have a very dark and slightly tortured past. This past effects him heavily, and as much as his jokes and lighthearted attitude are to cheer people up, he's also trying to cheer himself up. He had originally lost his captain to sickness, and tried to keep his crew cheerful with his bright and cheery personality, and music. However, his crew also died a few years later, and he watched as his closest friends died one by one around him, until he too eventually died. Then he spent a good 50 years trapped on a ship going nowhere with only the corpses of his old friends to keep him company.

One goal in his mind kept him going through all of this, and that was that he had a friend waiting for him to return one day, to fulfill his promise. Brook takes promises very seriously because of this, especially promises he makes to friends. He even knew that his friend might not have been waiting for him all those years, and may have even forgotten him by now, but he pushed himself to carry on if there was even the smallest chance he'd still be waiting. His friend was a baby whale named Laboon, and Brook grew quite the fondness for whales afterwards, as they would always remind Brook of Laboon. While Brook might come off as always being a bundle of hyperactive humor and good cheer, he can also be quite laid back and mellow as well. For instance, when Keimi was kidnapped rather than panic and get lost, he pointed out to Chopper that the only thing they could do was wait until somebody could find them. So rather than running off, they simply relaxed there despite the desperate situation, as there wasn't much else they could do anyways. This way when the time to act came, they could both remain rather level headed about it.

Brook can be quite emotional, which is rather apropos for a musician, and he uses music as an outlet for his emotions. Because of his emotional connection to music, he also understands the emotions of others quite well, and how to calm some of the more extreme emotions in people, or even to excite them. It is simply the social norms he cannot comprehend the majority of the time. His music isn't a perfect outlet for his emotions, he'll laugh, he'll cry, he'll get angry, over some of the most ridiculous things, and even though he tried to make princess Shirahoshi laugh in the middle of his battle, he laughed at just being able to be given the chance. He's very grateful for his chance at a second life, and the fact that he can still make people laugh even though he's dead. It's a chance not many people have ever had, and his joy at living his life again is where all his good humor comes from.

Having already died himself, and watched his closest friends of the past die as well, he is much more keenly aware of what death is like. As such, when he first was offered to join Luffy's crew he immediately accepted, so glad to be around people once more. However, he knew the foes he had to face were quite terrible, and he didn't want to see them hurt as well. So he declined shortly after his acceptance, knowing he had to try to deal with this himself rather than getting others involved in his problems. It was not until Franky and Zoro respectively helped him fight that he was truly willing to acknowledge them as his companions. He will always try his hardest to protect those he cares about, even if it means sacrificing his own life.

Strengths: Devil Fruit: With his devil fruit powers, Brooke is able to actually be alive despite the fact that he is a skeleton. He's also learned to use these powers for more than simply keeping himself alive. He can use the essence of the underworld to enhance his sword fighting with an icy aura. He learned that it wasn't his body that was keeping him alive anymore, but his soul, and as such he can lose his head, and simply put it back on. (Same goes for other extremities) Lastly, he also learned how to use his devil fruit to exit his body, and wonder around as just a soul. However, having died Brooke is much more aware of his own mortality, so while he's nearly immortal in his own right, he'll still oftentimes panic at the sight of impending doom.

Being a Skeleton: These particular abilities are more innate in nature as they do not necessarily require the use of his devil fruit. Being extremely lightweight, and highly energetic, Brooke knows how to run on water, jump much higher than the average superhuman, and can move at amazing speeds, without all that weight weighing him down. He can also restore his wounds and energy with milk, because being just bones, calcium does wonders for him. Being just bones, also makes him highly resistant to damage. Despite not having any muscle tissue he is also capable of growing stronger through exercise and training.

Music: Brooke knows how to play any instrument, but specializes in the violin, piano, and his own voice. Learning how to use any instrument takes years of practice with multiple kinds of instruments, and a high degree of intelligence, and Brooke has had both. His greatest strength is easily his music, as he has an intricate understanding of its effects on the emotions of people. His music has the power to strengthen allies, and hinder foes, like many mythological bards. Examples of this, are when he combines his violin and sword together to put his foes to sleep, or when he plays music to hypnotize his foes in the new fishman island arc.

Sword Fighting: Brooke is a capable sword fighter, specializing in fencing, and speedy surprise attacks. His level of sword fighting is not quite on par with his crew member Zoro, as music is his first and foremost specialty, but that does not mean he can't hold his own against capable sword fighters. Clear examples of this are his sword fighting capabilities against the zombies of thriller bark, and when he fights the new fishman pirates.

Friendliness: Brooke is actually quite good at making friends despite his oddities and the fact that he looks like an unholy abomination. With his cheery personality, always cracking jokes, and his love of meeting new people, he often can amass quite a number of friends in strange places. An example of this is how he even befriended the slavers that kidnapped him for their freak show project. In the end they turned into his managers and he became the artist known as Soul King.

Weaknesses: The Sea/Seastone: Being a devil fruit user does have one major flaw, and that is that the eater of this cursed fruit is never able to swim again, and is weakened by the sea. This doesn't mean that Brooke is weak while sailing on the sea, and he's even capable of running on water, but when he becomes immersed in water, especially salt water, he'll start to get weak. It's much like superman's weakness of kryptonite, except more extreme in that in not only prevents him from using his powers, but also drains all the energy out of him to the point where he might not be able to move. Despite this obvious weakness, Brooke often forgets that he has it, even jumping into the water to try to save someone with a similar condition to him. This of course leading to both of them needing to be saved. Drowning is also one of the best ways Brooke could actually be killed, or having bones smashed into pieces or destroyed.

Women: One of the more common weaknesses in One Piece, Brooke has a weakness for attractive women and being easily manipulated by them. He can easily be seduced into doing things, as long as it does not harm anyone he cares for, or he doesn't realize it will harm anyone he cares for. He might even be convinced to jump off a cliff for an attractive young lady if she asked him the right way. While his weakness for women isn't quite as bad as his companion Sanji, it can certainly get in his way at inappropriate times. When it comes to a pretty face, Brooke can lose his head... literally.

Always asks to see woman's panties: While most women could manipulate him if they chose to, most of them won't because of this weakness of his. Almost without fail, be it a pirate, a young teenager, a navy officer, a married woman, or even a nun, Brooke will ask women if he can see their underwear. This earns him a few enemies as well, as one might guess such behavior bordering on sexual harassment is rather frowned upon in society. Brooke is a bit of a pervert despite the fact that he's a skeleton, so could easily be distracted or manipulated through perverted methods. For instance, if someone were to flash him he'd likely fall over in surprise even if he was in mid sword fight. Or if some guy were to offer him the panties of someone he knew in exchange for a given service, Brooke would be sorely tempted to do it. An example of this is how when the demon cultists requested his aid, they were trying to pay him in panties. He did help them, although not quite in the way they had been expecting, but in a nonetheless effective way. Regardless, this weakness can often earn him the hatred of many women when he first meets them, and isn't always conducive to his continued existence.

Social awkwardness: Much like his asking to see women's panties Brooke has a large quantity of social awkwardness that can earn him enemies too. His 50 years spent alone shot most of his social skills to hell and as such he often won't pick up on social cues as easily, and will say things out loud that should remain unsaid. It's really just a large matter of he pretty much will say anything that's on his mind out loud, forgetting that people may not want to hear it. An example of this would be like him discussing his bowel movements, or asking about women's underwear, or asking someone he just met if he can borrow some money... things like that. He'll also say or do things that are incredibly rude like burp or fart loudly multiple times in a row, and then saying excuse me after every instance.

Fear of the Unnatural: Brooke is ironically terrified of undead like zombies, ghosts, and even skeletons, even though he is one now. This even leads to him being afraid of his own reflection which can certainly get in the way of... living. Brooke can fight such beings if push comes to shove, but they scare him to death (except he's already dead).

The Past: One of his biggest weaknesses is his long and slightly tormented past, which ties in with many of his other weaknesses. He spent 50 years alone on a ship going nowhere, and as such has a very large fear of being alone again. He is most comfortable with lots of people around him to socialize and be friends with, and the thought of waking up one day only to find himself back on that ship alone again, scares him to the core of his very being. Those 50 years were enough to drive even the most sane of men mad, and Brooke managed to hold onto a fair amount of his sanity all things considering. His sanity is obviously not all there though, as he is even scared of the very thing he had become when he first meets up with the Straw Hat Pirates. Another example of his past haunting him is whenever he sees whales now, thanks to his long lost companion Laboon, he feels the need to shout out with tears running down his face, “LABOON!”

Having seen all his old companions die around him, he also has a deep fear of losing his friends in the same way ever again. His past torments him inside and sometimes springs forth every now and then reminding him of those he lost by certain triggers. This will mostly result in him getting depressed, but can occur at rather inopportune times. He would most likely be traumatized if someone could see into his past, and perhaps started blaming him for the death of his companions. Likely his biggest fear would be, if he met the ghost of his old captain Yorke, and the ghost told Brooke he had failed him, and all their companions. He tries to live his life without regrets, but he is always haunted by his biggest regret of all. Letting his crew die, and failing to come back to Laboon with them.

He'll do anything for his friends: Brooke will lay down his life to protect the ones he loves most, and as such can be exploited against him. An example of this is that Brooke is highly protective of his hair, as he knows it is the only way Laboon will recognize him as a skeleton. This led to him almost being defeated at the hands of a swordsman who knew this secret about him, as Brooke kept trying to protect his hair while defeating his foe. When Kuma was going after his crew, and he knew they had no hope of defeating them, he used himself as a shield to try to protect them, and to buy them time to run. Nothing is more important to Brooke than those he loves, and he wouldn't hesitate to die trying to save them.
Samples

First Person: Q&A Please.

Third Person: It had been a week since Brooke first arrived in Luceti, and he still wasn't sure of what he was supposed to think about this strange world he'd found himself in. Actually... he wasn't even sure if the 'scientists' who ran this project even wanted you to think about what it means to be brought here. Perhaps they simply expected people to accept their current fate? Perhaps it was actually part of their design that they wanted people to fight the system. One thing Brooke knew for certain, was that whatever this nefarious scheme was, it was starting to give him a headache.

Brooke was lounging against a tree on a hill overlooking a small part of the village. It was a nice spot that he suspected likely had been claimed by somebody else at some point. Since it was vacant however, he decided he may as well make use of such a fine location to play his violin and... contemplate. It was rare for him to seek solace away from others, as he often would actively seek out the company of others. However, he didn't want to be told that he couldn't play his violin because it was distracting, and the village of Luceti did seem to be a bit of a crowded place at times. So it was that he was playing his violin and contemplating the nature of the strange world he'd found himself in now.

What did the Malnosso want with him and his crew? He was planning to protect his crew to the best of his abilities, but he wondered just what he could actually do. From what he could gather there wasn't really any way of stopping them from doing whatever it was they did, and the consequences of resisting usually weren't worth it. Does that mean he should encourage people to listen to what the Malnosso expected of them? Did they even expect anything of them? Again he was getting a headache and it was making his lilting notes sound more strained. So he relaxed his thoughts again, figuring that whatever happened would happen, and over thinking it would simply result in stressing over nothing. The best thing he and the rest of them could do would be to simply relax and enjoy themselves until whatever happened, happened. Then once catastrophe hit, not to panic about it, but to take it as it came and do their best to try do deal with it.

Now that sounded a bit better of a plan. Rather than just getting a headache, trying to figure out the mysterious motivations of a group of mad scientists, that likely had no rhyme or reason to what they did. He watched lazily as the wind blew through the trees of the forest, while he played a haunting refrain of Bink's Sake on his violin. Brooke truly did love Bink's Sake, as it almost always seemed to fit his mood if he just played in a way fitting it. At the moment he was playing a rather soothing, lilting version of Bink's Sake, that sounded almost like a lullaby. In fact it was starting to put him to sleep as he played it, and he lazily watched the leaves in the tree branches above him blow in the wind. Just as he was about to fall asleep from the peace and quiet of the situation, the wind shook a branch of the tree loose, letting it smack him straight in the face.

"O-OW!" He quickly bolted back upright again looking around him, to make sure he wasn't being ambushed, or something of that nature. Satisfied that he was not actually under attack by branch wielding leprechauns, he rubbed his eye sockets groggily, trying to get his bearings. Clearly he needed to do this quiet contemplation thing with at least one other person next time. This way if a branch is about to fall on his face, they might at least be able to catch it. With a sigh he decided he should probably head back, and before he knew it that sigh turned into a merry whistling tune, as he made his way down the hill. The sun was shining, the clouds drifted peacefully in the sky, and the wind was blowing through the trees. Life was a beautiful thing no matter what circumstance you had to live it in, and all things considering, this wasn't such a bad life to live.

My fellow members of the Straw-hat pirates, I should inform you that I picked up a drifter the other day named Riza Hawkeye.  She's a very nice lady, but seemed quite content with keeping me at pistol point the entire way to the ship.  It's not my fault that I pointed out that she was wearing a white shirt and it was pouring!  Yohohoho!  Anyhow, I was hoping she could stay with us for a little while.  Did I mention she's very cute?  Yohohoho! Oh!  And did I mention I found a buyer for my Crystal Soul shard with the souls of a 100 gold fish?  ... well not really buyer, since she's paying me in a cup of tea together.  Yohohoho!

On a separate note, happy late birthday Rinali!  I was going to give this to you, on your birthday, but it was being quite stubborn.  So here it is ladies and gentleman!  A boot for Shadow, and a boot for Light!



Oh and I think I have the Lyrics here too,

( Lyrics... )

My dear Lady Michiko,

Ever since that fateful day,  my heart has been stolen by you.  Even though I don't have a heart, Yohohoho!   I now know that I simply can't live any other way, even though I don't exactly live in the first place.  Yohohoho!  So my lady Michiko, will you Marry me?  I have this excellent engagement ring for you!  The man who sold it to me pointed out that if you ever get bored looking at it, you can even eat it!

Chistmas has always been one of the most magical times of year for me.  That's why I make it a tradition every year to write a Christmas song to celebrate it.  Seeing as how this is one of my first Christmases with the Straw-hats, I thought I would write a song to wish each and every one of them a Merry Christmas.  Now given how long it would take on a journal to write a verse about every single straw hat and then repeat the chorus over and over, I've just decided to divide the song up by Chours, Verses, and Finale.  The finale replaces the Chorus after the final verse.  So without further ado, The Straw-hat Christmas song.
( (Chorus) )

( (Verses) )

( Finale )

Lately I've been thinking that I haven't written enough love songs lately. Then I though, I haven't made enough hot rock and roll songs. Then it finally dawned on me, why not do both? So without further ado ladies and gentlemen, Where there is Smoke, there is a fire.

♪~Where there is smoke, there is a fire!
It’s some sort of unstoppable burning desire,
Because baby where there is smoke, there is a fire~♪

♪~You can't resist the lure of the flame,
And the flame really needs a smoke,
That you can't see this is a real shame,
but your passion keeps your burning love stoked~♪

♪~Where there is smoke, there is a fire!
It’s some sort of unstoppable burning desire,
Because baby where there is smoke, there is a fire~♪

♪~The flame starts to dance in a mesmerizing way,
And the smoke begins to follow through,
Why they’re so inseparable no one can say,
But I know one thing that’s certainly true~♪

♪~Where there is smoke, there is a fire!
It’s some sort of unstoppable burning desire,
Because baby where there is smoke, there is a fire~♪

♪~The tendrils of smoke start to stroke your hair,
And the flames start to lick your face,
The only thing that makes you give a care,
Is that you can feel your burning heart race~♪

♪~Where there is smoke, there is a fire!
It’s some sort of unstoppable burning desire,
Because baby where there is smoke, there is a fire~♪

♪~The last thing you see is the flames going up,
But the smoke going higher still,
You feel like your body is about to erupt,
And you can’t feel a single chiiiiiiill! ~♪

♪~Where there is smoke, there is a fire!
It’s some sort of unstoppable burning desire,
Because baby where there is smoke, there is a fire~♪

Lastly, to Gokudera. Tune in for my next song, You make time stand still. I promise it shall be a song you'll remember to the end of your days. Yohohoho!

YOHOHOHOHO!!!!

The concert was a fantastic success everyone, and I have great news!  I have been quite low on funds lately with buying a gold hook, some of it getting stolen, some of it getting taken for crew funds sooo... I am now releasing CDs worldwide!  Our fine musicians of course will receive a free copy by seagull mail delivery of course.  And here are the song listings for our fantastic CD!

For starters we have our ever popular song,
Welcome to the Grand Line!

Followed down the list by the following songs.

Kaku the Chibi Giraffe

Bullets made of Air

Levi

Wiggle

Sanji's Chicken

Road to Salvation

Like a Beginning Not an End

Princess Renge

Fire fist Ace

Luffy's Maniacs

Crocodile X Smoker: Crocodile Rock

Robin

Unicorns on Parade

Jyabura the Wolf

One Minute warm up

Candy Cigarettes

He's a Hitman

Goodbye for Now

And Last but not Least the ever popular and sung by all the members of the Straw Hat Pirates,

BINKS SAKE!

I would of course love to add any songs my fellow musicians had also played at the party, but I of course needed your permission before I released CDs with your songs on them.  I promise to share your share of the profits with you if you do in fact allow me to have your songs on there.  Yohohoho!  It was a blast everybody!  Thank you so much for attending!  So if you'd like to buy a CD at the low, low price of 1400 Beri contact me here and I'll send you a copy as soon as it's published!

Everybody may I have your attention please!! This is a reminder that in but a mere week (October 10th) I Brooke the Bard shall be holding my musical extravaganza party and would like everyone to attend! A night of music, dancing, food, tea, and pleasant conversation awaits! It'll be a Straw Hat party the likes of which is rarely seen so don't miss out on this fantastic chance! So I would like a confirmation on all our lovely musicians who shall be joining us!

To my fellow Straw Hat pirates, I would like all of you to come on stage with me at the end of the show for a rousing Chorus of Bink's sake! We shall have lots of fun I assure you! By the way, what island do you think we should throw this party on anyways? It seems a little silly to just have it out at sea, less room that way.

So far our musicians who shall sing with me or play instruments on stage (willingly) include:
Makar
Taiwan
Haruko
Fujiko
Sanji
Franky
Touya Kinomoto
Cheshire Cat

By Midnight on Thursday I shall no longer be accepting new participants on stage so please join with me while you still can and show your musical talents to the world!

And this, shall be our opening number of the party night!


I look forward to seeing you all there! Even though I don't have any eyes for seeing. Yohohoho!

To my fellow Nakama of the Straw Hat Pirate crew, I would like to apologize.  I cannot exactly be on the thousand sunny right now until I have sorted a few things out... so I shall be staying on the Vongola ship until that time.  I know you shall all miss me terribly but I think it is best for all involved parties if I were to leave for a while until maybe I can overcome my... problems.  So as not to hinder anyone, I shall make the journey by foot.  I suspect I shall return with in a week's time, but in case of emergency you may contact me through this journal.  So, for now my closest friends, I leave you with this one last little song.
( The goodbye Song )

Oh and thank you Mr. Wright for inviting me to stay with you for the duration of my... problems.  Hey, since we're going to be on the same ship for a little while, can I stay in your room Miss Trucy?  Yohohoho!

(ooc: For all of you who are curious Brooke is going over to the Vongola to teach Phoenix the piano some more and because he wants to avoid Robin for this reason)