#I like to think of ace and shanks relationship as 'the brothers that never were' | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

swbookerr · 2 months

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Two shanksace AUs, hot off the press:

Reincarnation AU??

gosh Shanks struggling under the weight of having a Second Chance to "do things right" in a new life

Maybe there's tension between him feeling obligated to pursue relationships that failed before, while maybe not recognizing that those things could have followed their natural course and still ended up where they did

OOOOO the AU could also change drastically depending on whether shace was established in their previous life, or if things strictly followed canon!!

Pirate Radio AU!!

Yes!!!!

I know you suggested it but I'd love to hear more thoughts there

the creativity/artistry really suits them both so much... Plus, the renegade swagger!! Shanks in some kind of loudly-patterned blazer, stubble, & colored glasses, as he sizes up the newest addition to their operation........ yes!!

This is longer than intended. Forgive me?? (Or not.)

Reincarnation AU

Okay, omg. Like you say, there's so many ways a Shanks reincarnation AU could go, so the whole idea is pretty exciting. A Shanks/Ace reincarnation AU in particular? Oh-ho!!!! So many possibilities, and yet I've never really considered it before.

I think you could write it two ways? One where Shanks dies after meeting Ace (he would find the reversal in their age gap hilarious!!!), and one where Shanks dies before they meet. Maybe he dies from blood loss after saving Luffy? Traumatising, lol. But that's potentially where I'd start, and go from there.

As for the kind of people he'd be born to, I think it'd be fucking hilarious if he was a Celestial Dragon (especially considering people speculate this about his birth anyway). Just some vague ideas:

During childhood, he'd take advantage of his position to find out incriminating military secrets he'd previously been unable to discover, including personal secrets. Just for funsies!!! (And, you know, blackmail.)

He doesn't stick around with his parents, setting sail as soon as he can fend for himself. I think he would, at first, go to Rayleigh. He can't go to Buggy—he wouldn't be quite helpful enough—and he can't go to Garp or Whitebeard (what if he makes him his son????) So, he spends a few years with Rayleigh (working with Dragon during this time) until he's 18ish, maybe?

He sets sail alone, seeking out Luffy, who of course ate the Gum Gum Fruit. That's how he meets Ace, who is reminded of another runaway high-born he knows, and invites Shanks to join his crew. Which, well, why not? He's Luffy's brother and son of the Pirate King. What better way to be in the centre of the action.

What's going on in the background? Why is Ace still alive? Well, Shanks' death was so traumatising for Luffy, and then Sabo's, that he became so terrified of Ace dying, he got incredibly protective. No way was he letting Ace hunt down Blackbeard, especially not when he finds out Whitebeard didn't strictly permit it. This is also assuming the timeline moves more slowly, which it does, because I say so, so there.

Having said all of that, I also totally think Shanks would try to make amends in his old relationships just by being a better person for them (and totally burns himself out doing so). However it goes, you're so right in that Shanks would totally struggle with the idea of getting another chance (because he's a fucking martyr who wants to fix everything). I do think a timeline where Shanks/Ace were previously a thing could be interesting, but I'm not as certain how I'd do that. (Probably I'd have Ace born earlier, while Roger's alive.)

(Also, Shanks would call himself, like, Stabby, as homage to Shanks. Or he gets Rayleigh to name him.)

Pirate Radio AU

This idea is underdeveloped but I love it. It just works for them/their relationship, and fits snugly with the OP universe. I imagine secret radio stations transmitted through specifically bred Den Dens. I'd prefer to write it that way than to write an modern AU simply because Den Dens are fun! (As you well know, Chromo... 👀)

So, the backstory would be like OP, just: Roger is considered the king of pirate radio. After his death, Shanks follows his lead and creates his own station, broadcasting from a ship, so he's harder to catch, of course. And, yes, Luffy and Ace join him when they're old enough!

"Shanks in some kind of loudly-patterned blazer, stubble, & colored glasses..." YES, exactly. I think Ace would be so, like, dazed by him, and angry about it. Then Shanks starts letting him choose songs, and dedicates songs to him, and they get more and more ridiculous in their outrageous, musical flirting, until one of the others (Benn, probably) plays a very passive aggressive song about it. Or something.

Also, love the idea of them running a timeslot together, only to get caught flirting live on air. (Or, having sex in the booth and accidentally broadcasting it. Oh, god.)

When they're not aggressively flirting, they're pissing off the government, of course, who are meticulously censoring all music. Maybe while sailing, they seek the legendary scores of Joy Boy, the first true pirate radio host, lol.

This was fun!! Thanks Chromo!! ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶

#one piece AUs #my asks #shanksace #fanfiction #one piece fanfiction #shanks #portgas d. ace

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arielxlazarus · 3 years

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I almost forgot about that fanfic appreciation week, but I wanted to at least do something for it! So here's a rec list for some of my favorite fics in the one piece fandom!

This list is not at all exhaustive btw (there's still loads of other fics in the fandom that I love), so please don't feel bad if you weren't included! Also if anyone wants more recommendations from me, you can check out my bookmarks on my ao3!

Who Knows (what could happen) by Chromi

Rating: T

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: For as long as he could remember, he had wanted to set out to sea as an adventurer. His father, unfortunately, dictated that he was to follow the family tradition and become a doctor instead.

Following a lifetime of hurt and sorrow at the hands of his family, he eventually breaks free and takes to the sea alone - determined to keep it that way. Fate has other ideas in store for him; fate crosses his path with Portgas D. Ace's, a brand new pirate.

And what does he hate more than pirates?

Nothing.

Or: from Sixis to the Moby Dick - the lives of the Spade pirates.

First Time by Chromi

Rating: E

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: "Because it is Ace, and it will only ever be Ace, that he wants to see like this, and he wants to be responsible for unravelling him down to his core and loving him to his very center."

In which Ace and Deuce go all the way for the first time.

@chromiwrites

Seabound by AnkhPosts

Rating: T

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Ace is a selkie, making one of his periodic stops on land to catch a breather and get some ridiculously tasty human food, maybe see some sights if there are any. His pelt is safely hidden, he'll stay a day or two at most and be on his way.

Deuce is a mer, alone on the sea and traveling as he pleases for the first time in his life, and while he might not be terribly interested in actually interacting with humans it's hard not to see them as fascinating.

Ace meets Deuce. Deuce meets Ace. Neither knows the other isn't human.

@ankhposts

Death is only the beginning by Chizyk

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: “Ankhreshet?” he whipped his head round at the sound of a raspy voice so fast he almost got whiplash. He could feel his body going completely cold as he saw the mummy’s empty eye sockets staring right at him.

@chizyk

I'm Still Here (part of a series) by theprodigypenguin

Rating: M

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace (also Izou/Sabo later in the series)

Summary: "When I do die, don't bother burying me in that empty grave. Put my body in a boat and set me out to sea. Let me sleep eternal on the ocean that my father loved so much; because before everything else in this world, I am a child of the sea, and when I die, I want to return to it. Put me in a boat and set it aflame so I can go down in the same fire I lived."

Forget-Me-Not Fall by theprodigypenguin

Rating: M

Pairing: Izou/Sabo

Summary: “Most of the nobles I’ve met tonight look meticulously put together. They look like they were built to portray a certain image paralleled a hundred times over. People who were copied and pasted. Flawless clothes, flawless faces, flawless makeup, flawless hair.”

“Not me though,” Sabo stated, and Izou hummed.

“It’s comforting.”

“Huh?”

Izou met Sabo’s eye. “Everyone else in this place hides their worst attributes with a mask they modified to fit their faces. They don’t seem to comprehend that those perfect masks only make their worst characteristics more pronounced and defined.” His expression was terribly gentle as his eyes wandered across Sabo’s face. “It’s comforting to be approached by someone not trying to be something else.”

Sabo tilted his head. “How do you know I’m not manipulating you like some common Goa aristocrat?”

Izou smiled. “There are a few reasons.”

@theprodigypenguin

A Light To Guide You Home by TheSkyIsMyHome

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: In a world that despises mutants, Ace lives purely to protect his little brother.

Until the flames inside him find their perfect match and opposite, and he doesn't know what to feel anymore.

The Phoenix's Mate by TheSkyIsMyHome

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Marco is a handsome man. Ace really can't be blamed for being attracted to him. Nobody minds, either.

But Marco isn't always a man. Ace still loves him regardless, and his sexual urges are catching up to that fact.

Marco indulges him, but he might just find himself enjoying it more than he thought he would.

@evvazi

ASL in Red (series) by Kereea

Rating: G-T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law (both asexual), Koala/Sabo, Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks/Benn Beckman, Donquixote "Corazon" Rosinante/Aokiji | Kuzan, Roronoa Zoro/Sanji, and several other minor ones

Summary: In an alternate universe, forces conspired to put Ace, Sabo, and Luffy in the care of the Red Hair pirates as children.

The Grand Line would never know what hit it.

Mates (part of a series) by Deubatty

Rating: E

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Deuce just wanted to go searching for plants! A nice walk in the woods. Except, he ends up becoming the mate to a very persistent naga

His First Mate The Mermaid (part of a series) by Deubatty

Rating: T

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Instead of finding another person on Sixis, Ace finds a mermaid

@masked-writer

Being Human by MaiKusakabe

Rating: E (no smut)

Pairing: None (heavy focus on the platonic relationships between Marco, Whitebeard, and the rest of the crew as they form)

Summary: The line that differentiates human from object appears to be clear, but sometimes it blurs to the point where it is impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins.

The Unknown Devil by MaiKusakabe

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Ace hadn’t expected his last week of imprisonment before his execution to be any different from all the years preceding it. Then again, he hadn’t expected to have Marco the Phoenix as a cellmate for that week, or that Marco’s presence would shake his bleak world so much.

Ripple Effect by MaiKusakabe

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: After the incident with Shanks, Garp didn't take Luffy to Dadan's, unaware of how much that would change the life of his other grandson.

@maisstories

To Build a Home by endlessblankpages

Rating: G

Pairing: None (heavy focus on the platonic relationships between the ASL bros and the Whitebeard Pirates)

Summary: The ASL pirates are used to being accused of crimes they didn't commit. But when they're accused of destroying a small village in the New World, it sends them hurtling toward a deadly confrontation with the strongest man in the world, Whitebeard. The results are not what they were expecting.

Persistence & The Impossible (part of a series) by dragonsfall

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: In order to keep himself from losing his job, Ace takes on an impossible story. Get an interview with the ever-elusive Phoenix. Guess he might as well kiss his job goodbye.

Self Discovery (part of a series) by dragonsfall

Rating: E

Pairing: Izou/Sabo (sort of, it's technically masturbation)

Summary: Sabo has been waiting for a day like this for a while but it doesn’t go quite how he planned it.

@clockworkpanic

A Breach of Intention by Depths

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: It was unspoken, but some pirate crews and mermaids had an unspoken solidarity. Pirates throw their enemies overboard, and the merfolk will take care of them.

mer!ace au

@leviathiane

Running on All Sixes by lunarshores

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace, minor Izou/Thatch

Summary: The Whitebeard gang might be one of the most influential in the city, but to Marco they're just his family. Though he sometimes wishes they'd just leave him alone, especially when Izo's playing matchmaker, and Ace is his usual oblivious self. When a brother betrays them, they'll have to fight to show why no one ever messes with their family.

nothing is impossible with you by lunarshores

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Five times Ace and Marco accidentally mixed their flames on accident and one time that was entirely on purpose.

@lunarshores

I Want You to Look at Me by shockandlock

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: One night, Marco is missing from dinner, so Ace decides to bring dinner to him. He's surprised to see Marco wearing glasses and now he can't stop thinking about the way he looks. Now with additional chapter(s) including more miscellaneous MarcoAce PWP!

To My Dear Fire (part of a series) by shockandlock

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Living in the city is a new thing for Ace. After being raised near a cozy coastal mountain town through his childhood, it's definitely a change of pace, but it doesn't help when he loses his new job after an unfortunate encounter with actor Marco Newgate. He just wants to live-- and meet his long time pen pal, Phoenix.

Marco knows that being an actor is hard, so he takes the little things when he can: writing his pen pal (and honestly one of his best friends) Fire Fist, flirting with the cute new waiter at his favorite café-- not that he has a chance after a disaster on social media. But maybe fate really does give him a second chance when Ace shows up at Four Emperor Studios...

@shockandlock

Uncharted Territory by silverwolf_fox

Rating: E

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: This was by far one of Ace's most ridiculous ideas.

When Deuce keeps getting flustered everytime he tries to dominate Ace, they created an opportunity where he didn't have to be afraid of messing up.

Now he's free to do and try whatever he wants...

...so long as Ace doesn't wake up.

Watching the Sunrise (part of a series) by silverwolf_fox

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Many years have passed since Rouge gave up her life for her son’s...except she didn’t die, but she thinks Ace did. Living her life on Baterilla, she’s mourned each and every day until the morning she receives his bounty poster. She sets off immediately to find him, but finds their meeting isn’t as easy as she’d imagined.

@the-devil-fruit-tree

never shall i forget, how you climbed out of a dream by siojo

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: “Kaido,” Ace smirks, flames burning around his feet as he shifts in preparation for Kaido’s next attack, already trying to decide what he’s going to do in response. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it? You’ve seemed to have been enjoying yourself here.”

“I thought you would be smarter than this, Portgas. You’ve never tried to fight another Yonko before, your bounty won’t matter much when you lose.”

Ace barks a laugh, his teeth bared in a facsimile of a grin, “You must have missed out on the brawl I had with Big Mom after she sent two of her daughters and a son for me to consider marrying. This is a bit more personal than that.”

@wordsdrippinginink

Reborn in Fire by aerle

Rating: M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Fireman Marco has earned the nickname 'the Phoenix' by saving numerous people from a certain death. After an accident however, he has to relearn to walk and gets a new job as arson inspector at a different fire station. There he gets confronted with a boy from his past, now all grown up and gorgeous.

Three's a Crowd, Four's a Double Date by aerle

Rating: M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace (main), Izou/Thatch (secondary)

Summary: "We're not dating," Marco said definitively. "That we're sharing a bed tonight is a total coincidence."

@aerle

Universal Dive by EmpressKira

Rating: M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Ace had been making his way through the city to go to one of his favorite cafes. Well, that was until this hole ripped in the sky and some pirate fell out with the flaming bird guy following. Getting targeted, he is dragged into a different world with pirates and everything defying the reality he is used to. Will he make it home? Will he go back when the time comes?

@empresskira

Blue moon (series) by de_Winter

Rating: T-M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Urban fantasy AU, werewolf Marco and witch Ace

Red Velvet by de_Winter

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Ace already knew their routine by heart, just from observing them for a couple of mornings when he had early delivery, and from Izou’s daily long winded—and probably sexually frustrated—rants. Big Blond would come out of the bakery wearing a shirt too tight for him and too thin for the weather as soon as he was done setting up the tables inside the storefront, holding a take out cup and a small box in his big hands. They looked really, pleasantly big from where Ace was standing, and he honestly wished he wasn't standing that far away.

@dee-de-winter

We'll Look Back and Laugh at Ourselves by JuHuaTai

Rating: M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace, minor Gol D. Roger/Portgas D. Rouge

Summary: Between his new boyfriend and his workaholic boss, Marco felt like he was surrounded by family issues of the father and son dispute variety. Maybe it was just a coincidence.

Or maybe he should've listened to the office gossip more. Maybe then he'd figure it out sooner.

Gratitude of the Phoenix (part of a series) by JuHuaTai

Rating: M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: [Based on 'The Crane Wife' Folklore]

One day, he saved a bird from freezing to death in a trap. Then, a stranger saved him from suffering the same fate, and a request to stay for one night turned into having someone to fill the void left in the small cottage and in his heart ever since his brothers left.

These two incident doesn’t seem to be related to one another, but they both changed Ace’s life in ways he could never have imagined.

Watashitachi wa Roger kaizoku desu (we still stand proud) by stereden

Rating: T

Pairing: None (heavy focus on Buggy, Shanks, and Crocus)

Summary: The Roger Pirates disappeared after their Captain's death, and were happy enough to let the Marines forget about them.

Until the Marines decide to execute their Captain's son, that is.

@stereden

This Bites! by Xomniac

Rating: M

Pairing: None (heavy focus on a main character oc and the strawhat pirates)

Summary: Sea Kings, sea-sickness, sunburns, a 95% genocidal Navy and more than a million and one other assorted ways to die. It's official: Being inserted into an anime sucks ass... Buuut I guess it could be worse. I mean, look on the bright side: At least I'm sailing with the future king of the pirates.

A Fortune that Never Grows Old by imperialmint

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: It's one thing to get butterflies in your stomach when you seen an attractive person but it's another thing entirely for Marco to want to stomp out a courtship ritual and lay foundations for a nest when he meets the navy's new (hot) secret weapon.

@imperialmint

Most of the authors on this list have many other excellent one piece fics I'd definitely suggest checking out! Enjoy your reading and try to show them all some love if you can!

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unknownwriting · 3 years

Text

Summary: childhood friends to lovers with the asl trio hc (modern au!)

Characters: Sabo, Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy

Notes: Uhhh...I didn’t just write more Sabo and Ace. 🙈 omg I really can’t get enough of these 2. Lol it was hard to write Luffy but I tried my best 😌

━━☆⌒*.

Sabo

Definitely love at first sight. When he first saw you, he wasn’t sure why, but he loves you. Maybe it the way you smiled, or laughed, or your playful eyes. Whatever it was, Sabo has always like you since you were kids.

now seeing how the world isnt perfect, Sabo had only barely got to know you before he was forced to move away to London (idk why London but Oda said that Sabo was British sooo....🤷🏼‍♀️ and like if you live in London or what not just don’t for the sake of the hc 😌)

Of course before he left he made sure to make a secret email so he could still email you and his brothers. Once he got his phone he did not wait to give you his number and call.

because he still lives over sea (assuming that no one reading this lives in England...) the 2 of you would call and text all the time. Text each other good morning and how y’all slept, text through the day about every little thing, and at night the 2 of you would fall asleep on the phone (I completely forgot about the time difference so just ignore it for this)

I can’t even tell you how many time you had your phone taken up and had Ace to steal it back.

even though the 2 of you couldn’t see each other in person, only being able to call and text didn’t seem to stop you 2. You still told each other everything, sent each other memes on Insta, and called when ever you got a chance.

no don’t think that just because Sabo is over seas, Ace doesn’t know about his crush on you. 100% knows about it and 100% teases you about it. You can’t really get mad at him because if it wasn’t for him you wouldn’t have realized your feelings for Sabo

but with Ace knowing about Sabo crush, he made sure to keep other boys away just because he can. Sabo really didn’t ask for it but he’s still greatful anyways.

and so with any boy that has ever like you being scared away by Ace, in your senior year of highschool (Sabo is 2 years older than you so he had to wait until your senior year) Sabo fianlly came out and told you that he liked you. And surprise, surprise you like him too and as soon as those words left your lips, he dropped everything and booked the next flight. He didn’t even tell you here was flying over till he landed.

you, Ace and Luffy wasted no time and drove right to the air port. You definitely made sure to wear your running shoes because you practically sprinted to one side of the air port to the other. As soon as your eyes landed on the blonde, you jumped straight into his arms and didnt let go for a solid 10 minutes.

with sabo now home, of course y’all throw a huge party. How could you not. Literally everyone’s invited. Garp, Daran (she complains, but she happy and everyone knows it), all the straw hats, most of the whitebeard pirates, even Shanks and his crews shows up even though they hardly know Sabo. It’s just a huge party

the party could’ve gone on for days but Sabo still had to get situated. So once the party ended the 2 of you began to unpack his stuff at your house. He came over with practically nothing so it wasn’t hard. And once that’s was done, the 2 of you began to do a bunch of couple-y shit to make up for the time spent apart.

touch starve, both of you, but most Sabo. Always had to be touching you. Whether it’s holding hands, kisses on the cheek , or just hugging. He feels the need to make up for all the years he was away from you.

and you better be ready for surprise dates, like this man will not stop making you feel loved. And in all honesty you could care less about the dates, simply being with him and being able to hug him after so long is all that you need. It doesn’t take a lot for the 2 of you to feel loved at all but just let Sabo spoil you. If you don’t he’ll practically throw a fit. And plus being smothered in kisses isn’t that bad from time to time

omg I so need a fanfic like that 🤧

Portgas D. Ace

At first Ace came out cold to you, just like he did Luffy. When Ace was a child he didn’t think he deserved to be love so he contuined to stay cold but just like Luffy, you didn’t give up. You tried to make conversation and play with him and sooner or later he did come around to you.

But what really sparked his so called curiosity with you was when Sabo had told you who his dad was and you simply shrugged it off, saying, “his dad has nothing to with Ace. As far as I’m consered he’s dad’s irrelevant at this point.” It was bold for you to say but Ace liked that. From there on out there aways seemed to be a glow that followed you, like a spot light.

Ace knows everything about you, even the things you don’t know. He doesn’t do it to be creepy he just couldn’t stop thinking about you. Ace knows your favorite color that changes every 3 months, how you like your pizza, how you always sleep talk, how you have a bad habit of speaking before you think and how you bite the inside of your cheek when your nervous, and how you dig your nails into your palms when your angry

He’s know you inside out and he really doesn’t mean it in a creepy way. It’s just hard to not watch you when your caught his attention. Now all throughout elementary school and middle school he didn’t think much of it. But once he was a freshmen in highschool and you were a 7th grader, and boys began to take interest in you that’s when he finally figured out: he was in love with you

of course, he had a little help from Sabo. Sabo’s best friends with Ace, how could he not notice? He thought it would be best to let Ace figure out that unknown feeling himself, seeing how Ace’s has never once thought about it. But as soon as Ace was able to figure out his feelings, Sabo was right there ready to help him out

It wasn’t hard, really. You were right by Ace when he slowly came out of his shell thanks to Whitebeard and his crew who took Ace in. And once you saw how lively and happy he got it was hard not to fall in love with him. Now that hard part was trying get together

Thatch was the the one who ended up actually getting you 2 together with the help of Sabo and Koala. Now of course, they waited until your senior year of highschool so things weren’t weird and then the plan was set into motion.

If the 2 of you had to be honest, you don’t even remember how it happened. You 2 just started dating The plan was all over the place, so the 2 of you just decided to tell each other you like them. And then boom, the 2 of you were a couple.

So like everyone always knows this but Ace won’t care of the relationship of the other one doesn’t love back. With his past he needs to know that he is loved, so while he always spoil you in kisses and acts like he is the giver in the relationship, you know well enough that he’s a receiver. You don’t mind at all anyways, seeing the fluster look at his face, is enough for you.

But that doesn’t means he does plan surprise dates, or random gifts. The relationship you 2 have is very balanced, nothing ever feels to overbearing. And I know I say this a lot but dating Ace is the best thing to ever happen

Monkey D. Luffy

Honestly the 2 of you probably met at some random park. You don’t even know how it happened. One minute you playing on the play ground, next thing you know your walking in the woods with a random boy that was about your age.

You couldn’t really complain though, the playground was getting boring and being pulling along for an adventure wasn’t bad. While on the adventure you were able to learn, surprisingly a lot about the boy. But the big take away is that his name is Luffy, he’s got 2 bigger brothers, and is around 7, about 2 years younger than you.

Definitely ended up spending the whole day with him in the woods. Y’all did everything from climbing trees, finding rare beetles, fighting animals, and playing in the ponds. You hardly met this kid yet and yet you had more fun than any other friend you met. By the time y’all headed back it was practically nighttime and, although he probably didn’t do it internationally, Luffy ended up walking you all the way to you house.

Before you could even knock on the door, your parents swung open the door and engulfed you into a crying hug while also scolding you at the same time. They were definitely giving off mixed emotions. From there, Luffy let out a loud laugh and ran off, waving by to his new friend. From that day forwards, you seemed to always be caught up in some mess with him. Y’all would meet at the park, at school, at stores, just any place where the 2 of you could have any type of fun.

This went on for a while, the 2 of you would adventure off to the woods, until Luffy’s brothers began to ask who you were. That’s when Luffy finally decided to take you to his house. It’s not that he didn’t want to take you before it’s just that he thought it would be more fun to go other places. But once Luffy brought you to his house, Dadan, the lady you learned who was taking care of them, practically had a heart attack. Seeing anything kid was the last thing she wanted. You had to tell her like 10 times that you were just here to hang out with Luffy.

It’s not like it mattered though, you were already with him so it was really like Dadan had to take care of you. But just like the other boys she definitely came around to like you. And of course, Ace and Sabo came around to like you. How could they not? It wasn’t everyday that a girl would hang out with them. Whether or not he wants to admit it, Sabo had a small crush on you. But it didn’t last long after seeing your relationship with Luffy.

The think about Luffy is that he’s not gonna know he has a crush or even realize it on his own. He doesn’t really care that much. He knows all about dating and love and the birds and the bees, he just doesn’t care as much. So Luffy didn’t notice his crush on you until you brought it up. And even once you brought it up, not much changed between you 2. Not because he doesn’t like you he just doesn’t see what’s the difference between being friends and dating.

You ended up telling him you liked him early on but you didn’t want to actually get into anything until high school. So you waited until sophomore year then you asked Luffy to date you. Of course he got a push from Ace and Sabo but Luffy was gonna say yes anyways. And thus, the 2 of you began dating.

Dating Luffy is kinda a challenge. He not one to pick up on the little things or signals, so most of the time you have to tell him straight forwards. Whether you want a kiss, a hug, or to go on a date. Although the 2 of you are dating, Luffy acts how he was before beacuse he doesn’t see how the relationship changed much. He doesn’t do it to hurt or upset you, it’s just how he sees it.

And although you have to tell Luffy what you want most of the time. Dating Luffy is surprisingly easy, too. Depending on what it is, Luffy could either be a challenge or not. Beacuse you have to tell Luffy everything communication is really strong between the 2 of you. The both of you also trust each other very much. Because Luffy doesn’t just build relationships with anyone. Once the relationship starts though, you can expect him to be very trustworthy and reliable. Luffy adores all the friendships he makes, so he’ll never befriend someone who he doesn’t trust.

#one piece #portgas d ace x reader #portgas d. ace #sabo #sabo x reader #monkey d. luffy #luffy x reader #one piece x reader #asl trio #unknownwriting💕

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akane171 · 2 years

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Haha, maybe🤔🤣

*SOFTLY AND NICELY AND ONLY JOKINGLY BLAMES LW* (Never really cause she's WAY too nice to be blamed, but don't tell her i said that😂)

Yup, true...At least with the Winchesters they semi-admitted they weren't always perfect or healthy😫

Yeah, now that you say it, it really is strange that there's always alcohol no matter the Time of day🤔😅

Omg, YES, that freaking elevator DIDN'T MAKE ANY SENSE?!! THEY DIDN'T EVEN MAKE A SIDE COMMENT ABOUT IT! But yes, I can only agree on Details over CGI🙈

You're definitely evil and now I kinda wanna get my poor godkid and his even poorer older sister far away and out of your reach😅😭🙈 You literally have no mercy on them, do you? Couldn't you at least have had her time travel to get her father&brother back or sth and no longer be alone anymore?😭

Lol, Same, here have another two high-fives for that😂

If that stereotype was a real person, I'd murder it painfully...😑 I hate it SO much.

The movie had nice animation but it was kinda meh from what I remember😫 Again, I didn't mind NaruHina at all (esp. since she did indeed like him for him before anyone else did), but the movie was kinda pointless and I still dislike the sudden planet/dimension-hopping they introduced at the end of Shippuuden and them being able to breath on the freaking moon is just...what?😅🙈

Jup, same😂 Have them as Bros and Sasuke be fine alone (seriously, that boy should probably go to therapy for at LEAST 20 years before he even thinks of getting into a semi-serious relationship...)

Ohhhh, sounds interesting!🤔 Really made me think of Hunger Games and Assasination Classroom tho, yeah😂

It kinda does and I mean, I had a discussion with a friend once where we did point out that having a bit romance is truly fine cause it's hardly believable that truly EVERY character is aro/ace or too emotionally unavailable, but...Agh, just the ratio of story vs. romance is so fucked up😫

Oh, nononono, I understood that you meant 9am! Sorry, my autocorrect must have changed that to pm and I didn't realize🙈🙈 NO SHAME ON YOU!😭 Ha, zombie😂 You know that Cranberries song? I never have to NOT think of it when I hear that word🤣

YES, EXACTLY! Thank you, FINALLY someone who understands how freaking draining and tiring humans and human interaction are!

Ohhh, that would actually be funny😂 Esp. if Kakashi still used those stupid/brilliant excuses like "I got lost on the road of life" or "I saw a black cat and had to take the long way around cause bad luck" etc😂

I'm still sobbing over Ace... It never was the Same again😫 (Fun Fact: OF COURSE they'd kill one of my two favourite side characters and never show the other (aka Shanks) apart from in openings😫🤦🏻‍♀️ I really need to stop getting emotionally attached to tragic and absent characters😫🤦🏻‍♀️)

Yup, definitely😅 But BEYOND creepy nontheless...🙈

Tokyo Ghoul is just another tragic mass (and to no surprise I once again got attached to the worst character you can get attached to cause you'll spend 99% of the story wondering where he is, what he's doing or if he's even alive🙄😫)

Oh, you gotta watch/read Attack on Titan's S4 Arc! I wasn't TOO into it before but after that time skip shit went down and uff, my heart died a few times (and I still Love the paralells between the two sides and how all characters are proven to be shades of grey instead of the stupid black-white-thinking animes etc like to have these days...) 🤔

XXXXX

....well, I blame her all the time foer a lot of things, @raisedbyfandomwolves i think you can confirm?

Yeah, well, Winchesters were the equals in the show, I think? Both screwed a lot, both hurt each other, and both apologized many times. In SG... I feel there was imbalance. Alex was usually propped, while Kara was treated like teh bad guy. Don't even let me moan how she treated Kara in the two last eps. And nothing was solved.

I mean, yeah, no cameras in the elvator? No one was surprised there was freaking HOLE in the roof? No one was surprised the levator was destroyed? Like? Someone could have died there, and we would not know. Sigh.

MUHAHAHAHAHA. I was thinking about reversing the future and erasing the bad stuff, becasue of some villain messing with their lives, I didn't plan anything that far ^^' I mean, it could end happy or disastrous. I'm pissed off, so ....

Basically, I'm happy i ended my Naruto journey on manga and have seen like 2 shippuden movies, nothing more. Anyway... all naruto movies suck and all are just dumb fillers. Sad facts.

I KNOW. Kishimoto fucked his character and imo, he seriosuly should have died. ... you know, teh same goes for Mon-El, I wish he had died in the end of s2 because as much as I love Chris and his portrayal of Mon Mon, they destroyed almost everything I loved about him and karamel. What we get was... a slap. Not only Kara will never find a partner, but he will also never move on. Fuck this show.

It's good, espeically the first movie. I haven't read manga (just one vol.) but it is super brutal. And I bought the book and it waits for being read... maybe... mext year?

Agreed. it's like no one can create a stroy without romance? That's dumb? And even if there is no romance, if the series is popualr, there you have SHIPPERS swarming everything and talking about only romances and ugh, just shoot me.

Like duh, who didn't hear about Zombie by Cranberries???? One of my fave songs. Seriosuly.

I KNOW. Look, i like a lot of people, I like having them, but jesus christ just leave me a lone for some time, i need to recharge myself? Also, for a long time my best friend was an extravert who totally, TOTALLY, didn't understand my needs of peace and quiet. After she talked about her LOVE LIFE for HOURS I felt drilled like an lemon after lemonade was made.

He and Tobi, if Tobi was Tobi not Madara xD, they would be best pals, I guess?

.... we seriosuly are spiritually conencted, because aside of the fact all my ships are fucked, usually my fave characters are fucked. Or not mentioned ever again. That's a curse. and you are cursed too =='

ehehehehe, black-white characters - that goes for Supergirl too :DDDDDDDD i mean, minus Lena, who is not black, not white, not gray, she's just shit.

Tbh, haven't been into anime and manga for a long time. Still finishing Skip Beat and I'm wondering if it will ever be finished. Same goes for NaNa and DNangel. And Saiyuki. Not mentioning Berserk... sad life of manga fan, huh?

#my fam

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nakunakunomi · 4 years

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Hi how are you? Just saw your Zoro x Reader x Law, that I loved so much (poor Marimo...). And I wanted to request a fic I once requested for another blog... Could you please write a headcanon about Ace and Sanji (polyrelationship), both dating Shanks and Mihawk's daughter in secret, and her parents discovering the relationship by accident when seeing them on a date/kissing/fluff scenario? It can be 2 o 3 person pov, what you feel better. Thanks for the attention and sorry for the bother.

Hiya! I am sorry it took so long! I loved your request, but there was so much to unpack and establish that I had to take my time and make sure everything was in there! For that reason, it has become quite long for HC, so I hope that compensates a little for the time you had to wait! Also, never apologise for requesting, you’re not bothering at all!! <3 Hope you enjoy!! <3

Getting caught - Sanji / reader / Ace

2nd person. female reader. Polyamory. Part 2 here!

Having Mihawk and Shanks as fathers isn’t easy. They’re super protective of their ‘little girl’ no matter how many times you try to make clear to them that you are a grown-ass adult, who can perfectly make decisions for herself.

Especially Mihawk is difficult to persuade to give you freedom. He prefers you stay on Kuraigana, which is hard to convince you of. There is nothing to do there and Shanks is out all the time, it’s only logical that adventure calls one day.

Shanks is the ‘cool dad’, who thinks it is important you have your freedom and such. But on the inside, he does worry. Keeping an eye on the newspapers to see if there’s anything about you.

Whenever the two of them got together, they always hoped you’d spend some quality time with you, but once you found yourself a crew, that became a little harder.

When they find out that crew is the strawhats…there’s some mixed reactions. Shanks thinks it’s hilarious, and although Mihawk insists they are not the best crew to hang around or be part of, he is secretly kind of relieved, knowing none of them would ever let someone harm you. And if they did they’d be into big trouble. And the crew are super close friends, which is nice, to have such an intense bond.

What they don’t know, and maybe for the best, is that it didn’t take long for you to form an even more intense bond with the ship’s cook, who you had fallen for, thanks to his neverending charm, love and just anything and everything he ever did.

The two of you had been dating for a while, but you hadn’t mentioned it in any of the letters you sent to either of your dads. Just to keep them from setting course to wherever you are to give your boyfriend a stern talking-to.

On top of that, the relationship had become even a little more complicated and hard to explain to your fathers after the crew had met Luffy’s older brother Ace at Alabasta.

Let’s just say Alabasta nights get cold and Ace was just what Sanji and you needed to warm up a little.

Ace, of course, couldn’t always be with the two of you, Whitebeard Pirate responsibilities as a commander and of course his search for Blackbeard still being his main focus, but he did try and visit you two as much as possible, making detours with the striker just to show up at the island you guys were at every now and then.

Usually unannounced, he lives for the surprised look on your faces, how you squeal and nearly tackle him in a hug, and Sanji’s content smile as he puts out his cigarette and discards it to join him and you in the happy reunion.

You guys see opportunity when your dads can finally convince each other and your crew to all get together to celebrate Luffy’s birthday. One big family party, the castle is big enough for everyone to sleep over comfortably, and it would be a well-deserved break from your adventure. It’s fun, but going island to island with Luffy’s chaotic good energy is exhausting sometimes.

But besides your break: there is also another thing: opportunity. Although it’d be hard to sneak around, you guys figure out that if all three leave for your room at separate times while the other people are still partying, and you wake up before everyone else does, you should be fine.

Plans made: Ace would just fall asleep, no need to even fake, and Sanji would help him go to his room, excusing himself as well because he’d propose to make a nice festive breakfast for everyone before the party was over and everyone would have to return to their own business.

You’d follow a little later, excusing yourself because you weren’t feeling too well and a good night’s sleep would be the best cure so you could be present at the breakfast.

The party came and so far so good: Ace had fallen asleep a little too early and not subtle at all, dropping his drink and making everyone stare before bursting into laughter, and nobody had questioned Sanji when he started dragging ace out of the big living room or had whined when he said that he’d be going to bed as well.

Okay, Luffy had whined a little, but well, he was distracted five seconds later when Ussop did something funny.

For you, escaping was a little harder. Your dads insistent on catching up with you, had been cornering you throughout most of the party, just to talk. You were getting nervous that they might have been suspecting something, but luckily for you, you managed to play it off for not feeling too well, and excused yourself too.

The party noises had become increasingly silent before dying out completely, but the three of you had barely noticed, making the best of the time you had for this rare moment of quality time in a soft big bed.

Ace had fallen asleep again, and Sanji and you were lazily tracing the freckles on his back, fighting against sleep to just enjoy this moment a little longer, knowing you’d have to act again once the sun came up, just to keep your overprotective fathers from murdering these two men you loved more than anything else in the world.

“We should probably sleep as well princess,” Sanji murmured as he laid down properly, “or they’ll know we definitely haven’t slept properly even though we left so early”.

Him saying that out loud was all you needed to give in to the sleep, knowing he was right, but not before giving the both of them a soft kiss goodnight.

The three of you didn't have much rest though, it felt like you had barely blinked when you were awoken by an “ahem” and extremely loud laughter.

Turns out, your dads had wanted to check up on you, and well, they had not found their darling y/n sleeping away some nausea as they had been expecting.

Shanks thought the whole thing was hilarious, hence the loud laughter, even more so when the three of you woke up and were immediately panicked.

Mihawk on the other hand was glaring daggers, mostly at the two males in your bed, but he spared some of those glares for you as well.

You couldn’t deny anything, and it took you a good few rounds of explaining.

Shanks was super interested in what you had to say but was muffling laughter throughout the whole thing, even after Mihawk had repeatedly sent him a glare as well.

In the end, they were more upset you had tried to keep it from them.

But that didn’t keep them from threatening Ace and Sanji that if they’d ever even dare to hurt you in any way they’d both be after them.

Ace and Sanji had never looked so pale. You had never ever been so embarrassed, but you were too flustered about being caught that you’d barely spoken ever since the two of them had woken you up.

Breakfast sure was going to be interesting.

#Sanji #Sanji x reader #Ace #Ace x reader #Portgas D ace #Portgas D ace x reader #Black leg sanji x reader #Dracule Mihawk #red-haired Shanks #polyamory #One piece #one piece writing #one piece headcanon #one piece x reader #headcanon #reader insert #request #underworldsheiress

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lo-55 · 3 years

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Lost Things Ch. 5 (Epilogue)

The Reuinion

Epilogue

Someone had told him once, years ago, that the shivers that ran up his spine when nothing was around to cause it meant that someone was walking across his grave. It was a weird saying attached to a funny feeling that gave it a vague sense of foreboding.

Now, standing in front of his own grave, Ace was a little disappointed that he didn't’t feel any shivering at all. Just a bit of melancholy. On the cross was his favorite orange hat, a gift from Luffy all those years ago, his belt and dagger, and a necklace that he had been sure Akainu’s fist had broken two and a half years ago.

“I gathered the beads,” Marco said, as if reading Ace’s mind. He was good at that. “Haruta tried to help me string them back together, but I didn’t let her. I felt like- like I had to do it. On my own.”

Without looking, Ace grabbed his hand.

“Thank you,” he said. He looked at tomb, where they had erected a grave with his name on it. It was weird, he felt like it should have been more horrifying, to see where he had supposedly been laid to rest. Instead he just felt bitter that his family had had to erect it in the first place.

He and Marco still hadn’t been to see the others yet. Marco had explained, after his memories returned, that he was now leading the Whitebeard Pirates. After his crash into the icy islands and the ensuing months they had to spend together (which, Ace did not mind at all ) Marco had wanted to give Ace a chance to ease back into the swing of piracy before throwing him to the metaphorical sharks.

He was also probably well aware of the fact that the instant they had settled Ace was going to want to hunt down Teach, as well as that had gone before.

All of these thoughts were really just Ace procrastinating looking slightly to the right. Wind caught the massive white coat and pulled it, reminding the young man of the fact that he couldn’t put this off forever.

Ace breathed in the tepid air, trying to acquire some modicum of calm.

He lifted his eyes, slowly, to the monument built for his father. His real father. The one that loved him regardless of his origins, taken him in and offered to share his family. Edward Newgate was the only father that Ace had ever known.

And I got him killed.

Ace couldn’t breath around the knot in his throat.

“Pop’s… I’m so-”

“Don’t you dare.”

Ace swallowed tensely and looked over his shoulder. Marco’s gaze, normally half lidded and lazy, had sharpened. A gaze golden now outside of a phoenix transformation, a sign of how intensely Marco felt about Ace’s near apology.

“Marco…”

“Don’t. Pops died for you, Little Oars jr. did too. Don’t disrespect their love for you by apologizing for their willing sacrifice. If Luffy told you he was sorry he survived after you died for him, how would you feel?”

Ace worked his jaw slowly. The guilt in his heart wasn’t alleviated, not a bit, but he knew the truth in Marco’s words. If Luffy apologized for living-

Luffy.

Ace looked away from Marco, back to the grave. He bowed his head to hide his dampening cheeks. Where was his hat when he needed it?

“Thank you,” he said instead. “For being a wonderful father. I-I love you, pops!”

Ace could have sworn that he felt a massive hand weighing down on his back, warming his shoulders. A familiar laugh was carried on the wind.

“I love you too, my son! “

“Man, Luffy is going to lose his shit when he sees me.”

Marco glanced over at Ace, who was very meticulously applying makeup to hide his freckles. He had taken to tying his long, flowing hair into a loose bun behind his head these days, and even in the warmer climate of Dressrosa he had his throat covered with the thick white scarf that fluttered behind his back when he ran. It wasn’t much of a disguise, in terms of effort, but often times the best ones were the easiest. Not to mention the fact that Ace had died, publically been executed, two years ago. Most anyone who saw him now would just assume they were crazy, or that there was just a strange resemblance between him and the young pirate prince.

Pirate Prince, now that was a strange thing to think.

At this point, it was more accurate to call Luffy the prince, seeing as he would be the next King and all.

“Does your brother know that his hat belonged to Roger?” Marco asked abruptly.

Ace’s head snapped towards him. The younger pirate stared at Marco open mouthed. So Ace hadn’t known either? Not that surprising. Ace hadn’t even been born when Roger died.

“Ah. Never mind then,” Marco waved his hand to dismiss his words. Ace was marginally less sensitive about his lineage since he regained his memories, Marco could only guess why. That was the only reason there hadn’t been an outburst of Ace’s Issues with the dead king.

“Wait, does that mean Shanks was on his crew?” Ace turned towards Marco. Marco handed him his combat boots.

“Shanks? Yeah, he was Roger’s apprentice back in the day. Trouble maker back then. Not much has changed,” Marco shrugged casually. This was all old news. Roger had always been pretty good at keeping his cabin brats out of the limelight, so the government and therefore the public didn’t know about his relationship. Still, he thought…

Well, it didn’t matter what he thought.

“Who knew,” Ace shook his head. He needed it clear for what they were about to do.

“For the record, I’m against this,” Marco said for the millionth time.

For the millionth time Ace replied, “That won’t stop me. Lu needs to know I’m okay.”

“Just… be careful,” Marco must have let some of his genuine worry leak into his voice because Ace’s expression softened. He crossed what little space there was in their cheap hotel room and sat next to Marco, close enough they were pressed side to side.

Marco couldn’t help it if he worried. He had already lost so much already. He had barely kept the crew together in the last two years and even now most of them were in hiding after the disastrous attempt at revenge.

The attempt he’d lead them in.

A strong arm draped comfortably across Marco’s shoulders.

“We sure are a pair, huh?” Ace joked. “What would Pops say?”

Marco snorted. “He’d tell us to get our heads out of our asses and start acting like pirates.”

“Yeah. So what are we doing sitting on our asses? We’ve got trouble to stir up!”

Marco shook his head and leaned on Ace. He didn’t like this, the whole thing smelled like a trap. As if the devil fruit wasn’t enough proof of the fact that they were luring people in, the whole country was populated by living toys. It made Marco’s skin crawl.

He still had a lot of questions in regards to the fruit, and exactly what had happened with Ace. People didn’t just disappear in a flare of red when they were supposed to be dead. Accounts of devil fruit were rare and far between, so he just assumed that it had something to do with the Flame Flame Fruit. And, Ace still had his fire power.

So, either the fruit that was being offered as a prize was a fake, or they were missing something important about Logias.

Thinking about it, Marco had never heard of a logia user dying.

There was so much about devil fruits that no one knew, so much that they didn’t understand. Even to the people who had eaten them, even to people like Marco, who had seen thousands of devil fruit in his long life didn’t know that much about them.

Marco sighed and gently shoved Ace. He pushed a ski cap into his hands.

“Get going. You’re in A block yeah? Be careful and remember-”

“No fires, I know, I know,” Ace held up his hand and an exhasperated surrender. He flashed Marco a guileless smile and, with a parting kiss, ran off through the door with his scarf pulled up over his mouth.

Marco had a very bad feeling about all of this.

Ace had had a good feeling about this, at the start of the fight.

By the time he was on his knees, gulping in air while the crowds screamed around him, his opinion had changed a little.

Mr. Store lay on the ground in front of him, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Blood dripped down a cut on his temple, saturating the brown paper bag that covered the rest of his face. One of his arms was bent at the wrong angle and the rubber on his boots had melted at some point. Hopefully no one would notice, what with the whole undercover thing.

Ace was breathing so hard he felt cold from his lungs outwards, only combated by his devil fruit abilities. Ace lifted his clenched fists above his head, tilted his face towards the sun a roared his victory for the world to hear.

He hadn’t thought the fight would be that hard. Everyone else in the block had fallen easily, but this Mr. Store just would stay down. Ace had to give credit where it was due, not a lot of people could take what he had dished out.

In the months since he had come back from the grave he had been training his ass off in a desperate attempt to get back to where he was, and to surpass that level entirely. If he couldn’t, he didn’t have the right to sail the seas. The New World was a place where only the strong survived, and Ace would not be a burden on Marco while they travelled together. So he trained, harder than he ever had in his life.

He would have been stronger if he hadn’t spent the last two years doing little more than running around a snow island, chopping wood and helping fix houses. But, he was stronger than he had been before, finally.

Strong enough to clear the coliseum block without using his devil fruit powers once.

...well, maybe once. Just to give him a little bit of leverage in that last bout.

Ace rocked unsteadily to his feet. He’d taken more damage than he’d wanted too. Marco was gonna be pissed when he got back. Actually, from the dark glower that was clouding his face from where he sat in the crowd, he was already pissed. Great.

Ace smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. His bun had almost come loose. God, he needed a haircut. After he wasn’t in hiding any more he was chopping it short again.

Luffy was here too. It had been impossible for Ace to miss him fighting in B block. This was going to be fun, he could already tell.

His good feeling only got better when he saw a flash of a gold helmet and a white beard turn through the same tunnel he was going through. Now, Ace had a plan when he came there. Beat everyone, show the world he was alive and challenge Luffy to meet him ‘where the sea meets the sky’. He was pretty confident that, even if Luffy couldn’t figure it out, that clever navigator of his would understand that there was a knock up stream around the next island.

Ace wanted a little bit of privacy for their reunion.

All those plans went out the window the second he realized he was within walking distance of his little brother. His little brother.

God, what was he ever supposed to say to him? He had speeches rehearsed in his head, excuses, apologies, pleas. But they all boiled down to thanks. Thanks that he had already given Luffy, given all of them on his deathbed. Er, death brick?

Ace grimaced and halted at the doorway to the place where the gladiators who won were all gathering. He clenched his hands into fists. Why was this shit so hard?!

It had been easier when he hadn’t known just how badly he’d fucked everything up in the past. It was almost enough to make him long for those days where the past was nothing more than the white wind the blew outside, untouchable, cold and dangerous.

Marco vanished in the crowd, also disguised though his was just some sun glasses and he actually buttoned his shirt up for once. He reappeared right above where Ace was hesitating, head poking out from the bricks that made up the colosseum. The whole place had a weird feel to it. It reminded him of walking on an iced over lake. Stable, with something lurking beneath the surface.

“Hey!” Marco tossed a pebble at Ace’s head. “Get going already.”

Ace rubbed the point of impact, like it had actually hurt, and made a face up at Marco.

“Maybe I don’t want to,” he crossed his arms over his chest childishly.

Marco rolled his sleepy eyes, looking utterly bored with Ace’s antics and indecision. For someone who was so bullheaded all of the time, when Ace’s self esteem issues reared their ugly head the cure was hard to find.

“Just go see him. Talk to him, if nothing else. He doesn’t even need to know your name.”

That was… a good point.

Ace fiddled with the dagger strapped to his hip. He’d taken that, and his hat and his necklace, off of his grave. He didn’t feel quite right without them, now that he knew they had been missing. It was a hollow mourning he hadn’t even known he’d been going through.

“Okay, okay,” Ace took a breath, squared his shoulders, and walked into the darkness.

Luffy had a habit of picking up weird people. Really, weird people. Ace stared at the guy in the diamond patterned pants and the red jacket. Honestly the most normal thing about him was the green hair. Those teeth.

Ace made a face.

He hadn’t meant to take so long to catch up to Luffy, but removing the makeup that hid his freckles and then tracking the boy down took more time than he wanted it to. Which was how he had gotten there just in time for the green haired weirdo, Bart or Romeo, he hadn’t been paying attention, to declare that he would win the Flame Flame fruit on Luffy’s behalf.

“That’s pretty bold talk, for a rookie,” Ace chided. The sound was muffled by his scarf. “Maybe I’ll win.”

The green haired man stomped towards him, half slouched over. Even like that he towered easily over Ace. Ace didn’t so much as blink. He hadn’t planned on having audience. On top of this guy, someone else was walking down the hallway towards them. Ace glanced over. An uncomfortably familiar hat bobbed in the dimly lit tunnel.

The ‘S’ on his arm itched.

“Who do you think you are? Do you know who I am? I’ll win the fruit for him for sure!” he roared, pointing at Luffy. Ace peered around his shoulder and waved. It was all he could do. Even with the goofy disguise the dark brown eyes that squinted at him were unmistakable.

All Ace could manage was a strangled, ‘hey Lu.’.

He cleared his throat, ignoring the way that Luffy’s eyes got just a little bigger. The scar on his chest throbbed painfully. This was Luffy. Luffy, who he’d caused so much pain. He probably would have been better off if they never even me-

Being alone is worse than any pain.

Ace mentally shook himself. This wasn’t the time for his self deprecation. Luffy needed to know. He needed to know that Ace hadn’t broken his promise. He needed to know he still had one brother left in this world.

“I’m afraid,” the stranger in the top hat said, coming to a halt next to them, “That I can’t let either one of you win the Flame Flame Fruit.” A thin smile slid across the half shadowed face. “Straw Hat Luffy.”

So this guy recognized his little brother too? Ace shifted on his feet, freeing a hand from his pockets. He lay his fingers around the hilt of his dagger. He wasn’t the only one defensive of Luffy, the green guy swaggered over, baring his teeth.

“Who the hell are you supposed to be? Where are you from? You can’t talk to him so casually!”

Ace sighed. Where did Lu find these people? He was a magnet for outcasts, oddballs, and victims of misfortune.

Oh, he was still talking.

“He’s the brother of the legendary Fire Fist Ace! Of course he’ll get the fruit!”

At that, Ace couldn't stop it. He laughed. All eyes snapped to him. He held his hands up, placatingly.

“Ah-ha, don’t mind me. It’s just, that fruit up there is fake. The real ones already been eaten.”

“How can you laugh at his tragedy!” the green man screamed in Ace’s face. Ace put his hand on his cheek and shoved him hard enough to send him into a wall.

The man stumbled away. Ace hadn’t actually hurt him. He was a friend of Luffy’s, after all. “You can’t- He’s going to be King of the Pirates one day!”

Ace smiled. Luffy kept finding these people with so much faith in him. So, weird or not, he could give the green guy his support.

“Oh, I’ve known that since way back,” the strange waved his hand in a gesture that was a little too familiar. There was something about him… Ace could swear he knew him, but the only real resemblance was impossible. So, who was he?

Before Ace’s eyes, the top hat came down. A fluff of blond hair appeared, an ugly scar that Ace recognized as being from fire painted his face. A face that, even twelve years older Ace would recognize anywhere. His throat closed up, squeezing a hiss through his teeth.

That was-

“Sabo.”

Past that he couldn’t hear anything they were saying, the words no more than static in his brain. Ace could only watch, jaw dropped from behind his scarf as Luffy, tears and snot pouring down his face, launched himself at the blond. Sabo was- Sabo was-

Sabo was alive.

Ace felt like he was a world away, no more than a bystander as Sabo turned his head and gasped for air, being strangled by Luffy’s rubber hug.

“B-but Sabo!”

Luffy’s sobs finally broke through the white noise machine that had replaced his ears. His heart wrenched his chest when Luffy poured his words out.

“I let Ace get killed right in front of me!”

Ace took an unsteady step forwards. He didn’t know if he wanted to hug or beat the shit out of both of them.

“I know,” Sabo’s smile didn’t fade at all. “Even still, I’m so happy you survived. I almost lost both of my brothers. If you had died, I would have been completely alone.”

“No!” the word burst past his lips. Sabo and Luffy looked over at him, one bawling his eyes out, the other happy as composed as he was. Ace gripped his white scarf with shaking fingers. His own eyes were starting to get blurry.

“You- you wouldn’t have been alone,” Ace ripped the scarf away, burning the stupid ski cap right off of his head, a few stray tears slipping down his face. “You didn’t let me die, Lu! I’ve been here the whole time!”

There was a beat of silence and for an instant Ace feared Luffy didn’t believe him. That he’d have to prove it.

Then a long arm slung around his shoulders and Ace found himself being slammed against his brothers. His brothers! Luffy and Sabo, all three of them. Ace’s knees grew weak and he was left with no choice but to cling to Sabo for support.

“Thank you,” he choked against Sabo’s shoulder. “Thank you! Sabo, Luffy!”

"Thank you for loving me!"

#one piece #one piece fanfiction #marco the phoenix #ace x marco #portgas d. ace #mugiwara no luffy #sabo #sabo one piece #ace lives

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midnightluck · 5 years

Note

Do you have any One Piece fic recs? With Ace in? I love your writing and it’s all so good that it’s made me desperate to find more One Piece fics. I love you characterisation of Ace and Sabo especially!!

Aww, thanks! I know it’s late, but here’s a handful of my favorites! They’re mostly canon/canon au, and I’m sure I’m missing...most of them, haha.

Have You Met My Little Brother? by @threesipsmore is one of my favorite Ace pieces. It’s soft and sharp and poignant, and it’s so perfectly Ace. Ace thinks the most important thing to know about him is that he has a little brother.

stormy1x2 has some delightful, fun Ace stories! The Games is a great fic about Ace’s weird diverse skillset, and an absolute treat for anyone who loves jungleboy!Ace. Spades On-Screen is a funny romp with the Spade Pirates, and there is never enough Spade Pirates. Never.

I also recommend anything by @authenticaussi3; her Ace is lovely, likeable, and so, so dumb, and her Luffy is A++ too. My personal fave is Show Me Skies On Fire, the Tangled au that spun wildly out of control and is magical, fun, and very plotty. Marco likes shiny things, and Ace gets constantly kidnapped by passersby. He’s not really all that upset by it (but Sabo absolutely is, goddamn it Ace.)

I’m sure you’ve read ASL in Red by @kereeachan; it’s one of the best rewrites of ASL out there. The Bros were raised by Shanks, so their Chaos Quotient is upped a hundred-fold, everything is better, and no one is prepared for them. Also a delightful Sabo! The interactions with the guardians are fantastic.

For Those Who Call The Sea Home by Wordlet is a Luffy-centric fic featuring a more-or-less canon Luffy in a modern au. It’s lovely and layered and really highlights the relationship between ASL; it’s a little bit sad and a whole lot lovely.

Come Morning, Together Again by Applepie is my favorite time travel ASL. Ace wakes up in the past from an outsider’s perspective, and it’s fun and bright and feelsy. ASL together again and happy about it!

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whirlybirdwhat · 5 years

Text

Its been awhile since I Rambled so guess what y'all are getting tonight!

Today’s topic is going to be Family; specifically, the family dynamics/examples in One Piece.

In the first two ‘arcs’, Shells Town and Orange Town, there isn’t a single mention of family beyond ChouChou (a good doggy) and his owner, and even that is less familial and more Pet-owner friendship, obviously. Instead, the arcs focus on introducing characters (Luffy, Zoro, Nami) and establishing world building and themes of the story - This is what the One Piece is, This what the series is all about, dreams and chasing them forever.

It isn’t until Syrup we get a mention of family, and even then its just Usopp’s lack of one, as he has a dead mother, and a faraway father. The most important aspect of this is that Usopp doesn’t really know his father beyond a role model.

It isn’t until the Baratie and Cocoyasi Arcs that we see any importance placed on ‘family,’ which is little over 40 chapters into the series.

And so BOOM - another major theme is introduced into the series, subtly tying into the main theme (Dreams and chasing them) and etc.

I personally however like how it was introduced behind everything else because you eventually become completely blindsided to how important family is in One Piece. And not just any family - the family you choose which is simply awesome!

So lets start looking at these family’s shall we?

All of these families are really diverse in their dynamics, so lets start with the easiest example - Usopp, who has none.

As previously stated, Usopp’s mother is dead, and for all we love Yasopp he pretty much ditched the kid. So - an example of a lack of family and how that influenced Usopp, without him turning into a ‘woe is me, I hate my dad’ character which can be common trope in fiction. Pretty interesting if you ask me.

Zoro can also be seen to have no family, and unlike Usopp, he never appears to have had any in the first place (Wano Arc may explain), and, yet again, doesn’t fall into a common trope for this.

Moving on, the next family relationship seen in One Piece is Sanji and Zeff, which is incredibly heart warming to me. Classic Single Dad trying to get his son to move out trope lol. More seriously, this is another family dynamic that we see -

and very different from the next person, Name, who has no parent at all and when she did, she had a single mother. Bell-mere is an amazing example of a mom struggling to feed her kids and literally willing to do anything for these two girls she found in the wreckage of a battle. Bell-mere is also one of the few examples of some kick-ass moms we see in the series.

While One Piece follows the ‘kill the moms/absent mom’ trope they do make them awesome characters who definitely did not lie down and take their deaths nicely.

Nami’s arc is also the first time we see a sibling and also the first time we see the sibling get wounded in front of another hi ace , and begins to add value to the found family theme.

Because Nojiko chose to be Nami’s sister. Bell-mere chose to be Nami’s mother. Further back, Zeff chose to be Sanji’s father.

And then we meet (rip) Ace, who appears to be a blood relative of Luffy’s, adding importance not only the family we choose but the family we have. Of course, this is debunked later, but it definitely reinforces the ‘I love my family’ thing we have going on (Hey have you seen my baby brother - that's my kid brother - don’t hurt my brother - have I said Luffy’s my brother yet - Ace, Alabasta, pre death)

Oh! And we can’t forget about Chopper’s lovely parents who love him despite the fact that he’s not even human, (I salute you old medical people) and Vivi’s father who clearly adores his daughter and is very proud and supportive of her?

Alright.

And then there were four.

Robin and Franky’s backstories happen at the same time and are vastly different yet incredibly similar.

Robin’s story is about losing family, even the family you had for but a few days (Saul) and eventually reclaiming a family for yourself. She is also one of the few characters who have a biological relative.

Franky’s story is about the continuous gain and loss of the same family. He started out with nothing - his parents threw him overboard for gods sake - but then he gained Tom, Icebarg, and Kokoro, and the frog (I forget how to spell his name oops) and formed a relationship with them... only to lose them again when Tom died and then gained them again along with the Franky Family.

His story is also very cool because, unlike the others, he was the leader of his family and not the one relying on the others. Also unlike the others, he lost his family when he was an adult.

Now - what are the similarities between the two, you may ask? Well, for one, they both inadvertently caused the death of a loved one (Robin, Saul and Franky, Tom). Their biological family was either abusive (Robins Aunt, Franky Parents for throwing him overboard) or absent (Robin’s parents as explorers, Franky’s for abandoning him), yet their ‘first’ found family was people who were part of their career - the shipwrights for Franky and the archeologists for Robin!

Essentially, the message here is your work, your job, your coworkers can be your family too - it doesn’t have to be someone who fills a familial role specifically!

Lastly we have Brook, the Sanji situation and Luffy - Jimbei’s will come at a later date once I get the hang of his backstory and character.

Brook first - he lost it all as an adult. Thats essentially all I have to say, as we know very little of his childhood. But as an adult he lost the family he created, the Rumbar pirates, and Laboon, proving that not only can adults make their own families but they can lose it too - different from the rest of the then teenage straw hats.

His family is also similar to Chopper’s as species doesn’t matter to Brook - he loves Laboon as if he were a dear human friend.

Which is just sweet yknow?

The opposite of Sanji’s biological family, who are assholes. This is great family dynamic because it proves that only the people who you think of as family, are family, and not every family is kind and loving. Which sucks, but is an important thing to realize, as it contrasts all the other messages we have had so far from One Piece!

Then we have Luffy. He is one of the few characters with living biological family - and one of the few who just doesn’t care. Luffy hits the mark of every box in a way - he’s lost family (Ace, Sabo), he has absent parental figures (his mom, whoever she it, and Dragon) actual parental figures (Dadan, if you want, Makino, and Shanks at least as a role model) family by choice (His brothers) abusive yet weirdly loving family (Gramps) and self sacrificing family (Rip Ace)

Whats important though is how it effects him - specifically in Marineford.

He does all of that for family, feels like he would die if he didn’t, and built his own family out of the Strawhats. With Marineford, the theme of family, chosen family, was emphasized and finally hammered in.

tl;dr The Straw Hat Pirate crew and One Piece in general has a wide array of characters with diverse families, all who influence the characters by their absence, presence and actions one way or another, and help bolster the subtle theme of ‘found family is important’ in One Piece, especially with the Marineford arc (Rip Ace). It is also important to note that most of the characters. gave up the family they had to be with their family in the Strawhats, which wow, my heart.

Anyway, that's it, this is long so I'm not checking it for errors, have fun!!! I just needed to say something about how how I love those family dynamics in one piece

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cheswirls · 5 years

Text

tether notes 2/3

pt. 3

i mentioned this in the last part, but i used muroran as basis for veilstone, not abashiri. actually, if you want my opinion, i think shari, hokkaido, is a better depiction of veilstone than abashiri. mostly, i used muroran bc i could find pictures there that were more than just boat-icebreaker-drift ice-boat. abashiri is cold. and full of drift ice. if you need context, it’s level with toronto, canada. a pretty cold place to live. muroran is further south, and it’s also a port city, so i jus used that.

shari looks nicer, but it’s more into the hook of hokkaido (that piece on sinnoh map that jutts out right below battle zone) and not nestled into the mountains, so. mostly it was out.

makino’s cafe/bar is based on the diner in veilstone. so, walk in, counter bar to your left, tables to your right, possibly a happiny underfoot carrying trays of food.

but, compared to the more rustic and colored veilstone, i wanted to depict more of hokkaido city here. so, more rundown, rusted due to sea breeze, older things without much repair. passable, sure, for daily life. but new and extravagant? no. far from.

if makino is so close with luffy, how come she doesn’t know sabo?

simple. she’s not close with luffy. makino has a fulltime job running a diner in veilstone, sinnoh. luffy grew up on the sevii islands, kanto. when he was in sinnoh, he was training with shanks. yeah, sure, they would come by for food, and makino is good friends with shanks, so of course she and luffy have a relationship. but, also at this point where shanks began to bring luffy around, instead of teaching him out in nowhere, sevii islands, they began to keep things secret. luffy was here “just visiting” to anyone who asks, but they wouldn’t seen him much around, not in the isolation shanks trained him in. also also at this point, because i derailed that sentence completely, ace and sabo were already out traveling. it just never came up. makino is friendly with luffy, she knows luffy, but she doesn’t know him, not really.

pokemon hunters is another anime concept i wanted to use, again to make the story more gritty. no evil teams here with world-domination plots, just poachers. pretty standard. still awful, especially if they’re poaching people, now, but nothing as wide-scale as team galactic.

i had so much fun writing ship captain jinbe. i wished i got more of a chance to write his crew, too. at this point i think i had just caught up reading blackbird by milo, and i was hooked on the idea of biker fishman gang and leader jinbe, so i adapted it into ship crew here. praline is there, yes. she’s badass. i said so, you heard it here.

i talked a lot with my big bang partner, and we eventually decided jinbe’s a mix of hoenn and sinnoh descent. so, darker skin, almost polynesian, from hoenn’s more pacific island vibe. dark, curly hair. i drew a picture once? oh, here it is. jus a little sketch. he probably actually comes from hoenn, but he does cargo runs throughout sinnoh now. [i should probably say around, since there arent rly canals thru sinnoh?]

regarding law’s map error, i really jus wanted to reference flower paradise. of course the map he got was a tourist version, so of course it’s gonna include the magical pathway connecting the sinnoh league to an island of flowers. but it doesn’t actually exist, or if it does, it’s not always there, since they sail through the space with ease. just another fun easter egg.

the marsh scene was another i’ve known i wanted since the beginning. i had so much fun drawing the map for it. i actually based the scenes entirely off the map, so while i knew the general direction i wanted it to go in, and that they would run into sabo, the part about wandering into the rain and encountering volcarona spawned while marking the map. crazy how things work, huh?

i think i made the chase move a little too fast, so most of the time out of their 12 hr limit is spent after departing from the marsh, wandering thru route 212. don get me wrong, the marsh scene spans over the course of hours, but its still less time from leaving the ship to leaving sabo than it is to get back to the ship.

the aegislash scene is the first one i conceptualized, of the marsh scene series. introducing law’s team was strategic, especially once i revealed luffy only had four pokemon. it was always meant to be a readers gamble how many law had. at the end of part 3, it’s pretty easy to gauge how many, but still, the surprise of the sixth pokemon in pt 4 is something im still proud of c:

anyway, yes, the first sense of real danger. poachers have no qualms in using their pokemon to harm other people. they’re there for the money, which they get from capturing and caging rare pokemon. who cares if they hurt a few people along the way? who cares if they brutalize them to take a particular pokemon, a-la mr. cleffa sir? law reacts to this very quickly, in part because he’s used to it, as explained in tragic backstory number 2, right behind one-brother-dies-and-the-other-runs-away from protag #2.

actually, i guess the first danger was the wild kadabra, but this is the one in which someone gets hurt! . . . or, worse-hurt, because law’s scratch doesn’t count. luffy’s gash in his shoulder? that’s a big injury. especially when they can’t just stop to treat it, especially when law still has blood on his face from it, especially when they have to go right back to running around the marsh.

and then sabo appears!! i lied, this was the first marsh scene. i drabble-wrote it in my series-of-drabbles-to-add-to-the-outline before i made pt 3′s outline, and then wrote it for real. the aegislash-being-badass-therefore-law-also-by-proxy was the second. one of the first sentences i ever wrote for tether was law realizing the face from luffy’s picture was right before his eyes.

so why do the hunters ignore luffy calling for sabo while running away?

yes, why the no consequences? i realized at this point they were too far away to hear and law too out of it (its law’s pov, still) to figure what they were saying, to i had to play it off. it’s another scene where i almost wrote a few paragraphs from a different perspective [the other two were the tsuru-caesar confrontation and the mr. cleffa dude ft. sabo scene, both of which i had to expand upon by talking, instead of a flashback to show it. i rly went full soul-eater approach here, huh? explaining everything through present means. well. save for law’s backstory, but that’s about the only thing.] but decided not to in the end.

here’s how the scene plays out, full disclosure. law and luffy spot the two hunters. a third person, sabo comes into view. the hunters tell sabo the situation, that they were being chased. law recognizes sabo, luffy does too, and calls out to him, loudly. this causes the hunters to panic, and they tell sabo, there, there’s the people chasing after us. law figures sabo has some secret reason for posing as a hunter and pulls luffy again out of view, not wanting to give him away. all three hunters take off running in the opposite direction. luffy calls out for sabo again, and sabo turns to question the other two, asking which pokemon they stole that was named ‘sabo’. he has a fake name, obviously. they don’t know he’s sabo. before they can figure it out, he derails the topic. but then he slips crossed fingers behind his back at the same time, signaling silently to luffy, who stops calling out.

so, tldr, sabo’s not using his real name while with the hunters and is smart enough to cover his ass from luffy’s mistake.

i wanted law carrying luffy, on their way down the route, to the stormclouds, and i’m pretty sure the one reason i didnt go thru with it is because law’s backpack. and, y’know, luffy being caked in mud.

okay, do. panic attack time. ptsd time. a mix of both, ig. whatever you wanna call it. originally, this scene was going to be a bit different, and happen way earlier in the story. it didnt bc of sinnoh’s lack of fire types [there are only 2 i think, 2 lines i mean, so like 5] and the fact that ace’s team featured none of them. and then i thought, oh, i’ll jus make the same thing happen w sabo, except none of sabo’s team were one of them as well.

originally, it was going to be that law/lu encounter a clan of a specific type of wild fire pokemon. i think for the longest time it was talonflame, not sure anymore. anyway, so it was gonna go that luffy recognizes ace’s former pokemon outta the bunch, and they recognize lu as well, and the two reunite and all that jazz, and meanwhile law has his attack bc the group they encounter are one of the pokemon that tormented him in alola.

and, nope, now i remember why it didnt happen. as much as i hate dof, i had to craft a team for him for plot purposes, and that ended up being a bug team to go w the whole string motif. the problem was i had this scene planned for a looooong time, and it needed to be w a fire type, one of ace’s pokemon. except there are like no fire/bug pokemon, except for volcarona, who wasn’t on ace’s already-planned team at this point. i debated for foreeeeever and finally decided to screw it, and i made it sabo’s unova pokemon. so, instead of getting a unova dragon, in the land of dragons unova, sabo gets a volcarona and ace a darmanitan. all for plot purposes. no sense here. none at all.

[not that it matters, since sabo morphs into a fire trainer anyway after ace dies]

so, after i decided it would be sabos pokemon, the point came back to how they would encounter it. no hordes of wild volcarona in sinnoh. i sadly had to scrap the idea. this is what i came up with instead: volcarona coming to luffy to deliver a letter, and scarring law in the process.

Law has a chocolate bar, because he’s ten and anxious and chocolate seemed good at the time.

-aka my favorite line of the whole entire story!!!

and then law’s backstory time. so!!! for the longest time i was torn between setting the story in sinnoh or alola. this was my big compromise. i wrote a draft-outline for law’s alola backstory before i wrote a real outline for tether as a whole. this was the first part of the story i really wrote. i was done with it before i started pt 1, because i wanted to outline before i started writing.

the thing abt law is that his life is so much of a tragedy. oda writes it so well, to the point where you’re thinking this can’t get any worse and then it gets worse, every time. i wanted to mimic that here. i didn’t do it justice, but i at least tried.

law’s life is filled with mistrust. his whole village dies, he nearly does as well, and so he packs up and runs away, and hides his one pokemon abra because he’s not a registered trainer and he refuses to abandon abra so theres mistrust towards everyone who can turn him in, and everyone who didnt care enough to help with the water crisis. he’s done with sinnoh. so he spends a bit holed up in a library, and once he reads about alola, he’s sold. he’s so mistrustful it’s not a matter of ‘anywhere is better than sinnoh’, its a matter of ‘i can’t end up in another place just like this’. alola is the solution.

except, he’s still mistrustful. so he hides abra, and he hides his money, and he doesn’t speak with anyone, and he leaves the city as soon as he can. he doesn’t know the rules of this place, but abra is all he has. he can’t lose abra. and then things go wrong.

because he’s out of sinnoh, but alola is different. he’s ten, and he’s never had a real pokemon battle, and all the wild pokemon of alola are too eager. he’s ten, and a pangoro attacks and he loses all his supplies on his very first day, because abra’s too exhausted to teleport them away this time. [in hindsight, i did a really bad continuity error here, throughout the entire flashback. it’s thru law’s eyes, so i describe the pokemon he doesn’t know about, and yet sometimes i name the pokemon he really shouldn’t know about. my bad.]

he’s ten, and the only food he finds is being guarded by a giant sumo crab, so he crawls to the other side of the beach and falls asleep on the sand, hungry. he’s ten, and he’s living off berries because money is only so good when you can exchange it, and he’s far away from civilization. he’s ten, and he spends the very last of his money on money for abra, for his only pokemon and his only ally, because going to a pokemon center would mean being seen and asking for a license to verify and its too risky, he can’t risk it.

he’s ten, and he’s hungry, and he has nothing but the abra clutched in his arms and his ripped clothes clinging to his body, and he witnesses a murder. and they catch him in the act, and then he’s stuck, because he shouldn’t have a pokemon so young, and he’s a witness to a crime, and too quickly he’s in a very bad position.

he’s ten, and to keep abra alive, he joins a gang in alola.

he’s ten, and he’s blackmailed into working or risking abra being taken away. he’s ten, and he has morals, and there’s some tasks he won’t do, but the family boss punishes him for it, harshly. he stops having morals. it wouldn’t do him good here.

law turns eleven, and suddenly gang tasks involve pokemon battles. law’s eleven, and doflamingo trains law himself, beating the weakness out of him, burning him, scarring him, terrorizing him because he can, and because law can’t refuse.

law’s eleven when he realizes his picture-perfect alola was nothing but an illusion, because the lack of monopolies and corporations and factories actually had nothing to do with how much the natives cared about their own, or cared at all, about anything. just because alola didn’t have a pokemon league didn’t mean it wasn’t a bad place to be.

he’s eleven when he meets corazon, and finally, finally, gets a breath of fresh air, gets a taste of a person who isn’t there to ridicule him or abuse him. he’s eleven when he meets his first real friend since his sister died, meets someone that finally treats him like a human being. and it doesnt matter that he’s doflamingo’s brother, because he’s kind to law.

law’s eleven and corazon works to repair the damage done by the gang, little by little. he gets law out on an island challenge, and he wanders through melemele and akala and meets kind people and has fun and experiences the real alola. and he realizes, somewhere along the way, that he never wants to go back to the family ever again.

law’s eleven when he realizes he has no choice. because he belongs to doflamingo, because he has to skip out on ula’ula to accomplish a task for the family, because corazon sits there and lets it happen.

law’s eleven when he’s given a pokemon egg, and when he’s given hope.

corazon was going to take care of everything. he was going to get them out, safely. they were going to rescue a captive pokemon. law was going to be free. law was never going to be hurt by the family again.

except, that’s not how it goes. corazon dies. corazon’s pokemon are tortured in order to lure law out. corazon’s pokemon all die for him and law has no option left but to run with all his might, all the way from one tip of ula’ula to the other. and then, because he can’t trust anyone, anyone, law runs away into a desert with no supplies to speak of.

law’s eleven when he comes face to face with the most temperamental tapu in the alola region, and even with all he’s been through, it’s the most scared he’s even been in his entire life. and then, when he comes to, he finds himself stranded in the kalos region. he’s eleven. he goes through all of this and he’s not even a teenager yet.

so, backing up just a bit, you can see how seeing a volcarona is going to invoke some rather strong emotions in law. he panics. he passes out. luffy puts volcarona away, because me might be oblivious on a lot of things, but he can understand the pure terror in law’s eyes.

alright, what else. the letter. of course luffy disavows the letter, he’s luffy, he can’t follow a plan to save his life.

#tether #pt 4 notes whenever i get around to formatting pt 4 #ill link the maps there too #and ill probably throw together a quick timeline too ive been thinkin abt it

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sanjuno · 6 years

Note

In your fic/idea thing about everyone thinking Ace et al are Dragon's kids, what was Shanks reaction? To well, everything (including the WBP 'recruitment' efforts)

That would be Rumour, Slander, Hearsay and it’s… hard to say. Because in this ‘verse? Nobody except Garp knows for certain that Ace is Roger’s son. Everyone except for Dragon and Garp thinks Ace is Dragon’s kid, and while Dragon has suspicions about Ace’s parentage… he never confirms it. Because Ace is Dragon’s son now. So there, World Government Propaganda Machine, Dragon’s onto your wiles and he will protect his kids from your nasty rumourmongering.

Now, what this means, in regards to Shanks, is that his relationship with Ace (who Shanks does in fact get to meet as a child while on Dawn Island in this ‘verse) is only as strong as what develops during their interactions. Which, considering how Shanks is essentially D-bait plus Luffy being part of the equation… is pretty damn strong. Even without the currently unknown connection they have to one another through Roger.

So once Ace sets out to sea he’s probably going to have pretty regular contact with Shanks, for the given value of “regular”. Especially since it seems like Grand Line Pirates tend to go a decade or more without contacting friends or relatives unless they end up at the same port of call by sheer coincidence. Only that won’t fly with Ace, because in this ‘verse ASL have a goal beyond “get strong and wreck shit”. Which is, to summarize in a word, “freedom.”

All three of the ASL are influenced by Dragon’s philosophies in this ‘verse and contribute to the Revolution in their own ways. Luffy is going to be Pirate King and is cheerfully playing the part of the wrecking ball on the established world order as he goes. Sabo is the only one who is a Revolutionary in name, but he’s also going to “disguise” himself as a pirate as part of collecting information and going on missions for the Revolutionary Army. Ace is going to have a vendetta against slavers and the World Nobles, which will involve him burning down a lot of auction houses and sinking a lot of “Marine Escort” ships.

So Ace tends to get in touch with Shanks about relocating rescued slaves to the New World or the four Blues fairly frequently. Especially since Koala has informed the ASL about what happens when rescued slaves are returned to the homes they were taken from. Ace happens to be enjoying his life thanks, so it’s the Grand Line Witness Protection Program for the lot of them without exceptions. Which leads to Ace and Shanks having frequent arguments over which of them the “Freedom Trail Armada” belongs to. Ace insists it’s Shanks’ Pirate Armada because Shanks is the Yonko here and also they mostly operate in Shanks’ territory. Shanks insists that they’re Ace’s Pirate Armada because the only reason the Freedom Trail exists is because Ace has a grudge and the ability to set himself on fire at will.

Joke’s on them both because everyone else just assumes that Ace is going to take over as the “Roaming Emperor” when Shanks settles down. Which is… not an inaccurate assumption for them to make.

Anyway, in this ‘verse the reason Ace challenges Whitebeard is because he needs an excuse to lie low for awhile and maybe pretend to be dead because he might have set the entire Auction House sector of Shabody on fire and maybe a few World Nobles got their bubble-domes broken and they may or may not have expired due to smoke inhalation. So yeah. Anyway. Let’s challenge the Strongest Man in the World to a Captain’s Match! Then it’ll be totally understandable if we disappear from view for a few months because everyone will just assume Whitebeard killed us!

It’ll be fine! Shanks says Whitebeard is a decent guy, and a Captain’s Match has rules. Whitebeard is a Peacemaine so we can even mostly trust him not to cheat in a way that will actually kill us! It’s a good plan!

Which is the bit where things go really sideways. Because Whitebeard really is a good guy, and Ace really would have been fine coming out of an honest Captain’s Match with him. Only somehow the rumour starts that Ace wants to “take Whitebeard’s head”, which leads to Jimbei showing up. Jimbei, who works for the World Government. Ace would really rather avoid being horribly tortured until he finally dies to escape the pain, thanks. So they fight, and Ace fights to win because if Ace loses he knows that he and the Spades are going to suffer.

Jimbei, of course, has no idea what’s going through Ace’s head. He just thinks Ace is violent and savage and wants to kill Whitebeard. Thus we see the five-day running battle take place. Ace wins against Jimbei, only to be ambushed by the Whitebeard Pirates and taken captive. Commence the 100 days of assassination attempts and Ace’s isolation from everything and everyone he knows and loves.

Dragon, Shanks, and Sabo are all unaware that Ace’s plan to lie low has hit a little snag. When Ace drops out of sight after rumours of him fighting Whitebeard start to circulate they assume things are still on track. Luckily for Ace, he had plans to meet up with Sabo for some brotherly bonding time after making sure nobody was tracking him after confronting Whitebeard. Plus, Sabo has Ace’s vivre card and when it keeps smoking even 50 days after Ace drops out of sight Sabo starts getting worried. So Sabo tracks Ace down and finds him being kept prisoner on the Moby Dick without any of the Spades in sight. Ace’s ship is also nowhere to be seen, which is a big red alarm for Sabo.

This is when Dragon gets called in. Ace is rescued by his father and his brother, leaving the Moby Dick behind without a second glance. Dragon forces Whitebeard to return Ace’s ship and crew and exacts a promise to never “take slaves” again. Which has all of the Whitebeard Pirates cringing, because they don’t. They’re a family. But Dragon is merciless because Ace is his son. Ace is Dragon’s son and Whitebeard had ignored the fact that Ace had told him “no, I don’t want to join you”. Plus the daily beatings and borderline starvation.

“A good father.” Dragon snarls in a voice of quiet threat. “Does not ignore a child so desperate to escape they commit twice daily assassination attempts!”

So Dragon takes his sons and leaves a very chastised Yonko and crew behind him. After spending a few days thinking over what had just happened, Whitebeard calls a family meeting and puts measures in place to prevent the situation they tripped into with Ace from happening again. Which is great. It’s fantastic. Good on Whitebeard for acknowledging his mistakes and taking steps to learn from them!

Only that doesn’t stop the repercussions of what Whitebeard did to Ace from falling on him and his crew. One of those repercussions? Happens to be a visit from a very angry Shanks. Who wants to know what the fuck kind of drugs Newgate is on that he thinks kidnapping and torturing the kid Shanks considers one of his little brothers/protege is okay.

The news gets around that Whitebeard did something to anger Shanks, and some of the worst of the rumours imply that Whitebeard was caught taking slaves. And Whitebeard’s reputation takes a hit, because sure. They’re a family. Who are all branded with Newgate’s mark. Uh-huh. They’re all there of their own will. Sure, that’s believable. Lot’s of Pirate Captains like the idea of following another man’s orders. Mmhm.

For his part, Shanks says nothing about or to Whitebeard for years after yelling at the old man about Ace. Which really doesn’t help Whitebeard clear up the rumours.

Anyway there’s something of a Family Reunion in the aftermath of the rescue where Ace gets cuddled and fussed over by everyone. Shanks and Luffy do most of the cuddling. Dragon and Sabo do most of the fussing. Koala mostly takes a lot of pictures because this shit is adorable. Dadan may or may not mutter threats against Whitebeard’s continued masculinity when she thinks nobody’s listening.

Ace gets better and goes back to what he was doing before, and Shanks goes back to being vastly entertained by Ace’s everything. And if Shanks is maybe a bit more conscious of timelines, a little bit more strict about checking in regularly? Well. Nobody mentions it.

#Sanjuno talks back #Fic I haven't written yet #Rumour Slander Hearsay #one piece fanfic #one piece meta #Sanjuno's ficwork #Redhaired Shanks #yohoho it's a pirates life #portgas d ace #Pirate Politics #Being shanghaied is Not Fun

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karinzany · 6 years

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💘💣💔💢🌹 OP? : D

I think Vivi X Kohza is a pretty underrated ship. I mean, they’re childhood friends, and now they are both working together to make Alabasta great again, so their relationship is only growing stronger. And Vivi said to her father that he could discard all of the photos of her suitors, so that means something... Oh, and Hancock X Cavendish - it’s a crackship that I just randomly thought about but can’t get off my head because it kinda makes sense and it would fit in the story. Cavendish, aside from Luffy, must be the only man who wouldn’t be fazed by Hancock’s beauty, and would actually tell her he was prettier. Comedy gold. Bonus: Luffy would be free from her.

Doflamingo X Corazon, Doflamingo X Law, LAW X CORAZON, WHY???? Why would someone like that? They absolutely piss me off. Just like any Sanji X Vinsmoke brothers ship. Nevermind the incest, these are just plain abusive relationships that shouldn’t be romanticized by the fandom. I also HATE when people ship two characters just because they look good together (like Robin X Law, or other Robin/Nami X Hot Guy kind of ships).

In terms of canon couples, Oda writes beautiful but sad love stories: Roger and Rouge, Senor Pink and Russian, Kyros and Scarlett... But I’m going with one that both saddens me and pisses me off: Yasopp and Banchina. She was ill, all alone with their small son, and she still loved him and waited for him till her very last breath. Yet, he never came back. I just hope that when Usopp finally meets him, he makes sure Yasopp knows how much he made his family suffer.

Ace X Bonney is misunderstood in the sense that people think it’s real. I’m not trying to be mean, but I think we can safely say that Bonney was crying after Marineford, not because of her “boyfriend”, but because of her father, the gentle Kuma, who was turned into a brainless killing machine by Vegapunk. But that wasn’t what you asked. So I’ll say Mihawk X Perona. Some people view their relationship as a couple, but to me they are more like father and daughter (and Zoro is the son). Huge age gaps feel weird to me, that’s another reason.

OTP? I can only choose one? Shanks X Makino all day everyday. Why? Because it’s freaking CANON! They have two cute baby boys (Luffy and their son), and from what we’ve seen, they’ve been friends for years before their relationship evolved. I just hope Shanks is a good father and he doesn’t fuck up like Yasopp... (In the Strawhat crew, I also love Franky X Robin, but I’m still not sure if that’s going to happen, and for me Luffy X Nami is endgame).

Thank you for asking! These questions were hard ahaha

#one piece #about shipping #narramin

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all-of-the-musesarchived · 6 years

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Cassie Ships

So I was asked a few times as to my reasoning for shipping Cassie with the characters I do, or want to. So I decided to make a list as to the reasons for each. And yes, each of these is considered an AU unless specified.

Romantic Ships

Thatch (@thatchtheawesomecook) : Thatch was the first face she saw of the crew that had saved her from drowning. At first, she couldn’t stand him. His optimism, his ability to look on the bright side of everything, especially since she herself had long given up on that side of herself. She’d accepted that she was going to die, and after MUCH argument and convincing, he’d managed to at least convince her to hear out Whitebeard when they spoke. Part of what got her was that Thatch had seen not just years of anger and vengeance. He saw the fear and the loneliness she’d lived with for twenty years. After some time, the cook convinced her to stick around, even put her need for revenge on hold. As even more time passed, and many events, the two grew closer, eventually figuring out they were in love. The thing Cassie loves most about Thatch is that despite everything, her lack of self confidence, her nightmares, and years of pain, he stays with her. Even when her nightmares cause her to lash out in her sleep, he stays awake with her to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself, even lulling her back into some form of a restful sleep before even thinking of going back to sleep himself. THeir love is based off of caring for each other and needing to be the light in the other’s life.

Ace: So, at first the two couldn’t stand one another. Or at least in Cassie’s mind it was as such. Ace, when he joined the crew, had made his intentions clear and she would not by idly while he tried to assassinate the man she’d grown to call father. Marco had talked to him after one particular late night attempt on Whitebeard’s life, and Cassie had talked to him the next day as well, hoping to at least get him to understand what Marco was saying. When Ace finally came around, bearing the mark of WHitebeard on his back, she found herself growing less annoyed with him, and perhaps more understanding. After all, she wasn’t the only one to suffer loss, judgement, and the cold grasp as fate cast the dice of their lives. The two slowly became friends, laughing and sharing stories and drink with one another. After one instance in particular, after they’d dealt with one of their crew’s rivals, the two began drinking heavier than usual, which resulted in lots of talking, which lead to feelings coming out. Though they didn’t remember much the next morning, they did remember ending up in bed together and awoke tangled in one another’s arms with their clothes scattered about the room. There was embarrassment, confusion, and a mix of other emotions. Strangely vacant though was one in particular. Regret. Neither one regretted ending up with the other, in fact, they were grateful they had done this. Ace to Cassie is the part of her she tries to hide from the world, but with him, the bad ceases to exist and he helps her to shine and to be the best she can. If not for the world, then for him.

Benn (@benn-beckman) : So, Cassie’s hatred of her brother Shanks aside, if it even really is hatred, Benn was one of the first to offer her a shoulder to cry on or an ear to vent to during her stay on the Red Force. The two started out as good friends, bitching about her brother’s shenanigans, joking about adventures they’d had, and sharing a smoke or two over a friendly drink. Though they’d only expected it to remain a dear friendship, something seemed to grow between them. It started off small, a glance here and there, a brush of the hand as one passed the other, little things most wouldn’t pay attention too unless they knew what to look for. Those small interactions then grew to hand holding, sitting beside one another, even a giggle passing from one’s lips at the other’s joke. When it became obvious to everyone around them that something was going on, the two were pretty much forced to accept that they were in fact in love with another. Benn made sure to treat her like a proper woman, treating her to dinner, holding doors for her and putting those in their place that would seek to harm her. It wasn’t that he thought she couldn’t fend for herself, in fact he knew all too well she could care for herself if the need arose. What he didn’t want to see was her beautiful porcelain skin stained red with the blood of those that would do her harm. Though he knows she has taken lives in the past, Benn feels he’s been stained red far longer than she has and would seek to preserve that innocence as long as he can. He is also respectful of her boundaries, if she has a bad day or her nightmares are bothering her, he’ll ask if she wants to talk about it, and if she says no he’s okay with that.

Moria (@burikubato) : Love at first sight. There wasn’t much said between them at first before they shared a passionate kiss under the midnight moon, only the clouds passing over the moon in thin wisps and the occasional owl in the distance to witness. Their love bloomed and Cassie found Moria invading her every thought. She hadn’t expected to fall for the man, in fact she had intended to leave once she was well enough to travel again but the thought of leaving Moria hurt more than anything she’d ever felt. After joining his crew and sucumbing to her feelings, Cassie felt a happiness she hadn’t in a very long time. He cares for her, and she cares just as much for him. If he gets hurt, she tends to his wounds despite the doctor’s objections, and she tries to make sure he actually takes care of himself if he gets lost in his work. When it comes to herself, Cassie may be a forgetful about things like actually eating during her work or when she’s helping take stock and such and pulls an all night or three. Moria has noticed this and goes out of his way to make sure she tends to herself. If she doesn’t he will take her and put her to bed or sit her down to actually eat. They take turns caring for one another and caring for their crew. Even when it comes to battles, the two are at one another’s side, ready to take the world on. Almost a true fairy tale story.

Doflamingo: This is an interesting one. To be honest, Cassandra knows Doflamingo, and of his reputation. He scares her, like truly scares her but something about him excites her. Despite his cruelty and his obvious lack of regard for those he views lesser than him, his care for his crew and those he considers family strikes her as a need to connect. She has accepted that she’s wrong, or he at least thinks she is. She’ll accept his anger, his wrath, if it means she can eventually help him. She knows that pain, that agony, the loneliness, and what it’s like to not have someone there that understands. She hopes one day to perhaps be the person he can confide in, though she has also accepted that that may never happen.

Kidd ( @locum-magneticum-a) : Ok, so perhaps not a healthy relationship if you go by canon Kidd but my Kidd isn’t like that… He doesn’t show physical affection very well. In fact, PDAs aren’t something he does often if ever. And Cassie understands it. He has a reputation to uphold, and if his feelings for her ever came to light, she could be used to weaken him. Something she’d never be able to live with should something happen to him. That being said, when alone, Cassie dotes on him. She rubs his shoulders, especially if his prosthetic is bothering him, gets him a drink, and tries to make him as comfotable as she can. Kidd has said several times that it’s not necesarry, and told her he doesn’t want her to feel like a maid or his mistress. Cassie continues though, because she feels by caring for him, she’s atoning for the deaths in her past, and the blood still staining her hands. After some time, he began convincing her that she wasn’t as bad for him, or at least trying to. She didn’t want to believe him but he insisted, and eventually he started getting through to her. To Cassie, Kidd is a wounded man but a beautiful soul she wants to help realize he’s worth something. To Kidd, Cassie is the one shred of innocence he has left that he refuses to let go of. Kadio be damned.

#Muse: Cassie #Ships #Verse: One piece

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authenticaussie · 7 years

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MAS + truth spell, with angst

y e S, YES, YESSSSSSS!!!!

Requests || Commissions || Ko-Fi

“I actually really like cats.”

Ace stares at him, interrupted in the middle of a stirring tale of how he and Sabo used to pull cat tails and then scamper when they were turned on, and Sabo blinks, a frown coming to his face. He pushes his fingers curiously against his mouth, unable to deny the small surge of concern that trickles through him. “I didn’t- mean to say that.”

“What do you mean?” Ace asks, and Sabo takes a breath and means to say well I don’t like cats, actually-

“I didn’t want to tell the truth just then and I did.”

Sabo jolts, his hand slamming hard over his lips. “I-” he says, staring at Ace with wide eyes, “I don’t want to say any of this. I can’t stop talking.”

Ace looks back at him with the same amount of horror, worry burning wild in his eyes. He almost picks Sabo up with how hard he pulls at Sabo’s bicep, dragging him away from the table, but Sabo’s tongue is still spilling secrets and he can’t make it stop.

“Koala’s really pretty.”

“Sometimes when you sing in the shower I sit outside instead of coming in.”

“I stole Hack’s seaweed wrap. And I put it back but he didn’t notice so I stole it again.”

“I did try and punch a tsunami, I lied. When I heard you did it I wanted to try it.”

“I lied-” Sabo bites his tongue, the sharp shock of pain stopping him momentarily, but it’s like someone else is in charge of his mouth and he finds himself saying, “I lie to you all the time. When we first met I lied to you.”

“What?” Ace says, his hurried pace across the deck halted for a moment by the hitch in his step, but then he shakes his head and continues. “Yeah, I know. You said you were an orphan.”

“I don’t remember that,” Sabo says, and watches as this time Ace slows steadily, a frown of realisation taking form on his face. “I meant when I first met you. Or, when I remember first meeting you. You said you knew me and that I knew you but I didn’t, and I-” he heaves in a breath, bracing the heel of his palm against his lips and trying to ignore how Ace’s eyes have gone wide, but he can’t get himself to shut up. “I just thought that I could-” he chokes, the word dragged long and painful, his hand wrapped around his jaw, “use you- for the Whitebeards.”

“You- what?” Ace says, and his chest swells sharp and hard, his palm warm even through Sabo’s coat. He stops, and his voice is quiet when he asks, “But- now? Do you know me now?”

Sabo lets go of his mouth in a desperate attempt to reach forwards because he does-

“Do you remember me?”

The word pries his teeth open and slips out before he can stop it. “No.”

Ace stumbles away just as Sabo lunges forwards and grabs his biceps, tugging him close. “I have-!” he says desperately, even as Ace turns his face away and struggles to free himself, "There’s bits and pieces- sometimes when you tell stories I just- I know them before you’re finished! Or I know someone you’ve never mentioned before, and I get flashes, sometimes, and-”

"Let go of me!” Ace yells, his lips curled into a growl, but his hands are in claws instead of fists, scratching and shoving and savage in his desire to escape. "Get off me!”

Sabo’s palms burn and he flexes them against the heat, knowing it’s not just Ace’s fire that lets Ace stagger away. They’ve drawn a scene, but Sabo only has eyes for how Ace’s hands are shaking. “You lied,” Ace says, as though that were ever some big secret, and Sabo’s laugh is breathless and depreciating.

“I always lie.” He presses his fingers against his forehead, eyes screwed tightly shut as he sighs. "I’m not- the truth can hurt people, and I figured- that if you thought me to be someone else, why bother to correct you? You just wanted your brother back-”

“Yeah, I did!” Ace snaps, and his hands are in fists but his shoulders are trembling, “I did want my brother back. I wanted what we had, and I wanted to forget being lonely, and I wanted- and you lied! You tried to-”

“I didn’t mean to!” Sabo defends, but then there’s a roaring in his ears and his legs go numb. Mercifully someone catches him before he hits the deck, but his head still swims until he manages to choke out, “I did- mean to- use you. I thought that you were dumb and too trusting, but I never set out to hurt any of you. I just- if I had someone, some way to have the loyalty of the Whitebeards-”

He blinks away blackness to see Marco watching him, blue eyes careful and guarded and sharp, but Marco’s still gentle helping him sit up, still worried as he watches Sabo’s mouth form words he has no control over.

“So you lied,” Marco says slowly, and Sabo’s lips quirk into a bitter smirk.

“I’m good at it.”

”What else did you lie about?“ Ace says, and Sabo looks at him; looks at the fact that Ace hasn’t shifted, only tensed. Somehow the knowledge that Ace hadn’t moved to catch him is what makes it sink in, that the ramifications he’d sometimes idly pondered are going to be far worse than he’d ever imagined. That whatever is forcing him to tell the sharp shards of the truth is going to tear down everything he’d taken for himself and force him to share what he’d used to justify his decisions, when his decisions had been about people he hadn’t known he’d known.

“I forgot your birthday,” Sabo says, his secrets sliding their way from where he keeps them, falling off his tongue as he recalls each one. “I lied about that, ‘cause I forgot. I lied about knowing who Luffy was, and I lied about knowing Shanks, ‘cause I thought you’d like it better if I said I’d thanked him for saving Luffy, too. I lied about my missions a couple of times so that I could leave here faster. And I lied about my missions so I could come visit, too, and-”

He grunts, pursing his lips together, and can’t help how his eyes slide to Marco, guilt flushing his cheeks.

“What else did you lie about?”

“I-” he whines, unable to help himself, and tucks his chin against his chest as though that could stop anything else from leaving him. He can feel Marco’s fingertips against his spine, the tiniest touch of pressure and comfort, and his throat tightens. “I- please- don’t make me say it.”

There’s a hollow silence, punctuated only by his heaving gasps, and for a moment he can almost believe that someone will ask him something. Will let him escape whatever penance he’s meant to be paying for keeping secrets. Will let him hide at least this.

But no-one asks him anything else, and when he looks up at Ace, his jaw is set hard.

Sabo’s mouth opens on a breathless nothing, and his eyes flutter closed. ”I- I lied when-” he exhales hard, every word agony, and finally spits out, “I lied when Marco confessed.”

“What?“

Marco’s hand is gone from his back; no matter that they only barely touched, now that Marco was gone-

He tries to reach out but Marco’s already moved away from him.

“Why would you do that?” Marco asks, his voice laced with hurt, and Sabo wishes he could give a proper explanation, wishes he could lie through his fucking teeth, wishes he could say anything than what this stupid curse has demanded is the truth;

“I just didn’t care.”

Ace laughs hoarsely and turns away from him. His hair has fallen in dark tangles around his face, but Sabo can still see the sharp twist of his mouth and how his jaw keeps making tiny, uncontrollable jumps.

“It was because it didn’t matter to me either way,” he says, and wishes he had some way to twist it into something better. “It was because I thought that- I could keep you happy, that way. This way. By- being with you.”

“You think we’d be happy with you pretending you were in love with us?” Ace asks hoarsely, then whirls around with a snarl, fire in his eyes and his lip curled to showcase the sharp jut of his canines, “Why would you even want to keep us happy?”

“You’d trust me,” Sabo says. “If I made you happy then you’d trust me.”

He lets out a useless growl, the base of his palm thunking against the side of his head, and snaps, “But it wasn’t just that! It was never just that, I just never figured out why I wanted you to be happy and then once I did I just thought it wouldn’t matter-”

“Lying to us wouldn’t matter,” Marco says, and his voice is steady and vicious.

His nose is burning; it seems stupid that he’s having to blink more now, now with the thought of losing them, then when he first realised that he’d accidentally trapped himself.

But then again, gods, then again, he’d trapped himself into something good with easy omissions and lies that he hadn’t realised were truths until later, trapped himself into something that made him happy. Against all odds he’d carved out a space filled with adoration and been allowed to call it his own. Had been invited to do such a thing, and hadn’t even realised how much he’d wanted that until he’d been faced with the thought of its loss.

And by that point, hadn’t it just been easier to keep silent? To laugh to himself about the oddities of fate, about lies that turned out to be true, about not knowing what he’d wanted but yet somehow ending up with it anyway?

And wasn’t it better, after all, to pretend that their relationship hadn’t been founded on a quick twist of his tongue? To pretend that they’d managed to figure out a way to be happy through bumbling confessions and laughter?

To pretend that his first goal wouldn’t have torn their hearts to shreds?

Ace breathes out hard and heavy, voice lilted into an almost hysterical laugh. “You haven’t even said sorry.”

“I’m not,” Sabo says, because the last dregs of whatever compulsion he’d to tell the truth are still burning in his throat and to leave this unsaid feels like a weight worse than anything else he’d carried. Ace doesn’t wait for him to finish before he storms off, his teeth bared and a growl rumbling deep in his throat.

Sabo looks at Marco, who’s still poised at the edge of a crowd of people trying to look as though they’re not listening and doing an awful job of it, and flicks his tongue over his dry lips. “I had you,” he says, and can’t help how his lips curl into a bittersweet smile. “And I was happy.”

“You were selfish,” Marco says, and then he turns on his heel and shoves his hands into his pockets, following Ace.

And Sabo finds himself left to place his hands over his mouth and pray he doesn’t let any more secrets spill from his tongue.

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recentanimenews · 5 years

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Why Scars Are So Important In One Piece

Editor's Note: This is a republication of a feature by Daniel Dockery that originally appeared on Crunchyroll News on 4/13/19.

---

Do you have a cool scar? I wish I did. Most of mine are sadly....in my heart. I'm asking that because One Piece is full of cool scars. Now, I'm not one to talk about One Piece very often, but I do think that one of the cool things that it does is use scars as kind of a world-building motif. We're dealing with a universe of punch pirates and laser pirates and Sanji, so obviously even the most meek in the world are gonna be covered, head to toe, in battle wounds. But what One Piece does is use these scars as the connective tissue of its universe. People aren't just related by blood, but by the blood they've spilt.

Take a look at Luffy's post time skip chest. He's got a big ol' X-shaped scar on it. On one hand, this is neat because a popular pirate phrase is "X marks the spot," and as we all know, THE STRAW HAT PIRATE CREW IS THE SPOT TO BE IN, Y'ALL, DOORS CLOSE AT 4 AM, LEMON DROP SHOTS ARE JUST $3. But this scar also irrevocably connects him to Akainu, the fleet admiral of the Marines who slaughtered his brother Ace. It also connects him to Jinbei, who was protecting Luffy at the time, and also suffered a wound when Akainu punched through him and hit Luffy. So it's not just a reminder that Akainu is terrible, but also that Luffy owes Jinbei his life. Luffy's X scar represents both a rivalry and a bond.

This scar is also interesting for two other reasons, with the first being that it's a cool way to differentiate between pre time skip and post time skip Luffy. Oda could've just had Luffy come back after his time skip training with bigger biceps and/or a goatee, but the scar feels more definitive of his change and is a reminder of all that was lost during the Marineford battle. Secondly, it also seems like a cool callback to the anime-only Ocean's Dream filler arc where Zoro, while hypnotized, cut an X in Luffy's chest. Sure, the X would disappear, at least by the time Luffy started unbuttoning his shirts again in the Thriller Bark arc, but it's still an awesome detail and one that could set the sails of a thousand fan debates.

It also links characters that you've never seen interact over the course of the entire show, giving the world a sense of history beyond what you see. Shanks, the goofy, red-haired older cousin of the Grand Line, got his facial scar from Blackbeard before he even met Luffy. How did they meet? When exactly did they meet? What were they fighting over? None of these questions have been answered, but we know that Shanks has a stressed relationship with Blackbeard that can be built upon in the future. Shanks vs Blackbeard is, like, a One Piece WrestleMania level match up, and the foundation is already there.

Also, Shanks has his lost arm, which ties him to Luffy forever. And he's not even mad about it! He's just like "Yeah, handshakes might be a little clumsy at first, but at least you're safe, rubber chosen one."

They can also be the source of intense mystery. For example, when Zoro came back post time skip after training under Mihawk, fans may have noticed that something was different. Can YOU spot the change? Take a pen and ruin your smartphone by circling all one differences.

Pre time skip Zoro:

Post time skip Zoro:

The dude's eye is gone. And while Zoro has the directional sense of a paper airplane being thrown into a hurricane, it's hard to believe that a simple missed turn led to him losing one of his eyes. And we may never know what caused it, as Zoro hasn't been like "Oh, THIS? Funny story..." Instead, it just connects him to Silvers Rayleigh, who has a similar scar and was former first mate to the former Pirate King Gol D. Roger. Now Zoro is current first mate to Monkey D. Luffy, who is the FUTURE Pirate King. Unless, of course, Eiichiro Oda decides to swerve us and end One Piece with "And then Crocodile became Pirate King. There. Are you happy now?"

But the number one scar in One Piece is the one that Luffy gave himself in the very first manga chapter. Now, anime viewers didn't know how he got that scar until the Episode of Luffy special, probably because I doubt the creators of the One Piece anime thought "You know what will REALLY liven up our spirited, colorful, action packed anime about a goofy crew of pirates? Self mutilation by a second grader." But Luffy gave that to himself in an attempt to impress Shanks and his crew. However, I think it means more than that.

Obviously, don't stab yourself under the eye. I know it would be rad to end a job interview with "AND TO PROVE THAT I'M TOUGH ENOUGH FOR THE POSITION OF SALES MANAGER..." and give yourself a scar in the back room of a Costco, but don't do it. For Luffy, though, giving himself a scar on his own volition means that he is, quite literally, carving his own path. Luffy's journey will be different from any other pirate before him. It will be all his own. There are many stories behind the many characters of One Piece, but Luffy scarring himself tells us that the one you're watching, the one about the Straw Hat Crew, is wholly unique.

And it's a story that I plan to keep watching on Crunchyroll. And you should, too, if you're not. I expect this show to last roughly forty more years, so there's plenty of time for cool, new scars to show up.

What is your favorite scar on One Piece? What scar holds the most mystery for you? Tell us in the comments!

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Daniel Dockery is a writer for Crunchyroll. He loves One Piece and only slightly likes his Twitter.

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