#and beat Garp's ass about it after he was killed

[lichenstone]

Born by the sacrifice of a mother under threat of the powers that be. Son of someone who is more legend than man, a messaiah raised amongst the people. He was visited upon by men who gave him gifts of wisdom fame and power. Brought faith and hope to nearly every place he visited, leaving deciples in his wake. He is Whirebeard's last son. Killed by the government in attempt to bring an end to what he represented only for that thing to spread across the world anyway because of his sacrifice. Survived by his mother and the people that followed him who became his legacy. Doomed by the narrative. A man born to die in order to bring about a new era.

inch resting to me how, narratively speaking, Ace is the Jesus of One Piece but I don't think y'all are ready for that conversation

[spiralingemptyness]

remember my bc of saying ‘shanks and ace are brother’ ….well I kinda have an idea

Shanks bumps into Garp while he’s moving baby Ace, convinces Garp to let him take Ace and let him take his brother to hide/lay low, bc they Marines are after him as well.

Any marines or bounty hunters that try to get his bounty don’t live to tell the tale, protective big brother making sure nobody harms his younger brother.

Shanks later meets Beckman, who wonders why a sad teen parent is carrying a sword and a child, later Benn finds out that it’s Shank’s brother they’re orphans and likes Shanks idea for future pirates. Gains a trustable crew, who knows vague details about Ace and Shanks situation (known that he had a Captain, Family(crew), and Home that he lost all at once, but not specified that it was Roger’s crew).

Gets a more consistent/stable-ish home for Ace, everybody loves Ace and would die for him. Ace learns stuff about haki from Shanks and gets trained in a basic way to defend himself, finds out his preferred method of kicking ass is with a fist or a knife. Garp still manages to tell Ace who his father is, Ace ask around finds out he’s the ‘devil’s child’ and that whole scuffle goes down. But instead of that being left to simmer over years, Shanks finds out his thoughts in feelings over being Roger’s kid, Punches and threatens Garp, reassures Ace that he is loved and everyone is thrilled he’s alive, tells stories about his father when they’re alone (crew still doesn’t know how that goes down)

later meets Luffy, he becomes a little brother to Ace, by adopting himself into the family… yknow Luffy doing Luffy things. Whenever they’re docked, Luffy and Ace would play around the island or chill at the bar with Shanks, Makino, and the rest of the crew. Just like Luffy, if Shanks does something to piss them off, they go to Benn. Luffy eats devil fruit, Shanks gets a panic attack, while Ace is both fascinated and confused. Bandits are still assholes, Ace doesn’t hesitate to pummel their heads into the ground. Shanks loses his arm still, Ace holds a little contempt over Luffy, but can’t help but be worried for his brothers.

yadadada, Ace eventually goes off on his own joins whitebeard, meets up with Luffy, has his spat with Blackbeard that ends up with him in impel down, DOESN’T die at Marineford, gets saved by Luffy and Shanks, Akainu gets his fucking ass BEAT for even thinking he can attempt to kill one of Shanks brother/sons without consequences. Stays with Shanks and Luffy, after getting stitched up by Trafalgar, to further recover from injuries and malnutrition from Blackbeard, Impel and Marineford.

oh and Teach gets threatened by Luffy and Shanks that if you go after Ace again, you’ll die and they both of them will go after him at some point. Luffy may be the younger brother, but his protectiveness rivals Ace’s.

[catholicdogxxx]

every single thought i had abt one piece live action

alvida is so hot im praying when she comes back she’ll have the slip slip fruit and still be fat please god.

introducing zoro with baroque works instead of with helmeppo was fucking genius, and mr 7’s redesign is pique. and the gore of zoro killing mr 7? sets a great fucking precedence.

binks brew playing in the background of the flash back where luffy eats his fruit >>>>>

i want a copy of nami’s book as merch

i love the little homage to the original of luffy planning to just fly in

having luffy be there for the scene with helmeppo and rika >>>>

ive said it once ill say it a thousand times how do they manage to make zoro even gayer. ill never get over the whimpering caption with helmeppo just crawling on the ground.

nami girlboss girlslaying even

zoro you cryptic little gay freak “then he owes me money” “didnt wanna make a mess”

im mad they didnt make captain morgan tell helmeppo he didnt beat him as a kid is bc he’s too pathetic to hit.

captain “we should be working for the same team” morgan. bro you are an elder fag preying on a young gay man. THE SHOULDER TOUCH???

roronoa “i kinda got my own thing going on” zoro

“7 days? i could catch up on my sleep”

“when i get down from here, you’ll be the one begging.” MY GOD YOU FAG

tag urself im the bead of sweat in zoros eyebrow

“get lost”

“i am.. lost”

“heyhey no. dont do that.”

my god nami’s actress is perfect the body language, tone of voice, its so accurate to how she was pre joining strawhats. and GOD her facial expressions in her first fight scene w luffy…

zoro almost dipping then deciding he wants to fight lmao i love it

“arent you that drunk from the bar?”

“glad i made an impression.”

morgan you didnt capture shit

inaki did a great job making luffy still look animated.

zoro cutting helmeppos hair is so fucking funny

garp knew exactly who it was when he first got that call

buggy youre sitting like SUCH a slut

buggy loves talking abt shanks like he’s an ex boyfriend

i wanna see what else buggy can do

zoro definitely had sex with cabaji and then killed his brother

i could watch yasopp shoot people all day

shanks casting is so well done im obsessed with the fact that none of the characters are the conventionally attractive roblox looking types

also the timing of luffy being drowned and the flashback to shanks saving him… timed perfectly great depiction of ptsd. same thing with zoros flashbacks.

“why gonna rob the place blind?”

“at least a little blurry”

i love the wlw mlm solidarity with nami and zoro, oh my god the scene of them getting dressed and nami picking out a shirt for him??? obsessed.

zoros pink ass drink

FUNKY BAR MIRROR BALL???

“arlonggg babyyyy”

“you dont think she like. like likes me do you?”

i love the way the meowmin twins move when theyre fighting in the stairwell

luffy grinning like a freak through kuros blades :333 and then the fucking thumbs up

luffys look to nami when kaya says they have a ship

damn they really just fucking murked merry

“they do know im the captain right?”

“let them have this one”

“we are” playing while they leave syrup village im obsessed

nami laughing for probably the first time in years at usopp and luffy fighting over who’s the captain

i could write an essay about the fear in garps eyes in that flashback (im going to)

“which way is port?”

“the left!”

“neverrrrrrr!”

“fine ya brat have it yer wae”

garp laughing bc he’s actually invested in his job again

the camera lense while luffy is smelling the baratie is fucking hilarious

“add food to the equation and suddenly he knows how to navigate”

ive said it once i’ll say it a thousand times inaki does a great fucking job making luffy still look animated

ill never get over sanji’s accent its so fucking fan indulgent

the little angry kick after he puts em on the fucking ground

“welcome to our shitty restaurant where the only thing worse than the ambiance is the food. my name is sanji what can i get for you?”

“any drinks one of our signature cocktails to help you choke down your meal?”

“apologies madam didnt see you there. would you care for an apéritif to start?”

sanji is such a freak oh my god i love him

zoro pointing it out is so fan indulgent

zoro grinning like an idiot when nami says “i need a drink”

im obsessed with usopps fishbowl

sanji’s smile talking about the all blue WAHHHH

i love live action sanji cooking

his fucking theme playing oh my god

zoro and nami comparing usopp to a sea slug

“i had friends”

“swords dont count”

“i had one friend”

“hell one more than i have”

zoro you fucking freak

why is he standing like that fucking fag

“because youre my friend you idiot” NAMI WAHHHHHHHH

zeff is so hot omfg

sanji’s desperate baby scream breaks my heart

i really like they went using with the original manga plotline for sanji’s backstory

“id eat both arms and legs to save zoros life”

putting buggy in the bag is so fucking funny

that zoom in on sanji yelling “zeff” what was that

god i love sanji and zeffs fight

zoro waking up scene is fucking adorable

zoro you fucking devoted freak i love you

ill never get over sanji’s theme

“the only thing i wanna hear from you is dinner specials”

baby nami is perfectly cast

BLACK NOJIKO BLACK NOJIKO

buggys body pinned up at arlongs base lmfao

“arlong has bled us dry”

“then find more blood”

i love helmeppo sitting like that lmao

bellemere’s death scene always makes me tear up jesus christ

“i thought itd take a lot more liquor to bring out your mutinous side.”

why was arlongs speech edited like that oh my god

“of course i will” makes me tear up every fucking time

nami drawing her maps in fucking blood is such great symbolism

“you look tired, maybe you should take a break”

“maybe you ought to get back in the kitchen”

“quit screwing around! luffy needs us!”

“you just got here you dont know what luffy needs.”

“i know he needs my cooking.”

“putting two slices of bread together?”

telling buggy to shut up in unison lmao

“im gonna get outta here.” while flipping them off

“fucking clown.”

USOPP EXPLODING STAR U GOAT

“i get it zeff was mean to you boohoo”

“you dont ever badmouth nami.”

“now youve done it.”

god i love taz skylar

“all great fighters call out there finishing moves”

“yeah youre gonna fit in just fine.”

SANJI WANTING TO HUG NAMI AND HER RUNNING PAST LMFAO

“back for seconds must have liked it.”

“at least i dont need 3 swords to prove im a man.”

garp jus beating the shit out of luffy

nami hitting nezumi >>>>>

god i fucking love nami talking at bellemeres grave

“i know what it means to fight for your family.”

luffy’s reaction to his bounty im in love

koby what was that gay ass look you want to kiss luffy so bad dont you

“be a good marine.”

“be a good pirate.”

luffy mimicking his poster

god i love makino

kaya with a different tea looking healthy 😭

luffy’s bounty up under employee of the month

BUGGY AND ALVIDA BUGGY AND ALVIDA BUGGY AND ALVIDA

god i love garp

helmeppo learning to be swordsman :33

“maybe the old chef was right. it id your turn.”

“i can still take you.” not in a fight…

their jolly roger 🥺🥺🥺

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

jigsaw voice hi hi hello nyla...i'm here to play a game...THE SELFSHIP ASK GAME!!!!!!! for my darling sea otters might i ask:

👯, 📝,💞,💌, and 👀(pretty please <33)

bestie hash, the final boss of sea otters shippers gracing me with their presence in my ask box uwu we love to see it

👯: What canon character are you most similar to?

i think a lot of people would draw superficial comparisons to perona since our devil fruit abilities would have some overlap with my seeing ghosts and her eating the ghost ghost fruit. i can see comparisons to rouge happening as well! and maybe a dab of parallel comparisons to nami, robin or vivi

and i'm only putting garp here not because we are similar but because we're basically narrative foils to one another so he'd be brought up a lot in discussions about me i think

📝: How would your story in canon go? How would you influence the events of the original story?

the biggest one has to do with my insertion into the blackbeard stealing the dark dark fruit plotline. i always end up doing some sort of fun activity whenever we make landfall and one particular occasion i'm told by a fortuneteller i thought would only give fun little nuggets of wisdom on love or whatever says that i'm going to be betrayed by someone and a "precious flame will be extinguished"

to which i'm defensive and in denial about at first because if ace was going to die in the near future, i would definitely know thanks to the version of the faerie faerie fruit i ate but now that it is in my mind i can't really let it go and start speculating who in the crew could potentially be a traitor because where else would such a grand betrayal come from

and right when i think i was just tripping and paranoid and that fortuneteller was bunk, my 'preventable death sense' is pinged by thatch and it becomes a race against the clock to stop THAT from happening before anything can happen to ace. so with the help of wbp crew member that is a ghost still attached to the crew who has sense become suspicious of teach, when thatch finds the dark dark fruit and said ghost pal sees teach's reaction i figure i have my guy

from there i knock thatch out on the deck later that night and take the dark dark fruit for myself knowing teach will inevitably show up for it, which he ofc did before i pass the quick time event of him stabbing me in the back. we have our exchange of me putting shit together that he would kill thatch, his true plans of just wanting that fruit and weighing my options of keeping thatch alive and more importantly ace (who i realize i'm in love with during our time in wano), i relent and give blackbeard the dark dark fruit

then he leaves, although not before asking me to join his crew which i decline and i just wait on the deck for what i know will be a punishment and trial of sorts because of the events that transpired that night and i knew a lot would be stacked against me since

1) thatch is short one devil fruit, 2) i did knock thatch out, 3) i allowed teach to leave and 4) teach had been a member of the wbp for decades compared to my short couple of years

things ultimately work out there and on that end but outside of thatch's death being avoided and ace not having a reason to chase after blackbeard until we have an encounter with him where we inevitably get our asses beat and get sent to impel down (different levels though, he's in level 6)

the only real major change is ace surviving marineford because the 'preventable death' sense triggered on the battlefield when he was faced with his option of turning back to fight akainu or just leaving and he ultimately relents because in that case he knew he would die and didn't want to put me and luffy through that (.... uwu and we both happened to be behind him)

💞: Aside from with your f/o, who else would you commonly be shipped with? Why?

i answered this one here!

💌: How would your dynamic be portrayed? What might people focus on most? Any misconceptions?

i think that our dynamic would really be explored in equal parts gentility and love as worship/a choice

it's shown in present day actions and flashbacks (like the asl brothers arc) that i've always chosen to be in ace's corner - a major highlighted scene being my asking garp if he'd choose ace and luffy or the marines and his hesitance in answering as a contrast to my active decision to choose ace and luffy (and sabo when he is revealed to be alive)

and it's shown in the scenes where there isn't dialogue verbally exchanged but panels/shots of us just having silent eye contact or brief touches for comfort or reassurance. compromises of morality to ensure the safety of a loved on. the fear of losing what's behind him. little things like a casual trivia reveal or random sketch that ace knows how to handle afro hair because he learned a while ago on dawn island to help me take care of it

just stuff that a 10+ of friendship and loving each other and even viewing the world through the lens of that beloved person crafted and i feel like that's really the main thing people would like to focus on in our dynamic

and as far as misconceptions...? i'm not sure i can think of any major ones- well minus weirdos who would only focus on the aspect of our being an interracial couple

👀: How does your ship with your f/o influence both of your characterisations and the world? Would there be any interesting metas written about your dynamic?

i think entire video essays and 'tldr' length tumblr posts would be made about our dynamic as it is expanded on and explored in different ways in arcs like marineford and impel down about the stuff i mentioned above

maybe we'd get so popular there'd be an official ship day so new fans will be ??? when they see an influx of art of the two of us before going "ooooh it's sea otters/flaming pearls day" (dare i be bold enough to say a ship week???)

ace is already a gentle character in certain ways but i think viewing him through the lens of our relationship would add a certain aspect to it that in how much that can extend, verses my more sharp edges that aren't as easily seen over my more sarcastically comedic and joking nature (although the insomnia and eyebags snippets would be a hint there's more to my character than acting nonchalant)

Send in a selfship game ask!

[xamaxenta]

Dadan kinda hates that Ace got married so young, sure its not like shes ever gotten hitched but shes seen a lot and experienced alot and god damn if this is some kind of shotgun wedding she will kill him

Demands him to bring his mysterious fiance to meet the family and who walks in but Marco the fucking phoenix

Dadan doesnt know what to say except to offer Marco a smoke out back, he accepts gracefully and tells Ace he’ll be back shortly, go see the rest of the bandits etc, its a little emotional for her, to see Ace trust someone so openly, having known the brat since he was a feral knot of emotions and anger bundled up behind the sweet facade of freckles and the softness of youth, trust with Ace had to be earned and given willingly, an emotional gauntlet so to speak

Marco says nothing but offers a light for them both, a snap of his fingers and a small spark of gold and blue flame whispers to life between his forefinger and thumb

“Is this the part where you tell me all the ways you’ll bury me alive If I break his heart?” Marco exhales a practiced stream of smoke through a wry smile

Dadan stares at him, was this guy joking or something? There’s a reason her lot like the East blue, its not called the weakest blue for nothing after all and Dawn Island remains fairly sustained due to the filth of the Goa Kingdom, taking on Marco in a fight would be the last thing she wanted to do in life

“Yeah,” she growls around the filter of her cigarette, “Is the answer I know your cheeky ass wants to hear, but nah. Break his heart and the future king of pirates is gonna do it for me.”

Marco laughs, “Ace said the same thing.”

“Damn straight. You wouldn’t stand a chance.” Dadan snorts, smoke curls out from her nose, Marco observes her, the hunch of her shoulders, the set of her jaw

sees all the small mannerisms Ace has inherited from his adoptive guardian, the furrow between Dadans eyebrows, that thunder, is exactly the same, he cant help but stifle a chuckle

“I wasn’t jokin.” Dadan grumbles and Marco waves his hand vaguely, cigarette dangling between his fingers

“I know, I’m just happy to finally meet you,”

That catches her off guard. And its just like that that she instantly understands what Ace sees in this man.

Dadan knows all about being an unwanted presence, being bandits, being different, being treated as scum just because they didnt have the same privileges as other people. She also knows Ace struggled immensely with his own existence and accepting that he was allowed to live and be his own person.

It’s strange how a simple gesture of kindness, or conversation can remind you that you’re worth just the same as any other person, regardless of who you are. Being the incorrigible lawbreakers they are (Garps words not her own) its easy to forget things like these

Marco makes her feel seen, heard, like he wants to be here more than anything else. This is what Ace has needed all his life, and she will gladly give him her adopted son if this is what Marco can provide

Realising she’s yet to say anything to the man, Dadan sucks on her cigarette distractedly, “yeah? Dunno if Ace told ya but we didnt exactly see eye to eye. I know, its dumb cuz he was a kid.”

“He did, but all I could hear was the admiration beneath it all.”

“Get outta here. Ace and I beat each other up all time, he was way out of control.” she wisely leaves out the part where even as a child Ace was abnormally strong and usually won their little spats.

“I’m not going to comment on your method of parenting but neither of you are to blame.” Marco chooses to keep it simple, “Ace loves you, in the same way he loves the rest of our family. I understand why he speaks of you so fondly now.”

Fucking pirates and their sweet talk, Dadan blinks furiously, scrubs at her eyes and mentally swears.

“Thank you for loving him.” Marco continues, his gaze, Dadan notes has taken on a haunted kind of look, thousand yard stare blue eyes glassy.

It must be about the godawful scarring snarling up the entirety of Ace’s chest. Even just looking at the healed mess had made her stomach turn, and, as if sensing her gaze, Ace had closed his jacket in just a little tighter around his body.

Dadan doesnt know the details, Garp never relented even when she beat him black and blue. Whatever was printed about the aftermath of Marineford was a cover up for what might be the Marines greatest disgrace, the proof was her son and his fiance visiting her right here and now.

“Aint hard to. He’s special, so don’t break his heart.” Dadan stubs out the butt of her cigarette in the dirt and Marco follows suit. “Cuz if you do Im gonna be first in line to pluck and butcher your blue bird ass—“

Its in this moment that Ace decides to wander out back, clearly wanting to show Marco around to see the rest of their humble abode. And most likely bored as most of the bandit fam were out hunting or getting shitface drunk in partys bar

“When you said you were gonna give Marco the shovel talk of his life I never expected you to get this creative.” Ace comments with a vaguely bemused smile

“Yea, had loads of time to practice. Fraid i forgot my cue cards though so I had to improvise.” Dadan grouses her ruddy cheeks flushing a colour that could rival her own hair

“I didnt know you could write.” Ace says carefully after a long moment of deliberation, his smile turns smug when Dadan splutters indignantly

“I didn’t know you brats could even read,”

That captures Marco’s interest immediately, he’s never dwelled on it but now that he thinks about it the amount of times Ace has held a book is … absolutely none, the number of times he’s had someone else in his division do his paperwork has been… always

“Shut up! Its not like we ever had homeschooling!” Ace snaps, clearly stung by the clap back

“Wait does that mean Luffy cant—“

“Yep.” Ace brightens up at the mention of his little brother but quickly pulls it together at the last second, “ Well Sabo taught us a little but he died and neither of us got better at it.”

“Aint he that revolutionary icon now? Cant you just call his ass back for lessons?”

“He’s busy.” Ace scowls and Marco wants to laugh or cry or both.

Talk about warm welcomes to the family

Really cute thoughts about Marco following Ace around blindly, like just without question or complaints and holds his stuff for him if Ace gives it

The adorable sight of Marco the Phoenix wandering after Ace whos a bright orange beacon

[baristabomb]

MARINEFORD SPOILERS

For a while I’ve been thinking about this but, I really feel like Ace actually didn’t need to die for Luffy‘s development? It’s really touching to think about it especially with how much Ace is being brought up in Wano, but it’s so much wasted potential. Luffy definitely didn’t need his whole ass brother dying in his arms to know he wasn’t strong enough for the New World.

Marineford would’ve been a great opportunity for Ace himself to develop as a character and get stronger. Like that was when he realized he was actually loved way more than he thought he was and that question he asked Garp years ago would’ve been answered...that he was indeed worthy of being born and he could’ve lived out his life there after improving upon himself now that he knew that. After he and Luffy were saved it could’ve been used as a chance for them to reminisce about the years they spent together and nicely introduce Sabo without making him feel like a cop out? (Makes me feel bad but I feel like he is one. I’m just glad he exists at all at this point and the S on Ace’s tattoo makes him pretty relevant since the Alabasta arc but I digress). It would’ve been better to have Sabo appear as another "secret" brother rather than a replacement brother.

And it makes all of what Luffy did in Impel Down and what he went through feel like it was for nothing. Luffy could've realized himself that he and his crew were just not strong enough for new world because he COULD NOT have gotten to Marineford without those connections and help and led to the strawhats still training for two years... Not to mention that whitebeard was right there and he could’ve done something to keep ace from getting fisted like how he was beating akainu up A FT ER ace was killt. Did he black out or something??

Cool things that happened because of Ace’s death that may not've happened otherwise:

-Law coming to save Luffy and establishing a background for their alliance

-Shanks showing up and seeing Buggy again

-uh....

-wait a second

-all those coulda happened anyways.

Law still could’ve been there as their escape and Luffy could've just been sleeping like he tends to do after big battles. And Ace could’ve been watching him sleep w a smile on his face while he reminisced about their childhood days perhaps??!!?!!

And you know what it’s never sat right with me how Oda just shows Luffy being upset about Ace’s death for, what in his time is only maybe at most a couple hours, and then when Jinbei gets to him he basically tells Luffy to get over it and says that the lives of those he still has should be enough for him to immediately stop being absolutely distraught over the death of his big brother.

I get that for readers of the time, those chapters (including the flashbacks) would be serialized over weeks or maybe even a couple months? In that case it might feel like Luffy had time to process it but like I said it can’t be more than a couple hours for him so?? Like if you’re gonna kill off Ace I’m just saying make it make sense!!!!!!

Sure remembering his friends can help a BIT....but Ace was his number one!!!!!!!!! His ace if you will!!!! His b w o t h e r..,,.,,., His big bwo................most loved person in his l i f e???? Not just that but the way Ace died? WAS KILLED???? RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM?????? Dadan said it best when she said Ace was the one Luffy loved the most in the world......his bROHETR..............of 10 entire years. They spent all their time together and Luffy just? Gets over it......smiling like always even.......,,? No.......,,,....,,...no.................

The way his friends and family reacted to hearing that Ace was dead was panic on top of grief because they knew that Luffy would be suffering out of his mind in that moment and they wanted to get back to him so they could be there for him. No one expected him to get over it. With that logic it doesn’t make sense in universe that he did so quickly because it’s not even expected that you can just get over the loss of a loved one like that. It makes him seem callous tbh.

But then I got to thinking…and I have reasonable “proof” that Oda didn’t intend to actually kill Ace during Marineford: the fact that he hastily drew up a crew that Ace had started before joining whitebeard? But they were never ever relevant? And they didn’t show up at all during the battle when it would’ve been way more heart wrenching and awesome and fun if they had? Like Deuce and Kotatsu? Deuce’s design is way too intricate and thought out to be forgotten from the story if he was supposed to be there like that. Not to mention the fact that he was supposed to be Ace’s First mate

And who wouldn’t want to see a big cat fighting to save Ace???? They could’ve gotten a flashback story like Little Oars Jr. did before he died. They never even show up in the anime...even though there was a flashback where Ace went to thank Shanks for saving Luffy and Deuce wasn’t in his crew? Are you kidding me. I’m so mad.

It would’ve been even more relevant to how much Ace has actually changed peoples lives if they showed up.

ALSO Oda had to phone in a bunch of stuff after Marineford to make Ace seem more powerful than he probably actually was like saying he was offered a position as a warlord when, based off of his results in Marineford, honestly doesn’t feel very warranted. Ace actually feels like the least utilized character in the story since he died before he could really do anything. MR. 3 IS MORE UTILIZED THAN HIM.

And then Oda has to go and say that “if you die it means you’re weak” after he kills the only character he’s ever killed during the course of the story and it just had to be Ace (also Whitebeard). 🧍‍♂️ Seriously, maybe if fans weren’t so sure that Ace was going to survive past Marineford things could’ve been really different because I recall reading that many of them didn’t believe Ace was going to die.

It’s like Oda impulsively decided “you know what?? I’m going to kill him!!!!” And then after he did he was like “HAHAHAHA I BETCHA DIDNT SEE THAT COMING!!!!! WHAT NOW BITCHEEES AHAHAHAHA......wait............what now....”

And then he hastily scribbled up some bullshit like “uhhhhh Ace was so strong the government wanted to make him a warlord uhmhhh he had a 550 million berri bounty on his head” etc. And then he thought up some cool looking crewmembers and gave them some backstory and was like “phew! problemo solved. I can’t have Luffy out of commission for a long time so I’ll just make him remember his friends and get over it completely!!” And Luffy pays homage to Ace in the first New World arc by coming up with a new attack that uses fire and never uses it again…has Sabo come back in Dressrosa to inherit the mera mera fruit....and now he’s got this thing in Wano where Ace is all over the place and has even influenced Yamato..which is cool and all but...wtf.......... this and since he didn’t have ace show up all that much before marineford he didn’t expect him to be such a popular character.

It just shows to go you that Ace dying was never really a part of the plan, but Oda didn’t want to derail Luffy’s personality either. Honestly if oda at least just had luffy be straight faced or melancholy before he reunited with his crew, and brighten up only when he saw them again? 😔

It would’ve been cool if Oda put in little things like Luffy laughing for less time or laughing and then stopping like as if he remembered Ace’s death. Even though the Strawhats were so eager to get back to Luffy to comfort him, they don’t even mention Ace when they meet again. Picking up where they left off like nothing happened. It would be sad to see luffy laugh less but THEN JUST DONT KILL ACE IN THE FIRST PLACE...

I am so sad

[aceopmari]

If the Straw Hats Had a Reality Show Dedicated to Pirates Headcanon! Ft: Law!

With how infamous the pirate crew gotten, it was only natural that they were soon granted the rights to have their own reality show, like other famous pirates in the Grand Line and the New World.

Get ready for Keeping Up with the Straw Hats!

Luffy: Whether it was his strength, or his childlike innocence, Luffy was a fan favorite!

He often ignored the producers suggestions to make the show more interesting.

Luffy didn’t like when the producers told him to punch a random person on the street when they were visiting an island.

Was not getting paid, as he owed the producers over 10,000 berris for punching the camera one time in anger, when the director attempted to take his meat away. The director was only making a suggestion for a much healthier diet for the star of the show.

Luffy also skipped out on a lot of confessional sessions. Mainly because he really didn’t have much to hide to begin with. But if he did go, it was mainly to either show appreciation for his crew or to make public declarations:

“Sanji’s cooking the BEST!”

“Do we get free meat with this show?”

“I’m going to kick Mingo’s ass!”

Zoro: The viewers found Zoro amusing! Whether it be him constantly getting lost, or his heated arguments with Sanji. The producers would rush over to him, cameras and all whenever they caught the two together.

Zoro was surprisingly popular with female viewers. They enjoyed watching him sweat whenever he would work out in the crows nest.

Zoro didn’t care about the show really. Just as long as he gets to work out, drink booze, and sleep, he’s good.

The producers always looked forward to his confessionals after he fights with Sanji:

“That damn shitty cook! Just who the hell does he think he is?!”

“That curly brow dumbass is gonna get himself killed one of these days!”

Sanji: Was angry that Zoro was racking in more views from the female viewers than he was!

Why him?! Why not me?!

He kicked the camera man straight in the chin when he told him that Zoro was naturally more popular than he was.

Sanji desperately tried to win over the female viewers by showing off his fighting skills or his culinary expertise.

He was excited when he finally got some fan mail from the fans!

It turned out to be from the okamas though…

If Sanji went to the confessionals, it was usually to cry about why women weren’t interested in him…or to talk shit about Zoro:

“Just what does he have that I don’t on this show?”

“Why aren’t all the beautiful ladies watching me?”

Little did Sanji know, he caught the eyes of Violet and Pudding.

Nami: An absolute slut for the camera! The producers LOVED her!

One couldn’t tell who was using who more. All that mattered was what would bring them more views and more money.

Whenever it was filming time, Nami would purposely wear a bikini without the jeans to draw in the male viewing audience.

Add the extra seductive act she would put on, and nosebleeds would cover millions of transponder snail television screens.

Loved to give tours of the Sunny and show off her designer clothes.

Would parade around the islands, using Momonosuke as an accessory to manipulate the fans into loving her more.

Nami LOVED to take advantage of the fanbase, often subtly asking for gifts mainly money through the fan mail she receives. Next to Robin, she had the most.

Nami became very vain and strict with the crew on how to present themselves for the camera and had to keep members like Luffy in check to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid to cause the show to be cancelled. But just in case, as a backup, she could always start an Only Fans.

One might say that the fame and fortune was getting to her head, as she would purposely start up drama whenever she was out on an island. Would probably steal from a city mayor if it meant she could get the fans taking for weeks.

Whenever she was in the confessionals, it was mainly to complain about Luffy’s or Zoro’s antics.

Would probably shit talk about Robin, although faking it the whole time, to get some drama started:

“Honestly! I wish Luffy would just use some common sense for once!”

“Robin thinks she’s all that! But everyone knows, I’m the prettiest girl on the show!”

“I’ll let you film me in the bath. It’ll cost you 1 million beri!”

Franky: Loved the camera! One sided on the producers part since they didn’t enjoy Franky’s sense of…ahem…style.

He would dance, be loud, or show off his cool body.

If he was in the confessional room, it was to complain openly to the producers on why they did him dirty.

“Hey! I saw last weeks episode! Why did you cut my scene out, bro?!”

Ussop: Although not nearly as popular as Nami, Ussop was interesting enough to get some viewers watching the show, even unintentionally.

Ussop used the show to make himself seem cooler, mainly through the confessionals.

The lies he told caught the attention of viewers worldwide, though very few could sees past his lies.

The producers didn’t care, so long as there were viewers.

“Yes it was I! The Great Captain Ussop who defeated CP9!”

“Wait wait! Cut that out! Cut that scene out! I meant SniperKing!”

Chopper: The Worlds Favorite Cutie Pie!

Choppers looks alone were enough to win the hearts of viewers! Mostly the female reindeer mink.

Combine that with his child like innocence and he’s instantly a popular household name!

On top of that he already has many sponsorships from multiple sweet brands. (Mainly cotton candy ones.)

Choppers pretty shy on camera and often does his usual dance when he’s nervous. The audience eats it up.

He doesn’t gossip. When it comes to confessionals, he’s usually talking about Zoro’s recklessness when it comes to bandages, or Sanji’s nose bleeding habits.

Jimbei: Not particular interested in TV or fame, but used being on TV to his advantage to spread his word and try stop discrimination against fishmen.

The producers found him boring and didn’t look forward to filming him, especially at confessionals…but at the very least, he was able to bring in views due to his former status as a warlord.

Robin: Had many admirers! She enjoyed being on the show. Often is seen on screen on a lavish shopping trip with Nami.

She does her part to make the show more interesting, whether it is be her dark sense of humor or putting her devil fruit powers to good use.

She once used it on a producer when he asked her to do something suggestive for views. After that, the producers never messed with her again, out of fear for their lives.

Not much for confessionals though, except when she’s expressing how amused she is at Luffy’s antics.

She may appeared to be calm and quiet but you better believe that the rumors she would stir up, would get the people talking!

Piers Morgans was having a field day with the headlines:

“Did Cat Burgler Nami Get Breast Implants?!”

“Roronoa Zoro: Honorable Swordsmen or Man Thot?! Gets Caught Sleeping with Wano’s Most Beautiful Woman!”

“Is Monkey D Luffy, Secretly Seeing His Crewmates Sister From the Germa Kingdom?!”

Brook: Fans loved seeing Soul King on screen. In some episodes he’s either playing music or he’s attempting a panty raid in Nani’s room. Which often results in him getting beat up by her every time.

Anything he says in the confessional‘s ends up with his signature laugh.

Law: Made a special guest appearance since starting hiw alliance with Luffy.

You can imagine his look of surprise, when the crew showed up on Punk Hazard with a camera crew and all.

He wasn’t at all interested in being on TV. His famous “I hate bread” made him an instant fan favorite. And meme along the fanbase.

He didn’t like that…

Law hated being followed around by the camera crew on the Thousand Sunny or when he simply just wanted peace. He frequently scolded the producers to stop or told Luffy to call off the cameras, but neither listened.

He only wanted to discuss the alliance plans in private with the crew and didn’t want the producers to catch any of it for the world to see.

As time went on, and Law was getting sucked into the Straw Hat shenanigans. He found himself wandering into the confessional where he would frequently complain about the crew. Mainly the captain.

“Mugiwara-ya will be the death of me…”

“Rorona-ya has no sense of direction…”

“How has the crew survived this long? They don’t ever strategize when it comes to making a plan!”

Viewer Reactions:

Sabo: Enjoys watching his little brother on screen, and always has a good laugh. Koala would often scold him for abandoning his duties to go watch the show.

Hancock: Would briefly abandon her duties as Pirate Empress for the whole day if it meant, she could watch Luffy on screen.

Took up most of his fan mail, and gifts that had meat.

Hancock would be envious of Nami and Robin on her screen, wishing she was their with Luffy.

Mihawk: Reality shows weren’t his usual choice of television entertainment, but he did watch, soley to watch over Zoro’s progress as a swordsmen. He would lie if Perona asked him if he found what he saw the slightest bit amusing.

Ace: He got a kick out watching his little brother on screen. Often laughing at Luffy’s antics. He saw that Luffy’s crew was slowly riding in more views on the reality show The WhiteBeard Pirates had. Ace wasn’t too worried but he knew he had to step it up.

Shanks: Often shaking his head and smiling in amusement at the sight of Luffy on screen. Would sometimes watch the show with Ace as the two spoke fondly of him.

Big Mom: Was furious that Luffy was racking in more views than her crew combined. Everyone used to love Big Mom’s wedding cake special episodes.

“MUGIWARAAAAA!” *Smashes TV*

Garp: Nearly choked on his crackers at the sight of his crazy grandson invading his screen.

“LUFFY NOOOOOO!”

Smoker: If any marine soldier was caught watching, Keeping Up with the Straw Hats, you better believe that he’ll would be raised at HQ. in secret though, he would watch it. Not for entertainment, but more so to study the Straw Hats moves.

Buggy: Screeching out in jealously seeing Straw Hat Luffy was popular enough to be given his own show and not him.

Kid: Was sitting at a bar one night and spat out his drink in anger at the sight of Straw Hat on his screen.

Nearly popped a blood vessel when he saw Law on screen.

“The hell?! Even Trafalgar?! How come those bastards get their own show?!”

Killer remained silent. He knew the reason why the Kid Pirates never picked up the rights to a pirate reality show was because of how scary Kid was.

Dragon: Used the show as a way to keep up with his son. Although in secret, since he didn’t want his army to notice.

Germa 66: Mixed reactions.

“That’s no son of mine.” Judge would say.

Reiju giggled at the sight of the screen. After a mission, she would look forward to watching the show to see her brother.

Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji expressed annoyance and criticized Sanji. Although would never admit that they were each jealous that Sanji got to be on a reality show instead of the Germa Kingdom itself.

Yamato: Wants to be on the show. Not for the fame, but mainly to spread the word and tell the world what a horrible father, Kaido is and spread Oden’s legacy to the world.

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

Hey, I really really enjoy your character analysis and meta posts, and I was wondering if you could make one about Smoker? He's definitely one of my most favourite characters in one piece and I think he's done really well and I'd love to hear your thoughts on him!!

alright, so, let’s talk about justice.

the standard philosophy of the marines is absolute justice: all criminals are evil, all crimes must be punished. it’s an extremely warped and black-and-white way of looking at the world, and doesn’t account at all for unjust laws and unjust governments, both of which the one piece world has in abundance. we get our first mention and name-drop of absolute justice at the start of loguetown, during the first real cutaway of the manga.

and right after that, we meet smoker.

smoker (and tashigi by extension) is the first marine we meet who follows his own ideals of justice, and follows them very stubbornly. there’s others later- garp, fujitora, and coby once he becomes a marine proper all come to mind- but smoker is the first one.

smoker does believe that pirates should be stopped for the sake of the public good (and to be fair, in the case of many pirates, he’s not wrong), but unlike a lot of other marines, he can and does see crime in shades of grey. and given oda’s drawing of him as a kid has him looking more than a little ragged and with a fucking nail bat, i think it’s very likely he’s been on the wrong side of the law himself in the past, which would explain that (along with his well-documented soft spot for kids) pretty neatly.

smoker appears to place a lot of stock in fair repayment: he’s absolutely infuriated when he’s given credit for a heroic act (defeating crocodile and saving alabasta) that he didn’t do, and he gets himself beat half to death by vergo to balance his perceived debt to law; likewise he lets luffy go after zoro saves him from drowning in rain dinners on luffy’s orders. you may notice this a lot closer to actual justice than just about anything akainu does at any point.

one thing that interests me about smoker is how underranked he is at the start of the series relative to his power level. he starts as a captain, the same rank as nezumi, despite being far and away the strongest marine in the east blue saga and strong enough to kick luffy’s ass all the way up to marineford. i’ve wondered if his tendency to go loose cannon in favor of what he thinks is right isn’t to blame.

despite how harsh he can be, i don’t think we ever see smoker even hesitating to do the right thing, even if that course of action involves working with pirates or is very likely to get him killed, such as him squaring up with doflamingo to protect his men despite the huge disparity in their power levels. and given his response to alabasta was one of the main causes behind fujitora’s handling of dressrosa’s aftermath, his sense of justice winds up having a lot more positive influence than he could have ever expected. 

[charkyzombicorn]

Garp yessss kick Nezumi's ass

Usopp you've run through your whole village every day for 10 years Pick Up The Pace

AAAAAAAAAAAAA INAKI GODOY YOU FUCKING KILLED IT THE LITTLE "Use?" HAS KILLED ME ALL OVER AGAIN I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

Sanji: Luffy needs us!

Zoro: How do you know what Luffy needs?

Fellas,,,, is it gay to have this exact exchange of words unprompted.

Usopp finally killed a man <3

Oh that teeth scene is so fucking icky Luffy don't put those in your mouth

"No, you'd be nothing without her." CHILLS

YEAH LUFFY WRECK IT

Sanji speaking French????????????????? And sharing braincells with Luffy?????????????? And being cute about his crush on Nami???????????? lovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelove

THEY WERE SO WORRIED FOR THEIR CAPTAIN FOR A SECOND THEY WERE SO HAPPY HE'S ALIVE

Not Sanji near TEARS when he thought Luffy was dead and then again when he saw Luffy was alive. 🏳️‍🌈?????

COBY IS JUST AS STUBBORN AS LUFFY

Garp beating the fuck out of teenagers for fun is very on brand

GARP'S LAUGH WHEN HE REALIZES

Luffy you make such a good point Garp could have gone easier but Garp just loves domestic child abuse So Much

The pinwheel tattoo is perfect and amazing and makes very little sense how it covered Arlong's tattoo but I Don't Care

COBY AND LUFFY ARE STILL SO QUEER-CODED AND ADORABLE AND I LOVE THEM the "Be a good marine" "be a good pirate" had me frothing at the mouth

Luffy really said "It's nice to be wanted"

MAKINO BEING SO FUCKING PROUD

Notice how excited Coby looks at the thought of getting trained by a man he just watched punch his own grandson through several buildings as a greeting. This is because Coby's a freak <3

Helmeppo!!!!!! Maybe you don't need to get punched in the mouth after all!!!!! Good boy

Luffy's full faith in Namiiiiiiiii

They didn't break the barrel so they just,,,, all needed to put their leg on a table to announce their dreams

Smoker stop burning the bounty posters we need those

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT'S ALL THE EPISODES--

Finally get to watch OPLA I've been avoiding looking at the fandom for 2 days for this, will post live updates because I can't fathom how many people are on the internet

[thekytchensynk]

Ain’t No Picnic (9/9)

Summary: They were just supposed to head over to the island real quick, just to see what was going on. After all, if pirates were trying to ambush and kill the Straw Hat crew, how could Coby NOT go? And how could Helmeppo let him go alone? It should be simple enough, but nothing can be taken for granted in the New World, and when things go awry, Helmeppo finds himself separated from his captain on an island chain full of pirates who probably won’t be too happy to see a Marine if their paths cross.Oh yeah. And one of those pirates is the infamous “Surgeon of Death,” Trafalgar Law… Warnings: Occasional strong language Read it on AO3 

__________

Helmeppo opened his eyes to find a curious-looking animal staring down at him, half lit by flickering firelight. He blinked groggily. The animal blinked back.

“How are you feeling?” it asked.

What an adorable voice, he thought muzzily. After taking stock for a moment, at least one thing was clear. “I don’t feel great,” he said aloud.

“Any acute pain? Your breathing sounds good, but if you feel something like a stabbing pain, let me know.”

Stabbing pain? “Not right now,” he replied as he started to wake up a little more. The stabbing had been before he fell asleep.

“Helmeppo!”

The furry creature disappeared from his vision as a familiar voice reached his ears. Despite the sleepiness still struggling to reclaim him, Helmeppo slowly propped himself up on his elbows, and took in the immediate surroundings.

He was back in that accursed open space where they’d all started at the beginning. No melee there now, thank goodness, but somehow it had definitely become night (sleep will do that, he supposed), and the bonfires here and there were doing little to push back the inky black. Just a few people remained in sight, talking in small groups, or doing things singly. Helmeppo seemed, unsurprisingly, to be in a sort of medical area. Across from him he could see a man … a bear?... a guy with his arm in a sling arguing with a guy in an oversized hat. Bear guy clearly did not want to stay on the makeshift bed he’d been given. Hat guy disagreed.

The next person, he recognized from the wanted posters and wild tales from Coby. Nico Robin lay sleeping, a careful swath of bandages encircling her middle. He was keeping some esteemed company today it seemed.

To his left, Coby stooped a good dozen paces away, speaking with the little fuzzy creature who, Helmeppo figured, had to be the Straw Hat crew’s doctor. The wanted posted said otherwise, but Coby had told Helmeppo it was the doctor and his questions of a moment ago would seem to confirm he had the right of it.

The doctor was speaking to Coby in earnest tones that Helmeppo could hear but not make out, since the doctor’s back was to him. But he heard Coby’s polite, “Understood. I will.” Then the doctor said something else, this time accompanied by one hoof shaking sternly at him. With a sheepish grin, Coby nodded and said, “I won’t. I promise. Thank you.” The two parted, and Coby headed toward Helmeppo’s makeshift sickbed, face shadowed and growing serious.

Oh. That’s right.

He sat all the way up and looked down. His leg was wrapped in bandages. The wrapping looked more or less white, not thoroughly stained red, so it seemed things could definitely be worse. Of course, he hadn’t tried standing on it yet. His shirt had been similarly replaced with at least a double measure of fabric covering the knife wounds and stabilizing his ribcage.

He experimentally tried a deep breath. Oooh. Bad decision. The surge of pain wasn’t unexpected, and didn’t rise to the level of stabbing pain that he assumed the little doctor meant, but what was unexpected was that the pain dragged everything else back, momentarily bright and clear.

The fight. That last fight.

At the time he’d been too concerned with surviving, but now, with the benefit of hindsight, he felt nauseated. How had he failed that badly? He’d talked a big game -- more than once! -- about how he was going to find his dad and beat him, big strong Marine that he thought he was. And instead he’d gotten his ass handed to him. It hadn’t even been a contest. He should be dead. Utterly dead. He’d been too weak, and got in over his head, and he should be d-

“Hey.”

Startled, Helmeppo’s head snapped up to look at Coby, who’d stopped a couple feet away. After taking in as much of a slow, steadying breath as he could and offering what had to be one of the shakiest salutes he’d performed in recent history, Helmeppo replied, “Hi, Captain.”

Coby rolled his eyes at that. But as Helmeppo put his hand on the ground and started trying to get up, he put out his own hand to stop him. “Wait, wait! Don’t get up. Dr. Chopper says you need to rest. And if he can keep the members of his crew in their sick beds, it’s probably best to listen.”

Settling back to his seat on the ground, Helmeppo glanced over toward the doctor. He looked about as threatening as a plush toy, but then again … New World.

“He said I’m not to keep you from resting when you need to, and that you’re supposed to take it easy for the next week or so,” Coby continued, glancing over toward the bear man and his hat buddy. “And see the ship’s doctor when we get back, to keep an eye on your leg, but he said it should heal cleanly if you take care of it, though there will probably be a scar.” He slowly looked back, as though he didn’t really want to look at Helmeppo, and said, “So … you okay?”

“Still breathing and in one piece,” Helmeppo said with a self-deprecating laugh. “Feels like a win today. How about you?”

“Same.” He cracked a small smile, but the solemnity quickly overtook it. “Sorry. This whole thing really did turn into a mess. After I had to-”

“Hey. It all worked out, right? So let’s leave it at that?” Helmeppo interrupted. “The mermaid’s safe, and your … those pirates are safe?” Coby nodded so he continued, “Then it was just a heck of a training mission, I guess. And we are not telling Garp about this place.”

“No? I kind of feel like we should make a report to him.”

Helmeppo sighed. “Coby, if I have to come back here again, my body will probably shut down on its own to save this place the trouble of killing me. So you can tell him whatever you want, but just make sure you’re OK with that being on your conscience.”

Another brief smile at that. “Fine. If I make a report, I don’t know what the island was called or much of anything about it. Just some island. That work?”

“I’ll take it,” Helmeppo said.

“All right. So, do you want to chat? Or you want to go back to sleep?”

Helmeppo considered. He was definitely still tired -- his body felt leaden -- but he was waking up now, to some extent. Plus, watching Coby interact with Luffy and the rest of that crew was kind of adorable to watch, even if a bit predictable -- how excitable and flustered he got. Not to mention, now that he was up, the idea of being asleep and vulnerable sounded … well, not great. Not if there were alternatives. “Think I’ll stay up a while,” he said.

Coby dropped smoothly to a sitting position and glanced first at the sleeping woman, then the bickering pair again, before saying again, “Sorry about all this.”

Exactly what he’d been trying to head off before. Ah well. “I didn’t have to come,” Helmeppo reminded him wryly.

Coby came back with, “Well, it definitely wasn’t boring.”

“You’re telling me,” Helmeppo muttered. Then, since he could just about see the question Coby was getting ready to ask, he hurried to add, “So what happened with that guy you were fighting. Was he the other twin?”

“Hm? You heard about them? Yeah, I guess.” He reached back, fidgeting with his headband, as he said, “Really all I did was keep him off Luffy and his friends most of the time. They handled the bulk of the fight. I thought the one guy had blown everyone over there up for a while, but…” He chuckled, and Helmeppo did too. The idea of trying to wipe out part of a New World pirate crew with a simple explosion -- even on this island -- sounded about like trying to stop a charging bull with a piece of paper.

“So you just fought him to a draw until you got help?”

“No. I beat him eventually. Just not in time to be much more use,” Coby said, saying it like it was something he felt ashamed of.

Which was dumb. That guy might not have been the most powerful person fighting, but he’d been central to the group’s plan. And he wasn’t weak -- not by a long shot. Too hard on himself again, Helmeppo sighed.

“Sounds like it was a whole thing. Glad it all worked out.”

Coby nodded his agreement, then asked, “How about you? Looks like things got rough for you too.”

Helmepppo knew exactly what he was asking about, but he wasn’t really in the mood to talk about it. Maybe if he just forgot about it now, he could forget about it forever. So feigning a carefree tone, he replied “Well, getting dropped into the sea the first time wasn’t too bad. But then I got cornered by a group of pirates in a cave.” He started ticking things off on his fingers one by one. “Got glared at by the Surgeon of Death -- not recommended, in case you were wondering. Another dip in the ocean to pull someone out. Another round with those pirates. Had to be saved, that time. Then back over here for the tail end of your epic fight. And for being called a castaway by some random lady pirate.”

He looked down. The bandages in place of a shirt, barefoot, missing a weapon, hat and sunglasses gone, one pant leg cut off at the knee to make way for more bandages. One hand went up to his hair and … yup. Salt-stiff and tangled. “I guess I have to give her that one,” he finished. He desperately needed a shower and like a week’s worth of sleep. He felt today’s adventure to his bones.

“Saved?” Coby frowned.

“That Law guy helped me out.” Helmeppo said. Coby’s eyes narrowed at the name, and he glanced out into the darkness. “Guess I got lucky.”

“Well, either way I’m glad,” Coby said.

Quiet fell between them. Distantly, Helmeppo could hear other lives going on around them -- people talking, laughing, shouting. The wind through the plants. The lapping of the waves. Bear guy and hat guy had stopped arguing at some point and were sharing a meal. After the wild tension of earlier, it all felt very comfortable.

“Why’d you decide to take them on alone?” Coby asked.

Briefly, Helmeppo wondered if he could ignore the question and pretend the concussion had damaged his hearing. Nah, he wouldn’t buy that. And it wasn’t exactly what he wanted to avoid. So he said, “Honestly? I thought I could beat them. They didn’t seem like big-bounty sorts. And it seemed like taking that other twin guy out was the right move.”

“Yeah,” Coby agreed. “I mean, he was throwing things off. Messing up the fight for a few people. Luffy’s shipwright can shoot missiles, but they were going all over the place, and whenever anyone tried to go find the source, they got headed off. How did you get through?”

Well, that was easy. “Because of Trafalgar Law.” He said, grinning. “It would be like if I’d showed up with … with one of the admirals. One of us is definitely going to draw the attention. Plus, I think he used his power to kind of help me along.”

“Ah.”

It was absurdly kind of Coby to sound doubtful in that one word, as though he thought they should have considered Helmeppo -- no slouch in combat broadly, but still only a lieutenant commander and only a couple years removed from abject uselessness -- a threat anywhere near on par with an infamous pirate.

And then he realized what Coby might be thinking. After all, hadn’t he wondered it himself, in reverse, at the start of this whole thing, about Coby himself being a target? Ugh. That stupid fight. The smile dropped from his face.

“Trust me, it wasn’t anything to do with me,” he said, tone going flat. “He was as surprised to see me as I was to see him.”

Some tension in Coby’s face relaxed at that. “Okay,” he said. “But if-”

Yeah, no. He was not going to do this. “I think I need to lay back down for a while,” he interrupted. Coby’s mouth snapped shut, and his eyes widened. Helmeppo’s stomach clenched at the look. But Coby just nodded and got to his feet.

“All right. Get some rest. Our ride should be back early.” He smiled, and there was nothing forced or false in the look. It felt so earnest that despite everything, Helmeppo did too. “So we can get back and you can do something about that hair.”

“Hey, it’s a trophy of my struggles,” Helmeppo retorted, laying back down.

“Sure, sure. Rest up.”

He didn’t intend to go back to sleep. He didn’t want to. But in the face of a really bad day, sometimes neither intent nor want matter very much. He thought he heard the little doctor walking past. Before the footsteps faded away, dreams swallowed him again.

The next time he woke, night remained, but most of the fires were down to embers and all but the nature sounds had faded. At first, he blinked sleepily around, trying to get his bearings. Then he saw the empty space around him, the massive flat island, and all the memories of the past day sent a jolt of adrenaline through his body. He sat up in a rush, eyes wide in the dark. The other patients were gone. Quiet lay heavy around them. How long had he been asleep this time?

“Mmm… Helmeppo?”

Coby’s voice, a little slurred and slow, came from the darkness to his left. He searched the shadows and finally saw a form standing up from the ground and walking toward him.

“Uh .. yeah. Sorry. Did I wake you?” he asked.

“No. I was keeping watch.”

There were probably questions about how well he’d been keeping watch, given the sleep in his voice, but Helmeppo felt a stab of guilt. This was exactly what he wasn’t supposed to do. He was supposed to worry about Coby, not make him worry.

Stretching and trying to blink the sleep away, Helmeppo said, “Well, I can take over if you like. Feels like I’ve been asleep all night.”

“You were hurt. You should be sleeping,” Coby said.

“And I did,” Helmeppo replied, slowly standing up. Basically every muscle protested this move, all of them sore and wound tight. As he got to his feet, he swayed a little. Putting weight on the injured leg let him know that while it might be well bandaged and expertly treated, that big gash wasn’t gone. He said, “I can-”

“Stop!” The word came out partway between a plea and an order, and froze Helmeppo in his tracks. The quiet of the island fell over the pair for several long seconds.

“The others left. We swept the area for enemies. Everything’s fine. It’s just us two until the kid comes back,” Coby continued. “Please? Just rest. You don’t have to prove anything. I’m planning to keep watch until we’re on our way back.”

Helmeppo watched his friend, barely outlined in the remaining light from the near-dead fire. He was serious about this. And Helmeppo had enough experience with him to know there was no talking him out of things if he was serious enough. Helmeppo had tried. He knew better than maybe anyone.

“In that case, want company?” he asked instead.

He could see Coby’s shoulders relax a little as he said, “Sure, if you want.”

At best estimation, they were maybe an hour from dawn, which put them about two hours from their ride home. Rather than stick around here, they formed a pair of makeshift torches that they lit in the coals of the nearest former bonfire and started walking back toward the spot where they’d be meeting the kid. Helmeppo had only the vaguest idea what direction that lay in, but Coby seemed certain of his way, so Helmeppo simply followed. They came out, a few minutes later, at a place which he supposed might be familiar. Maybe. They both wedged their torches into the scant earth near the shoreline, letting the flickering light cast broken trails of glitter across the choppy black water.

Helmeppo had been moving slow, taking each step gingerly -- the island was light on crutch-appropriate branches, and stepping on a weak spot meant wet shoes before, but he had a feeling wet bandages over an open wound would be a whole lot worse. Coby never hurried him, just kept pace, and let him get himself along, but stayed nearby just in case. Once they got to the shore, he took up a spot against one of the massive leaf stalks, while Helmeppo found a dry spot to ease himself to the ground. The quiet fell between them, as it often did, but this one felt … uncomfortable. Helmeppo stared at the light on the water, waiting for the start of the sunrise to add paleness to the sky.

“Helmeppo?”

“Hmm?”

“Was it really him?”

Helmeppo kept staring out over the water, debating whether or not to answer. At length, he relented. “Yeah.”

Quiet fell again.

“Can I ask what happened?”

He pulled his knees up and crossed his arms across the tops, resting his chin on them. Sighed. “I’d really rather not talk about it.”

“Why?”

Helmeppo tensed up. “I just don’t want to.”

He expected Coby to press the question, but instead the quiet returned, vengeful and accusatory. It felt like the surroundings themselves were judging him for shutting down so blatantly. Coby was worried, Coby was trying to be nice, and he was just being terse and rude in return. Just like before. Like he hadn’t improved in any way that mattered since … since then. Helmeppo tried to think of something, anything to say to break the silence, to make it less awkward, but with every second, he felt the weight of it more. He’d been an idiot. He should have kept his mouth shut, should have-

“You know, I was sure I was too late.”

“Hm?” Helmeppo turned his head, looking over at Coby in the half light. His friend was looking out across the ocean, face solemn.

“When I got there. After we heard that awful racket, that-” Whatever he’d been about to say, he bit off, and continued a moment later with a hint of heat, an emphasis on the name, “Trafalgar Law told me to go, you might need help there, and-”

“Wait. He sent you over?”

“Yeah. Since you two showed up at the same time, I thought maybe you’d come up with some plan. So I went with it.”

Huh. Yeah, Helmeppo definitely had no idea what was going on in that pirate’s head. But he had yet another reason to be grateful to him. “Well, he wasn’t wrong.”

Coby looked over and caught Helmeppo’s eye for the first time in the conversation -- Helmeppo’s own fault, he supposed. “What was that noise, anyway?”

“Something the Straw Hats’ sniper gave us,” Helmeppo said. “It was … you know? I’m not honestly sure. Really loud grass. In a handy pill. He said to snap it if we needed to get some distance. I can see why.”

Coby chuckled a little at that. “Sounds useful. Certainly helped me find the place.”

“Yeah. I think my ears are still ringing. I feel a little bad for the pirate who got the brunt of it. She just ran off, screaming. I think. I mean, she looked like she was screaming. I couldn’t hear it one way or the other.” He waggled his fingers in as close to a dismissive gesture as he could manage without unfolding from his current pose.

They both laughed, and for a moment everything was normal. Then Coby sobered abruptly, and the good mood drained away from Helmeppo too, replaced with dread. He hated the look on Coby’s face, even hidden as it was by the deep shadows from their small torches. Forget it, he’d take the uncomfortable silence for the next hour, or day, or week, if they could just … just forget everything here. Or at least his part in it.

But, as Helmeppo had figured, Coby wasn’t going to let that happen.

“Sorry. But it really scared me. When I got over there, and I saw him standing there, and you bleeding, and I was still so far away, I was sure there was no way I’d get there in time. I was honestly sure I’d gotten you killed.” His voice wound down to little over a whisper, that would have been lost if anything more than the nighttime nature sounds surrounded them, and he finally chanced a peek in Helmeppo’s direction.

“Yes, well, I should have been more careful.”

“It’s not like that! I just … I’m trying to figure out how to say this. I’m not really wording it right at all.”

“Hmm?”

This time it was Coby who fell silent until Helmeppo raised an eyebrow. On seeing that, Coby squinched his eyes shut -- a childish but familiar gesture -- and steeled himself before blurting out what was on his mind.

“You can’t let this get to you? OK? And-”

“It’s fine, seriou-”

“And I’m so sorry I let you face that by yourself! That I unintentionally put you in that position.”

Coby was clearly fighting to find the right words, which Helmeppo appreciated, because he wasn’t sure he was going to deal very well with the wrong ones right about now -- even from his best friend. The last day had been awful, top to bottom, and now that it was all over he just wanted to try to forget all about it and pretend he hadn’t abjectly failed when faced with a true challenge. But Coby was here just raking through it with both hands. Steeling himself against an urge to snap at his superior officer, he said, “Listen, like I said, just forget about it. It doesn’t matter.”

“It does, though.”

The plaintiveness caught Helmeppo off guard. “Why?” He asked.

“Because it’s bothering you,” Coby said.

“No, it’s not!” Helmeppo protested, but he could hear the lie in his own words.

“Ugh, why is this so weird to say? Listen. I’m not saying you’re dad’s not awful. He is. He’s really awful, and you’ve already surpassed him in every way that matters. I guess I’m saying, it’s okay to feel …” He paused, debating, before continuing with, “conflicted. Because I know you can’t just stop feeling how you feel. No one can. That’s all.”

Yeah, this was definitely not what he needed today. Bitterly, Helmeppo said, “So, what, you think I should-”

“I don’t think there’s a should,” Coby said quickly, pushing away from the leaf stalk. “It’s just, I think it’s OK to be horrified by what he did and to bring him to justice and to still be sad about it coming to that and wish things were different. You don’t have to just see him as an enemy. Because he’s not just an enemy for you.” He finally looked over at Helmeppo again, a guilty, furtive look. “Sorry. I know I should have said that a while ago.”

“What are you even talking about?”

“Back when you first told me, Helmeppo. Remember? I felt bad, later. Because it was the first time you trusted me with anything.”

A while ago? What was he talking about?

First time you trusted me with anything.

Oh.

That sparked a memory, of those first few weeks as a chore boy. Of hating every minute of it. Of rejecting everything he could about Marine life without getting himself kicked out. And each day’s list of chores just reinforced that he really was just as weak and stupid and useless as his dad had said, and that made him hate everything even more.

And this guy, this guy had continued to be so damn nice, cloyingly nice, after everything. He never seemed to get how he just made it harder. Being in the Marines was what Coby wanted, after all, while it was basically the only road Helmeppo had. The kid already knew how to wash dishes and scrub floors, things Helmeppo himself struggled with at first.

Plus, Coby had been sixteen, just coming into his own. Helmeppo, at twenty, was ostensibly an adult and found himself serving the whims of the same Marines he’d been an asshole to for so long. He’d been sure they were all laughing, watching him struggle and enjoying every moment of it. Some of them had been, of course. But a greater part of that feeling, he figured now, had been in his head. Still, at the time, it had felt so real that it was all he could feel.

And watching Coby take to the whole situation as though it were completely natural had felt like salt thrown directly in a very raw wound.

It had been maddening. Helmeppo felt like he was drowning, and as a drowning man will, he lashed out and nearly dragged others down too. But despite every attempt to get Coby to either give up the goody-two-shoes act and show his own awful side or just leave Helmeppo alone, he kept just being there. Friendly. Kind. Trying to make him keep going.

To be honest, it had worn Helmeppo down. And it had just been so difficult to pretend nothing bothered him, every day, when everything did. His entire life had been upended. He had no place anymore than felt like home. The work was awful and hard and he couldn’t do any of it right. And his father was going to-

He’d never felt more cowardly than at that moment, crying in front of some kid over his father’s well-earned upcoming punishment. But on some level, it had made him feel better. And even that took him a long time to accept. What was it Coby had told him, when he finally confessed all this? It took a moment to dredge up the words -- not even the words, just the message. He’d wondered if they’d kill his father, and Coby had said he didn’t know.

Had that been bothering him?

“Ah.” Helmeppo honestly wasn’t even sure what to say to that.

“I’m pretty sure that’s why you only read the newspaper when you think you’re alone,” Coby said, causing Helmeppo to blanche. He’d figured that out? “And I know you sneak down to check through every new batch of wanted posters. I’ve seen the look on your face when you do. Like you’re so angry at the world, until you get to the end and it’s just … you go still. So please don’t tell me it’s not bothering you. All right?”

Huh. So apparently all this time of thinking he was doing a good job of being discreet, he’d actually just been lying to himself. Just perfect. It was a really good thing that Coby couldn’t see just how red he was turning. One more reason to just forget today and-

“Helmeppo?”

Oh, right, Coby had been pouring out his thoughts and Helmeppo had been sitting here like a lump. “Sorry,” he said, struggling to find words that would assuage Coby’s worries. “It didn’t bother me, you know. What you said back then. I think that was what I needed to hear. Just someone to acknowledge that it was happening, and that there wasn’t an easy answer. As for today-”

What about today? How did he even begin to explain it all? Or even the heart of it? On the surface, it was simple. But more broadly…

“I screwed up,” he said heavily. “You shouldn’t have had to come flying to my rescue, but I stopped paying attention to the fight I was in. I noticed him, before I knew who he was, but I lost track of him during the fight. Until he cut me off when I tried to get out of there. Found him then.” He laughed, bitterly.

He chanced a look over at Coby. He was looking at Helmeppo, paying full attention, and there was something in his expression that Helmeppo was kind of glad he couldn’t see more clearly. He didn’t like seeing his friend sad. Especially not over something like this.

And like that last time, alone like this, something about Coby -- hell, maybe just him being willing to be here, and so clearly willing to listen and wanting to understand -- let Helmeppo finally break down.

“I know I said I was going to find him and bring him in. And I meant it. But it was like…” He groped for the right words. “It was like when I was there, in front of him, he looked at me like he was seeing the person I used to be, and I … I felt like it. Sure, I wasn’t exactly in great shape, but part of me didn’t even really want to try. When he looked at me, my first thought was just to get away from him. And when I couldn’t do that, I was just hoping someone would come help me, because he seemed so impossible to face. And-”

His fingers tightened on his elbows. Just talking about it was dredging the vision -- his dad big as a mountain, eyes hard and mouth in a thin line, his voice just the same -- He apparently thinks he’s a grown man. Never was willing to do what needed to be done. You never belonged on the Grand Line. You barely belonged in the East Blue.

“Helmeppo?”

“I felt trapped,” he said, startled out of reverie and into verbal motion again by Coby’s voice. “And I felt like … a fraud, you know? Like, I’ve been so full of myself, so sure that I’ve grown into a better, stronger person. But the moment I get tested, really tested, I find out I’m just the same self-important, oblivious coward that-”

“No.”

He couldn’t stop a rueful laugh. “No?”

“Listen, Helmeppo … today was a mess. You can’t just judge yourself by the worst of it. Come on. You think the you from before could have even stood up to him? Much less doing so when you were already injured? Even when I got there, you weren’t backing down or running away.”

Why did he have to sound so reasonable? “Maybe I should have,” Helmeppo said. “He even told me to, you know? Said if I dropped the weapon and begged him for mercy he’d let me leave.”

“And you didn’t,” Coby said firmly, as though that were the end of the conversation.

“It was weird for him even to say it though,” Helmeppo said. "I never would have thought he of all-”

But… wait. He’d been lying about the offer, Helmeppo was certain of that. But he’d said no, and maybe … maybe that was what had caused that hesitation at the end? The one that both he and Coby had noticed.

“Helmeppo?”

“You’re right, you know,” he said slowly. “He had me down, had me dead to rights, and he didn’t … he was just standing there and waiting. I was even thinking, why didn’t he just end it? But he didn’t. And then you came, and he lost the chance.”

“I didn’t know him,” Coby said. “Can you think why he might not press an advantage?”

“No.” Helmeppo laughed a little. “Mercy was never one of the virtues he particularly liked.”

“That’s why I wondered.”

“Maybe he … ugh. No. That’s dumb.” It couldn’t be.

“What?”

“I just wonder if he’s such a … you know, so wrapped up in his whole power and strength schtick that that was the only way to ever get through to him. Like back when he escaped. Remember? He could have killed us, or subdued one of us and tossed the other. But he tossed us both overboard. After we both stood up to him.”

He was overthinking this. He had to be. Until now, he’d never given it a second thought. He’d been sure it had happened because they had been too big a pain in the ass to control and the Marines would have been happy to add another charge to his rap sheet if he’d killed them. But would he really care about that?

“So you’re thinking he might have been impressed enough with you standing up to him that he didn’t want to h… well, kill you?”Coby mused.

“I told you it was dumb.” How many of those attacks had been aimed, not at something immediately vital, but an arm or leg?

“I don’t think it’s dumb. It kind of makes sense with what you’ve said about him.”

Well, he had not been expecting that. And now that he had, the idea felt … uncomfortable? He’d spent two years trying to convince himself the guy was just a monster. And yeah, he still was. But the idea that he was a slightly more complicated monster didn’t work well with those thoughts.

But there was some relief there as well.

Maybe I can hate him, and still miss some version of him and not be a monster myself. He thought about how his dad admitted that he had changed, in a tone that sounded so similar to approval that it had actually felt viscerally wrong to hear it come from the man’s mouth. What a mess. He’d have to thank Coby for this later. Again.

“If that’s the case, I bet in his head he’s taking credit for it all” he joked, as much to bring himself out of his own thoughts as anything. “Like threatening to kill me finally made me turn into the sort of son he might have been a little proud of, even though I managed it way too late.”

“Well, if he tries, let’s just ask if he was also responsible for all the whining you did when we got started,” Coby teased.

“He’ll never admit it, but yeah, that was definitely him too,” Helmeppo said with all the mock-seriousness he could muster.

Something crackled and crunched as Coby pushed away from where he’d been standing and walked over to sit by Helmeppo. He felt something press his left shoulder. As he looked that way, he felt a presence on the other. Coby was putting an arm around his shoulders, which was unexpected, but also kinda nice.

“You’ll get him next time,” Cody said with conviction.

“Just gotta make sure I got shoes next time.” Helmeppo said. “That was the real problem.”

“Obviously.”

“Hey Coby?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

Helmeppo laughed at the genuine puzzlement in Coby’s voice, but he didn’t answer. And the silence that fell between them now, as they waited for daybreak, finally felt familiar.

[indigopurple]

Basically a review of OP episode 503 ig

Currently rewatching post-war arc (in the dub so I don't have any screenshots for u guys sry) and theres a few things id like to point out.

During a conversation Dadan once had with Garp, they were talking about Roger. Garp said that even if they were facing powerful enemies, he would never run away because he wouldnt dare leaving his comrads behind; it wasnt an option for him. Obviously we see this in Ace. But ALSO, isnt this what he did with Katakuri? It was a little different cuz of the setting mostly, but he separated himself from his crew to fight off katakuri, and lied to them about being okay so they didn't worry (he was already getting his ass kicked by then, so he just made that stupid smile and told them not to worry (or smth like that, I can remember the exact line) (that smile was so gross and fake cuz he fucking sucks at lying). Also he said roger destroyed a buncha soldiers cuz they mouthed off his men. That's what Ace tried to do but instead he died. :(

"The pain he went through just made him hold on tighter to the ones he loved" -Garp, about Roger. "Despite his flaws and his bad reputation, his crew still trusted him completely." -also Garp, about Roger. These both sound a lot like Luffy AND Ace.

When Dogra got home and told everyone about Sabo's ship being shit down and him dying (which we all know didnt happen, thank fuck), (by the way the absolutely lost looks on Ace's and Luffy's faces with the sudden silence hurt like a bitch), Luffy started crying and said "WE SHOULDNT'A LET HIM GO, IT'S ALL OUR FAULT". Which fucking says something about him (thinking of episodes 913-915 when he goes fucking berserk, but before that he learns that Kaido probably killed Tama and he says "I should've escorted them..!" (*ugly cries*)). Ace also reacted pretty similarly-- "Sabo...why didn't we go back into town and bring him back here?! We're so stupid!" And he gets mad and asks where he could find the bastard that killed him (obviously not getting a good answer since it was a fucking celestial dragon ugh). That is what Luffy does, in present time. He results to anger first, not sadness. Not sure when he learned to do that but I'm 99 percent sure it was from Ace. Also the blaming himself thing? High chance thats ALSO from Ace. Who else would teach him that self hating behaviour?!

Dadan pins Ace down to stop him from going after the Celestial Dragon to calm him down, telling him he cant do anything, he's not big or strong enough to do anything and he'll be killed as soon as he tries anything, especially since it was the whole country -the whole WORLD- that killed Sabo. He can't do anything. And then they tied him to a tree outside to let him cool off. Oh yeah then he also told luffy to stop crying like a little girl or else he'll- (and he didn't finish the sentence). ...Ok maybe thats why luffy started being more angry than sad.

This is where things get a little more :( . Ace reads the letter Sabo sent them before he died. As he reads, he walks to the end of the forest, to a cliff overlooking the ocean. And starts fucking bawling (btw the voice actor who had Ace's childhood part did not do a very good job, no where near as in character and real as Coleen Clickenberg did with all of Luffy's crying scenes. She was spot on.) ...do you see where im going with that? He isolated himself before letting himself feel sad. It was all rage and then calm beforehand. Y-you see where im going with that. Dont make me say it.

"How's Luffy doing, is he any better?" "Well...he hasnt been eating much, but he still eats twice as much as we do". Oh look, That's what happened after Ace died too. There's a behavioral pattern that hasnt gone away. Not sure why it wouldve tho.

Luffy is mopeing, lying on the ground in a similar setting ace was at when he cried. Hes thinking about some of the things Sabo said, like how theyre gonna sail the seas together, and he clenches his hands into tight, shaking fists. After Ace shows up and hits him, and talking abt some other stuff I don't feel like relaying, Luffy tightens his grip on the straw hat and tells ace, whimpering, he wants to get stronger (and stronger, and stronger, and stronger and stronger and....) And he wants to be the strongest in the world. "And then, I'll protect everyone. I won't lose anyone I care about". He gets stronger mainly to protect the people he loves. And then he asks ace to promise he won't die. To which he hits Luffy again and tells him he should be more worried about himself dying first. And then the famous line that hurts like a bitch- "I'm NEVER going to DIE!" And then this hopeful music comes on (fucking damnit funimation, u gotta do this? Really??) Also he says he wont die as long as he has a wussy little brother to protect. ...FUCK. Ok, the fist clenching is a thing he does all the fucking time, usually when he gets mad. This was different because he wasnt mad, he was sad. He clenched his fist because thinking about it hurt. Which, huh, sounds a lot like his whole episode after waking up from his 2 week coma on the polar tang. To try and stop the mental pain of those horrendous memories, he resulted to physically pain. He hurt himself. So, He clenches his fists in times like these to fight off the mental pain and the urge to cause himself physical pain. Guys, our boy is bad at emotions, help him. ....ok this paragraph is longer than I anticipated so ill dumb down the rest of it ig. Next part, him asking ace to promise he wont die. The music, the body language, the over change in mood- this comforts him. He stopped hiding his face and silently sobbing after ace said this. OH YEAH! didn't he tell jinbe not to die when they parted ways in Totto Land? And then, hes missing still in Wano and we see Luffy is worried....but convinced Jinbe will show up. Again, this comforts him. Hes nervous cuz someone KOFF KOFF ACE broke that promise once. But jinbe is his crew mate so he trusts him, thank god.

"-But whoever did it, they must be opposed to freedom." The whole freedom thing? That runs through Luffy's blood and spirit.His brothers fought for it, his dad is the man who strives to give everyone freedom basically, and Luffy himself has seen enough of the OPPOSITE of freedom to be so, so much more than just against it. Hence why he of course was so eager to free the slaves in Sabaody, the kids in punk hazard, the toys in dressrosa, the country of Wano from Kaido's tyrany. The apple doesnt fall far from the tree huh.

I dont think Luffy would remember his promise with Shanks if it werent for his brothers putting feul to his dream. It was a stupid bet at first; he just wanted to beat Shanks, right then. But after meeting Sabo and Ace, he found the opposite of freedom and human rights. And then he wanted, REALLY wanted, to become the free-est man in the world; the pirate king.

Last one i promise ok? This one is less connected to whats going on in the episode at this point, but something I noticed (its so obvious everyone has seen this ok) was when luffy cries, his posture is always open. He doesn't curl in on himself like many people would do (I know I would, lol). He doesnt hug himself, protect himself. He's just, opened up to whoever is watching, literally. This has a little more to do with something I haven't talked about much in this post yet; his self-destruction issues. I said he tried to hurt himself when he felt mental pain, which is definitely similar. But he cries and doesnt try to protect or comfort himself, like he doesn't have that programmed into his mind. Reminder that he only wants to live because of his dream, and if he doesnt have his dream, he wants to die. (Whoa.). Ok, so no self preservation mechanism at all rlly. Hes basically ride or die. So, when things hurt so much that he cries, he has no hope left. He just kinda...dies inside. So this was mildly different after sabo died. Yes we saw him just standing there, sobbing. But the next day he's still crying, and instead he's laying on the ground. I saw that and the voice in the back of my head told me he wanted to be a part of that lifeless dirt beneath him. Then, Ace walked over. And his words made him feel the hope that I told you about earlier, and he sat up into a sitting position. And HUGGED HIS LEGS TO HIS CHEST. There's some self preservation! Some hope! Some will to exist, to live! Something we saw none of as he sat in front of his brothers corpse, shutting down. He sat there, open to his enemies, incapable of protecting himself. Practically anyone couldve killed him right then and there. I think he mightve liked that, at that moment. Like thank god he has that stupidly good luck cuz if he didn't I swear someone couldve thrown and axe or FUCKING ANYTHING AT THAT MOMENT and hed be dead becuase he never physically or mentally prepared himself. On purpose.

Our poor boy needs some fucking attention and therapists. (Insert my rant post about how jinbe is on the crew primarily for anger management and therapy, not just being a helmsman.) Ugh, smh ugly cries

Aaaaand thats about the end of the episode. Theres so many little tics and peesonality traits that you notive thru this episode, and I only noticed them cuz im rewatching this part of the show for like the third time. I don't react as much as the first time of course but some things are definitely sadder after knowing what's going on and what will happen later on.

Moral of the story (post)? I think luffy is almost equally as alike -if not, more similar to roger as ace is. Also, high key genuinely think Luffy met like NO ONE but Garp before he met Shanks and his crew. What the fuck was his first like 5 years of being alive like? (He wantd to be a pirate cuz Garp didnt want that. Rebellious baby asshole. And then shanks made things worse, in a good way for luffy. And then ace and sabo made that worse thing worse for a good reason. Luffy lives...for those influences. And that is fucking it. Why.

Oh thanks tumblr for moving my picture to the bottom of the post u fucking idiot

[redrocx]

For the one piece ask: all of them? 😅 (I honestly can't decide which to ask for soooo...) Alternatively, only the ones you want to answer the most 👍🏻

Challenge accepted 🌚🌚

No but honestly, this was so much fun and I was bored at work

⛵️ - Fave pirate ship? (like boat ship)

It's a tie between the Thousand Sunny and Going Merry. Thriller Bark is epic though lol

🔫 - Fave canon arc?

Enies Lobby & Marineford, also Wano is creeping up there too

🚽 - Least favorite canon arc?

Davy Back Fight

💩 - Least favorite character? (in general)

Blackbeard

🙅 - Least favorite Straw Hat?

.... currently Zoro but only bc of the Zorosexuals lol I love him as a character but people are being so obnoxious that it kinda translates into how I feel about him too

😀 - Most favorite Straw Hat?

Luffy, Chopper and Robin~

😍 - OTP?

Lawlu, Frobin, Saboala

💀 - NOTP?

Hancock x Luffy

ZoSan

Kidd x Law

🙇 - A headcanon about <Luffy>

I like to think that he's asexual~

☠ - Fave pirate symbol?

You mean as in favorite flag? Obviously the Straw Hat and Heart Pirates flags (´༎ຶོρ༎ຶོ`)

Also the ✖️

🏰 - Fave marine?

Garp, Aokiji (if he counts lol), Coby

❌ - Least fave marine?

Akainu 😂 though I like the way he's written

👾 - Fave villain?

Doflamingo

🎾 - Fave battle?

Luffy vs. Lucci, Luffy vs. Katakuri

😭 - Saddest scene?

Merry's death & Law's backstory

😆 - Funniest scene?

Too many lol but probably Luffy getting swallowed by Nora/Nola rofl

😜 - Funniest character?

Luffy

😳 - Any crushes?

Law, Shanks, Robin, Nami, Reiju, Kiku, Black Maria and I'm probably forgetting someone

👌 - Fave character design?

Hmmm.... I love Crocodile's design, simple mafia boss. Franky pre time skip was really neat too, so is Katakuri

🃏 - Who has the Best Hat? (the true question)

Law post time skip (sorry Luffy lol)

🖍 - Fave filler arc?

Lol obviously the navy base one XD

🗡 - Least fave filler arc?

The bounty hunters on ice

🆚 - Sub or dub?

Both, German dub is just so nostalgic. But mostly sub

☯️ - Anime or manga?

Both

⏰ - How long have you been into One Piece?

Since elementary school so about 18 years lol

🍎 - Fave Devil Fruit power?

Hana hana no mi & ope ope no mi

🍏 - Would you eat a Devil Fruit if you had the chance to?

If it's a cool one, definitely. Though I am gonna miss swimming lol

🐼 - Fave side character?

Sabo, Reiju, Kiku, Carrot

☔️ - Scene that made you cry the most? (not necessarily the saddest scene)

Merry's death, Law's backstory, Luffy dealing with Aces's loss

🌧 - Saddest backstory?

Law & Robin

😎 - Funniest joke?

Zoro will kill Kaido the one where Luffy tries to lecture Zoro on where South is on Skypiea

😱 - Most attractive character?

Shanks, Law, Robin, Reiju

😐 - Most annoying character?

Blackbeard, Spandam, Orochi

😕 - Scariest character?

Shanks honestly lol he's so badass and ominous it's scary af XD (but in a hot way lol)

👍 - Most powerful Devil Fruit power?

Good question. Probably Blackbeard's. Though others are not to be taken lightly too, like Law's, Big Mom's or even Kaido's.

🗣 - Got any theories for how it’s all gonna end?

Hopefully with a happy ending lol I'm terrified of the prospect of Luffy following in Roger's footsteps.

👏 - Fave techniques of <Luffy>

Haoushoku, Red Hawk, Gear 2

🙏 - Favorite episode?

Don't have just one

😏 - Favorite scene?

Again, don't have just one. But for example Luffy & Co ganging up to beat someone's ass; Sogeking shooting through the WG flag; Luffy decimating the Pacifista after his training; Jimbei donating blood to Luffy; Luffy stopping Doflamingo from crushing Law's skull, Sanji's "I'm the hunter" scene,...

👂 - Favorite quote?

"Pirates are evil? The Marines are righteous? These terms have always changed throughout the course of history! Kids who have never seen peace and kids who have never seen war have different values! Those who stand at the top determine what's wrong and what's right! This very place is neutral ground! Justice will prevail, you say? But of course it will! Whoever wins this war becomes justice!"

"Compared to the "righteous" greed of the rulers, the criminals of the world seem much more honorable. When scum rules the world, only more scum is born. At least we're honest about being bad people."

🙌 - Are you up to date?

Yess! Well kinda lol I don't check spoilers and I don't read the leaks, so I'm "behind" on new chapters until they come out on Sundays lol

❓ - What unanswered questions do you have related to One Piece?

So many XD

- who is Shanks?

- What happened to Sabo and Vivi?

- What's with the hat (both Luffy's and the giant one)

- Who's that ominous dude (forgot the name) sitting on the throne?

- What happened during the void century?

- What does the D stand for?

Just to name the ones at the top of my head

▶️ - Fave opening?

- kokoro no chizu

- Over the top

- Hard knock days

- We are

- Share the world

- Hikari he

-

🔙 Least fave opening?

We Can or whatever it's called lol

👀 - Fave eyecatcher?

The old ones, especially Robin's with that alluring melody

🏝 - Fave country/island visited?

Skypiea, Water 7, Fishman Island

🎆 - Something you can’t wait for??!!

To get to know what's the deal with Shanks. Also to see the Straw Hats fulfill their dreams ofc... but first of all ofc the war in Wano *gets goosebumps*

🔝 - “One Piece is better than <insert something else you also like>”

I don't do these types of things bc I don't like the sentiment of statements like that. One should never try and lift one's fave /something/ up by tearing another thing down.

🔍 - What do you think the One Piece is?

The truth of the void century

🔪 - A character who fills you with frustration?

Usopp, especially during Water 7

💓 - Which character do you relate to the most?

Law and Robin probably lol Law for his level of annoyance and being done with everything and Robin for her dark humor, as well as her love for reading books~

™️ - How has One Piece changed you?

I'm not even sure how to put it into words. It's just always been there for me ever since I was little. It made me find so many friends and meet so many awesome people. It's my home, my safe haven, the place I can always return to. It got me out of one of my darkest places last year (when I finally found back to it after having strayed from it for a few years). It's my anchor, and a way to connect with other people. Most of all, it's the most amazing story I have ever experienced, and has given me so many role models and things & words to live by.

[neverwatchedonepiece]

648-649: "Making a Sortie! The Legendary Hero Usoland!" and "The Fierce Battle Coming to the End! Lucy vs Chinjao!"

*looks into the camera like in The Office*

The fight between Luffy and Don Chinjao is finally over! I think after what happened, Luffy might have found a new friend. Law also made a stressful phone call to The Krusty Krab Sunny and ordered delivery of one ship to Green Bit.

Zoro and Franky have teamed up with Sol at Resistance HQ in Flower Field, and if Usopp keeps perpetuating his fantastic bullshit, the entire Strawhat crew will be elevated to God status in the Tontatta tribe.

Slightly worried about Law and the Strawhats stuck on Sunny but I’m seventy percent certain they will pull through and won’t be captured by any Donquixote family affiliates. (The thirty percent left over remains a huge, nagging doubt.)

Luffy’s Tough Love Fight Therapy

The Colosseum showdown between Luffy and Don Chinjao picked up at the start of episode 649.

The action was fast and furious. Luffy pulled out all his quick moves: jet pistol, jet gatling, jet stamp gatling. All defended against by Chinjao. The crowd went wild. It was one of the greatest matches the Colosseum had ever seen! Some cheered for Lucy. Others cheered for Chinjao. The atmosphere was electric.

“You’re quite a fighter,” Don Chinjao said.

“Yeah, you’re strong too, as I thought,” Luffy answered. You know. Being honest as he is.

Don Chinjao totally overreacted. “WHAT U SAY? STRONG? U TRYIN TO INSULT MEH??”

Luffy was, quite rightly, bewildered. “Wtf, all I said was that you’re strong?”

Apparently, this was a grave insult to Don Chinjao. A huge kick in the ego. Chinjao had been much stronger before.

“I’m no better than a wolf without its fangs now. A skin-headed man without his drill. A brat like you can’t understand how miserable I feel living my life like this. I’m frustrated, disappointed and sad. But you can never understand.”

I laughed when Luffy yelled, “How can I understand? You keep messing with me without explaining anything!” (He’s just saying what we were all thinking, right?)

“You really want to know why I’ve become like this?”

“No, I’m not that interested.” (Lmao! We meet again, harsh Luffy.)

“Well, I’ll tell you before you die, since you insist.” 

Don Chinjao is one of those old dudes that is TELLING you that long and rambling story even though you have showed zero interest and have been glancing at your watch for the past half hour.

Suddenly, Luffy the Fight Therapist was unwilling and open for business.

According to Chinjao, Garp punched his head in thirty years ago. Literally. As in Don Chinjao once looked like Dan Akroyd from 90s sci-fi comedy, Coneheads. 

That was until his resplendent, pointy napper met Garp’s fist.

The whole flashback was hilariously weird. Turns out Chinjao’s drill-like bonce was the only means to access his remote family treasure vault under an ice sheet. Once Garp took away the key, Chinjao fell into a deep depression. Heartbroken, he retired from piracy, a lifeless shell, just idling away time.

That was kind of sad. I felt for Chinjao then. He’s like the model of the old, proud working man who suffers a physical injury, can no longer work and slips into anger and depression. Since Chinjao knows and values nothing but strength, wealth and power, he cannot and will not see another way forward. Unlike Luffy, Don Chinjao got his ass beat and never found the strength to crawl out of the gutter and retrain.

Instead, he decided to lay the blame for his misfortune squarely at Luffy’s feet.

Luffy, naturally, was outraged. “Wtf are you talking about? Grandpa and I are different people. Look, mate. I’m busy. I’m gonna win Ace’s fruit at any cost and become the Pirate King. I have no time to be your therapist.”

Then Chinjao made two Big Mistakes.

Wow, Chinjao has Really Specific Taste

Mistake #1?

Chinjao laughed off Luffy’s chances at becoming Pirate King. The reason was typical crotchety old man talk: “the media lionised you worst generation squirts and it emboldened you. But none of you are strong enough to sail across the sea *we* fought on. After Whitebeard’s death, I ain’t expecting much. The only guy who looks good is Blackbeard Teach.”

At the mere mention of Teach, Luffy’s eyes became two circles.

“If I had to pick one, it’s him. But anyway, if you’re only good enough to compete against me, just give up!”

Oh, Chinjao, I thought. Ohhhhhhhh, you just goofed. You goofed big time. You do not mention Teach in a positive light within Luffy’s earshot. You just do not. Teach was the asshole who captured Ace and handed him to the Marines. He shares Public Enemy Number One status with Akainu. Tell Luffy you believe Teach will become Pirate King and your fate is sealed.

Mistake #2?

Chinjao’s fighting style is kinda lame. People who spin during fights in shounen anime are always fodder (the one that sticks out is that spinning top guy in the HxH Heaven’s Arena arc.) This was not his mistake. It’s just a side thought.

The Teach comment pushed Luffy’s buttons. But what Chinjao said next was even worse.

“You’re not too bad but if a guy like Rayleigh chose a brat at this level as the flag bearer for this generation, he’s not as smart as he used to be. The Marines were smart when they squelched the most evil one of the lot: Ace. That man had demon’s blood in his veins. Do you think you can beat the Marine admirals, the Yonkou and surpass Roger? That’s impossible!”

Demon’s blood? Most evil one of the lot?

*cue Kill Bill red-mist music*

“Stop whining over one punch!” Luffy yelled, as he wound up a Thor Elephant Gun attack. “I can’t count how many times I got punched by Grandpa!”

When the attack connected and that spike popped back out of Chinjao’s head, I laughed like a drain. Luffy hit Chinjao so hard, he turned the clock back thirty years.

I’m sure Chinjao will be ecstatic. Take the L with good grace, mate. Your conehead is back! Go and wreak havoc on the high seas again. Recoup that treasure. The world is your oyster!

Up on the balcony, Bartolomeo still has not revealed his connection with Luffy. Cavendish is still throwing a strop. Bellamy is lurking in the shadows, clearly in two minds about his new assassination mission. And Burgess, thanks to Cavendish and his big mouth, knows that Luffy is Lucy.

Thanks, Cavendish.

(And Burgess really does walk around chortling and flexing all the time. He’s like an evil All Might.)

Thus the Legendary Heroes of Green Bit were Born

This cast reunion based on Usopp’s total bullshit was so much fun.

I loved Usopp and Robin’s expressions when the Tontatta took them to their airport. They were starry-eyed. And so they should’ve been. It was a miniature version of a proper, fully-equipped modern airport. I wouldn’t be surprised if the place had Duty Free, passport control and Starbucks concessions.

But it was not a holiday destination Usopp and Robin were flying out to. The entire airport had been overtaken by a military operation. Cub, the yellow bee squad leader, and Bian, the pink bee squad leader, reported for duty. Usopp picked up the bee planes and kept saying, “I wanna show this to Luffy.” (They are such good pals, it warms my heart.)

Unfortunately, Usopp and Robin were too big to travel by bee plane, so they had to take the local number 20 bus to Dressrosa. The buses were cute, vulpix-like foxes with huge, fluffy tails you can sink right into for a comfortable ride.

While they made their way through the tunnel, Master Roshi - the pervy little Tontatta chief - emerged from Robin’s cleavage. He bore dire warnings. “I should tell you because you will risk your lives for our cause.”

Usopp was thinking, “I ain’t gonna die for you but go on...”

“Doflamingo has been causing our tribe a lot of pain recently, but our connection with him goes way back before the last decade. Nine hundred years ago!”

Then the narrator interrupted and I was like, “So you’re just going to leave it there when I was about to get Doflamingo family history? I am not at all mad about this. No, sir. Not one bit.”

The action cut to Flower Field, where Franky and Sol descended a secret stairwell. Said stairwell led to the Resistance Army HQ! Some soldiers ran up to Sol and addressed him as “Captain”, so Sol is a Big Deal in the Resistance.

Franky was like, “Why are all these small people swarming me?”

Sol explained. The Tontatta people were called fairies in town, how they moved faster than the human eye could detect and how they were immensely strong. Franky put two and two together and realised one of them stole Zoro’s sword!

And guess who reached Flower Field before Franky? Before any of the other Strawhats!

That’s right. It’s our boy Zoro. (So proud he learned to follow directions.)

Zoro, hilariously, had made himself at home and was watching Luffy vs Chinjao on the big screen TV. He was absolutely fuming. Why hadn’t Luffy told him there was a fighting competition? THE BETRAYAL. Will he get over it? Probably.

He must’ve been distracted by the fight, as he completely forgot 

Then some intelligence scouts ran up. They had a report for Sol. “We already know what our enemies and Sugar are doing!” (Sugar? Who dat?) “And with the battle close at hand, some legendary heroes have appeared at Tontatta: Usoland and Robiland. They have brought with them Luffyland, Zoroland, Namiland, Sanland, Chopperland, Fraland and Boneland.”

Franky and Zoro exchanged a Look. They knew instantly Usopp was on the bullshit wagon again.

“Um, I think I’m Zoroland,” Zoro said. (Lmao, better get into character quick.)

“And I’m Fraland. Nice to meet you!” Franky added.

It was round about then that Zoro remembered that Nami, Chopper and Brook were in serious trouble back on Sunny. He now wants to skip the battle (he doesn’t yet know about) and rescue the other Strawhats.

I wonder how this will go? Wicka did say she would let Zoro go back to Sunny once he’d taken her back to Resistance HQ. But Leo and the others back on Green Bit were suspicious of Robin and Usopp escaping. Will they let Zoro go or will he have to fight the battle first? Hmmm... I’m fifty/fifty about this.

God damn it, Caesar

*curb your enthusiasm music kicks in*

Meanwhile, back on Green Bit, Law was under heavy bombardment. Fujitora took a step back in this episode and Doflamingo stole the limelight. The cool music from Enies Lobby (as I call it in my head. I have no idea what the real title is) played as Doflamingo pursued Law. 

As Doflamingo was about to land a finishing blow, Caesar shrieked, “OI, JOKER! Before you kill Law, I need you to take something back for me. Law took my heart and I don’t know what he’s gonna do with it!”

Doflamingo looked round like, “Wtf... are you talking about?” And while he was distracted, Law shambled his way out of trouble.

Doflamingo was furious. FFS, CAESAR. I bet he wanted to say that but couldn’t. Gotta keep your cash cow scientist happy..

Please send help. Our art teacher has locked us in class.

Unfortunately, Law didn’t have time for a breather. He had an urgent phone call to make.

While Nami, Chopper and Brook were brought up to speed on the Humans Turning Into Toys situation by Giolla, the ship’s DDM rang. Chopper hilariously ignored Giolla and answered the call (she was maaaaad).

It was Law. He said, “Is that Nami-san?”

To my disappointment, Chopper did not answer, “No, this is Patrick.”

“I don’t care what’s going on over there,” Law said. “Listen carefully. I need you to sail Sunny to Green Bit right now. I wanna leave Caesar with you guys. No time to explain. Bye!”

Okay, so I added in the “bye” part. Law abruptly hung up.

I like how he has faith that Nami, Chopper and Brook will be able to handle the situation, but their weapons have been rendered usless by Giolla’s Art Art Fruit power. I have no idea how they’re going to get out of this one (and I’m keen to see Oda’s creative solution).

The shitshow that is Law’s current existence continued once he hung up. Doflamingo is Doflamingo. He caught up with Law again near the end of episode 648. With that slasher smile, he shot Law with a string bullet and demanded to know who Law had called for help.

Doflamingo must be confident he has Law where he wants him because he spilled the beans on his diabolical plan to snare Luffy. “Give me back Caesar’s heart already. It’s so meaningless for you to keep hanging on here. Strawhat has already walked into the trap I set. He’s fighting in the gladiatorial contest at the Colosseum. Tough contenders from all over the world come to fight in it. Outlaws only. It’s a deadly competition. When someone loses, it’s a one way ticket to hell! He will never come out of the Colosseum alive! It’s the end of your alliance, Law. Just give up!”

I wonder if Law will use the heart as leverage. Maybe he’ll give up Caesar’s heart to escape, regroup and stop Doflamingo the old-fashioned way: with Tontatta military might. (Doflamingo better not kill him off...)

Don’t worry, Chinjao. Luffy will beat you until you feel better! :D

[bipherpol]

i’m not entirely sure when i’ll get around to posting it so i’m gonna ramble a minute about the leverage au currently sitting in my WIP folder

for those unfamiliar, leverage is (was) a delightful show that aired on tnt for five seasons and started back in 2008 about a group of thieves who were basically ocean’s eleven but robin hood. every episode had a caper, every episode had a corrupt/evil asshole who needed to be taken down a peg or fifty.

(if you haven’t seen it and you enjoy media about con artists/thieves/capers, media about found families and media involving a fuckload of competence porn, please watch leverage. it’s great. i love it.)

anyway

so the straw hats are the main crew.

luffy is the resident bleeding heart and a hitter who decided he wanted to be a thief because he spent too much time with shanks as a kid who definitely is a thief and a grifter and was a terrible influence on luffy (according to garp, who works for the fbi.) while they haven’t appeared at all in the plot i have so far, ace and sabo are on their own crews and are a hitter/thief and grifter/thief/hitter combo respectively. (sabo’s crew, naturally, is based off the revolutionary army and specializes in conning corrupt politicians and getting them taken down.)

nami is. well. nami. she’s a thief and a grifter and is behind at least 50% of the planning for every job. in a bit that may or may not be a take-off of the episode “the san lorenzo job” where they take down crocodile in alabasta, she pretends to be vivi’s fiancee much like sophie does in the episode for michael vittori. because reasons. (bellemere was also law enforcement but, while she encouraged the girls to be on the right side of the law, wasn’t as pushy as garp) (RIP bellemere but arlong’s the fucking mob in this fic so.)

zoro is. zoro. primarily there to beat the shit out of people. can steal and do sleight of hand and can pull grifter duty if need be but would rather just hit people.

sanji! is a grifter and a hitter and a thief and his vinsmoke backstory is mostly canon barring genetic enhancement bullshit and he did ditch them and get raised by zeff, who is (was) a thief in his own right, much like archie does for parker in leverage, only with way less issues because zeff doesn’t do the ~real family~ shit archie did. so. (related: yes the vinsmokes will come up at some point. no, they’re not all irredeemably evil in this universe because the genetic modification shit didn’t happen which means they’re all just products of judge’s bullshit abuse but that’s an essay and a half so i’m gonna leave that be for now.)

robin! grifter. information. can also beat the shit out of people. primarily a grifter. best one on the team and is very good at getting things/information/money/etc out of people. her backstory isn’t canon but i’m working out the details on how to best write her into things because i don’t want to have to necessarily wait until croc to get her on the crew. also behind a decent amount of the crew planning.

franky is the hacker, naturally, and splits the gadgets dude role with usopp. it’s franky. like. what else was he gonna do.

usopp! partially gadgets dude. also the team forger. the best forger in the country, really, but usopp wouldn’t know an ego if it bit him in the ass.

chopper is literally there to patch them up after fights and rarely pulls double-duty as a grifter if need be.

brook is also there! grifter, primarily. is very good at playing upper class if they need him to.

jinbe (like i would forget jinbe) is also a hitter and can grift if need be and mostly meets luffy in the first place because ace is like “this is my little brother he’s a little shit” and jinbe’s like “......where the fuck did my wallet go” and luffy’s moved, like, twice, and not out of jinbe’s line of sight. so jinbe likes him and joins the straw hats.

aside from the straw hats!

again, sabo’s crew is essentially the revolutionary army. what else would he do.

law shows up, def, and yes the heart pirates too. (i can’t leave bepo out, i just can’t.) mastermind, doctor, grifter when need be. (bepo is actually the team grifter for them but nobody believes them because bepo is cute and adorable)

smoker and tashigi are law enforcement, of course.

i’ve mentioned shanks, who is a grifter/thief/hitter and definitely used to be on a crew with buggy and trained under rayleigh and shanks definitely has the rest of his major crew. also did/does the occasional job with mihawk when he can drag mihawk out of “retirement”

and then! the other thing that i really really want to write in this universe at some point!

so, in leverage, season two, episode seven is called “the two live crew job”. the plot is a rival crew shows up and takes the painting the team was going to steal and then someone tries to kill the main crew’s grifter so they fake her death and steal a thing out from under the rival crew to extort them into giving up the painting they wanted in the first place.

naturally, when i hit “the two live crew job” in my (...fifteenth?) rewatch to work on this universe, it was about the same time i hit water 7/enies lobby. you can probably guess what’s next.

“the two live crew job” in this universe is straw hats vs. cp9.

(quick crew rundown for cp9: lucci - grifter/thief in that order, kaku - thief/grifter, kalifa - hacker/grifter, blueno - hitter/grifter, jabra - hitter, kumadori - grifter, fukurou - information) (all of them can also double as hitters, but jabra’s best skills are punching people and baiting lucci so. it’s also blueno’s focus, though he can also grift better than jabra.)

idk how all the details for that mess would work yet but i want to do it, so.

i did mention vivi, who is, aside from nami’s fake fiancee and sort-of their client, can work as a thief and a grifter and may or may not help the crew on occasion. because i love her.

hancock - grifter. (like there was any doubt, really.)

you get the point! anyway, so the straw hats do it because luffy is luffy and wants to help people and thinks laws are mostly bullshit so they rob the fuck out of rich people and ruin their lives a little bit and help out the people who got screwed over by them.

at some point, there is an alliance a team-up with the heart pirates because law’s exasperation at luffy’s ability to fuck up his plans remains one of the best things

aaaand i think that’s it for now. obviously, it’s not a perfect au but i’m working on it, so.

[petite-neko]

Chapter Characters: Law, Sengoku Pairing: LawLu Rating: T Warnings: Swearing, Universe Alteration, angst, canon-typical violence A/N:  WEDNESDAY UPDATES!

Also:  For my friendo MM: This is the chapter I've talked to you about. For the rest of you: Have fun :D PS: This is how I decided Law and Sengoku meet :D

.xxx. > Time/scene skip

.+++. > PoV change

(Wanna buy me a ko-fi? Link in blog description!)

Chapter 15 || Chapter 16: Strength || Chapter 17

Three days. It had been three days since the battle, and that was how long it took for Luffy to wake up.

Coincidentally, that was how long it took for the Marines to mobilise.

And, also, for how long it took for Doflamingo’s escort to arrive. And with that escort…

“The Buddha himself has also been spotted!”

Law felt himself stiffening.

How long? Just how long had it been since he had actually conversed with him...? By the time he had become a Warlord, the Buddha had retired. And, Law had made no actual effort to locate him. Had never sought him out, never indicated any interest in interacting with him…

And the war – it didn’t count. They didn’t really interact. Just two people on the opposite ends of a battlefield. One trying to kill Ace, another trying to save him.

It had been… well, ever since Doflamingo had become a Warlord. Of course – he hadn’t said anything about it except to increase security around him. To increase his solitude. Doflamingo couldn’t know.

Of course, that was only, really, an excuse to let him run away. Because, with Doflamingo being a Warlord – Law was not safe anymore. Not safe and…

Well pissed. And, so, after being left in the care of another Law took the first chance he could and ran. Ran away from the protection he once had, but had no longer. Away from the books and the training and the equipment he had been given. Away from the man who had taken him in…

”...So you are that child from that decimated city...”

The voice had caught his attention and he had looked up from what he was doing. That voice... yes, he recognised it. This... this was the man that Cora-san had been working for. This was the Marine.

“...And you, the marine.” He said bluntly before turning back to his work.

Truth be told, he didn’t know if he would have even succeeded - he was weak and feverish, the ground cold and hard, and... – but he was trying. Trying because it was the right thing to do and…

“I think Roicinante deserves a better resting place than here.”

The then-fleet admiral had found him alone.

(No, not alone. He had been accompanied by a frost-speckled corpse. One he had stolen from naval troops. Covered in the very blanket he had given Law to keep out the cold. To keep out the patches of white snow from sticking to his skin. To keep out the memories.)

Found him digging into the frozen dirt with scrap metal. Weak from the amber lead. Weak from the beatings. Weak from grief and guilt and gratitude. Ready to collapse with only determination driving him forward. Forward and… downward.

The marine had settled in - silently watching as he dug and dug and dug.

Time had meant nothing to him, he couldn’t stop. Because, if he did, their faces flashed into the forefront of his mind. The people he had left behind: the Sister, his friends, his parents, Lami. He had left them behind, left them alone and exposed and to the mercy of the elements and to those monsters.

He couldn’t - couldn’t - leave Cora-san behind like that.

Couldn’t leave him there, cold and alone and forgotten and….

Couldn’t leave him like he had left everybody else.

“He told me about you child.”

The noise, after so much silence, had jolted him but he did his best to ignore the old man.

“He cared very much for you.”

He didn’t want to think about that. Think about the way Cora-san had smiled at him and uttered those words and drew his hand up and made those stupid promises and… Law fought the sobs that threatened to overwhelm him. Couldn’t this bastard just shut up?

“As did I, him. He was like a son to me.”

Shut up, shut up!!!

“What gives you the right to burry him here?” He pressed, either ignoring, or oblivious to, the way his words were affecting Law. “Alone. Cold. Far from those he cares about? To take him away from his family?”

And that - those words - snapped something within him. The something he was trying to keep at bay. The something that he was trying to burry along with Cora-san...

His head violently jerked up towards where the man was sitting, out of the hole he was digging, yellow eyes narrowing into daggers and he jabbed the scrap metal into the ground.

“I should at least be allowed to burry one member of my family!”

Because - because Cora-san was the only one he had left. Everybody else... He had left them there. Hidden under their bodies... Used them…

He owed at least one of his saviours the proper respect...

Those eyes - they changed at his words. Softened and the marine approached his hole, reaching into it. Reaching towards him. “Then come with me child. Come with me and we can burry him together. In a place surrounded by those who loved him.”

Sengoku had found him, and welcomed him with open arms. Taken him under his wing. Protected and shielded him. Provided him with books and education...

And just what had Law done to reply him but to run away and become a pirate? Foiled his plans to execute Ace. And, then, his ungrateful ass hadn’t even bothered to seek him out while they still could meet under amicable terms.

Perhaps, perhaps, it had been cruel, to never seek him out …

But, no. No, all he had done was visit Cora-san’s grave. Visit it and leave the rim of his hat, and apologise for taking too long, and talk to him, and catch up, and....

”I’ll be seeing you again soon...”

Perhaps - perhaps that was why. He didn’t want to feel the guilt Sengoku’s gaze would have given him. He didn’t want to remember the mantle that had been placed on his shoulders...

He was like a son to me.

Law was afraid he would back out. Back out and never fulfill Cora-san’s mission. The mission he had compromised and failed in exchange for his life...

And now - now that man was here. Was here, looking for them.

For him.

.xxx.

“...Law.”

He turned at the voice.

“I see you’ve changed your hat.”

Law swallowed - because of where the remnants of his hat was.

“...And you, your position.”

Sengoku sighed and sat down on some rubble.

“You know that act won’t work on me Trafalgar. It didn’t all those years ago, and it won’t now.”

---Tch. Sengoku always used his surname when he was displeased with him.

“Well - at least that hasn’t changed.” He scoffed but found himself leaning against a taller piece of rubble.

“...Are you satisfied now?”

Law closed his eyes. Closed his eyes as he remembered his lash outs. Remembered the scoldings. Of Sengoku telling him to concentrate on his devil fruit. Concentrate on his studies. Of shoving books into his face when he found him sulking or brewing off in a corner...

Sengoku had never approved of his path of vengeance. He had never agreed with following in Cora-san’s footsteps...

Satisfied, was he?

Cora-san’s mission had been fulfilled. Doflamingo had been defeated and was now under the custody of the Marines. (Just like Cora-san had wanted...)

Cora-san would be -- but was he?

He had wanted blood. Blood and --

Peace.

Instead, what he got was a damn Strawhat interfering with his plans and --

“...Perhaps.”

A fucking kiss.

(Law pushed that thought from his mind once more.)

Silence had fallen between them as it normally did. Until Sengoku had decided to break it, like always.

“You do know I am disappointed in you Law.”

--What?

“You were planning on joining Rocinante, weren’t you?”

“Gwuah-?!”

How did he---

The Buddha sighed. “...When I heard you had become a Warlord, I suspected that you would visit Rocinante’s grave.”

“Tch - so I take it you overheard me then...”

God damned nosy bastard. Every fucking time...

“...He wanted you to live Law. Your life meant more to him than stopping his brother.”

That made him pause. Pause and wonder. Because he remembered: he remembered the only reason that Cora-san had drawn him away was after he told Baby 5 and Buffalo his full name. He held out his hand - held it out and stared at it. Was that it? What that truly it?

“My... life?”

He clutched his fist and closed his eyes.

“...Was that really the reason?” Because every single day he still found himself doubting. Despite the smile. Besides the admission of love. Besides... everything just... just how could somebody... “I had been with the Donquixote family for awhile before he had even bothered... It was only after he had found out that I was a D....”

“A D.?!”

So - Sengoku knew too?

Law looked up at the clouds and closed his eyes. “--Yeah, just like Luffy-ya. Cora-san... he told me to keep it a secret. That if Doflamingo had ever found out...”

Another sigh left the man that he supposed was his grandfather in a way...

“No. No Law. That wasn’t it. I am certain that he knew no details involving the name.” There was a pause, and Sengoku approached him slowly. “Rocinante saved you Law. Not a D. but a person he loved. So live. Live and remember him. You’ve lived for him. Lived to fulfill his purpose. And, now that you have - you’re free. Free from the amber lead. Free from the pain. Free from any grief. Free from any debt…”

It was weak - but Law nodded as he clutched into the brim of his hat as the emotions threatened to overwhelm him, just as they did before. When he tried to burry Cora-san, and Sengoku had reproached him for it.

Just like he was reproaching him now.

“I’d never thought I’d say this - not after they followed in your footsteps - but I’m glad I introduced you to those brothers Law.” A smile, now, was gracing those wizened features. “Tell them hello for me - hello and my apologies about the war. I was... only doing as I was ordered to Law. Unfortunately – you are pirates, and I a Marine…”

“Y-Yeah…” And – really. He didn’t blame Sengoku. Didn’t blame Garp, and he didn’t think Luffy or Ace did either. They chose this path… They chose it and the consequences that came with it.

And this time – this time – it wasn’t a hand reaching out for him, but a hand being placed on his shoulders. Acceptance. Acceptance and support. Acceptance and… a farewell.

“So stand strong now Law. Stand strong and live. Just like he wanted you to.”

[charkyzombicorn]

Okay but what if luffy got his devil fruit a bit younger? Like he was 4ish when shanks brought it. Garp gets pissy earlier and decides to tie some balloons to his grandson and let the sky handle him while he makes arrangements with dadan.

But then it's a particularly bad day for luffy, and a strong wind carried him away from his island, he ends up falling right into one of the newer slave trader's ships and well fuck. He tried to fight them off but one of them has a collar with sea stone that the big boss person gives to every ship, even the smaller ones. So now luffy's fucked.

Since he's got a devil fruit, he's taken to the big boss child slave distributor asshole (put that on a business card) and then eventually gets taken to judge, because of course that dickhead would buy superpowered children. Judge gets him purely because rubber boy can take a hell of a walloping and also is stronger than the average four year old.

The vinsmoke brats and Sanji end up being pitted against Luffy and luffy does not win, but he doesnt die either so that's a plus. Sanji hates beating up a four year old, his brothers seem to love being able to punch something as much as they want without them being taken away or dying.

Luffy ends up learning how to fight by force, and eventually he's dubbed Sanji's fighting partner since they're both the weakest, which sucks because if sanji loses he gets locked up and if luffy loses then judge gives the other three brothers sharp objects and free time with luffy

Eventually luffy befriends sanji because of course he does, and loving food as much as he does he becomes the taste tester for sanji's cooking endeavors, and sometimes luffy manages to limp away to talk to sanji when he's in his cell.

When they escape, they escape together, and sanji becomes a bus boy and luffy just carries shit because he cant really do anything else but he could deadlift a ship at 10 so hey

When the attack happens, sanji's trying to save luffy, but zeff has to save him. Sanji sits on that rock almost certain that luffy's dead.

Luffy didn't die tho, because no, and he got saved, idk how, this is a writing prompt u figure it out, and they end up growing up apart for a bit after that. Luffy doesn't find his island again, but he does a bit of bounty hunting to get by and ends up making a name for himself because apparently his 'training' with the vinsmokes was a little more brutal than he thought.

Sanji works hard, he feels he owes a debt to both zeff and luffy, both of which helped him in some of his worse moments, and ends up a bit more edgy than in canon because he thinks his only friend is dead (push him to the edge🎶)

But then luffy gets blamed for something that was only really half his fault and half the random bandit he was fighting's fault, and he ends up with a bounty. It isn't a big one, just about 10000 berri, he kinda destroyed a bit more marine property than is recommended. But then sanji sees the bounty in the paper and he doesnt know if he should be glad his friend is alive or angry that luffy let him think he was dead.

But then luffy comes to the baratie when hes about 15-16, and then he sees sanji again and now he's super fuckin happy because how would luffy know sanji was alive?? They both came to the conclusion of mutual misunderstanding and lack of information after a bit of angst, because its sanji and luffy. But they get over it because they were both on the bottom end of the vinsmoke hellhole and does it really matter when they're reunited?

Zeff let's luffy steal sanji because it's been over a decade but luffy still wants to be the motherfuckin king, okay? And sanji's gonna be the cook for the pirate king and find the all blue because

Sanji becomes luffy's first mate and then start a sailing. Luffy attracts friends like a magnet, they get usopp next, and luffy kills kuro because luffy isn't as not-killerish as he is in canon because tragic backstory and if you leave a kid alone to be a bounty hunter long enough with only their own brain to make the morals, what do you expect will happen? Usopp joins because 'UwU piwate' is his opinion on the matter

They get nami, and sanji's a bit more chill than in canon because growing up with a guy that was also nice along with his sister and mother had a bit of an impact. He's still a bit if a french goth and treats nami better than other people but he isn't being a douche about a lady fighting or making faces quite as stupid.

Zoro joins but Does Not like sanji, which is mutual but luffy likes him so sanji must deal. They make their way toward the grand line, going back to the baratie, or what's left of it.

Sanji gets another thick layer of angst learning that while he was gone, don krieg destroyed the ship trying to steal it, and then they go to find don krieg, postponing grand line for a hot second because luffy wont leave until he gets to personally kick the ass of whoever made his cook so extra angsty, and sanji seconds that.

They find don krieg in Cocoyashi island, after crashing there with his broke ass ship. They fight him, the ruckus brings out arlong before Nami can attempt to lie to save them.

Sanji gets off one angst and gets it replaced with another when he can barely do shit because he was cooking all this time and is no longer as strong as luffy, who was only really working on fighting. Luffy almost dies because he has to fight both those shitheads back to back, but he wins.

Sanji starts getting more aggressive with zoro, and zoro only stays because he saw the fight and respects his captain, but that's a bit of a loose thing, ready to snap with a wrong move. Or maybe zoro leaves because he needed that fight with mihawk to realise this was serious and he was a pirate now, to each their own.

They stay in the east blue a little longer because luffy nearly died and they dont have a doctor, but he's fine. Sanji gets more guilt tho because that's how he is, and starts treating luffy nicer, which leads to luffy instigating a fight between the two of them because luffy wont swallow that shit. It helps things because violence is sometimes the answer

They head to the grand line, up reverse mountain, meet the whale, the whole shebang. Sanji might catch feels by this point because honestly who wouldn't?

Nami gets sick, and luffy doesn't know how to deal with that because back when he was being carted around with a sea stone collar and 30 other starving children, they just shot the ones that got sick. Ptsd time and guess who gets to help because zoro isn't first mate/here? Sanji! Which definitely puts things into perspective because for as long as he'd known him, luffy's tried his hardest to make sanji smile, and keep him company, even though after being bought luffy's only purpose was to be a stepping stone in sanji's development. So sanji finally being smacked across the face with the brunt of bottled up traumatized child luffy, he needs a fuckin smoke.

They find drum island and then same shit as canon, except it hits a bit harder with luffy carrying a dying nami and a heavily injured sanji up sheer rock because that's the only person that luffy had when shit got rough that he's holding between his teeth.

When sanji wakes up he probably notices how injured luffy is and can estimate the ringer he's been through because Sanji had to personally find out how luffy's healing factor worked because he was a good fraction of the reason luffy needed to heal so much.

They acquire a chopper :3

This is getting long and it's pretty much the end of my idea, sorry for the long informal post.