#did Dadan love him?? yes of course

[ohmyfairies]

I firmly believe in genderqueer!Ace solely because there is no way this feral jungle child understands gender in any way but women are in charge (Dadan and Makino) and men are awful (Garp, Sabo’s dad, Ace’s dad and Bluejam)

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

Real Talk: Ace Didn't Need to Ask For Help, It's On Garp

i always hate when i see comments about how ace was an idiot or ace should have just asked garp for help because, no? like dawg wtf do you mean?

the one thing we have been told repeatedly across the manga and anime is that ace could have lived his entire life being perfect and he still would have ended up on that podium

he could have become a marine, a police officer, a teacher, a chef and all of that would have been reduced to nothing the moment his parentage was discovered

yes, ace became a pirate of his own volition, but sengoku never mentioned his piracy

he never mentioned all the criminal activity ace did as the captain of the spade pirates or even later as the second division leader of the whitebeard pirates

you know what sengoku did bring up though the moment he got on that damn podium? ace's parentage

he mentions nothing that gained ace his bounty to begin with when he gets that den den mushi in his hand. why?

because it doesn't matter that ace is a pirate. what matters is that they are eradicating the last gol d roger's bloodline

bear in mind that they were killing pregnant women and young children who could have even had the slightest possibility of being roger's lover or kin

akainu deadass says that he doesn't care if every other pirate at marineford escapes as long as ace and luffy died and he would ensure their deaths personally. and for what? not their piracy. none of their crimes. not even for ensuring that the truth that certain countries and lands that were actually saved by pirates instead of the marines never got out

but because their fathers were gol d roger and monkey d dragon respectively

solely because of that, he deemed neither of them deserved to live

and as far as garp goes - i love garp as much as the next person but garp has never done anything for ace to trust him enough to ask for help even if he felt he deserved to ask

garp's negligent parenting coupled with the abusive words ace grew up hearing led ace to believe he didn't even deserve to be born. when he even asks garp if his being born was a good thing, garp can't even tell him 'yes'. he just says 'time will tell'. my brother in the blue seas, that is an elementary schooler questioning his right to exist

ace is defeated by blackbeard in episode 325 (chapters 434-441), luffy hears about his execution being set in episode 416 (chapter 522) and then finally ace is killed in episode 483 (chapter 574). that is 158 episodes and 140 chapters total and in that time what ace receives from garp are conversations that boil down to

"you did this to yourself"

"i just wanted you to become a fine marine"

"i don't have sympathy for criminals but i do have sympathy for family"

and garp actively preventing those who wish to save ace from reaching him. yes after akainu strikes ace, garp does react viscerally with instinct to protect his grandson, but that's too little too damn late at that point

garp having his moral dilemmas mean nothing when, however long ace spent in impel down, he isn't trying to help him

garp having his 'wishing things had been different' thoughts mean nothing when garp is preventing people from saving his grandson

there's a reason garp lets dadan beat and berate him when they reunite in windmill village and it's because he knows she's right

over the course of 20 years, garp has consistently chosen work over ace and luffy. as much as i love dadan and co, bandits are not a good choice to have raise your grandkids and then be the surprised pikachu meme when neither of them wish to become marines

garp's inability to see past the system he disdains yet clings onto actively shoots him in the foot

prevents him from seeing that ace is right when he says he never could have become a marine

luffy could have never become a marine. i do hear arguments saying that luffy might have had a fair chance considering garp is biologically his grandfather but i say that's truly up in the air considering how, even with that knowledge, akainu still wants to put luffy on a poster

but that's all to say, asking why ace never asked garp for help is ridiculous

the fuck would ace look like asking the man who has done nothing but

unintentionally fostered ace's resentment towards luffy in their early childhood

told ace it was his own fault he landed where he did

falcon punched marco halfway across marineford

for help?

and that's not even mentioning the fact that up until that point, ace didn't believe he deserved to live. he didn't think he had the right to exist. the only thing that kept him going up until that point was hoping he'd find an answer that justified his being born and his love for luffy and sabo. ace tells luffy in his dying breaths if it weren't for the two of them, he would have gave up on living a long time ago

yes, garp loves ace and luffy

he loves them both dearly but he is also incapable of putting them before work, before his ideals of justice. these two truths can coexist at the same time. garp's stubborn to a fault and his moral dilemma resulted in both inaction and the prevention of ace's escape

so to say that marineford would have gone differently if ace had asked is seriously undermining the character work. because in reality, it's up in the air on whether or not that would have done anything. ace asking garp for help could have gone either way and that's the beauty of the gray area regarding garp's actions during the summit war

and yes, i can get why it's frustrating that ace turned around to fight akainu when he could have just left and got it back in a blood a different time

but aside from ace having a temper about specific topics, we do get an answer as to why he couldn't bring himself to runaway when we finally are able to dive into his past with luffy and sabo:

he doesn't want to run away from any situation because ace is deathly afraid of losing something if running away ends up being the bad call

and in that moment, luffy was behind him

even if akainu hadn't talked down whitebeard, ace would have inevitably turned back around because he wouldn't have been able to shake his fear of losing something or someone he cared about

as long as there is something precious for him to potentially lose, ace will never run

he was doomed from the start

his being the son of gol d roger doomed him from the start

and that's what makes ace so tragic

[kings-wifey]

One Piece men taking care of you while you're sick ❤️

(I have a sore throat right now so I desperately need someone to take care of me-)

Zoro, Sanji, Ace and Law.

word count: 677

Zoro

"I told you that this would happen!" He growled, incredibly irritated with you for having gone against his words as he idly played with your hair, his signature stone-cold resting face had practically pierced the air, making things rather silent.

He was sat next to your bedside, having had to give up training today as Chopper was out foraging for medical supplies and ingredients due to Luffy having eaten a whole container of flavoured vitamins because "they tasted good", of course he didn't actually mind taking care of you it was just that your stubbornness really pissed him off at times.

"I swear, once your ass is better I'm going to break you."

"Hm... in what way?" You teased him, a cocky smirk on your red sickly face, earning you a groan and a rough poke.

"You cocky little..."

Sanji

"Open wide my darling," He spoke softly, spoon feeding you soup like an infant, his voice was a tad bit raw due to him crying since he felt like the worst boyfriend in the world for allowing his baby to get sick. His guilt stemmed from his mother's passing as a child, the gnawing feeling that he could've done something if he was stronger or actually knew how to care for someone at the time having scarred him, which of course wasn't his fault whatsoever but he'd never accept that nor forgive himself for not being able to take away his mother's pain.

He did not care what so ever that you could get him sick, you were his baby and you needed care! He watched with a soft smile as he saw you slowly eating the soup by each spoonful, admiring the way your soft lips wrapped around the spoon.

"What? Wish this was your dick?" You teased, mumbling slightly as you ate. You chuckled at the way he gasped and blushed as his hand attempted to hide the growing evidence of his arousal.

"Baby!"

Ace

"Babe you sound like Dadan-" Ace wheezes as he teases you, causing him to receive a slap from Marco who was monitoring your temperature. "Shut it. She needs to rest." He scolds your boyfriend sternly before stepping outside to dig through the ship's storage for more herbs, Ace takes the opportunity to climb into the infirmary bed with you and wrap his arms around you like a toddler cuddling their favourite toy.

The truth was, although he did try to hide it, he was horrified of you suddenly becoming seriously ill. He loved you a lot, it was just that he loved your pout and you whines of annoyance almost as much, which was why he'd always tease and poke fun at you affectionately because that alongside touch was love language.

"Don't you dare get sick again... shorty."

"Alright that's it, no more sex for you for a week after this."

"What?! No I was kidding pleaseee!"

Law

Beep beep beep! The thermometer beeped to signal that it was ready to display your temperature.

"Hm. Thirty-eight point five. You're running a slight fever." Law stated bluntly as he examined the thermometer carefully before he set it aside and got up, he walked over to his medicine cabinet and dug through it for a few moments before he examined a packet and took it.

He closed the cabinet before he made his way over to you, handing you the packet of antibiotics with his endearingly cold hands.

"Take two twice every morning and night, it should help to resolve it as well as soothe the irritation somewhat." He spoke with a stern tone, despite the fact that it was incredibly obvious that he was a tad bit worried about your sickness developing into something harder to manage and cure, but he shoved those thoughts away and focused on being the confident doctor that you needed right now and not some sappy worried man.

"Do I take them with water or...?" You teased as you gave him a suggestive smirk, earning a heavy sigh in response.

"... Yes water you horny brat."

Thank you for reading! I know this isn't much for my first post and I do feel very lazy and like this isn't good enough, but I hope you enjoyed it!

[beanghostprincess]

You know, I was thinking a bit about the monster trio and how they all respect food a lot. And it got me thinking about their respective reasons to.

Sanji started resoecting it after being stranded and starving for 6 months, he knew how it felt to be hungry and he doesn't want anyone else to feel like this again. You also got the fact that he is a cook so of course he respects food.

Zoro I am not really sure since I don't remember any specific incident in his life, but its probably due to the strict discipline and culture he was raised in. After all he got raised with Wano costums and Wano is inspired by east asia, mainly Japan. And I might get it wrong but there is some kind of occurence where its rude to not finish your food, and its considered preciois.

Luffy has his whole thing that he just loves to eat and its mostly a gag but I dug in more deeply and...

Did Garp use to fucking starve that child?

I mean, its mostly an assumption, but when Luffy first went to Dadan's place to live she only gave him a bowl of rice and a cup of water and told him he had to work for his food. She excpected him to cry but he just went "Ok. Better than my grandad treats me".

Did Garp just fed Luffy if he completed his trainings (that involved him doing near death experience as a <7 years old CHILD) and/or only made him eat what he hunted? Is that what it is? This whole gag, of Luffy being a glutton, cherishing every piece if food he eats DEFEATING THE WORLD'S STRONGEST CREATURE, FOR A BOWL OF RICE comes from the fact that, as a child, food was quite literally just a rewards, and to him food = freedom, and he loves freedom?

Garp, I swear to Nika-

I've always loved the way OP treats food. Not gonna go full analysis on that because I'm pretty sure one already exists, but Oda keeps wanting to put food/eating in a good light. Food means life and happiness and whenever there's an important scene going on, somebody's eating. It's beautiful. It's surprisingly one of the main traits of Luffy's character. I find it beautiful how the manga keeps showing that food brings happiness and fulfillment. That everybody deserves to eat and that it could never be a bad thing.

We know already why Sanji respects food so much so there's no need to explain it. But you know. Starvation? The way his mom kept hyping up his passion for cooking? His whole character revolves around food and how nobody deserves to starve. Eating shouldn't be a privilege but most of the time it is and people should be thankful they're able to enjoy their delicious meals. So he doesn't waste food because he sees it as a life and happiness source that not most people have access to and it shouldn't be wasted.

Zoro's views are really respectful when it comes to everything. Traditions and rules? Zoro respects that. He's the one who knows the most about pirate language and tradition, so of course he's gonna respect Sanji's views on food. But it isn't just because of that because he already respected food way before joining the crew. It comes from his views on life. Food is necessary for people to live and he respects death a lot (ever since what happened to Kuina) and mortality is something real and present to him constantly. He respects food the way he respects death and life and mortality.

And Luffy... I'd say yes, perhaps it does have something to do with how Garp raised him. It makes sense although I've never actually thought about it that way. But it does look like he has always had to fight for food. But he doesn't only see food as something to fight for because Makino also prepared meals for him. I think the whole point about Luffy and food is freedom (I mean, obviously. God of the Sun and Freedom. We know how it goes). Eating is something necessary to live, but Luffy doesn't see it as a threat. It isn't "Eat or Die" for him. For him, he chooses to eat because food is good for his body and it's delicious, and eating out of pleasure and not just hunger is also part of his character. He's a man who's always starving but for more experiences and tastes and freedom, and he takes food without hesitating once because you shouldn't apologize never, ever for eating.

While Sanji sees food as something he can do for others (he's always starving and making food for everybody else because he's selfless like that and the show wants you to see it), Zoro respects food the same way he respects mortality because it's something necessary to live, and Luffy loves food because it's... Because it's just good, you know? Maybe it isn't that deep. Maybe he eats because he wants to and that's okay. He unapologetically eats and he's selfish about it and that's how it should be.

[randompersion]

me when people kept misunderstanding Ace and his death

Ace's death was to save Luffy from Akainu, Not to mention, Akainu had also insulted someone that changed Ace's view in life, and even being the father figure that he never had, and He was probably much happier being with the Whitebeard Pirates, Who treated him like a family. Something that literally only a few did with him. (Dadan, Sabo, Luffy and maybe Makino) And He even found out the answer if he even deserved to be born. (Which was, a Yes.) Thanks to his big family(and ofcourse the original brothers.) His death may be stupid, yes, But wouldn't you do the same when someone insults the person that had changed your life and possibly saved it?

Idk bout you, but I wouldnt let that go, cuz that's my father figure you're trash talking here you bitch

Anyways, Akainu was also targetting Luffy too, it was like the situation got too fast and your body moved before you can even think, the only thought you would've had was to protect your brother, someone that had loved you in your darkest years, someone that didn't even hated you because you were a criminal's son, someone that didn't left you. Of course he couldn't think any possible ways, when he can only think to save Luffy. And by that, He used himself to be a "shield".

[betmagic]

Little sunshine au

How it starts

It’s a bit of a rant so it’s a lot.

Okay I’ll start with Makino

She knows about ace and Sabo. Garp would often stop by for food and alcohol before heading up the mountain to visit Ace. When ace was just about to turn 6 he asked for he help in finding a present for him. Makino inquired a bit more and learned that Garp left a child with mountain bandits. Worried about the boy she decided to tag along to help bring the supplies.

Ace of course was wary of the unfamiliar woman yelling at her to go away but Makino was patient ( lord knows she is if she raised luffy in the original canon) and a few more visits she managed to gain the boys trust.

After that Makino frequently visits , Dadan is more than happy with it as it brings food and booze but the brat seems to like her too. She also meets Sabo , Ace had forgotten something and managed to fallow ace to where they met up.

Eventually they start coming to the party bar , Makino had told them that if they want food they were more than welcome at her bar. They even bring her fresh meat already skinned and cut as thanks and sometimes some money and jewelry they stole. She can’t stop them from going to grey terminal but she can give them a place to come when they’re hurt or hungry.

Of course this also how the old marine finds out about Sabo earlier and claims the blond as his grandson on the spot.Something Sabo is both terrified ( because of what ace has told him)and happy ( because someone actually wants him)with.

It doesn’t take long after that to start referring to the boys as brothers / they do decide to make it official with sake later but that’s with Luffy/they live, play , train and steal together . Though they call each other friends they definitely feel it’s more than that.

Any way fast forward—

So when Ace and Sabo are ten , Garp calls asking for him to meet him at makino’s bar in few days. Dadan is with them because garp never calls ahead when visits nor does he ask them to meet anywhere outside the moutain.( she’s not the best foster mother in the world but she knows somethings up).

While waiting the boys are nervous, did someone find out about ace? Or was it Sabo’s father? They don’t know because Garp isn’t answering when they call, so they can only wait and grow more nervous.

So everyone is surprised when Garp arrives with an infant. Who introduced as his biological grandson luffy, Ace and Sabo’s new little brother.

Makino instantly takes the baby, no offense to Dadan ( the two women have become good friends over the years) but bandits aren’t ment for raising children. Dandan immediately refused to take the kid after Garp said he was his grandson, she’s already dealt with enough sleepless nights and dirty diapers so no thank you!

Ace notices the way Makino looks at the baby , love and care , thinking that the person who was kind to him won’t care about him anymore storms off. To many emotions to deal with so he needs so punch / kill something.

Sabo fallowing after him- mainly to make sure Ace doesn’t do anything extra stupid when he’s pissed but he’s also torn about the baby. When his brother / yes I know he’s adopted in canon but this isn’t canon it’s an au so he’s biological brother/ sterry was born everyone focused more on him especially when Sabo started going against being a noble. Back then it was fine since if his parents were more focused on Sterry he was able to get away . But know with people he actually cares about it’s different.

Makino wants to go after them but dadan tells her to let them go , but she does go to check on them.

( it’s while they’re gone that Garp asks Makino to stay and explains a bit more about Luffys mother)

The next few days / weeks the boys avoids Makino and the baby. Even when the woman makes the trip up the mountain , bringing luffy with her, they storms off. This of course upsets Makino and dadan has had enough of the boys making the young women upset.

It’s probably the few times( if not the first time) Dadan actually gets serious with Ace even going as far as to ground both boys Sabo tries to argue but the woman isn’t having it. Makino has enough to handle with luffy , she doesn’t need to deal with the two brats throwing a tantrum. So in a rare display of parental authority she tells them to go foosha apologize and that they’re not allowed to hunt go off to the woods , or grey terminal for 2 weeks. And does she get a rowdy angry strong brats to listen ? Easy she says she’ll Garp as a threat- ace knows she’s not bluffing last time she did that he was 7 causing all kinds of trouble until the Marine put him through training hell. The man takes any excuse to put them through marine training—. The other bandits keep a close eye on them so they can’t sneak off either.

So with guilty conscience they decided to head to foosha village for the majority of their punishment.

Makino is happy to see them, even if they only came because they were grounded.( she’s proud of Dadan , who called to inform her she might be seeing the brats in a day or two).

They apologize, sabo having the idea to bring flowers they picked along then way, ( this is also before ace starts learning manners so his his apology isn’t exactly proper but Makino understands him enough to know he’s genuinely sorry). She accepts the apology and makes them breakfast.

However before she can start someone comes in saying there’s a situation at the dock’s about her usual supply delivery.

Makino expected this , Garp had arranged something for her as compensation for taking luffy, so she would get better supplies, however that meant some one new would be there and the people on the docks were wary of new comers. If she didn’t sort it out soon a fight was going to start.

However she can’t leave luffy alone , she just put him down in the basket on the bar( the baby hated being alone and cried when ever she tried to leave him in another room.)

The only other people in the bar were ace and Sabo.

Noticing her dilemma Sabo offers that they can watch luffy for her. Ace is obviously not okay with that asking why he would offer that, Sabo says that they use it to help apologize.

Ace gets that but they don’t know anything about caring for a baby.

Sabo responds that he read a few books on taking care of babies, and rereading them after luffy arrived out of curiosity. So he can watch luffy even if ace is useless. Which ace takes offense to and the boys start arguing

While they’re arguing Makino thinks it over . She knows leaving two ten year olds in charge of an infant wasn’t the most responsible but she didn’t have much other options. She’s already had several complaints about Luffys crying( she felt awful knowing he was in distress) and she can’t bring him to the docks ; that would risk someone outside the village finding out about his heritage. The boy would try to get in the water — he’d given her a few heart attacks when he did it the first few times; the situation could get out of hand and she didn’t want him getting hurt.( or anyone else in his mother’s protective wrath)

So She accepts the offer She explains that it shouldn’t be long , 30 minutes at most.

All they have to do is watch him , she just changed his diaper and if he wakes up and starts to cry she’s has a bottle prepped and instructions in the kitchen if he’s hungry.

So she leaves leaving them and luffy,

For several minutes it’s quite , and the boys think it’ll be fine and that Makino was worried for nothing.

But them luffy wakes up a few minutes later and starts crying they start panicking. Ace covering his ears yelling at Sabo to do something, the blonde tries to rock the baby back to sleep but that does work. Then he remembers the bottle and the instructions Makino left. So he tells ace to watch him while he makes a bottle or two , leaving ace to watch him.

Ace is of course not happy about being left with the crying baby but Sabo is already gone so he’s stuck babysitting.

Eventually he can’t take the noise anymore so Ace goes over to the basket and glares at the baby telling it to shut up. The baby stops for a moment opening his eyes to look at the new person talking to him.

Ace is surprised by how bright and warm the infants eyes are. Looking at him He fully expects the baby to start crying again.( after all he’s monster)

But instead the baby smiling, a bright and happy one ,giggling. The boys laughter is a wonderous warm sound that makes ace heart swell.

Ace is taken aback by that. Why was the baby so happy to see him? He’d never seen anyone, other than Sabo, to genuinely happy to see him . (Even Makino was kind but she was a bit hesitant to approach him when Ace yelled at her go away; he’s glad she didn’t).

He realized he never actually got a good look at the baby before. He looked so small and fragile , vulnerable. Ace could easily crush him, he’d crushed many animals and adults. Yet the baby , luffy , wasn’t afraid of him. Instead he was eagerly reaching for him.

Ace reached out his hand to touch him , tiny soft hands wrapping around his finger in surprisingly strong grip.

Sabo came rushing back with the bottle surprised to see his best friend staring at the baby with fascination. ( a warm look he’d never thought he’d see on his friends face)

He doesn’t even pull away when luffy starts putting his finger in his mouth. Though he takes that as sighn that he’s definitely hungry.

Seeing Ace’s new interest in the baby Sabo tells ace to pick him up so he can feed him. Ace panics because he doesn’t know how to and why does he have to?

He likes you so you get to feed him!

Knowing he can’t win an argument with Sabo he carfully picks luffy up , realizing that he’s even smaller and breakable in his hands.

Sabo instructs ace on how to hold and feed luffy - the blonde while ace is internally nervous because while his strength allows him to securely hold luffy he could also easily crush him. Sabo actually finds it a little funny watching ace , who brave and confident, panic internally as he holds the baby like it’s a bomb.

But seeing luffy comfortable in his arms Ace relaxes and takes the bottle from Sabo.

Luffy ends up going through 3 bottles ( the note said more than one : Luffys still a D and a Monkey ) before he’s full.

Once he’s done with the bottle he starts whining. Ace panics thinking he did something wrong, Sabo takes him from ace , after taking his cravat off and using it as a rag putting it over his shoulder- mimicking what he’s seen Makino and nanny’s do after a feeding a baby, pats him on the back . The baby burps , surprisingly load and earns a chuckle from boys , Sabo moves to hand him back over to ace.

Except the baby doesn’t want to leave the blonde hold gripping tightly to his shirt. Readjusting to get a better hold on the baby , luffy pats Sabo’s face with tiny hands giggling. Just like with Ace ; Sabo is surprised by how bright luffy is , all from being in Sabo’s arms.

I guess he likes you too. Ace teased,

By the time Makino gets back the boys are completely smitten by the baby. They don’t even leave at night because luffy started to cry when they started to head back.

They spend the next few day’s learning how to take care of luffy , diapers duty is not fun but they still do it, they don’t even go back to the moutain for a few days.

However they’ve noticed something odd , Makino takes luffy out before bedtime and comes back with a sound alseep luffy and her skirt wet. She tells them that walking on the beach helps put the baby to sleep.

Still something is right about that explaination so the boys fallow her one evening.

Makino goes to a more isolated part of the shore, far away from any villagers. She takes her shoes off and walks into the water until it’s at her calves.

To their shock she puts luffy , the vunrable tiny infant, in waves.

They rush over yelling , but it’s to late a wave had pulled luffy under.

Some how Makino is able to calm them down and points just a bit farther in.

Luffy is fine, floating safely , giggling as the waves gently rock him back and forth.

When they ask, Makino tells them Luffys mother would never hurt him.

Before they can ask what she’s talking about A wave of water comes over , unnatural I’m its movements , holding luffy out to Makino son’s asleep and yet completely dry. Makino takes him the water retreating back, but not before gently caressing boys check. The young women doesn’t give the boys any room to ask anything else’s before ushering them back to the bar, it’s already late and it’s bed time.

Once they’re back and luffy is tucked in for the night she answers what she can of they’re questions.

She explains to them that Luffys mother is ocean, that’s why she brings him here so she can rock luffy to sleep. She also explains how it could be dangerous if anyone found about it.

The boys promise to keep it a secret. After all luffy was they’re little brother after all.

And wow thats a lot, if any of this sounds familiar it’s inspired from multiple fics about baby luffy and mother ocean fanfics

That’s it for now though I’ll post later

[blacklegsanjiii]

Can I drop some ASL x S hc's?

• Sanji is probaly the only person that really make the ASL behave, like, they take him to meet Dandan and the bandits and they're being total menaces, until Sanji asks them "can you three please stay still for a moment?" and they- just- do it. Everyone gets surprised, of course.

• After WCI, the brothers just chose to marry Sanji bc, fuck it, he'll be their husband now

• During their teenager time, Sanji would always ask them to eat the dishes he's testing to know if it's good

• The ASL probaly could (and would) just stay, looking at Sanji and how even prettier than normal he looks like when talking about something he loves or his dream

Yes you can!

It's a rare talent and only works when he's at the end of his rope. Sanji must be so fucking stressed if they're listening to him. Dadan asks how he did that and he explains that he thinks it only works cuz they're dating.

Sanji is so fucking done with weddings, he's so done with his boyfriends, he's so done. He's going to scream. The weddings, all of them, take less than five minutes. He's now married to three of the most wanted people in the world. And he still has to make a cake. Again.

Sanji knows they're biased but it also means they're not eating tigers or bears or anything so he calls it a win.

Everyone heard the cook talk about the All Blue and fell in love.

[chromatic-lamina]

degrees

Putting aside that One Piece is a fictional piece of work with exaggerated tropes and characters and, you know, don’t try this at home kids except for with parental supervision (except the parents are the bad guys in OP), I want to look at a few of the ‘good guy’ parental figures. 

That means that Kaidou and Judge and Doflamingo (and even Big Mom) are not in the equation at the moment. 

(Yes, Doflamingo tortured the kids if they laughed at Pica/went against the blood law; if we are to believe Baby 5 and Buffalo, severely enough to almost kill them).

I’ll come back to Kaidou in just a short while.

If Garp is such an appalling parental figure I feel that Cora, Dr. Hiriluk and Dr. Kureha should not be deified as much as they are. Yes, they loved and cared for and saved their charges in dire circumstances. 

They also beat the ever-loving motherfucking shit out of them on a regular basis (well, Kureha only did that at a time of extreme crisis, but, y’know, she wasn’t gentle), and expelled them from the home (Hiriluk, and kinda literally with Cora and Law, though maybe only once). 

Also, in the case of Cora, he beat the shit out of kids who weren’t his charges, as well as Law. We don’t see it as much, possibly, but it’s there. It’s in the storyline.

Let’s return to Garp and now Kaidou (with a touch of Hiriluk). Small spoiler for chapter 1024 below.

Regarding safe haven, well, I guess Garp didn’t provide that, but he did seem to trust Dadan and a bunch of mountain bandits more than Kaidou trusted a bunch of imprisoned samurai. Hiriluk knew that Chopper was not welcome with the other reindeer or humans when he kicked him out of his home (more than once, if I recall).

Like, it didn’t seem that Garp left the kids with Dadan with the intent that they might be killed (though of course they could be), whereas both Yamato and Kaidou know that Yamato is being placed in an overtly life-threatening situation when Kaidou chains up Yamato in a cave with samurai who hate Kaidou and therefore possibly the child of Kaidou. Plus, starvation. 

I don’t put Garp on that level, and I’m not saying he’s a great parental figure. His grandkids don’t worship him in the way that Law and Chopper worship people who died for them. I’m just saying that the saints of One Piece parenthood sure have their physical abuse flaws as well, even “if” it comes with justification. And I love them. Hiriluk and Kureha and Cora. And I love the villains too (well, maybe not Judge). I don’t know that I’d be so generous in real life to hate on Garp but to not assess the behaviour of the others.

Just gonna add a little to this: As pointed out by a reader, and also at the back of my mind and everyone’s minds, is that Cora’s “fist of love” was one to deter the kids rather than to toughen them up, so I guess there was ‘only’ concern involved rather than ‘love’, and when he and Law left the family the beatings did stop (or got transferred to the hospital staff—rightly so in manga land).

I love him, and his and Law’s relationship, and he’s an interesting character along with the rest of them, but even though he beat the kids from concern and wanting to deter them from the family, it really didn’t look as if it hurt any less than Garp’s tactics/punishment. I guess the main thing is that Garp continued the behaviour into his charges’ adulthood, whereas maybe Cora didn’t get the chance or wouldn’t have. I feel he wouldn’t have, but that doesn’t alter the fact that he did.

[holykillercake]

Red String

𝕊ℍ𝔸ℕ𝕂𝕊 𝕏 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕖!ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣

word count: 2.8k

summary: You had any place in the world to moor, a stable and safe summer paradise somewhere in the South Blue, or you could visit the winter island where cherry blossoms painted the freezing horizon pink. The world was on the menu, and yet you chose to break into a Yonko territory.

highlight:  ¨What about you, Y/N? Will you try to put your hands on me?¨ 

warning: Look out for your arm, it might melt with the fluff.

notes: Hi, guys! This was an anon request for Shanks x Marine Reader. I was given the freedom to write whatever I wanted, so I hope you guys like it! <3 Dear, anon, I apologize for the time it took and I hope you read it! 

𝕃𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤, 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕤, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖!

¨I have to say, not a usual place for a Vice Admiral to enjoy a vacation.¨ a smirk bent your lips as you heard the playful voice of the man who courted you with another drink. 

¨Well, I´m no usual Vice Admiral.¨

¨No one doubts that.¨ He put the sword on the table and pulled a chair, sitting close to you. ¨You have grown, Y/N.¨

¨You have aged.¨

¨Oi, not very nice. You hurt my feelings.¨ the red-haired placed the hand on his chest, over the heart, faking an offended tone. 

¨Mission accomplished.¨ 

You stared at each other for about four seconds before breaking into laughter. As always, Shanks was louder, banging his fist on the wooden table and vocalizing his amusement to anyone who had ears to hear. 

¨It´s been a long time, Y/N.¨ he wheezed, still recovering from his overreaction.

¨Yes, it has, Red hair.¨

¨Red hair? Really? I mean, you tried to kill me way too many times already. You gotta call me by my name.¨ You chuckled, sipping your drink. ¨Especially when you´re at my house.¨

You grinned, shaking your head and biting your lip. Of course, the bastard would not let this opportunity slip. 

After years of non-stop hard work, you received a few weeks off duty. That meant that the world could split open, the moons could fall into the atmosphere followed by the sun, and you would not have to move a single finger.  

Issho-san would handle that better in any way. 

You had any place in the world to moor, a stable and safe summer paradise somewhere in the South Blue, or you could visit the winter island where cherry blossoms painted the freezing horizon pink. The world was on the menu, and yet you chose to break into a Yonko territory. 

However, the Yonko in question was more than just an Emperor of the Sea. Your lives entangled at a very young age when the Pirate King was still alive, and Garp had melanin left in his hair. 

You were just two snotty brats fighting your Captains´ battles. 

¨Anyway,¨ he chugged his drink and asked for another one. ¨I missed you in Marineford.¨ 

¨Well, I guess I missed Marineford myself. Had a good view, though.¨ you answered nonchalantly. 

¨What do you mean?¨

¨I had an underling transmit me the whole thing.¨

¨Isn´t that handy?¨

You tried not to laugh. It was stupid, but every time you had Shanks and hand in the same sentence, you felt the urge to laugh.

¨I wanted to see Luffy.¨ you said.

¨Why not go there, then?¨

¨Duty called somewhere else.¨ you shrugged. ¨Besides, I would have been no help for him.¨

¨You´re saying you wouldn´t help him?¨ Shanks carried a suspicious tone in his voice.

¨Of course I wouldn't help him.¨ You took a sip of your drink. ¨But thanks... for stopping that madness.¨ 

The man casually stretched his arms above his head, tilting his head back, enjoying the warm sun.

¨No biggie. You owe me another one, and we should be fine.¨ he smiled.

¨Who´s counting?¨

¨I am.¨ 

¨I already stopped hunting you, Shanks. Isn´t that enough?¨

¨Not on my book, Y/N.¨

For a long portion of your life, you had a personal mission to give the Red Hair the same fate as his Captain. Whenever his crew was located, you would be the one hunting them. No one dared to tell you otherwise. 

By that time, you had no significant position. Maybe a Lieutenant, Captain tops. But being related to the Hero of the Marines, well, that granted you some free passes, and as long as you could hand Shanks´head in a tray, a little nepotism didn´t bother you. 

Actually, although everyone saw you as Garp´s relative, you were just his first protegé, his first rescued dog. Apparently, the highly ranked officers were going through boring times and decided to pay their dues by doing charity.

The only one you got to know was Sengoku´s kid. Rosinante was his name. To this very day, you could not think of him without the twist in your heart. 

Even you didn´t know how to describe it, and honestly, you didn´t care. Was the job done at the end of the day? Good. 

That was all that mattered until another pawn entered the game, a very troublesome one, by the way. Slept like a rock and ate all your food. You couldn´t help but fall in love with little Monkey D. Luffy. 

He was the one to give you the answer you had stopped looking for a while ago.

In order to be his older sister, you had to be Garp´s granddaughter. Everyone loved the idea, except for the man himself. 

You were as keen as Garp to make Luffy become a great Marine. You bought him tailor-made marine onesies and shared stories about the seas. Whenever he spotted you approaching with the leather book in your hands, he would get restless. 

The onesies, however, those never lasted. They were thrown in a boiling dumpster altogether with your dream of him joining you in a job one day.

The sun was about to set, and you had just returned from a long and intricate mission when you received a call from Makino saying that Luffy had gotten into some trouble. 

Not only that, The Red Hair Pirates were somehow involved. It was all you heard before hanging off the den den mushi and hopping in a Marine ship, headed to Foosha Village.  

The idea of Shanks causing Luffy any pain or just giving him a hard time made you turn into a beast. But your bloodshot eyes were washed clean by the image of your brother, safe and sound, hanging out with Red Hair, who seemed rather... different. 

¨Why would you do that?! What do you want, Red Hair?!¨ 

A lot of things went through your head, but none of them could explain why a pirate, why him, would sacrifice his arm to save Luffy. There was no way he didn´t know about your little brother´s connections. 

¨I want to pay you a drink. But only if you stop yelling.¨ 

With a swing of his hand and a smile, Makino appeared with a jug of beer before you could spit fire on him again. 

¨They´ve been really good at keeping Luffy entertained this past year, Y/N-san.¨ she said, kind as usual, before leaving.

You sighed and took a seat by his side. 

¨Why did you do that?¨

¨I bet on his life. Just that. Why is that a problem? You don´t want to feel grateful for a pirate?¨ 

Your grip tightened around the cold glass, teeth clenching and knuckles turning white. 

¨No.¨

Gratitude was never the problem. You would be grateful to anyone who risked their lives for Luffy, but he... you needed to hate him. But no matter how much you tried, you couldn´t get yourself to do it. 

¨I don´t want you thinking that I owe you anything.¨

¨You don´t have to owe me anything, Y/N. But we´ve known each other for a while now, so... we both know that you will.¨ 

His lips turned into an honest smile, no teasing behind it, and you wished not to have your heart beating faster for it. 

¨You don´t kn-¨

¨Y/N!¨ Luffy entered the bar, running to you with the brightest of the smiles on his face.¨Are you done? I have to show you something!¨ he asked, pulling the fabric of your coat.

¨Oi, behave Luffy, I´ll be done in-¨

¨Nooo!¨ he pouted before turning to the opposite side and pulling one of his impish grins ¨Look what I can do! Gomu gomu no...¨ 

His tiny hand balled into a fist, which you watched stretch all the way to the opposite side of the room before coming back and hitting him in the face. 

Did his arm just...      

The air froze in the room. You blinked a couple of times, hearing a few gasps around the bar, your gaze fixed in the same place his hand was seconds ago.

¨Luffy-kun, why don´t you come outside with me?¨ Makino extended her hand for him to take. ¨I´ll bring some meat.¨

The kid screamed in excitement and followed her, drool dripping down his chin. 

So close, Shanks. So close. He thought, lowering his head on the counter and waiting to get chewed up. However, after a few unscathed seconds, the red-haired lifted his head, almost not believe his eyes. 

That was the first and last time you bowed to a pirate. 

Of course, later on, you punched him for letting Luffy eat a Devil Fruit. 

You swore to leave him and his crew alone, as long as they did not cause bigger problems, which they eventually did, but you had a debt you could never pay, and you ended up focusing on other things. 

Those things made it difficult for you to visit Luffy as much as you wanted, but since Garp had sent him to live with Dadan, you could sleep with a clean consciousness. 

Whenever you paid him visits, he would tell you about these other kids, whom he considered brothers. One you got to meet, Sabo, smart and polite. The other, however, ran from you like you were a freaking plague. 

Ace, another one with whom you had an inestimable debt. 

¨Humor me, Y/N. If not Foosha, why here?¨

You shrugged.

¨I was passing by, and the place seemed quite enjoyable.¨ 

¨Hm.¨ the wind blew stronger, turning the gentle swishing of the palm trees into a harsher rustling. ¨Should I get my men ready for a conflict?¨

¨Relax, Shanks. Right now, this is the safest place on earth.¨

¨What do you mean?¨ he asked, genuinely curious. 

¨Oh, come on.¨ you scoffed. ¨Not even the World Government will try to put their hands on you, and I´ll kill anyone who dares to ruin my vacation.¨

¨What about you, Y/N? Will you try to put your hands on me?¨ 

His gaze was heavy on you, conquering aura filling the place. You looked at him with narrowed eyes and a smirk growing on your lips. 

This guy...

You harnessed the moment to take in his features, a lot more mature than you remembered. Although the scars were deeper and he seemed more tired, his hair shone like fresh blood, and his eyes... you were afraid to drown in them. 

¨What would you do if I decided to put my hands on you?¨ you bit your lip. ¨I heard you´ve been terrorizing some kids lately.¨

¨Gotta give them a run for their bounties, right?¨ He laughed. ¨But I also heard some interesting things about you, Y/N.¨

You raised your eyebrows as if you were encouraging him to tell you more. 

¨Apparently, I´m not the only one spending recreational time with young pirates. And there I thought Marines weren´t supposed to hunt Warlords of the Sea.¨

A shiver ran down your body, already aware of the subject he was about to bring up.

¨Well, I have no idea what you´re talking about.¨ You said, giving him your best oblivious eyelash bat. 

¨Oh yeah? Because it was brought to my attention that you made some business with... what´s his name again?¨ he pretended exaggeratedly to think about it ¨Ah, Trafalgar Law.¨

¨Only time I spoke to him, he was a Warlord as well. And I just wanted to thank him for helping Luffy in Marineford.¨

¨You´re gonna start lying to me at this point of our relationship?¨ Shanks teased to eager a bit of the tension, and a scoff left your mouth.

¨First, you´re delusional. Second, you´re too nosey for your own good.¨ 

The two of you laughed along like you were not natural enemies.

¨Did you get to meet Luffy in Dressrosa? Heard they made an alliance.¨

¨Hm, yeah. But no, couldn´t get myself to do it.¨

You frowned, hurting for have had your little brother so close but not being brave enough to approach him. Good thing he had no idea about your presence in the scene, and you could trust Law´s discretion to keep it that way. 

¨He doesn´t hate you, you know.¨

¨Yeah, I know...¨

That was true. Luffy didn´t hate you for not helping him in Marienford, just like he didn´t hate Garp for standing in his way. He had too big of a heart for that. 

Shanks let you have your time in silence, empathizing with your feelings. He too had to make sacrifices by standing his ground before.

¨What now?¨ he asked.

¨What now?¨ 

¨Garp is retired. Joker is down. What´s holding you back?¨

The air got stuck in your lungs. The reality you had been running from, the question for which you postponed to find an answer. 

When Garp took you in, the alternatives available for you were restricted, to say the very least. It was either accept the kindness of a stranger or die. He taught you his trade and molded you into one of the best-skilled marines. 

As the time passed and you learned the ugly truth behind the World Government, the disgust and disbelief made you want to leave. Fortunately, your life was not stained by the passage of a Celestial Dragon, but how were you supposed to protect them, aware of the atrocities they afflicted to people?

At the same time, how could you leave Garp after everything he did for you? Of course, he would survive if you disappointed him that much, but you owed him your life. 

What made you stay, however, was something much less pleasant than a lifetime debt. Thirteen years ago, evil prevailed, and you lost something really important. Or rather, someone. 

Commander Donquixote Rosinante. Marine code 01746. 

He had a sense of justice like no one else. He was strong, honest, and fair. Did he make you want to pull your hair out every time he lit himself on fire? Yes. Did it bother you to have stains on your tatami because he dropped hot tea on it? Yes. He possessed the ability to get you on your nerves, but he was your family. 

You were supposed to be the greatest. 

Long story short, that night, at Swallow Island, you left with more than just his dead body. You inherited his will. 

You swore to take down the man responsible for shortening his life, and hopefully, in a later day, you could meet the little boy about whom he spoke so highly. 

It took you thirteen years. No more ties of the past, no more strings on you. 

Well, just one, if you were to be entirely honest with yourself. A string of a stupid tale, a nonsense legend, a foolish myth. The Thread of Destiny, supposed to connect two people together. They say the thread may stretch or tangle, but it shall never break. 

Bullshit. There´s no such a thing. 

But assuming that there was, why did you feel that if you pulled it to its very end, what you would find would be red as well? 

Red as the vest Luffy wore diligently; red as the nose of a cranky apprentice; red as the pompous sails of the Oro Jackson; red as the locks of the man capable of stopping wars with words.

Would you dare to be anything else? Could you step out of your own life like this? Could you abandon everything you fought for all these years? 

¨You know, I´ve said it in the past, but I´ll say it again. We could use someone like you in our crew.¨ 

You gave him a two-second smirky scoff before frowning again. 

Were you worthy enough to owe yourself the chance to choose? What did it mean, the justice coat of a Vice Admiral you carried so proud on your shoulders?

If piracy took a lot from you in the past, could piracy, or a pirate, give you everything back? 

¨Y/N?¨

¨Hm?¨ You hummed, gaze locked on the lethargic view. 

Hot puffs of air played with your hair and involved your skin in a warm hug. You could hear the gentle sound of the waves crashing on the shore, coastal birds cooing and the wind whistling over the rocks. 

¨Do you think, maybe, one day... I could ask you out?¨

No matter how many times you rewound the tape, you couldn´t find a different answer, a plausible reason for the burning feeling you held for him, whatever that meant. 

From the first time you put your eyes on each other, a contract was opened without even a handshake. A deal was set without your acknowledgment. An ironic fate tied you to the same string. 

¨Yeah... maybe.¨

[victorie552onepiecespeedrun]

Reading One Piece pt 336: Torture, Rescue And Murder, In That Order

Chapter 584

Thoughts:

- *freeze frame* Luffy, tied to a tree and about to be killed, AGAIN: You’re probably wondering how I got myself in this situation

- Luffy’s kidnappers just realized that Luffy is quite squishable. Please be too stupid for swords?

- !!!!!!!

- Why are they punching… god, there’s blood too

- “AAA! That hurt! I’m scared! Help!” and somehow Luffy managed to grow up into a pretty healthy and optimistic individual. Resilience on some children

- Meanwhile, Ace and Sabo are relocating their treasure (because Luffy knows where it is and is currently “interrogated”). What are the chances they’ll help Luffy? Pretty small. Right?

- Pirates can’t get good info on Ace and Sabo’s whereabouts, haha

- sometime later…

- treasure relocated, it’s sundown and Luffy STILL didn’t talk. Not that I expected him to, our boy ain’t no snitch

- map. Huh, it’s not that far from Windmill Village

- …wow, even these pirates think it’s cruel to beat Luffy like that

- yeah, they’re getting desperate

- “That guy’s with Bluejam. He’s got the aristocracy in his pocket.” ? how does that even work

- lawless land :(

- “Won’t tell!” “Fine! Then die!” D: D: D:

- “STOP!!” :D :D :D

- It’s Ace and Sabo!! They DID came!! YES!!!

- Rescue him!!

- little murder children :D

- mission success!!!

- wait, what are you doing, Ace

- “I’m never running from a fight!” For the love of… he sure didn’t grow out of it

- “I won’t lose to a kid!” ha!

- LATER

- …Bluejam killed that pirate that tortured Luffy (AND lost to children)… I…

- well, back to children then

- Ace is being scolded :)

- “Do you have a death wish!?” …in the light of recent events…

- LET LUFFY CRY

- he can’t even thank them properly cause Ace keeps yelling at him

- “WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST TELL THEM!? You knew these guys kill women and children without a second thought!” “If I told them, I couldn’t be your friend anymore!” LUFFYYYYY

- “So what!? It’s better than dying! Why do you want to be friends with me so bad anyway?”

“BECAUSE!! I GOT NOBODY ELSE!!”

- “I can’t go back to Windmill Village. And I hate bandits! If I don’t follow you, I’ll be all alone. I don’t want to be alone! I hate it more than being hurt!”  …I knew it. Luffy above all else doesn’t want to be alone (it showed a little at Amazon Lily)

- “What about your parents?”

“I don’t have any family except Grandpa.”

“So you feel better when you’re around me? You… you need me?”

“Yeah”

That combo walked into my home and kicked me in the teeth

- “Do you… want me to be alive?” “?! Of course!” the issues in this panel

- …ok, drama’s over I think. Time for some BROTHERLY BICKERING, at last. I’m so glad

-  lol, while Ace and Luffy are bonding, Sabo is like “Hey, I’m even more homeless than before, a little help here?” (he lived in the junkyard, pirates will hunt him now)

- SO THEY TOOK HIM WITH THEM TO DADAN LOL

- :) all well that ends well. Now there’s three of them

- so they’re in Goa Kingdom, cool

- “Some sort of big shot is coming to the kingdom and it’s making headlines” oh?

- “So What’s so great about these people… Celestial Dragons?” !!!!! oh no.

Absolutely nothing, Dadan. Absolutely nothing.

rOP 335  rOP 337

[whirlybirdwhat]

Accidental Family Man Au

remember that one ask where I talked about some projects? This is one of them. Enjoy dad franky!

So it begins with Franky – a back alley repair in the illustrious mechanic city of Water 7 – a miracle engineering city, they call it, with intertwining roads of cars and rivers. Venice, if Venice was made of concrete and had a road system above its water system, twisting above houses and everything.

Franky used to be one of those engineers that created those miracles, but an accident later, and he’s the scourge of the city and half bionic, making his living in back alley repair shops where you either pay with cash or your life.

He never said he was a good guy, did he Ice Burg?

 He still has connections though – and these connections lead to Iceburg, and to the Straw Hats.

 Iceburg’s the mayor, of course, and while he doesn’t care much for his public image, he knows that if he starts accepting money from shady kids who showed up to his doorstep possibly covered in blood with a woman who he swears he’s seen before beside him, that maybe Water 7’s people will take a hit for harboring criminals.

But hey, He knows a guy already doesn’t he?

So he sends these kids and their broken van down to the Franky House to see if he would fix their beloved, broken, van.

The Straw Hats never reach it, because the woman (Robin) gets kidnapped and a fight breaks out, leading to the separation of the group,

So the story really begins with Franky and the little broken down RV called The Going Merry, previously belonging to the kid who’s standing in front of him, begging him to fix it.

More Hcs Below cut including actual dad Franky stuff lol

That kid is Usopp, and he’s asking because Franky’s the only repair man in the illustrious city of Water 7 that will possibly accept the cash that Usopp has to offer.

He doesn’t.

Instead, he attempts to kick the kid out and gets kidnapped in return.

Oops

 So, Franky’s introduced to Ennies Lobby one of the worst places this side of the country – where people go and never come back, and hey, whats this kid doing kicking down the door?

Safe to say, Franky is rescued, and learns a little more of their story.

And Safe to say, Franky sees the woman they are going to save (him, and a bunch of teenagers and some 12 year old brat) and he near damn falls in love with her on sight and definitely does when he actually talks to her.

They save Robin, and start running – of course, Merry the van is just barely struggling to save all their added weight but they make it but also merry’s totaled.

So Franky shows them his pet project, The Thousand Sunny, supposed to be his super get away, home a way from home rv but with a few modifcations… the Straw Hat Gang has a new home. And a new crew member.

Franky learns everyone’s stories and about all the absolutely shady shit they are into. He learns he fits right in.

 And then… then the moments start happening.

He helps Usopp fix up the Sunny, and teachers him about cars and such. 

He and Chopper start bonding over bionics and medical shit that went into building his body. 

Zoro and him geek out over comic heroes (this, at least in zoro’s part, is canon the big nerd.) 

He helps Nami out with some headings and listens to her troubles. 

Sanji and him go fishing one day and it’s the most surreal experience of Franky’s life because this teen is in a three-piece suit and catching giant fish out on the shore of some lake? What? 

Franky gives Luffy advice and pulls him out of fights and shows him cool robot things.

 And its two months in when Franky realizes – here is it actually typed out lmao

“In all honesty, Franky doesn’t know how it happens.

Well.

He has a vague idea.

(Can you save her? Please? Merry’s the best.)

But still – tracing the events that led up to him frantically calling Ice-for-brains at one am in the morning at a near abandoned gas station on the west coast was a hard task.

“Hello?”

Finally.

“Ice-for-brains,” He starts using the familiar name.

“Flunky? The hell? What are you calling me now?”

“Iceberg.” The use of his real name quiets him. He knows this is serious. Franky takes a deep breath, and exhales, saying the next words in a single breath. “I accidently became a dad to six crazy teenagers. Help.”

…

“Goddamnit bastard-berg this is no time to laugh!””

AND THEN HE GOES ON TO HAVE MORE DAD ADVENTURES INCLUDING:

Organizing the kids at Sabaody Park

being emotional support for all these kids trauma please world, give them a break

doing his best to say no to allowing luffy to swim with sharks but giving in anyway

being a component (aka fierce menacing bodyguard) in his daughter’s nami’s schemes

breaking up fights

 Attempting to ground known criminals who may or may not be stronger than him

Modifying the RV so that they can have Brook and Jimbe on it as well

“MCDONALDS! MCDONALDS! MCDONALDS!”

Overthrowing the government in at least three different countries because his kids wanted to

Doing experiments with illegal fireworks on Usopp’s behest

“Do you want to play catch” “Franky that’s dynamite that we found in the stach what the fuck- “Do you want to play catch” “…Yes.”

Explaining Safe Sex to teenagers who have biggers worries such as the government

Teaching them all how to drive. He thinks hius heart has popped out of his chest.

Snoring loudly on their tiny couch and everyone just dogpiling on him

Also I had this in my notes

So that’s a thing that’s going to happen!

Uh anyway uh PART TWO – THE OTHER FCKING STRAWHATS

Note: Everyone is aged down three years from pre TS ages  to enforce the fact that 1) the government is fucking nuts for assigning bounties to these kids in this au 2) give more dad moments as while we all need a dad in our lives at any age it gives me more plausible reason here 3) plot related issues and the fact that this story takes place over several years and 4) the image of a 14 year old taking down the government is hilarious to me.

So.

Moving on.

Luffy – 14 years old and an absolute bastard

Luffy grew up in the port city of Fuusha as a way for Garp to keep an eye on him because of his family connections and make sure nothing bad happened to him -  didn’t quite work out.

dads a terrorist, his brothers a world class criminal, his gramps is an abusive piece of shit but also weirdly protective marine officer, his family’s complicated. 

 he grew up in the seedy underbelly of the city and made friends with a lot of criminals (who helped him get out because hey that five year old who used to steal our food is a brat and maybe we should help him get out before he becomes to chaotic (too late) and becomes our friend (also too late) )

Among these criminals are Shanks, who wanders through once in a while, Buggy, begrudging friend,  Jimbe, because he has connections, Crocodile, because this brats a bastard, and Rayleigh, among others.

Annoys them to make him his friend, continues annoying them afterwards.

 He just thinks they’re neat.

Luffy leaves two months after Ace, his brother under Dadan’s, the local gang leaders, roof, leaves because Ace can’t tell him to stay behind anymore

but the govt got word now he’s on the run – Coby helps him escape

As such, Luffy grows up with a very very skewed moral compass as in canon but a bit more, and now literally is almost ten times more feral as he should be.

  His goal is now to do whatever he wants, without people telling him what to do or that he can’t do that – He’s going to be free, damnit.

Franky understands and learns over time to adjust his Parenting Skills accordingly

Zoro – 16 and illegally owning a motorcycle because he thought the best way to improve his skill was to go out and hunt down people to fight, and of course he needs a motorcycle to do that, doesn’t he?

 He was pulled over for speeding then taken in for being underage

 He is also caught up in some bad stuff (fight circles, bounty’s, etc. this kids 16 and breaking grown men’s spines.)

Then comes Luffy who was also arrested for dine and dashing and is in the back seat.

 Luffy, who after the police car pulls over, punches out the police officer, unlocks Zoros cuffs and tells him “Drive”

 So they drive

“Hey, hey Zoro. Join my crew. It’ll be fun.”

 “Anything you say captain”

 knows Luffy for three seconds and is immediately down to murder with him

 Its great

He wants to become the greatest sword fighter still, which is still a thing in my fantasy modern world, so anyway, picture this 16 year old going up to you and tell you to fight but he has a sword in his mouth and in both hands and the most dangerous look in his eye.

 He and Luffy immediately rob a sword shop to find him new swords after they meet, it becomes a thing later on where they will steal (horribly, they literally crash in through the window every time because they have no subtly) something small from each city they visit. 

Nami - 15 year old pick pocket in the city where luffy and zoro stop, just trying to scrap up some money to pay off her family’s debt.

 Bellmere’s still alive damnit.

Nami thought Zoro and Luffy were police originally (because they are driving around in stolen police car) and tried to pull the ‘oh officer help me’ card when the people she stole from chased after her

 To her surprise, it was two kids her age in the front seat.

Luffy: “get in”

 she gets in

they dont talk about it

The people who were chasing her was Buggy’s gang who Luffy waves at as he goes by

 Buggy sends a message to Shanks which is essentially “hey that brat u liked is still alive”

And Shanks is like “oh thank god” not knowing the terror he has unleashed upon the world

A month later Arlong has mysteriously disappeared and the Bell-mere farm is flourishing while the second daughter becomes a world class criminal.

 Bell’meres never been prouder and it gives Nojiko a great conversation starter.

Usopp’s 14 and lives in a trailer park called syrup alone

Has a business where he sells odd herbs and such, passing them off as anything that will get him some money – think of it as Toad Oil from Wano but with some popgreens and such mixed in.

His goal is get enough money to stand on his own and leave the park but its slow going. And then…

 Luffy punches the heck outta the creep that was creeping on the owner of the park, kaya, and think’s Usopp’s stories are super cool.

Usopp wants to go with them, to explore the world With Luffy.

At this point, the Straw Hats have realized that driving a stolen police car around is a bad idea

so they take the huge van - a gift from Kaya named The Going Merry, and set off, using Nami’s stolen funds to get them by.

Sanji - 16 year old who longs to be a chef with the best food and just wants to feed people who need it

He hates government cause they don’t feed people and has a lot of petty grudges and helps Zeff run a lot of kitchens to help people.

 He’s still the Sous chef of the Baratie and still has a penchant for kicking unruly customers around. Baratie has a less then stellar reputation for service but the food? The best in the land.

 He feeds Luffy the food.

  Luffy likes the food.

Luffy kidnaps Sanji

Zeff worries about it but he can’t do jack since he actually is not Sanjis legal guardian (he kidnapped the kid first on accident after they both were stranded. He still tries to call anyway, and is proud of the change his son is making in the world. He’s currently working to get suspicious government people off his back about his missing Sous chef with the unique curly eyebrow…

Anyway, Sanji becomes the cook for the strawhats and is really happy because everyone likes his food and he can help anyone along the way and send business to the baratie

Its a good deal for him, and with all the places he visits his skill grows as a chef.

Chopper - 12 year old prodigy who really wants to be a doctor but both his legal guardians are out of the way

Hiruluks dead and Kureha, against her will because she’s still beautiful at 100 dammnit, is in a nursing home trying to break out

 Chopper has nowhere to go but still tries to pursue his medical career, and this fucking twelve year old does so by patching up people from bar and gang fights.

The Straw Hats pick him up and Usopp hacks into a govt control thing to sign him up for online medical course

Kureha’s proud and gives him a book of pressed cherry blossoms that was Hiruluk’s

  He cries

Chopper gets lots of practice for medical stuff with Luffy and Zoro who like to fight in fighting rings just for the heck of it, and for the money that Nami wants.

Robin – 25 year old depressed archeologist (and assassin) they found in a mafia in the next country over (Vivi’s)

Crocodile’s running it, aka Luffy’s criminal uncle number 500

 Luffy’s pissed about it and smacks him into the dust because it’s his friends country, and then drags Robin along because she needs to have some adventure, and hey, they are checking out the ruin’s next, wont that be cool?

 So robin comes along as the ‘adult super vision’, at least in Nami and Usopp and Chopper’s mind.

She learns that these kids have some how been able to dodge school, and starts teaching them the basics of what they would need to know, and then any thing else they want to know. (Zoro, she finds, is extremely good at math while Sanji enjoys chemistry. Nami and Usopp catch on quick, while Chopper has his own studies already but enjoys talking to her. Luffy dislikes learning, but if the promise of pirates or foods or letters that wont spin in his head is involved, he’ll gladly sit down for a bit. He especially loves the stories however.)

Robin finds herself inching dangerously into mom territory, and accepts it whole heartedly after meeting Franky, who she finds handsomely hilarious.

She has a shady past but is slowly opening up about it, and knows she will watch the world burn for this crew.

Y’all know about Franky already so im gonna move on.

Brook – super fucking Old musician they found on the street looking for his dog Laboon

 He used to be a star but lost his fame but doesn’t care – he  only wants to make people happy with his music.

Luffy just straight up just drags him into the sunny, its becoming a habit of him kidnapping people, that’s not how you make friends Luffy (or at least it shouldn’t be – he always seems to make it work.)

 Everyone just goes with it at this point while Franky sighs and triie sto figure out how to make a giant RV even bigger

The Crew find out his dog is living in luffy’s home town and used to play with Luffy when his friends weren’t around. They vow to go back once everything dies down, but in the mean time Dadan gets a new guard dog in her house hold

Usopp posts one (1) video of Brook (on Halloween in skeleton make up) and he instantly becomes a revived star, thriving on the mytery of the Skeleton Soul King.

He now posts videos from around the world of him singing but its impossible to predict where he will be next, and he’s invisible with out his make up to the internet, so its good for the whole criminal thing.

Jimbe

(best) Criminal uncle 501

 No one knows exactly how he knows luffy beyond luffy himself but they are 90% sure its something to do with the underground warlord system that Luffy has connections too

 He gives the best hugs, Uncle Iroh but without the well-meaning manipulation.

 He’s tired of responsibility that he has in his underground position and kinda wants to fuck off to the Caribbean but then he meets luffy again and is like this is better

He Leaves the fishman gang behind with subordinate in charge and joins strawhats

He becomes stressed - “Why did you choose an archeologist and a man who wears speedos for adult supervision, how are you alive, do you need a hug, do you know basic math, have you even gone to school, oh thank god Robin is here - ”

Two minutes later

“Do you have code names, can I have one,”

 He’s a big faker the dummy everyone can see right through you, you’re aren’t on this crew if you have common sense

Between dad moments, essentially its just the Straw hats breaking in and causing havoc where ever they go, building their bounties and being a found family.

That’s it for now, but please ask questions! Sorry this was so long lmao, ill also add something for Vivi later!

[inupibaldspot]

Saviour : Chapter 19

I'm going to be a marine.

After the shock had eventually dissolved and they had finally calmed down and properly digest the fact, Emilia's decision.

The statement triggered two different reaction from the two boys.

Luffy would always be stuck with Emilia. The boy would never leave her side saying that he was going to spend as much time as possible with Emilia. Look at Emilia you'll see Luffy. Kitchen? He was there. Bed? He was there. Toilet? He would be near the door like a overly attached dog waiting for his owner.

On occasions the boy would hug Emilia and give a pout asking, "You're really going to be a marine?" Which made Emilia's resolve flatter abit. The girl would then have to shake her head to vanish thoughts which went against the decision. Emilia would then smile and simply say, "I'm sorry."

However on the other hand, Ace would ignore her and avoid her as much as possible. Every time Emilia would catch Ace looking at her, there would always be a frowning face, seemingly fuming with anger and disappointment. The only time they would share the same room would probably be the bed room and living room; that also Ace would eat really fast and just go outside making a heavy feeling develop in Emilia.

But then Emilia could understand why Ace felt that say. It's seemed as if he was saying "You're going to be part of the organisation which killed Sabo?!".

Celestial Dragon.... Just the name made Emilia frown. The people who are said to be similar to God's, yet have no sympathy and looks down And discriminate humans. And honestly just the fact that she may be someone assigned to protect them when she turns into a marine gave her an headache.

A few weeks had passed but still Ace kept on avoiding Emilia. At first she thought that he might get sick of this avoiding game but she was proven otherwise. Even the bandits tried to resolve the matter between them since they said that the air when ever Emilia and Ace were together was suffocating. It was as if Ace had gone back to the time when they had first met if not worse.

Emilia sighed as she looked at Ace in front of her, who was carrying the deer for lunch. He did help in capturing it and the trio still had a perfect coordination in capturing their prey but still then he refused to talk to her.

"Ace!" Luffy who was beside her called out. "Your still not going to talk to Emilia?" Leave it to Luffy to always ask questions which people usually avoid. The small rubber boy did the same thing a few months ago, when he asked Ace if his father was really Roger, thoughtlessly. And ofcourse that triggered the wrath of Ace.

"Shut up Luffy!" Ace shouted still not facing their direction and walked quietly back to their place even though Luffy kept on asking the reason why.

Soon enough they did reach back home and Emilia went straight into the kitchen and went to make some lunch, followed by Luffy of course. After she was done some bandits came and set the table.

Everyone quietly ate their lunch with their eyes wandering between Ace and Emilia.

"I'm done." Ace broke the silence and picked up his dishes, placed them in the sink and went outside.

Dogra sighed at the scene. "You guys are still fighting?" He sighed looking at Emilia who was staring at the door which was now closed after Ace went away.

Emilia simply smiled. "We are not fighting." Her heart ached when Ace kept on ignoring her and to be honest even though they saw each other daily Emilia missed him. She missed his smile, she missed talking to him ,she missed his presence...

"Did he really take you being a marine that bad?" This time Dadan was the one who asked. When Emilia first told them her future plans evertime was shocked but after a while they eventually accepted it and moved on with their daily lives except for Ace.

"I guess."

Silence took over the room but it wasn't maintained as a rather loud sound of someone shouting was heard.

"This presence..." Emilia almost laughed. It's as if the person knew what was going on in her mind and had come to retrieve her.

"Who is it?" Luffy who was having his second or maybe third share asked, as he kept on eating. The bandits who were in the room and some in the kitchen ,which was attached to the living room, washing the plates also looked at Emilia curiously.

"Garp-san."

"GYAHAHAH!"  Just as Emilia said those words the man came through the doors making a rather loud entrance. "How are you, brats?!"

"Geh! Grandpa?!" Luffy exclaimed in surprise.

"Hmmm?" Garp made a confused sound. "Where are the other two?" He asked.

This made everyone go silent.

"Sabo..." Emilia was the one who started. "He passed away..." After that she started explaining everything to the old man.

"I see..." Garp let out a sigh. He didn't know the small blond brat for long but still knowing that the boy died made his heart break.

"Garp-san...I have something to tell you." Emilia said looking at the man in front of her. "I want to be a marine."

Garp felt his jaws drop. "A marine?" He questioned wondering if he heard it wrong. Wasnt she going to be a pirate just like Luffy Luffy and Ace? The girl nodded making Garp know that what he heard was indeed correct.

"You sure?"

"Yes..."

"To think one of you brats are doing what I say." Garp sobbed as tears rolled down his cheeks. Emilia reached out her hand and passed him a tissue to which Garp took and blew his nose.

"But then" Garp started. "Today I came here because I had a work in East Blue so I have to leave tomorrow. If you're going to be a marine you'll have to go back with me tomorrow since I don't really know when I'll be able to get my next break and come get you."

"I don't mind leaving tomorrow."

.....

"I'll be waiting near the docks of the village." Garp said as he walked away.

Emilia nodded and turned towards the group of bandits in front of her. Some of the bandits were sobbing while others were waving at her with a smile ,saying words of encouragement for her new journey. Where as their boss,Dadan just was looking elsewhere avoiding eye contact with the young girl.

"Thank you for always taking care of me." Emilia bowed showing her gratitude. " I'm sure I was alot trouble but then I really loved and enjoyed the time I spend here.I'll really miss you guys."

Hearing this Dadan turned back and walked into the house. "Boss,are you crying?" One of the bandits teased.

"Shut up! I'm not crying!" The woman objected but the tone she said it confirmed that she was indeed crying. Emilia laughed a bit at the scene. She then turned around and walked towards the forest.

"You're not going to the village,Emilia?" Magra questioned as he look at the girl who was walking in the opposite direction where Fuusha village was.

"I wanted to talk to Ace one last time." Emilia replied.

"I see...Patch things up properly before you go." The man said smiling.

Emilia walked forward following her haki searching for Ace. While walking she looked at the area surrounding her. The large tree which had sunlight passing through the branches, the small river which had a few stepping stones, a few flower which she passed by ; her eyes stayed on the group of cosmos for a few seconds more than others. Certainly each place of the forest held great meaning to her, she was certainly going to miss the place.

Emilia kept on walking and eventually the forest had cleared up. She had reached the edge of the forest where the view of the vast sea was magnificent. The wind here was gentle and sounds of the waves hitting the land was the only sound accompanying it.

Her blue eyes looked at the silhouette which was simply standing there looking forward. Emilia walked towards it and stopped, keeping a small distance.

"Ace." Emilia called out. The boy in front then turned and looked at her. This was the first time in weeks that the boy was properly looking at her. "I'll be going now." She continued smiling gently at the boy.

Ace's mouth opened slightly in surprise. He was so fixed in on avoiding her that she didn't even know she would be leaving so soon. But he didn't voice his thoughts and instead asked something which was always in the back of his mind. "Why...why are you going to be a marine?" He asked as he clenched his fist.

Emilia didn't answer right away, she simply looked at him making silence fall upon them. "I don't intend to be a dog of the marine, Ace." She avoided the question.

Ace wasn't satisfied with the answer but neither did he feel like she would give him the answer to his questions, however the way she phrased her reply made him a bit relieved. It was as if she was saying being a part of the marines doesn't mean she forgave what they did to Sabo. Also as if saying even if they were on different sides, she will still see him as a comrade. "I see..." Ace felt embarrassed now that he thought about his actions these past weeks. Being against Emilia's desire to be a marine was as if he was trying to chain Emilia and stop her from making her own decisions, stop her from being free.

"I guess this is good bye then." Ace smiled at her. How he wished he could turn back time and spend his time with Emilia rather than avoiding her.

"Uhn.." Emilia nodded and smiled back. She raised her hands and waved at Ace. "I'll see you next time in the sea."

"No way!" Ace shouted at the girl making her drop stop waving and drop her hands. "If we ever met in the sea, it'll mean we will be meeting as enemies!" Ace huffed and put both his hands on his hips. "I don't want that."

Emilia's eyes widened and then she giggled. Sometimes Ace was more difficult to understand than Luffy. She the nodded and said. "Bye bye." And turned around and started to walk away from him.

Ace watched the girl in front of him. The winds caused her slightly wavy hair to sway. He held up on of his hands and imagined him holding hers. He didn't want her to leave yet. "I like you..." Ace confessed. It wasn't loud not more than a whisper.

"Eh?"

Ace looked at Emilia and saw that she had turned around, her face was slightly red. Shit! She somehow heard it!  Ace cursed himself. Of course! Its Emilia for god sake!

He looked at Emilia's still confused face and then let out a loud sigh, scratching the back of his head. "You didn't hear it wrong... I like you Emilia." Ace said loudly.

"I never had these feelings before so I'm not sure my self but yet I can't really imagine my self having these same feeling again in the future if it is not you. Even though your strong I can't help but think 'I want to protect her'. At first I questioned myself but then I realized that it is because you're someone very precious to me."

Ace walked towards the girl as he kept watching  the girl who still had a flushed face, shifting weight from one side to the other and played with her fingers.She is still bad at dealing with confessions but the way she looked right now.... She look so adorable. Ace smiled.

Emilia bit her lower lips mustering up every courage she had to tell how she felt about Ace. "I...I-"

"I'm not asking for an answer but i guess I really wanted to let you know how I  felt." Ace cut her off.Emilia's eyes widened as she felt Ace hold her wrist and pull her towards him. Her head rested on Ace's chest. Ace wrapped his arms around her as he rested his chin on her head.

"Just let me stay like this for a bit."  Ace whispered. He felt like this was the right thing to do. He felt as if he didn't do this right now he might never get this opportunity in the future.

Emilia nodded as she listened to Ace's heartbeat.

Ace smile turned into a grin as he felt arms wrap around him. He looked down to see Emilia hide her face into his chest however he did notice the way the girl's ears red.

Maybe I should have asked for an answer after all... Ace thought as he slightly tightened his hold around the girl.

.......

"You sure you got everything you need?" Makino asked with a worried look on her face.

Garp, Emilia, Luffy and Ace were on the docks of Fuusha Village. The bandits didn't come saying that they would most probably scare the people in town.

"Yeah." Emilia smiled. She then looked at the doctor who had thought her medicine. The doctor reached out his hands and placed it on top of Emilia's head. "Take care, my lil prodigy." He said.

"I will." Emilia replied back. "I'll keep on studying medicine as well,doctor."

"I'm sure you'll do a great job at it."

"Oi!" Garp called out from the ship. "We're ready! Let's get going!"

"Do you really have to go,Emilia?" Luffy asked with his eyes filled with tears holding onto Emilia's shirt. He really wanted the girl  to stay and be a part of his crew.

"I'm sure we'll meet again, Luffy." Emilia smiled and then finally turned towards Ace. Her face turned a bit red as she waved at Ace, remembering what had happened between them. Ace also didn't say anything and simply grinned back with his hands on his hips.

"Take care."

"I will..."

Emilia then picked up her bag, which had nothing other than a few clothes, her medicine box and a book on navigation, and walked up the stairs leading to the ship. And as soon as she got in, the marines opened the sails, brought up their anchor, making the ship move.

"Bye Bye Emilia!!!" Luffy shouted loudly,both tears and snots rolling down his face.  Along with him others also waved their hands.

Emilia smiled waving back. She kept on looking at their direction till they were no longer in view.

She was going to miss them.

[lunanilla]

My secret Santa gift for @onepiecereacts

Happy Christmas @onepiecereacts I was your secret Santa for @opsecretsanta2019. You are probably used to better written fanfictions but I really tried my best. I hope you will at least like it a little bit :)

Summary: It´s Ace Birthday and his friends have a little surprise for him Warnings: None

Ace was never one to care for his birthday so when he told Sabo the date of his birthday he didn´t thought much about it. But of course Sabo would have none of that and told Luffy about it too and soon enough everyone knew. Everyone had prepared stuff for a secret birthday party. Dadan and Makino had baked a huge cake and Sabo and Luffy had both thought very hard about what they wanted to get for Ace as a birthday present. In the end Sabo managed to steal a nice orange hat with two long orange side straps that hung down on the sides of the hat and met at a large medallion of a bull's skull with orange tassels. It was probably a bit too big for Ace right now but he would sure grow to fit in it. When Sabo showed it to Luffy the younger boy was a bit mad because he couldn´t get anything. So they went and asked Makino for help. She suggested that they could decorate the hat together. So the three of them spent a lot of time to thread red pearls on a string and sew it on the hat together with two blue smileys that Luffy had found on the Grey Terminal.

The Day finally arrived and as always Sabo and Luffy were out with Ace and tried to get him to come back with them. „Hey Ace, you know wandering around and looking for adventure is kinda cool and all but I think we should head back. I´m a bit tired.“, said Sabo. „Aww, come on we only just started!“ „But we wanna show you something cool!“, Luffy „Something cool?“ Ace was kinda curious now. „Yeah! You will be so surprised!“ Luffy said and grinned mischievously. Ace sighed and turned around. „Okay sure. Show me what you have.“ Sabo and Luffy looked at each other happily and walked the way back to the others while Ace followed them.

When they entered Dadan´s house everyone else was already waiting and they all screamed in unison: „Happy Birthday Ace!“ Confetti flew around the boys and Sabo and Luffy were grinning so much it must have hurted. Ace looked around in surprise. On a table in the middle of the room was the biggest cake he had ever seen and everyone smiled at him and looked so happy. Some of them even wore Party hats. First he didn´t knew how to react and he just stood there, mouth agape. Then he turned around and ran out. „Ace! Where are you going?“, Luffy shouted but it Ace was already gone. „Maybe we shouldn´t have thrown him a Party after all...“, Sabo wondered sadly. Dadan put her hands on the small boys shoulders. „No, it´s okay. Ace is just not used to it. You boys should follow him and talk to him. We´ll wait here.“ Sabo and Luffy nooded and ran out as well.

It took them half a hour to find Ace and when they did Ace was sitting on a tree crying. „Ace, we´re sorry! Please come down!“, Luffy screamed up. „Please Ace! We just wanted you to have a nice birthday!“; Sabo explained. „I told you that I do not like my birthday!“; Ace screamed down to the two other boys. „But that´s why we wanted it for you to be a happy and wonderful day!“, Sabo answered screaming as well, a tear running down his cheek. „I never asked for this! And I never asked to be born either!“; Ace screamed, tears running down his face as well now. „We know but that doesn´t change the fact that we are glad that you were born!“, Luffy screamed crying now as well. Ace suddenly fell silent and looked at his friends. No one had ever told him that and they had bothered to tell everyone and prepare a party for him even though he didn´t liked his own birthday. Everyone had given so much time and effort just for him. Wouldn´t it be really awful if he didn´t at least show some gratefulness to everyone? Shouldn´t he at least thank everyone? He thought about it and then jumped down from the tree. He wiped away his tears and the other two boys did the same.„Okay guys, I´ll come back with you but just to say thanks to everyone.“ „Yes! And for some cake.“, Sabo said hopefully. „And for some cake.“ Ace agreed smiling.

When they came back no one said anything about Ace leaving. Dadan smiled broadly and cut the cake so that everyone could get a piece. When Ace took the first bite of his piece he was absolutely surprised. „This is really delicious!“, he exclaimed. Dadan laughed heartily. „Thanks boy.” Sabo and Luffy agreed with Ace and continued to enjoy the cake. After that they decided it was time to give Ace his present. “What? A Present for me?”, he asked in disbelief. Sabo smiled handing Ace the Hat. “Of course! Presents are a very important part of Birthfdays!” „Makino has helped us making it!“, Luffy announced. Makino stood behind them and nodded. „Wow, thank you so much!“; said Ace. „No problem!“ And so the day went on and when it was time for bed the three boys all were fast asleep. And even though Ace never admitted it he was often thinking about this day and how happy and loved he had felt.

[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

[g-on-ef]

Battle for the Ocean’s Hearts

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A/N: I am so sorry for the late update this was originally supposed to be updated last week, unfortunatly I got sick and was unable to update so I am sorry about that but anywhore here it is my new ASL marine Au fic ^^ also since everyone wanted it I have gone with the first choice where Law is a captain and Zoro and Nami are a part of his crew. I may one day write a version of Law being Doflamingo’s right hand man but for now we will use this version ^^. okay enough of my babbling let’s get on with the show

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Summary: Ace, Sabo, and Luffy become Marines. While Garp is happy his grandsons are Marines he’s not happy to see the first commander of the Whitebeard pirates, the captain of the infamous Heart Pirates, and his son’s second in command trying to get with his grandsons and turn them into pirates.

Chapter 1: Garp’s gamble

He’d be the first to admit that he was not meant to be around children, especially with the way Dragon turned out. Seriously? The most wanted man in the world as well as becoming leader of the Revolutionary army? Garp’s fist of Love may or may not have caused the poor boy some brain damage or maybe he was always meant to be a rebel. His teen years were a nightmare for his wife.

Either way, Dragon should be the prime example as to why he shouldn’t be around children deep down Garp felt that if he touched them he would ruin them for whatever future they would want to have.

And yet, that didn’t matter to Gol D. Roger, right before his execution Roger asked Garp for a favor and that was to take care of his son and pregnant wife. At first Garp thought the man was crazy, seriously him? Taking care of a child, and not just any child but the Pirate King’s child? He should have refused, should have told him no and give him every reason why he shouldn’t be anywhere near a child, Dragon being the prime example.

But he didn’t.

Instead he took the child in and a tiny part of him couldn’t help but wonder that he was his second chance to give this child what Roger and Rouge couldn’t and where he failed with Dragon.

When Dragon came to him and told him about his grandson, Luffy and told him to take care of Luffy Garp should have reminded him how he basically left Dragon to raise himself. Of course, he understood why he couldn’t send him to his other parent, the man was a dangerous pirate. One of the dangerous men to cross the sea so Dragon was trusting his father with the care of his son.

Garp should have smack the boy for getting involve with a pirate a Yonko no less and refuse to take care of his boy, Luffy.

But he didn’t.

Instead he took to Dadan where he left Ace so that she could take care of them and thought they would be okay.

He was wrong.

Sabo another boy they met and decided he would be their brother got hurt and would have died had it not been for Shanks, Luffy’s father who saved the poor boy before he could be blasted to little pieces.

To make things worse both Makino and Dadan told him of Shanks plans to take all three boys with him. Garp decided to do the one thing that he should have done in the beginning. The one thing he should have done with Dragon when the boy became a teenager.

Take the boys back to Marineford to be Marines.

He knew it was a great risk to take since both Luffy and Ace had pirate blood flowing through the veins. Luffy with Shanks and Ace with both Roger and Rouge. Not to mention how all three of them wanted to be free and live their lives with no rules or regrets.

While he didn’t have any connection with Sabo like he did with Luffy and Ace he still felt an attachment towards the boy when he first met him. Something about the boy reminded him of Dragon.

Which is why he had to do whatever he could to save them from being hunted down like animals and being killed.

He already spoke with Sengekou and he promised that as long as Ace and Luffy stayed on the side of the Marines then neither of them would be killed and their parents would be kept a secret.

Garp would have to play his cards right especially with Luffy, since he found out his relations to Shanks, the boy was excited to have him as a father and even more excited to know he would go out to sea with him.

Still, Garp had to take a chance, a chance to save his grandsons before Death took them from him.

Taking a deep breath Garp headed towards the boys’ room and hoped for the best.

He found the boys sitting crisscrossed in the center of their room, each one with a smile on their face as they talked about going out to sea with Shanks and his crew.

“Boys,” Garp interrupted them. The boys screamed at the sound of his voice before they began to scramble to their feet to get away from him.

Garp felt his eye twitched before he grabbed them by the scruff of their necks and dropped them on their bed.

He watched as both Sabo and Luffy tried to hide behind Ace who was trying to look tough but Garp could see a little fear in him.

“Listen up brats, I am taking you all with me to Marinefort,” he said looking at them with a cold expression showing them he meant business.

“What?! Why?!” Ace shouted his fear was now replaced with anger.

“Because, I heard about Shanks and his plans to take you out to sea,”

“My dad! Hey Gramps, did you know he’s my dad?! Luffy asked, his smile was wide and bright it almost made Garp smile, almost.

“Yes, Luffy I knew. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think Shanks knew or that it matter but I was wrong, on both accounts so now I am taking you and your brothers to Marinefort where you will be train to become Marines,”

“Why would we want that?” Sabo asked, he owe Shanks his life for saving him, as well as bringing him back to his brothers so why would he give up the opportunity to explore the world and be free?

Garp took a deep breath, he knew what he was doing, that he was about to manipulate these boys but if it meant that they will live to be his age then Garp would gladly lie to them.

“Because brats, I’m trying to protect you three,”

He looked at Ace who’s mask of ferocity turned to terror as he realized what Garp was about to say next.

“Ace, they found out the truth about you, I don’t know how but they know who you are and who’s your father,”

Okay that was a lie, it was Garp who told them, but Ace did not have to know that.

“They said they would come here to arrest you, I however spoke with Sengeku, only he knows and I was able to struck a deal with him if you become a Marine then nothing will happen. You won’t be hunted down and will get a chance to live,”

Ace looked scared the mere thought that someone outside of his family knowing his secret and that they will hunt him down frighten him. The thought that they can come here and hurt him…thoughts of Luffy and Sabo getting hurt because of him invaded his mind.

Images of their bodies covered in blood, their screams calling for help clouded his head. He would do anything for his brothers even if it meant becoming a Marine.

“If…if I become a Marine…Luffy and Sabo will be okay?”

Inside Garp’s heart was breaking especially with seeing the look of fear and defeat on his grandson but he had to remain strong,

“It’s for their own good, I need to protect them in any way that I can,”

“Yes,”

Ace nodded his head, he grabbed his orange hat, the one Luffy and Sabo gave him for his birthday and placed it on his lap.

“Okay…I’ll…I’ll become a marine,”

Sabo and Luffy looked at Ace, their brother was trying to protect them shouldering the weight of the world on his shoulder and doing whatever he can to save his brothers.

Luffy and Sabo looked at one another they couldn’t let Ace do this alone, sure they could become pirates but…then they would run into Ace…and they would have to fight each other…not like their training sessions but an actual physical confrontation and that was something they didn’t want to do.

They knew what they had to do, even if it meant giving up their dreams, they would do it, for Ace they would sacrifice everything for him.

Garp looked at Luffy and Sabo who removed their hats before looking at their laps.

“So, will we,” they said.

Garp couldn’t help but smile a little on the inside, however…he felt a piece of him die.

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A/N: Well love it hate it tell me what you guys think ^^ next update will be Friday August 9th. Till then ^*^ 

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[neverwatchedonepiece]

499-504: “The Battle Against the Big Tiger! Who Is Going to Be Captain?!”, “Freedom Taken Away! the Nobles' Plot Closing in On the Brothers!”, “The Fire Has Been Set! the Gray Terminal in Crisis!”, “Where Can Freedom be Found? A Sad Departure of a Boy!”, “Take Good Care of Him! A Letter from the Brother!” and “To Live Up To The Promise! Departures Of Their Own!”

R.I.P. Sabo.....?

I watched six episodes in a row and it was totally worth it.

Mobile users better limber up those scrollin fingers because this post is about to get long.

Quick 499 Filler Summary (so I can move on to the good stuff...)

I hate watching filler when I don’t know it’s filler. It messes up my sense of canon. I end up analyzing it, then get annoyed when I realise it was a waste of time. Still, I’m glad I picked up on Sabo telling Ace’s family secret in front of the old Filler Pirate from 498. Even though his character had only just been introduced, I knew he wasn’t the type to blab. Glad you guys pointed that out.

To sum up 499:

1. The boys have no luck with Big Tiger, so they train with Filler Pirate.

2. Ace is shocked to learn Filler Pirate does not loathe Roger.

3. Filler Pirate is returning to the sea to find his old crew. The boys end up helping him build a ship.

4. They train under Filler Pirate. With the power of friendship, they defeat Big Tiger together (without needing catnip, thanks Sabo!)

5. Filler Pirate teaches Ace Pirate Life Lessons such as: there is more to being a pirate captain than strength. Only your crew’s approval makes you a good captain.

6. Filler Pirate heads out to see. Bye, bye Naguri the Filler Pirate!

Now for the good stuff...

Poor People Blood Is Icky

Episode 500 opened on an ominous note. Not only was the title sinister but a literal storm ripped apart the boys’ refuge in the forest. Nice foreshadowing there.

To repair their hideout, Ace, Sabo and Luffy searched Grey Terminal for scraps. They were ambushed by Bluejam and Sweaty Chins. (Never found out his name, so Sweaty Chins he shall remain.) 

Instead of thinking, “Hey, maybe my terrible parenting caused Sabo to run away?” Sweaty Chins pinned the blame on Ace and Luffy, the nasty common children. They had tempted Sabo to run away. They were after his money. Ace did not like that latter comment one bit and tried to fight back. Bluejam smacked him and, horror of horrors, got some of Ace’s blood on Sweaty Chins’ face. 

Because everyone knows if you get poor blood on you, you might catch poor, right?

Poor Sabo begged them not to harm Ace and Luffy. “They’re important to me! They’re my brothers!” Of course, Sweaty Chins pulled the old, “If you come with me, they won’t be harmed.” Dying inside, Sabo agreed.

Sabo returned to his gilded prison. Ace and Luffy were dragged to Bluejam’s hideout. He tried to convince Ace and Luffy to stay away from Luffy. He told them Sabo only escaped to Grey Terminal as a mockery of the people who live there, that Sabo really looked down on them as an amusement to make himself feel superior. Of course Ace and Luffy did not buy his bullshit, so he said straight up that if they cared about Sabo, they’d have to let him go.

Weirdly, Bluejam gave them a job as couriers. I’m still not sure if this was because he genuinely wanted to recruit Ace and Luffy into his crew or if he wanted them to be part of the bomb plot and laugh as they realised they’d helped destroy Grey Terminal.

I Fell Into The Burning Ring Of Fire

Back in High Town, Sweaty Chins was hard at work trying to erase Sabo’s criminal record. He can do this because he has cash and social clout. Sweaty Chins tried hard not to part with cash, urging Sabo to lie. He had been tempted into those criminal acts by feral bandit children, after all.

Because Sabo isn’t awful, he refused to drop his brothers in it. Sweaty Chins kicked his chair away (excellent parenting there) and bribed the guard to erase Sabo’s record. Problem solved! Now he could become a good, obedient noble again. Hurrah!

Then things got weird...

Back at Sabo’s home, Mr and Mrs Sweaty Chins had adopted a sinister noble child called Stelly. The name might resemble Stelio Kontos, but this kid is nowhere near as cool. Stelly was replacement, in case Sabo didn’t work out, apparently. Lovely.

Turned out Stelly had a big mouth. He blabbed to Sabo that the Nobles of High Town had planned a spate of Social Cleansing By Fire because a Celestial Dragon was due to visit. The sight of all the icky poor people and the garbage heap might be too much for the Celestial Dragon’s delicate eyes.

This news freaks out Sabo because he is not evil. “But.. people live there!” 

“YES. THEY WILL BURN!” Stelly crowed with glee.

Sabo had a “screw this,” moment and jumped out the window. Seeking clarification, still unsure that anyone could be that heartless, he roamed High Town. For some reason, everyone was making fire jokes. “OHOHO, IT SURE IS WINDY TODAY. FIRES MIGHT SPREAD!” Unable to take it any longer, Sabo straight up asked an old gent if it was true.

It’s as if High Town had a residents’ meeting and thought, “Screw it, let’s just burn Grey Terminal. Cheaper than hiring a skim, am i rite?”

Of course, Sabo went nuts. He was surrounded by freaks. Utter psychos. His brothers would burn because the poor people of Grey Terminal were inconvenient. But before he got the chance to escape, he was caught. Sweaty Chins kicked him into a cellar and locked the door. What a guy! Watching Sabo beating on that door screaming for Ace and Luffy was sad. 

I would love to see Sweaty Chins have karma hit him like a brick one day, I swear...

Someone Set Him Up The Bomb

Back at Bluejam’s Courier Business, Bluejam finally let Ace and Luffy in on the big secret. The boxes they had been carrying contained oil and explosives which would be used to Blow Grey Terminal to Kingdom Come. But hey, he wasn’t the mastermind behind it, so that was alright, right? He was just getting paid. And speaking of money, did Ace and Luffy happen to have any lying around?

Because what Bluejam care about more than anything? Money. Turns out the mastermind of the fire was the King of Goa. Apparently, he promised Bluejam and his crew titles and status. As soon as Bluejam said this, I thought, “There is no way in hell, mate. You are being played.” Nobles barely help their own. As if they’d help you, one who was born a commoner.

I didn’t have long to wait. Bluejam hammered on the gate to Edge Town, gave the signal to be let in. But they were ignored by the guards inside, just like the desperate residents of Grey Terminal were ignored by the guards when they begged to be given refuge. When they retreated to the ship, they found that burning too. The king had double-crossed them.

The whole fire story was actually pretty brutal because something similar happened in real life that was all over the news where I live. A tower block of apartments where poorer people lived went on fire. Seventy-two people died. Some of the bodies will never be identified because they were living there illegally or were sub-letting while waiting for naturalisation papers. Why did the tower block burst into flames? Cheap, shoddy, flammable cladding. Why was the tower block clad in that material? To approve its appearance for the rich people who lived opposite. It looked grimy and run down. The sight of it might hurt their delicate eyes.

This entire plot just reminded me of that and I’ve got say, if Dragon asked me to join his army right now, I’d probably say yes.

And speaking of Dragon...

We Need Febreeze, Stat.

Desperate to save Ace and Luffy, Sabo escaped through a vent. He reached the city gate, tried to open it and had the crap kicked out of him by a guard. When a mysterious man in a green cloak approached, I thought, “YES! DRAGON IS HERE. HE WILL TAKE SABO AWAY AND LET HIM JOIN THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMY. ANOTHER FINE RECRUIT.”

Wherever there is injustice and class-cleansing, there is Dragon.

Dragon asked Sabo what happened. Sabo spilled his soul and I felt wretched watching him. The self-hatred Sabo has and his powerlessness to effect any change because of the firm grip the defective system has on the OPverse. 

“This town smells worse than Grey Terminal. It smells like rotten people. If I stay here, I’ll never be free. I’m ashamed of being born a noble.”

“I know how you feel. I was born in this country too. But I still don’t have enough power to change a country.”

“You’re really listening to me...” Sabo whispered. (That got to me. For the first time, an adult actually listened to him and acknowledged his feelings on the matter.)

“Yes,” Dragon said. “And I will never forget.”

Breaking News: The Poor Can Avoid Being Poor By Not Being Born Poor!

While Bluejam swore vengeance against the King (optimism!), the king himself had planked his arse on his throne and was complaining the sky was too bright because of the fire. Never has the urge to reach through reality to slap a fictional character been stronger.

“Daddy?” little noble daughter asked. “Why aren’t the people in Grey Terminal humans? Why do they have to burn?”

A great question! A potential ray of light! Might this innocent child stir the king’s conscience?

Did she hell.

Honestly, this scene was too real. People actually talk like this. They genuinely believe it. This may be filler, but damn, it is near-the-knuckle good filler.

Mama Bear To The Rescue

In the meantime, Bluejam had gone off the deep end because he realised the futility of vengeance and hit rock bottom. Out for blood, he cornered Luffy and Ace and insisted they died together... but first, that treasure they had stolen!

About to put a bullet through Luffy, a strange, blue haki-like moment felled every single member of Bluejam’s crew. Only Bluejam himself remained standing. I’m still not sure what happened here and who was responsible for it (Dragon? Was he the one who cut the path through the fire to help the Grey Terminal people escape?)

At any rate, it gave Dadan the opening she needed to storm in and rescue her boys. (I was so happy when she called them that. JUST ADMIT IT, DADAN!) “I won’t stand by and watch someone try to take my boys’ lives... even if I’m not their real parent.”

I was a bit annoyed by Ace standing his ground when Dadan wanted to scarper. He endangered everyone else and Dadan was horribly injured fighting Bluejam (mostly burns from fleeing the fire after). It was explained later that Ace is like Roger, who would never run from a right because he would rather let the ones he loves escape. The noble sacrifice only works if you can guarantee their safety. If you’re wiped out then the enemy turns on your loved ones, how can you protect them them?

It distressed Luffy too, who was carted off and didn’t hear from them for days.

At least that convenient path through the fire was created, eh? And where did that path lead?

A Revolutionary Army ship with Dragon, Ivan-san and BARTHOLOMEW BLOODY KUMA!

LOOK WHO’S IN THE BACKGROUND!

(I really hope this is canon because this is something I have wanted confirmation of for AGES. Please let it be true that Kuma was once part of the Revolutionary Army.)

I loved this entire scene. When Ivan asked Dragon how he knew what was going on in this East Blue Backwater and Dragon answered, “This country is an example of how the world will be in the future. There can be no happiness where the undesirables are thrown away. I will change the world.” For all Dragon’s deadbeat dad status, you can see where Luffy gets his ambition and stubborn determination.

Then Dragon addressed the tired, frightened, shivering crowd of poor, Grey Terminal outcasts and shouted: “Those of you who are willing to fight for freedom, come aboard!”

But there was one person missing. I must admit I looked for Sabo on the boat. I thought Dragon might have taken him along. Maybe Dragon didn’t because Sabo was only a kid and he might have had family. 

I wish he had. :(

Destination? Anywhere But Here

The next morning, the sun came out and the clear up began. Any survivors were to be shot on sight. The guards remarked how few charred bodies they found. Hopefully, most of them were Bluejam’s crew and the rest found their way to Dragon’s ship.

Sabo woke up in an alleyway. I was disappointed because Dragon hadn’t taken him. The disappointment was compounded when he was immediately caught and dragged home to High Town. Sweaty Chins enlisted two of the king’s goons as personal guards and calmly threatened to have Sabo killed unless he educated himself to be a noble.

“Be more like Stelly”, Sweaty Chins said, “who is so dependable and who will be getting new clothes to see the Celestial Dragon.”

Of course, Sabo would not be going. He could not be trusted. Sabo was imprisoned in his room. Everything was greyscale except Sabo. All colour had drained from his life. He had no idea whether Luffy and Ace were alive or dead. Was sure they were alive but realised trying to see them would place them in danger. Living like that would be awful. I felt sorry for Sabo, despite his privileged upbringing. The kid was straight up depressed.

“What is freedom?” he wondered. “Where can I find it?” Then he overheard a convenient conversation between his guards. The Celestial Dragon would visit tomorrow. Only one guard and Sabo would be in the house.

This was his chance. He wrote a note with a huge smile on his face.

The next day, a huge, flag-waving crowd gathered at the port to welcome the Celestial Parasite Dragon. I hate stuff like that, so I was already in rage mode.

My mood was NOT IMPROVED when Saint Jalmack SHOT SABO’S WITH A BLOODY BAZOOKA BECAUSE HE WAS A RUDE COMMONER.

:|

At that point, I was convinced Sabo was dead because his top hat (Sabo’s symbol) was seen drifting to earth). I’m still 70% certain he’s dead. Mainly because he hasn’t been seen since (unless there’s something I’ve missed). Sabo’s death also puts Luffy’s reaction to Saint Charloss in perspective. Luffy punched him because no one punched the guy who killed Sabo.

But... there was no body. That is my number one rule. And there was that moment when Dragon’s ship pulled in at tiny Zoro’s island (TINY ZORO!) with someone who was badly injured and needing Ivan’s treatment. Dragon had also been in the audience watching the ceremony for the Celestial Dragon. I have my fingers crossed but won’t get my hopes up.

Take Care of Luffy

Of course, that wasn’t enough heart-string tugging. This is One Piece. My feelings had to be put through the wringer.

Dadan and Ace finally made it home. That was the single good thing that happened in 503. They saved each others’ lives. Dadan punched Bluejam to death (metal) and ran through fire with Ace. Ace stole medicine, treated her burns and carried her back to the shack.

But Dogra (a bandit) also made it back with news of Sabo. Ace immediately flew off the handle, seeking vengeance. Dadan talked sense into him. This was a Celestial Dragon. They would only have him killed. “Your father’s death changed the world. When you become a man as important as that, you can do whatever you like!”

Oh, Dadan. Where were you at Marineford? Weirdly, her words were prophetic because Ace’s death really will usher in a new pirate era.

Then the letter from Sabo arrived. 

“Ace, Luffy, I hope you guys weren’t hurt in the fire. I’m worried about you but I believe you’re okay. I’m sorry to say it but when you get this letter, I’ll already be out to sea. Things led to things and I decided to set out before you. My destination will be anywhere but here! I’m gonna become stronger and be a pirate! The three of us have to become the freest pirates ever. One day, let’s meet up somewhere. Somewhere on the wide open sea, definitely. By the way, Ace, which of us do you think is the bigger brother? It’s odd but our brotherhood is my treasure. Luffy is still a weak crybaby but he is our little brother so take good care of him.”

At that point, I hadn’t seen the scene when Dragon’s ship pulled into Little Zoro’s island, so that brought a tear to my eye. I was so mad at the waste of Sabo’s life, mad that Ace and Luffy had already lost something so precious to them while they were still so young and mad that Sabo’s worthless parents hadn’t taken action against the slug who murdered their son. I was also mad at Dragon for not taking Sabo (but I still have hope that actually did happen).

After that, Ace swore to take care of Luffy. The boys worked hard to improve themselves. They even asked for help with their manners (that dine and dash thank you was hilarious). Now Ace’s well-mannered persona makes sense. Imaginary Sabo guided Luffy in his training, encouraging him just like he always used to.

Then, when they each turned seventeen, they broke Dadan’s heart by heading out to sea.

Why did they chose seventeen? Because that was Sabo’s deadline. At eighteen, he would become a full-fledged noble, so he intended to escape when before then.

Damn... this series. ;_;