#reverse dynamic of law and luffy

[smirli]

[atlas-the-bastard]

punk hazard is so silly like. apart from the evil (and low key kinda hot???) scientist kidnapping and drugging children to blow up the world. or something.

the law/straw hats dynamic is fucking HYSTERICAL to me like you can literally the regret hit law like a truck when luffy accepts the alliance and he's just watching the straw hats behaviour and like. ussops whole "this isn't an alliance. this is a friendship now. there's nothing you can do about it. prepare to have to deal with this fucking idiot forever." speech lmaoo it's like. the reverse of threatening someone when they start dating your friend. also the way that, when it's just the straw hats, the rest of the crew are the ones looking at luffy going "wow. this dude is fucking nuts". but then when an outsider like law joins them, he's just looking a the entirety of the crew going "wow. all of these idiots are fucking nuts." like. straw hats YOU ARE ALSO the weird ones. but I love them

also the body swapping was hilarious lmaoo especially tashigi and smoker💀also I love their post ts glow ups but I do kinda miss smokers very slightly aqua tinged hair 🥲

[purplehairedwonder]

Chapter 1082: Setting the Stage

Wait, so you expect me just to... move on from 1081? That’s rude. I’m still in mourning 😭

Sigh. Fine.

On a lighter note, the cover illustration this chapter is adorable.

It made me smile, which I desperately needed after the devastation of last chapter.

On to the chapter, which continues to set the stage for the race for Laugh Tale:

We see the first major casualty of Cross Guild: T-Bone. 

It’s interesting that of all the Marines that could have become victim to the Cross Guild bounties, it’s T-Bone, one of the few genuinely good ones. That shows that, for all fandom was cracking up at the idea of Cross Guild pulling a Reverse Uno card on the Marines by putting bounties on them, it’s actually quite a damaging thing to do. It’s a stark reminder that these people we’re following, have, in some cases, come to feel affection for, are pirates.

Perhaps it’s inevitable T-Bone would become a victim of the Cross Guild bounties; when we first met him back in Water 7, he’s described like this:

His hobby is saving people and he’s willing to do anything to help others “even if it destroys this body of [his].” When we see the man who apparently killed him for his bounty, he’s utterly pathetic:

His family was starving to death; it’s easy to imagine T-Bone willingly giving himself up so this man could claim his bounty for his family’s sake considering what we’ve seen of the man. But now the Marines are down one of their best men and are worse off for it.

Speaking of Marines, it’s also good to see Sengoku and Tsuru. They chat about the danger Cross Guild represents to the Marines before Hina drops a bomb on them:

I have to wonder if we’ll see Sengoku and/or Tsuru follow after Garp to Hachinosu. Tsuru has her granddaughter to think about while Sengoku has his close friend--and, though he doesn’t know it yet, Blackbeard has just wiped out the crew of his sort-of grandson. Moreover, it’s possible Blackbeard recovered the Hearts and brought them back to Hachinosu as prisoners. Wouldn’t that be interesting to see Sengoku faced with Law’s crew?

Meanwhile, we also get some great comedic relief with the Buggy vs. Mihawk and Crocodile dynamic.

The Cross Guild ship is hilarious.

And Buggy knows that’s not going to sit well with Mihawk and Crocodile. 

He’s right.

Interesting that Mihawk says they need to establish overwhelming power when we just saw two captains worth 3 billion defeated and possibly in need of new direction. What did Law say back on Punk Hazard about surviving in the New World? You either join an Emperor or you try to become one.

I have a hard time imagining Law aligning himself with this group (even if he would fit the whole former Warlord vibe; Law’s far more likely to reunite with the Straw Hats, I think) but Kid? (Assuming he survived, of course. This is One Piece, so I feel pretty safe in that assumption.) Kid’s going to want revenge against Shanks for destroying his crew, and who better to get him close to Shanks than Buggy?

We also get some further elaboration on the grudge Buggy has been holding against Shanks -- and it’s completely unexpected.

Buggy thought Shanks was going to follow in Roger’s footsteps, but when Shanks decided to hold off, Buggy felt betrayed. This is... weirdly wholesome? And earnest? Like, Buggy had so much faith in Shanks as Roger’s successor that Shanks not immediately going for Laugh Tale comes across as a betrayal. Buggy is disappointed in Shanks.

(It’s also interesting to consider how Shanks and Buggy are the inverse of one another. Shanks is the strong head of a notoriously weak fleet while Buggy is the comedic relief figurehead of a group of more powerful pirates.)

So, Buggy decides he’s going to do what Shanks refused to do for all those years.

Why does Buggy, of all people, have me up in my feels now? Rude.

A lot has been said about Blackbeard being a dark parallel to Luffy, but Buggy has his own parallels to our favorite rubber boy. Back at Marineford, Mihawk noted what Luffy’s true strength is:

And Buggy has a similar ability, which he puts to use in this chapter:

So, at this point we’re seeing all four Emperors making moves toward finding the One Piece.

Meanwhile, surprising absolutely no one, Sabo is fine:

He wasn’t on Lulusia when it was blown up; he was evacuating some people from Lulusia who wanted to join the Revolutionary Army. We’re on the verge of learning what really happened at Reverie...

So, any bets on how many chapters it’ll take to return to Sabo’s story?

(Anyway, I’m going to crawl back into my hole and continue crying about Law, Bepo, and the Hearts.)

[em-is-doing-something]

>:D gotta be real i spend a LOT of time yelling back and forth with people about ideas so i am SO glad i made you so excited!!!

I did send that ask and then immediately go read benefits again (along with like a half dozen other cora fics bc im predictable) and. oooooh man oh man oh man oh man. i think the law-cora-sengoku dynamic is absolutely hysterical and i've been thinking about sengoku's reaction to cora taking trafalgar as his family name. i also think that the law-sengoku dynamic specifically is fascinating. something about two people who should be diametrically opposed, theoretically, who actually just don't give a shit and love the same man.

um i can relate to going insane about marineford. i read the manga and marineford was the first arc i read. yeah it was an insane decision but i stand by it i've got this mental image of kuina just absolutely beating on sanji with nami and zoro in the background and nami's like "are you....gonna do something about that" and zoro, bc he is simply not good at being like softly concerned, in the flattest, most deadpan voice goes "i don't know what the fuck to do" like. zoro and his two Rivals. zoro's brain is 100% the "he has two hands" meme. meanwhile sanji is flat on the deck and kuina is contemplating homicide. zoro just wants his two rivals. unfortunately kuina and sanji are unstoppable force and immovable object

actually this is really funny the law-cora-sengoku dynamic and the kuina-zoro-sanji dynamic are opposites--i am trying so hard to stay on topic

anyway. i am very very curious to see how you'll handle the sanji-kuina stuff >:3 i think there are so many ways you can tackle that depending on your goal (and depending on the way you interpret sanji's "i won't fight a woman" thing which is a whole 'nother thing i am SO good at staying on topic)

i could probably double the length of this reblog talking about cannibalism as an act of service and specifically how it plays into sanji and zeff's relationship. i am SO HAPPY that i rewired your brain because the potential is LIMITLESS. there are a couple lawsan fics i love that are about cannibalism as an act of service/love

wait hold on sidebar here bc i was going back to find your tags on that post and i scrolled past the ask abt the lawlu fae au and im ripping and tearing at the bars of my cage holy shit--i love it and i am thinking thinking thinking about the reverse scenario. i am thinking thinking thinking the brain goes brrr

okay back to cannibalism. I Just Think It's Neat. there's something about like, the physicality of sanji and zoro's relationship, the way they depend on each other's bodies, that gets even tastier when you change the rules. cause they're all about making each other better, really, and then you take that and twist it to when one gets better the other gets worse. and of course they're both going to try to take the fall there. "i could make him better" this "i could make him worse" that what about "i could make him better and worse at the same time we are a tragedy waiting to happen"

oh my god this got so long. i was trying so hard to not make this an absolute monster of a rb. you just have such TASTY ideas. the time travel one got me too bc im a sucker for concepts where the main guy is like. haunting the narrative. except it's luffy so it's the opposite of haunting. like blessing the narrative or something. and cora and ace resurrection shenanigans bc 1. resurrection hell yeah 2. is that cora and ace (separate) resurrection shenanigans or cora-and-ace resurrection shenanigans bc the first makes more sense but the second compels me

i think i would go insane for literally any of the fics u mentioned in the tags of that post??? SEQUEL TO THE BENEFITS OF DRINKING WITH STRANGERS???????? (i read that fic twice in a row the first time) i would love to see the interplay between sanji's ideals/hangups and shimotsuki "i take no bullshit" kuina. sanji offering himself up in the most literal sense to feed someone else. listen the cannabalism as an act of service. help im losing my mind. also i can only imagine the degree of "????????" going through ace's mind every step of the way through a lesson in changing the world. dude im going to be thinking about this Forever. that's not even half of what you've got going through my brain

OH DUDE THIS IS SO NICE OF YOU DHEJDKEKJD I WILL BE USING THIS AS MOTIVATION

benefits is def one of my favourite things i’ve ever written (i LOVE cora SO MUCH) so i really want to write that one! i’m at the very end of the dressrosa arc in the anime by now so im just looking forward to the sengoku scene, because i want to like get the vibes before i write his and rosi’s reunion yknow

the sanji and kuina thing oh my god i have that fic half written, but then i went insane about marineford and temporarily lost the drive, but i still maintain that the concept of it would be SO FUN to explore. kuina and sanji just fundamentally Can’t Get Along with how sanji is in canon, and zoro is in the middle of that particular clash…

CANNIBALISM AS AN ACT OF SERVICE OH MY GOD……. you know. vampire stuff is so normalised in our storytelling that i do not instinctively consider it cannibalism. but holy shit you’re right it fucking is and oh my god hold on there’s something about zeff here- AHEM point is cannibalism as an act of service is always a beloved trope i need to think about this more.

and yes it’s SO funny to imagine how confused ace is throughout a lesson in changing the world, i am Really excited to write that one. there’s a lot of stuff from his pov that the marines wouldn’t know about, like the whole luffy and the prisoners on a warship thing, but especially the thought process he’s going through in the time leading up to his execution and up on the platform is SOOO interesting to think about, so im excited :D

ANYWAY OH MY GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH AND IF YOU THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE PLEASE LET ME KNOW because i always want to yell about my ideas or other people’s ideas!!!!

[ao3feed-gratsu-brotp]

Forgotten Hots

by MiraSan

This work is dedicated to my forgotten couples and for my future fanfics.

Forgive me for my English. Don’t is my first language.

Words: 1765, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 어느날 공주가 되어버렸다 | Who Made Me A Princess (Webcomic), Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game), Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Moonlight Lovers (Visual Novel), ビースターズ | BEASTARS, Pandora Hearts, Death Note (Anime & Manga), Eldarya (Video Game), The Arcana (Visual Novel), Naruto, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia, ノラガミ | Noragami (Anime & Manga), Gravity Falls, Adventure Time, Venom (Movie 2018), Avatar: The Last Airbender, Avatar: Legend of Korra, The Dragon Prince (Cartoon), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Marvel, Marvel (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Superman - All Media Types, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Super Sons (Comics), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), Venom (Comics), One Piece, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men (Comicverse), Inuyasha - Fandom, Dr. STONE (Manga), Dr. STONE (Anime), InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Voltron: Legendary Defender, Tokyo Ghoul, Bleach, Fairy Tail, The Magicians (TV)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M, F/M

Characters: Claude de Alger Obelia, Leona Kingscholar, Ruggie Bucchi, Sebek Zigvolt, Malleus Draconia, Ace Trappola, Deuce Spade, Uzumaki Boruto, Ethan (Moon, Ethan (Moonlight Lovers), Raphael(Moonlight Lovers), Beliath(Moonlight Lovers), Vladimir (Moonlight Lovers), boruto - Character, Legosi (BEASTARS), Louis (BEASTARS), Gilbert Nightray, Xerxes Break, Nevra (Eldarya), Ezarel (Eldarya), Beyond Birthday, L (Death Note), Natsu Dragneel

Relationships: Claude de Alger Obelia/Felix Robain, Claude de Alger Obelia & Felix Robain, Kawaki & Uzumaki Boruto, Kawaki/Uzumaki Boruto, Leona Kingscholar/Ruggie Bucchi, Malleus Draconia/Sebek Zigvolt, Deuce Spade/Ace Trappola, Ethan/Raphael, Vladimir/Beliath, Legosi/Louis (BEASTARS), Xerxes Break/Gilbert Nightray, Ezarel/Nevra, Beyond Birthday/L, Harvey Kinkle/Nicholas Scratch, Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto, Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou, Dabi/Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Takami Keigo | Hawks & Usagiyama Rumi | Miruko, Julian Devorak/Lucio (The Arcana), Yato/Yukine, Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines, Prince Gumball/Marshall Lee, Jonathan Kent/Damian Wayne, Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake/Jason Todd, Harry Osborn & Peter Parker, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Miles Morales/Peter B. Parker, Eddie Brock & Venom Symbiote, Credence Barebone/Newt Scamander, Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald, Original Percival Graves/Theseus Scamander, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Monkey D. Luffy/Roronoa Zoro, Donquixote Doflamingo/Trafalgar D. Water Law, Gin/Vinsmoke Sanji, Portgas D. Ace/Sabo, Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Itachi/Uchiha Shisui, Hidan/Nara Shikamaru, Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier, Clint Barton/Pietro Maximoff, Logan (X-Men)/Scott Summers, Loki/Thor (Marvel), Asagiri Gen/Ishigami Senkuu, Keith/Lance (Voltron), Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Gilgamesh | Archer/Kotomine Kirei, Asagiri Gen & Ishigami Senkuu, Jet/Zuko (Avatar), Mako/Prince Wu (Avatar), Korra & Asami Sato, Kaneki Ken | Sasaki Haise/Nagachika Hideyoshi, Kirishima Touka & Kosaka Yoriko, Aaravos/Viren (The Dragon Prince), John Allerdyce/Bobby Drake, Will Cipher | Reverse Bill Cipher/Dipper Gleeful | Reverse Dipper Pines, Natsu Dragneel & Gray Fullbuster, Hollow Ichigo | Zangetsu & Kurosaki Ichigo, Abarai Renji/Kuchiki Byakuya, Ulquiorra Cifer/Grimmjow Jaegerjaques

Additional Tags: Lemon, Hot, Sex, ABO, Mpreg, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Verse, Alpha - Freeform, alpha!claude, omega!felix, botTom, bottom!ethan, Bottom!Beliath, Bottom!Sebek, Bottom!Ruggie, Vampires, Vampire Sex, Webtoon, VideoGame, alpha!malleus, Boruto!omega, Kawaki - Freeform, kawaki!alpha, Top!vladimir, omega!legosi, alpha!louis, Ezarel!bottom, nevra!top, beyond!omega, L!alpha, Death Note - Freeform, Eldarya - Freeform, moonlightlovers, Gilbert!top, Break!bottom, omega!Midoriya, Omega!Kirishima, botom!midoriya, botom!kirishima, bottp, Bottom!Harvey, top!Nick, top!nicholas, Bottom Julian Devorak, yato!top, yato!alpha, yukine!bottom, yukine!omega, riddle!omega, bottom!ace, top!deuce, Omega!Ace, alpha!deuce, todoroki!alpha, bakugou!alpha

Source: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24400033

[creative-type]

Building up to Arlong Part I

“Just wait ‘till the Arlong arc.”

I think anyone who’s been in the One Piece fandom for any length of time has read some variation of the above sentence. It’s almost universally agreed that the Arlong arc is the tipping point from the series, elevating One Piece from okay to great. Detractors, newcomers, and the generally curious are all told to hold off their judgment until seventy chapters into the series, which seems like an absurd amount of time for a reader to get hooked.

In an interview with several of Oda’s former editors (English summary here, about three-quarters down the page) it’s stated that One Piece met some initial resistance in Japan among the staff at Shonen Jump, with some of the editors not seeing the appeal and others having to convince them of its “awesomeness”. 

It’s hard to imagine the manga garnering such a reaction today, but I think it’s important to keep in mind that One Piece is Oda’s first serialized work. He had been an assistant and written several one shots, but he’d never had to put together a long-form story before. He was learning and growing as an author and artist as he went along. 

Just compare the art in these two pages

.

.

Both are establishing shots of new locations, one of Usopp’s hometown and the other the Marines setting Luffy’s first bounty. The amount of detail outside the marine base blows the idyllic hills of Syrup village out of the water. It can be jarring to see how sparse early One Piece panels are when you’re more used to the cluttered, chaotic pages of later chapters.

But I think it would be impossible for Oda to make the jump from “meh” to “this is amazing” without some proper buildup. Early One Piece arcs contain bits and pieces of what makes the series so beloved, and as each arc progresses Oda takes what he’s learned and adds it into an ever-improving whole. So let’s take a look at these early chapters and find the diamonds scattered among the rough.

Romance Dawn

Chapter 1 is arguably the best crafted stand-alone story in these early chapters. That makes sense. As a pilot chapter for the series I’m sure it was written and rewritten dozens of times for maximum effectiveness, and I think it gets across everything it needs to without belaboring the point.

Romance Dawn is a glimpse of the quality that Oda would later produce on a more consistent basis. The characters are fun and have hidden depths, the art is simple but dynamic, and the bait-and-switch where Shanks doesn’t initially beat the crap out of the mountain bandits is a surprise considering the genre. And if haki was indeed planned from the beginning it’s also the first instance of Oda’s famous foreshadowing ability. 

Considering future backstories it’s a little surprising that no one important to Luffy dies, but the familiar themes of inherited will, dreams, and sacrifice are present. The lack of uber-tragedy sets Luffy apart from a lot of protagonists and fits with his lighthearted, carefree characterization and the more whimsical nature of the series, while still hinting at the darkness that exists within the world. 

Alvida

Chapter 2 is also a stand-alone story, but it’s much more generic. Following a common trend during these early chapters, it’s more focused on establishing Luffy as a character than any of the antagonists, and world building is minimal. Alvida is so boring that Oda completely repurposed her design and personality when she was reintroduce in Louge Town, and at this point Coby is a walking, talking foil to Luffy with little to no personality of his own. 

There are a couple of things to note, though. One, Luffy’s characterization is remarkably consistent to what we see later in the series. Here we see him smile as he faces death, while later in the chapter Luffy insults Coby and calls him a wimp in a scene that’s reminiscent of his interaction with Shirohoshi during the Fishman Island arc. He also doesn’t help Coby until Coby stands up for himself, subtly enforcing the idea that Luffy is not a hero. 

Second, we can see the embryonic form of Oda’s later paneling and page layouts. The above scene reminded me of a picture I pulled for my analysis of Chapter 218.

You can’t see it here, but in Chapter 218 Oda tilts his panels to match the rocking of the Going Merry, using an unconventional panel format to convey the chaos the Straw Hats are experiencing while also giving the eye an easy path to follow.

Chapter 2 has the “fade to black” Oda commonly uses when transitioning scenes, but the format is the traditional three lines of (mostly) rectangular panels. Despite the huge whirlpool you don’t get a sense that the situation is dangerous.

Also note the sheer amount of information conveyed in the sequence from Chapter 218 compared to the Chapter 2 despite them sharing basically the same layout. There are four separate panels of the same whirlpool - adequate enough in showing the passage of time, but visually kind of boring, which sums up the art in general during these early chapters.

Shells Town 

The Shells Town arc shares a lot of the same flaws as the Alvida encounter, but has the benefit of a longer page count, which is helpful in fleshing out the story. Coby starts to grow into his own, and Zoro is introduced. The focus is still on establishing Luffy’s ideals as a pirate and Morgan is a one-note villain, but the world is starting to grow, namely with the complex morality of the marines.

We also get our first taste of Oda’s specific brand of Tragic Backstory (tm). Zoro’s flashback is arguably the weakest of all the Straw Hat’s. The pacing is rushed and I personally find the segue in and out of the present day to be a little jarring, but the bones of it is sound even if the execution is iffy. 

The fight against Morgan doesn’t last long, but outclassed as he is, he at least puts up a better showing than Alvida. There are some neat camera angles and perspective tricks that Oda uses that sell Luffy’s flowing, so-long-as-it-works-I’m-going-to-do-it fighting style. 

Again, this is but a taste of things to come, and short as it may be the Morgan fight is fun. Oda has said he gave Luffy the gum-gum fruit to help keep things from ever getting too serious, and reading these early chapters I believe it.

Orange Town

I would call the Buggy arc the first “standard” One Piece arc. At fourteen chapters it’s decently long by East Blue standards. It’s is leaps and bounds better than anything we’ve seen thus far, and we have the flashy bastard himself to thank.

Pre-comic relief Buggy manages to straddle the line between menacing and likable. One thing I do appreciate about One Piece villains is that they’re generally not given an excuse for their evilness (a trend that is admittedly starting to reverse post timeskip). We are never told why Buggy, Kuro, or Kreig set out to be pirates, and frankly we don’t need to know. Buggy is given a reason for his animosity towards Shanks, but it’s never used as a justification for his more jerkish behavior.

And he is a jerk. A clever, reasonably powerful, flashy jerk, but a jerk all the same.

With this added characterization, Buggy has the honor of being the first charismatic and memorable villain of the series, and is also the first instance of camaraderie within an enemy organization. In all honesty, I think the only thing separating Orange Town from the Cocoyashi village is emotional stakes. Buggy’s opinion notwithstanding, there is no Tragic Backstory (tm). The little dog comes closest, but the effectiveness of Shu depends entirely how much one cares for sad animal stories (I am immune, and subsequently don’t much care about Laboon either).

More importantly, it’s here that we see the first primitive instances of Straw Hat interaction, and some of the stuff that happens when Oda lets all the different personalities bounce off of one another is pure gold

Also Luffy shoves an old man face-first into a wall for his own good. I feel like that ought to be mentioned every time someone tries to call him a hero.

But the thing that really stands out in Orange Town when placed within the overarching plot is Oda’s burgeoning skill at playing the long game in regards to his storytelling, specifically in regard to Nami.

The Alvida, Morgan, and later Gaimon’s arcs are largely self-contained little stories that serve to flesh out Luffy as a protagonist. When Zoro was recruited the audience was informed of his history and character motivation almost immediately. During Nami’s first conversation with Luffy in chapter 9 we learn that she’s 1) raising 100,000,000 berries to buy a village, 2) loves money and tangerines, and 3) hates pirates. We don’t learn the reason for any of these things until her backstory is revealed in chapter 78.

There are obvious parallels to Robin’s recruitment much later, but really this is Oda something does quite often. Vivi and Law were both around for awhile before the meat of their stories were told. Having someone familiar around for big conflicts helps give a face to the nameless masses. It would have been really hard for Oda to make the reader care about the average Joe in Cocoyashi village without having a pre-established connection in the form of Nami, and it would be really hard to care about Nami if the audience hadn’t been given the time to get to know her first.

By waiting so long to let Nami develop as her own character, the emotional stakes missing from Orange Town are fully present during the much-beloved march to Arlong Park. The latter cannot exist without the former.

I said in the opening that 70 chapters is an absurd amount of time to get hooked into a story, but in some ways I can completely understand why it would take that long. One Piece isn’t built on slick one-liners or “cool” characters. It’s fun and goofy and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Hints of future intrigue and mystery are strewn along like bread crumbs down a path, organically delivered as the world unfurls bit by bit. There’s a methodicalness to it that catches the reader by surprise, yet makes perfect sense as the crew goes from island to island.

Orange Town is just the beginning of this in action, but once again this is getting pretty long. I’ll finish the road to Arlong Park in another post. Thanks for reading :)   

[thousand-sunnies]

OKAY OKAY SO first of all i already said this in dms but you're right reading marineford first is an insane decision for many reasons. but at the same time i bet it has given you a fascinating introduction to the story so i respect it

putting the rest under read more because i have never been concise in my life and i was not about to start today, clearly

secondly, the law-cora-sengoku dynamic is something alright. imagine the family dinners. i STILL haven't reached the sengoku bit in dressrosa (the person i'm watching with is away for the weekend so we have made no progress), but i cannot WAIT to see him and law in a scene together. what an awkward foundation for a relationship. would be even more awkward in the benefits universe where law has to call up sengoku and be like "hey so about that."

(who am i kidding, law is absolutely NOT calling up sengoku. cora might, eventually, but tbh i think the funnier option is that he stalls long enough that he gets a wanted poster simply by association with the heart pirates, and sengoku has his peaceful morning perusal of the newspaper interrupted by his Definitely Used To Be Dead Son's picture among the bounties. and under that name? seriously?)

(...okay maybe the name thing isn't that surprising.)

ALSO FHKDLGFDHJ YOU'RE SO RIGHT the sanji-zoro-kuina dynamic is diametrically opposed. they just each have some very deeply ingrained beliefs and views that make them incapable of getting along. zoro knew this was going to happen. he was dreading this day. nami is patting him on the back in solidarity but secretly she's glad he's getting a taste of what he and sanji are like to the rest of the crew on any other day.

though of course to be fair sanji is NOT an active participant in the fights, but that obviously makes kuina even more mad, and it's a whole vicious cycle. honestly, i think in the actual canon source material that's a difference they Couldn't get over, not with how sanji is. but it's MY fic and I choose the characterization i can bend to my will, so. they can get some mutual understanding. as a treat.

THE LAWLU FAE THING OKAY. okay. see in my mind the defining things about fae are the real name thing, the food thing, and the (not) lying/promises. and law fits them all in a pretty conventional fae sense. but LUFFY oh my god. he ALSO fits them all but like very to the left. this is a guy who introduces himself by his full name to anyone he meets. he doesn't give a shit about any conventions, or convoluted dynamics, or lies by omission. but most importantly he believes in freedom so strongly that the idea of owning someone or being owned by someone is just... inconceivable to him.

in the reverse scenario law is just trying to, hell, throw his hands up and give up on his life by quite literally handing it over to someone else. but he just HAPPENS to stumble upon the world's most unconventional fae who doesn't want that, thank you very much, and gives him a nickname, and won't leave him the fuck alone to try it with someone else either. (and law just thinks he's a minor nuisance, one of those faeries who cause small-scale mischief, right up until he gets a demonstration of just how powerful luffy really is, and then. then he's just more confused tbh)

cannibalism 🥰🥰🥰 see i'm not very good at writing doomed relationships - i like my happy endings, i can't imagine myself getting motivated enough to writing a fully tragic story, or even heavy angst - but my god is there ever something so tasty about the concept, especially in the way you described it skhgfrjdhkf. especially with zoro and sanji (a guy who made protecting his crew his entire life's mission, and a guy who is shown time and time again to be self-sacrificial to a fault), and they both have this NEED to keep the other safe, but in this scenario, these are incompatible goals. and they are not exactly the sort to sort stuff out with ~healthy communication~, so it festers. they resent each other for pushing it, and themselves for being in this situation, and if only i had been better, then it wouldn't be like this in the first place-

(anyway if i ever write this it will not be anything nearly as dramatic. my writing brand is generally lighthearted with maybe a few deep conversations thrown into the mix. but by god its fun to think about)

I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKE MY IDEAS MAN...... i'd be absolutely happy to talk about them more, as you can tell i cannot keep my mouth shut ever :D also oh my god "blessing the narrative" THATS EXACTLY WHAT IT IS....... luffy has changed everyone around him on such a fundamental level that even if he doesn't remember anything, everyone who does will go on to cause every ripple effect ever. they're changing this damn world for the better now that they know how it goes, because it's the right thing to do, and also because their captain/friend/saviour/etc will be so disappointed if they don't. (i have precisely one scene drafted for this idea, and it's robin talking to cora on minion island. yes i may be a little obsessed with letting cora live, but in my defence he deserves it.)

(also the cora and ace resurrection shenanigans are, indeed, cora-and-ace resurrection shenanigans. yes it's unrealistic. yes it makes less sense. but you're damn right it compels me too. i just. i really don't like characters dying okay-)

ANYWAY THIS ALSO GOT VERY VERY LONG BUT THANK YOU SOSO MUCH THE OPPORTUNITY TO YELL IS ALWAYS VERY APPRECIATED <333

i think i would go insane for literally any of the fics u mentioned in the tags of that post??? SEQUEL TO THE BENEFITS OF DRINKING WITH STRANGERS???????? (i read that fic twice in a row the first time) i would love to see the interplay between sanji's ideals/hangups and shimotsuki "i take no bullshit" kuina. sanji offering himself up in the most literal sense to feed someone else. listen the cannabalism as an act of service. help im losing my mind. also i can only imagine the degree of "????????" going through ace's mind every step of the way through a lesson in changing the world. dude im going to be thinking about this Forever. that's not even half of what you've got going through my brain

OH DUDE THIS IS SO NICE OF YOU DHEJDKEKJD I WILL BE USING THIS AS MOTIVATION

benefits is def one of my favourite things i’ve ever written (i LOVE cora SO MUCH) so i really want to write that one! i’m at the very end of the dressrosa arc in the anime by now so im just looking forward to the sengoku scene, because i want to like get the vibes before i write his and rosi’s reunion yknow

the sanji and kuina thing oh my god i have that fic half written, but then i went insane about marineford and temporarily lost the drive, but i still maintain that the concept of it would be SO FUN to explore. kuina and sanji just fundamentally Can’t Get Along with how sanji is in canon, and zoro is in the middle of that particular clash…

CANNIBALISM AS AN ACT OF SERVICE OH MY GOD……. you know. vampire stuff is so normalised in our storytelling that i do not instinctively consider it cannibalism. but holy shit you’re right it fucking is and oh my god hold on there’s something about zeff here- AHEM point is cannibalism as an act of service is always a beloved trope i need to think about this more.

and yes it’s SO funny to imagine how confused ace is throughout a lesson in changing the world, i am Really excited to write that one. there’s a lot of stuff from his pov that the marines wouldn’t know about, like the whole luffy and the prisoners on a warship thing, but especially the thought process he’s going through in the time leading up to his execution and up on the platform is SOOO interesting to think about, so im excited :D

ANYWAY OH MY GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH AND IF YOU THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE PLEASE LET ME KNOW because i always want to yell about my ideas or other people’s ideas!!!!