#them two took so much time i pretty much gave up on Aokiji

[karpachev]

Admirals!!

[cheshire387]

So I slept and with clear head will write down my thoughts on the chapter..

Long post and spoilers under the cut!

Not exactly concerned about Garp, never was a big fan of him, just that he's one of the better marines. Would be ironic if he gets killed by Aokiji(which I doubt but maybe), who he trained before.

But pls unfreeze the bby gurl??

Got terrified when I scrolled down a bit and saw Teach, hoped it's just a flashback and relaxed when I saw it is(so yeah, I wasn't ready for the last part of the chapter but about that later).

Absolutely love how Kuzan and Blackbeards trash talk Akainu.

This scene with Kuzan looks like Oda teasing readers who thought Aokiji is the man marked by flames.

I'm still confused how anyone plans on reading Poneglyphs at this point...

So... Literally was shaking when I saw the hat :')

Somehow seeing Polar Tang this way hurts more than Merry, mostly cause of the origins. There is a difference with Kaya giving Straw Hats Going Merry and Wolf giving Polar Tang he built himself to his four grandkids. Not to mention that was like, the only invention of his that actually worked... I hope Wolf is doing fine and Hearts will return to him one day... If Kureha can live that long so can Wolf. That old man gave enough of his blood to the two teens bleeding out, he can live some more years, right?

Also where is Poneglyph rubbings, did Teach took them? Are they sinking with Tang? Where??

This makes me wonder if government ever done anything to the hearts if those pirates are still alive and free?

At least he accepts that unlike someone 👀

I love Bepo so much QAQ I don't know if it can be considered a true Sulong since it's triggered with rumble ball instead of full moon, but Bepo has control over.

And even in his state Law is still concerned for his crew instead of himself :')

I wonder why narration for Hearts is different from Straw Hats and Kid Pirates, who had pretty much same wording for their defeat at Sabaodi and Elbaf respectively.

Overall, this chapter has wrecked me and I don't think I will recover. God forbid I have faves. Anyway, it could have been much worse, Hearts are alive as far as we know, which can't be said for sure about Kidd's crew and Hearts actually put up a fight before their defeat.

Makes me slightly worried for the ending of Egghead and Straw Hats, seeing what happened to Kidd and Law, but at same time Straw Hats are protagonists and Luffy has insane luck, considering he lost to Kidd when they were picking routes, his destination might be the luckiest one.

Interesting that we see Tashigi two chapters in a row but not Smoker, so I wonder where he's at, thinking that maybe Bepo runs into him and asks for help which could be a throw back to Punk Hazard, but that's just my SmoLaw brainrot. The situation itself is unlikely.

Saw someone saying that "Law and Bepo will run into the man marked by flames", which would be rather ironic seeing as Teach is looking for him yet is the one to set up Law to meet him.

Everything happening in the arc seems to be a set up for Elbaf as it's the closest island to both Egghead and Winner. Though if that's the case I believe Shanks will be gone by then.

I still wonder where is Drake 👀

[op-sheepy]

6. dark law, 19. Davy Back, 36. the whimsical captain trafalgar law, 55. marine pet AU!

 Oh, good eye. Those are some of my favorites.. Here is another long one under the cut. Also sorry for the late response. :D

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6. Dark Law

Essentially my take (one of them at least) on what would have happened had Corazon not taken Law from the Donquixote pirates but left anyway when he thought Law had ratted him out.

Some details regarding this:

Rocinante returns to the marines and was able to submit the intelligence he'd gathered. This doesn't do much except inconvenience Doflamingo, as already acknowledged during Law and Doffy's fight.

Vergo gets discovered so he just goes back to the family.

Law does not eat the Ope Ope no mi since Doflamingo never intended for him to. At least, initially.

Because, I'm assuming, not everyone can perform the "Perennial Youth Operation," as it was stated they needed to be 'wise' or 'knowledgeable' and being a doctor does not really automatically equal that, Doflamingo had to kill the users he had chosen when none of them could do it so the fruit could go back to the circulation and he could feed it to the next potentially qualified person he could find.

Law's Amber Lead Syndrome got healed by one of these users though it was only because Law, himself, taught them how to (being familiar with the disease through his father's research as well being a good doctor)

Eventually, everyone realizes that Law is actually the most suited to wield the fruit (all the other smart doctors either having a fruit already or are simply inaccessible), certain that Law would be able to figure out how to do the ultimate technique. So, reluctantly, because he does care in his twisted conditional way, Doflamingo gives the Ope Ope no Mi to Law.

Law at this point had been raised as Doffy's right hand, all according to his plan. While he truly considers Law family and might genuinely regret making him give up his life, Doffy would still ask it from him because there is nothing more important than Doflamingo and his goals. A sentiment that almost everyone in his family considers true.

And Law... well...

Doflamingo rested both hands on Law's shoulders. His tinted glasses peering down, voice heavy with regret, "I wish there was another way."

Law's face remained impassive only broken by a small wistful twitch of his lips. It almost looked like a smile. He grasped Doflamingo's arm and directed him towards the operating table.

"You have taught me many lessons one of which was the futility of wishing for better circumstances." Law seated him and prepared his equipment.

"You taught me to take advantage of any situation by using whatever it is at my disposal." Carefully, he opened a package of sterile gloves. It wasn't really needed but the ritual of opening the pack and putting the gloves on one hand at a time always helped settle his nerves.

"I had expected you to do the same so I'd been prepared for this even before you gave me the fruit." Law lifted his eyes as he slid the first glove in place. "Don't feel too bad. I really am grateful for everything you've done for me. This is just me returning the favor."

He slid the other glove and stretched it over his hand. Softly, almost a whisper, without taking his eyes off his would-be patient, "I wish there was another way too." The snap that followed the release of the glove was too loud in the small operating room.

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19. Davy Back

Early Heart Pirates stuff. And another workaround for writing with at least one of the nameless Heart Pirates.

A Davy Back Fight is initiated for an abused crew member of the opposing crew because Penguin couldn't help himself. The rules are a work in progress, hence this fic's state in limbo.

I really like writing about how these guys were when starting out. They probably looked too adorable, to be honest, so in the harsh North Blue they must have had a hard time getting treated seriously. Not that that would have bothered them (I honestly think they exploited it a lot.)

The enemy captain stared intently at each Heart Pirate then at the list of members given to him. The man didn't bother controlling the upward curl of his mouth.

"No powers. No weapons. Sumo wrestling with your navigator and hand-to-hand combat with your doctor."

Shachi choked and struggled a little bit to get his breathing back to normal. He waved away Penguin's hands patting his back. The pats were a little too harsh, clearly an admonishment if the accompanying glare was anything to go by.

Penguin almost felt sorry for whoever it was being matched against Law. Bepo, while just as incensed by the other crew, was way too conscious of controlling his strength to ever really hurt anyone too badly. The captain, on the other hand, could turn someone into a useless writhing lump of agony by systematically dislocating joints Penguin hadn't even known could be dislocated. Gruesome as severed body parts looked, the powers could at least make it painless.

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36. The Whimsical Captain Trafalgar Law

More Heart Pirates stuff though would feature some of the allied crews as well. This is actually a series/multi-chaptered (or would be).

A Heart Pirates adventure fic where they all go along with their captain's whims all while trying to figure him out. His crew is so used to it they barely even flinch anymore.

Not to say they understand him because who knows what goes inside their captain's head. In fact, they debate that sometimes (a lot of times) the crew being divided among those who think Law has got a plan and those who think he's winging it (often switching really).

"You can't possibly tell me there's some sort of plan behind this."

More than half of the crew looked a bit skeptical, the rest looked defensive.

Clione held up his hands. "Hey, I'm not complaining. I'll follow the captain wherever same as you. But you gotta admit that there isn't always a method to his madness. He really does do things on a whim."

"I disagree. The captain's just saying that but he knows what he's doing. Pretty sure there's a reason behind all his actions..." Protests started, so Penguin amended, "...that isn't just him being a bastard on purpose because he hates someone. Which is a pretty valid reason since we are pirates."

"How about that time we raided the flour factory?" Ikkaku asked.

Penguin's reply came immediately. "Discreet incendiary." A beat. "...also he hates bread."

Before they could celebrate, Shachi interrupted, "His dislike of bread counts as a reason and since it's incidental it doesn't count as a whim."

With narrowed eyes, Clione tried again. "The monastery? Dressing up as monks."

"Medicinal plant in the courtyard bred by this one priest."

"Marineford?"

"Allowed us to get intel and allies."

"And the emergency operations without anesthesia?"

"Possible drug interaction. Emporio Ivankov and their hormone powers."

So continued their back and forth. By the end of it, Penguin and Shachi looked way too smug. Truthfully, they both agreed Law was more impulsive than he let on, often unaware of it himself. But they knew the man they chose to follow always had a plan and purpose (though not necessarily present at the start, but semantics)

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55. Marine Pet AU

Haha... Another one of those difficult to explain ones. Starring the Marines (particularly the original three admirals and Sengoku), and the Shichibukai.

Uhm... So everything's the same except the Shichibukai aren't pirates. They're animals. That's it.

It starts with a wayward flamingo wearing eyewear harassing officers near one of their HQs. Also the Marines need to improve their public image. For some reason, the best they came up with is to get a mascot. Hitting two birds with one stone. (Except they can't really hit the bird. They tried)

So the Marines build a zoo or a habitat. Here are the only types of pirates the World Government can tolerate. Aren't they cute and fluffy?

The public eat it all up. It's popular so now they have to commit. And really, these animals become so important their safety and wellbeing become the higher-ups' problem.

Kizaru is having fun. Aokiji is resigned. Akainu tries (he doesn't quite know what but he'll do what's best for the Marines even if that's getting that damn flamingo away from the reptile enclosure for the tenth time that week on a Tuesday.)

Will feature other marines as well as all of the Shichibukai. All of them.

He checked the schedule and sighed deeply.

Boa, Doflamingo, Mihawk.

He had the most troublesome ones. Briefly, he contemplated just letting his subordinates handle them but quickly scrapped the idea.

He wouldn't say these animals were attached to him and the other admirals but they got more difficult to handle the lower the rank as though these creatures' egos get ruffled. It wasn't a matter of ability. It was perhaps more accurate to say that they had respect. A modicum of it.

It should be Boa's feeding time. Another sigh escaped him as he headed towards the grooming room, a room specifically made to groom Boa's food.

It took them a while to figure out the snake's preferred diet but they found it out when a stray kitten had snuck in and Boa swooped in to swallow it whole. From there they determined that she would only eat cute animals--any less adorable and she doesn't even look at it. So puppies and kittens. And maybe bunny rabbits. Which was bad from a PR perspective so they've taken to grooming rats. Put a nice lovely ribbon and brushed them so they're all fluffy.

He entered the grooming room and one of the officers assigned there took a quick look at him, glanced down the rat they were grooming, then burst to tears (they tended to get attached.) He pressed his hand to his head letting the ice cool down his budding headache. Why couldn't he have gotten Jinbe?

Thank you for playing. :)

[onepiecereactions]

One piece scenario: Lovely Ace (English edition)

Title: Lovely Ace

Pairing: Ace/Marco (friendship)

Note: Humor, around 2 000 words.

Lovely Ace

A blue lightning tore the sky darkened by clouds of black ink. The First Division commander transformed into a flaming phoenix in a tenth of a second, soaring through the air, slicing through the air with phenomenal speed, and crashing down full force on his target. His foot, coated with haki forcefully smashed the ice giant. Shards flew to the point of impact, freeing Admiral Aokiji's arm. The admiral, despite a second of surprise linked to the strike force of the Emperor's second, quickly came back to his senses. At the same time, ten cannonballs flooded the ship of Whitebeard's second fleet. Several pirates, injured by the attack, screamed in pain. Behind the smoke created by the blast, Vice-Admiral Momonga appeared, running towards the Second Fleet Commander, already battling Vice-Admiral Smoker.

Marco saw in the distance the body of Vice-Admiral Momonga quickly coated with haki, including his weapon. The phoenix didn't have time to tell his brother about the surprise attack. This minute of inattention costed him a lot, Admiral Aokiji put haki on his hand, gripped the right ankle of the pheonix which was then push into the air. The blond barely had time to feel the bones of his phoenix freeze from the admiral's haki, when he slammed hard against the cliff. He internally cursed himself for that second of inattention that would cost him and his brothers a lot, and passed out.

3 hours later.

Vista grabbed the escargophone and waited for his father to answer, his body wet with sweat.

“Father, we had to change course and head south. He started. The slowness of his voice showed the fatigue the commander was feeling. He continued quickly, however.

“The First Division encountered two warships from Marineford when they were just a few miles from the island. On board were Vice-Admiral Smoker, Vice-Admiral Momonga, and Admiral Aokiji ... "

He paused for a moment when he heard his father grumble on the other end of the line.

“The second division was closely following the first so they were able to help them. The two divisions still suffered a lot of damage, we have a lot of injuries. Fortunately, the Third, Fifth and Eighth Divisions arrived at time. We managed to get them to turn back and leave. ". He finished.

« Perfect, thank you, son. How are Ace and Marco, go help them manage the ships if they are too tired. » He ordered in a deep voice.

Vista took a few seconds to respond.

"Ace is coming off with a few bruises, nothing too bad, he was still on fire after the battle. Vista paused to take his courage.

"What about Marco? How is Marco Vista? Why isn't he calling me? "

Vista managed to hear a hint of concern in his father's voice.

“Admiral Aokiji used his haki to freeze him while he was transformed. Apparently he would have smashed against the cliff. The layer of ice is extremely thin but robust, he is completely trapped in it. Ace became crazy and insisted on taking him himself to the island’s hospital where we docked. He didn't want to hear anything despite his own injuries. He took Marco with him about ten minutes ago. The other commanders and I decided to let him do it and make him promise not to try to melt the ice himself but to just take him to a doctor and ask for a specialist. » Explained the swordsman.

After a short moment of silence from the two pirates, the captain thanked his son and hung up.

20 minutes later, ten kilometers from the port.

The Second Fleet Commander's race was steady despite the fatigue his body was beginning to feel. Flashes of Marco's accident flooded the dark-haired man's mind, wondering a thousand questions at a time. After an hour of running through the rainforest, Marco frozen under his arm, Ace finally saw the town’s entrance. It was a more developed island than most of the New World islands. Big buildings framed the streets and gave way to well-maintained main roads where the majority of the inhabitants traveled by bicycle.

He continued his course and rushed down to the first street that came, looking for a sign or any other way to find his way. At the turn of the second street he ended on an huge boulevard full of life. A food market was set up in the central square where children and pets were running.

Ace rushed into the building on the corner of the street and ended his run in a tavern. He ran to the bartender, Marco still under his arm.

"My friend is seriously injured, do you know where I can find someone to treat him? I have been told about a hospital on the island? The commander asked hastily.

The bartender, surprised by the pirate's fury, remained silent for a moment, analyzing the situation.

Ace urged him to answer, while remembering Makino's conduct lessons.

“Well, it's more of a big clinic than a hospital. But I think you'll find someone good there, they're pretty versatile and know a lot about everything. It's a long building surrounded by trees ten minutes south of the boulevard where we are. On exiting, take the first right, continue straight for 7 minutes. When you see the first cherry trees, the clinic will be on the right. "

Ace thanked him warmly and rushed out of the tavern.

He arrived into the building ten minutes later, scaring those present.

« My friend needs medical treatment now, he's been frozen over an hour ago now. » He yelled in the hall.

He then saw a woman, the secretary, get up from her desk and run down the halls. Ace remained stoic for several minutes, catching his breath and trying to calm his mind. He then noticed the few people present, patiently waiting their turn in the waiting room. But he especially noticed the dogs, cats, and some sheep next to their owners.

" What… ? » Ace had no time to think any longer, a man in his fifties in a surgical gown and gloves rushed towards him. He was followed by another man carrying a stretcher. The man grabbed the frozen phoenix and put it carefully on the stretcher. He invited Ace to follow him as he walked through the halls of the clinic.

"What is the species of this bird, how old is it, and is there any medical history I should know? The vet asked quickly.

Ace waited for a moment, surprised by the turn of the situation.

"Uh, I… phoenix, from the phoenix devil fruit, in his thirties, and uh… uh… he's wearing glasses." The two caregivers stopped in the middle of the corridors.

" I beg your pardon ? "

“I am Ace, commander of the Whitebeard Second Fleet. And that's Marco,whitebeard’s vice-captain, he faced Admiral Aokiji who froze him a few hours ago. He then hit a cliff and… that’s all. "

The three men looked at each other dumbfounded. A question hung over: was there a need for a doctor or a veterinarian in this case?

The vet looked at Ace's head, completely lost, and huffed loudly.

"Okay, I guess that's going to be for us then. Levi, get him into the rehabilitation wing. You will leave him in the horses balneotherapy pool for two hours, at twenty degrees. Then you will put it in the chicken incubator, same temperature, until the end of the evening. You will evaluate its constants and its general condition every hour. If needed, I have the escargophone on duty, you can call me. » Ordered the vet to his young graduate colleague.

As the younger left with Marco's stretcher, Ace followed him, asking Levi if he was allowed to stay with Marco during treatment.

"Pet owners are not allowed to stay during treatment and are kindly requested to wait in the waiting room," Levi recited, as if it was the twentieth time of the day that he was repeating it.

The two men stared at each other for a moment.

"Ah yes, um, I think since it's not really a bird ... Arrgg, come if you want but don't touch anything and let me do my work."

Ace nodded and continued on his way behind Marco's stretcher.

The commander of the first fleet was installed according to veterinarian protocol. After an hour, Ace noticed that the ice was slowly melting, not breaking. He could even begin to see his brother's right foot (or the squeeze? The paw?). He informed Levi, who grabbed a device, read some information from it, reassured Ace, and pulled out an ID bracelet to fill out and put on Marco's healthy member.

"Just the usual protocol" Finished Levi before handing the bracelet to Ace.

Ace took it all over the place and tried to fill it in the most adequate way possible. In view of the final result, Ace burst out laughing but followed the instructions and put the bracelet on the phoenix.

The next day, around noon.

The door to the First fleet dining hall slammed open, letting Whitebeard's vice-captain pass through. He seemed slightly tense and pissed off.

He was greeted by his brothers with multiple hugs and sake proposals. However, this was not enough to calm the commander down. He seated alongside Namur who had remained with his fleet to help the First and Second fleets recover from the previous day's attack.

"I am reassured to see you on your feet Marco, you scared us a lot. Namur began quietly, offering a full plate to his blond brother.

"Did Ace manage to get you to the hospital? We tried to reach them in the evening to hear from you, but we never succeeded. They must have been overwhelmed "asked the fishman.

"Besides, where is Ace?" "

"If you haven't heard from me it's because lovely Ace didn't take me to the hospital but to a clinic. "

Namur, not knowing what to answer because not seeing the problem of private medical clinics, let him continue. He notices his brother's gaze darkening and his fists twitching on the table.

"This moron took me to an animal clinic." Marco finished.

The room then became silent, giving everyone time to integrate the information. Then, a shower of fat laughter appeared in the room.

Marco tried to stay calm as much as possible.

He noticed that Namur kept silence as much as possible and thanked him inwardly.

He finished his plate, swallowed a tall glass of sake, took a piece of paper from his shirt pocket and left, an escargophone in his hand.

"I will call father. If you want to get Ace back he is locked in the sheep pen in the veterinary clinic, in the south of the town after the forest. " Marco finished before slamming the door and disappearing from the room, still to the laughter of his brothers who were struggling to get over it.

Namur, taking advantage of Marco's absence, let out a laugh as he imagined his brother surrounded by sheep. He inspected the paper Marco had left on the table before leaving. He then recognized an identification bracelet, but unlike those he had seen before, he understood that this was only for animals.

He turned it over, read the second fleet commander's childish handwriting and couldn't help but burst out laughing.

“Name: Marco the phoenix.

Owner: Portgas D Ace.

Person to notify and number: Mr Edward Newgate, escargophone number XXCOCCXCCO. "

End.

[lunnamars]

prompt: cold

Quick note: it's supposed to be for the Cold prompt from our ZoTash discord, but mine has a cold-ish theme, so forgive me anyhow. Your gal here is having a writer’s block, but I wanted to inspire myself on the LuNa fic from HerPrettySmile. If you're into LuNa, you should definitely check it out. It's one of my favorites fics!

The first time Sanji noticed them was back in Loguetown. When they were fleeing, Zoro was having a fight with a pretty lady and the cook had been outraged. The mosshead had never shown any interest in any woman whatsoever, so seeing him having a fight with one was absurd.

She was a swordsman, the blonde noticed. A perfect match, he thought. He never knew if the first-mate even had any interest in relationships, but if he does one day, the cook thought someone like that pretty lady would fit. 

Sanji had never known what was the result of the fight though. He wanted to stay at the time, but it was raining and so fucking cold, his clothes soaked, and he couldn’t even light his cigarette. So he trusted the Mosshead wouldn’t do anything stupid and went on his way. Zoro didn’t say anything when he came back to the ship and the cook never asked. 

However, he didn’t seem happy about something, and Sanji wondered what happened to the pretty lady.

Well, it’s not like we’ll meet again.

—

The first time Nami noticed that there was something odd with the relationship between Zoro and the Navy Lady was way back in Alabasta. She had never seen the green-haired man so agitated and flustered (and it wasn’t because of the fucking heat from that freaking country), not even when he was dealing with Sanji. That woman was definitely weird and also dangerous with her unceasing wish of chasing them. 

He had run away from the woman with glasses and Nami was stunned. She remembers him saying “She’s the only one I can’t fight” and the surprise hit her hard as a punch from Luffy. The only one he can’t fight? There’s no such a thing in Roronoa Zoro’s vocabulary — he’d never back down from a fight. Ever! Especially against a marine, even if she’s was a woman. 

She tried to drag the truth out of him, but to no avail. Zoro simply ignored her at the time and all the other times she had questioned him. Sometimes, he’d even give her a cold shoulder for poking her nose in too much.

Well, whatever. She doesn’t seem like she can pose a threat to him anyway.

—

Robin was almost sure there was something between the two swordsmen and she figured it out on Punk Hazard. She had seen how it was a really complicated and strained relationship and probably Zoro had his reasons. It was not like him to lose his temper over simple words and with strangers. 

She noticed how Zoro tried to act cold as that God-forsaken island towards the marine lady, but his efforts proved to be fruitless. He did lose his mind with her during the battle, but wasn’t able to leave her behind to die from Caeser’s gas. He had even bandaged her almost frostbitten shoulder! 

But there were two reasons she had been led to believe they were not strangers to each other: while running with the kids and the G-5 sailors, she heard them gossiping how the “Swirly Brow bro” had said the “Sword bro” was a softie inside and they didn’t need to worry about “Captain-chan”. Robin agreed, it was very well put. That was the first.

The second was when they were at the victory celebration, pirates and sailors together, she saw Tashigi fetching a glove for Zoro because his hands were cold. They argued in the end, yes, but she didn’t miss the looks they gave each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking. 

Both seemed curious, but Tashigi had a longing in her eyes and he had recognition in his good eye.

Oh my, something did change.

—

Usopp had never paid attention to that Navy Lady that Sanji and Robin would talk about sometimes. He just knew she was Smoker’s subordinate, she was not that strong and had a weird rivalry with Zoro. He didn’t know why she even bothered considering their gap in strength was huge. 

Until he saw her fight in Wano. She was not strong as Zoro and Law yet, but she stood her ground pretty fucking beautifully in order to protect the Strawhat’s swordsman. Which was odd, taking into account her past behavior and the way she acted towards him when she first landed on the Samurai’s country. 

Tashigi had been straight up cold towards Zoro, full of icy remarks, and indifferent looks. But that was before their swordsman almost got himself killed. Zoro was on the floor and Tashigi protected him, fighting tooth and nail. She had won and it had been a pretty impressive battle, but, in the end, she ended up badly hurt. 

Chopper took care of her, of course, but the other strange thing was that Zoro did not leave her side. He even stood up to Smoker when the older man demanded him to get the fuck out of her bedroom. 

Zoro did not obey. And Usopp was flabbergasted.

She was just a marine and initially, the sniper thought Zoro was just doing that out of obligation. The woman had saved his life, after all. But then, he seemed pretty fucking happy when she woke up (even if they got back to yelling at each other) in his own peculiar way and for some reason, started to follow her around.

Her frigid demeanor was no more and she would even send a smile his way sometimes. They’d go back to arguing in the end though.

Those two are really troublesome.

—

Brook was old enough to spot correctly the moment when the pretty Navy Lady stopped being Zoro’s enemy and became his friend. He also knew they were a step away from being lovers, but not yet. Their established friendship was recent, but they weren’t able to hide the looks they gave each other all the time. 

Only when the other wasn’t looking, of course. He had a strong longing in his good eye and she had recognition in hers. In Brook’s opinion, they were two kids dancing around each other, without the courage to stop. 

It wasn’t just the looks. It was the small gestures — the way he would wrap a scarf around her neck when she was shivering because “you’ll catch a cold and fuck everything up, so take care of yourself, woman”, the way they’d always stay or fight together or how he would sulk in the corner when she was giving Law more attention than necessary.

Or, especially, how he gave one of his earings to her before the girl left to end the revolution she, Smoker and Aokiji started in the Navy. She had looked at him with surprise and he was asking for a promise in complete silence. Tashigi smiled and nodded, and maybe that was the step they needed. 

Yohohoho, young love. Always an adventure.

—

Smoker had always known how that brat was special to that silly little girl. He knew since she had let the Strawhats go in Alabasta, when she had blushed when that fucking boy carried her in Punk Hazard, when she had stood between death and the Pirate Hunter in Wano, risking her life for the sake of that punk.

The Vice-Admiral also knew that, from the brat’s part, Tashigi has always been equally special. He knew when he saw him saving her in Punk Hazard and when he stood up to him in Wano. He noticed when his cold demeanor turned into a friendly one and their bickering stopped being full of hate and poisonous only to become something amicable. Or even when he had cuddled with her in a freaking frozen night.

When all was said and done, he saw her run to the pirate and hug him, face full of relief and happiness for seeing him alive. The brat had been fucking hurt while protecting her with all his might. Smoker had to admit that the boy would hunt anyone who would hurt her. 

They had mended their wounds, one never leaving the other’s side. Smoker was okay with it, what could he do? The heart wants what it fucking wants. He just didn’t need to catch them in a lip-lock in the middle of the party, kissing like there was no tomorrow and fucking oblivious to the people cheering around them. 

The G-5 men, the Strawhats, and the Revolutionary Army all screaming. Smoker didn’t know why they were so surprised, he has always known to be honest. And it was the same reason why he was not stupefied when she handed her resign letter followed by a wedding invitation. 

Her smile had been radiant as she was on the day of her marriage. It was extremely simple, it had quite some people and they were dressed in traditional Wano clothes. It almost didn’t have any ceremony, they both didn’t believe in any religion after all. It was supposed to be just a party, considering that parties are the Strawhat’s specialty. 

Everyone was drinking and dancing when he approached the fucking brat (now a full-grown man, to be fair, but Smoker would still consider him a punk), nodding and glaring at him. The pirate returned the glare and the now-Admiral just smirked. He didn’t want to play the father figure there, but someone had too. 

“I’ll kill you if you hurt her. I don’t fucking care if you’re the greatest swordsman in the world or any of that shit. I will kick your sorry ass, pirate,” Smoker used his most menacing tone to get his point across.

Zoro nodded and seriously, replied, “I won’t. You have my word.”

Smoker eyed him, taking all his features, from his stern and determined look to his strong posture. The brat-turned-man seemed to be speaking the truth.

“But aren’t you too old to be threatening people, Admiral?”, Zoro tilted his head and showed his usual cocky smile.

Smoker only rolled his eyes and turned his back to the current greatest swordsman in the world. What the hell that silly girl was thinking when she decided to marry that pirate?

Nevertheless, he had to admit the boy had some balls and in the end, Smoker admitted she’d be okay. They’d be okay. He’d miss her, but people always say that letting kids go is hard as fuck, right?

He snorted and lighted a single cigar. 

Fucking brat.

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE SERIES: My Favorite One Piece Arc with Steve Yurko

  I love One Piece and I love talking to people who love One Piece. And with the series going on 23 years now, there is a whole lot to talk about. As the series is about to publish its 1000th chapter, a true feat in and of itself, we thought we should reflect upon the high-seas adventure and sit down with some notable names in the One Piece fan community and chat about the arcs they found to be especially important, or just ones they really, really liked.

  Welcome to the next article in the series "My Favorite One Piece Arc!"

  My next guest in this series is Steve Yurko, co-host of The One Piece Podcast, a podcast with a subject you can probably guess. He's also a former storyboard artist for Rick & Morty and is currently working for Netflix Animation. As a ride-or-die Sanji fan, Steve chose the Baratie Arc, where Luffy and the gang run into an East Blue restaurant with a cool chef that loves to cook and kick.

  A note on spoilers: If you haven't seen the Baratie arc yet, this interview does contain major plot points. Watch the Arlong Park arc starting RIGHT HERE if you'd like to catch up or rewatch!

    Dan Dockery: So a friend tells you, "I'm done with the Syrup Village arc and I'm not sure if I want to watch this next one. I think I might be tapped out on this whole One Piece thing. In one sentence, how do you get them to stay and watch the Baratie arc?

  Steve Yurko: The Baratie arc laid down the foundation and created the formula of the One Piece arc as we know it.

  That's pretty good!

  Yeah, I’d say that, when I first started it, One Piece was my third favorite. I was more of a fan of series like Shaman King and Naruto, but after Baratie, things shifted. It was a turning point for me. I would hope that it would do the same for anyone who’s, say, previously apathetic towards the series.

    How old were you when you first read it? Or watched it?

  It feels weird to say this, but my introduction to One Piece was Chapter 1. Like Dragon Ball Z, the first episode I can remember watching was, like, Yamcha training on King Kai’s planet, and I’d get Goku and Yamcha confused and stuff, because I had just dived in. So for me to start a story like One Piece from the beginning is kind of rare. I was 15, I think.

  So, we're jumping into Baratie, and we first see the guy with the brass knuckles, Fullbody. He's trying to act cool on a date and he's being mean to everyone else. And then we have Sanji being typical Cool Sanji and Fullbody acts up and Sanji just tears through him. How did you react? Did you know immediately that you'd like this waiter?

  Well, I don't want to alarm you here, but my first thought was “Sanji’s cool!” I’d seen images of him before, and I saw his black suit and blond hair and I figured, “Oh, another crew member, probably. Looks distinct enough.” So I often have to look back and wonder “Did I like him because of his edgy coolness?” but I think now it’s because there were more layers to him. Like, he definitely stands out from the other Straw Hats, but he also has this distinct fighting style with cool reasoning. He’s a cook and he doesn’t want to bust up his hands trying to punch people in the face, so he uses his feet. So, he does like these cool capoeira kicks, which only gets better as they go along because I feel like so many anime characters, the stronger they get, the more they start to fight the same with fast volleys of punches and laser blasts. So Sanji’s kicks are a great way to differentiate himself from the main cast and other anime heroes. 

  So, then we have Luffy, he shows up by damaging the Baratie. Enter: Zeff. Full disclosure: In my infinite naivete when I first watched One Piece, I thought Zeff was going to be the new crew member. And then I thought Gin was going to join the Straw Hat crew. And then when Sanji finally joined, I was like, "This guy? Really? Dark horse candidate over here."

  You didn’t know yet?

    I guess I hadn't watched the first ED yet — when the crew slowly shows up and stands beside one another.

  You saw Usopp’s silhouette appear and thought, “Eh, I’ve seen enough.”

  "That must be all of them."

  It happens.

  So, you meet Zeff, and you learn about Sanji and Zeff's relationship, and we get a big One Piece flashback. What do you think of that? Because it would become a staple of the series to kinda pause, see what happened to an important guy, and then come back.

  Such an incredible story and so gruesome and terrifying. Sanji’s original flashback is so underrated because it could happen to anyone! Like, you’d have to go out of your way to get stranded on an island, but going days and weeks without food or any real comfort? I think people underestimate how traumatizing that would be. And then Zeff losing his leg because he hacked it off for food, it’s brutal. Just thinkin’ about that, I feel it in my shins. Because that almost happened to me with a minor injury. I let a minor injury get infected, and I could’ve been close to losing a leg.

    Wait, what? Gahd.

  I was doing box jumps at a gym, and my shin hit the corner of this wooden crate.

  Yeah, those things have no give in them.

  Absolutely. And at the time, I thought it was just this dark spot on my shin. And I figured it was, ya know a bruise. So I let it be. And then I picked at the scab and I realized “Wow, that’s a little deeper than I thought. I guess I’ll go to the doctor if it gets worse.” And I kept going to the gym, wearing pants over like this open wound. And my left leg is so swollen. So I went to two different doctors, as the first one did tests and then sent me to another one. And when this doctor saw me, the look on her face said “Oh, this is bad.” So I laughed out loud about how dumb I was and the doctor turned to me and said “This isn’t funny. This IS SERIOUS.” It had gotten infected with bacteria and it was spreading, and she just took a sharpie and drew around the infected area, and gave me antibiotics and was like “You have to keep this elevated, and if the redness goes outside of this line, go to the hospital.” But luckily, I recovered, even though the doctors were like “Honestly, we thought you’d go to the hospital.” So when Zeff severs his foot with a rock, how does anyone not feel that? 

  Do you think that's one of the reasons Luffy is fascinated by Sanji at first? His mentor, Shanks, lost his arm and was cool about it. Zeff lost his leg and was cool about it. Basically twins.

  That’d be an interesting conversation that we never got to see. Just two dudes talking about how weird it is that both their father figures did that, with only Luffy thinking it’s cool. 

    Don Krieg's ship gets blown in half by an incomprehensibly cool character, Mihawk, the first Warlord to appear in the show. You see Mihawk arrive — what is your reaction to him? Because it's not a case of "The villain of the villain is my friend," but rather "Oh, he did that to the villain? I hope he does not do that to us, as that would suck."

  It’s almost like the good guys meeting the bad guys, and then a tornado comes in. But here’s the thing: I missed the issue of Jump where Zoro fought Mihawk. So I assumed that Zoro had just won. The greatest swordsman in the world shows up and Zoro beats him. Boom. The climax of his character arc has been achieved. Nothing left for Zoro. 

  He just did it.

  I didn’t find out until so much later that Zoro lost. I wasn’t quite aware of what made for a captivating story yet. At that time, an obstacle appears, an obstacle gets taken out, ya move on. I almost want to apologize to Mihawk. 

  I love how One Piece does this though. They do it with Smoker and Aokiji and the like. It reminds me of The Witcher III when you go off the path a little bit, and you're at a Level 4 and then a Level 39 Gryphon swoops down and decapitates you. It keeps the "power levels" interesting.

  Luffy starts up Breath of the Wild and goes right for Calamity Ganon. But Mihawk is like the analogy for the Grand Line. He represents it, without revealing too much. Mihawk is like a Pizza Hut demo disc of danger.

  I really like that. And no one knows, to this day, exactly how powerful he is. Over 20 years later, and we're still wondering how he matches up against Shanks or Blackbeard or whatever. One Piece has so many characters where Oda hasn't shown his full hand in regards to them, yet we're totally emotionally invested in them. That's good storytelling.

  He’s doing something right. And I love that Mihawk has a little character arc here, too, where he shows up nonchalantly slicing up Krieg’s ships, probably doesn’t expect much, and then he’s taken aback by Zoro’s gusto, because he hasn’t seen anyone like that in a while. And he slices Zoro down. But he respects him, when in the beginning, he clearly didn’t respect anyone around. Mihawk wants to see him be better and try to take him down one day. For him to willingly build someone up like that is rare. Like Frieza wouldn’t do that.

    So, Don Krieg — what were your opinions of him at the time? Because he's a really bad guy surrounded by more morally grey guys like Mihawk and Gin.

  What I like about the East Blue saga is that every main villain is an antithesis of Luffy and what makes Luffy a truly great captain. Buggy is all about treasure. Kuro is about ambition and the fortitude to be a pirate. Krieg is about might and strength, and Krieg thinks he has both of those because of his weapons and armor. But Luffy has willpower and ambition and doesn’t let the world change his views. Luffy is incorruptible whereas Krieg is willing to poison his own crew when stuff starts going south. Krieg isn’t fondly remembered, but he really serves his purpose in the story.

  So, after Krieg is defeated, Sanji turns down Luffy's offer to join the Straw Hat crew. Now, he knows this is a bad idea. He's not gonna find the All Blue floating around on the Baratie. Why doesn't he go immediately?

  Well, he knows it’s a bad idea but he’s completely misinterpreting Zeff’s sacrifice. He feels that since Zeff sacrificed his leg, he has to repay him by working for him indefinitely. But the reason that Zeff did that was because he wants Sanji to live on and chase his dream. That’s why Zeff took pity on him in the first place. He’s an older, worn-down man now, and he stopped chasing his dream. And now he wants to see Sanji or someone get a win. It lifts his spirit to see Sanji and live kinda vicariously through him. 

  So, the second time I ever cried over One Piece was during Sanji's goodbye and Zeff's "Don't catch a cold." The first time was when that little dog was trying to protect his dead owner's shop in Orange Town, but that's a different story. But this shot of Sanji on his knees thanking Zeff with all the cooks surrounding them is so iconic, and Sanji's acting like it's a gift that Zeff gave him that Sanji could never repay, while as you said, Zeff just wants Sanji to be happy. What did you get out of that? I assume that you're a human with human emotions.

  I cry every time I watch that. When I first saw it, I was like “How? How is a series this good?” And there’s so much to that ending sequence. Because the Baratie is built on this rough, angry masculinity. Just these dudes being mean and fighting each other and customers all the time. There’s never a time or a place for lending a shoulder to someone else. No emotional embraces of any kind. Just everyone berating everyone. No one can open up — just stupid man babies. And then you get to this moment where Sanji is leaving and they’re all trying to be cool while playing it off. Especially Zeff, who can’t give a legitimate goodbye, but rather a “Don’t catch a cold.” But there’s so much to that statement and the facade crumbles. All these grown men start bawling. 

    I've never thought about it that way. There's all these little hints of kindness, like feeding the bad guys, and it's a masculinity powder keg. And then Sanji, in an ultimate display of putting his heart out there, bows to the man who saved him and the keg explodes. That's really cool.

  ONE PIECE LIGHTNING ROUND!

  Favorite One Piece character?

  Sanji

  Favorite One Piece villain?

  Enel

  Favorite One Piece moment?

  March to Arlong Park

  Favorite Straw Hat Crew pairing?

  Luffy and Zoro

  Favorite moment of the new Wano anime arc?

  Soba Mask’s debut

  If you could eat one Devil Fruit, what would it be?

  Whatever Kanjuro’s fruit is

  Moment that made you cry the hardest?

  Sanji leaving the Baratie

  Moment that made you cheer the loudest?

  Straw Hats at the Tower of Justice standing across from Robin

  One Piece location that you'd like to live in?

  Whole Cake Island. Ya eat well, ya know, you can survive Big Mom

  Favorite fight scene?

  Sanji vs Mr. 2, of course

      Stay tuned for the next installment of "My Favorite One Piece Arc" as we speak with Botchamania creator Maffew about his favorite One Piece arc: Alabasta!!

        Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features.

By: Daniel Dockery