#and we can save toppling the monarchy for another book.

[terrainofheartfelt]

I finished the novel and found it DELIGHTFUL

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE SERIES: My Favorite One Piece Arc with Maffew

  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 Maffew, creator of the popular pro wrestling web series Botchamania. For my chat with him, he chose the Alabasta Arc, in which Luffy and his crew not only have to save a desert kingdom but also topple Baroque Works and its powerful leader Crocodile.

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

    Dan Dockery: So I guess my first basic question is, let’s say for some reason, I got to the end of Drum Island and I said “Well, One Piece ends here for me. This seems like a good finale.” What would you tell me to keep me going into the Alabasta Arc in one sentence?

  Maffew: Well, after Chopper has made all the kids cry, you’ll need pickin’ up.

  That’s pretty good! What was the impetus for you getting into One Piece? What made you want to jump into an anime that’s nearly one thousand episodes long at this point?

  I think I tried watching it on YouTube back in 2009, and I just couldn’t get into it. At that point in my life, I wasn’t ready for a character like Luffy and his adventures, and I couldn’t wait for the villains he fought to kill him. So I dropped it. A year later, I’m in Germany and this wrestler ACH was doing a Q&A panel for this German wrestling organization called WXW. And ACH is a REALLY big One Piece fan, and even dresses up as Luffy in New Japan and Ring of Honor. And I was like “Hey, you watching JoJo?” because that was my thing at the time, and he was like “No, no. Just One Piece.” I said, “What else are you watching?” “Just One Piece.” And I’m like “Wait, what? Just the one?” But he was sellin’ it to me like he was a One Piece ad on QVC. And guys like Steve Yurko are so passionate about it, and if one person tells ya to watch something, you’re like “Eh, whatever,” but if five people tell you, you start to pay attention. So I’m gonna blame ACH and my good friend Steve Yurko for this.

    What do you like about this arc in particular?

  You get so much wonderful worldbuilding. They go to Alabasta, meet up with Mr. 2, and it’s one of those cool interactions where they’re meeting, but they don’t know who they are meeting exactly, like when they meet Blackbeard in Jaya. So later on, they’re like “Oh, it’s THEM!” There’s a real sense of everything not being really pre-determined at this point. It’s building everything through a bunch of pirates just doing stuff. Ace shows up, knocks out some assassins so he can get his royalty checks.

  That’s such a funny way to put it.

  Then we get Kung-Fu Dugongs, and they’re a pretty pure expression of One Piece. They’re all synchronized, they’re adorable, they play their part amid all the serious stuff, and they’re completely ridiculous, but they work anyway. And it’s with Alabasta that Eiichiro Oda starts to perfect the tropes that he puts into place throughout, with the new islands, the new leader who everyone loves but is actually a bad person, the crew having to deal with him and the Navy, them having to help put someone back in their position, etc. And even though, on paper, it reads like “Well, he’s gotta beat this dude and this dude and this dude,” it’s so much more chaotic and less formulaic than you’d expect. It keeps things interesting. 

  I agree. I like how he takes all of these pieces and he’s consistent with them, but Oda always plays around with how he sets them up.

    But it’s all a foot massage before the real reason to watch Alabasta: Sir Croc. 

  Are you a big fan of him? That dude is so cool, conniving and powerful. He’s kinda the perfect villain. 

  Back when I was being miserable and first watching One Piece, I really liked him. I like the design, the sand powers that could actually pose a threat. I always appreciate it when a villain provides actual tension. It’s like why I think Goldeneye is still the best James Bond film. Because Alec Trevelyan is constantly reminding Bond “Remember, I could kill you. I’m from the same place as you. I can take your exploding watch and just, eh, I’ll stop that then. Thank you.” And Luffy loses twice to him in the three-match structure that really works here as it did for wrestling in the 70s.

  How so?

  So you’d have somebody like champion Bruno Sammartino and someone like Ivan Koloff or one of the Wild Samoans or Stan Stasiak. They’d have one match where the hero would beat Bruno by disqualification. Bruno’s still around to fight, but he’s lost. Luffy survives being thrown in the sand, but he’s been beaten. Then they have the second match, where Bruno would win because the villain would just give up and leave and get counted out. Luffy attacks Crocodile with water, but it’s not enough, and Crocodile just kinda leaves Luffy thinking it’s all done. And then Bruno would be like “Oh no ya don’t. Next time, you won’t be able to escape, because we’re gonna be in a cage match.” And then Bruno wins, just like Luffy wins by punching Crocodile up through that giant enclosed space. He escapes the cage.

      It’s just so satisfying and that’s a great way to describe it. So, villains in the series have had extensive crew members before, but they haven’t been as recognizable and colorful as Croc’s crew, Baroque Works. Do you have a favorite member?

  They’re all good in their own way, but at this point, I’m gonna go with Mr. 2. Eh, that’s probably too obvious an answer…

  Mr. 2 is a lot of people’s favorite member. 

  Oh, who cares. I’ll go with Mr. 2. I like how Mr. 2 interacts with everyone, having fun with the boys and fighting Sanji with kicks but respecting him. 

  So, in this arc, there’s a lot of government intrigue and a revolution is about to happen, and everyone’s dissatisfied with their perception of the monarchy. How did you react to all of this political drama in One Piece? 

  Well, it’s great because you have Vivi, and you get to learn her motivations and because she’s on the crew, it gives you a reason to care for the crew and how all of the political intrigue affects them. Without her, you’d just hear about a war and say “Oh, sorry about that. Hope it goes well.” And with all this lore being thrown at you because you have Vivi and that connection, it’s adding to the main conflict, rather than distracting.

  Yeah, Vivi really grounds it all with a personal attachment. Because otherwise it’s just savin’ the kingdom, which is cool and they’re good for it, but it doesn’t have the same impact. So, they did this back in the Arlong Park arc, but what returns here is the kind of 1 vs 1 match structure, where a member or members of the enemy crew are matched up against a Straw Hat or Hats. Mr. 1 has knife body parts, so he’s obviously gonna fight Zoro. Mr. 2 kicks and Sanji kicks, etc. What do you think about that kind of matchmaking, because it’s also a little wrestling-esque.

    Yeah, right, like if you have D-Generation X fighting the Nation of Domination, you can’t just have The Rock fighting Triple H. Ya gotta have D’Lo Brown vs X-Pac and The Godfather vs Billy Gunn. I like it because the characters feel like they have to prove themselves, like Zoro’s a swordsman, and he’s gotta test himself against another swordsman. And Usopp does it when he fights Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas with Chopper, because they have a weird dynamic and they’re fighting two people and they have no clue what they’re up against. 

  So, at the end of the arc, they do the iconic “We can’t let Vivi become associated with pirates so we’ll hold up the X symbols on our arms in solidarity” pose. What did you think about that? Because it’s one of the most famous images in One Piece, and it’s hard to avoid it, even if you’ve never watched the series. Was that your first time seeing it?

  It actually was. And I’m glad you brought this up because I was watching it and I thought “Wait, they’re just going? They’re not even keeping the duck?” And then they do that with the X and the original opening starts playing and I get goosebumps just remembering it. That really hit me. Because it finally got me really emotionally invested in the series. Made me feel a bit cheeky. 

      ONE PIECE LIGHTNING ROUND!

  So, considering you’re such a huge pro wrestling fan, your lightning round is gonna be a bit different. I’m gonna say a Straw Hat that’s in the crew at this point and you tell me which wrestler they’re the most like. You can also tell me what time period they’d fit the most in, since wrestler personalities tend to change. So, Luffy?

  Gotta be Cena. Specifically? With Luffy’s attitude? Probably 2015 defending-the-United States-Championship John Cena.

  Zoro?

  He’s all business, he likes to fight. So I gotta go with Cesaro.

  Sanji?

  Going with Eddie Guerrero.

  Usopp?

  That character is all over wrestling - the underdog who isn’t very good and uses every trick in the book to win. Gonna go with MJF. He had one of my favorite matches of this year against Cody Rhodes and he just had to use EVERYTHING to beat him - brass knuckles, distraction, chairs, everything he could to get that win. But he could be MJF, could be The Miz, could be Mikey Whipwreck from ECW, take your pick.

  Nami?

  Hmmm. Becky Lynch. 

  Chopper?

  KeMonito 

  Robin?

  Oh, she shows up after being booed for ages and you’re supposed to like her, so 2019 Charlotte Flair.

      Stay tuned for the next installment of "My Favorite One Piece Arc" as we speak with One Piece's official English manga translator Stephen Paul on his favorite One Piece arc: Skypiea!!

      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

[ladymelissaduthe]

Challenge #1.5

aka The Fic Where Arin Gets Stuck With Missy In An Inescapable Location (accidentally)

a/n: weirdly specific title, but It’ll make sense when I post Challenge 2, I promise AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA This was a really fun RP and fic to write, though it was slightly difficult what with the lack of visual cues in terms of writing,,, that’s what happens when you set something in the dark. ANYWHOS, thank you Anna @arin-schreave​ for this RP and for running with my crackhead ideas NJKSDNDKJD Anywhos, hope you enjoy this funny little fic ,,, also I promise everything about the ring ™™™™ will be revealed soon SJKNDKJKD (2,684 words) 

For a place that was twenty times the size of my own home back in Orleans, I was running out of things I could do in the palace. I was so desperate, I was actually in the library of all places.

Sure, there were the regular Women’s Room lessons for the day but we usually ended whatever was the day’s lessons early. Against the usual urge to scroll through my phone, learning a Tiktok dance in a gown wasn’t exactly the easiest. Doing the renegade was going to wait for a more casual day in the palace.

So I was in the library, browsing the bookcases and jeopardizing my poor immune system to some allergic rhinitis around these books.

There were a few books with interesting titles: The Creativity Crisis, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Business Process Re-engineering in Illéa to name a few.

The title that catches my attention though had a green spine, lined with gold. Embroidery Patterns from America. Huh, you don’t hear that name everyday. I could check it out and show it to my maids. Maybe try it out and do them myself on a dress I have.

I reach up for the book, extending my arms above me. I lean against the case for some support as I reach for it. It seemed stuck on the shelf though, not seeming to fully budge out of its place.

I try to pull it again, suddenly feeling the case slide open. Huh?

The next thing I know, I’m on the ground of a dark hallway and hearing the case slide close behind me, and the light leave the entire space. Oh no.

Where was I?

Why was it so dark? Oh Gosh, the floor felt like it hasn’t seen a vacuum cleaner in a decade.

I couldn’t make out where I was exactly, but it was dusty and smelled like one of those old historical houses in Orleans tourists would visit all the time

I try to look around and feel for the way I came through.

“Hello!” my voice seems to echo in the space. Maybe if I kept on yelling someone could get me outta here. “Help!”

“Can anyone help me?!” I yell again, hoping someone passing by the case would hear me. I try banging against the wall, sounding almost hollow. It sounded like wood.

“Hello!” I call out again. Please someone GET ME OUT OF HERE.

I keep on trying to yell to get anyone to realize I was trapped here. Was this… a dungeon? Did the palace keep prisoners here? Oh Gosh, I was going to get stuck here. Questions later. I needed to get outta here.

A knock.

I’m saved! I could kiss whoever was going to get me out of here. Or not, cause that sounded like treason.

“Hello! Is someone else there?!” Please get me out of here ASAP, I’m pretty sure there are spiders here.

“This isn’t funny. I don’t care if Ayesha put you up to it, knock it off.”  

Are you flipping kidding me? Who the hell was Ayesha?

“Uh… I can’t quite knock it off!” I feel something crawl along my feet and like any normal person… I scream. “I REALLY DON’T LIKE IT IN HERE! PLEASE I JUST FELL THROUGH THE WALL!”

“Really the jig is up.” I hear shuffling from the other side. Did they really just???

“This ain’t no dance sweetheart! PLEASE JUST HELP ME GET OUTTA HERE! I THINK THERE ARE SpidE-ERS!” I feel something crawl across my feet and I pound my fist against the wall again, “THIS ISN’T A JOKE! HELP!”

Silence.

It was quiet from the other side. Did…. They…. Just…. Leave me here?

I bang my fists against the wall again. “Hello?! HELLO???? HELLOOOOOOO!!!”

Footsteps sound like they’re fading away. Oh no, I was going to be trapped here forever. I didn’t even write a will yet. Oh Gosh, I haven’t even gotten married yet. I was gonna get trapped in this weird dark hallway for the rest of my life.

No. If no one was going to get me out of here, I was going to get myself out of here. The way my voice echoed meant that I was in a huge space. Maybe if I just… walked down?

And get even more lost?

Maybe if I—

I jump at the sudden motion of the wall. The wall in front of me suddenly gives way and opens, LIGHT. I see light…

“Hello…?”

“Oh thank sweet baby Jesus,” I say walking towards the opening, towards the light…

… and Arin Schreave.

I pick up my jaw from the floor before I quickly try to push some of my hair behind my ears. Oh of all times, Arin Schreave had to see me covered in dust bunnies? Not cute… AT ALL.

“ah… hello!”

Oh wow. This looked more like a hallway with a little more light shined on it… still very dusty.

The prince takes another step into this hallway, until I see the door starting to close behind him. I feel myself jump at the sound of the door shutting. Once again, the room was blanketed in darkness.

“Shit.”

“Nonononono!” I run back to where the door was, looking for something, anything, to get us out of here. Come on. All the escape room games have some kind of button to press. Maybe the prince knew something.

“Do these not open from this side…” MANNERS. “… your highness?”

“Uh…” I hear a sigh come from my right. “There’s a button somewhere around here but I don’t quite remember where.” So he did know something.

I hear a couple of steps grow louder from the direction of his voice, until I feel myself stumble backward. Did he just run into me? I reach for the wall to keep myself from toppling over. Oh. There was a hand on my waist.

“Oof, uh, sorry.” I try to move closer to the wall to avoid bumping into him. Why did it suddenly get so hot? Must be my allergies.

“No, that was my fault.” I could start making out his silhouette, moving close to the wall too. The hand around my waist was gone too.

I clear my throat, and push some of my hair back. Oh of all people to have heard me, it had to be Arin Schreave.

“I suppose you were the one on the other side of the wall I was talking to?”

“Uh, yes… I was… sorry I didn’t believe you.”

I wring my hands. I wouldn’t have believed this happened if it didn’t happen to me. “Well… whatever Ayesha may have pulled on you before… it must have been pretty bad for you to be this skeptical…”

A sigh. “I’m used to it.”

Thank God I was an only child.

Prince Arin goes silent for a moment before he says, “Just give me a minute to think?”

“Alrighty.” I suck in a breath and nod, going a little further down the wall. He said that there was a button around here. Maybe I could find it here. I try to run my hand through the wall, looking for an imperfection, a bump that could trigger the door to open.

“I think there’s a button on one of the wall, down by the floor.” I hear the prince speak up. I guess I was sort of right.

“Why would you put a switch down by the floor?” I ask. Well, there was nothing else I could do but crouch down and start feeling for it close to the floor. Ugh, all I could feel was the material of my dress pool to the ground. I try to push it away to try and keep on searching the wall.

“Not the way I thought I’d be spending this afternoon.” I laugh to myself. This was ridiculous.

“Trust me, I definitely didn’t plan for this.” I hear a sigh, “It’s near the floor so it doesn’t accidentally get pushed. It’ll feel like a small hole…”

I shake my head, hands still gliding through the wall, “Reasonable, but this is already a secret passageway. Not many people would press a button accidentally.”

I sneeze, “Oh wait.”

A small laugh from my left. “It’s uh… from when the country had rebels and the last thing you’d want to do is open one of these on accident if you were trapped inside.”

“Were rebels that much of a problem for you to have constructed these?” It had to be around here close to the door. “If I were a button… where would I be…”

“According to the history books I’ve read, yes. They were. But as a kid we used these tunnels during games of hide and seek.”

“I can tell from the dust, ” I sneeze on my elbow, “bunnies, that it’s probably been a long time since you played games here.” ACHOO! “And it’s been a while since rebels have attacked too, I guess.”

“Over 50 years… but I wouldn’t trust the dust bunnies. They could be harboring anti-monarchy sentiments.”

“Ah yes, rebellious dust bunnies. Practically planning anarchy through allergies and sticking onto your clothes unnecessarily.” I shake my head. I can’t believe this was my first conversation with the prince after meeting him… in a DARK, dusty, old, probably abandoned secret tunnel. ROMANTIC.

“They’re sneaky little buggers that make terrible pets.” I hear some shuffling from his side until I feel something bump into me.

“OOF!” I sneeze again into my elbow, before shuffling away from him. Come on Prince Arin, let’s practice some spatial awareness. “I just wanted to see some embroidery patterns. Who rigs a book of embroidery patterns to trigger a weird door?”

I sneeze, sitting up on the heels of my feet. I hate having allergies.

“Someone who doesn’t think embroidery is interesting I’m guessing.”

I lift a shoulder up, “Fair.”

I shake my head before going back to the wall and try feeling it for the button again. “It’s still fun though. Embroidery, I mean.”

“I don’t know much about it honestly.” I hear a grunt come from Arin.

ACHOO. “Just a needle and a thread honestly. That’s what my mama used to tell me.” I fumble through the wall, still looking for the button. “She used to be a seamtress before she married my dad.”

“Aha”

I hear a click before the door seems to slide open. Light. FRESH AIR.

“Oh thank God.” I breathe out a sigh of relief. I immediately stand up, albeit a bit wobbly, before I offer my hand to Arin.

He doesn’t take my hand, instead standing on his own and brushing off the dust from his pants. I tuck my hand in my other, dusting myself too.

His eyes then set on me. Oh I must look horrible. Of all times, it had to be a time where I didn’t look cute.

“Oh um… you have a little something right here.” He gestures to his head.

UGHHHHHH

“Oh,” I pat my head for whatever was there. “You also have um… what is… that…” I peer closer. It didn’t look like a speck of dust, it looked like it was moving. It had… legs?

“It’S A SPIDER.”

“oh!” I watch him quickly brush the spider off, but I watch as he swats it and gets accidentally flung at me.

I do what a normal would do in this situation.

I shriek, but I quickly swat it off my dress to the ground and running the HELL away from it. I then hear a small clinking sound. “Oh no…”

I look down to my right hand. My ring. It was gone.

Arin’s eyes follow the noise, he himself following after it to investigate.

Now this was awkward. I follow after where the sound stopped, where Arin bends down to look for the source.

“Um… I got it.” He seems to have found it, picking it up and straightens.

I step up to him and hold my palm open, “T-thank you. I can take this now.”

Oh great Melissa. Sure, a ring wasn’t going to give him any war flashbacks at all… or worse… make him start asking questions about it.

Arin clears his throat as he hands the ring to me. “Well, that’s not something you’d want to lose.”

“Nope,” I take the ring and slip it back on my right index finger. Why did I get it resized? That was a stupid decision, now it was way too big for any of my fingers. “It’s my Grammy’s ring.” I laugh slightly before looking back to him.

He nods. “Ah well… Maybe you should have it resized so you don’t lose it. Rings like that tend to be sentimental.”

It was sentimental, and trust me, it already has been resized.

I clench my right hand, making sure it wouldn’t slip off again.

“It doesn’t normally fall off, at least not all the time.” I tilt my head. “And yes, this one is really sentimental to me.”

I couldn’t bear to part with this piece.

“I can see that. It reminds me of my mom’s old wedding ring.” Arin says, and I notice him swallow nervously. “I just mean it’s pretty.”

I take a moment to blink at the wedding ring remark.

“Actually,” I laugh slightly. “this was my Grammy’s wedding ring.”

Grandpa said he saved for an entire year to buy her this ring. Back then, things weren’t so easy for them or his orchard.

I lift a shoulder, continuing. “It was my mom’s, and then it was passed down to me.” It was a thin gold band surrounded with little diamonds. No big jewel or anything. Just tiny little diamonds. Grandpa had some taste. I scrunch up my nose and breathe out a laugh. “Thank you… for calling it pretty.”

“Of course.” He nods a bit awkwardly before glancing to the door. “Did you want to get our of here?”

Oh right, I almost forgot.

“Yes, please.” I lift my skirt to move quicker to the door before it closed in on us again. I wasn’t gonna stuck in that room again. “Thank you again for helping me.”

ACHOO!

“Sorry for not believing you…”

Arin seems to follow behind me. As we both get out of the room, he shuts the door behind us. Good. I never wanted to see that tunnel again. Ever.

I lift a shoulder, “Easy mistake, I probably would have freaked out if I heard a voice from the other side of the wall and not believe that there was a secret hallway over there.” I gesture my head to the bookcase.

“Just try not to do it again.” A small smile appears on his face. He should smile more. “The dust bunnies might not be as friendly next time.”

“I’m more worried about the spiders.” ACHOO! “Might wanna ask a couple of maids to maybe spruce it up a bit, maybe add some nice lighting, maybe an exit sign inside.”

I end up sneezing again, can’t helping but laugh at the situation.

“There’re actually lights in there…”

“That could have been useful a couple of minutes ago.” I chuckle before ACHOO! “Well, that… was an adventure, but I think I need a hot shower to wash that hallway off.” Or a bubble bath, a bubble bath seemed nice.

I give Arin a quick curtsy with a smile, “Thank you again for getting me outta there, your highness.”

In turn, he gives me a smile and a nod. “Of course.” He gives me a bow. That’s.. a first. “I hope the rest of your day is better.”

To be honest, this… was actually fun. It was nice to get to interact with Arin.

“Have a nice day!” I nod once with a smile and spin on my heel,  d lifting my skirt and heading straight to my room.

I had a feeling that things were going just fine with Arin. It was a start, that’s all I needed.