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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 4 years

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The Voyage So Far: Thriller Bark

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

the tone of thriller bark is super fun- the combination of horror and comedy is done really well, and i like how it’s set at the very start, with the introduction of a seemingly terrifying situation and character (brook and his ghost ship) that are very quickly revealed to be anything but.

i also like that we hear singing and see music notes before we ever even see brook. we’re associating our musician with music before we even know him.

brook’s recruitment is delightful, and so very luffy. of course he would want a talking skeleton musician on his crew, and of course he wouldn’t be fazed by brook in the slightest except to think he’s cool. i love him a lot.

for the most part, thriller bark isn’t actually scary despite its horror theming- but it does get some good moments in, and of them, i think the reveal of cindry’s room is definitely the best. it’s not scary, necessarily, but it’s deeply creepy, and only becomes more so when you learn why it’s like that and what exactly hogback did.

i love how team-based thriller bark feels. especially immediately following water 7/enies lobby (in which two crewmates leave and the crew has to deal with a ton of internal strife) and preceding sabaody (where the crew gets separated), it’s just so nice. it’s most obvious in the team fight versus oars (and i’ll get to that later because i LOVE it), but also in smaller moments like robin and franky’s team fight against the spider zombie.

the team just feels so cohesive in thriller bark, and it’s really good. robin and franky are the two newest crewmates, but they already trust each other enough to pull off some fantastic teamwork.

usopp is really good in thriller bark. he also has the best outfit in this entire arc.

my two favorite fights in this arc are usopp versus perona and zoro versus ryuuma, for very different reasons.

zoro’s fight with ryuuma is fantastically cool, and i really like the level of respect and understanding that seems to exist between them. you have an ancient samurai and a modern samurai, separated by several hundred years, dueling it out to the best of their abilities- it’s really just awesome.

usopp’s fight with perona is very different, because they’re both people who hate fighting directly and will avoid it whenever possible. their fight is a mess of diversions and distractions that makes usopp’s moments of courage and triumph, like sticking his hand into a bear’s mouth, not to mention his ultimate victory, all the more satisfying.

i just really like seeing usopp grow and accomplish things!!

i’m aware there’s an argument to be made that the character we meet in this arc isn’t really ryuuma, because ryuuma is 1) dead and 2) possessed by brook’s shadow, but it isn’t going to stop me from saying ryuuma is awesome.

the clouds of fire he’s frequently shown with are also gorgeous, and definitely evocative of the style oda will later use to draw wano, which is a very cool touch.

everything about cindry makes me so, so sad.

i’d also argue that the fact that she overcomes hogback’s conditioning by finally expressing emotion, first by crying and then by smiling, is the first manifestation of the same thread we’ll later see with koala and the slaves of the celestial dragons. one piece says over and over again that there is no point where someone stops being human, no matter how much agency they’re robbed of.

i just think nami giving her attempted rapist several thousand volts to the face is very very sexy of her

like i mentioned, the crew against oars is such a HIGHLIGHT of this arc. i think it’s one of the only times we actually see the entire crew focused on a singular opponent (the only other case i can think of is the pacifista and then kuma at sabaody), and it’s just so much fun to see.

i also appreciate that the strawhats carry the first half of this fight without needing luffy to be there. he might be their captain and the linchpin of the crew, but they’re still a crew when he’s not around, and still very capable of working together without him.

this is just still one of my favorite gags.

continuing re: the team fight against oars, the final sequence where the entire crew coordinates for one final attack, some of them working to incapacitate oars and others to weaken him and other to position him just right for luffy’s final blow to paralyze him- that’s the GOOD SHIT.

i don’t know that there’s much i can say about zoro’s confrontation with kuma that hasn’t already been said, so all i’ll say is that zoro’s loyalty to luffy is absolutely staggering, and hits me in the chest every time i so much as think about it.

zoro has the second “luffy’s going to be pirate king” moment, i believe, after usopp in alabasta, and definitely one of the most memorable.

there’s something about luffy on top of brook’s piano that always delights me. i think this is their dynamic in a picture: brook playing music, and luffy listening, and talking, and cheering him up.

there’s something about the ending of thriller bark that really hits, in a way not really shared by other arcs. there’s a certain finality to it, a swan song. i think it was sarc opbackgrounds who pointed out that unlike most other character flashbacks, which come at the middle of the arc to add extra weight before the climax, brook’s comes at the end. the battle’s already finished, and now it’s time for him to close out the last fifty years and bid farewell to his old crew before setting sail for a new dream.

it’s really nice. this is how the rumbar pirates get to go out: singing and dancing, after the battle’s already won, as their last survivor finally gets pick his hopes and dreams back up again and set out to sea once more.

it’s not a panel, really, but i feel like i have to include binks no sake in here. for one, it’s a really good song and sticks in my head like glue whenever i so much as see the lyrics. second of all, it’s the pin that holds this ending together, the shared point between the past and the present. the rumbar pirates sing it for their final performance and they sang it for laboon years before; brook sings it alone to himself on his ship, lost in the fog; and the strawhats celebrate and dance and sing it at the tops of their lungs.

i’m a sucker for a good musical throughline, but i think this is probably the first time i’ve ever seen it done well in a fucking text-based medium.

i’m happy for him :’)

i LOVE the new crewmember toasts so much. look at them!! look how happy they all are!!

#the voyage so far #arc: thriller bark #one piece #opmeta #not japanese #long post

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nyasha-of-germa-66 · 4 years

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Could we please get some relationship headcanons for Nami, Robin and Vivi?

Hello, Anon!~ Thank you so much for waiting, I am terribly sorry that it took me so long to finish. It’s been years since I’ve seen the Alabasta Arc and I had to do some research on Vivi haha. So, I hope you’ll enjoy it, and thanks for hanging in there with me! 😁

General Relationship Headcanons - Nami, Robin, Vivi

Nami

Nami is an extremely loyal partner and will go to any length to support you in your endeavors. She may draw in a lot of attention from others, but she makes sure that you know she only has eyes for you.

If there's anyone she loves to spend money on more than herself, it's you. She particularly enjoys taking you shopping with her and buys matching outfits for the two of you.

At other times, she'll spoil you with gifts that she finds during one of her shopping sprees. And sometimes, she might expect you to spoil her, too. She'll never turn down a gift from you.

Nami is spontaneously affectionate. One moment she'll be talking to you like she normally would, and in the next, she's giving you a tight hug and pulling you in for a kiss.

She's not too shy about showing off her affection either, and her popular modes of PDA include hugs, hand-holding, kisses, playing with your hair... you name it. She'll show her love for you in any way that she can.

Nami has a habit of showing you off, and most of the time, it's not intentional. She'll tell everyone how great you are and how lucky she is to be with you even if it’s completely off-topic in the conversation.

Being a huge fan of relaxation, she'll always ask you to join her whether it's sunbathing in a lawn chair or lazily floating in a pool with her. If you two are deep into the relationship, Nami may sometimes invite you to take a bubble bath with her as a spa treatment more than anything.

If you're ever confronted by someone or if anyone starts something with you, Nami is the one telling them off before you can even react despite if you're fully capable of handling the situation yourself. If she’s feeling bold enough, she might even fight the other person herself; she has the means to, after all.

As a navigator, Nami has spent a lot of time studying the stars and constellations, so one of her favorite pastimes with you involves teaching you how to navigate using the stars and simply stargazing late at night with you when everyone else is asleep.

Nothing brings Nami greater joy than dreaming about the day that she brings you back to meet her sister and everyone else from her hometown. It might not be for a long time, but she's willing to wait if you are.

Robin

Robin is a fairly reserved partner, and you can bet that she'll always be faithful and committed to the relationship.

She's always willing to give advice and lend you a hand after you fall. When you're feeling down, she's the first one to lift your spirits.

Robin loves to compliment and praise you on just about anything to show her admiration for you. She'll compliment your looks, your character, all of your efforts put towards any task... the list goes on and on.

Being the knowledgeable person that she is, Robin has learned a lot about the world and likes to share her knowledge with you. She's honored that you listen and ask questions out of interest since she enjoys mature and intellectual conversations.

Robin is often very modest when displaying affection amongst a crowd, resorting to some handholding or placing a comforting hand on your lap.

At the same time, she likes to tease you, so she'll kiss you when no one's looking or subject you to subtle flirting just to get a look at your sweet and bashful face.

If you're ever in an argument or a situation that calls for a fight, Robin is quick to put an end to the conflict for you. With the strength of her devil fruit power to back up the two of you, she can afford to make light-hearted threats on your behalf.

She's always looking out for you, and this means bringing you something to drink and snack on if you've been working hard or using her Devil Fruit powers to carry you to bed after you've fallen asleep in a random place. She enjoys doing little things like that.

One thing that Robin values more than anything is the way that you make her genuinely smile and laugh in any circumstance. Even your presence alone is enough for her to express true joy.

More importantly, Robin keeps a journal that holds nothing but photos of you, anything that you’ve written or drawn for her, or even little stories that she’s written about you as a memento to look back on. She secretly hopes that her collection of keepsakes from you will be large enough to be considered a library one day.

Vivi

Princess Vivi is perhaps one of the sweetest partners anyone can find, and in a relationship, she's always very compassionate and selfless.

Vivi is determined to put your needs before her own, but she's also capable of taking care of herself, so you don't have to worry about her neglecting her own needs for yours.

Vivi tends to not engage in PDA not because of her royal status or because she doesn’t like it, she just prefers to be affectionate with you when you two are alone and not being watched by guards or curious citizens. Plus, she’s a big fan of cuddling, and it’s hard to do that when others are around awkwardly watching.

As a noble, she's often busy with her diplomatic duties to her kingdom and she'll make it her goal to spend as much time with you as possible. This usually means spending every mealtime with her, traveling with her when she visits towns across the deserts of Alabasta, or even joining her and her father during council meetings.

Sometimes, Vivi misses her time out in the open sea so it means the world to her when you take her out for a long trip out into the ocean.

She loves to surprise you with gifts and cute dates. Seeing your face light up from her special surprises brings her so much joy. She prefers to give rather than receive, after all.

Vivi knows she's not the strongest person, but she'll do her best to help defend you, which usually means talking things out and resolving the conflict without violence. A win-win situation for both sides, she might add.

Another thing that Vivi enjoys doing for you is writing love letters despite being embarrassed about it when you bring them up or if you catch her in the middle of writing one. Her heart practically explodes if you return her letters with some of your own, and she’ll treasure them forever.

Since her time with the Strawhats, Vivi has come to love symbolism in terms of friendship, family relationships, or love. The symbol of your relationship doesn’t have to be too complex, but as long as it has meaning, she’ll cherish whatever it may be (a certain color, a type of flower, a hand sign, etc…)

As a child, Vivi always imagined that she would be thrown into an arranged marriage with a noble she didn’t love, but those fears are quickly forgotten now that she has you. She can now dream of a wedding day with hope and excitement rather than anxiety and dread like before.

#one piece headcanons #nami #one piece nami #nico robin #one piece robin #nefertari vivi #one piece vivi #nyasha of germa 66 #thank you anon!

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kbstories · 4 years

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Intrinsic

in·trin·sic (adj.) Belonging naturally; essential.

Just because Trafalgar Law didn't make plans beyond Dressrosa doesn't mean Bepo didn't.

(Or: Law comes home.)

Tags: Reunions, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Nakamaship, Trafalgar D. Water Law Gets A Hug, References to (Past) Suicidal Thoughts, Bepo and Law are soft and I love them

Set in Zou. Content warning for references to suicidal ideation (in the context of Law’s plan).

***

Months Bepo waited.

Months he roamed Whale Forest, him and his crewmates, their leader in name only as the days bled into weeks and the horizon remained unchanged. Up until the Beast came a-knocking, there hadn’t been anywhere to lead them to. The Heart Pirates weren’t budging a single inch, hell or high water or freaking Mammoth shifters be damned.

Finally, finally, the forest murmurs with the presence of someone new, glistening leaves and sun-lit meadows welcoming the silhouette of a man Bepo would recognize anywhere, anytime, be it a year from now or another decade.

Then Trafalgar Law smiles and it all disappears in a haze of happily shed tears as the crew rejoices around them.

Things slide back into place just like that, between the excited cheers of the Heart Pirates and the slump of Law’s shoulders as he relaxes into Bepo’s fuzzy-tight embrace.

“Welcome back, Captain”, Bepo tells him, intense with the wave of love and devotion and relief crashing within him, and designates this the best day ever when Law’s smile stays where it is, eyes warm with affection.

“It’s good to be back.”

(Months they spent waiting and yet the world won’t stop spinning for their sake. “We can’t linger”, Law says hours later, arms crossed and expression guarded across one Strawhat Luffy. Strawhat nods, solemnly; he turns around and declares:

“Everyone! Reunion party now but make it snappy! Traffy wants to get going!”

Bepo decides he likes their new ally then and there.)

A party is a party, and with a crew as boisterous as the Strawhat Pirates, the chances of it remaining somewhat contained go towards zero pretty much instantly. A few hours in, Bepo is vaguely gobsmacked that the crew is as crazy as their captain. Then again, they have to be, to follow a force of nature in the shape of a man.

Suddenly, the resigned sigh Law breathes over his mug of beer – technically Pirate Hunter Zoro’s mug of beer, which he had thrown in Law’s direction regardless of his protests – makes so much more sense to Bepo.

It makes him laugh all the harder. His poor captain’s nerves must’ve taken quite a beating in this alliance: He hasn’t even started slicing limbs off people yet. And that after Bepo saw Chopper cling to Law’s head in an effort to hide during an impromptu game of tag with their long-nosed sniper and Penguin, of all people. In fact, Law didn’t even blink. He merely waited for Chopper to leave before fixing his hat, huddling closer to his drink and going back to ignoring them all with icy resolve.

There is a very real possibility the perpetual chaos that are the Strawhat Pirates broke Trafalgar Law somewhere along the way. Bepo has yet to determine if that’s a good or a bad thing.

Two bowls in hand, he settles beside the fallen tree Law perches on, a nice distance away from the bulk of the banquet in full swing. Bepo nudges Law’s elbow with his own and offers him his share of lasagna. “At least Penguin’s having fun?”, he adds with a hopeful smile. Law glances at the bright grin on Penguin’s face – he holds the tiny reindeer over his head like a trophy and yells, “Gotcha!”, only to be tackled to the ground by God Usopp a second later –, then at Bepo’s pleading eyes. He huffs, an undeniable trace of humor hidden in there somewhere.

“It’s something”, Law grumbles into the first forkful of food.

He eats and Bepo does too, humming in appreciation of the explosion of meat and melted cheese on his tongue; even Law seems pleased, picky eater that he is, and Bepo’s spirits practically soar to the stars above them.

A mere day ago, this exact scenario was little more than a pipe dream. Sure, the arrival of the Strawhats had been a much-needed sign that their waiting was coming to an end (and it was pretty fantastic news for Zou, in the grand scale of things). Rarely in his life had Bepo been happier to meet four complete strangers.

That joy had somewhat faded when Sanji answered Bepo’s call for his captain with a sympathetic twist to his mouth and a shake of his head. Don’t worry, he’d said right after, and faith had burned in that unshakeable gaze. Luffy’s with him. Nobody dies on my captain’s watch.

Bepo had thought of a lonely island far away and the anguished cries of a brother mourning another and winced. It seemed downright cruel to bring that up, and so he didn’t. Instead, he’d taken that trust and used it to summon another bout of patience.

It turns out Strawhat's cook was right all along. Bepo swallows another mouthful of lasagna, his fork pausing on its way back to the bowl. Sanji had looked so proud of his crew in that moment. Would he really leave them behind like that?

“What’s up? You’re awfully quiet.”

Law’s voice is low, the concern in it meant for Bepo and Bepo only. He waits for Bepo to come back to himself with a blink and a soft apology before raising an eyebrow. No more words are needed: Law sets aside his mug and the empty bowl, and slips to the ground, folding his legs against his chest somewhat-gracefully. Like the tides follow the moon, Bepo shifts with him and lets his captain lean back against him.

A quiet sigh signalizes that yup, Law is comfortable. Then:

“Bepo. Talk to me.”

Always so impatient. Bepo smiles and relaxes, too.

“Just thinking, I guess… The Strawhats are our allies now, right? Do you think they’ll be alright, going against Big Mom?”

Law looks up at him with mild surprise, tilting his head back to see Bepo beyond the brim of his hat. Bepo doesn’t bother hiding his unease from him; he’d be able to tell, anyways. A decade of friendship will do that to people.

“You’ve barely known them for a day. You’re seriously worrying about Blackleg already?”

Busted. For a moment, Bepo contemplates the merits of feeling embarrassed about it. “It’s been over a week with Sanji”, he negotiates, pulling his snout into a pout when Law just smirks. “Besides. Whatever trouble they start, we’ll catch it too. It makes sense to worry.”

Law huffs one of his rare laughs, a little rough around the edges but so familiar. Perhaps Bepo can forgive his captain for being a jerk.

“Don’t get me wrong: I don’t blame you. We were in Dressrosa all of, what, three days? Strawhat stepped off that island a national hero, him and Longnose. Don’t ask me how the fuck they do it. It’s exhausting.”

Of course, Bepo read all about their exploits in the paper. What kind of first mate would he be if he hadn’t? What happened, it sounded a whole lot like a nightmare and a miracle and a revolution wrapped in one. It sounded like a lot – and Bepo has carefully laid plans to bug Law into opening up about it once they’re safely wrapped in metal and a few hundred fathoms deep.

Trafalgar Law doesn’t do heart-to-hearts, ironically enough. Thus, Bepo’s plan might’ve taken… unreasonable proportions to ensure he does, this time.

Yet Law mentions Dressrosa so casually. He’s not tense in Bepo’s embrace (yet). A mere stone’s throw away, the Strawhats and the Heart Pirates and the minks dance around the bonfires, all smiles and drunken laughter, and Bepo takes a leap of faith.

“So. Dressrosa.”

Law stills.

“…Yeah.”

With gentle pressure, Law pillows his head against Bepo’s chest. Bepo wishes he could see his face; he compromises with a gentle squeeze to Law’s arm, the uninjured one. I’m sorry.

Law sighs. It sounds fond and really, really tired, too. “I’m not gonna lie, Bepo. It was pretty fucking horrible. I knew it was gonna be a shitshow but… Fuck.”

Somehow, that one word tells Bepo more than any newspaper could. Carefully, he wraps his arms around Law's shoulders, loose enough not to crowd him but there nonetheless. “But you made it”, Bepo says quietly. His voice goes soft with emotion, as close to unsteady as Bepo will let it. “You’re alive. That’s all that matters to me, Captain.”

And it’s that that makes Law stiffen, his breathing more measured, tense. An inked hand rises to meet Bepo’s, hesitant. Bepo intertwines their fingers, soothing.

“You knew.”

Bepo huffs at the numb surprise in his voice, hard enough to ruffle the collar of Law’s shirt.

“I’ve been your friend for about as long as that plan of yours exists, Law. ‘Course I knew. It was your decision to make and I’ll always follow your lead, no matter what. Just… I’m glad it didn’t end that way. Your life is so much more than that asshole ever deserved.”

A long bout of silence follows Bepo’s words. Maybe it’s weird for Law, to be the one out of his depth between them – yet Bepo had nothing if not time on his hands to think, and to wonder, and to hope with all he had that Law would be alive long enough for Bepo to tell him he matters.

Here, where Law continues to draw breath in his arms, it’s hard to imagine a world where he didn’t come back. Where the Heart Pirates waited and waited, safely out of the picture while their captain was slaughtered by the man he hates most.

It’s the very stuff Bepo’s nightmares are made of. There’s no point in putting that burden on Law's shoulders, though. That’s all his, and if that’s the price to pay for Law to be alive and free, Bepo will proudly wear those scars to the end of his days.

Suddenly, Law’s fingers squeeze his, and Bepo tilts his head down to watch his tattoos move. D E A T H, a bold challenge to fate that has served them well, despite it all.

“I’m sorry for– Yeah. I didn’t know there was another way. I just… I needed him gone. So Cora can rest, y’know?”

Bepo nods, his chin nudging Law’s hat so he can feel it. “Of course. No need to apologize, Captain.”

Unexpectedly, it makes Law chuckle of all things. “No apologizing, huh?”, he says, teasing, and– Fine, Bepo walked straight into that one. He grumbles and knocks his knee into Law’s without heat.

Then, Law lets go of Bepo’s hand to burrow deeper into his arms, shifting and turning into his favorite position for a nap. Finally, Bepo catches a glimpse of Law’s face – a little pale, a lot tired but comfortable, at peace – before he smooshes it into Bepo’s fur.

And yeah, okay, Bepo can take a hint. Seems like Law decided to enforce his golden rule of no mushy talk in public, after all.

“Oof. Gentle, Captain.”

“Mhm, sorry.” Law’s voice comes out muffled. “I haven’t slept in fucking forever. Strawhat wakes up with the sun like some kid. Seriously, who just does that?”

“Lunatics”, Bepo answers immediately, mostly to feel Law laugh again. “Figures that’s the kind of friend you would make, all by yourself out there.”

“Ugh, terrible”, Law agrees, a little slurred with oncoming sleep but still coherent enough that Bepo can and will tease him later for sounding so fond. For now, he lets him doze off, warm to his core at the sight of Law falling asleep almost immediately.

Bepo makes himself comfortable and settles in for a long wait. Usually he’d fall asleep right along with Law – there’s something so calming about feeling someone’s heart beat so close to one’s own – but for now, he’s happy to listen to Law’s quiet snoring and watch his crewmates make a fool of themselves to match their new allies.

(Much, much later, Bepo startles awake to wide eyes staring at him just inches from his face. Law is still asleep and thus Bepo doesn’t move – instead he blinks and stares back, watching Monkey D. Luffy’s face move into a pensive pout like he’s thinking hard enough to hurt.

When it’s clear there will be no explanation beyond a long hmmm, Bepo clears his throat and whispers: “Do you… need anything?”

Strawhat tilts his head. Bepo expects him to yell as he always does but his voice matches Bepo's, barely a murmur.

“Kinda? I wanted to ask Tra– uh, Law if he wants to go now. He seemed in a hurry earlier and I kinda forgot. Well, everyone’s drunk but we’ll manage, y’know? He’s sleeping though. Hm.”

There’re at least two things in that statement that Law would tear Strawhat apart for, and one of them is the sudden use his actual name. Bepo wonders if Strawhat still thinks he’s confused by ‘Traffy’, even though he already explained the nickname to him.

Reluctantly, Bepo offers: “I can wake him up?”

Strawhat shakes his head, his signature smile quick to appear on his lips. “Nah, it’s fine. Law needs his sleep. He’s always so angry in the mornings. It’s funny.”

And as sudden as he came, Strawhat's gone, jogging back to the bonfires and instead opting to jump on his sleeping swordsman half-way there. Bepo witnesses the ensuing scuffle with amusement.

Yeah, Bepo definitely likes Luffy.)

#one piece #fanfiction #trafalgar law #bepo #monkey d. luffy #one piece fanfiction #i just rewatched their reunion in the anime and it's so cute!!!#this fic is also on AO3 but i can't link it cause tumblr #my stuff

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whirlybirdwhat · 5 years

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that Slytherin au

So remember that post a while back where I had a harry potter au for one piece where all the Strawhats were in slytherin due to their strong ambition present at an early age to achieve their dreams? No? well here it is anyway lol

Check out this post for some more reasoning behind the idea – note that I do headcanon some characters to not be slytherin, but for the sake of this au and the actual technicalities of the Sorting Hat theyre in Slytherin.

Here we go!

AU will start off with Luffy as a first year, and all canon age differences, meaning Usopp is in his grade, Nami’s one year older than them, Sanji and Zoro above her, and the rest Adults!

Save for Chopper – a special case, a mythical creature raised as human by Hiruluk in the northern mountain range. He looks somewhat more human than canon but is definitely a reindeer. When Hiruluk died and he was given to the care of Kureha, she sent him to Hogwarts (after a few years of learning from her) due to his wish to know more. He was accepted as a political ploy as an olive branch to other magical creatures – ‘ we accept you!’. He doesn’t care. He might be furry but he’s here to learn and be the best healer ever!!! Hence, Slytherin, the boys got ambition and needs some powerful families to back him up! He is in Luffy’s grade, even though he’s younger (technically)

The biggest reason for the Strawhats to be in this House is because of their ambition - but there are other reasons too!

Sanji is from a family of Gryffindors – heroes who are anything but. He wants to be the exact opposite of them in any way he can. When Zeff adopts him, he unlearns his family taught prejudices against Slytherins and when he goes to Hogwarts, tells the sorting hat in no uncertain terms that he wants to be in Slytherin.

Nami herself is cunning, and I would place her in Slytherin even if this wasn’t a Slytherin Au. She’s the perfect slytherin down to the T except for one thing – she doesn’t know her magical origin, as she was adopted at a young age. She gets a lot of shit for that, which she gives right back, as well as taking some money along the way! She also doesn’t fall in with the Magic is Superior ideology that many of her peers have – magic didn’t save her town, or Bell-mere, or her orange trees, magic isn’t superior. Magic is a tool to her, not a way of life, and science can help a lot! For instance, she made the Climatact Spell Set, with help from Usopp, which combines her knowledge of weather patterns, the environment, brief weather spells, and heat and cool manipulation spells, to create weather based attacks. For instance – it takes a lot of energy to summon and sustain/direct a storm… but if Nami can create one with use of low power cooling/heating spells and the environment – she can do a lot.

- More Below!

A zoro that is Cursed to always be lost is something that I’ve seen often and Im HERE FOR IT! If someone could direct me to the original creator of that headcanon I would love to credit them for it! To Be Clear AGAIN this idea is not mine, but I want to credit whoever’s it is because I love it.

That aside, Zoro is like Nami in that he doesn’t know his magical heritage. However, as a child he got the misguided idea that more wand equals more power, which he somehow manages to make actually work. Thus, Zoro has three wands, each with powerful beginnings. Im thinking powerful dragon heartstrings core for one wand, Thestral for Kitetsu, and Rougarou hair for the last sword – Zoro’s a bloodthirsty kid and he needs some bloodthirsty wands :/

Usopp’s a halfblood! He’s kinda scared of Hogwarts as his magical parent (Yasopp) has kinda been outta the picture for the most part, but he’s ready for this!! As soon as the kid practically vibrating with excitement to his left doesn’t explode. Usopp originally desired to be part of Gryffindor – house of the Brave, right? But after talking to Luffy, he’s not so sure. He wants to be his own hero – all on his own, not because he part of the hero, brave house. When Luffy is sorted before him into Slytherin, Usopp makes the descsion to follow him, and follow his goal. He’ll show the world he can be the best!!

He grows to be really good at herbology and potions – an odd mix, but you know whats odder? Mixing the two to chuck at people for pranks then turning it into your fighting style. Go Usopp!

Brook’s a cursed ghost – he’s bound to his living body, but the body’s just bones and bones lol. He makes it work – people know him first as the Soul King after all! He can barely remember his school days, but hes vaguely sure he was in slytherin – he remembers many parties held in dungeons, looking out to the lake for sightings of a curious aquatic beast (Laboon!)

Franky’s still a shipwright, but of ~magic~ ships. His brother’s ships are better known, but his are more sought after by… certain people (more on that later.) When he was a kid, he walked straight into Hogwarts, looked for the table that had the people who would buy his stuff, and told the sorting hat he wanted to go there. Later, he runs more with the Gryffindor crowd, regretting his choice, but when he makes friends with a first Year who tells him where to find some Adam Wood in the Forbidden Forest, he stops regretting it so much.

Robin has a very shady past, and she’s only at Hogwarts for a year before disappearing into the world. She has an odd type of magic, somewhat like pareseltoungue, that allows her to read coded and ancient languages with some studying (our girl still puts in a lot of effort though!) She reappears many years later during Luffy’s first (possibly second) year, and becomes the new history teacher (sorry professor Binns!) People find her scary and suspicious, but Luffy likes to talk to her after class, when she tells him history more like a story than a lesson! She’s very good at duplication magic.

LUFFY. This boy. Where to start – he’s from a pureblood family, not that he cares, and has some serious magic talent – which he plans on using to travel the world and find the mysterious One Piece – a fabled artifact said to have one’s wishes granted. Luffy wants it to be free (his home life with Garp isn’t very good.) He has a couple famous brothers who have been through Hogwarts – Ace and Sabo, both Gryffindors and pretty big shots around Campus. No one knew they were brothers til Luffy busted into Gryfindor Dorms one night and looked for them. Luffy is exetremly good with nonverbal magic (something in this universe that will be elaborated on, as it features into Nami’s magic as well), not so much with verbal as the pronunciation trips him up. Potions is also hard and if it were not a required class he’d have been kicked out.

Will touch on Jimbe later once I figure him out

Now. Perhaps you are wondering – why do a bunch of kids have developed fighting abilities? Well – take a look at the plot.

This takes place not only in a Harry Potter setting, but in Harry’s own world as well. Meaning – Voldemort is rising, Harry’s still the chosen one, yadda yadda yadda. But do you honestly think that Voldemort is the only magical evil? That there isn’t a magical underworld not involved with his horrible schemes?

Cause there is one – and Luffy and crew are neck deep in it. While Harry and co. are off fighting Voldemort, Luffy is ‘sneaking’ around fighting big time criminals.

Imagine – this eleven year old child comes up to you, a big mob boss, and absolutely destroys you. That’s Luffy.

Underage Magic? You think Garp, head of something or other in the Ministry of Magic, is going to stop that from training his criminal grandsons to be the best Aurors they can be? He knows how to undo the spell (there must be something at Hogwarts that blocks the ministry from being informed of spell use during the school year!) and Luffy has been casting magic like it was second nature since he was real young. He’s taught it to his friends too!

So plotwise, its basically the school reacting to the Straw Hats, who don’t seem to be friends but are, the odd noticings of what their doing while Canon plot goes on, and the inevitable suspicion from Harry.

But oh? What about the ship thing? What’s Franky Doing with that?

Luffy is forever a pirate – and the sea is one magical thing I have yet to be seen explored in the Harry Potter Universe. Therefore – free realestate!!! Luffy’s going to be a magic pirate when he grows up, he’s been telling everyone this since he first met Shanks, and maybe no one believes him now but it’ll happen! Magic Pirates!! Yay!!!

That’s all I have for now, so send me questions if you have any! I might make this into (another) drabble series, or maybe just one big one shot. We’ll see!!!

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onepiece-imagines-bartoloclub · 5 years

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(I hope yall like this headcannon, gonna start with the heavy requests tomorrow so I just wanted to make this one since I missed making a Mother's Day headcannon. I wrote this with the thought some of the dads still being alive just to let yall know, also some of these might seem abrupt, it's because I couldn't think of anything else to write for some of them like Zoro's. :) ❤💖❤💖❤💖❤❤)

~ How the strawhats would celebrate Father's Day ~

- Luffy -

•He doesn't get the chance to meet Dragon,but he doesn't mind as it gives him the chance to meet new people whom his crew know and familiar faces as well.

•Luffy might now know what the point of Father's Day is, but getting to see his crew so happy being around their family is good enough for him, so he makes sure that this day is full of eating, fun and laughs all around.

- Zoro -

•The first thing that would happen is that Koushirou shuts the entrance of the dojo since it would be hard to talk to Zoro if his army of young fans saw him.

•It starts off awkward with Zoro not kmowing what to say and Kiro scratching the back of his head with an awkward smile as he invites Zoro into his house.

•The room was silent but it took Kiro to break the atmosphere by asking Zoro what he's learned and they spent the whole day sparring with wooden staffs. The spar lasted for hours, neither holding back.

•After Zoro wins, he shares some sake with Kiro and they reminisce on the days when Zoro was his student.

•"I don't know how Kuina would feel of she knew what you were doing now, but.... I know for sure that she would be happy that you kept your promise to her."

- Nami -

•It was pretty amusing to her that the first thing she sees when she makes it to Nojiko's house is Genzo and Nojiko preparing a meal for Nami's arrival since she expected to be the one spoiling Genzo for the day.

•When they were seated, the dinner was mostly one sided as Genzo insisted that Nami tells them how her adventure with her crew has been and that if she could please get a bounty that doesn't attract so many perverts.

•It was very pleasant as Genzo made sure to dedicate the whole day to Nami and Nojiko as they walked around the town and caught up on what's been happening for the last two years since she's been gone.

•When they arrive at Bellemere's grave, Nami asks why Genzo was so bent on making the day about her when it should be the other way around, he had this to say.

•"I spent two whole years worrying and hoping that you're safe and happy with that pirate crew, I couldn't imagine what I would've done had if that wasn't the case. Having the chance to see you again and smiling is the greatest gift you could give me and Bellemere, getting to spend the day with you and Nojiko is all I need."

- Ussop -

•There's so much he wants to say now that he's standing there, face to face to the father he bragged about to Luffy and the man his mom loved.

•Stories are being shared between the two alongside Usopp's little crew and Kaya, though the audience seems to prefer hearing his stories and adventures rather than Yasopp's.

•After the stories were shared, they had a sniping competition that took a large majority of the day because they were always tied. The contest was getting crazier as they went through the town with trickier targets from pebbles thrown from the top of Kaya's house to using sniping down running targets miles away on tree branches.

•He was ecstatic, he was having fun with Yasopp like he always wanted, and it shows that Yasopp was just as happy to hang out with Usopp as if they knew each other for years.

- Sanji -

•Father's Day with Zeff would be like any other day at the Baratie with the only difference being that he has 2 more years worth of experience and new dishes to share and be judged by him.

•He knows that he'll get the usual tough love responses when he tries the food, but color him surprised when Zeff doesn't respond but smiles when he tries his dish.

•The best part of Father's Day is that Zeff continues to call Sanji by just that, not Vinsmoke Sanji. It almost puts him to tears knowing that even after the reveal of his family background and what they do, Zeff still sees him as his son and accepts his refusal to use his family name.

- Chopper -

•It starts with a tackle hug when he sees Kureha and Hiruluk at the entrance of Wapol's castle.

•They spend the day outside and drink hot tea while he tells them the new plants and diseases he's discovered.

•Hiruluk is suprised and happy to see how far Chopper has come with his knowledge and medicinal capabilities while Hiruluk and her usual tough love just tells him that he learned from a comptent doctor.

•Jokes and bob sledding insues as the family of doctors have fun in the snow. Both Chopper and Hiruluk are in tears, laughing and having fun without Wapol getting in the way of their fun.

•Chopper and Kureha's gift to Hiruluk was getting to see the cherry blossoms on the castle for the first time, seeinf Hiruluk genuine cry in joy that his dream was fulfilled was all it took for Chopper to cry with him while Kureha smiled at the two most important people in her life.

- Robin -

•Not much happened that day as Robin was just happy to see Saul again after all those years, so after the heartfelt hug, they just talked to each other the whole day.

•She was actually laughing the whole day with Saul as he told his stories and jokes, his presence alone putting her mood at an all time high.

•As a gift, Robin gave him a new cowboy hat, like the one he wore when they first met, his smile never wavered he accepted the gift. Anything that Robin could've given him, he would treasure it, so he didn't give any warning to the hug he gives her afterwards.

•"I'll wear it all the time, Robin. Thank you for this and for finding a family and friends that make you show the real you, it's the best gift you could ever give me. If Olvia was here to see this, she would've loved to meet your friends and see the person you've become."

- Franky -

•Being much more open about his feelings after joining the strawhats, it wasn't hard to talk to Tom and Iceberg while they build and joke around.

•He outright asks Tom what he wants as a gift and his response was what took him by surprise.

•"The gift that I've always wanted was to hear the ship of your dreams and see the love and care you put into it."

•The rest consisted of Franky showing Tom the Sunny and every single addition, piece, room and contraption it contained. Seeing Tom's proud and surprised smile was what made his day and he would be more than happy to do this all over again if he had the chance.

- Brook -

•Since he doesn't celebrate it anymore, he's more than happy to play songs about dads to his crew and their fathers while they talk on the Sunny.

•He was more than happy to liven the mood in the deck and getting to know the people that lead his friends to becoming the people they are.

•"Yohoho! Your parents are quite the characters, it warms my heart to see you all so happy talking to your loved ones, and I don't have a heart, yohohoho!

#one piece #one piece headcannons #monkey d luffy #roronoa zoro #nico robin #usopp #franky #chopper #brook #nami

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asexualzoro · 7 years

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list of reasons I find zoro ridiculous

after my similarly titled mihawk post took off I decided to make a zoro post, since he’s my second favorite character and also arguably the most ridiculous character in all of One Piece. here we go

- I know what you’re all thinking. i’m gonna open this list with how he wields three swords, right? no. no, Zoro has done so much ridiculous bullshit, this doesn’t even seem weird anymore. i don’t even bat my eye at this. this is nothing. now that i’ve got that out of the way, let’s begin

- this dude has like, an obsession with cutting off his own limbs? and MAYBE i can understand trying to cut his feet off when they were stuck in wax—you’re trying to save your friends, i get it—but what about when he was sword shopping in loguetown? who’s first response when buying a cursed sword and testing if it’s really cursed is “i’ll toss it in the air n see if I get amputated lol.” plus there’s that old filler where luffy gets his finger stuck in a bottle and, when he asks zoro for help getting it out, zoro tries to CUT IT OFF. im convinced he lost that left eye of his bc he got dust or something in it and then tried to stab it out

- there’s like, several occasions where Zoro has been directed to head up a staircase and gone some other direction. it happened in enies lobby and in dressrosa? like, what’s the dude got against stai—... oh, wait

- his reintroduction post timeskip. get on the wrong boat? just cut it in half! who even cares! how’d you even end up on the wrong boat? you had to walk towards that boat, which means looking at the boat. that boat looked nothing like the sunny, wouldn’t zoro have noticed that? he also has to make an effort to climb on, which means, you guessed it, looking at the boat! he probably sees the crew members, maybe even gets helped up by one or a few. how did he not at any point in time notice that wasn’t his boat?

- also when they landed on sabaody the first time and zoro was like “i’m gonna go take a walk!” and both Sanji and Usopp tried to stop him, talking to him like concerned parents of a troublemaking toddler, like “Zoro you can’t go out there you’ll get lost!” to which Zoro replies “yeah but the grottos are numbered, I can find my way back if I just remember the number!” and Sanji and Usopp are like “okay, solid logic, even YOURE not dumb enough to mess that up” and what does Zoro do? what does he fucking do?

- I want to emphasize he messes it up because a bubble covers the 4 in “Grotto 41” so he thinks it’s grotto 1. BUBBLES. ARE. TRANSPARENT

- “sorry, I don’t pray to god” fuckin edgelord

- Zoro’s epithet is “Pirate Hunter” and it’s super lame. he could’ve been “Demon of the East Blue” but they went with pirate hunter, even though he became a pirate. even Chopper’s is better than his lbr

- THERES A SCENE WHERE SANJI THREATENS TO PUT RAZOR BLADES IN ZOROS FOOD N ZOROS LIKE “do it u won’t” SO SANJI DOES AND ZORO JUST EATS THEM? ODA EVEN GOT ASKED ABOUT IT IN AN SBS AND CONFIRMED YES, ZORO DID IN FACT EAT RAZOR BLADES. THIS 2EDGY4U BITCH JUST. STRAIGHT UP. ATE RAZOR BLADES

- in film gold he wears that black jacket under the white one. mind you he had no way of knowing he would be trapped in gold by tesoro or that they’d all have a dramatic coordinated outfit change once he was free so what the fuck was he doing? why did he wear that? who wears two jackets for no reason?

- “if i’m gonna be a statue I want it to be in this pose” “i’m glad I struck a pose”

- remember when zoro fought mr. 1 in alabasta and mr. 1 dropped a stone building on him and he was just like “this is a rocky day” or smth equally awful? i hate him

- the tarzan yell in skypiea

- actually, the goggles too.

- didn’t he try to convince someone he was fighting they were sunglasses bc they had some blinding light-based attack? I feel like he did but I don’t remember skypiea well enough to be sure

- Zoro vs the bird in skypiea. spent a fair amount of the damn arc running around skypiea getting messed w by a bird (which, according to Luffy, was more evolved than Zoro bc it had developed a sense of direction. burned by ur own captain)

- when asked why Zoro was able to speak with a sword in his mouth, oda said “IT’S HIS HEART SPEAKING”

- that colorspread Zoro where he reads a book about weightlifting while balancing a weight on top

- when Zoro fights that masochist guy in film gold (I think his name was dice?) and said some cocky ass one liner after the guy fell unconscious that went something like “What's wrong? Didn't it feel good? Aren't you gonna scream in pleasure?" awful

- Zoro almost gets murdered by Mihawk and then, later that day, tries to take on fishmen underwater. others r like “you cannot handle this, you will literally die” and Zoro doesn’t even care bc Luffy is in trouble

- he was sailing bc he left home to find mihawk and then couldn’t figure out how to get back

- remember that filler where Zoro taught Luffy how to skate but then forgot to teach him how to turn. I love both that this happened and the implication that Zoro is a person who knows how to roller skate and therefore has spent time roller skating. Zoro roller skating backstory when?

- when Zoro was fighting oz, a 500 year old corpse, he licked his sword. now, on top of licking his sword being ridiculous as hell because, listen, there’s NOTHING cool about licking your sword. you just look like a loser. but a sword that just came out of a 500 year old corpse? really? i know it was preserved by the cold and all but there’s no way it didn’t rot at all. that’s a rotted, frozen corpse. Zoro what in the HELL were you thinking. I hope you get sick

- i’m sure it probably wasn’t even the first time he licked his sword in a fight but I will say with absolute confidence he looked like a loser every single time

- I feel like he licked his sword while facing mr 1 but I can’t remember. if he did, that’s honestly iconic. stare down a dude that’s made of swords while licking yours? power move. only decent time to kick your sword

- Zoro, joining Luffy: “if you stand in the way of my dream i’ll kill you!” Zoro, a day later: “of course i’ll carry my captain in this heavy cage on my back to safety. oh this gaping wound in my side? nothing. who cares about bleeding to death, my captain needs me!”

- all those big weights he’s got. all of them.

- especially that time he was lifting weights post thriller bark after barely surviving kuma, still heavily injuries, complaining about how weak he is. buddy...

- that time in drum island where he decided to train by going swimming in the freezing ice-country water, then when he got out he got lost in the snowy mountains until he wandered into a random battle and took out some guy just to steal his coat

- this isn’t the only time he steals some random dude’s coat

- the chimney.

- that filler in smiles lobby where he gets, like, abducted by a bunch of children for a day and integrated into their family?

- Roronoa Zoro went fursuiting in dressrosa and that’s a canon fact you all must acknowledge

- speaking of being a furry anyone remember mugiwara theater?

- THE FUCKING MUGIWARA THEATER NAMES. mugiwara theater is a gift, alright? here’s some: nakamura hanzorou. zobear. ZOROMILK

- I FORGOT TO MENTION. THAT TIME ZORO N USOPP WERE HANDCUFFED TOGETHER AND ZORO TRIED TO CONVINCE USOPP TO PLAY ROCK PAPER SCISSORS WITH HIM TO SEE WHICH ONE OF THEM WOULD HAVE TO CUT THEIR HAND OFF

- also the fact that his logic was “it’ll be fine cuz chopper can just sew it back on”

- can we also talk abt how later that fight he uses Usopp as a sword because holy shit Zoro

- this isn’t technically zoro’s fault but the guy who sold him his sword to him in loguetown has a giant version of bounty image up above his bath, which........

- barto asked for zoro’s autograph and Zoro just wrote “sword”

- the grave of the rumbar pirates was finished right around when Zoro woke up from his coma post thriller bark and Zoro decided to walk over while Brook is sitting there mourning almost everyone he ever loved and just. plops his sword—an inanimate object—in the dirt by the grave of BROOKS ENTIRE CREW like “hey i’m gonna bury this here u don’t mind tho right? cool”

- he’s lucky Brook is such a cool dude cuz if I was mourning the death of MY crew and some fuck decided to plant a rusty sword there i’d just fuckin kill em

- in Zou they were talking abt whatever and Luffy mentioned how Sanji was as strong as one thousand men and Zoro, clearly jealous that Sanji got praised by Luffy, butt in with a stuttery objection on how HE was stronger than Sanji and worth TWO THOUSAND men, which luffy ignored, and Nami had to reassure him that yes, Zoro, we know you’re strong. toddler

- this is also not technically zoro’s fault but one time someone asked oda in an sbs which strawhats would eat ice in their drink and oda answered who would n wouldn’t (Luffy, Chopper, Brook, Usopp, and Robin would, if ur wondering). Zoro was on the wouldn’t list, and some fan sent oda a letter informing him of a panel where Zoro was shown eating ice to disprove this. someone pulled zoro ice eating receipts on oda and that’s a fact we all have to live with

- the first time Zoro meets mihawk—the strongest man in the world, the man he wants to defeat someday, and incredibly powerful and impressive dude—he cries like a baby

- zoro’s been crucified like 4 times now. once in his introduction than in three movies (6, gold, nebulandia). idk why this keeps happening but honestly? keep it up

- when Brook joined the crew, Zoro said he was sorry for Brooks bad luck as if one of the first things Brook ever saw Zoro do wasn’t to try and die for the crew via Giant Paw Ball of Pain

- speaking of, i’m pretty sure half the reason zoro DIDNT die in thriller bark is because if he died via smth as silly as a giant paw ball his injured pride would kill him again

- I was going to make fun of Zoro for wearing only a suit and a fake mustache in dressrosa as a disguise but then I realized, like, given how absolutely shredded Zoro was in Punk Hazard and how that suit somehow managed to squish it all down without zoro ripping the sleeves off? solid disguise

- when merry was burning and everyone’s bawling and remembering great memories on the ship and Zoro was standing there, 100% stoic, remembering a nap

- Zoro saw marines (Garp) coming to Water 7 while Luffy was still unconscious and ran off to warn the others but couldn’t find his way back to the hotel

- that G8 filler where he falls off a cliff in pursuit of his swords

- speaking of fillers, remember that amnesia one? (ha). highlights include Zoro trying to physically fight a small sea horse (plus Usopp doing a bad lip-syncing) and Zoro swimming through the Grand Line with his swords tied to his head by his bandana

- meets a dragon, eats the dragon

- it got mentioned once that Sanji and Nami canonly help Zoro and the other guys get dressed. so every time Zoro wears something absolutely ridiculous (which is often), it’s probably Sanjis doing

- “I can’t believe I cut a freaking booger!!”

- speaking of, remember that time Luffy flicked a booger into Zoro’s drink at the Baratie and Zoro tried to force him to drink it?? remember that?? I hate them both

- that time Zoro was trying to find the Right Eye in Skypiea, said that (though the path to get there was STRAIGHT AHEAD) all he had to do to find the right eye was just keep going right (even though that would just lead him in circles!). and then after that do you know what direction he went?? do you know?? he fucking went left

- the time Zoro got lost walking on a straight path in a filler.

- Zoro lost to a guy in a fight and just fucking let the dude cut him in half. like, yes, the baratie scene was all cool as all hell and I love it but Zoro did in fact basically invite a dude to cut him in half

- when they were hit by negative hollows and everyone else said stuff that was kinda funny but Zoro went straight up “I don’t deserve to exist” please honey talk to someone

- he was fighting Kaku and kept engaging in Kaku’s devil fruit bs and then berating himself for being uncool as if he wasn’t already fighting a giant giraffe

- to end this list, I want to get to Zoro’s absolute worst offense. remember when Zoro fought Kaku and he did that asura form thing? where he straight up grew four extra arms and two extra heads, all wielding swords? what the FUCK was that? and don’t tell me “fighting spirit” alright. that’s bull. people don’t just GROW EXTRA SWORD-WIELDING BODY PARTS because they’re just REALLY INTO a FIGHT. like I know this is One Piece and shit’s ridiculous all this time but this? this is too much. even for One Piece this is too much. this is so ridiculous. there has to be a line, even in One Piece, with what these guys are allowed to get away with. I can accept haki so good you can see the future. I can accept spinning so fast you set your leg on fire. I can accept being made of springs. I can accept booger bombs. I can accept all that and more, but this? this is where i take my stand. Roronoa Zoro cannot keep getting away with this! fighting spirit is just not an explanation. and the worst part? the absolute worst part?

- Zoro makes four extra limbs and two extra heads, all armed with swords, MATERIALIZE out of THIN AIR with absolutely NO REAL EXPLANATION and then pretty much NEVER DOES IT AGAIN! he did it once in sabaody (and once in strong world) and then hasn’t done it since! everyone else uses the power ups they got in enies lobby all the time but Zoro, somewhere out there, knows how fuckin sick this attack is (bc yeah it’s ridiculous as hell but like I still enjoy it) and he just won’t do it again. not once post timeskip has he used it at all. Roronoa Zoro knows what he’s doing and he is out there, right now, laughing

- roronoa zoro is one of my top three favorite one piece characters and I make this list entirely out of love. (feel free to add on more moments I may have missed and i’ll add them)

#One Piece #roronoa zoro #Zoro #im making a tag for these lists and it is:#ridiculous lists #I love this man. hes awful and I love him #I also want you all to know ive had this list in my notes for like a month and ive been adding to it this whole time #roronoa Zoro is a piece of work #my posts

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tarushipping · 6 years

Link

The kind of music that comes to mind for Law and us happens to be music I listen to a lot so I got a little carried away and ended up with a pretty full playlist! I tend to be super picky with my choices and so I’m surprised with how much I picked and how proud I am of it? I might add more in the future tbh;;

Since I’ve put way too much thought into this, I thought I’d write a post over-detailing each song and explaining every pick~! The order of songs roughly follows along how our relationship progresses.

Human - Daughter

“Take me out of this place I'm in || Break me out of this shell-like case I'm in” “I think that I'm still human” “Underneath the skin there's a human || Buried deep within there's a human || And despite everything I'm still human || But I think I'm dying here”

We escape from our painful pasts, but what’s leftover is bad reputations and nightmares. Even if the world thinks we’re monsters, we’re still human. But sometimes it’s hard to ignore what they say...

(there’s a lot so more under the cut)

Your Bones - Of Monsters and Men

“Troubled spirits on my chest || Where they laid to rest. || The birds all left my tall friend || As your body hit the sand.” “Said goodbye to you my friend, || As the fire spread.” “So hold on, || Hold on to what we are, || Hold on to your heart.”

After loosing his family, friends, and entire town he grew up in, a child Law became twisted. He wanted to destroy the world that destroyed his, but Corazon still saw the hurting child in him. So he saved him and restored his heart, even at the cost of his own life...

Misguided Ghosts - Paramore

“See I'm trying to find my place || But it might not be here where I feel safe” “Would someone care to classify, || Our broken hearts and twisted minds || So I can find someone to rely on” “We are just || Misguided ghosts || Traveling endlessly || The ones we trusted the most || Pushed us far away”

I leave my prestigious Marine family after being shown how little of a ‘family’ they really are. I spend my years building up my reputation, wandering from ship to ship and keeping my identity secret. Never settling anywhere, I wonder if I’ll ever find a ‘family’ I can actually rely on...

Sleep Baby Sleep - Broods

“I could be the one to give you all I am || With a gentle touch and a foolish love || You could be the one to carry all my troubles away” “The morning's on its way || You know it's only just a dream || Oh sleep baby sleep” “The beauty of this mess is that it brings me close to you”

After the chaos of Punk Hazard and the quiet before Dressrosa, Law and I make a deal. We make detailed plans in his dreams as I offer my full cooperation. But what he doesn’t realize is that I’ve got this feeling that we’re similar deep down. That maybe there’s connection between us...

Peace of Mind - The Pale White

“Let's pretend and slip into disguise || I'm the prey and you're the crocodile” “Got your invitation, don't think I can make it || I'm too busy needing peace of mind, peace of mind” “I'm not well and I need peace of mind, peace of mind || It's alright with peace of mind, mind, mind”

With the Strawhats, samurai, Law, and my alliance, we sneak into Dressrosa. Even though we have several objectives, Law’s real goal is to take down Doflamingo. If he could fulfill what Corazon was trying to do all those years ago, maybe he’d be able to finally get some peace of mind...

Stitches - Switchfoot

“I'm not the only one not sleeping || I'm not the only one who's dreaming out loud || Dreaming out” “In stitches here tonight || We are ripping the seams || There's something missing || Children of the in-between”

The fate of everyone in Dressrosa hinges on if Luffy and Law can finally defeat Doflamingo and his family. As the stakes get higher, Law starts realizing that not only are the Strawhats laying their lives on the line, but I’m also fighting like I’m facing my own inner demons...

Nocturne - Blanco White

“If I was awake there's a world that I left || Never far behind from the time that I spent on the Arctic ice” “But in the night she's ashamed || Till her drop through a darkened sea below, beyond the world || How deep does the water go?”

In the aftermath, Law is left with the memories of that last cold night Corazon was alive. He’d been haunted by the darkness of his past his entire life, but for the first time, he’s finally gotten free of them. But he can still recognize that same darkness lingering in me...

The Only Thing Worth Fighting For - Lera Lynn

“Waking up is harder || Than it seems || Wandering through these empty rooms of || Dusty books and quiet dreams” “What I said was never || What I meant” “Weren't we like a pair of thieves || With tumbled locks and broken codes” “My small reprieves || Your heart of gold || Weren't we like a battlefield || Locked inside a holy war”

Dark feelings still cling to me, but as I reflect on the events of Dressrosa, warmth creeps in. It felt unstoppable, the two of us planning and fighting together. And I take comfort in understanding more about Law than I ever thought I would...

Ghosting - Mother Mother

“I've been ghosting || I've been ghosting alone || Ghost in the world || Ghost with no home” “Hey, would it be so bad if I stayed” “And this is why I have decided || To pull these old white sheets from my head || I'll leave them folded neat and tidy || So that you'll know I'm out of hiding”

After meeting the Heart Pirates on Zou, I take a chance. Slowly, I try to fight off my doubts and open up again as we start traveling together. Maybe here is where I can find that ‘family’ I’d been looking for...

Only In Dreams - Weezer

“You can't resist her || She's in your bones || She is your marrow” “Only in dreams || We see what it means || Reach out our hands || Hold onto hers || But when we wake || It's all been erased || And so it seems || Only in dreams”

I show up in Law’s dreams, but I’d already promised to not ‘haunt’ anyone on the crew. As much as he tries to resist, he knows he’s dreaming of me on his own...

Haunted - Radical Face

“You wear the night like it's your coat || And you're always laughing || But you always look afraid” “Hands against my eyes || I hear you crying in your sleep” “Yeah I think we're haunted”

As nights pass, Law and I share meals, thoughts, and memories. No matter what seems to be happening around us, we seem to catch each other’s eyes and already understand things without saying them. He really starts understanding me and understanding that behind my cheerful persona, there’s a lot of hurting...

R U Mine? - Arctic Monkeys

“Keep imagining meeting, wished away entire lifetimes || Unfair we're not somewhere misbehaving for days” “She's a silver lining lone ranger riding through an open space || In my mind when she's not right there beside me” “All I wanna hear her say is are you mine? || Well are you mine?”

Law invites me to join his crew, but he knows I’m a drifter. Everyone already seems to have accepted me as part of the Heart Pirates-everyone but me. And as his frustration about me not joining grows, all he really wants to ask is if I’m his...

Vertigo - Anya Marina

“The song you sing || Gives me vertigo” “Oh oh I was || Singing to myself || Whoa whoa || Pretending you were there” “This || Medicine's experimental || This || Medicine it's making me well”

Law is used to doctoring sicknesses and injuries of all sorts, but the sort of medicine I receive is slowly healing my heart. It’s becoming harder to handle my feelings from spilling out and I’m enjoying every second of it...

Feeling You - Harrison Storm

“I hope you come where I’m going || And babe my hands are free” “There was a time I remember || Breathing air like this || But that was when I was younger” “Every single way (I’m feeling you) || I won’t let you go”

After the events of Wano, Law and I’s deal we made before Dressrosa comes to a close. And now that we don’t have an excuse to keep traveling together, we finally have to admit that we don’t want to let go of each other...

#playlist #stealing hearts

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petite-neko · 6 years

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Chapter Characters: Law, Luffy, (Barto) Pairing: LawLu Rating: T Warnings: Swearing, Universe Alteration, angst, canon-typical violence A/N: None

.xxx. > Time/scene skip

.+++. > PoV change

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

Chapter 16 || Chapter 17: Can’ts || Chapter 18

Law wouldn’t say he was avoiding the other captain.

Or, should he say that he wasn’t avoiding him because of what had happened a few days ago. If he was avoiding Luffy, that wasn’t the cause – at least directly anyway. Law just – quite frankly? – didn’t know.

Sure, Luffy was an acquaintance – a friend even – and sure, sure, Luffy had been somewhat in his thoughts from time to time. Either as Mugiwara no Luffy or – more recently – Monkey D. Luffy, but…

Oh, are you talking about his collection of your wanted posters in the treasury?

It wasn’t like Luffy’s thoughts and feelings about him. No, nowhere close.

Luffy idolised him. Admired him. And, somewhere along the lines that very admiration had turned into something else.

Law only remembered the day he spent on the Sunny. Remembered the tour and the hasty briefing of the treasury. Remembered the way Luffy had been consistently staring at him. Remembered the way Luffy had sat too close. Remembered the insistence of being his ally. The clingingfingers…

It was so fucking obvious now - god damn it. But, of course, the idea of somebody crushing on him was the furthest thing from his mind.

You do know I am disappointed in you Law.

He was not planning on being here now. Not planning on any of this - which only brought him to his current dilemma:

What now?

Simply put, Law didn’t know what to do, how to react, what to say.

How to feel.

He was lost. So much had happened in the past week, and Luffy kissing him had not helped any. Live Sengoku had said. (So had Cora-san.) But - how? How could he live for himself?

He never had.

Ever.

You brought the hope back.

You gave us light in that dark place.

I’m happy I helped you.

Luffy had done for him just what he had done for the brothers. Luffy had freed him. Because, despite what he had told Ace, he was trapped. Trapped in a cycle of revenge. That - despite Cora-san’s interference - he had ended up on a path of vengeance. Just, instead of the world, he had set his sights on Doflamingo. And, by helping him obtain it - obtain revenge - by helping him live, Luffy had freed him.

The question however now was: did Law continue to allow it? Continue to allow Luffy to help him live his life? If so -- just how? How should he continue to let Luffy show him how to live?

As a friend -- or something more?

And still – still - Law just didn’t know.

He didn’t fucking know.

And so maybe - maybe yes - Law was avoiding the Strawhat, but simply because he didn’t know.

Not because Luffy kissed him.

(And, of course, Law knew the idiot would think the latter - he just knew it.)

.xxx.

His usual routes were out of the question. Well the ones where somebody had decided to flirt with him. Usually he just – well hurt them if they persisted. (Or, quite literally, steal their heart and then hide it on them.) And… well hurting his ally really wasn’t something he could – or should- do. (Especially without his own crew. On a boat that idolised Luffy.) And if he stole Luffy’s heart…

Good god he didn’t want to even think of the ramifications of that action…

(The alliance was bad enough – he realised now. A major mistake – well, when it came to his current predicament that is. A mistake, realising that Luffy had a crush on him and jumped at any and every opportunity to be with him. Even if it resulted in Doflamingo’s fall.)

Law had honestly contemplated just not talking about it. About simply not acknowledging that it had happened. But even if - if - he could have pretended that, pretended that Luffy had only imagined the scenario... well....

Simply put: it wasn’t a good idea.

One just did not assume Luffy would even come to that conclusion. No. He couldn’t place bets that Luffy would just think he thought up kissing him, or that it was a dream, or something. Hell, if he didn’t - well the idiot might think: ‘because Torao didn’t object, it must be okay to kiss him then!’ Or - heaven forbid - if he did happen to come to the desired conclusion, the thought might be ‘well, since I didn’t actually kiss Torao, I’ve got to now.’

...Either way, Law knew he would only end up being kissed again.

And this time - the bastard wouldn’t give him the blessing of passing out to give him time to react. No, he would have to react then and there and---

Yeah, that was something that Law was really trying to avoid.

And yet... yet he had to. Had to do something to stop him from stagnating and procrastinating.... Luffy was off over there - laughing and dancing and singing and....

And here he was - drinking in a corner because he just didn’t know how to fucking react over somebody kissing him.

Well – over Luffy kissing him.

--Part of him knew it was because he didn’t want to hurt Luffy’s feelings. He respected the other captain after all. And - well he wasn’t exactly repulsed by it, but, at the same time, he didn’t actually feel enthralled by it either.

He was just uncertain. Undecided. Unattached.

He couldn’t tell Luffy to wait. (The bastard had no patience.) He couldn’t say no honestly. (Not to mention Luffy’s feelings.) He couldn’t honestly say yes either. (He didn’t want to give Luffy false hope... Not to mention - well the idiot had no fucking control switch.)

And - of course - asking his crewmates was out of the fucking question. (Sure - they probably didn’t know about the kiss, but there was no waythey didn’t know about Luffy’s feelings towards him. Especially considering the idiot had babbled on about him for hours to a complete stranger.)

God damn Mugiwara no Luffy...

(Despite what Sengoku had said - right now he was regretting ever meeting him.)

Law decided that maybe, just maybe, he should go grab another drink...

And many more after that…

.xxx.

“Your bounty is the same as Luffy-senpai’s.”

--Oh. Oh fuck.

(No. No, it wasn’t the number that concerned him. It wasn’t that his warlord status had been revoked. No... It was the fact that his bounty was the same as Luffy’s. The fact that their bounties matched....)

He wasn’t going to hear the end of this.

“I actually almost threw it out - but Robin-senpai asked for it. If you ask her nicely I suppose you can see it.”

Law shrugged. “I could care-”

Luffy had cut him off. Cut him off with this fascination and awe and excitement in his voice.

“Can I see it Robin?!”

....Riiiiigggghhhttt....

He was going to walk away now. Yup. Pretend he never saw that gleam in Luffy’s eyes, or that hope. Pretend he didn’t see the way his whole body jumped with elation, and jittered with fervour. Pretend that this never happened. Just walk away and just go... watch the horizon or something.

Something that wasn’t watching Luffy fan boy over his wanted poster.

(...Besides, it wasn’t as if he was on some different route in the Grand Line. He was right here in the flesh. Just why did that bastard need to fawn over his poster when he could just fawn over the actual ‘Torao’? Actually… maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Yes, go fawn over his poster Luffy. Leave him in peace for once.)

And so, he settled himself on the upper level of the Going Luffy and just looked behind them. Look towards Dressrosa. Towards the place he had decided to be his grave. Towards the place that he buried his grudge against Doflamingo. The place that he truly buried his past – Cora-san. The place where he finally moved on, where his life truly began. Where…

“Torao!!”

...It had been so quiet. So blissfully quiet... where he could think and just... try and figure things out. But. No.

Nooo.

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Apparently ignoring Luffy while the were on the same boat was also on the ‘could-not-do-to-cope-with-Luffy-kissing-him’ list.

(And, something told him that Robin wasn’t about to lend him a book to hide behind...)

Just.

Fuck.

Luffy’s eyes were sparkling.

“Our bounties match!”

His voice singing.

“Isn’t that awesome?”

His feet bouncing.

Just what the fuck was he supposed to say here? The agreeing Sure? Or perhaps the nonchalant Whatever? What about the rude So?

“And your wanted poster Torao! Look at it!

Oh. Oh just great. Of course that fucker was just carrying around his fucking face and fawning over it and---

Yup.

Yup that was his wanted poster.

Shoved right in his fucking face, so he couldn’t even see anything clearly.

“Doesn’t it look awesome? Look! Look you’re smirking! You look cool when you smirk Torao! Ya know – at first I thought they took a picture of you at Dress—rosa but then I saw your bear in the background. So – it’s an older picture. I wish they took a new picture though.”

Luffy paused, and Law wished he hadn’t looked at the idiot because he was pouting.

“I mean – your outfit was so cool and awesome and it showed all your tattoos off and…”

Law chose to just stop listening now. Yup. He didn’t want to hear this. Didn’t want to hear Luffy fawn over his wanted pictures. Fawn over himfor fuck’s sake! He was trying to avoid any of this. Avoid the idolisation. Avoid reacting. Avoid the fawning. Avoid…

…mother fucking Mugiwara no Luffy.

“Torao…?”

--Ah. Shit, Luffy noticed.

“Are you okay Torao? Is your arm bothering you? You’re squeezing it.”

…Squeezing? Ah – damn it. Fucking subconscious habits… There he went, squeezing at it out of frustration and that wasn’t the best of ideas and –

Oh right. He had to answer Luffy, didn’t he?

And he wasn’t about to go admitting…

“…Yeah, sure. Sure, that’s it, Luffy-ya…”

…He shouldn’t have said that. He really shouldn’t have.

“Damn… I really wish Chopper was here right now. He could look at it and-“

Law inhaled deeply, closed his eyes, and then exhaled slowly.

“You do realise I am a doctor as well, right Luffy-ya? I was the one that patched Ace’s and your own asses up two years ago after all.”

“But you’re in pain Torao!”

Law moved his hand to rub at the bridge of his nose.

“No pain, no gain Luffy-ya…”

Pouting. More of that fucking pouting. Didn’t Luffy know any other damn expression?

“Look – look on the bright side Luffy-ya. At least I didn’t die. A bit of arm pain is noth-”

“NO!”

…What?

“Torao can’t die! I won’t allow it!”

Another sigh left him. Another sigh and he moved his hand to just cover his face, shaking his head.

“…Torao, what’s wrong?”

There were hands now on his shoulders, and Law knew if he opened his eyes he would see Luffy standing in front of him, worry plastered all over his features. His wanted poster, too, was fluttering against his chest.

“Does your head hurt too? Did you drink too much last night? Do you need anything? What-”

Too much. This was just getting to be too much.

He wasn’t ready to deal with this right now damn it!

And he brought up his arms, pushing Luffy’s away from him in a single motion, hands fisting down at his sides at the end.

“Just—just shut up Luffy-ya!”

“Torao…”

Law brought his legs up and held his head.

“Just – leave me alone.”

And – as those footsteps echoed away from him, Law only realised just what he had done.

He just fucked up. Fucked up big time.

Fuck.

#monkey d. luffy #trafalgar law #lawlu #portgas d. ace #sabo the revolutionary #one piece #fanfic:boyhoodblues #petiteneko:story #onepiece #tlaw #luffy #sabo #ace

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inexchangeforyoursoul · 6 years

Text

Luffy, son.... you are not supposed to serve tea this hot to people… (I wanted that to be its separate chapter, but it turned out to be waaay too short for that, and thus, a waste of ch numbers. Art incoming, too; because of that, this will be another “tumblr exclusive (for a while)” part.)

As I’m rather happy with this thing and it’s a halfway Law-centric chapter, I shall put it in the main tags. (this is a dumb LawXOC thing; this one seems to beee.... roughly 4500 words, attagirl)

This was the part that was fun to write even while unmotivated. I think y'all understand why. Now, for the less pleasant things, out of which I'm missing the next two or three chapters entirely… ho, boy. Now, this will be power writing. (Also thanks to anyone who might be here who might have written any of the anon messages I got to keep me going past this particular chapter???)

Ps.: do not ever sterilize your whole entire house if you have a kid. They are meant to catch things so their immune systems get stronger… and have work to do. Because if they don't, they get bored, and a bored immune system will look for shit to defend against anyway; this is how your kid gets allergies ranging from 10 pollens through animals to fucking SUNSHINE. They are meant to be sick a lot in the first couple of years, deal with it. And fucking vaccinate them, too.

31. We need to talk

8 o'clock; there's noone opening the door gently, nor is there anyone near-falling down the stairs. All is perfectly still.

Law drums on the desk with his fingers and sighs; he kind of saw this coming. Doesn't make convincing himself to go out and fetch the girl any easier, however. He's about as unwilling to seek her out as it is the other way round.

A good ten minutes later, he drags himself out of his room and up to the surface; it's relatively silent for a Saturday morning, but a lot of these idiots have been out partying, so whatever. He wouldn't be surprised if half of his crew was still out snoring on a bank or alley.

It's all the more scary when a masked rando pops up right beside him at the railing of the Thousand Sunny with a cheerful ‘yo, Kat’ as he starts checking on her whereabouts.

It's Luffy with one of those fucking… things. Looks like a cheap imitation, too. Seriously… if he didn't know it was one of these idiots, he would have gotten a heart attack. He's still way too jumpy in this body, goddamn.

“Strawhat-ya, honestly... does Kat-ya make a face like this all day?” he asks, with mild annoyance, pointing at his scowling self. “Also… take that thing off.” It's kind of creeping him out, now that he's taken a good look at it up close.

“Ah, right, it’s you, Torao… and nope, it's pretty rare,” Luffy nods, then plucks the mask off his head. “Found it between these big warehouses! Pretty cool, huh?”

“I'm not surprised it was ditched… Anyway, if even you can tell that much, then why do you keep mixing us up?” It's been like… no, not ‘like,’ it HAS been a week, for fuck's sake.

“Well, hugger you is definitely not you you, but otherwise... both Kat and Torao are worried, sad or angry most of the time, so it's hard to tell them apart, to be honest,” he states wondering as he drops the prop on deck with relative care and puts his hands on the back of his head to lounge at the railing. “Like today. And, whenever they are really tired, it feels like the prickly needle thing you get when your leg falls asleep. Everyone else tends to be more like... slow waves, when you stand in water.” He stretches one leg out and flaps the sandal to his soles.

“Huh?” What? Being talked about in third person is also weird, but… excuse him?

“The feel you two give off is pretty similar is all. Though I guess Kat is also more tense overall, at least she used to be. And she has a lot of weird jokes. That I usually don’t get,” he squints. Whenever the others find something she said funny and he doesn't get it, he feels left out, really.

“No, I mean… what would she be pissed off at?” And sad. And tense… He won't even try comprehending that other stuff. Anyhow, she can be the very literal definition of a nervous system at times, that's for sure. The very first thing he knew about her was that she was either really nonchalant about something, or about to have a panic attack, after all. And not exactly in the situations that matched those reactions... she shrugged off a date with the Reaper, but was really anxious when Nami dragged her off to get her cuts and bruises treated by Chopper on board of the Sunny two minutes later. But... halt, stop. It just registered… what does rubber boy mean by him being similar to her?

Luffy shrugs. “Dunno and don't really care. It's not even directed at anything, though... which is the weird thing about it.” He hops up on the railing to sit, then crosses his arms.

Law sighs… his observation haki will never be on this level. And the way Luffy formulates it is akin to an 8-year-old giving descriptions of a dream, which doesn't help, either. Reading faces and gestures can only get you so far, doesn't it.

Scowling a bit, Luffy eventually comes to a conclusion. “Maybe she just hates herself.”

The surgeon is a little taken aback by that; going by what this dunce just said, it makes sense, but... “Why would she...?” he mumbles mostly to himself, also crossing his arms. Going by whatever he could gather from Shachi and the rumors from her time in the dining hall, it did cross his mind that she might have some self esteem issues, that’s why he decided to be better safe than sorry and basically walk on eggshells when dealing with her. How she acts in general can support the idea, too, when considering some traits from another point of view…

“You are the one hanging out with her all the time, so why do you ask me?” Luffy pouts. The expression turns into a thoughtful one soon, then turns into mild worry. “… do you hate yourself, Torao?”

In the blink of an eye, he and his body (that’s worryingly cold in the first place) both realize that it’s like twelve degrees Celsius at best outside, and that not taking a sweater over a thin undergarment and breezy, medium sleeved shirt was a Mistake™. “You're… overthinking it,” he responds while waving dismissively.

“Really? That's a relief!” the other captain sighs and puts a smile back on.

“... yeah.” Perhaps it all boils down to her having a similar way to handle her emotions? She did keep being in pain a secret, which is something he does, so that's one thing they have in common. But goddammit, Strawhat… don't just say things like this all of a sudden.

He peeks then up towards the garden, where rhythmic little thuds have been disturbing the silence for the past minute. They really ought to talk.

Right now.

This is much easier to do once Nami appears from the direction Kat could be, as the navigator won’t let her captain go alone and get himself lost again in town when latter declares his intention to go back, even despite his excuses of being able to see the Sunny from the church tower when it’s not dark. Having gotten rid of Luffy surprisingly quick this way, Law stops on the stairs as soon as he’s high enough to look around. He peeks towards where he suspects her being, and indeed, the noise that started somewhere down the line was caused by a dazed Kat. He weighs his options for a moment; on one hand, taking some time off is a reasonable way to handle this. On the other… if he leaves this up to the girl, she may never show her face again, which is no viable route for him to take. He’ll definitely have to take initiative.

Noticing the light steps closing in on her, Kat stops drumming her heels against the ship.

Law sighs. “Look…. I know I’m making you uncomfortable right now, but I really kind of need my body back as soon as possible.” … maybe not the best start, but he got the point across.

After a short pause, Kat bonks her head into the wooden pillar in front of her with considerable power, and takes a long, sharp breath.

Law watches in perturbed bafflement. Um… maybe… it was a bad start, after all.

“I’ll manage,” she sighs, straightening herself at once. “It’s hard to ignore, and cuts my productivity in half, but… is, what it is. I’ve kind of made peace with telling my boss as-is, too, so that won’t be bothering me.” She pauses the fast rant for a moment to cut the speed, and stares into the waves licking away at the side of the ship. She had enough time to think about this somewhat objectively during her short-ish wake around midnight and later in the morning. “And you… shouldn’t have to worry about it, either. Once you're all gone for good, it will fade away soon. Knowing myself, I might not even be able to remember your name in a few months, anyway,” she shrugs all limp. “I’m no good with names, so… it would be nothing new.” It’s a famous and super simple name that’s not hard to catch, so she likely will. Maybe even his surname, since it’s a funny one. No promises, though.

… twisting knives much? Sheesh, he never suspected her of being capable of such… savagery. And he thought Luffy was being blunt today… Generally, he likes both of their honesty quite a lot, but Kat saying that he’ll be deleted from mind as soon as he’ll be out of sight is… a bit too much. And frankly, it hurts like a bitch. If he was in any way unsure about how he felt about her until this, well... there are no doubts about it now. He better keeps all of this to himself, though.

After all... it really is for the best. Technically, good news, even. And he also gets her; it’s the pragmatic thing to do. Having any kind of amiable relationship with a pirate is not exactly easy. There's no sure way to reach them, and sending messages to someone endangers that person. Hell, they all could die the day after setting sail for all he knows. A part of him has an even deeper understanding of what she means… it's not about worrying about anyone getting killed, quite the contrary. She's sheltering herself from getting hurt, by simply staying indifferent. He handles strangers the same way, and did the same for the longest time while with the Family: laughing whenever he felt like it... helping if he wanted to, or if he had to... generally enjoying the company, but not building any meaningful relationships. The question is, though... how did she get there, to this mindset? Few normal people do that. It could be just the way she’s always been, but considering how much she strives to please people around her, and how sensitive she seems to be to other’s moods in the first place…

Who hurt her?

Getting no response and feeling his eyes on her back is getting to her fast; Kat puts her head back against the pole and continues. “... Sorry, that sounds... really mean... but I suck at keeping in touch anyway. People just... come and go?” She shrugs, then starts to swing her legs again, until her heels hit the ship and she stops with limbs still flailing about. “I have no idea what my kinda-friends from high school or college are up to, either. Even when I think about fun times and miss someone… I never sit down and write a letter or go visit. I don’t get any further than grabbing a pen, but… what even are the chances they still live where they used to, huh?” She puts on a bitter smile that fades away fast. “Am I... a bad person? For that?” Her voice is unstable and hoarse at this point. She takes a shaky breath, followed by a gulp.

“... no, you're not.” Not being able to keep up with people is okay. Being stuck in a cage of her own making is, though. He takes a moment of consideration, then joins her at the railing.

Kat stares down to where her hands should be through the white pillar as Law plops down, then speaks up after a short pause while holding back a sniffle. ”The other week, I was wondering... why none of them tried to hit me up, either. Ever. I guess I'm just... that insignificant...” The sniff escapes and she also needs to wipe off a tear.

“…” He didn’t plan on joining a therapy session, nor doing anything else past talking, but a good old shoulder pat is definitely warranted here, so that’s what he does. Realizing that the cold hand made her shiver is too little, too late, so he just rolls with it. “Now, now… you know like a dozen of infamous people as of last Tuesday, so that automatically makes you count for something.” Her self esteem really seems to be in a bad shape. There's definitely some asses that ought to be kicked on these islands, because this is definitely not normal behavior.

Cannot help but crack a smile at that. “If you say so.” She rubs her eyes. “Sorry, I went off tangent again.”

“As did I the other day… and? Got it out of your system?” Seems like she’s bouncing back at least.

“Kinda,” she breathes after a pause.

“Just kinda?”

“…” She rests her temples against the railing again, even though it’s starting to hurt, bump she just made notwithstanding. “Every now and then, I keep thinking… how there would be someone in my place to do all the things I do.” Her eyebrows furrow. “If not now, then later. I’m just another pebble in the sea, and it feels… suffocating.”

“… I see.” Oh, boy… this actually sounds like more zero filter stuff, but without drugs to make it weird. Which is iffy, since he’s far from being a psychologist. Well, is what it is… take notes, analyze, and most importantly, watch your fucking mouth.

“Like, I know it’s the same for important people, inventing and doing actual, impactful stuff. Because, there’s little difference in the grand scheme of things, is there? It just doesn’t matter whether something happens today or in a hundred years. Everyone is replaceable. As is everything else. What I wanna say, is… wanting attention… at all… makes me feel selfish. Even when it probably shouldn’t.” Feeling the hand on her shoulder makes it tingle… she’d move, if not for knowing that he would lift it off again.

“… Um…” Okay… he might have stepped into this one hard. Aside from blinking wildly, because this has suddenly nosedived into deep waters… he needs a second here. The spaced-out girl he got to know in the past two weeks thinks about this shit regularly? She did seem less bubbly and way less excitable than she actually is at first glance, but… holy shit. She actually is pretty good at brooding herself. If he wasn’t so dumbfounded, he’d be impressed. “… wow, I… never considered the possibility that you could be a nihilist.” A very sentimental nihilist. That’s certainly what he takes from this. The conclusion is kind of enlightening.

She remains silent for a second, then squints. “... all I crave is death.”

Law lets out an exasperated sigh, then slaps her on the back of the head resulting in another light bonk. “Don’t you think for a second that I cannot tell the difference between you being serious and on the brink of grinning like an idiot,” he tells her off with the other hand on his hip. She may be trying to keep a poker face up, but none can do if she’s gonna use that overly dramatic delivery anyway. This woman, he swears to god.

And, as soon as the jig is up, there it is: the smile.

She reaches up to scratch the head area that stings a little after getting smacked. “Heh… sorry, had to break that gloomy mood.” Though, no lie, she does like talking about heavy stuff like that. If Law did not seem to be bothered by it, she probably would have continued.

“By willingly pissing me off?” Was that really necessary?

“Well… it worked, didn’t it?”

“Touche,” he breathes, crossing his arms. “But don’t make a habit out of it, if you know what’s good for you.” If she has actually figured out how to dig down to his berserk buttons, she’s playing with fucking fire, and he wouldn’t be surprised if she found enjoyment the activity. “I can fix myself up as soon as I get my body back, and rearranging your internal organs or face with, or without my powers, is not beneath me.”

She nods, humming. “I didn’t doubt for a second that you’d make a feisty kuja, alright. Will not overdo the gremlin act.”

“… good.”

After a silent pause, Kat stops rubbing her head. “… say, Law?”

He lets out a questioning hum.

“Are you in pain… because you were sick?”

“…” Is there a point to tell her anything if it’s so obvious in the first place? Oh well, she's asking, so… “Yeah. There are a few intergrowths I cannot really do anything with. Removing the lead deposits left my body aching at random, the bigger they were, the worse it is… you’ve probably noticed, but some areas like the left side of my torso and the right jaw are the main culprits. Those spots tend to act out a little even when everything else is fine. And I have additional god awful headaches when it’s too hot or cold outside and I don’t hidrate proper. These are honestly the worst aspects of it, no lie.”

“Act out like... Saturday evening?” When she first noted how something was a little off? It’s the only common experience they have…

He thinks for a moment. “Yeah, like that. The odd tissue that seems cancerous during a checkup, I can get rid of... but the fucking pain just won’t go away. Unless I kill off the receptors altogether, but that strikes me as an exceptionally stupid idea.” Even if it sounds really tempting at times. Maybe if he did it to his internal organs only…

“Wait…” Kat takes the first look at him today, and looks very much taken aback at that; “did you say cancer?” As soon as he looks back, she averts her eyes again. Seeing him, save looking him in the eye, is just… not something she can handle at the moment.

He blinks at the reaction, but keeps his eyes on her for a second. “Heard me right. Don’t shit yourself, I can deal with it.” Looking back in front of him, he adds, “I’m also legally infertile, but that’s the least of my problems.” He’s unlikely to get old, too, but honestly… there’s only so many times you can cheat your expiration date.

“Oh,” she says a second later. And sounds quite disappointed at that.

“... don't you ‘oh’ me. You can have all the kids you want for all I care.” As long as her plans involve someone else, that is. … aw fuck, brain, don't you have anything else to comment on?

“Oh, no, no, no, it's just…” She gives the sideburns a scratching; “This is going to sound so stupid… but you seem like… the dad type?”

Law laughs out at the ludicrous idea. “Me? Seriously?” Geez, that’s so… out of the blue. Even more so than the being married line. Never even seen him with a kid around, has she? They just tend to shit their pants right away. He needs to put a hand on his temples to process this a bit… and to make sure there’s no headache caused by stupid on the way. “God… the hell makes you think that?”

“Well, for starters… someone like Luffy would drop his toddler into the ocean by accident, which you would… not.” As simple as that. From what little she’s heard about Garp’s parenting… even if Law happened to be on the strict side, there is, like, no competition here, honestly.

A millisecond of consideration ends up in a concerned, solemn nod on Law’s part. He wouldn’t want Strawhat oversee children in general, or at the very least, not leave them with him all alone. He out-dads him in any technicality regarding safety and common sense, so that’s a score.

“You still could be fun around, though,” Kat continues leaning back; “Like… you would totally do something like sticking them to the ceiling as punishment for being bad,” she muses with a little relaxed smile, pulling up some average family scenarios. “but, unless you are obviously angry with them, they would love it instead. You could experiment with pretty much everything from floating to chopping them up, but all would backfire spectacularly as they think of it as just another game.”

“... can’t argue with that,” the notes, raising a brow. “Little hellraisers be like that.” Punishing a kid that's acting out, well… Best bet would be the basic ‘send them into a corner’ situation instead of getting creative, huh?

“You’d also be the go-to solution for homework… despite not being helpful at all.” Definitely trolling the shit out of anyone who’s trying to use him for an easy pass… yes, yes. Would come through when needed, too, she knows that much firsthand.

“Correct,” Law nods with a smug grin. He absolutely would be the most useless genius around. It would drive them crazy and he would be enjoying the hell out of it. If they legitimately did not understand something, though… that’s actually negotiable.

Having seen enough of his self-assured smile from the corner of her eye, she addresses him directly. “... get off your high horse, Law. You might be a little shit, but you’d also be out-bawling anyone at any milestone your kiddos reach whatsoever,” she states with an amused look.

“Absolutely not,” comes the indignant reply; “Do I look like the sentimental type to you?”

She takes a long, thoughtful look at his general direction. “Look… I might not be able to guarantee it, but as far as I’m concerned, you would transform into the worst mess of a doting ‘pappa’ there ever was as soon as you’d be holding your firstborn.” First day of school and graduations would be just as bad, if not worse… god save everyone if he’s around for a wedding. Him sobbing in a tux while trying to operate a visual transponder is not a mental image she’ll forget any time soon. In fact, she’s going to treasure the hell out of it. Even if she’s more used to him looking like her, so it takes some extra imagination points to see him in his own body.

Her chuckle earns a very unamused face. “I won’t even begin to try and imagine what you just thought of, but really? Really really?”

“Ve-really,” she states while booping his nose, then gets her hand pushed off to the side. “Honestly… you’re saying it’s very unlikely in the first place, right?” She ponders, scratching her head while sitting upright again. “You can’t tell me that you wouldn’t be all over a baby? Beating whatever low odds?”

“...” She’s probably not wrong on that one. Up to eight, maybe ten per cent aren’t a lot...

“And let’s not even get started on the naming process… You have at least…” her fingers straighten one by one; feather guy, little girl, baby’s grandparents, and who knows, who else? “four, if not a dozen they’d have to pry from your cold, dead hands before settling for anything else!” He based his entire image on one of these people, for fuck’s sake. First boy would definitely get that name, whatever it may be.

… not to mention the chances of a healthy child…

“And… little ones are always sick or some shit, right? You’d go into doctor overdrive. Give them checkups like every fucking week, and be staring from over the bathroom door to make sure they wash their teeth, and… dude, I’d fucking hate to be your kid, oh my god!” At least it takes him like point five seconds to sterilize the entire house instead of scrubbing everything all day like a manic housewife, but holy shit…

“Kat…“

“I have no idea how you’d handle feeding them in any capacity, though… you run, like, exclusively on a handful of veggies, rice, potatoes… and chicken… and fish. And, you suck at cooking.” And the occasional drink. Would he be willing and able to make legit sandwiches…? He has no qualms touching the bread, made those French toasts, so that’s a start. This kind of presupposes him being allowed in the kitchen like a single dad, but still, she can’t help wondering how he would tackle that humongous elephant in the room if the need arises.

“Kat-ya, stop.”

The edge in the word startles her enough to delete the train of thought altogether. “Uh… um…” Did she say something wrong again? Did she hurt him? Or insult him? Is… is he angry…?

He sighs, staring into the darkness underneath the waves. “I suppose… you are right,” he says a few seconds later, his head also meeting the railing. “I am… the dad type.”

She stares down at her now interlocked hands; the images she found so amusing before… look sickly and pale all of a sudden. A quick reality check has sucked all life out of them. Managed to fuck his day up again, huh?

“Dreaming… is dangerous,” Law concludes. The last time he did something like that… came with just another harsh wake-up call.

“… sorry. Didn’t mean to upset you.” Again.

“Eh, I’ll get over it.” However… he’s once again reminded of the fact that he’d been living to fulfill a singular goal for over a decade, and ever since he’s pretty much reached it, he’s been feeling… well, rather lost, to be honest. Stretch goals, like going against Kaido are a sufficient distraction at best. Sometimes he hears a little voice in the back of his head breaking through regardless before muffling it, talking about being tired of this life… bringing up the clinic of his own he's always wanted… having a home to return to.

Peace.

He knows better than to hope for any of that.

A single finger tapping his arm makes him realize that his eyes and nose cavity are burning up. This is followed by her barely audible, little mouse voice; “... Law?”

He takes a shaky breath and rubs his temples, sneaking in a finger to wipe away the half-ripe tear from the corner of an eye. “I’m fine, I’m…” he comes to a halt upon looking at her; “oh my god, are you crying?”

“... a little,” Kat squeaks after swallowing once.

Law snorts all of a sudden, then breaks out in painful laughter. The tears are also coming, but fuck it, because... while he’s hurting, this… also feels kinda good. Actually, it feels great. Talking about all of this… is great. She’s a better psychologist than he could ever aspire to be. Cafe girl… you are too fucking nice for your own good. Sincerely, fuck you.

As soon as the surprise wears off, Kat joins in, too.

After a solid minute or two, Law flops on the grass with hands covering his face. “... both of us… are kinda fucked up, huh?” he ponders out loud after the last couple of laughs. It’s kind of a dumb question; who even is not fucked in the head from all the people that he knows? He should have known that she was no different, even if the causes are still a mystery. No wonder the two of them can hit it off.

“I guess so,” Kat sniffs, rubbing her entire face that must be as red as it feels.

Sliding his freezing hands lower, Law stares skyward at the thickening clouds for a while. Laughing and crying are both exhausting… not to mention doing both at once. It feels like floating in a weird dream. Peaceful, even. Every weight has slid on his back, which is neatly supported by this nice ship made of pure sunshine, leaving him to breathe freely for the time being. He would say a ‘thank you,’ but it gets stuck somewhere in his throat.

He must be in really fucking deep, huh. Not that he minds, though… it feels really nice, after all. A little too much to be true, yes. But for now… he doesn’t want to worry about his short future. Instead, right here, right now... he just wants to enjoy this moment. As much as he can. As long as he can. To the fullest.

#opfanfic #opfic #one piece fanfiction #Trafalgar Law #Kate writes #KMKY

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moosemightymoose · 3 years

Text

Heat of the Moment

Summary: The first time they woke up in Loguetown, they were in a bed at an inn, and they didn’t know why but they tried their best to help. The second time they woke up in Loguetown, they were in a bed at an inn, and they didn’t know why but they tried their best to help. The third time-

Ao3 link

Being born again sucks.

Being born again again was an emotional roller coaster.

Being born again again again really just makes you tired.

It was like that supernatural tuesday mornings episode, or that movie groundhogs day, except this was my life. And it was lasting a long ass time before restarting. And there was no trickster pulling the strings, not as far as I could tell. And I’ve had a while to figure it out, with still nothing to show for it.

It had been forty years total. This would be the twentieth time I was trying to save the Strawhats and their allies.

The first time we were close, we didn’t even realize how close, before the marines threw every single person, weapon, and power they had at two dozen people. Some may say that’s overkill, but they only just barely won. It would take them years to recover, and in that time the revolutionaries might actually be able to grab power. But the Strawhats were gone. We were gone.

We died.

Waking up back in that small bed 3 years in the past and I never cried so hard. I didn’t think what I had experienced was a dream, but here I was to do it all over. I was so grateful. And when I found out I was the only one who remembered, only one who knew we’d lived this before, well that was okay. Maybe it was better that way.

Then I was hopeful. Third time’s the charm and all that.

The fourth time I woke up there I was pissed. Again, nobody else woke up with the memories of what had happened, and I had never felt more alone surrounded by my family.

Each time our journey cut short, our crew massacred in different ways stopping us from reaching our dreams. The seventh go through we just got unlucky and a storm mixed with a sea king got us. Never showed up before, never showed up after.

On the ninth go through I decided I wouldn’t join the Strawhats, and instead hovered in the background for a grand total of 5 islands before Luffy dragged me onto the ship.

In all these attempts, only three times we were able to save Ace. Three times. Once preventing him from capture, once saving him from imperial dawn, and once at marineford. And yet, somewhere in the New World, our luck would run out.

By the 20th time I was feeling pretty defeated.

Nineteen times I watched as they all fell around me, my friends. Never the same order, sometimes I would die first, that’s what’s been happening the past 5 times. I jumped in and took the killing blow, saving myself from having to watch as the others got taken out one by one. I couldn’t watch Sanji being pummeled, Nami being shot down, Franky taking a bomb meant to kill thousands, Wado torn from Zoro's mouth as he was cut to ribbons, Chopper taking bullet after bullet, Brook being tossed into the ocean, Jimbe dismembered limb by limb.

Only once had Luffy been killed before me. Only once did I have to watch as the life left his eyes and the smile slipped from his face. I would not repeat attempt fifteen.

And here I am now. Waking up in my rented bed in the middle of loguetown. The first time I didn’t know why I was here or what I would do, but by now I knew. I knew this day too well.

I got out of bed, wondering if I should really try to be on the side lines, maybe join the revolutionary army, or maybe Boa Handcock would take me to her tribe so I could train. Either way I needed to go forward, and the best way was to hitch a ride on the boat I knew would make it over that crazy entrance and sail onto the grand line.

I gathered all my things and grabbed my knapsack, ready to see who I'd bump into first this time around.

If I went left and never turned I’d reach the fish market, where I’d run into Sanji. If I went right I would wind up in the shopping district where Usopp and Nami could be found, depending on which store I went in.

If I didn’t go inside any stores and kept walking I’d find the docks, where the merry was stationed and a lion and a man were attempting to burn it down. Or destroy it somehow, their plan never going well. I fought them off and snuck aboard the ship a few times, doing so twice in a row the past two times, as I wanted this day to just be over with.

If I explored, and I started making turns and going down streets, I stumbled across different scenes. Once I found Tashigi facing 2 men, handing them their asses on a platter, and Zoro’s reaction to her striking resemblance to Kuina. If I made a few different turns I’d find Usopp and Daddy the Father facing off, and Usopp's incredible shot. A different route and I would find the execution platform, early enough to sit and watch. I hadn’t in a while, gone right to Luffy that is. Not since attempt fifteen.

So many choices, but ultimately they all ended on the Merry, which is why I was going to skip the day and head straight there like the last two times but something made me pause. A feeling. An instinct.

The execution platform wasn’t as tall as I had once imagined. It was also old, and questionably stable.

And as I stared up at the structure, people passing around me not bothering with the rickety old scaffolding, I felt hot tears roll across my face.

“Are you okay?”

Luffy’s voice made my body jolt, and quickly I wiped at my face before turning to him. Seeing him so young again always sucked the breath from my lungs. No scar, no haunted look in his eyes, no heavy burdens weighing him down. He was carefree and joyful once again.

I didn’t know what to say, I stopped lying to Luffy after attempt fifteen, but I also didn’t want to talk about this right now, in such a public spot, so I shrugged. He frowned, and looked over at the platform, then back at me.

“This is where the King of the pirates died.”

“Yes. Right up there.” I said, looking back up at the top, and remembering seeing Luffy up there, shackled and smiling, as the marines held us all captive, rain pouring down and making it hard to see, especially with our arms bound, unable to wipe the wet hair and pooling water away from our eyes. Made us watch as they executed Luffy first, his head rolling away from his body in a way that made everything inside me twist up. I didn’t know how I didn’t throw up, snot was clogging up my nose as I cried making it hard to breath. Then they took Zoro up next. They were going to take Sanji next, but someone pointed out it would be more torturous for a ladies man like him to only watch as they killed the girls.

“After all, ladies first, right?” A marine had jeered. They took me first, and after that I had no idea what happened. Not like I could ask someone.

“Is that why you’re sad?”

A startled laugh left me, as my captain always had a way of surprising me with the conclusions he’d draw.

“Kind of. All the people who called Roger Namaka lost someone important that day. It hurts, I understand their pain. To feel desperate and alone.” I swallowed and glanced at the small frown Luffy wore as he looked at me. Anxiety prickled under my skin, questioning if maybe Luffy could see, see how much I had failed and he wouldn’t want me. That this time he would judge me and determine I’m not worth it. I couldn’t help the flinch at my own thoughts and turned before Luffy took notice, and decided enough of that for now. We had a journey to begin. And I was sounding too much like Robin.

“What do you think he saw, when he looked out at the end?” I asked, knowing where this would lead. His soft shishishishi was like a southing balm, his arms wrapping around my waist again felt like home, and flying through the air up towards the top of the platform made my heart race in the best, the smile from the feeling stuck on my face as Luffy set me down, still laughing.

“Now you don’t have to wonder.” He said, and looked out across the plaza.

My heart clenched, thinking of all the other times I had seen him up here. It had been maybe nine years?

“Hey you up there!” Shouting broke my thoughts, and our attention was drawn to a marine with a megaphone.

The fun was about to begin.

I was stronger this time. Sometimes when I woke up again, Id find it was easier to run, I was faster in my defense, it was easier and easier to call upon my haki. Last time I unlocked haki at whiskey peak. Today luck was again on my side as I tested my ability, observation allowing me to easily dodge and weave around all the clown pirates blocking our path to Luffy. Buggy grated on my nerves at the best of times, and right now he was reminding me too much of before. It was only the knowledge that in a heartbeat I could have all these men on the ground and Luffy safe that I held back, because I was waiting for something.

“I'M GOING TO BE KING OF THE PIRATES!” Luffy's declaration rang out, for everyone in the plaza to hear, the weight of his words mixed with the strong will that blanketed the area set a serious tone.

I realized I had not heard this declaration here since the first time we were all in Loguetown. I had stopped here, sure, but I either left to do something else and missed that part, or once I had stopped Buggy from capturing Luffy in the first place, on attempt fifteen. But the universe said that boy will go up on that platform one way or another.

Goosebumps ran down my arms and the winds picked up, the atmosphere changing as thunder clapped. Hope bloomed in my chest, hope that I tried to squash down immediately. Luffy always did this, made me feel like this time was it. This time we would make it.

No, it was two years too early for those thoughts. I told myself to never be hopeful until we were past fishman island.

Luffy had a way of making broken people heal.

#one piece #fanfic #my writing #strawhat #pirates #original character #dimensional travel

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pingo1387 · 4 years

Note

'time' for the writing wip game

This got pretty long so it’s under a cut!

From A Dream Whose Name I Dare Not Mention

“Did I lose track of time?” he muttered. “It was noon just a minute ago . . . wasn’t it?”

The man smiled. “You are the first man I’ve met in a long time who would say something like that, Roronoa Zoro. Very well.”

He charged and swung his sword down at the same time as the man, and they passed each other, and for a moment they stood there, facing away—

Zoro turned and snatched the flung item from the air just in time. He opened his palm to find another warm, shiny object.

“About time you got something through that rock head of yours!” Sanji snapped. “Hurry it up!”

The man raised one arm and swung it at Zoro, who dodged just in time. With clumsy handiwork, he ran forward and sliced, cutting him down. As he did so, Vivi’s face came to him in a flash, and he fell to his knees. He spotted a shiny object on the ground next to him and took it with weak fingers.

“This can’t be heaven,” he said, placing a hand on his white-sheathed sword; as awful as his skills were at the moment, they were better than nothing. “Have I been dead this whole time? What a cliché twist.”

Zoro stepped forward and caught her just before she hit the ground. Giving himself no time to wonder how he knew to do such a thing, he looked at Enel.

Zoro tilted his head. “That woman, Robin . . . she was on the ship with me and the others. And it looks like it’s been a long time since all this happened. So . . . we must’ve succeeded in getting her back. I may not have that, but I think I can trust those other guys, and if this woman’s important enough to them to go through all this for . . . then that’s what I have to do. And that’s why it’s not ridiculous at all.”

He looked around again, and then back at this huge man who had nearly killed him (he was certain he had nearly died at that time).

A violin came flying from the crowd and Brook caught it just in time. The music started up again. Brook raised the instrument to his shoulder and dragged the bow across the strings, producing a sound like a banshee being strangled.

When Brook returned, he shrieked in surprise, for he found himself on the same ship as before, but this time it was hurtling down a mountain river like a roller coaster, with everyone clinging to the rails and masts so as not to be hurled off.

Sea mist sprayed all around them, obscuring their views for some time. When the clouds finally cleared, the ship made a mighty splash into the end of the river, coasting into open sea; someone had the sense to drop the anchor, slowing them until they came to a halt portside of a cliff. A few crewmembers vomited overboard, and several collapsed to the deck, but soon cheers filled the air—they had made it at last.

“Aye,” the man said after a moment. “Wouldn’t be the first time.” His eyes moved around the crew and came to rest on Brook, and he grinned after a moment. “Brook, old friend. Do you remember me?”

That same evening (so it seemed, for time had no real meaning in that place), Brook stayed away from the raucous drinking Yorki and Crocus and the others were participating in, and sat on the low part of the cliff’s edge. Laboon floated in the water next to him.

Yorki sighed. “Listen, knucklehead, you’re Laboon’s favorite. Everyone knows. He might listen to you this time.”

Yorki gave him a bitter smile. “Give it time,” he said. “You’ll find out sooner or later.”

Brook raised the old violin for what seemed like the fiftieth time, and for the fiftieth time, he could only pluck out tuneless sounds.

The doctor bowed his head, surrounded by the crew, who stood in stunned silence. Brook’s memories between leaving Laboon and this time had been spotty, filled with flashes of sailing through bad weather and good weather alike, running through jungle and city, and now—

The Rumbar Pirates, under Brook’s clumsy command, had been sailing for some time (at least a year, Brook guessed) after Yorki’s passing. It was smooth sailing, and Brook had collected a few more shiny objects, which were pocketed with the rest.

“I really lost track of time, going through all that,” he explained, rubbing the back of his neck. “Not that I expect anyone to have a watch, but . . .”

“Got that right,” Zoro said. He grinned. “Do you have any stories to pass the time?”

“I think . . . I must have spent a very long time here.”

“I wonder why I spent a long time in this place,” he mused aloud, going to the ship’s steering wheel at last. “This fog is thicker than molasses, true, but even sailing in a straight line should . . .”

Brook stood and went to take a proper look at the island. He was sure his ship could not have moved very far, even in all that time (however long it had been), and yet . . .

Brook stared into space, leaning against the railing of his ship. He sensed that some time had passed since he had departed Thriller Bark; his shadow was still missing, so he couldn’t yet leave the Florian Triangle. But it seemed he could not meet that island in such thick fog . . . and therefore, to pass the time . . .

He followed the three down the rope ladder and landed upon the deck of the Thousand Sunny, where he came face-to-face with everyone for what felt like the first time in a very long while. Looking around, he noticed everyone appeared different—but Zoro was the same as he had been after returning from his door.

By the time Brook was running into the maze of the castle, having explored the grounds to no avail, there had been several distant commotions and shouts, leading him to think that the Strawhats had landed upon the island.

Ryuma readied his sword with a dusty laugh. “Is that so? I hope you’ve improved since last time. I would like a challenge.”

“That little whale,” Brook said. “He’s waiting for me. Even if he’s also died by now, I promised to return. I have a duty to go back there one more time, don’t I? No matter what I may look like.”

“I . . . must return to Laboon,” Brook said, voice hollow. He clutched his ribcage, beginning to understand. “It’s as Luffy-san said. Despite that I do not know why I must keep this promise, or why I made the promise in the first place . . . if the person I was before all this fought this hard for his word, I will do the same in his honor.” He stared at Ryuma with some rudiments of defiance. “This is perhaps the third time you’ve asked me ‘Why,’ Ryuma-san. Desist and let us duel.”

Brook’s next memories came by in a blur, and he watched like an outsider as he retrieved an enormous salt bag and proceeded to watch the Strawhats fight until Moria was defeated at last. The shadows flew into the sky and Brook watched Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Robin begin to burn away, only to have their shadows returned in the nick of time.

He removed the Tone Dial from his head, ignoring another shocked yell, and pressed the button to replay his memory. Despite that his playing that time, too, had been horrendous, the melodies and voices flowing out were beautiful, and one of the voices was—

“Certainly,” Brook said, making a miraculous recovery and sitting up. He reached over and pulled Chopper into his lap, holding him with stick-thin arms. “Why, I’m sure that, were you not affected by this Nightmare Syndrome as well, you could devise a cure in no time.”

The memory faded again, this time around Kaya’s soft, sad smile.

“That was us,” Luffy said after successfully swallowing the food this time. He laughed. “We actually came here looking for a proper ship. D’you know where we could get one?”

“Yes,” Nami said. “She’ll be disappointed if you stop visiting her after all this time.”

“You came here last time, too.” Luffy sat next to him. “But that was after you punched that butt-ler.”

Just in time, several of them went flying back the way they came, and Usopp looked behind him. Zoro and Luffy stood there, breathing hard.

The children looked crestfallen. “Why?” Onion repeated. “’Cause, ’cause they’ve always called you a liar. And this time you were telling the truth. They’ll think you’re so cool!”

“Nami?” the saw-nose fishman said. He grinned. “Don’t tell me you’ve decided to betray us after all this time.”

But holding up the glowing ball, heavy and light at the same time, showed him nothing new in the darkness. He tilted his head and lowered it again, staring at it and holding it close to his chest, trying to push the warmth inside of himself.

“He also picks the worst time for lies, it seems,” Brook added, but Sanji, preoccupied, did not notice.

“With your words, idiot! What have we been saying to you all this time?!”

“Usopp-san!” Brook exclaimed, seeing him still standing there as the bear-like man approached with all the time in the world. “Usopp-san, please run!”

Usopp found himself in total darkness again. This time, no Cheshire Cat appeared before him, and this time, there was a door with a key and a glowing object in front of it. Usopp frowned and picked up the glowing object.

and criticisms. And yet—and yet, he wanted to know. But his throat was paralyzed, the words weighing on his tongue and making it impossible to speak, and by the time he thought he could do it, could force the words from his

There was a man in the restaurant, a man thin and shaking and on the brink of death from starvation. Sanji watched as he was treated with disdain, tossed out of the dining hall in spite of his weak threats, and without knowing why, he found himself walking into the kitchen, and rinsing and boiling a cup of rice, and chopping vegetables—and chopping his hands in the process, but every time he thought he’d lost a fingertip, he looked down and his hands were clean.

Luffy turned and grinned at him, and as he rushed towards the pirate crew, he tossed a glowing object back at Sanji. Sanji barely caught it with clumsy hands, and he shoved it into his pocket, not wanting to look at it this time.

Sanji walked next to him, and then ran to keep up. All the while he stared at Luffy’s face, so determined as he muttered reassuring things under his breath, and at Nami’s face, flushed with fever and lips cracking in the cold. Maybe the pang in his chest at that moment was pity, but it was gone in an instant, as if he’d merely been sitting wrong and fixed his posture. Had he chosen to reflect on the feeling, he wouldn’t have had the time, for at that moment, the snow from the mountain ahead began to bear down on them.

Sanji thought. “Yeah,” he said, truthful this time. “I know. I don’t understand, but I know.”

Sanji felt something in his hair and plucked it out. He examined the shiny object, and barely had time to stow it away before the memory blurred around him, twisting and turning like the view from a roller coaster.

From Sealed with a Kiss

“Faintly as tolls the evening chime . . . our voices keep tune and our oars keep time . . . soon as the woods on shore look dim . . . we’ll sing at St. Anne’s our parting hymn. . . . Row, brothers, row, the stream runs fast . . . the rapids are near, and the daylight’s past . . .”

“Faintly as tolls the evening chime,” he sang idly, “our voices keep tune and our oars keep time! Soon as the woods on shore look grim, we’ll sing at St. Anne’s our parting hymn! Row, brothers, row, the stream runs fast, the rapids are near, and the daylight’s past! The rapids are near and the . . .”

Law turned the jacket this way, and seeing it was similar to his coat, he slipped his arms in, one at a time, before pulling the front closed, fiddling with the buttons until he managed to slip one into its hole. He felt the pockets and slipped his hands inside, wiggling them around. The coat just barely covered his thighs.

A delicious smell wafted towards him, and he sniffed the air. It was surely meat, but it was something he didn’t recognize—no time for that now.

“Good time to start, because I’m all out of meat. I’ll bring it out in a little bit!”

“Fur coat,” Robin repeated. She glanced at Luffy again; he was busy passing his finger through a candle flame on a shelf, grinning every time he succeeded.

“I’d love to ask you questions, but . . . there’s not much time.”

Right on time, the door in the back flew open, and someone strode out. It was a man, taller than Robin and hair painted light and shaved short on the sides. He wore weather-inappropriate attire from top to bottom and his shiny hands were covered in grease.

“Dunno,” Luffy admitted. “I go there all the time, but I usually run. Also, I have no idea how to tell time.”

“Time? Use the sun.”

“Telling time.” Luffy glanced up at the sun. “Like, right now it’s not right above us, right? But we know it’s not morning, which means it’s past noon. Noon’s when it’s right above us.”

“Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time,” Law continued, trying to match Luffy’s tempo.

He narrowed his eyes and sat up, leaning forward and straining his ears just in time to hear Usopp say in exasperation, “What do you mean, ‘Him?’ Your friend Law.”

“I’ll show you!” Luffy exclaimed. Usopp hung back in a cloud, the spotlight taken from him, and Law went back to the stove, far more prudent of the front this time as he craned his neck again to stare into the pot.

“Sometimes I don’t have time to cook, or I run out of firewood!”

He became so distracted with watching the steam rise and condense that he didn’t realize it was time for food until Usopp tapped his shoulder and said, “Hey, move, I ought to put out the fire.”

Law stared at them as they clopped along. After a moment he turned his gaze forward again, taking his time gazing at the street and people around them. Folks of all shapes and sizes milled about, some clutching their hats in a hurry, others stopping in their tracks to examine something, others entering the buildings surrounding them.

“Okay, yeah. Brook, I’ll come back another time to talk about work, I promise,” Luffy said. He hurried after Law, flinging the door open and sprinting out.

Luffy seized the small wheelchair handles and dashed down the street. Law reached behind him and clutched Luffy’s arms as the chair bounced up and down the old pave at high speeds, sending him into the air for seconds at a time. A loud whistle, much closer than before, reached them as Luffy skidded to a halt.

The pulling on Luffy came again, and this time Law allowed the foreign hands to take Luffy from him. He watched Luffy’s trembling form as detached hands held him, and detached hands wrapped a long, long strip of cloth around Luffy’s neck, and felt his forehead, and felt his chest. Someone said something, and then Luffy was gone, being carried by another person, away, away, away . . .

“Then you mustn’t worry. When the time comes, you can track them down, and find your coat.”

“I smell the ocean,” Chopper said, lowering his hands from his nose. “And something else . . . okay . . . okay, it’s a little better now.” He rubbed his nose and bowed his head. “I’m sorry for being rude. I have a sensitive sense of smell. You must’ve spent some time at the beach before coming here.” He blinked back tears and took in the wetness of Law’s shirt, pants, and chair seat. “Um—”

“Someday, you’ll learn who’s nice and who’s not, and then you know who you shouldn’t waste your time on. Trying to make friends, I mean.” Chopper suddenly covered his face. “Oh! I’m sorry if that was out of line!”

From Two Households, Both Alike

Kilo raised his arms, and the rocks flew into the air once more. This time they hurtled towards Aubergine—but they stopped short, hovering in a threatening circle around him.

Admiral had just turned around when she was struck with a harsh jet of water. By the time it died down, she had gone down on one knee, battered and bruised.

Admiral stood on shaking legs, bringing one back and raising her arms to her head. Aubergine eyed her as the air trembled around her, energy gathering. She closed her eyes, and then they flew open as she lunged forward, flinging the concentrated blast to Aubergine, who couldn’t even run in time to avoid the attack.

“Hey, I’m not mad at you guys,” Zoro said. “I’m sure we’ll do better next time. It’s just one battle, and it’s not like we lost.”

“Yeah, I’m not mad at you guys,” he said with an encouraging smile. “We didn’t exactly lose, and we’ll do better next time. Speaking of which, I’ve agreed to meet that guy tomorrow night for a rematch.”

“We can’t leave it like this, Nami-san,” Sanji exclaimed as Brie wandered over to join Franky’s Croconaw and Poliwhirl. “One of us has to win this time.”

Sanji sat next to him and released his own Pokémon. After assuring them it wasn’t time to battle, Brie sat next to Admiral to meditate with her, and Admiral cracked open an eye to check on her for only a moment before closing it again; Aubergine sat next to Kilo, silently judging him, and Cerise settled down to nap next to Sanji.

They fell silent for some time, listening to the rain beating a tattoo outside, and the river rushing as it swelled.

Zoro pulled his hood over his head, tugging it down to hide his face. “So it was love the whole time,” he said, voice muffled. “Damn it.”

“I won’t fall asleep this time.” Zoro grinned up at him. “Gardevoir.”

By the time the trainer with the straw hat wandered into the cave, the old man was beating Franky into the ground as quietly as possible.

“Not only is it powerful, but now, next time she levels up, she’ll evolve!” Usopp ran a finger over Betty’s head, petting her. “And I think Betty’s close to evolving, too!”

Zoro jumped when his Pokénav beeped. He glanced at Robin and Usopp and held up a finger, hurrying away to another part of the caves. Since anyone could overhear a call, they’d promised to contact each other only in emergency or at an agreed time.

“Can’t be late if we didn’t set up a time.” Sanji stared at him in disbelief as he continued, “Either way, I need to head back.”

“Oh,” Sanji said, catching his breath. “Right—um, we stopped fighting. Seemed a waste of time to draw over and over.”

“Better luck next time,” Robin said, smiling.

Sanji sprayed his head and sighed in relief, tossing the bottle. “I’ll get you one next time I’m out. Archie got carried away, that’s all. He was pissed I went on another walk.”

“Right—Cerise, to Fallarbor,” Sanji ordered. Cerise took off properly this time.

“Perk up!” Nami said, punching his shoulder. “You can finally face off against that asshole you talked about, and win this time!”

“We’ll get you next time for sure,” Usopp threatened, pointing at Sanji and Franky as Nami rejoined them and Robin came out from around the corner. “Team Magma forever!”

Chopper stuck out his tongue at Magma and Aqua one last time before following Luffy into the ashy forest of Mt. Chimney.

“You take these,” she said, shoving them at Sanji. “We’ll relay it. We can use your Pokémon to take one across the water at a time.”

“Sure,” Zoro said at the same time Robin said, “I don’t.”

Cuddlebug passed under Robin’s face in the darkness, his rings glowing in the eerie, magma-lit darkness of the hideout cave. Robin held him in her lap as she spoke, and Zoro and Usopp sat in front of her, Zoro repeatedly checking his Pokénav for the time, and Usopp biting his fingers, staring at Robin.

“Winter is the time for scary stories,” Robin said.

Their conversation was put to a halt as they stalked Sanji directly to Route 118, where Nami made Franky carry her across the shallow water. From there he turned left at Mauville onto Route 110, dodging the Oddish and Electrikes in the tall grass—like most of Team Aqua (and Magma), he preferred to walk or ride on his Pokémon rather than ride a bike. Meanwhile, Nami had to physically stop Franky from inventing a super-fast bicycle right there and then. They argued for so long they almost lost track of Sanji, but remembered their mission just in time and caught up to him on Route 103. He passed through Oldale Town, and then Route 102, and then Petalburg, and finally—

“You weren’t. I told you the wrong time on purpose because I knew you’d get lost on the way. You were right on time.”

Sanji pulled away slightly to laugh. “Alright, sure. Maybe next time I’ll make some and bring it to you.”

“I saw mochi one time at a seaside town,” Zoro said. They went down the vines, Brie bringing up the rear, and as they landed on the tiny island again, Zoro took out a pen and knelt in front of the sign, writing something. He capped the pen and stood, pocketing it again. “It had a beach and a market. I think it was north of here.”

A noise made them look over, but it was only Chopper glaring at them, and Robin turned back to Luffy and let his shirt drop. She pulled down the neck this time and found something over his heart: A faint pink circle, perfectly symmetrical.

From Your Princess Is in Another Castle

A long, long time ago, in a strange and faraway land, a big, bustling town thrived. It was a town whose citizens all lived long, happy lives, and was said to be lovely and prosperous. But one day, tragedy befell this wonderful place. A great cataclysm struck the town and its people.

Nami snatched up the bag and smacked him one more time for good measure before leaving the broken-down shack with Brook close behind. “Who are you, Luffy?” she said, tossing him his coin purse. “Be more careful.”

“Oh?” Professor Frankly said, lowering the book and squinting at Franky and Nami. “You look very suspicious, but if Gabriella trusts you, I suppose it’s fine. She’s one of my best students, you know. I remember a time when—”

“There wasn’t much information on this in our research, but it did come up once or twice,” Gabriella said as Nami held out the Map again. It glowed when she moved it closer to the lower level, so she made a beeline for the stairs close by. “This place might have existed hundreds of years ago, as a city that came before our modern time.”

“Seriously, I think Nami’s right,” Franky said. Luffy’s face fell. “Cheer up, I bet there’s nothing in the town at all. We’ll go see that dragon in no time.”

“Is this a bad time?” Usopp asked, standing in the doorway with Nami.

He broke into a jog. Nami and Usopp paced him, smiling at each other over his head. Tall grass brushed their calves as they ran, some of it flattened as if a small tank had plowed through, and in no time at all the three of them stood before the great doors of Hooktail’s castle.

“No time to waste,” Usopp said, grabbing his hand and pulling him along. He stumbled, making Usopp stumble. “Our friends are probably making their way to Hooktail as we speak.”

Hooktail took in a deep breath and breathed fire on her attackers, ridding the room of the mist Nami had created. Luffy leapt out of the way just in time, and Franky grabbed Nami, rolling to dodge. Usopp and Kory inched along the wall, trying to find a place where they would be out of the danger zone.

“I made it up here a long time ago, and I fought that beast,” Kory’s father said, hugging his son in return. “But it played a trick on me and ate me up. I stayed alive by eating pieces of my clothes and bits of whatever Hooktail swallowed. How long has it been? How is everyone?”

Thank you for playing!

#writing adventures #excerpt

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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 4 years

Text

The Voyage So Far: Enies Lobby

this is still one of my very favorite nami panels. i think she’s really great through all of water 7 and enies lobby in general, actually, even though she isn’t really one of the characters in focus for a lot of it- like zoro and sanji, she stays pretty steadfast and very badass even though everything that happens, and never gives up on robin for a moment despite being one of the ‘weaker’ members of the crew. and it’s always fun to see her playing with lightning.

one of my favorite jokes from the first half or so of enies lobby is the strawhats both being completely unsurprised that luffy charges in ahead of them as soon as they arrive AND being able to find him immediately by following the explosions. they know him so well.

luffy’s never been scared of dying, going all the way back to when he told coby he was fine with dying for his dream back in chapter two or three. that conversation is what his exchange with blueno here reminds me of- blueno asks him how long he intends to keep fighting, and luffy says until he dies, like there’s nothing to it.

it’s always been a trait of his to face death unflinching with a grin, so long as it’s for the sake of something he cares about, be it his crew or his brother or his dream, and i just really like that about him.

i’ll go into it in the dressrosa post too, but i think it’s really impressive just how long oda held off on giving luffy any sort of significant power-up. he gets his first big power boost in the whole series here, forty volumes in. i’ve always liked that oda is very conservative with power boosts like this, because it both keeps the series’ powerscaling in check and makes the times it does happen much weightier. this is a monumental moment, and it feels like it.

also, i love the way gear two is drawn pre-timeskip, especially with the steam. it looks very cool and atmospheric.

i really like how united the strawhat crew feels throughout enies lobby, after all the internal turmoil and discord of water seven. even though the matter of usopp leaving the crew is still unresolved, they’ll all together once more, on the same page, and fully united in the goal of saving robin, whatever consequences it might bring.

the tree of knowledge has such a cool design- it looks massive, and even more than that, it looks old. you look at that tree and you know its been there for easily thousands of years. its seen entire eras of history, and it would be priceless even without the countless books stored inside it.

and then it burns.

i’m so endlessly sad about the tragedy that is robin’s relationship with her mother. they never even got to see each other until their world was ending, and even then only for a couple minutes.

olvia is a very interesting character, because she’s someone who chose her dream over the people she loved. that’s not an inherently good or bad choice, but it is a choice she made, and it’s what led to the ending she and robin had to have. i’ve wondered a lot what might have happened if she chose the other way, if she never left or if she came back sooner or if she chose to flee the buster call with robin, and how different (and almost certainly better) robin’s life would have been if she had.

in a way, olvia reminds me a lot of kouzuki toki. they both die in order to fling a light of knowledge and hope into the future, and they both send their children away and choose to stay behind to choke on ash for the sake of a better tomorrow.

i didn’t really notice until putting these panels together, but a lot of things burn in enies lobby. ohara burns, and the pluton plans and the world government flag, and enies lobby itself, and at the end, the going merry burns, too. if you extend it back to water seven, there’s the galley-la headquarters, too. in an arc that deals so much with the preservation and destruction of history and knowledge, it’s a fitting motif.

the world government flag burning is still to this day one of the most striking panels out of a series full of them, in my opinion. in one act, the strawhats proclaim their absolute defiance against the world government, and their willingness to make enemies of the greatest power in the world for the sake of their friend.

it’s also another one of those moments that’s interesting to think about in the context of luffy’s past. it was a ship flying that same flag that shot sabo down, and while luffy wasn’t there to see it, i don’t think he’s oblivious to that fact, especially given how he says just before this he understands robin’s enemies perfectly.

dadan told him and ace that there was nothing they could do against the whole world, and luffy went and did it anyways.

sometimes i just think about how scary it must have been for robin, someone who’s been weighed down by the shackles of her past with no escape in sight for so very long, to open herself up and let herself hope, for life and freedom and a dream that’s always been out of reach.

franky has a lot of really great moments between this arc and water seven- his conversation with usopp as usopp is working on merry and his talk with robin on the sea train are two others. it’s almost impressive how quickly he becomes an immensely likable character once we start getting to know him, given how he’s first introduced as an absolute piece of shit.

his burning of the pluton plans is a favorite of mine, and i think it might be because, like so many people before and after him, he’s choosing here to stake all his hopes on the strawhats, on luffy’s ability to pull off the impossible and on robin’s goodness. when robin’s only ever been chased and hated and called a demon by the world, franky chooses to trust her and luffy with the legacy his dad died for, and neither of them let him down.

monster point looks SO FUCKING TERRIFYING in enies lobby, and i LOVE it. look at that. franky is seven and half feet tall, and in front of monster point he’s tiny. monster point is huge, and dead-eyed, and a force of absolute destruction. i do kind of wish we got to see chopper go completely feral like this more often. he deserves to be terrifying!

i love how much FAITH all the rest of the strawhats continue to have in usopp throughout enies lobby. he left the crew and they really would have a right to be angry at him if they chose to, but it doesn’t even seem to cross any of their minds. they’re just happy he’s okay, and they include him again without missing a beat, because he’s still their friend and they know down to their bones they can trust him, even after everything.

i’ve always really loved zoro and kaku’s little moment of post-battle banter here- zoro relays paulie’s message about cp9 being fired, kaku says he’s out of a job, zoro tells him to try the zoo, and kaku cracks up.

it feels very real to me for whatever reason, and i think part of it ties back into how well one piece handles morality with its characters- zoro and kaku are genuinely pretty similar people who get along decently, it just happens that they wound up on opposite sides. there are series where you’d never see moments like this due to the lines between good and bad being so firmly drawn, and i love how one piece blurs those lines so much they may as well not exist a lot of the time.

this is the other sequence, along with luffy climbing the drum rockies barehanded, that always makes me physically cringe to look at. it looks so painful. robin is so nearly powerless here, but not quite- she can still buy time for her crew to catch up, even if it’s only seconds, even if she risks shattering her teeth or even her jaw in the process. she’s spent so long giving up and has only just started daring to hope- she’s not about to go gentle.

there aren’t many panels that give me catharsis like this one. there really aren’t.

oda’s villains are usually complicated and awful and often a little admirable, if only for how clever or how terrifyingly powerful they are, but every now and then he comes up with someone who’s just pathetic and cowardly and pointlessly cruel. spandam is like this, obviously, and so is orochi, and the celestial dragons, and i’d argue flampe from whole cake island as well. and there’s nothing like seeing characters like them- weak, cruel people so assured in their own power and rightness- get obliterated.

one of the things i really like about enies lobby is that nobody really gets sidelined- everybody gets multiple chances to shine. luffy, usopp, and obviously robin are the most in focus, obviously, but zoro, sanji, nami, chopper, and even franky all get a bunch of individual awesome moments. oda’s ability to handle his cast satisfyingly is consistently really impressive (if sometimes strained in huge ensemble arcs like dressrosa or wano) and it really shows here, i think.

i just really love the entire climax of enies lobby. much like the arc as a whole, it just feels triumphant, even though the situation is extremely dire. luffy unlocking gear three, robin’s cuffs getting unlocked, usopp shooting spandam and the marines all the way from the tower of justice- it’s all just good, a long chain of much-needed victories and catharses, and it feels very good to read.

i’ll always be impressed by just how much characterization oda manages to give merry, a boat. she’s only really a character in water seven and the end of enies lobby, only about two chapters of which she actually speaks in. and yet i don’t think you’d find a single one piece fan who disagrees that merry’s death is easily one of the most heartwrenching in the entire series.

i love the reactions of the strawhats to robin’s thanks. they’ve just gone through hell to save her, most of them are beat to shit and they all risked their lives, and yet they all just smile, or brush it off, because to them there’s nothing else they could have done. it’s all worth it, so long as they got her back, so long as she’s safe and happy.

merry’s funeral just hits me in the chest every single time i read it. it’s tragic, of course, but there’s also something almost lovely about it, something peaceful about her getting to go out on her own terms, carrying her crew to safety one last time, defying every rule of the universe to do it. just like a strawhat pirate.

oda’s ability to communicate emotion through expressions really comes through here, too. merry has the only lines in this scene, fitting for her death in the limelight, but the shots of every other crewmate’s face let us know at a glance just what they’re all feeling and just how strongly they’re feeling it.

you know, i’d forgotten we only learn the name of the new world after enies lobby. we only get proper exposition about the revolutionary army and the yonkou here, too, despite them being set up since loguetown and jaya (or alabasta, or even chapter one if you count from shanks’s introduction) respectively. oda’s ability to parse out exposition and explanation so we always have just the right amount of information is really impressive- we always have more questions, but we also always have the feeling that those questions have answers, and that sooner or later they’ll be revealed.

points at shanks. i just think he’s neat.

it’s my opinion that one of the great joys of one piece is seeing luffy and the crew rise up in the world, and seeing them gain more and more notoriety. i love nothing they do ever happens in a vacuum- everything has impacts, and there are always outside eyes watching, and often those impacts are things that they never could have predicted.

ace and blackbeard is still, i think, definitely one of the coolest looking fights in the whole series. it’s not all that often we get to see two people with extremely flashy and showy abilities go all-out against each other, and the resulting fireworks are still really something to behold, despite how badly it all ends.

#the voyage so far #one piece #opmeta #long post #arc: enies lobby #arc: post enies lobby #not japanese

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shitstrawhatssay · 7 years

Text

Andi

Commissioned fic for @inktostories

Kofi

Wealth, fame, power: for all these reasons and more, people were leaving home and in search of the One Piece. Was it a myth? Was it a reality? With Gold Roger skewered, it was hard to estimate what was more likely so there was only one way to truly find out. That is what triggered the Great Pirate Era: an era of hopes and dreams, of blood and violence, of stories that would become great bellowing songs in taverns or distance memories nearly forgotten.

In all sorts of logical ongoings, the output of pirates into the world is utterly unprecedented. It is astounding any work can be done on the mainland with the influx of pirates going out to sea. Such a curious phenomenon has Andi’s interest piqued. Ever since they were a child, they have had a fascination with all the ongoings around them and this has been an interest that was lovingly fostered by their parents. Perhaps, that was why the illogical evolution was for Andi to join the influx of those going out to sea in this era of hopes and dreams.

Or something like that anyway.

Having set out at age eighteen, it has been a long haul to where Andi had gotten to now. They’ve seen the bounties escalate in real time and read the newspapers on the deaths of Whitebeard and Fire Fist Ace. It’s been unreal to see so much history unfold just beyond their reach but still in front of their eyes. It was fortunate that many people were recording it: journalists are busy in this age.

And then there’s Andi whose dreams push just beyond the ordinary. They had big dreams and big plans. Yes, it would be nice to get hose first page articles in the newspaper but that wasn’t satisfying enough. Andi had something far grander in mind: a book to call their own.

Books are immortal and beautiful. They are wreathed in soft leather and scented of vintage parchment, it is hard not to love a book. In contrast, newspapers are flimsy and delicate. They yellow and tear easily. They are not remembered the way in which a book is remembered. Andi may not necessarily want to be remembered but this was a grand era in time which had to be immortalised in every way possible especially since this era had fostered an unusual cast of characters.

Pirates. There were so many weird and wonderful pirates. Yes, some were terrible and some would be remembered but there were just so many and each had a tale to spin. They deserved some recognition so Andi has set their sights on each and everyone of them. They wanted to compile a book with information on every single pirate to have taken arms upon the sea and set sail in this Great Pirate Era.

Their parents have been supportive of this goal, after all, Andi is talented enough to get out of any trouble they bumble into. Having set out at eighteen, much has changed in the four years Andi had been sailing. Part of their book had been put together but there was so much more to see and question especially with changing ideals and the Supernovas and the War. It all seemed to miraculous to watch this unfold in real time and to be able to pen the details as Andi saw them with their own eyes.

It was within that four years that Andi had realised something invaluable. Chaos can be trusted. Entropy is weird and wild and can usually be taken advantage of in some form or another. It was peacefulness and serenity and tranquility: all pretty ideas which had to be stayed the hell away from. Those long stretches of ocean without any sort of hazard are deceptive. At least chaos is upfront about its dangers which Andi can appreciate.

And, now, as they drop anchor for the night as a preventative of any useless wanderings, Andi realises something quite daunting. It’s been quiet for some time now. That, Andi decides, is very much not good and having led the life they have led, Andi knows from experience that such peace can only lead to disaster. The life, Andi has led, being one rife with chronic bad luck.

A disgustingly naive thought crosses Andi’s mind as they yawn. Surely, in the middle of nowhere with nothing but miles of blue, they would be safe from the arbitrary here. Even though it was in direct contradiction to everything Andi had learned over the years about bad luck, Andi trusted the falling night and the beautiful, starlit illumination of an empty sea that it brought. Goodness, it really was gorgeous out here.

Andi went below deck and rugged up in blankets on their bed. It was likely going to be a nice and normal, ordinary night. Andi quickly fell asleep despite a strange, nagging worry that something was going to go wrong because Andi was Andi and things always go wrong for Andi.

However, that strange, nagging feeling was validating not too much longer. Andi had probably gone to sleep about ten, maybe a bit before or maybe a bit after. Andi was woken up quite rudely two hours later, maybe a bit less or a bit more but for all intents and purposes, Andi had gotten to sleep and had gone a little bit of restorative shut eye before being woken up.

Andi had been tossed out of bed with a great start and hit their head on the floor. Which was very, very wet and with concern - rather than frustration - flooding their veins, Andi skipped the part where they were confused. They glanced around panickedly and saw that their hull had taken a lot of damage and they were quickly sinking.

They were sinking.

Andi’s mind went blank as they decided they needed to get into gear. Andi quickly shimmied up the ladder to the top deck and was awed by the large ship that had battered into their own, smaller one. Andi recognised the figurehead but wasn’t certain. Was it a flower or was it something else?

It was difficult to discern in the night’s minimal light. Andi squinted around the side and hoped to try and catch a name. Again, it was difficult.

“Oi!” a voice cried out.

Andi’s ship continued to sink.

“You alright?!” the voice continued.

Andi looked around and scrambled to a higher point on their ship. Their heart was slowly breaking.

“No?!” Andi yelled back.

“Okay.”

There was a dull thunk and a screech. A new voice in a hushed tone spoke.

“Hey, do something, that person probably needs help.”

“Oh? Oh! Okay.”

What happened next, Andi could barely believe but as frigid seawater lapped at their ankles, panic flooded them and their hair stod up on an end. In the darkness, something swung out at them and some snaked around their waist and hoisted them back. It sounded like the reel of a rubber hose but felt fleshy. If it wasn’t the lesser of two fears, Andi would likely be far more scared.

Andi screamed as they were whipped back and brought onto the deck of the large ship. Andi squirmed and was released. They ran to the edge of the ship and clutched onto the railing. As their ship sank, so did their heart and all the past years of research. Tears slipped down their face.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, that ain’t cool? What’s the matter, you need help to get somethin’ else off that ship? Don’t tell me, there’re others on there.”

Andi sobbed. “N-No, thankfully not. B-But my...my life’s work.”

“Uh-oh, Franky, can you see if you can do anything. I can’t imagine how soul crushing it would be to have my life’s work ruined. See if you can fish it out.” a woman - the second voice, actually - spoke.

“Gotcha.”

Andi turned away just as the last of their ship went underneath the black waters. They pawed at their face and tried to look presentable. Their eyes widened as they were able to see with the lights scattered about on the top deck.

“No way….” they gasped. They stared.

Their rescuers glanced about each other, as though sensing some sort of brewing confusion but it was quite the opposite. Andi already knew as much as there was known about these so-called “rescuers”. It was with these familiar faces, Andi was able to decide that this ship’s figurehead was not a flower but rather a lion.

“You… You’re Cyborg Franky. Cat Burglar Nami. Devil Child Robin. Pirate Hunter Zoro. Cotton Candy Lover Chopper. God Usopp. Black Leg Sanji. And, of course, Strawhat Monkey D. Luffy.”

“Fan...person?” Usopp said, raising an eyebrow.

“Sort of.”

“Ah, sane person.” Zoro corrected with a shark-like grin.

“Sort of.”

“Fun person!” Luffy decided with a grandiose beam.

He became visibly excited which made Andi all the more nervous.

“If academic history is your thing, most certainly but that’s not to say I don’t mind a good joke… just like my freaking life.”

“Franky, hurry up!” Nami roused.

“Yikes, I know!”

Franky bustled off and the group closed the gap of where he had been.

“So, what’s all this about, eh?” Usopp asked.

“I’m a freelance scribe.” Andi began. “My life’s work is an encyclopedia on every pirate I’ve met so far… Dammit, and… and now it’s gone forever!”

Andi’s fists balled by their side. They choked back a sob but they had snot hanging out their nose and tears on their cheeks regardless.

“Well, it’s lucky you ran into us then, right?” Luffy said with a shrug. “I mean, we’re pretty famous right?”

“Yeah, only captained by the man with the biggest debut bounty ever.” Andi huffed.

“And we know a thing or two about a few different pirates. Maybe we could help whilst Franky fishes out the wreckage of your boat.” Nami said.

“Sounds wonderful, and I shall make us all some midnight snacks, what do you say… my lady?” Sanji said.

“I mean, I am hungry but I am not your lady. Or a lady at all… at least not right now. I’m havin’ bit of a masculine kinda day but…” Andi trailed off.

“What do you say, my gentlemen?” Sanji corrected himself.

“A li’l bit better.” Andi murmured.

“How about we set you up in the office then, and we can work out sleeping arrangements, oh my, it seems we haven’t caught your name even though you know ours.” Robin said.

“Ah! How rude of me! I was so caught up in my drama that I forgot. I’m Andi. Just Andi.”

“Short, snappy, I like it.” Zoro nodded to himself before yawning. He chucked a glance at Sanji. “Oi, curly cook, count me out in the portions. I’m headin’ back to bed.”

Sanji rolled his eyes. “Duly noted.”

Andi was terrified at first. They had met pirates of all sorts of calibre - usually low but still, they were bloodthirsty and scary regardless - and was ready to fight or flee at a moment’s notice, and yet… Andi was made to feel welcome upon this ship: the Thousand Sunny Go.

The office Andi was given permission to use until further notice was homey. The food Sanji prepared for them was beyond belief. Andi had never tasted more divine cuisine and Sanji was talking about this was just something simple to whip up and yet, Andi couldn’t devise a simple way in which such intricate treats could be made so quickly. Nami, Robin, and Chopper were helpful. They hovered, yes, but they made interesting comments about what Andi should add to their new notes. Luffy, however, was annoying and far too happy to chalk many things up to a mystery but he was funny. It was endearing.

Overall, it was all dreamy and beyond belief. Andi had never been treated this way except by their own family. They felt more than an acquaintance to these easygoing, happy-go-lucky pirates despite the way they had met and the fact that it had only been mere hours since meeting and they felt more kindred to them than merely a friend. It was bizarre.

And given the stories they were spurning about Alabasta and the Fishman Island and more, Andi was beginning to think that this was not a lone incident. Andi was beginning to think that the Strawhat Pirates simply had this affect on anyone who crossed their path without instigating too much of a fight. How peculiar. But Andi liked it.

Loved it even.

By morning come, Andi truly felt like one of the gang. More importntly, by morning come, Franky had returned with remnants of their ship and their belongings. What could be savalged was minimal but Andi cherished the effort.

That being said, there was one among the Strawhats who didn’t seem all that taken with them. Andi supposed that not everyone would find them a novelty but they didn’t expect that among such a lackadaisical bunch, there would be one who seemed outwardly hostile to them. That person was Usopp.

The rumours of Usopp were… odd to say the least, or so Andi had come across in their journeys. Some reports recorded him as a brae warriror of the sea. Others, wrote him in speech as a bard or minstrel or similar with a voice that could ensnare all minds, no matter how rational, and make them believe in nonsensical lies. Andi wasn’t sure what to believe. Usopp was complex.

Sometimes he was of bravdo and humour, other times he cowered in fear and was arguably slothful. But none of it explained his hostility towards Andi. A hostility that continued well after two days of having settled in.

Slowly becoming uset by the outward aggression, Andi decided that it was time to do something about it. The other Strawhat Pirates had welcomed them with open arms and Andi wanted the whole set so speak. So, they set to a task by themselves: to convince Usopp they weren’t untrustworthy or unfriendly.

Andi really wanted to befriend Usopp. They felt as though they and Usopp could be kindred souls as they were both story-tellers. Surely, someone of Usopp’s calibre of scribe would be willing to cooperate so it was imperative that Andi befriend him.

Andi’s plan was simple. All they wanted was to get to the root cause of Usopp’s animosity and see if it could be resolved from there. This meant that all Andi had to do was somehow corner Usopp and force them to talk. Despite it being a forced meeting, surely discourse of a civil manner could be born.

However, Andi being Andi, things could not naturally be so simple.

Andi had been observing Usopp for the past hour. He had been flicking between reading and fishing to idle his time on the calm seas. He was set in a loose pattern but one Andi could take advantage of nonetheless as lunch came nearer still on the clock and Usopp had to be getting hungry as he was out of snacks and hadn’t visited the kitchen in a while. More importantly, Sanji had visited earlier to let him know there’d be a place at the table for him soon too and this gave Andi an excellent opportunity.

Andi hid themselves behind a wall and watched as Usopp began to walk past. With a one and a two, Andi sprung out from their hiding spot. They crash tackled into Usopp and Usopp’s back his the deck. Together, they skidded off. Andi screamed. Usopp yelped.

Soon enough, Usopp was pinned beneath Andi.

“Get off me!” Usopp yelled.

Andi would have liked to pause to think but this was not a time for thinking.

“No! We need to talk!” Andi shouted back; going red in the cheeks.

“Why do we need to talk?” Usopp asked.

“I know you don’t like me and I want to know why.” Andi replied.

Usopp propped himself up and Andi slid down his legs; he was still effectively anchored and trapped though. He frowned as he played with his hair.

“I don’t trust like that.” Usopp replied, hesitantly.

“What do you mean?” Andi asked.

“I just don’t like that you know so much. It’s… disconcerting.” Usopp replied.

“…Huh?” Andi replied. They didn’t see the logic in that at al.

Upon seeing the confusion on Andi’s face, Usopp erred. His brows twitched and Andi laughed.

“I still don’t get it.”

“It’s just, nothing good has ever come from someone knowing too much. Especially since we’re not exactly the type to be of thorough thought ‘round here.” Usopp explained.

“I’ve noticed.” Andi joked.

Usopp ruffled at the back of his hair, pinned up in a ponytail. He smiled awkwardly.

“Do you wanna get off me yet?” he asked, cheeks tinging pink.

Andi’s nerves jolted. They got off him and now their cheeks were pink to match. Laughing nervously, Andi offered a hand to Usopp. With a yank, he anchored himself and Andi helped him.

Now Andi was nervous for a different reason. They realised they had been straddling Usopp – more or less. How embarrassing! For them both, too. Not to mention, now that Andi had been up close and personal with Usopp, they could tell that Usopp was a rather remarkable looking fellow with his long hair and toned body. It could attract anyone. Even someone like Andi. Friendship had been the desired outcome of this incident but now infatuation was beginning to bud in Andi’s heart.

At least, for now, Andi could cherish Usopp’s companionship. With him won over, things were far different. They had a lot in common. Perhaps it was that which had led to a barrier in the first place as opposites attracts and likes tended to repel each other, like magnets. Though, that can’t be the case now. Now, they were thick as thieves. Everyone in the ranks of the Strawhat Pirates were joking and teasing about it; seemingly unable to bring up one without the other. It was strangely flattering.

Both were scribes of the sea with tongues for telling tall tales. Usopp had a beautiful mind. He had a blunt way of putting things: simplistic and stylised though but a linear narrative nonetheless and yet the stories he conveyed were comedic and entertaining. He had quite a talent. Though, to begin with, Andi did struggle to discern truth and lies but they were beginning to get a grasp on his ticks now.

It was because of this budding friendship and gift of the gab of his, that Andi was able to restock their damaged notes and add more. The Strawhats had been on so many amazing and nearly unbelievable adventures but the truths of them were worth their weight in gold. Andi was now part of part of an exclusive and privileged party to get their account first hand. From Buggy the Pirate Clown to the Warlords of the Sea to the Four Emperors: the connections the Strawhats held were astounding.

Eventually, Andi was told to pick absolutely anyone who was on their good side. Anyone who they wanted to interview, anyone at all and the Strawhats assured them that Andi would be able to strike an interview with that person because of their friendship with the Strawhats.

It was an enticing offer. It was one Andi was even quick to accept until other ideas began to float through their head. They had some time to consider who they wanted to track down so Nami can navigate the appropriate course, but Andi knew they weren’t going to use the two days they had docked to think about that. No, Andi was going to use this time to consider their feelings. The interview can be an impulse but this other ting playing on Andi’s mind was something that deserved thorough thought.

The feelings regarding Usopp were complicated, Andi found. It was far too soon to decide upon the true extent of romantic implications, but Andi was enamoured with Usopp’s company; far beyond that of friendship. They wanted to at the very least verbalise this confusing, fluttery feelings that cause their heart to skip a beat, their cheeks to redden, and their palms to sweat.

Time was limited between them. It was foolish and ephemeral, but Andi wanted to give these feelings a chance regardless. So, whilst their ship was being built – not rebuilt, built from scratch by Franky’s designs – Andi made plans based on these strange feelings and faint thoughts.

Andi watched idly as their new ship went from being sketches on paper to a wooden skeleton to an almost complete ship. It was soothing to watch the construction and helping Franky helped filled the time. Andi had heard once that menial labour can facilitate the higher thinking part of the brain and with all these murky thoughts, helping screw small together or adding a slap of paint was a comfort that made things strangely clearer.

Upon the completion of Andi’s new ship, Luffy decided it was good cause for a farewell party and being pirates, none of his crewmates could resist the idea. Sanji made enough food to feed a few dozen armies and Brook played gorgeous melodies upon his violin. Jokes and stories were told; some danced. It was great fun.

Andi really enjoyed themselves. A party on the docks, listening to music and the ocean lap at the shores. Lights in houses behind them sparkled and there was a coolness in the air that was soft and romantic even. And yet, despite all the gorgeous ambience, Andi found themselves in utter denial of all the thinking and resolving they had done. They also fond themselves in utter denial of Usopp. Consciously avoided hi despite his confusion but he kept distance to be courteous, just in case.

Andi kept reasoning with themselves that this was the most reasonable thing to do.

But the end of the night was drawing nearer. The fun around Andi was inescapable and contagious and though they were enjoying themselves on the surface, their memories were slowly becoming tinged by regret from inaction. From that regret, a new resolve was born though faint, Andi wanted to trust their heart, so they were the one to scoot in next to Usopp.

He looked a little bit weary. Who wasn’t? It was past midnight, after all.

Andi sat next to him and he sat in closer to Andi. Their shoulders brushed together and hands fumbled. Usopp chuckled awkwardly. He spoke first.

“Hey Andi. So, uh, is it me or, um, are you – were you – avoiding me?”

Andi laughed back and averted their gaze. “Uh, yeah… I was, kinda.”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No! Not at all! I just needed… space.”

“Yeah, I know that feel. It’s a big ship but it’s easy to get overcrowded.”

“That’s not… it.” Andi hesitantly replied.

Usopp’s eyes widened as he turned his head slightly, “It’s not?”

“No, it’s not.”

“Then what is it then?”

Andi turned their body towards Usopp and took a breath. Usopp’s body language became surprised before steadying. He could tell that Andi had a lot to say and he intended to listen carefully. He knew what was about to happen wasn’t going to be some happy-go-lucky story or the like. This was serious. And, he would respectfully meet the matter with his own sternness.

“Usopp, um, I…” Andi faltered with their words. They took another breath and their eyes gleamed with a newfound confidence and resolve. “We haven’t known each other for very long but I feel like we have a connection. Am I wrong in thinking that?”

“What? Not at all. I feel the same. We get along great. I mean, we’re a bit different to each other but we make each other laugh and stuff. It’s very easy to get caught up in, well, friendship, I think, and I think we’ve got a connection too.” Usopp explained honestly.

Andi blushed and their heart hammered. There was an underlying bait in what Usopp had said. He hadn’t intended as such, but it encouraged Andi to keep pushing at these feelings; at this conversation.

“It’s just…” Andi hesitated again.

They could barely hear their thoughts of their heart but maybe that was a good thing because it allowed them to feel intuitively what they needed to say rather than overcomplicate it. “It’s just I think I like you.”

“Like me? Well, I’m glad. I like you too, Andi.” Usopp replied.

Andi frowned, huffed. “No, I like you like you. Like-like you.”

Usopp’s eyes widened and his jaw slackened. He murmured, repeatedly: “Oh… O-Oh… Oh…”

It would have been endearing had it not been excruciating to listen to. It was like he was attempting to record the information in his brain, but it was just getting continually rejected and thus, needed to process again and again. It was horrible.

At least it was, until, Usopp shut himself up with a big breath and he turned slightly ajar from Andi. Andi felt as though their hopes had been dashed. Had they been wrong?

“I’m… I feel the same way.” Usopp murmured, almost beneath his breath.

Andi lifted their head. Now it was them whose eyes were widening. Their heart fluttered in their chest. It was a sweet, twinkling feeling devoid of fear or anguish. It was pure and chaste.

“Y-You do?” they manage stutter out over their rapid heartbeats.

Usopp scratched at the back of his head, shy, then affirmed Andi simply: “Yeah.”

A moment of sweetness blossomed between them where they fumbled with the ramifications of their confessions. A sweetness soon tainted by bitterness. It was such terrible timing. Both led temporary lives on the sea, battered by the winds and going with the waves. It was hard to coordinate meetings and Andi, though a brave rapscallion of a person, was a civilian and Usopp a pirate. It was such unfortunate circumstance.

But that didn’t mean it had to be hopeless.

Andi looked towards Usopp. “We might only have tonight but perhaps, it could be worth it.” they said.

“Yeah, maybe.” Usopp replied.

Andi yawned but leaned in. Perhaps it wasn’t going to be just tonight. Perhaps it was just going to be now: a bittersweet and ephemeral moment on an everchanging clock.

Reading their cues, Usopp leaned in also and he put his hand over Andi’s. Andi’s hands were writer’s hands. They were soft and unworked by strenuous labour, like that of carpentry or paving, but they were ink-stained and callouses rose from odd places upon their fingers. Small and squishy-feeling, Usopp liked Andi’s hands.

Andi puckered their lips and met Usopp’s. Usopp’s lips were chapped by hours spent at sea, in the razor wind. His nose, awkwardly long, bumped against Andi’s face. It was strange but not necessarily unpleasant. It was a good, chaste kiss that seemed to slow the world. It seemed to extent the ephemeral moment their feelings were taking place within but it wasn’t enough to completely stop the flow of time.

They needed breath eventually, so they pulled away. Disjointed and awkward, worried about how they had performed. Strangely sheepish, even, because of their kiss.

“How… was it?” Usopp asked.

“Good, good, great – excellent even!” Andi yipped before going red. “Not that I have a frame of reference or anything… That was my, my um, first kiss.”

“Oh. Oh…” Usopp muttered.

“You’ve had past experiences?” Andi asked, not intending to pry but the journalistic sense within them was trying to demand otherwise.

“Uh, yeah, my childhood friend. Kaya. She was my first kiss and crush. But you’re really different to her. Apples and oranges, I guess you’d say.” Usopp rambled.

“It’s fine.” Andi almost panickily stated.

There was a lull in conversation and awkwardness permeated them both as they were left to dwell upon the fact all they had was a moment and now the moment was gone. There was little else to say and do besides ponder the missed connection. If they had met sooner, if they had later: a lot could have been different. But it hadn’t. It had been this.

Soon, tiredness set it and the party came to a faded and dwindled conclusion. If, it truly ended at all. Perhaps it merely moved to another moment in time, much like what would happen to the feelings Andi had harboured.

They didn’t regret it. That had been the best course of action. It was better to have lost and loved than to never have loved at all; fumbling with loose-ends and potential possibilities. As bittersweet as it was, it was better than the regret of what if?

The following mid-morning, it was time for Andi to set sail onto their next adventure. With Dracule Mihawk in their sights, that was the adventure and knowledge Andi wanted to chase; with a recommendation from Mihawk’s ex-pupil Zoro, of course. Still, it was bittersweet to go.

“I’ll miss all of you.” Andi called out from atop their newly varnished deck.

“We’ll miss you to!” Luffy called out.

“Some of us more than others.” Sanji teased; he nudged Usopp who sheepishly blushed.

“Don’t worry ‘bout Mihawk, he’s all bark an’ no bite; he’ll love you!” Zoro added, thankfully salvaging the conversation from an embarrassing turn.

“Thanks.” Andi added.

They were intimidated. Mihawk was a warlord after all. He was a fearsome, fearsome man and, yet Zoro spoke of him softly, gently, despite their scuffled meeting in the East Blue. Andi supposed cohabitation would train things, even when under the guise of an enemies-like relationship.

Andi firmly believed now, having met the Pirate Hunter, that he would one day achieve his dream and take Mihawk’s claim from him. Andi looked forward to meeting him then subsequently interviewing. Based on Zoro’s tales, he sounded like a cool and honourable man who has seen much and would, therefore, benefit Andi’s notes.

“Thank you for having me and thank you for building my ship after you destroyed it. Thank you for sharing your stories with me.” Andi gushed as they fidgeted with ropes.

Their boat was designed to be able to keep guests whilst only being staffed by a lone person. There were all sorts of kooky contraptions and mechanics to allow for Andi to do the work of multiple workers. They appreciated Franky for all the countermeasures they were slowly familiarising themselves with.

“My heart would break if any of these dweebs destroyed my work – and they have in the past. You have my sympathies. I hope nothing like this happens again in the future, Andi!” Nami called out.

Andi reeled back the anchor and their ship began to move out. Luffy threw his hands in the air upon noticing. He waved them ferociously through the air with a silly grin on his face. All the faces of all the Strawhats seemed both happy and sorrowful: parting continues to ring true as such a sweet sorrow.

“Bye, bye, Andi: I hope we meet again!” Luffy called.

“Yes, I do too!” Andi called back. “And you, young man, had better be King of the Pirates by then!”

“Hell’s yeah I will be!” Luffy laughed.

Andi slipped away from the railing. Their smile shortened upon their face and their heart grew heavy but that’s just goodbyes were like. They didn’t want to, but they turned their back on the Strawhat Pirates. They were probably doing the same. They didn’t have all day, after all. This was a busy port. They needed to go just as much as Andi, lest Marines decide they’re easy prey or rival pirates. Anything could happen.

Andi visited the figurehead of the ship. Franky had asked what their favourite animal was so Andi had replied and now they had an adorable elephant to lead them through their voyages. It wasn’t particularly fearsome-looking, no, not all, but Andi cherished it as they ran their hand over the wood of it. It was so sleek. It was nice to the touch. Andi could understand better now why the figurehead doubled as Luffy’s favourite seat on a ship. It had a lovely view too.

The voyage to Kuraigana Island was long and hard but it was journey Andi was able to make just fine. They missed the bustling company of the Strawhat Pirates and it made them yearn for friends once more. But they were a somewhat introverted person, so they appreciated the peace. It was hard to strike balance between being overcrowded and not being crowded enough.

As they drew nearer to Kuraigana Island, they wondered if Mihawk had that problem too. Mentally, it was hard to realise Mihawk was just as human as anyone else, but his eyes were so avian and his reputation so fearsome, it was hard to categorise him anything human at all.

Kuraigana Island was every bit as creepy as Andi had been warned it would be. It was swathed with a thick mist that seemed almost teal as it clung to the frigid air. It was mossy moors and swamps. It was eerie and quiet except for the cacophonic singing of a young woman: Perona, if Andi was correct by what Zoro had told them.

They docked by a rickety pier and dropped anchor. They looked around. Their heart pounded as they swallowed muddy breaths. Andi was well aware of the dangers hidden in the mists, but it was a clear path from this beach to the castle. Andi could see it through shadows and mystique. It excited them. They clutched excitedly onto their stationery as they clambered down.

This would be their next adventure. The next knowledge found and recorded. Surely nothing could go wrong.

#mod stuff #not a quote #inktostories #commissioned fic #one piece #opfanfic #i will only be posting it here #hoo boy this is huge #commissions will be closed for a bit unless you want fortune telling btw #this has left me drained tbh #but i love andi and i hope i have done them justice

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animesavior · 8 years

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“Even an adventurous crew like this one deserves a calm and relaxing day now and then. How many years…no, how many decades has it been since I could just sit around and take an afternoon nap in the sun without a care in the world? While I wondered the seas alone, I would lay my head down, not knowing if it was day or night, and dream of my long lost comrades…and Laboon. However it was precious little solice for when I awoke the fleeting joy became a press of loneliness. Yet, what could I do but repeat the cycle again. In those days I could find peace neither in slumber, nor in my waking hours. But now, if I listened carefully…I can hear my new friends all around me. I know I died and I am now nothing but bones but…I’m so very happy to still be alive. […] I’ve no doubt that this time of quiet will soon be replaced by the roaring sounds of adventure, a prospect I welcome wholeheartedly. But now, it’s a moment to rest one’s bones. Laboon, it seems that the next time we meet, I’ll have quite a few stories to share, old friend. Until then, I’ll keep dreaming of you, and I hope you’ll keep waiting on me.”

- Brook, One Piece (Ep. 384)

The Toonami Trending Rundown for March 18-19, 2017. A big milestone for the better cartoon show this week as Toonami celebrates its 20th anniversary. And it would be a night to remember with some great moments including Jack getting chased down by the Daughters of Aku, and while trying to excape he kills one of them, learning that Aku’s loyalists aren’t all just “nuts and bolts”. Meanwhile, Beerus ramps up his power, hoping to see the full potential of Goku’s SSJ God abilities, and we end off Toonami’s current run of One Piece as Brook settles down and attempts to fit in as the newest member of the Strawhats.

On Twitter, Toonami and every show would successfully trend in the US and Worldwide during their respective East Coast airings, in addition to both #Toonami20, which was a hashtag used to commemorate the 20th anniversary, as well as #SandWhaleAndMe, as Toonami showcased the first part of the 5 part miniseries by Production IG. In addition, being One Piece’s final night, fans would make sure that show would go out with a bang, as #OnePiece would trend from the duration of its East Coast airing to its West Coast airing. Samurai Jack would also produce a character trend for the very first time with Aku, as 50 years on and after destroying all the known portals back to the past and hoping he would eventually die of old age to no avail, Aku has pretty much lost all motivation to try and kill Jack.

On Tumblr, both Samurai Jack and Dragon Ball Super would reach its trending list in addition to Tokyo Ghoul, as Toonami showcased a promo for its upcoming debut next week.

Finally, in a first for Toonami programming in the social media scene, both Samurai Jack and Dragon Ball Super would make the top two positions on Nielsen Social’s top 5 most talked about shows on Twitter and Facebook, the 16th and 17th time a Toonami show has made it onto the list since we started recording this feat. This would also be the second week in a row for Samurai Jack to reach the list in addition to becoming the 2nd time a show has reached the #1 spot, meanwhile this would be the 9th time in the 11 weeks it has aired so far that Super has made it onto the list.

Among some of the other features to commemorate the 20th anniversary, Adult Swim along with Titmouse created this short film titled "Exquisite Corpse". You can check it out below.

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As the Spa Island mini-arc comes to a close, it pains for me to say that unfortunately due to flagging ratings, high costs in airing the show further, and perhaps a need to shake things up programming wise, among other things, Toonami has pulled the plug on One Piece’s run on the better cartoon show.

Initially as One Piece made its grand return to the block in 2013, things were great as Toonami enjoyed great ratings and social media buzz for the show alongside its Big 3 Shonen Jump counterparts in Bleach and Naruto. But as time marched on, ratings began to lag for multiple reasons, and by 2015 One Piece fell all the way down the schedule from 1am all the way to 2:30am and eventually being the lowest rated show on the block besides the rerun (and sometimes even being out-beaten by the rerun). At that point, the signs were probably there that the show’s days as a Toonami show were numbered. Granted, despite its shortcomings ratings wise, we all thought it was at least doing well enough to stay, and it did for a while, though we know now that it was no longer the case.

Quite a few factors likely played a role in One Piece’s demise. Some blame One Piece starting on episode 207 instead of episode 1, as newer viewers didn’t get to experience the events in those earlier episodes. To use a recently aired example, when Brook recalled his days with Laboon, Toonami never got to showcase the Strawhats encounter with Laboon, so the emotional aspects could’ve been lost with some people. Meanwhile, some blame the show not being able to catch up with the pace of the most recent dub episodes, being aired once a week. And although this is subjective, others have also commented that the show’s “goofy” feel and artstyle, for lack of a better term, could make it hard for some to take the show seriously, especially in regards to the show’s emotional moments.

Of course, One Piece’s sheer length may have played a part in its eventual demise. The show is presently up to 782 episodes and counting, which is getting right up there among the lengths of soap operas, and combined with the franchise having some heavy continuity, no doubt that some have been turned away because of the commitment. I myself was even turned away initially into One Piece because of this until Toonami’s airing got me interested. And even for those that are committed, with Toonami so far behind from where Funimation is at with the dub, much less where Japan is at (we ended at 384), along with the show only airing once a week and the show itself having no end in sight, it would have been near-impossible to catch up. Hence, this is why many decided to binge watch the series at their own pace instead, and this would show in the ratings.

And on that same note, there has been a bit of a backlash lately in regards to the amount of long runners on Toonami. When JoJo came on late last year, every single show on at the time save for Gundam and the 3am rerun would last on Toonami for at least two years. That doesn’t really give much room for a turnaround to get newer shows unless an expansion is in the cards, which we are seeing with the 11pm timeslot. While long runners do help with consistency to the block’s ratings, and no doubt the reason these shows are long is because of their immense popularity and demand for more, it doesn’t help if the popularity and overall buzz of said shows wear down. Both One Piece and Naruto have had some ratings fatigue as of late for various reasons, which is partly why they ended up at the back end of the block for the last few years. Meanwhile Hunter x Hunter fans have pleaded to Jason and the crew to keep that show at least at 1:30am for fear that it could suffer the same fate. And while JoJo’s and Gundam are doing fine for now, we feel that they could be doing much better. If you want Stardust Crusaders and IBO Season 2 to come to town, giving those shows the ratings support will help.

While Jason has promised more shows are still to come, possibly with expansion, but in regards to One Piece, it might have opened the can of worms in regards to cost considerations. With the direction things were going, One Piece would likely have been pushed to 3am or later to make way for those new shows. With most fans too tired to watch past 3am unless they used a DVR, the programming department at Toonami likely unable to pay high costs for a show so late, and Funimation and Toei likely unable to lower the renewal costs, Toonami decided it just wasn’t worth it anymore.

The problem could also go all the way back to the show’s days when 4Kids was the distributor. First impressions can often play a big role if a show becomes a smash hit or not, and with 4Kids poor handling of the show, fans were understandably turned off, and those first impressions among newer viewers were squandered. When Funimation took control, it would be too little, too late, as Toonami cancellation and the days of CN Real was upon the channel, and One Piece had to go elsewhere to gain its fanbase. One Piece would eventually rebound and gain immense popularity through other means and eventually another Toonami airing, but in comparison, the likes of DBZ and Naruto each received much better first impressions from both the Toonami and general audiences and both franchises currently benefit from massive nostalgic fanbases to this day in the US, something which we are seeing with the continued success of Dragon Ball Super and the hype for the upcoming Boruto series respectively.

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In the end, for one reason or another, One Piece just never caught on among the Toonami and general American audiences as much as we hoped and various factors each played a role in One Piece’s hopes of staying on Toonami unsustainable. Combined with the demand for more variety from viewers and the need to keep Toonami growing overall, it was no surprise that changes had to be made. While I’m sure One Piece’s Toonami viewers and even the Toonami crew themselves did everything they could to make the show work, there just wasn’t enough support to realistically keep the ship going without Toonami running into significant problems both financing and timeslot wise at some point. And as we all know, the growth and health of Toonami as a whole is much more important than one single show.

While One Piece is a beloved show to many of us, and will likely continue to be for years to come, the reality is that Toonami just can’t continue airing a show if millions of people don’t agree and watch it week after week on the better cartoon show. While the One Piece fandom is anything but a vocal minority, with millions continuing to enjoy the manga and the show on streaming sites and disc sales around the world, in regards to Toonami viewership, even Jason DeMarco himself has mentioned that “One Piece fans have been far more vocal about the show on the internet than they are focused on watching the show on TV”.

And as Jason himself has regularly said, television is a democracy and people vote with their eyeballs. It’s the reason why Naruto Shippuden, despite having the same issues with not being able to catch up with the dub and constant complaints about filler, wasn’t put on the chopping block as well, for now at least. It’s the reason why the likes of Attack on Titan and Sword Art Online have been big hits both inside and outside Toonami’s reach despite discontent from the vocal minority of detractors (as we have seen with the success of Ordinal Scale in theaters for instance), and will both likely be back at some point to air their respective sequels. And it’s a big reason Toonami mainly focuses on action oriented anime and cartoons, as the likes of slice of life, sports anime, and live action, while big on other outlets, were pretty much flops when Toonami experimented with such shows. In this case, while there were plenty of eyeballs watching, there just weren’t enough watching per week to keep One Piece running much longer.

Consider this to be a big wakeup call to fans of every current and prospective show on the block, that if a show makes it on Toonami, it has to pull through when it comes to both Nielsen ratings and overall buzz. If the show does well, all will be good as we’ll get to enjoy the show in its entirety, and if a sequel were to come, the odds will be good if not all but assured that the show will return. If not, changes will be made and another show will get its chance instead, as we saw with One Piece leaving and Tokyo Ghoul on its way. It doesn’t matter what the critics think of a show, or what your opinion might be. The moral of this story is that if you truly want a show to stay, continue to watch and enjoy, but don’t be complacent and not watch thinking it will be there forever. As the old saying goes, you don’t know what you got until it is gone.

Personally as a fan who got into One Piece via Toonami, it is pretty disappointing to ponder what could have been for this franchise, but what it did do for Toonami social media wise is one worth celebrating. During its nearly 4 year presence, One Piece would use its opportunity the best it could and no doubt fans made sure their voices were heard. The hashtag #OnePiece would trend in some capacity a grand total of 137 weeks including 19 times during the Long Ring Long arc, 29 times during the Water 7 arc, 39 times during Enies Lobby (including a marathon during Christmas 2015 showcasing the finale of that arc), 11 times during the Lovely Land arc, 35 weeks during Thriller Bark, and was a perfect 3 for 3 during the Spa Island Arc.

The show also produced 26 different character/in-show content trends, some of which occurred multiple times, including 19 characters (Arlong, Brook, Chopper (including Chopper Man), Franky, Foxy, Kuma, Laboon, Luffy (Including Afro Luffy), Nami, Robin, Olvia, Sanji, Saul, Shanks, Sniper King, Spandam, Usopp, and Zoro), 2 attacks, (Buster Call and Third Gear), 1 response to an event (RIP Merry), and 3 story arc names (Enies Lobby, Impel Down (Which we never got to), and Water 7).

No doubt One Piece is a part of that great legacy Toonami has made that made millions of people into anime fans and for their respective success, Toonami owes a lot for One Piece, and One Piece owes a lot to Toonami. Unfortunately, things weren’t going as well as we all hoped and Toonami decided it was best to part ways. While no show can be able to fully replace One Piece, we do hope you continue to support the block going forward or at least the shows you enjoy as it continues to showcase great anime to American audiences. Sometimes change can be good and if Toonami can use this opportunity to keep bringing in new shows, the loss of this show will at least sting less. And who knows, we could be seeing the next generation of top tier anime air here soon enough that could inspire fans both new and old like One Piece did for us.

That all being said, we have seen time and again that nothing is impossible for the better cartoon show and perhaps one day One Piece could return to Toonami stronger than ever. We saw it when Toonami first brought back One Piece back in 2013, and who’s to say it can’t happen again when conditions improve? For now, if you want to continue watching One Piece, check out the DVDs/BluRays and Manga as well as checking out new episodes on FunimationNow and Crunchyroll. Funimation is presently hard at work with dubbing season 9, and while Toonami won’t be there to commemorate One Piece’s future milestones at least for now, the franchise’s popularity looks a lot stronger than before Toonami joined the fray. It will be interesting to see where the One Piece franchise goes in the years ahead as the quest to find One Piece continues.

So on behalf of the Toonami Faithful, bon voyage, Strawhats and thanks for the memories. We’ll miss you.

Starting out as a mere idea by Mike Lazzo, Sean Atkins, and Jason DeMarco, Toonami has grown over the past 20 years to be a major phenomenon and has played a major role for why Anime is as popular as it is today. I personally started watching Toonami when I was a young kid around 1998-ish when I stumbled into Cartoon Network one afternoon as Toonami was airing Sailor Moon. While back then, it was strange to be enjoying a “girl show”, I was instantly hooked, and along with DBZ, the ThunderCats, and later Gundam Wing, I became intrigued and later became a fan with what would we all know today as anime.

We may or may not have realized it at the time, but Toonami turned out to be something special as it helped jumpstart a golden age for the anime industry as many shows were created and/or brought over to American shores partly in response to Toonami’s success. Of course, we reaped the benefits of this golden age, as we were introduced to a plethora of both anime and action cartoons, many of which we have grown to love, and some we still enjoy today. The four dark years when Toonami was off the air aside, the block was, is, and likely will continue to be a “gateway drug” for millions of anime fans, and perhaps more to come.

What makes Toonami successful, at least to me, is that it is not necessarily one show. What makes up Toonami is the 9 great action anime/cartoons that it presently airs now, plus the hundreds of shows that it aired in the past, as well as the many shows that will make its way to the block in the future (whether there are new franchises or sequels to popular Toonami shows), not to mention the packaging and adventures of TOM and SARA. From its smash hits to its underrated gems, Toonami has always had something for everyone. Add in the occasional music video, movie or animated short, game review, or other special feature Toonami has every week, and you got something millions tune in or DVR weekly every Saturday.

If Toonami taught us anything these past few years, it’s that nothing really is impossible. A few years ago, it was thought to be impossible that Samurai Jack would get a 5th season. Fast-forward to today, and here we are, talking about what’s next. Hell, Toonami returning was a miracle in itself. While many have sought a return during its hiatus, the dream never became realistic until Mike Lazzo and the Adult Swim crew decided to run Toonami and some of its past shows during April Fool’s Day 2012 and possibly see if there was interest. The response was a clear yes, and so here we are today seeing Toonami continuing to do as they do best.

And of course, the future looks bright for the better cartoon show in the months and years ahead. With Samurai Jack’s return continuing to impress and FLCL’s return also on the horizon, more original productions might be on the pipelines ahead. New acquisitions will also await, whether they are smash hits or underrated gems, each hoping to see their full potential in the west, including Tokyo Ghoul which begins next week. Previously successful Toonami shows including Attack on Titan, Blue Exorcist, One Punch Man and Sword Art Online among others will be among those to watch for in regards to Toonami potentially airing their respective sequels at some point ahead. And of course, barring any other dips in popularity and cancellations, the likes of Dragon Ball, Gundam, Hunter x Hunter, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Naruto each looks to continue to impress Toonami audiences for months if not years to come. Of course, if you have anything in mind for Toonami to show, we always recommend you sending your show requests on appropriate outlets (ex. their Facebook and tumblr message boxes). You may never know if millions of other folks, the distributors, and the Toonami crew will agree and try to make it happen.

The next 20 years or so will be one to look forward to and we could see a lot more to come ahead. And if you ask me, the success of Toonami, its partners, and even its competitors will all play a key role for the future prospects of anime and action cartoons in the west in the years ahead. Could we see a second season of another beloved Toonami show? Further expansion? A comeback for movies? The next anime boom if it’s not happening already? Or could it all just come crashing down in the end? Nothing is certain, but nothing is impossible, and we could be seeing some great things ahead. Of course, it takes two to tango, and if you do wish to keep Toonami going for another 20 years, keep supporting Toonami and the anime industry overall as always.

We continue on creating that legacy this Saturday, as Tokyo Ghoul will make its long awaited debut on the better cartoon show at 1am, while Gundam Unicorn will showcase its second half at its new time at 2am, and Naruto Shippuden will continue on at 2:30am. On behalf of the Toonami Faithful, thanks for all the memories, and here’s to many more.

Legend: The shows listed are ordered based on their appearance on the schedule. Show trends are listed in bold. The number next to the listed trend represents the highest it trended on the list (not counting the promoted trend), judging only by the images placed in the rundown. For the Twitter tweet counts, the listed number of tweets are also sorely based on the highest number shown based on the images on the rundown.

United States Trends:

Toonami/#Toonami [#4]

#Toonami20 [#1]

#SamuraiJack [#1]

Aku (From Samurai Jack) [#2]

#DragonBallSuper (Also during the primetime presentation) [#1]

#SandWhaleAndMe [#1]

#DBZKai [#1]

#JoJosBizarreAdventure [#2]

#GundamUnicorn [#1]

#HunterXHunter [#1]

#Shippuden [#2]

#OnePiece (Also during the West Coast airing) [#1]

#GhostInTheSHell [#1]

Worldwide Trends:

#Toonami20 [#2]

#SamuraiJack [#3]

Aku (From Samurai Jack) [#4]

#DragonBallSuper [#7]

#SandWhaleAndMe [#8]

#DBZKai [#8]

#JoJosBizarreAdventure [#8]

#GundamUnicorn [#7]

#HunterXHunter [#8]

#Shippuden [#8]

#OnePiece [#1]

#GhostInTheSHell [#7]

Tweet Counts:

Toonami [13.9k tweets]

#Toonami [7,729 tweets]

#SamuraiJack [10.2k tweets]

#DragonBallSuper [4,800 tweets]

#DBZKai [1,767 tweets]

#JoJosBizarreAdventure [2,027 tweets]

#HunterXHunter [2,259 tweets]

#OnePiece [6,100 tweets]

Tumblr Trends:

#tokyo ghoul

#samurai jack

#dragon ball super

Notes and Other Statistics:

#Toonami: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @blumspew and @adultswim started the trend in the US.

#DBZKai: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @FUNimation started the trend in the US.

#HunterXHunter: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @VIZMedia started the trend in the US.

Special thanks to @coreymbarnes, @jmb70056, @TheNextHokage and others I forgot to mention for spotting some of the trends on this list.

Eat Up. Only Toonami on [adult swim] on Cartoon Network.

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