I convinced my mom to try the live action One Piece, because she's the type to like this style of show even though she isn't into animation and would never read manga, but I didn't think I'd be able to convince my dad because he's usually a stickler for more grounded and realistic stories (his favourite genre is war movies, his favourite movie is Saving Private Ryan, for reference). But, when I brought up with him how I figured it probably wouldn't be his thing because it was fantasy, he mentioned to me that he does enjoy some fantastical stuff if it has like an internal universe logic, like Star Wars, and the more I thought about it, the more I remembered that he also enjoys campy fun action adventure stuff that doesn't take itself too seriously like Indiana Jones or Pirates of the Carribean.
And One Piece has both that internal logic for why people can perform crazy feats (even if it isn't explained right away) which I mentioned to him (just that there is a reason why people can do crazy things in this world), as well as the campy fun action adventure thing going for it, especially in the Live Action (the fight against Morgan's base even has a major Indiana Jones vibes ngl). So I explained that to him and asked if he wanted to try it, and he agreed to watching the first episode with me to decide if he'd watch it with my mom and me.
AND HE ACTUALLY SAID IT WAS INTERESTING SO FAR!! Like, he is NOT the kinda guy to enjoy anime or manga or even western cartoons, always refuses to watch anything anime and doesn't show any interest when I talk about it (I've managed to convince him to watch a few movies like Sword of the Stranger but it's obvious that even when he's not bored or doesn't hate it, it still doesn't catch or keep his interest), and he's really picky about anything fantasy or SciFi, if it like sets off his bullshit meter too much he starts nitpicking the logic behind certain abilities, or decisions, or explanations, etc. I once tried to get him to try Gravity Falls and he wanted to stop after the first episode. He's THAT picky.
So the fact that he actually laughed several times while watching the first episode of OPLA with me, commented about Luffy's character positively several times (he seems to think Luffy is really funny which surprised me cause I thought he'd be the most entertained by Zoro but I mean I can't blame him it is Luffy after all), never cringed or criticised or said anything about how ridiculous it was, means a lot coming from him cause he's always really blunt and honest about his opinion on this sort of stuff (which is fine I don't want him to pretend to enjoy stuff when he doesn't). He actually watched the whole first episode without it losing his attention, and seemed to have fun! And he agreed to watch the rest with my mom and me!
This sort of thing is one of the reasons why I dislike when people just dismiss the idea of live action adaptations entirely. I get that people are jaded with past failures, and don't like when live action is treated like a replacement for or improvement from animation when it isn't. But it is a valid medium just as much as animation or comics or writing are, and can be used to produce some amazing things. And the fact is, there are people who have a hard time connecting with other mediums who will otherwise never engage with this media in its original forms. Live Action, when done well and done right, can reach new audiences and welcome them into the fold in ways the original formats never can.
One Piece didn't need the live action to be popular, obviously, and the live action cannot and will not replace the original, nor should it. But I love that we get to have it alongside the manga and anime. It's just more of what we love, it's the cherry on top of an already stellar multi-layered cake. It complements the original rather than taking anything away from it. And for the first time in over a decade I might be able to share One Piece with my parents, who would only ever have a chance of experiencing it and enjoying it in live action. There's just something so awesome about that for me personally. I just wish more live action adaptations would understand what the One Piece live action understood about the adaptation process, and that's how to keep the heart of the story in-tact, so more people from more fandoms could have a chance to share something they love with more people who it would otherwise not reach.
Anyway, thank you Oda and the OPLA cast and crew for doing live action right for once!
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Billy Cranston canon and au children, adopted and otherwise.
WOW they tried hard to get this character paired up with a girl. There are so many potential girls. If I miss one please let me know. I’m adding adoption because we know while Minh is his co-ward by way of Zack…they basically adopted her. She’s basically their adopted kid.
Canon children of Billy Cranston:
Minh Kwan. Aged about late teens, probably seventeen at most. She still is legally taken care of by Billy and Zack after all. Minh is the orphaned daughter of Trini that Billy and Zack co-parent. He and her definitely seem to have a lot healthier relationship after the movie. She’s a yellow ranger, like her mother. Technically I should put her name Kwan then middle name then Minh but I don’t think her middle name’s been revealed? And when I find out Trini’s I’ll fix that as well
Alternate reality children of Billy Cranston:
Marge (last name unknown);
Marge and Billy were the two smartest people in their school, and Marge asked him out to one of the school dances. They were both sent to the dark dimension when a monster, Madame Woe, mistook Marge as a power ranger. After, Billy continued seeing her because he felt bad. They ended up with a son, Jordan Cranston. Seventeen. His parents are separated and he doesn’t see Billy. Terrified to tell his mom he’s gay. His entire life is plotted for him, and while he’s brilliant he’s feeling a little bit….stifled. He’s been spending time with the punks of his high school and might be falling hard for a red ranger. Which is illogical because he’s never even seen his face. Jordan sells answers and helps people cheat. Not because he needs to, but it’s the only way he knows how to rock his life off the carefully plotted course it’s on. Easier said than done.
Violet Arias;
Violet was Billy’s high school art class partner. She was another one of the smartest kids in their school, and was very kind. Although they fell out of contact for a few years, they interned at the same company, and reconnected. One thing led to another, and they have two kids, a house, and a very friendly relationship. They decided not to get divorced until both of their daughters, Indigo and Lavender, were eighteen. They’re still good friends so it’s not like it’s a super big deal, after they talked it out.
Lavender, aged 16, has brought her girlfriend over on more than one occasion. The only big problem was the fact the girlfriend is a vampire. Billy and Violet had to, on top of comprehensive sex education, subject the two to comprehensive blood sharing education. Lavender is a vegan and very artistic. She’s fascinated by Rita and her putties, to the panic of her parents. Lavender is honor roll, A+ type student. She’s preppier by far than her younger sister. Constantly doing things on purpose to make Indigo leave her room. Such as turning off the electricity when she knows Indigo needs to get out and has saved her stuff. Aka big sister notices little sister js doomscrolling and does something about it. Lavender is not associated with a color.
Indigo is fourteen. She’s figuring herself out. She’s too smart for her own good, and is very hacker punk. More rebellious than her sister, and likes thinking she’s smarter than her dad. Billy is constantly left a bit flabbergasted at the audacity of his tiny child. Everyone who knows them considers this hilarious. She’s just like him, down to the glasses. Indigo wants to hack into the morphing grid however, and that’s a bit concerning. Indigo when she gets older will be a yellow ranger. A very very snarky yellow ranger.
Laura (last name unknown);
Laura and Kimberly were both scoutmasters for their Angelette troop (power rangers version of girl scouts). Billy was hoping to get data on a rare solar storm, and he and Laura began flirting. Billy and Laura got together, and then shortly after a kid, got divorced amicably. Turns out, Laura and Kim were a better fit in this reality, as well. Laura and Billy's single kid is William Cranston, aged 24. He wants to be a weather man and is going to school for it. Being a meteorologist has been his dream since forever. He's a green zeo ranger. He gets on fine with Billy, who never remarried, and his step mom of Kim, who adores him. Mild mannered, but he's not the kind of person to forgive easily. once he's been wronged in a way that would completely break his trust, that's it. He's done. It makes it difficult given an ex is also a teammate. Billy's a great source of advice for William, and very helpful in William's career. He's always offering ways to balance his civilian life and his work life, and gadgets to make his work life easier. Doesn't always work, but it's appreciated. Kim is also helpful in William's life, and he enjoys going on hikes and things with her. He appreciates his mom and Kim sat him down and asked permission once they were ready to properly date. It meant a lot. Of course the answer was yes, and he considers his step mom as a good friend. William's considering he might maybe be a little bit bi. for a villain. which...well. weirder things have happened to him.
Cestria;
Solaro Cranston is 25, and a very unusual hybrid. the Aquitarans were unsure if this could even be a thing, but Cestria (later realizing he was more of a Cestrio) and Billy decided to see anyway. Surprisingly, human and Aquitaran genetics are compatible. Solaro has some Aquiraran features, such as the face spotting, and needs to stay hydrated, but he's more human than Aquitaran. He spends his summers on earth however, with Billy, who is an interplanetary dilplomat with his now fully transitioned husband. Solaro is not associated with a color, but he is good friends with the legacy rangers. He's never been chosen by a color, but doesn't feel left out. Almost as smart as his parents, but like Cestrio he wants to be a healer in some form. Is working on getting into medical school. Billy is super proud of him. He and Cestrio are also considering a second child, but via other means, and Solaro is slightly weirded out by this but is overall supportive of his parents. Often gossips with Minh when he sees her. He quickly adopted her as adorable little sister.
Trini Kwan;
Minh, in this reality, Billy is the unnamed father. Minh and a younger brother, aged 10. Hao and Minh go to live with Zack after Billy inadvertently gets their mother-his wife-killed. as of course, he tells them the truth. Even after, they don't forgive him, but Minh does somewhat reconcile. Hao, however, needs time. Nobody blames the kids for not being able to forgive, least of all Billy.
Kimberly Hart;
Kimberly and Billy made a pact in early highschool if both of them were single by the time they were thirty, they'd get together. Incredibly, this happened. They have one son, Waylon Cranston. Aged 18. Waylon is a blue ranger and a gymnast. Not interested in romance or a lot of friendships, he's more goal oriented, and that means he's got a forty four step plan on becoming a gold medalist and the youngest geneticist in the world. For his own good, Billy actually suggested he see if Mighty Morphin Blue or Pink or...any color...work. Blue likes him. Waylon hates this but it's getting him out of his head and forcing him to learn how to be a team player. Still not interested in romance, but hey, nothing wrong with that. All Billy and Kim are happy over is that he's talking to people.
Zack Taylor;
They adopted Minh together basically. But in an alternate reality they got married and have two adopted kids, Harlow, aged 19, Selena, aged 17, and one kid by surrogate, Dylan, aged 9.
Harlow was adopted by Zack and Billy when he was seven, and is the first kid they adopted. He and the senator bonded over a shared love of music, and breakdancing. He bonded with Billy a little bit later over Billy mentioning that like Harlow, he used to have a fear of fish and water, and it was fine feeling irrational fear. Harlow tries really hard to make both his dads proud. He's got a lot of pressure he puts on himself. He's a perfectionist. Everything has to be perfect all the time. Billy's the first to try to get him to see the beauty in sometimes things just...not...being...perfect, and it's okay if he's not immediately good at things. Tommy Oliver is his favorite honorary uncle, and is a huge help with how he feels and living in a family. Is the blue ranger, alongside Selena, who is the orange ranger (there is no pink on their team).
Dylan was born a couple years before Selena was adopted. rambunctious kid. Gives his dads a heart attack all the time. His mom was Aisha, and his dad was Billy. There were long talks about it, but it was actually decided by a coin flip because Aisha could see they were psyching themselves out, and were going to talk themselves out of a choice they very much wanted. So she took charge for them. They love Dylan, and Dylan loves his dads, and his brother, and his sister. He likes music and playing pirates. He's one of the smartest kids in his grade school class, but Billy and Zack want him to make friends, so he's not allowed to jump a year. He does get supplemental lessons by both of them, though, so he doesn't stop being curious. Not associated with a color.
Selena has a lot of self doubt about being in this family, and doesn't get why Billy and Zack keep going to bat for her. They go to bat for her because they see in her a lot of themselves, and a lot of Tommy. She's a cheerleader at their school, and does baby sitting as a side job. She struggles to feel worthy of being the orange ranger, but she likes her new brothers, and she likes her dads, and she likes being able to show some of how grateful she feels back to them.
In a small variation, Minh would come live with all three of them as their sister and yellow ranger.
Jason Lee Scott;
Jason and Billy weren't actually expecting to get together; this kind of just. Happened. Jason's dad disinherited him, and Billy's parents welcomed Jason in with open arms. They've been together since Jason came back and became a scuba instructor. Billy became a science professor, Jason is still a scuba instructor. They have two kids, one adopted and one was a magic spell turned oopsie baby. Jackson is adopted, but not human. He's a Xybrian who ended up on earth after a freak accident with his parent's ship. He's purple haired, and Billy and Jason offered to take him in until a good Xybrian option could be found. No better options were found. He's 27 but still going to school as lifespans of Xybrians are far far longer than humans. He halves his time. school year is on Xybria, breaks are on earth. Extremely protective of little brother Zachary, who is seventeen. He does find it a bit of a whiplash, going from non psychic society to planet full of them, but he's adaptable. Is interested in becoming a cartographer. while associated with purple, he's not interested in being a ranger as of right now.
Zachary was intended to be something entirely different than what he is. Vile created the perfect copies of Billy and Jason's strengths and combined them. Unfortunately, this was what they themselves considered their strengths. Billy's intelligence of course, but his sense of fashion as well. Jason's fighing skills yes, but also his adaptability, and his sense of humor. Vile deemed this a failure, but instead of a spell destroying the young man, he got turned into a baby due to quick thinking from Zack and Rocky. Billy and Jason figured since he existed, they'd just raise him. He's fairly well adjusted, excitable, and really passionate. A little bit of a himbo, a little bit too smart for his own good too. not associated with any color. He was named Zachary Rocky Scott in honor of the two who managed to keep him alive.
Tommy Oliver;
After surviving the world of the coinless together, the two got very close. Tommy was the first person Billy came out to, Billy was the first guy Tommy went all the way with. They have one daughter. Her name is Amanda Oliver. Aged 19. Amanda is adopted, and completely spoiled by her dads. She wants for nothing, and she loves them back deeply. She's a karate instructor, and a power ranger mentor. She's got a really open relationship with her parents, and trusts them to trust her, and they do. A little bit of a heartbreaker, finds it difficult to lie, loves science and kids.
Eugene Skullovitch;
After being best friends as kids, then not, then sort of friends, then maybe more...they have two kids. Charlie Cranston, aged twenty two, and Oscar "Skid" Cranston, aged twenty. Charlie and Oscar are both via a science experiment, where Billy combined his and Eugene's genetic codes in a randomizer, to see if anything would happen that was viable as a sperm and egg equivalent. Yes, he got permission for this from Eugene. He sold the patent, and lives happily with his and Eugene's kids. Charlie is a blue solar ranger. She has been since she was seventeen. Billy didn't know at first and when he found out....he grounded her for not telling him. Then came back thirty minutes later, apologized, ungrounded her, and told her to be careful. Eugene doesn't get it as much but he's trying, he really is. He worries more than Billy, though Billy does often find himself staring up at the stars on late nights with tea in his hand, knots in his stomach and hoping he sees his daughter for Christmas. It's different, somehow, when they're in space and not in town.
Oscar is friends with a Bulkmeier, of course. He's the family "problem child", in a general sense. The prankster, and he's super smart. He is mild enough nobody really thinks he's as smartass and clever as he is. His entire motivation is cause as much chaos as possible. He used to prank his sister once a month until she left, and he's the one who let slip she's a power ranger because she was thrown through a building in front of him. She didn't know he knew, and he's been apologizing since via no more pranks, and gifts. so many gifts. Her favorite foods, updates on her favorite bands, jewelry she'd like. He doesn't have to but he feels bad. This was the closest they ever got to the family splintering. Trini, Zack, and Jason do their best to help the three deal with Charlie in space. Oscar works as a janitor, isn't really interested in dealing with school or anything. He likes doing his hobbies while having a stable job.
variation; they get together when he helps Skull with his newborn son. Spike takes care of his little siblings, and helped Oscar get his nickname and his current job. Billy is eternally caring to his adopted kid, and does the best he can by Spike.
variation 2; Charlie becomes Charlie from A Team. This time, Billy DOES ground her. she never hears the end of it
Matthew Cook;
When Billy loses his ranger status and goes to work for Grace, Matt is also there as the green ranger. Billy keeps his distance for a while; the guy is more or less a massive dick. Especially over something that wasn’t Billy’s fault. Billy’s also not taking pot shots at his friends or Zordon over it with Matt. They start dating after the War, and Matt’s final betrayal. More because he finally wore Billy down, but Billy had a good time hanging out with him again. And then both of them had the rude realization at the same time of “I am attracted to this man-fuck he noticed-oh he’s into it” which snowballed. They adopted one kid, and had another via help from alien technology mixed with a little magic. Nora, aged 26, is a professional hockey player. Matt decided he was going to support her sport even if it wasn’t his sport. Billy quickly developed a love of baseball at one of her events when she was little. Mostly because this game is ridiculous. Though he does worry about her on the ice. A lot. They adopted her when she was five, and she’s loud and enthusiastic and very rarely is she ever sad or genuinely upset. Her opinion on things is mostly “be friendly at it or challenge it to a fight” and generally speaking the options work enough she’s never needed to figure out other plans of action. She met her wife during a game. She’s from an opposing team. Nora gave her a concussion; she knocked Nora’s front teeth out. This was par for the course and they bonded in hospital. Billy’s still trying to figure out HOW. Matt thinks it’s hilarious. Is the green dragon ranger. She is legitimately feared by most and can solve most problems without suiting up. The threat is enough.
Their other child is Abner. He’s socially transitioning, he’s 18. He wants to be a writer. He and his sister have a very loving if slightly antagonistic relationship. When Abner came out to her, Nora’s response was “well now you don’t need to steal my clothes. Give them back” which lead to an argument but not the one Abner was expecting. They negotiated the clothing situation. Abner’s not giving back a pair of boots; they look way too good on him. Matt and Billy both support him. Matt sometimes slips up with name, however he’s quick to correct himself. Billy helped Abner choose his name, and was the first person he came out to. Abner is a little self conscious about his looks, and about his public image. More in regards to if he’s going to make his family look bad. Like Matt he tends to brood and focus on negative details way too much. Like Billy he tends to strive for perfection and his vocabulary makes it hard for people to understand him.
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if I missed any of the many many love interests/head cannoned/forced romantic possibles, please let me know! I will add them as I see them
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