#then his brothers beat sanji up one day and he can only ask sabo to come pick him up

[beanghostprincess]

Sabosan Modern AU in which Luffy hosts a party in his house because Ace and Sabo are both out for the night and he thinks it's a great opportunity to turn it into fun (because he hates having the place to himself. It's boring and lonely). It's just the usual six people (East Blue crew + Vivi) but they always have so much fun anyway. So the thing is- They're drunk. Wasted. And they don't even get in trouble anyway, they're just playing silly games in the safety of their home and there's nothing wrong with that, surprisingly. It's impressive how they manage to get in more trouble when they're sober. However, Sanji is going through a rough time. He's been quiet all night and everyone knows something's wrong with him because he has been in a mood for the past week, but he's Sanji, so, he won't talk. Something something, Zoro and Sanji fight like usual but this time Sanji is drunk and honest and everything hurts, so he ends up genuinely feeling like shit and going upstairs to ignore everyone because he can't handle all of that right now. Nobody follows him because again, they're all drunk and they don't even know what to do with that and it'd be surprising if they even noticed the fight because, again, drunk and playing games. And since Sanji has always been and always will be in a romantic teenage coming-of-age movie ever since WCI happened, Sabo just casually, randomly, comes back home because of inexplicable reasons (the reason being he fought with Koala in their college dorm for setting on fire one of their books while saying the educational system is a scam and she kicked him out for the night). So the guy sees all this party they have and just goes "I'm too tired for this. Just don't break anything and God, please, don't go into Ace's room" / Usopp: Wait, why? / Sabo: You don't wanna know.

So Sabo goes upstairs to his room, hoping to get some sleep or work done (work being planning his next riot, not studying. Imagine Sabo studying, pffft) but instead, he finds a blond sitting on his bedroom floor on the verge of a panic attack, drunk, crying and begging Sabo not to kick him out because he doesn't want to go back home. Sabo has no idea why the hell he's saying that because he doesn't want to kick them out, especially Sanji, now that he's saying all of these incoherent things about being afraid to go back home. Sabo recognizes what's going on because he has gone through this himself and they also have to deal with Ace's panic attacks a lot. So he helps Sanji calm down and ends up reassuring him that no, he's not going back home tonight. He can stay all he wants. And Sanji keeps crying and whispering things and names Sabo only knows because of magazines and the news ("Vinsmoke Ichiji, next in line to preside the executive table at Germa Enterprises!" / "Commonly known as a heartbreaker, Vinsmoke Niji was recently seen on a date with one of Charlotte Linlin's daughters!" / "Accused of problematic commentaries, Vinsmoke Yonji addresses the discourse by saying, and I quote 'Who the fuck cares?'"). So, alright, Sabo is not fond of the Vinsmoke family and at first he wasn't fond of Sanji either for the same reason, but he's different from them and he has known ever since two years ago the guy came over with lots, and lots of food only because Luffy wasn't eating properly. But Sabo now knows the rich family isn't just full of shit socially but also inside, and seeing Sanji so anxious and weak about it makes his blood boil. Now is not the time to get angry, though, so he just stays by his side and waits for him to calm down, offering him a shoulder to cry on. The guy is drunk and having the breakdown of his life and the only thing Sabo can do right now is be there for him, even if he wishes he could just go over to their ridiculously huge house and burn it down. The things Sanji talks about aren't pretty. They make him want to throw up.

Sanji ends up falling asleep and Sabo takes him to his bed so he doesn't sleep, well, on the floor. Sabo goes downstairs instead. Besides, he has to clean up the mess the others made anyway.

So Sanji wakes up in a random bed, recognizing the room, and wanting to die from the hangover he's having right now. But he remembers everything, sadly, and he wants to die from embarrassment because he just vented to his friend's brother like it's nothing. They get along, but not that much to do shit like this. He wants to try and sneak out of their house before anybody notices, but of course, Sabo does. It seems the guy has a power for these things. But Sabo is extremely nice, actually, and it isn't that awkward in the end. They're alone because the others got up earlier to go home and Luffy went with them too to spend the rest of the day with Zoro (wow, who could've guessed). Sanji doesn't want to go home but he needs to get the fuck out of here because he feels like he's intruding, especially since Sabo has made breakfast (normal, regular breakfast. Nothing too special but it's way more than what he expected from these siblings). He has to finish eating and then he'll go home! But then Sabo offers him a shower and- Okay. He'll go home after having breakfast and showering! But then Sabo tells him to, please, stay, and be my guest, it's a bit boring here on my own and I want an excuse not to study. And how can Sanji say no to the guy who has helped him so much? So he stays. And one thing leads to another and it's already nighttime because they actually have a lot of things in common and they have fun together- But Sanji needs to go home. Now. Because if the news finds out about him being away for this long it's gonna be a problem and his brothers will be twice as annoying.

Sabo finally lets him go but- But there's something in his eyes when he does. He's worried sick. He's so concerned for him that it's aching inside of Sanji's heart too. Sanji wants to stay the same way Sabo wants him to not go. Almost begs him to. But he can't. But Sanji knows, then, that if he ever needs somebody to talk to, Sabo isn't that far from home anyway.

[novosg]

Being the ASL trio’s sister would include…

A/n: first time writing something like this but I hope y’all enjoy!

written with fem black reader in mind

for this let’s say you’re about a year or two older than luffy but still younger than ace and sabo

Luffy:

If you think he stresses Nami out, just wait ‘til he gets around you.

You’re shadow and best friend since y’all were kids.

Usually tried to act all tough and protective even though you’re older than him.

Whenever Ace would yell at him he’d go running off to either you or Sabo (mainly you because you wouldn’t hesitate to yell right back).

You’re the first official member of his crew and his vice captain. No if, ands, or buts about it.

You’re also the only one who he’ll bother to share his food with.

Whenever his mouth is full and he tries to talk you usually end up translating for him.

“Mnrf duff manauce?”

“He wants to know if there’s any more of that sauce left.”

Nami and everyone are always looking to you to keep him in check which makes you his impromptu baby sitter.

He’s not a stranger to you knocking him upside the head, either. He knocked the two of you into the ocean once (right after your wash day too) and you had never swung on him faster.

Most definitely wraps around you the most. The boy loves physical touch and he loves you so it’s only natural.

When you do meet him, Law simply cannot fathom how the two of you are related.

You being on his crew ramps up his protectiveness 100%. He knows good and well you can take care of yourself, but that doesn’t mean he won’t keep an eye out every now and then. Especially after losing Ace

Sometimes you both will just sit and talk about your childhoods and the stuff you got up to with Ace and Sabo.

Whenever the new bounties come in he always rockets himself to your side so you can look at them both together.

If you wanted to date any of your friends or someone from the crew he honestly wouldn’t mind as long your happy! But the second he sees you’re upset and that something’s wrong the captain/little brother mode turns on and he’s ready to fight.

Best believe that no matter what happens you’re never gonna get rid of this boy.

Ace:

The type of brother that’ll say “no” if you ask him to buy you something but then immediately buys it anyways.

Listen, when y’all first met, Ace honestly couldn’t stand you.

It was bad enough having Luffy following him around, but now you too? It irritated him to no end.

Obviously y’all grew closer and once you became his sister this mfer refused to leave you alone.

Y’all definitely bickered the most out of the four of you. Usually Dadan or Sabo had to step in and diffuse the situation.

“Shut up already Y/N! It probably doesn’t even hurt that bad! You cry like a little girl!”

*crying stops* “…I AM A GIRL YOU IDIOT!-”

Yeah…’least he helped you learn how to throw hands.

Stole your bonnet once when y’all were kids and you caught him with it on and you swear you’ve never seen him blush faster.

When you see him again during Alabasta he refuses to leave you alone. Messes up your hair, asks you a million questions, teases you, the whole shabang.

Jokingly asks if you’ve found a boyfriend yet but becomes absolutely laser focused whenever he spots Sanji spinning over towards you and spouting his usual dramatics. Says he could always beat him up if he’s bothering you. He’s joking, of course…kind of.

Regardless, he’s so proud once he sees you and Luffy again, and he’s thrilled knowing you guys have such great friends. It makes him feel a bit more at ease.

When he gets the chance, he secretly tells the two of you separately to keep looking out for each other no matter what. He can’t always be there for the two of you, so he at least wants y’all to be there for each other.

Brags about you and Luffy all the time on Whitebeard’s ship to who ever will listen. And if they don’t wanna hear about you two? Too bad Ace has already started.

He definitely keeps yours and Luffy’s bounty posters hung up in his room by the way.

We don’t talk about marineford but we’re going too

Ace’s death wrecks you just like it did Luffy and Sabo. It ended up knocking you out for three days as well.

There’s a huge hole in your heart after his passing, but you keep moving forward, wanting to be strong for Luffy.

Just like Luffy and Sabo, you can’t help but lash out at anyone who insults Ace and his memory.

You don’t talk about Ace often, the wound still practically fresh even after two years, but you do think about him all the time.

Sabo:

Best brother lowkey

Even when you both were kids and not yet sworn siblings Sabo had a huge soft spot for you.

Would jokingly call you his favorite just to rile Luffy and Ace up.

Used to help you do your hair some days. (Was surprisingly good at it too)

When you finally see him again at Dressrosa you have a similar reaction to Luffy’s. Even if you do try to keep yourself composed his shirt still ends up soaked through from your tears.

He tells you how thankful he is that you’re still alive as well and it only makes you cry harder.

Y’know how he’ll drop basically anything he’s doing to come to Luffy’s aid if he thinks he’s in danger? Well he’s the exact same way with you, but he moves that much faster.

He’ll be damned if he loses another brother, but someone might as well go ahead and put him down if he loses his only sister too.

Now that he’s got his memories back and he’s seen you and Luffy again, he never shuts up about the two of you. Remind you of anyone?

Koala says she knows more about you and Luffy then the two of your probably know about yourselves.

Is always the first to grab the newspaper now if there’s even a chance of seeing anything about you or Luffy.

His comrades have long learned that trying to talk to him when he reads something about the two of you is futile. He becomes practically deaf to the outside world.

They’ve also all been given the task to report back to him if they ended up on an island you and Luffy happened to be on.

“By the way, Sabo, we spotted your brother and sister while we were-”

“WHAT? Where! How were they? Were their friends with them? Tell them I said hi!”

Sometimes he can’t even sleep because he’s too busy worrying about you guys.

He makes sure to work even harder for the revolutionary army’s cause just so he can make sure the world is a better place for you and Luffy to live in.

Never hesitates to fight if he overhears anyone saying something even remotely bad about you two. Doesn’t matter if he’s on a mission or not and he needs to be subtle - they gotta go.

Overall, Sabo couldn’t be more grateful for you and Luffy. It makes life a bit more easier knowing his little brother and sister are out there and have each other’s backs.

[baahsu]

Uh- well, I'm a huge fan of shipps like Zosan, Lusan, Acesan and more, and I finally have the courage to say some of my AU's with these shipps and the Vismoke's siblings! (Mostly are Trans Fem! Sanji or just Fem! Sanji because idk)

Ok, the first one is a fantasy AU with a Fem! Sanji and Lusan. Where most of the world is habited by non-humans creatures, like demons, sirens and etc. Germa is only of the little amount of kingdoms who is totally human, and is isolated from the world because of the others creatures. Judge still makes the experiments on his childrens, with the purpose of turn them into better humans to take the world in the future.

And Sanji — the failure, the princesse who never had bern born — is secretly talking with these non-humans creatures, mostly specific, Monkey D. Luffy, the future King of Pirates, and his friends and brothers. With them, she tells the horrible things her fathers and brothers do, and this let the little demons sad about everything she pass in her home. So almost every day, they go see her and make sure that she feels loved — and during this, Luffy maybe have created a crush on the human grils.

Sanji still make contact with them every chance she have. And when she's 10 years old, she run away with the help from her demon friends. After that, she's mostly "adopted" by the old demon Zeff and still have a strong friendship with her dear friends.

11 years later, when Judge thinks it's the right hout to attack the Pirate Kingdom — or, the strongest kingdom of the world — and send his sons. But they fail, and all the five are captured by the oldests princes Sabo and Ace (who both neglected the title of King). The plan of the demons was kill them, but with the king and the queen are away because of a business conference so they have to wait.

During the time before the rulers come, the Vinsmoke sibling end up intrigued about the real family of the Pirate Kingdom. Who's the youngest son? And why he's the king? Who's the queen? The five of them appear to have so much questions it gets annoying.

In the end, they discover that the youngest prince is a boy named Monkey D. Luffy and he's the king because the two others don't want the title.

But, much to their dismay, none of them said who's the queen. And every time they ask, the answer is always the same "You'll know soon, and this will broke the surprise". The siblings end up thinking about how the queen might have be.

The day the king and the queen come back, the five were anxious about the fact they'll know who's the queen. When they see Luffy, they're calm bit when they discover that Sanji is the QUEEN?! Oh boy-

Anyway, how you'll think about this? And how you think the Vismoke sibling will react?

And you can call me Purple Poppy! It's a pleasure talk with you and I hope I haven't annoy you.

Hello purple poppy!!!! Honestly the idea of human sanji being surrounded by demons that want nothing more than to protect and care for them is just so good!!!!! 🤌🤌🤌

The way 124ji and reiju would react I think would depend on how the see other creatures? Do they usually fear them or are disgusted by them or are intrigued by them but have to pretend they aren't because of judge?

I think reiju would be relieved sanji found a good place for him regardless, but the other three I'm not too sure. I can imagine yonji being curious af about these demons and wanting to test his strength against them. Niji would probably wonder why they took in a failure like sanji (asl would try to beat him up for speaking about sanji like that and sanji would have to stop them 🤭), and ichiji I really have no idea, I feel like he could either follow judge's orders to capture sanji or figure he might as well let the failure go for good (and face judge's wrath later because of this decision)

[tciddaemina]

on law, luffy, and bedtime stories - a random one piece headcanon

okay but, okay but, okay but, has anyone ever thought about what luffy and law’s concepts of bedtime stories must be like? most of the other one piece characters have at least one (fairly) normal adult figure in their upbringing for some portion of their childhood, like usopp and robin had their mothers, nami bellemere, franky had tom, sanji had his mother and then zeff, and chopper had kureha, etc, etc, so you can imagine at at least one point or another they got an idea of your fairly normal concept of bedtimes stories and what you tell kids to help them sleep at night

luffy didn’t though. luffy’s formative years were by and large spent being raised basically single-handled by a pair of feral mountain children, with only minor and occasional intervention by bandits. if luffy was ever told bedtimes stories, it was ace and sabo doing the telling, and god can you imagine? i feel like luffy’s concept of normal bedtime stories would be these incredibly violent and slightly horrific horror stories, like, whatever it is two wild feral preteen boys disillusioned with society and living in the woods think is a) cool and b) scary enough to be worth telling. like, these kids beat people up to steal their money for fun and spend every other day hunting tigers, not to mention that both ace and sabo are literally quite fucked up, traumatized little kids. like, they make it work, but i can’t imagine them telling stories that aren’t immensely fucking disturbing in the way only children's made up stories can so effortlessly be

luffy meanwhile, eats it right up, accepting it without fuss, because the other option is getting teased for being a crybaby, and also he loves them both so much in the respect is imitation kind of way, which means that what they think is cool he also thinks is cool, so he sees absolutely nothing weird about the fact that every time they tell him a bedtime story it’s the sort of plot that could be marketed as an R-18 horror movie. he thinks absolutely nothing of it

and i just like this because it’s the absolute opposite of what you’d expect from luffy, and yet it makes full sense when you consider his upbringing. like, someone ever asks luffy to tell a story and just ends up utterly stupefied at the terrifying horror story he comes out with, because its so utterly unexpected for his bright and cheerful and fairly innocent personality. 

like, between law and luffy, if you had to say one of them was really into horror stories and didn’t know how to tell proper kid’s bedtime stories you’d say it would be law, right? he gives that vibe. sarcastic, jaded, sharp-edged, don’t give a fuck going to spit in the eye of god and cause problems on purpose just because he likes to be a bitch and watch other people clean up the mess. it’s him you’d expect to have this really fucked up notion of it all, especially when you consider the later portion of his childhood post-flevance and the impact that’s had on his life

and this is where it particularly gets fun, because you’d think that right? but you’d be wrong. because before flevance and before the donquixotes and before cora’s death and all of that shit, law was the eight year older brother to a younger sister. and sure, law as a kid may already have been weird and slightly off - he dissects frogs for fucks sake, he was always going to be a character - but he also had a fairly normal family up until a point. his sister, shown to be a sweet somewhat sensitive crybaby (basically just a normal little girl) always asks for bedtime stories, and when law’s parents are busy, he does it instead. but he’s learned from example from his parents, has been on the receiving end of the normal trend of bedtime stories in his own time (even if he wasn’t much enthused by them), and more than that he knows his sister and what sort of stories she likes so Law’s bedtime stories are always these wholesome, sweet tales about princesses and magic and evil curses and true love and friendship saving the day. like, just absolute fucking fluff. it’s not that he likes these sort of stories, he mostly scorns them actually, but he cares about his sister so he sucks it up and tells stories she likes, because if he told the ones he’d like instead she would end up crying. so those are the stories law tells, those are the stories law knows how to tell, because he’s had a lot of practice at it by the end

and so if made to tell a bedtime story (though he’d no doubt go to great efforts to refuse doing so) that’s the sort of story law would come out with, absolutely baffling anyone who has known law for even a fraction of a second, because its trafalgar law. like, what the fuck??  

and i like that. i love that. luffy, who is just such an absolutely cheerful wholesome dude, just putting out these absolute horror stories, while law, cynical, jaded, and sadistic law, tells these really soft moving stories about princesses being saved by the power of true love. it’s so seemingly antithetical to their character, but it isn’t. because maybe it doesn’t speak to them, but it speaks about how they were raised, about who the main figures in their lives were as children and the impacts that these people, now lost, still have on them today

it subverts all expectations, while still making absolute sense for their characters, and fuck if that doesn’t get me. 

[sashi-ya]

May I please ask headcanons of ASL brother separately whom s/o has an habit of hugging them behind when they're sad/lonely and needed their comfort. (Like you don't need to say 'I'm sad', using actions instead to express their feelings)

Hi!! thank you for your request! I hope you like what I wrote about this three sunshine boys 🌻. Thanks for the support ~

ASL brothers HC with S/O who needs comfort ~

🔥 Portgas D. Ace 🔥

Ace always seems to get scared when you hug him from behind, so his reaction always makes you giggle.

He knows when you are like this you are like a puppy looking for comfort and love, mainly because you might be feeling down. So, he usually turns around, passes his arms around your waist, and hugs you really tight. “What is it, my Firefly?”, he says and kisses the crown of your head. You like to nuzzle on his shoulders and enjoy the scent of his skin. Ace rubs your back with that special warm he always produces on your body.

If you don’t tell him the reasons you feel down, he instantly associates that someone or even himself caused your sadness. He won’t rest until he understands the reasons. If it happens to be someone who hurt you, they will suffer his wrath!

If you are just down, he invites you with a “Let’s go take some fresh air!”, as he enjoys nature a lot, and you know that his adventurous spirit always makes you feel renovated. An adventure with him always cheers you up!

Ace uses 蛍火 /ほたるび / Hotarubi spell. He named this type of technique after he came up with your nickname. Hotarubi means “Firefly”. Ace creates glowing green little fireballs that float around. Despite this being one of his attacks, it’s also amazing to look at, even magical. He cast that spell around you to make you feel happy. And you love it ~

🍖 Monkey D. Luffy 🍖

“Are you hungry, Y/N?”, is the first thing he asks you whenever you hug him from behind. Luffy associates being hungry with being sad, so he knows exactly something’s wrong if you come to him. He wraps his arms around you with his gomu gomu no mi powers. Sometimes you must tell him you are about to die because you can’t breathe. He lets you go and shows that smile that turns any night into a beautiful summer day.

“If you are sad, you should eat what you like”, he always tells you, so instantly runs to Sanji asking him to please prepare your favourite dishes. He has tried cooking for you before, but he failed, so he lets the expert do his job. Even if you may not be hungry, you accept it. That’s his love language.

Same as Ace, he asks who made you suffer, and will beat the hell up of those who hurt his lovely “meaty” -that’s how he calls you-

If you are feeling really down, he will put his most valuable treasure over your head and press it down really hard. The straw hat has a special power, every time you have it over your head, you feel secure, you feel protected and loved.

If you feel sick, he will paint his whole face with marker, and make faces to you so you can laugh at him. He is your sunshine, you only need to see his smile to feel cheered up.

🎩 Sabo 🎩

Sabo somehow always knows when you are feeling down, so whenever you hug him from behind, he lets you brush his hair -he usually doesn’t like it, but when you are sad, he allows it-.

Sabo puts his hat on you, and grabs you by your hand, “what’s wrong babygirl?”, he asks. Yet, if you just feel lonely or not prepared to speak about the reasons, he will respect that and simply hug you after.

He tells you to go to bed, prepares your favourite tea, hot cocoa or whatever you prefer to drink and brings it to you. “Make some space”, he says, and hops into bed next to you. Sabo reads you stories, or simply makes them up while you lay on his chest. He also likes to brush your hair and kiss your forehead.

If you are sick or are a person who has periods, he will take care of you staying by your side the whole night. He even brings you sweets and plushies. Sabo is the definition of sweetness.

[aceopmari]

If the Straw Hats Had a Reality Show Dedicated to Pirates Headcanon! Ft: Law!

With how infamous the pirate crew gotten, it was only natural that they were soon granted the rights to have their own reality show, like other famous pirates in the Grand Line and the New World.

Get ready for Keeping Up with the Straw Hats!

Luffy: Whether it was his strength, or his childlike innocence, Luffy was a fan favorite!

He often ignored the producers suggestions to make the show more interesting.

Luffy didn’t like when the producers told him to punch a random person on the street when they were visiting an island.

Was not getting paid, as he owed the producers over 10,000 berris for punching the camera one time in anger, when the director attempted to take his meat away. The director was only making a suggestion for a much healthier diet for the star of the show.

Luffy also skipped out on a lot of confessional sessions. Mainly because he really didn’t have much to hide to begin with. But if he did go, it was mainly to either show appreciation for his crew or to make public declarations:

“Sanji’s cooking the BEST!”

“Do we get free meat with this show?”

“I’m going to kick Mingo’s ass!”

Zoro: The viewers found Zoro amusing! Whether it be him constantly getting lost, or his heated arguments with Sanji. The producers would rush over to him, cameras and all whenever they caught the two together.

Zoro was surprisingly popular with female viewers. They enjoyed watching him sweat whenever he would work out in the crows nest.

Zoro didn’t care about the show really. Just as long as he gets to work out, drink booze, and sleep, he’s good.

The producers always looked forward to his confessionals after he fights with Sanji:

“That damn shitty cook! Just who the hell does he think he is?!”

“That curly brow dumbass is gonna get himself killed one of these days!”

Sanji: Was angry that Zoro was racking in more views from the female viewers than he was!

Why him?! Why not me?!

He kicked the camera man straight in the chin when he told him that Zoro was naturally more popular than he was.

Sanji desperately tried to win over the female viewers by showing off his fighting skills or his culinary expertise.

He was excited when he finally got some fan mail from the fans!

It turned out to be from the okamas though…

If Sanji went to the confessionals, it was usually to cry about why women weren’t interested in him…or to talk shit about Zoro:

“Just what does he have that I don’t on this show?”

“Why aren’t all the beautiful ladies watching me?”

Little did Sanji know, he caught the eyes of Violet and Pudding.

Nami: An absolute slut for the camera! The producers LOVED her!

One couldn’t tell who was using who more. All that mattered was what would bring them more views and more money.

Whenever it was filming time, Nami would purposely wear a bikini without the jeans to draw in the male viewing audience.

Add the extra seductive act she would put on, and nosebleeds would cover millions of transponder snail television screens.

Loved to give tours of the Sunny and show off her designer clothes.

Would parade around the islands, using Momonosuke as an accessory to manipulate the fans into loving her more.

Nami LOVED to take advantage of the fanbase, often subtly asking for gifts mainly money through the fan mail she receives. Next to Robin, she had the most.

Nami became very vain and strict with the crew on how to present themselves for the camera and had to keep members like Luffy in check to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid to cause the show to be cancelled. But just in case, as a backup, she could always start an Only Fans.

One might say that the fame and fortune was getting to her head, as she would purposely start up drama whenever she was out on an island. Would probably steal from a city mayor if it meant she could get the fans taking for weeks.

Whenever she was in the confessionals, it was mainly to complain about Luffy’s or Zoro’s antics.

Would probably shit talk about Robin, although faking it the whole time, to get some drama started:

“Honestly! I wish Luffy would just use some common sense for once!”

“Robin thinks she’s all that! But everyone knows, I’m the prettiest girl on the show!”

“I’ll let you film me in the bath. It’ll cost you 1 million beri!”

Franky: Loved the camera! One sided on the producers part since they didn’t enjoy Franky’s sense of…ahem…style.

He would dance, be loud, or show off his cool body.

If he was in the confessional room, it was to complain openly to the producers on why they did him dirty.

“Hey! I saw last weeks episode! Why did you cut my scene out, bro?!”

Ussop: Although not nearly as popular as Nami, Ussop was interesting enough to get some viewers watching the show, even unintentionally.

Ussop used the show to make himself seem cooler, mainly through the confessionals.

The lies he told caught the attention of viewers worldwide, though very few could sees past his lies.

The producers didn’t care, so long as there were viewers.

“Yes it was I! The Great Captain Ussop who defeated CP9!”

“Wait wait! Cut that out! Cut that scene out! I meant SniperKing!”

Chopper: The Worlds Favorite Cutie Pie!

Choppers looks alone were enough to win the hearts of viewers! Mostly the female reindeer mink.

Combine that with his child like innocence and he’s instantly a popular household name!

On top of that he already has many sponsorships from multiple sweet brands. (Mainly cotton candy ones.)

Choppers pretty shy on camera and often does his usual dance when he’s nervous. The audience eats it up.

He doesn’t gossip. When it comes to confessionals, he’s usually talking about Zoro’s recklessness when it comes to bandages, or Sanji’s nose bleeding habits.

Jimbei: Not particular interested in TV or fame, but used being on TV to his advantage to spread his word and try stop discrimination against fishmen.

The producers found him boring and didn’t look forward to filming him, especially at confessionals…but at the very least, he was able to bring in views due to his former status as a warlord.

Robin: Had many admirers! She enjoyed being on the show. Often is seen on screen on a lavish shopping trip with Nami.

She does her part to make the show more interesting, whether it is be her dark sense of humor or putting her devil fruit powers to good use.

She once used it on a producer when he asked her to do something suggestive for views. After that, the producers never messed with her again, out of fear for their lives.

Not much for confessionals though, except when she’s expressing how amused she is at Luffy’s antics.

She may appeared to be calm and quiet but you better believe that the rumors she would stir up, would get the people talking!

Piers Morgans was having a field day with the headlines:

“Did Cat Burgler Nami Get Breast Implants?!”

“Roronoa Zoro: Honorable Swordsmen or Man Thot?! Gets Caught Sleeping with Wano’s Most Beautiful Woman!”

“Is Monkey D Luffy, Secretly Seeing His Crewmates Sister From the Germa Kingdom?!”

Brook: Fans loved seeing Soul King on screen. In some episodes he’s either playing music or he’s attempting a panty raid in Nani’s room. Which often results in him getting beat up by her every time.

Anything he says in the confessional‘s ends up with his signature laugh.

Law: Made a special guest appearance since starting hiw alliance with Luffy.

You can imagine his look of surprise, when the crew showed up on Punk Hazard with a camera crew and all.

He wasn’t at all interested in being on TV. His famous “I hate bread” made him an instant fan favorite. And meme along the fanbase.

He didn’t like that…

Law hated being followed around by the camera crew on the Thousand Sunny or when he simply just wanted peace. He frequently scolded the producers to stop or told Luffy to call off the cameras, but neither listened.

He only wanted to discuss the alliance plans in private with the crew and didn’t want the producers to catch any of it for the world to see.

As time went on, and Law was getting sucked into the Straw Hat shenanigans. He found himself wandering into the confessional where he would frequently complain about the crew. Mainly the captain.

“Mugiwara-ya will be the death of me…”

“Rorona-ya has no sense of direction…”

“How has the crew survived this long? They don’t ever strategize when it comes to making a plan!”

Viewer Reactions:

Sabo: Enjoys watching his little brother on screen, and always has a good laugh. Koala would often scold him for abandoning his duties to go watch the show.

Hancock: Would briefly abandon her duties as Pirate Empress for the whole day if it meant, she could watch Luffy on screen.

Took up most of his fan mail, and gifts that had meat.

Hancock would be envious of Nami and Robin on her screen, wishing she was their with Luffy.

Mihawk: Reality shows weren’t his usual choice of television entertainment, but he did watch, soley to watch over Zoro’s progress as a swordsmen. He would lie if Perona asked him if he found what he saw the slightest bit amusing.

Ace: He got a kick out watching his little brother on screen. Often laughing at Luffy’s antics. He saw that Luffy’s crew was slowly riding in more views on the reality show The WhiteBeard Pirates had. Ace wasn’t too worried but he knew he had to step it up.

Shanks: Often shaking his head and smiling in amusement at the sight of Luffy on screen. Would sometimes watch the show with Ace as the two spoke fondly of him.

Big Mom: Was furious that Luffy was racking in more views than her crew combined. Everyone used to love Big Mom’s wedding cake special episodes.

“MUGIWARAAAAA!” *Smashes TV*

Garp: Nearly choked on his crackers at the sight of his crazy grandson invading his screen.

“LUFFY NOOOOOO!”

Smoker: If any marine soldier was caught watching, Keeping Up with the Straw Hats, you better believe that he’ll would be raised at HQ. in secret though, he would watch it. Not for entertainment, but more so to study the Straw Hats moves.

Buggy: Screeching out in jealously seeing Straw Hat Luffy was popular enough to be given his own show and not him.

Kid: Was sitting at a bar one night and spat out his drink in anger at the sight of Straw Hat on his screen.

Nearly popped a blood vessel when he saw Law on screen.

“The hell?! Even Trafalgar?! How come those bastards get their own show?!”

Killer remained silent. He knew the reason why the Kid Pirates never picked up the rights to a pirate reality show was because of how scary Kid was.

Dragon: Used the show as a way to keep up with his son. Although in secret, since he didn’t want his army to notice.

Germa 66: Mixed reactions.

“That’s no son of mine.” Judge would say.

Reiju giggled at the sight of the screen. After a mission, she would look forward to watching the show to see her brother.

Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji expressed annoyance and criticized Sanji. Although would never admit that they were each jealous that Sanji got to be on a reality show instead of the Germa Kingdom itself.

Yamato: Wants to be on the show. Not for the fame, but mainly to spread the word and tell the world what a horrible father, Kaido is and spread Oden’s legacy to the world.

[yukipri]

One Piece Mermaid AU!

Featuring Luffy as a rubber mermaid who can’t swim, and Ace who carries her on his back as they pirate together.

＊Genderbend warning, fem!Luffy

Sliding in last minute for MerMay, bc idk about you, but I need something to mark that May has passed this year...

~~

PLEASE DO NOT REPOST, EDIT, TRANSLATE, OR OTHERWISE USE MY ART. To share, please reblog! Reblogs and comments greatly appreciated!!!

~~

Base headcanons for this AU beneath the cut! ↓ ↓ ↓

Luffy's a mermaid who was raised in Fuusha village, just like in canon. And, just like in canon, despite being a mermaid, she SUCKS at swimming, a fact that Shanks finds absolutely hilarious. She still wants to become a pirate, she still eats her devil fruit and becomes a rubber mer(?), she still gets kidnapped by Higuma (who sees her as an excellent way to rake in cash, given how valuable mermaids are on the slave market), and Shanks still gives her his hat.

As a devil fruit user, Luffy's already atrocious swimming skills are now at zero. She can still breathe under water, but will sink like a stone, her strength sapped by the sea, and if she loses consciousness she'll stop breathing too. Needless to say, she stays out of the water, and the villagers come to accept that sometimes, mermaids just live on land.

Garp still comes back, and is still furious at her wanting to become a pirate (and inwardly, extremely concerned that a bandit tried to catch and sell her), and still takes her to live at Dadan's where she meets Ace.

Ace has no idea what to think of the weird fish-brat who he's now told is gonna be his sibling, and resolutely ignores Luffy. He's inwardly slightly impressed as Luffy continues to follow him through the mountain every day, not even particularly hindered by lack of legs and using a mixture of crawling, squirming, hand-walking, and ricocheting forward with rubber arms to move.

Luffy still meets Sabo the same way as canon, and is still caught by Porchemy, who at first is thrilled because a mer brat! That'll bring in WAY more money than the spare change Ace stole! But in the end, he loses his temper at Luffy's stubbornness and still beats her to a pulp.

Ace and Sabo still rescue Luffy, and they still exchange sake cups and become brothers.

Yes, brothers.

Because at this point, neither Ace nor Sabo nor any of the bandits, nor anyone really on Dawn island save Makino and Garp actually know that Luffy's a girl. Not even Luffy.

The three brothers promise to each other that they'll all leave the island when they turn seventeen, setting out to sea to become pirates (Ace and Sabo are honestly a little concerned, given how often people try to sell Luffy, and how despite aquatic appearances Luffy's vulnerable af in water, but decide to wait and see. They have seven years together, Luffy ten until seventeen, who knows how much stronger their baby brother will get in that time).

Sabo "dies."

Ace and Luffy continue to train, and things don't change until Ace is seventeen, shortly before he sets out to sea.

He's let Luffy crawl into his blanket to sleep with him (partially cold-blooded, Lu gets cold easily when inactive), and Ace realizes that his lil brother's chest feels a bit lumpy.

Concerned, he makes Luffy have it checked out by the bandits, who are shocked to find developing...breasts?

That can't be right...right?

Dadan makes a call to Garp, who snorts and says of COURSE Luffy's a girl, didn't he say granddaughter?

No, he had not, he had only mentioned "grand child."

Everyone is shocked, but none more so than Ace, who really doesn't know what to do with this new information.

(Luffy's not quite sure what a "girl" is, and when she asks Ace, Ace honestly doesn't know how to define "girl" either, so she doesn't get what the big deal is)

Ace realizes he's troubled because he can't remember the number of times he's rescued Luffy from potential traffickers, and the number of times he's heard the lament, "Pity it's not female, it'd be worth quadruple," from the kidnappers before he beats them to a pulp.

He already had doubts about letting Luffy go out to sea alone, three years after he's left. But now knowing that Luffy's a girl, and one of the most sought-after species that traffickers target...he knows the world out there is much bigger than a teeny peaceful East Blue island, and Luffy may not get lucky every time, and may not be strong enough in just three years.

But at the same time, it's not like he can order her to stay here. There's no way Luffy'd listen; the sea calls to her, freedom calls to her, and Ace understands that more than anyone.

Sabo, Ace thinks, what would you do?

The night before he leaves, Ace tells Luffy that there's been a change of plans.

He's still leaving for sea. He's going to get stronger, and work his way towards becoming Pirate King.

BUT, three years later, Luffy will NOT leave Dawn Island alone.

Ace promises that he'll come back, a stronger pirate capable of looking out for his baby brother (because girl or not, they exchanged vows of brotherhood, and that's something that can't be changed).

He refuses to let Luffy be his captain, he's still got his pride, but maybe, maybe if Luffy becomes strong enough, he'll let her be co-Captain.

Luffy is thrilled, because she wanted to be pirates WITH Ace, and grudgingly accepts the compromise, and promises to train and wait for Ace's return.

Ace leaves Dawn island, and makes a name for himself on the Grand Line (he's PISSED when he finds out he's eaten a devil fruit, because now how's he supposed to rescue Lu from drowning when he can't swim himself???).

He even eventually makes it to Whitebeard, and eventually comes to admire the man. Whitebeard invites him to his crew, and Ace honestly replies that a large part of him wants to accept...but he can't. He promised his baby brother that they'll be pirates and co-captains together, and he can't join another pirate crew without Luffy agreeing too. Even so, and he knows it's selfish of him, he wants to call Whitebeard his father.

Whitebeard tells him that Ace is already his son, regardless of where his allegiances lie, and gives him his blessing to return to East Blue to fetch Luffy. Whitebeard laughs that he can't wait to meet the lil brat that Ace speaks so highly of, and for Ace to hurry up and come back to the New World so they can meet.

Ace plans on traveling light, his former crew all choosing to join the Whitebeard pirates except for his first mate, Deuce. Ace loves his crew, but they're also his crew, and knows that he wants to make their crew with Luffy. So he thinks he and Deuce will be a good starting point (You're just bringing me along bc you want someone who can swim on the crew, Deuce accuses).

As they're planning on leaving, Marco lets slip to fellow commander Thatch that he heard that Ace's "little brother" is actually a super cute girl.

The next morning, Thatch shows up too, insisting that he come along, because hey! He's been with the Whitebeards for ages and hasn't been to Paradise in a while, he wants some change! And won't it be nice to have someone as reliable as him along, just until they get back to the New World and reunite with the Whitebeards? Really he has no ulterior motives like wanting to check out Ace's supposedly hyper hot baby brother-sister!

Ace is suspicious, but Thatch is already on board and the other Whitebeards are already waving so he lets it go.

(Shortly after they leave, Thatch discovers a devil fruit. Deuce tells him to sell the damn thing, it'll taste like shit, but Thatch thinks boy wouldn't it be great to be able to woo Ace's hot brother with a really cool devil fruit power. So he eats it, and yeah it tastes like shit, but now he can control Darkness which is sorta badass?)

(Somewhere on the Whitebeard ships, Blackbeard is still waiting for someone to find the darkness devil fruit, and well, it doesn't happen)

Before Ace returns to Dawn Island, part of him still hopes that Luffy looks passably like a guy. Having been to Fishman island, having befriended Jinbe, he knows that while mermen can still be targeted, mermaids are exponentially more vulnerable. He's learned the kinds of clothing that can help conceal tails, and is hoping that there's a slim chance they might be able to be pirates without the world knowing that Lu's a mermaid.

His hopes are shot when Luffy rockets into his arms at the dock, and his face is immediately buried in enormous tits that definitely weren't there three years ago.

Despite Ace's growing concerns (and red face; why does he feel so hot??? It's not his devil fruit...), Ace lets Luffy give Deuce a beating (why me?!) to claim her position as Ace's Co-Captain of the newly established ASL pirates (because if we're pirates together, Sabo has to be with us too!).

Luffy's gotten a lot stronger, but is still utterly ignorant of the outside world and the dangers it holds (such as the drooling Thatch who immediately wins Luffy over with his cooking despite Ace's burning glares). She's reckless and falls into the ocean every damn day, and while Deuce dives in after her and they've discovered her useful ability to talk to fish to ask for help, it still gives Ace heart attacks.

They still pick up more crew members while in East Blue, including Roronoa Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji, a pervy cook who competes daily with Thatch for Luffy's affections through food (Luffy appreciates the food).

At Arlong Park, Luffy encounters fishmen for the first time in her life. Arlong mocks Luffy's choice of friends and family, and invites her to join his crew made of her own kind. Fishmen and mer are the superior race, and Luffy will make a fine wife, Arlong says.

Luffy breaks his nose off, and Nami joins their crew.

Luffy's chosen mode of transportation is on the back of one of her sturdier crew mates, usually Ace, but often Zoro too. She unfortunately hates all the long skirts/robes Ace suggested for her to hide her tail, and so Ace has decided that being as intimidating as possible while carrying his brother glued to his back is the only way to go.

Needless to say, news of the former Spade Pirates Captain + Whitebeard Commander Thatch (are they an extension of the Whitebeards??) establishing the new ASL pirates spreads fast. That, and rumors that there's a beautiful young mermaid on board who can't swim. And despite the strength of the crew and their attempts at vigilance, Luffy's still dumb and gullible, and is kidnapped (and rescued) a dozen times before they're even on the Grand Line.

(after a few times, Luffy's uncharacteristically quiet, and privately asks Ace if they can break up the crew. She's holding Ace back; she not only made him come back to her, but half their adventures just seem to be her crew rescuing her. She's strong enough to defeat enemies, but not save herself. Ace tells her to shut up, and never bring this up again; they're BROTHERS, and he's not going to leave her behind or make her abandon her dreams when she can't accomplish them alone, and that's his choice. Luffy doesn't bring it up again, but works harder than ever to become stronger and earn recognition as co-Captain when the world seems intent on thinking of her as Ace's pet.)

During one of these kidnappings, Luffy's successfully brought all the way to an auction house before her crew can rescue her. An auction house that unbeknownst to them, was under investigation by the Revolutionary Army.

Liberating slaves is an unfortunately common mission for them, and Sabo's doing final sweeps as Koala frees the last of them when he notices a tank stowed away in a corner. He's familiar with these tanks, used to showcase mermaids in the rare occasions one can be caught, and it looks empty but he's still drawn to it for some reason.

It's only when he gets closer that he notices a mermaid crumpled at the bottom of the enclosure. She's completely slumped over, and he's afraid she's already gone, even as something about her screams with familiarity.

He's cracked the tank and has reached in to pull her out, when the wall behind him explodes in flames, revealing a furious Ace who snarls at the strange man with his hands on his baby brother...

...and then Sabo's memories come back.

~~

Something like that???? For an initial HCs dump????

This AU has continued! A LOT! Check out the comics, illustrations, and text stories for this AU under the Mermaid AU section of my One Piece Masterpost!

As always, REBLOGS, tags, asks, and comments greatly appreciated!

Advance posts for this AU and more are on my Patreon! (Patreon(.)com/YukiPri)

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

The Voyage So Far: Enies Lobby

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)

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. 

[oriigami]

we’re running against the wind

[Part two of my One Piece Wing AU, this time focusing on the Strawhats and their histories. Read it on AO3 here!] [Part One]

“I can’t fly,” Kuina told him, one warm and dusky night, sitting on the porch step and staring down at the grass. Arms wrapped around bony knees, bruised and grass-stained. “Did you know that?” 

Zoro blinked, and sat down beside her, baffled for a moment. “What do you mean? Cause your wings haven’t grown out yet?” 

She sighed, heavy and tired, and stretched one wing out at her side. It was simple, plain black, small for her age. “You know what a rail is?” 

“A rail?” 

“It’s a kind of bird. The kind I am. They live on the ground,” Kuina said, staring down at the grass between her scuffed shoes. “They don’t fly. They’re no good for it. Their wings are too small. Even if they try, they can never get too far off the ground.” 

She shot him a sideways look, and halfheartedly tugged on one of his feathers. His wings were still growing, but already much larger than hers, big and brown, almost gold in the sunlight. Eagle wings. Wings meant to soar. 

“You’re lucky, Zoro,” she said, looking up at him with a terribly sad half-smile on her face that he never, ever wanted to see again. “Someday, you’re going to fly.” 

Zoro woke up with her voice still ringing in her head. 

Consciousness hit him with an unpleasant jolt, and he had half a second to process the dusty courtyard- not Shimotsuki dojo- before a half-dozen different varieties of discomfort hit him all at once. 

The hunger pains were practically screaming in the back of his mind, and he was parched from dehydration. He was half-numb from the ropes digging into his skin, cutting off blood circulation. He shifted, trying to prop himself up as best he could, and grit his teeth against the sharp, stabbing pain of blood starting to flow again.

As soon as he moved, his wings pulsed with pain, and he had to bite back a yell. They’d been lashed roughly to the pole at his back at an uncomfortable angle that had started as barely tolerable and progressed, over the course of the days, to maddening. The dusty ground all around him was scattered with fallen dusty gold feathers, both those that had been pulled loose by the ropes and those that had shed on their own as starvation had taken its toll. 

It was fine, though. What was a few feathers lost? It wasn’t like he was going to die here. It wasn’t like he could.

He had a promise to keep, after all. 

-

Arlong never clipped Nami’s wings. They were too useful for quick getaways. To him, they were just some of the features that made her such a valuable tool, such a clever, profitable little thief. So, no, he never damaged her wings.

But he loved to remind her that he could. 

If she disobeyed, if she tried to run away- well, fishmen were so strong, and wings were so fragile. She learned to bear the fear, though she always kept her wings folded close and tight to her back whenever she walked through Arlong Park. If there was one thing she could be grateful for, at least, it was that he never thought to threaten to hurt Nojiko’s wings instead. 

She could still hear the crunch of Bellemere’s wingbones when Arlong had stomped on them.

Fishmen didn’t have wings. It made sense- what sure would undersea creatures have for them? But she couldn’t help but suspect, every now and then, that Arlong was envious. He could rule their towns and beat them into the ground and proclaim himself and his brethren superior over humans in every way- but he would never, ever fly. That was something Nami would always hold over him.

Nami’s wings were simple at first glance- black, with splotches of bright white at the shoulders and tips- but under the sunlight, the black glittered, turning to dark iridescent bluish-green. They looked nothing like Bellemere’s wide, long-feathered osprey wings had. 

“Would you cut it out?” she snapped, one wing stretching out to swat Luffy’s curious hands away from the straw hat resting in her lap.

She’d known him for more than a day now, but she still couldn’t really make up her mind on her temporary captain. He was annoying, but good-hearted, but stupid, but honest- and she’d never seen wings like his either. They were bright red and featherless, looking more bat than bird. Overall, he was a frustrating enigma, for how open he was. 

Not that it mattered, really. She’d be parting ways with them soon enough. 

“Are you done yet?” he asked insistently, leaning around her shoulder to peer at the mostly-repaired hat cradled in her hands. The wide, ugly knife cuts Buggy had left in the golden straw were mostly hidden now, though you could still see the scars if you knew to look- the replacement straw she’d had to use in places was brighter and cleaner than the worn, aged material of the rest of the hat. 

She wondered idly just how old this stupid hat was. There were other repairs worked into the straw here and there, some more recent and some much older, hand-stitched with varying levels of neatness and expertise. 

“Nearly,” she said, not for the first time. “Be patient.” 

The sun caught on the mended straw, and all of a sudden she remembered a question she’d wanted to ask. “Hey, Luffy,” she said before his attention could drift. “What’s with this feather?” 

She’d noticed it when they’d first met, and wondered at it. It was tucked into the red ribbon that ran around the hat, and when she’d taken the hat to repair it and gotten a closer look, she’d noticed that it was carefully stitched into place. It was striped black and sapphire blue, with a tiny splash of white at the tip. 

“Oh!” Luffy said. “That’s Sabo’s!” 

Nami blinked. “Sabo?” she repeated. 

“My brother!” Luffy said. 

Zoro blinked one eye open from where he’d been napping on one of the little boat’s benches, lifting his head. “You’ve got a brother?” he asked. 

“There’s more of you?” Nami said at the same time. 

Luffy snickered. “I’ve got two big brothers!” he explained. “They both set out to sea before me, though. Sabo first, and then Ace second. Sabo had bluejay wings. Yours kinda remind me of them, Nami!”

Had, Nami thought, and thought of Nojiko- solid blue wings, tipped with black. Thought about the osprey feather tucked away in the very back of her dresser in Cocoyashi. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah!” Luffy said. “They’re really pretty! And glittery and blue, like the ocean!” 

“Oh,” Nami said. “...Thanks.”

...So maybe she liked her temporary captain, just a little. It wouldn’t change anything, in the end. 

-

Usopp lied about his wings. He kept them tucked close to his back, and whenever someone asked, he’d come up with a new species, something big and intimidating. Hawk, eagle, falcon- something flashy, impressive, worthy of a brave warrior of the sea. 

Of course, none of those were true. (Nothing he said ever was.) Everyone in the village knew it, too- they’d known him since he was a kid, after all. The truth he never wanted to admit was that his wings were unremarkable, just like him. Plain black, medium size, with a thick stripe of white running through the middle of each. He only ever opened them when he was with his friends, or with Kaya. 

The first time she’d seen his wings was when he threw his arms open too wide when telling a story, caught up in the fantasy inside his head, and unbalanced himself from his perch on the tree outside her window. They’d snapped open on instinct to break his fall and let him catch himself midair, and he’d flapped back up to her window to see her beaming. 

“Look,” she’d said, and stretched her own wings open- big beautiful crane wings, wide and white but with a thick band of black on the inside of each. Just the opposite of his. “We match!” 

Over time, Kaya’s sickness had taken its toll on her wings, just as on the rest of her. She was always shedding drifts of feathers, leaving her wings looking scrawny and patchy. They were beautiful nonetheless, though, wide and graceful, the surviving feathers bright white. 

“Someday,” he told her, “We’ll go flying, once you’re better and your feathers grow back. And I’ll show you the island where everything is made out of candy, and the trees talk to you!”

She laughed into her hands, wings curling around her. “Do they?” 

“They do!” Usopp confirmed, nodding emphatically. “And they sing, too. But only for kind-hearted girls with white wings. So if we went there, they’d sing for you for sure!” 

She smiled, big and warm and honest. “That sounds lovely, Usopp!” 

Usopp grinned back. 

A couple days later, the pirates came. 

And it was sudden and violent and terrifying, and Klahadore’s massive black vulture wings seemed to block out the sky, and Usopp was sure a dozen times over that he was going to die, but- 

But he didn’t.

By the time it was all over and it was time to set sail, Kaya’s wings were already looking healthier. 

-

“Kid,” the old man had said, the first day on the rock, voice gruff and thick from coughing up seawater. “You still alive?” 

Sanji didn’t say anything, pulling skinny knees to his chest and glaring over the top of them at the old man’s back. The old man had a long piece of driftwood balanced over his knees, and was methodically shredding his shirt into long strips. One of his wings was awkwardly bent in a way that made Sanji cringe to look at. The pain must have been terrible, but the old man’s voice didn’t even shake.

“C’mere. I need your help with something.”

Sanji didn’t move. “What?” he asked, and almost winced at the croak of his own voice. 

“Can’t reach my wing. Busted it against the rocks, and if I don’t set it now it won’t heal right.”

“So?” Sanji muttered sullenly. “What do I care?” 

“You stupid, brat?” the old man asked tiredly, and didn’t even give Sanji time to bristle before he continued, “Your wings ain’t big enough to reach land yet, but you’re little enough to carry. If my wing heals right, I can get us both off this rock. Hopefully before we starve to death.” 

“...How do I know you won’t leave me?” Sanji had asked suspiciously.

The old man looked at him askance over his shoulder, holding himself stiffly so as not to jar his injured wing. “Shit, kid, I might be a pirate, but I’m not a monster. You think I’d just ditch a little kid to die?” 

Sani blinked. Oh.

(It had made Judge so, so angry, that Sanji was the only one of his brothers with wings. It was an embarrassment, an infuriation, that the failure could fly unassisted when the perfect sons could not. It was why he’d been locked away, in a cell where he could never see the sky, where there was no hope at all of flight.)

He inched his way across the craggy stone to the old man, lips pressed tight. He took the stick of driftwood and makeshift bandages and quietly set to work, following the old man’s terse instructions. He wasn’t used to being on this end of it. Normally it was Reiju bandaging his injuries, setting his sprains and broken bones. 

(“You deserve to fly,” she’d said through desperate tears as she shoved him towards the ship, grey-and-violet wings pulled close to her back. “Go!”)

One he had the last clumsy knot tied, the old man gave him some of the food- so little- and they split to wait. For the old man’s broken bones to heal, or for a ship to come. Whichever came first.

And they’d waited, and waited, and waited. 

After the third week, Sanji had started to lose feathers. After the makeshift shelter he’d managed to scrounge together fell apart, his wings provided the only protection from the elements. He huddled behind their shade as the weeks crawled by, agonizingly slowly. 

Fallen black and white feathers littered the stone around him by the time desperation drove him to curl shaking fingers around a knife, and drag himself to the other side of the island, and discover the terrible truth. The knife clattered to the stone, and Sanji collapsed along with it.

It was twenty more days before the old man was well enough to fly. Sanji was half-unconscious with delirium by then, and all he knew of the flight was hunger, and wind, and endless, endless blue. The ocean below, and the cloudless sky above, and nothing at all between.

It never did quite leave his mind. 

“Have you ever heard,” he said, leaning against the railing and turning to look at the idiot in the straw hat, “of the All Blue?”

-

Chopper had never had wings. 

It was just another reason he knew he’d never fit in. No matter how human he could make himself look, he would never have wings, and that would always give him away.

He did know how to treat them, though. Of course he did. A great doctor needed to know those sorts of things. Doctorine had taught him- about wing breaks and sprains, the sort of injuries that could be crippling and the ones where the patient might fly again, her own grey parrot wings flaring dramatically whenever she made a point. 

At the moment, Doctorine was leaning over the unconscious bodies of their three newest patients- the blonde man with the back injury, the girl with the fever, and the black-haired boy. 

“Let’s see here,” she hummed. “Secretarybird, common magpie, and- hm.”

Chopper blinked up at her, intrigued by her sudden silence. Her expression was hard to read. “Doctorine? Is it about that boy’s wings? I saw they were different, and he hasn’t got feathers, is that normal for humans? Is he sick?”

“Not normal,” she agreed absently. “But not unprecedented, either.” She chuckled. “It’s been some time since I last met a D.”

“A… huh?” 

Doctorine waved it off. “Oh, nothing. Get him to a warm room and then prep Mr. Secretarybird there for surgery, will you? I need to find the antibiotics for Miss Magpie, she’s the most urgent of the three.”

“Ah- yes, Doctorine!” Chopper agreed, and bounced into action, and questions about feathers and wings and Ds were quickly forgotten. 

-

Franky didn’t have wings. 

He had had, at one point, though he’d never really cared much about them either way. After all, Tom-san hadn’t had wings, and neither had Kokoro. And it wasn’t like they were any use for shipbuilding, and he didn’t have many places to fly to, anyways. 

Iceberg had taught him how to fly, even though he’d always insisted he didn’t need Iceberg to teach him anything. But it had been useful for getting up to high places that needed construction, or making a quick getaway after breaking something, and- yeah, okay, he could admit it. It was fun. Flying had been fun. 

And then there had been the sea train. And wings were so very fragile. 

By the time he hauled himself aboard the scrap ship with broken hands, he already knew he wouldn’t fly ever again. His wings were wrecked beyond any dream of repair, skin shredded and bones shattered into fragments. Even if he had the ability to create prosthetics lightweight and detailed enough to replace them- which, not to sell himself short, he probably could, given time and materials that he didn’t have- he never would have been able to attach them to the nerves properly, not at that angle. 

No, better just to amputate, and cauterize, and focus on the things he did need: his hands, his eyes, his organs.

And he’d gone on, and it had been fine, and most of the time he barely missed flying at all. 

“Look,” he said, as the Agua Laguna raged outside and the dumb pirate kid refused to listen to reason. “Listen to me, bro. I’m serious. You listening?” 

The kid didn’t answer, but he did pause in hammering away at his dead ship for a moment, which Franky decided to take as a yes. 

“Your ship’s crippled,” Franky said bluntly. “She can’t sail anymore. It’s like- okay, you saw my wings are gone, right?” 

“...Yeah.” 

“Taking that ship to sea,” Franky said, “would be like pushing me off a cliff. There was a time I could’ve survived that just fine, but now it’d smash me to pieces. Your ship’s lost her wings. And no matter what, you can’t fix that.”

The kid stared at him, biting his lip so hard it looked like it might bleed, something cracking in his eyes, black and white wings curling protectively around his shoulders. Franky felt for him, he really did- he knew better than most what it felt like to fight something you couldn’t possibly win to try and save something you loved- but truth was truth, even when it hurt. 

He was just starting to hope he might have finally gotten through when the door crashed open and suddenly, they all had bigger problems to worry about. 

-

Robin’s wings were nondescript. It was useful, in its way, when it came to living in hiding. From the slanderous stories told about her and the people of Ohara, people expected crow, raven, rook- something dark and threatening. Or even featherless demon wings, much like those of her new captain. 

Instead, her wings were simple, uniform dark grey with tawny orange-brown patches spreading from the shoulders. Robin wings. 

Her mother’s had looked much the same, she remembered. It was one of the only details that had stuck in her head about Nico Olvia, as the long years had worn away at the few memories of her mother she had. Most of her mother’s face was a blur, now, but she still remembered a few things: white hair, sad eyes, wings of a mourning dove.

As Spandam dragged her down the Bridge of Hesitation, hands and powers bound, she flapped her wings frantically as hard as she could, even as the chains around her shoulders to weigh her down and stop her flying broke feathers and gouged at skin with every movement. She didn’t even need lift, just to push herself backwards a meter, a foot, an inch- 

If she could buy even a minute, even a second-

Spandam spat an ugly word at her as he was jerked backwards, stumbling for a moment and nearly face-planting onto the bridge before he managed to find his balance. He snarled, grabbed her by the shoulder and hurled her to the ground, driving the air from her lungs with a painful gasp. 

He stomped down hard between her shoulder blades, pinning her down. 

“You know,” he said, sounding almost gleeful, “the Tenryuubito cut off the wings of their slaves. To be sure they’ll never escape. Maybe I’ll recommend that, as part of your judgement. Or…” 

He moved his shoe from the center of her back to press lightly down on one of the delicate wing-joints in her right wing, and her breath caught. 

“Or maybe I’ll just do it myself,” he said. “What do you think, Nico Robin?”

Nico Olvia, with white hair and sad eyes and mourning-dove wings that had been bloodied, perforated by rifle-shots, ruined to stop her from flying away-

They’d aimed for the wings, first. They’d wanted to be sure that not a single scholar could escape. Not one was left uncrippled by the time the marines evacuated the burning wreck of Ohara. 

(Except Robin.)

“It’s not like you’ll be flying ever again, where you’re going,” Spandam continued, starting to press down, and Robin closed her eyes and grit her teeth against the pain and the rising plea for mercy alike. She refused to beg. Her mother had fought to the end, and so would she. 

Then there was a blaze of light, and a crash, and a fireball caught Spandam perfectly in the head, and Robin was saved. 

(Though, perhaps, if she was honest with herself, she’d been saved a very long time ago.)

-

When Brook had been alive, his wings had been soft, plain uniform brown. 

Nightingale, Yorki had laughed, one late night when they were sorting through a wing glossary one of the crewmen had picked up on the latest island, trying to place everyone’s wings. Oi, Brook, no wonder you’ve got the best singing voice on the ship.

Brook had warbled out a few notes in response, as horrifically flat and off-pitch as he could physically manage, and Yorki had nearly cracked a rib laughing. 

But wings rotted away just like all other flesh, and by the time Brook crawled his way back to the world of the living, they were nothing but bones and a drift of soft brown feathers, shed on the rotting planks. He tucked a few of the feathers away in an inside pocket of his coat, just in case they helped Laboon to recognize him, someday. 

Catching the remnants of his wings in the corners of his eyes (ah, but he didn’t have those anymore-), grasping and skeletal, always caught him off guard, almost worse than catching sight of his reflection. The bare, bright white stood in such contrast to the soft brown he was so used to seeing that he thought he would never truly get used to it. He couldn’t imagine anyone else would, either. 

And then- 

“Your wings are awesome, Brook!” Luffy said, bright and enthusiastic and entirely sincere, sprawled on his back on the piano. His wings were splayed out beneath him- featherless and red, entirely unlike any Brook had never seen before. “They’re so cool!”

For a moment, Brook couldn’t find words. (How unsuiting, for a songsmith.) And then he said, “Why, thank you, Luffy-san. I should tell you, though… I’m afraid they’re not good for much. I can no longer fly.”

Luffy blinked, and then said, “So? I can’t, neither.” 

“...You can’t?”

Luffy snickered, grinning. “Nah! My wings only sorta work. Something ‘bout my devil fruit and my bones or something. I don’t really get it. But it doesn’t matter! I mean, I can just rocket to places. And you too, right? You can run on water! That’s so cool!”

Brook looked at Luffy’s beaming grin for a long moment, and couldn’t stop the urge to smile back, even though he had no lips with which to do so. 

And then he said, “May I join your crew?” 

Luffy laughed like the best song Brook had ever heard. “Sure!”

[kbstories]

Sedimentation

sed·i·men·ta·tion (n.) The process of establishing and reinforcing meaning through repetition.

First and foremost, Ace is a big brother - not the only one Luffy's ever had, but the one he has left.

(Or: Luffy and Ace get more time at Alabasta because I said so.)

Tags: Reunions, Family Feels, Brotherhood, Introspection, References to (Presumed) Character Death, (It’s Sabo)

Set in Alabasta. No additional warnings apply.

***

Even for a man made of fire, Alabasta is an uncomfortably warm place to be. The ground is arid to the point every step will kick up dust, and a fine haze of sand lingers in the air that turns the horizon into an indistinct flickering mess and makes every swallow rasp in the throat with grit.

From his vantage point high above, Ace slouches with his legs hanging off the ledge of a flat-roofed house and lets his gaze roam the streets below. His unknowing hosts bumble about downstairs, the muffled sounds of banging pots and laughter announcing it’s time for lunch; for a moment, Ace holds his stomach that rumbles a complaint, loud and insistent.

Just a little longer, he promises himself.

Not a single cloud graces the sky with its presence and the population below with a modicum of shade. Nanohana is a ghost town at noon, its inhabitants fleeing into their homes for a nap until the weather outside stops actively trying to cook them alive. Things didn’t use to be this bad – at least, from what Ace can recall of his first trip here, back when he was still captain of the Spade Pirates – but a lot can happen in three years.

Ace pulls his lips into a pout, the heat immediately stealing whatever moisture is left on them. No sign of Monkey D. Luffy.

Fingers drumming a tuneless beat against the brim of his hat, Ace thinks. Perhaps it had been a little foolish to assume Luffy would show up just like that, much less anywhere within the spectrum of ‘on time’. Even this early into the Grand Line, the waves are tricksters and the currents are more likely to lead to ruin than to any expectable outcome. Still: There had been rumors of a rookie crew demolishing Whisky Peak mere weeks ago, and a bombshell report out of the kingdom of Drum announced the rather violent eviction of its current (now former) ruler. Ace frowns, remembering the state of things he witnessed himself not too long ago.

Good fucking riddance.

Well, Ace has always figured the day his little brother sailed across Reverse Mountain would be followed by chaos and destruction all around. With the world tilting on its axis and spinning more and more out of control with every passing day, it’s hard to say how it’s going to look like a month down the road, a year, two. The powers that be aren’t ready for someone like Luffy, not that Luffy would particularly care about that.

A fond chuckle bursts out of him at the thought. Whatever happens, Ace can't wait to see where all of it is headed.

First things first. Ace flicks his hat back on his head and gets up, patting sand off his shorts. It’s everywhere, stuck to his lashes and making the sweat on his back feel tacky and gross. He sighs. Shower first, then food. His meal will taste all the better knowing the tattoo of Father’s jolly roger is as it should be: untainted and shown off with pride.

And then, with some luck, he will finally be able to see his brother again.

*

Getting cannonballed into by 140 pounds of rubber is quite an experience, no matter how many times one has been subjected to it. On instinct, Ace’s arms shoot out to grab on to whichever piece of Luffy’s clothes he can reach and he turns in a lazy half-circle, automatically aligning his center of gravity around the excited bundle of limbs clinging to his head. It makes breathing an impossibility for a moment or five but it’s worth it every single time.

“Ace! It’s really you!”

“Hello to you too, Lu”, Ace laughs, his grin almost as toothy as his brother’s now that they can enjoy their reunion in peace and sans Marine meddling. In a play as old as time itself, Luffy settles with his legs bracketing Ace’s shoulders and his head firmly planted on–

“Oh! You still have your hat, too!”

–the top of his hat, chin nudging its crown into a more comfortable position with surprising gentleness. Ace can’t see the smile on Luffy’s face like this but he knows it’s there judging by the way dumbfounded astonishment morphs into fondness on the faces of his crew members.

Bowing as politely as he can, he smiles and says: “Portgas D. Ace, Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates... and Luffy’s brother. Nice to finally meet you.”

Among the sputtering of “Whitebeard? The Whitebeard?” and “Wait, brother?!”, a guy with green hair and three swords makes the fastest recovery from general disbelief. He nods at Ace and smirks, “Likewise”, voice heavy with a confidence that rivals Luffy’s own. Seems like he’s the oldest in the bunch, too, which isn’t saying much since they all look about Luffy’s age and– Is that a reindeer?

(It’s hard to tell as whoever it is currently is trying to hide behind the main mast, ‘trying’ being the key word.)

They’re all strong though, Ace can tell. Inexperienced and fresh-faced and full of potential, just like their captain. His smile only grows.

So this is Luffy’s crew.

“Oi Luffy, when were you gonna tell us you have a brother?”

Happily wriggling his feet against Ace’s stomach, Luffy hmms as if deep in thought. “Dunno!” is the answer he comes up with after careful consideration, and Ace chuckles along with some of the crew. “It never came up, you know? Ace has his own adventures and stuff.”

If the heat was tough before, it’s unbearable now with Luffy’s furnace of a body compounding the issue. Ace lets him stay, stepping on his brother’s ship with a murmured “May I?” and a quick nod from a woman with short, red hair. The caravel is small but charming and cozy, so much so Ace feels immediately at ease. One of the many worries nipping at his nerves ever since he saw the name Strawhat Luffy under the words DEAD OR ALIVE is laid to rest then and there.

“Hey Ace, what are you doing here anyways?”

By now Luffy’s practically humming with unspent energy; Ace sighs and unceremoniously dumps him on deck, fixing his lopsided hat and necklace smoothly. Luffy is undeterred, snickering and effortlessly climbing a few feet up the mast to look at his brother from there.

“Taking care of business”, Ace answers casually yet can’t help the way his smile slips a little. The memory of Thatch bleeding out in his arms is too fresh, too grim to repress entirely. Luffy’s head tilts to the side but Ace waves him away before he can ask.

“Don’t worry, I can handle it. I just figured if I’m already around these parts I might as well meet up with my baby brother.”

When he left that message on Drum, Ace had figured he’d just say hi to his brother, tell his crew to watch over him (or else) and be on his merry way to put down Blackbeard like the mangy fratricidal dog he is. It’s only after he’s successfully ticked off the second item on that list – the crew looks sufficiently humbled and that green-haired dude Zoro grins at him, clearly approving, and why does Ace feel like he just passed some sort of test? – that he finally realizes he didn't account for one thing in this brilliant plan of his.

Because his brother is Luffy, and the moment Ace makes to leave he finds himself the target of a kicked-puppy-look-of-doom so heart-rending he feels terrible for even thinking that way.

“Lu, c’mon now, I…”

“But Ace! It’s been three years and so much has happened and we just met and–”

And that’s that. The whiny note in Luffy’s voice effectively shreds through whatever resistance Ace has left (which, if he’s honest with himself, wasn’t much to begin with). At the end of the day, he missed his little brother and it’s not like life hasn’t taught him – over and over and over again – to cherish the fleeting moments he has with those he loves. Ace pinches the bridge of his nose and groans.

“Fine. One night, okay? One. I really have to go after that.”

Luffy cheers, gloom immediately forgotten, and it’s then that Ace notices his crew is breathing a sigh of relief, too. So they're already aware a sad Luffy is to be avoided at all costs. Good.

The blonde one – Sanji the cook, Ace reminds himself – asks him what he’d like to eat and without thinking he says, “Anything with jolokia in it”, and Sanji shrugs, “Alright, coming right up”, and strolls away in the direction of the galley before it crosses Ace’s mind that those peppers are really hard to find and he’s already had lunch just an hour prior. He distinctly remembers Luffy eating his weight at the bar earlier, too, and he is yelling for meat at the top of his lungs.

Oh well. Might as well try out Luffy’s cook and see for himself that his gluttonous brother is well cared f–

Someone clears their throat to draw his attention. “Mr. Portgas”, a woman says, voice pleasant and measured in a way only diplomats speak. On this ship, with that captain, finding someone so eloquent is the thing that ends up surprising Ace the most.

“Ace, please. What's the matter?”

She smiles, an obvious appreciation for his manners even if it doesn’t pierce through the troubled look swirling in her eyes. “Ace, sorry. I'm Vivi, then. Would you mind if we continue along the coast and up the river during the night? We, um, we have somewhere to be and time is of the essence.”

Ace blinks. Isn’t that a question for your captain? Then again, Luffy is currently busy hounding his cook for scraps and knowing him, he’s not really the authoritarian type anyways, captain or no. 

“Uh. I don’t really care, I can set off from wherever with Striker.”

Vivi follows the gesture he makes to his trusty fire-powered speed boat but her interest is polite, half-hearted at best. “I see. I appreciate it, thank you.”

Not we but I, huh? Be it paranoia or justified caution, Ace knows the devil is in the details and this Vivi, she has something to hide. Yet nothing disturbs the air of trust the others seem to place in her: A secret kept only from strangers, then.

“A-ceee.”

Ah. Ace shakes himself out of the analytical stare he’s fixed her with, and to Vivi’s credit she merely locks her jaw and stares back, all pretense stripped to reveal a core of steely determination underneath. Luffy is pouting at him, draped across the railing of the forecastle and clearly unhappy with the subtle tension rising around them.

“Stop being all serious and come here, I want you to meet Merry!”

Scratching his neck, Ace huffs a breath – “Alright, jeez. Give me a second.” – and he nods at Vivi, both an apology and a concession to what they discussed. “Let me know if I can help with… whatever’s going on. It sounds important.”

The smile she gives him is more genuine, this time. “It is. You’ve already done enough keeping the Marine off our backs, though.”

Ace shrugs, have it your way, and before Luffy can start getting annoying for real, he launches himself in a column of fire to his brother’s side. “Okay, then. Who’s this Merry?”

*

The Strawhats truly are a crazy bunch and Ace is fascinated. It didn’t take long at all for Sanji to bust out of the kitchen with a mouth-watering amount of food, and Luffy disappears from Ace’s side so fast he basically teleports to the cook’s side. Shaking his head, Ace climbs down the stairs leading up to Merry’s figurehead at a more measured pace, watching the crew deal with his brother’s antics like it’s nothing, as easy as breathing. Hands fly and insults right along with them as they somehow wrangle him into sitting down properly and keeping to his own plate (for the most part) and Luffy does, beaming bright as the sun in their midst.

It softens something in Ace’s heart to witness it – Luffy has grown in the time they spent apart, stronger in many ways and mellowed out in others and unchanged where it matters. Perhaps his crew doesn’t realize it yet but it’s no small feat, to accept him just as he is.

Then, a rubbery arm wraps around Ace’s waist and he’s pulled (literally rather than figuratively) into the fray.

Lunch is a loud and boisterous affair. Ace gives as good as he gets, fighting for every delicious bite from where he’s squeezed in-between Luffy and a guy as gangly and awkward as they come, and he can’t remember a time he saw devastation quite like when Usopp dares him to try his Tabasco Shot and it does absolutely nothing. “I fried my sense for spicy food years ago”, Ace admits between peals of laughter, and Usopp’s eyes light up before he scrambles to his little workshop haphazardly placed in the middle of the deck.

“Don’t go anywhere! You’re my test subject now!”

It’s a good while later that things start to settle down on the Going Merry as she makes her way up the Sandora River. One by one, the Strawhats disperse to their own corners of the ship, clearing out the mess left behind and cycling through their duties without a single input from their captain – be it by design or implicit understanding, it’s hard to tell. And while Luffy is all-too-happy to hog his brother’s attention, Ace soaks up the obvious joy radiating from his voice and the unique cadence of his laughter.

Crouching on one of Merry’s horns, head pillowed on the palm of his hand, he lets himself be regaled by story after story of their adventures, told in that nonsensical style of narration Ace knows better than his mother tongue. Luffy sprawls all over his ship’s figurehead like it’s an extension of his body, hands a blur as he acts out what he means with gestures and grimaces.

For being a crew from what is considered the weakest Blue, the Strawhat Pirates have caused quite the stir. Ace smirks. About time people stopped underestimating the underdogs.

After all, his mouth still burns from the final rendition of Usopp’s self-made tabasco, one the sniper declared as his new weapon with a glint of triumph in his eyes.

It dawns on him, as Luffy imitates climbing with clawed fingers and a short-lived scowl on his face (“–it was so high, Ace, and there was ice everywhere and no more bunnies to help us, you know? And then–”), that Monkey D. Luffy is a good captain. It’s not a lack of faith in Luffy’s abilities or a big brother’s sense of superiority that ever put that into question: The truth is that Luffy is trusting and kind-hearted to a fault, the devotion to his friends easily spanning all oceans and beyond. Absolute loyalty, rare as it is in this jaded world, is one hell of a double-edged sword to fight your battles with, and the Strawhats strive for it with the same fervor as the dreams they wrote across their hearts and souls.

It’s the same brand of recklessness that nearly got the Spade Pirates killed, back when Father was still Whitebeard, one of the Four Emperors, and Ace had a personal vendetta against the universe itself (and the man it called King) to carry out.

History has a nasty habit of repeating itself, of transmitting a sin from father to child and brother to brother, and Ace hadn’t known shit about that when they’d raised their cups of sake that day and swore to be family until the end.

Yet here Luffy is, giving out pieces of his heart and expecting everyone to fall into step beside him. Even their current quest across Alabasta seems to be driven by some favor or other – keeping a low profile, for one, seems completely antithetical to the small crew made large by their personalities – and Ace worries.

It's in moments like these that he wishes he wasn’t the only big brother Luffy has left.

“Ace?”

Luffy’s eyes are big and serious, hands having come to rest on his knees and brows drawing into a pensive line while Ace was lost in his head. It’s second nature to join him then, cross-legged and close enough to brush shoulders. “What is it?”, Ace asks quietly as he takes off his hat, lets it spin between his fingers – he offers it to Luffy, “Here”, a soft smile sneaking on his lips as his brother takes it and starts toying with it.

The distraction doesn’t work as well as it used to, and that’s alright. The main point is that, even as a kid, having something to keep his hands busy always helped Luffy parse through the thoughts bouncing around in his head.

Then, finally: “Where’s White-guy? He’s your captain, right?”

The questions are unexpectedly solemn, and Ace raises his eyebrows, waits for Luffy to elaborate. There’s a frustrated twist to his brother’s mouth, something small and annoyed.

“Like… It’s not fair. Does he know you’re all alone out here?”

Just like that, the pieces rearrange in Ace’s mind to produce a whole, and yeah, that would be a fault in Luffy’s eyes. “Hm, I get what you mean. Father…” Ace sighs. Where to begin?

“Every captain is different, and for him, we’re his sons. There was– Someone killed one of his sons, one of us, and Father didn’t want me to go after him but I insisted. It’s as if I tried to kill you, or you me. It’s unforgiveable, you see? So that’s why I’m here – I’m gonna bring that fucker to justice.”

A fraction of the anger seething within him seeps into Ace’s voice and it’s been years since he let himself be driven by hatred like this. But Luffy, he’s known Ace from a time everything that came out of his mouth was laced with lethal intent, and spite was all he knew how to reach for.

There is no unease in Luffy’s gaze now either, and when he returns Ace’s hat to him, his hands are steady and unbothered by hesitation.

“That won’t happen. Why would I want to kill you?”

Luffy says it with such earnestness, like he couldn’t come up with a single reason if given a hundred years to think about it; Ace laughs and puts his hat back on his head, and love surges through him like the fire in his veins.

“Exactly. It shouldn’t.”

“So your new dad is a good guy after all?”

“He’s the best”, Ace says with a conviction he feels down to his bones, and Luffy smiles right along with him. “I want you to meet him someday, Lu, you and your crew. I don’t think I can change your mind about who should be Pirate King–”

“Never.”

“–but you’ll like him. And you could meet my crew, too. And our flag ship looks like a whale. A big white one.”

“Really? That’s cool!”

“Right?!”

They laugh just as they used to whilst pretending to sleep at night, hushed and with their heads bowed close to each other as if to fit under the same blanket. It’s quiet for a while, afterwards, Ace listening to the lapping of the waves against wood and watching the cloudless sky go by and Luffy watching him.

Ace guesses he’s thinking of his inevitable departure tomorrow but there is little he can do about that. Even as his big brother, Ace can’t protect Luffy from everything in life.

The touch to his shoulder comes a bit sudden and Ace almost jumps, takes in the pensive look on Luffy’s face and then the careful motion of his finger as he traces heavy, inked lines: Gently, he writes A, then C, then E, and returns upwards to brush over the crossed-out S with his thumb.

“Do you think he’d be proud of us?”

Ace hums, glances down at the tattoo. It had been the first thing he’d gotten with his own money – paid with treasure, Sabo would’ve loved that – and it’s a little faded now but it still fills Ace with determination, to know Sabo is with him and his memory will continue to exist as long as Ace draws breath.

“Sabo? Yeah, I think so. He’d be happy we kept our deal and sailed out to sea.” Ace chuckles, rubbing his shoulder fondly. “Perhaps a little miffed that I’m definitely the oldest brother now but, well. What do you think?”

“Mhm, I think so too. And we’re free now, right? Just like we said.”

“Yeah. We are.”

Luffy huffs a laugh, leaning back against Merry and linking his arms behind his head like he doesn’t have a care in the world. No regrets, huh, Sabo? Ace’s chest feels warm with nostalgia and he makes himself comfortable, too, gazing towards the sea and imagining Sabo sailing ahead of them, eyes fixed on the horizon and his flag waving proudly in the wind.

We promised, after all.

[onepdumpsterfire]

Disclaimer: These stories are based ‘loosely’ on the game Obey me shall we date. The major stuff will be the same, but here and there the story will be changed or embellished. It is just an AU and I do not own the game the characters, from both One Piece or Obey Me, nor do I own One Piece in general. It would be cool though…

Warning: The characters will mostly be ooc and for the most part will not have the same background as in the anime/manga. The reader’s age will be above consent; the exact number is up to you.

Nola

Devildom!AU

(pt6/?)

Various Characters X Reader

Shanks heard about the fight the brothers had. He’d heard about how you got hurt. At first, he was angry at Sabo for doing what he did. If anything happened to the exchange student this whole thing would be a waste. He punished Sabo for what he did. Beating him bloody. Shanks decided he couldn’t take his eyes off him until he was sure he wouldn’t rage out again. So he proposed a three-day retreat. He could keep an eye on Sabo, and make all three realms get along. He needed to see results in his plan, if this was the only way to do it then it’ll have to do.

As courteous as he was, he made it known that this request was no entreaty. You all would show and be in your best behavior. No protests. No complaints. No objections. And so, that is how you found yourself taking a tour of his palace. Benn, One of Shank’s loyal servants, was explaining the more historic artifacts that decorated the halls. It was interesting to hear the different stories each piece held. One, in particular, held more than the rest. It was a painting of a woman she dressed in clothing from what seemed like the mid-1800s. She wore a high waisted baby-blue gown with a white lacy bonnet and shawl. This seemed to be from the human world. Her out of time style clothing wasn’t the only thing that drew attention to her. She seemed to be moving…

“Sanji!” came her scream. The painting can speak? Sanji looked puzzled. Had he done something to the painting to make them mad? “Oh, I know you! Violet, from when I visited Spain in the human world.” So he had. “You hornswoggler, pigeon-livered, ratbag!” 

“Now, now, sweetheart. No need to get nasty.” Sanji barely seemed to consider her as anything. What wrong had he done to make her say such strange…insults? “What brings you down here? Was the power you gained from me not enough?”

“Power?! From you?! Yeah right! You left me for dead!” Her shrieks shook the frame she was imprisoned in. “the coven betrayed me and trapped me in here! I’ve been passed around and showcased like one of those wagtail wenches! This is all your fault! If only you had st-”

“If only I had what? Stayed and helped? If I recall correctly all you asked for was ‘unimaginable power’ to bring those meaters of the coven to their knees” Sanji approached the painting, “If you didn’t know how to properly use them and was outwitted by those Vazey, Mumbling coves, it was on you.” His tone was dark and airy. Like he was trying to threaten her without letting the others know, but by how the room seemed to resonate around him, it wasn’t that convincing. “You Flapdoodle! I’ll make you pay!” You what…. Flapdoodle, really? You didn’t get much of a chance to wonder what that word implied. She let out bright light, oils swirling inside the painting. They turned into a vortex sucking everything near inside. First, it was Sanji then Nami and Ace. the last ones it took were you and Kid who grabbed on to law for support, but they were both dragged in anyway. 

The lights where you appeared were dim. Beside you was Kid and Law, separated from the rest. “We need to find the others,” was the first thing said in the eerie quietness of the corridor you were in. “What we need to do is find out where we are.” An interjection from the other male. “Not the time to fight, both of you.”

“We’ll look around, figure out where we are and find the others at the same time.” Both men looked at each other, surprised by your sudden leadership. “Yes, ma’am,” Law mocked you but listened to your orders nonetheless. Not like he had much of a choice. After the pact, every order you gave no matter how small, was followed. You didn’t like making them do things, giving them orders, but when the hands were down… You needed them to focus right now. 

The path twisted and turned in many directions. There were dead ends and traps, like a maze. For the leader of this makeshift gang, you had to take the back seat in most dangers that befell you. They were too grand to fight off yourself. If one thing came out of this, you learned the extent of both your companion’s capabilities and an invaluable piece of information. While you held a pact with them their demon forms wouldn’t hurt you. The power that they release, that is.

Their presence felt otherworldly, like Sabo’s. Their combined power would have pulverized you. It was just as great and magnificent as the first time you were able to see it. When Sabo threw you against the tomb’s wall. This time you could hold your own against this gripping force that radiated out of them. Your sight was clear and your head didn’t hurt. Your body didn’t weaken at the proximity. It was probably because of the pact you made with them.

Their forms changed as Sabo’s had. Law grew tusk-like horns that protruded from the back of his head, wrapping around to the front. They were pearl-white and sharp. Under his coat there was a tail, thin with a tuft of black hair at the end. Kid Had also grown one of his own, a golden tail that faded into pitch black. His own set of horns came out from the top of his head, twisting into their sharp endings. His teeth ground into fangs. They looked savaged like they’d maul anything that crosses his path. 

They both ferociously protected you from any trap that was set up in the labyrinth. Tearing into anything that moved and ripping you away from any danger that befell you. Eventually, you did come across the others, having a hammering headache as your guide. The two demons had to go ahead in front of you to tell Ace and Sanji to turn back from their demon forms so you could step closer. Nami, on the other hand, wasn’t affected by it. Her magic gives her protection from their power. “Oh my sweet, Y/n. it’s okay to come closer now.” Sanji called out for you. “R-right,” you turned the corner to meet them.

“Now we need to find an exit.”

“Darling, how I love it when you take charge.” Sanji was a flirtatious fool, no wonder that woman, Violet, was mad at him. However, she should have known better than to cross a whole coven. Pushing you in front, the two brothers you made a pact with ‘protected’ you from their brother. Not wanting you close the lascivious demon.

There was more walking, the labyrinth seemed endless. Yes labyrinth, Ace had filled you all in about it when you caught up. It was below the castle, and nearly inescapable, to those who didn’t know the way. But a powerful mage could figure it out with a spell or two, she just wanted to find the others first. With you guys here there was nothing stopping Nami. She started her spell, but there was this rustling coming from the chambers. It was a persistent sound, like sliding on the floor. Nami stopped her spell to hear it better, “what is that?” All present stopped to listen to the low creeping sound that was… getting closer. 

A wall down the path to your left was moving, you could swear that it didn’t lead to a dead-end before. “Guys, what is that?” You pointed at the scaly impasse that seemed to be moving to block all exit points. “Oh, fuck,” Law whispered under his breath, “That’s my pet Mindsnare Naga, Nola.” Kid punched his arm, “a mindsnare, really Law, really.” They were nasty creatures who seek power above all else. They’re immortal beasts that needn’t worry about time, creating convoluted plans to get to their goal. The highest-ranking person in the location they decide to nest in. They live to control and dominate their victims into submission. They suck them out of life with their venom then fill them with false memories and a built personality to help them reach their goal. If it was deep in the bowels of the castle had it already started it’s schemes? Does the ruler of Devildom know what resides underneath his very feet? You could worry about the troubles of the palace after you manage to escape its clutches.

Law had forbidden you all from harming his ‘poor Nola’. The others protested though he left them no choice, threatening that he’d destroy everything they loved if they were to harm a scale on the serpent. He gave them no choice but to oblige. Crossing the avatar of envy was one of the last things anyone wanted to do. He knew how to ruin any person until they gave up on themselves. He’s sent many into an endless cycle of loathing and suffering. “You’re its master, command it!” Kid yelled at law. “I can’t, she escaped when she was still young. I didn’t have time to train her.” How useless! How were you all supposed to defend yourselves now? You can’t hurt it, much less fight it. “I should have known she’d head to the palace. Her kind charm leaders of lands to do their bidding. Shanks must have found her and trapped her down here. My poor baby.” Not the time to hand out sympathy to something that wants to kill you. “Then what are we gonna do,” Ace piped in, the first time he talked since you’ve all gotten together. “We can’t fight it-”

“Her.”

“Not the time, Law.” If anyone was pissed at the scenario you seemed to be stuck in, it was wrath himself. “Don’t those things grow a second head if you kill it?” Law rolled his eyes at his brother’s ineptitude. “No, that’s a Hydra of Lerna. And they only regrow TWO heads from one that was chopped off, not if you kill it.” Thanks for sharing the knowledge, not helping though. “A mindsnare naga charms its enemies to kill them. Which is what she should be doing now….so we better think of something. Fast.” Law said this like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Why not try to be a little less smug and a little more helpful? “I know what we can do.” It was Nami this time who spoke up. “If I use my pact with Sanji I can boost his own power and mesmerize the snake.”

“Not a snake.”

“No one cares.” Nami turned to Sanji. “Are you ready?” He gave her a seducing smile. “For you? Always.” Nami raised her hand, a ball of glowing light sitting in her palm. Power flowed from her and Sanji seemed to be transmitting her energy. “Praebueris tua poteste quod tibi commodare mea. Nos hanc novam transmittat; coniuncta cum virtute non moveretur a te transiret ponam inimicos.” Her incantations forced an unyielding power to surge out of Sanji. “Don’t worry, Y/n. with my power I’ll protect you, so you won’t pass out.”

Sanji’s demon form is an incubus. Leathery wings bent to make a heart around his head then they straightened into a fine point. Short curved horns came out of each side of his head, and a long thick tail with an arrowhead tip at the end. He radiated an aura that was seen flowing out of him. The boost Nami gave him made his already grand power even more so. Sanji flew through the space between the ceiling and the top of the snake. Following it till he reached the head. Nola had wrapped herself around every way out. She was now coming in through the last passageway with Sanji in tow. He had charmed her on his way over, the serpent didn’t hold any more malice. “Get on! Nola is gonna show us the way out.” Law grabbed you by the waist and jumped on, the others in right behind you. “If she knows the way out then why is she still in here?” Sanji chuckled at Law’s question. “She’s not imprisoned. Shanks found her when she was young and let her stay down here. She gets fed every day and can go out if she pleases.” Law looked sad. His serpent had chosen a different master. As much as he loved her, there wasn’t anything he could do. She was just another of the nine monsters in this realm that guarded the nine circles now. 

After you finally got out of the labyrinth you all had dinner prepared by the demons. Shanks announced that the next day you will be doing a scavenger hunt in the palace. Hence the tour of the place. The lower demons had continued the tour after you vanished, so most of what the ones left standing saw was a mystery to you. The scavenger hunt tomorrow was gonna be hard. All of them knew this and demonstrated it with a groan that passed from one to another. After supper, Shanks separated you into groups. You were with Sanji and Ace. Kid was with Law and Robin. Nami was with Luffy and Usopp. Lastly was Sabo and Shanks.

Kid had protested, yelling that you had a pact with him and should be placed with him, but Sabo told him to zip it and follow orders. You all split up into separate bedrooms for the night. Nami staying back to have a word with you. She lent you some of her power for the rest of the retreat. She said you deserve to have some form of protection for the rest of the trip, not to mention she wanted you to have a good time with the rest. You were a bit confused by her sudden willfulness to share power, something you didn’t even know could be done, but Nami was very front face about everything. She wouldn’t have lied about her intentions. Feeling a tad closer everyone you made your way to your shared room with the rest. Today was a long day, though it was filled with many fun and exciting things.

1800’s slang-

* Hornswoggler- a fraud or a cheat

* Flapdoodle- sexually incompetent man

* Meater/Pigeon-Livered- coward

* Mumbling cove- a shabby person

* Ratbag- a general term of abuse

* Vazey- stupid

* Wagtail- promiscuous woman/ dissolute man

[lawssword]

49. I really don't know who, but how about you do what you want for this prompt. If that is fine with you, of course.

LawLu~ Idiot

I went with Law/Luffy because they’re my default (^-^) so here you go enjoy!

49, "I may be an idiot, but Im your idiot." Luffy gets arrested and Law isn't too happy about it.

Rated G

743 Words

Law tapped his foot as he waited for Luffy. Law was going to kill him. Law just wasn't sure how yet. Slow probably, nice and slow so the dumbass could feel all the pain he had put Law through over the years.

Luffy came through the heavy metal doors, a bruise on his cheek, his lip cut, blood under his nose, holding a manila envelope. Law really should have waited to snap at Luffy until they were at least outside let alone in the car.

"It's two god damn morning, Luffy," Law said. Only a drunk guy and the lady behind the desk were witnesses to Law's, at the moment, very controlled wrath.

Luffy's gaze was aimed low. "I know..." he muttered.

"You know I have classes in the morning, and you called me?" Law scoffed. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I know..." Luffy wouldn't look Law in the eyes and that was pissing Law off even more.

"You're lucky I didn't just call one of your brothers. How long are you going to keep getting into fights like some juvenile delinquent?" Law could hardly stop himself from continuing. "You're almost 20 for fuck's sake, Luffy, you're going to get your ass handed to you one of these days and end up in a hospital."

Luffy didn't say anything he just looked at the white tile beneath their feet. That deterred Law just a bit. He expected Luffy to make a comment about Law being there to help him if he ever did end up in the hospital.

"And what about your friends? You drag them into your bullshit all the time too, so how many of them are cleaning up your fucking mess? How stupid can you be?"

"I know okay?" Luffy's voice was still small. This wasn't one of his usual stunts. Law should have realized that sooner. It was probably why he didn't call Ace or Sabo. "Just- please take me home..."

Law sighed. "When's the last time you ate? We can stop at Mcdonalds and you can tell me what happened."

Luffy looked up at Law, but only met his eyes for a moment. "Okay."

_

"The guy was saying that Ace was going to jail or going to get his ass beat so bad that ended up comatose or dead!" Luffy explained, digging into his 20 piece nuggets. "And I told him that Ace was way too strong for that!" At least with some food in his stomach, Luffy seemed to be in a better mood. Law took a sip from the sprite they were sharing.

"What would Ace-ya do to piss someone off that much?" Law had a few ideas but that wasn't the point.

"I dunno, but the guy got mad that I even knew Ace and picked a fight," Luffy said, starting on the cheeseburger in front of him.

Law rested his chin in the palm of his hand and suppressed a yawn. Luffy was definately going to owe him a cup of coffee after this. Luffy frowned a bit.

"You're right, I shouldn't have called you, you need sleep," Luffy said.

" I'd rather you called me if not your brothers," Law said. "I don't think anyone else has the guts to scold you."

"Shishi, Nami would, Usopp too! And Sanji," Luffy said.

"How did the cops get called?"

"The guy's friend was a cop! He let me get a few hits in and waited for the guy to hit me a few times before he arrested me, he was an asshole too. Especially when he found out Ace was my brother," Luffy explained. Law frowned. Luffy stopped eating and looked down at his lap. "He told me if I said anything to Ace he'd make sure Sabo got it too..."

"The cop?" Law asked Luffy nodded.

"That's why I didn't call Ace or Sabo, they'd demand I tell them."

"What the fuck?" Law muttered. "You should tell both of them what's going on, you don't want those threats to come true."

Luffy nodded and took another big bite of his cheeseburger. "So I gave him a bloody nose. Law rolled his eyes.

"You're an idiot."

"Yeah," Luffy smiled at Law. "But I'm your idiot!"

[luna-paradoxz]

Grief

Summary - On some days, when his scars hurt, he needs his Nakama. 

If you like my works and want to support me, you can buy me a Ko-fi here. 

They all were familiar with grief, they all have experienced it. They all had lost someone they loved in front of their own eyes, none of them were strangers to grief or the pain that comes with longing for someone that will never come back. That is why they had seen it, sometimes in their captain, some days the lines were quite clear and other days they would completely vanish and whoever noticed it that day would have to question if they were just seeing things. Luffy had always been happy, he did have his moments, but Luffy had always smiled, always tried to smile, always searched for happiness. He always seemed to love his life and had thought his Nakama to do the same thing, to love life so strongly that you wish to scream that you want to live from within your heart. He was that kind of person, he has always been like that and even now he is still that person.

But he carries grief too, the lines and scars etched so clearly on his body that it is hard to ignore them, it is hard to pretend that they don't exist. And they all have been trying to because none of them knows what to say to Luffy right now, it is not like they don't have words to say. They all have a lot of their own words to say but it been two years and now it's hard to bring especially when Luffy seems just as happy and vibrant as he has always been. It is hard and it feels wrong to drag it out when Luffy looks like he is recovering from it, none of them wants to bring it up. None of them wants to scratch on those scars that are finally healing.

None of them wants to but on nights like this one of them has to. And Nami knows this time it's her turn to support her captain, just like how he has always supported them.

She climbs down of the crow nest and slowly, carefully walks up to him. He is sitting on his favourite spot on, on the masthead of sunny, his hat is tilted and he is staring ahead at the sea in sombre silence and Nami knows this silence, she is very well aware of this silence, and the pain it hides. She doesn't announce her presence, he already knows she is here. Still, she takes time, giving him enough time to send her away so he can be on his own. She wants to help him but she knows being alone is important too, at times. It helps and if he wants that right now she will give it to him.

He doesn't say anything though, and neither does he move so she walks up to him and leans at the rail for a bit. She forms the words properly before she speaks she doesn't want to say the wrong words, she doesn't want to break this awkward ignorance they have had with careless words. She thinks but he beats her to it,

"Can't sleep Nami?" He asks her carefully, his voice sombre and tight and she looks down, slightly frustrated.

"I am on the watch tonight Luffy. I can't sleep like Zoro and still notice," she quips slightly nd he smiles slightly, and she is still glad, at least he is not that gone that he doesn't want to make jokes at all.

"What about you Luffy? Are you going to sleep?" she asks, and his smile goes.

"In a bit." He says but doesn't elaborate and she is worried, should she step in or back away, she is not sure. Any other time she would have come blasting, anger and worry mixed in as she scolded him. But right now she is scared, so scared that she will scratch his scar, that she will pick on it and leave glaring red marks in the wake if she is not careful. It's only been two, just two years since he has gotten them and that is not enough time, it is not enough time for them to even remotely heal. She knows because it has taken her 18 years to properly smile.

Maybe he realises her feelings because Luffy may be clueless most of the time but when it comes to his Nakama he instinctively knows what they are feeling, what they are desperately trying to tell. Because his shoulders relax slightly and he lets a breath go as he lets some tension go from his muscles. She takes a deep breath in and threads in because she was tough love and she can't let it go right now.

"Luffy, does it hurt?" she asks, carefully. She is not asking literally, she knows that it is stupid, her own scars had stopped hurting after a week, even though his is worse she knows it can't be physically hurting right now. No, she wants to know if it hurts, if his heart is pained and he wants to speak if he wants to let a bit go. Because she wants to take it away, even if he only shares a very tiny bit, she still wants to take it away just like he had done for her, three years back.

He shudders as he looks down, and she wonders if he is going to lie and that hurts slightly because she knows Luffy can't lie to save his life but when it comes to things like this when he fulfils his captain's duty, he will lie, properly, defiantly because he needs to be the one they can believe in no matter what.

But he is Luffy, who trusts his Nakama more than anything in this world, "Just a bit Nami, only slightly, it will go away in a bit. It always does." He says, convincing himself and her and she feels her hand drift to her tattoo as she nods.

"I am glad it doesn't hurt too much," she says, smiling. "Luffy can I stay though? The night breeze is nice and I would like to spend some time with my captain." She stares at his back, scared, hopes he won't reject her. She wants to at least do this much for him. He grabs his hat tightly as he titles it further and says.

"Ya, I would like that too."

And there they stay in silence both just enjoying their presence as she hopes this will heal him, help him, even if only slightly. They stay like that until Luffy can let go of his hat and lifts his head up and finally turns other as he smiles, not so fully, but she is ok with it as she smiles wider for him and he hops back to her and says his good night and walks back to the boy's room. She watches him go and finally takes a deep breath to let the pain in her chest go.

It takes time, she reminds herself, healing oneself. It always takes time, a lot of support, love and acceptance. She knows this because she has gone through the process. And she reminds herself that this time they will be there for him as he walks through it too, that she will be there always guiding, his ever-faithful navigator, as he walks through it. She won't let go, she won't ever leave his side.

Such nights will come again and every single time she plans to stay by his side and she knows, she believes, all her Nakama will do the same when it is their turn.

Luffy has experienced grief before, when he was seven to be exact. They were three brothers but Sabo died, he was killed to be more exact by someone they couldn't punch at that time. It was only because Ace had been there that Luffy had been able to get over his death, that he was able to move on and let his grief go. It had only come on some days, like on Obon or his death anniversary. Somedays he does remember him when everything is sombre and he is reminded of his childhood memories. After he had met Ace again in Alabasta, for a few days he had thought, how Sabo would have been same as Ace if he had been right here, it had left him sad for few days but he had immediately bounced back and returned to having fun.

Then, he had lost Ace. Ace had died, right in front of his eyes. He had let Ace die in front of him because he had been too weak.

It had hurt, I had hurt so much. He had lost hope in living, he didn't want to live. He didn't see any meaning in living. But then Jimbei had asked him, something he hadn't even bothered asking himself, not even cared at the moment until Jimbei had reminded him.

"What do you still have left?"

He had remembered them, they called him out, smiling at him as they call out to him in a voice full of love and tenderness and his eyes burn as he remembered. Zoro promised him he will never lose. Name asked him for help. Sanji wanted to fulfil both of their foolish dreams. Ussop wanted to become someone greater. Robin screaming that she wants to live. Franky wanting to see his creation, his ship becoming the best ship. Brook that pledged rest of his life to him and wishes to see a friend of lost past.

He remembers his Nakama and he remembers their dreams. He remembers their smiles ad he remembers their love.

And he feels his heart letting go as he cries, for the first time, as he stares at his hands and tells Jimbei.

"I still have my Nakama, I still have them."

And as he sees them all again, he remembers his heartfelt words and wants to tell them, to thank them because if it wasn't for them he wouldn't have been standing here right now. He wouldn't have been able to find the strength to stand up again, to chase his dream once again. He is so happy, he is so grateful for them.

He had already vowed this before, but he vows it again when he sees hem again finally. He won't even let any one of them go, he won't let anyone of them slip pat his hand again. He will be strong, he will be strongest so he can protect them, so he can make sure that no matter what happens he won't ever lose them.

But when on some days, he wants to be weak again, be coddled again like he was done by his brothers when he was 7. He is their captain though so he knows he has to be the strong one, he needs to be strong, to protect all of them. But, on days like these, when his scars are throbbing, he decides to relax a bit, to stop for a bit. To let go a bit,

"Just a bit Nami, it will go away in it though. It always does." He reassures her because Nami is loving, she is too loving. She feels too strong and too much and he doesn't want to sweep her in his pain.

She smiles though and says, "I am glad it doesn't hurt too much," She hesitates, "Luffy can I stay here though? The night breeze feels good and I want to spend time with my captain." And he is reminded again on how strong Nami is, how strong and tough she has always been for him, for them. So he gives in, only for today because it feels good to be near them, to be near her and just let himself relax and not think about his scars and his fears.

"Ya, I would like that too."

They stay, she doesn't speak but he can feel her comfort even without any words spoken. He decides to head back to his room, he smiles at her as he says his good night and she smiles wider for him as if reassuring him that she is here for him. He flops down on his bed, and sleep doesn't come to him easily, but as he hears his friends snoring, their heartbeats loud and very much alive, he feels him relaxing.

He falls asleep easily and the next time he stays up someone is always there for him.

His Nakama is always there for him.

[ohshanksno]

The Elves of Santa's Workshop~

Luffy: Designated Gift Wrapper. He leaves EVERY single hour on the dot just so he can go to Mrs. Claus and her Secondary Chef, Sanji, and demand cookies. He gets some shit done but it ain't a lot. Steals nutcrackers for unknown reasons. He steals toy cars just so he can break them. Once upon a time he got three reindeer lost, INCLUDING Chopper? Santa was devastated, but Luffy is so innocent? How can you stay mad at that face? He does things that makes you question your sanity.

Sabo: Was once Painter, but now Fixer Upper. That one elf that ALWAYS gets into something but no one ever suspects him. He’s too good for his own good. He broke Santa's Sleigh one December because he spilled hot cocoa on the dashboard. In the middle of July, he broke the cooling unit because he pulled a wire wrong, and half the North Pole went out. Some ice caps melted because of him, and Chopper was out for a week because of the heat. Koala is his partner in crime, and no one can prove it. Gets work done in a timely manner but he's not an artist at painting things like Ace. He's an artist at PAINING hahahha get it

Ace: Works really hard! Best elf there is! HATES Santa with all his heart. Tried to stab him with a sharpened candy cane and got tossed out the window instead. Designated Head Reindeer Caretaker with Zoro and Law. The reindeer like him best for odd reasons and they keep following him around, even into the shop when he needs to get some tools. It creeps him out how they follow him, silent and quick like thieves. Asked Chopper one day why do they keep following him, and Chopper told him: ‘you smell nice, and you’re the warmest body we got.’ He’s afraid to step outside by himself now to do his work. 

Koala: Santa’s List Helper. Gets caught up in Sabo's shit sometimes and honestly, she got caught up in his tornado so many times she just goes along with it. Literally watched Sabo accidentally burn the Naughty List one year and all she did was shrug. Not very surprised, anymore. Helps Santa with his lists because she has a good memory and very nice handwriting skills. Santa likes her happy-go-lucky personality. She doesn’t wear dresses to work, but instead wears work jumpers unless it’s a holiday party. THEN she’ll bring out her dresses.

Zoro: Can't find his way to the shop, much less the Reindeer Stacks. He ends up in the middle of the North Pole at least once a week, and Santa has to keep sending Chopper out there. Now, he has Chopper with him at all times. Good worker. Reindeer Caretaker and Toy Detailer. Falls asleep when he finishes 10 toys, so not a lot gets done in there. But he does get a lot done in the Stacks with Chopper’s help. Always fights with Sanji, but at the end of the day, all three of them go home together. Very lovely sight that has Santa crying sometimes.

Usopp: Good boy. GREAT boy. The perfect boy that Santa could ask for. The designated Head Painter AND Detailer because he’s just THAT good. People really think he's Pinnochio because of how he dresses, and he just goes along with it. He's got three little boys that follow him around, and they're mini Usopp 1, 2, and 3. No one knows who they are or where they came from, but they get a lot done by helping him paint. He's seen some things on that conveyor belt that should not be spoken of.

Nami: CONSTANTLY steals rich girl toys. She’s the Head Detailer. Stole a drone at one point. She does everything for a price, Santa, and labor is not very easy. Santa gotta keep paying her those Belis if he wants her to work. Good worker, but the prices she demands?? Santa's in the negatives by the end of the day. Dressed in a short dress one day because it was the only outfit left for her, and no work was done because of her. She beat up some kids here and there. Left the shop with loads of money. Half of it was stolen. Good Detailer and Wrapper, best one there is, but is it worth the money? Yes. Has a sister, but no one knows who she is. She works in there, but where? Who knows?

Sanji: The designated Second Cook of the shops. His lady, Pudding, is the First Cook. Helps Mrs. Claus with cooking for the elves, and she enjoys his company. He’s a bit of a talker, so he enjoys telling made up stories to her to pass the time. Compliments her quite often and any other lady in the shop. Once complimented Sabo for his hair, but he didn’t realize that was a guy, Luffy’s BROTHER on top of that. He wasn’t right for two weeks after that mistake. Zoro makes fun of him for it every time. Argues with Zoro like an old married couple, but means no harm. HATES Luffy coming in every 10 minutes for his sugar cookies.

Chopper: The Rudolph in this situation. Has a bright blue nose. Has 7 reindeer that follows his lead. He’s seen some unbelievable things, mostly from Sabo wrecking stuff by accident or Zoro getting lost or Luffy getting stuck in wrapping paper. He enjoys sweets, so Robin and Mrs. Claus give him leftover cookies when they have some, or just give him some berries in return. His favorite is the soft, fluffy candies that Sanji makes. He’s a good kid, and he enjoy head pats. Luffy does too, so normally they’re seen together being pat softly by Santa.

Robin: Good elf that gets her work done, but suspiciously. Got 203 toys done in an hour and the average is 120. She smiles like a serial killer, and Sanji complimented her once on it. He ended up with a dislocated arm when she was done. The next day, she apologized for it. In a relationship with Franky, the Head Supervisor of the shops, and she’s also the Secretary. Also a Fixer Upper and Detailer. She does a LOT for Santa, and Santa is grateful for her hard work. Pets Chopper and Luffy also, and gives them candy when Sanji doesn’t have any. Once, Usopp claims that he saw five arms on her. That hasn’t been proven yet.

Franky: Head Suuuuuuperviiiisor! Best at his job, and checks over everyone’s work before it goes into shipping. He’s also seen some things on the conveyor belt that shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Where did that porn magazine come from? Whose is it? No one knows. He encourages everyone to do their SUPER BEST, and that attitude is the best there is! Has parties at the end of the month to celebrate their hard work! SUPERB! Loves Robin to bits, and in a great relationship with her. She’s his Secretary AND Supervisor when he’s not there. Sometimes dresses up like Santa, and Santa is a little pleased at his outfit and personality.

Brook: The Musician of the place. Santa LOVES his music all year round, and he can get the mood going if you ask. Loves complimenting the ladies, but he’s an old guy so they’re not very interested in him all the time. Santa always cheers on his music, and dances with Mrs. Claus to it. It’s an embarrasing dance, but she enjoys it nonetheless. He enjoys telling stories to the elves about how Christmas was so many years ago, and is kinda sad as to how it changed drastically. Makes horrible puns 24/7, but everyone laughs because at least it’s PUNNY yohohohohoho

Law: Best AND worst elf there ever was. Reindeer caretaker. Has a polar bear and two penguins that follow him everywhere. Santa questions him where did he get the animals from, and Law just smiles at him. He’s great at his work, but he does it half-assed when it’s not that important. Like cleaning. He leaves that to Zoro. But health issues? The best there is. He’s also the designated Doctor in the building. Seen some injuries that had him scratching at his head. Sabo, how did you get that nail stuck in your foot? Nami, why is your finger snapped in half? Don’t get him started on Luffy. HATES Luffy to the bottom of his heart, but he cares in his own way.

Marco: Santa’s Right Hand Man. No one fucks with him. Gotta deal with all the shit from the shops, including Sabo’s accidents, Ace’s murdering spree, Robin suspicions, and Luffy slacking off. Looks like he’s seen Hell and ready to accept it. Looks really nice in an elf costume, and usually does work as a Fixer Upper and Gift Wrapper. Wait, where did Sabo go? Where the hell did LUFFY go? He usually ends up doing all the wrapping, and by the end of the hour they both come back and he’s NOT in a good mood. THE WORST person to go to when you’re in trouble. Scolds you so bad that once, he scolded Santa for falling asleep at the sleigh and he made him cry. He enjoys teasing everyone in a playful way.

Thank you for joining my hellhole come back anytime folks

[fierysafrina]

Together | ASL brothers

Fandom: One Piece Rating: General Genre: Slice of Life | Drama | Comedy Word Count: 1.697 Summary: Ace is happy he has brothers like Sabo and Luffy. Notes: It’s Ace’s birthday today and this one-shot probably makes no sense, but I wanted to write something for the birthday boy.

Three brothers were sitting in their hideout that they built when they were children. Luffy’s legs were crossed over along with Ace’s while Sabo’s feet were hanging over the edge, his arms on the railing. They were quietly watching the sun set at the horizon, the rays of evening warming them for last few minutes. Luffy shuddered from cold and both Ace and Sabo moved closer, to keep their youngest brother warm. He smiled widely, enjoying the company and chuckled as Sabo smiled and Ace grinned.

“Should we make a fire and catch a bear?” Sabo looked at Ace. “It is already night, so I’m sure it would be nice to catch something big for Dadan as well since it’s been a while we’ve been here.”

“It’s really been ages, isn’t it?” Luffy asked instead. “I missed this place!” he claimed and raised his hands in the air.

Ace laughed and messed Luffy’s hair. “Did you pay Makino all that debt you had?” he asked and shook with head when Luffy’s cheeks turned red. And Ace knew he did. He knew Luffy never went back on his word and that was the reason, why he followed him from the shadows, looking after his youngest brother when he needed help.

“I paid when I came.” Luffy answered and turned to Sabo. “Maybe we should try to catch a tiger or crocodile. Crocodile meat is always good.” His mouth watered at the memory of when they were children.

Sabo shook with head. “We’re not catching any crocodile today. You might get eaten.” He laughed when Luffy pouted and crossed his arms like a toddler, who didn’t get his favourite toy. How funny and easy it was sometimes to tease him. Then he looked at Ace, who was staring at the sunset once again, his eyes showing his thoughts were elsewhere than with them. And like it just dawned on him, he remembered what Garp told them once. There was a silent gasp and he tugged Luffy to his side, relieved that Ace was deep in thought.

“Luffy, tomorrow’s Ace’s birthday.” He hissed as quietly as he could and Luffy’s eyes widened at the realization.

“I need Sanji!” He called and jumped on his feet.

Ace looked at him in confusion. “Sanji?” he asked and blinked. “What for?”

“Meat!” Luffy called and before either of them could respond, Luffy jumped over the railing and disappeared into the woods, calling as loudly as he could for his cook.

“What’s with him?” Ace looked at Sabo, who shrugged.

“He just jumped and left…” The blond answered, but smiled, knowing Luffy will come up with something. He wasn’t the same clumsy and clueless kid he was years ago. Perhaps on moments, but there were lesser of them. “Should we go and hunt something down?” he asked and looked back at Ace, who smiled widely.

“The one, who catches biggest animal eats most of it.”

“Now that’s cheating!” Sabo laughed as Ace sprung himself over the railing, his laughter disappearing into the woods below.

Ace groaned and held for his head. He should have known that coming back to Foosha will be anything but nice and sweet. He should have expected there were some that still held a grudge for him all those years back. Blinking with his eyes, he opened them and looked around. It seemed like he was in the woods, somewhere in the woods.

“Ace!”

There were Sabo’s and Luffy’s voice, both voices filled with worry and gladness that he was awake.

“Are you okay? Hurt anywhere?” Sabo was the first, who came into his vision and Ace nodded. Something in Sabo’s eyes was what made Ace anxious for some reason as he seemed big.

“I’m fine—” Ace’s eyes widened at the childish voice he had and he looked at his hands only to see them small. “What the?” he murmured and looked at his legs that were short and clothes that were oddly similar to the ones he was wearing when he was a kid. “I’m a kid!?” he yelled, his voice resonating throughout the woods. “What happened?” he looked at Sabo, like he knew the answers.

“I…I don’t know…” Sabo admitted, his eyebrows narrowing together, wrinkles appearing on his forehead.

“And wait a second!” He claimed, only now realizing it was already a day. “When did I even pass out?!” he asked and looked around, seeing Chopper approaching him with worried look.

“We attacked some strange animal last night after Luffy went to his crew, but we beat it. Though few guys came around and wanted to get at you for years ago and you collapsed like few minutes after we beat them and didn’t wake up anymore. I thought it was another narcolepsy attack, so I left you alone, but when I woke up in the morning, I saw you like…this.” Sabo shortly explained and looked at Chopper. “Is he okay?” he asked.

“Well, Ace does look okay.” Chopper began slowly. “I don’t think we should be worried, though it’s still better to be careful.” He said and looked at Ace. “Do you feel any pain? Or anything…weird?” he asked.

Ace slowly shook with head. “I feel…fine, like last night.” He said and huffed.

Chopper nodded in understanding. “Then it should be no problem.” He turned to Sabo and Luffy. “Since he is a child, it’s best he’s with one of you. Despite being in Goa Kingdom, anyone can prey on a child.”

Ace snorted. “Who even would? They know better than do deal with me.”

Ace was screaming at the top of his lungs as he ran from a bird, which was attacking him after trying to get its eggs. He tried to cover his head only for the bird to start pecking him harder. “Stop it!” Ace yelled and came to a stop before he lit his hand on fire, the bird chirping and flying away when it ended burned. “Get back here!” He called, but it was long gone.

There were chuckles and Ace turned red faced facing Nami and Robin, who stood beside Sabo.

“What are you laughing at?” He yelled.

“Sometimes I forget how cute you were as a kid.” Sabo said and ducked down when fire grazed his coat. “Hey, watch it!” he called and caught Ace in headlock.

“Damn you, Sabo, get off me!” Ace called, trying to get himself free. “Stop using haki! It’s not fair!”

“Aaaw is someone upset?” Sabo teased. “Who’s the big brother now, huh?” he grinned when Ace groaned, knowing that if he moves away he will end up more than just burned. He couldn’t make that possibility come true.

“ACE~!” Luffy’s voice rang throughout the forest before he latched himself at two brothers.

“What the—!” Ace yelped only to be tackled under both Sabo and Luffy, who was laughing like a child. “Luffy, get off me!”

“But Ace~” Luffy whined as he wrapped his arms around both brothers. “There’s something you need to see!” he claimed and jumped on his feet.

“Huh?” Ace blinked and looked at Sabo, who was surprised and slightly confused as well.

Luffy laughed as the three of them now ran down the path from where Luffy came from. Nami and Robin were walking behind at their own pace. It didn’t dawn on Ace until they stood in front of Dadan’s house that he looked at Luffy in complete confusion. He saw Sabo with wide eyes and Ace realized he knew what was going on. In annoyance, he was ready to ask Luffy, but the latter gently pushed him towards doors.

“What?” he asked.

“Go in,” Luffy answered.

Looking at Luffy once again, his lips turned into thin line, not trusting him one bit, but did as he was told. He took careful steps towards doors and opened them. The moment he walked in, a scent of something sweet, mixed with oranges and cinnamon, filled his nose and he blinked, walking where the scent was leading him to. He ended in the room that was filled with mountain bandits and Strawhats, each and every one of them either smiling or grinning from ear to ear.

His expression softened, when he saw a big cake in the middle of it, at the same place where meat was always. His eyes grew wider with each word that he read and felt his eyes burn from sudden tears that welled up.

“Ace,” called Luffy.

He turned to him and saw his smile ever so wide, like that of an innocent child.

“Thank you for being our brother and coming into our life!”

Ace never cried in front of anyone, but this time he couldn’t help himself. Maybe it was because he was a child that he ended more emotional or it were Luffy’s words, he wasn’t sure and for the first time he didn’t care either. So many times he tried to be strong for both of them, so they wouldn’t worry and yet here he was, crying for a simple reason as such.

“Even though you’re a kid right now, thank you for being here.” Sabo grinned.

Ace didn’t care if he looked out of character. He was happy that Sabo and Luffy were his brothers and that he got to knew them. He was glad that they were always there for him even when he told them to leave him alone.

“You’re best big brother we could ever ask for.” Luffy laughed as he wrapped his arms around Ace and pulled him tight against his chest. Sabo soon joined them as Dadan, Franky, Usopp and Chopper ended up tearing up with others smiling softly by the side.

After a long time, Ace was happy he was alive once again. And now the only thing he wanted was to be turned back into adult, so he could enjoy like he should. If only he knew how he ended up as a kid, but maybe it was okay that was as well. Either the case, he enjoyed the company of his brothers and people that he knew would be there nonetheless.

“Happy Birthday, Ace!” Both Sabo and Luffy called with grins wide.

[danosphere91]

Story Starters Meme

Rules: List the first lines of your last 15 stories. See if there are any patterns. Then tag 10 of your favourite authors!  Do it if you are interested? @zinnianne​​ @novicecomcis​  Tagged by @wordsdear​

I’m including my WIPs in here with my finished fics so some of the titles are just a mess. 5-15 can be found here. I...it’s all One Piece minus one fic. I am ashamed.

1. Beach Boys (WIP no real title yet)

“I hate the beach.”

“I know.”

“I hate sand.”

“I also know.”

“I hate sunlight.”

“I also, also know.”

“Cora-san!”

2. (WIP. A Hop, Skip & a Jump? Baton Road? Oh the Places You’ll Go?)

“Oi, Straw Hat-ya, this isn’t going to help.”

Law was practically growling at this point but the younger man wasn’t backing down. No, he was all but pressing against Law’s hands, trying to get as close to the surgeon as possible. Law was not going to risk applying too much pressure because damned if he was going to be the one to undo all his hard work.

“But I want to!” Luffy insisted.

Law scoffed. “No you don’t. You’re just being an idiot.”

3. Not The Best Way To Start (WIP)

“Oi Law, so...What’s your answer?”

Law looked up from the paper he was reading through over dinner, eyebrows furrowing. “What was the question Zoro-ya?”

He was met with several groans. “Come on!” Usopp cried in disbelief. “This has only been one of the most interesting conversations we’ve ever had!”

4. Mi Corazon (WIP)

The mission couldn’t have counted as any more of a fail. They had lost the Op Op Fruit, they had lost Law, Vergo’s cover was at risk of being blown if Law told the Marines and they listened to a child. Hell, Diamante had nearly dropped the treasure chest just seconds after picking it up, some grumble about shifting weights inside. The only thing that had gone their way was finally eliminating Corazon...although even Doffy hated to admit that that didn’t feel like the victory he’d imagined it would.

But then…

Doflamingo frowned, signalling for the others to wait while he turned around. It took another minute or so before he heard it again, distorted by the wind but...Oh yes, that was Law.

Finally a good turn.

5. Boys Will Be Boys

Deku’s always known.

Always known that Kacchan is a boy, that is.

His mother hadn’t. Kacchan’s mother, not his. She’d introduced him as Kachiko-chan at first and ignored the furious shouts that had gotten. Kacchan had then dragged him outside, all of four years of age, and said he was a boy and only a boy. Deku had agreed because, well, he was. He looked like one and acted like one and he said he was so...Why wouldn’t he be?

6. Do You Really Think You’re Not See-Through?

Cora hadn’t even heard the door open. He only knew Law was home when a pair of arms slid around his waist. He went to comment when Law’s head tucked itself between his shoulder blades and ah, it was one of those days. A day where nothing was wrong but Law was just, well, soppy? Sooky? Either way, he wanted attention and he wanted it in the form of warm hugs and soft voices.

Lacing their fingers together, Cora thumbed the back of his hands. “Welcome back Law.”

7. Despacito

"Majorca? That pitiful island?"

Law clamped his mouth shut. He had fucked up, well and truly fucked up. He'd gathered his crew, his gang, whatever you were to call them and shifted them over to the mainland because there had been rumours: the Donquixote family were recruiting.

Oh recruiting truly was the wrong word. A more accurate term would be something between kidnapping and adoption, the Donquixotes snatching up orphans that showed promise. The word made Law's skin itch. To think of people as nothing but tools! It sounded too much like slavery for his liking.

So he had planned to hit where it hurt: take out Doflamingo's little brother and then the master himself.

8. Not Just Good With His Feet

In hindsight, Sanji was lucky the result was what it was. It could have been much worse. As it was, every member of the crew was staring at him in everything from shock to awe; no guess as to who was pulling that last face.

Because he threw a knife. A chef’s knife. Across the galley. At Zoro.

Not his finest moment.

9. The Doorbell

Law is still in med-school. He’s only twenty-two so it’s understandable. It’s a four and a half year course though, meaning Law’s within arm’s reach of graduating but still far enough away that he’s neck deep in studies.

He sleeps less than he should and when he does sleep, it’s probably not when he should.

This time though, it’s 3:50A.M. and he thinks that’s a reasonable time to be sleeping. Apparently not everyone does though because there’s a knock on his apartment door. It’s not so much his apartment as his and Cora’s - his boyfriend of three years - but at three in the morning, it’s his.

10. The Trouble With Eastern

Two days Sanji had been on this ship and already a fight had broken out. He was busy cooking in the kitchen but he could hear the squabbling clear enough. It seemed to be an argument mainly between Luffy and Nami but Usopp was getting a word in every so often, which only seemed to annoy Luffy more. The cook was getting ready to separate them all when,

“Oi Sanji, come out here!!!”

Luffy’s voice was deafening, Sanji rolling his eyes, drying his hands on his tea towel as he stepped out onto the deck. “What’s up Luffy?”

Sanji found himself suddenly with Luffy’s shoe thrust in his face. “What is this?” Luffy demanding, shaking said shoe.

Before Sanji could answer, Nami was shaking their captain. “I’m telling you, flip-flop is the sound it makes. It’s not what it’s called!”

11. Three’s A Crowd, but Who’s Complaining?

The truth of it was, Luffy didn’t really get a choice in the matter. In fact, he’d never had a choice but that was something he’d brought upon himself as well. He could have had peace, could have had a quiet life, but no, it was Luffy that had come to them – both of them – and quite plainly told them he wanted to fuck. Wanted to fuck them, specifically. Together.

Ace had had questions, of course he had, but they were more of the “had-to-ask-just-to-be-sure” kind whereas Sabo had been the one to actually question if they should do this. Luffy had just growled that they weren’t actually related and if he wanted to have sex with them he would. And if Sabo said no he would have sex with just Ace. That, paired with Ace’s smug look, had won Sabo over more than anything.

12. “It’s You, You Numbskull!”

“Do you think I can plant some seeds in the garden?”

“What do you need a garden for?”

“Because!”

It wasn’t an answer, Nami rolling her eyes at Usopp. “This garden is for my tangerine trees!”

“It’s too big for that!” Usopp countered, arms flailing. “Look at all the empty space!”

Nami very much did not do so.

“And hey, I like gardening! Let me plant something…oh, like vegetables! Then Sanji wouldn’t have to buy them all the time. It’s cheaper, you know?” Nami paused there and Usopp dived in, recognising his only chance. “It’s a good idea, right? Oi Luffy, I can have some of the garden, can’t I?”

Nami was all set to argue – purely on principle alone – when,

“No.”

13. Please Start

“Please start,” Luffy muttered as he turned the key in the ignition a little harder than necessary. There was a beat and then the engine turned over, Luffy sighing in relief as the radio started to play and the fans kicked in. Then he put the car into drive and everything went black again. “No, no, no!”

There were a couple of frustrated, near desperate, pounds on the steering wheel and Luffy had to slam his eyes shut when he felt them starting to prickle. “It’s going to start, it will,” he told himself, turning the key once more. “Please. Please start, come on, please.”

That time there wasn’t so much as a splutter.

14. But Every Birthday Needs Cake!

It started with Luffy bursting into the kitchen. Sanji was already preparing himself to send the rubber idiot flying – he’d just had his morning snack, he sure as hell wasn’t hungry – when Luffy surprised him by sliding into one of the bar stools, a contemplative look on his face. His feet were idly swinging as he watched Sanji prepare various things for lunch.

“Alright Luffy?”

Luffy jumped a little at the question before pouting up at him, causing Sanji to raise an eyebrow. “If Traffy doesn’t like bread, does that mean he doesn’t like cake either?”

15. What’s A Closed Sign Between Friends?

Sanji was busy scrubbing down the last of the benches as Luffy mopped the floor. There were other jobs that needed doing but Sanji didn’t trust the younger man with any of them. Why Luffy wanted to work in a restaurant was beyond him – Sanji thought maybe the thought of free-food had something to do with it – but Luffy, despite being an enthusiastic worker, was clumsy as hell. The only reason Sanji kept him around was because he had so much repour with all the customers.

…And okay, because Sanji loved the shit-head half to death.

Of course that was when his musings were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Sanji was frowning even as he was looking up because he knew they had shut near half an hour ago now. From the look on the man’s face, he suddenly seemed to realise it too. At the same moment they turned to look at the door and, right, Luffy hadn’t swapped the sign to read “closed”.