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fleet-admiral-hiba · 2 years

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A NEW HOPE

they survived. That's all that mattered to him now. The rest could wait.

A/n: an insert on the chapters of New Marineford. Sakazuki is recovering. Set before "Humanity can't learn from the past"

Walking slowly to his room, he whistled. He had been overjoyed to see his husband recover so steadily. He wanted to forget that gruesome image, the broken body that laid in the room. But he could overcome that day. His man survived, and that's all that mattered.

Not bothering to knock he opened the door and saw his ever working husband, sitting near the window, pruning one of the Bonsais around. He smirked, and gently put an arm around his shoulder, glad to see that there was no tension in them. He was still pale, and he could see the tremors that shook his body. He was trying hard, really hard to get back to his former shape, but he wasn't getting any younger, and the attack had been vicious. It was something nothing short of exceptional to see him alive and well. while the other was lost in thought, he didn't notice his husband turning to look at him, lovingly.

"Borsalino" he started with his gruff voice. It had been a while since he last spoke to someone. The other simply smiled and placed a kiss on the tattooed shoulder. " How do you feel?", asked the other, sitting in a nearby chair. He stared fondly at his husband, covered in bandages from the collarbone down. Although he was healing, he was still more vulnerable than he should have been. "I've been...better. What are you doing? Shouldn't you be working on tracking that brat?". Ah yes, always thinking about work, but he couldn't blame him. He would have done the same.

"We are working, but there's little we can do about it. The kid is already in Big Mom's territory and we have no authority there. You know that very well", and he received only silence from the other man. By the way....have you heard the latest?" and when he shook his head, a dark aura fell on his yellow-clad husband. He was going to kill the elders for doing such a thing. "The elders are thinking about recruiting the same child that destroyed New Marineford. It seems like they want to use them as a replacement for us. But it is still an idea",

He heard a sharp gasp coming from the tanned man. He had just felt something shift and it hurt. "Breathe with me, what happened?" asked a concerned Borsalino. The other simply tried to breathe unhurriedly, pain subduing slowly. "Cramps. Nothing...nothing to worry about. I'm fine", of course, he wasn't, but better to be safe than sorry.

The other wasn't convinced, he could see his husband suffering, and he could only rub his shoulders and wait it out with him. "Are you okay?", the other just nodded and breathed deeply and slowly. He saw how gradually his shoulder slumped, tension bleeding out from them. "It will cause...a lot of problems. Hopefully, those idiots know better than to do such things..."

He stared at the plant, fatigue showing in his gray eyes. "Come, you need your beauty rest" joked the other. He could feel his husband's mind working to make sense of that news. No sound man would have done such things.

And it didn't take long before he fell asleep. Borsalino could only watch. If he couldn't stop the madness from spreading through the world, then he would protect the person he chose to spend his life with.

#one piece #one piece fanfiction #one piece headcanons #one piece imagine #one piece masterlist #one piece scenario

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recentanimenews · 3 years

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FEATURE SERIES: My Favorite One Piece Arc with Daniel Barnes

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

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

My next guest in this series is Daniel Barnes, writer for the Aggretsuko comic, and his original graphic novel The Black Mage. For my chat with him, he chose the Marineford arc, in which Luffy drops into a World Government headquarters in a desperate race against time to save his "brother" Ace from execution.

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

Dan Dockery: Let’s say that for some reason, I get to the end of Impel Down, just before Luffy & Co. drop into Marineford, and I’m like “I’m done. This is it. I can’t handle any more One Piece.” In one sentence, what do you tell me to keep me going?

Daniel Barnes: Why are you stopping before you reach the payoff of everything you’ve read so far?

I like that! How long have you been into One Piece?

When I first started consuming One Piece in earnest, ironically enough, I was in the Navy at the time. It was 2014, and up until that point, my only exposure had been the 4Kids dub on FoxBox.

Nice. I love a good FoxBox reference. Was it recommended to you? Because I know that, when a lot of people start One Piece, it’s like “FINE. I’ll watch One Piece. You’ve convinced me.”

I don’t consume anime as voraciously as I did back then. Back then, I was an anime vacuum, but I was also in this weird spot where I was semi-depressed. But someone told me, “You gotta try One Piece, it’s the best.” And my first reaction was “Umm, the art style’s kinda weird, though.” But they told me “You’ll get over it,” and the thing that made me finally take that leap was Gurren Lagann, which also had an unusual art style and then became one of my favorite things ever. So I figured I should at least give it a shot.

That’s something I’ve heard a few times. Because in other big series like Naruto and Bleach, the character designs are much more proportionate and straightforward. And I felt the same way...until I watched it, and realized the art style is PERFECT for what it is. So, Marineford is pretty much the halfway point of the series, with characters returning from all over the place. Were there any that you were excited to see come back?

There’s a few of them. I always love it when Mihawk shows up, but I think the big one is Whitebeard. Because up until this point, he’s just sitting around and you know he’s a big deal but you’re always wondering why he’s a big deal. And then you find out in Marineford. I enjoy seeing characters that are kind of defined as the “power ceiling” in an anime universe get to do stuff, and it was cool to see him make the entire world quake.

I think I called it in an article a “Be Quiet, The Parents Are Talking” character. You’ll go through Luffy getting new power-ups and increasingly strong villains and these seemingly insurmountable admirals with their elemental powers and then Whitebeard comes in, and he’s leaps and bounds above everyone. And like you said, for the most part, he’s just sitting down beforehand.

Yeah, he’s sitting down drinking a giant gourd of sake. His name is Whitebeard, but he doesn’t have a beard. Got a real Hulk Hogan vibe to him. Who is this guy? But then you finally see him after all this time, and that’s the magic of One Piece. You see all of these things over the years and you wonder what part they’ll play and then it finally hits you and their role and strength becomes clear.

Marineford, obviously, is all built around Ace. And what you get out of the arc probably depends on how much you enjoy Ace’s character. How did you feel about him? Did it make you emotional at all? I know he has the one scene with Garp where they talk about finding your purpose in life, and that really got to me, even though I’m not the biggest fan of Ace.

Okay, I think Ace looks cool and I think he has good powers, but I didn’t really care that much when he died. I didn’t really know him enough.

Were there any characters that you did get attached to or like a lot in Marineford? I know you said you liked Whitebeard and Mihawk, but who was your Marineford MVP? Who shines brightest among all those crazy diamonds?

Okay, so the cop-out answer is probably Luffy. He’s one of the weakest characters there and he manages to survive and he plays such a big role by rallying everyone despite being constantly outmatched. So, objectively, Luffy. But maybe I give it to Coby, because Coby stands his ground against Akainu. He gives you hope that maybe the Marines can change their ways one day and when he refuses to move in front of an Admiral, I thought that was a real stand-out, awesome moment.

So Ace dies, Whitebeard just wrecks Akainu and throws him into a pit, and then, out of nowhere, Blackbeard shows up. Whitebeard beats up Blackbeard and Blackbeard’s forces kill Whitebeard. What do you think about Blackbeard as a villain? Because he’s so unlikeable. He’s underhanded, he whines whenever he gets hurt, he’s super pompous. He has cool powers, but there’s nothing cool about who he is.

He’s super interesting, to me. He has a mystery around him with his two Devil Fruit powers, and he doesn’t really fit into any shonen villain stereotype. He’s an inverse of Luffy, but not in all of the super obvious ways. When you first see him in Jaya, you see him start with basically nothing, and you watch him work through the system and the powers that be, just like Luffy. They’re both trying to achieve the same thing and reach the same goal. But Blackbeard’s methods are different.

Yeah, Luffy will punch you in the face, while Blackbeard will stab you in the back.

And getting to see that evolution is great, because they easily could’ve just said, boom, here’s the next big bad guy and given him to you without context. But it’s like I said about One Piece earlier, where it shows you stuff over time and gets you to look forward to what will happen with it later. That’s Blackbeard’s whole appeal.

You talked earlier about Coby standing up to Akainu, ready to die for his beliefs. And then Shanks comes and stops the war. How did you feel about that? Because we’re all still waiting to see what his deal is (which as you said is a big part of the continuing appeal of One Piece,) but were you hyped to see him show up?

I thought it was cool, because One Piece has done a good job of establishing him as an awesome guy. He’s a lot like Zero from Mega Man X, where he shows up at the beginning, they imply how powerful he is, they make the main character want to be as strong as him, and then they take him away and only show him sparingly. So whenever Shanks drops by, he's been handled so well that you’re just on the edge of your seat wondering what he’s gonna do.

So, after the war is over, Jimbei has to remind Luffy that he still has things worth fighting for. And then, the timeskip. Were you aware that a timeskip was coming?

Oh yeah. It’s kind of hard to exist on social media and not get a bunch of these little hints about what’s gonna happen. But that was my goal with One Piece for a little while: I’m gonna get to the timeskip. I have to get there. It’s coming, I know it’s coming, I don’t know when it’s coming, but I just have to reach it.

There are so many big moments in this arc, but looking back at it, are there any moments that stand out as prime One Piece to you?

The obvious one, for me, is when Luffy goes Third Gear and punches the giant out of the way. That’s so cool and such quintessential One Piece. A giant on an arena made of ice and a rubbery kid inflates his fist to make it huge and knocks him around. It’s so weird and it works.

ONE PIECE LIGHTNING ROUND!

Favorite One Piece character?

Usopp.

Favorite One Piece villain?

Crocodile.

Favorite One Piece arc?

Sabaody Archipelago.

Which Devil Fruit would you eat if you had the choice?

Bellamy’s Spring Spring fruit.

If you had to live on any island in the One Piece universe, which would you choose?

Does the Gran Tesoro from the Film: Gold movie count? That one’s pretty dope.

Favorite One Piece fight?

Luffy vs Blueno, when he first reveals the Second Gear.

One Piece moment that made you cry the hardest?

When the Franky Gang beats up Usopp and Nami finds him and Usopp is like “I’m useless. I can’t do anything.” Whenever Usopp gets beaten up, his nose gets all crooked and he loses teeth. There’s so many cartoon-ey visual indicators for Usopp in pain. It got me.

One Piece moment that made you cheer the loudest?

When Luffy punches the Celestial Dragon in the face. It’s so cathartic.

Stay tuned for the next installment of "My Favorite One Piece Arc" as we speak with One Piece Podcast Co-Host and storyboard artist Steve Yurko about his favorite One Piece arc: Baratie!!

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

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

By: Daniel Dockery

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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epiphyllous · 5 years

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What if: Marine!Luffy (technically)

I feel like a lot of people have touched on the AU if Luffy ever became a marine instead of a pirate, and I really like reading about them! I watched a video on YT that goes into it pretty in depth (check it out here), and I do agree that some of it is very plausable! But it takes away a lot of what I believe is integral to Luffy’s story (asides from the fact Luffy wants to be a pirate).

Honestly, this stemmed because I don't want Luffy to lose most of the integral part of his life-- which is meeting Shanks.

As stated in the video, it due to Shanks’ influence and Garp's absencenthat sets Luffy on the path to becoming a pirate, and I do see why Shanks has to be out of the picture for Luffy to even consider being a marine.

But what if Luffy raised to be a marine but still maintains his integrity that not everyone is bad just because of what they are? And thus we would still see OUR Luffy but Marine, which makes me happy :)

(Feel free to interact and share your thoughts too! I'm just trying to have fun fleshing my thoughts out. ‘tis long post)

Luffy doesn't grow up wanting to be a marine hero like Garp, bc I still maintain that he doesn't want to be a hero. He should still be a free spirit for the most part, but I think his main goal in this AU at first would be strong-- whether it's to be strong for the sake of being strong or to protect other people.

Or maybe he hears and listens to marine stories and learns how they travel through the Grand Line-- all romanticized, btw, but I do believe marines out there who do fight justice (not that Luffy is interested in that aspect at the age of 6) and go on "adventures" as they put it, making Luffy star eyed about the world. Regardless, he isn't off-put by the marine thing and that's the big point. Maybe if Garp hadn't just forced him to be a marine and instead instilled the aspect of adventure and camaraderie, Luffy wouldn't be so resistant.

When Luffy meets Shanks, I think most of the interaction remains, except Luffy's fascination is replaced with curiosity. Doesn't change much, but it does let Luffy still be as fearless as ever in the face of pirates and want to know more about Shanks. Maybe as a child he DID have the mindset that all pirates are bad, so he tries to fight them off much to Shanks' amusement and eventually realizes after interacting with them that not all pirates are bad after all.

"Take me to sea with you!"

"No way! You're too weak! Besides, aren't you afraid of sailing with a bunch of pirates?"

"Shanks is not a bad pirate!"

"So there are good and bad pirates now?"

"Yeah. Good pirates party all the time and have fun. Bad pirates do bad things," is what I'm sure Luffy at age 6 would think for the most part.

And they'd laugh and tease Luffy for being weak, Luffy would cut his eye to prove he's not, and at this point Shanks is more of a role model rather than a pirate role model: he shows what a man should do, how he should protect his friends, and when to stand up for yourself.

And in saving and sacrificing his arm for a Luffy who doesn't want to be a pirate but a marine, it solidifies the theme that it doesn't matter what you are, but who you are that counts.

And that teaching follows Luffy everywhere he goes for his entire journey.

As for the straw hat, I stubbornly refuse that Shanks does not give it Luffy. As we know, the hat plays in a much larger role than being the crown for the next king of pirates. It's evident in the large straw hat in Mariejoa and the significance the Gorosei puts on a symbol like that. Anyhow, I'm not going to go into that much but REGARDLESS, Shanks gives Luffy the straw hat and to return it to him once he becomes a great (read: powerful, impactful, influential) man.

I think a large bump in the road with this theory is that Luffy would have an insanely harder time in his childhood. As a big-mouthed child, he wouldn't shut up about being the next Marine Admiral (best position of power little does he know; Luffy just knows they tend to be the strongest Marines), and knowing Ace who would never EVER want to be a marine because of his influence with Sabo and his upbringing of bandits, this does not fly well. I could probably entertain that Ace could have been a marine because people hated his father so much, but I think his goal of being more than just his father's son really paves a path for him to be a pirate, regardless of other influences.

So if you think Ace hated Luffy before at this point in time, oh boy.

I mean, Luffy can't just DIE, so really the meeting between him, Ace, and Sabo go relatively the same except Ace and Sabo are much more suspicious of Luffy, which doesn’t really bode well for him. But I’m pretty sure, marine or not, even Ace and Sabo wouldn’t abandon Luffy if he refused to rat them out-- or they might even feel even more incensed that Luffy didn’t say anything because he wants to be a marine.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“If I said anything, you wouldn’t be my friend!”

“We’re going to be pirates; you’re going to be a marine-- we’re not even on the same side! We shouldn’t even be friends!”

“But why does that matter?”

And everything goes well, they become brothers, and Sabo “dies.”

And above all, I think this moment is a turning point in Luffy’s life (wow he’s having a lot of revelations as a ten-year-old; poor kid) because now he not only recognizes that not all pirates are bad but also know not all marines are good (because how could they be protecting someone who killed his brother?) and their system has a lot of fixing to do.

Ace has a lot of mixed feelings about this, because his baby brother may want to be a marine, but Sabo died from going against the government-- so what does this mean for their future? But in the end, Luffy is still Luffy, and Ace wouldn’t abandon his brother, especially not when after he announced he wasn’t going to die Luffy declares that he was going to be a Marine and destroy the system from within.

Not really sure how small Luffy would put that in words, but the feeling is already there, and that sets his beginning, seven years later.

Some Straw Hats are not going to be with Luffy, and it’s unfortunate but a must. Some will, like Zoro, who Luffy saves at Shell Town-- and honestly, it might just be easier for him to find Mihawk if he’s part of the Marines-- and Nami, whose mother was a marine and the Arlong Pirates never gave her any reason to like pirates anyhow. There is some sticky business considering Nami’s earned treasure was stolen by the marines, but I’m very sure meeting Luffy would definitely convince her that there are good marines out there.

Many of the Straw Hats would have never been pirates if not for Luffy, asides from Usopp and Brook, who were or had aspirations to be a pirate before. As such, Usopp’s village would be saved by Luffy, but he wouldn’t go be a marine because he’s always wanted to be like his father. Brook would probably go back to Laboon after getting back his shadow on Thriller Bark and Luffy wouldn’t have a musician and the One Piece Universe Beyonce would never be born :(

Tbh, there’s a high chance Chopper wouldn’t join either, considering his father-figure waved a pirate flag, but I wouldn’t put it past Luffy to defend that flag anyways because of its significance to Chopper and the bravery that Dr. Hiruluk conveyed through it. But for the sake of this indulgent AU, lets say he does. :))

Robin though... uhhh being a wanted women makes it pretty difficult for her to join Luffy and considering Enies Lobby and the whole Buster Call deal... probably not. I can see her joining the Revolutionary Army pretty early on as a result though, but Luffy’s choice to save her life would not have changed nor would his impact on her change as well. You know, low key, I kinda want her to hide out on Luffy’s ship for a while and his crew being all “wtf captain, she’s a danger to society; isn’t she a bad person?” and Luffy just shrugs and laughs and tells them it’s okay (his original Straw Hat crew that stuck with him as a marine just smh but they know him too well to think he wouldn’t save Robin otherwise) and to have them decide if she’s a bad person or not themselves.

And EVENTUALLY Robin will be recruited into the Revolutionary Army, maybe in like a intense, “You have to go Robin, because even I can’t save you if you stay” sorta deal. (This could also be a chance for Luffy to meet Sabo, but that’s like a whole ‘nother can of worms.)

So Enies Lobby doesn’t happen. Franky doesn’t join either :/ And I don’t see Jimbei becoming a pirate after all the shit that’s happened to him and his bros, and honestly I just ever see him as being a marine, no matter how much he admires Luffy. Maybe they’d be buddies when he’s a Warlord though :))

So Alabasta-- Vivi gets to save her country with actual marine support aka Luffy. He works together with Smoker (heehee!) and Tashigi (god I would die for the interactions between her and Marine!Zoro) and kicks Crocodile’s butt regardless of his title as Warlord. Luffy calls it as he sees it, and violent dictatorship and mistreatment of his friends is a BIG no-no, maybe especially as marine who upholds goodness.

He gets promoted and gets the credit he deserves, though he’s too busy chomping down on food to even notice.

Vivi stays with her people, and they leave.

Meeting Ace during the Alabasta arc would have taken a little more secrecy-- or maybe Ace goes undercover for a brief period of time like Oda drew him a while back; wouldn’t put it past him to meet his little brother while he chases after Blackbeard.

Oh wait, would Sky Island even happen??? Honestly, who knows, but if he fights Bellamy, it would just ruin his redemption arc during Dressrosa bc wouldn’t Luffy just capture him?? or maybe he just punches him and that’s punishment enough who knows I didn’t think about this part in particular

BUT MARINEFORD. oh marineford

You see, I think as a marine, Luffy is completely different from Garp from the fact that he would NEVER put his job over his family. Luffy has already had one brother die, and he isn’t going to let another die if he can help it.

So what does that leave us? Maybe a prison break? Maybe going behind the scenes (as per Nami’s suggestion and implementation bc Luffy can’t be subtle for shit) to rig the execution and fuck up the cannons.

But the real mega problem here, is if Ace dies, I don’t know if Luffy can be a marine anymore, and that’s a big problem. Or maybe in having his brother die in his arms, despite trying to help him escape, will incite him to challenge the system and destroy corruption once and for all. (Demotion be damned.) But when Sabo finds out Luffy let Ace die in front of him, I think the connotations would change with their reunion since Luffy is a marine and thus still, regardless of who Luffy is, “on the other team.”

In fact, the existence of the Marineford Arc makes it extremely difficult for Luffy to continue being a marine, so honestly, at this point, even though it goes against the entire Marine!Luffy AU, I think Luffy could just go rogue, like he was always meant to be in the original One Piece timeline. So maybe it’s a full-circle to Luffy being what he was meant to. Who knowssss but that’s all I’ve got.

Let me know what you think!! If you read this far haha I’m always down to talk about Luffy bc I love him sm.

#one piece #monkey d luffy #marine!luffy au #me rambling #one piece headcanons

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neverwatchedonepiece · 6 years

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486: “The Show Begins! Blackbeard's Plot Is Revealed!”

Holy crap, that was amazing... *_*

Just when you think Oda has run out of curve balls to throw and all that’s left is to tidy up the loose ends of an epic arc, he launches this one into outer space.

The best part? I had no clue what was coming. My opinion of Teach and his crew as plot catalysts is totally cemented now. Once they show up, all bets are off.

Argh, I can’t wait to talk about it! I wish I had watched it earlier. I was still bummed about Ace and Whitebeard and couldn’t muster any reviewing energy. Now, the fire is back! As much as I love Whitebeard, that Blackbeard twist was above and beyond.

Let’s get the other stuff out the way first!

Welp, Akainu’s Alive

I was holding out hope someone would find him at the bottom of the ocean during cleanup, but nope, he was clinging to a rock. Damn you, Akainu, and your uncanny grip strength. The way he returned to the battlefield was creative, though, I’ll give him that. He punched a hole in the rock he was holding, melted it and created a lava tunnel, which he walked through, muttering darkly about justice (probably).

While he trudged back looking like an angry, melting waxwork, everyone congregated on the battlefield was still reeling from Whitebeard’s glorious death. The entire world, who had been watching, were also reeling. Some idiots were celebrating, but of course we know most of the general OPverse population have been spoonfed government propaganda all their lives. Oh well. They’ll find out the hard way that Whitebeard had been keeping the peace on a lot of islands.

Rayleigh was watching too. Must’ve been weird for him. All the people he used to know are dropping like flies. I suppose that’s all part and parcel of growing old but normal folk don’t usually get to watch their mates die in battle on television.

Doflamingo was also cheerfully engaged with the plot twist. He felt weirdly like a viewer. He picked himself a nice rock, sat down and was like, “So Teach, what are you up to with those criminals and that jail manager, eh???”

At least Marco, Vista, Ivankov and Jimbei had the sense to obey Whitebeard’s final order and tried to get the hell out of Marineford. Jimbei’s resolve to take care of Luffy has convinced me he will be next in line for the Sea Dad title. This resolve was tained by major pathos when it was revealed Ace planned ahead in case he died, asking Jimbei to look out for his little brother.

At the time, Jimbei refused, saying he only did that for people he held in high regard. Hauling ass with Luffy slung under one arm and Hancock covering them, he fully admitted he still hasn’t broken his self-imposed vow. We all know what that means. He is now Luffy’s Uncle Jimbei FOR REAL and is now stuck with an adorable, adopted, rubbery nephew for life. I expect him to sign the legal papers any day now.

Just as they were about to board the ship, Aokiji appeared out of nowhere and froze the water. At which point, Akainu, the literal hot mess, pulled himself from the ground and was like, “ACCESS DENIED, PIRATES. HAND OVER DRAGON’S SON!” Jimbei was prepared to die, but Ivankov saved him the trouble. There’s another one with obligations to Luffy (mainly because he couldn’t face Dragon ever again if little Luffy died on his watch).

While this was going down, Buggy managed to spin his wailing cowardice into another PR coup. Success! The fact he froze when Teach and Whitebeard were fighting was, of course, a sign of compassion for the enemy! Saint Buggy has so much to teach us about life. As he high-tailed it off the battlefield, his crew dropped the DDM.

Turns out this was a good thing. It increased ratings for the Blackbeard Pirates’ Magic Show: Live from Marineford!

Every Little Thing He Does Is... Magic? No. Tragic. Yeah, I Meant Tragic.

Must confess I laughed a lot at this bit before Oda dropped the curveball. It was oddly comedic, with Blackbeard saying, “Woof, thank god the old man’s finally dead!” and Laffite appearing at his shoulder, like, “Ahem, Captain, our show?” to which Blackbeard said, “Lol, yeah, almost forgot. Let’s go guys!”

When they flung that black cloth over Whitebeard, I almost lost it laughing. Like, Teach... Blackbeards... are you for real? Are you going for an ACTUAL magic show here? Then Teach wriggled under the cloth and Laffite told off some curious Marines for getting too close, like a ten year old at a talent show. “NUUUU, DON’T LOOK, WE’RE NOT READY!!! RIGHT, OKAY, HERE’S OUR MAGIC SHOW PRESENTED BY CAPTAIN TEACH, PLZ APPLAUD!”

I refuse to believe they rehearsed this. All they had to do was play Could It Be Magic and I would have been hospitalized for split sides.

When Blackbeard was ready, the cloth was whipped off to reveal...

Nowt. A massive nowt.

I laughed.

Then Teach said, “Watch this, nerds.”

And I grabbed all the laughter and shoved it back in my mouth because holy crap the painfully ill-rehearsed Tragic Show was totally worth the earth-shattering reveal.

Teach said before they would put on a show that would ‘shake the world’.

I see what you did there, Teach. You intended on stealing Whitebeard’s Tremor Tremor Fruit all along.

In his words, “The gravity of darkness brings total annihilation. And the power of tremor destroys everything! I possess both! No one can compete with me now. I'm the strongest man in the world!”

Yup. So now Teach possesses two extremely powerful fruits. I’m not sure how this is possible but Marco said Teach is ‘physically different’ from other people. This seems to hint that Teach is special and very few characters would be able to replicate this trick.

It seems there was a real risk the Tragic Show wouldn’t go Blackbeard’s way. Shiryu hinted that if it didn’t go well, the crew would have disbanded. Just as well Teach’s gamble paid off. I wonder if there is a risk to Teach when he absorbs multiple fruits? How does he do it? How did he even figure out he could do it? I have many questions.

The coolest part, though, was the excellent speech he made after he pulled off the show of the century.

“The tremor fruit destroys everything! No one can compete with me. Tell all the people in the world, the boring people who love peace, the Marines, the World Government, and pirates! The future of the world is now determined. Yes, here comes the era that I conquer!”

Welp. That does it.

Good job breaking it, Marines. You fell for Teach’s scheme, hook, line and sinker.

Y’all are gonna regret celebrating Whitebeard’s death.

*insert Barry Manilow*

#one piece #neverwatchedonepiece #nwop #never watched one piece #marshall d. teach #whitebeard #monkey d. luffy #jimbei #jinbei #emporio ivankov #portgas d. ace #jacques laffite #the tragic show #shiryu of the rain #buggy the clown #admiral aokiji #admiral akainu #donquixote doflamingo

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missmungoe · 7 years

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Would- Loggerhead - Uncommon aggression - for the Red-Haired Pirates crew be okay, please? (Also, I love how you really flesh out the characters in your stories. Imagine my surprise trying to look up a 'Doc' in Shanks' crew only to find out he isn't canon.)

KNOW WHEN TO FOLD // Loggerhead; uncommon aggression // Red-Haired Pirates (& Shanks x Makino because I can’t help myself, also thank you for reducing me to a blubbering mess with one of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received on one of my few but very dear OCs!)

He has an easygoing crew.

It’s always been the way of things, ever since he first started putting it together, fresh into his captaincy and, to be perfectly honest, eager to find people who’d appreciate a good party more than loot and fame.

(of course, the loot came later, as did the fame, and he’s not about to discredit the importance of either one of them – he’s a pirate, after all)

But personal proclivities notwithstanding, there’s always been an air of ease around his men, wholly different men that they are. There’s Ben, staggeringly calm when things go tits-up (which can’t always be said about Shanks, but that’s beside the point), and too pragmatic for melodrama (which also can’t be said about Shanks, but again, beside the point). Lucky will find time to eat in the middle of a crisis, and the whole damn world could be ending and Yasopp would still be cracking jokes between shots. And Doc – well. Doc treated his amputation and endured his painkiller-induced amorousness without tossing him overboard in the process, which says something about his patience.

The point is, it takes a lot to shake any of them. Although Shanks doesn’t know why he’s surprised that this should be what finally does the trick.

“I say we just take him out,” Yasopp declares calmly, without even glancing up from his cards. “Blackbeard.”

“Hear,” someone says, tossing another coin into the growing pile in the middle of the table. There’s a cheerful assortment of loot steadily overtaking the actual gold – as well as a pistol, a pair of glasses, and someone’s wedding ring (not Shanks’, this time; the look Makino had given him the last time he’d tried his luck with that had been demurely warning, although not as effective as the too-cheerful comment she’d slipped him, that she might just accept whoever’s hand it ended up on).

(he’d won that game, let that just be said)

“Won’t hear any complaints from me,” someone else adds, to a murmur of agreement from around the table. The soft chime of another coin joining the pile lingers on the air a moment, the sound fitting itself under the din of conversation.

Considering his cards, Shanks lets loose a sigh, and means to say something, when – “I agree,” Ben interjects, stilling the words on his tongue.

“Seriously?” Shanks asks, surprised. “You’re usually the first to advocate caution.”

Glancing up from his own hand, Ben just looks at him, and calmly adds his next bet to the pot. “If Marineford taught us anything, it’s that Blackbeard isn’t going to be sitting still. Being proactive might be our best shot.”

Before Shanks can protest – “I’m with Ben on this one,” Doc says, eyes on his cards, his tattoos lit with a bluish sheen from the lamp overhead. “If you’ve got the cure at hand, why prolong the illness?”

Shanks looks between them. “Not that I don’t appreciate the metaphor, but I can’t just declare war on another Emperor,” he points out. “We’re not prepared for the fallout.”

“And if he comes after us first?” Yasopp asks. “Better we gain the upper hand while we still can. We’ll prepare, if that’s what it takes.”

Another murmur of approval from around the table, a little louder this time, and joined by several voices from across the room. Someone stomps their foot, and an emptied tumbler hits the table with a declarative thunk.

“He won’t be coming after us yet,” Shanks says, voice carefully level. This is by no means a new topic of debate, but it’s the first time it’s come up with all of them present. “He doesn’t have the means.”

“Not yet,” Ben slips in, and Shanks cuts him a look.

“Ben’s right,” Yasopp agrees. “And manpower is one thing, but from what our intel says, he’s doing pretty well where that’s concerned.”

A rumbling chorus of agreement follows the statement, pitched a little lower this time. A note of tension has entered the room, jarring the good-natured atmosphere, like a string plucked a little too sharply.

Shanks looks to Lucky, brows raised as though in a silent request for assistance, but only gets a shrug in return. “Sorry, Boss. They’ve got a point.”

“And what if it’s not us he goes after?” Yasopp asks then, with a deliberate glance across the room, towards the bar.

The sudden silence ushered in with that question drops like a weight into the once-cheerful din, and he feels it now, the tension growing, twisting like a massive, shackled beast.

He doesn’t let his haki slip – not with his crew, however rowdy. But the tightening of his brow holds a warning that’s felt, Shanks knows, as surely as their growing agitation.

“He won’t,” he says. There’s a sharpness to his voice now, but somehow, it doesn’t sound as certain as he would have liked it to.

“You don’t know that,” Yasopp counters. “If it was my wife and kid–”

“Well it’s not.”

He’s raised his voice, Shanks realises, but Yasopp only crosses his arms. “I’m just saying–”

“Yeah, and I’m saying we’re not doing it yet!”

The anger shoves up his throat without thinking, spat out in the shape of a command, edges cut sharp with a sudden, almost startled defiance. Because it’s not like he hasn’t thought about this – that it’s not what’s been keeping him awake at night for weeks, Makino sleeping, alive and breathing and the baby moving under his hand. The safest he can keep them, which isn’t much, and their frustration isn’t anything new.

It’s not like he doesn’t realise that they’re treading a fine balance with Teach, but acting too soon will be as disastrous as waiting too long, and he knows in his gut – feels it with every fibre of his being that it’s not the right time. It’s not cowardice or indecision, it’s just something he knows. This might not be a game of cards, but it’s still a game, and he can’t just gamble blindly. Not when he has everything to lose.

“You saw what he did to Marineford,” Yasopp is saying then, eyes raised to the room, every chair and table filled, and every corner with sound, the calm authority of its proprietor having eased itself into the tumult, comfortable with claiming her due. “Imagine what those powers would do to this place. There’d be nothing left.” Allowing the words to settle, the whole, terrible weight of them, he’s dropped his voice when he adds, “Assuming he doesn’t have something else in mind.”

That now-familiar knot of anger tightens at the base of his ribs, but he keeps his expression from letting it show. He’s not one to lose his temper, but it’s not Shanks’ temper Yasopp is stoking, and there’s a restless tightness that sits in the hand gripping his cards, Shanks sees. For a man whose finger never wavers on the trigger, it’s a keenly telling gesture.

“He wouldn’t just kill her,” Yasopp forges on. “Not your kid, either. You know as well as I do that he’d do worse than that. And he won’t show her mercy just because she’s pregnant.”

His throat has closed up, and he doesn’t know if he wants to shout or swallow the words back down, the tightness around his windpipe seeming to cut off all his air. And he’s staring at his cards without seeing them, finding instead well-visited images he’d rather be without, Fuschia burning, and Makino–

“Blackbeard isn’t short-sighted,” Yasopp says. “Why the hell should we be?”

Someone raises their voice in agreement, the words bitten off with a shout. And suddenly there are more joining in, like a tightly-closed latch has been thrown open, and then it’s all coming out, every voice raised that had kept quiet, remembering the battle they’d reached too late. And he knows why they’re so eager to act now, nothing resembling a battlefield here, between the four walls of the bar that’s always been theirs, like the gentle heart running it.

And for all that they’re an easygoing crew, they’re a loud crew, in their merriment as in anything else, and he feels it more than hears it, like a tremor underfoot, rising up under his feet, under the ceiling, and he’s raised his own voice to shouting before he’s even aware of it–

“What in the world are you doing?”

The clamour heaves, before settling with a breath, like the sea after a violent surge, compelled to quiet by the gentle lilt of her voice, brightened with a startled-sounding laugh, and Shanks feels the tension that’s built up in his shoulders when it suddenly lets go, bleeding out under the tender touch of her hand against his back.

“Wait – were you fighting?” Makino asks, seeming more amused at the prospect than genuinely concerned.

Shanks sees some of them turn their eyes away, expressions chagrined, but some of their anger remains, strung through the air, between the tables and the chairs. It sits in the white-knuckled hands gripping the playing cards until they’re bent from the pressure; in the hard lines that don’t make convincing smiles.

He watches her brows dipping, observing them. She has the palm of her other hand resting on the curve of her stomach, fiddling with the edge of her apron. Her earlier amusement is gone, he sees, replaced with worry; he finds it in the slight parting of her mouth, her whole expression bared.

“What’s wrong?” she asks him then, dark eyes seeking his, and regret swells in the wake of the realisation of how far they’d let things go.

He tries for a smile; it feels like fumbling a too-sharp knife. “Yasopp’s just upset he got a bad hand,” Shanks tells her, shoving past the lingering tension even if it doesn’t want to let him, before lifting his eyes to hers. “I keep telling him he can’t complain, having two.”

Her enduring expression is almost painfully affectionate, and seeming so wholly despite herself. The hand on his back travels up, to tangle in the hair at his nape, giving it a playful tug. “I’ve played cards with you,” Makino says. “I’m not surprised things got a little heated. You can be pretty insufferable, especially if you’re winning.”

“Heated, huh?” He grins, and is relieved when it comes without effort this time. “And here you’re always giving me grief for bringing up what we do in the bedroom. I also feel I should remind you that the last time we played cards, you lost because you couldn’t stop staring at my chest.”

“You took off your shirt,” Makino points out, delicately sidestepping his first comment, and the open suggestion on his face. “Stripping wasn’t even part of the game.”

“And yet by the end of it, you were mysteriously missing all your clothes.”

Someone across the table chokes on their drink, but despite the bright spots of colour in her cheeks, Makino just looks at him. “For that, I’m not serving you any more tonight,” she says pertly.

His pout comes, as quick as his smile. “Oh, come on!”

Eyes glittering, she sticks her tongue out, her smile so quick it sparks his own without thinking, and when he laughs the knot behind his ribs comes loose, allowing him to breathe.

The remaining tension lifts with the sound, escaping between the cracks in the ceiling, but then she’s always had that effect; that quietly disarming aura. And he knows it hasn’t slipped her by, and that she’ll ask about it later, but for now she lets them keep their small secrets, for their own sakes if nothing else.

“So much for marrying a barmaid for easier access to her stores,” Yasopp remarks, and a glance across the table finds the tight grip on his cards having loosened. And it’s not an apology, but the slight incline of his head conveys regret.

Shanks quirks a brow, smile wolfish. “Depends what you mean by stores,” he quips, and catches several smiles chasing across the faces around the table, smoothing out some of the persisting hardness. Makino shakes her head with a sigh.

She opens her mouth to speak (likely a comment about the alleged availability of her stores), but before she can say anything her expression contorts, pain twisting her smile into a sudden grimace. The hand in his hair falls to grip the back of his chair, a sharp breath sucked through her teeth, and he’s halfway out of his seat before the sound of several chairs clattering across the floor startles the pain right off her face.

Half the people in the room are on their feet, and Makino rolls her eyes, her laughter falling with a huff.

“It’s just a cramp,” she says, with the patience that’s endured months of similar attentions. Shanks watches her smooth her palm over her stomach, pausing near her hip, her smile somewhere between fond and exasperated. “Stop worrying.”

He’s not the only one who has a protest ready, but her hand grips his shoulder, easing him back into his seat before he can voice it. She bends to kiss the top of his head, no room for argument left, before moving back towards the bar, a murmur slipped under her breath about overprotective old men.

Shanks watches her go, having picked up a tray on her way, her usual grace made awkward by the size of her stomach. Several hands reach out to steal the empty glasses when she makes to pile them onto the tray, only for her to bat them away, laughter softening her reproach.

The silence that lingers in her wake seems louder than their shouting earlier.

“Shanks,” Yasopp says then, dragging his eyes back. They’re all looking at him now. The game is forgotten, most of their cards scattered on the table, some of them bent in half. Ben’s fingers are twitching, a subtle but telling gesture of lingering agitation, and need of a cigarette. Lucky isn’t eating.

No one says anything else, and he doesn’t reiterate his earlier statement. They’ll disagree on this, but however vocal their concerns, they’ll respect his decision. They always have.

“Awaiting your orders, Cap,” is all Yasopp says, and drops his eyes back to his hand.

Shanks only nods, looking at his own, still seeing an entirely different game, already long in play, and thinks that it would be easier if he knew which cards he’d been dealt.

#One Piece #opfanfic #Shanks #Red-Haired Shanks #Akagami no Shanks #Makino #Shanks x Makino #otp: sing me sea shanties #Red-Haired Pirates #Ben Beckman #Yasopp #Lucky Roo #One Piece fanfiction #fanfic #my fic #mungoe writes #under the sea prompts #thychi #thank you for the prompt!

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