Whatever happens, the pleasure is all mine

My piece for the SFW part of @opdoffyzine! Made in collab with my dearest friend and most incredible writer @hazeism, who wrote HIPPOPOTAMUS PARADE (Rated G, 1k5 words) to go along with this piece. I said it everywhere and will say it again, I'm delighted and so, so grateful that we got to make our brains float in the same soup for a few weeks/months to create these monstrosities <3

Do I have a problem with self control and poor spending habits? For sure. But I also know I'm going to have a lot of stuff to be looking forward to 💕

Coming this Valentine's day...

Another smaller piece I drew up for the Loving Law Zine. More to come!

(The last two are not safe for work, so the full versions of those will be on my Twitter and BluSky.)

You can still download the zine! SFW & OC/X-Reader NSFW

Writing Patterns

Rules: list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

What way to waste a bit of time on an otherwise busy day! Tagged by @purplehairedwonder

Tagging @afterdeck-ace , @gendervapor14 , @gali-la @ensignsenna @cal-cium-the-nerd @escapaldi and anyone (I mean it) else who'd like to play/try! If you haven't got 10 posted fics, then aim for 4 or 5 or however many you do have posted.

tadpoles in a clawfoot tub

One Piece | G | Gen | 1.9 K | Pre-Marineford, Garp and Roger and then Garp and Ace parallels

Rayleigh didn't know why he bothered.

valuta

One Piece | G | Gen |2 K | Cora & Doffy, Cora & Sengoku, Cora & Law, Law & Sengoku | the story behind Law's coin collection (or one of them)

"Your grandmother's and hers before that."

Riding Along on my Pushbike, Honey (You Look so Pretty)

One Piece | T | Gen | 3.3 K | Aokiji and Law | post Luffy Pirate King AU, Aokiji, Law and Bleat the goat go for a cycle along a frozen river

The mountain streams were filled with smooth basalt like the one Law carried in his pocket. 

Taxi

One Piece | M | AceLaw but not all chapters | 17.6K | AU Law's a taxi driver and picks up a myriad of customers*

Older fic which I reuploaded the 3rd chapter to. I'll open with that, cos the first chapter opening's a bit confronting

Solid advice applied wrongly. Law was good at it.

Forty-Two Superior Teeth

One Piece | T | Law and core hearts | 2.6K | Law and the core Hearts dream on Swallow Island

One thing Bepo had was a super thick skin, and just as well, 'cos those boots were steel-capped. 

Bioluminescent Hearts*

(spoilers chapter 1081)

One Piece | T | Law, Hearts, Blackbeard, Saul | 5.7K | Law and the Hearts all manage to escape well from BB.

Last on first off, the helmsman was a position usually held by the lowest rank, the newest recruit. 

Heart Pirates Week 2023: Jean Bart: Scars

One Piece | T | Law, Hearts, fiiclets | 1.8K total| title says it all

The wooden deck of the Polar Tang wasn't that practical.

MarcoLaw OP Rare Pair Month Drabbles and Ficlets

One Piece | T | MarLaw, Marco and Law Ficlets | 1.8K total| there was only one bed

Law couldn't contain himself to one bed.

Something Old, Something New

One Piece | T | Zoro, | about 500 words| Zoro reflects on rainy days

One eye closed still had depth.

Bepo’s Drabble and One Shot Collection

One Piece | T | Hearts, Ikkaku, Hakugan, Law, Bepo| about 800 words| , chapter 15. Slice of life aboard the Tang

The thing about the huge, huge, huge beanbag that Hakugan had lugged on board when he'd joined them (packed to the softly- moulding-brim with snow geese feathers collected from friends and family), was that it was very white, and so was Bepo.

Sun Path Ozoni

One Piece | T | Hearts and Law| 1275 words| The Hearts debate whose New Year tradition is best, and enjoy a summer celebration.

"Nah man, you gotta use the soy broth."

Patterns: I am writing a lot of Hearts stuff (some due to zines), and also am not writing as much as I used to (busy, and have only got so much to say!). Anyhoo: my openings are relatively short, bar the last one. I don't open with dialogue as much as I thought I did. A touch of description is common, or an internal observation. General observations seem to be popular too.

🦩FLAMINGO SIGHTING AT THE GALA

Attention everyone!

A little birdy told us there has been a flamingo sighting at the gala! We're in for a treat because it looks like we're tailing the man himself, so be sure to get your votes in for this special event hosted by @opdilfzine!

Vote below on these very important questions to see what Doffy will be doing and make sure to follow the OP DILF Zine's Twitter to see what else our feathered friend will be doing at the gala!

👔 What will Doffy be wearing? 👔

💞 Does Doffy have a date? 💞

~~~~~~~~~

⬇️ Check out our other socials below!

Twitter |  Carrd

I wrote the first draft of this story for a zine that never happened, so I decided to revise, expand, and finally publish it for the “first meeting” prompt on my card of the One Piece Bingo organized by @op-pirate-fleet. My nakama (The-Replicant), suggested me the ASL secret code, and @starblazer124 kindly beta-read the old version of this story. I may write more fanfics based on this alternate timeline, but you can read this one shot as a standalone.  ^^

The Marine Recruit and the Kind Pirate (Marine Headquarters, one month ago) That morning, Bell-mère had not expected to be summoned by the Vice-Admiral.   Even less, she had expected a twelve-year-old rookie like herself to be assigned a mission of the utmost secrecy. At the age of twelve, she wasn’t even a sailor yet but just a rookie. She always took her tasks seriously, though, so she prepared her sack immediately: in a few days, she would set sail to a small kingdom in the East Blue.   My very first mission.  The young girl grinned with confidence, grabbed a tangerine from her personal supply, and peeled it while humming to herself. --- (Goa Kingdom, present time) “I’ll leave her to you then!”   “Don’t worry about anything. I’ll keep this a secret.”   Bell-mère observed the old vice-admiral grinning and chatting a little more with that young woman named Makino. Then, he rudely ruffled her hair with his large hand and said goodbye. Bell-mère sighed. Now, she had to re-do her ponytail. One day I’ll shave my head, she decided, fiddling with her rebellious fuchsia locks.   “Let me help you, Bell-chan.”   Bell-mère eyed the woman, still unsure about what to think about her. Garp was on friendly terms with her, so she must be a trusted person. However, Bell-mère had spotted an infamous red-haired pirate drinking in her bar. Her kindness felt genuine though, so she accepted her help.   “Is something bothering you?” Makino asked while tying her hair up.   Bell-mère didn’t reply immediately. She had noticed the bartender glancing at that pirate with eyes full of respect, fondness, and maybe more. “I don’t like pirates,” she just said, not wanting to hurt the woman’s feelings.   “I see.” Makino smiled. “Well, let’s talk a bit about it on our way to Mt. Colubo.”   Bell-mère nodded and followed her up a steep trail just outside Windmill Village. She was supposed to meet with Garp’s grandchild and some other kids who lived in the forest with a middle-aged woman: Garp had told her that she had been a bandit in the past, but now she was more like his trusted babysitter.   “I know there are nasty pirates out there, Bell-chan,” Makino said as they walked through the trees. “But kind ones exist too.”   “My parents were killed by pirates.” Bell-mère didn’t remember them, and the Marine was her family now, but sometimes she wondered what kind of people they had been.   Makino stopped and turned around. “I’m sorry about that,” she murmured understandingly.   Bell-mère saw that there was no trace of dishonesty in her eyes, so she smiled at her and said, “Don’t worry, Makino-san. You couldn’t know.”   “One day, I would like to introduce you to that pirate you saw earlier. By meeting him, you will maybe understand what I mean.”   “Ok,” Bell-mère said cautiously, mildly curious. Besides, even Garp himself often did borderline when not outright illegal things—for example, hiding children in the house of a former bandit. She didn’t know the whole story, but rumours said that one of the children was the very son of the late Pirate King. Another, instead, had lived in a junkyard until being “adopted” by that bandit called “Dadan”. And there should be two siblings from a faraway island, too. Bell-mère had heard Garp telling his superiors they were nothing less than the sons of a fallen World Noble. She had no idea how Garp had learned about such forbidden topics, but she had a job to do and would do it without making questions.   “Dadan lives up there.”   The sun was down on the horizon when Makino gestured towards a poor-looking house in the meadow ahead. More than that, though, what caught Bell-mère’s attention was a nearby miniature “fortress”. On its top, a flag made of patched fabric said “ASL’s Country”.   Next to the shabby hut, a child looking no older than seven and wearing a straw hat sat on the grass, a sad expression on his face. Bell-mère could hear an animated discussion coming from inside and wondered if it had something to do with his mood. The next moment, though, the child ran to Makino and threw himself into her arms. “I missed you!” he said with the largest smile ever.   “Me too, Luffy-kun.” Makino hugged him affectionately. “What’s happening?” She gestured towards the “fortress”.   The kid’s expression changed back into a pout. “There are these new kids—I would like to become friends with them, but Ace doesn’t want!”   “I’ll talk with him,” Makino offered kindly.   “Sabo tried already, but Ace won’t listen!” Then, the child finally noticed Bell-mère. “Who are you?” he asked, tilting his head on the side.   “I’m Bell, a marine in training.”   Luffy’s smile came back. “So you know my grandpa?”   “Sure!” Bell-mère grinned at him. She wondered if the Vice-Admiral had been like him as a kid. “Why don’t you become a marine too?” She was there for the very purpose of persuading him and the other children to join the Navy. “I’ll be your friend if you come back with me.”   “No thanks,” the kid replied with an innocent smile. “What I’m going to be is the King of Pirates!”   Bell-mère groaned. She already knew from Garp that his grandchild was a troublemaker, but she wouldn’t give up so easily. “What about becoming a marine hero, instead?” “Nope,” Luffy said, still smiling brightly. “Heroes need to share meat, and I don’t want!”   “It won’t be easy to convince him, Bell-chan.” Makino chuckled. “Well, let’s see what’s happening in there.”   When Makino knocked on the crooked door, a voice from inside recited, “If you bring a bone, just begone!”   A secret code? That piqued Bell-mère’s interest.   “The right answer is”—Luffy whispered in Makino’s ear—“‘if you bring meat, then take a seat.’”   Bell-mère’s jaw dropped. Spilling out their secret code so nonchalantly…Garp’s grandson would never become a good marine like that!   “Thank you, Luffy-kun.” Makino smiled at him. Then, she repeated the phrase louder.   “Come in,” said the same voice of before.   Once inside, Bell-mère’s eyes needed a moment to adjust to the dim light of the single candle sitting at the centre of a chipped wooden table.   When she was able to see better, she noticed four children staring at them. The child with dark hair and an annoyed expression on his freckled face caught her attention first; then, she glanced at the three blond kids. One of them grinned at Makino with a missing tooth that gave him a cheeky look, while the remaining two children sat closer to each other: the shorter one had a messy fringe that covered his eyes, and he clung to the shirt of a slightly older kid wearing shades. Probably they were the fallen noble’s sons. According to Garp’s description, the eldest brother went by the name of “Doffy” and was the hardest to approach.   “Why don’t you try to get along with your new friends, Ace-kun?” Makino addressed the freckled kid, interrupting Bell-mère’s thoughts.   “I can’t be friends with spies,” Ace muttered, crossing his arms and looking sideways.   Had he just blushed? Bell-mère couldn’t tell for sure, but she had an idea of what was going on there. Brat. She rolled her eyes. You are way too young for her.   A bit surprised, Makino asked, “Spies?”   “Yes, spies,” repeated the kid. “They've arrived here suddenly and look like spoiled brats—they aren’t like us!”   “Here he goes again,” the kid with a missing tooth sighed.   “Stay out of this, Sabo!” Ace snapped.   “But Ace…” Luffy snivelled.   “We’re wasting our time here. Come on, Roci.” The glasses kid made for the door with a grim expression, but his younger brother didn’t seem as eager to leave.   “But brother,” he whimpered, “I’m hungry...”   “I’ll find you something to eat. Now let’s go.”   “Why don’t we all have dinner together instead?” Makino proposed. “Dadan is waiting for us.”   Bell-mère glanced up at Makino’s reassuring smile. “I’m hungry too,” she said, trying to be helpful.   “I want meat!” Luffy yelled, throwing his arms up. “Meat! Meat! Meat!” he bounced around, gaining a laugh from Sabo.   Even Ace smiled at that, but he tried not to make anyone notice. A moment later, he glared at the “spies” and conceded, “You can eat with us, but I still don’t trust you.”   “It’s decided then!” Makino clapped her hands happily. She took Luffy by the hand and added, “Let’s go introduce Bell-mère to Dadan and help her make dinner.”   “Wait, who is this little girl?” Ace pointed with his chin to Bell-mère.   “I’m not a little girl!” she yelled, realising too late she wasn’t supposed to lose her cool like that.   Ace smirked. “Of course you are.”   “I’m still older than you. And I’m a marine in training.”   “A marine? Disgusting.”   Bell-mère was about to Garp-punch him when a tiny voice caught her attention.   “I...I want to become a marine too. You—I m-mean, marines look cool. And strong.”   Bell-mère turned towards the child speaking from behind his brother’s back, his cheeks red from the embarrassment.   “Stop speaking nonsense,” his brother reproached him.   Ignoring that remark, Bell-mère observed his younger brother. He looked frail and was way too shy, but with some training, maybe…   “I want to play with you even if you like marines!” said Luffy, gaining a smack on the head by Ace.   Sabo burst out laughing. “You’re so funny, Luffy!” he said, holding his stomach.   Bell-mère chuckled, too. She wondered if, one day, Luffy would become one of those “kind pirates” as well…   Garp won’t like this.   The young marine recruit shrugged that thought off and followed the group to the bandit-turned-babysitter’s house with a grin on her face. Since she was there, she intended to have fun at least.

One Piece and 1, 7, 11, 14 for the ask thing c:

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

Kata//Lu c: they just fought and all of a sudden everyone just go really obsessed with them? Especially for NSFW. I don’t know it was really everywhere for a while and I had to blacklist Kata//kuri’s name in the end when I didn’t even care about it at first... 

Otherwise, Crocodile x Doffy is weird but I think it’s funny :’D

7. Is there anything you used to like but can’t stand now?

Bellamy’s character: I used to like him, but he just pissed me off in Dressrosa, and the obvious: women’s bodies... (look at this 16 yo girl in her very efficient armour)

...and Sanji’s behaviour. I cannot stress enough how much I would love him if he had the character development he deserved...

THIS was funny/cute/OK:

THIS just sucks and is annoying/disgusting/useless:

11. Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

I’ve seen people disliking/hating Boa Hancock and I don’t know why exactly, they have their reasons (but like, she’s clever, strong, and loyal? of course she has flaws but we don’t have that many independent and self-sufficient women in OP when many had great potential *staring at Rebecca*) she is my wife fight me.

Also, I love Geko Moria for absolutely no other reasons than his laugh. God why is it so funny to me

14. Unpopular opinion about your fandom?

Well from what’s I’ve seen we’re sweet. Everyone is incredibly supportive and adorable, but it’s not an unpopular opinion :’D I just love us. 

My only regret is that I don’t meet that many OP lovers irl? Oh yeah actually, we also don’t really have many events online? It’s a bit weird our fandom is so old and huge, but we don’t have many events - zines, big bangs, exchanges etc. - going on, in comparison to other fandoms such as BnHA or Voltron (or what it used to be). It’s a shame, and I hope it gets fixed (don’t look at me I’ve literally been an admin for the Zosan week in 2017 and 2018 and I’m one of the mods of an OP zine so I’ve done my part :’D)

Any number you haven't yet answered but want to for the writer ask meme!

Heh-heh! Great ask ❤️

26. Would you rather write a fic that had no dialogue or one that was only dialogue? One with no dialogue, because I can always throw in reported speech and thought processes. Takes a particular skill to make a fic that is all dialogue authentic and interesting.

28. Does anyone read your fics before you post them? If so, who? Sometimes. I won't name 'em cos' I don't want to clutter up their notifications, but especially for exchanges, or if I've used someone's art (with permission) as inspiration, or for zines, etc.

37. Promote one of your own “deep cut” fics (an underrated one, or one that never got as much traction as you think it deserves!). What do you like about it? Okay, I guess the most recent is valuta from the Corazine (aftersales almost finished, but that's just an aside). I thought I did a pretty good job on portraying what the Donquixote brothers went through, also Cora's relationship with Sengoku and Law, and then Law with Sengoku, but maybe it was too much for the word count. It got very little interaction in the way of comments, at least. I like the KidLaw fics I did for the 2022 exchange and for the OP secret santa that year, but they remain two of my least popular fics (in terms of hits).

I like valuta for story parallels (Cora and Doffy, Law and Lami, etc.). I like the KidLaw fics because they make me laugh.

38. Did any of your fics get surprisingly popular (whatever that means to you)? Which ones? Why do you think they were so successful? Yeah. I think I've answered this before, and it's not massively popular compared to some fandom behemoths, but the Usopp vs the Heart Pirates fic: Dark like the North Blue Sea (aka The Sea-Hill you Die On) . I think it grew in popularity because it's canon compliant (also, maybe funny). Once a fic gets a certain number of kudos or hits too, it feeds its popularity growth, because people sort by kudos and hits, so all those hidden gems remain hidden! I'm happy that people enjoy it though!

43. If you take/write prompts: what’s your favorite prompt fic that you’ve written? Probably the one that @afterdeck-ace gave me of: Chopper and Law talking about courage or Jolly Rogers. They're talking about both in softening the fall of snow. That's followed or on par with screen / shiki-e, which was inspired by a tsute doodle. You can see the doodle and links to tsute's art on the AO3 page.

47. If [taxi] was a pair of shoes, what kind would it be? Describe the shoes.

Her jeans cost more than his weekly pay, hell — monthly— and her sneakers were scuffed and used in a way that hid or emphasised their one-of-a-kind design. Pretty cool. A red tonbo — dragonfly — from what he could see, stretched from the toe, its thorax and segmented body running along one side of the shoe, a blue chrysanthemum and pond reeds rising from the heel and undulating in the air below the insect.

I used a ref for that, but can't remember where I sourced it from.

I changed a few things, and the maker's name is on the jpg, fortunately!

48. What’s the last fic you read? Do you recommend it?

Yes! I recommend it: Ours lives like sand in the gears of the world by @afterdeck-ace (Lily_Amazon). A platonic Law & Robin ficlet that explores the parallels and differences between them so well.

Also, a quick but satisfying read (sounds like Borsalino's possible reflection on Akainu) with this fic, In The Dappled Sun. Lemon mentioned (tumblr's being silly with throwing out community settings left, right and centre, so sorry for the return to FFN vocab). Fic author @kookoofufu

Am continuing to read saltyrock's It Takes a Lot to Know a Man but haven't read the latest chapter yet. LawBin and CrocoBin. Endgame LawBin.

There's a lot of good stuff out there, and so little time!