Queen of the Pirates

The Question Corner! Part 3!

Thank you to everyone that asked a question! It is always a joy to see what you guys are wondering while reading, and I love being able to answer such a variety of questions. I started this story because I love the universe and Luffy so much that I had to explore it myself on a deeper level, and I never expected it to get as much love and support it has. It truly means the world to me! Now, I'm going to stop rambling and start answering some questions!

Oh, and because I want to address it somewhere, here are my thoughts on the Netflix live-action adaptation of One Piece:

First, I don't have Netflix, but I probably wasn't going to watch it anyways. Life-action adaptation of anime's don't have a good track record, and even though I am sure a lot of love and desire to make it as accurate as possible is going into it, I am keeping expectations low. I wish the best for all the actors, and I want to see clips on Twitter or Instagram to see how they all are as the characters, but that is about as far as I'll probably go. I love reading the manga while I type up this story, and I love being able to watch the anime with my sister, but this just doesn't seem like my cup of tea. (And I honestly don't see the majority of One Piece fans really excited or ready for it, but that might just be me). I do love that it gave us curly haired Luffy, which I need to remember for fillers, but other than that, I don't see it really doing anything for me. I mean, Luffy doesn't have sandals (which isn't a big deal, but still, that is like his thing), his shorts looked weirdly long, and Sanji looked too buff (that boy is a strong string bean and you can't convince me otherwise). But yeah, this is my statement on it, and I probably won't talk about it other than this.

Oh, and also, on an unrelated note, I just wanted to say something about Akari's choice of shuriken as her main weapon. I know that it is like a side weapon, but Akari isn't going to swap to a different weapon. She loves using shurikens, and she is proud of having made them and learned to use them. I have plenty of ideas to upgrade her weapon for after the timeskip. Also, she knows how to fight, having been taught first by Ace and then Luffy. She can hold her own in a fight, slowly gaining new techniques for each arc, and I hope to keep showing her growth as the story continues! :D

First are a batch of questions from MaybeItsTheMusic!

Q: How do you plan the story, if at all?

A: I love the anime just as much as the manga, and it is because I started watching the anime that I had such a desire to write a fanfic. As I am watching, my brain already starts to think about how Akari could be placed within the story, which sometimes sucks because it can be hard to tell if something is a filler that isn't actually in the manga, so then I have to change my plan. Even with thinking of how I might place Akari into the universe, I only really care to plan the big moments (like when Akari tells Luffy she loves him for the first time) because everything else is highly likely to change when I actually get down to writing. So, I guess for the most part I'm not really planning, I'm just letting the story flow out of my fingers as I type away.

Q: Do you ever get overwhelmed with how much story is left? On the other side, do you ever feel impressed by how much story you've done already?

A: I do get overwhelmed at times, but don't worry because I easily can snap myself out of it. Usually I'm flipping through the omnibus I'm working through to see where the story is going to give me a better idea of where I want Akari at certain moments, and I see how much is left for me to write, and I get a bit overwhelmed because I spiral and realize I'm not even halfway caught up. But then I remember that I've written so much in the two years or so that I've been writing this story, and Oda is at a decade at the point I've reached now, so I think I'm doing a good job, and I know that I'm only going to be faster now that I have all the volumes at my side.