Starting an Ace lives au with @firefistohmu, Recovery Au !!
Basically expanding on this, but Ace survives Marineford and spends the timeskip with Jinbe coming to terms with accepting that his life is worth something, enough for people to risk their own lives and die for him. Upon Sabo and Ace encountering each other in Dressrosa, Ace decides to stay with him in the Revolutionary Army in the hopes for both direction and the Recovery (wink wink) of his relationship with his first little brother. Near immediately, however, their decade apart repeatedly becomes a social obstacle; they have both changed. With jarring differences, Ace struggles to see a place for himself in Sabo's current life, but wishes to help him all the same.
In the spirit of gratitude for his meaningful but dependent relationships with Hack and Koala, Sabo is forced to confront his accident head on(excuse the pun), how it changed him and what it took from him, as they both navigate where they can pick up where they left off and what needs to adjust to recover their brotherhood. Through this, his bond with Hack and Koala is emboldened as he learns more of their past and in turn, more about them as people.
These are me and my friends’ One Piece Fishmen OCs, Dan’Glen, Petra and Spout! They’re basically a backstory made for Hack for our Ace Lives Au, Recovery AU. Petra among others are featured on my art fight pls have a look :)
These three grew up together in Fishman District, looking out for eachother. Petra and Dan’Glen halt a feud after realising they are the only two, alongside Hack, looking out for Spout who is repeatedly getting himself into as much trouble as possible. When Spout goes missing at 10 years old, the other two search for the next 11 years, joining the Revolutionary Army with Hack in the hopes of doing so.
The ASL brothers are so special to me, their dynamic is more than just “trusting” but rather codependent, unintentionally unhealthy, and full of self loathing and guilt
As much as it’s brushed off, I think being isolated from other kids and staying in the forest does count as trauma of some kind, as it did a number on their psyche and how they interact with eachother compared to other people..
Moving from that, heres my explanation on the relationship chart above ⬆️
Luffy -> Ace
“The burden of life”
As Ace’s struggle with self-worth, loneliness, and the question of whether he deserved to exist kept drilling, his main emotional stability soon came to depend on the presence and praise of/from Luffy. As a child, he could not understand the weight of this role, only that Ace became withdrawn or self-destructive when left alone with his thoughts. It was a cruel responsibility to bear, but Luffy will never resent Ace for this, afterall, it was just the both of them left.
Ace -> Luffy
“The proof I deserve happiness”
Luffy's happiness became proof that Ace's existence had value. If Ace could make Luffy smile, protect him, or give him a home, then perhaps he wasn't the monster he feared himself to be. After Sabo's death, this belief intensified until Ace began valuing Luffy's happiness more than his own. Luffy became both the person keeping Ace alive and the evidence Ace used to justify living.
Sabo -> Luffy
“The happiness worth protecting”
Luffy is the last living connection to the happiest period of Sabo's life. As children, Sabo found freedom, belonging, and joy alongside Ace and Luffy in a way he never could within the high town. After losing his memories and later recovering them, those childhood years became even more precious. With Ace gone, Luffy became the sole keeper of a happiness that can never be recreated.
Much like Ace before him, Sabo begins tying his emotional wellbeing to Luffy's life. Sabo does not mean to place this responsibility on him, but by being the only living brother, he is now Sabo's only connection to his personal happiness.
Luffy -> Sabo
“The promise of life”
As children, Ace, Sabo, and Luffy swore that they would eventually become pirates and sail the seas together. Yet as they grew older, Luffy did come to acknowledge that the dream for Ace and Sabo was never truly about piracy but for living freely. When Sabo became a Revolutionary instead of a pirate, he technically broke the shape of their promise together but he did technically also fulfill the spirit of it as he lived and escaped the future others chose for him and soon enough found freedom on his own terms. To Luffy, Sabo's life is basically tells him that their childhood dream survived, even if it changed.
Sabo -> Ace
“my greatest fault”
To Sabo, Ace is a forever lasting guilt he feels he can never correct. As children, Ace was one of the people Sabo trusted most, yet there were still parts of himself he withheld. He never fully revealed the depth of his fears about his family, his desperation to escape, or the danger he was truly in.
In Sabo's thoughts, everything that followed traces back to that choice. If he had confided in them, perhaps he would never have boarded the ship that day. If he had survived openly, perhaps Ace would never have carried the grief of losing him. If Ace had not spent years mourning him, perhaps some of the loneliness and self-destructive tendencies that followed would have been different.
But whether these beliefs are true or not is irrelevant, Sabo carries them anyway as Ace is no longer there to confirm or deny it.
Ace -> Sabo
“My equal”
Sabo was the first person Ace chose for himself. Not a caretaker like Dadan, not a family member assigned to him like Luffy, but a friend. Sabo was the first person Ace viewed as an equal as neither stood above the other. It was a breath if fresh air for Ace as neither was responsible for the other.
While Luffy often looked to Ace for guidance and protection, Sabo always stood beside him and challenged him. It was like for the first time in his life, Ace found someone who understood his anger toward the world without needing an explanation. Even though Ace didn’t know Sabo fully, none of it changed how he saw him. He was simply Sabo, his friend, his brother and his equal.
The asl siblings share no blood, but they do all kinda look a little like each other.
Ace and luffy: black hair (im also counting how much they eat and the narcolepsy of it all)
Sabo and luffy: same eye shape and similar smile shape, and (if koala is to be believed) act a lot alike
Ace and Sabo: same wavy hair style and similar heights.
Like, no one questioned at all that luffy and ace were brothers. It was more surprising when it came out that they weren't blood related then if they were. And I dont think anyone would have questioned that sabo and luffy were brothers either even if they didnt know about the sworn part of it, cause all you gotta do is spend five minutes with them both
