#<- supported by carrot and sanji

[beanghostprincess]

i love pedrosan because they totally manage to have the energy of "two men who fell completely in love in the time span of a week and then got tragically separated because one of them had to assist to his arranged marriage that he didn't want and the other died while trying to save him from his fate. and now one of them can only share his grief with the other's disciple, who loved him just as much" while still only having like less than 5 minutes of screentime together

[nina-ya]

Three Times You Tried to Confess to Sanji and The One Time That You Did

A/N: I wrote a similar thing for Law here!! Pairing: Sanji x Reader CW: Mild Zou and WCI spoilers in the first section. WC: 1210

Clutching the letter tightly in your hands, you wanted to express what your heart couldn't openly confess. The words written onto the paper were your unspoken declaration, a small piece of paper holding all of the feelings you held for the cook of the Straw Hat Pirates.

You carefully reviewed each line, making sure the content truly reflected your emotions. The air was thick with a mix of anticipation, longing, and anxiety. Carrot, your new friend, offered reassurance and support, reassuring you that your feelings have been properly expressed in the letter. After moments of contemplation, seeking comfort and determination in the bunny's encouragement, you finally decided to seek out Sanji, determined to offer this expression of your unvoiced affection.

You made your way across Zou, your steps filled with a sense of urgency and purpose, searching every nook and cranny, hoping to find Sanji. But to your dismay, you discovered that he had left. The news hit you like a sudden gust of cold wind, a cruel twist that left you reeling in disbelief and despair. And to add to the heartache, you overheard the news of Sanji's impending marriage. It was a bitter blow, a cruel irony that twisted the knife in your heart.

Tears streamed down your face, your emotions raw and uncontainable. The devastating realization, leaving you in an immense amount of anguish. The letter now felt like an unbearable burden. With trembling hands, and tears clouding your vision, you crumpled the letter, feeling the weight of your shattered hopes, and tore it to pieces. The shreds of your unspoken love fluttered to the floor, scattered remnants of your heart's confessions now reduced to a pile of shreds at your feet.

-

-

-

This time, you tried to take a more direct approach. You had planned your words, rehearsed your confession, and prepared yourself to finally confess your feelings for Sanji. You found him in the kitchen, in the middle of preparing dinner for the crew. The conversation started off casually, but as you attempted to lead into your confession, your nerves began to show, evident in your fidgeting and the trembling of your voice.

"Sanji, there's something I wanted to tell you," you began, your heart racing. His interest piqued, and he looked over at you, ready to hear what you had to say. However, in a cruel twist of fate, as you stepped forward, your elbow accidentally knocked over a pot of boiling water, causing the scalding water to spill onto your arm. Pain shot through you, and all thoughts of your confession dissipated instantly, replaced by the searing sensation now engulfing your arm.

Sanji's immediate concern was for your well-being. He rushed to your side, his worry evident, as he hurriedly tended to your burn, calling out for Chopper to assist. The intense pain and his genuine concern overshadowed any romantic confessions, leaving you both preoccupied with the physical injury and his genuine care for your well-being. The moment had been abruptly replaced by the urgent need to tend to your burn, the confession buried under the weight of unexpected physical pain.

-

-

-

What better way to confess your feelings to Sanji than through a meal? The plan was set, and it was to cook a nice dinner, ending with a special dessert that held a hidden message. You wrote the phrase "I love you" in melted chocolate on the dessert. Everything was unfolding perfectly. 

The dinner had gone well, the two of you savoring every bite, yourself being filled with anticipation for the dessert. Finally, the moment arrived, and you placed the dessert in front of Sanji, the plate concealed beneath a dome. He lifted the cover, revealing the sweet treat, and while his initial reaction indicated he found it visually appealing, it was far from the reaction you had hoped for.

Sanji complimented the dessert's appearance, but his response was far from what you had expected. Your heart sank as you leaned over to inspect your chocolate message, only to discover that it had melted, losing its distinct form. What was meant to be a declaration of love had transformed into an abstract, artistic scribble that was virtually indecipherable.

Behind a beaming smile that masked your disappointment, you watched as Sanji grew more eager to taste the dessert, oblivious to the hidden message. It seemed that fate had conspired to keep your feelings hidden for yet another day.

-

-

-

You stood there in the kitchen, a delicate bouquet of tulips clasped in your hands, each petal a silent symbol of the depth of your feelings for Sanji. The vendor had assured you that this bouquet was the perfect way to declare your love, even gifting you a book filled with the language of flowers. Your plan was set: presenting these flowers to Sanji would be your confession.

The day had seemed blissful, the earlier battles resolved, the air filled with the anticipation of revealing your emotions. You were waiting in the kitchen, the tulips held tenderly, ready to make your heartfelt gesture. But fate had other plans.

A call disrupted the tranquility, a frantic Usopp on the Den Den Mushi urgently relaying an unforeseen incident on the island. In that split second, the bouquet, the flower book, and other non-essential belongings slipped from your hands and onto the kitchen counter. Without hesitation, you sprinted out of the kitchen, the impending battle calling for your attention.

The flowers lay forgotten, as you rushed to join your crewmates on the island, focused on the imminent conflict. The confession you had longed to make would have to wait for another day. After all, in that moment, surviving to tell him of your feelings took precedence over all else. 

…

After the battle, the crew wearily made their way back to the ship. Upon boarding, Sanji immediately headed to the kitchen to prepare a comforting feast for everyone, a way to refuel both their bodies and spirits. As he stepped into the kitchen, his eyes landed on the bouquet of tulips.

Intrigued, Sanji approached the flowers, admiring their beauty and inhaling their sweet fragrance. Carefully, he took the bouquet into his hands, running his fingers over the soft petals. His attention was then drawn to a small tag attached to the flowers, bearing his name. He was taken aback, wondering, These are for me?

The sight of the flower language book nearby further deepened his curiosity. He flipped through its pages until he landed on the section dedicated to tulips. As he read the page, a realization began to dawn upon him. Tulips were a declaration of love. He furrowed his brow, his mind racing to identify who could have gotten him the tulips.

Then, his gaze fell upon the scattered belongings near the tulips. He recognized them as your belongings. A sudden revelation struck him. These tulips, the very flowers that symbolized a declaration of love, were from you.

A rush of emotions overwhelmed him.. He was left almost speechless, clutching the bouquet, his heart racing with the knowledge that you reciprocated his feelings. He could barely contain his happiness. Filled with a new sense of determination, Sanji marched out of the kitchen, eager to find you and to show you that your love did not go unheard.

[base0h]

Hello,

Heard you’re looking for ideas so…

Here’s a crack one: The Straw hats working in a department store

Would they become employee of the month? Would they be fired immediately?

a/n - IM WHEEZING AT THIS— you are GENIUS bro holy crap 😭🫶 dude luffy would get fired so fast it’s insane— and imma just add everyone bc why not 😂

Warnings ⚠️ - MAJOR crack, multiple characters, I’m kinda dumb and might’ve forgotten people

they didn’t even make it past the interview 💀

.✩ kidd (tried killing the interviewer for asking him why he wanted to work there “I really am passionate about restocking— MF IM BROKE.”), buggy, bonney, paulie (did the same thing as kidd plus he parked in the manager’s parking spot)

literally within the first few seconds of the interview they’re hired | “My name is—“ “Can you start within the next few seconds?”

.✩ jimbei, koby, sabo, koala, izou, kaku, vivi

got fired the same day they started

.✩ luffy (ate the entire produce section and then asked the manager “is there more stuff in the back?”), corazon (he accidentally burnt the place down 😀), sanji (confessed his love and asked several female customers to marry him at his cash register), brook (asked for some poor random woman’s underwear 💀)

employee of the month every single month

.✩ jimbei, koby (old people always say how sweet he is to the manager bc he always helps them get the things they can’t reach 😭🫶), tashigi (kids hate her bc she catches them and scolds them if they take an extra candy/sticker from the cashier jar), vivi (accidentally gave herself this title when she’s the manager 💀)

the manager of the store

.✩ nami (steals money from the safe sometimes), aokiji (he literally never shows up to work on time and doesn’t give a shit what the employees do), akainu, fujitora, shanks (bro also does not care and comes to work hungover), dragon (has not shown up once since the interview), sengoku, garp, dadan, vivi, magellan

the sale sign flipper guy

.✩ zoro (if he manages to actually find his way to the store), bepo, ace, shachi, penguin, queen (you legit can’t miss him as you’re driving by 💀), yamato, oden, cat viper, bon clay, ivankov

they work solely in the back to avoid human interaction as much as possible

.✩ mihawk, law, smoker (he’s the guy that mans the big crane machine that moves huge boxes), hawkins, king, katakuri, smoker, lucci

they’re the CEOs of companies that are partners with the store and provide goods for the store to sell

.✩ crocodile (provides gut/immune supporting, healthy, all organic animal/pet food), doflamingo, kaido, big mom, whitebeard, moria (sells and produces copious amounts of Halloween costumes and other decorations)

actually decent employees

.✩ usopp, benn, x drake, robin, nojiko, baby 5, monet, vergo, franky, icebarg, bellamy (SHADOW FROM SK8 PLS TELL ME YALL SEE IT), hachi, killer

they start tweaking because they asked a customer how they were and they ignored them

.✩ shirahoshi (sobbing), bepo, sanji (asked a girl who had her headphones on), Uta (will get so pressed that they ignored her when in reality they just had headphones on)

they’re the reason why the store’s still in business | they’re basically the mascot

.✩ chopper, bepo, carrot, cat viper, dog storm

the dude everyone goes to for questions/help | “Idk go ask ___”

.✩ franky (has beef with cash register 4 bc it stops working for no reason only during his lunch break and never when he’s not doing anything), icebarg, kaku, usopp, lucci, jack, king, robin, jimbei

they’re the reason why no one likes to shop there | they have several weird allegations or felonies of some sort

.✩ trebol, caesar, diamante, dellinger, pica (he drives this mini car and always somehow fits inside it and takes up two spots in the parking lot), absalom, hogback (people have gone missing in the parking lot it’s scary), moria (would you wanna shop if you saw bro? Ik I wouldn’t 😭)

jobless for life ✌️

.✩ rayleigh (he slays idc), roger, yasopp

a/n - I think i forgot people but eh 💀 the one piece brainrot is so back 🙏

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1115 - Initial Thoughts

And we are back from another break

Another sneaky upload while I was coming home from work by TCB, plus other business has delayed me a bit, but now we can get to it

Secrets are pouring out, Joy Boy the pirate

Tell us more, Vegapunk

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release too

Back with the Yamato cover story, packing a lunch with Toko and Hiyori

And we're sticking with Wano since even they have the broadcast

They have the flag up as well, Straw Hat territory

Seems they had a Den Den Mushi in Orochi's possessions

Momo muses about Joy Boy being a pirate, having learned about him from Oden's journal

Tama's still there enjoying food too, seems like she lives in the palace now

Shinobu though hasn't 'matured' to her usual look, still looks younger

G4 Base?

Oh fucking...really? XD Demaro Black doesn't miss a hustle

Fake Kid Pirates mein godt hahahaha give it up lad

I mean why would you want to pose as someone who's worth 3 billion? You know how many would kill for 3 billion?

The navy at Egghead are also listening intently to his broadcast, as Vegapunk goes deeper into Joy Boy's past

He's only able to cover from a few Poneglyphs he's had access to (likely the ones Ohara had) but as we expected, a great war occurred; Joy Boy vs the future World Government

Dude was THIS CLOSE to the 'wait, are we the baddies?' moment

Warcury is not happy, as he still chases Luffy and the giants through fire

Mars is pissed too, using his Conqueror's Haki to destroy as many Den Den Mushi as he can find

Vegapunk continues though; of course the WG were just known as the 'Allied Powers' a coalition of 20 kingdoms against Joy Boy's faction - which in itself is a frightening display of Joy Boy's strength, even the superpowers of today could be taken down by a couple countries united, but 20? It took 20!

Alas, Vegapunk doesn't know why the nations were in conflict, just that it was a clash of ideologies, likely control vs freedom, but he chooses not to judge the morality

Zunesha is pensive, as the broadcast emits through Zou

CARROT! We missed you dearie, she's got a fancy Duke coat but she should be in Egghead with the crew ¬_¬

Still, she marvels at Vegapunk noting how Joy Boy's kingdom was advanced beyond even modern science

Oh lord, it isn't just Demaro Black we're bringing up for joke cameos, I know that laugh, I know that headpiece!

Mother Fucking Foxy XD What is that tache man?

Seems it's just him, Porche and Hamburg sailing on a little boat, bandaged up and getting the rumblies

We go back to Stussy, who is contacted by Edison as Kaku lounges in the bubble still

Edison encourages Stussy to drop the barrier, it's useless since the Gorosei could just break through

Feels like you could've called her before diving through the barrier and nearly killing yourself bud

Saturn's also using haki to destroy the Den Den Mushi

Edison puts his confidence in the Straw Hats though

Nami contacts Jinbe, still carrying Zoro - who takes umbrage with him apologizing, since he was busy dealing with Lucci

Nami notices that the blockade is moving to their escape route, encouraging they hurry in her own way

Back to Stussy, she shows relief that the Straw Hats are likely to escape, but without Vegapunk, she wonders what remains for her, she has no purpose

Something Kaku seems pensive about, perhaps even sympathetic, since he can't suggest to her the zoo

Back to V. Nusjuro and Bonney kicks at the Gorosei as he seems to cut Oimo

Not a good landing for Sanji either

Seems V. Nusjuro's not paying full attention to the fight either, trying to use his Observation Haki to sense where the broadcast snail is

Still, he breaks free and slices at Bonney, only for her to be saved by Franky

The slash cuts the figurehead of the giant's ship, better that than Bonney's head, but now she's tuckered out since Distorted Future takes up stamina

As V. Nusjuro leaves the battle and we pan to Zunesha and the Iron Giant we confirm that the void century ended with Joy Boy's defeat

It's not the biggest revelation since the WG rule the world after all, but it also puts further context into all the regrets with Joy Boy and his comrades we have read about in the past

To limit the amount of life signs on the island, V. Nusjuro takes more drastic action, cutting the entire Labophase in half

This causes the CP agents and the bubbled Seraphim to fall to the Fabriophase below

As the Gorosei let gravity try to take those who swore loyalty to them, Vegapunk makes the latest revelation

Sea travel is perilous around the world, it's common knowledge, but a millenia ago it was not; the ancient world, the civilizations that existed in the void century, it's all underwater - they built on top of the ancient world

Also I gotta point out there's some absolutely stunning visual panels in this chapter

Koushiro and the Revolutionary Army also react to the broadcast, only he, Sabo and Dragon appear pensive

Coco Village!? Gen san how you doing! And Nojiko! Still preferred the short hair but she don't care about no global warming she has tangerines to look after XD

Vegapunk continues; before there were vast continents, which'd explain why so few would go out to sea beforehand, and with all of the evidence underwater it explains how the WG can erase a century of history, but it goes deeper - figuratively and literally

Since the void century, the sea has rose 200 METERS!

That's over 600ft; the size of the United Tower, bigger than the Great pyramid of Giza, and that's all Water Level

Naturally, the listeners - the navy - are floored by this revelation, since a Warship is only 60m, but other soldiers tell them to stop listening

There's at least some sense of loyalty - or preservation of cost - for the marines to try and 'rescue' the CP agents and Seraphim from gravity-induced splatter, a la one of their world leaders

Alas Mock Town must mock, there is one among the crowd who isn't laughing though, another one seems to have ignored gravity

Sakura kingdom - mainly Dalton - reflects on the revelation, with Kureha mulling how things continue to get interesting

Oh hey, Miss Goldenweek! Passing by as the island uses a mountain to compare the height

At Water Seven (given the Galley La jacket) Vegapunk discusses how such a thing can occur, and reveals it to have been man-made

Morgans is livid about all this BIG ASS NEWS, having to be shushed by Vivi

Vegapunk continues to show his work; there were no signs, no studies, no science to confirm a natural build up, and if it was natural it would've been made known as a world-altering event

He hints at the use of the Mother Flame, confirming his suspicions

The Gorosei - except Ju Peter, wormy is not getting a lot of love from Oda atm - look furious as Vegapunk continues to note that the sea level rises were caused by the ancient weapons

Those weapons remain dormant, waiting to be used again

And as we pan over to Imu Vegapunk reveals something both horrifying and sobering at the same time: The War Is Not Over

Every island was once a mountain

But time didn't have the influence it should have, Oda has been getting biblical with this lore drop by giving us the common religious theme of The Deluge. Flood myths exist in many religious stories and mythology (which I will keep separate to not ruffle feathers), most common because of Christianity is the flood in the Book of Genesis, which we've already touched upon in One Piece given Noah's Ark. Since we tread nearer to Elbaf it's worth noting that a flood as a role in Ragnarok also;

"the sun becomes black and the earth sinks into the sea, the stars vanish, steam rises and flames touch the heavens."

Once more this was a chapter where Vegapunk's broadcast takes more priority over the things we're seeing, but there are some stunning panels to enhance the revelations, we see also the Gorosei flaunting their haki showing the level they are while the monster trio remain incapacitated or indisposed. I'm at least proud of Franky coming in for some more rescue clutch action, but with Stussy I'm less convinced now that she'll be killed by Lucci, Kaku's silence is loud and maybe, just maybe, they can all see this as a way out. The CP agents are likely not to survive the fall, the Seraphim will and probably will live to fight the Straw Hats under orders of the Gorosei or York, they will likely be used more since the Pacifista are compromised. As for the revelations, a mix of stuff we assumed being confirmed and stuff that theorists have pondered and been vindicated, it's all underwater, which explains the walls in Wano, why Zou is on Zunesha's back (sidebar, how fucking long are Zunesha's legs? like it's gotta be 200m+ submerged alone), and why Water Seven's ruins run so deep.

Still, I enjoyed all the cameos, appreciated seeing Carrot again, and a Vivi cameo is always nice, plus I had to laugh with Demaro Black and Foxy, like who's next? Kuro? Morgan? Krieg? Arlong? Enel?? We have to get to Buggy and the Cross Guild at one point ofc, plus this could be an avenue to reveal the status of Perona, Moria, Weevil, etc.

but outside of that, little progress from the Straw Hats and the incident unfolding in Egghead right now, but given the revelations Vegapunk is giving the Straw Hats time, the Gorosei aren't focusing on them, they're looking for the broadcast snail - and I don't think it's even on the island.

[namisweatheria]

If I remember correctly (and I’m not reading another fucking wiki page) Viola knew everything that was happening in Dressrosa but was too powerless and afraid to do anything but go along with it and repress her guilt and anger. I think it would be interesting if she knew what happened to Becca 5 and Didn’t Do Anything and the fallout of that when Becca gets her memories back.

Oohhh maybe Law and Viola would argue over why the other didn’t do anything and it’s just mutual frustrated expressions of guilt and Law still has Cora to avenge so he leaves freeing Becca to Viola and in typical wan peace fashion she cries with the meaning of being trusted with that and heads out with new determination despite thinking she’ll probably die doing it.

MAYBE ACTUALLY it would be the other way around than what I suggested before and Becca and Robin would connect as two people who lost everything as children and became assassins and Viola and Nami as two people forced to work for someone they despise who has ultimate power over them.

I just know that Nami would be So Mad at Viola for giving up but would just as easily forgive and encourage her as soon as she finally decides to fight back. And I know Robin would be so happy for Becca when they find out her family isn’t actually gone they were just hidden in plain sight.

There’d still be a lot of other shit to fix and fold together but this is fun to think about… There were a shitton of problems with the gladiator pit and the tontattas that could be good to revisit and reimagine…. Something something Viola going down in the pit as a form of self punishment and attempting to get stronger something something Usopp’s relationship with the tontattas being less undignified for both of them while retaining Usopp’s victory…

Hmmm something about the trading of techniques and ideals with a group of very tiny people who are nonetheless incredibly fearless against much larger foes and a man who despite having gotten much physically stronger over the years is still very fearful and relies on a lot of clever tricks to fight….. Teaching them it’s not dishonorable to use tricks to win when you’re fighting for your life and in turn being inspired to be braver…. Trading weapons….. A continuation of the “I’ll do what you can’t do and you’ll do what I can’t do” from Water 6/Ennies Lobby….. Showcasing Usopp’s growth and allowing him to pass it on…..

OH AND OF COURSE. Nami and Koala would HAVE to interact!!!!! There would absolutely have to be made room for a dedicated scene or tiny side plot about the two of them. Their dynamic would be so fascinating with all their parallels and divergences. I’m not satisfied with her just showing up in the background to support Sabo and have it be revealed that she’s apart of the Rev Army now like THAT WAS COOL AND ALL but she’s SUUUCH a good character and having her and Nami so near each other and not interacting is such a giant waste of potential to me.

Ugh god but to redo Dressrosa you’d also have to redo Punk Hazard, which is also a meh arc for me. Not as interesting though. Plus that’s when Momo and Kin’emon are introduced and I simply cannot stand either of them and the shitty plot they exist for. I mean Wano is also begging to be redone…. Way too many characters way too long AND WAY TOO MUCH ROMANTICIZATION OF HISTORICAL FEUDALISM AND ITS MISOGYNY. And frankly Usopp SHOULD have gone to Whole Cake WHAT ABOUT THE THEMES!!!!!!!!!! What about the Sanji and Usopp Water Seven connection!!!!!!

Plus the way that everyone else going on ahead didn’t even affect anything. Ugh. Like I love that it made room for a lot of cool Nami moments and Carrot as a character but. I don’t know maybe Wano could stand to be shorter and Whole Cake could have been longer.

POST TIME SKIP HAS SO MANY PROBLEMS. There’s just this huge shift in art style and tone WHICH MATCHES. YOU KNOW. THE EVENTS THAT BROUGHT THEM THERE. But. Idk I think there COULD be better balance between old style Strawhat Shenanigans and the major Plot of the New World. Like I understand they’ve gotten themselves wrapped up into much higher stakes and they all have personal reasons to take things more seriously. And there’s not as much room. BUT WE COULD STILL MAKE A LITTLE BIT MORE. I THINK.

Once again this is why I’m loving the final saga so far we are very much back to Strawhat Time. There’s a lot to be hopeful for….

[charkyzombicorn]

Au based of fruit baskets

The straw hats (plus sabo and vivi) turn into animals based on the chimes zodiac when hugged by the opiate gender

Rat, Nami (Rats have specialized brain cells in the striatum that provide them with a map of their surroundings)

Ox, franky

Tiger, zoro

Rabbit, usopp

Dragon, sabo

Snake, Jinbe

Horse, vivi

Goat, sanji

Monkey, luffy

Rooster, brook

Dog, chopper

Pig, robin (they are one of the smartest animals)

ANON I GONNA KISS U ON THE MOUTH

So since fruit's basket is a piece abt rigid tradition and psychological abuse I'm making Ace the cat (if yk yk) and idk who I want to make God yet, I might switch the rabbit for Carrot and make Usopp god but it doesn't make a huge amount of sense so don't quote me on that

At the beginning, since all of them are very distant relatives and it's near impossible to know the whole family, they fall into little support groups that change over time - before the story, Luffy was being raised by his grandfather with Ace and Sabo, who Garp adopted because Ace's parents died and Sabo's parent abandoned him.

(I'm going on a bit of a rant here Major fb spoilers) Ace was considered cursed from the second he was born the cat and the whole family made that clear. Since being born the cat means he can turn into a monster, he was shunned but also heavily pressured to never leave the village the entire soma family was based in (I don't remember what a gated community for one large family is called) since at 18 he would be locked away for everyone's "safety". Ace hates this fate so much so he's trying to figure out how to break the curse so he can be free. Ace and Sabo are also trying to do this

There needs to me some sort of catylist outsider looking in or else Luffy won't get the perspective outside the family that he needs to break the curse. I think I'll make this Coby because cobylu nation rise - also I'm being a little wonky with ages because Luffy needs to be old enough to do things without Ace being 18+

So Luffy, 15 and freshly split from Ace and Sabo, finds 15 y/o Coby who was kicked out of the house by his foster mom. Luffy leads him back to the house he got to keep in the split since he was the youngest and Coby starts staying there when Luffy starts befriending the other animals while trying to find a way to break the curse. I'm kind of iffy with Usopp being god for this reason but it fits So Well later. Coby is having the basic early-fruits basket shenanigans, I might make the turning into an animal less and opposite gender thing and more a 'anyone outside the family' thing because it still works. He's kind of trying to meet the whole zodiac but he's mostly using living with Luffy as a way to get Trained so he can hopefully join the police force. Luffy doesn't mind this at all, he thinks Coby's cute and he's got the Chutzpah so Luffy thinks he's amazing

Slowly Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Robin, Franky and Brook join up, but then the matriarch over Usopp doesn't like how independant they're getting from the rest of the family even if they're still interdependent so reels them back just in time for New years. Ace's eighteenth birthday. It isn't a war that takes him, Ace has known his whole life what would happen and Ace gets willingly locked in that house while Luffy claws at the confines and begs Ace to just break free because Luffy know he can. He just won't.

[closetedenjoyer]

And now I finally finished it and wanted to add, specifically to WCI arc and the whole Sanji and Pudding thing

The whole arc was about love, it was solely the most love based (not necessarily romantic tho) arc in the whole series, apart from Sanji and Pudding, take for example:

Bege and Chiffon

Katakuri and his family

Big Mom and Mother Carmel

Sanji and his family

Even King Baum had a little romantic plot

The whole setting of the arc was about various kinds of love, especially since the underlying narrative structure of the arc was entirely based on fairytales. An island with a chateau, gotta rescue the long lost prince from the evil witch (Oda obviously did it his way, holding on to the basic structures while actually breaking the genre rules, such as switching the gender roles, as the “damsel in distress” was the prince, not the princess), the polarity of good and bad which was seemingly fairytale-like, only Oda decided to sort of blur the lines of who’s good and who’s actually evil (Katakuri).

And to get to the point - the person who was there for almost entirety of the arc with Luffy was none other than Nami. I know I know; you also had Carrot and the others, but ultimately, the one supporting him the whole time was Nami. I know it’s a bit of a stretch, but as you said - Oda can’t do it explicitely, he has to be subtle about it.

He could’ve chosen anyone else to accompany Luffy, yet he chose Nami. He set it up so that it would be. Watching Zou, it was quite striking that Nami deliberately offered to go on a dangerous journey instead of tagging along with the rest of the straw hats to lay low in Wano. No, she went ahead to face a surely dangerous and risky situation. Isn’t that quite uncharacteristic of her?

Anyway, considering the whole theme and setting of WCI, I thought it was quite obvious what Oda was doing. One has to look at it through the eyes of the writer - everything to the last detail is meticulously planned and organized, nothing in story “just happens”.

So that’s my take on the LuNami dynamic and that Oda actually ships it, but as you said, he cannot afford to show it explicitely, especially since it would digress the story from what he aims to accomplish with it, I totally get that. But man does he like his king with his queen.

Incredibly long analysis on Oda's thoughts on romance, way of portraying romance and LuNami in One Piece

Okay, so I want to make a LOOOOONG post about something interesting that's been on my mind for a while, about romance in One Piece. I was originally going to post it on Twitter but this post is way too long for that platform. I always preferred posting here, but not too many people are here nowadays. Anyway, onto the main topic here. I'll be talking about Oda's portrayal of and thoughts about romance, how he views it, why he puts a good chunk of it in "non-canon" material and so on. This post is to understand Oda's perspective on romance and why he goes about it the way he goes about it. I'm a LuNami fan, so this is also to make a point about how he decides to portray them.

Do not read this if you don’t want to see me express unfavorable opinions (and also factual information) about LuHan and other ships I just don't see working out, as they basically don’t fall in line with how romance works in Oda’s work. I'm not mean-spirited about it though. (Also I'll be bringing up SanPu for a bit too, in a favorable way) I am guaranteed to get at least one eyebrow raise or a "What the fuck are you talking about?" from any person reading this whole thing, but that's fine. I'll only tag LuNami because this is for LuNami fans.

Anyhow, in an interview with Aoyama back in 2022, Oda stated how he doesn’t want to include actual romance into his story and how he’s fine with one-sided stuff. His reason is because he fears he would lose certain fans for doing so. This is an interesting statement.

First, if you read this up here, it essentially confirms how Oda doesn’t see one-sided affection as romance so there’s no reason to think that Sanji or Boa’s affection are hints when they’re both for comedic effect.

The reason they're one-sided in the first place is not because he's teasing you with the idea that the other might return that affection one day, no he treats it as a joke, it's as straightforward as that. I don't understand how people try to act like it's not purely for humor. If he intended on making something like Boa and Luffy’s relationship as something to seriously consider being “romance” then Boa wouldn’t be so humorously delusional even after being rejected twice in back to back chapters, she’d be taken aback at the very least. But doesn’t. Why? It’s a joke.

I mean for heaven’s sake, whenever this gag is used with Nyon around, she’s the voice of reason, y’know, a woman who also experienced the same kind of delusional love once? Again it’s all a joke, the entire point of Boa’s gag is that it’s love that’s supposed unreciprocated.

Also, the second time he rejected her was him rejecting her before she even got to ask anything...

This lets us know that Luffy knows how persistent she in trying to get with him and also implying that Luffy is going to say no, no matter what, as he knows how desperate and persistent she is about it. Now that I think about it, Rayleigh left Luffy to train by himself for 6 months before the timeskip fully ended, Rayleigh's supervision made it to where Boa couldn't get to Luffy, but after he left, was fully capable of doing so. I mean just look at Boa down here:

Yeah she said she won't go and remain strong for Luffy's sake, but with her being the way she is, I wouldn't be surprised if Boa in those 6 months went to the island and was asking Luffy multiple times which was how he was able to reject her before even knowing. If what we saw in Chapter 598 was the first time he rejected her, he wouldn't be so quick to know that she was gonna ask it again when he rejected her the 2nd time on panel. We know that the Kuja girls KNEW that Rayleigh left half a year ago as well, meaning they must've gotten to the island itself if they found this out. Unless Rayleigh told them directly, which, to be fair, is likely, but if he didn't, this implies that Boa has been talking to Luffy on the island in those 6 months, and if so, would definitely have brought up marriage at least once, or a lot, honestly, thus explaining Luffy being able to shut down her marriage request before even knowing what she was going to say, because he already heard it THAT much in those 6 months. Now, I don't truly believe that Oda thought of it like that, but it does make logical sense so I figured "why not bring it up".

Also, in a 2014 interview with Fuji TV about the 3D2Y special, Oda mentioned that not only Buggy but BOA bring in the comedic elements into the arc and how they're comic relief characters, again making it obvious that Boa’s infatuation is a complete joke for the sake of comedy. Same with Sanji. Being a gentleman is part of his character but he tries to score every woman. Why? Jokes.

Even if you somehow use the argument of “Oh but this behavior of his is even stronger towards Nami specifically” I don’t see how any of that can be seen as a “shipping hint” and not a gag that’s exaggerated even further, cause he’s still hitting on every woman. Besides, the first time he actually got his heart broken by a woman was by Pudding, and never Nami, Robin and every other woman despite getting rejected a billion times by them. Why? Because the Nami/Robin affection is for comedy while the story between Sanji and Pudding is supposed to be taken seriously.

It's why Oda went out of his way for Sanji to write a dedicated story between the two, with Sanji getting genuinely sad when Pudding talked shit about him only for everything to turn around by the end where she actually likes him. THAT is a romance story with substance behind it, and Oda clearly wrote it like there is merit to it. There is obviously a story written here with a beginning to an end, Sanji acts no different towards Nami in Wano than in say, Punk Hazard. Beginning of Whole Cake vs end of Whole Cake Sanji is on entirely different terms with Pudding and she is on entirely different terms with him. There is development, a plot, a purpose that impacts the plot. Not just "Haha jokes".

Soooo yeah that’s the first thing I wanted to address regarding that statement.

Second, Oda saying “I don’t want to include romance because I don’t wanna lose fans” may seem like an odd thing for him to say at first given how Oda post-timeskip portrays actual romance in his story, and plenty of times, I might add. This was when Oden/Toki was relatively fresh too so there’s no way he forgot he did so. Because of that, Oda is referring to romance for specific characters rather than for the characters he’s already written romance stories about.

So this basically means that Oda’s fear of losing readers obviously doesn’t stem from the romance stories he has already written, it’s very clear from the interview that he’s hesitant to write romance out of fear of losing some of his readers. But of course as we know, he clearly has written blatant romance already, primarily with non-main characters like Rebecca’s parents, Rouge/Roger, etc. It makes plenty of sense for Oda to not be afraid or hesitant to write romance stories/romantic elements for those non-main characters.

Because well, those stories written are basically all backstories that are over in a few chapters (Senor Pink/Russian) or briefly talked about (like the aforementioned Rouge and Roger.) As such, there’s no long-term impact on the story.

Notice how in the only case of a STRAW HAT having a blatant romance story (Sanji/Pudding), it is a character who's most defining character trait is his lovey dovey/romantic behavior? Oda most likely felt more comfortable giving a romance story to Sanji specifically as that goes with his personality, and likely felt he would not be getting backlash for giving the LOVE cook a romantic story. (Because again keep in mind he clearly stated he's hesitant to include romance due to losing fans of the characters getting romantically involved)

But STILL, even with all of that, the impact of this love story from Sanji's perspective is just erased entirely as Pudding erased his memories, as if Oda is being particularly protective of the Straw Hats getting impacted by any obviously permanent romantic development. (Because as I said SanPu is on entirely different terms from the beginning to the end of WCI, so their romance plot had impact on the story.)

So, because of how romance in One Piece is basically all deceased/minor characters having short backstories or in the case of the one Straw Hat who got a blatant romance story, (I said blatant cause you could say Usopp/Kaya, but it’s not super obviously blatant the way SanPu is) erased from his brain, there’s no obvious long-term impact that romance seems to have in One Piece.

I very much think that this “obvious long-term impact” is what Oda wants to avoid so badly, particularly for the Straw Hats (the main characters of the story). This is because this long-term impact would make it apparent to his readers that romance has a fundamental and established role in the story of One Piece as something important, which goes against his target audience of boys, who, from his point of view, don’t like it.

This idea Oda has stems from how Jump used to be when he was a kid, as clearly stated in the interview with Aoyama. It’s his own experiences with how boys manga are “supposed” to be coupled with his insecurities about being embarrassed to write romance that makes him hesitant to do just that.

This is why I scoff at the idea of “No romance in the crew” being used as an actual argument. People use that argument as if Oda himself is completely against the idea of anybody in the crew getting together, despite the painfully crystal clear reason for “no romance in the crew” being to not alienate readers and lose said readers as he is under the impression that boys won’t like that because of how he thinks that everyone still has this idea that they should be segregated due to how it was when he was a kid himself. It's why he said "People are so supportive of couples!" all surprised in the interview with Aoyama, clearly being surprised about the positive reception it gets that he didn't think it would get. It has nothing to do with him hating the very concept of romance, it's him being under the wrong impression on what his young male readers would find acceptable or not.

There is a reason why almost every single time that he brings up or hints at any, ANY hesitance or opposition towards romance in the crew, he brings up his readers. ALMOST. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. He tries to please his target audience. “It’s a shounen manga” or “the readers” he keeps saying, despite not even being asked about his readers' opinion. "I don't think there will be any romance in that crew" is said clearly because "It's a shounen manga THEY won't be interested" not because "OMG WTF I HATE ROMANCE BETWEEN THEM GTFO!" the way people intentionally misconstrue this to be. He even says "Nami probably sees all the good aspects/qualities of those guys, BUT One Piece isn't a romance" So he LITERALLY says that his reason isn't "She does not like any of her crewmates in a romantic way!" but instead says "Well it's not a story about romance and I think only girls care so I won't show or depict it because I think my primary young male audience wouldn't give a shit". Nothing about himself. Legitimately nothing about his own opinions about supposedly being disgusted with nakama romance. Gotta love the made-up narrative being presented as a fact to the fandom at large.

Oda's "but" could have EASILY been followed up with something like this: "Nami probably sees all the good aspects/qualities of those guys, BUT she doesn't see them in a romantic way and I don't want it to be that way" or something, but instead essentially opted for "Nami probably sees all the good aspects/qualities of those guys, BUT think of my young male audience! They don't care about romance. They'd probably hate it if I decide to capitalize on Nami seeing their good qualities as romantic, right? After all, only girls want it! It must only be them for asking this!" What I am saying isn't even me grasping at straws, it's RIGHT THERE. "I don't think there will be romance in the crew cause boys will not like it". Bam, that's all it is. I know I am repeating myself but it seriously bears repeating because of how so many people see that one answer in particular as the ultimate evidence against Mugiwara romance. Oda seems like he's being evasive on purpose with that answer, talking about how concerned he is about the opinions of boys while not once talking about whether or not he would like to write it or not.

Also for the love of everything can we get someone who has the untranslated version of this answer? Given how Japanese language works I would not be surprised in the slightest if he's even more evasive than in VIZ's translation.

How people come to the conclusion that he’s disgusted by the very idea of a Mugiwara couple being a thing is beyond me when it’s as clear as day that he opens his mouth about “his readers” and “his audience” for a reason.

I mean hell, Strong World was originally going to be a movie about Nami’s past and the reason he changed it was because of how he kept his TARGET AUDIENCE in mind. He kept the young boys he appealed to in mind despite clearly wanting to write something else at first.

Him pleasing his audience doesn’t equal “I really don’t want this to be a thing”. If anything, he restricts his desires purely on the basis that he thinks whatever he wants to write is not what other people want, why the hell wouldn't you think this applies to the idea of "no romance in the crew" when he literally spoonfed us the reason being exactly that in the earlier photo of the Jump Fests '09 interview?

He clearly wants to avoid it because of this idea that his male audience will take issue with it and not because he doesn’t wanna do it himself. This why he said “Seriously!?” all surprised when Aoyama said he wouldn’t leave if he decided to implement romance into his story, and he was saying this to a man who writes romance and has already said “I love romantic comedies” 2 sentences ago. Oda is THAT unsure of himself and he's THAT much under the impression that males have no interest in romance. I rarely if ever see people bring this up.

There's a sense of insecurity Oda has on the topic of romance. When Aoyama said “I guess you have no interest in love comedies” Oda didn’t say yes or even imply that he's right about that being the case. He just said “I’m not confident I could draw those, it's a bit embarrassing” Again, he's insecure about it. Not AGAINST it. He basically spells it out for you. But many people still pretend as if he's saying all of this because he's supposedly disgusted by romance among the crew being a thing, only because that made up narrative supports what THEY want to be the case, instead of looking into the actual reason for as to why he's saying all these things.

As I said before, almost every single time he is hesitant to write romance he mentions his audience, but in the situations he doesn't bring up his audience, he instead mentions how he's embarrassed to do it. I mean when asked in a 2019 interview with Oda, he was embarrassed when asked if he incorporates arguments with his wife into how Nami argues, perhaps showcasing how he's embarrassed to talk about his wife (ya know, the person he loves) in other words, the person he's romantically attached to. This is definitely a stretch so I'm not saying that I seriously think that this is more proof on how he's embarrassed/insecure about romance, but I figured it was worth bringing up. But embarrassment aside, he also cares a lot about his manga keeping face to his boy audience.

This leads me to the next thing… Oda’s involvement with the movies. Notice how, every single time he’s involved with writing the plot there’s always some LuNami stuff he wants to throw in there?

Strong World obviously, as well as parts of Film: Gold. Now, at first things seem… odd. The LuNami hints between the two in those films are quite a bit more on the nose than anything Oda has written in the manga, like a oh-so clear parallel between Tesoro and Luffy. At first it puzzled me why Oda would relegate these stories and moments to movies. And then, if you read the Aoyama interview, things start to make sense why he approaches things this way.

Movies aren’t treated as a main part of the story by people, it’s not the manga. You have to go out of your way to see the movie. There's no need to watch the movie to understand One Piece's main manga story. Look at the contrast between Chapter 0 and Strong World itself. Chapter 0 is manga content and it seems so much more concerned with the action and hype the young boys are there for (obviously cause it takes place decades before the current canon but that was a deliberate choice, it could've easily been like how Glorious Island, being a prequel to Film Z, was contemporary to the story). While there still is a bunch of that hype/action in the movie itself, there are also romantic elements thrown in there. It's kind of like Oda's experimenting, testing the waters with those movies. It makes sense for him to approach it this way. People who so happen to hate the addition of (LuNami) romance are willing to let things slide and overlook it because said romance is in a movie they don't have to watch.

So basically a non-mandatory-to watch movie provides Oda with more leeway, or rather makes him more comfortable to add what he wants, allowing him to put just a little bit of obvious romantic themes revolving LuNami.

Although it’s just a BIT of leeway, as Oda still kept the young boys in mind as he, of course, changed the movie from what it was originally supposed to be from something darker to something more light-hearted.

Here's where we get to the main point of this long wall of text: After three seconds. See, this could have easily, EASILY been animated into the movie, it’s as simple as having a 1 minute scene of everyone hearing the final part of the message, it could have easily been the post-credits scene, heck 1 minute is probably a lot more than what was necessary to show after three seconds animated. So why did it not happen in the movie? Probably because Nami was blushing.

Blushing is the most cliché and obvious way to tell if someone is into someone else (unless it’s physical like kissing). Oda, likely due to him keeping his young male audience in mind, relegated it to something even MORE obscure than a movie you don't necessarily have to watch, instead of through said movie, it’s through… these pin things? I honestly don’t even know what the heck it’s supposed to be. I know that One Piece Color Walk 6 featured it...

...but I don’t know the origin of this or how it was distributed before the color walk. Was it given to people in theaters? Was this purchasable merch? Did it come with the DVD/Blu-Ray as an extra? There's so little information online on where in the world this came from, and that just goes to show how oddly obscure it is, as if Oda did this on purpose just so that as little people would find about it. As if he thinks “Okay my intentions will be too obvious if this gets put in the movie itself, let me try something else”. It makes sense given how he's clearly shy about the whole romance thing as I explained earlier. Of course in the movie proper Sanji still mentions the whole love message thing but without Nami explicitly blushing at Luffy hearing it, naysayers can easily just interpret it as one of Sanji's self-serving delusions as always, as Nami doesn't show explicit emotions (blushing) giving away that it's really a love message.

Yes, everything I am saying about this isn't some guaranteed factual info or whatever, but this makes WAY too much sense. He had no reason to make this featuring Nami blushing but he did anyway, like it’s a way for him to draw what he wanted without being overly concerned with his demographic at large getting to see this, you know. And it worked! For example, a lot of the LuNami naysayers point out how the message wasn't romantic and they all say it without the knowledge of After three seconds. Oda did a good job with keeping this art on the down low because let's be honest, who outside of the shipping community or people analyzing shipping to insane degrees (me right now) even know about after three seconds? Exactly.

And by the way, you can’t even say that Nami is blushing out of embarassment for everyone hearing it. In that artwork where she blushed, she knows damn well at that point that the only person on the ship who didn't hear the last part is Luffy, so she’s clearly blushing because of how LUFFY SPECIFICALLY heard it, she blushes once she’s realized that he heard it, it’s that straightforward. And Oda wrote Nami saying "It's embarrassing!" in reference to the message.

Oda is the same man who is embarrassed to write very on the nose romance. Not saying "Oh dude this totally means Oda is projecting how he feels writing after three seconds/the ending of Strong World onto Nami by making her say it's embarrassing meaning he sees this as romantic because HE is embarrassed about romance!" ....Well okay I totally AM saying that buuut I am not saying that it's actually true. I just wanted to bring it up lol.

Another perfect example of relegating obvious romantic things to obscure content is a certain sketch. And it’s in the heroine novel, obviously aimed at girls instead of boys, and oh would you look at that:

Oda does a complete 180 and features Nami with Luffy’s hat on with a HEART IN HER HAND… seriously, how more obvious can this sketch get? It can't! And it doesn't need to be subtle this time! Oda knows that on average more girls are going to care about romance so why be subtle here? In the past he said specifically that he thinks girl readers keep asking him questions related to romance, as I clearly said before, and this here novel is targeted at girls as opposed to boys. There’s no reason for Luffy’s hat to be on her, especially because, well, he has nothing to do with Nami's novel, it's not like he plays a role in it. Nami post-timeskip is pretty much never seen wearing his hat before this sketch, making it very peculiar for him to draw her like this here on something aimed towards girls, the demographic he keeps mentioning "loves romance and keeps asking me to include it in One Piece". Seriously, the ONE TIME to bring it back in like, a decade, and it’s done like this? It feels ridiculous to call people crazy for thinking it has to mean something given all the context I have provided.

I mean, notice how in the main manga storyline, Nami hasn’t had his since SKYPIEA??? Hell, even then, she has only had it on her head once in the main manga in Arlong Park, yet Oda made Nami wear the hat in color spreads, which are treated as not important at all by a lot of readers. Color spreads by casual or young readers are usually looked at like “Huh cool artwork I guess, not going to extensively think about it though”, again giving Oda a liiitttle bit more leeway than his main manga story. Why else do you think that Luffy and Nami are CONSISTENTLY portrayed as King and Queen in color spreads and not the main manga storyline? Because from Oda's perspective it gives naysayers or the boys who in his mind supposedly hate romance leeway to say "Oh it's just a color spread! Just fun little aesthetic stuff!", in other words, nothing to take seriously. If he wrote it into his main manga story he would have to explain why Luffy and Nami would dress up as King and Queen too, again making things a loooot more explicit depending on the way he goes about it, and he's already insecure about it, so.... I'm just saying.

Also come on, there has to be a reason why Oda has portrayed Nami with Luffy’s hat plenty of times after Skypiea yet none of those times were in the story proper, just like the movies he's involved in being heavily focused on Nami herself or LuNami. He himself wrote Tesoro and Stella's romance, he himself said that ROMANCE WAS A GOOD IDEA FOR FILM: GOLD yet is much more adamant about romance being included in his manga storyline and it was HIS idea to parallel the romance for Tesoro/Stella that he wrote with Luffy/Nami. Almost as if he is less concerned with a certain audience for the movies and side material than he his for his manga... Nah, that's ridiculous!

Isn’t it just weird how a lot of the side content Oda makes/is involved in is more on the nose with shipping hints? To me it seems like his thought process is “Okay! I can finally do something I want to! I want to make a movie about Luffy saving Nami with a few romantic undertones thrown in there… I could’ve easily made an arc like this in the manga but, can’t let my main audience be disappointed, can I?” Arlong Park and Skypiea are the only times in the manga in which Nami gets to be saved by Luffy. (Funnily enough they’re both are the only times in the main story where Luffy gives Nami his hat.) Both arcs were so long ago. It just seems to me like he wrote Strong World and the romance aspect of Film: Gold to scratch his “Nami gets saved by Luffy” itch. Even with the Zou hug being a thing, it is not something that Oda puts emphasis on at all, it’s pretty zoomed out in the manga, as if he is avoiding any overly direct intimacy that the readers he’s catering to would catch on to. It’s all too suspicious to me.

All this isn't to say that Oda doesn't do any LuNami stuff in the main manga storyline, it just that he's not mega obvious with it at all and doesn't plan to include said mega obvious hints as long as his concern with his boy audience remains there. So it doesn't invalidate any LuNami hints that people think happened in the manga like Nami blushing over the CPR Reiju gave (naysayers could easily say she was just shocked unlike Strong World where it's blatantly her blushing over Luffy hearing what Sanji called a "love message") or things that are more subtle like Nami's "I don't want to marry yet" in Thriller Bark, I'm just saying that cliché hints of romance is what he would like to avoid, something cliché enough that his shounen audience would figure out.

As a side note, Oda's "People seem so supportive of couples!" is also interesting as before his Aoyama interview he always knew/thought that girls are always the ones ask him for romance and as such of course he would know the female demographic would care more about it, so this surprise about people seeming supportive of couples may or may not be him realizing that it's not just girls who are interested, but perhaps boys too. Of course we all know that Oda drew Luffy and Nami together for Aoyama, the author he just talked about romance with. Now again not saying "Oh man this HAS to be a LuNami hint!" because they talked about much more than just romance, but still, something to consider!

Oda's "Ah, seriously!?" is still funny to me when Aoyama said he won't leave if One Piece were to include romance, despite Aoyama writing romance in Detective Conan, interesting reaction from Oda given how Aoyama literally said "I like love comedies" just earlier. As if to convince himself that Aoyama is writing the romance in his story to pander to his female audience instead of doing it because he likes doing it. Anyway I think I am digressing.

I think my theory may hold some water, but hey if you disagree, that’s totally fine. I’m not the best at articulating myself so the way I talked about some things here may just be seen as completely wrong, but hey, that’s okay! If you have something to add, you can do so. I know there will be people disagreeing with me, including even some LuNami fans, but again, I don't mind at all.

My verdict is this: Oda likes the idea of LuNami but due to his concern with his target audience, he won’t make any obvious advances that young boys would pick up on and as a result, tries to sneak in more obvious hints into supplementary/more obscure content like Movies, After three seconds, a sketch, etc. because people take those less seriously/not at face value like stuff that happens inside the manga's story, so only puts more subtle or non-cliché hints in his manga and the less subtle ones in secondary material. (I mean seriously dude, wearing Luffy's hat with a heart in your hand? A romance parallel in a movie? Blushing at the "love message" being heard? Come on, that so much more on the nose than anything in the entire manga)

I guess you can say there are layers to how far Oda is willing to go to show LuNami more explicitly lol. The more of a low profile he think he has from his boy readers, the more explicit it'll be. That is seriously a trend I have been noticing from him.

Honestly, with all this being said and done, I think the only way he will feel totally at ease with including explicit LuNami romance is if he is convinced that his boy audience doesn't mind romance at all and wouldn't leave in salt, bitterness and passive aggression.

I think One Piece will continue to be written like this without on the nose romance. The best we can hope for is a sudden LuNami ending once the story is over, because 1. By then he stops writing One Piece and doesn't need to be walking on eggshells to please his audience and 2. Romance not being written doesn't necessarily mean characters won't end up together as BF/GF, husband/wife. Portraying romance is simply showing us the way that lead to the BF/GF husband/wife relationship in the first place.

Keep in mind that the whole interpretation I have about Oda's portrayal romance and LuNami could be entirely wrong!

To talk about the "Boys don't like romance" thing, I'm a man, and look, I wrote all of this stupid shit. To me it's funny that he still is under the wrong impression that all, or at least most, boys don't like romance. I am not a shipper of everything in fiction myself, LuNami is one of the few ships I even care about. If your audience grows attached enough to a series they would get attached to the characters too, this attachment can lead to a desire of wanting to see these characters be more, that is how I started to love LuNami. I think a decent amount of male One Piece fans feel the same way, for guys like me liking a ship usually takes a slow burn, whereas, usually from what I observe, women ship things much quicker than guys. I also feel less willing at expressing my love for a ship, a big part of it being that guys just "support" a ship instead of going balls to the wall insane for a ship with a million essays about how great the ship is, on top of that they almost always support the ships I think are lame where it's stupid one-sided love for 95% of the story (For example, Western men support LuHan so much more than LuNami on average it's not even funny) For a long time I was sitting in the back, keeping my interest in LuNami to myself. And what better way to "come out the shipping closet" I guess you can say, than to make... whatever the hell I wrote here? I don't know man at this point I'm so drained I'm starting to doubt that anything I even said here made any sense, I just flung all the things stored in brain at this post so it may be all over the place but whatever!

Hope you loved reading this regardless! See ya!

[unknownwriting]

Straw Hats (Jinbe already in and can please with Carrot too? She is just adorable). Like how they will react to meeting Luffy's s/o or Luffy is with a woman and like "she is my lover!" I think it will hilarious 🤣🤣🤣🤣👌

Summary- straws hats reacting to Luffy’s girlfriend (platonic!!)

Characters - Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Go. D Usopp 🙇🏼‍♀️, Vinsmoke Sanji, Chopper, Nico Robin, Franky, Brook, Jinbe, Carrot

Warnings- none :)

I hope carrot joins the crew she is so cute. okok so this ones gonna be short bc I have to write to many people and I also changed it a bit

Roronoa Zoro

- Let’s be honest, zoro does not really care at all.

- he knows Luffy, so he finds it a bit weird that he was able to get a girlfriend in the first place. But he doesn’t think to much about it

- in his mind, your kinda like a 2nd captain. Well the whole crew things that but what you says go.

- he’ll also always be there to protect you too, even if you don’t need it. Luffy’s…well Luffy so he’s not always there to protect you so Zoro will always be there

- y’all definitely do get in stupid situations too just like him and Luffy. So it’s not uncommon for all 3 of y’all to get into trouble

Nami

- almost refuses to believe that your dating Luffy. She just can’t comprehend what you find in Luffy, but hey! Everyone has their types

- but with that being said, Nami is not scared to all Luffy what he needs to do and when. If your gonna date Luffy you definitely gonna be Nami’s best friend

- and it’s almost like she can read yalls minds too. She knows exactly what y’all want and when y’all want it and she won’t be afraid to saying anything to

- she’s kinda like the therapist in a way, you’ll go to her and rant and then Nami will go straight up to Luffy

- although Nami is still very confused on you dating Luffy and all, she’s still gonna be super supportive and always help y’all out

Go D. Usopp 🙇🏼‍♀️

- Usopp’s kinda like Nami, he’s just a bit to confused on why you would date Luffy but he kinda doesn’t care. As long as y’all are happy

- the 3 of y’all become one hell of a trio too. Always doing stupid stuff and getting in trouble and what not

- there will be some times where Usopp is confused on why y’all are dating but then there are other times where he’s in love with y’all being together

- like Nami, Usopp is not scared to point stuff out in the relationship too. Of course he’ll just do it in his own little way

- just like Nami is your wing women, Usopp is Luffy’s. I don’t make the rules it’s just how it is

Vinsmoke Sanji

- I mean I pretty sure I don’t even have to say it, he’s jealous. So jealous it’s kinda sad.

- Sanji definitely does not understand why you would chose Luffy over him. And he’ll definitely let everyone know that he’s not happy

- but of course he not gonna ruin it for y’all. Snaji may be jealous but he’s not a jerk. He’ll still flirt with you and all that but as soon as Luffy say something he’ll stop. Of course it not often bc Luffy dense

- but just like Nami and Usopp, they’ll definitely butt into the relationship and point things out. The 3 of them just form a little trio like that

- but of course, Sanji is happy for both you and Luffy even though he’s a bit hesitant

Tony Tony Chopper

- Chopper’s a reindeer soooo he doesn’t know much about Love and all that but just like everyone else his support of course

Nico Robin

- finds y’all 100% so cute. Especially since she’s older, she just loves how y’all are young and in love

- she doesn’t butt into the relationship like the others but she’ll ask you have things are going from time to time

- and if you need it, she always lend and open ear and help you work through your problems and whatnot

- she’ll also make jokes about y’all breaking up and being not able to live without each and all that. The others yell at her for that but just can’t help that

Franky

- he’s definitely a little shock when y’all do end up telling him y’all are dating. It’s just something he wasn’t really expecting

- he is soo like a dad.

- he’ll make sure Luffy is treating you right and all that, giving you attention and whatnot.

- like Robin he lend an ear just to hear you complain about Luffy or about a date y’all went on. Franky will also ask questions about everything too. It’s just him

Brook

- Now this classy-ish man right here will no doubt always play the violin for y’all when y’all have date nights and all

- he’ll definitely fantasize about y’all getting married and having kids and all. He’s definitely the best at making you all flustered

- he’s also very understand about y’all’s relationship. He’s been alive for a while so he knows a few things about relationship

- he’s honestly so happy for y’all

Carrot

- she was shocked when y’all were dating, not bc y’all were dating but just bc y’all are dating as pirates and all

- carrots like one of the youngest, so she finds y’all’s relationship so cute and everything

- she’s probably also the type to get flustered when the 2 of y’all do something couple-y and romantic

- carrot also loves to hear when you talk about y’all’s dates and all the romantic(??) things Luffy does for you

Jinbe

- he’s so unbelievably happy for y’all when he finds out y’all start dating. He knows it’s hard to date and all as a pirate so he’s happy y’all found something

- just like Robin and Franky, he’ll always lend an ear for you to rant and all and Jinbe will always say something to Luffy about it too. The 3 of them make up a little morale support group

- Jinbe is really wise and all so from time to time he’ll say a few words of wisdom just to make sure y’all’s relationship is toll going strong and all

[sashi-ya]

~ 🌸 Cherry Blossoms Over Wano Event 🌸 ~

Sfw ~ Sanji x F! Reader ~ Food for the Kids of Ebisu

tw: spoilers from Whole Cake Island. A little angsty. Super fluffy 💖

wc: 1.8K

Like this event? masterlist 🌸~

My dear @simp4ace here I am with your request my darling! I hope you enjoy this sweet little scenario of our lovely cook! Thank u so much for your support!! Love u! 🌸The request was:

@simp4ace asked: Can I have food for the kids of Ebisu with Sanji please? SFW and with F!reader if it's alright hehe

His golden locks flow with the subtle breeze of Ebisu city, and his smile shines brighter than the sun. Who is that Soba cook? The technique he uses to stretch the buckwheat noodles is strange yet looks as if he was a professional.

Every kid smiles with a big bowl of Soba in their tiny hands, they genuinely do, not because of the SMILE fruits effects, but because they are extremely happy. So many of them have never tasted a simple -yet exquisite- plate of Soba in their life and it’s sad to say probably not even a warm bowl of anything either.

“(Name) you should taste this! It is amazing!” a little kiddo from your town offers you some noodles with his chopsticks. “Thank you, sweetheart! Don’t worry, eat them all! I will get one for myself” you tell him, because even if the poor little child was famished, he was sharing his portion with you.

You keep walking over the arid and inert soil of your city that once was green and full of flowers, towards the Soba stand of that benevolent man who keeps cooking with a smile on his face, giving the kids as many plates as they want for free.

“Hi…” you salute him once you are close enough to see his face. Blue eyes like a deep ocean, fair skin, fancy looking brows, but a noble expression that makes you feel safe and warm by just looking at him. “Oh… hi, mademoiselle! What a beautiful woman you are! Do you want some Soba from my Soba stall?” he offers you, in the most chivalry way possible, and you could swear his eyes got hearts when he saw you.

You nod, because frankly your stomach growls and the scent of such gourmet preparations is making you hungry, really hungry. His soft hands graze yours when giving you a big bowl of soup. He points out that for you, carrots were cut in heart shapes. Truth is, he did the same for every kid, making them surprised and amazed to see vegetables in cute forms.

“Thank you so much, Sir. How can I pay you?” you ask, ashamed because of taking some food that might be just for the kids. “Your mere gorgeous presence has made me happy enough, it’s nothing! Plus, it is my duty to feed the starving people” he says, and then again that sweet beams shine its light over you.

You couldn’t help but smile too, all of you are used to Kaido and Orochi’s guards mistreating you, asking for huge amounts of beri you don’t even have, forcing you to eat scraps and rests and even contaminated water.

“Then I’ll help you here! Can I?” you ask, not only for how grateful you feel but also because you really wanna stay next to him a little longer. His cheeks get sprinkled in a pinkish dust, and his face shows how surprised he is from a girl to ask a simple question. “Y-you wanna stay here with me?” he mumbles, amazed.

You giggle, astonished. Why is he saying that as if nobody would like to be next to him? “Of course, sir! I wanna help, tell me what I can do and I’ll begin right now!”

He jolts, perhaps a little offended. “NO. Your soft hands, my lady, cannot be used for this. I don’t want you to work! Let me prepare you another bowl and a place to rest where the sun won’t heat your skin and damage you”

In no time he has put a stall in the shade and somehow you have already a place to eat like a princess. You can’t believe how helpful he looks, almost like a maître. It’s amazing. “I… Sir, thank you… but… at least, what’s your name? I’m (Name)” you ask, ready to dig in the second plate of his delicatessen.

“I am Sanj… I mean, Sangoro! Yes, the best Soba cook in Wano!” he informs you, with his hands at each side of his tiny waist. Buts it is fun to say, he was of course lying and no “Sangoro” lived in Wano. But he is helping the poor children, and there is absolutely no doubt he is a good man. Who cares why and how did he get here, the only thing that matters is his heart.

“Glad to meet you, Sangoro! I haven’t seen you around Ebisu before, but your presence here feels like a miracle. Many of these kids have perished because of hunger, so you can imagine how a blessing you are”

He turns around for a second and takes his forearm to his nose. Is he crying? “Sangoro, are you alright?”

Glossy blue eye looks at you, eye that hide something painful, a dark past perhaps. “Yes, my lady! I’m a hundred percent fine now that I have your company here” he lies, once again. But those are not bad lies, those are lies that have to be said. And it’s ok, it’s fine.

After many of the kids and old people have indulged in the blessing of his Soba noodles, Sangoro feels exhausted, yet he never shows it to you… oh but you can see it. “Sangoro, would you like to take a walk under the moonlight?” you offer him, realizing that your words had the effect to make his curly eyebrow twitch.

“Of course my lady, I’ll be glad to” he says, taking his hands to his nose immediately. A little red drop slips through his fingers, and you soon realize he is having a nosebleed. “Oh, Sangoro-kun! You are bleeding! Let me help you” you tell him, taking a little piece of clean cloth you usually use as a handkerchief to his face. Gently you push his hands off his nose and clean the string of red fluid coming out from his nostril.

You give him a sweet beam, those smiles that feel like a healing caress to your soul, without knowing your beauty was indeed the cause of his bleeding. “There, you must be really tired from working all day Sangoro-kun. Come on, let’s have a walk” you tell him, grabbing his sweet wrist and pulling from him.

He follows you, stumbling a little. He is not speaking, but only looking at the way your hair flows with the wind and the butterfly hair pin he hasn’t noticed until now. Your mother’s gift, a black and white butterfly that looks like it's flying around your hair whenever you use it. You have no wealth, but that is the most precious treasure you hold. And you chose to wear it today…

After walking into the forest, the side of the nearest pond where the inverted half-moon reflects, seems like a good place to rest. “Let’s sit here, don’t you think it is super pretty?” you tell him, as happy as ever. Sangoro, smiles kindly and nods. You don’t know if he is not into you or if he is out of words. In any case, you don’t mind. You just want to be with him at least for a little more time.

You dip the tip of your toes in the warm water of that pond, playing with some marimo moss balls floating around. “Marimo” Sanji mumbles and giggles a little as he sits on your side, and then looks at the moon. The silver light bathes his fine profile, from his pointy nose to the goatee on his chin. He looks more like a prince rather than a cook, but who are you to say either way? you haven’t seen a prince in your life.

You thought of saying something, but instead, you decided to say nothing. Contemplating in silence his beautiful face had its own lure.

Yet there was something that caught your attention earlier… when grabbing him by his wrist you noticed a mark on his skin, as if he had tight bracelets that he recently took off. “Could they be shackles? Was him a criminal? But… he looks so noble” you think, kind of freaking out since you have taken him to an isolated place with you.

“Uh… (Name)-chan… what a pretty hair pin” he whispers, pointing at your hair and breaking the mental state you were in. “Oh, it was my mother’s gift. It is really pretty, you are right!” you chime, trying to avoid the crippling need to ask about his marks.

But you just can’t close your mouth. You can’t…

“Sangoro… what’s with your wrists?” you ask, holding his hands softly and inspecting the marks under the white wash of the moonshine. The blonde widens his only visible eye and looks straight into the pond. A much sadder expression invades his face, and some tears form into his eyes.

You, desperately, -and frankly feeling guilty for making him sad- say to him he doesn’t have to tell you anything. But he insists, yet, never able to watch your face during his speech.

“So… uhm. My family… well not my family anymore, but you know those who are blood related to you. Let’s say I was forced to do some stuff and to avoid me escaping they put some bracelets on my hands, like those collars the celestial dragons use with their victims… the exploding ones, you know? I am a chef, my hands are sacred, I couldn't… I couldn’t lose them” he says, sobbing.

You tighten your grip around his hands and have the feeling he's talking about this for the first time to someone else since it happened. “I’m so sorry, Sangoro”.

“Actually, my name is Sanji” he confesses, now looking at you with a tear running through his cheek. “I knew you weren’t called “Sangoro” nobody has a name like that, you know?” you tell him, laughing a little and wiping the tear with your thumb. He giggles, laughing softly in between crying.

You hear for the very first time a sincere laugh from him, and it’s a beautiful melody of pureness and innocence. Something that motivated to take his wrists to your lips and plant two sweet kisses over them. “Thank god these hands were saved” you mumble. Sanji’s lips tremble, “yes, they were saved…” he beams.

Your eyes fix, and for a second or two none of you said anything. Maybe you just met him, but you felt like you already loved him. And you suspect he is feeling the same way towards you. Is it appropriate to kiss him? you ask yourself, biting the inside of your mouth until…

An alluring butterfly, with white wings and black body perches on your nose. The cute insect looks just like your hairpin. The image of it reflects in Sanji’s blue sky eyes and he slowly approaches his index to your nose, allowing the butterfly to rest now over it.

“Hi…” he says, smiling warmly at its graceful slow wing motions. You remain silent, in awe until the little cutie flies away.

“Sanji… can I kiss you kn0w?” you ask, sure this wasn’t the most romantic way of saying stuff and owning a playful laugh from the blonde.

“Yes, the butterfly said it was ok to do so” he laughs… 💖🌸~

[otakv-trxsh]

One piece 1056 spoilers

I recommend reading this post before reading as I make a lot of references to it

Oh my gosh,

I shouldn’t laugh,

Don’t laugh,

IM

I CANTTT LMAOOOOO

THEY ARE FREAKING RASINS I CANTT MANN IM SORRY

WHAT, HUH

LMAOO CAN U IMAGINE CARROT RULING ZOU?? I WHOLE HEARTEDLY SUPPORT HER BUT ITS JUST FUNNY TO IMAGINE

HEY HEY! Maybe what I said still stands then and the tradition won’t end eh

ALSO???? YES I WANTED TO SEE HIS REACTION, although it’s not what I expect atleast he knows now though right

OH MY GOSH EVERYONE LOOK AT OTAMA NOW, FORGET SHINOBU LOOK AT HOW CUTE OTAMA LOOKS LOL I LOVE HER OUTFIT I WISH THEYD COLORED IT

But still I always have to add sanji’s honorable simping mentions

BROOOOOOOO GO. AWAY. NOW. THIS WAS A GREAT CHAPTER YOUR RUINING IT! IDEC WHO THIS CERTAIN SOMEONE IS IT CAME OUT OF UR SLIMY MOUTH I COULD CARE LESS

if u couldn’t tell, caribou is my least favorite character in anime, ever

LOLL ALL OF THIS, ALL OF IT I LOVE IT, all their ships look really cool, their all hanging out, Kidd and Luffy getting into an argument about who gets to go where lmao, Luffy using an excuse of being an emperor (this still feels surreal) to win, AND BEST OF ALL, THEIR REACTION TO BUGGY LMAOOO

HUUUUUHHHHH?????? MIHAWK??? CROCODILE???? WHAT. WHAT.

WHAT

SOMEONE

AINT NO.

LMAOOOOOOO CAN U IMAGINE THIS PLAYING OUT, THE TWO MOST LIKE SERIOUS PEOPLE IN ONE PIECE, with… BUGGY!! THIS SOUND LIKE THE PLOT TO A JOKE, ‘Mihawk and Crocodile serving under Buggy, blah blah Rest of the joke’

I can’t lol, also zoro being shocked Mihawk of all people is involved

SEEEEEEE LUFFY GETS IT!! LUFFY UNDERSTANDS WHAT I MEAN. Yknow maybe that says a lot about my train of thought…

Anyways to be continued in a Reblog, I can’t fit everything here haha

[saboisamarxist]

I just finished WCI and... wow. I loved Sanji before this arc, but here we get to see him, really him. I’m so happy that his character arc here it’s based on how kind he is, and the fact that Luffy acknowledges and appreciates that is wonderful. The moment when they’re escaping Totoland and they come across Vinesmoke Judge, and he starts saying how weak Sanji is, Luffy doesn’t get it. “Why is he telling every good thing you have?”, he asks, understanding that Sanji’s power, that Sanji’s value, is how kind he is. 

I talked about this before, but we can see Nami, her power and her loyalty to Luffy, standing by his side when Sanji’s fighting him, being an active part of the group and even confronting Cracker or Big Mom. Brook is super cool throughout all of the arc, and I remembered why I love him so much. We can also enjoy Chopper’s and Carrot’s relationship, seeing how it’s developed, and I loved it so much. Aso, Pedro??? He was incredible and I’m going to miss him dearly, specially after seeing how much he supported Carrot. She is incredibly strong and her sulong form left me breathless.

I loved Jimbei, how strong and loyal he is. I love how he can’t shut up about Luffy because same, and the end made me sad because I really want to see him interact with the crew as another strawhat. He cares deeply about Luffy and really believes in him, and it’s great to see how Luffy also confides in him.

I was thrilled during Luffy’s and Katakuri’s fight, it’s, i my opinion, the best one jet. We get to meet him and his insecurities and seeing his respect and admiration for Luffy made it ten times better.

I didn’t really like learning about Big Mom’s past, maybe because I can’t stand her (for now, at least), but I adore Pudding and her relationship with Sanji, because for once, Sanji treated her with kindness and love (he could be so much better if Oda wrote him like that all the time!). I understand her perfectly, I would also fall in love with him.

I don’t know what my opinion on Germa is?? I hate them but they help the strawhats escape and I don’t understand why. Maybe I’ll get to see them more in the future.

Also... LUFFY IS NOW A YONKO? And Shanks’ smile I love him.

Now onto the next arc!! I can’t wait to see the others (ZORO WHERE ARE YOU) and I’m now closer to Wano (aaaaaaah)

[cienie-isengardu]

The development of Law’s relationship with Zoro - Part 5: Zou, The Kindred Spirits (The Last Moments Before War)

<<Part I: Before Meeting>> <<Part II: Sabaody Archipelago, The First Meeting>> <<Part III: Punk Hazard: The Alliance (A)__(B)>>  <<Part IV: Dressrosa, The Breaking Point (The Plan Failed)__ (Saving Law)__(Protecting Law)__ (Birdcage, Pica and Doflamingo)__ (Aftermath)>> <<Part V: Zou, The Kindred Spirits (Traveling Together)__(Searching for Nakama)__ (Reunion)__ (Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance)__(The Last Moments before War)>>

After Jack’s attack, Zonesha required medical attention (chapter 822). Anime extended that by showing how various members of the alliance worked together to help the injured elephant and even included a scene between Zoro (who again was lost) and Law asking him about his awful sense of direction.

This scene is funny on many levels, because:

anime didn’t show Law to be involved in any task like making bandages or preparing medicine or, like Zoro, cutting the wood 

which means either he wandered and just saw Zoro or went after him on purpose

the “you walked on your own, Zoro-ya” implies he was aware Zoro at some point disappeared which supports possibility Law searched him on his own

and thought Zoro’s sense of direction was ridiculously terrible which clearly made Pirate Hunter embarrassed. 

At least we know Law paid attention to Zoro in the Dressrosa arc, when he twice got lost on different occasions.

Then the whole interaction was related to Law invading Zoro’s personal space. Either it was his “revenge” for victory party on Dressrosa or he simply felt that comfortable around the other man. Whatever Law’s reason was, once Carrot and Luffy showed up out of nowhere, Law stepped back. Not too far away, but the distance between him and Pirate Hunter was more casual.

Luffy and Carrot made fun of “stray swordsman”. Zoro retorted he will simply carry the wood into the right place and did not take kindly to Law’s comment about waste of time and that he may be lost again. Whatever Zoro wanted to say, Trafalgar without warning used shambles to send the other man into the right place. With wood. That fell from the sky with Zoro and almost killed some poor Minks. Zoro called Law “that bastard” but overall it didn’t change anything between them.

That makes episode 775 one of the most direct interactions between these two Supernovas. Involving violating personal space, commenting on someone's flaw and a bit of arguing.

Once the Zunesha’s wound was dressed, the alliance split in four groups:

The rescue mission for Sanji was carried by Luffy, Nami, Chopper and Brook, Pekom and Pedro. Heart Pirates (represented by Law) and remaining Straw Hats (represented by Zoro) were going to Wano as Kinemon’s group. 

While saying goodbye to Luffy’s team, Law and Zoro stayed far away from each other but close to their respective crewmembers. Then Luffy grabbed his people and simply jumped into an abyss, shocking and/or scaring his companions, samurais, minks and Law alike (chapter 822).

Law definitely still wasn’t used to such a way of transport. And maybe seeing Luffy doing it again brought the not so happy memories of a similar jump on Dressrosa. In contrast Zor’s group was pretty much relaxed watching their companions fall down from such height.

And so, the Zou arc ended.

Luffy’s group headed to Big Mom’s territory while Zoro’s group with samurais and Heart pirates will soon travel to Wano cramped in Law’s submarine.

Zou arc is set up for the upcoming fight against Kaido and Big Mom. One one hand, chapters 803 - 822 provided details and pieces of history needed for better understanding of the alliance situation and what will wait for them in future. On another, there were a few days of needed rest for characters during which the similarity between Law and Zoro could be seen. Both have marks of “dark characters” with specific sense of humor and/or logic. Both are cool-headed and while analyzing their situations often emotionless, if not to say clinical or even heartless. In dangerous situations they aren’t prone to panic or showing worries. Both have low tolerance for idiots (unless said idiots were their crewmembers). Both are introverted, quiet people who don’t talk much but observe their surroundings. Often keep some tangible distance from the large group and seem to like their own personal space. At the same time, through the arc Law could be seen in close range to Zoro - sometimes with little to no personal space between them. They may not talk much about personal matters and don’t hang like Luffy and Usopp do, but they definitely feel comfortable enough to stick so often close to each other and share observations. 

Zoro, as one of the quietest Straw Hats and less prone to being emotional (like crying after dying painted dragon) was still the safest person to stay around for Law. They understood each other without need of many words, had similar reactions to danger or shocking news and people saying idiotic things (Bartolomeo and Luffy) while not showing their own emotions - even when ninja picked their interest immediately. Which is why Zou arc was titled by me as “The Kindred Spirits” because finally manga presented their interactions in more detailed way and it is hard to miss how often those two decided to stay around the other, even if there wasn’t anything to talk about.

If I have to sum up the Zou arc in relation to the development of Law’s relationship with Zoro in one sentence, I think “Law hanging out with a fellow introvert when there are so many noisy extroverted people around” would do the work.

Here comes additional thoughts and details worth to consider:

↪ In theory, as non captain, Zoro is below Luffy and Law. Straw Hat and Surgeon of the Death are de facto leaders of alliance. But once Luffy went his way, Zoro led Straw Hat group (similar like Sanji led the separated part of crew to Zou). During that time, he and Law were on equal footing in the sense of leadership skills. Interestingly, the narrator called their group as “team Zoro”, totally ignoring Law’s status as captain or potential leader. Later on, when alliance split in four groups, the graphic illustrating the division showed Trafalgar and Zoro as equal leaders representing their respective crews while both were put into Kinemon’s team.

↪ Thinking more about “team Zoro”, there is a possibility that Law temporary accepted Zoro’s leadership:

- it is clear he hates when people order him around (what was seen on Sabaody Archipelago with Eustass Kid) and Luffy, every time Straw Hats makes a decision ignoring Law’s opinion or outright ignoring him.

- Nami mentioned in Dressrosa Law was a lot like Luffy - giving orders to others without caring what they think. At the same time on Zou he did not boss anyone from Straw Hats. All major matters (not waiting for samurais and finding Bepo) were decided by Zoro. Everyone was allowed to express their concerns - what Robin and Usopp did - but once Roronoa made the final decision, no one questioned his judgment of the situation. Not even Law who, as captain himself, should be on equal ground. 

- Law said “we should head straight for [Bepo] if we want accurate intel” which sounded like a suggestion of best action instead of giving order. This adds to the impression Law was truly compliant through their journey into the unknown place.

- Considering that Zoro did not try to order Law around (like Kid) and listened to his observations and suggestions (unlike Luffy sometimes), there wasn’t any reason for conflict or power struggles between those two Supernovas. Trafalgar was treated well by Zoro and the group who asked about his opinion and respected him in the general sense of the word. 

↪ There is also the matter of Carrot’s attack. Zoro took on himself to fight the unknown enemy and Law did not protest. 

- Once again, Sabaody Archipelago showed Law did not take kindly to insinuation he needed protection of others when Kid insisted on fighting marines alone. 

- During Dressrosa, he didn’t fight unless he had to; to save as much energy as possible in case of a facing Doflamingo. We learned then that though Ope Ope no Mi was a powerful devil fruit, using its powers consumed a lot of energy. 

- It is hard to judge how much time Law needed to fully renew his strength but after three days of rest on Dressrosa and one week of journey, from the group that arrived to Zou, Law seemed to still be recovering from injuries. What the bandages on his arm implies. Not even Luffy or Usopp had any visible injury signs after so much time. 

- In all fairness, Zoro was the only one person in the group who wasn’t really damaged during the previous battle. The fight with Doflamingo left Luffy sleeping for three days after, Law and Usopp were mercilessly beaten down at some point, Franky had a manly fight against Senor Pink that left him injured and exhausted, Robin was hurt while protecting Rebecca from Diamente’s attack.

- Now, considering that Law could be not fully healed - and if that was true, Law and Zoro should be very aware of such a problem - letting Roronoa to deal personally with the danger makes sense. On one hand Zoro is always first to fight an enemy, because he likes fighting. On another, protecting others is his natural reflex. But in contrast to Kid, Zoro doesn’t make a big deal of that; he doesn’t ask for gratitude nor make fun of those who rely on him for being weak. The same as in Dressrosa, Law’s inability to fight at full capability was acknowledged but didn’t treat as personal weakness. Zoro simply protected the group because it is what he always does - put himself between danger and other people.

- Which could explain why Law didn’t protest and let the other Supernova deal with the enemy instead of proving his battle superiority or something like that. Law allowed himself to be protected - maybe because of injuries or because of trust in Zoro. Maybe for both of those reasons.

↪ During the joint trip to meet Raizo, Law always stayed at the end of the group, just after Zoro. Anime made it especially look like Trafalgar kept quite a large space between himself and Pirate Hunter, even though for most of time he didn’t mind staying close to the man. This actually made me think about author’s notes included in volume 76:

“This famous Japanese saying that can be taken as even sexist. "A wife must always walk three steps behind her husband."

This saying comes from ancient Japanese samurai culture. Let's say we were one of those samurai who constantly carried around those dangerous Japanese swords, not knowing when we'd need to pull them out and fight- if that were the case, would we really make our loved ones walk right next to us? Those "3 steps" are equivalent to the distance we must make to keep our ladies safe!! If you're a man, say this. "Take 3 steps back and follow me!!!" Take 3 steps back from volume 79, and this is "Volume 76"!!” [translation according to one piece wiki]

Putting aside the context of wife, the “safe distance” from someone who is carrying katanas actually could explain the change in range between Zoro and Law. When the group went to and came back from the hidden place, everyone was walking in line, one person after another. Since Law was a swordsman himself, he may follow some unspoken safety rules, like not going too close to armed swordmaster. Also, maybe he prefered to keep a distance between Zoro’s cursed sword and his own? The cursed blades like to cause problems and some, like Kitetsu, are bloodthirsty. So in general, the distance kept then most likely was less about liking or disliking each other and maybe about some rules of safety understandable to swordsmen?

↪ This seems to be more anime-thing, but Law addressed Roronoa as Zoro-ya. In the previous arc, most male Straw Hat pirates get their own nicknames (nose-ya for Usopp, Black Leg-ya for Sanji, Straw Hat-ya for Luffy). Law is on a first-name basis with Zoro. On the other hand, Roronoa used Luffy’s nickname Traffy..

↪ The interest in ninja is another thing they have in common albeit for different reasons. Law was mainly interested in clone jutsu which fits his medical skills - he can manipulate someone’s body while a ninja may multiply himself. Zoro’s interest was focused mainly on weapons and ninja’s endurance to pain/injury, because of course he wanted to see how strong the shinobi was.

↪ Law seems to not be a fan of partying, at least not in a big and noisy group. I’m not sure if we ever saw him actually drinking alcohol (don’t remember that personally) and who knows, he may not be fond of that too. This time Zoro didn’t drink with Law, so either he respected Trafalgar’s wish to be left alone or simply knew that Law was surrounded by his own crew, thus didn’t need his company. Last time, Law was a lonely Heart pirate between Straw Hats and the new Straw Hat Grand Fleet, now his own crew for sure wanted to spend some time with a long no see captain.

That is all for now for Zou arc. The alliance had a chance to relax and rest a bit before facing Kaido. With the help of new friends, Zoro and Law headed to land of samurais now occupied by one of Yonko. How their relationship will work under new level of pressure will verify the next part - Wano arc.

[base0h]

❆ 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓 ❆

hi everyone! In the honor of the holidays, and 450 followers, here’s my first event :)

this is a one piece only prompt event, you can choose prompts as you like with any characters excluding the ones listed in my rules/guidelines

status - closed

rules ——

in each ask, there’s a limit of three characters for headcanons, and two for longer prompts, just so it doesn’t get too cluttered!

all of these will be g/n!reader unless specified :)

this event will end on December 27th

if it’s a character that I’m not comfortable with writing, I won’t include them, sorry!

poly is alright, but only with super specific pairings, I’ll let you know if I’m not ok with it, and I’ll do the characters separately

dilfs are ok, don’t be afraid to ask!

the prompts that are green and red can be either romantic or platonic, please specify!

asks that are off anon are a bit easier because then if I need to change your ask a bit, I know who to talk to :) but it’s no problem if it’s anonymous as well! whatever you’re comfortable with

all posts from this event will be tagged with #EDAY450 (idk how to name stuff lol)

characters ——

romantic - corazon, zoro, sanji, rayleigh, roger, yamato, koby, ace, sabo, luffy, marco, shanks, mihawk, crocodile, paulie, kaku, franky, robin, nami, smoker, law, kidd, killer, benn, izou, katakuri (if a character you would like isn’t here, I might’ve forgotten or I don’t know who they are, so let me know!!)

platonic - chopper, perona, whitebeard (father figure), carrot, jimbei (also father figure), any of the characters in romantic are ok here too :)

prompts ——

❆ green prompts are romantic, red prompts are platonic, and both are colored green and red <3 ❆

❆ 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 ❆

1) snowball fight (I can either combine a bunch of characters to make it a huge fight, or just reader + one character)

2) baking cookies for santa

3) “do you like the snow?”

4) kissing under the mistletoe

5) dinner with your family

6) cuddling by the fire

7) making/drinking hot cocoa together

8) gift shopping

9) “just wear the damn hat.”

10) “don’t eat the yellow snow-!”

11) making snow angels

12) wrapping presents

13) decorating the tree/house

14) making gingerbread houses

15) skincare for the dry season

❆ 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 ❆

these are all romantic prompts

——

1) dancing in the snow

2) giving you their jacket

3) cozy evenings

4) the first snow

asks ——

these are some examples of what to include in the asks :) it doesn’t have to be exactly like I’m listing here, just be sure to include if it’s from the headcanon list or the drabble list, if it’s a platonic relationship, and the characters <3

drabbles prompt 4 with law and kaku

platonic headcanons with prompt 8 for whitebeard and robin

headcanons for rayleigh and franky with prompt 5

thank you all again for the support, I’m so happy to write for you all :)💜💜

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1105 - Initial Thoughts

So we are back again, after a big impactful chapter last week we're looking to reach full incident territory now

Buster Call No. 3 here we go...

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release

Carrot cover page is welcome but also reminds me how I wish she was Nakama

With the buster call summoned everyone is fleeing the scene, most of whom unaware of the situation

Doll suggests that Saturn and Kizaru leave too, but Saturn states they're staying

It seems that Doll is unaware of the regen, but she doesn't question Kizaru's reaffirming to do as ordered

Vegapunk confronts Saturn again, imploring him to call off the Buster Call due to how it will hamper the world's technology by a century

Saturn notes though they don't need more advancement, and can't trust that Vegapunk's hiding something else...which he kinda is but still

Apparently a ship also left Egghead, guessing it was the former inhabitants during the Labophase Among Us situation we didn't see

But Saturn had it hunted down, on the threat that they may know something about the Void Century, Akainu tactics there

Vegapunk once more is appalled but Saturn rebukes that he dug their graves by seeking forbidden knowledge

Everyone's in movement though, except the Mark IIIs who are the perimeter for the island

Sanji directs Kuma, Bonney, Franky and Atlas to the vacuum rocket, assuring Bonney that Vegapunk will be safe

He also briefs Nami on what's going on above, surprising the group that there's yet ANOTHER buster call to go through

After several months we finally see Robin alive and well...mostly, she's on a hoverbed and in clear discomfort, probably from wounds and trauma

Jinbe has been sent to get Zoro so he doesn't get lost, but apparently he's still fighting Lucci

Lilith meanwhile didn't even make it to ground, she was still with the ship and got assistance from Brook

And he's found a clever way to get the ship to the rendez-vous, using his ice powers to freeze the clouds and skate on them

There is however the matter of braking, which Lilith quickly rescinded her praise for Brook after he had no ideas, plus the Vega Force 01 is still not an option for flying out

They make a point in saying that the Labostratum still has its barrier, meaning that the place will have some safety from bombardment, but the first barrage begins even with soldiers still evacuating

As Vegapunk laments the loss of another island, the Vacuum Rocket shoots off

But once again, Kizaru's here for the intercept

Sanji sees the intercept and goes to rescue Bonney, while Saturn orders the Pacifista to fire at Bonney and Kuma

Internally he sickly enjoys the irony that Kuma gave away his life to protect his daughter, only for his clones to be the cause of her death

Vegapunk meanwhile looks on in horror, remembering his worry that even though Bonney's Kuma's daughter, a pacifista won't hesitate to kill her if ordered

And Oda makes it clear there'll be no Luffy save, the navy have found him again stuffed and unable to move right now as he lays next to the vending machine thing we saw earlier in the arc

Aren't these soldiers supposed to be running from the Buster Call though?

HOWEVER, we also flash back to the alleged sunken ship Vegapunk sent out yesterday, except it's not!

The destroyed ship is in fact the warship Saturn sent, and they have no idea how they're gonna report their failure to Kizaru

But another player is about to enter the game, they are on their way to Egghead

Until the very end there it seemed like a simpler albeit dire chapter to follow the heights of the Kuma punch, the Buster Call is here and most of our heroes are tied up in some shape or form; Zoro is still uncharacteristically dealing with Lucci, Robin our queen who I'm glad to see alive but sad to see still hurt is forced to rest, Luffy overate and is once again surrounded by marines, Sanji is running towards the line of fire even though Kuma is literally shielding Bonney anyway, Vegapunk is alone to the mercy of Saturn, Franky's falling, Brook is skating the Sunny without a brake, Kizaru's still being a government cog, it's all meant to feel like it's gonna go wrong.

But there are still the outside factors to play; the giant mecha will still have to help in some way, and there is still the slight possibility that the Mark IIIs do in fact hold an echo of humanity that resided in Kuma - which'd call back to the weaponized sea beasts still having their animal instincts - to not fire at Bonney. And now we have this other player that's coming, unless it's the Blackbeard ship from before. I do wanna hope it's Smoker but chances are low on that, why would you want to contact an admiral directly about that? Another Yonko ship on the move or the Revolutionaries seems like the Fleet Admiral would be warned so I'm still wondering if it's someone else we've not seen much of; Law & Bepo or maybe Perona & Moria.

The goose is not cooked yet of course, but our Straw Hats could do with a bit of gritting their teeth and stepping up, escaping a buster call doesn't quite have the same impact it did in Enies Lobby, stopping a Buster Call is yonko-level.

[onamitaro]

StrawHats and ✨friends✨ sexualities and pronouns (in my opinion)

Luffy: Gay/aroace/demi, he/them

Zoro: Gay, there’s no chance this man’s straight. Also he/them

Nami: Lesbian, she/her

Usopp: Bi, with preferences to men, he/them

Sanji: Bi, he/him

Chopper: Aroace, he/it

Robin: Straight (lesbian only for Nami 👁👅👁) but very very supportive, she/them

Franky: Straight and also very very supportive, he/him

Brook: Straight also very very supportive, he/them

Jimbei: Straight, v e r y supportive, he/him

Vivi: Bi, she/her

Shirahoshi: Lesbian or pan, she/her

Ace: Gay, he/him

Sabo: Straight but very very very very supportive, he/him

Koala: Straight bi curious, she/her

Law: Gay or aroace, he/they

Hancock: Bi, with preferences to men, she/her

Carrot: Bi, she/her

Kidd: Gay, idc, he/him

Okiku: Straight, she/her

Yamato: Gay, he/him

Bartolomeo: Gay, he/them

Marco: Bi, he/him

Bon Clay: Gay, he/him

Shanks: Bi with preferences to women/pan, he/him

Buggy: Gay, he/them

Crocodile: Bi, he/him

Doflamingo: Gay, bitch/bitchself

Corazon: Straight?, any pronouns 🥰

Perona: Bi, she/her

Ivan: aroace, any pronouns

[opbackgrounds]

Alright, friends, you know the drill by now. Here’s Part III of Sarcasticles’ overblown thoughts on sexism in One Piece. If you haven’t already, go read Part I and Part II before proceeding. 

I promise after this I’ll be done. By hook or by crook, we’re getting through the point of the original question. To the Anon who originally sent the ask, sorry it took this long to get here, I hope it’s helpful.

Also, I allude to some very, very minor Wano spoilers, so if you’re sensitive to that sort of thing here’s your warning. 

Characterization? I Don’t Know Her

What makes a good character?

I’ve spent an awful lot of time talking about character designs, when, funnily enough, it’s one of the aspects I pay the least attention to when it comes to deciding if I like how an author portrays their characters. I personally don’t care for fanservice, never have and never will. But unless it’s particularly egregious, I tend to ignore it because there are other factors I think are more important. 

The secret sauce for building characters is hard to define, because a good writer can take a concept that has no right being any good and turn it into something incredible (Oda does this all the time) where bad writers will seemingly slot all the right information in the right holes and still have their characters come out of the developmental oven flat and under cooked. 

One of the biggest buzzwords floating around these days is agency. Is a character active in their own story, or are they jerked around by the needs of the plot? Is their voice heard? Is their voice unique, or do they blend in with the background?

This is particularly important, because the term Strong Female Protagonist has been warped into shorthand for “girl who fights a lot and looks pretty doing it”. You can have a girl strong enough to lift mountains and still have her be a shit character. You can write a girl who’s main motivation is to get married and have babies with phenomenal depth. What matters is execution. 

The Petition to Call A Group of Rescue Arcs a ‘Damsel’

Both Nami and Robin had to be rescued, their main arcs bearing similarities that are impossible to ignore. But these aren’t copies of one another as much as variations on a theme, and with the existence of Marineford and Whole Cake Island I think anyone would be hard-pressed to say that One Piece’s rescue arcs are a girl’s thing. At this point it’s a feature, not a bug. 

Which makes sense given how fundamental the idea freedom is to the series. Hell, the first thing Luffy does after becoming a pirate is free Coby from Alvida’s tyrannical reign. Then he frees Zoro from an unjust authority that would have killed him had Luffy not intervened.

Notice a pattern here? 

One Piece is written like Pachelbel Canon, in that a very simple core of ideas are repeated over and over with layers of complexity and nuance added over time, examining the same themes from every possible angle. 

And when you look at the Four Big Rescue Arcs -- Nami, Robin, Ace, Sanji -- you’ll see that it’s Ace who’s given the least agency throughout his arc. Nami chose to hijack the Going Merry, repeatedly chose to push away the Straw Hats until she reached her breaking point, at which she chose to ask for help, with Luffy only intervening once she does. 

Robin is a little less obvious, but during the post-Water 7 party chapters, Aokiji makes the interesting observation that Robin could have escaped CP9, but chose not to

Remember that before Robin’s backstory was shown, Luffy specifically said he didn’t care if she wanted to die or not, so long as she was with the Straw Hats when she made her decision. No one bullied her into “I wanna live”. It was a choice she made of her own volition after realizing the depths the Straw Hats would go on her behalf.

I know there are people who disagree with me, but Nami and Robin are well-written characters. I’ve expounded enough on my reasoning both here and on my main that I don’t want to spend the time belaboring the point. What I do want is to note that Luffy wouldn’t be able to attain his dreams without them. Nami keeps them on course while also severing as a sort of moral compass for the crew -- remember she was the one who insisted on saving the giant kids at Punk Hazard -- while Robin’s ability to read the poneglyphs is what’s going to get the crew to Raftel.

Robin admittedly doesn’t have the same presence within the Straw Hat Pirates as Nami, but I would hardly call that sexism. Since Water 7/Enies Lobby she’s been pretty content to go with whatever Luffy says, and the fact that she’s literally quieter than anyone else in the crew means she doesn’t get as much focus. I think there could be more scenes with her using her specific skill set, like her investigations in Wano and the forensic anthropology scene in the pre-Jaya chapters, but I’m okay with her being a supporting character. 

The East Blue Crew have consistently gotten the most focus of any of the Straw Hats. They are the core of the crew, something Oda admits in a roundabout way in the Color Walk where they all appear together for the first time in a color spread

With the main cast as large as it is, not everyone is going to have the same amount of focus or development. Robin is given a unique voice within the story because she doesn’t overreact the way literally everyone else does. Through her silence, she stands out. I find there to be very meaningful character development when she feels comfortable enough with the Straw Hats to start calling them by name in Thriller Bark, relaxed enough with her friends to comitt her first facefaults in a series lousy with them in both Dressrosa and Wano.

In an ideal world, Oda would better rotate through his cast, much like how Brook was the unsung MVP on Whole Cake Island (where Nami was also excellent in a supporting role) but I don’t think people realize how hard it is to juggle almost a dozen different people in a story that’s bloated exponentially over time. To his credit, Oda has handled his expanding crew better than most writers. 

I also find it hard to judge this aspect of the series because the manga’s not done yet. I don’t know how Robin and Nami will be used in the future. I mean, Robin never got a chapter title declaring her “The Seventh” which I find suspicious, so Oda could very well have events in store that completely turn our perceptions upside down. It’s impossible to say.

I will acknowledge that the lack of big fights is somewhat disappointing, but neither Robin nor Nami’s dreams revolve around them getting stronger. Robin doesn’t need to use her power to make people explode from the inside out, Nami doesn’t need to fry end-game bosses with her lightning stick. That’s simply not their narrative purpose. With the exception of Tashigi, I’ve found that the female characters advertised as fighters have lived up to their billing. Hancock came out of Marineford unscathed. Carrot’s sulong form was awesome, in the old-fashioned sense of the word. The whole climax of Whole Cake Island revolved around surviving Big Mom’s wrath. Not beating her, not fighting her, it took all the Straw Hats had to just survive. Once again you’re left with a number’s game where where there just aren’t enough female characters to even pretend things are balanced.

All said, I think if you’re going to complain about the lack of Robin fights then I think you also have to complain about the lack of Brook fights, and that’s just not something you hear about, especially after Whole Cake Island. You can’t have it both ways. Either there needs to be more even distribution of major fights throughout the entire crew, or you have to acknowledge that a character’s worth isn’t dependent on their fighting prowess. 

One Piece is a battle manga, and I do think that it’s fair to criticize when a character isn’t allowed to fight when they’re perfectly capable of kicking ass. But it’s also an adventure story, and that opens up entirely new space for a character to occupy, and that’s where I think Nami and Robin (but especially Nami) really shine

That Moment You Realize Humor Isn’t A Universal Language

I’ve spent so much time defending Oda’s designs and characters that it might seem like I’m perfectly okay with everything that’s portrayed in the manga. To be clear, I’m not. If the messages and comments I’ve gotten over the past several days have taught me anything, it’s that many fans share the same sticking points I do, namely in regards to some of the gags. 

I again want to be careful here, because I’m hardly an expert on Japanese culture and it’s really hard to tell if Oda writes his jokes because he thinks they’re funny, or if he thinks his audience will find them funny. I’m again going to default to somewhere in the middle, because if Oda truly found the perviness distasteful he probably wouldn’t have included it, and I’ve read enough SBS to know the guy likes his dick jokes. 

First and foremost, one must address the culture gap. Japan ranks last among G7 nations on gender equality, In 2004 two-thirds of Tokyo women in their 20-30s reported to being groped while on public transport. There are numerous barriers that make it difficult for a woman to succeed either in the workplace or politics. 

From what I can gather, some of these trends are reversing, albeit slowly and with great resistance. Contrary to what many people seem to believe culture is not always value neutral. And I say that as an American, recognizing there are plenty of things about my culture and country that are really fucked up. 

But who gets to decide who’s right and who’s wrong?

When inside that kind of environment, that kind of culture, it’s a lot easier to understand how a character like Sanji can exist. It’s easy to understand why Momo shoving his face into Nami and Robin’s boobs might be played for laughs. It’s not an excuse, but an explanation. And with Sanji failing more often than not, being the butt of his own joke as he slowly turns into a parody of what he once was, one could almost say Oda is pointing those types of people and saying, “Look how pathetic this guy is. Now go laugh as he gets a nosebleed so bad he needs multiple blood transfusions in order to not die.”

I say almost, because Sanji is never condemned for his actions, nor does he learn from them. Instead you have this character who’s supposed to be one of the kindest characters in the series decide to immediately go peep on a woman’s bath house after gaining the power of invisibility. 

Stay classy, Oda.

As distasteful as I find it, I don’t find fanservice to be an inherently evil thing that must be eradicated at all costs, and with Oda doing things like putting his entire cast, male and female, into skintight leathers you can hardly say that he’s excluding the men. 

Everyone will have their line in the sand, and mine goes back to agency. When Nami did her Happiness Punch way back in Alabasta, that was of her own volition. When Nami and Robin dress in clothes that show everything but the nipple, that’s something they chose and feel comfortable in. 

But when Smoker and Tashigi swapped bodies at Punk Hazard, Tashigi specifically asked Smoker not to strip, and he did anyway, opening her coat and removing her bra. This is especially egregious as Tashigi is one of the very few women in the series who is always shown wearing very conservative clothing. Oda specifically showed Tashigi getting upset at Smoker’s actions, and Smoker repeatedly refusing to listen to her.   

That’s where I draw my line. 

Some Final Thoughts I Couldn’t Fit Anywhere Else 

Thought The First--Oda has an interesting habit of turning his most despicable, scummy pieces of flaming human garbage into the butt of the joke. Villains like Crocodile and Doflamingo are certainly evil, but it’s the idealized, cool type of evil that makes you almost admire them. There aren’t very many real-world Crocodiles, but just about everyone knows a Spandam, or an Absalom, or a Vander Decken. These kinds of villains aren’t scary because of their physical prowess, but their unyielding obsessions and the power they’re able to wring from the system, and -- surprise, surprise -- all three are either actively trying to be creepy sex pests or coded as such with the visual language of the comic.   

And Oda turns them into a mockery. 

While there are some who feel like not treating serious issues like sexual assault seriously are doing a disservice to people who have endured similar experiences I think there’s merit to turning them into a laughingstock. As someone much smarter than me said once, if an opinion cannot withstand mockery it’s revealed to be ridiculous, and these scummy-scum villains are certainly ridiculous.

Thought The Second--It’s hard to say how much sexism is a thing in-universe. Kuina is the only one who is explicitly told her dreams were impossible because of her gender, but with the recent reveal confirming that her family came from Wano, which in turn is based on Feudal Japan, it’s hard to say how widespread these beliefs are. Tashigi brought it up again at Loguetown and Bellemere specifically told her girls that they lived in an era where “girls needed to be strong, too”, but otherwise it’s not a topic that’s been explored in any depth

Thought The Third--The in-universe fetishization of mermaids has some implications that I think are unintended but worth discussing. Shirahoshi has a reputation of being one of the most beautiful women in the world despite not leaving her tower for over 10 years (she’s 16). Mermaids whose tails have split are worth less on the slave market than those whose are intact. Even Zoro erased Kokoro from his memory after meeting the more attractive Caime. It’s one of those odd things that when combined with the more obvious racism themes could have some unfortunate implications, and I think could have been avoided had Oda show a little more restraint with some of his jokes. Unintended consequences are still consequences. 

Thought The Forth--There are many other instances throughout the series that people bring up with talking about sexism in One Piece. I feel like a lot of these can be explained away individually -- for example, both Belo Betty and Rebecca’s stripperific outfits were inspired by other media, the painting Liberty of the People and Red Sonja respectively; Lola chasing after an obviously abusive man makes a whole lot more sense when you meet Big Mom; Hancock’s love sickness could be seen as an emotionally stunted woman experiencing her first crush, etc., etc -- it’s when they’re all put together that they begin to read as “Problematic”. 

It would be impossible to go over all these individually, but I tend to fall on the side of leniency. In the end, everyone has to make their own decisions based on their own values. I’m hardly unbiased, and my enjoyment for the series will undoubtedly make me look the other way when another might call the exact same incident The Worst Thing Ever. The thing is, opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and most are convinced that theirs don’t stink. I include myself in that statement. In the end it’s a comic for kids. It’s supposed to be fun. 

Thought The Last--I have spent entirely too much of my time writing this up, but in the end I guess I have to go back to what I said when I talked about my thoughts on Sanji: Everyone has their own personal line of acceptable bullshit, and for me Oda does more good than bad. Sanji specifically gets very little leniency from me because I don’t like a lot of the gross behavior Oda passes over as a joke. But the female characters themselves, generally speaking? They’re fine. There are other mangaka that have more equal male to female ratios or have women play more active roles in the story, but Oda does a lot better than most other shonen titles I’ve read. 

It’s okay to be critical of media you enjoy. It’s okay to complain. But remember that One Piece is a very long series, and there are some fans who have been a round for literally decades. I myself started reading weekly around the time Duval was introduced, way back in 2008. Every time a new batch of fans comes in the same old arguments get stirred to the top of the pot: Sanji is a creep, Oda can’t draw women, why doesn’t Robin ever get to fight?

It can be exhausting to go through the same hoops time and time again. So if you’re someone who is being critical and feel like no one is listening, or that a bunch of fans are going out of their way to defend Oda, that could be one of the reasons why. They’re tired of having a series they enjoy be shit on. 

There are other fans who legitimately don’t think that Oda’s done anything wrong, that jokes are just jokes. If you happen to fall in that category, remember that not everyone feels that way. Art reflects life, which in turn reflects art. One Piece is a few million copies away from outselling Batman. To say it isn’t influential to young readers, both in Japan and abroad, is beyond asinine. 

I thank everyone who’s taken the time to read this so far. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how civil the discussion and my inbox as stayed. Even if I didn’t respond to your message, I promise that I did read it. 

I wrote as much as I did because I know this is a topic a lot of people care about, and also so I hopefully don’t have to write about it again. A lot of hours has gone into this project, and it’s been exhausting, but in a good way, if that makes any sense. I’m ready to put it to rest. 

I was joking with some friends that I think I’ve hit just about every hot topic issue now, so hopefully I can go back to fun questions like speculating if Wapol can eat a person and poop out a devil fruit. 

Until then, Sarcasticles, out