#Carmel op

[v-67]

One piece Spoiler alert!!!!

Twist I wasn't expecting but still not surprised kinda thing

Did Big Mom eat them?

And Mother Carmel's ability, the devil fruit power was transferred to Big mom

So now I'm kinda curious about how would that work

And If it works by eating a particular part of body, does that mean that idiot Blackbeard ate whitebeard????

I hope nothing resorts to cannibalism

But nothing happened to Whitebeards body

So HOW

And did Big mom actually eat mother carmel

I'm still on assumption so idk

Let's see

Episode 830-844 somewhere

15th January, 2024

[crowdusk]

One Piece Chapters 1134 + 1135

SUMMARY (I simply cannot be concise so I thought I'd add summary points for anyone who doesn't want to read a whole long piece. Clown music though because even the summary is long. I can't help it.)

Also you can find previous Elbaph thoughts/predictions here.

I believe Elbaph’s current culture of peace and absolute non-violence came from Harald (who was probably an idealist) and Mother Carmel, who was – and is still – seen as a holy woman and saint by the giants. Her rhetoric was all about ‘everyone living together in peace’ in a superficial, unrealistic and one-dimensional way that hid and enabled a lot of violence. Including, of course, her literal job providing military assets to the World Government in the form of orphaned children to be made into spies and soldiers. 

Mother Carmel’s infiltration may have led to Harald developing a relationship with the World Government (which he probably wanted Elbaph to become a part of), while we know that the Five Elders are wary of giants and have always sought to co-opt their strength. This might explain how the two Holy Knights looking for Loki were able to teleport into the castle (I believe there must be physical rules/limitations to the magic circle transport, e.g. some kind of physical anchor to the place you’re going).

This arc is going to look at and explore questions around peace and violence. Peace by and for whom? For example, ‘peace’ can look like the people at the center of society living without disturbance or discomfort while those on the margins suffer and are silenced (neoliberalism). Peace as defined by the absence of overt conflict doesn’t mean there is no harm or violence – it can be repression, manufactured consent, etc. True peace cannot be imposed from the top, it must be collectively built. And so forth. Conversely, violence and conflict are sometimes necessary to protect what you care about (your treasures), as we see with the Strawhats. Creating a peaceful and knowledge-centric society doesn’t have to be at odds with warrior culture, since being willing to put your life on the line is important in some instances. What will happen if external factors threaten Elbaph’s treasures? 

Last review, I talked about how I think one of this arc’s central themes will be the juxtaposition of reality and fiction, truth and lies, stories and lived experiences. Illusions will shatter and false gods/idols will fall – I think the giants’ idolisation of Mother Carmel and Harald will end, one way or another. For the latter, I don’t necessarily think he was evil. More so that he was just one person who made mistakes and had flaws, rather than a perfect king who only ever brought wonderful changes to Elbaph. On the other hand, Loki may not be a god but he could have the powers of one, and I think the first impressions we got of him will be changed and shown to be misinformation to recast him in a more positive light. I think he had a good reason to kill his father, and that the events of Harald’s death are another false story that must be clarified. Oda loves a good character twist. (Honestly if Harald turns out evil, I’m here for it). 

I also said in my last piece that I thought there would be internal divisions, and I still think this is going to be the case. For example, we don’t know why Hajrudin initially left Elbaph – could part of it have been feeling stifled by the loss of warrior traditions? This would make sense, since he wanted to follow in Dorry and Brogy’s footsteps. However, I think we might just see more of a spectrum of positions, rather than, say, two clear factions. Nevertheless, I still think the Strawhats will have to bring a lot of people together to fight a bigger antagonist, maybe even including Loki (as the potential king??) – but they’re pretty good at that. 

Last time I wrote about 1132, I was still a little unsure about Loki’s vibe, but I didn’t think he would be the big villain. This is now pretty much confirmed for me and I think will become even clearer once we get the truth of his backstory. The more we see of him, the more we see a silly side – one that hides genuine care for people under a violent and fearsome facade. I think he’ll probably end up as an ally (even if he’s still morally ambiguous). Classic case of Luffy’s gut being right once again. I am particularly interested, though, in what this means about Loki’s proclamation that he’s the sun god who will destroy the world. Is it metaphor? Does he want to declare war on the WG? Is he still going to do some fucked up things? Unclear. But I still think divinity, myth and belief are key to Loki’s character and his juxtaposition with Luffy, and I’m interested to see exactly how.

I wrote about strength after chapter 1132, and I still think it’s going to be an important theme. What I’d like to add is that I think it will be specifically about strength in relation to pride, and warrior culture in general. Essentially, it will be about why people fight. Why people want to be strong, and why they take pride in it. The Strawhats fight for what they care about, especially people. This also includes things that carry the wills of people who have died, like the books of Ohara, or even the concept of people’s dreams. This arc will look at warrior culture, and the difference between a warrior society and an oppressive/hegemonic society which uses violence (fear and the threat of death) for extraction and control. Fundamentally, all these themes are about power in relation to collective freedom, and what it means to live a good life. There is rightful pride in being able to fight from a place of knowledge and connection, to fight for what you love and believe in (including people’s freedom) as opposed to the soulless genocide and extraction from those considered less deserving of life. 

I think the declaration of the warriors at the feast might also be a foreshadowing of exactly what the Strawhats will do in Elbaph. Understanding and protecting their ancestral pride as warriors, and helping them reconnect to it as a country. Freeing them from ignorance (revealing the truth of what really happened with Carmel, Harald, and Loki). And saving them from being destroyed (this one’s pretty self-explanatory, but I believe it will be to do with Yggdrasil).

Ok if you’re here for the full whammy, yay! SO MUCH HAPPENED IN TWO CHAPTERS. GAH. Let’s just get straight into it. 

So, in chapter 1134, we open with the strawhats meeting Saul outside the library. I don’t have much to say about this part thematically (same with the previous chapter) because I think it’s pretty straightforward. I’ll summarise: I loved it, Luffy poorly copying Jinbe was extremely funny, the reunion did actually make me cry, and I am forever crying over Robin just – being happy now. Being relaxed, content, smiling more, bonding with Bonney. My heart, my heart. 

We also see Lilith introduce herself to Saul as Vegapunk, and explain to him (and us, for the first time!) that she has brought a “perfect re-creation” clone of Vegapunk with her. She plans to settle down in Elbaph and build a new lab. Ok, cool. Honestly, I’m a little eh about a Stella comeback (because I think it’s more interesting for him to be embodied by just his satellites) but just because that’s the plan doesn’t mean it’ll go smoothly, or happen for sure. On the other hand, I’m genuinely pleased that there’s a potential to bring Kuma back, not that he was ever never actually dead. We’ve had so many hints that there’s hope for him. Plus, he’s one of the characters that truly just went through the worst of the worst over and over for the sake of liberation and his loved ones, holding onto faith throughout. I think he deserves to be a father and be happy, I don’t care if that’s cheesy. But again, no guarantee that will actually happen. 

Love and Light Only 

We then see the Walrus School where the children are educated and hear that it was founded 20 years ago by Saul, at the behest of the former king, Harald. Once again, huge huge kudos to the assistants because wow. I want to live there. What follows is Luffy’s encounter with some of said children, who turn out to be, well, absolute wimps. They don’t use ‘bad’ or potentially insulting words, and they’re not going to be setting out to sea to fight ruffians when they’re older. They’re learning in school, rather than being trained to be warriors. In fact, as their teacher Ripley tells us, being a warrior nowadays isn’t fashionable, because “insults, violence, pillaging, war” are just “not the world we live in anymore”. [Side note: the number of beautiful giant women Oda is giving us??? It's tough out here for a gay]. Absolutely nothing even close to violence or antagonism are allowed, not even petty insults, specifically by the children, which tells us this is very much the way they’re being raised and taught. It’s giving weird, cloying, toxic positivity. I was even going to say there is no war in Ba Sing Se, but I don’t think we’re dealing with brainwashing here – just insularity and idealism. 

We see this reinforced by the repeated mentions that Elbaph has very little connection to the outside world – they don’t pay attention to it, they don’t get news coos, they just mind their own business. Interestingly, we also know that any “intruders” immediately get captured (presumably to be vetted and potentially kept out if they risk disturbing the peace). I honestly can’t remember if the news coo thing has come up before in the context of non-WG countries, but I don’t think so? Anyways, that’s pretty bad. Like, if a country isn’t in the World Government (which, remember, requires paying literal tribute to the Celestial Dragons) they just don’t get information about what’s happening in the world? Wild stuff. In some ways maybe that’s protective, but in other ways, extremely dangerous. 

On the topic of language, we also immediately see ways in which these cultural rules are being broken. The way Ripley speaks is rougher, as she herself calls the kids brats and says she teaches by “negative example” (do as I say not as I do). So we’re seeing a clear generational rift in culture between what Ripley later says is the “last generation of warriors” (presumably she’s around the same age as Hajrudin, Loki, Rodo, Gerd etc) and the current children. When we meet Collun, we also immediately see that the way the other children treat him isn’t exactly kind. Despite strictly following rules around things like name-calling, they outright say they hate him. He replies in kind, but it’s not hypocritical of Collun in the way it is for the other children. He’s clearly the rough “wild child” who’s following the older warrior culture, whereas the ways in which the educational system is teaching ‘non-violence’ clearly doesn’t preclude them from excluding or being rude to a kid who’s different from them. In fact, they’re just following the rules and it’s ok to be mean to him because he’s always causing trouble and not following the rules, so he deserves it. They even basically imply why are you here. I think this kind of petty behaviour isn’t abnormal or horrendous for kids, but it does highlight to me that the kind of ‘peaceful’ culture Elbaph is aspiring to feels extremely one-dimensional, oversimplified, and somewhat superficial. Even the way Ripley talks about it feels so smoothed out and idealistic, which is strange coming from the mouth of someone who still looks and behaves like a warrior. What happened from one generation to the next?

Ripley goes on to say Harald’s policy was “don’t fight other countries – trade with them!” Sound familiar? Yeah. Those were exactly Mother Carmel’s ideas for the giants a hundred years ago, when she lived on Elbaph. This was following the dissolution of the Giant Warrior Pirates because Dorry and Brogy had started their century-long duel on Little Garden, when she appeared as a “wandering holy woman” and ‘saved’ some of their crew from execution by beseeching the marines for forgiveness and an end to violence. The giants understandably see her as a saviour and saint who performed a miracle. We only learn later that this was a stunt pulled in collaboration with the marines and the World Government, which allowed her to gain the trust of the giants and infiltrate Elbaph as a child trafficker.

Now, I’m not saying Harald was aware of Carmel’s true nature, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was inspired by/agreed with what she was saying, thus starting Elbaph’s current era of ‘peace’ with the Giant Warrior Pirates out of the way. Carmel was a perfect human link to the WG who could help Harald carry out his ideas, while her saviour position in the eyes of other giants helped him convince his people. This is important, because that means this peace was potentially built with a foundation of deceit tied to military strategy. Carmel wasn’t operating alone – she was specifically selling orphaned children to the WG to be marines, spies and agents. We see her talking to and dealing with CP0, who work directly under the Celestial Dragons and the Five Elders. Mother Carmel was a morally putrid money-hungry old hag, yes, but she was also an instrument of the WG. We also know that the WG has long been interested in harnessing and controlling the power of giants (from Carmel talking about getting giant children into the navy, like John Giant, to MADS’ and later Caesar’s gigantification experiments). In a world based on power inequality, oppression and authoritarian domination, the giants are military assets – if only they can be assimilated into the system. And who is easier to indoctrinate and control than children? 

To be clear, I think peace with a focus on education and knowledge is great! I would love for the world to be that way. And I definitely don’t think the “goal” of this arc should be to renounce those ideals or simply go back to being a completely war-based culture. Knowledge is extremely important in One Piece – that’s quite literally a central theme of the whole series. And of course, we are shown time and time again how horrific and devastating war is. However, history – why and how things come to be is crucial. Is something coming from people’s informed collective desires, or is it coming from the decision of one person/a few people? Is it something that benefits everyone? Is it growth from a place of understanding, or historical amnesia and bypassing material reality? The truth is that right now, the One Piece world isn’t past “violence, insults, pillaging, war”. It’s very much full of those things, specifically because it is rife with inequality. Elbaph so far has been sheltered from these problems, but what happens if the problems come to them? 

This is one of the central questions I believe Elbaph is going to grapple with. What is peace, and what is violence? How can true peace be created? Can violence truly be eradicated from the world? What different kinds of violence are there? 

I think the books from Ohara, the Owl Library and Yggdrasil are going to be of crucial importance to these questions. We know that Yggdrasil is extremely important to Elbaph, and we also know that accumulated collective knowledge and education – as represented by the books – are beyond precious. So, the giants have something to protect that isn’t just their own lives: they have a collective treasure. I wouldn’t be surprised if threats to these treasures are the catalyst for the giants’ reconnection to their warrior natures. Pillaging and engaging in violence just for the sake of it or for sadistic pleasure is unnecessary and cruel, but being a fighter and a warrior in order to protect what one cares about – one’s treasure – is important. All the warrior cultures we’ve seen so far in One Piece have shared this reason for their strength, from the Shandorans protecting their sacred ancestral lands and history, to Wano with Pluton, and the Minks with their poneglyph and Zunesha. 

Elbaph can be a peaceful nation that focuses on education and knowledge, and still be able to protect that knowledge if necessary through maintaining relationship to the core aspects of their warrior culture: honour, courage, strength, skill, freedom, etc. I think that’s also where pride can sit, in the space of being strong enough to do what’s needed to protect life, dreams, love, and what we care about. This is, after all, what we see time and time again in pirates like Luffy and the Strawhats – that fighting and strength are absolutely not everything, and look different for everyone, but are ultimately important to protecting what’s important to us. There is pride in embracing one’s dreams, taking action, resisting oppression and injustice, and having a strong relationship to life and death as warriors do. As an aside, I do think Usopp will be a key person who inspires this shift and re-invigorates the giants’ pride (big speech time!). 

Ideals and Idols

Two things jumped out at me in this section of the chapter. The first is that multiple people have referred to Harald as a “great king”, or something along the lines of ‘beloved by everyone’. Now, that’s not so strange. He could’ve just been a really caring or charismatic leader. But the emphasis makes me a little suspicious about what was going on behind the scenes, especially since we know what Mother Carmel was really doing, but the giants still don’t know the truth. They still see her as a holy figure and miracle worker who saved them and even cared about Linlin, a “god of disaster”. I think it’s no coincidence that the figures of Harald and Carmel have been set up as key figures of this hundred-year period who are idolised by the giants, and the illusion is going to crumble at some point. I believe the truth about Carmel being the epitome of ‘peace and love’ hypocrisy will come out, and so will whatever truth about Harald. Again, to be clear, I’m not saying I think Harald was evil or had bad intentions – it’s more likely that he was tricked and manipulated by Carmel and the WG because of his idealism. I think he probably wanted to make Elbaph part of the WG (in order to pursue his goals of peace and trade), he wanted Elbaph to open up to the world, and he wanted ‘peace’ in the sense of blanket non-violence. 

That last part we already saw expressed with terrifying clarity in a child Linlin, when she locked a bear and a wolf in a cage to stop them fighting because “fighting is bad”. I won’t get into analysing that metaphor right here (I think I’ll make a separate post) but it is so on the nose – forced peace and non-violence is itself violent and creates more violence, especially because it requires imposing your will on other beings and taking away their freedom. Peace for whom? And by whom? I believe the truth of Harald’s engagement with the WG, and either his collaboration with them or his mistakes in dealing with them will come to light, and I’m sure Loki’s reasons for killing him are related.

In this way, Harald opened Elbaph up to infiltration and engagement from the WG, who I’m sure were only waiting for an opportunity to gather intelligence and start undermining the giants’ power or bend it to their use. Like I said previously, I strongly believe that the Warland giants had ties to the Ancient Kingdom and the events of the Void Century. It would absolutely be in the WG’s interest to bring them over to their side and disconnect them from any remaining traces of that history. In fact, Mother Carmel’s House of Lambs also centered around the idea of ‘reforming’ children and helping them leave their ‘problematic’ past behind. This same idea of reform has been used to describe Elbaph itself. This treats history as something to bury and leave behind – something shameful, rather than something to acknowledge properly, learn and grow from. And of course if we know anything about One Piece at all, we know that forgetting or erasing history is literally one of the most central problems/mistakes/evils of the series. We see this further shown in the fact that Ripley is the one to bring up Nika to Luffy, and that she specifies she’s from the last generation of warriors tells us that the children might not even know about him. Why would they, if he’s a warrior god and they’re actively being taught to be anything but warriors? It gave me chills, no joke.

So the ‘peace’ in Elbaph feels especially uneasy right now, despite Ripley’s words. There are antagonists working for Garling/Imu on the island. There is what seems like a red herring of an antagonist (Loki). There is misdirection and mystery galore. So many illusions and false stories to be shattered. False idols to be toppled. Funnily enough, the one story we know is real right now is a literal living myth (Luffy’s Nika form), who is also just a guy. Ideals and idols need to be brought down to earth for real living people to connect with materially, instead of being held aloft and out of reach. What did the arc open with? Rodo pretending to be a god. We’ve also had another character claim to be a god in Loki, meanwhile we know Celestial Dragons (including the Holy Knights) pretty much believe themselves to be gods. Yeah, I’m reiterating my point that ideas of faith and divinity are going to be crucial in Elbaph. In fact, I will put it out here right now that we’re going to get more information about the Lunarians, who were also called gods (I have a whole theory about that). 

Updated Loki thoughts 

The last thing I wanted to talk about is some updated thoughts on Loki. Basically, he’s a tsundere?? Love to see it. It seems that at least part of the unhinged and violent temperament we’ve seen from him so far is a facade, since his long-term friend ‘Shaggy’ says “I’ve realized recently that those fearsome words of yours hide your kindness”. We see that Loki has a friend he’s never met or seen, but known for a long time through den den mushi conversations. He empathises with said friend’s recent traumatic experience, saying it hurts him to hear it, while overreacting when they call him kind. Typical bluster, which seems to compensate for what is a sense of compassion and understanding. Not a heartless villain, then. This of course consolidates the idea that he isn’t how he appears on the surface and how he was first introduced, and that Luffy’s instincts were right. This does make me feel much better about their ‘promise’, even if it will still probably end up causing chaos. On top of that, it reinforces my feeling that he reminds me of Law, and will probably end up as an ally to the Strawhats in some way. Maybe by the end of the arc he will even be restored as the king of Elbaph, potentially alongside Hajrudin. Speaking of which, I went back to the previous chapter where the Giant Warrior Pirates were talking about Loki and Hajrudin, and the description of Loki as “another official child” of Harald makes me think Hajrudin is probably his illegitimate half-brother. But we’ll see. 

All of this has me thinking about the other giants calling him the “shame of Elbaph”. Initially I thought this might be because his actions are considered dishonourable, and I still think that’s probably the case. But having had the developments about Elbaph’s cultural shift, I wonder if part of the dishonour is just doing any kind of violent acts in Elbaph at this point. Thinking about how the other children treated Collun, and talked about insults, is there a sense that anything ‘barbaric’ on the island is shameful? Have they maybe even been taught to be ashamed of their violent past as Warland? I wouldn’t be surprised. And if so, that makes me even more worried about how that happened and the consequences of such revisionism and reform. As I said earlier, it’s one thing to want to change and improve, to move forward collectively for everyone’s good. It’s another to completely reject the past and bury it. Shame can be an important part of reflection and acknowledgment, when deserved, but it can also prevent real growth. I worry that Harald and Carmel’s approach was just to give Elbaph a PR-style culture change that has left them with a flimsy and fragmented social structure. One that is particularly vulnerable to hegemonic influence and external danger. 

Speaking of which, my thoughts on the two strangers (I’m going to call them Holy Knights because I’m pretty sure they are) looking for Loki are that they are either here to kill him, or to influence/recruit him somehow. I’m sure they’ve had intel on the situation in Elbaph, including the fact that there is no king since Loki didn’t ascend to the throne. Given that it seems Harald wasn’t a threat to the WG, I assume they know that Loki is different somehow. We also know that the Holy Knights are essentially the military special forces unit of the Five Elders/Imu, so I don’t think they’re there for a tea party. Even if their mission involves diplomacy, I think violence and threats are probably part of the plan. Hence, persuading him of something (with force if necessary) or assassinating him. We saw Loki has a “special” bounty, probably because he killed his father and/or has a legendary devil fruit, so it makes more sense to me that the knights are there to take him out. Plus, from a narrative point of view, if Loki is a rebel compared to his father, and is likely to ally with the Strawhats, he’s probably a character that is going to be set in opposition to the World Government. 

I don’t have much to add to what everyone’s already saying about the Shanks lookalike Danks, other than I agree it’s not Shanks and is either a relative or a clone, especially with the way clones keep being brought up. They’re clearly very powerful if the bandage person is anything to go by (bandage-bandage fruit?? the way they used it to break the guy’s bones was something), and I’m hyped for more. I’ve been waiting to see the Holy Knights since we got the God Valley flashback. I’m so ready for new villains. I'm also pretty scared, since we're getting a feast at the beginning of an arc. That doesn't bode well for the ending to me...but let's enjoy the good vibes while they last.

Honestly it feels like these last two chapters just left us with more questions than answers, and knowing Oda, we might not get those answers for a while! But let’s see. The opening parts of an arc are always the most fun to me because of that.

Bonus favourite bits:

Saul asking why Vegapunk's a woman and Lilith being like "who gaf"

Robin being happy always

Chopper and Robin library time I cry

Ripley being excited to see Nika Luffy, and Luffy's response

BIG ANCIENT OWL!!!!!!!! I LOVE

Bonney, Chopper and Robin on giant books

Luffy's interaction with Collun - truly big brother

the way Stephen Paul translated the kids' speech (vylence, vishus)

the new outfits, very cute (especially love Jinbe's)

the Jarul gag????? unserious

[fwitolei]

Warrior's Honor Chapter 6: A Different Approach

Summary: Emelyn searches for the princes in the midst of growing unrest back at Katolis.

Word Count: 2.2k

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Carmell awoke with a start, a shutter of the open window snapping her out of her slumber. She sat up in her bed, staring at the other side of the room, wondering why she had a dark feeling in the pit of her stomach. Then again, that feeling was always there.

She looked out towards the open window frame repeatedly hitting the opposite wall. Carmell climbed out of bed and pulled the curtains aside, looking outside to see the early rays of sunlight rising above the castle. With a cleansing breath, she closed the window, changed into a clean set of work clothes, and tied her white-streaked ginger hair into a braid. Fiddling with the apron strings behind her back, she looked in the small mirror propped up against the wall before leaving the room.

That's when she noticed the scroll in the mirror's reflection, sitting on the nightstand.

When did that get there? Carmell turned around and gazed at the scroll quizzically. She crossed the room and took the parchment in her hand, her heart jumping at the sight of the red ribbon tying it shut. Emelyn? Carmell pulled the ribbon off the parchment and unfurled it:

Mom, You may have already heard about this, but I'm going to be away from the castle for a little bit. Gren disappeared last night, and a bunch of soldiers tried to arrest me for a crime I didn't commit. I don't know what happened to him, or where he is, but my gut is telling me Viren is behind this. He doesn't want us to find the princes, which is exactly what I'm going to do. Please lay low and don't draw attention to yourself. The last thing I need is for you to get caught up in this, too. Please stay safe. I love you. —Emelyn

Carmell stared at the letter for a moment, reading it twice, three times. Her lungs clenched in her chest, her heart pounding in her ears. Emelyn, arrested? What does she mean, Gren disappeared?!

Her face turned as red as her hair as her eyes darted toward a particular name within the letter: Viren. She inhaled sharply, the letter crumbling in her hand as she wrenched the door open and stormed down the hall.

"This is the last straw," Carmell muttered angrily, making her way to the Throne Room.

"Alright," Emelyn sighed, slapping her map on the ground and unrolling it with a sense of exhaustion. She had been traveling throughout the night, but now that the sun had risen, she decided to start plotting her course to find the princes. Millie waddled over and bowed, examining the labels on the map. Emelyn's horse stood at the edge of the clearing, grazing.

"You wanna help, Mills?" Emelyn asked. Millie looked up, then bobbed her head in agreement. Emelyn giggled despite herself. Her body longed for sleep, but she knew it wasn't that easy. Between the drama with the royal family and her (almost) arrest, the Crownguard was still on the lookout for any threats.

"Okay. The most obvious place to start would be the Banther Lodge, but since it's already been a whole day since the elf and princes escaped General Amaya..." Emelyn hummed in thought, wiggling a charcoal pencil between her fingers. She pulled a straightedge from her satchel, plotted a line from her current point to the Banther Lodge, and then wrote some calculations on a separate sheet of parchment. 

"I'll get there by tomorrow morning; by then, there won't be anything to find."

Emelyn combed her fingers through her bangs, sitting back and looking at the entire map. The map had the human kingdoms on the left and a complete illustration of Xadia on the right. There were diagrams of mountains, rivers, and pictures of elven and human settlements alike. If Emelyn really wanted to, she could make her way into Xadia and track down the elves' homes.

Provided she could survive an entire nation of elves and dragons wanting her dead.

Emelyn's thoughts drifted to her beloved cousin, Gren, who had given her the map in the first place. She looked at Millie to see the Golden Eagle staring sadly at the ground.

"You wondering what happened to him, too, huh?" Emelyn asked. Millie flapped her wings and bobbed her head. Just then, Emelyn noticed something on the map that caught her attention. "Wait a minute..." Emelyn mumbled, leaning toward the map. She stared at the dot labeled 'Banther Lodge' and noticed a small blue line snaked next to it, flowing toward the mountains to the east. It was the river Gren had mentioned when they were preparing to leave Katolis to look for the princes.

"When we found out that the princes were being held hostage by a Moonshadow elf," Gren explained hours before his disappearance. "They took a boat and floated down the river near the Banther Lodge. We should start there, see what we can find."

Emelyn's eyes widened with excitement. "The river!" she exclaimed, scaring Millie. The bird hovered above the ground with an irritated squawk, then flew over to the other side of the map. Emelyn jabbed the river on the map with her index finger and said avidly, "What if we followed the river?!"

The Crownguard didn't expect nor wait for an answer from her feathered friend. With her new plan in mind, Emelyn rolled up the map and tied a ribbon around it, jumping with glee. "That's our path!" she cried, placing the map and tools in the satchel attached to her horse. Millie flew around and landed on the stallion's perch as Emelyn climbed onto the saddle. 

"Banther Lodge, here we come," Emelyn declared, flicking the reins and sending her horse into a full gallop.

Carmell stormed down the halls to the Throne Room, fuming. She looked down at the letter for the fourth time, its contents fresh in her mind. 

"I am not putting up with this anymore," Carmell muttered, her fist tightening around her daughter's letter as she turned the corner to the Throne Room. As she approached the door, she looked to see a familiar figure walking briskly toward her from the opposite entrance, stopping with surprise upon seeing the castle servant.

"Carmell?!" Opeli questioned. 

"H-High Cleric?" Carmell said as Opeli hurried toward her.

"What are you doing here?" Opeli hissed, ushering Carmell away from the Throne Room.

"I need to talk to High Mage Viren," Carmell declared, pulling away from Opeli and facing her. "Where is he?" 

"That's not exactly the best idea," Opeli said cautiously, waving her hands to calm Carmell down. "He's not in the best spirits, and--- Why?"

"You haven't heard?" Carmell seethed, raising the letter in her hand. "My daughter was almost arrested for a crime she didn't commit. If he thinks I'm going to let this slide, he is poorly mistaken."

Opeli stared at Carmell in absolute shock. " What?! " she breathed, prompting Carmell to hand the High Cleric the letter. Opeli smoothed the parchment and read its contents, her brows furrowing as her eyes darted across the page. Opeli opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find the right words. "I... wasn't aware of this."

"Now you understand why I need to see the High Mage," Carmell snarled. "I know he's behind this, and I am not going to let him take my daughter and nephew away from me."

Opeli gazed at the servant momentarily, a twinge of guilt rising in her chest. She should've known better than assuming everything would be alright when General Amaya appointed Gren and Emelyn to find the princes. She didn't know Gren well, but Opeli knew Emelyn's intentions were good, and the possibility of Viren preventing the princes from being found made her blood boil.

"...Do you mind if I keep this for a bit?" Opeli asked, raising Emelyn's letter in her hand. "Emelyn seemed pretty adamant about you staying quiet about this, but I can advocate on your behalf. Everyone in the High Council, not just Viren, is pretty tense about the whole ordeal, and tipping the scale the wrong way could be dangerous for all of us, including the princes."

Carmell stared at the High Cleric for a moment, weighing the odds. Finally, she sighed. "I don't remember teaching Emelyn to pick fights she can't win, but if you can get her out of this," Carmell looked at Opeli with her eyes full of hope. "Then I'll let it go. For now."

"I promise, I will prove her innocence," Opeli said, nodding with gratitude. She started down the hall again, Carmell falling into stride beside her. "In the meantime, try and cool off. I'll summon you as soon as I find something."

Carmell smiled. "Sounds like a plan."

Emelyn galloped into the front yard of Banther Lodge, her heart racing with excitement. Jumping off her horse, she surveyed the scene for any danger. Seeing none, she raised her arm. Millie flew off the saddle and landed on Emelyn's forearm, scratching her claws against the armor.

"I'm no expert tracker," Emelyn muttered, looking at Millie. "But maybe you can find something."

As Millie took to the sky, Emelyn led her horse into the yard, looking around for signs of a scuffle. She could see some faint marks, but they weren't enough to tell Emelyn what had happened the day before. Her eyes darted across the yard before landing on a particular tree with an arrow stuck in the trunk. However, it wasn't the arrow that caught Emelyn's eye, but the white lock of what looked like hair hanging from it.

"What the...?" Emelyn muttered, approaching the tree and reaching out to feel the hair. It was thin but course, a braid that seemed to have been cut by the arrow. "Perhaps elven hair," Emelyn concluded, leaving the braid pinned against the arrow before hearing Millie's call. She turned to see the bird circling in the distance and hurried toward her horse to see what it was.

Speeding toward the spot Millie was flying above, she saw streaming water and smiled. She raced her horse toward the river and vaulted off, kneeling at the shore. Millie dove out of the sky and landed on Emelyn's shoulder.

"Good work, Millie," Emelyn praised. She put her hand in the water. "Gren said the princes floated down the river, but which way does the river flow?" After a moment, she snapped, raising her arm and pointing to the right. Millie stumbled off the Crownguard's shoulder plate, flapping her arms to catch herself before she hit the ground.

"That way," Emelyn said. She stood and gazed down the river where the water met the horizon. "That's where we need to go. C'mon, Millie, let's get--"

Emelyn turned toward her steed to see the horse drinking water from the river, completely ignoring her.

"...Let's get some water. Sure. We'll take a break," Emelyn improvised, shaking her head in disbelief. She sighed and brushed her bangs aside, reaching into her belt pouch and pulling out some birdseed. She sat under a tree and held Millie in her hand, holding out the birdseed for her to nibble at.

"Make it quick, Millie," Emelyn warned. "The longer we sit here, the farther away the princes get."

Viren burst into the Throne Room, his staff and boots clunking against the stone floor. Iris rushed after him, her hair bobbing in front of her face as she chattered on.

"…She escaped, sure, but she won't be gone for long. I sent out every soldier available to hunt her down, so it's only a matter of time before—"

" Do you understand what this could cost me?! " Viren shouted, slamming his staff on the floor. "You had one job, Iridaceae, and that was to arrest Crownguard Emelyn. I gave you an entire squadron, and yet you still managed to screw it all up!"

A bead of sweat dripped down her face as Iris tried to find the right words. "I— I've gotten reports that Emelyn isn't in the capital. If we expand to the outskirts, I know we'll find her."

Viren sighed, rubbing his eyes. "No. Sending the army to look for her could cause a panic across the kingdom, and after Harrow's death, that's not something we have the time or the energy to deal with."

The High Mage turned away from Iris, approaching the nearest window. The sun was just starting to set, casting long shadows across the courtyard below. The remaining soldiers could be seen arguing amongst themselves. Viren couldn't believe it. There were at least thirty soldiers in the courtyard the night Iris was ordered to arrest Emelyn. So how did that red-headed brat get away?

"Pull the soldiers from the capital; tell them to resume standard protocol," Viren said. Iris's eyes widened in confusion.

"S-Sir?"

"You heard me," Viren said, tilting his head to the right. "Emelyn can't hide forever. Eventually, she'll come to us. You're dismissed."

Iris didn't move. They were to just… forget about finding Emelyn? What about the whole 'Emelyn is a liability' and 'Emelyn must be contained' speech she was given but a few hours ago? Or did Viren have an ulterior plan that she hadn't been brought into yet?

"Sir," Iris started. "What are we supposed to do… if Emelyn comes back?"

"Oh," Viren answered without hesitation, turning to face Iris. "Shoot her on sight."

[op-smash-or-pass]

OP smash or pass

[misqnon]

ch 866

ohh...this is SO fucked up...

ngl..i dont QUITE understand what happened here. she turned the fire into a "sun god"? (it looks like the little weather guys big mom has) but what did it do?? linlin was stopped by the semla right??

😦 bro...NO WAY SHE ATE THEM BY ACCIDENT....BRO?

[grainjew]

Nikaposting Pt 1: Crypto-Religion

This is the first of a series of posts about Nika & associated religious practice in the One Piece world. As I write and post the rest of the series, I’ll add links to this header.

Pt 2: Symbology & Syncretism | Pt 3: Joyboy was Shandian | Pt 4: Sun God Tropes

Enormous credit to @oriigami for being my discussion partner through all of this and having a substantial influence on the final product. Check out our ao3 series Joyful for a narrative rather than analytical take on the Nika tradition, and definitely go read her OP blog @kaizokuou-ni-naru for meta and translation fun facts.

-

The Nika Cult is a Crypto-Religion

Terminology note: I will be using cult in these posts in the sense of “cult of worship,” rather than in the modern pejorative sense. Additionally, I tend to use “tradition” rather than “religion” as a general term, because “religion” is a messy and difficult to define concept, while “tradition” is much more inclusive of traditional practices, folk beliefs, and cults of worship that may not be considered religions by Western scholarship.

Raise your hand if you saw Kuma’s church and Bible, concluded “oh, the Nika stuff is basically One Piece Christianity,” and moved on with your life.

It’s an easy assumption to make, and for all I know authorial intent may well stop there. I’m not Oda. I’ll never be able to guess what goes on behind those fish eyes of his. But a second look at the worldbuilding around both Nika and Christianity in One Piece brought me to a very different conclusion: that the Nika cult is a crypto-religion and is, in Kuma’s case, using the outward appearance of Christianity as camouflage.

First of all: We have ample evidence that Christianity (or some variation of it- I’m fascinated by the implied existence of such things as One Piece Jerusalem and the One Piece Council of Nicea) does exist in the One Piece world, and is both fairly widespread and quite legal. Flevance was pretty explicitly Catholic (Law went to church as a kid), Miss Monday and Mother Carmel masqueraded as nuns to imply harmlessness, many if not most of the graves shown in the series are crosses, whatever Usopp was on about with that exorcism equipment, and, yes, Kuma’s church and Bible.

Even mentioning the Nika cult, on the other hand, is grounds for the government to assassinate you with extreme prejudice.

A crypto-religion is what happens when a religion is suppressed to the point that its practice is grounds for exile, torture, and/or execution: Some people will convert. Some people will flee into exile. Some people will die. And some people will outwardly adopt the dominant religion, but will continue to practice their own traditions in secret; ie, they’ll create a crypto-religion.

One of the more famous examples of this is the post-Spanish Inquisition crypto-Jews of Spain and Portugal, who converted to Christianity in public but kept what Jewish traditions and rituals they could in private. To this day, descendants of these conversos whose families have been Catholic for centuries are discovering that their family tradition of lighting two candles on Friday or not eating pork on Saturday are in fact the legacy of a violently suppressed heritage. There are countless other examples of crypto-religions throughout history, both among Jews (my own personal field of knowledge) and among other traditions (for an example that would be known to Oda, the crypto-Christians of Japan).

There’s no way the Nika cult could have survived except in cryptic form. If it ever had physical infrastructure in the form of temples or pilgrimage sites, the government would have sought them out and demolished them long ago if they were not adequately disguised, especially in World Government member states like the Sorbet Kingdom. Likewise, anyone foolish enough to speak publicly about Nika will be summarily assassinated.

In fact, I have doubts that the Nika cult ever existed outside cryptic form, at least in a significant or long-lasting manner. It was specifically introduced as a slave tradition, likely nigh-exclusively oral, practiced in secret either from its inception—if Nika was a figure created by slaves, including the buccaneers—or for a very long time—if it was the cultural or ethnic tradition of the buccaneers, which spread from enslaved buccaneers to non-buccaneer slaves because Nika was a figure that resonated with them. I tend the favor the second option, but either has merit.

As @oriigami said when we were talking about this, Kuma has a church. Kuma has a bible. Kuma worships a god about whom absolutely nothing is written except in the oldest texts.

Additionally, I’ll expand on this more in pt 2 of this series, but the pendant Kuma leaves for Bonney, a large circular sapphire surrounded by eight smaller circular sapphires, matches the circular symbol inset into the crosses of his church. Bonney immediately identifies the pendant as a sun even though it really doesn’t look like one, and it can be surmised therefore that it’s a Nika amulet, and the sun with disconnected rays a Nika symbol. Following this read, and especially because this symbol occurs across the world in other contexts (see pt 2 for my thoughts on that), its presence in the church is a very careful bit of architectural sleight of hand on the part of whichever of Kuma’s ancestors built the place- echoing a very common practice of real-world crypto-religion adherents to mark the true nature of their allegiances and houses of worship in ways only those in the know might recognize.

And on a storytelling level, Kuma’s entire presence in the narrative and in the world has been a tragic saga of appearing to be one way until he’s revealed, again and again, to be the opposite. It makes thematic sense for him to be fooling the world about his faith as well!

[catastrxblues]

articles and news on what’s happening in west papua are so appallingly scarce that i could rarely find any except a few before this. as an indonesian, i didn’t even know any of this is happening in the first place until a few months ago because rarely any of the big news outlets have ever brought it up, much less in a scale that is necessary to gain the world’s attention. SO PLEASE CHECK THIS OUT, one article at a time if it seems too much (which is what i'm currently doing too).

i think it’s important to note that while indonesia has been loudly advocating for palestine’s freedom, it has also been committing silent acts of violence against the people of west papua and exploiting them for years and silence those AND others who have tried to bring it to light.

things included in the thread ->

ARTICLES :

freewestpapua.org *the link isn't working at the moment but op has included screenshots in the tweet!

west papua : a history of exploitation (al jazeera)

courtesy of amnesty international

OTHERS :

amnesty international - "sudah, kasi tinggal dia mati" pembunuhan dan impunitas di papua (in bahasa)

BOOKS TO READ :

'the road : uprising in west papua' by john martinkus

'an act of free choice : decolonisation and the right to self-determination in west papua' by pieter drooglever

'merdeka and the morning star : civil resistance in west papua' by jason macleod

’see no evil : new zealand’s betrayal of the people of west papua’ by maire leadbeater

‘freedom in entangled worlds’ by eben kirksey

‘poisoned arrows’ by george monbiot

‘papua blood’ by peter bang

’west papua and indonesia since suharto’ by peter king

pdf available :

’the united nations and the indonesian takeover of west papua’ by john saltford

’west papua : the obliteration of a people’ by carmel budiardjo and liem soei liong

FILMS TO WATCH :

rebels of the forgotten world (1991)

blood on the cross (1999)

freedom for west papua (1999)

papua merdeka (2002)

west papua — the secret war in asia (2007)

forgotten bird of paradise (2009)

strange birds in paradise — a west papuan story (2010)

west papua — a journey to freedom (2011)

mama malind su hilang (our land has gone)

benny wenda — oslo freedom forum (2012)

isolated (2013)

courage is contagious — TEDx sydney (2013)

the road to home (2015)

punks for west papua (2016)

run it straight (2016)

act of no choice (2019)

paradise bombed (2023)

investigative tv reports :

inside indonesia’s secret war for west papua — ABC news (2020)

selling out west papua — al jazeera (2020)

INFOGRAPHICS :

amnesty international

brief history

2017

2018

[kxizoku-ou]

Linlin is one of my favorites! I think the fandom tends to dislike her a lot and I really don’t get it, her character is super interesting.

I would absolutely love to know more of your thoughts on her, if you would like to share them.

Soooo this ended up as a generaized rant on my interpretation of Linlin's character... I hope that's close enough to what you wanted? XD I have a LOT of thoughts about Linlin— she's an incredible character and an exceptional villain (and one of my fav OP characters overall), so a post like this could have gotten very long...

Linlin is an excellent example of someone who could have been a perfectly decent person, but was failed by her environment every step of the way. She's an eternal child who doesn't understand concepts like Everything Can't Always Be Her Way and Other People Have Feelings Too.

Starting with the initial parental abandonment (because her birth parents felt that they couldn't handle her), then her time with Carmel (who also focused more on pacifying Linlin than teaching her right from wrong), and then ending up with the worst influence of all, Streussen (who saw Linlin as an entertaining piece of chaos to enable), her early life was spent under the care of people who saw her as a danger/hassle at best, and a tool of violence to be honed at worst. Initially, Linlin wasn't selfish or cruel, but when she learned that those behaviors were acceptable, if not outright encouraged by the adults in her life, she stuck to them.

As seen during her period of amnesia in Wano, and especially in her interactions with Tama, Linlin, deep down, still has the capacity for kindness. Lacking the memories of her time as a pirate, she defaults to a naive hopefulness, accepting everyone she meets as a potential friend. Even when her intentions are pure, however, her sheer size, strength, and lack of self-control make her a threat for other people to be around— the exact circumstances that led to her current self.

I think that a lot of the nuance in Linlin's character is that she's both a legitimately hatable, terrifying villain, and a pitiable person who could have ended up so much different than she did if someone other than Carmel or Struessen had stepped in. She's a powerful, capable pirate who expects perfect obedience from everyone around her, and yet, she's also still that abandoned little girl wondering when her parents would come back for her. Her perception of family, relationships, and happiness is totally warped, but she's ultimately still aiming for the same thing she wanted sixty years ago.

[l-in-the-light]

How do the Heart Pirates celebrate Christmas and the time around (if there's sth in the OP universe 😁)? 🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻

I'm slightly late, but Merry Christmas! 🎄🎁🌟 Are you perhaps the same anon who asked about Law's birthday celebration? Even if not, I just wanted to mention it because both asks warmed my heart ❤

I will tackle your question in two, or actually, three ways. First, I will use my knowledge in the field of anthropology to try to break down Christmas-like traditions in the world of One Piece. Secondly, I will try to relate real-world customs to Flevance, basing it on (rather obscure) hints in the manga. You would be surprised what can be guessed about their culture just from a few facts we got. And lastly, I will try to sprinkle some ideas about how Hearts would choose to spend their Christmas ;) I hope you will enjoy the read!

Christmas in One Piece (seems it's actually Winter Solstice)

We don't get much information on that, not directly at least. Would they celebrate Christmas as the rebirth of the sun? That's the origin of old traditions (like Yule/Winter Solstice and Saturnalia); celebration of light and changing of seasons. It marks the end of the darkest days of winter, because days start to be longer so you see more sun around. Some folk traditions survived till today (like straw goats in the North or festivals of fire) or chosen elements got incorporated into Christian customs: wreaths, carolling, misletoe and gift-giving, among others. You could say in our world Christianity tried to get rid of "pagan cultures", but when it realized it can't unroot them, they started to incorporate religious imagery into their traditions. This way they didn't erase Winter Solstice, they instead stole it as their own custom, heh. Which is part of the reason why Christianity spread around the world so effectively. But this process wasn't peaceful everywhere.

But how does it relate to One Piece? I remember they mentioned a Winter Solstice in Elbaf: they eat semla, then are fasting till "sun gets reborn" (our advent used to be about fasting as well, btw. Nowadays that tradition died out). Winter Solstice is often tied to the Norse beliefs. There was also this legend about the two kings: Oak King (also sometimes called the Sun King) and Holly King, always fighting each other so one of them can rule the next season. Perhaps Giants, besides Semla, also cultivated the old Yule log tradition? I admit that would really fit right in. But I don't think every island in OP world has same traditions, because they're all so isolated from each other. So just because Giants have Winter Solstice doesn't mean it's celebrated everywhere and even if it's a widespread custom, it's likely it's not done in exactly same way.

Why are beliefs about sun god present among various people of the world (Shandorians, Giants from Elbaf, Bucaneers)? Is it the same like in our world, that in many cultures there's a concept of some kind of sun deity and sometimes it's even the most important one? We have traditions of various sun dances in native beliefs of North America (and a sun dance in one tribe can be drastically different from others, but a ritual called this way exists among most of Great Plains tribes). Ancient Mayan and Aztec beliefs also had their own sun deities, and even the most isolated tribes in Amazon Rainforest also had some. Egyptians and Japanese have their own sun deities etc.

We have no idea why everyone worshipped the sun, even though we can guess as to why they found sun important in general. And I think that mystery will probably stay unsolved in OP universe as well. We might find out that the origin of Nika comes from one, specific culture (be it Elbaf or something more ancient - my guess is on the latter), or we might find out there were always multiple sun deities beliefs in the world and the source of it's origin can only be speculated. But we still should keep one fact in mind: we saw Government use Mother Carmel before to spread religion around, which could be the analogy to Christianity swallowing up native customs, like it happened in our world as well. That could suggest the sun god church is a religion spread by the Government and would explain why they really wanted that Nika devil fruit so badly (but that would mean they want their own, acceptable version of a sun god, not Nika - that name is apparently forbidden). But at this point, it's just a speculation.

But back to the main topic: Law and Hearts are mostly from North Blue, so they might share similar traditions, not counting some of the crewmates they likely recruited on the Grand Line. I suspect traditions are somewhat similar in their respective Blues, but might wary drastically between, let's say, South Blue and West Blue, thanks to the impenetrable wall seperating them for centuries. North Blue seems to be based on wintery regions of our world, so their customs might be reminiscent of those as well (for example, focus on illuminations, lights and candles/lanterns).

Situation gets more tricky with the rest of the Blues actually, we know very little about South and West Blue. South has some regions looking rather exotic (Torino Kingdom or Baterilla) and some appear to be very dangerous places, suffering from high criminal and poverty rates, like the home country of Kid Pirates. We have also region clearly inspired by Russia and Brazil there. There's a lot of disproportions, but the mash-up of different cultures suggest that each of them probably has their own, unique traditions. In comparison, West Blue is home to many rich-looking kingdoms, as well as having some world-wide recognized heritage like Scholars of Ohara, Kano (with it's long standing traditions like China), mysterious european-looking Thriller Bark before it became an actual Thriller Bark, there's also a country based on Hollywood. It's not much to go by, but Christmas in rich countries tends to be more consumption-focused and multicultural (doesn't mean it erases the differences between cultures, but it makes them become less distinct). Even Bege, who comes from West Blue, is based on Italian mafioso who has taste in expensive things (I'm basing it solely on his clothes and hat choices, but also him being big on keeping appearances and high hygiene standards, lol).

We saw plenty of East Blue, and I would say they're the poorest, but also homogenous and peaceful region of the world (people living in small villages like Foosha or Coco Village, depending on harvest from groves or getting most income from "travellers" - mostly pirates and bandits - since Foosha is a really small place but has an actual bar and it's probably because it's also a port town. And port towns are usually richer than inland cities thanks to trade etc.), close local communities in small towns (Orange Town), and the only truly flourishing place is Shell's Town, because it has a Marine base, and Goa Kingdom (wouldn't really call it flourishing, more like parasiting). Most of their traditions would be probably centered around village life and agriculture. Seems it's also never snowing there, so Christmas celebrations are probably absent, but there are most likely feasts shared together as a community instead.

Heart Pirates would try a lot of different, traditional food and customs from all around the world while travelling the Grand Line, and that sea is for sure even more unique when it comes to cultures (it has Egypt and Spain and old Japan!). Maybe some countries don't really celebrate Christmas and instead focus on New Year (like in Japan, all they do for Christmas is eating christmas shortcakes, look at illuminations and go on dates. yes, dates. Often they also eat chicken from KFC, because it became trendy there in Christmas season. Of course, Christmas is an imported holiday there, they didn't have anything like that before). Maybe on some islands they have unique traditions akin to the Diwali, the Festival of Lights? Or perhaps they do Christmas picnics or barbeque outside (Franky would love the latter!) in summer-like weather, like in South Africa, accompanied by some mango and palm trees decorated with ornaments; after all each island has it's own distinct climate! It's also possible there are many different dates for Christmas on Grand Line, spanning the length of two months - which means a Christmas-focused tour would be possible, to experience all sorts of different traditions and food one after another :D

Does Santa Claus exist in One Piece world? (canonically - not yet!)

Santa is probably not widespread belief in One Piece world, judging from the Drum Island arc.

There's no guy with long beard dressed in red and white, riding sleigh, going down the chimneys and giving people presents; just some rumours of a doctor travelling with a pet reindeer curing people of illnesses and taking their money for it. If Santa Claus was a thing, it would be mentioned in this scene or in the arc, but it wasn't, not even once. Instead of being called a fake Santa abomination, Kureha earned herself a witch nickname. For me that's a proof Santa Claus never existed, not even as just a random story from some winter country.

But not all hope is lost yet! Now, that I think about it, Wapol made a fortune by making specifically toys for kids. Doesn't that ring any bells? And he comes from Drum Kingdom originally! If he ever gets back to his country and starts giving those toys for free, that would be the One Piece's own Santa's origin story, haha. All the pieces are fitting lol. And we would still get Kureha with the sleigh distributing the gifts! Like I know, Wapol is a terrible person and a coward, but he's also going through second biggest crisis in his life currently. If he ever gets brave enough to reveal the truth to the world about Imu, his hair might go white as the result of all the accumulated stress and anxiety, lol. Wapol becoming the future Santa Claus is not something I expected to foresee for the end of One Piece, but it sure is a delight to imagine, haha.

Short answer: YES, he would be grumpy, but he wouldn't try to destroy the fun for others!

Hearts Pirates celebrating Christmas-like traditions on their voyage around the Grand Line

I mentioned before that Law doesn't seem the type who celebrates his birthday, and considering his reasons for it I think it would be likely that he would avoid Christmas-like celebrations as well. They might remind him of his home and the family he lost, because those are family-centered holidays. But let's face it: even if he's the captain he wouldn't be able to ban his own crew from celebrating Christmas. But whenever Hearts do a celebration on the Polar Tang, Law will probably try to vanish quickly, to his cabin or to the deck (I assume they wouldn't celebrate while submerged, because then part of the crew would have to work on maintaining the submarine instead of celebrating, you know).

One of the possible compromises Law might agree to would be celebrating unique traditions on different islands, which means they stay somewhere on land to celebrate. This way his crew gets to enjoy stuff, Law is less grumpy, and they also experience some adventures. So, instead of doing the same thing every single year, they would make it a point to try out a different tradition each year! (a dream come true tbh) After they decide which island they visit, they start preparations, asking for local traditions, creating ornaments or baking cakes together to contribute. I mean, it's Law's crew, they're a bunch of planners, right? I bet he taught them well.

On the day of celebration they all go to the land and have fun together, dressing up Christmas trees (if the place has that tradition), taking part in the feast, participating in eating contests, getting souvenirs like a true tourists from Christmas markets etc. I bet you at least once they ran into Strawhats and maybe also Kid Pirates (or heck, half of the worst gen, because why not, lol). That ends in some idiotic competitions. For example, our traditional Christmas soup is borscht with dumplings, so they could be taking part in "who eats the most bowls of borscht wins". You would think it would become a close battle between Kid and Luffy, but surprisingly enough Law would stay in the run, probably thanks to cheating on the side (shambling his portions of borscht away as he pretends to gulp down bowls in one go, lol). Because he can be a brat as well and would use his skills to his advantage :D they would have to really blackmail him hard into agreeing to even take part in this contest in the first place though.

They would for sure convince him into secret santa gift exchange and he would dread it, because he has to get something for someone like Usopp or Urouge, and he doesn't know much about them. Thankfully he can get advice from Penguin and Shachi who became best buddies with Usopp in Wano and they end up choosing something together. Law himself receives a figurine made out of straw that oddly reminds him of someone and he is convinced Kid gave him that, to mock him about his hidden adoration of a certain pirate-king-to-be (the gift was actually from Killer, lol).

At the end of the day the Strawhats would make a family-style feast on the Sunny and invite everyone, and then in the middle of the night Luffy and Usopp would try to catch Santa putting gifts under the Christmas tree, but they end up falling asleep while waiting. After witnessing that, Law, who rarely gets a good night of sleep, would have mercy on them and ask Jean Bart to dress up as Santa Claus and leave some presents under the tree. Zoro caught him and teased him about it, thankfully Law had some alcohol he could bribe him with to keep it a secret. He decided to ask Jean Bart to do the same for the Heart Pirates, who are in tears the next morning as they shout excited to each other that there are mysterious presents under the tree. Some guess Law was behind it though, but some never find out (Bepo, for example, lol, who ends up believing in Santa ever since).

Mining customs of Flevance and celebration of the sun; advent was likely a big thing

Ever wondered how Flevance would celebrate Christmas? I sure did. Considering that Flevance had a church and the only religion we know of in OP is centered on the sun god, I would assume Christmas was slightly more Christian, with kids carolling, visiting the church at midnight to give thanks to the sun god, having a feast with families at home, traditionally without meat. They would have Christmas markets though, because German vibes. But since Flevance is also a mining country, I would assume mining traditions were important there. For example, miners parades (it used to happen as the grand finale at the Christmas markets, miners played some musical instruments as they walked around the town square, maybe even marching all the way from or to the mines). We saw that parades are part of celebrations in Flevance (and Law mentioned as a child that celebrations are common in his town in general), so this seems canon-accurate (and also close to our real world mining customs which often include parades of miners playing musical instruments!).

That figure of a winged lady on a fountain is probably a Patron of Miners, that's why she appears to be holding a torch of some kind. In our world that could be the Saint Barbara or some Lady of Flevance (as a possible analogy to Our Lady of Lebanon, because church is also important in Flevance). Or you know, a Sun Goddess, if sun god has a different image depending on the country you visit. Why would a Sun God be a patron of miners? Because miners worked deep beneath the ground and as the result really yearned for sun, especially in winter months, when both days and nights were dark. That's how the famous light illuminations traditions got born, so they can lead husbands to their homes after their work shift is done in the mines. Those illuminations back in the days were candles or lanterns. That's why Lady of Flevance holding a torch makes a lot of sense (and yes, I'm gonna call her that for now, I kinda like the ring of it, haha).

In the backstory on Flevance it's revealed that people there were really good in craftswork, and mining towns often have ties to that field as well, so It's possible Flevance also had things like this:

In some mining towns they often put a figurine of a miner and an angel as candle-holders. They put them on windowpanes, so the light of the candles illuminates the darkness on long winter days. Some traditions mention that the angel figurine was for the wife, while they could be multiple miner figurines, each symbolizing one kid in the family (which means Trafalgars would get two). Some other sources mentioned an angel was for the girl child and miner for the boy child in the family. Other possible popular figurines and motives could be old guys smoking a pipe and nutcrackers. And of course the Angel Lady Patron.

Or instead of that, they could place some decorative wooden arches in the windows, depicting wintery landscapes, everyday life or mining scenes, with candles displayed, like this: Schwibbögen.

The wooden decorations would be, of course, white, because forests in Flevance were also white, even the fir trees! Ignore that they're not white in the colored version of the manga, haha. Or perhaps the candle-holders would take the form of Christmas pyramids, considering how Law's nationality would be German? (those pyramids also originated from mining traditions btw) :D

I bet you anything though, that whatever they would display in their windows in Flevance, it would be made out of amber lead, so ouchie. Beautiful, pristine white and deadly :/ Flevance was known for skilled craftsmen so I'm sure their decorations were very beautiful and full of exquisite details.

In my country mining traditions were centered around the 4th of December, it was called Saint Barbara Day or Miner's Day, and focused mainly on appreciating the patron. Saint Barbara was the most popular/universal mining patron, but there were some special, field-specialized patrons as well (Saint Kinga for salt mines in particular). There were some minor customs accompanying it, like fortune-telling: picking up special branches (of cherry tree or forsythia) that indicated different wishes for the future (good fortune in coming year, easy marriage etc.). There was also a special gingerbread bread baked for this occassion (yes, bread made out of gingerbread :D this is most likely an even older tradition originally). In Flevance they could bake some traditional white pastry instead, maybe meringue which is often powdery and white, so it would fit really nicely with the fairytale wonderland image of Flevance. On the day of the patron they also held a ceremony for new miners joining who had to go through a special rite of passage, which included jumping over a piece of leather or a special miner apron. They also drank a lot, mostly beer, but I'm sure mulled wine was a popular drink in mining towns too.

Flevance probably also celebrated Candlemas - 40 days after Christmas they officially took down Christmas decorations, also in the town squares. Before Christmas they also celebrated last shift - basically finishing up work earlier and celebrating, singing and eating together. Mining celebrations used to be cheerful, included lots of singing/playing music and drinking, and also light illuminations and parades in towns. Since Flevance became a rich country, I would expect some Christmas markets emerging as well as the result. Let's not forget that Flevance was also religious, and that also checks out for mining towns. Miners would usually start their day by giving prayer to a Mining Patron figure (in this case the winged Lady of Flevance) or attending the mass before work, on special occassions performed even inside the mines.

Special torches/poled lanterns used for special occassions.

Mining was a hard job, exposing people to dangers like cave-ins and extreme temperatures, risks like standing close to explosions (and their possible miscalculated consequences), toxic air from excavation, and some long-term health effects. People working constantly underground, aware that if something happens they might never get out unless a miracle happens, often turned to religion. They prayed for safety and protection, that's why church also becomes important as the consequence. I bet Law as a child saw miners often in the hospital; serious injuries and accidents are one of the most common risks coming with this job. Of course miners dedication and commitment delivers irreplacable resources, not only for one town or whole country, but global economy in general. And yet even nowadays miners face many problems, also related to no good health care and no proper support from the government. We saw what Government did to help Flevance... oh right, they didn't help. They instead waited like vultures for the situation to get worse, so they can be excused for executing drastic measures.

Coincidentally, Jail Island in the game One Piece World Seeker, is also a mining town, and it holds many secrets and attracts extreme interest of the Government.

Geez, I wrote a lot. Anyone actually finished reading this post? 😅

[loseiso]

Been a BIT since speaking about my op journey I'm in the middle of Luffy vs Katakuri (Luffy and Brulee are in Nut Island)

WHOLE CAKE??? PEAK??? Literally everyone told me it gets peaker here in whole cake i didn't believe them but??? What the the fuck???? Holy shit???? This arc is actually insane

Luffy vs Sanji might be the best fight and episode and scene i was sobbing holy shit? I was a bit iffy if Sanji was still my favorite since his writing has been very... questionable after Enies Lobby (although he was pretty good in Punk Hazard and Dressrosa!) but I think this arc solidified him as possibly one of my top 5 characters ever

Nami was WILDING and good for her this is how i expected her second arc to go with her probably being the second strongest straw hat when Sanji was done out of the group who sent to wci. Her reaction to the fight was prefect and her casually turning like every homie into her servant was awesome? And also I'm pretty sure she's the first straw hat to defeat a emperor crew member against Brulee so! That's my queen

Brook my goat the MVP he got all the Ponegliffs and broke the mother carmel photo 🙏 plus fought big mom and didn't do any damage to her but hey he survived a good while against her! He doesn't do that much besides that two things but those two things were like. The biggest things to happen that isn't related to the Sanji plotline

CHOPPER definitely the weakest out of the crew who went but he still played a good role capturing Brulee with Carrot and grouping everyone together!

This is a small moment but I loved how Sanji decided to leave saving the sunny to these two even though they're among the weaker members he had complete faith they'd win :))

SPEAKING OF SANJIII AGAIN his backstory? Fuck you Judge? Bless Sora and Reiju. I feel so bad for his brothers as much as they suck the didnt choose to be heartless. But it also makes Sanji even better like? Even though he hates Judge and his brothers he still wanted to save them just UGH I love him.

Luffy is classic greatness but this was the arc where i accepted that he is be top 5 protagonist. Him declaring he won't be pirate king without Sanji and his plan for the tea party. AND HIM ACTUALLY STARVING HIMSELF UNTIL SANJI CAME OUT? Plus him lying to his crew that he was fine in the mirror world just so they wouldn't worry UGHHH THATS MY FUCKING CAPTAIN I LOVE HIM

Pudding is sweet and I feel bad for her. Sanji being the only person to actually like her makes me so sad and the way she's still acting like she wants him dead. I want to hug her.

Big mom has lived up to the HYPE. She's so whimsical but that whimsy is also lowkey horrifying? And the way she got her devil fruit... has kinda concerned? What i gathered is she ate Mother Carmel and that's another way you can get devil fruit powers? (Which I'm assuming is how Blackbeard stole Whitebeard's DF...? By eating smth in him?)

Katakuri seems to be the main antagonist Luffy needs to defeat. He's alright, he's cool and his doughnut scene humanized him (I'm assuming like Pudding big mom found his face gross) alright I'm confused how his devil fruit isn't a logia like. It works exactly like a logia.

Brulee is kinda funny with how she's just constantly being tormented although

The rest of the big mom pirates are really boring though like usually one piece is good at making the antagonist crew memorable but most of them are just... There?

Hope kinda foreshadowed Smoothie, Oven, and the other two i can't remember their names as being big antagonists but all of them are not important besides Perospero (who should be dead)

SPEAKING OF DEATH- I doubt Pedro is dead but I guess we'll see when the arc is done! If he is actually dead then... wow. I wasn't super attached to him but his possible death would be fucking awesome?

Carrot is sweet, she's cute, but she feels a bit forced into the story. I feel bad for her though

The firetank pirates are cool i love bege he's a nice guy. Vito however? He's the BEST-RERO. Him fanboying over Germa 66 is so cute 😭 and the way he acts like a uncle to Pez when Chiffon gave him the baby. He's so precious if anything happens to him I'll kill myself.

LASTLY THE GOAT, KING, JIMBEI. Being reintroduced riding whatever and calming down big mom, realizing that if he did the wheel thing his crew would suffer so delaying leaving big mom, getting his crew to get the snails in the sea to help disguise the ship, the green room scene, rescuing nami and luffy, his prep talk to the crew mourning Pedro, and best of all him officially leaving during the tea party Yeah I think he's an S tier character.

This truly is peak and the best arc 😭 my only wish is that Zoro was here i KNOW he would've been as pissed as Luffy to see him give up on his dream.

[girlactionfigure]

⚠️ IRAN PREPARES, HOME FRONT CHANGES, SPECIAL FORCES VIDEOS - Tuesday afternoon - events from Israel  

...‼️The United States detects preparations in Iran for a missile attack on Israel. (Amit Segal - Ch. 12)

⚠️HOME FRONT COMMAND.. as of today (Tuesday), at 14:00: added restrictions in new and wide areas throughout the country until Sat. Oct 5, 20:00.  The reason for this change is the item above.

.. Restriction on activities and gatherings: Carmel (Haifa and wide area), Wadi Ara, Menashe, Samaria (West Bank), Sharon (Central cities), Dan (Tel Aviv), Yarkon, Shefala (Beit Shemesh and wide area), Jerusalem (and wide area), and Shfela.

.. Educational activities can ONLY be held in a place where you can reach a protected space in time with capacity in case of an alert.

.. Gatherings and services can be held with a limit of up to 30 people in an open area and up to 300 people in closed spaces.

.. Workplaces can operate in a building or place where you can reach a protected space in time with capacity in case of an alert.

.. Infographic: https://IDFANC.activetrail.biz/ANC0110202493864

.. Police: The Israel Police is prepared to implement the directives of the Home Front Command to the general public, following the change in the defense policy in the last hour.  Civil discipline saves lives.

❗️PUBLIC ROSH HASHANA PRAYER EVENTS CANCELLED.. The impression is that this is a warning about a more specific and immediate event, not about a general escalation from Lebanon.

.. Mass hataras nedarim at the Hotel cancelled.

.. Event at the Sultan’s Pool cancelled.

.. The Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Places Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitz calls on the public to take cautionand observe the mitzvah "and be very careful for your souls" - to obey the instructions of the Home Front Command and not to come to the Western Wall plaza tonight.

.. Message passed on to the Hasidim in Gur: Do not come today for prayers to the city. and prepare for the possibility that they will not be able to come to Jerusalem for the holiday.

▪️SPECIAL OPS.. Since the beginning of the war, the IDF has conducted dozens of targeted operations in areas near the border in southern Lebanon in order to dismantle Hezbollah’s terrorist capabilities and infrastructure.  The soldiers identified and breached underground access points near the border area, exposed extensive weapon caches, assembly areas for terrorist operative operations, and more. During these operations, the troops also collected valuable intelligence and methodically dismantled the weapons and compounds, including underground infrastructure and advanced weaponry of Iranian origin.

The troops also uncovered and destroyed underground infrastructure, struck thousands of targets and hundreds of weapons storage facilities, tons of explosives, and hundreds of living areas for operatives, command centers and more. 

Footage of IDF raids on terror targets in Lebanese territory: https://bit.ly/3ZLNw4x

Footage of the destruction of terrorist infrastructure in the area of the border: https://bit.ly/4gM9wCs

There are many more videos linked here -> https://t.me/idfofficial/10605

❗️TZAV 8.. IDF: In accordance with the situational assessment, the IDF is calling up four additional reserve (combat) brigades for operational missions in the northern arena. 

▪️AIR TRAVEL.. The airport is working as usual at the moment and there is no change in the airspace.

.. Israir is expected to operate flights using six leased planes over the holidays, to help maintain aviation continuity. 

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🔅Telegram   - https://t.me/Israel_Realtime_Updates

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🔸X (twitter) - https://x.com/IsraelRealtime

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❗️IRAN MISSILE THREAT - Tuesday afternoon - events from Israel  

ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

( VIDEO - Home Front advice for holiday synagogue service - make sure to know the path to a protected space, have enough time and capacity. And what about the children? )

⭕HEZBOLLAH JUST FIRED 4 LONG RANGE MISSILES AT TEL AVIV.. a few minutes ago - they missed, hitting the sea.  No alarms due to the wide miss.

‼️The United States detects preparations in Iran for a missile attack on Israel.  On this basis, Israel has raised Home Front restrictions in the center and Jerusalem areas.  

.. The Pentagon: Satellite images show that Iran has prepared a large number of ballistic missiles to attack Israel.

.. IDF reminds:  defenses are NOT perfect, you MUST follow Home Front commands and take shelter when instructed.

.. The US Embassy in Israel asked its employees to stay at home and be prepared to go to shelters.

.. British Foreign Secretary Lammy announced that Britain is negotiating with its Iranian counterparts and calls on that country to exercise restraint in the midst of growing tensions in the region.

.. Reuters: Oil prices jumped 3% amid reports that Iran is planning to attack Israel.

📌HOME FRONT COMMAND..  center, Tel Aviv and wide surrounding areas, Jerusalem and wide surrounding areas, Samaria

.. Educational activities can ONLY be held in a place where you can reach a protected space in time with capacity in case of an alert.

.. Gatherings and services can be held with a limit of up to 30 people in an open area and up to 300 people in closed spaces.

.. Workplaces can operate in a building or place where you can reach a protected space in time with capacity in case of an alert.

📌PUBLIC ROSH HASHANA PRAYER EVENTS CANCELLED..

.. Mass hataras nedarim at the Western Wall cancelled.

.. Event at the Sultan’s Pool cancelled.

.. The Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Places Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitz: do not to come to the Western Wall plaza tonight.

.. Message to Hasidim in Gur: Do not come for prayers to the city. 

❗️SPORT EVENT CANCELLED - Soccer / Football between Beitar Yerushalayim and Maccabi Haifa.

🔹IDF spokesman: "Iranian firing on the State of Israel will have consequences - I will not say more than that."

🔹IDF spokesman Brigadier General Hagari: "IDF fighters found a "plan for the occupation of the Galilee" by Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanese territory.”

🔹US Central Command: 3 additional US aircraft squadrons are on their way to the area, and one of them has already arrived.

🔹The US continues to transfer military equipment non-stop to the region.  Huge military transport planes land in Jordan and Syria almost non-stop.

🔹Haifa Municipality: In light of the unusual security situation, the city council meeting scheduled for tonight is postponed.

🔹Russia to Israel: withdraw the troops from southern Lebanon immediately.

♦️ONGOING TARGETED ATTACKS in Lebanon cities.

♦️TARGETED ATTACK in Khan Yunis, Gaza on a vehicle.

♦️SYRIAN RADAR.. A radar position of Syria that attacked and destroyed a short time ago by the Air Force in southern Syria.

[fwitolei]

Warrior's Honor - Masterlist

Status: On-Going

Ultimate Masterlist

Description: Ten years ago, a mother and daughter walked into the throne room of Katolis' castle in search of aid. The daughter peeked out from behind her mother's skirt at the others, feeling overwhelmed by the grandeur of the space. Suddenly, a woman named Sarai approached the mother, speaking with her briefly before turning her attention to the child. Sarai kneeled before the little girl, asking her what she wanted to learn. The girl replied that she wished to learn how to fight. Now, Emelyn works hard in the Katolis Crownguard, protecting her beloved kingdom from the wretched elves and dragons of Xadia. But when a band of Moonshadow elves invade Katolis and kill King Harrow, she and her companions are thrown on a journey to take the Dragon Prince, who was presumed dead, back to his mother. As they embark on this perilous quest, Emelyn begins to question the true intentions of those around her and wonders who her allies really are.

a/n: i'm gonna try and finish posting everything that I have already written and then do some major edits while waiting for the s3 novelization so pls bear with me :P you can expect all of s1 and 2 <333

Season 1

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6

[cyborg-squid]

Cake Island Arc is a story about generational trauma, right? right. charlotte linlin, abandoned on eblaf because she's too big, raised by an orphan-seller to be sold later, then abandoned (in Charlotte's eyes, since she doesn't know what she did) by her second mother and all her friends, treated as an outcast because of her crimes.

so then it goes on to make sense that she'd be so obsessed with the idea of every species having a "seat at the table", this deliberate attempt to get back what she had during her childhood, unaware of her own greed and hunger destroyed it. which she then goes on to again, as her entire new realm is made of candy, reflecting both her inner child that she never grew out of, and the fact that it exists solely as something for her to consume, which she literally does during her rampages, even taking back and eating the literal souls of her children... much like Mother Carmel, trafficking in kids for profit. both their children are simply means to an end, especially with Big Mama's use of her children's marriages as a way of spreading her diplomatic influence...

... which brings us to the second family at the heart of Cake Island, Vinsmoke and Germa66. which, my god, could not be more direct about how fascist it is lol. and how, much like Big Mama, it views it's kids as mere tools, tools of domination and conquest, and are similarly using Sanji as a marriage tool for an alliance with Big Mama. and i don't know what else to say here that hasn't already been said, about the very in-your-face similarities between these two families, and how it's the kindness of two of their respective members, Pudding and Sanji, through which the alliance is formed, then broken, then formed again better into a true relationship, now not between two 'families' built on exploitation, but between two individuals who found, if not love, then a connection between them.

and there's also something about it, in the entire Cake Island arc, that the member of Mama's family presented most valorously, next to Chiffon+Lola and Pudding, is Katakuri, and part of what seperates him from the rest of the Big Mama lieutenants, as well as other OP antagonists Luffy fights, is that he truly cares about his siblings and the family that he is a part of, while their own mother treats them as nothing more than disposable. and he's shown through both this and his sheer combat skill, being able to go toe to toe with Luffy, with almost matching abilities, as being worthy of respect, to both Luffy and to the viewer, to the point where at the end of the fight, Luffy covers Katakuri's normally hidden mouth with his hat. not the Straw Hat, to be fair, but even the secondary hat is still a symbol.

[bl00dalchemist]

Your art def tastes like the kind of Carmel that’s really good but sticks to your throat makes you choke, but you still eat it because it tastes good. That jelly guy has no idea what he’s talking about.

I'm pretty sure jelly op meant something good but i really couldn't place the feeling bc i've never had that jelly KJDNFBNJ

ALSO THANKS

[penelopegarciasapprentice]

I got to agree with OPs mom here. Citrus flavors are definitely not 'grief-y' enough. They are like edible happiness and sunshine. Chocolate and carmel, plus molasses and cinnamon. Those are comfort foods and flavors. These are the things that are better to eat when sad.

My mom accidentally joined a grieving support group (long story, she’s not grieving tho) and she’s missing it this week while visiting me and she’s VERY concerned that Lorraine, who very kindly offered to bring a baked good like mom usually would, will NOT bring the correct kind of dessert, she says citrus tarts aren’t “griefy” enough

[awsomebloggersblog]

Job Opening For RN, Registered Nurse - Pre/Op PACU - Mount Carmel New Albany Intuitive Health Services

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