#I don't understand a Lot of the reasoning behind most ships in one piece but god damn do I like your art style

[artemis-in-space]

I literally don't care what you ship in One Piece as long as you get the dynamic right

[moonydustx]

Law or Zoro (maybe both separately 🙇‍♀️?) with their s/o secretly being a kunoichi 🤭

Thank u 🙏

Hi Hi! I'll start with: I'm sorry. I didn't know much about the term and I tried to research it, but to be honest, I don't think I got the best of it. I used the point of view in which the character actually became an ally. Maybe I got a little carried away with Law.

After all, how can you disappoint them? (I mean, look at these two happy just seeing Raizo)

requests | one piece masterlist

Zoro

Warnings: blood, use of swords, the two like each other but are unable to deal with it maturely.

"Leaving friendship aside" you shouted, dodging the blow. "You're too slow, Zoro."

" What did you say?" He tried to attack you again, but it only took a few steps for you to dodge his attacks. "What the hell!"

"I said: slow." You stopped the sword with your forearm, turning it and letting it rest against the swordsman's skin. "And sloppy."

"How can you do that?"

"A lady doesn't tell your secrets." You laughed, letting him go.

The sun streamed through the crow's nest windows, illuminating the entire space.

Occasionally you and the swordsman would take time out to train. Your excuse was always that you needed to improve your skills and his was that he needed a punching bag. You knew there was a lot behind it - the hours wasted together, the accidental skin-to-skin touches. Those workouts were your favorite part of your schedule.

A crash caught the two of you's attention as well as the uneven rocking and some screams coming from beneath you.

"We are being attacked." Zoro looked out the small window seeing the reason for the small chaos that had formed. "Stay here."

He disappeared from your field of vision in a few seconds. You were determined to follow his orders, not that you owed any kind of obligation, but returning to fight seemed like a distant choice.

Your eyes narrowed at the edge of the window, trying to understand the scale of what was happening. Three pirate ships surrounded the Sunny, each with a flag. Probably a group has allied together to try to overthrow you. Ignoring it no longer seemed like an option.

You practically jumped halfway down the stairs, finding the ship full of enemies. Everyone fought as best they could, but the number of people interested in taking down the Straw Hats seemed too much for you.

Using the same technique you had used in previous training, you dodged each attack, trying to take as little damage as possible. On the other side, you saw one of the men suddenly throw Nami's Clima-tact stick away. Your eyes quickly searched for the best and closest alternative within your reach.

Dodging two guys, you didn't bother asking for permission to take out the third sword that Zoro still kept in its sheath, only seeing him look at you sideways without much room to question.

Before the bullet hit Nami, you positioned the katana blade and watched the fragment turn into two. Ignoring your friend's screams, you threw blows at the first man who had attacked her. A cut in the middle of the chest was enough to knock him down and make room for other enemies to find you.

The sharp blade paraded across the deck of the Sunny, arms fell around you, enemy blood splashed on your clothes and the floor. The presence of the other companions was a memory in the fog, you just needed to help everyone get rid of the little problem. Losing your balance when you saw the ship accelerate in the opposite direction to the enemy ship, it wasn't long before you were just contemplating the blue horizon in front of you.

The absolute silence took a few seconds to bother you until you realized what it was. All your companions looked at you curiously, probably the blood that dripped from the katana and that also stained your clothes was what attracted most of their attention.

The words came to the tip of your tongue and died for a few moments, you were fully aware that you owed your friends satisfaction, it was just difficult to bring the story to light.

"Since when did you know how to do that?" Nami was the first to ask, without any type of ceremony.

"There's been a good, good time."

"But you weren't just an expert in languages, I mean, for someone who has their face buried in books translating those strange things, you know your way around a katana very well." Usopp pointed out, making clear all the curiosity - which was probably in the others' minds.

"I was trained for a long time, longer than I would have liked." you declared, walking to the edge of the ship and leaning against it.

The crew's swordsman did the same, stopping next to you and the others practically circled you. Your hand nervously squeezed the blunt end of the sword in your hand.

"I was taught to infiltrate, to go unnoticed, to kill. I never had much of a choice in the meantime."

"And how did you end up here?" Chopper asked almost adorably, his curiosity leaning more toward admiration than anything else.

"I had a mission." your eyes found Robin in the background. "I needed to infiltrate and take Robin away from here, a high price for someone with high qualifications."

"This is getting interesting." the archaeologist smiled almost understandingly. For some reason you seemed to have given up on the plan and she had already found herself in a similar position. "What made you stop?"

"You, all of you." the answer sounded obvious coming from you. "You all welcomed me so well, I felt like part of a family. So I never answered the calls again and decided to stay here, to be honest, if I had any other choice I wouldn't have done all this." you gestured towards the blood on your clothes. "I understand if you want me to leave, a secret this big..."

"No." Luffy responded immediately. "You're not going to leave."

"But..."

"The captain decided, you're still a Straw Hat." Sanji completed, leaving room for a brief drag on his cigarette. "And with all that blood you're still beautiful."

"Shut up idiot" Zoro grumbled. "But I agree with Luffy, it's decided, you stay. Now everyone, let's get these scraps out of here." the man pointed to the downed enemies.

Without much desire to continue arguing, one by one you saw your companions move away and begin to clean the deck. Zoro however remained there, standing a few meters away.

"I bet you hate me for my petty theft." You turned to him.

"Are you feeling good?" His calm voice broke your expectations. "You didn't seem comfortable telling all that."

"It's a past that I wanted to leave behind, you know? Being a linguist is much cooler than having to scrub clothes dirty with enemy remains, but now I don't have much choice."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I've already proven that I can fight, I believe that in the next battles it won't make much sense for me to try to escape." a dejected smile crossed your lips as you approached him.

"Only if you want." Zoro replied as you parked yourself in front of him, your feet aligned with his. "If you want to fight, I'll be happy to help you get a katana. If you want to continue just being you, I promise I have enough strength and swords for both of us."

The promise implicit in his voice gave you goosebumps, as well as warming your cheeks in a certain shyness.

"And leaving friendship aside?" he started and you just nodded. "You look beautiful using my katana to take out idiots."

"Leaving friendship aside..." you replied, taking the opportunity to reduce the small space between you.

Without taking your eyes off Zoro's eyes, you slid the sword back into his sheath, completing the trio that now rested after the battle.

"I'd love to be able to do both. Maybe you can help me." your faces were just a short distance away, ignoring the entire world around you.

"Meet me tonight, upstairs. I think we can take some time to train."

"You two make this mess, come help!" Nami's scream broke you both out of your little trance, but the promise still hung in the air.

♡

Law

Warnings: cute, brief hint of something hotter at the end, pre-established relationship. Law is a super nerd in this one.

Something was out of place. Something felt like it was about to go wrong, you just didn't know what. Following the corridors of the submarine, you made a point of looking room by room, corner by corner, in search of what you didn't even know what you were looking for. The Polar Tang, despite being moored on an island, was occupied by all the crew. Almost all, the captain was absent.

"Bepo?" you entered the room he was in, hitting the switch sharply.

With nightfall and no longer sailing, there weren't many tasks left to be carried out inside Polar Tang. The bear - who was apparently taking a brief nap - rubbed his eyes, trying to understand where the call was coming from.

"Sorry to wake you up. Did you have any news from the captain?"

"He just said he was going to leave for a few hours and that if possible, we would be ready to leave." If it weren't for the worry you would definitely be teasing Bepo and his habit of making mini roars instead of yawns.

"Taking a nap is being ready, mister furry?" the bear's grumbling filled the room. "I don't know Bepo, I have a bad feeling."

"About the captain?" he rose to his feet, more alert than before. "He said he had things to sort out."

"I don't know." you murmured, thinking about possibilities, perhaps the worst possible ones echoed in your mind. "From what I remember, Law was alone for a long time before he went, am I right?"

"Yes! He said he needed to focus on something."

"Okay, let's go through his desk."

Papers hung on the wall, notes spread out on the table, a large web connected the information he had gathered so far about Doflamingo. Occupying his chair, you didn't hesitate to turn over some pages, finding names and positions written down and a map of the island. An X marking a specific point next to a photo attracted your gaze, making you search your own memories to understand the familiarity with such a situation.

"Flander..." you brought the photo of the man with white hair and a black suit closer. You remembered the man but even so, your brain burned trying to remember why and it gave you a bad feeling.

"Do you know him?" "An idiot tycoon who's also a mobster. Last time I bumped into him it was to recover a stolen devil fruit. He craves power, so he uses the black market to sell them and also use... oh, shit!"

"What happened?" the bear tried to keep up with you as you ran back to your room, thankful to find it empty.

"Get everything ready for us to escape. Also prepare the defenses." you pulled out a large hidden brown box. "Law may have been ambushed."

In other situations you would even ask him to leave, but while the bear screamed and ran from side to side you didn't hesitate to throw your overalls and in seconds put on the suit. The minutes lost in getting dressed would certainly be recovered with help in camouflaging.

"Wait, what is this?"

"No questions Bepo! Go now!"

You adjusted the cloth that covered part of your face. Ignoring the curious stares, you crossed Polar Tang in seconds, finding a full moon shining all over the pier that night. That costume, that story, you had chosen to leave behind, but the thought of someone hurting your captain was too much for you to ignore.

Following through the trees it didn't take long to find Flander's compound. Trying to avoid the presence of the security guards, you followed their movement pattern, finding a small gap to climb onto the first floor of roofs. Even though the rooms that were within reach of your eyes seemed empty, you still chose to go outside. Leaning on the gutter and avoiding any noise as much as possible, you didn't have much difficulty finding the next floor.

This time, coming across some lights on in the indoor area, you could feel closer to your goal. Using the noise of voices and the distraction to your advantage, you managed to peek inside the room.

Flander was sitting in one of the chairs, three huge men accompanied him and Law was sitting on the floor. A trickle of blood ran from his eyebrow and his hands were tied together. You hated being right in your suspicions.

Using the point of illumination to your advantage, you opted for the lack of it, throwing your dagger towards the lamp. The sound of breaking glass attracted the attention of everyone there - including Law.

"Where did that come from?" one of the men bent down picking up the small gray object.

The moonlight might still be an advantage for them, but it wouldn't be a problem for you. Rolling into the window, you took advantage of having fallen in a crouch to cut the ankle of the first man within your reach and joining a trip, he soon found the ground.

The other two gathered around you and using the ratio of size to speed, you managed to dodge them, reaching Flander and putting your other dagger through his leg, leaving it stuck between his thigh and the upholstery of the expensive bench he was sitting on. One of the other men managed to hit you, making you lose your balance, but it only took a few kicks and both he and the other man were on the ground.

"Who are you?" Flanders shouted, probably not only trying to clear the doubt but also trying to get the attention of more henchmen.

Before he could continue shouting, you slammed his head against the expensive wooden table in front of the man.

"Cap... Trafalgar." you corrected yourself almost at the last second. "Do you know where your handcuff keys are?"

"In my left pocket." your eyes - which were one of the few things discovered on your face looked in pure disbelief at him. "I knew he would try to trick me, I changed all the handcuffs here to regular versions."

"I do not believe that." despite the relief in knowing that in a way, he already knew what awaited him, it didn't stop you from staying alert.

"You're Shadow Moon, right? The konoichi who helps Sora in magazine 147 of the regular story. From Yushe Island?" He stood up, approaching the table and picking up a small brown notebook, leafing through it quickly. "Am I right, Shadow Moon?"

"Law, we have time to sort this out later." you pulled the cloth away, revealing your face. "Is this the only notebook you need?"

"Are you Sora's Shadow Moon from the Yushe Islands?" for the first time you saw Law's voice rise a few decibels in pure surprise. A slightly more serious version of a child who just got the doll he always wanted. "You?"

"We really can... Shit!" you felt your arm burn as more men appeared in your field of vision. Before you could prepare to fight, the blue dome enveloped you and the bodies lying in the room were replaced by the trees of the island's small forest, the same one that had helped you camouflage your arrival.

"Well, it was a graze." you checked your own arm and it didn't take long for Law to take the job for himself.

"Yes, you almost don't need stitches. A bandage should do the trick, Shadow Moon."

"Are you really going to call me that all night?" Law decided to back off the subject when he noticed the irritation in your voice, but you knew the subject wouldn't remain quiet for long. "When we arrive at Polar Tang, I'll explain. I've already got everyone ready for us to set sail."

You were never so happy to be back in the little metal cocoon, or at least that was the affectionate way you called the yellow submarine. After reassuring everyone, you followed Law to his room, knowing that he must have doubts about everything that happened.

"How did you know I was there?" he asked as soon as you slammed the door behind you. Taking advantage of the small peace to catch your breath, you leaned against the wall.

"I had a strange feeling and when I found Flander's photo, I knew something was wrong. I already knew his history with Devil Fruit users."

"I understood." Law seemed distracted by something on his stand. "I knew he would try to catch me, I wanted to make the most of my time to extract information."

"Next time, please let your girlfriend know." you murmured, crossing your arms and watching him walk towards you. "No way."

Law placed a small doll next to you and you knew what it was without even looking.

"Shadow Moon, I knew it!"

"I'm sorry I kept this from you." You asked and saw him nod. The same hand that held the action figure pulled you closer to the bed.

"How did you end up in Sora?" he sat down, giving you space to sit next to him or in it.

"Long story short, I helped one of the comic's editors, it was his way of thanking me." Law's eyes sparkled as you adjusted yourself over his hips.

"My girlfriend is Shadow Moon. Do you have any idea how badass that is?" he again looked at the doll and placed it aside. "Although you look a lot hotter in the real version."

"Is this serious? I took down several idiots at once to save you and you're impressed by this?" You pointed to your own clothes.

"This? You mean the legendary Shadow Moon responsible for taking down enemy armies and who can disappear into the shadows?" Your loud laugh also brought a light laugh from Law. "Shadow Moon herself came to save me. Where were you hiding all this?"

"Kind of wanted to put that story behind me." you bent down and pushed him against the bed, using the gap to lay on his chest. Just a few hours apart along with the adrenaline in your body made you miss Law's contact. "It was really lucky they left my suit in Sabaody."

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay." Noticing the hesitation in your voice, Law tried to steer you away from that subject. But his presence was comforting, it was as if the old memories were just that: things left behind.

"After my parents died, these women took me in. They gave me a home, food, but in return they trained me. They did this with different types of girls."

"You know why?"

"A lot of us went on missions for them, but the purpose was always to teach us how to defend ourselves." You smiled when you felt his fingers caress your skin, encouraging you to keep talking.

"I started to stand out, taking down many of the enemies until the mission where they discovered me infiltrated. I was pretending to be a doctor for one of the pirates who stole them."

"So that's why you already knew how to deal with everything here."

"Exactly, it was almost like a vocation, or destiny" a provocative smile dared to cross your lips, soon disappearing. "After finding out, they locked me up for a while. When they got tired of my presence, they sold me into slavery."

"You're lucky that a guy with a good heart was there, right?" Law's cynicism was something almost immersed in him. You quickly took the man's lips.

"They say he was very handsome." you murmured, catching his kisses.

"Babe, please." his tone was strangled when he felt your hips press against his. "But it's okay if you say no..."

"Trafalgar!" You lightly patted his shoulder when you saw him blush - like you hadn't seen in the time you were together. The way his gaze roamed your body made it clear what he wanted. "Okay, the costumes are still on my body."

"Hm.. my beautiful little konoichi." he turned you over on the bed, pinning you beneath him. "This time you won't be able to hide."

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

what is your second most favorite otp from any series?

AAAAAAHHHHH, DON'T DO THIS TO ME! There are some many pairings I love in so many books, movies, series, soap-operas, etc.

*sighs* Okay, gun to my head, there's three, in no particular order that I absolutely ADORE, have made me cry, and that I legitimately don't understand how anyone could watch these shows and not ship them (spoilers for Friends, How I Met Your Mother and The Borgias, respectively)

Monica and Chandler

Because I was just 4-years-old when Friends final season was aired, I already knew these two were going to be endgame when I watched the show - and it didn't take long for me to see the appeal, even when they were still supposed to be just friends.

They're just so affectionate with each other right from the start, cuddling on the couch, helping each other out - and Chandler just casually says stuff like "If neither of us is married when we're fourty, I'm totally willing to marry and have a kid with you just so you get the family you want" and actively tries PROVE to her he is boyfriend material and they make a game out of it??????? Genius. Perfect. Amazing.

And then it happens, they hook up and right away they're couple goals. Can't keep their hands off each other, are super clingy, all of their friends find them ridiculously adorable, Chandler matures A LOT and Monica is very patient with him because she knows he's used to hiding any emotional turmoil behind a sarcastic joke, and they can joke about and tease each other without either of them being too mean or too sensitive.

Also their conflicts never last more than one or two episodes and they never break up after first getting together, and it was a breath of fresh air coming from the same show that gave us Ross and Rachel.

Barney and Robin

They have INSANE chemistry, Robin was the only woman Barney was truly willing to change for, and Barney was the one guy Robin was with that ever truly liked her for who she was.

They. Deserved. So. Much. Better.

Seriously, I can't get over how unfair their ending was. There's a reason I tell Zutarians to give this show a watch before they complain about how their ship, that was never even canon, was "robbed of it's happy ending."

We see Barney and Robin being teased as potentially having at least a fling someday as early as season 1, they finally hook up in season 3, season 4 is all about him struggling with being in love with her, seasons 5-7 are all about them dating then breaking up while still being very much in love yet never properly reconciliating because life gets in the way, season 8 is them getting engaged and being adorably happy together, the 9th and final season is THE WEEKEND OF THEIR WEDDING and them working through every last issue they still have to make sure they will a long, happy life together as a married couple...

Then the finale goes and says "Actually, they divorced off-screen because their hotel room had no wi-fi. Sorry." WHO THE FUCK DOES THAT? It's really no wonder the network cancelled the planned spin-off right after the finale aired.

Cesare and Lucrezia

Ah yes, a Nichya list of great ships includes a pair of siblings, specifically Older Brother X Young Sister, who would have thought? This time a kind of, sort of historical one! (Seriously, The Borgias is the kind of over-dramatic, historically inaccurate period piece I love wasting my time with, and the aesthetic is incredible).

Even as someone who is very into that kind of dynamic and that knew the show was gonna go there, I was still SHOCKED at how unsubtle is right from the start - especially once I found out the writer didn't want to play up the sexual tension originally.

Somehow, the first time we see these two on screen, Lucrezia is spying on her brother as he has sex and once he notices he playfully chases her around the garden, berating her for spying on him AGAIN, and then when they're on the ground together he just casually admits to loving her more than he loves God????????????????????????????? NORMAL SIBLING BEHAVIOR, EVERYBODY! NOTHING WEIRD GOING ON HERE!

I adore how protective (and possessive) Cesare is of her, ready to commit murder at the very thought of a man mistreating her - yet he is still willing to step aside when he thinks she found a good man, because nothing matters to him more than Lucrezia's happiness, not even his own. It just so happens that he always has to step in again because nobody loves her quite to insane degree he does, and thus she only feels truly safe, happy and loved with him, hence her saying "Only a Borgia can truly love a Borgia."

And they, legitimately, are insepareble. They're always close to each other, holding hands, hugging, cuddling, KISSING - all long before they're ready to admit, even to themselves that they're in love.

They are so clueless about what level of physical affection is normal between relatives that they made out in front of her husband and were surprised he found out about their incestuous affair.

And more importantly, thanks to the show being cancelled after season 3 instead of getting the planned fourth season, they never broke up! The show literally ends with them in each other's arms, accepting their love. I couldn't have asked for literally anything else.

[lunatheseus]

harry potter (canon) couples that I could get behind + commentary

Hermione Granger x Harry Potter: Idk… I can kinda get behind this- they should relate to each other when it comes to the wizarding world. Because they were both raised by muggles, it must’ve been hard to figure out the magical world right off the bat. They also trust each other a ton. (Way more than Ron did, anyway) When Hermione brings Umbridge to the forest to trick her, Harry at first doesn’t know what she’s about to do, but he trusts her. They��re also not jealous of each other, whether it comes to romantic interest or just their capabilities in something. Hermione didn’t care that Harry was the Chosen one, and Harry didn’t care that Hermione topped him in every class.

Hermione Granger x Draco Malfoy: Popular, maybe basic opinion, but these two are the perfect balance of opposites and likes. They are both opposites when it comes to the obvious: Hogwarts houses, blood status, athletics, etc. But they both have many things in common: heavy expectations, being at the top of each class, and other more deep-rooted ideologies. This would give them both something to learn, but also something to relate to. In addition, after the war, Draco could improve his reputation by helping all of the causes and organizations that Hermione started over the years. He has a ton of money, why not donate some? I also think they could be adorable together, Draco spoiling Hermione, Hermione exposing Draco to muggle culture.

Luna Lovegood x Draco Malfoy: Besides the similar white-blonde hair and the same blood status, these two could not be more different. However, it can be a good thing. While Luna can teach Draco about leading life with love and a bit more imagination (like how she was brought up), and Draco can hold Luna to the real world and teach her about the more traditional way of life. On top of that, after the war, Luna doesn't seem like the person to care about Draco's ruined reputation. She would help him get over caring too much about what other people think and instead enjoy life more often. I feel that her forgiving nature would help Draco lead a better life. (Besides, his parents can't possibly be THAT opposed, she's a pureblood, after all)

Theodore Nott x Hermione Granger: Similar reasoning as to the Hermione x Draco ship reasoning, but also remembering that Theo and Hermione don't have as much history, which could be both bad and/or good, that's up to interpretation. I also love that Hermione used a time turner in her younger years, and Theo gets in trouble for being involved in handling illegal magical goods, ie a time turner.

Draco Malfoy x Theodore Nott: With both of their father's being servants of Voldemort, the two supposedly bonded, finding solace in each other. They both also survive the war, so helping each other through hardships would be a critical piece of the story because of how much they relate to and understand when it comes to one another. I also love how Theo was never really in Draco's "Gang" which makes me believe that he has his own independent mind, which is always important.

Luna Lovegood x Theodore Nott: Sunshine x Grumpy? Both see Thestrals? Like the Luna x Draco reasoning, they can learn lots from each other, + ignore the society's views on them because they both don't care.

Luna Lovegood x Neville Longbottom: Ok EVEN THOUGH Luna Lovegood x Rolf Scamander is the most genius idea that JK Rowling has had in her entire career, this could work. The fact that both passionate about their own respective interests makes conversation and life very unique. They're both also good listeners, which makes open communication very effective. Luna could teach Neville to ignore the haters, and Neville is a good anchor for Luna.

Pansy Parkinson x Neville Longbottom: I think that Pansy x Neville isn't such a bad idea. They're kind of opposites, but I love the idea that Neville gives so-called ice-queen-Pansy a safe space to be herself, to be a soft and warm. On the flipside, I think Pansy could teach Neville a thing or two about not being a pushover, and maybe even adding a little snark to conversations.

Pansy Parkinson x Harry Potter: I feel like this would work really well. Honestly though, Pansy would wear the pants in this relationship hands down. I feel like they would have a ton of chemistry... and they would learn a lot from each other. Pansy would humble Harry, Harry would humble Pansy. Simple.

Draco Malfoy x Ginny Weasley: Both Quidditch Fanatics? Both have passionate and fiery personalities? Both have unusually coloured hair? Enemies to Lovers? HMMMM?

Blaise Zabini x Ginny Weasley: Both fit as heck, both very sassy and witty. They'd charm the pants off of each other, both figuratively and literally... they'd have fun. I'd say this is better than Ginny x Draco

Astoria Greengrass x Theodore Nott: idk why but this just works

Theodore Nott x Harry Potter: again, idk why but this would work too

Chicken x Ron Weasley: Whoever did this is an effing genius: Chickron | Shipping Wiki | Fandom

[uchihakeimei]

Helloooo, hope it's ok if I reply here! Also I forgot to apologize in advance for my terrible English, hope it's understandable!

What a relief to find someone who actually understands Kaiser! He's one of my absolute favs together with Rin and Isagi, but I never really spoke much about him since I noticed the fandom has a bad habit of misinterpreting him. AND Kaisagi in general. No, Isagi is not his soft-uwu toyboy, he's a badass, a menace and if anything, it's him that would put Kaiser in his place. And yes, they totally hate each other. Like, super hate. And that borderlines on obsession from Kaiser's part. (Ngl, that's my favorite part in all Isagi's ships, how he's unbothered, moisturized, living his best life, and the counterpart is decaying in their obsession in beating him. God, he's such an icon.) Their mutual disdain is what makes the ship so balanced, and also the reason why I dislike Kainess, I don't really appreciate the power imbalance and how submissive Ness acts around him. He deserves better than that. Oh, how I would love to see him leave Kaiser in the dirt to fight alone: that would be such a great character development for both of them. Ofc I'm not judging anyone who ships Kainess, it's a perfectly valid ship! I just love both Kiis and Rnis cause they check all of the boxes of the chemicals in my brain. And when the Kaiser flashbacks drops? I'm gonna go absolutely crazy. I need to be the worm in his brain and understand him in a much deeper way than Kaneshiro ever could.

(Also, I love your headcanon about their alternative jobs. I tried to come up with something for Rin too, and I concluded that he definitely could only ever work in front of a computer, where he would never have to interact with people - and traumatize them with his weird bullshit, lmao). (Oh, and Kaiser would be an even worse boyfriend than Rin, let's be real. One small argument and he's dumping your ass to ""find himself"" like any mediocre fuckboy).

Yes, despite my BLLK obsession I'm keeping up with other mangas! I've been reading One Piece since I was a child, but lately I got invested in Chainsaw man, Choujin X, Kagurabachi, Bungou stray dogs and My hero academia, too. What about you??

Of course, it's totally okay!!

And hello fellow Kaiser fan, great to meetcha!!

And yes. A lot of people mischaracterise Kaiser- either as an Isagi simp (most common in fanfictions) or a complete asshole with no depth.

KaiSagi characterisation tends to be even worse (which, this is NOT me criticising authors at all, people are entitled to write what they enjoy!), but either Kaiser or Isagi gets reduced to a desperate simp trying to get into each other's pants (mostly I have seen this with Kaiser, actually) and that's not very likely.

The charm of KaiSagi is their mutual hate, and the ways they overcome that!

And yes. You hit the nail right on the head! Such unbalanced ships, like KaiNess (SasuSaku or NaruHina from Naruto) are the one kind of ships I can never get behind. Whether it's love or hate, it needs to be mutual for me to enjoy it. Power unbalance is not my thing but different strokes for different folks and all that

And yes, Kaiser currently obsessed with destroying Isagi while all Isagi wants to be is no 1 is a delicious flavour and Kaneshiro is cooking

I need an explanation. Of everything regarding Kaiser. That flashback needs to be longest flashback in the manga. I want a biography I can write a thesis on.

(True!! He definitely isn't a people person. He will most likely be doing a job that requires minimum human contact lol)

(And yeah, Kaiser is such red flag, we'd need rose colored glasses to date him 😝)

Hehe. Fellow CSM fan!! My fav is Denji, and I am eagerly awaiting Season 2!

And although I haven't seen the rest of them, I have they are very good anime as well!

My absolute favourite would be Naruto, as I have been in that fandom for years as well. Apart from that, I am currently keeping up with Solo Leveling and Windbreaker!

(Although listing all the animes I have watched will require a separate post, I watch a lot of them!)

Ps: Your English was lovely, no worries!!

[mangokabuto]

💛💚💙💜

💛: What is a popular ship you just can't get behind, and why?

Ohhh man... I'm going to be murdered if I say "all of them" but. Well. I promise I'm not "different from the other girls" or something LMFAO I just typically can't get behind monogamous ships because they do not interest or intrigue me, usually? It takes some really compelling characters to pull it off in a way that will get me invested. And honestly, I REALLY hate in shipping fanfiction/etc where the shipped-characters-in-question are portrayed as feeling "more" for their partner (singular or plural) than the rest of the crew. I feel this way for One Piece and the strawhats specifically. Like, as soon as I see the "A missed their captain and their crew, but they realized that they missed B more" or "loved B more" I've clocked out. It's just fully not believable to me. Why does romantic always have to be more, instead of just different? This is separate from my bias as a polyamorous person, btw. I'm not fond of the idea that you HAVE to love your romantic partner MOST; Like if you're closer to your best friend than your partner then you've failed somehow?? Or like you're supposed to be less close to your friends once you have a partner?? That's insane to me. And SPECIFICALLY I think it doesn't fit these characters. If there's anyone on the crew that any of them feel "more" for than the others it's Luffy, and they ALL feel that way, and it doesn't interfere with their romantic relationships because that is silly. ...I realize this probably isn't the type of answer you were looking for, haha. For a simpler one: I don't really get the romantic chemistry behind zosan as a ship, unless they're in a polycule with other people. Which is weird, because enemies-to-lovers usually gets me! Also I don't get the romantic chemistry behind lawlu either.

💚: What does everyone else get wrong about your favorite character?

I have several favorite characters honestly, and I haven't been in the fandom long enough to know the most common opinions like that outside of some large-sweeping and very common ones. (So, it's hard for me to answer this question with Franky or Bon Clay.) So, I'll pick an example that involves two of my favorite characters (Usopp and Zoro) I feel very strongly about the platonic divorce arc (Water Seven), and I think a lot of people either don't really understand what Usopp did/was thinking, or don't really understand what Zoro did/was thinking, or both. Which sucks. "Get wrong" is a loaded term, since everyone's entitled to their own opinion/interpretation, ofc, but... I stand FIRM in my belief that if Zoro had not held the line like that, Usopp would not have been able to come back to the crew, and the crew wouldn't have survived it if he came back anyway. Zoro enforced that boundary BECAUSE he loved everyone involved, not because he "hated usopp's cowardice" or whatever the fuck. Usopp decided to leave, and Zoro held him to his word, and there is a lot of respect in that. And Usopp DID fuck up! Bad! He needed to apologize, and the Usopp fans out there who think "Usopp did nothing wrong/shouldn't have needed to apologize" need to unpack why they think so. This isn't to say Zoro and the others did everything right, either. EVERYONE fucked up there, but Usopp fucked up the most! Usopp stans I know there are few of us and we're used to him getting shit on by the fandom, but we need to accept that he really was at fault. And it's good to have a character in fiction who stumbles for understandable reasons, then pushes too far, and then is able to fix what they'd done and mend their relationships. That is a beautiful and important thing to have. (If anything, I think Usopp's apology should have been a little better, but that's just me.)

💙: Which character is not as hot as everyone else seems to think?

I could be here all day. :') I know anything is possible and different strokes for different folks, but I cannot believe THAT MANY people find Sanji and Law THAT attractive. Sanji's popularity baffled me more than law, but still. I know tattoos are hot but come on. Lets be serious. It's just us here I won't be mad tell me the truth

💜: Which character is way hotter than everyone else seems to think?

FOXY. SILVER FOX FOXY. IM IN LOVE WITH HIM DO YOU PEOPLE HEAR ME. SAYING IT LOUDER FOR THE PPL IN THE BACK, HE IS THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!

For my other controversial picks I also think Franky, Jinbe, Mont Blanc, Brook, Big Mom, Blackbeard, Magelllan, World from that one movie, and Borsalino are attractive but those aren't as controversial -- I've seen a couple other people be as open about them -- but no one appreciates my husband. Cowards!!

[biggaybunny]

Modern software sucks shit because modern software development sucks shit. No one knows what they're doing and when they do they'll usually be told to do something else anyway. Non-transferrable skills are treated as transferrable; "programming" is an extremely broad field that we are still just beginning to map out. I'm not trying to oversell it here, I have no agenda, I just need to try and convey some perspective here that you can do a lot of different shit with computers, and lumping it all under "writing software" is kind of like lumping all "machines" together and expecting engineers who work with things like planes, cars, pumps, and cranes to be able to figure each other's shit out. There's some specialization happening in the field, but to be honest, most companies are pretty slow to catch on (outside of, yknow, searching resumes for whatever buzzword we're using now)

That's only the beginning of it, too. I don't know I could actually fit all the reasons software development sucks shit into one post. Basically, businesses hate the way software is made. They want software assembly lines, I've had as much said to me by a manager before. They want software products that are specced out, assembled, and shipped out. And that *really, really* doesn't work. Most of the time, when it comes to developing a software "product", they don't even know what they actually want or need. A lot of software bloat comes from early development work that had to be course corrected or repurposed; it's like being a sculptor and having someone behind you try to describe what they want sculpted, but also they're rushing you and don't understand what's even possible to do with sculpting in the first place.

The other thing companies hate about making software is that you can't throw just throw more people at the problem. It's like that math problem "If an orchestra of 50 people can play Beethoven's 5th in 40 minutes, how fast can an orchestra of 500 people play it?" That's how the people in charge want software to work, and after decades of absolute horseshit business paradigms (agile, kanban, scrum, agile-at-scale, extreme programming yes it's called that, etc) it's very clear that this will NEVER be the case, but by god that's not going to stop companies from trying. Because it's about maximizing profits, right? You couldn't possibly get better returns by like, investing in employee retention (dogshit in the business btw) or employee QoL. Just get more people fresh out of a javascript bootcamp and throw them at the issue until something works. So software development gets diced up into thousands of little pieces that can be worked on simultaneously and then glued back together, and as you'd expect end up as dysfunctional Frankenstein monsters. Plus, none of your employees are actually improving at software development because they're only allowed to see such a small piece of the puzzle.

And at the end, it just has to work. Not be good, work. Which is why companies skimp on QA all the time, and then undermine the QA they do invest in. The corner cutting is everywhere. Because it saves costs, you see. Why invest in QA? Just don't write broken code, obviously (this is not how this works). How much security do we need, really? Corner cut, corner cut, corner cut. Rush, rush, rush. Is it any wonder that the cleanest pieces of software tend to be made by small teams or even individuals, working on their own timeframe?

I could've summed up this entire post with "capitalism sucks" but I wanted to explain more. Software development isn't going to get good in a couple years. It's not going to get good in ten years. It's going to suck absolute shit for the foreseeable future. Corporate software, anyway. Maybe if open-source software got a little more love and support... well, who knows.

[suffersinfandom]

Okay, so I usually try to stay out of discourse and drama and all of that because I'm here to have a nice time, but I saw a post in the OFMD tag after the whole Blackbonnet/Stucky poll thing that I really need to type about. It's just... so bad. Like, I totally get disliking things (I dislike things too!), and I understand that OFMD isn't everyone's thing, but wow. WOW. Um.

While the first part's annoying (point to the tumblr fandom that has absolutely no one in it with a victim complex, please), what I really take issue with is the last bit -- the assertion that OFMD's cast diversity is there to be "inclusive" and "progressive" when the narrative isn't. That's just not true? One of the reasons for OFMD's popularity IS its inclusiveness! People who have never seen themselves represented in a show finally *see themselves* in some of these characters, and I think that's lovely. And the show has a wonderfully diverse crew behind the scenes and in the writing room as well!

As for "the narrative being the opposite"... all I can do is assume that OP never bothered watching OFMD. It's the most genuinely, earnestly inclusive and progressive piece of media I've ever consumed.

The acting in OFMD isn't stylistically different from any other show I've watched. The situations and lines are often comedic, Stede and Ed are definitely prone to dramatics, and plenty of the characters are pathetic (affectionate), but this is such a weird critique. Or maybe I just haven't picked anything up from a lifetime of watching media and being a massive dorkass theater nerd? Idk. Maybe they just think the show itself is cringe (I certainly don't think it is, but that's something I've seen plenty of folks who dislike it say) and that colors their opinion on the acting?

Also: where's the slavery apologism? As many other people have said, there's definitely room for good faith criticism of OFMD: its tendency to gloss over the existence of slavery, the rom-comification of real, historic slaveowners, etc, but there's no apologia in the text of the show. (Correct me if I'm wrong! I'm very white and will defer to others here.)

I'm gonna need some sources. I've seen the various accusations, but never evidence or anything that couldn't potentially be explained with context. (I don't actually take much issue with this point -- it's not a crime to think someone's annoying -- I just don't understand the constant vilification of Taika.)

"REAL gay piracy," lol. I can't say much about Black Sails since I haven't watched it (tbh it doesn't sound like something I'd be able to enjoy), but I haven't seen that much seriousness in the OFMD fandom. Do I have all of the annoying crewmates blocked? Do y'all feel like you have a lot to prove? I personally only became invested in this poll when I saw the death threats from Stucky folks, and my impression from my timeline is that most everyone else was in the same boat.

If you ARE taking these polls to heart, please don't! They're for fun (sometimes petty) fandom drama! Win or lose, we all love our ships and our communities and we really don't need to prove anything to anyone (I say, typing out a response to a thing that got under my skin, resolutely not touching grass).

THIS is where I had to start typing. WHAT DOES IT MEAN. How is a show with multiple canon queer couples gaybaiting? Isn't "canon gaybait" an oxymoron, or has the meaning changed? (I'm old, genuinely lmk if my millennial ass is missing something.) Again, I can only assume that OP either hasn't watched OFMD or hates fun romcoms, because the gayness of it all isn't the only thing the show has to offer. My brainworms have better taste than that.

It's some of the best gay rep I've ever seen and I would be delighted to see better! I mean it! I've been in queer circles for almost two decades and in fandom even longer; OFMD is some of the best, kindest, most loving, genuine representation I've come across in that time. I truly hope that it's just the beginning of a new era in media.

"Weak fandom output." I am *drowning* in fandom output and I love that for me! "Driest gay kiss." I'm sorry you don't like awkward middle-aged men who think they're unlovable coming together in what might very well be the first loving kiss either of them has ever had, but I think it's very sweet and moving! No fictional characters have ever owned my brain like this before! I love my silly traumatized queer pirates who can't communicate to save themselves. They're very beautiful to me.

Anyway, that's enough of that. I've released the pettiness and I'm going to go back to being annoying about seeing the lads again in just a few more days. <3

[wheredidmyfacego]

So I want to talk about the senate hearing today. I only just watched some highlights, but here's my thoughts anyway.

Actually, I just looked up who the people are who testified and that does temper some of my excitement. Still!

So this was an interview with some whistle blowers who supposedly have first hand knowledge of much of what's been going on in the background. Which really means, these are just some guys making claims. But apparently they're credible enough to get an 8 hour televised senate committee hearing, so I'm going to continue talking about this as though everything they said is true.

I think the most important piece of this is the timeline. Apparently government officials have had knowledge of non-human intelligence since the 30's. There has also been communication with these other lifeforms, not sure if that had a stated start date. Which follows that for at least the past almost 100 years, these lifeforms have been here but staying quiet and hidden. Most likely as some sort of agreement with the officials they've been in contact with.

One thing I thought was interesting was the reluctance to say "extra terrestrial". You could easily chock it up to a scientist not wanting to say without significant evidence, but maybe he has reason to suspect they are in fact terrestrial. With that idea, my mind goes to squids. Super intelligent deep sea squids who have been outpacing humans in technological development.

The other most likely scenario would be if they were from somewhere else in our solar system. The best candidate for that is Europa, the ice moon of Jupiter. Which, if they do have life, is most likely aquatic in nature which kind of still says squids.

The least likely scenario that still has some precedent behind it is that the beings are from Planet X. A "planet" which is as of yet unconfirmed to exist. This being true would lend a lot of credibility to the emerald tablets.

The final possibility is of course outside our solar system. That being true would completely change our understanding of the universe. It also is near impossible to say anything of merit about possible motives.

Here's what I think about those possibilities. I'm going to try to explain why they're here and hanging around as well as why they've agreed to keep quiet for so long. As far as why the human officials want to keep them hidden, the two obvious reasons are preventing public hysteria and getting special access to some limited resource. But really, humans are inherently irrational creatures and do stupid things pretty much constantly. Me included. Anyway.

First, Earth Squids. This is actually the easiest to explain. They also want to explore the universe. The crafts we are finding is them doing tests and trying to create a ship that can traverse outer space, and they're much closer than we are. They would rather not work with humans because we would slow them down and we're fighting all the time. That and our extremely different anatomies make it difficult to develop a craft we could share. That or they don't want to be nuked.

Next up I'll bring up the Anunnaki. Because, again, if that's real, then The Emerald Tablets are very likely to have a good amount of truth to them. They would probably be here with their tail between their legs a bit given the massive failures depicted. Scoping things out and trying to make things better all this time later. They wouldn't want to get too involved for fear of re-fucking things up. It would also make sense with the timeline because they apparently live 100s of Earth years.

The Europan Space Squids are probably the most difficult to theorize on. It would make sense to want to explore the only other place in the solar system with life on it. There are many little reasons to keep quiet, nothing big enough to be obvious enough to state here, at least for what I can think of. Though, if they are actually squids, that changes things significantly. They could not care about humans and being putting their efforts into connecting and possibly rescuing their brethren in the oceans. Or maybe Earth squids are actually from Europa and have been here doing research. It also brings up a less accurate version of the emerald tablets with all that entails.

Those possibilities all have some degree of not fully being extra terrestrial. If they are truly foreign to our planet, the only explanation that really fits is that they're researching. That could mean in a Star Trek scientific way of just wanting to gather knowledge. Or it could be in a opposition way to determine the most efficient method of eradication. This also applies if the Europans are not squids.

Those are my ideas based on what I heard said today. Purely conjecture from a layman. I don't even know how much I believe in any of this, but it's great fun to think about. This is still the most official thing we've seen regarding the existence of non-human intelligent life. I'd love to see it, and now I see a possibility of it in my lifetime. I won't respond quickly but please let me know what you think. Especially if you're not human.

[outrunningthedark]

I don’t understand the buddie vs tarlos debate. I don’t care much for LS but regardless of why tim created tarlos, whether it was an alternative to buddie or not, more representation is always a good thing even if you (general you) don’t personally like the ship? again I don’t care about tarlos but I find it so hypocritical of some OG fans to claim buddie would be a great step toward better rep and then shit on tarlos, which is at the very least decent rep. even IF it was an alternative to buddie, more queer characters and relationships is something we should strive towards and not fight against or be bitter about. and yeah obviously tim caters to tarlos fans but I don’t see how that’s a bad thing, when showrunners are always catering to straight ships and audiences; even if it is fan service on some level, it’s still a good thing. also buddie happening or not won’t have anything to do with tarlos, it will happen if they decide they want it to happen, it’s not set in stone or tied to tarlos’ existence in any way, especially now that the shows don’t even do crossovers anymore and are mostly separate entities.

This is a message I can get behind.

I will never understand the excuse that one piece of queer rep somehow cancels out the wish for more or isn't "good enough" just because it's not what a viewer wanted to see. Nobody has to like LS or Tarlos, but to act as though they are "less than" based on how quickly they got together or what Tim does with their scenes...sounds like bitterness to me. - Sure, a lot of people enjoy a slow burn while watching a work of fiction, but plenty of couples IRL (regardless of gender and sexuality) go from 0 to 100 without thinking. Tarlos is an example of this while Buddie could/would be the opposite.

It's no different than people rooting for the Diaz parents to be homophobic because "We already saw what acceptance looks like through Carlos's story." (Most don't want the representation as much as they want the drama for fic purposes.) - It's one thing to be upset about (what feels like) fan service when it comes to Buddie scenes (because fandom doesn't know where the story is going or what to believe), but...Tim doing (mostly) right by the Tarlos fan base is a problem because...those fans get to be happy, and you're not? Is that it? Just because he's not eager to do what OG fandom is hoping for does not mean the viewers who have supported the canon m/m ship from day one should suffer alongside you. - Are a lot of Carlos's scenes intertwined with his partner? Yup. So are Karen's. So were David's. (So are Chimney's, for fuck's sake. But anyway...) You know what those characters have in common? They were/are recurring. Signed for less than a full season; sometimes way less depending on scheduling parameters. Carlos is being treated the same as the other two simply because it's what the contract dictates. Fewer opportunities for appearances means fewer opportunities to explore a character as an individual. That's how it goes. And, uh, just for argument's sake...if people are so opposed to Athena's career story lines...then surely Carlos The Cop is a less favorable option compared to The Boyfriend, yes? Rep is not good rep when you don't even want to consume the content. Ngl, I think a huge problem people have with Tarlos is knowing that they're (almost certainly) never going to split up unless something happens with one of the actors in the future. (The jealousy!) Being a recur means Rafael's main purpose is playing the significant other of a main. No Tarlos? Not as much of a reason to keep him around (sadly). Tarlos is presumably getting their happy ending (with some bumps in between). But with Buddie... What's the "ending"? Will it be happy?

[amazing-spiderling]

What’s some of your favorite characters to write and what’s some of your least favorite?

Friendo, please know that I have been staring at this ask in my inbox for a while and always going "HUH." because it feels like such a big question, sometimes I don't know how to answer it. skfdjs

I think, broadly, my favorite characters to write are going to be the ones who have some attribute I've managed to zero in on with some amount of personal understanding. It doesn't have to be a character I think is "just like me", (I don't know that I've felt that about many if any fictional characters) so much as one that I think I have one or two things in common with that I can focus on in a story. I guess the trick is remembering to focus on lots of aspects of their character so I don't reduce them to just that, though.

As for favorites...

From Metal Gear, I really liked writing from Otacon's POV. While he is brilliant and talented in his own right, in a lot of ways he is the best person to have an outside perspective on the crazy things that are happening in his world. Yes, he's an unparalleled engineer and hacker, but he's surrounded by genetically altered super soldiers pumped full of nanomachines, and it tends to put things in perspective. I think that's why Project Itoh chose to write the MGS4 novelization from his POV. Since I often feel like an observer around people who seem to lead more dramatic and interesting lives, I think I find it enjoyable to write stories with a "friendly outsider" perspective.

For Marvel... I think it's *easier* for me to write for Peter Parker, again, some similarities between us I feel I can tap into with ease, but I think its more *fun* to write Wade. He does get to have all the best banter, and if I want to write a joke that isn't actually that funny, well, then it's just that much more in character. I think I prefer writing Foggy to Matt, again, because of that "involved outsider" thing he has going on. He's emotionally involved in a lot of the goings on, even if he isn't in the middle of things (and then sometimes he is in the middle of things, but that's another issue). I also like writing Foggy in Earth-65 contexts because I think a lot of Murderdock comes from what he isn't saying. If we're inside his head and seeing the reasons behind his actions, some of the mystique is ruined. But if we are sitting on Foggy's shoulders, and only seeing the external (albeit, from someone who has a better understanding of Matt than most) we have to piece things together and make more inferences, and that gives me the chance to drop little breadcrumbs and easter eggs and I LIVE for that.

On the flip side, characters I've had little luck with... ugh. Hm. That's really tricky. I think I don't tend to write the characters I don't have fun with, life is too short. Sometimes it's required though, especially when I'm writing with a partner and we're splitting up the side characters, but even then... it can be fun to write characters I hate and go, UGH, THEY'RE AWFUL. (See: Huey from MGSV)

I guess the most difficult would be characters like Elektra, not because I don't like her- but because I think that we haven't got much in the way of real, solid characterization and motivation for her that doesn't revolve around Matt Murdock. (Well, not counting the Elektra movie, so maybe I should just use that as her model from now on lol.) If I'm totally honest, I feel like a lot of the meta I read about Elektra is from people who have pinged some characteristic within her (like I have for my faves) that doesn't ping for me, so I don't find it relatable or interesting to explore. But I also don't want to throw her into a fic just to make her a bad guy so my ship can kiss, you know? And it's just... bleh, it's a lot of homework, so that's probably why I've avoided it. Does that make me a bad fan? Maybe. I never claimed to be a good one.

[stickthisbig]

Okay, so. I am finished with my name written next to yours, and I have things to say! I don't recommend continuing with this post if you haven't read it.

I basically started writing this story because I really loved Legacy of Dragons, and I came out of it wanting to do something with Egbert. I really like Merilwen/Egbert and think it's a super underrated ship, so this was the second? third? story about them I started. Especially as Egbert matures, the position of the two of them of the reluctant moral backbone of the group has real potential.

I have been mad at Dob for a while over Liliana and Katie and also Liliana and Katie. I'm at a phase in my life where I have no time at all for villain fucking, and I can't interpret what Dob did to Katie as anything but hideously sad.

(I'm under the understanding that something happened with Liliana this season but. I'm behind because I've been spending all my time writing this story.)

So what happens to Dob here is not punitive; it is a gift. Would that someone could rewrite it like that for me, bestow the freedom that comes from not falling in love with everyone. I can't have that, but at least I can give it to Dob, because I get really furious at fictional characters whose ills I relate to.

It's a Prudence/Corazon story because OTP, motherfuckers. Competence Kink Corazon for life.

This story is also my love letter to a kind of fanwork that I think is fading out? I thought repeatedly that this is the story I'd have written in 2004- big, broad story beats, lots of movement and action, huge set pieces, really ridiculous payoffs- only unlike in 2004, I'm actually a pretty good writer? The whole climactic fight sequence is something drawn straight off of the kind of fic that would have done numbers on the Pit of Voles back in the day. The difference is that I deliberately set it up and built in the emotional scaffolding, instead of it being omg so random. Most of the chapters end with travel, because it's meant to evoke the breathlessness of that kind of writing, pulpy and serialized, with something always coming.

I feel like fandom is less and less interested in that kind of thing, with an introspective turn towards smaller stories, even if they're not shorter. Also most of those big stories weren't actually good, because if you don't do the work, you get something unreadable.

For all of those reasons, I think it's the thing I've written that's most like a season of the show. That's not a thing I've been very interested in in OxBitD, and my longest Oxventures story is about breaking up the band.

So yeah, pretty proud of it tbh. I think for the most part, it lands pretty well. I took some risks, but I think they paid off. I do have one last thing which was cut out because of pacing, so that may show up in the coming weeks. For now, a break.

(That's a lie. I started writing Edvard/Zillah/Kasimir on my phone this morning.)

[fmafan1111]

I've been thinking about the tattoo a lot, and Berthold's thought process behind the design.

The Sun and the twin snakes represent Roy and Riza; The Red King and the White Queen. There's an intersection of these figures on the tattoo itself, representing the 'Joining of the Red Kind and the White Queen', or the 'Chemical Marriage'.

The Chemical marriage is considered to be one of the most powerful unions in alchemy, producing what is sometimes interpreted as the Philosophers Stone. But I don't think Berthold meant that. He considers flame alchemy to be the most powerful alchemy to exist, so I think he meant it more as 'my daughter has the instructions and my student has the skill, and through their union, the most powerful alchemy will be produced'.

He was shipping his daughter and his student from *at least* just before he designed the tattoo. I believe Berthold was trying to mold Roy not only as his student, but also as a suitable partner for his daughter (total head canon). And he was banking on this so hard, he made it foundational to understanding the tattoo.

Berthold trusted Riza with this knowledge, and trusted her judgement on whether to share flame alchemy with Roy. But I believe that his intention was always to have Riza be a barrier for Roy's character. A barrier that was surpassed much easier than I think Berthold ever intended.

The Chemical Marriage of the Red King and White Queen is often depicted as a courtship, with flowers being exchanged. I believe that when Berthold tattooed Riza, the idea was that Roy would only gain access to this if Riza showed him her body in an intimate context. In Berthold's mind, Roy would have to prove himself as a good enough person for Riza to want to be his partner; She would come to know him, understand him, trust him, respect him, love him, and (assuming Berthold and Amestris culture believed in s*x only after marriage (I have no evidence for this)) marry him.

However, this isn't what happened. Berthold was the reason his own plan was flawed from the beginning. With Berthold's neglect, I don't think he instilled her with a very solid foundation for how someone treats you when they care about you, or a very good example of a good man. Not saying Roy ever treated her or neglected her like her father did, but Riza was probably more sensitive to attention and affection since she was raised with little of either.

Berthold felt so betrayed by Roy joining the military because he had already made the tattoo, he already planned for Roy to be a good enough man for his daughter, and now Roy wasn't, by his standards. But since he had already tattooed Riza, it was out of his hands. He failed at sculpting Roy as much as he failed to care for his daughter.

As far as I remember, Riza showed Roy the tattoo shortly after Berthold's death. My interpretation is that it *was* in an intimate context, but I have a hard time believing courtship was a factor. Both Roy and Riza must've been grieving following Berthold's death, with mixed and confusing emotions involved as well (Riza being neglected and Roy being rejected by Berthold). They were familiar enough with each other, they were vulnerable, and they were both dealing with mixed feelings; they hooked up.

Roy's worthiness to learn flame alchemy wasn't tested by Riza, a responsibility she never asked for. There was no courtship to gain access to the most powerful alchemy in existence, a plan she never agreed to (or fully understood, I imagine). Yet, After the destruction wrought by Roy in Ishval, she nevertheless felt guilty and ashamed for never *being* the barrier her father intended her to be.

So, if this is all true, it makes Berthold's relationship with Riza and the tattoo even more uncomfortable, and he ultimately saw her first as a piece in a plan, a tool, rather than his daughter, a person.

think Arakawa has chosen to make Riza the bearer of the flame alchemy tattoo and have her not know any alchemy (unless I'm forgetting something)? On that subject, how would you describe and judge Riza's relationship with her father? What do you make of him giving her the tattoo but not the actual knowledge? Regarding Roy's relationship with Madame Christmas and his worldviews, how and when do you think he decided to join the army? Was it his 'own' decision, perhaps influenced by someone, or *2*

Continuing from this post. I’m answering question #2 here. See my blog tomorrow for the answer to #3.

Question 1: Why did Arakawa choose to make Riza the bearer of the flame alchemy tattoo and have her not know any alchemy?

Question 2: How would you describe and judge Riza’s relationship with her father? What do you think of him giving her the tattoo but not the actual knowledge?

Question 3: Regarding Roy’s relationship with Madame Christmas and his worldviews, how and when do you think he decided to join the army? Was it his ‘own’ decision, perhaps influenced by someone, do you think Madame Christmas raised him with that in mind / influenced him heavily?

Riza’s relationship with her father, and why he gave her the tattoo but not knowledge of Flame Alchemy.

It’s a complicated relationship between Riza and Berthold, especially if we’re taking material from To the Promised Day in addition to the manga and 2009 anime. I’ve seen fans give different interpretations for the dynamics between these two, and I’ve got my own perspective… that frankly makes my skin crawl. The three characters that make my skin crawl the most in FMA are Shou Tucker, Solf J. Kimblee… and Berthold Hawkeye.

Things that have been confirmed to us about their relationship, from various canonical resources:

Riza’s father didn’t talk to her. He was so engrossed in alchemy that he didn’t take care of himself or see to his daughter’s emotional needs. Riza thought he wasn’t interested in her and she blamed herself for the wall between them.

Riza was afraid of her father in part because he was so passionate in his alchemical studies. The fiery look in his eye was disconcerting when he delved deep into his studies. At the same time, she still was influenced by his alchemy and his beliefs. Riza talks about equivalent exchange, so she obviously learned some about alchemy. She also saw what he could do and wanted to believe that alchemy could be used to improve her country. So even though she was scared of her father’s fervent alchemical pursuits, she also through her father learned to respect and believe in the power of alchemy for good, too.

The biggest ideological difference we see between Riza and Berthold is their stance on the military. Riza respects the military and thinks it can help the citizens for the good. Berthold is wary of the military. He refuses to show Mustang Flame Alchemy because Roy chose to become a soldier. You could speculate that maybe this plays into Berthold not teaching Riza to do Flame Alchemy. But I have a bigger idea, which I’ll get to after my other points.

Riza and Berthold didn’t actively hate each other. Berthold dies asking Mustang to look after his daughter, regretting he didn’t spend time to show her his love. Riza on her own part admits to Edward that she wishes her father were still alive so she could get some reconciliation and closure for her relationship with Berthold. Frankly, the Hawkeye family relationship sings VERY closely to what I’ve seen of abusive irl parental relationships. The parent can love their child and want the best for their child… and still make choices that legitimately cause their kid to suffer. Their child can suffer, and acknowledge that their parent treated them poorly… while still hold some attachment because, “Well, he’s imperfect, but he’s still my father.” It doesn’t excuse Berthold’s lack of attention to his daughter - his neglect - and his actions that made her afraid of him - but it means that there was a complicated dynamic to how they felt about each other.

Berthold trusts Riza with the tattoo. He tells Roy, as he’s dying, “All the notes from my research are held by my daughter. If you promise to use your alchemy with the right intentions, she will let you have it all.” This seems to imply that Berthold trusts Riza would properly judge the character of an alchemist like Roy. And that, through her smart judgment of character and conscience, she’d know whether or not they were “worthy” of being shown Flame Alchemy. Arakawa confirms this outright in the third guidebook.

Riza seems to make a comment, from what I can tell in To the Promised Day, that she didn’t think her father tattooing her was all bad; the tattoo was at least a reason for her and her father not to be completely estranged and closed off.

Berthold tells Mustang (when Roy’s 20 and Riza’s 16) that he completed his research years ago. This very well could mean that he tattooed Riza years ago… when she was a teenager, little more than a child.

With those observations given…

There’s no way that Berthold could have healthily tattooed his daughter.

First off, there’s too much indication of the relationship being… uncomfortable, neglectful, you could call it abusive. Riza being afraid of her father, blaming herself for their distance, being okay with something as dramatic as a tattoo just to be with him a little bit, and especially thinking he didn’t love her… all those are MAJOR red flags.

There are debates I’ve seen in fandom regarding whether or not Riza gave consent for the back tattoo. Honestly, that doesn’t matter, because any possibility is a bad one. He did something uncomfortably terrible even if Berthold didn’t pressure, manipulate, trick, or force her into it. Even if Riza gave direct consent for Berthold to tattoo her back, you’ve got to consider:

This is a lonely girl who wants time with her father. She wants her father to love her. There’s some emotionally questionable reasons for why she might agree to this tattoo. Even moreso, Riza is a child. The MAXIMUM age she could have been was sixteen when the tattoo happened. It’s likely she was younger. Berthold says, “I completed my research years ago” in the English manga and “long, long ago” in FMAB English subs… which means it probably wasn’t in the last two years he finished his alchemy work. That might mean he tattooed her years ago, too, nearer to when he first finished his research. 

Which would have made Riza what? Thirteen?? Twelve????

Regardless: too young.

Sure, maybe the girl happily said, “Sure, that’s okay! I’ll have the tattoo!” Maybe she thought it wasn’t a bad thing at all at the time. But… this is a child. A child. It’s grossly irresponsible at best and deceitful at worst to put a child in this position. By tattooing Riza, Berthold fated a child to carry around an enormous, dangerous, threatening, burdensome secret on her back for her entire life. Even if Berthold tried explaining (which he seems to have done some of, given Riza discusses his motivations at his gravestone), this teen girl wouldn’t understand the full weight she’d have to bear! You’re pulling a child into a horrible burden for the rest of her life, when she’s still too young to understand everything about it.

Yikes.

Note this is an alchemical secret that’s made Berthold - the grown adult who’s the founder of this very alchemy - uncomfortable at times. He says his alchemical technique “is the greatest and most powerful form of alchemy,” and refused to write it down on paper because “he couldn’t risk the destruction of his life’s work or have it fall into the wrong hands.” And if you look at the text of Riza’s tattoo (which can more or less be read in the manga if you squint), it appears to be “Libera Me,” and that says a LOT about what Berthold would have been thinking about his own research.

The meaning of “Libera Me” in English?

Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal on that fearful day,When the heavens and the earth shall be moved,When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

I am made to tremble, and I fear, till the judgment be upon us, and the coming wrath,When the heavens and the earth shall be moved. That day, day of wrath, calamity and misery, day of great and exceeding bitterness,

When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord: and let light perpetual shine upon them.

As uncomfortably prophetic as this is to Roy and Riza’s future with Flame Alchemy and Ishval, this is text that Berthold himself would have used and applied first. This shows Berthold is fully aware of how dangerous this alchemy can be. It also suggests he feels fear and guilt for what he’s created. It almost sounds like he’s regretful he researched this at all.

And he still went and put this on his daughter, permanently. He couldn’t just bear his own sin. He made his little girl bear his responsibility and sense of guilt forever. He did this with some sort of conscience, it seems, but… still. The only way I can see to look at this is “yikes.”

It’s a weird relationship. It’s a father estranged from his daughter under the same roof. It’s a man who feels he loves his daughter but never goes around to share that love. It’s a daughter who thinks her father doesn’t like her but wishes she could have his love. It’s a man who thinks his daughter has a good heart and can be trusted with his greatest secrets, but makes her guard his secrets in a fucked up tattoo choice. He puts her in a potentially dangerous position that will - inevitably - cause her struggles and pain. It’s a clash of comprehensible but poorly executed human intentions.

So why didn’t he just teach Riza this alchemy? If he entrusted her with the secret and tattooed it on her back for her “guarding” that’s so messed up, then why couldn’t he have just TOLD her about it?

Well, she would have been a kid, very young. Her maximum age for learning any of this, given the year of his death, was sixteen. And as much as the Elrics are advanced in alchemy before this age, I suspect that in Amestris, it was more common to start learning alchemy your teenaged years, after you’ve gotten a good science education at school and need to begin thinking about a career. Riza’s a little young yet to be learning complex alchemy. And even if Riza could have understood at that young age, she’s still not mature enough to necessarily handle all the implications of this dangerous knowledge. Showing your daughter the actual knowledge of Flame Alchemy wouldn’t have been a good idea. Not that being a paranoid bastard (UNLIKE OTHER NORMAL PARANOID ALCHEMISTS WHO WROTE CODED RESEARCH NOTES) tattooing your daughter is a GOOD idea, either.

Berthold’s caution for others learning his dangerous alchemy also could have gone into his reasoning for tattooing it, but not teaching her how to decode it. He’s got it recorded in a “safe place” (ugh) where you have to strip a teenaged woman half-naked to know the information’s been recorded at all (see why I don’t like this guy) - but he’s also got an extra safety measure: she can’t tell you how to do the alchemy. Someone can’t come up and force her into telling you how it works. It’s another layer of precaution.

I also imagine that Berthold’s antics turned Riza off from pursuing alchemy. Maybe the girl occasionally thought to become an alchemist - it’d mean more time with Dad, after all. But since Berthold and Riza were so emotionally distanced, and Riza was afraid of her father’s alchemical research fervors… she probably wouldn’t have been too keen to study alchemy. Especially not THIS deeply, to the point that she would learn all the ins-and-outs of a new form of probably-pretty-complex alchemy. So yeah, he wouldn’t have just been able to tell her the knowledge.

The one idea Berthold and I agree on is that Flame Alchemy shouldn’t have ever been spread to the military because of its dangerous destructive capabilities. Berthold decides Roy isn’t ready to learn Flame Alchemy because Roy joined the military. In fact, he says it was a waste teaching the young man the basics of alchemy at all!!! Ouch. And yet the first thing Roy and Riza do after Berthold dies? Toss the Amestrian military Flame Alchemy. And what does the Amestrian military do with this? Genocide. Berthold… had a good point here.

So in short, I would agree with Berthold about not sharing the knowledge of Flame Alchemy with Roy or his daughter Riza. But I think it was a shoddy and disturbing move for Berthold to give Riza the tattoo - however that ended up happening. Lots of Berthold’s decisions regarding his daughter are from the mind of someone who perceives his daughter well, but doesn’t do well for her. At all.

[adaginy]

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] Part 4:

"Okay, if you understand me, then say something," the tech told Kiddo.

"I did not intend to trick you thank you for not leaving me behind please don't eat me," it said in a rush.

Well, the translation dock worked. Jana was sitting on the floor in eir quarters. The tech gave their version of a thumbs-up and departed. "Hon, I promise I won't eat you. I do not feel like I was tricked, just surprised, and that isn't a bad thing. Humans would never leave a child behind, okay?" Ey held out one hand, patting eir lap with the other. "Do you want to sit here? A human child would, I don't know how you roll."

Kiddo sat awkwardly.

"I'm going to tell you some stuff about humans, alright? You can interrupt me at any time if you have questions, or want to tell me how something is different for Peprine." Ey paused. "Actually, do you want -- I'd offer a human kid ice cream but I don't know if you can have that. Is there a food you only get to eat for special occasions? A treat?"

Kiddo's ears twisted back and forth. "One time at an education event we got to try alien foods and there was a human food called, um.. hohonut? I think? Do you know what that is?" "Coconut? A big piece of white stuff?" Kiddo nodded, so Jana looked it up in the kitchen catalog. They could grow them but they came whole, hull and all. Ey ordered it and a glass and a knife, and ordered a hammer and screwdriver from the engineering catalog.

"It'll take a little time and we're going to have fun getting it open. So. Humans. Um. Okay. A human family... Well, a TAOL unit is two, sometimes three bonded adults and any non-adult offspring related to them." TAOL units, traditional and/or legal units, were the galactic council's answer to every species having its own definition of family. And knowing what it entailed made this, talking about humans in an anthropological sort of way, a little easier. "It can get more complicated, but that's a standard unit. But a human TAOL unit doesn't break up just because the children grow up. Some humans pair up for life, and usually offspring will stay in contact with their parents, and their parents' other children, unless there's a reason not to. I still call my mom -- my mother, my female parent, human gender is different from Peprine, I'll explain it later, I gotta make sure the translation dock isn't going to be weird about it -- I still call her all the time. I don't talk to my father, my male parent. And I have a brother, another of my mother's offspring, who --" There was a thump and then a clanging as pods arrived from the kitchens and from engineering. Jana patted and then gently pushed Kiddo off eir lap, and retrieved their goodies. "The good stuff is inside. Usually when humans buy these on earth, this softer outside layer is already gone, so I don't know how to get it off. It'll be an experiment." Ey sat on the floor again, holding the coconut still with eir feet, and swung the claw end of the hammer into it before levering off what it caught. "That works. Okay, questions so far?"

"How are you DOING that?" "This would be heavy for you, eh? Humans are pretty strong for our size, comparatively, I guess. But swinging it like this makes it hit a lot harder, I couldn't push it in by myself, gravity is helping a lot."

Kiddo didn't look like it believed that.

"So, that's how human TAOL units work, but humans also do what we call 'found family', or what a lot of aliens call pack bonding? Have you heard of that? Sthani said you'd heard humans are friends with everyone." "Finding children is normal?" Jana laughed. "Well, not quite. It means sometimes we bond very tightly to... to friends, to people who have been good to us, to people we know need us," ey said pointedly. "But also that we get possessive of things, I guess. Like most ships with a lot of humans will find that the humans get angry if people push the cleaning robots around, things like that. Protective. It's sortof hard to explain, AS a human. To us, it's strange that other species don't do that." The outside hull was mostly off the coconut, and ey reached for the screwdriver and pounded it into one of the "eyes". "Maybe we'll ask Sthani to explain it from a Peprine standpoint." "That wasn't ALIVE was it?" Kiddo was so nauseated it looked like it would melt. "No, no no no. They just look like this. I promise you they aren't." Ey pulled the screwdriver out and pounded it into another eye. "It's a plant. Not an animal. These are just very, very big seeds, so you can see all the little details." Jana rested the punctured coconut over the cup so the water poured out of one of the holes, and stood up to find a towel. "I'm going to do a strong-human thing again. It's going to be loud but you don't need to be scared." Ey wrapped the coconut in the towel and BANG, BANG, BANG, whaled on it with the hammer. "I guess that's how it is a lot of the time. I understand why other species to be scared of us, but they don't need to be scared of us."

Ey unwrapped the coconut, now broken into pieces, and began to hand Kiddo a piece. "Oh, sorry, wait." Ey knifed out chunks, prying and cutting in a way Kiddo couldn't with only two out of eight fingers, to give to it. Ey took a swallow from the cup of coconut water, before offering that too.

"Maybe we're strong because so much earth food is like this. Or maybe it's like this because we're strong. I don't know. Sorry, Kiddo. I'm told we're loud and strong and reckless, we're very difficult to seriously injure... But... We're nice, too. ... On earth there was this old, um, like a holovid but not interactive? from before holovids were a thing. A 'movie', it tells a story about a little girl whose parents have both died, so she's being raised by her sister -- another one of her parents offspring. And the little girl accidentally befriends an alien, thinking it's an earth animal, and the alien is hiding from other aliens, a whole bunch of silly things happen. It's from before we'd met aliens at all, it's all fiction, fake. But the point is, one of the lines from this movie is 'Ohana' -- a word in the little girl's native language --."

Kiddo was staring while it chewed on the piece of coconut.

"Sorry this is getting so complicated. 'Ohana means family. Family means no-one gets left behind.' The movie had so much other stuff in it and that's what humans remember. If you tell a human 'Ohana means family,' they'll say 'Family means no-one gets left behind.' Even humans who haven't seen the movie, they'll have heard other humans say it. I think the whole line is 'no-one gets left behind or forgotten.'" Jana hurriedly tapped "Peprine ear fluid" into eir handheld. Answer: Kiddo was starting to cry. "You're okay, alright? Are you-- are you alright with all of this? If this is too much we can try to find another elder, if --" "No, no, don't leave me behind!" More ear fluid. "Okay. I won't. I won't. I don't want to. That's what I told them on that planet -- you're my kid now, we'll figure it out." Ey shook the bits of coconut shell out of the towel and offered it to Kiddo. "I have two, maybe three more things to talk about today, okay? They're things for you to think about, it's not anything that we have to deal with right now. One," ey held up a finger, "If you want, when you want, we can go talk to engineering-medical and see if they can make you some fake fingers. Humans do it all the time. One of my best friends growing up had a fake leg, it let her walk around and do almost anything someone with two real ones could do."

Kiddo hid its fingerless hand behind the fingers of its partly-fingered hand.

"Two, I think we have to register as a Peprine TAOL unit, but humans also have a method for making kids they aren't biologically related to part of their TAOL unit. So if or when you want, we can also register as a human TAOL unit, maybe after we figure out what that means." Kiddo rubbed its ears with the towel. "Third, when a human has children, then those children are also 'grandchildren' to the adult's parents. The kids call the adult's parents 'grandparents'. And some parents, like my mom, get really excited to be grandparents. So when you're ready, I can tell her she has a grandkid now, and she'll want to meet you or videocall you... and she'll probably buy you all sorts of stuff. Toys and books and treats, things like that." Kiddo's ears lifted (a smile), it understood that. "Oh, and if I accept them that makes her my grandparent?" Jana smiled at it. "Nah, she's your grandmother anyway. I guess she became your grandmother as soon as I said I was keeping you. But it's tradition for grandparents to buy that sort of stuff for the grandkids. It's about affection, not a transaction. And they love it. You're her first grandkid, she's going to go all-out. It's like... like having another Elder whose job isn't to take care of your body, but to try to make sure you're happy."

Wow. Some Elders had multiple kids, but a kid with multiple Elders was something else. "I.. I think I'll like that."

[Part 5]

[utilitycaster]

This is fully just a rant about some prevalent fandom ideas about love and relationships that I have lost patience with. I have put it under a cut, wholly untagged and unrebloggable, so if you clicked it and don't like it...you clicked it. Also this does have fairly vague and oblique spoilers, but still spoilers, for CR episode 3x34.

I will say: I find that the fanon depiction of Imogen and Laudna includes pretty much this whole list (vs other ships that have bits and pieces in the fanon but not the entirety thereof), which is why I absolutely cannot engage with it even as I enjoy many aspects of the canon. I will leave it at that.

Lifespan angst. I think it can be explored well in-game (Keyleth, notably, prior to getting together with Vax, as a woman in her early 20s with the knowledge that she is likely to live nearly two millennia) but I am just left ice-cold by out-of-story lifespan angst. People outlive their partners by decades in real life. It is a reality. It is not angst, it is simply a thing that happens to many, many couples.

And relatedly, the idea that life ends when someone you love dies: I spoke about this already re: Orym and have nothing further to add.

The whole love means never having to say you're sorry/no conflict thing; you do not want to be having screaming fights every day obviously but if you are two separate people with separate personalities there will be disagreements. In a healthy relationship, those disagreements are respectful; but they are still disagreements and there may be apologies involved. Also, sometimes people just get on each others' nerves and that does not mean they don't love each other.

The whole idea that love means understanding a person fully with no need for communication. It does not, and this is one of those things people use to claim their ship is justified because the characters Get Each Other even when the opposite is true, since it by default implies that characters who communicate more are less connected, and means that any single misunderstanding is fatal to a relationship.

The us-against-the-world mentality in which no one else understands in the same way. This one is like...I enjoy a depiction of a toxic relationship in media from time to time - usually not in actual play, but like, I have been known to watch HBO dramas, and also Gossip Girl (2007). But like, in general? This doesn't really have any staying power. It's so isolating and boring to have two characters with no connections to anyone but themselves. It's Tallahassee by The Mountain Goats. It works for a movie or a television season but it wears thin within like 3 episodes of a show like CR. There is a reason the Briarwoods are NPCs and not viewpoint characters, is all I'm saying, and also why they both die like 7 times each.

(The above is also prevalent in bad fanon of platonic relationships; people are so weird about the Mighty Nein parting ways and having their own lives and other connections, even though they are still close friends. Like, a lot of people seem to think found family means you threw the rest of your family out.)

Honestly I think I just hate the concept of there being One Single Soulmate Of All Time which is sort of the secret guiding thread behind most of these anyway. It's dumb and I hate it, which isn't really eloquent but like, what more is there to say. The idea that there is only one person in the world who can ever make you happy sounds grim and horrible to me, and yet it seems to be the driving force underlying so many ships in this fandom, and probably other fandoms, and idk I'm just too old and too pragmatic and have touched too much grass to find this anything but nauseating and stupid.

[chenziee]

On One Piece and talent

I've been thinking about this for a while but one thing I really really love about One Piece is the absolute, complete lack of talent and genius among the characters in the conventional sense of the words.

Don't get me wrong, they're all talented like crazy in their respective depratments but it's never the focus, never the main (or entire) defining part of their character. And more then that, they all worked their asses off to get where they are. And the all have flaws.

Is Luffy an amazing fighter with incredible charisma? Absolutely. He grew up on a mountain fighting tigers and boys 3 years older than him, training every day. He even had to train for 2 years to master his gift of Haoshoku haki and he's still learning. He is also stupid and an absolute dork.

Is Zoro a talented swordsman? Absolutely. He works his ass of every fucking day since he was like 8 or something. He is also stupid and has less then zero sense of direction.

Is Nami a genius navigator and cartographer? Absolutely. She studied navigation since she was a child and did nothing but draw maps for 10 years. She is also "a queen witch" with a money obsession (for obvious and understandable reasons).

Is Usopp a perfet shot? Absolutely. He practiced by himself since he was child. He also has major self-esteem issues.

Is Sanji a world-class, talented chef? Absolutely. He taught himself to cook, got training on a cruiser ship and then a lot more of intense training under Zeff and in Kamabakka. He is also incredibly weak to women.

I could go on with basically everyone.

The closest character to perfection I can think of is Lucci, but even then, the thing that's brought to our attention more than his talent is his ruthlessness and devotion to the world government. Him being a genius is mentioned basically in passing.

(There's also Oden who had been fucking people up since he was pretty much a kid but no one who talked about him cared about his talent. The important part that was brought to our attention the entire time we've known him was that he was completely incorrigible and a human calamity on Wano. He was always a considered a monster (kind of like Zoro is a demon) not a genius. Which is, somehow, both Oden's talent and his flaw.)

And to me, this particular part of One Piece is so so important. A lot--a vast majority, I dare say--of shonen manga/anime have at least one character that is a born genius who excels at everything and anything they do without really having to even try and whose talent is like 90% of their character, their only flaw being that they're too perfect to understand normal people. But Oda puts all the attention on the hard work that's behind the success, even with the ones who were "destined for greatness" -- we know that Lucci got rigorous training under CP9, even the genetically modified Vinsmokes got worked to the bone since they were toddlers. And all of them have flaws.

Actual flaws.

And I think characters like this are so important, inspiring and beautiful and I will forever thank Oda for appreciating characters for working hard to achieve their own dreams, with support from people who love them, instead of praising what was given to them at birth.

Disclaimer: this isn't by any means criticism on talented or gifted characters in media, they definitely have their place. This is simply me putting into words one of the most important aspects of One Piece to me, personally.