#I love whole cake island so much

[iclarye]

What is a home if not the first place you learn to run from?

WHOLE CAKE ISLAND ARC.

Anna Kamienska, A Nest of Quiet / Ocean Vuong, Night Sky with Exit Wounds / Sophocle’s Antigone, Adapted by Lewis Galantiere; From the play by Jean Anouil / Sophocles, Electra / Stephen Adly Guirgis, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot / Gillian Flynn, Sharp Objects / Charles Bukowski, Sweet / Janet Fitch, White Oleander / Fatima Aamer Bilal, I Mother It / Ross Gay, Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude

[landofartandcraft]

I don't know what happened but i reread whole cake Island and decided that Sanji needs hugs and kisses. From EVERYONE

[quakearts]

I love them sm

[allthatmay]

So, today my husband said, "Some people think Shanks is a radial leftist, but I think he's the most centrist character in the show. Dragon fills the role of the radial leftist/anarchist that people often attribute to Shanks."

And, huh, yeah. People do often talk about Shanks like he's an anarchist, but he's really not. I've always said that Shanks is a mediator, keeping a tentative peace between the pirate tribes and the government until the time comes wherein the One Piece can be claimed and the mysterious consequences can happen, but that means he is effectively playing the part of a centrist—straddling the fence, as it were. The key difference, I think, is that Shanks knows for certain that change is coming in the form of a rubber deity, and he is trying to guide it into place. All his work is done behind the scenes with very little violence if he can help it.

Now, it's easy to assume that Shanks' plans involve the complete dissolution of the government as it presently stands; that he is simply using his power & influence to mitigate harm for the many until the "real fight" can begin (and, with him having recently decided to chase the One Piece, now it has), but that might not be the case (and, even if it is the case, a lot of centrists use "mitigating harm for the many" as a reason not to take action against some truly heinous acts). The reality may be that Shanks doesn't see the need for the total collapse of the government, or perhaps he knows something about it that we don't (i.e. because he might be of Celestial Dragon blood). I don't really believe this is the case because, as far as I'm aware, Shanks hasn't ever shown any real support for the World Gov but he has shown, time and time again, that he believes in dreams, in people's personal willpower, and in the ability of anyone to become strong and change the future. But the truth is that we can't know his intentions for certain without Oda giving us more information, so my husband's assertion that Shanks is a centrist makes some sense.

In particular, Luffy is what makes this theory interesting: slap him in between Dragon and Shanks, and there's a very real dichotomy between the two "fathers" in his life. See, Luffy idolises Shanks and thinks of him similarly to a father, but he might realise as time goes on that he can't be like Shanks; he might realise that Shanks' ideals will only carry him so far. After all, what good is it to be a pacifistic when your enemy is a powerful government that is comfortable with mass murder?

(My rebuttal is that Luffy is the only one who can be like Shanks. He is effectively Shanks' dream: Shanks wants to be strong enough to do all the work himself, to suffer all the pain himself, and while he is one of the strongest men in the world, he simply can't do that; what he can do is only achievable through the support he has at his side. Meanwhile, Luffy has close support in his crew, and he has the Gum-Gum Fruit! He can literally become a godlike figure and shape the world around him! He can do everything that Shanks wants and needs and, as sure as I am that Shanks wishes he could have done it himself—I'm thinking back to his days with Roger here—he knows that it was never meant to be him.)

This is where Dragon comes in. Dragon, in direct contrast to Shanks, uses violence as a tool whenever he can. He's all about the greater good, for lack of a better term. His thinking is along the lines of, "People are suffering now and we can help, and we have no qualms in forcibly dismantling a government that uses slavery, genocide, and imprisonment to control its populace. We don't wait for the right time to act, we simply act." Do I think Shanks would approve of Dragon's goals? Yes. Do I think he would approve of Dragon's means in achieving those goals? No, but mostly because Shanks is very self-sacrificial and tries to take whatever suffering is necessary for change onto himself, relying only on his small, personal crew, whereas Dragon is happy to let other people martyr themselves for the rebel cause. He lets a small, amnesiac child join them, for crying out loud—something Shanks would never do, not even if the child proved very capable.

If anything is to come from this difference of ideals, I think it's that Luffy will learn from both of them and find his own way to the One Piece and into the world waiting beyond. Why? Well, because Luffy is all about freedom, and no one on the side of Dragon or Shanks is truly free. As for the world itself, it's hard to predict what will happen after Luffy's done with it because it's pretty dependent on Oda's philosophy. For instance, Oda seems to approve of monarchies, which is not something I would personally imagine remaining in a world without a governing body—but, hey, what do I know?

Of course, we all know that the true centrist in the show is undeniably Garp. He will let real, undeniable harm befall those he cares about in order to maintain the status quo, or to stop the government from toppling because [gasp] that would be the worst thing ever! He's a man who believes the government is essential and joins up in order to change it from the inside, only to fall short of his own expectations because he won't stand up when it matters most. Not even for the sake of his beloved grandson.

[chr13sakop]

Actually can’t get it out of my head that luffy wanted sanji to depend on him like sanji finally breaking down crying telling him what he really wants, that he does want to go back to the sunny and be with all of them, that he wants to save the vinsmokes even though they treated him like shit, admitting that he needs help and can’t do it alone. And that it was never a question for luffy, he was gonna help Sanji no matter what, Luffy telling Sanji that’s just how you are, he loves the way he is and he wants Sanji to know that. Sanji who can’t possibly fathom anyone would like him as he is. Believing he has to offer something to the table to be wanted, needed. Even in wano he wonders who does luffy want him to be. An emotionless soldier who gets the job done? Or a mere human with emotions who could possibly get distracted? Which version would be more useful to him? When in reality Sanji is already enough for Luffy, he doesn’t need to change and even if he did he’d still be enough. Luffy who can love Sanji like it’s breathing. Lusan are genuinely so made for one another it makes me sick, the parallel of a glutton and a cook, some who is selfish and someone who gives. Luffy who takes what he wants, Sanji who thinks about everyone but himself. Sanji who would have let himself die with the vinsmokes if it meant keeping his friends safe, Luffy who would have taken Sanji back by force if he really wanted to. Luffy who even if Sanji wasn’t a cook would still find value in Sanji.

anyway character who thinks they’re unlovable x character who loves them like breathing tropes literally have me on the floor. I love them so much

[shima-draws]

Watching an interview with Taz and Iñaki and Iñaki was like 'I wonder what happens on Whole Cake Island between me and Taz 👀' AND I'M SITTING HERE LIKE

[gatorgrumbles]

I wanted to draw something summery so I made the fire cracker boy himself

[sanjiaftersex]

I want to know more about your thoughts re: Judge and what he said about Sanji at the end of WCI, if that's something you're down to share?

anon when i tell you at judge's words, my first reaction was like

Ok anyway, i have a lot to say about it. Vinsmoke Judge is so wrapped up in the illusion of what success should look like that he is completely blind to the amazing person his child actually has become. Some parents want their kids to be a certain way SO BAD that they completely miss the fact that their kid turned out something even better than what they're hoping for. Sanji is actually a dream as a kid, his whole essence is raw devotion. He doesn't just love people,he worships them. He was so devoted to zeff, that he was ready to give up on his dreams of the All blue and work at the baratie for the rest of his life. He was so devoted to luffy he was ready to die for him in thriller bark. What im saying is that if only judge ever opened his mind to sanji and got over his definition of what type of success he wants for his children (being an emotionless killing machine in this case) he would see that he was blessed with the kindest purest kid that would love him with all his heart and soul.

And really maybe sanji and judge are an extreme representation of it, but this toxic parent-kid dynamic is actually very common in our society if you really think about it and that honestly breaks my heart so much.

[beanghostprincess]

Usually I'm not the biggest fan of memory loss AUs but the thought of Big Mom forcing/manipulating Pudding into erasing Sanji's memories of the crew and editing them to make him believe he wants to be a Vinsmoke... Luffy desperately trying to make him remember but Sanji genuinely not being able to even recognize Nami...

Sanji still maintains his heart and little traits of himself even if he believes he's part of that family. Even if he acts like them. Even if he has a different personality. His heart is still there, and Luffy knows. "Say you're Vinsmoke Sanji all you want, but I know the Strawhat's cook- My cook is still in there" Luffy is determined to make him come back. "I- I don't know who you're talking about" But Sanji is hesitating. And Luffy knows he's in there.

So, to summarize, thanks to the power of love (great logic Sanji's character always uses so I'm using it here too) Luffy manages to make Sanji remember without even needing Pudding because their romance can break any Devil Fruit's ability. Because souls and love are connected to memories and Luffy and Sanji's bond is enough to make them reconnect again.

[aimbutmiss]

I can't believe this bitch thought she was Katakuri's favourite lil sis...

when she exists.

[izuisabloodyalien]

First art post on tumblr yay :3

We're getting closer to the one piece live action just a few more days left, very excited. Out of all the strawhats, Sanji holds a very special place in my heart so in appreciation for him and in celebration of the one piece live action, have angst. I'm so normal about him.

Oh and expect me to be posting other fandom artworks and not just one piece :>

[mziroe]

pudding character analysis!

I'm not gonna lie right now, Charlotte Pudding is one of my favourite characters. I know, I know, she’s an antagonist. Sorta? Personally I think she falls under this dere type, mayadere. Basically it’s a character that used to be an antagonist, but switched sides after falling in love.

I don’t know, I just love when teenage girls behave like teenage girls. One of the reasons why I enjoyed her character was honestly because of our closeness in ages. I was the same age as her while i was watching whole cake island, which is 16 if you didn’t know. It honestly just felt like she represented all of teenage girlhood or at least my experiences with it.

I will be honest first though, I went into WCI knowing that Pudding was lying throughout the whole time she was nice (it is difficult to keep away from spoilers i suppose). I was prepared to hate her, truly I was. I was surprised though, when slowly I started to identify with her more and more. Honestly, I couldn't help but fall in love at first sight, despite knowing of her lies and deception. A child of an Emperor, how could she be so sweet to the strawhats?

Of course then her true nature was revealed when she shot Reiju, and started telling her about how evil she truly is.of course this is the part i begin to dislike her, the way she spoke about Sanji broke my heart, especially with him standing outside. (i also loved the scene of him under the rain, tears in his eyes as he tries to light his cigarette again. Trying to revive the flames of the love he thought she had for him, only to realise it was futile as she didn’t love him in the first place, y’know, cause the fire can’t be lit under the rain.)

But after this line in chapter 902, ‘No one will ever fall in love with me. I’m a hideous, monstrous freak.’ It was heartbreaking to me because it was a realisation that everything she said about Sanji was a reflection of how she felt about herself. It’s common for a girl like Pudding, who’s been told time and time again that she was hideous and horrifyingly ugly because of her third eye to have a coping mechanism, especially one of projecting. 

See, Pudding is an extremely confused girl. I cannot blame her for it, look who she has as a mother, Big Mom. She calls herself Big Mom’s favourite (if i can find the screenshot i’ll put it here) yet ever since young she was ridiculed and put down by her because of her third eye, even asking her to grow out her bangs to cover it up. This is detrimental for a girl’s self-esteem, especially coming from a mother figure, someone you are supposed to look up to and respect. See how she is being both put down (Big Mom says no one will love her because of her looks) and complimented (yet she is her favourite child) at the same time? Any little girl will become like Pudding when put through this psychological turmoil.

It is no wonder all she does is want to impress her mother, seeking her validation and love in every corner. Pudding has it drilled in her mind that she is unlovable, what else can she do but chase after that sliver of what seemed like love from her mother by lying by becoming rude and basically being a bitch? She will never get it from her mother though, with Big Mom merely seeing her as an important tool as with her awakened ability, she is able to read poneglyphs. (this is just a personal thought but i think her learning how to act and lie flawlessly is to be favoured by her mother as she has yet to awaken her ability. If she does not have any ability at all, why should her mother ‘love’ her?) It's a complicated emotion, to both love someone yet dislike them for how they’ve treated you, especially if they are of your own blood.

Thus these two main reasons cause her to spiral out of control. Pudding had lost herself, in all the intricate lies and personas that she plays, to the point she doesn’t know who she is anymore. This is honestly really common, especially in teenage girls, or maybe I've seen it with myself. Painting yourself in a different light because you hate who you are due to your flaws, in hopes that it will make you feel better. In doing so, you lose yourself entirely, forgetting who you even are.

Even when she switches over to the strawhat’s side she is seen to have this extreme shift in character, from being mean to Sanji then to being absolutely lovestruck by him. This is the most glaring evidence of how messed up she had become from her mother’s brainwashing. She questions herself, why does she even say mean things to someone she feels so dearly towards? It has integrated so well to her personality that she is unable to switch back to whatever she considers her true persona– the ‘mean’, the ‘sweet’ and the ‘vulnerable’ all mixed up in one person. Anyways, Pudding was honestly a refreshing yet realistic character I was able to relate to. The small faucets of her personality, the motivations behind her character was very eye opening to read. In learning about her, I felt I was learning more about myself, so to speak.

Pudding is a character riddled with self-esteem and self-image problems that stem from an unhealthy relationship with her mother and bullying. To combat that, she becomes rude and ‘evil’ to earn her mother’s praise as well as protect her heart in some sense. It is a story that most girls can relate to, the real life ups and downs of complex teenage feelings all rolled into one character. That is exactly why I love her, because she represents the honest troubles of growing up.

[clownhunterbebop]

The fun thing about watching One Piece is that after a whole year of hard work binge watching, I’ve finally caught up to all the fanfiction I read back in January

[theclearblue]

Is it bad that I feel personally victimised by WCI or am I just being dramatic?

I don't think so anon, I think the themes of family in WCI are some of the most personal and nuanced Oda has ever done and while tragic in so many ways, I think results in the best way of conveying how powerful found family is but also how someone can have complicated feelings towards their blood family.

Throughout all of One Piece, you can see this through line of found family and how blood relations isn't what matters in who you consider family (The ASL brothers, Bellemere and Nojiko for Nami, Kuina for Zoro, Zeff for Sanji, Saul for Robin, Tom and Iceburg for Franky, and while not a strawhat, Corazon and Law deeply affected me as well). This is obviously a trope Oda has liked writing for a long time and one he does well, but (with somewhat the exception of Marineford/Post-War arc with Whitebeard and Ace), WCI is the first time he really dives into these themes of what family is, and what I really appreciated, how messy it can be.

(I uhhh wrote a lot after the cut so be prepared for that)

And it's not just Sanji in this arc (I'll get to him though don't worry), from Germa, from the Big Mom Pirates, and the Firetank Pirates, so many characters are acting as narrative foils to Sanji and dealing with family related trauma, and responding to it differently. The ones that really got me were Pudding and Katakuri though, and they're pretty similar to each other as well. I've talked a little bit about Pudding already here so I'll talk a bit more about Katakuri instead, but it hit me really hard when he made a temple for himself, and he lets the rumors fly about "his back has never touched the ground, he's praying to a god of war, no one has seen him eat" and it's just. Him laying on his back, eating donuts happily. And the scene is kind of silly and funny right, but I kid you not my New Year's resolution this year was to just, try to be more comfortable in my living room/kitchen without thinking everyone is going to judge me for, what? Eating? Watching a show I like? Completely normal things, but if you've ever grown up in a house where just, EVERYTHING you do is picked apart and criticized by family, it's easier to just shut yourself away in a room and hide it. And isn't that tragic? Katakuri projecting this image of strength that his family asks of him so much that he feels he has to hide completely normal things like lying down and eating? I could go even deeper into this character but this is just one example of a character's complicated relationship with his family, where he hides so much of himself for them, but also it stemming from a place of love after what happened to Brulee when they were kids.

And now to talk about Sanji. Ohhhh where do I even start with this guy. As kind of a sidenote, if you've seen any of my posts from Thriller Bark through Punk Hazard, I was really struggling to like Sanji as a character and I didn't make that a secret. Which was upsetting to me because, from Baratie-Enies Lobby (and really good moments at the end of Thriller Bark and Saoboady) he was a favorite of mine! And at times I thought his character was done pretty dirty where he was stripped down to a singular gag and Oda leaned into it way way way too hard. But it's immensely satisfying to me to see all the little seeds Oda planted for so many years come to fruition in Zou and WCI, to the point I think he's turned from being the most one note strawhat to the most nuanced and layered in the span of a singular saga. And that was incredible to see.

I think what really captivated me about Sanji from the beginning were how strong and rigid his convictions are, and that even though he's kind of a rude brat (I say that with love lol), he's so undeniably kind, even to a fault. And with his first backstory we see how a lot of his rigid rules he's made for himself come from, it's from Zeff. He doesn't hit women, he'll feed anyone who's hungry no matter what, and he learns to fight to protect people he cares about, but he isn't really a fighter in the same way Luffy and Zoro are, and that's made clear in his desire to protect his hands in a fight so that he can do what he really loves, and that's to cook. A lot of what makes Sanji who he is today is shown here, but Oda was smart in showing aspects of Sanji that clearly don't stem from Zeff without telling the audience why for the longest time.

He shares the dream of the All Blue with Zeff, but where did it come from? Zeff is kind of similar where he has this hard exterior but underneath is kind as well, but it's taken to another level with Sanji where it becomes self sacrificial. Throwing himself down the mountain on Drum Island, taking the lightning bolts from Enel for Nami and Usopp on Skypeia, boarding the water train alone to try and get to Robin, and most prominently, at least for me, him trying to take Luffy's pain at the end of Thriller Bark instead of Zoro, where he very clearly places more value on Zoro's dream and life than his own. That was the moment to me that made me really realize he does not see value in himself, unless he's providing something he deems useful. And if the situation calls for it, he'll throw his life and dream away if that makes him "useful" not realizing that the crew don't see him as this dispensable thing like he sees himself.

And all of Sanji's strengths and flaws as a character just come to make this perfect storm and mess that is Whole Cake Island. And the kindness that is Sanji's most definitive trait is so clearly not in this family, at least not seen at first. His brothers are made to have no zero empathy and beat down on him constantly, verbally and physically, and Judge just watches and doesn't care, eventually just hides Sanji in a cell and pretends he's dead. Because he was physically weaker and human. And yet he continues to cook because he loves doing it, he remembers his mother's kindness, and his dream of the all blue is formed in a small dark room and just. This got to me big time. Not to get too personal but the set of expectations put onto Sanji by his family, ones he can never live up to and finding passion in something his family finds to be worthless and a waste of time. Finding an escape in books and finding his dream there even though everything around him is hell. Slowly realizing the extent of cruelty that his father will go to as he grows up. Very unfortunately for me this might be the most relatable character I have ever come across in regards to my own experiences. I'm someone to voice my thoughts on things even if nobody else cares (hence why I've been liveblogging on here since Drum Island I think lmao) but while watching Sanji's backstory it affected me like nothing else ever has. It's not even something that made me cry really, I was just in shock after watching it for awhile. And Reiju saying to Sanji, "There are people out there who will accept you for who you are, you need to get out of here" which is so similar to what Saul said to Robin and even similar to what one of my sisters said to me growing up. Yeah. I also felt personally victimized by Whole Cake Island lmao.

But the end result of Sanji's arc is so beautiful and amazing. Sanji putting on this act of looking down on Luffy, and once again trying to sacrifice himself to protect those that he cares about, but Luffy just cuts through the bullshit because he knows that isn't really Sanji talking in that fight. Luffy's speech as Sanji is being driven away where he says that he can't become the pirate king without him by his side. This isn't an original thought but Sanji and Zoro both kind of represent different aspects of Luffy's dreams. Zoro with a seemingly impossible ideal and putting 100% of yourself into it. "I will become the greatest swordsman." "I will become the pirate king." But Sanji's dream of finding the All Blue reflects Luffy's dream of finding the One Piece. They both don't know if either of those things are even real (the audience at this point knows the one piece is real, but to my knowledge and where I'm at, Luffy doesn't). Yet there's this childlike wonder they both have about these dreams, because, what if it is real? Luffy knows that Sanji is irreplaceable because of the ideals that they share, not because of what Sanji can provide or be "useful" as.

It takes so much for Sanji to go running back to Luffy, and even when he does, he obviously gets insecure again and starts listing off reasons why he isn't worthy enough to go back to the Sunny and to the crew. And God is it satisfying to see Luffy absolutely rock his shit for saying that and asking him to just SAY what he really wants. And Sanji breaking down and saying how much he misses the Sunny and the crew and also airing out how he feels backed into a corner and doesn't know the way out, that he wants to help his family even though he doesn't consider them family and he KNOWS it doesn't make sense, he is being kind to a fault again. But Luffy smiling at him and saying "Well, that's just how you are. Let's go crash the wedding." That's when I started sobbing lmao, because there is such unconditional love and kindness in that statement that Sanji has so desperately needed ever since his mother died. Someone who just accepts him and all his faults wholeheartedly, and is that not the most beautiful representation of family??? His relationship with his blood family is so messy and complicated and full of mixed feelings(and that's very common), but his feelings about Zeff and Luffy and the rest of the strawhats are so clearly full of adoration and unconditional love for them, and they feel that same love for him as well! How lucky all of them are where they found their people, and how everyone else in this world has that opportunity to find the space and people they truly belong to, not tied down by blood. Whole Cake Island's themes on family were so well done and also fundamentally changed me as a person I think.

[doctorwormcore]

What i think i love the most about the live action is just how much love there is? Yeah its different from the anime, but honestly....kinda better. I love how kind they all are, the strawhats clearly just love each other already, their own little family

[69demonicfarmers]

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