#I’m waving knives at people who think this could be a ship thing btw

[jankwritten]

Something something I’m having thoughts abt Percy “you are not the hero” Jackson and Luke “cursed son” Castellan and how they trained each other to be the perfect end to their intertwined fate…..

[chromatic-lamina]

intrigue—chapter 1017 spoilers

Okay, we all know the most important frame of the whole chapter is the one below.

Oda’s really kinda giving everyone a little bit of time in the sun or submersible. Though I’m not sure who the guy on the right is (like, I don’t have a nickname for him). But Ikkaku and Jean Bart have been featuring quite prominently in the few frames afforded the Hearts (and we’ve been seeing a fair-ish bit of Bepo and co in the fighting as well).

I was hoping to see how they actually rescued him, cos subs can do repairs and all underwater, but it’s quite a process from what I’ve read, I think. Plus, it would really depend on how far below you were. 

Guessing Luff hadn’t  sunk that deep, BUT that’s where Ikkaku shifts into Narwhal form, cos those whales can really dive! Fingers crossed there’s anime filler. What’s Luff got in his hand, btw? If anything.

I’m gonna pop in the link to my meta about the Polar Tang and this arc, because I think it’s relevant. 

And next. Shinobu might not like sharp things, but she’s got no fear of heights. Maybe sharp things deflate mature things? I wonder what the story is, considering she was pretty adept at sharp things in the flashback.

It’s understandable that heights freak Momo out. He’s been dangled over them at high stress moments a number of times. And he’s still only eight. The mourning is understandable. I’d imagine he’d be super-conflicted over Kanjuro too, considering the time he, Kin’emon and Kanjuro had spent together.

Then, things aren’t going quite right for CP0, and the reveal that Who’s-Who is ex-CP9, and CP0 must have known if Jinbe/Jinbei knows, is really interesting. As is the shout out to Rob Lucci. We last saw him at the Reverie. I can imagine the predictions and theories are going wild.

But before we get to Who’s-Who, let’s check out these two:

Queen in Cyborg form. The fic of Queen, Franky and Kid hanging out needs to be written. Kid’s not cyborg, but he does have a cool arm. AND what is MADS. MADS became SADS? Ah, Sanji, what secrets are you holding up your non-electronic sleeve?

It doesn’t seem to pop up on the wiki, but I didn’t pay really close attention to Germa, so if anyone has the info, drop a reply and let me know please. It might be a translation thing, as these are scans, but I’m assuming it was an acronym in Roman letters.

Don’t get MAD, get SAD, and then you SMILE, or something like that? Anyhoo.

Was there ever anyone more Little Mermaid than Zoro, and I mean the Hans Christen Andersen version, not Disney?

But First! Chopper as Baby Gramps! Like, is the corny speech pattern part of that? I’m figuring so.

Second, there’s Zoro walking and each step feeling like knives (glass I thought), so long as he can shed his mer-tail, walk on two legs, and be in the presence of his prince (who doesn’t love him). I mean, that’s the Little Mermaid. 

God that was a sad story. I just reread the wiki, and she lost her voice following her desire to be with the prince (part of a sea-witch potion), and the prince also never realised that it was her who saved him when he fell from his ship, but he was in love with whoever he thought had. I guess mermaids of this era might not have been able to write. But anyway, Zoro’s role, like Christ on the cross it seems (fitting that he’s still in crucifixion pose), is to take on the pain of others. Except, unlike Christ (but like the Little Mermaid), they never know it. Of course, lots of philosophies have similar stories, ideas and models but, just as Oda has designated it so that Law gets beaten up and chained on a fairly regular basis (second being Sanji, perhaps), Zoro just takes on the pain of others as if it was a very requirement of his very Bushido nature. Heh.

Little Mermaid from the wiki: 

she will obtain a soul only if she wins the love of the prince and marries him, for then a part of his soul will flow into her. Otherwise, at dawn on the first day after he marries someone else, the Little Mermaid will die with a broken heart and dissolve into sea foam upon the waves.

LawLu shippers, you can’t do that to Zoro. Anyway, the mermaid does die, by suicide once the prince marries someone else (she had the option to murder him to keep her life), but kinda becomes an ethereal spirit, and Zoro’s gonna have a better life than that, and has had so far, I think. Maybe. 

The Little Mermaid dances because she’s good, the prince likes it, but he doesn’t realise it’s like stepping on knives for her with every step. Literally. That sea witch and her potion, man.

Back to Zoro, I’m guessing his actions fit into  the “Heroic Courage” aspect of the eight virtues of Bushido (just relying on Wikipedia here). And Zoro’s right. At this point, if he could not fight, his particular role and purpose and perception of self would need some serious reassessment.

But we’re in for some angst, and angst fics once the battle is over, for sure. Considering the encounter with the bible-wielding Bartholomew Kuma almost killed him, and that it was only through taking on Luffy’s pain at that time that Luffy could continue. So. Broship and all to the fore. I’ve got a feeling his missing eye, or the story behind it, is gonna have a role to play soonish.

Tama’s way of fighting also needs a special Bao Huang broadcast just here. Heroism comes in all shapes. Look at how many people she’s manipulating. King, or queen, and definitely awesome.

And, finally—

Who’s-Who is ex-CP9 and it seems he was imprisoned due to not properly guarding the gomu gomu no mi. Shanks and co had that, so yeah, full circles and new things to ponder.