#IVE FINALLY STARTED WANO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ph0to-of-a-gh0st]

I’M SO HAPPPYYYYYYYYYYYYAYAYAY

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Hi its me! Cupcake berserker reader anon!

Can we get readee during the whole cake arc since she's rather new to the crew big mom isnt fully aware of who she is.

Reader tries to sneak around the island trying to find sanji and she bumps into general katakuri. She knows hes the enemy but she cant help but be amazed by him.

Hijinxs ensue as reader accidentally impress big mom and her family starts to adore reader

At the end I really want her to comfort and violently head butt sanji when he yells at luffy when judge leaves. Ive always wanted to do that she could say something along the lines of " I'm the dumbest person I know sanji but right now your the dumb one! You say that you hate everything about your heartless brothers yet you're allowing your shitty daddy get to you?! Hes right! Youre nothing that he planned but those are the parts are what I love you big dummy!!!" She would head butt him a few more times to get the message across.

I also think she would be really cold to nami after that one scene when sanji and the strawhats reunite. Think of the coldness of marika from " chilling in my 30s" if you dont know her you can get a clip of her on youtube!

I hope this is alright!

-It was supposed to be an easy mission, get to Whole Cake Island, find Sanji, then meet up with the rest of the crew in Wano!

-However, with your captain being Luffy, nothing ever goes to plan. You knew this well, but when you found yourself alone, apart from Nami and Luffy and now staring up at one of the Charlotte Family’s Sweet Commanders, Katakuri.

-He didn’t know what to make of you when you literally ran into him and almost took him off his feet, despite not even reaching his knees.

-He felt a pull towards you, you were so strong, but so soft and delicate looking, choosing to ignore the battle axe you were dragging behind you, wearing a cute, fluffy dress and looking just downright adorable!!

-Big Mom didn’t know what to make of you when her son brought you to her, she knew that you were a part of the Straw Hat Crew, much like Judge’s son who was due to marry Pudding soon, but she didn’t know much about you, since you were new to Luffy’s crew.

However, you looked so adorable! You didn’t look like a pirate at all! How could someone as dainty and adorable looking as you be a pirate?!

-However, Big Mom shocked everyone, as Katakuri had never shown any interest in women before, “You should marry Katakuri!!”

-Katakuri wasn’t against it, actually happy, but he wasn’t showing it, but you were polite in your refusal, “I apologize, but I’m not looking to marry anyone right now.” Many were surprised of your refusal, as most would never think to, but this showed how naïve you were, you needed to be protected!!

-However, when Katakuri went to grab you, you showed off your skills, showing why you were in Luffy’s crew as you easily knocked Katakuri back, using the blunt edge of your axe, showing your strength and unfortunately getting a lot of attention on you.

-Big Mom and Katakuri both were impressed with your raw strength, Big Mom knew that any children you had, especially with Katakuri, were going to be insanely powerful!!

-An hour later you were finally reunited with your crew, including Sanji, and you cheerfully called out to him, “Sanji!!” his brothers saw you and you instantly took all four of them off their feet.

-You held your hand over your lips, “Ah~? There’s four of you?” Nami and Luffy were both yelling at Sanji as you noticed a larger man walking away and Sanji sneered down at them, telling them all to leave.

-You knew this was just a front, as Sanji would never talk to Nami like that, and he had way more respect for Luffy than to talk to him like that.

-You glared hard as you leapt up, leaving your axe by Nami, “You big- DUMMY!!” as you shouted your head came down hard on his own head, head-butting him and sending him to the ground hard.

-His brothers were in shock, as you didn’t look like a fighter as you shouted down at Sanji, hands on your hips, “You’re going to let him get to you even though you can’t stand a thing about them? You big dummy! Nobody is going to be perfect- those imperfections are what I love about you- what we all love about you- except maybe Zoro.”

-You calmed down towards the end of your little rant, losing steam as he stared up at you in shock from his spot on the ground.

-Sanji then flew back, blood spurting front him nose as he got an eyeful as you turned, hearing Luffy call out your name and saw your panties and you turned, rushing over, “Sanji- are you okay?!”

-You didn’t see what hurt him, not realizing what he had seen, as his brothers were surrounded by flames of rage as you held him up, resting his head against your chest, unintentionally making things worse as Sanji felt like he could die happy.

-Nami held her hand to her face, shaking her head, a bit exasperated, but she knew that you got through to Sanji more, but that didn’t mean he was off the hook!!

-Once you were all sailing away to Wano, Sanji waited on you and Nami hand and foot, trying to appease you both, as he knew you were both upset with him.

-Nami was pettier than you were, trying to drag it out, while you were showering him with love and attention, so he would never want to leave ever again.

-He didn’t, especially if he might get to have a glimpse of heaven again, but nobody else needed to know that.

[swordsmans]

Do we know if one piece will be finished soon? Thinking of it's end makes me so anxious haha

short answer is yes, long answer is... "soon" is extremely relative when it comes to one piece (lol). so i personally would not worry too much!! ive been in and out of one piece since thriller bark was releasing real-time, and im like... trying not to think of the end. this series has been a part of my life for like... fifteen years or smth crazy. BUT i don't think it's going to come any time soon irl. here's why! (that's what im telling myself, at least)

as of last fall, the manga has officially entered the "final saga" starting with the egghead arc (official twitter announcement), which is basically macro-plot endgame for the whole series. for context, one piece is so huge it's broken up into "sagas" and "arcs", with each saga most often containing multiple arcs. this means that sagas can last literal years of real-life time. there's some debate about where to actually draw lines around sagas--for example: i have seen some people combine WCI and Wano into the "Emperor Saga" before, but i think it's commonly accepted that Zou/WCI/Reverie are one saga and Wano is it's own thing.

SPOILERS BELOW

however, even in a world where the final saga is one large "arc" (unlikely, since we're already starting to move off egghead imo) think about how long Wano was on it's own. i fell off reading consistently around the the middle/end of WCI and didn't pick things back up for four years, and all i missed was a hefty chunk of Wano. one arc/saga. i'm not saying that every arc/saga is going to be as long as Wano (i think it's the longest to date), but think about how many moving pieces are still on the table and how it took years to address two emperors and the samurai (which was set up in Thriller Bark). we still have:

the remaining emperors, shanks and blackbeard (and buggy, tentatively, but i do think cross guild is going to be an ally because buggy/croc/mihawk all have histories as "temporary" straw hat allies and once you cross that threshold you're in it for life)

marines (absolute justice), e.g. akainu and his followers

the five elders and imu (seperate from AJ marines because they're clearly making their own moves)

marines (honorable justice/SWORD), although it looks like they've starting moving as of 1080

revolutionary army

what's left of the supernovas, because i highly doubt the other two monster captains have died at this point

saul and the ohara survivors + straw hat grand fleet (again, allies, so they might just appear out of nowhere or not take an active plot role outside of narration [re: saul] or battle [re: shgf]), but they still have to do something)

yes, i realize that these are all pieces that he's basically moving across the board from where they are now to where the final battle is going to take place, but considering the pace of one piece chapters that could take years alone. at a rate of 40-ish chapters a year, even if the final saga is 150 chapters like Wano, that's still a lot of irl time.

and that's not to mention the narrative elements oda has left to wrap up (although i will admit, now that he's started cutting narrative/worldbuilding and putting things in SBSs exclusively, i do think there will be a lot of unanswered/unsatisfyingly answered questions by the end--why senor pink got a flashback backstory and not zoro's family/the shimotsuki lineage is one of the top 5 most burning questions i am going to ask god when i die). explanations for lore and worldbuilding often cover multiple chapters, especially if it's in the form of a flashback. and we still have so much plot plot to get through when you consider joyboy/void century "plot A" and current timeline "plot B".

i firmly believe we're going to get an extended flash-back sequence of joyboy/void century events because that has been the backbone of one piece's plot since alabasta. so at some point we're going to have to break away from the "plot B"/current timeline to get the full picture of what's been driving the world since joyboy's era. i think that's going to be a whole ~thing~ that's even longer than oden's flashback sequence, which people were calling "oden's flashback arc" at the time (literally, it was like a mini arc because releases covered six months irl time). so setting aside everything that has to happen in the main plot, there's also (hopefully) going to be a huge unaccounted for chunk of backstory/narrative.

so my guess? five years, personally. anything less would leave a lot of unanswered questions or cut huge corners. unless it ends abruptly like bleach or naruto (please please please no), i think it will be longer than wano's 150 chapters, so when you take into account release schedules and filler five years feels like a good estimate. (you could even say six because the there's about a year delay between the manga/anime, and i almost count that as... one piece TWO! because it's like a whole different experience sometimes [see: spandam manga vs. anime; ace's expanded backstory; SH timeskip extended sequences; etc])

(and on a purely selfish note, in five years i'll have been into the series for two decades, and i think it would be extremely satisfying to cross that threshold lol)

ANYWAY YEAH i'm feeling totally normal about the thought of one piece ending and have put a completely normal amount of effort into convincing myself it'll still go on as long as i possible. hope this answers your question(???) i got a little off track there lol

[m0thcl0wn]

so many emotions over one piece tonight lads

just finished dressrosa and OOO boy i love this story so fucking much, with dressrosa being like? 115? long i really thought it would drag like some other arcs (thriller bark im looking at you) but it was so wonderful until the end

and yknow what the art style hasnt really gotten bad like ive heard around, there is definitely some ODD and bad parts but then theres others that very much excuse it. (side note, no words cam describe how excited i am for the beauty of wano, i am so deathly excited to watch it)

anyways i am just rambling because i dont have many people to talk to about one piece

so there will be spoilers i caution newbies

i cried at so many parts of dressrose, sabo getting aces fruit, cora and law, toy soldier/kyros, and its like bad crying just, ive never had a series bring out the emotions that one piece has, it feels so silly but i feel like im 12/13 again, before everything went terrible, i cry, i smile, i laugh, i celebrate each fucking win like im right there, i hang into every word of every great speech, im so fucking happy i was convinced to finally start it (ive reached dressrosa in like, 2 months? i took like two weeks away when it got to marineford because i was genuinely struggling with Ace dying lol) hHHH see incredibly deep into this hyperfixation, it consumes everything i do, ive never had a hyperfixation like this before

[misqnon]

hi one piece anon back again. i shall call myself march so that next time i send in an ask i dont have to type out "i sent the asks about one piece" (too wordy. much easier to just write a name)

i so appreciate ur 2k words ,, i think u have successfully eliminated my anxiety abt talking too much !! ur very sweet 🥹 thank u /p!! electronic pen pals!!! that is so fun !! :D

i went back to watch wano after catching up (im like halfway through the arc) and genuinely the animation is so good!! (its also rly funny because they made zoro super sexy at every opportunity.. they upped his fanservice by a million. i love it. as a zoro fan.) its probably worth it to watch the anime for that part if ur interested?? although the pacing is still super slow so it might be better to read the manga first and THEN watch wano if ur still hyperfixated on one piece at that point. i went back to wano cuz i was feeling sad about being caught up and not having any more content to consume.

ive seen clips of the fights and they look so fantastic and cool and hype and AGH . i havent gotten to any big fights yet but its been a lot of fun seeing the characters all colored and .. moving. its also kind of sad to watch though cuz you can TELL some of the voice actors are really struggling. my love franky.. i love his voice acting but he sounds so rough in wano :((. his is probably the most obvious example but if u pay attention u can tell with most of the voice actors who've been doing the show for a long time.

i havent watched the live action because netflix sucks (i dont live with the account owner currently and i HAVE TO if i want to use netflix) but i have seen how many people have gotten into one piece bc of it, and i have seen a lot of clips. and i know people love it and its very highly regarded. (also i kinda love what they did with sanji (i miss his twirly eyebrows though 😭)) so i have a lot of respect for it despite never watching it myself!! im also so excited for "the one piece" bc even though i know next to nothing about it, if its adapting this wonderful universe full of lovable characters in a way that actually HELPS the manga rather than HURTS it.. well. how could i complain.

i DO think u got into one piece at a really good time!! ive heard a lot of "if you want to get into one piece, this is your last chance" and "now is the best time to start one piece" and i think theyre right. although hearing its your "last chance" is kind of anxiety inducing personally LOL. i think itll be really difficult to avoid spoilers after the series ends though so in that sense.. theyre probably correct. at the pace youre going i dont think one piece will end before you catch up. oda's on a 3 week break right now too so imo you have plenty of time!! i think wano is about 150 chapters and theres a LOT going on so it might take you a while, but this is the final SAGA not the final arc dont worry!! im picturing the straw hats visit at least 2 more islands after the current arc. although obviously im not oda so i have no idea if thats accurate LOL

i think no matter what im gonna feel like i have questions unanswered when one piece ends, just cuz i am so insanely invested in . the whole world of one piece. i want to know everything about everything. but i DO think oda will answer the big questions, and i agree that he probably wont just leave us wondering. the newest arc is already kind of answering a lot of questions (and... developing MORE mysteries LMAO)

i hope i didnt make you feel like its WRONG to like sanji bc it isnt!! just cuz i cant get behind him doesnt mean that i think people who like him are bad people or anything remotely like that. i mean. i love doflamingo. and hes an AWFUL person. i hate his guts... but i love him. hes such an interesting character and i want to dissect him and analyze him and . i love to think about him. and hes comforting in some weird way.

so u loving sanji is no issue!! i dont want u to feel like u have to defend urself (although i DO like hearing ur reasoning behind why you like him because its interesting, and it makes me think harder about how i feel about him).

also personally i dont see an issue with consuming media that is problematic in some ways. if the creator is a bad person i think its fine as long as ur not excusing their actions!! i would kind of rather not support oda because i dont like him as a person (which is a personal decision, im not gonna criticize people who support him financially), but i do LOVE one piece and yes. his biases DO affect the story.. but since i dislike oda i usually say "fuck the word of god" and do what i want with the characters. i think its a lot more fun that way!!

sanji is such a mess (affectionately) so i can definitely see the appeal!! half the reason i love one piece characters so much is bc theyre all so SILLY. so unbearably silly. they all have stupid moments, they all have funny moments, and i adore silly people. my dislike for sanji is, mostly, resentment borne out of my intense hatred for being pushed into a box by society. it is almost purely personal. like yes him being a pervert is disgusting and annoying and i hate it, but i think i would be able to ignore it if i didnt feel so personally attacked??? by him?? LOL. i think thats kind of silly tbh . i would usually be able to brush his pervertedness off as a flaw of oda's rather than something to blame sanji for. but since i already have some ... *intense* feelings towards him, the pervert thing just serves to fuel my anger.

but all of that is just My Personal Feelings about him!! i do love him in headcanon/fanon most of the time, and even if i hate him in canon i still also love him purely because hes a straw hat and i love and adore all of the straw hats. they feel like real people to me. and i am obsessed with them. i root for them at any chance and i believe they will find the one piece... if they werent the main characters and therefore guaranteed to find the one piece i would still believe in them 1000%!! <- big nerd thing to say .

also one thing i wanted to ask u about is if u noticed the parallels during whole cake island between sanji taking luffy food and the flashback of sanji taking sora food?? i LOVED that moment. he runs through the rain, has to try to keep a dog from eating the food, and when he finally gives it to the person its all soggy and wet and he apologizes. but they say its delicious. and they smile. i KNOW he was thinking of his mom at that moment with luffy. and i just... ugh.. sanji . sobbing . maybe u talked about rhis and i just missed it but I NEED to know that u saw it.. my favorite sanji lover

this is way more than 4000 characters so i have one upped you!! haha!! [triumphant] (lets hope it all fits in the ask box .. ive never written this long of an ask)

that works, very slay 👍 hi march!!

answering under cut as per usual

first of all i missed ur message bc it came in on april fools amongst all the boops 💀 i’m glad i happened to check my inbox jdnjvnvhv

you can call me mont! (or just misqnon, if you want) i am so glad my rambling eliminated ur anxiety bc i literally do not judge whatsoever and also clearly i am. Just as hyperfixated LMAO

WANO’S ANIMATION LOOKS SOOOO PRETTY…i wont lie ive watched a few clips bc i couldnt help myself. Im still in the middle of WCI but i want to get to wano sooo bad. And i probably will just read wano first (bc . time) but i ABSOLUTELY want to watch it at some point. And yes they 100% picked up on the zoro fanservice my god (i am ALSO a zoro fan. Sanji, robin, zoro, and franky are my fav strawhats and i love them all immensely) he is so goddamn buff in wano what the hell did they feed that guy…they beefed all the guys up in wano though it seems DSJNJKD

Speaking of wano zoro @ dykealloy made this. absolutely insane edit of Zoro, Mihawk, and Katakuri to the song CVNT by sophie hunter and it has a lot fo clips from wano that make me froth at the mouth (link here - be warned of explicit language, obv)

YEA THE VOICE ACTORS MANNN 😭 I prefer the dub bc i actually like everyone’s voices and its what im used to (except luffy, i do prefer sub for him) but i know the og voice actors are getting up there in age…Part of the reason i don’t like the sub as much is bc you can tell the VA’s are way older than the characters they’re voicing and it’s just a bit. Odd (as much as i love the VAs and obvi it’d be weird to change it at this point)

netflix does suck !!!! i was living with my bro at the time so i watched it on his account but yea i dont have access to watching it anymore either :( taz skylar my fucking beloved. The live action cast is all insane. Theyre so cute and funny every single one of them. If u have extra time u should watch all the funny cast videos they did on youtube where they play charades and do little prompts together. The clips of them interacting at cons and out doing promo for the show is usually pretty cute too. Opla wasnt perfect or necessary but it was fun as hell and u can tell the showrunners had a passion for the show. 

I keep making progress in chunks so hopefully i can catch up within the next few months 🧍ive been so busy i havent been able to read in a while! (and also. Whole cake makes me a bit emo) even 2 more islands like ur suspecting would be a blessing. I mean. They still have to go to elbaph right?? And raftel/laughtale so. Thats already 2. Okay i feel better already lmao)

Im so curious about egghead im going insane but i will refrain. Somehow i havent seen any spoilers for it YET (aside from some stuff about bonney and kuma)

ALSO YOU DID NOT MAKE ME FEEL LIKE ITS WRONG TO LIKE SANJI LMAO you were super nice and didnt imply anything i just have catholic guilt about liking him. No one has even ever said something to me in that manner i just know he’s. Complicated. And also sometimes he Sucks. So i’ve thought about it a lot (clearly). 

And coming off of that DUDE I LOVE DOFFY. I watch a lot of melonteee on youtube and even before i was anywhere near doffy they had me on the doflamingo train. He is so insane and weird and downright evil. i drew him one time 😶‍🌫️My last big fandom back in like 2014-2017 was JJBA and my favorite character as Dio and let me tell you. The similarities between their characters is insane (oda / araki crossover event when,) 

The only difference is that doffy is written to be downright evil, while sanji is supposed to be seen in a good/humorous light even though his worst jokes are uh. Not great joke material (momoiro island and all of sanji’s weirdest pervert gags appears behind me). Thanks oda 👍i still get what ur saying though!

And tbh i dont blame you at all for disliking his (or any) character for personal reasons. Its really not that silly. Having recently discovered i might be kinda trans does not do his bits any favors lmao. And as an afab person who hates gender roles and sexism with a burning passion (and almost minored in WGS) BELIEVE ME the treatment of women in one piece pisses me off in a personal way all the damn time. But again, i blame oda for all this. Attacking oda with my hooves at all times every day at every chance

Looping back around to oda/problematic material ur very right. Maybe its bc i was raised on tumblr from age 12 through the worst of the Social Justice Discourse Era but i still get iffy about even consuming content that promotes gross shit in any capacity. I know im bending to the will of randos on the internet who dont even deserve my time or worry, but alas, thats my own problem. I do agree that to some extent i’ll say fuck it and enjoy stuff for my own enjoyment over being “woke” or whatever but there’s always a line to be drawn imo. But for op? Yea fuck it im finishing this damn historic manga if it kills me

I AGREE ABT FEELING LIKE THE STRAWHATS ARE REAL PPL…CALL ME SILLY. Part of it is the fact they’ve been around so long that half of them have existed for as long or longer as their actual canon age. Like. THEY’VE EARNED THAT HUMAN EXISTENCE AT THIS POINT RIGHT, 

Nah but their characterization is pretty damn well done if youre one of the characters oda doesnt sideline coughrobinfrankychopperbrookcoughcough 

And YES. YES I NOTICED THAT PARALLEL. I DIDNT SAY ANYTING BC I’D SEEN IT BEFORE ONLINE BUT I. WAS SO EMOTIONAL OVER IT. the fact that luffy is so special of a person to the whole crew that he can mirror people as important as their late mothers and just. augh,/. Fuck. they say the same line with that same smile….it’s just great storytelling. I dont like oda either but unfortunately he’s damn good at what he does most of the time. (am. Am i your favorite sanji lover. Is that me. Im so honored. he is such a mess but he is My Mess. Please tell me ur fav characters in the next ask (strawhat and otherwise!!)) 

Also damn u totally did one up me. Uhhh here since ur apparently a zoro lover pls take some of these drawings i did of him that i keep forgetting to finish/post in an attempt to one up ur one up)

[joyboyish]

YES YES YES YES!!!

ive been thinking abt how to phrase this for a while now so thank u to op for starting it for me

laughter is one of the main themes in one piece, its not even like hidden. there are so many ways you can show it too! for instance someone on twt i think??? said the final island is called Laugh Tale bc this is a tale about laughter

luffy associates laughter with freedom, and as the viewer, you're supposed to as well. luffy wants to be the king of pirates, not because he wants to rule the seas with an iron fist, but because he wants to be freer than anyone. he wants to be able to laugh with his friends with out a worry in the world, and thats why in wano he gets so upset when he finds out about smile. kaidou took something he associated with being free, and made it into a prison. when luffy awakened his fruit, used gear 5, and turned into sun gd nika, he laughed. its out of place bc the whole fight luffy is more upset than he is during most of his fights. hes lost 3 times now, he failed to keep his promise to tama, he failed to save momonusuke and kin'emons country but he laughed. he has a whole silly battle where hes laughing the whole time and using funny gags as a fighting style. wano shifts the way we view laughter in one piece, by showing that the people of wano are stuck suffering and unable to show their emotions, and then shifts it back by showing luffys laughter, even when hes at his lowest.

sometimes i remember that one piece's main theme is laughter and i kinda choke up about it

[mugiwara--ya]

our ideology is "you can do what you want, too much is never enough" we are the life, we are the light, we are the envy of the gods above.

don't repost // support me on ko-fi 💖

[cienie-isengardu]

The Development of Law and Zoro relationship: Wano, Luffy & Zoro Means Troubles…

<Part I: Before Meeting>> <<Part II: Sabaody Archipelago, The First Meeting>> <<Part III: Punk Hazard: The Alliance (A)__(B)>>  <<Part IV: Dressrosa, The Breaking Point (The Plan Failed)__ (Saving Law)__(Protecting Law)__ (Birdcage, Pica and Doflamingo)__ (Aftermath)>> <<Part V: Zou, The Kindred Spirits (Traveling Together)__(Searching for Nakama)__ (Reunion)__ (Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance)__(The Last Moments before War)>>  Part VI: Wano, Against Emperors (The Untold Journey)__(Luffy & Zoro Means Troubles…)__(...and Law Is Not Happy About That) 

Somehow the alliance got into Wano without enemy notice. There, Kinemon separated his allies into smaller teams, all with their own task at hand. Surprising, during the little flashback of that moment (chapter 909), Law was not seen when the samurai explained situation to Straw Hats:

Kinemon warned Straw Hats they “must pass yourselves off as locals and quietly, quietly go about your duties”. He gave pirates an individual roles:

➣ Zoro, as ronin, Usopp as street salesman and Robin, as geisha, were supposed to infiltrate capital and gather either informations or allies there

➣ Franky, as an apprentice, worked under carpenter who built Kaido’s mansion, in hopes to gain plans of enemy fortress, so the alliance could learn its arrangement before the raid.

➣ Law and Heart Pirates (as far as we were shown at that moment) stayed with samurais in the ruins of the Oden Castle in Kuri region and were stealing food and water from the enemy.

Chapter 918 notes Law was aware about Zoro’s role, however when and how he was informed is not clear. The lack of one of alliance leaders during the meeting between Kinemon and Straw Hats raises questions such as why Trafalgar wasn’t present and did samurai decide to keep knowledge about Zoro, Robin, Franky and Usopp and their tasks to themselves? On one hand, it makes sense. Secrecy was important to secure their plan as best as possible - a matter that will play a bigger role in the upcoming chapters; the less people knew what Straw Hats would be doing, the better chance to avoid information leak. But at the same time, if Law was informed about at least Zoro’s job, why not let him take part in the meeting? Unless he did learn about Zoro’s task after Pirate Hunter became an infamous wanted man, but about that more in a moment.

We may only wonder why Kinemon decided to keep Heart Pirates with himself, instead of sending them straight away undercover like Straw Hats. There are few reasons that could have influenced his decision:

➣ Law’s powers were useful for stealth and stealing. 

➣ The two Supernovas serving Kaido - Hawkins Basil and X-Drake - actually came from North Blue, the same as Trafalgar. How well they knew each other is up to debate, but since all three went to the Grand Line at the same time, it makes sense they at least had some basic knowledge about each other. Which may be a reason why Law stayed with Kinemon instead of playing a similar role to Zoro. 

➣ Another possibility is that Straw Hats could be simply better at pretending to be locals and/or had needed skills. In case of Zoro, the little details presented in manga and SBS suggest he grew up influenced by samurai culture due to his (still not explored) connection to the Shimetsuki clan.

Unfortunately, Zoro - working under the name of Zorojuurou - couldn’t continue his mission, because he killed a corrupt magistrate and most likely other samurais present at that time, thus became an outlaw. Since the knowledge about “murderous ronin” was spread in the whole country, it may explain why (how) Law learned about Zoro’s secret mission. 

Wandering through the wasteland, Zoro met Luffy who finally arrived in Wano.

Luffy barely got to Kaido’s country and he already befriended a local little girl, Tama, who due to poisoned water, fell ill. Straw Hat decided to take her to the nearest village, to seek help. On his way, he met Zoro who at the same time just saved Tsuru (another native person) from bad guys. Soon after that both got into a fight with Basil Hawkins and the Beast Pirates.

Once they managed to run away from pursuit and got into the relatively safe Okobore Town, Straw Hats were noticed by Bepo, Sachi and Penguin, who observed the area from a nearby mountain on which Oden Castle was built.The mentioned Heart Pirates were worried that Straw Hats could start some troubles (chapter 913).

In the end, Heart Pirates decided to not interfere… at least until they saw that Zoro and Luffy were heading into Bakura Town controlled by Kaido’s men and immediately notified Law (chapter 914).

↪ Law was chilling out lying on the ground. It seems he likes resting (or maybe napping?) in his free time, what was already seen before time-skip, when Trafalgar lied on Polar Tang’s deck, using Bepo as a pillow. Maybe Law has problems with irregular sleep (or lack therefore) and/or using Ope Ope no Mi exhausted him so much that, like Zoro, he needs to regenerate his energy by napping/lying down? 

↪ The same as Zoro, Law was surprised by Luffy’s presence in Wano but the similarity ends there. Zoro was delighted when he met Luffy and although he passed on the Kinemon’s warning, he wasn’t much bothered by how they together caused new trouble for the alliance. In contrast, Law wasn’t happy at all. He literally switched from chilling out into full stress/angry mode in less than a few seconds. 

↪ Law immediately and correctly assumed Luffy was going to wreck the havoc. It seems the previous experiences gained in Dressrosa have already borne fruit: Luffy and Zoro together, in enemy land, were bad news. 

↪ The most surprising thing about Law’s reaction is how he called both Luffy and Zoro as “those idiots”. Mainly because at first he was solely angry at Luffy and the prospect of him ruining the plan and then included Zoro as the potential danger. Which in perspective wasn't an irrational reaction and again, Dressrosa proved these two can’t be trusted with following any plan or common sense. Yet at the same time this sharp reaction gives the vibe that Law was for some reason angry at Roronoa (about that more soon). What contrasts with the good relationship they had during the previous arc. 

Law wanted to minimize potential damage done by Luffy and Zoro but was delayed by Bepo, who suddenly felt sick due to eating fish from a poisoned river (chapter 916).

↪ Law here was fully aware of poisoned food and water, he even warned his crew about it. Surprising, Zoro didn’t have any idea about the ecological situation of Wano and both men spent the same amount of time in this country. Either Zoro did not listen to the warning of others OR that matter comes after he left Kinemon’s hideout. In case of latter, it may suggest there was little to no contact between Zoro and other members of the alliance once he became a wanted man. To be fair, Kinemon himself got sick after eating poisoned food, so the revelation about poison could not be known before Straw Hats went undercover.

↪ Another little detail, Bepo felt sick after eating poisoned fish. Zoro, who ate poisoned meat most likely for days, got only some stomach ache, but nothing to stop him from fighting. Law’s tolerance for such poison is unknown, mainly because Ope Ope no Mi would help him remove the toxin from body and, in contrast to Zoro and Bepo, he has knowledge and common sense to not eat poisoned things.

↪ Also, apparently Law has a soft spot for Bepo, the only animal crewmember - another trait he shares with Zoro who himself has a soft spot for Chopper. Trafalgar let Bepo’s sickness delay him when the situation was dire, knowing full well leaving Luffy and Zoro unsupervised for too long was asking for big trouble.

Once his crew member noted that Basil Hawkins was heading to Bakura Town and there already was a fire, Law was pretty shocked by the disturbing change of events.

Despite the pledging of Bepo(?) to not leave him behind, Law finally rushed into town. He didn’t have a clue what was really happening there but attacked the just arrived Hawkins in order to eliminate the threat. As in, eliminate anyone who could recognize him or Straw Hats (chapter 917).

➽ Law actually tried to be sneaky and covered his head with special headgear/straw hat to hide his identity. What suggests he was aware that Basil may recognize him and Straw Hat Supernovas. At the same time, Law is, well, really bad at playing undercover. On Dressrosa he wore jacked with CORAZON on his back alluding to late Donquixote Rosinante but that fight was personal matter and most likely wanted Doffy to know what the fight was all about.  In Wano, he didn’t have that excuse; the fight with Kaido wasn’t his personal quest for vendetta. And yet Law’s idea of hiding his own identity was wearing a kimono with his Jolly Roger on it. Very smart. What may support the theory why Kinemon kept him with himself rather than sending undercover. Law is just bad at this gig and thinking more about it, I don’t remember any time when Trafalgar even bothered to try speak like people of Wano - something that Zoro and Luffy actually have adopted to some extent.  

To take down another Supernova, Law needed using Ope Ope no Mi. The characteristic power and tattoos very soon betrayed his true identity. Law planned to take down Basil, so the man couldn’t report to Kaido about the Heart-Straw Hat pirate alliance. At the same time, Law put faith in Roronoa who knew the plan that he “wouldn’t be stupid enough to let Holdem get crushed” (chapter 918). What implies that despite referring to Zoro as the “idiot” and general pessimistic attitude, Law still assumed Zoro’s presence would be enough to stop Luffy before the worst could happen.

➽ Once again, Law was addressing Zoro as “Roronoa”,instead by his name. Which departs from information published in SBS vol. 72 explaining what Law calls the various members of Straw Hat crew. Back then, Zoro and Nami were the only two allies he called by first name instead of surname or nickname:

In the case of Nami (whose surname was never revealed), it makes sense to use her given name yet Zoro was the only one male ally Law addressed in such a way. Even Luffy, who from a narrative standpoint is the closest person to Trafalgar, is constantly called Straw Hat-ya. Why the special approach to Zoro and why change it right now? The most likely reason for the switch of speaking pattern was Law’s anger (but about that more in next chapter). Anyway, an interesting detail, how Law’s way to call Zoro is related to his mood and/or stress level.

➽ Law proved to be good tactician, but at the same it seems he always assume the worst scenario to happen. Which I guess is one of the main reasons Trafalgar is always so stressed? In contrast, Zoro usually takes bad news calmly - he doesn’t like them, but he has a habit of leaving things to luck/fate instead of overthinking all possible solutions and outcomes. The difference in planning (or lack therefore) could make Zoro and Law clash with each other albeit so far, we saw little to nothing in that regard.

Sadly for Law, Zoro did not stop Luffy from beating Holdem. He wasn’t happy that Luffy did it, but didn’t regret it either. Law, on other hand, was angry and/or stressed by the situation, especially when Basil admitted he already met Straw Hats.

➽ Again, Law thought about Luffy and Zoro as “those idiots”. To be fair, he had a good reason to be angry because of course, Straw Hats wrecked havoc that was reported to Jack - the Beast Pirate responsible for poisoning Mink on Zou - and in result, exposed alliance presence in Wano.

The fight between Law and Basil was then unexpectedly stopped by a speeding cart of stolen food. Stolen by no one other than Zoro and befriended samurai Kiku. Roronoa was nice enough to call the fighting men to get out of their way… once again, Law was shocked by the turn of events. 

The fight between Law and Hawkins was stopped; Law didn’t manage to eliminate the enemy nor prevent information leakage about alliance presence in Wano. He almost was run over by a speeding cart with stolen food (another “crime” against Orochi & Kaido, which Straw Hats committed in his absence). No wonder why Law was so pissed of at Zoro.

About that more in next chapter: ...and Law Is Not Happy About That

[mystical-flute]

Let the Wine of Friendship Never Run Dry

Also on AO3

When news from Wano finally reaches the Moby Dick, it's the last thing any of them wanted to hear.

(Spoilers for manga chapter 999)

The blinding sun seemed stuck overhead as the Whitebeard Pirates sailed leisurely through the Grand Line. Everything was perfectly ordinary - Teach sat at a table munching on a cherry pie, Vista and Jozu sparred behind him, and there was a steady gulp, gulp sigh from Pops as he drank and watched Izo’s patient attempts to teach some of the newer recruits the traditional dances from Wano.

It was a perfectly ordinary, if not hot, day.

Which made the sudden cry from the lookout tower all the more troubling.

“There’s someone hanging off a piece of driftwood!” Fossa shouted. “Port side!”

“Is there anything else around? Any other ships?” Pops called, already rising to his feet with Murakumogiri in hand.

“No, Pops! Nothing else!”

“Marco, go.”

Marco vanished, his blue flames almost disappearing against the color of the clear sky. Still, the crew watched anxiously as he floated above the barely-visible driftwood and teenager, surveying the surroundings and the state of the kid.

Teach wondered if they were even still alive, although a bit part of him doubted it. They wouldn’t be reaching another island for at least a few days. Unless the driftwood had once been a boat with rations, he couldn’t see great survival odds.

To his surprise though, Marco scooped the teenager into his arms and bolted back to the Moby Dick, screaming out for medical equipment.

Well shit, the kid was stronger than he thought.

That, or had fantastic luck.

“Teach, Johan, help me out with this, would you?” Marco called, not even looking his way as he sprinted to the infirmary. Teach and the rookie followed wordlessly, concern knit across their faces.

“Is she really alive?” Teach asked, frowning in concern at the horribly thin teenager laying on the bed.

“For now, but that’s why I need your help,” Marco said. “She’s probably been without food for a few days… but she looks like she’s been malnourished for a while now. Get Thatch to start preparing some soft foods, would you Johan?”

Johan nodded, disappearing again. It was when Marco moved away from the girl that Teach noticed something strikingly familiar about her.

“Marco. Her clothes.”

Marco paused as he hung up an IV bag on a line, then took a deep breath.

“Get Izo.”

When Teach did, Izo took a sharp inhale of breath immediately. “The pattern is a specialty of Ringo. I’d recognize it anywhere.”

“So she’s from Wano, then? How the hell did she end up here?” Teach asked with a frown.

“I don’t know… but I admit, I’m concerned. Lord Oden wanted to open Wano’s borders. Why haven’t we heard anything about that by now?” Izo asked, alarm written on his face.

“We’ll ask her when she wakes up,” Marco said softly, the heart monitor’s steady beeping the only thing to break the tension that suddenly hung in the air.

It was nearly ten-thirty at night by the time the girl let out a groan, one dark brown eye cracking open.

“Where ‘m I?” she whispered, voice ragged.

“You’re safe…” Marco said, leaning over to check her vitals. “Can you tell me your name?”

“Akio.”

“Do you remember what happened, Akio?”

Izo rose to his feet as well, leaning over anxiously.

“I - I stole one of Lord Orochi’s boats… I needed to get out of the country. H-he wanted me to be a concubine… but I couldn’t - I couldn’t! He’d already taken my parents! I couldn’t let him take me too!” Akio’s breath quickened, panic overtaking her.

“Orochi?” Izo said sharply, and the teenager’s breath suddenly slowed. “What happened to Oden?”

Akio’s face flickered with fear. “N-no one must speak of him!”

“Please, you're safe here. My name is Izo. I left Wano decades ago. What happened to Lord Oden and his retainers?”

Akio’s eyes filled with tears. “H - he’s dead. They’re all dead. L-Lord K-Kaido and L-Lord Orochi s-saw to it three years ago.”

The air was sucked out of the room.

“Who is Orochi?” came Johan’s voice.

Marco gave Teach a look, and he nodded in understanding, dragging Johan out of the room. The door closed behind them just as Izo screamed in devastation, the echo rippling out to the main deck of the Moby Dick.

“Commander Izo!” Johan cried. “Teach, c’mon, we have to make sure he’s okay!”

“He ain’t gonna be okay for a long time, Johan,” Teach said.

Pops was on his feet when they arrived. “What happened?”

“Commander Izo started f-freaking out for some reason, Pops! I - I don’t know - ” Johan was too new, still too intimidated by Whitebeard to finish his sentence.

“Teach?” Pops asked, raising a brow.

For once in his life, Marshall D. Teach wished he could look away from his captain’s gaze. He felt a strange, uncomfortable knot in his stomach as the reality of the girl’s words set in.

“Oden is dead. His whole family, Pops, and their retainers… including Izo’s sister. The girl said it was Kaido.”

For the first time since Teach had been sailing with the crew, Pops’ face went nearly as white as his mustache. Jozu looked like he’d been slapped, Vista’s swords clattered to the ground, and Curiel bowed his head in respect. The newer recruits stared at each other in confusion.

Pops took a deep breath. “When?”

“She said it’s been three years,” Teach said, bowing his head.

Pops’ face darkened, fury brewing in his gaze.

“What do we do, Pops? Are we going to invade Wano?” Jozu asked, his arm hardening into diamond.

For a moment, Pops was silent.

“No,” he finally ground out. “We aren’t invading Wano. There’s no point. Oden’s already dead, and the casualties would be too great, between us and the Wano citizens.”

“But Pops, he killed some of us! We can’t just sit here and let that go!” Fossa spoke up this time. “And Momonoskue and Hiyori - they were just kids !”

“I said no! The damage is done. We’d be doing nothing but causing trouble for innocent people,” Pops sighed. “Drop anchor. We’ll have a memorial for them tonight.”

It was a solemn scramble to get the sake poured and the cannons ready for the salute. Marco managed to coax Izo out onto the deck with him, getting him a seat right next to Pops.

Izo’s usually carefully placed makeup was smudged, tear tracks worming their way down his cheeks. He was pale and drawn, staring at the sake in his hand as if it were a lifeline.

Pops let out a sigh, standing before the crew with his larger than life sake bottle in hand. “Oden was a good man, as many of you are aware. He was bright, curious, and brought a light to this family. And Toki, Momonoskue and Hiyori as well. Tonight, we drink for them, for their retainers. For their country of Wano as a whole. Fire!”

The sound of cannons rang out into the air, the sound echoing in the darkness.

[tfw-no-tennis]

One Piece Readthru

heyo ive decided its time for me to catch up on the one piece manga finally!! i last read it uhhh sometime late 2018?? MAYBE early 2019....anyways ill be liveblogging it, basically for myself but if anyone is interested then enjoy lol

so w.out further ado hers 927-931 hya 

uh ok i left off kinda in the middle of the wano arc, so im scanning thru some stuff to see what i remember.....i dont really remember what the deal is with that ginger (?) pompadour guy lmao. theres a lot of new characters and intricate politics in this arc from what i remember. 

i havent really gotten spoiled for anything....i know that something bad happens to kid & killer, somethins up w/sabo (but we dont know what), luffy fights kaido (more than once i think?) uhhhhh we get roger flashbacks and hear the yonkous bounties....thats abt all i really know. so im hype to find out what else has gone on....

im gonna start around 927, i defs read this but i want a refresher 

wow its amazing how sanji can oscillate so fast from being unbearable and annoying to like one of my favs

i loveeee the panels where those dudes start trashing sanjis soba stand and usopps like lol lets back up yall we KNOW sanjis boutta kick some righteous ass....YESSS

franky supplexing a guy....ily franky 

toko!!! i forgot abt her!!! cute kid, whats her deal? iirc she works at the uhhh wherever komurasaki works and she almost gets murderized later

sanji and little kids is so cute ;_; more of that and less stuff of him being gross w/women 

ok exposition....i do remember a lot of this

928, i feel like i remember this stuff so ill kinda blow thru it 

oh yeah i remember luffy n the prison shennanigans....good times

and kidds here too, talkin abt how he lost his arm trying to fight shanks...lol dude 

dude is really like oh i couldnt take down shanks, so ill aim for a different yonkou, im sure this will go much better a second time (and down an arm)

omfg i forgot abt this dude who apparently sold his FAMILY to get money for komurasaki....

i think we’re supposed to feel bad for this dude and think komurasaki is cruel or w/e but man honestly i just respect the hustle. girl knows whats up

HVBJSDKFBDS I FORGOT THE HILARIOUS LINE WHERE SHES LIKE ‘I HATE POOR PEOPLE <3′ IM....its literally like a weird twitter shitpost lmaooo

they cut immediately from komurasaki to tama asking momo if he has a sister....LMAO SUBTLE......

i dont even remember if that twist was spoiled for me, but either way it was my like immediate thought upon komurasakis intro lmao 

ok 929!

omg kanjuro selling some-drawn fish lol

OUGHHH CARROT AND THE OTHER MINKS....i miss carrot sm i hope she shows up more :( i really wish she would join the crew....

lmao that guy calling zoro a pretty boy and saying girls are probably all over him....zoros like uh ew no im gay 

OOOH PLOT SHITTTTT....caesar and doflamingo name drops...

VEGAPUNK HM [eyes emojiey]

orochis defs gonna get fucked up at some point. his design reminds me of wapol and other like corrupt king archetypes 

oguhfdbsjkgjdfbh laws head basket i forgot abt that. also i love when people call him traffy thats weirdly cute 

oh right the other supernovas who became kaidous bitches are here to fight...i recall that fight somewhat 

920 time! 

oh yeah the weird place where all the poor starving people laugh constantly...inch resting

OHH YEAH BIG MOM!!! man i definitely read a lot further than this lmao. w/e i was SO fucking hype when she showed up, imo the whole amnesia thing is pretty lame. we’ll see where it goes tho 

the art here is just so good oh man. the panel of big moms ship charging up the waterfall while she laughs? fantastic 

EPIC arrival. i hope big mom gets to do cool stuff even despite the impending amnesia

i ALSO hope her kids get to do cool shit too. im still holding out for a zoro vs amande battle (if shes even there? i dont see her, but thatd be such a waste)...and smoothie vs robin....

and she wants zeus back....NAMI FIGHT??? PLEASE???

oh its bdsm dinosaur guy....hmm never thought id type that

LMAOOOO law is like Dont You Dare Fucking Snitch On Us and usopp is like uh luffy pls come pick me up this guy is too hardcore

FINAL BATTLE thats so dramatic law please

sanji saying he’ll protect usopp omfg

oooh theyre destorying all the soba shops....here comes sanji to bring the PAIN

OMFG THE RAID SUIT i forgot he busts that out....hilariously quickly all things considered

931! ok but first my obligatory thots on how sad i am abt how the women of op look nowadays lmao revisiting old one piece just makes it all the more obvious how ridiculous its gotten....like nami and robin dont even look human, its insane, and the sameface has gotten so bad...idk i miss when op women used to look normal and could just exist without being Sexy Women bc that was a thing at the beginning and i really loved that...now its just like wow all titty no waist legs are 100x longer than normal....not to mention the writing for women in op has gone way downhill...ugh. ANYWAYS onward 

ofc as soon as i say that theres a rlly cute and p normal looking cover w/nami...i love her sm shes my fav character thats part of the reason this bothers me so much lol 

i miss her short hair tho...the long hair is pretty and i like her different hairstyles but i defs prefer the short spunky look. i wish she wouldve gotten a cool bellmere-esque haircut after the timeskip at least

ok im p sure i didnt read this...? i dont remember hgbvhjaksdfk

GERMA THEME SONG HBVJSDUIFJBSF are you telling me that the raid suit activation process involves a THEME SONG....please i need to hear this. thats so fuckign funny

‘GERMAAAAAAAAAAA’ [sanji doing an unironic magical girl transformation] IT CANT BE OVERSTATED HOW HILARIOUS AND AMAZING THIS IS LMAOOOOOO 

i think we saw this w/his siblings during whole cake but i forget lmao

of course franky and usopp are like OOOH FUCK YEAH 

HHBDSJKFJSB the implications of law knowing Exactly who that is....like i really need to see an omake of a campy power rangers/sentai/whatever-esque show/comic with all these germa personas omfgggggggg

and law having read the comics is SO funny 

also. sanjis hair is SO unfortunate lmaooo

O SOBA MASK HBVHSJDKUFJBDSK

germa was the bad guy group in the comics....good lmao 

law was defs a fan he knows ALL the lore LMAOOO

A BABY SANJI....and then sanji being weird. skip! 

ironic hows theyre like oh shit gotta challenge this dude so he doesnt destroy the town and their fight is gonna level the place anyways lmao 

oh i did read this i think cause i remember all those ninja busting robin for sneaking around

which ok theyre ninja but robin could grow eyes for surveillance so it doesnt make much sense that shed be caught so easily...alas

THAT GUYS HEAD HBVHJFKD LMAO

oh yeah then big mom washes up w/amnesia lmao. i hope that plotline doesnt suck, i dont have too much hope...normally i really like amnesia plotlines and honestly i think itd be cool to explore w/like one of the strawhats but in this case it just seems kinda like a lazy way to take big mom out of the game :/ my prediction is she’ll get her memory back at a certain time thats convenient to the plot, just in time for like an all out war w/kaidou and the straw hats and the yakuza maybe? we shall see (possibly) 

ok its past 6 am so its bedtime. more later! 

[tarushipping]

I hope you don't mind me asking, but what was your and Law's first kiss like? Since he seems to be a more reserved character, I'm kind of interested to know :3c and when did you both realize you had feelings for each other? Who confessed first, and how did it happen? Also your ghost-esque powers sound so cool ;w; what's the most trouble you've ever gotten into when using them? [nyandereofficial]

OHMYGOODNESS @nyandereofficial I have no idea where all these questions came from but I will happily answer all these!! I’ve really been wanting to make more content that describes our relationship and everything more cause I have a ton of ideas and story. Ive even got a couple short drabbles written, but just haven’t gotten around to posting them yet;; BUT ANYWAY here’s answers:

What was your and Law’s first kiss like? 

There’s a couple almost kisses before we get together, but the first time we really kiss is after Wano arc (the current OP arc in the manga). During the fighting in Wano, I basically finally confess that I have feelings for him and afterwards, he asks me to stay with him. NOW I haven’t really settled on how it happens, but I’m thinking that it’d be during the after-fight banquet during night time and we’d be off on out own outside somewhere. When we kiss, it’s kinda hesitant and tender but quickly becomes warm and passionate. (Maybe fireworks go off in the background too? ehehe)

When did you both realize you had feelings for each other? 

WELL for me, I realize my feelings pretty early on. Timewise, it’s between Punk Hazard and Dressrosa-which is really quickly after we meet. It’s kind of like I felt a possible connection right away and that’s why I decide to work with him? And for him, he feels that connection during the events of Dressrosa. I start catching real feelings for him during Dressrosa and he catches feelings not too long afterwards. HOWEVER we’re both very subtle and quiet about these feelings but we both kinda are aware of each other’s feelings too? But we’re kinda both…like…too cautious I suppose to really do anything about it for a while;;

Who confessed first, and how did it happen?

Again, we’re both pretty subtle and hesitant about actually saying our feelings out loud, but technically I’m the one that actually confesses first. I’m about to run into a fight during Wano arc, and Law tells me not to (I’m almost guaranteed to get captured), but I remind him that he’s ‘not my captain’ so I don’t actually have to follow his orders. I’d been traveling with him and his crew for a while and everyone kinda already considers me part of his crew, and Law himself actually offered me to join. Anyway, so Law gets pissed and asks ‘why won’t you join my crew?’ ‘well, that means I’d be working under you, right?’ ‘Yeah’ ‘It might be selfish of me, but I’d rather be your partner’. And of course, we both know what I mean by partner. SO YEAH it finally comes out then and I run off to get my ass kicked.

What’s the most trouble you’ve ever gotten into when using [your powers]? 

I’ve gotten into PLENTY of trouble with them AHAHA I kinda get captured by Smoker on a semi-regular basis. My powers let me be pretty elusive though, so luckily I’ve been able to weasel my way out of most situations. I imagine some of the worst times would be being caught sitting in on meetings between big name pirate warlords though;; I can see a situation where I’m haunting someone, but the warlord was able to to notice it (maybe through strong observation Haki) and all they have to do is punch the person I’m haunting-I can get knocked out of a body pretty easily. And between such strong pirates, I could’ve been captured and possibly held prisoner for a while to get information out of me;; Eventually, I can probably strike a deal though and get out. 

[poopandaogram]

Its taken me awhile to finally put something on my blog. I don’t really find time to blog anymore but lets just say that something has forced me to come back and you guys will eventually find out what that is.

I started blogging when I was 13 to document the fantastic life of a teen. But recently because it was just to embarrassing and to hard to look back at the past I decided it was time to start a new blog. One where I can let out all my feelings without having the world know about it (Facebook) but to you who are reading these post WELCOME to MY LIFE…

My names Czenamin Royal, I am from a small country on the south pacific named New Zealand. If you haven’t been to New Zealand before then you really need to come and pay us a visit.

I am engaged to an amazing man his name is Te Wano and we are currently getting married on the 7th of April 2018. We don’t have any children yet but you never know what the future holds.

So ive started these blogs again to help me stop overthinking and to help me rant and kind of help me start writing my stories again. So if you did find these blogs I do ask that you please keep them to yourself cause a lot of this is personal and I’d hate for these to get out.

  مرحبا بكم في حياتي

[cienie-isengardu]

The Development of Law and Zoro relationship - Part VI: Wano, Against Emperors (The Untold Journey)

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

A word of introduction to the 6th part of The Development of Law and Zoro relationship: Wano arc is still an ongoing adventure and because of that, weeks if not months will pass before we learn all the details and its impact on the main characters and world as a whole. Right now, One Piece reached the 1000th chapter and from on, the Supernovas will finally face Big Mom and Kaido. It’s hard to tell if this will be their final battle or not and how much the author still has up his sleeve about Zoro and Law in regard to their relationship during this arc. I suspect some flashback may happen in the near future, especially since Luffy, Law and Zoro are going to fight arm to arm with Kid and Killer against the main target of the alliance - the Emperors. Because of that I can’t rule out the possibility that upcoming chapters could show the dynamic of Zoro and Law already analyzed by me in a different light yet I decided to slowly tackle the analysis of what was shown so far and eventually write an annex and/or correction if the future source material will bring any contradiction. 

Every part of the analysis so far got an individual subtitle from me, as a quick summary of Zoro and Law’s relationship stage. For example, Dressrosa Arc was the breaking point that in the visible way separated their neutrality (indifference?) from previous adventures and the clear comradeship presented from on. Wano is pretty hard to name properly so I went with the general “Against Emperors'' title. But frankly speaking, the Together But Separated so far would fit even better because from chapter 909 to 1000, Law and Zoro interacted directly or indirectly (including, having some thoughts about the other) for like, maybe 10 chapters at best. At the same time, most of the likely development of their relationship was happening offscreen - the journey to Wano that is basically omitted by the story so far and so is the time before Straw Hats went undercover. The upcoming confrontation with Emperors thankfully is going to change that. Because of lack of direct interaction I decided to write  also about A) Law and Straw Hats (especially Straw Hats men) and B) Supernovas to show how different it is from his and Zoro dynamic.

That said, time for a proper analysis!

.

.

.

The alliance separated into four groups. Luffy's team went to rescue Sanji and got into a fight with Big Mom. Zoro and Law became part of Kinemon’s team and headed to Wano Country scrambled in Law’s submarine. For now (up to chapter 1000), there was little to no detail or flashback about that time of journey, but who knows what future chapters will reveal. 

Despite the lack of proper information, some conclusions may be drawn on the basis of previously established informations and logic:

➽ On Zou, Law promised Kinemon a safe passage to Wano. Since shogun Orochi worked closely with Kaido, Beast Pirates posed an additional threat on this part of the sea. Another  problem was limited ways to enter the country by ocean. The hidden tunnel leading to Mogura Port was used only when Kaido or Orochi granted someone permission thus was out of question. The other known method was the Climbing Koi Waterfall which itself was a pretty dangerous method, especially since sea currents and weather there were all the time bad for sailing (chapter 910)

So far, there is no information how exactly Team Kinemon avoided or passed by the natural dangers nor how they entered the country (did they find another way underwater?).To get into the country without being spotted by the enemy the submarine most likely needed to be submerged for the majority if not all of the course since Zou alone was already targeted by Beast Pirates.

➽ It’s hard to tell how long the journey took from Zou to the samurai homeland - what depended on the Elephant’s location, submarine’s speed achieved while sailing or during the submergence and eventual obstacles on the way. The most telling time reference we have is that:

⟹ Luffy’s team needed “multiple (several) days” to reach Big Mom’s territory (chapter 823, 824). Nami said Luffy wasted a week’s food supply which also supports the claim that the journey was meant to last for more than one-two days.

⟹ Additionally, the enemy subordinates transporting Sanji to wedding (chapter 825) also needed “several days'' to cross the borderline of Big Mom’s territory and they left Zou two days before Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Robin, Franky and Law get there. The Straw Hats spent at least two days before they separated into two groups, which gives the enemy four days of advantage. It feels like Big Mom’s pirates sailed around a week (4 day at minimum). 

⟹ Saving Sanji and fighting the Charlotte Family took another five days. On the fifth day, in the early morning the Straw Hats escape Totto Land (chapter 901)

⟹ While Luffy’s team sailed to Wano (chapter 903), manga showed the events happening at the same time in a different places, including the world leaders sailing to Mary Geoise for Reverie that last for a seven days. In chapter 904, it was said the conference would start in two days that have passed in chapter 908. Chapter 909 brings the storyline back to Wano and chapter 910 is the moment when Luffy’s team reach the country boardline. It seems safe to assume Luffy’s group took at least 2 days to reach Wano.

⟹ The journey from Zou to Whole Cake Island took Straw Hats several days but from Totto Land to Wano closer to two days.  

⟹ Jack the Drought’s return to Wano happened several days before Luffy’s arrival. Since “several” is an “indefinite number more than 2 or 3 but not many”(x), he most likely got there before Luffy left Big Mom’s territory. Of course that doesn’t tell much how long it took to sail from Zou to Wano, because Jack needed to be rescue from the bottom of sea first (after Elephant destroyed all ships of Beast Pirates on Momonosuke’s order, chapter 824) but at the same time it suggests that journey from Wano and back took days. To find Jack, the Kaido’s people most likely followed the vivre card - otherwise, how did they manage to find and rescue the person stuck deep underwater? And because they traveled through their captain’s territory, they didn’t need to avoid anyone in their journey, unlike the alliance. 

Though it’s impossible to determine how long time passed from Luffy leaving Zou to arriving in Wano, it was longer than a week yet the most likely shorter than a month. I feel like the safest bet is something around two weeks. When Luffy arrived in Wano, Zoro’s group was already working on their tasks yet the indirect information suggests that Kinemon’s group most likely traveled for a few(?) days rather than just hours. Whatever it was a few hours or one day or more, the Zoro and Law’s group was stuck in enclosed space deep under water for a while.

➽ The manga does not provide a precise scale to measure Thousand Sunny with Polar Tang. The closest in that matter are frames from Marineford and Dressrosa arcs

in which both Polar Tang and Thousand Sunny look tiny compared to Marine Battleship. It’s hard to tell for sure the difference in length but it’s not something truly drastic. Thousand Sunny uses a soldier dock system and the Coup de Burst in specific situations, relying mainly on sailing in a traditional way. Although Submarine is also equipped with sails, more often was shown during immersion. Both boats are equipped with some advanced technology though I suspect that engines and machinery for air circulation and heat (the basic life support equipment) built into Polar Tang may take some of space (that and at least some space was intended for the operating room). 

➽ Even if Law’s Polar Tang was spacious boat, it needed to accommodate Heart Pirates (Law and his 20 crewmembers), samurais (Kinemon, Momonosuke, Raizo and Kanjuro) and remaining part of Straw Hats (Zoro, Robin, Usopp, Franky). An eight additional people to feed and bunk somewhere, in case of a longer journey. For record, Thousand Sunny during its journey to Dressrosa carried only 9 Straw Hats and four additional people (Law, Momonosuke, Kinemon, Caesar Clown). Even if both ships are more or less of the same size, Sunny hadn’t been crowded like Polar Tang was while heading to Wano.

➽ In contrast to normally sailing Thousand Sunny, the submerged submarine has less space to find privacy (isolation) from the group or the noise. All members of Straw Hat crew have their personal space on the ship, be it Usopp’s Factory or Sanji’s kitchen or Zoro’s gym (lookout point). A place they may work in peace or relax. On Polar Tang, samurais and Straw Hats were the guests, thus on personal territory of other pirates. If they didn’t get along well, the journey could be awkward and uncomfortable. Most likely it wasn’t, considering how Heart Pirates were excited to meet their allies and the two crews already were partying together on Zou. At the same time, during that party, the lonely panel (evidence) showed only Usopp interacting with Penguin(?). Zoro was drinking with wolf Mink, while Robin, Franky and samurais weren’t there at all. The little bits of Law’s crew presented in the previous arc suggest they are more emotionally open and easy going people than their captain and both crews have a lot of stories to share and laugh about during their journey to bond over. Usopp and Franky most likely didn’t have any problem fitting into the new situation, but Zoro is a much more reserved, no-nonsense person than them, especially around strangers. Much more intimidating too. And the last journey with Bartolomeo’s crew proved how short-tempered he can be if surrounded by noisy and/or idiotic people for too long.

➽ Straw Hats for the first time had a chance to see Law on his turf. Up to this moment, they interacted on either neutral, enemy or Straw Hats’ home ground. Now the roles were reserved, Law was the host and captain of the submarine. Kinemon may be the leader of the team, but during the journey it was Trafalgar (and Heart Pirates) that guaranteed safety and took responsibility for the wellbeing of the rest. Straw Hats were the ones who needed to adapt to the situation (like not getting in the way of Heart Pirates when the crew performed their duties) and trust Heart Pirates’ navigation skills.

➽ Adding to that, all the additional 8 people weren’t really accustomed to traveling underwater for longer period of time. Of course, Straw Hats had some experiences with the little submarine built by Franky but from all of them (beside maybe Franky himself), only Robin, at least manga-wise, took part in submerging search for Fishman Island, two years earlier - what was seen in chapter 490. And was apparently aware of the danger submerging too deeply.

All Straw Hats experienced submerging to Fishman Island but according to Nico, it was “nothing like a submarine” and it felt like they were “flying through the air” (chapter 604).

Which may imply that traveling in Law’s submarine was very new and/or different experiences to what Straw Hats knew.

➽ Also, out of 8 people, half were devil fruit users. We may only wonder how spending hours/days underwater could affect samurais (who were still catching up with the technological change that happened in the last 20 years) and Robin - and depending on the result, affecting Zoro, Usopp and Franky. Like was mentioned above, Robin already had some experiences with submerging but we must remember that “Shark Submerge III” was built by Franky, thus trusted to be a safe way of exploring the ocean while Polar Tang was totally new, alien territory belonging to other pirate crew. Once again, we don’t know how long the journey lasted and how enclosed and crowded space was and how being trapped for a longer period of time under water was affecting devil fruit users. Claustrophobia and panic attacks could happen at any moment, even more if the submarine was attacked by sea monsters or flowed into an excessively strong current. Law presumably was used to the feeling and enclosed space by now but at the same time, his crew so far doesn’t seem to have any other devil fruit user beside him. Traveling together with so many (inexperienced) stranger devil fruit users could be much more exhausting than it seemed at first glance.

➽➽ Frankly, the additional scene in episode 490 showed that:

A) living conditions on the submarine can be affected by external factors. In this case, the submarine going through an underwater volcanic(?) region caused the rise of temperature inside the boat and thus brough discomfort to Heart Pirates. 

B) The living conditions worsened to the point Bepo was suffering overheating. He admitted “I hate riding the submarine. Spending several hours in a cramped area together with these scruffy guys.” and even kinda bullied Penguin and Shachi into submarine ascent so he could breath with fresh air.

We don’t know much about the underwater region(s) between Zou and Wano but manga mentioned at least strong sea currents. Depending how deep the submarine could - or rather needed - to submerge, the outside temperature (and pressure) of water could affect traveling people. Generally, the deeper into the ocean, the temperature is lower while the hydrostatic pressure increases. Of course, waters of the Grand Line are unpredictable and there was no one in the group that knew for sure what awaited them during underwater travel. So if even experienced Heart Pirate like Bepo, who according to SBS (vol. 84, chapter 840) met Law shorty after Cora’s death and is his friend since then thus we may assume has the same years of experiences with submarine, could be so affected by heat, cramped area and hours of traveling underwater with “scruffy guys”, the possibility of happening something similar to Straw Hats or Samurais can’t be excluded.

➽ In contrast to the uncertain situation of devil fruit users, Franky and Usopp most likely were smitten with all the technology of the submarine and bonding over it with Heart Pirates. In addition, both men were friendly by nature.

➽ Zoro, sadly, wouldn't have much to do there. No lookout point available, no guarding ship, no way for a serious trening or real fight with Law or samurais (to avoid destroying the submerged boat). Did he happily sleep or drink through the journey or did he grow restless at some point, we don’t have any clue so far. At the same time, Zoro wasn’t on his (safe) ship, had other Straw Hats (and samurais) to look after, didn’t have anything important to do (no real duties, no knowledge how to maintain submarine) and unhealthy habit of sleeping barely 3 hours per day that could finally took its toll. Though looking at Law’s dark circles under eyes, his sleeping habits may not be better than Zoro's .

In general, the alliance journey to Wano could provide a lot of interesting and important details about the development of Law and Zoro relationship, especially since for the first time in the four arcs, Law was on his home ground and had better control over the course of events. At the same time, his dorky crew could tell many stories of their (and Law’s) past or previous adventures. There were also matters of Wano to discuss, but also no place to run away if Zoro wanted some distance from noisy Law’s crewmembers - on Thousand Sunny Law at least could choose to sleep on the ship deck instead of being cramped with others in the men quarter. Straw Hats and samurais didn’t have such luxury.

Zoro and Law could learn something new about each other or simply fall into an already established dynamic or even get tired of each other after being forced to spend time together in enclosed space. Sadly, so far manga did not provide anything useful about their journey.

The next part: Zoro & Luffy Means Troubles...