#Ship: We're Breaking the Law!

[olivianyx]

OMGG I JUST GOT RESULTS WITHOUT BEATING MYSELF UP WITH ROUTINES 😭 + RANT ✨

HEYY LUVS! I JUST WANNA SHARE MY RESULTS I MANIFESTED WITHIN 2-3 DAYS! THIS YEAR'S GONNA BE MY BEST YEAR Y'ALL ✋AND GUESS WHAT I DID? NOTHING. LITERALLY NOTHING. NUH-UH. PERIODT.

⚠ LONG POST AHEAD, SWEARING ⚠

WHAT I MANIFESTED:

🪄 PASSING MY FRESHMAN YEAR WITH HIGH SCORES

🪄 MY FAMILY BOUGHT A NEW APARTMENT WHICH WERE PREPARING TO MOVE IN 3 WEEKS

🪄 ME GETTING INTO THE VOID STATE 😭 AND MANIFESTED CLEAR SKIN! (DAYUM GETTING INTO THE VOID IS DEFO VERY EASY OMGG)

🪄 GETTING LESS ANXIOUS LATELY!

🪄 MY GASTRITIS AND ULCERITIS GETTING CURED

🪄 GETTING MORE COMPLIMENTS IN MY UNI!

🪄 GETTING TALLER! I WENT FROM 5'3" TO 5'7" IN 2 DAYS 😭😭

🪄 GETTING DREAMS OF ME SHIFTING TO MY WR 🥺 (ACTUALLY RESPAWNING LOL, AS THIS THING IS REALLY CONTROVERSIAL IN HERE, PLEASE DON'T GET ME CANCELLED- I'M DOING DEATHLESS RESPAWNING ✋)

🪄 MY MIND IS SURPRISINGLY CALM 😌 THERE'S STILL INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS THO (THOSE ARE ANNOYING ASS BITCHES) BUT I JUST IGNORE EM LIKE I IGNORE PEOPLE AT SCHOOL 🗿

🪄 GOT MANY CONFESSIONS TOO 😭 AND I REJECTED EM ALL, CUS I JUST WANT TO BE SINGLE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE ✋🗿 JK

🪄 GETTING COOL CLOTHES THAT MY MOM DENIED A LOTTA TIMES! (ACTUALLY I'VE ORDERED EM BUT STILL HAVEN'T SHIPPED TO MY ADDRESS YET LOL)

🪄 MY CRUSH BECOMING CLOSE TO ME HEHE 🤭 LIKE SHE DOESN'T CARE ABOUT ME MUCH, BUT LATELY SHE'S BEEN TOO CLOSE TO ME AND ALWAYS WANNA BE WITH ME LOL, 3 DAYS BACK SHE AND I WALKED HOME TOGETHER, WHILE WE GRABBED SOME SNACKS, SPOKE ABT EACH OTHER AND ALL (I FELT LIKE BEING IN A SHOUJO MANGA 😩)

🪄 A NEW PHONE! THAT SAMSUNG GALAXY S22 😩

I MANIFESTED EVERYTHING WITHIN 3 DAYS 😭 I REALLY CAN'T BELIEVE MY EYES, JUST. 3. FUCKING. DAYS. GODDAMMIT.

HOW I DID IT:

JUST FULFILLED IT IN MY IMAGINATION

YEP, YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT. I LIVED IN THE 4D REALITY, I NEVER GAVE A SHIT ABOUT THE 3D AT ALL. OK LEMME BREAK IT DOWN FOR Y'ALL SO JUST PAY ATTENTION FROM HERE ONWARDS.

🪄 SUPPOSE SOMETHING UNDESIRABLE OR UNFAVORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE HAPPENING IN YOUR 3D. WHO'S THE CAUSE FOR THAT? YOU. 'BUT I DIDN'T IMAGINE OR THINK OF THESE 😭' BABY, YOU'RE THE SOLE CAUSE, EFFECT, AND THE SOLUTION. THERE'S NO OTHER EXPLANATION TO THIS.

🪄 AS WE ALL KNOW, 3D IS A MIRROR. RIGHT? WHATEVER YOU THINK ABOUT, YOUR ASSUMPTIONS, YOUR THOUGHTS, YOUR FEELINGS, YOUR PERSPECTIVE EVERYTHING WILL BE REFLECTED. SO WHY NOT THINK THE WAY YOU WANT SO YOU CAN EXPERIENCE THE SAME? GET IT.

🪄 IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE 3D, CHANGE YOUR 4D FIRST. CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE TO HOW YOUR DESIRED SELF WOULD SEE THE WORLD. KEEP DWELLING IN IT. IF THE 3D SHOWS UNFAVORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES, DON'T FUCKING GET TRIGGERED. GO BACK TO YOUR IMAGINATION AND DENY YOUR SENSES.

🪄 EVERYTIME YOU SEE SOMETHING ELSE IN THE 3D, GO 'BRUHH THIS IS MY OLD STORY, I ALREADY HAVE WHAT I WANT, THIS IS JUST FAKE' AND MOVE ON. DISTRACT YOURSELF. CUS THE 3D WORLD WHICH YOU SEE IS AN ILLUSION, IT'S NOT REAL. IT'S YOUR CREATION, WHY WOULD YOU TRY TO CONTROL WHAT YOU CREATED? IT'S ALREADY IN CONTROL. YOU ONLY GOTTA REALISE YOUR GODSELF. YOU ARE THE CREATOR, NOT THE CREATION. STOP FUCKING VICTIMIZING YOURSELF.

🪄 I GET IT THAT MOST OF THE PEOPLE ARE CONFUSED BETWEEN LAW OF ASSUMPTION AND NON DUALISM. EVEN I WAS, BUT SLOWLY I REALISED THAT WE'RE ALL NOTHING. WE'RE JUST LIVING IN OUR OWN CREATIONS. VICTIMIZING OURSELVES IN OUR OWN CREATIONS. IRONIC RIGHT?

🪄 THOSE THOUGHTS, ANXIETY, FEELINGS, EMOTIONS ARE ALL IN YOUR PHYSICAL REALM. YOUR MIND, YOUR BODY, YOUR EGO EVERYTHING IS NO REAL, WE ASSUME IT TO BE. WE'RE ARE SHAPELESS, FORMLESS, WE'RE NOTHING! AND EVERYTHING AT THE SAME TIME. CUS EVERYTHING COMES DOWN TO ONE THING, I AM.

🪄 K Y'ALL MIGHT BE SUPER CONFUSED, WHAT I'M TRYNA INFUSE IN YOUR BRAINS. SO WHAT YOU DO IS, LIVE IN YOUR 4D.HOW? IMAGINATION. NO MATTER WHAT YOU SEE IN YOUR 3D, GO BACK TO YOUR IMAGINATION, AFFIRM OR VISUALISE. ANYTHING IS FINE BTW. JUST STAY IN THE STATE OF WISH FULFILLED.

🪄 STOP RELYING ON METHODS, FUCK THEM. JUST BE. DON'T TRY TO CHANGE SOMETHING WHEN YOU ALREADY HAVE THEM. JUST STOP, SURRENDER, STOP FIGHTING, STOP TRYING SO HARD WHEN YOUR ALREADY IT. SO GO LIVE IN YOUR IMAGINATION, FULLY SURRENDER. DO THINGS WHICH YOU LIKE. GO LIVE YOUR LIFE. TAKE YOUR POWER BACK.

LIKE AREN'T YOU TIRED? TRAPPED IN YOUR OWN CREATIONS? YOU CREATED THEM, YOU HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE WHATEVER. TELL ME HOW LONG ARE YOU GONNA LIVE THIS BULLSHIT LIFE? YOU'RE REALLY GETTING COMFORTABLE BEING UNCOMFORTABLE. SO LISTEN UP, DO WHAT YOU LOVE, AFFIRM, VISUALISE, OR DAYDREAM, ZONE OUT, WHATEVER. ALL I DID WAS DO THIS MEDITATION IN THE MORNING, WENT ABOUT MY DAY WATCHING JUJUTSU KAISEN LMAO. THEN RANDOMLY AFFIRM, LIVED IN MY 4D, NEVER PAYED ANY FUCKING ATTENTION TO MY 3D, CUS I'M GOD. I REALLY LOVE VISUALISING, SO I PUT ON A SONG AND START DAYDREAMING IN MY ROOM SMILING LIKE AN IDIOT. ALSO, I DID SATS BEFORE GOING TO BED. THAT'S IT. THAT'S ALL I DID FOR 3 FUCKING DAYS, AND GOT WHAT EVER I WANT. ALSO I MADE A CUSTOM TAPE TOO (IT'S A GENERAL SELF CONCEPT ONE) I LISTENED TO IT FOR 30 MINS AND JUST WENT ABOUT MY DAY THINKING I HAD WHATEVER I FUCKING DESIRE, CUS IT'S ALL MY CREATIONS AND I HAVE IT ALREADY. THERE'S NOTHING TO GET, IT'S ALREADY IN ME.

LUV YOU, BYE 💋

[shankss-magnificent-ass]

Imagine having deep discussions with the Whitebeard pirates

Ace: Have you ever wondered why the world government opposes people so far away from them, doing what we do?

Marco: [mutters] I wish you would just stop saying odd shit.

Whitebeard: well we're breaking the law, obviously.

You: It's a little deeper than that. It's because what many pirates do, is the same thing the world government does.

Marco: We are not similar in any way.

You: no, think about it, what does the world government do? They lay out a bunch of rules and if you don't follow them, they use violence to force most of the world into following them. And if a nation elects not to join the world government, or can't afford to join, they raid and pillage those islands and take their citizens as slaves.

Izou: On the other hand, if a nation does join the world government, they have to pay heavenly tributes, because if they don't, the Marines will raid and pillage your country. But if they pay the heavenly tributes, the marines will protect their nation from outsiders, like pirates and non-world-government-nations.

Whitebeard: However, on top of paying the heavenly tribute, the average person also pays local and national taxes, so it's a heavy burden for some countries.

Marco: Oh my gods, it's like a protection racket, that common thugs run, just on a massive scale.

Whitebeard: and, like many pirates.

You: they don't like pirates, for the same reason they don't like common thugs, because you all are muscling in on their turf.

Thatch: so most governments are just organized, and socially acceptable, thuggery.

You: Not all, look at Alabasta for instance, King Cobra has a lot of social programs for his people. Food programs and affordable housing for the poor. Medical programs that put a doctor in every village and a bunch of other stuff. The people should receive something back from their government besides 'protection'.

Ace: I know a lot of nations that are in the world government have a large lower class that they exploit labor from and bleed them dry with taxes, tolls, and fines. I can never forget what I saw at the Grey Terminal out of the Goa Kingdom's Great Gate.

Thatch: That's because in "normal society" they value wealth, and look down on and take advantage of people who don't have it. Meanwhile, in pirate culture, we value strength and look down on and take advantage of those who are weaker, like how we raid other crew's ships because we can, and they can't stop us.

Izou: [sighs] That's an oversimplification If I ever heard one.

Thatch: [steps into Izou's space bubble.] You got something to say to me?

Izou: I've been to both world-government nations and non-world-government nations, and I can tell you that they value both strength and wealth. It's just different classes value one over the other. The upper and more privileged class values wealth, and daintiness because they can hire the strong. While the less privileged value strength, because it helps them survive, because they don't have money.

Thatch: I know that, did you forget I grew up poor as shit, mister little daimyo's vassal-boy.

Izou: And I was a wandering beggar minstrel before that, also keep Oden's name out of your mouth.

Thatch: how about you fucking make me?

Marco: [hops between the two men and dramatically claps his hands together like a clapperboard.] Aaand scene, that was a brilliant performance, gentlemen.

Ace: it was almost hard to tell that you two are actually friends.

Thatch: [huffs] Alright, I'll take it back, I'm sorry Izou.

Izou: I'm sorry too

You: you all are too fighty.

Ace: bitch, you're the most stab happy out of all of us.

You: I am not

Whitebeard: Just last night, you stabbed Vista's hand with a fork because he kept reaching over your plate.

You: ... I did do that, but only after asking him to stop three times. Which is more than reasonable, he's a grown-ass adult, and he, and his fuck ass mustache, should know basic table etiquette by now.

Ace: and then you stabbed me for no reason, with the same fork!

You: that was for good measure, just in case you got any ideas!

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[l-in-the-light]

The most embarrassing series of posts about Lawlu you will ever read: edition Wano (part 13)

Sorry for the long wait, not only I needed a break (Silent Hill 2 remake came out <3), I also had troubles in general writing notes on tumblr for a while, for some unknown reason! But we're back to our Lawlu's love tale, now finally making it into Wano my beloved.

We start on the ship heading to Wano. Luffy is getting depressed over his bounty for the first time. We know he cares a lot about his bounty poster, apparently he always wanted to be on one ever since he was a child and Shanks told him stories about pirates. He also wants to impress Shanks, so there's also that.

But it's possible part of the reason why Luffy is depressed is because... his bounty would be now lower than Law's. LOL. Dressrosa ended with same amount of cash placed on their heads ;) I dunno if it's reallly part of Luffy's reason, but he did see Zoro and Sanji fight over their bounties before multiple times, so it's probably not a stretch that it might have rubbed on him a little, haha. Just throwing this as possible food for thought :D

Kin'emon is not picking up? Who cares, Luffy has enough of waiting. Which is understandable, but also... we know already that he can't get to Wano fast enough, he was in this speedruning mode ever since they left Zou. He's so close to seeing his crew and Law again, waiting even few hours more is simply killing him in those circumenstances.

Luffy immediately got immersed into roleplaying a samurai, but besides using "gozaru/verily" speech pattern, he mostly just focuses on his sword he practically snatched from the Tengu guy. He's so happy that not only he has a sword, but it's even one of the cooler ones. He holds it up like he wants to show it off, and then throws away the scabbard and claims he can slice people too.

I don't really want to doubt Luffy here, but he spent so much time with Zoro, practically since the beginning of the manga, and he never got interested in any swords before. Not even once. He seemed to interact with any only twice: when he found it for Zoro before freeing him in East Blue (he wasn't particularly interested in them yet, but he did get impressed with Zoro's skills), and when he held it for Law for half of Dressrosa.

So what do you think caused Luffy's sudden interest in swords? If your guess is Luffy's first ally, you're probably scoring a jackpot. Luffy wanted to feel cool and show off with his sword, because he kept looking at Law doing cool stuff with his own one, and Luffy decided he suddenly wants to do the same. Luffy usually has simple reasons for stuff, after all. Maybe he even imagines how it's like for Law to hold and fight with the sword, while he's at it.

It's also worth noting how Luffy is shamelessly admitting that what they're about to do will destroy Kin'emon's plans (Law's, actually, as we will see in a few moments) and declares he will just apologize for it later. It's funny for multiple reasons in retrospection, because: 1. Luffy never actually apologized, lol. 2. He indeed got away with it easily (waaaay too easily) 3. Luffy totally knew at this moment he will get away with it. Cheeky brat! And yes, he was right about that. He knows his Torao well and he knows he will be forgiven. If anything, it seems Luffy upon returning from Whole Cake Island decided to be openly cheeky when he knows a certain someone can handle it.

The action itself though will end up having very terrible consequences overall, but that's something Luffy couldn't have known yet.

"But you didn't even use it", indeed. Just simply carrying the sword around might be reminding Luffy of Law already. But also samurais (and ninjas) are just cool and it would be a waste not to have a sword like everyone else.

Also I'm always curious what Law does with his scabbard when he fights. It would be kinda funny if he throws it away too, lol (probably not up in the air like Luffy did, but he has to dump it somewhere, right? He doesn't carry his scabbard at his waist like Zoro, or on his back).

Law and Luffy's reunion! Yeah I know, at surface level it seems very bleak in comparison, after all Zoro got a glomping hug, just like Sabo did in Dressrosa. We actually don't see Luffy hugging people this way very often. Luffy also never attempts to hug or touch Law, not counting grabbing his clothes (which counts only as indirect touch).

But when we take a closer look at how they react about seeing each other, it does show they care and are happy to meet again.

Let's start from Law. He's resting (it's his last resting moment in Wano lol), his crew make a commotion, screaming "Captain, trouble! Strawhat and Roronoa are going to Bakura town!". But what Law picks up on is only this part: "Strawhat is in Wano?!" That selective focus in this scene says more than any expression or words could have shown us, it's like he didn't hear any other part, as soon as his brain connected the dots "they're talking about Luffy in Bakura town" but "Luffy isn't in Wano yet" which concludes in his deduction of "Luffy's finally here!". It's kinda cute, really.

Anime even emphasized this moment. At first Law asks "why are you so upset/making noise" but then picks up again only on the part about Luffy arriving in Wano, and even adds a line that wasn't in the manga: "So he's finally here", which only further shows he was indeed missing him, it's like it slips from his mouth before he can stop himself. He even gets up, his crew suddenly having all of his attention, just because Luffy's name was mentioned.

Indeed, Law, he is in Wano finally. You will regret feeling a tad bit happy in just a moment though.

And the blissful moment is over, Law is back to worrying 24/7, always about Luffy (and I guess, the raid's plan as well. But mostly about Luffy). Haha. It's okay, he likes to suffer this way, despite the stress.

Luffy got really personal very fast here. "Why is the food only for them?!". After experiencing his own childhood in Goa, seeing Rebecca starving herself and despite that Luffy was still firmly sticking to plan, and then witnessing Big Mom's sugar rampage, and finally the situation in Wano with people constantly poisoning themselves by drinking water from polluted rivers and being able to afford rice only few times a year (or less), Luffy snapped immediately.

That's the result of his experiences in Whole Cake Island, struggling to find things he could do (besides beating the Big Bad Guy) and facing Katakuri who was holding back for the sake of his family. Luffy rediscovered that he doesn't have to hold back what he truly wants to do anymore, as long as he keeps wellbeing of his dearest people in mind at all times. It's a good conclusion he reached here, but it's still not enough if Luffy wants to keep his promise of "making Wano a country in which his friends can eat as much as they want", Law will point it out to him later.

"He'll probably get mad" says Zoro, and one page later we have Law thinking "Roronoa knows the plan". Proving to us that Zoro meant actually Law there, not Kin.

"This is the worst possible thing that could have happened" thinks Law, and this will be important later for us to understand why Luffy had to land in Udon as the result of that. This is our strategy mastermind Law we're talking about here, he must have came up with a plan to deal even with "worst case scenario" (after all the raid plan didn't fail as the result!). He just really wished he could avoid it.

And funny thing, Law is *instantly* mad at Zoro for this outcome. "You swore that you wouldn't make waves!". Law knows everything that was going on with Zoro already when he's talking with him here. He knows he's a wanted man now, he knows Jack has been called up (thanks to Hawkins), and he of course put one and one together: Zoro chose not to stop Luffy from beating up Holdem. In Law's mind this is all Zoro's responsibility here, heh. Also just to show us his petty nature Law took the occassion to vent about every single little thing that he could think of, together with "you were supposed to be in the capital, not in Kuri!!". He had to get off his steam somewhere and Zoro happened to be the best target. Though everything Law said here is true and he has the right to be annoyed about it.

One thing worth noting is this: Law never blamed Luffy for this situation. Luffy didn't know about the plan, he just arrived and couldn't contact Kin'emon, and Law might vent sometimes, but he's not an asshole who would blame people for doing something wrong, while they had no chance to hear about the plan yet. It's simply not their fault then.

The anime emphasized my point as well, actually! Zoro puts the blame on Luffy (lol, Zoro, how could you do that to your captain!!) and as soon as he does that, Law's tone and expression changes. He understands now the situation differently, he thinks Zoro *tried* to stop Luffy, but Luffy was the one to push for what he wanted anyway. And yet... and yet Law is not mad at Luffy. He takes it as a fact and accepts, even if he dislikes the outcome.

He knows this will lead to bad stuff, but he even stops being angry soon after. And do you know why? Yes, of course it's because he likes Luffy a lot and cares for him, but he would scold him (even if not as openly as Zoro) if he thought Luffy is being unreasonable. He does scold Luffy when he later goes directly for Kaido, after all!

So why not now? The answer might be surprising, but it's the only one that truly makes sense. That's because Law has faith in Luffy. He might think he acts unreasonably at times, that he destroys plans, but he does not doubt him, ever. And it's not just a Wano thing either, it was like that already in Dressrosa. He was surprised and tried to push Luffy away when he came to his rescue, but as soon as Luffy declared he's not gonna leave Dressrosa to it's own fate, Law shuts up and accepts it. He doesn't doubt him or his decisions, even if he thinks they might lead to undesirable outcomes.

I can't tell you when exactly Law gained his faith in Luffy. Punk Hazard? But he already waited with Luffy for the rest of Strawhats crew there when they were supposed to escape, even if he complained about it. He didn't leave on his own, he stayed, and he couldn't know if they escape safely or not, they were risking their lives by staying and waiting. But if Law didn't develop his trust in Luffy on Punk Hazard, then the answer can be only one: it happened already on Sabaody. And personally, that kinda blows my mind. Upon first meeting with Luffy, Law started to have deep faith in him. Of course, it doesn't mean he won't *worry* for him, that's a different matter altogether, lol.

Back to being a worry cat Law. "Where's Strawhat-ya?" he can be so one-track minded sometimes haha.

Finally, a reunion! Look at Luffy here, he's basically crying out his excitement at seeing Torao again. "It's been so long!!" it was two weeks indeed and he already told similar line to Zoro before, which is also quite curious. But the moment he spots Law, Luffy's full attention is on him, and he spots him almost immediately too.

Let's think about this reunion from Luffy's point of view, okay? He arrived at Wano and is pretty much alone. He's thrilled to see Zoro, but meeting Zoro was by pure chance, Zoro had no idea where Luffy is (nor where he himself is as well, probably, lol. It is Zoro after all). But Law? It's clear as day he seeked out Luffy (with his own initiative! not simply sending his crew after him! despite Bepo's little incident coming in the way too!) and he indeed found him. From Luffy's POV, Law was the one who searched for him to see him again, to reunite and probably to talk (it is Law, he does talk a lot - when it comes to plans xD). And to achieve that so quickly, it's clear he was waiting and observing, to show up and fetch Luffy as soon as he arrives anywhere near the centre of Wano.

And yeah, sure, Law doesn't say anything upon their reunion there, but Law never says any greetings, like ever, so this is in-character. But his eyes, the way he looks there at Luffy, seem to reflect the exact same sentiment Luffy has. Remember his "finally" line from before? Yep, it's been a long time, and not just for Luffy. They clearly both missed each other.

And then Law drops the bomb "This is rebellion". Wait, but where's the scolding for ruining all the plan?! Well, there's none.

Just a moment later Law just lets Luffy do whatever he wants and doesn't comment on anything anymore.

In anime he only sighs to himself. (also bonus points for sharing sweatdropping moment with Zoro, the guy who was with Luffy practically from the start, haha).

While the people in Okobore town are eating and celebrating, Luffy is talking with Tama, and Law is just there at the side, facing away. Why? He's guarding against the possible enemies approaching, it's his swordsman's instinct. And that's his response to Luffy's actions in the end. It's an alliance, they're in this together, if Luffy does something, Law actually follows through and he doesn't need any prompt for doing that. He falls into this role naturally, because... because he worries so much xD

And again, in the manga Law only ever scolds Zoro, and not Luffy. Luffy doesn't even have to apologize to Law, heh.

In anime they played this scene a bit differently, Luffy is mockingly roleplaying Law there, pretending to be scolding them and making a serious face (yes, this is Luffy mimicking Law's usual face and tone and words, lol. Ain't he cute? Luffy does it a lot to his crewmates actually, we saw him do that quite a number of times: he pretended to be Sanji, Zoro, Usopp and Chopper. Usopp often joins him, he pretended to be Robin before, for example. Luffy probably would have pretended to be Nami too if he wasn't afraid of her. Yet, he's not afraid of Law in the slightest, lol). Actually, it seems he made this impersonation of Law just because he wanted to get a reaction out of him, acting like a spoiled kid... or a spoiled younger sibling, in fact.

Law gets annoyed at the call out, but besides this one line "you don't get to scold anyone!" he still doesn't scold Luffy for what he did, at all. The scolding is only about "how dare you steal my line and use it inadequately!". In the anime he does get a small petty payback on him for this later, lol.

This is an interesting scene. Law asks why Kiku is tagging along and Luffy reassures him it's fine. After that Law doesn't question her anymore.

The anime even shows us that Law is seeking Luffy's opinion in particular, asking him to make sure "is it really okay?". He wants to know if Luffy trusts her. Upon hearing that he indeed does, he accepts it as good enough reason and neither asks again nor worries about Kiku's presence at all. Just because Luffy said it's okay.

That's Law's level of faith in Luffy, like I said before, he never doubts him and even seeks out his opinion. Someone (who by all means is smarter than Luffy himself) *seeks out* Luffy's opinion in particular, trusting it, despite the fact that most people think Luffy is just carefree and doesn't think about anything too deeply.

Even Luffy's own crew tends to doubt Luffy in smallest things (Robin warning Luffy about betrayals in alliances instead of trusting in his faith about Law, Usopp and Nami always protesting about dangerous stuff, Zoro doesn't trust Luffy handling a sword, Sanji thought Luffy can't beat Big Mom and also doesn't need him anymore despite Luffy saying otherwise etc.), but so far I didn't see even one moment in which Law doubted Luffy in any way. The closest to it would be on their trip to Dressrosa when he scolds him "we can't go there without a plan!" but literally one moment later he agrees to eat breakfast with them, just because Luffy declares it's meal time. He complained but still went on with it.

Let this sink in :)

This vid doesn't have the original voice lines since it's a music video (borrowed with permission from @lutorao ❤), but it's fine because I want you to pay attention to the dynamics here, which can't really be captured in screenshots.

Luffy is getting impatient and wants to know what Law and Zoro mean by the "ghosts of Wano". Zoro quickly dismissed him so Luffy moves on to pester Law about it and he acts totally spoiled about it. Frowning he leans to him from one side but noticing that Law looked at him, he moves away to his other side instead, and Law's eyes follow him there immediately. Luffy's frown turns into a playful expression instead, he's totally doing it on purpose because he enjoys when Law is looking at him.

Law is lost in his own thoughts, but as soon as Luffy approaches him, he gives him full attention, and he can't help but follow him with his eyes too. He catches himself falling for Luffy's little game, so he stops and answers him "you will see it soon enough when we arrive". Law totally got played here, he allowed it to happen actually, if anything he enjoyed it as much as Luffy did, but he feels like he can't lose his face so he puts an end to it with firm but also not dismissive words. After all he can blame only himself and his own affection for Luffy for falling for that little "attention seeking" game. This is yet another proof to me that Law likes to watch Luffy, likes to spoil him, likes to give him attention too. He doesn't do it all the time only because he wants to maintain his "face".

At the end of this scene Luffy gives up and calls Law "kechi" which is probably the most awful nickname Luffy have given anyone so far in the series (together with "four swords style" name-calling for Zoro lol). It's often translated as "mean", but we know Luffy better than that already, he would never call Law mean, not even while joking. Literally the Japanese word means something like "cheapskate", emphasizing Law's refusal to tell Luffy immediately, so Luffy thinks Law is holding out on him (he's just a bit bored and impatient though). I guess Luffy isn't used to be told to wait, not coming from Law at least. Law spoiled him too much heh.

Personally this is my second favourite Lawlu moment from Wano, besides the ghost story. And this one is anime-only ❤ great job, Wano's anime arc!

This is also Law and Luffy's moment. Luffy's surprise that there's no castle and Law reminding him "I told you it's ruins". In anime Luffy adds afterwards "oh, right!". It's just a cute conversation those two have. Also another moment showing us Law doesn't leave Luffy hanging, even if he has to repeat himself.

The same happens just a moment later, when they're walking around, and Luffy comments that this place is kinda creepy. Law also immediately replies to him, providing an explanation. Luffy really doesn't even have to ask for attention anymore, he's always getting it anyway. Law would never ignore him.

And here comes the fan favourite (mine as well hehe): Law tricking Luffy that Kin'emon and the rest of the samurais were ghosts all along. Yet another example of Law's teasing and deadpan sense of humour, btw.

Let's analyze it step by step. It's neccessary to point out that Luffy is actually the first one to arrive at the idea that "they're dead", without any sort of prompt from Law. Luffy immediately jumps on that idea "they have graves, are they actually dead, that's why I couldn't contact them" and then in his panic he asks Law "Where's Kin, wasn't he supposed to be here??". Law didn't really have to do much for Luffy to believe they're ghosts. All he had to do was to not deny it openly.

Now let's try to see it from Law's point of view. He simply showed Luffy the graves, witnessed him panic and then seeking confirmation or denial from him, because he would believe whatever Law would tell him, that much is clear. And Law couldn't stop himself from leading him on a bit more. He didn't actually lie to him in any way or actively tried to trick him, he just decided to say things that don't exactly deny or confirm openly the ghosts idea. His only responses are "it's not just Kin, look at other graves", and then "he might come up in the middle of the night, like yesterday", and finally "It's not my place to tell you". He's not lying, he's just slightly leading Luffy to spiral more into his own doubts, lol. Such a troll.

He's also super pleased about it, look at his shining eyes there. We never see Law's eyes shining like that, it's a proof of how amused he is despite his deadpanned face. Luffy on that other hand believes Law immediately and even lets go of him (anime-only extension of the scene), devastated. He got successfully trolled, lol.

We know Law is saying bullshit here, because his eyes are hidden, heh. Luffy gets so agitated he grabs Law by his clothes (first time he ever did that, Law gets his payback for that in raid on Onigashima). He's not doubting Law, not really, he's just really confused, because so far Law always gave him a clear answer, every time Luffy asked about something (and often even when he didn't ask). Law's reluctance to answer here clearly makes Luffy so worried, he is ready to kick ass of whoever caused Law to behave in this way, because he thinks it's just too painful for Law to properly say what's going on (the same way it took Law a while to share about his true reason why he's after Doflamingo!). Luffy's reaction is very understandable, but Law's? He's totally playing with him, lol. This all takes place in same episode in the anime, in which their playful interaction from above also happens.

Law probably thought it's cute how Luffy immediately jumped to the "they're ghosts!" conclusion. He wanted to see how far he can push him and how scared he can actually get. If you wanted proof of how much Law missed Luffy, this is actually it. Despite usually distancing himself so much, here he literally couldn't stop himself from playing a trick on Luffy, just so he can see a new face expression on his face. Law in Dressrosa wouldn't allow himself that, but Law after the two weeks of seperation does. Seperation makes the heart grow fonder.

It's worth noting that despite trolling him and getting grabbed, he still doesn't want to outright lie to Luffy :)

Law plays along when Kin'emon shows up. Law can be such a little shit sometimes, lol. Luffy is quickly getting more distressed.

And his surprise reaches it's peak here and he screams, terrified. Meanwhile Law just stands there, enjoying the show quietly.

Luffy is so relieved that Kin'emon is alright and isn't a ghost. And then he immediately complains to Law, accusing him of lying, to which Law calmly denies "I didn't say he was dead, did I?". This is literally the first time Law played a trick/joke on Luffy, and the bottom line is, Luffy isn't even fully aware of it. He just thinks Law was saying things in unclear way and tells him not to do that, lol. He suspects Law probably did it on purpose (after all he never did that to Luffy before! always providing clear explanations), but he still doesn't understand why ;)

Law turns away in the anime, probably with the intention to smile or snicker to himself without being noticed, but when Luffy makes an angry face at him, he can't help but look at him anyway. His eyes just always wander towards Luffy.

This is it, the in-depth analysis of the joke Law played on Luffy. Did it destroy it for you or made it even funnier ;)?

This is a fun little whimsical moment between them. Again, Luffy wonders outloud whether Kiku knows Kin'emon, and Law, completely unprompted, provides his own insight to clear Luffy's confusion. "It looks like more than just knowing each other" (implying: they're kinda close). Luffy doesn't get it immediately, but observes their interaction for a bit longer, and few moments later realization dawns on him.

And that's all thanks to Law, of course. He pointed it out to him as soon as Luffy voiced his confusion. This shows that not only Law always pays attention to Luffy and answers his questions, never ignoring him, but also helps him comprehend stuff Luffy never could before. Like a good older brother would.

It's the same in the manga, though it's a shorter version.

And then we have another reunion. Luffy gets hugged by Chopper and Carrot, and it seems Law is staring at them. Taking into account the scene before (him commenting on Kiku and Kin knowing each other very closely), it's likely he thinks the same way here about Luffy, Carrot and Chopper. He also might be a bit jealous actually, after all it seems Strawhats hug each other, but Law didn't get a reunion hug (not that he could handle it, seeing how poorly he handles most touches and closeness, but doesn't mean he can't wish or yearn a bit for one anyway). Also after observing Strawhats closeness with each other on multiple occassions, he tries to act more affectionately with his own crew as well. He's a good observer and learns a lot just from watching from the side.

And I ran out of space already in this part, haha (I thought I would at least make it till the scene when Luffy runs off to fight Kaido, lol). Including anime kinda affected the pace and made the post even longer! But I think all those additional scenes are really worth it, they're pure gems :3

Tbc in future parts about Wano :D

[melkyt]

Lawlu as parents mmm, (mpreg Luffy vibes)

Luffy doesn't have any father figures in his early life, not even sure what dads do with a kid that is not dump on some island and ditch.

Shanks and his five seconds of fame that Luffy mentions every chance he gets dont count in this scenario, I love Shanks as a dad content, but his track record is spotty xd

Law as a Father is conflicted, scared, and happy at the same time. He had a loving biofather who treated them with kindness and still thinks that Cora made a great guardian despite their rough start together. So he tries to follow their example, so he would never leave his child, though he looks at how Luffy was raised and decides that he will be solely responsible for their kid.

Thats okay, he has a space on the polar tang for when it arrives, decorating with sunflowers and hearts so atleast the kiddo knows the symbols of both their parents, even if they never get the chance to meet Luffy for long.

The relationship Law and Luffy have in Law's eyes is just some fun and a distraction when they both needed it most. So they ended up with a kid in the process, its fine. Law gets used to repeating its fine through the entire process of getting things ready for the child to be part of his life.

Then they arrive, a little ball of shine that resembles them both with bright pale eyes and a brighter smile.

Law is completely taken by their baby. He will spoil them and give them world!

Luffy does that stare of his when he is serious about something, an unwavering determination focused on the kid. It unnerves Law a little as they usually share everything, and he understand what Luffy is thinking better than he did when they met, but sometimes its hard to read Luffy's focused expressions. Especially now,

Law decides its best not to ask, he doesnt want to hear that Luffy thinks they should leave the child behind for its own sake. Worry gnawing at his mind, that he will have to do something drastic to keep the baby and that it will break the relationship he built with Luffy and the strawhats

The baby has to stay on the Sunny for a few weeks, and Law decides to stay there as well. He is determined not to leave the kid. Every waking moment he is carrying the baby arround, washing, feeding, anything he can do while Luffy recovers.

Running himself ragged in the process. He wants to be the best parent ever, and sleep or food doesn't factor into the equation when Law gets hyperfocused. He is a mess. Coming into the nursery on the Sunny with a yawn, just to look at their baby.

Luffy stops him before Law can go to pick them. Instead, forcing Law to take his bed in the room next door.

Law out like a light as soon as his head hits the pillow. When he wakes up, Luffy and the baby are gone. His mind immediately jumps to the worst-case scenario. They are both pirates, and a ship is no place for a baby. That's something Luffy said before, quoting Shanks. So Law is worried he didn't even get to say goodbye.

Law is not bothering to grab his hat, his sword, or even to put on shoes, slipping on the wood. He hears Luffy laughs and runs into the kitchen of the Sunny.

Much ot his relief and surprise, the baby is still there. Luffy is wearing one of those baby slings that let him move around hands free, chattering to the kid about what food Sanji is making, getting everything wrong, much to Sanji's annoyance, as he corrects his captain, determined that the baby knows for sure that cooking is an art!

Law pulling Luffy into a hug, something he only does when nobody is watching. Yet now he doesnt care because they are still there. Luffy chuckles and hugs him back. "Duh, we're still here Traffy" He ruffles Law's hair, the baby giggles where it is pressed between them.

Law after that mini panic at losing family once again, decides to talk to Luffy and what they are doing. That he is prepared fo take care of the kid on the polar tang and while its Luffy's choice in the end and not his, he would rather have the kid in his life then leave it on some island whete it might be safe. Might not have people after it just for being born, but Law would rather be able to protect their kid all on his own.

Luffy pouts, "Who said you gotta do things alone, Traffy?" Luffy holds their kid closer. He tells Law about how even though he dont care about it anymore, he remembers how he felt about being tossed out all the time as a kid and that it hurt not having a place to belong.

He remembers how much Ace hated his dad for leaving him with old man Garp. How Uta felt when Shanks left her.

Luffy aint gonna do that. The kid stays and they are gonna raise it with their crews, with their families and make sure it knowz that its loved!

Law smiles with a soft expression, tension leaving his body. They will have to deal with a lot of danger and shenanigans to protect their child in the future, but at least they will do it together.

[supermanshield]

@t-oriand said:

i’ve been thinking a lot abt bruce helping clark do some research on his kryptonian features. like does clark need food? or just sun? how long can he go without the sun? thinking a lot of tender moments in the bat cave, and bruce realizing how much clark trusts him,,, that sort of thing. also could be some fun gadgety stuff bruce makes to measure clark’s various skills and fun training montage type stuff with superman running comically fast on a treadmill

I'm really sorry this prompt fill is - checks calendar - 4 months late, but here it finally is. I hope you still enjoy it! I'm trying to get back into things and writing a bit more again.

I love this prompt! I changed it a little bit (hope it's okay) and now we're not in the bat cave anymore, we're only testing one thing, not many gadgets involved, and I went with a pretty smug Clark and Bruce with the biggest crush on him. I hope you like it!

---

The icy blue clouds of Neptune drain the red from Clark's costume, leaving him clad in monotones of navy and black. He reaches up again, extending his arms and straining the fabric of his suit, distracting Bruce once more, and they haven't even started yet. He's only setting up all the equipment they've brought over.

"I want to test my strength again and I need someone on the controls. Do you want to help?" Clark had asked the day before, a welcome break in Bruce's more-boring-than-boring monitor duty.

"Yes," he'd replied too fast and too eager.

A hesitant smile danced around Clark's lips. "Okay... Now you'll have to tell me whether you got so excited because you actually want to see me exert myself or because you want to record the data for the sake of the League."

"Who says it can't be both?" Bruce had dared to say.

And so, now they're setting up equipment from the fortress and the watchtower on Neptune, because Clark didn't want to mess with Earth's gravity. He had said it so casually, but it reminded Bruce how nothing was normal for a man who could push planets. Something as simple as maxing out on squats or shoulder press had to be done at the edge of the solar system.

Even from behind the thick glass shielding and inside the body of inch-thick metal of their ship, Bruce can sense the weight of the equipment Clark is putting in its place, as he goes over his controls and monitors inside the rig one more time.

"Ready?" Clark's voice finally crackles through the comms. Outside he's already holding up one thumb and grinning at Bruce, the question echoed in his eyes. It should not send butterflies to Bruce's belly but it does.

"All set," he replies.

Clark gets into place, and he looks comically small underneath the structure he's about to test the limits of. It should not be possible. It isn't physically possible, and yet there Clark is. It still breaks Bruce's brain a little after all this time. Clark still breaks Bruce's brain a little.

"Batman? Don't tell me you're bored," Clark teases through the comms.

"Right." Quite the opposite, he thinks. He's supposed to initiate the countdown. He scrambles for the controls, pressing the logging button and locking in Neptune's position to be able to monitor that Clark doesn't accidentally move it. Gravity is about 14% higher here, which they've accounted for in their calculations, and should help mitigate the risk of breaking laws of physics.

They start. As Clark is pushing up against the thing, and Bruce incrementally increases the force pushing down on him past what he's ever seen him lift, he's reminded once again that Clark is always holding back, and hopes he never has to see him use all his strength. It seems impossible, but he's afraid he might get scared. Scared of what it all means, scared of what it would do to his perception of the world and to science. Scared of Clark. Scared of what it would do to Clark.

"Superman," Bruce has to break their steady back and forth after a while. "The weight is approaching critical mass. That of the planet you're standing on."

"Hrm." At least Clark sounds like he's actually reaching his limit. His biceps are bulging, his suit pulled taut across his abs and thighs, and still Clark is smiling right at him. Bruce bites his lip to refrain from sighing at the sight.

"No conclusive answer today, I'm sorry." Bruce slowly turns down the dial again. The scientist in him is disappointed, but maybe it's just as well, he thinks on a different level. Because now hope remains that there's always a way

At least now I know what I can lift," Clark says, predictably, too stubborn to admit the test was not satisfactory. Too stubborn to acknowledge that there might be a limit to who he can help, because there's always a way. 

Clark waves at him after he sets down the structure again. “Your heart rate is elevated. Everything okay?”

“Uhh, yes, all good,” Bruce scrambles to say. “So is yours.”

Clark laughs. It's a warm thing, as if Bruce made a joke that only he understands. “I just lifted a planet, Batman.” 

“Which you now still have to bench press, Superman.” Bruce doesn't mean to, but he's smiling. Clark just draws it out of him. 

“Alright, alright.” Outside, Clarks small figure moves around and starts disassembling and reassembling his setup. Bruce wonders how often he uses it in the fortress. As Clark casually displaces a ton of weight over his head, his voice crackles through the comms again. “It's always good watching you lift your weights in the cave. Thought I'd return the favor for once.”

Bruce almost chokes. If he didn't know any better he'd swear Clark was flirting with him. “Ugh, you don't know half the things you do to me,” he mutters under his breath. 

“What was that? The atmosphere is thinner up here. You have to use the communicator, B.” Of course Clark could still hear him. 

“I said I'd spot you but I can't exactly return that favor,” he manages somehow.

“And yet, you're doing literally just that right now.” Clark turns to watch him.

All Bruce is doing is pressing buttons and reading dials, and yet Clark finds a way to bring him to his level. Maybe that's his only power that matters. He smiles, and lets his feelings for Clark wash over him. It's warm. It's good to be in love. Suddenly, Bruce doesn't mind. But Clark doesn't need to know that, yet.

“Hrm. Focus, Superman. There's still a lot to be done.” 

Clark shakes his head. “You're insufferable,” he says, and gets into position again. Out there, in the icy blue clouds of Neptune lifting the weight of the earth for warm up sits the man Bruce is madly in love with. He'll tell him, some day. After all, there's always a way. Bruce just has to find the right time. 

[euphoric-dramione]

April Dramione fanfic wrap-up *with links*

Amor Vincit Omnia by Twin_Flame_Blues: a cute second-chance healing romance. i’m not usualully very much into these tropes, but i really enjoyed reading this. it was very long, considering that not that much was actually happening, but it was still easy to read and i always wanted to come back to it when i had to put it down.

Rosemary for Remembrance by rubber_soul02: a beatiful healing fic with a found family trope where draco is abit angsty but worthy of redepmtion and hermione is a bit darker because of her trauma that she cannot easily move on from.

Timeless by alexandra_emerson: i liked the idea of this fic, the complexity of time and relationships in that complex time, but the more it went on, the more it just became a bore. it was really repetitive too.

A Season For Setting Fires by mighbewriting: i feel like this fic was the perfect lenght - i didn’t get bored of it and it kept my attention throughout the whole story. i liked the idea very much, the writing was brilliant and the plot really hooked me. i feel like for a wartime fic it was a bit too sappy but i still really enjoyed it. the ending, i feel, was sort of the weakest poitn, otherwise i would’ve given this fic the highest grade.

Soft As It Began by rubber_soul02: i definitely did not read this fic because of the mystery aspect, but i loved that it was actually entertaining and i really wanted to find out what happened to harry. the chemistry between our ship was also really good.

Lumos & Lattes by magicalmolly: i liked this fic and was hooked on from the beginning, but i think it didn’t know what genre it wanted to be: a fluffy coffee shop au, a smutty fic, a healing and redemption fic, a dark murder fic, an angsty fic, a fluffy fic? by the end, i still don’t know. i don’t think the author is entirely sure either.

Love & Other Historical Accidents by PacificRimbaud: i wasn’t impressed by this. found it really dull and boring and repetitive. not that i’m a big fan of regency, but i thought i was a fan of time travel. maybe i’m not?

Break Her by BareWithMeHoney: dark and twisted, ust how i love it, alhtough very much out of character and many of the decisions h and d made really did not make sense. i also feel like thif fic explained more and showed little, but i still really enjoyed it.

Things We Say In The Dark by rubber_soul02: this was such a beautiful academic fic, although i wouldn’t say it was dark acdemia, but it definitely had academic vibes. i loved the characterization of draco and hermione, as well as their interactions and relationship. also, the side pairing of theo and harry hit me hard in the best way possible.

Ten out of Ten by morriganmercy: a fun marriage law smutty fic that i read in one sitting.

On The Nature Of Daylight by ikorous: i ate this fic up in 20 hours because i was obsessed with it. this type of smut and toxic draco was all i ever needed. although i have to admit this fic is not the best written and there are plot holes, but the plot just absolutely doesn’t matter here. this is the type of bad boy x good girl dynamic i’m talking about. the ending though, i have to say, was not very satisfactory, but i also don’t see any other way this could’ve ended.

Things We're All Too Young To Know by eevans: the first half of this fic was absolutely brilliant, but right after draco found out that hermione was preteding to be daphne, it seems like the whole ansgt and chemistry simply evaporated and i was left with nothing. overall, a quite fun fic, although i found the second hafl to be boring.

ONE-SHOTS:

Paris by Twin_Flame_Blues

A Bit of a Mess by slytherindiaries

Amortentia by LadyMidnight87

DNFs:

The Binding by Curly_Kay

Hot for Teacher by MotherofBulls

[thisblogwilleatourselves]

WE GoT A B0NE TO PICK 👀 wItH thE SHIpShIp-ShApE oF FANfICTION 🌀, Ya knoW 👈🏽 WHY EVrYtHINg GOTTA BE abOUT 🖇️ SM00ChY SMooChS 💔 or THoSE twO Pe0pl3 GIVin’ EACH OthEr GooGly EYEs??? 🤡 wE JUS WANNA 🛠️ BReAK iT OpeN ⚡ Like YEah, LeT uS WATCH ’EM gO on A QUEST ⚔️, FIGHT DRAG0NS 🐲 or FiSH foR THosE wEiRd gLOWInG 🐟FISHb0NES, CrEaTE aRT 🖍️, tame THE wILD bEAsTS 🦖, DriNK ☕︎ CoFFEE aND talK AboUT ThE sKY, HikE Up MOuNtAInS ⛰️ TO ScreAm aT tHe Sun—🗣️

c’moN ✋ but NAHHH NOOOOO!!! 🚫❌ iTS GOTTA Be C0uPLeD uP 💏, iT’s All SMOTHERED IN SaUCY SLOPPY 🥴 roMANce SUcKINGS anD 🌸 EVERYTHIN’ gOTTA B E dONE WiTH THat TwINkle EyED DuO 💫 like it’s Gotta BE ThEIR LiTtlE LoVEboAt 🚤 wE ArE TryIn' T0 NaVigaTe 😵‍💫!! iT’s Like WatChin’ a Sh0W wHEre tHE w0rld iS FaLLinG aPArT But Oh YEAh, 🥴 THEY kIsSED in THe bACK oF a BuRNiNG HOUSE 🏚️.

seRiousLy, 90% oF ThESE FaNFicS, WhErE’s tHe PLOT 🍿?! wE aRE reaDInG a gLoRiFiEd DAtiNg SImUlaTOR 📲! IT’S aLL abOUT ThEir MUSHy-GUSHy dynaMICs 💥—nOTHinG ELSE gOinG Onnn 🚷. IT’s LIKE, We Get AmAt0n0rmATIViTY, suRE buT C'MON 💢! Fanfic’s WILD TerrAin 🗺️, WRITeR’$ pLaYGROund, U caN DO ANYTHING!! 🌈 No laWs, N0 rULes, BUT—pEOPLE KeeP PiNNiNG tHEir StORiES tO RELAtioNSHiP cENTRAL 💍.

We’rE JusT sayin’, FilteR "GEN" ALL yA WANT 🌪️ but iT DoEsn’T fRee U from tHe InSAnE ShIp wORLd, EVEN tHe FRiEnDShIp 4n f4MilY oNes 👫... UGGHHHHH 🍂! WhY NOt cREATE somEthINg BIGGer? 🌌 MorE UnrULy? More Than juST HEARTBEATS anD COUPLEs’ NESTinG! 😬 We'rE h0wLiNG, SCREAMin’, This SociEty ☄️ HATES US WHO DON'T WANNA B TAnGLeD In ReLATIonSHip WEbS 🕸️!!

[indelicate-delicacies]

Hey so not to get too wildly off-track from the normal topic of conversation on this blog, but if you so permit it, I'd love to talk about another little theory of mine about the Magnus Protocol of all things. It's only a little hatchling, too young to really be too particular on the details, but we've got that season 2 drop closing in, so there's only so much time I have left to ship it off before it gets completely demolished from being proven wrong 6 times over.

As you might expect, spoilers incoming for pretty much the entirety of Season 1 (Not including the s1 epilogue).

So, the fears, right? If you've not heard of them, then you are the very rare individual that has somehow both found my blog, and listened to the entirety of Magnus Protocol before listening to half of Magnus Archives. I am very proud of you for managing to find this; though perhaps you should check if you've been marked by the Eye. (Joking.)

We're here to get down to the fears, where are they now, what's their new business plan, etc. etc. Well, I can say one thing for certain: Smirke's 14 is certainly not the main system we're operating with. There are some clear remnants of this system, such as the Stranger--they're still going strong, what with the Mr Bonzo and such. And I'll get into why that's still here later, but my point is we will not be relying on Smirke's 14.

But even if it's not 14, there are still some kind of division of the fears present. While the motifs may not be familiar to us, they are there if you look for them. The Deep is a clear example, because once it is literally name-dropped by an avatar external, the motifs become pretty easy to look out for. Even in one season, the amount of episodes involving drowning or water is too statistically significant to be some accident.

So you may be asking, "how does this work? How are the fears being stretched in such awkward ways that they have to go by completely different names?" Well, the thing is, they are not being stretched any more awkwardly by these new names than they were by the old ones. Think of it this way: they are mapping out the same landmass, but they break up the landmarks with completely different borders. You can see some decent overlap between certain fears, like the Deep with the Buried, and that's because that area has to go somewhere. And the Deep takes a good chunk of it, so as a result it seems awfully familiar.

The next question to answer: "If it's not 'Smirke's 14' anymore, then who's responsible for this one?" Shockingly, I think we can answer this. With the statement regarding Sir Isaac Newton himself, a Historical figure just like Robert Smirke, that shows him speculating on fear and its mechanics, we have a potential culprit for this new arrangement. Consider this parallel: Robert Smirke was always focused on balance, and how the fears are supposedly able to cancel each other out; Newton's third law of motion states that "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." That's not much evidence to place him as specifically responsible for all the current fear stuff, but it would be particularly powerful foreshadowing if the guy who designed these new fears was name-dropped all the way back in Season One, and Mr. Sims has made it clear he is quite fond of making sure everything is included for good reason. So I'm just going to make an educated guess and point my finger at Newton.

But the main thing I'm going to be discussing here is what the new fears are, how they're broken up, what their motifs/"motives" are, and afterwards, how the old fears factor into all of this. The thing is, I'm not exactly studied up on all the alchemy stuff, or much of anything regarding Isaac Newton outside of his theory of gravity; Maybe I'll research in the future, but again, we're working with a limited amount of time so I won't be diving into Isaac's methods and ideas just yet. Right now, I just mentioned him as a possible lead so I could have a name in here for the sake of naming this system of fears. That being Newton's system of 8. But let's get into that, shall we?

Here's how I think the fears are broken up:

The Deep. Related to the Buried and the Dark (and a portion of the Vast and the Lonely).

(Note: this is the only name confirmed in canon--the only other possibly canon name is "Liminal Hunger," which although it could be a name, it is likely not a frequent name. But for all the other names, they are speculations based on their themes.)

There seems to be only a small difference between the choking of the Buried and the drowning of the Deep. But there is certainly a difference. In the Buried, there is no action, no moving, no seeing. But the Deep is always moving. It pulls you downward, always further in, perhaps even convincing you to try and swim. But the pull is too much. You are locked in its grasp, and it will never stop pulling you closer and closer. The shock of cold gets you, paralyzing all your muscles except the ones in your heart, that cannot stop beating faster and faster. You struggle and fight and you try to swim, try to get one gasp of air. But it holds you close, and yet closer still. The cold grip tightens until you freeze. And only then do you stop moving.

Occurrences of this fear are: Episode 11 case file; statement of the corpse from episode 15; Episode 29 case file.

The Wild. Related to the Corruption and the Hunt.

The climbing, crawling, creeping Wild. It describes the Wrath of Demeter, the dense weeds with desire to spread and take control, the angry beast that wishes to fight and defend its territory. Sometimes it comes to devour, sometimes it comes for the sport of sewing chaos. Its truth reveals we are all not too distant from animals. It's angry, and hungry, and it just wants to survive. So it will take, splitting rock open with its roots. From nature we came, and it promises that to nature we will return.

Occurrences of this fear are: Ink5oul's floral serpent tattoo (described in episode 2); episode 3 case file; episode 14 case file; Lady Mowbray (episode 15); episode 24 case file.

The Risk/Never Enough. Related to the Desolation and the End (and a portion of the Web).

There's always a risk. At any time, there's risk of an accident, an injury, death--every day is a gamble. We believe that we get control over our lives, but there will always be a risk of losing everything. And if that's the case, what harm is there in challenging risk? If you're already living with a ticking clock that could run out at any moment, why not try for something more? If a small gamble pays out, then maybe you'll earn yourself a bit of a safety cushion? You'll only be taking one risk to replace another, and if your luck is as good as it's been so far, with you still being alive and all, maybe you'll finally be safe from the risk entirely. Except, there's still a risk. Maybe smaller after taking that chance, but not small enough. You need more gambles, more wins, until you're finally safe. Finally free. It won't matter how many times you lose, as long as you win in the end. Just one more try, just one more risk...

Occurrences of this fear are: Episode 1 case file 1; Episode 9 case file; Episode 13 case file.

The Pain. Related to the Slaughter (and a portion of the Flesh).

Fear of pain is simple. We're all familiar with it; that sting as some new injury has disgraced your flesh. Perhaps some marking their brand forever on your body, cutting deeply enough that your skin cannot repair without producing scars. A fear so common, it is almost ubiquitous. And yet despite this, it is a fear so commonly disrespected. What harm is there in hesitance in the presence of a needle? Why compare it to larger injury, when even such a tiny thing is capable of causing permanent damage? One needle is enough. Enough to burrow deep into you with complete disregard for the body it has infiltrated. Even a single sting is small, but it stays, and leaves you with some unnamable, deeper ache. A fear of its ability to return, and to take the opportunity to cause something much, much worse.

Occurrences of this fear are: Ink5oul (episode 2, 11, 16, 20); episode 6 case file.

Liminal Hunger. Related to The Spiral and the Flesh.

I'm not sure I understand this one. It is a hunger that must be sated, an emptiness that wishes to be filled. A place waiting to fulfill its purpose. But are the people who made it the source of this desire? The wish to have their work mean something, brought to life? Or is it something carried by the viewer, who expects something from a building until it decides to oblige them? Either way, there's something about those places. That it was created, theoretically with some purpose, and now its potential is being wasted. Even if it's some niche use, it still deserves to be used. It deserves to have a place, to get the appreciation that it earned. It deserves to have its purpose. At first I believed this fear to be something from the Flesh, being that the Hungry Man Grill really suggested that that fear was still around. I considered that it could have just expanded to be more than just meat and food, shifted toward a matter of creation. A hunger for purpose. But that wasn't it. While there are shared components with the Flesh, it is distinctly separated from its desire for simplicity and nature. The Flesh says we are all nothing but meat, but Liminal Hunger says we are something more. Something strange. And whatever it is, the fear wants it drawn out of us, have it pushed out our lungs and our hands and our eyes. It wants to live through us. It wants to be our creation.

Occurrences of this fear are: Episode 7 case file; episode 8 case file; episode 18 case file; Helen Richardson (Episode 26); The Custodian (Episode 30).

The Stranger. Mostly similar to the version of the Stranger in the Magnus Archives.

This version of the Stranger is very similar to the one we're familiar with, but it's not the same. All these ideas on the "other" and the unfamiliar are present, but they have been shifted to be an examination of objectification and desire. For an example of the contrast: while the previous horror in the taking of Breekon and Hope's name was about identity theft and your name no longer being yours, the loss of Nigel Dickerson's self is quite different. Mr. Bonzo was a simple property of his, one that was such an obsession for people that it eclipsed him as a person. People knew Mr. Bonzo, they liked him and were familiar with him, but everybody forgot the person behind the character. And then, all of it was taken away when the famous face was turned infamous. Mr. Bonzo is a story about celebrity culture, about being popular but never seen. Breekon and Hope were quiet, a personal and secret theft of personhood, while Mr. Bonzo was loud, an identity tainted and swept away by a roaring crowd. Not all of the fear is reaching this level of publicity in its motions, but it does permit itself to be seen more often, even if that image will always be false. If the Stranger had a name-change to reflect the way it's been changed, it could be called the Performance.

Occurrences of this fear are: Episode 5 case file (possibly located at the amphitheater); Mr. Bonzo (episode 10, 12); Episode 27 case file (though seemingly a more traditional version of the Stranger than my suggestions of the Performance).

The Mirror. Related to the Lonely and the Spiral (and a small portion of the Eye).

Sometimes when we look in the mirror, we are disturbed by what we see. Either by what is there, or what isn't. Some become trapped by the sight, trying to make fixes, or make conversation. Some are disturbed by the warps they see in the reflection, wishing to find an image of themselves that portrays them in perfect accuracy--in the attempt to deny something they wish to not be true, or in the hope that they will one day be able to understand just what they are. It's a fear that many people interact with in many different ways. And because the way we fear the Mirror is personal, I can do no more than describe its silhouette. I cannot fully express the complexity of its design, the intricacies of its attack. Because it is impossible for me to be a part of the dialogue that only You and the Mirror can share.

Occurrences of this fear are: episode 17 case file; episode 21 case file; episode 22 case file; episode 23 case file.

The Network. Related to the Web and the Eye.

The Network is a lot of things. On some matters, it is much like the Eye, nosy and knows how to find people. But on others, it's blind and clumsy. Because the Network is the fear of people. Not like how the Stranger is the fear of people--crowds of unblinking dolls and false identities--but real, genuine humanity. People that are just the same as you, and yet will always stay separated. The disconnect from others that cannot truly be broken, despite how tightly we are all interwoven. The truth that everything, every bit of the social structure we have created to make people feel safe, will always be vulnerable to simple human error. And this fear is only exacerbated when systems of hierarchy are concerned. Humans that are no different than anyone, no better than anyone, are put above each other in a never-ending cascade of hierarchy. At times, some feel they gain power from this system, some genuine control over their lives, not subject to the bizarre whims of a stranger. But then, no matter how big the role they play, a bigger fish shows up. Even the Externals have something to fear. Because there is no top, no point where you're above other people. That's a fiction invented by the desire for control, for stability. The Network is the fear that there is no stability, because the world is filled with people just like you. The fear that we will continue to enforce a broken system, not out of ignorance, but because it's the best we can do.

Occurrences of this fear are: The OIAR (all episodes); episode 16 case file (though caused by Ink5oul, an External related to the Pain); statement of Samama Khalid from episode 28 (just speculative--motifs are unclear, but not sure how else to place it).

If you kept a careful tally of the different case files I divided up amongst the different fears, you might have noticed I missed a few. You might think this implies I left one of the fears unclassified or something of that nature, but I think it's different. All these edge-cases are essentially arguments between "philosophers"-- because despite the mostly lacking presence of Robert Smirke, there are clearly still some remaining artifacts from his work. Some examples include... You know... The Magnus Institute existing at all in the show. Also that violent violin that was nothing but a dead-ringer for the Slaughter (episode 4 case file). And I think they are present because, at some point in time, Smirke did actually get down to the brass tacks of trying to break up the fears like he did in the Magnus Archives. The only difference is, he failed, and most of the fear structures that he built eventually dissipated back into the format they were previously reliant on. There's a reason why the violin story was so old, and why the Archive only spits something out when someone goes picking at its supposed corpse. It's not clear whether the buildings were destroyed because Newton himself came down to beat Smirke to death with a metal pipe, or because Smirke made some little mistake that got him killed (resulting in his architecture being left to slowly erode over time). But clearly Smirke had a short time where at least some of his structures were in place, and if some fragments of their remains are intact, then they remain capable of producing the occasional little nugget of fear. The Stranger, however, might have outlived the rest for a reason. If Newton's setup already had something remarkably similar to the Stranger, it could have decided it was easier to adopt/reformat the new motifs than it was to wholly reject them-- perhaps even leaving the amphitheater mostly undamaged. This is why I listed the Stranger as one of Newton's system of 8.

With all that wrapped up for now, I wanted to leave you with an "honorable mention" of a theory. For how close the number of fears was to 7, and for the Christian themes in the Newton case file, I almost made my theory revolve around the seven deadly sins. But 7 just didn't make as much sense as 8, so you all have been saved from this theory cliché. But just so you all know how close it came: The Deep was Sloth, the Wild was Wrath, the Risk was Greed, the Pain was Envy, Liminal Hunger was Gluttony, the Stranger was Lust, the Mirror was Pride, and the Network was assumed to be from remnants of Smirke's 14--though that wouldn't have made sense when they were the ones responsible for destroying the Magnus Institute (and likely the other buildings).

[the-bitterest-breakups-poll]

Poll: Round 1c #4

[Image ID. An image of Scooge McDuck and Goldie L'Gill from Ducktails 2017, and an image of Cavendish and Dakota from Milo Murphy's law. End ID]

*Reminder that Break up is being used loosely here and not all relationships may be romantic in nature

Propaganda under cut:

Scrooge and Goldie:

Scrooge McDuck and Goldie O'Gilt from Ducktales 2017, who keep going on and off and who the fuck knows for centuries until Goldie can be less of a selfish backstabber for once. This happens because of shenanigans involving Ponce de Leon, a Franken-baby, nasty pool water, and swordfighting, because this is Ducktales we're talking about.

Cavendish and Dakota:

They have two break ups during the show. The first is during the Christmas episode, where during a work Christmas party they argue over who should have eaten the last egg roll. This leads to them falling out so badly that they don’t speak for 20 years- during that time, Dakota becomes famous and successful but is very regretful, while Cavendish becomes, and I quote: “an old man with unfinished business.” They both end up breaking dozens of time travel laws to go back in time to try and stop their past selves from breaking up. They figure it out eventually. Remember, this was all over an egg roll. I just really need to hammer in that they broke up a decades old friendship/relationship/whatever it is they’ve got going on over an egg roll.

and then, more related to the actual plot of the show, is their multi episode break up in s2. They have an argument, and Cavendish decides to use a device on Dakota to wipe his memory, so he can leave to go investigate aliens. Dakota is very unhappy about this, understandably. He teams up with Dr Heinz Doofenshmirtz to try to find Cavendish, and ends up having an argument with him because he isn’t Cavendish. They make a Cavendish-platypus hybrid to help them “get into his head”. Meanwhile Cavendish ends up getting himself trapped in an alien ship. They have a nice reunion when he gets rescued.

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1118 - Initial Thoughts

And we're back

It looks like it's time to leave Egghead, with Vegapunk's message cut off by the Gorosei's attack on the Iron Giant

Is there another twist in the tale left? We'll have to wait and see

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release too!

After a handful of covers prepping, Yamato's finally setting off on his voyage, and he's already eating from the bento

Picking up from the attack on the Iron Giant, the attack sends it flying into the ocean

The marines not privy to the situation are just collateral

The last fragments of Vegapunk's message continues as the den den mushi gets waterlogged

'And their name was...'

The Iron Giant once more laments not finding Joy Boy

The Marines who witnessed the fall also spot Warcury's boar form, but believe it to be part of the island

The world watches and wonders how Vegapunk's message got cut off

They also start to wonder who could've killed Vegapunk

Koza stays quiet as speculation occurs

Alas, Morgans' earlier headline leads speculation to where we expected, with Luffy taking the fall

Vegapunk tells you a man made weapon caused the whole island of Lulusia to disappear and yet people still don't believe that the WG wouldn't silence someone for breaking a taboo

Laws which also wiped out Ohara, a whole nation of scholars, as well

The former Mr 9 and Miss Monday with their little kid in Whiskey Peak also don't seem convinced by this rhetoric

Only Leo is convinced and that's because Tontatta are gullible, Rebecca looks to set him straight

York is messaged by the Gorosei, asking how many more Vegapunks remain

York confirms Atlas and Lilith, nothing about Edison though, he mustn't have been using Punk Records

The Gorosei now intend to wipe out the other two, believing that York will get the full capability of Punk Records' genius with just York

The Giants and Luffy make it onto the longboat, with Luffy happy to be on there and greet the other giants

Luffy also asks about Usopp and Chopper, since they would've loved to be on the longboat too

Doll and Bluegrass got de-aged by Bonney, which limited their threat level, the little weaponized sea beast got kiddified too

Reminds me of the Toys R Us giraffe now XD

As Luffy greets Oimo and a recovering Kashii, and Bonney makes fun of the vice admirals, Sanji checks on the Sunny

Nami notes that they need help landing, to which Sanji claims he will rescue the ladies - Usopp chiming in to note to save all of them

Franky also chimes in to look after the ship, not the rest of the crew XD

Marcus Mars however has swooped down from above, intent on killing Atlas and all those who stand in his way

Luffy's straight into the kitchen, with the giants knowing him well enough to already have food prepared

Mars has fire breath, but it's blocked by Oimo and Kashii

The fire however has spread to the ship, which means they can't quite escape without putting out the fires and dealing with Mars and the Navy

Bonney and Atlas look to move the Stella body and Kuma away from the action, so Atlas will not be getting too violent at this point

The Giant captains lament that the monsters will chase them given that they can fly, with Mars stating his intent to leave no survivors

Franky notices something though, given the sound effect and what happens next, it's likely Nika back for another round

Luffy can also make the sea rubbery! Which the navy mistake for an earthquake and the rising of sea levels

Luffy still doesn't know why Bonney keeps calling him Nika

Dorry and Brogy are also dancing...but the ship's still on fire

Luffy invites Bonney to fight with him, but Bonney doesn't think she can

By his encouragement though, Bonney remembers how Luffy described Gear Fifth when she asked about his wanted poster

And with a Distorted Future where she is most free, there are now TWO SUN GODS

Kuma, thinking back to his promise to Ginny, bears witness to two different versions of Nika

Mars is most likely panicked now, the consequences of your actions are ready to punch you in the face

Ju Peter and Warcury sense the presence of another Nika, unnerved and deciding to hurry

And in the sea, the Iron Giant once again stirs, having found where Joy Boy is

That chapter absolutely flew by for me!

Bonney's fruit pays dividends because now she can believe in a future where she can be Nika, where she can be free, as opposed to when she couldn't do that against Saturn.

There's still death flags hovering over Atlas and Lilith though, it's likely that Saturn and V. Nusjuro will attempt to attack the Sunny while the rest take on the Longboat, the landing is still a question mark.

I wonder if Edison died, or if he's just being a lil' sneaky sneak, maybe someone able to catch York out. CP0 could do that too, since she did order the Seraphim to silence them.

As expected though, Luffy is likely to get issued the blame for Vegapunk's death, and all the other shit going on in Egghead (well, the shit he's not responsible for). Overall this still feels more like a WG win more than an incident, but stuff still looks like it can turn around or at the least break even. The Vegapunk transmission is likely done, or will have a big chunk missing after the Den Den Mushi dries out, but the Iron Giant is likely not.

[mizuski-pirat]

A Fitpac pirate AU where Fit is a rugged old pirate captain, And Pac is a renowned thief running away from the law (The Federation)

Ft. Richas, Ramon, and many other QSMP characters

"sooo... How long will this take again?"

Pac clicked his tongue.

"Paciência, Richas. You need to learn patience"

Richarlyson made an offended noise at that but Pac continued on before he could complain.

"And anyways- looking for the right ship in our field of work takes a lot of effort, you know? It's not like the perfect vessel is going to suddenly roll ou-"

"I see a ship coming in right over there, actually" Richas interrupted smugly, peeking his eyes over the edge of the barrel he was hiding in, which Pac was resting one elbow on.

Pac sighed in amused exasperation.

"You know that's not what I meant Richinhas! Besides, you're not supposed to be seeing anything right now! You're going to get caught!" he hissed.

Richarlyson reluctantly lowered himself back down.

"What am I even here for if I can't look for ships, anyways?" he said, probably pouting.

(not that Pac would really know. He was taking great care not to look at the barrel while they were talking. He had standards after all).

"You're here because once we find a ship, I'm going to need to get you on it. Also, just sitting on a dockyard for hours looking for a crew that would take a pretty well known thief is boring"

He wasn't lying there. Even with the pretty view of the sparking ocean and the wooden barges and schooners and all the other typical 1700s vessels coming in and out of the busy seaside town, it could get old pretty fast.

"Thieves. Plural. There's two of us now" Richas said, using his cute little offended voice again.

"I said well known Richas. I hate to break it to you, but no one's going to recognize the little poofy-haired brazillian kid that just so happened to be around my last couple hiests"

He groaned dramatically

"whatever, why are we even going on a trip to nowhere anyways!!! I like it here!"

"Oh come on! Where's your spirit of adventure! Of freedom! We're going on a trip to see the world, Richarlyson!!!"

"more like because you're seriously broke..." He muttered.

"OI! Cálmate, Richas! Or I'll send you back to the orphanage cellar where I found you!" Pac snickered as he elbowed the barrel beside him.

"Hey!!!" He tried to act offended at that too, but after a second he started quietly laughing along with his dad.

...Richas wasn't wrong though. The royal guard here were getting too used to his regular schemes. They needed to find a new stomping ground if they were to continue making money.

"Alright fiiineeeee, so where are we going to find this magical ship that's supposed to take us away on a magical adventure"

"You can stop saying the word magical now, there's nothing magical about pirates"

Richas gasped. "PIRATES??!??!?????"

"Oi!! Keep it down, will you!" Pac hissed again.

"Yes, pirates. I told you, there's not many crews that would take on a known thief. What were you expecting?"

"But what if they kill us! What they rob us and then tear out our innards before feeding us to sharks!!!" Richarlyson whisper-screamed.

"That's why we're sneaking you on board. Even though pirates usually don't hurt anyone who treats them well, I'd rather not take my chances.

...Also, you have a terrifyingly bloody imagination"

He huffed irritatedly at that.

"Ok, fine, so how do we find this still magical pirate ship to take us out into the middle of nowhere?"

"I'm glad you asked Richas! Pirate ships are usually built for speed and ability to traverse shallower waters, to outrun the law and catch other ships along the coast! Also, they remodel it so there's an entire flat deck just for guns, and more room for cargo. And usually they're a bit more... uhh... Messy than your usual navy or merchant ship" he rambled, ignoring the 'Middle of Nowhere' comment again.

"Okay, so how long are we going to wait to for a ship that looks like that"

Pac considered for a moment, looking out at the docks while he worked it out in his head. "... probably a couple days at least..." Before a galleon at the other end of the dock finally pulled out, revealing a truly ugly midsized sloop vessel behind it, almost entirely patched-together looking except for the shining guns on all sides and the nameplate at the stern, which read

"The Shitshack"

Pac slowly began to grin.

"Actually,

I think we've already found one"

[the-bar-sinister]

For those of you who are curious, here's a list of some of the major structural canon-divergences we're changing about One Piece for our upcoming re-write.

TL;DR: everybody lives, all the princesses become pirates, destiny is rejected, and all the pirates team up to overthrow the government.

Brook doesn't exist, and instead a shipwrecked Carrot joins the crew during Thriller Bark

Vivi, hearing about Marineford, embraces her desire to rejoin the Straw Hats. She travels with Crocodile and the reformed Baroque Works and obtains a Devil Fruit.

Bon Clay, with the encouragement of his fellow prisoners, sneaks out of Impel Down with the intention to join up with the Straw Hats. He ends up with the reformed Baroque Works.

Vergo survives Punk Hazard and is rescued and reassembled by Doflamingo. He is sent to recover outside the city for a while.

The Straw Hats aren't separated during Dressrosa, and journey to Zou together.

Rebecca defines herself as a gladiator and warrior, and travels with the Straw Hats leaving Dressrosa while she tries to decide on her own dream.

Vergo, hearing about the mess in Dressrosa makes his way there still injured. Though he is too late to change the outcome of the battle, he's in time to free the rest of the Donquixote family from the marines, except for Doflamingo who is being transported separately.

Vivi rejoins the crew between Dressrosa and Zou. Bon Clay stays with reformed Baroque Works on Crocodile's request.

Crocodile asks Bon Clay to break Doflamingo out of Impel Down for him, which he does. 

When Sanji is forced to depart for his wedding, Rebecca accompanies him. The Straw Hats wait exactly as long as Luffy's patience can hold before immediately chasing after.

Rebecca meets the Vinsmoke siblings before the wedding, and becomes entangled with them, helping them reach their emotions which have been suppressed by chemicals and conditioning, and encouraging them to turn against their father.

Pudding leaves the Charlotte family to seek out her own life. While she's leaving she's caught by Katakuri, who accompanies her as her bodyguard.

The renegade Vinsmokes and renegade Charlottes run into one another and put aside their differences.

The Vinsmokes hunt down and kill Judge.

Caesar remains with the Straw Hat crew becoming the funny uncle 'not so reformed' villainous teammate. 

Crocodile starts forming the former Baroque Works into Cross Guild sooner than in canon. He teams up with the Donquixote family as well as Buggy and Mihawk, and recruits Boa Hancock.

Smoker and Tashigi, who are already fed up with the Marines, are captured by Cross Guild. Crocodile asks Smoker to be free and join the pirates, and they do so.

Sabo and Koala enact the raid on Mary Geoise together. While they are fleeing, the entirety of the Revolutionary Army is wiped out at their base, rather than Lulusia being wiped out. They are rescued by Hancock, and join Cross Guild, which, after the destruction of the Revolutionary army, is now the largest anti-government organization.

While on Wano, Luffy discovers some of King and Kaidou's backstory and origin for himself and feels a sort of kinship with them.

During the fight with Kaidou, Luffy realizes that there is something wrong with Gear 5, as if he's not himself when he's using it.

Big Mom does not regain her memories and does not fight against the protagonists in the fight on Wano. She is later recovered by Perospero who takes over the family and takes care of her in her retirement.

Kaidou survives the fight with Luffy, as does King. Along with Page and Ulti they leave Wano. They are intercepted by Perospero, with whom they negotiate, and then part ways.

Caesar, Chopper and Law devise a way to heal the Pleasures from the effects of the Smile fruit.

Komurasaki, a swordswoman raised in a brothel by the yakuza, rejects her position as a princess and instead stows away on Law's ship with the Heart pirates.

Otama, Speed and O-Kiku leave with the Kidd pirates. Additionally, Basil doesn't die, and is brought by Killer to Kidd as a 'hostage', and his wounds are treated aboard the ship. They reconcile. 

Yamato joins the crew of the Straw Hats.

When Law's ship is decimated by Blackbeard, he and members of his crew are rescued by Doflamingo, who is in the area hunting marines on behalf of Cross Guild. They part ways not exactly amicably, but without trying to kill one another.

Kid's ship is intercepted by the navy, not by Shanks. They are sunk, but the crew survives, barely.

Everyone meets up on Elegia Island and saves Uta's life. Uta joins the crew of the Straw Hats.

As Luffy is growing more and more concerned about Gear 5, Shanks shows up to test his mettle and tell him about Joyboy and his duty as a god. Luffy kicks Shanks ass and rejects joyboy and his destiny.

Shanks limps away, suicidally depressed and is wrecked by Blackbeard, and rescued by Buggy.

Shanks and Buggy get back together.

The Straw Hats and Cross Guild team up to find the One Piece. Luffy learns the true extent of his supposed destiny and rejects it entirely.

Luffy claws the godhood out of his own body, and leads the straw hat/cross guild alliance as a man against the the world government.

[veryace-ficrecs]

Zosan Outsider POV Fic Recs

This list will include all ratings and tags, so read at your own discretion! :)

We're Going to Be Friends by Harubo - Rated T

“What are you smiling about?” Nami asked, eyes narrowing.

“You will lend me money,” Zoro laughed, “And you'll help me pick out a nice tie for curly too.”

“Are you insane?  Why would I do that?” she hissed.

“Because we’re friends,” he said, practically giggling, “And you’re rooting for me.”

Slow Dance by Harubo - Rated G

Law observes different dance styles. Always the same two partners. --- So this is joy, Law thought, as he watched them sway. This is what happens when a wildfire meets a hurricane. Negated forces finding peace in each other’s holds in tiny moments like these, before whirling to continue dealing out their destruction.

Panthera by Hazel_Athena - Rated T

“Now,” the man says, tucking a few strands of long, blond hair behind one ear before he turns to glance at their cowering trio. The motion serves to thoroughly hide his right eye from view, but does nothing to cover the strangely curled eyebrow located above his left. “What’s all this then?”

Steady Path by 8ball - Rated T

“I don't know how to be something of that worth.” Sanji whispered. You who have traveled this sea and seen its enormity and been humbled. Jinbe thought of the Sun Pirates and the brands on their skin, replacing injustice with purpose, anger with compassion. You who gives and does not take. He wanted to cry.

Zoro's Boyfriend, Who Lives In Canada by donutsandcoffee - Rated G

Everyone knows Zoro has the perfect boyfriend—tall, blonde, and handsome. He cooks Zoro’s bento every day, fights as well as Zoro does, and has the clearest, bluest eyes mankind has ever seen. Everyone also knows this “boyfriend” doesn’t actually exist.

Prison Blues by donutsandcoffee - Rated T

Zoro gets lost, Sanji gets captured by the marines, the Strawhats break into the ship's prison, and they all escape with a bang. Not exactly in that order, much to the confusion of Sanji's cellmates.

i guess that's love by panfriedstar - Rated G

Chopper doesn’t understand the mating rituals of humans. He has read about every other animal’s and even the most complicated ones are simpler than whatever Zoro and Sanji are doing.

[im-not-a-l0ser]

So a while ago I did a poll on who Mark Chasity should date

For some reason, Ted Spankoffski won???? With Gary Goldstein (Attourney at Law) in second place.

Anyway, Officer Bailey made third, and I'd like to make my case for him and my opinion on the rest of the relationships.

I think that Officer Bailey and Mark Chasity would be so cute because they'd balance. Bailey is intense in an overcompensating way, and Mark Chasity is a sweetboi. Like it's such 😠👬😸 and I'm here for it.

I think that they could have a nice, domestic relationship, that Mark could make Bailey open up and be vulnerable.

Now, if you're uncomfortable with shipping characters played by the same guy, worry not! Many of us have decided that the cop in TGWDM (the guy who's not Sam lol) could easily be Bailey. And if that helps, do that. Because I love the idea of them.

Opinions of everyone else under the cut.

Okay, we're gonna talk about how these relationships would go, and I'm gonna go in decending order of who won. Which means:

Ted Spankoffski- I think that maybe it'd be a gay awakening hook-up? Nothing long term for them. Mark doesn't deserve that, honestly.

Gary Goldstein- This I think could be a longer term relationship, where they meet bc of some legal trouble or something like that, and they date for a few months, but Mark is overall neglected by Gary's busy worklife. They have a civil breakup, and maybe even a comforting relationship if they need a shoulder to cry on.

Offer Bailey- I already said, but I will continue to say: Bailey is someone Mark would consider separating Karen for. Someone he can just be with, and who keeps his life interesting without being abusive or rude to him, and who will be emotionally vulnerable with him, even if it's probably only with him. I think of of ever broke up, it would be so bittersweet. I think it would be Mark picking his religion and family over Bailey, and Bailey holding back tears while supporting him because he knows that his family means so much to him and since Bailey may have wanted something like that for so long (imagine him with a little girl omg) he'd understand even more

No one, he will never be happy- Sad, but realistic.

Dan Reynolds (with Action News, weekdays at 10 pm)- He's someone I highkey put to fill slots, so I'm surprised he made 5th. But like... I can sort of see it? Like, I feel like one would flirt with the other, and the other would either not notice or ignore them.

Bill Woodward (tied with Gerald Monroe)- I have mentioned how I think Bill is straight, and how it makes me sad bc I like him and Paul, but it's prolly one-sided. But it would be cute if he were queer. Someone said they met at church, which I love, but I just think Bill is (sadly) straight.

Gerald Monroe (tied with Bill Woodward)- I feel like this would be more of a similar relationship that he'd have with Max’s dad; a not-even-friends with benefits that's out if the public eye because they are bigots who happen to be attracted to men. They would both not treat Mark like a person, and while he might even enjoy that for a short period of time, he would realise that it's unbalanced and would eventually leave like he deserves.

Kyle's Dad- So, we don't know Kyle's Dad, I just thought it was a silly, cute idea. Besides Bailey, it's either Kyle or Jason's dad that I could see, just based on how nice their kids are when given the freedom.

General John MacNamara- Okay, I get it, it's a cute idea. Uh, Jon McNamara is married though and I don't wanna fuck that up.

Other (Put in Tags), AKA President Howard Goodman apparently- I think this is silly, but I actually like it. Especially if he is with Mark during/after his meeting with Wiggly. Because hooo boy, imagine that conversation. A stuck, frozen, breaking down Howie calling his long distance hubby and telling him 'I just met a dark god and almost died,' and Mark doesn't want to belittle his experience or preach in a moment of absolute madness, so he just doesn't know what to do? I see the appeal 100%

[bayporwave]

I assume rakii will never meet humans in setting but if they did, what would they think of us? What would they think of our culture? And vice-verse?

You'd be correct, humans are not involved in Arro n Tontor, as rakii are in an entirely different galaxy, though much closer in years to hitting their galactic neighbor. So that's one thing we'd share in common.

Humans to rakii starting on appearance wouldn't be that weird. The closest sophonts similar to our bi-ped stride would be a bio-mechanical race called the Olac Verstic, or bio-mechs. So if one were to describe humans to an other rakii, that'd be their baseline to, a pink hornless thin neck bio-mech with only one set of arms.

As for cultural points, it really depends on who you ask and where. As rakii have internal culture wars already. For instance, for grasslands, it is highly against clan law to date or breed with members not in contract with your group. Friendships are along thin ice. It stems from what was more a familial value that got skewed and became everyone else's problem.

It'd be like if you were from Kentucky and someone found out you were dating a person from California. You would be forced to break that off in fear of giving away your good, Kentucky culture or falling to "icky California traditions". As some clans like to carefully hold their internal workings close to them and "trusted" affiliates. Yeah, it's a little silly. A lot of forbidden romances come from here though!

Anyways! From a general perspective, rakii would view us as, well, fine. Behind the times and dragging our feet a bit on becoming spacefaring, but otherwise we're on our way. They may question our two entire world wars and weaponry (they only had one massive war and the use of any nuclear explosives or weaponry wasn't even a risk they deemed worth the effort). Another would be our AI usage. And in this regard, they would see it as shameful or wasteful. While they were gift-wrapped their first artificial intelligence, they more wished to use it to get closer to their gods and possibly decipher old writings from them, while on the side using it to improve workflow, being automatic digital upkeep and ship control.

Vice versa, rakii would probably not be immediately taken seriously. Sure, on first contact best to show respect but being visited by big eyed smiley space raptors you can't help but giggle a little. Especially since the way they talk sounds like cat chittering with raspy tones. A thing we'd probably find most annoying if not flat out disrespectful is their stance with other religions outside of the students. Only recently did the largest city on Rek called Iot (eye-awt), pass a law that allows practicing of other religions within its walls, but only at home. They would see any other beliefs as uncultured or not very advanced thinking. Only because they saw their gods and their gods literally had a hand in their upbringing. Long story for future. They wouldn't try to convert people thankfully, but expect a weird scoff from a stern student believer.

[symphonyofsilence]

The level of sheer incompetence the Valar show every time a dire situation occurs is infuriating!

Like...do I even need to say anything about how they handled the Míriel/Finwë/Indis situation?! By putting pressure on the DEAD PERSON who had lost both her will to live and her physical strength, to just get up and go back to producing more children for her whiny, entitled husband already?! And interrupting her recovery process every next second? And then! Instead of inventing divorce or "death doing the couple apart" or anything made Míriel stay dead forever (& never get to see her son again as far as they knew) so Finwë could remarry. And their hot offer for Míriel was "last chance. come back or your husband will marry this lady he already has in mind."

And then! They let Melkor free unsupervised and let the shit he spread among the Noldor reach the point that Fëanor drew a sword on Fingolfin, and then! When Melkor had filled Fëanor's head with how the Valar wanted his silmarils, not only did they without considering any other option at the first sign of crisis very untactfully asked for all three of his silmarils (to break them), but Tulkas straight up told him that he can't deny them cause the silmarils are actually Yavanna's and not Fëanor's.

And then! They not only did absolutely nothing to de-escalate the situation when the Noldor rebelled, and after that when they got into a fight with the Teleri, but they made the situation worse by making threats and banishing the house of Fëanor & cursing them all & whoever who followed them. So of course when there was no way back for the Fëanorians they'd try even harder to gather everyone behind them so they wouldn't have to fight Satan alone & of course, they'd oppose the Valar even worse now, and of course, they'd say "welp... we're doomed anyway. No matter what we do from this point on. Might as well do our worst."

The Valar are like 10-year-old children in charge of 5-year-old children. The moment the 5-year-olds throw a tantrum, the 10-year-olds throw an even worse tantrum.

Fëanor had already told the Noldor that the Valar were jealous tyrants, and they just confirmed it with every step they took after the rebellion.

And then they just left the Noldor and the poor race of men & dwarves who had done nothing wrong alone with Melkor in Middle-earth. The poor sailors who tried to get to Valinor to beg for help all drowned! Except for Earendil who had a Silmaril with him...but no, the Valar didn't want the Silmarils HOW DARE FEANOR PRESUME!

And they wouldn't even let the children of the Noldor who were not even born at the time of the rebellion set foot in Valinor. Even Earendil had to pay a price for stepping into Valinor. So Valar believed in collective accountability. So going by that logic, Melkor was a Vala. MELKOR WAS MANWE'S BROTHER! And everything that happened in Middle-earth, and even before that, Everything that happened to Fëanor & the house of Finwë that kickstarted the rebellion was Melkor's fault. Then why were the Valar not taking responsibility for the family member THEY antagonized & THEY couldn't control & THEY left unsupervised?

(and then they offered pardon to Sauron and Melkor, but Feanor got sentenced to staying in the halls of Mandos forever.)

Maedhros didn't burn the ships but still, he was the one who took responsibility for his family's actions and apologized and paid the ransom, and abdicated for it. Fingolfin had lost a son & a daughter-in-law & lots of followers for Fëanor's stunt with the ships but he still forgave the Fëanorians. Here we have a bunch of hot-headed, traumatized, grieving +3000-year-olds acting more mature & responsible & competent & gracious than gods who have been around forever.

And then! The fucking Numenor thing! They caged those poor people on an island, put boundaries on how far they could travel so they wouldn't get tempted when they saw the immortal lands and when the Numenorians rioted they had the guts to send representatives to convince them that actually, being mortal is very good. It's a gift. All the while still not letting them in the immortal lands. And when their mismanagement resulted in the Numenorians finally rioting, Manwe asked Eru for help & Eru... you know... did a genocide & changed the whole world's structure. (He was so quick to answer Manwe's prayer and demolish anyone who criticized him that makes one wonder where was he when Melkor was eating everyone?)

They just HAND situations to Melkor & Sauron. Honestly, Sauron & Melkor would have been idiots not to use these perfect situations handed to them on a silver platter.

I don't think the Valar's hearts are in a wrong place but they're so fucking incompetent! They look like some dysfunctional rich brats with no experience who have to manage their negligent father's company after he's fucked off.