#and i have such low expectations for anything in regards to the vinsmokes

[ms-all-sunday]

curious about your thoughts on eugenics re:wci

i think you were opening something bigger than you realized because the way eugenics is treated in wci is why i think wci is objectively the weakest part of op. i have gone on record saying i dont like how judge is handled but i would like how judge is handled significantly better if the way the narrative about the eugenics wasn't so contradictory.

as it stands now i think the fact nobody aknowledges as i put it "the fact going against eugenics isnt determined by the way that you were born" in regards to the poison narrative (as i mentioned before, the fact sora takes poison to stop eugenics from happening but it's used later to justify why sanji is nice, leading the audience to believe that was biologically determined. which is eugenics) means that the logic behind eugenics but not the appearance of eugenics gets validated.

it's a really shallow narrative in a way that reads as out of character for oda a guy who can generally handle nuance incredibly well. as to why this is i have no idea the mystery of wci will remain unsolved until the end of time i think.

this logic negatively affects everything in wci in regards to the vinsmokes because I'm assuming here, the intent is that the vinsmokes arent emotionless and judge is a bad scientist (men when you tell them anger is an emotion🤬) but absolutely none of that is acknowledged within the actual narrative to detrimental affects to everybody involved but most egregiously reiju and sanjis relationship and them individually.

wci makes me feel like im going insane in this regard because lets start out with the obvious. reiju should've left and not sanji, by her own logic that should be true. reiju decided sanji had emotions and therefore he should leave, but crucially, she had emotions. she should leave.

"oh but reiju wasnt abused and favoured because she had powers" alright lets accept that that's true.

is reiju even supposed to be an abuse victim?

because she is and i dont think anybody would deny that. she consistently favours men in her life over herself despite being more capable and intelligent than sanji is. she thinks she's a worthless monster because of how men have treated her in her life. her narrative is almost exclusively a tragedy of how she consistently favours most notably sanji over herself. and if she favours men over herself and they dont care about her why would they care if she left?

maybe because shes an abuse victim and percieves it like she's crucial to them because of conditioning, if she was really an objective logic monster by her own reasoning she would've left with sanji because she would've realized they dont give a damn about her.

and oda knows what sexism is. he's familiar. i can't imagine he'd write something like this on accident.

the only logic in which the narrative presented works is if you take everything at face value, which as we've discussed isn't even right- it's like an ouroboros of not making any damn sense on so many layers its so fucking frustrating and i have no idea what oda is doing with any of it

and dont even get me started on the "evil sanji is a switch you can get flipped on" stuff. thats so fucking painfully stupid, that's not how eugenics work, that's not how anything works. that's not how the experience of being an abuse victim works (sanji very obviously has internalized judges ideology and the idea theres a switch you can flip on to turn him evil is so stupid sanji is already "evil" in this exact way to some degree. hes got internalized bullshit he externalizes constantly) none of that is grounded in reality and it's not even a coherent argument even related to eugenics anymore it might as well be magic, because it's nothing.

if i had to guess what went wrong here is that judge and the concept of eugenics got wapoled (protraying something as bad but not having any coherent argument against it, something in earlier chapters oda does quite often. wapol a prime example) but oda had more or less grown out of that since post timeskip so what the fuck!

thesis: reiju is the first badly written woman oda has ever put to page and abuse victim switch you can flip on is so comically terrible it makes me want to put my head in a meat grinder.

[medicus-mortem]

pxison: @pxison

Even under the pressure of stares the duo was as composed as can be given the circumstances only they seemed aware of. Eventually however as the good old doctor proved himself gentlemanly by offering an arm, the stares lessened in intensity which allowed them to slip away with less of a stir than she'd figure there'd be. On the way out, she snatches up a fresh pair of drinks by their thin necked stems off a moving chauffeurs tray without so much as a spill. Entering out onto the balcony, she hands one off to Law and keeps the other close to her chest. She'd already been drinking a bit tonight but having some more didn't hurt especially given how dulled the affect had on her. "So, what are you doing here? I didn't think a stuffy party like this was your style." She made sure to keep her voice low tempted as she was to confront his dual identities he was rolling with; she could at least prod at his intentions without raising suspicion if she was overheard. If he had been here as the fabled surgeon of death, he wouldn't have bothered with any sort of pleasantries at all. There had to be something he was after that necessitated a certain level of stealth and part of her, a side that was indoctrinated throughout the years, tensed at the idea of it having to do with Germa. "I can't imagine it's anything good, should I be worried?" She spoke lightly and a little half-heartedly at the possibility of needing to be concerned of anything. She was torn, if he was taking aims at the rest of the family, she did have expectations to defend them while on the other hand letting cracks form along the foundations of Germa so that one day it may crumble all together was too tempting. Ah well, it was up to Law to decide if he'd fill her in or not and she'd be keeping an unreadable eye on him all the while.

   With the curtains now hiding him from view the doctor relaxes his posture. He doesn’t stand as refined as he does, his stride more casual and less proper. He moves closer to the balustrade, moving away from the doors so their conversation can’t be so easily over heard. Law turns to the Germa princess, accepting the glass of champagne she offers. He doesn’t drink, not just yet, but he does give a smile at her query. It’s the gentle, disarming smile of a good doctor.

   “Oh, on the contrary. This is the perfect scene for one Dr Herz. So many wealthy patrons who might be interested in funding my medical research,” he says, voice somehow lighter than usual. Then the doctor pauses and his hand rises to pluck the glasses from his face. He folds them carefully, tucking them into a pocket. His next words are deeper and missing any sense of refinement. “But yeah, not truly my scene.”

   He could tell Reiju his real reasons here but he doesn’t think she’ll take kindly to them. Wanting to spy on her family so he can find what they’re up to and perhaps locate a weakness? Sure, Reiju doesn’t agree with the Vinsmokes and their agenda but they are her family and she still has a duty to them. He gets it, after all Trafalgar Law understands the lot of an older sibling. So, he just gives her a shrug and leans back against the railing. He sips his drink, eyes with their grey contacts lowering to regard the glass in his hand.

   “Kinda doesn’t matter what my goal was now. I’ve fucked up the plan. Brought attention to myself and revealed myself to a potential enemy,” he states. He takes a breath, eyes rising to once again focus on Reiju. “Seems like a great time to forget about it and just have a little fun, yeah?”

   There is a hopeful note in his voice then. He gives Reiju a smirk and he finds himself not too disappointed by his failure to stick to plan. If she decides to play hooky with him than this could still be a night well worth the effort. Reiju’s presence tends to do that to him.

[whereistheonepiece]

To Run

Part One: To Break

Author’s Note: For the purposes of this fic, Pudding never erases Sanji’s memories in WCI.

Happy early birthday @alexgrand1!

-

Sanji approached Wano with a sense of dread that weighed down his chest and took residence in the back of his head; throughout the chaos of entering the secluded land and his own inner turmoil regarding the events that took place on Whole Cake Island sat the reminder that he would eventually have to face Zoro, and thus the consequences of his actions. 

Sanji wanted to believe that Zoro would see reason and accept Sanji’s return with no more difficulty that a quick swipe of his katanas, but realistically speaking Sanji understood that it wouldn’t be so simple with Zoro. He’d run off from the crew with full intent to sacrifice his well-being to Vinsmoke and Big Mom’s political machinations in return for his crew’s safety--and that included Zoro and the contentment he and Sanji had carved out in the middle of the Grand Line for themselves. Of course Zoro wouldn’t take his decision so lightly; Sanji would be lucky to get away with just their usual play-fighting.

Still he toyed with this futile hope during the time it took them to reach Wano and until he and Zoro finally stood at each other’s sides. Zoro did not appear overjoyed to see him, but Sanji could easily explain that away as a by-product of the situation they were in. Zoro simply tossed the child O-Toko into his arms and ran off to where the fight needed him, and Sanji resolved to approach him later.

-

Sanji finally found his chance to talk with Zoro days later, with everyone preparing for the raid in a few days’ time, and was promptly greeted with a “I don’t want to talk right now, Cook.”

“What, you busy, Marimo?” Sanji challenged, willing this conversation to be over with already so they could get back to scrapping and then slipping away for some alone time from everyone else.

“Kinda?” Zoro replied, looking at Sanji incredulously.

“Look, asshole, I just want to know where you and I stand right now.”

“We don’t have time for this, San--”

“That’s why I’m trying to make the time!” Sanji exploded. “If I let you keep using that excuse, the fight’ll be here before we know it and nothing’s going to get resolved.”

“What’s there to talk about?” Zoro asked, looking at Sanji impassively in a way that made him grit his teeth in frustration and want to smash that stupid face of his in for not taking this seriously. “You left and now you’re back.”

Sanji shook his head in disbelief. “You’re mad at me, aren’t you? Shit, Zoro, I’d be mad at me.”

“Oh, I’m mad, shit-cook,” Zoro admitted. “But the world isn’t going to end just because you did something stupid.”

Sanji stared at Zoro in disbelief. “Don’t you want to fight me?” he asked, voice lowering as he realized he may just yet come out of this unscathed.

“Should I fight you?” Zoro asked, staring at Sanji more closely, eye narrowing suspiciously. “Something eating at you, Cook?”

Sanji clenched his fists, looking down at the ground as the memory of his proposal to Pudding wrapped him in a vice-like grip. 

“Sanji,” Zoro said, his voice dangerously low and level. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t just run away, Zoro. I...proposed to the woman I was engaged to.”

“Well, yeah,” Zoro said, features relaxing. “That’s what you do when you’re engaged, right? Keeps up appearances.”

“No,” Sanji said softly, shaking his head gently, still staring at the ground, at a nearby tree, anywhere other than Zoro. “I mean I asked her to marry me...in private. But it didn't really mean anything! She wasn't who she said she was, I did it in the heat of the moment, and I came back–and I would have, regardless. That has to count for something, right?”

Sanji looked up when Zoro didn’t respond and saw the other man standing there with his eyes closed, a deep scowl furrowing his brow. Even from his distance Sanji could see the slight tremble to Zoro’s frame, and he tensed his muscles for an attack that never came.

Zoro finally opened his eye when his face cleared itself of anger, his expression unreadable, his eye cold and devoid of emotion. “Don’t follow me,” Zoro growled, turning and walking away.

Grimacing, Sanji held his breath as he waited for something to happen until the sound of steel swinging through the air and the sound of something large falling to the ground sounded off in the near distance.

Sanji cursed under his breath and told himself he’d try approaching Zoro another time.

-

Finding Zoro after he’d woken up from one of his cat naps did not put him in a more agreeable mood like Sanji had hoped for. Anger instantly cleared the fog of sleep in Zoro’s eye as he looked upon Sanji and shot up to his feet.

“No,” he said before turning on his heel and trying to walk off.

“Would you just stop?” Sanji said through his teeth, grabbing Zoro’s shoulder and stopping him.

Zoro tensed under his touch, looking at him over his shoulder and glaring at him murderously. “The hell you want?”

“I don’t know!” Sanji roared. “Something! Punch me, try to cut me up, yell at me--anything, so I know we’re okay.”

“We’re not.”

“Okay,” Sanji said, panting. “That’s a start.”

“No, that’s all there is,” Zoro replied. “I don’t know how I can go forward with you after all this.”

“Do you not trust me?” Sanji asked, sounding more accusatory than he intended. He'd expected a fight but surely they could work past this. Sanji was here, trying to work things out with Zoro, and not back on Whole Cake Island married to a woman he barely knew. Zoro had to realize that.

“I trust you with my life,” Zoro said, looking at Sanji flatly, like he was reciting common knowledge that shouldn’t bear repeating. If you jump into the ocean, you're gonna get wet, Sanji.  “Just like I would trust anyone on the ship.”

“That's not what I mean!”

“I know. It's just such a dumb question I would rather pretend you didn't ask it," Zoro replied obstinately.

“You're impossible!" Sanji growled, gripping at his hair in frustration. “I meant do you not trust me to not run away!”

“It's not that you ran away, dumbass!” Zoro exclaimed, fist balling up the fabric of Sanji's clothing, pulling him closer until he could feel hot, angry breath on his face. Zoro's eye shone brightly with a white hot intensity that made Sanji swallow anxiously, as if Zoro could strip away the artifice and really see Sanji for who he was with a single look. Strip away the disguise, the bravado, and what was left? Someone currently drowning, Sanji realized. “I could have forgiven that.”

Zoro might as well have jabbed him in the center of his gut with Wado's hilt....

-

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