#and then the god the people pray to save them is luffy (even if they dont know) which does good and asks for nothing in return.... yeah....

[hauntingblue]

Skypiea time part 2

She is a woman..... this is sanji's influence... in whiskey peak his slashes were non gendered

Ace just letting himself get pushed into the river like aight my bad I will take my punishment.... he really is so well mannered (it sounds like I'm talking about a dog)

Conis showing that nami influence.... gfs....

Nami and luffy twins moment look how relieved she is... this whole fight is so theirs...

Also how funny it is that the milk girl gave ace a shirt.... also new pants??? She must think he lost the shirt in the river.... no girl he is just a slut...

Nami: okay ❤️ yay ❤️

Noland just thinking about where karugara is and if he is alright in his EXECUTION!! SICK AND TWISTED

OMG BOUNDMAN INSPO????

NO ACEEE NOOOOOOOO

THE END OF ACES STORY IS THAT THE COFFE IS NO LONGER BITTER BC THEY SERVE IT WITH MILK AND WHY AM I EMOTIONAL ABOUT IT

[0lshadyl0]

Hiya! I saw request were open! So hear me out. What if, the reader s/o, darling, whichever you may call it, what if the reader managed to act get unlucky enough to be bought by a Celestial Dragon? 👀👀👀? But more so, with Yandere Boa Hancock? (headcannons) it'd be interesting to see what you'd think she'd do, seeing her beloved go through what she did. Also would you mind adding yandere Sabo and Ace to that list? Tell me if you don't wanna write this, I'm honestly just tryna see what you'd think they'd do :P. Thank you and bye~! ヾ(≧▽≦*)o XOXO(´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

 Yandere reaction of s/o bought by a Celestial Dragon

Since I'm feeling generous, I'll make it possible for the darling to be rescued and have a happy ending with their yanderes, but if you want the bad ending, send another request.

Boa Hancock

When the news reaches the Pirate Empress that her Darling has been captured and not only that, but that she has been sold to celestial dragons, she will feel as if the world is falling apart around her and flashbacks of how much she suffered during her years of slavery will come back to her head, which will make her collapse to the ground while being comforted by her sisters while she is consumed by helplessness after all she still has not overcome her traumas with those people. But when she manages to react again, she will have to be stopped by Marigold, Sandersonia and Gloriosa (you know, Grandma Nyon) because without thinking twice she will try to leave Amazon Lily alone to rescue her beloved.

When she comes to her senses again, because even if she wants to, she can't take on what is technically the entire world government alone, she will turn to the only person she feels could go against the Celestial Dragons and win, obviously I'm talking about the Mugiwaras (especially Luffy, well Boa was just thinking in Luffy)

And we all know that this little group is always willing to save whoever it is, no matter who they have to face, in fact, they would help even more because everyone hates the Celestial Dragons (remember Sabondy and Camie's kidnapping, Luffy's punch was epic)

So with the help of the Mugiwara (I'm thinking we're already out of the Wano arc), Luffy's army (because yes, all his followers that he got in Dressrosa would go to help his yonko) and all the Kuja pirates (only Grandma Nyon and the very young girls who can't fight would remain on the island)

All together they are going to Mary Geoise to do a raid of biblical proportions and while the Mugiwaras and the rest are breaking everything breakable in the government and its people, Hancok will be crazy looking for her dear all over the place while praying to the god Enel or whatever she believes in for her well-being (remember that except for Luffy, I don't think she is romantically interested in another man… unless it's Shanks but we all here know that he is irresistible, he's like Thanos, inevitable XD, I don't make the rules that's like a law in One Piece, I know, Oda told me in a dream)

In those moments she is not Boa Hancock, she is the demon of her fruit manifested in the body of a beautiful woman who will turn you into stone and kick whoever crosses her regardless of whether they are an ally or an enemy until they are less than dust, after all nothing matters more than her beloved, besides, everyone will forgive her because she is beautiful.

When he finds her, she will cry with joy as she will thoughtlessly free her beloved and shower her with kisses until her lips get tired. Then, when the euphoria passes, she will analyze the state she is in. If she is okay, Hancock will thank the heavens for such great fortune, but if she is hurt, her anger will be immeasurable and as she takes her to a safe place, she will have no mercy on any poor idiot who crosses her path.

Honestly, this raid will help take away some of the trauma the Pirate Empress has with the Celestial Dragons when she sees them fall into Luffy's crew hands.

If her beloved were to have a mark of slavery like her, Boa Hancock would cry and the two of them would console each other for the hard event that they both went through, but now that symbol would change in their minds, or rather, in Boa's mind, since it is a mark that unites them, a traumatic event from which they both survived and which is a sign of destiny that nothing can separate them, not even the government or the celestial dragons.

Oh yeah, after this Darling will never be able to leave Amazon Lily again, or even be more than 30 centimeters away from Hancock, she will be very afraid that a similar situation will happen again, good luck trying to convince her otherwise.

Well, I only did the Boa Hancock one, I was going to do the others but the post would be too long and I couldn't explain everything I wanted if I had to do the three characters in the same post, if you still want to know Sabo and Ace's reactions, feel free to leave me another request.

[sillypiratelife]

I think it's important to say that Zoro's loyalty comes from his sense of justice and honor, so he would never follow anything he didn't believe it's good and fair. If anything, his faith is not blind but completely conscious.

He sees all Luffy is, he knows Luffy better than anyone else, to the point they don't need words. The same is also true, Luffy gets Zoro and that's why they trust each other without a doubt. They are captain and first mate because they are on the same page.

Like—

Zoro knows Luffy has this weird thing that allows him to feel the intentions of a person. Luffy can decode anyone, he can see right through them. He has a strong sense of justice, like I said before. When it was revealed that Nami had betrayed the crew at the Baratie, Zoro wanted to let her behind given the evidence, but Luffy insisted that she was their navigator. Zoro didn't know what was happening exactly, but he trusted Luffy's instincts and so he agreed to go after Nami.

When it comes to taking sides, Zoro trusts Luffy's judgement. Even if it kills him inside, like when he had to let Luffy fight Crocodile for the first time. In Jaya, Zoro stood with Luffy, allowing Bellamy to beat them, because he understood without words what Luffy was thinking. It was not blind, it was not senseless. Zoro had his blade ready to cut Bellamy's throat and for a moment, he tried to figure out what Luffy was trying to communicate. Only then Zoro did as he was ordered.

When Zoro saved Smoker, too. You can see the pride in Zoro's eyes and smile because Luffy is amazing at figuring out people. Zoro saved the marine and that's the reason they were able to survive Arabasta.

Zoro has questioned Luffy. When the whole thing with Ussop happened and Zoro didn't agree with the way Luffy wanted to proceed, he said it. He's not afraid of doing so. Zoro knows what type of man he's willing to follow to the end of the world and if Luffy were any less than what Zoro expects, Zoro wouldn't be there. Zoro guides Luffy to be the king of pirates as much as Luffy guides Zoro to be the best swordman in the world.

It's not a matter of senseless devotion, because Zoro wouldn't pray to or follow any god. The man Zoro follows is his friend, his captain, his nakama, the king of pirates— all in one combined.

[z3r0n1c0t1n3]

Imma start trying to work on a long-term fanfiction, Lawlu specifically, so I wanted to get your imput. Also, I don't think that for the time travel!Au the main thing is gonna be romance more so a rewrite but also not. Adding my own personal headcannons and maybe even adding other people's that I find interesting.

Just so yall know it's gonna be kinda funky cuz it'll be my first long term fic ( o´ｪ｀o)

God x Devote Au

-Law after a long night of medical/magic work goes to an old church Cora used to take him to. It's run down and abandoned. He's always liked the place despite never really believing in the gods spoken of. He starts smoking and closes his eyes

-When he wakes up he sees Luffy or Nika. The same God who has given Law and Cora the blessing to get put thr doflamingo family and start their own coven. But being high he just thinks he is having the trippiest dream ever.

-The next day he wakes up and goes to work like normal. But a new young man comes through the door with a smile that could rival the sun's. He seems so familiar and comforting but Law just doesn't know why.

-Afterwards he keeps going to the church and eventually finds scriptures and starts praying. Each time making Luffy for powerful until he can stay in a mortal form for longer and his influence spreads again

Time travel Au

-I wanna make one where Luffy dies while being shot from behind with sea-stone bullets. Forced to watch as his Nakama race to him while they get slaughter. He then wakes up with a lot more knowledge as a small child and decides he will become pirate king and keep his nakama safe. So he finds all his nakama in order of most urgent. Law and Sanji on the top of that list then Nami and others.

-Also he doesn't only save law but also Cora. Then directs them to where they can find bepo and the rest.

-Law is just staring at Luffy while the child drags Corazon who is carrying Law on his back to a dingy old ship. Luffy is covered head to toe because he doesn't want to be associated as Laws hero. He knows Torao and the man would hate being indebted to him

-Also he is always dragging Sabo and Ace with him, never let's them out of his site and when the day that Sabo 'dies' originally comes he goes up to his father and asks him to make Sabo strong.

Also, in my head, I want him to tear down the government before they even become a major problem for him. He'd much rather let the world burn than watch his Nakama crying as he dies again

[thenessiartist]

One Piece and Religion

I just wrote an accidental essay under a Skypiea first read video on Youtube and wanted it to be on here too because its one of my favourite aspects of the series. (Since this was under a skypiea video I will only take things into accord till the end of that arc, I know it could be so much longer even with what we know now)

One Piece has a really unique connection to religion We saw it first in Little garden but the story never judges people for believing in gods and such even when other characters don't share the belief. When the giants fought without knowing why but connected their honour to their gods, Luffy found it amazing. But the moment one of them was ready to fight under unfair conditions because this was supposed to be "Gods will" Luffy went wild with rage.

Similairly Noland never ever judged the shandorians for their beliefs itself. When he found out about what the trees meant he know he did a massive error and didnt even try to explain himself. His message isnt to give up on religion out of rationality but to honour both those that live beside you and came before by doing everything you can mortally are able to do (research medicine, fight for your land etc.) I think thats extremely fascinating because most other stories I see featuring religion either go into one of two directions: 1.Its the only way to salvation and you have to trust it blindly or

Its fundamentally bad and the opposite of advancement One Piece says no to both

Ive seen a lot of people critisize the skypians for starting to pray at the end because they think the lesson was to not trust in a god to save them but thats not completely right. Yes Luffy is a mortal man who takes down a so called god but that god was a false one trying to abuse the religious system and beliefs. However the bell is also part of the belief. The belief that despite Noland and Calgara dying under such terrible circumstances and without ever seeing each other again that theres still hope. For them to hear it still and reunite centuries later. And its the one thing the shandorians still have. The belief itself is good and the bell is wort so much more than the gold its made out of. And to finish this : I also really like how the Reader/Watcher in this as well. We never see their ghosts reuniting or any indication of spirits returning to the islans. There is no scientific proof it works. Yet its cathartik to have it ring. We are left with the belief ourself that yes this definitely did work and Nolands and Calgaras story got the happy end they so very much deserved

[catholicdogxxx]

every single thought i had abt one piece live action

alvida is so hot im praying when she comes back she’ll have the slip slip fruit and still be fat please god.

introducing zoro with baroque works instead of with helmeppo was fucking genius, and mr 7’s redesign is pique. and the gore of zoro killing mr 7? sets a great fucking precedence.

binks brew playing in the background of the flash back where luffy eats his fruit >>>>>

i want a copy of nami’s book as merch

i love the little homage to the original of luffy planning to just fly in

having luffy be there for the scene with helmeppo and rika >>>>

ive said it once ill say it a thousand times how do they manage to make zoro even gayer. ill never get over the whimpering caption with helmeppo just crawling on the ground.

nami girlboss girlslaying even

zoro you cryptic little gay freak “then he owes me money” “didnt wanna make a mess”

im mad they didnt make captain morgan tell helmeppo he didnt beat him as a kid is bc he’s too pathetic to hit.

captain “we should be working for the same team” morgan. bro you are an elder fag preying on a young gay man. THE SHOULDER TOUCH???

roronoa “i kinda got my own thing going on” zoro

“7 days? i could catch up on my sleep”

“when i get down from here, you’ll be the one begging.” MY GOD YOU FAG

tag urself im the bead of sweat in zoros eyebrow

“get lost”

“i am.. lost”

“heyhey no. dont do that.”

my god nami’s actress is perfect the body language, tone of voice, its so accurate to how she was pre joining strawhats. and GOD her facial expressions in her first fight scene w luffy…

zoro almost dipping then deciding he wants to fight lmao i love it

“arent you that drunk from the bar?”

“glad i made an impression.”

morgan you didnt capture shit

inaki did a great job making luffy still look animated.

zoro cutting helmeppos hair is so fucking funny

garp knew exactly who it was when he first got that call

buggy youre sitting like SUCH a slut

buggy loves talking abt shanks like he’s an ex boyfriend

i wanna see what else buggy can do

zoro definitely had sex with cabaji and then killed his brother

i could watch yasopp shoot people all day

shanks casting is so well done im obsessed with the fact that none of the characters are the conventionally attractive roblox looking types

also the timing of luffy being drowned and the flashback to shanks saving him… timed perfectly great depiction of ptsd. same thing with zoros flashbacks.

“why gonna rob the place blind?”

“at least a little blurry”

i love the wlw mlm solidarity with nami and zoro, oh my god the scene of them getting dressed and nami picking out a shirt for him??? obsessed.

zoros pink ass drink

FUNKY BAR MIRROR BALL???

“arlonggg babyyyy”

“you dont think she like. like likes me do you?”

i love the way the meowmin twins move when theyre fighting in the stairwell

luffy grinning like a freak through kuros blades :333 and then the fucking thumbs up

luffys look to nami when kaya says they have a ship

damn they really just fucking murked merry

“they do know im the captain right?”

“let them have this one”

“we are” playing while they leave syrup village im obsessed

nami laughing for probably the first time in years at usopp and luffy fighting over who’s the captain

i could write an essay about the fear in garps eyes in that flashback (im going to)

“which way is port?”

“the left!”

“neverrrrrrr!”

“fine ya brat have it yer wae”

garp laughing bc he’s actually invested in his job again

the camera lense while luffy is smelling the baratie is fucking hilarious

“add food to the equation and suddenly he knows how to navigate”

ive said it once i’ll say it a thousand times inaki does a great fucking job making luffy still look animated

ill never get over sanji’s accent its so fucking fan indulgent

the little angry kick after he puts em on the fucking ground

“welcome to our shitty restaurant where the only thing worse than the ambiance is the food. my name is sanji what can i get for you?”

“any drinks one of our signature cocktails to help you choke down your meal?”

“apologies madam didnt see you there. would you care for an apéritif to start?”

sanji is such a freak oh my god i love him

zoro pointing it out is so fan indulgent

zoro grinning like an idiot when nami says “i need a drink”

im obsessed with usopps fishbowl

sanji’s smile talking about the all blue WAHHHH

i love live action sanji cooking

his fucking theme playing oh my god

zoro and nami comparing usopp to a sea slug

“i had friends”

“swords dont count”

“i had one friend”

“hell one more than i have”

zoro you fucking freak

why is he standing like that fucking fag

“because youre my friend you idiot” NAMI WAHHHHHHHH

zeff is so hot omfg

sanji’s desperate baby scream breaks my heart

i really like they went using with the original manga plotline for sanji’s backstory

“id eat both arms and legs to save zoros life”

putting buggy in the bag is so fucking funny

that zoom in on sanji yelling “zeff” what was that

god i love sanji and zeffs fight

zoro waking up scene is fucking adorable

zoro you fucking devoted freak i love you

ill never get over sanji’s theme

“the only thing i wanna hear from you is dinner specials”

baby nami is perfectly cast

BLACK NOJIKO BLACK NOJIKO

buggys body pinned up at arlongs base lmfao

“arlong has bled us dry”

“then find more blood”

i love helmeppo sitting like that lmao

bellemere’s death scene always makes me tear up jesus christ

“i thought itd take a lot more liquor to bring out your mutinous side.”

why was arlongs speech edited like that oh my god

“of course i will” makes me tear up every fucking time

nami drawing her maps in fucking blood is such great symbolism

“you look tired, maybe you should take a break”

“maybe you ought to get back in the kitchen”

“quit screwing around! luffy needs us!”

“you just got here you dont know what luffy needs.”

“i know he needs my cooking.”

“putting two slices of bread together?”

telling buggy to shut up in unison lmao

“im gonna get outta here.” while flipping them off

“fucking clown.”

USOPP EXPLODING STAR U GOAT

“i get it zeff was mean to you boohoo”

“you dont ever badmouth nami.”

“now youve done it.”

god i love taz skylar

“all great fighters call out there finishing moves”

“yeah youre gonna fit in just fine.”

SANJI WANTING TO HUG NAMI AND HER RUNNING PAST LMFAO

“back for seconds must have liked it.”

“at least i dont need 3 swords to prove im a man.”

garp jus beating the shit out of luffy

nami hitting nezumi >>>>>

god i fucking love nami talking at bellemeres grave

“i know what it means to fight for your family.”

luffy’s reaction to his bounty im in love

koby what was that gay ass look you want to kiss luffy so bad dont you

“be a good marine.”

“be a good pirate.”

luffy mimicking his poster

god i love makino

kaya with a different tea looking healthy 😭

luffy’s bounty up under employee of the month

BUGGY AND ALVIDA BUGGY AND ALVIDA BUGGY AND ALVIDA

god i love garp

helmeppo learning to be swordsman :33

“maybe the old chef was right. it id your turn.”

“i can still take you.” not in a fight…

their jolly roger 🥺🥺🥺

[q-ueen-potato]

Rising Sun/Reincarnation AU adaptation

Luffy - Nika

Zoro - Enma (at the time, he was a low-ranking demon that Nika Freed and follows out of respect and ambition.)

Nami - Njor (not related to Nika, but instead was abandoned by a different pantheon and was found by a mortal and raised as such. Nika saw potential in her and demanded she join him by Freeing her homeland)

Usopp - Antonio (a mortal prophet that Nika gave the Freedom of Speech and Truth, allowing anything said to become reality, but it's a retroactive power to the world, so it's never really noticeable)

Sanji - Troien (initially a damaged mortal from a noble family. But Nika gave him the Freedom of Movement and now is a God of Hunters and Love)

Chopper - Caeronn (an odd beast that always tried to nurture and help others, despite protests of others and not understanding what was needed. Nika granted the Freedom of Knowledge, Memory, and Reason so he could do everything he desired.)

Robin - Imu (before you get snippy, this makes more sense. Imu decided to join Nika out of personal ambition despite the others' initial protests. Nika allowed them to come along. When they betrayed the crew, Nika Freed them from Divinity and Immortality, leading them to later deception of others)

Franky - Sevvr Jetsm (a natural creator Nika clashed with a few times, granting him the Freedom of Expression. In time, he was deceived by Imu to develop the Great Weapons)

Brook - Whelpül (a Ferryman that lost his mind in isolation. Nika Freed him from the Imposed Duty to allow him to express himself. As gratitude, he became the God of Talent, ingraining skills into ones' very Souls.)

Jimbe - Blüshankl (the First Fishman. Titan of the Depths. He distorted the waves so no one could leave their place of being. Nika Freed him from Loneliness and brought forth new life.)

Law - Hostaal (one of Nika's Rivals that clashed with him because of Freedom of Life meant Freedom of Pain and Suffering. He tries to fix that. He was deceived by Imu to create the Eternal Youth Surgery)

Zuneisha - (Nika's pet elephant. Always protected Nika from Imu's feral leopard)

Okay I really love that and I don't where start so I will talk a bit of each. First of all I need say...I love your ideas and the changes are spot on so...

Zoro: Enma being a low status demon actually works better than he being a high one since start. I really want to keep the 'King of Hell' thing so making him starting from the bottom until the top on the Underwood would give even more impact to Nika's death. To Enma all he got now is because Nika was kind and now he is gone.

Nami:I can't change Njor relation with Nika because this is part of her deity character and has a great influence on this au(like how Bellemere got her and Nojiko in middle of storm). Now, about the abandonment I can see this happening too, now....even though she was Zinabi"s daughter she wasn't part of his pantheon...because she was popular and know by another people so she was part of THIS pantheon...somehow she started losing believers with let her be forgotten on the pantheon an left behind where she is taken care by humans...Nika feel her and save her and the rest is history...

Usopp: first of all, I love the name Antonio(I am Brazilian and this name is popular here so...I love it) . I can imagine the people not believing on Antonio at first just like how people didn't belived in Usopp, Nika probably would have gave his gift when Antonio was telling a story and Niks loves stories so he was there to listen and saw a man with good heart to make this world better.

Sanji: is perfection, I doesn't even know what to say just how to make this more complete...Troien was a 'broken human' to his family. He couldn't walk and his hand are always shaking, one day his father got tired and asked to drown him on the sea. Nika couldn't let this happen as he hears the pray of Troien's mother and blessed Troien freeing his legs and arms asking his grandfather(The god Mar) to guide the man to a Island...

Chopper: the monster that become a SPIRIT of protection? Yes I am in this. Every mythology has a monster and this is not different, Caeronn was a beast that some would says be merciless...but he was kind, Nika saw a creature that should bring fear just wanting to cure...he had to help

Robin: now we got the problem, I really like your interpretation of Robin as Im. I Just doesn't know how this could work? Like we still have Im in canon so would those be two different people or two halfs of the same? Would Im's actions affect how Robin see loyalty?

Franky: Sevvr Jetsan being the one to make the Great Weapons is actually brilliant and I don't know how I didn't thought on this...seriously. Also Sevvr using Nika's blessing to build something he would be against hurts...like being forced to betray a friend..(also the detail of Franky burning the blueprints...the own creator destroying something that should never exist...)

Brook: I have nothing to say about Brook, seriously...this is perfect. This summons perfectly Brook's character..also making him go through loneliness twice is sad.

Jimbe: about Jimbei's name I just need say I loved it. So...him being a kind of titan is amazing and him being responsible of the dangers of the seas is also good. But somehow I just feel the urge to give him a relation to Mar....maybe both created the sea kings? Or something like that....s

Law: let be honest, only Hostaal saw himself as Nika's rival...to Nika they are friends. Hostage having a problem to how Nika sees life is spot on, just yes..also Hostaal being forced to make the Youth Surgery....this was one for the few things Nika and him agreed...this shouldn't exist...immortality is not the answer.

Zunesha: nothing to talk about, just yes. NEED BE THAT

[as-i-watch]

Man… I’ve been rereading the manga/rewatching the anime to reacquaint myself with the finer details of the plot for my fic, and damn Skypeia is good.

The moment where it seems like Enel is going to destroy the only home these people have ever known so Conis and the others pray to God, if he even exists, to save them and bring them a miracle…

And then Luffy punches Enel with his big gold ball fist and rings the bell and frees them of their lives of fear? Showing that even if he’s a selfish little gremlin pirate, to them he is their savior and the light of their liberation?

Poetry.

To this day Skypiea is one of my favorite arcs. Not only bc its funny af and the whole crew only had one single braincell among them the whole while, but also bc is so GOOD and DEEP and SO FULL OF MEANING

From the get go of the crew wanting to go to the Sky Island and everyone laughing at them, to Luffy punching 'god' in the face for being an asshole and the liberarion of the people

Adding to that moment you mentioned, that shot of Luffy shadow being projected giant size on the cloud and Norland decendent seeing it?

Not to mention the ancient ruins and the poneglyph with Rogers writing on it. Which was HUGE at the moment. They were just a bunch of kids and suddently they were retracing the pirate king's step??

Ugh just such a good arc

[alexoreality]

Hi again(Sorry to bother you with that au again) but you said that Luffy would have picked up some of the two swords style and I was wondering...Luffy have his own katanas?

I believe that yes because of being the shogun's first born and everything(even though he hardly ever uses them because punching is so much more fun).

Continuing with my thought, if Luffy actually had two katanas, it would probably have Japanese names but in two others: Jaci and Guaraci and I'll explain why.

Going by Luffy's personality, he would choose these names simply because they rhyme or are funny. However, according to Tupi-Guarani mythology (one of the native peoples of Brazil) they are deities related to the Sun and the Moon.

Jaci (or Yaci, Iaci) is considered the goddess of the Moon and guardian of the night, one of her known skills is to awaken the longing in warriors so that they can return home. They usually prayed to her asking for protection from hunters who went out hunting or warriors who left the tribe during the night. This could be a relation to the Kozuki clan and Wano, the representation of the moon and homesickness as how it should be, the call for protection to those who fight against Kaido

Guaraci (or Quaraci, Coaraci, Coraci) is the God of the sun and one of his abilities is to give life, It is usually prayed to him asking the warriors to return and for new and good things at dawn. being a reference to Luffy himself and what he represents to Wano. A reference to the sun that is associated with Luffy and the way he always finds a way to bring new life to those who ally with him, be it saving a country, a conviction or a dream and a call to finally put an end to the country's suffering, to open the doors for new things to arrive

Sorry again if that bothers you.

Omg you genius holy crap where do you get this?? How dare you be more creative than the creator of the AU?? 😭😭 (may I borrow this from you? I'm still making the story, but I needed more of a solid foundation. I'll need your katana ideas, if you'll let me use them)

I believe that the two katanas existence would be revealed by Hiyori when she trades one of Zoro's swords with oden's. "I hve two other swords but they're with Orochi for 'safekeeping', he thinks that having the eldest' of my father's kids; my older brothers' katanas would prove that he had died. But I refuse to believe someone that was as strong as my father and as kind and caring as my mother could die in a fire so easily..."

Of course, Zoro wants them all now. (Unfair since he only has to give away one sword but get three.)

Then que Luffy first flashback lmao

[3katanas]

"Figured if I didn't ask you'd end up doing it." He muttered, turning slightly red now that the dare was out. In truth, he hadn't even really thought it through. The words fell from his lips before he could fully realize what he was even saying, but he didn't regret them.

The waiting for a reply though. To see if shots would be taken was slightly killing him. The sudden flare of worry was only soothed by Luffy's presence as he waited, almost frozen in place for the answer. Silently praying that Luffy would take over and save him.

Even Nami had a slightly shocked look on her face.

Sea gods, did they think he didn't know how to invite people along? Luffy wasn't the only one that could do it.

Nami glanced at Luffy before sighing and adding. "You might as well say yes now that Luffy heard. He's not good at taking no for an answer."

Gil just blinked in surprise at what happened between the two other pirates and their friend, he noticed CJ look slightly disappointed and then snickered as she pocketed her hot sauce with a pout.

"Nice aim" Harry commented impressed as he tightened his arm around Zoro when the blonde came over to them shouting, he wasn’t worried since he couldn’t percieve any dangerous aura coming from the other boy towards Zoro. Although, he also caught his sisters actions and rolled his eyes before he glared dangerously at Sanji "Me sister is off limits preppy... though, she may wanna see how ya fare with her hot sauce. If ya don' wanna fight, you'll be a good little waiter and try it."

Gil raised an eyebrow at his friend for the insult and Harry shrugged "He looks like one with his suit and the way he acts...". Harry smirked lightly in amusement as Gil tightened his own hold on Nami protectively when Sanji got closer to her but then relaxed when the girl knocked the boy over the head as well.

Both boys stiffened at the dare, their own gazes locking in surprise and slight worry at the offer that they were given.

"We're getting new crew?!" Luffy shouted excitedly as he bounced over to their table, overhearing the dare from Zoro and not even phased at his first mate and Navigator sitting in two boys laps like it was an everyday thing.

[little-manatee]

List of wonderful thoughts after One piece 1044+

Luffy is from Dawn island in East Blue. (...you know, like where the sun rises.)

At the very beginning, Luffy told the fish store owner he had become even happier after eating the Gomu Gomu no Mi. (Although it might be because he now has a rubber body.)

His first ship's name is "Going Merry", which alluded to Joyboy.

His current ship's name is "Thousand Sunny", which alluded to the Sun God Nika.

The flower representing Luffy is the Sun Flower (revealed in SBS). ===

In Loguetown, Sanji asked Zoro if he believed in God, when lightning freed Luffy from execution lunette. (Funny commentary looking back.)

The Loguetown incident is also the reason Bartolomeo started idolizing Straw hats and the beginning of Luffy-senpai cult. (Should it be Luffy-senpai religion, since Luffy is kind of a God now?)

Nami and his crews can hit Luffy without haki. That is either because Luffy unconsciously allow them to or the Nika fruit just like gags. lol ===

In Skypiea, Zoro stated that he does not believe in God. (Well, Zoro, we've got news for you.)

Shandia worships the Sun God (which is probably Nika). So Enel vs Luffy is Fake God vs Real God. They were kinda saved by their own God.

All of the Skypieans and Shandia prayed for God to act, at the same time that Luffy punched Enel and rang the bell through the sky.

Luffy played around in Nola, the sky giant snake / Luffy gear 5 played around in Kaido, dragon form. ===

The fishman dreamt of living under the real sun one day. (Possibly what Joy Boy promised to the mermaid princess and what Noah is for.)

Fisher Tiger created fishman pirate that liberate and accept slaves, and called it "Sun Pirates" 

Many people used to said that one piece themes in each arc is repetitive and often about Luffy and co liberated countries and/or people, well, apparently that was actually deliberated. ===

Oda avoided explaining Luffy's ability to create fire, while explaining Sanji’s flame and Brook’s ice.

Many people, on and off screen, casually remarked before that some of Luffy’s abilities exceed that of just rubber.

Luffy is rubber ALL the time, from the moment he eaten the fruit, unusual for Paramecia users.

Luffy told Momo,  "I am not a zoan type." (Oda is such a troll!)

Zoan fruits apparently have a bit of its own will. Which is probably  why it is the only type of Devil Fruit that inanimate objects have been shown as being able to "eat". (so far.)

Gomu gomu no mi was said (in ‘romance dawn’ version) to be worth 5 billion berry, the same price as the ‘Ultimate’ fruit, Ope ope no mi. (And very few question why before the reveal.)

Also, the Nika fruit apparently outsmarted the WG for 800 years, but got found and eaten easily by a hungry kid. (or maybe it met Luffy and went, "Yeah, this one! Gotta be this one!")

Does Shank know? Shank was in East Blue for a year after stealing the fruit, what was he doing there? Was he trying to find Ace in Dawn? (since in One Piece: Stampede, Roger said next person to find One Piece would be his son.) Why did he not kept the fruit lock up? Did Nika fruit choose Luffy?

Luffy is LITERALLY a ball of sunshine. ===

Hito Hito no Mi : Model Nika with the most ridiculous power. SBS Volume 65 : D: In the ONE PIECE of these days, all kinds of strong ability users whom even Luffy can't compete with have been appearing, one after the other. In general manga and anime, I feel that the protagonist is established to be the strongest of all, but why did you decide to turn Luffy into a pretty weak-looking rubber Devil Fruit user? P.N. Do your best Japan O: Ahaha, that is true. It must seem like a mystery when you consider all the other strong and cool abilities. The answer is simple. I have picked the most ridiculous ability. If the protagonist were the typical strong guy, I doubt I could continue on with this for long. No matter how serious the story gets, Luffy is there to stretch and inflate. He always give me a chance to fool around. That's the kind of manga I wanted to write. ===

Nika is similar to Romanized Japanese word that roughly translates to "toothy grin" or laugh sound.

A eulogy to Rubber hose animation style, which is one of the foundations of modern cartoon and beginning of pop culture animation.

Hopefully, they’ll use Loony toon sound effects for gear 5 animations. ===

Jump rope!Kaido, Giant!Luffy, Gomu gomu no THUNDERBOLT, Lightning pole dance, everyone else also having cartoony expressions, and all Luffy’s bonkers antics. The goofy fight that just make you smile.

Binks' Sake lyric can be apply to Luffy’s fight and the awakening of his sun god powers. Luffy also quote a passage during his fight with Kaido.

Bajrang Gun, Luffy final attack on Kaido, is named after a Monkey deity from hinduism mythology, Bajrang Bali or Lord Hanuman. Who, when he was a child, tried to eat the sun, mistaken it as fruit.  (Also, Hanuman was the son of Vayu, the god of the wind, and Anjana, a celestial nymph.) ===

Feel free to add more.

[haikyuu-sins]

Fluffy 14 with Zoro 🥺

Characters: Zoro

Warnings: None

Zoro hated this. His jaw clenched, he couldn’t believe that he had to stoop this low. Of course he had no idea what he was doing, he had never been in this kind of position before, but after you had talked about getting married, he entertained the idea and put himself to work. Albeit, very begrudgingly. 

“Marry me.” 

“...” Silence. Slowly the blonde’s eyes began to narrow at him. “That’s how you’d ask them?!” Sanji nearly leaped from his chair, throwing his arms in the air. “They deserve so much better than that shitty ass proposal!” 

“What else am I supposed to say?!” Zoro yelled right back at the cook. 

“Oh I don’t know, maybe something more romantic than that you stupid Marimo! Ask them, don't tell them!” Sanji rolled his eyes, annoyed at the swordsman who had not one romantic bone in his body. “Surprise them with something they enjoy, make them a nice dinner–oh wait–I forgot you can’t  cook to save your life.” 

“Why you-!” Zoro was about to lunge at that stupid curly haired cook, but you walked in right as he was about to. He didn’t want you to figure anything out, or ask why he was attacking Sanji this time. 

“Hi Zoro, Sanji.” you smile as you see the two of them, clearly noting that Zoro is uncharacteristically…calm around someone he oh so despised. “What are you two up to?” 

Your boyfriend simply grunted in response before he sauntered out of the room with his hands in his pockets. He had a lot to think about and it’s not like he didn’t want to be around you, you just made his brain foggy–in a good way of course. He wasn’t able to think of anything else but you in that moment.

******

Days went by, then weeks, then months. Eventually, it was two years since the last time you saw your crewmates. After the crew got split up, it was hard. You thought about Zoro every single day, hoping and praying to some God that he would be okay and the two of you would eventually come back together. Of course you wanted to see everyone else and hoped they were safe, but your mind would always wander back to Zoro. 

You arrived in Sabaody exactly when you were supposed to. Were you the first to arrive? There were no signs of Zoro, Luffy, Robin, anyone, so you assumed you just had to wait. 

There you were at the bar, sipping your drink until you heard a collective gasp outside along with indistinguishable shouts. You left your seat wanting to see what the commotion was about. Your eyes widen when you see two halves of a ship breaching the water. Atop it was a familiar green haired man, pointing his swords and yelling at the captain of that ship. 

“Zoro,” you breathed out with a smile on your face. “Zoro!” you shouted his name, running towards the ship. He turned his head and he grinned when he recognized your familiar voice. 

He leaped down from the ship and wasted no time in immediately embracing you in his newly muscular arms. 

“You’re okay!” you hugged his neck tightly, your arms wrapping around him. 

“Did you think I wasn't?” he chuckled. 

“I don’t know, I was just worried!” you cup his face in your hands and narrow your eyes at him. “What happened?” Your thumb traces along his eyes that had been shut by a new scar. 

“Eh, don’t worry about it, it’s nothing.” he shrugged it off, not even caring about it. “As long as I can still swing a sword, it doesn’t matter.” 

You sighed at him, “This was exactly why I was worried. Come on, let’s go wait for the others at the bar. There weren’t too many people in there and I’d love to hear everything you’ve been up to!” you grin at him, taking his hand in yours and dragging him along to the bar. 

“Wait…” he paused for a moment, and he looked conflicted about something, like the words weren’t coming out. But that was before he simply blurted out “Marry me.” 

Your brows furrowed, mouth parted slighted, and you stared at him incredulously like those weren’t the words that he just haphazardly threw out. “E-excuse me?”  

“That wasn’t how I was supposed to say that…but here…” he dug through his pockets and pulled out a ring. “Two years was a long time to think…and I was going to do it sooner, but after everything that happened I had to wait a little longer.” Zoro fumbled with the ring a little. “Here.” 

“Don’t I have to say yes first?” you teased him, trying your best not to smile too wide. But when you saw his flustered, pink face, you let your smile shine through. “Of course I will!” you jumped on him, wrapping your legs around his waist and arms around his neck. 

He made a surprised sound but quickly regained his composure, hugging you back. It just felt so right, the two of you being back together felt as if his missing puzzle piece had finally been found. 

“...The ring...it isn’t in my hand anymore…”

[megashadowdragon]

Warning: this theory contains HEAVY SPOILERS! If you’re not fully caught up with the manga, read at your own risk.

Since English isn’t my first language, I apologize in advance for any spelling/grammar mistakes. Also, this is my first time posting.

It’s practically obvious to everyone that we will get a Kaido flashback in this arc, whether he dies or not: of course, there will be a part about his time in the Rocks Pirates, but we will also get to know possibly one of the most important people for him: his wife.

Because, let’s face it, Oda hasn’t done much yet to give his personality some depth and not being just an arrogant, cruel, child-beating antagonist with a penchant for alcohol and an obsession for death, and a figure such a woman he loved could be a great opportunity for doing so.

Some might speculate that she’s actually dead and that’s why Kaido started drinking.

It could be true but, knowing Oda, he would never introduce a deceased character of that importance out of the blue, without some sort of foreshadowing: a well-kept grave located in a secret place where an important character stumbles upon in the Onigashima raid (on screen, obviously), a framed portrait on a desk or a wall, a name seemingly being thrown offhandedly in a conversation… but there is nothing in Wano which even remotely resembles one of those things.

Therefore, she must be alive.

(Also, there are already too much fundamental figures in various characters’ history who ended up dead in flashbacks, such as Bellemere, Rocinante, Russian and so on. Come on, Oda.)

Is she going to be someone new, at least?

Well, that’s a possibility, however in next arc(s) new characters will be introduced and One Piece has got more than a thousand of them already… quite a lot, aren’t they? Consequently, there is a very good chance for her to be someone who has been already introduced into the story.

Of course, there must have been some sort of foreshadowing when she had been introduced, too: she was the lover of a Yonko, after all. Has there been a woman with an unknown lover in the past arcs?

Yes, actually.

It was her:

And I believe that the mysterious man she fell in love with was none other than Kaido himself. But wait, there’s more: Gloriosa has also eaten a Devil Fruit. An extremely powerful one.

Don’t worry, I will explain everything on the way. Now, hold onto your seat, because this will be quite the long ride.

Kaido and Gloriosa comparison

Kaido of the Beasts, Governor General of the Beasts Pirates, one of the Four Emperors, the Strongest Being in the world and Gloriosa, a former Kuja ruler. These two may have little to nothing in common... or have they?

Probably the most striking difference between them is their respective height: while Kaido easily dwarfs normal humans, Gloriosa is shorter than Luffy; however, both of their heights are currently not canonically stated.

Unstated as both of their ages are, although it’s clear that both of them are past their younger days: in Gloriosa this is highlighted by her grey hair and wrinkled face, but it’s clear that Kaido is not that young any more, too, having crow’s feet under his eyes and forehead lines. It is likely that these two are quite close in age, actually.

A notably interesting fact is, canon heights and ages of the various characters, along with things such as their favourite food, are revealed in the SBS corner in manga volumes. And yet, not even one of these little pieces of information has been revealed for both Kaido and Gloriosa.

It’s very unlikely that nobody has ever sent these question to Oda, or that the latter forgot to answer them; given the importance of the two characters in the arc where they have appeared, there must be a very specific reason why Oda didn’t tell us a thing. More than that, when Gloriosa talked about her Love Sickness in chapter 522, there was no flashback; not even silhouettes.

With these things and questions on mind, let’s move on to their position. Kaido is now an Emperor of the Sea, and Gloriosa was an Empress of the Kuja. Also, while Gloriosa was an Empress Kaido held no particular position, except by maybe being a pirate captain; and now the tables have turned, Kaido being an Emperor and Gloriosa being a nobody. A neat little parallel, isn’t it?

Now, let’s get to their Haki usage and knowledge: Gloriosa seems to have some knowledge about how it works and the characteristics of the people who are able to use the various Colours: in fact, in chapter 521 she comments about Luffy’s Haki, surprised by how he willingly bowed his head to Hancock to help those who saved him instead of a boat to leave the island without a second thought. She is not a confirmed user of any form of Haki; however, in a place where pretty much every powerful warrior can use at least Observation and Armament, it is hinted she is a wielder of these two colours at least and, since she used to be an Empress, there is also a chance she can use Conqueror’s, too. Kaido is a confirmed Observation, Armament and Conqueror user, and also one of the very few people, as he himself stated in chapter 1010, who can make the latter colour flowing through their body and coat their weapon(s). In the very same chapter, he also recognized Zoro’s illusions while performing Ashura as a manifestation of Conqueror’s Haki, revealing his in-depth knowledge about the subject.

Last but certainly not least... their strength. Kaido one-shot Luffy in Gear Fourth despite the Emperor being so drunk he could not stand on his feet properly; also, he was able to clash against a fellow Yonko for days and tanked pretty much both all the Scabbard’s hits and the majority of the Supernova’s attacks on the rooftop. Moreover, how can his absolutely epic introduction not be taken into account? He fell from a Sky Island literally 10000 metres above the sea level and he ended up with... a strong headache. I’ll tell you what: Gloriosa fell from a great height, too! In addiction to it, she landed without suffering any serious consequences, as shown in chapter 517, where she landed on her feet seemingly undamaged after Hancock quite literally threw her out of the Kuja Castle. As Gloriosa herself said, she might have grown old, but she is still a Kuja warrior. Also, being a former ruler where strength is beauty, she undoubtedly was a force to be reckoned with in her prime.

That being said*... Maybe they’re not so different, after all, huh?*

Mythology references

One Piece has loads of references to Japanese myths and folklore, however Wano is especially loaded with these; and how could it not be? It is inspired by Japan, after all.

Moreover, since Kaido can transform into a dragon, there must be some kind of reference to Japanese myths and legends regarding these legendary creatures.

There’s one in particular, which might be the key to Kaido’s backstory: the story of the Enoshima Dragon.

According to this myth, in the mountains near the Koshigoe village lived a five-headed dragon, called Gozuryu, who terrorized the inhabitants over a period of some-thousand years by provoking countless natural disasters such as huge storms, floods and earthquakes, as well as eating their children. The villagers kept praying and praying, until something happened: in 31st May, 552 AD, during a bigger and more violent storm than the usual, the clouds split in two and a rock began to emerge from the sea. A beautiful woman descended from a ray of light where the clouds slit and sat foot on the island just created, making it her home. The dragon, who assisted to the whole thing, immediately fell in love with her and asked her to marry him.

The woman, who was perfectly aware of the dragon’s evil actions, was none other than the goddess Benzaiten herself.

Benzaiten on a white dragon

Now, there are two versions of how the story ends: in one, the goddess turned him down at first, and told the dragon she would have considered his proposal only if he helped the people he used to terrorise. Gozuryu accepted and the village prospered thanks to their dual protection; in the end, the goddess agreed to marry him and the couple lived happily until the dragon met his demise. In the other version, Benzaiten straight up refused Gozuryu’s proposal due to his evil actions; ashamed for his wrongdoings, the dragon promised the goddess he would have never disturbed the village again, and retired in the mountains where he died of guilt.

Anyway, regardless of how the story goes, when the dragon died he fused with the land of Kamakura, creating the Dragon’s Mouth hill (Japanese: Tatsu no kuchi yama) facing south, the direction of the island where his beloved lived. Needless to say, the island of the myth is Enoshima.

The comparison between Kaido and Gozuryu is immediate: both are extremely cruel towards children, with the former having no qualms beating them, even his own, and the latter eating them. Moreover, the Emperor, much like the five-headed dragon, terrorizes the inhabitants of the place near where he lives (Wano Country and Koshigoe Village respectively) turning the land into completely inhabitable wasteland in the process, and is capable of causing huge storms; his apparition in chapter 921 is also being accompanied by a thunderstorm. Note that, in Chapter 1003, Zoro states that fighting Kaido was like “facing a natural disaster”, much like the natural catastrophes Gozuryu caused.

Now, let’s talk about Benzaiten.

Goddess of water (especially rivers), eloquence, and good fortune, Benzaiten is considered one of the protector deities of Japan, where she’s one of the most beloved and revered gods: every major city has at least one place for her worship and countless temples and shrines dedicated to her cult are present in many other areas across the country, all located near water sources such as rivers, ponds, lakes or even in the sea. She is part of Japan’s Seven Lucky Gods, and she’s the only woman among them.

Benzaiten, however, is not originally Japanese: she is in fact a syncretic deity derived from the Hindu goddess Saraswati whose cult was brought to Japan by Buddhist monks who arrived in the VII century from China.

Due to her extreme complexity, only the most relevant facts to this theory will be reported.

She wasn’t very popular until the XI century, when her cult was fused with Ugajin’s, an obscure Japanese Kami of water, agriculture and good fortune, often represented as an old man with a snake body. Once this happened, her popularity skyrocketed as a goddess of water and by assonance ‘of everything that flows’: rivers, eloquence, knowledge, music, art and Haki. Even nowadays, Uga Benzaiten, the goddess with Ugajin on her head, is one of the most common Benzaiten representations.

Both lived in an island inhabited only by women: Gloriosa in Amazon Lily, and Benzaiten in Enoshima, since she was the sole inhabitant of said island and also a woman;

Benzaiten originated from an Indian goddess and Gloriosas, the flowers which Gloriosa was named after, grow in India too! Gloriosa superba is even Tamil Nadu’s national flower.

Due to being goddess of water, Benzaiten was naturally associated with animals connected with said element: snakes, turtles… and dragons. Especially the white ones, since this colour is linked with water in Japanese culture.

Snakes are a big part of Amazon Lily’s culture: almost every warrior on the island has her own Snake Weapon which can be used as a bow, the island’s dome is sculpted with snake motifs, the Perfume Yuda, Kuja Pirates’ flagship, is carried by two Yuda snakes, even Kuja, the name of the tribe, means ‘Nine snakes’

White snakes were considered to be Benzaiten’s main messengers and avatars and Gloriosa in Share the World opening appeared with a blue top and*...* a white snake.

Also, the traditional representation of the Black Warrior is a turtle intertwined with a snake, much like Kujas with their Snake Weapon. Due to these facts, I believe that Gloriosa has eaten the Mythical Zoan Kame Kame no Mi model: Genbu.

Timeline and character analysis – a PERSONAL take on what could have happened and when (and why)

For this section, other than time markings scattered throughout the story, Momonosuke’s (biological 8 – actual 28), Yamato’s (28), and Hancock’s (31) ages will also be taken into account for comparison.

It is known that the Rocks Pirates were defeated and subsequently disbanded 38 years before the current time. Also, Kaido was captured, and presumably sentenced to jail, eighteen times; given his reputation and danger, it’s pretty safe to assume that at least one of those nine prison ships he sunk was directed to Impel Down.

Impel Down is actually not that far from Amazon Lily: the journey takes one sailing week with an average ship, while Marine ones can make it in just four days, about half the time, because of the reserved currents. In my opinion, it makes sense thinking that Kaido has sunk a prison ship in the Paradise and somehow ended up in Amazon Lily.

Now, everyone here knows the supreme rule of the Island of Women:

NO. MEN. ALLOWED.

For any reasons.

So, by the laws of the island, he was imprisoned and, just like Luffy, was sentenced to death. But, like the latter pirate did, Kaido defeated/broke/knocked unconscious all the animal/things commonly used for executions on the island, therefore the Empress finally decided to take the matter into her own hands.

I believe the Kuja Empress at the time was Gloriosa. Why?

Well, it was stated that 33 years ago the remnants of the Rocks Pirates sent off to found their own crews, and probably Kaido arrived in Amazon Lily even earlier, between 38 and 33 years ago. As Hancock stated, Gloriosa is actually the former-former-former empress of Amazon Lily: this means that there were two Empresses between her and Hancock; since the latter is stated to have become Empress at the age of 18, 13 years ago, and given that the other two unnamed Empresses died of Love Sickness which probably is more likely to strike the unlucky rulers at a fairly young age, 20-25 years are more than enough for two Empresses to have reigned.

To estimate her actual force at the time, let’s analyse her name a bit.

Like all Kujas, Gloriosa is named after a flower (or a genus of those): Gloriosa is a genus of 12 flower species, widely spread in areas of the world such as Africa, the Arabic Peninsula and tropical parts of Asia. It can reach 3 metres in height and they display showy, vibrant-colored flowers with distinctively shaped petals, earning them the nickname of fire lily.

So, the question arises spontaneously: why is this short, wrinkly old woman named after one of the most beautiful (and tallest) flowers in the world? Given Oda’s attention even for the tiniest details, I highly doubt he chose this name randomly; at least, not for her.

Either she’s a grotesque parody of her own name… or it could be a foreshadow.

Gloriosa is also the Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan word meaning ‘glorious’, if the subject it’s related to is feminine and singular. A truly fitting name for a ruler and the wife of a Yonko, isn’t it? And Kaido want his death to be… glorious.

Maybe Gloriosa in her prime was actually even more beautiful and stronger than the current Hancock, to the point where nobody had ever beaten her in combat.

Anyway, you know how the saying goes: if it’s one on one, always bet on Kaido.

Therefore, Gloriosa was defeated for the first time. By a man.

Hancock’s case probably gives us how Empresses fall ill with Love Sickness: it happens when a man catches them off guard by behaving in a totally and positively unexpected way, defying all the previous experiences the rulers have. Hancock fell in love with Luffy because he showed her kindness and didn’t judge her when she told him about her past; Gloriosa got Love Sickness because she fell in love with Kaido for his strength.

Because love… is always like a Dragon Twister hurricane!

How about Kaido?

It is common knowledge that he respects physical strength, even in his enemies.

That’s probably why he joined the Rocks Pirates in the first place: out of respect for Rocks D. Xebec, because he was actually the first person ever to defeat him in combat.

Just like Zoro with Kuina, or Douglas Bullet with Gol D. Roger (in the Stampede movie).

Gloriosa may have not defeated him in combat, but she surely gave him a very good run for his money, maybe she almost won. And he respected her for that, to the point where he actually accepted to leave Amazon Lily, even if he won. He stayed there for a little more, while a ship for him to sail the sea was being prepared, and lived peacefully (meaning: extensively touched and examined) with the Kujas.; what are the chances that one of his favourite (or least) foods is actually penne with Gorgonzola and Sea King’s meat, the island’s culinary speciality?

When he sat sail, he probably found out that the Empress snuck aboard his ship when he was far away from the island already. He thought of bringing her back, but, after listening to her reasons, he decided to let her stay with him because, let’s face it, Kaido is not Luffy, he actually appreciates the company of women.

The most beautiful woman in the world fell in love with him and contracted a mysterious illness which would have killed her if she didn’t go with him and follow him anywhere?

Oh no! /s

I’ll tell you what, I don’t think that Kaido was actually in love with her at first that much. He surely enjoyed spending passionate nights with her, and was amused by her curiosity due to Gloriosa knowing little to nothing about the external world.

There was a specific moment when he actually fell in love with her.

Have you noticed that, despite being often shirtless, Kaido's back is never fully uncovered even in his dragon form? He always wears a coat, a shirt, or both.

That hints that Kaido has some kind of mark on his back he wants to hide from public view, just like the Gorgon Sisters. Something must have happened that made him show her said mark, maybe Gloriosa caught a glimpse and asked him to see it. Anyway, Kaido was reclutant at first, but she had the right to know, she was his wife after all.

So he showed it to her, in a way that, when it will be shown in the flashback, might be a callback to when Hancock showed Luffy the Celestial Dragon hoof.

That mark meant that for the world he had and would always have been something inhuman, a failed experiment, a monster; even Big Mom, who has the best spy network in the world, calls him a 'thing'. But Gloriosa didn’t judge him for said mark, nor she believed he was a monster. For Gloriosa, he was just Kaido, the man who she had fallen in love with.

That's when Kaido fell for her. And he fell hard, probably to the point of no return.

At some point, the two conceived a child, and that's when Kaido decided that it was time to move to Wano instead of travelling the world: the pirate life is dangerous for grown people let alone for a child, plus he was one of the most wanted men by the World Government, meaning the child was in danger simply by existing.

But how did Kaido know about Wano?

He probably heard something about the Continent Puller and the ‘country’ he formed about 600 years before but, since it was a closed nation, he probably didn’t know much more until he met someone who escaped from said island: Kurozumi Higurashi.

41 years ago, she told Orochi that she fled the country because of the persecutions against the Kurozumi clan, and because she knew nothing about the outside world, joining pirates was the easier choice. Also, in that way she could have found allies and power for the Kurozumi cause easier.

The Mane Mane no Mi allows the user to create a perfect copy of a person whose face has been touched. She transformed in a woman, who, judging by the color scheme in the anime, is heavily hinted to be Bakkin and a young Shiki, both known members of the Rocks Pirates, so Higurashi may have traveled with said crew for a while. There she met Kaido, who she sensed he could have been a great help for the Kurozumis: big, powerful, and stupid, easy to manipulate.

A closed off country not part of the World Government: a perfect nation for Kaido to reside to ensure the safety of his family (mainly his child, because Gloriosa was more than capable of defending herself) and to use as a base for his operations.

When Oden went with Whitebeard 29 years ago, there were no factories in Wano, but they were there when Toki arrived in Wano with Momonosuke, who was 3 at the time, and Hiyori; so Kaido must have arrived in Wano three years earlier at last.

Gloriosa may not have been the Kuja Empress anymore, but had everything a woman like her could ask for: she was one of the heads of a soon to be powerful army, plus a devoted, loving husband and a child.

Why did she leave it all behind?

I have already talked about the parallels between Gloriosa and turtles in the mythology section, but here’s another one: in Chinese culture, turtle (especially turtle egg) is a very serious insult regarding the morality of one’s mother; that’s why Genbu is called Black Warrior instead of Black Tortoise.

This also expands one of Wano’s most prominent themes: betrayal.

Gloriosa was forced to leave Wano and Yamato behind because she cheated on Kaido. But with who?

Well, the Beast Pirates follow a card games and decks naming theme, and currently there is none named Ace; also, when Oden faced Kaido, Jack was only 8, so my hypothesis is that the third Calamity before him was called Ace. He probably had a crush on Gloriosa and when she went to him for comfort while Kaido was away, probably out to recruit subordinates or captured, he couldn’t resist.

But Kaido caught the two in the act, and was absolutely furious.

He killed Ace, and his position remained vacant for quite some time, until Jack finally took his place in the Calamities; that's why, in Episode 972, there were only King and Queen along with the fodder.

However, Kaido couldn't bring himself to kill his wife personally, so he offered her a choice: be dispatched by the hands of King or Queen, or leave and never return.

Gloriosa chose the second option.

She packed her things and left, only to realize she had nowhere to go: Wano obviously was not an option, but she couldn't just go back to Amazon Lily, not after she betrayed Kujas by abandoning them while she was an Empress. Plus, as a pirate, she was wanted by the Marine. So she lived on the run, continuously assuming new identities and never staying in the same place for too long.

Also, Love Sickness certainly has played its role in weakening her, making her age faster and dramatically decreasing her height in the process.

Taking a look at Hancock’s bed, it’s decisiverly oversized for her: said bed could comfortably fit a laid Boa Hancock together with her Snake Weapon, which is way larger than the others, her sisters, the doctor and Gloriosa, and still have room left for someone else to stand on it.

It is very likely that this bed was the Empress’s for a long time, and, since that position is not inherited, it had to fit Kujas of all sizes. So Gloriosa could have been taller in her youth, maybe a little shorter than Kaido, but still enough to handle him.

Anyway, Gloriosa managed to survive through sheer willpower, the same that allows her to snap out of Hancock’s charm much faster than the others, until her feelings for Kaido eventually faded away, thus healing from said illness.

When she finally arrived to Sabaody Archipelago, at least fifteen years ago, she was unrecognisable. Coincidentally, Shakky's Rip-Off bar was searching for new waiters, and Gloriosa applied because she needed money. The former pirate immediately recognised her.

How is that possible? Feminine intuition!

In chapter 591, she correctly predicted that Hancock would became smitten with Luffy despite not seeing her for thirteen years and every evidence in Hancock's behaviour pointing out the contrary. (Also in the very same chapter Hancock asks Gloriosa how to have a proper marriage while surrounded by monkeys wearing Wano's typical hat. Let that sink in).

Shakky understood that Kaido had no interest in her anymore and let her stay with her and Rayleigh, until the Boa sisters arrived and Gloriosa could finally return to Amazon Lily with the excuse of bringing them back home.

On the other hand, Kaido was devastated, to say the least.

Can you blame him? His beloved wife was cheating on him with one of his most trusted subordinates. He needed to forget, to get rid of all those negative feelings overwhelming him: that's why he started drinking.

However, Kaido isn't stupid. Okay, he may not be as smart as Benn Beckman, the most intelligent person introduced in the East Blue arc, but he surely has some brains: you don't reach and mantain high positions within a crew without some smarts, let alone being an Emperor of the Sea. Kaido soon realised that he caught the two relatively easily. Too easily.

Almost if they wanted to get caught in the act.

While Kaido was drinking his sorrow away, someone else was toasting to a risky plan gone smoothly.

The Kurozumi clan.

Higurashi may have lured Kaido into Wano and the alliance with the Kurozumi, but she didn’t predict that he would have arrived with a wife and a child. Gloriosa probably had a great influence on Kaido, who was (and maybe is still) regarded as little more than a muscle head; and the Kurozumis were actually afraid that she may have been plotting something. This impression was confirmed by the Onibanshu who spied the two pirates: probably Gloriosa wasn't happy about the shogun and suggested her husband some ways to dethronate him.

She was a threat, and they needed to get rid of her as soon as possible.

They sensed that one of Kaido’s top subordinates had feelings for Gloriosa, and they decided to use this fact to their advantage. So Higurashi transformed using her Devil Fruit powers and seduced the crew’s Ace, in a time and a place where she was sure Kaido could see them, while someone else distracted Gloriosa. In the end, everything went according to plan.

However, when Kaido saw the old hag using her powers some time after, he understood everything. But he had no concrete proofs, and certainly wasn't in the position to kill someone so important to his pawn based only on simple suspects; so he waited, until the perfect moment arrived.

Meanwhile, Kaido kept drinking, to forget his actions and to numb his guilt. At first, a little quantity of alcohol did the trick, but eventually he needed more and more, slowly falling into addiction.

You know, Gloriosas’ beauty is only matched by their toxicity: as proud members of the Colchicaceae family, they contain colchicine, a powerful metabolic toxin; all parts of these plants can be fatal if eaten, even a simple touch can cause skin irritation. Due to this, Gloriosa superba has been used for centuries to commit suicide.

Just like colchicine corrodes the body, alcohol, together with shame, guilt and anger, slowly eroded Kaido’s soul, corrupting him from within.

While Kaido's original plan for Wano was simply to make the island his operational base, after all that happened he decided to destroy and utterly annihililate it, just like Orochi destroyed his happiness. The shogun was fine with his ally’s devastations and never suspected that Kaido knew. The latter made Orochi believe he wouldn’t touch the Flower Capital, just to completely erase it from the face of Earth once his army would have been powerful enough to fight an all-out war. Revenge is a dish best served cold and then smashed on the forehead.

The rest is history.

Surely Kaido will be defeated, but he will not be completely dealt with in this arc.

Yamato probably got their kind, selfless nature from Gloriosa. The latter would have never approved of the terms of Kaido’s promise to Oden, let alone all the hostages and atrocities done by her husband; since Oden began to dance naked in the streets 25 years ago, probably Gloriosa was already gone at that time.

Because of this, Yamato has little to no memories of their mother, so they will likely ask Kaido about her at the end of the battle. However, Kaido himself doesn’t know her whereabouts because he didn’t send spies after her; at first, because he didn’t care about her anymore. When he realised his mistake, he still didn’t search for her because otherwise it would have shown that she was still important to him. He is not naive, he knows there are spies in his ranks, even at high levels; therefore he wants to avoid attracting unwanted attentions to her.

Plus, Kaido doesn’t even want to know, because Gloriosa probably is dead or has found another person to be with; and he deep down knows that those news would definitely break him.

However, there’s one little detail: Gloriosa’s speech quirk-nyon. Even if her appearance has changed quite a bit, she surely did nyot change her way of talking. Luffy would probably understand Kaido is talking about her because of this, and will tell them that she’s alive and well in Amazon Lily.

It is a known fact that our protagonist either kills the villains’ dreams or changes them: Kaido will change his goal too. He wouldn’t want to die yet, he will probably want to meet Gloriosa again to apologize properly for what he had done to her.

Thus, he will survive the battle and somehow, after almost thirty years, Kaido and Gloriosa will meet again.

Will Gloriosa forgive him? Will she not?

Only Oda will tell.

Other references

Black Maria Many people actually believe she’s a Kuja, and I admit, they have pretty good reasons for thinking so. Let’s start by her name: other than being a card game, Black Maria is also a variety of bougainvillea, a clear reference to Kuja’s floral naming theme; there is also a flower named Spider Lily (Lycoris radiata) referencing her Devil Fruit powers and Amazon Lily alike. Black Maria has also flowers in her hair; the most prominent ones, colored in red, have also five petals, much like the one Gloriosa wears in her hair! She is also the owner of a brothel in Onigashima and, also due to her size, it’s heavily implied that she and Kaido have a… passionate relationship, as Oda would put it (However, Kaido probably views her as nothing more than a distraction). Of course, Kaido and his wife must have had their passionate moments, since they have a child. Moreover, Benzaiten is almost always represented playing a biwa, and, as shown in chapter 992, Black Maria can play it very well. She also has a remarkable singing voice, a feature which was one of the basic requisites to become a geisha. Geishas also were protected by Benzaiten. All in all, Black Maria is actually the biggest reference to Gloriosa... in a literal and figurative sense! Oh, one last thing: the men tied to her webs in Chapter 1005 can be a symbol for Kaido’s soul, unable to move on and perpetually being trapped in the memories and regrets of his relationship with Gloriosa together with his alcohol addiction.

Kaido’s flagship Currently, Kaido’s flagship is the only one among the four Emperors’ which has yet to be seen or named. Some speculate that it’s actually Onigashima, but, in my opinion, that’s not the case: why would he travel with his entire home, with the concrete risk of it being destroyed every time he faces an opponent? Also, Yamato is in there: they have explosive handcuffs which doesn’t allow them to leave the island, but what if someone with internal destruction haki actually removes them thus freeing Yamato and letting them escape? Also, what if Yamato actually gets severely wounded, or worse, killed by invaders? Kaido actually strikes me as an overprotective dad, thus he will never directly expose his child to external danger. The handcuffs will explode if and only if Yamato actually tries to leave Onigashima: if they stay there, nothing will happen. Plus, in chapter 997, when Kaido started lifting Onigashima someone said that the island had never trembled like that before. Kaido actually has his flagship, and the reason why it hasn’t been shown is its name. I’ve said before that Gloriosa means glorious in some languages, therefore there’s a big chance that the ship will have in its name also the Japanese word of the same meaning. Maybe it’s called ‘Glorious Dragon’ in Japanese, or something like that.

Yamato Now, this will touch one of the most controversial topics within the community right now, which is Yamato’s gender; I wish not to discuss about it under this post, because this isn’t the time nor the place (IMO it’s better to delay the discussion at the end of this arc, when Yamato will hopefully detach from the Kozuki Oden persona and find their own identity). Regardless of all this, Yamato was born as a female: and Kujas give birth to female babies only.

Kaido and Big Mom comparison: Although they were part of the same pirate crew for some time and both of them being now Emperors, there are a lot of things about their characters which mark these two as counterparts: first of all, Kaido is male and Big Mom is female. Big Mom belongs to the older generations of pirates, while Kaido belongs to the new one (together with Shanks). Kaido drinks a lot while Big Mom eats a lot. Big Mom has more than 80 children, while Kaido just one*. Lastly, Big Mom has had many unknown husbands, who she married and treated as equals only to discard them when their children are born, revealing she had zero feelings towards them. With the previous comparisons in mind, it would make perfect sense for Kaido to have had only one wife who has already appeared in the story and who he has loved dearly and maybe still does.

*In my opinion, Katakuri, Oven and Daifuku aren’t Kaido’s sons. Even if the physical resemblance is uncanny, there are two major arguments against this supposed paternity: first, the triplets don’t display any type of horns, which Yamato, the known child of Kaido, has. Secondly, the Yonko’s age: he is surely younger than 68, since this is Big Mom’s age and she considers him like a little brother; however, being heavily implied that Shakuyaku was part of the Rocks Pirates as well and she was considered a pirate, while Kaido was only an apprentice, it’s implicitly stated that he must be younger than her, too. She’s now 64, and this puts his maximum age at 63; given the triplet’s age, 48, Kaido may have had them when he was 15, which is an age when men usually have reached their sexual maturity, but he may be even younger than that, so draw your conclusion.

I admit, this turned out a lot longer than I actually expected. My sincerest kudos to you, dear reader, for reading all this time-consuming post – I hope you enjoyed it as much as I had fun writing it.

Please, let me know your thoughts, they are more than welcome!

TL;DR: Gloriosa is Kaido’s wife and Yamato’s mother, she has eaten the mythical variant of the Kame Kame fruit, Katakuri is not Kaido’s son and Gin will become Pirate King.

comments on reddit  :

kaido has been revealed to be 59 

I really want to know who yamatos mother was and I am willing to accept any theory for now

[opbackgrounds]

Chapter 122 is really interesting to me from a thematic point of view. To put this panel in context, Broggy is praying to his god Elbaf, basically saying that he and Dorry have followed His commands for the last hundred years, only to be denied an honorable death in their final moments. As far as the culture of Elbaf goes, Dorry and Broggy have basically been abandoned by god. There’s nothing here to suggest that Broggy actually loses his faith, but he is having a bit of an extensional crisis. 

Now, does the god Elbaf actually exist in the world of One Piece? It’s difficult to say, but almost a thousand chapters into the series and there’s no definitive proof of an actual, literal god, just a bunch of powerful people who claim to be one. 

(More impersonal forces like fate or destiny are a little harder to quantify, but the immutable nature of Shyarly’s predictions suggests that the future is fixed to some extent. Take that as you may) 

A better question, I think, is to ask whether or not it matters, and in this instance I’d say probably not. What’s really important here is that Broggy believes, and that belief has shaped his entire worldview to the point where he is fully convinced that the most important thing he can do as a warrior of Elbaf is live and die with honor. 

So Zoro tells him to do just that

Oda considers this quote important enough that he named the chapter over it. The crux of Zoro’s argument here is that if they’re going to die anyway, they might as well go out swinging. Of course, since Zoro is ridiculous this leads him to almost cutting his own feet off, but in the moment you can kind of see where he’s coming from. What’s more is that it works, not just for Broggy, but for Vivi, which I think is important when solidifying her conviction to save her country from civi war

One Piece is full of moments like these, most often with Luffy (think about how he inspired Coby to stand up against Alvida) but with other characters as well. Hundreds of chapters later Belo Betty will be telling the people to stand up against their oppressors, refusing to fight for them and instead choosing to fight with them. 

In isolation you could almost read this instance in Little Garden as a “god helps those who helps themselves” kind of moment, but when you look at the series as a whole Oda very clearly puts enormous value in the power of the human spirit to persevere against all odds. Which, I mean, it’s a shonen battle manga, so duh, but it’s a theme that goes much deeper than the superficial trappings of the genre.

The gods of One Piece, though technically mortal, are enemies that need to be struck down, and if there is any sort of higher power it’s one that is absent. At the risk of sounding like a pretentious twit, it’s all very...transcendentalist -- which, surprise surprise -- is a philosophy borne out of the Romantic tradition. And if there’s nothing else I want people to get out of this blog, it’s how much One Piece is all about dat Romanticism.

All this to say that when Oda talks about the character with the greatest ambition always wins, this is what he means. Broggy was willing to give up his hands and feet so that he could fight and die with honor, and the narrative rewards his determination by having Usopp and Luffy slide in at the last minute for the save. All throughout this exchange you can see the Baroque Works agents (especially Mr. 3, the instigator) freak out over the weirdos mutilating themselves to be set free. Their conviction buckled; Broggy’s didn’t. And therefore, by default, Broggy wins, even if he did ultimately have to be rescued by an outside force.

[cherryblossom-chopper]

Either gender neutral or she/her pronouns. (This is Usopp angst Anon)

This is super long and I didn’t mean for it to be but here we are

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 2725

Shaky Hands

His hand was shaking as heard the familiar click of the den den mushi. Usopp dropped the receiver and let out an audible whimper. Panic was welling up in his chest. Bile was rising in his throat. Sanji grabbed his shoulder.

“Snap out of it!” the cook barked, his cigarette falling from his lips to the floor. Sanji stamped it out quickly before dragging his friend down the hall.

Usopp followed with an ever paling expression. For all his big talk Usopp was at a loss for words in one moment. He could barely hear what Sanji was saying to him or the others. The sniper felt as if he couldn’t breathe, everything was spiralling to a halt.

The Thousand Sunny had docked on a simple looking island. It was a summer island, largely made of forest and but had a seaside town near the ports. The crew had stopped because they needed supplies. Usopp had drawn the short straw and was forced to keep watch over the ship while the others picked up supplies. He’d written down a shopping list for (Name) so she could pick up what he needed.

That had been hours ago and his list was less than a page long. He’d been worried about her before, but his anxiety grew as crew members came back one by one without her. Usopp had just bit his lip and held his tongue because (Name) was a strong woman and she’d be okay. That was until the den den mushi started ringing.

It was Nami on the other hand, out of breath and frantic. In an exhausted voice she informed the crew members that (Name) had been ambushed by slave traders who were hiding out on the island. Nami spit out some coordinates the traders may have been at before hanging up.

A hard slap to the face jerked him out of his panic attack. Starled, he looked up to see the icy gaze of Robin staring back at him. He’d known her long enough to recognize the fear behind her steely unmoving expression.

“Pull yourself together long-nose,” Robin commanded in a strong yet grave tone, “We’ve got to go get her.”

Robin looked away from Usopp, and glanced at the other Straw Hats watching her anxiously. The woman let out a frustrated sigh before taking a moment to think over the crews options.

“Does anyone know where Zoro or Luffy are?” she asked, and to her disappointment she was greeted by a wave of muttered ‘no’s.

“Alright,” Robin grabbed Usopp’s wrist, “Franky, go find Luffy and Zoro, fill them in on what’s happening. Get Nami too. Brook, stay here and protect the ship. We may need to make a quick escape.” Using her devil fruit, Robin grabbed the wrists of Sanji, Jimbe and Chopper, “The rest of us will go hunt down (Name).”

When Robin let go, Usopp rubbed his face and swore at his hands for still trembling. He shook his head and grabbed his oversized sling shot. Usopp turned to Chopper who was already filling his tiny backpack with medical supplies. “She’s gonna be fine, right?” Usopp’s voice caught in his throat, as he filled his own satchel with various ammo.

With a grim expression Chopper didn’t reply right away. He stuffed gauze into his backpack. “Camie was fine, when she was captured, but…” the reindeer trailed off, his face tightened into a more serious expression. One that Usopp didn’t think was possible for the reindeer to pull off.

Usopp wrang his hands together for a moment before biting back another cowardly comment. He could only imagine what (Name) would say if she saw him in such a miserable state, and she’d seen him in some pretty bad situations.

“I gotta put on a brave face for her,” he grunted to himself as he hurried off the ship alongside Chopper.

The group darted off towards the coordinates Nami had guessed. Brook who had been pacing, waved them goodbye, before camping out by the den den mushi on board. His mournful violin playing could be heard from the deck.

Franky had already left so Usopp prayed it wouldn’t be long before Luffy and Zoro appeared to save the day. One could only hope for such luck, but everyone knew the Straw Hats had a knack for getting into trouble.

When the crew got towards the center of town, loud music and an announcer's voice in the distance.

“Is that it?” Chopper asked, straining to listen and sniffing the air.

Robin and Jimbe shared glances with one another and nodded. The two experienced more than enough of the darkness in the world to know it must be right building.

“Most likely,” Jimbe said, “We have to go see.”

Taking in a deep breath and swallowing his fears, Usopp took off into a dead sprint towards the sound of the music. If his (Name) was being held there he’d go through hell and high water to get to her.

He could hear the click of Chopper’s hooves as he appeared beside Usopp in Walk Point, with Robin on his back. Jimbe and Sanji weren’t far behind him either.

The crew must’ve hit some kind of luck, as they neared the building. It was clear by the well dressed crowd meandering outside that it was in fact an auction house.

Robin used her power to once again grab the men and stop them from running straight into the building.

“We can’t just burst in there,” Robin scolded in a hushed tone, “It doesn’t sound like it’s started just yet. We can slip and slip out with (Name) without being noticed.”

“Let’s get going then. No one lays a finger on (Name) -swan and gets away with it,” Sanji growled before lighting a cigarette and saunter around to the back of the building. Usopp was hot on Sanji’s heels. He wouldn’t admit it but he was jealous of Sanji’s confidence or all the times he had made (Name) blush, but it wasn’t the time or place to dwell on such things.

The security behind the building was almost laughable, for people such as the Straw Hats. A handful of guards stood outside the back door, whom were eliminated rather quickly and quietly. The door had simple lock, but not to worry, Sanji kicked in the door with within a few moments.

It was easy to hear an announcer once inside the building, and it was clear that the event had begun by the time the crew got inside. Jimbe shuddered at the sight of all kinds of people, including fish-men were lined in small cages.

Usopp’s eyes darted frantically around the room looking for his darling (Name). The sound of shouting caught his attention. It was (Name) swearing up a storm and sounding an awful lot like Nami in the moment.

Dozens of men in black uniforms surrounded a cage with guns as a few manhandled (Name) out of the cage. She was dragged out by the sea stone handcuffs on her wrists and was spitting venom on her way out.

“Uncuff me, you cowards!” she hissed at the man trying to get her to her feet, “Fight me like men, you pigs!”

The crew was quick to react seeing that she was alive and had enough energy left to put up a struggle. They quickly took out a handful of guards before the had been noticed. Sanji, Jimbe, and Chopper took on the brunt of the attacks, while Robin and Usopp covered them.

“Just get her out on the stage!” snapped one of the men in uniform, “Someone else let the boss know what’s happening!”

As a jailer darted from the group, Usopp was able to shoot him down before he even touched a door.

“Feeling a little better?” Robin offered him a gentle smile.

Usopp could only nod, he still couldn’t quite breathe, but seeing (Name) alive and relatively unharmed grounded him in a sense.

Whilst the crew was lost in the fight, (Name) had been dragged to her feet and had a dagger pressed against her throat.

“Enough!” the man holding the dagger, shouted above the crowd, “Take another step and she dies.”

Everyone, including the slavers, froze in their place and all eyes directed toward (Name). The mans’ lips tugged up into a sneer and looked down at the woman in his grasp, “I could just kill her here and now, and take that sweet bounty for myself. But such a pretty dame like this,” his raw tongue up her jaw, “Would make a perfect consort for a Celestial Dragon. And the Dragons’ have funds to burn.”

(Name)’s eyes widened and her body went rigid in his arms. (Name) looked at the crew and whimpered, “Usopp, help me.”

The sniper felt his mouth go dry and it was becoming difficult to swallow. He stared at (Name) and tried to cover up his expression of anxiety. He clucked his tongue twice, and quickly loaded his slingshot.

“What did I say?” the man pressed the blade in her neck, “Don’t move.”

In a flash Robin used her extra limbs to distract the man and Usopp fired a Yabusame Devil. A barrage of ammunition rained down on the guards, and plants grew from the ground causing havoc. As the goons tried to fight off the sudden plant life, shrieks could be heard from the front. From the sound of it, Franky had found the others.

A thick atmosphere consisting of hate and rage surrounded the room like a fog as Luffy stepped inside the back room. The slavers were practically frozen in fear and Usopp took his chance to find (Name). He ducked in around plant life, who largely ignored their master.

He spotted her standing near where she originally was with the dagger the man once held in her hands. She wiped her lip and looked up when Usopp called to her.

“(Name)!” he panted as he got closer to her. Without thinking of anything else, Usopp grabbed her and held her tight. He buried his face in her hair and tried to pull her closer to his trembling body. “God, I was scared I was going to lose you,” he murmured into her locks and squeezed tighter.

(Name) gasped loudly and dropped the dagger, it clattered on the cement floors. Usopp let go while stammering out sorry’s while inspecting her body. He’d been so scared that she’d die that her had to hold her before she slipped away from him.

(Name) smiled sweetly up at Usopp. “Sorry, I got a little banged up in there,” she rubbed his arm comfortingly, “But I’m just fine.”

“Let’s get you to Chopper, he should check you just incase,” Usopp took her hand tightly in his and guided her out of the mass of plants.

Once they got out of the tiny forest created by Usopp, they found the rest of the crew on the other side. They let out a breath of relief and as the sniper smiled at them. She was alive.

“We were able to help the other prisoners escape,” Jimbe smiled. As he and Franky filled Usopp in, Chopper fluttered around (Name). The little reindeer was clearly anxious.

“It’s just a few bruises, Chopper,” (Name) dismissed him gently, “You should tend to the folks who’ve been trapped in this hell hole longer than me.”

The doctor tried to protest but begrudgingly agreed, “Fine… but I’m not done with you.”

After Chopper tended to his patients, and the slavers sufficiently dealt with the crew prepared to return to the Sunny, and Usopp wrapped his arm around (Name) feeling, anxiously. She tried to assure him that she was more than just fine. However the sniper insisted on keeping her close at least until they got off this shitty island.

The sun had dipped under the horizon by then making everyone sleepy. Thus Usopp thought nothing of it, when (Name) initially leaned into him. It caught his attention however when her breath started getting heavier and her movements became sluggish.

“Are you okay, honey?” he asked her softly, hoping she’d just say she was feeling exhausted or hungry. Instead he was met with a sunken in expression, and foggy eyes. Not believing what he’d seen he let her go for a moment. In that moment, she dropped like a rag doll onto the ground.

“(Name)!” Usopp yelped, catching her before her head with the ground. The Straw Hats felt horrified at the scene before them. Chopper was immediately on his way over to them.

Usopp positioned her so her head was in his lap, in the process he pulled his hand away from her back. He gasped, even in the darkness of night, Usopp could tell his palm was slick with blood. “(Name),” he stammered softly, “What did you do?”

Chopper pulled up her shirt to show a large gash on her lower back. “I knew I smelled blood,” he whimpered, wrinkling his nose, “Roll her on her side.”

The sniper did as he was told and rotated (Name) with gash facing Chopper. The reindeer wrinkled is nose more, “She’s been stabbed… it’s been a few hours.”

“She... she said it was a few bruises,” Usopp started shaking, “(Name), why did you lie me?”

At the sound of her name she stirred awake and blinked into focus. “Sorry, Usopp,” (Name) murmured into his leg, “I didn’t want to scare anyone.”

“A lot of good that did you,” Zoro commented from afar, “You’re scaring the hell out of us now.”

Sanji glared at Zoro but bit his tongue, for (Name). It was clear the Usopp was trembling, but Sanji only realized he himself was shaking as he went to light a cigarette.

“Chopper,” (Name) murmured, as Chopper began applying a salve, “Save your supplies. You and I both know it’s a waste.”

The reindeer had been weeping silently, because he knew they’d need a miracle to keep her alive and the Straw Hats had used up so many of their miracles already.

Usopp directed a sharp expression towards Chopper and looked down at his girlfriend. “We will use every berry we have, to save you (Name). Nothing is ever a waste!” he said in a tone much harsher than he had meant.

(Name) turned to look up at Usopp, a weak smile on her face. “It’s okay, dear,” she reached up and stroked his cheek, “I’ll be fine.”

“But.. but, what about me?” Usopp laced his fingers with hers, tears were streaming down his face, “I can’t do this without you.”

She feebly shooed Chopper away as he was trying to bandage her up, only to have blood seep through the bandages. The reindeer pulled away as she rolled onto her back so she could see Usopp. “Finish the journey for me, be the warrior the giants of Elbaf will celebrate and be proud of,” she grinned and let her own tears slipped down her cheeks.

Usopp was openingly sobbing over (Name), he was trying to force the tears away. He needed to memorize everything about her face and he couldn’t do that while crying.

“But,” she continued in a frail voice, “Even if the giants aren’t proud of you, just know that I’ve always been proud of you.”

Usopp scooped her up in his arms and cradled her close to her chest. “(Name),” his voice was strained, “You can’t go! I love you! You’re supposed to be there when we get to Raftel.”

She wrapped her arm around his shoulder, and murmured, “Don’t worry, dearsest, I’ll be there when you do.” She held on a few moments longer, then she was gone.

Usopp squeezed her tighter, as if was trying to hold her soul inside her body. “Damn it, you can’t leave me!” he wailed and choked on his own sob.

And there he stayed on his knees holding her close, praying to any god that may listen to bring her back to him.

First it was Chopper, then Sanji and Luffy, slowly but surely the crew gathered around Usopp and (Name). Usopp wasn’t sure how long it took for the tears to run dry, but when they finally did he moved for the first time and brush a piece of hair out of her face with trembling fingers.

“I’ll steal the world for you.”

[grimtwin]

Favorite ZoNa moments?

All of them of course!

Their first time meeting! Zoro saves Nami from Buggy’s crew as they made to attack her for refusing to kill Luffy. Fending off something like five or six attackers easily, Zoro casually asks her if she’s okay. 

Then on Usopp’s island, where Nami and Zoro are trapped behind an oil slick. Nami steps on Zoro so she can safely cross, while Zoro gets stuck. A short while later, when a couple of Zoro’s are taken from him, Nami tries to retrieve them. Even after taking a brutal hit from Jango, she’s able to kick Zoro’s swords to him, which kind of annoys him, but she has this cheeky, “is that how you thank someone?” line, and Zoro gives her his thanks, before whooping ass. That and his terrified reactions every time she’s attacked during this fight with the Black Cat Pirates.

Then we jump to Arlong Park for a few more scenes. This is one of the biggest shipping moments for the two, for a lot of fans. After getting nearly bisected by Mihawk, Zoro’s pretty banged up, and gets taken prisoner by Arlong’s crew. After some cheeky back and forth between Zoro and Nami, Arlong says some pretty fucked up things about Nami being a cold hearted witch who would even forget Bell-mere’s murder for money, which clearly upsets Nami. That doesn’t go unnoticed by Zoro, who then throws himself into the water. He’s bound at the legs, with his hands tied behind his back, and one of the most gruesome wounds we’ve ever seen in OP...so no way is he getting out of that. Until Nami dives into the water and drags him back up that is. Kudos to Nami’s strength here btw, she’s gotta be strong as hell to do that. Anyway, Zoro calls Nami’s bluff here, telling her he knew that she couldn’t have let him die and to stop acting cool which infuriates her enough to stomp on his back. She then asks why he has so many bandages on, and in the English dub, he flirts a bit by saying he didn’t have another shirt and didn’t want Nami to be distracted by his chest/abs, to which she immediately punches him as hard as she can in his Mihawk wound.

After a dramatic flashback and Nami stabbing her arm to slice away the Arlong tattoo, Luffy and the crew go to kick Arlong’s ass. It’s here were we get the next short, but sweet moment that I like. Zoro’s wound has been hit a few times, he’s got a stupid high fever, is damn near dead on his feet at this point, but he’s fighting Arlong in order to give Sanji and Nojiko time to save Luffy’s life. He gives Nami a thumbs up, saying he’s good, but in his weakened state, Arlong gets the better of Zoro, and is holding him by the throat. Its then that Arlong tears away Zoro’s bandages, and that’s when he, Nami, and the rest of Cocoyashi’s villagers see just how fucked up Zoro is right now. Zoro’s got this death glare that startles Arlong to his core, Nami’s lets out a horrified gasp, and Arlong knows he has to kill Zoro here and now because it’ll be too dangerous to let him live. Well...that is until Luffy finally shows up, freed from his stone prison at the bottom of the ocean, grabs Zoro by the shirt color, and throws him several hundred yards to the back of his head lol. 

I suppose the next instance would be at Whiskey Peak. The crew has just made it to the Grande Line, and survive a hellish wave of storms...all thanks to Nami, and no thanks to Zoro, who was napping. When he wakes up, Zoro is interrogating Ms. Wednesday and Mr. 9, who jumped on their ship, and just when he’s about to uncover some secret, Nami shows up and beats Zoro’s head in. She’s pissed he was sleeping during all the chaos, and even though Zoro tries to get tough with her, she just beats him some more. We all know who wears the pants...or short skirt in that relationship. Later, the crew are happily welcomed into Whiskey Peak’s village, where a massive party is thrown for them by the villagers. The crew is having a grand ol’ time, drinking eating, partying their asses off and we see both Nami and Zoro engaging in a drinking contest. Zoro “goes down” around the 13th tankard of booze, while Nami “goes down” around the 15th. It’s then that we learn that the village is one of 100 Bounty Hunters, who aim to kill/capture pirates making their way into the Grand Line. Just as they unveil their big secret, Zoro appears on top of a house, in one of the most bad ass moments of his up to this point in the series. He was faking being drunk, saying no way would he trust a village welcoming pirates into their midst. He then announces he knows they are Baroque Works, and proceeds to beat the shit out of the entire village in a dope ass fight.

And after that tussle, Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine’s Day show up! It seems they have an intruder in their organization, and it’s Miss Wednesday, aka Princess Nefertari Vivi of Alabasta! They’re on the hunt when Mr. 8 pleads with Zoro to go save her, as he is actually Igaram, Vivi’s royal guard. It’s then that Nami appears, agreeing to help Vivi..but at the cost of one billion beri! Zoro questions what she’s doing there when Nami says the same thing he did earlier, that she couldn’t trust a town welcoming pirates, and that she could handle way more booze! These two are can handle their drink alright. Nami and Igaram negotiate, and after coming to terms, Nami commands Zoro to go save Vivi! He immediately refuses until Nami counters that her contracts are HIS contracts as well, and that Zoro still owes her payment for the money she lent him at Loguetown. She guilt trips the ever loving hell out of him, and Zoro has no choice but to run off and save Vivi. 

Now we’re at Little Garden, the isle of giants and dinosaurs. The Straw Hats food reserves are low at this point, so Zoro and Sanji decide to have a contest of who can bring back the bigger dinosaur and most meat, very much like Dory and Brogy did 100 years prior. After some running around, Zoro kills his prey and is trying to make it back to the ship when he gets lost; big surprise right? During his search for the ship, he suddenly sees Nami leaning against a tree and happily calls out to her with a big ol’ smile on his face...but cut to black. It was all a trap set up by Mr. 3! A wax dummy of Nami, who has now captured Zoro, Nami, and Vivi! More stuff happens with the other characters, before we’re shown that Nami, Zoro, and Vivi are attached to this big candle with a spinning top that, as it melts, will spray a wax coating over the trapped victims, turning them into statues. Zoro being cool as shit, decides that if they’re just going to die as statues, he’ll cut his feet off and go kill Mr. 3 before this can happen. Just as he goes to do this, an action which horrifies both ladies at his side, Luffy, Usopp, and Carue show up, and Zoro stops about half way through his legs. The pooling blood freaks Nami out, who berates him. A short while later, things are looking bad for Luffy, Usopp, and Carue, so Zoro decides if he’s going to become a statue, he’s going to strike a cool pose. Again Nami gets angry with him, and Zoro jokes with her that she should have taken a better pose too. All three, plus Brogy are completely encased and wax...until Usopp, Luffy, and Carue set them on fire! The wax melts, Zoro, Nami, and Vivi burst out of the towering flames, and take out Ms. Valentine’s Day and Mr. 5 in one shot! 

Next, we fast forward to the Alabasta Kingdom. For years, Shichibukai and leader of Baroque Works, Sir Crocodile, has engulfed the country in a civil war, all for the goal of gaining access to a poneglyph, a stone with the location of an ancient weapon known has Pluton, carved into it. And under his employee are the assassins partners Mr.1, Daz Bones, and Miss Doublefinger, Zala. During all the chaos of the final battle, these two would become Zoro and Nami’s opponents, tricked into following the Straw Hats away from Princess Vivi. Zoro tells Nami to stay quiet and hide, but it’s the assassins golden rule to take out those that are weakest first, so they immediately go to attack Nami. Just before Mr. 1 is about to cut her down, Zoro comes to her defense just in the nick of time once more! (In the anime he gives her a cocky grin) The two separate to take care of their own battles, both bloody and brutal, and after Zoro and Nami prevail, Zoro collapses in the street in need of a nap from blood loss. Nami finds him soon after and smacks him awake, but since she’s had her foot and leg stabbed through by Miss Doublefinger’s needles, she can’t walk to well, and gets a piggy back ride from Zoro as they search for Vivi and their friends. 

Onward to Jaya! This one is short and sweet. After Luffy and Zoro take a massive beating from Bellamy and his crew, a fight that held no meaning for the Straw Hats so they just didn’t counter, Nami is thoroughly pissed at for being mocked and made a fool of. Later on, when Luffy goes to confront Bellamy for stealing Norland’s gold, Nami asks Zoro why he didn’t go with Luffy to fight. A small, but cute, argument breaks out between the two. They fight like an old married couple! Just get hitched already dammit!

Further still, it’s up to Skypiea! Here we have a lot of good moments between the two. After Pagaya and the people of Skypiea rat the Straw Hats out to Eneru, the Going Merry is attacked and dragged off by some massive sky shell fish. And on the ship, are Robin, Chopper, Zoro, and Nami, where they’re carried to an area  where they are meant to be used as sacrifices for Eneru and his warriors. While trying to leave the sacrificial alter, the crew is attacked by Sky Sharks, which try to eat Zoro right away. He gets soaked during the scuffle to kill the sharks, and strips his shirt off, to which Nami goes into his room and then tosses him a new, dry one. Nami warns Zoro that God and the guardian priests are in the forest and are too strong to compete with, but Zoro tells her he’s never prayed to any god because he doesn’t believe him him. Chopper thinks this is cool as hell, and Nami cries, saying she doesn’t know Zoro lol. So Nami, Robin, and Zoro leave the alter to go check some things out, and during their trip, some delightful arguing and banter takes place, and Zoro saves Nami from several sky sharks and a sky alligator trying to devour her. He had been taking the lead on their journey but slowed down to walk behind Nami so he could protect her more easily.

Later on, during a hellish battle set up by Eneru, involving his forces, the Straw Hat Pirates, and the Shandian Warriors, Zoro are fighting alongside with the gargantuan sky snake Norla. In the ensuing chaos, Norla swallows Nami and Aisha appear in the midst of the battle, and are attacked by some goat men under Eneru’s command. Zoro, Wiper, and Gan Fall protect them...but soon after, Gan Fall, Nami, and Aisha are immediately swallowed by Norla. In a fit of anger, shock, and urgency to save Nami, Zoro tries to swiftly deal with his opponents at the time, Ohm and Holy, who activate a cage of iron cloud barbed wire to trap the combatants inside, while also fending off Wiper’s attacks. After defeating Ohm and Holy, the ground beneath his feet is blown away by Eneru and everyone falls to an area below. In all that, Norla spits up Gan Fall, Nami, but then Eneru attacks the snake, and fries it with a massive electrical attack. Zoro, seeing this, is terrified for Nami, until she pokes her head out from behind a rock, revealing that she’s fine. Zoro almost looks annoyed that he was caught looking so scared.

I could continue on, but this is crazy long as is...so this is a good stopping point!