#but in fishman island he came on really too strong

[algrolo]

Oh you know what, I bet they're redoing the fishman island arc to have sanji be less... like that. The whole "him needing a blood transfusion from seeing so many hot merladies" was like. a bit awkward. He was so weird in the first half of that arc even by Sanji standards.

[mmkin]

Home from the Sea/Get You Some Arlong - final chapter

Sniffle, sniffle. My very first Arlong story is now complete. I feel a little sad but also proud. This was my first ever Canon x Reader story and I'm really pleased with how it turned out, it was a lot of fun to write and was also a unique challenge for me to write a Y/n. It also got me deeper into the One Piece rabbit hole, lol.

Link to AO3 here, also under the beautiful Arlong pictures here.

All feedback/reviews/comments are very much welcome and appreciated!

Content warning - some smut, mention of violence, but nothing readers of this tale have not already seen.

XI

o0o0o0o

Arlong has sunk a fair amount of ships over the years. Marine, pirate, or otherwise. To support the ever-growing Arlong Village, he’s sent fishmen into the depths to salvage what they can of said ships. On occasion, a treasure or some other stash is found. And when the Arlong Pirates capture ships nowadays, he’s more inclined to keep them than just sink them. After all, he no longer leads just a crew, but an entire tribe of seafolk, and he takes his responsibility to care for them seriously.

It also gives the humans forced to pay Arlong tribute an easier way to come up with that money. They can come to Arlong Village and sell their wares, instead of having to venture outside of Arlong’s territory. It used to be that keeping an influx of money coming to the Arlong Empire, Arlong had to let the humans travel overseas to sell their wares. Wily bastard he was, he only gave out these permits to humans who had loved ones who remained on the islands. The message was clear. Fuck up, or contact the Marines, and bad things will happen to your loved ones.

Brutal, but effective. But hey now there’s Arlong Village, so the nearby islands don’t have to travel as far to make the money needed for their tributes, and you’ve also convinced Arlong to allow the towns to pay some of the tribute in crops, to make it easier for Arlong to feed his growing tribe.

You and Arlong are out for a casual stroll in the village, looking over the most recent construction projects. It’s a beautiful and sunny day, and the birds are singing. The waves are crashing against the shore and piers, and there is a mild breeze. Your mate is at your side, and you feel secure in his presence.

“I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner,” Arlong grumbles as he looks around at the fishmen strolling about happily.

“All things in good time,” you quip as you hook your arm around his. A few people greet or chat with Arlong and you remain near him while you look around, enjoying the sights and sounds. There’s a small but bustling market, and several fishmen relax in lawn furniture. A couple is coming up the streets, and you see the husband has a baby slung to his chest in a wrap, a strong arm curved under the baby for extra support. The infant babbles softly, grabbing his father’s collar with a pudgy webbed hand.

The couple greet Arlong and he chats with them for a couple of moments. They came here half a year ago from the Fishman District and have made no secret of how better they consider this place than the dumping ground of Fishman Island. The wife had been heavily pregnant back then, and knew she didn’t want to raise her child in the District.

You all move along, and when you look up, you see a wistful look on his face. It’s not too hard to figure out what he’s been thinking about after seeing that baby with its father.

o0o0o0o

You’ve only known Arlong for two years. From what you’ve heard, he had plenty of anger and hate in his youth (and yes, he still holds onto a fair amount of it) but it seems like he’s mellowed out a bit. Many of his tactics remain the same, but he’s changed or honed others with your advice. The Arlong Empire is relatively small compared to the entire world, but it is now a solid presence in the East Blue. With some humans seeing that there is a chance to get promoted in the Arlong Empire, this increases the support in Arlong’s favor, even if by only a few points.

Twenty years ago, Arlong would have scoffed at this notion, but as he’s come to learn over the years, not all humans deserve to be crushed underfoot. He’s still pretty hateful, but he’s learned how to better channel that hate into something productive rather than self-destructive to himself and his goals.

o0o0o0o

Although things are mostly peaceful within the Arlong Empire, there are times when Arlong resorts to violence. There’s only so much you can do to rein him in after all, and when it comes to would-be slavers trying to kidnap fishmen, or Marines coming to challenge Arlong, all you can do is stand back and let him and his warriors do what they will. And you have to admit, it’s sexy to see your mate in action, defending his nakama and tribe.

o0o0o0o

“You looked absolutely sexy out there, swinging your Kiribachi,” you say with a purr as the two of you savor the crew’s latest victory. The crew is at Arlong Park, having a party, but you and Arlong have decided to sneak off to be by yourselves.

He basks in the glow of your praise as you cup his angular face in your hands. And he really does look sexy when his strength is on full display. Shark on Darts, or throwing water at humans, or swinging his sword, eyes wild with warrior’s spirit as he takes down the people who would enslave his people or try to take territory away from him.

“Thinking about it gets me all hot and bothered,” you growl into his ear as the two of you grope one another.

“I can tell,” he replies with a chuckle as his hand moves between your legs.

“What are you going to do about it then, big boy?” you tease, seeing the glint in his eyes.

“What the hell do you think I’m going to do, Y/n?” he replies with a throaty growl, his fingers curling up against you. You shudder and arch against him. Oh yes, you know the answer only too well… There are different ways you can phrase it, but they all have the same end result.

You moan his name as he sinks into your hot, receptive tightness.

“Mine, all mine,” he growls softly, swaying his hips against you. His large, webbed hands lift your legs up, pushing them back so he can press into you more firmly, grinding against you and causing you to whimper in agreement at his words.

“I need you, Arlong,” you moan when there’s a pause in the frenzied rhythm and you’re able to speak coherently. “Need you so fucking bad. My sharkman.”

“You have me, all of me, and I’m going to pound every inch into you until you can’t walk.” And yes, that’s exactly what he’s doing and will continue to do.

“Hey… don’t threaten – ah! – me with a – hngh! – good time!”

He gives you a mock threatening growl, snapping his teeth at you as he continues to pound into you. You snap your teeth back at him, and he grins.

“Yes, take it all, Y/n.”

“All… and more…” you manage to gasp before he gives out a short, sudden growl, his fingers digging into the back of your thighs as he releases his pent-up load into you. He growls softly against your ear, breathing against it before nibbling along the side of your face.

“Mine, all mine,” he growls as he continues to kiss and nuzzle you, mindful of his nose.

“Always?” you ask with a pleased purr, clenching around him as he remains inside of you, running your fingers along his back and fin.

“Always and forever.” He presses his lips along your shoulders, his hands sliding from your legs to your hips as he holds you. “Sweet Y/n, do you think I would ever let you go?” he asks half-teasingly.

“I certainly hope not,” you shoot back as you nibble along his jaw and ear. “You’re stuck with me.” Your tentacles wrap around his middle, and he gives out a playful growl.

It doesn’t take much to renew his ardor when he’s in this sort of mood, and he’s pounding into you again.

“Keep going like that,” you moan as you arch against him. “Fill up my womb.”

His purring growl fills your ears as he does exactly what you ask.

o0o0o0o

You are in the pool, a floating noodle under your knees and another one under your shoulders. The park is closed so only the highest-ranking members of Arlong’s crew can roam around at these hours, so besides you, there’s just Chew and Hatchan, taking the opportunity to relax as well by lounging in the poolside chairs and sipping the drinks they’ve mixed for themselves.

None for you though… at least not for the time being. You rest your hand on your gravid belly, feeling a kick as Arlong’s child asserts its presence. The pregnancy wasn’t too bad at first, but as your belly grows bigger, so does the inconvenience. You’re looking forward to motherhood, but you wish that the journey was at least a little easier. Nowadays, you’re more comfortable in the water, where your belly doesn’t feel so heavy.

A fin slices through the water, and Arlong appears at your shoulder before swimming around you.

“Do you know how sexy you look, floating around in your swimsuit?” he asks with a soft purr. You let out a small scoff of disbelief, and he smirks at you before reaching out and resting his large hand on your stomach.

“I know you’re ready for this to be over. But I’ll admit you look cute like this. After all, it’s my child you’re carrying,” he says with pride in his tone. “And we had fun making it, didn’t we?”

You can not help but roll your eyes a little at that. But you know he’s right. And he is also providing a safe place for you and your baby, surrounded by your nakama and friends.

“We have fun regardless of what the end result is,” you tease him back.

“Mmm,” he agrees, pressing kisses along your shoulder as he remains at your side, floating with you contentedly.

o0o0o0o

This story has run its natural course. In the future, I might be inspired to add another chapter or two here, but right now, I am satisfied with what I have done with this story and want to end it on a high/sweet note.

This started out last year as a collection of smutty headcanons for the sharkman when I started simping for him after watching OPLA. But as the story and Arlong’s relationship with Y/n developed (and I started watching the anime and the Sabaody and Fishman Island arcs) it became much more than just headcanons (although the headcanons were incredibly fun to write!) and I wanted to see what could happen if I wrote about an Arlong that never lost his park and actually managed to have some wisdom and character growth despite being an asshole because let’s be real, you can’t have Arlong without at least a bit of assholery, lol.

But don’t worry, this is not the end of my Arlong fangirling. I have started a new story, the Siren’s Shark, which is about Arlong after he loses Arlong Park. Squid has taken on such a life and personality of her own that I no longer call her Y/n in my head, so I have christened her with the name Yolande. If you’re into the whole Marvel and DC multiveral mayhem that seems to be the cool thing nowadays, you can consider the new story a multiversal alternate reality version of Arlong and his squid. It will be less sweet and fluffy than this story, but will have the usual quality fishman love you can expect of me :)

All feedback/reviews/comments are very much welcome and appreciated!

[efnanmeyy]

Sometimes i remember how a lot of people were surprised that oda would go the destiny chosen one route as if luffy hasn't been shown to be the chosen one from the beginning like,how much in denial can ppl be?!😭😭

Like there are way too many moments in the story that show that luffy is the chosen one let's start:

Luffy surviving being almost beheaded by buggy by a lightning strike,we still don't know if dragon did that so I'm counting this too,him surviving that felt like the heavens intervening,smoker says as if the world wants him to survive.

The constant comparisons to Roger,constant mentions of how lucky he is.He is the son of the revolutionary Dragon,the grandson of Garp,I'm mentioning his family bc his family is the reason he's so strong and talented,he inhereted it from them,as garp was saying in marineford that luffy was really born with it just like dragon and him and ivankov mentioned it too.

He has the voice of all things,the comparisons to joyboy,whitebeard saying that luffy is the one roger is waiting for and the one who will carry the history on his shoulders and find the one piece.

He is a d clan member,has Roger's hat,everyone that meets him says that he is special.It is also said that the d people are destined for greatness.

The mayor of Luffy's town talking about if Luffy's dream of becoming a pirate is his dream or his destiny?

When luffy was about to leave for fishman island rayleigh seemed to remember roger and his first meeting with him and said that "maybe there is no such thing as coincidence in this world,as though it was meant to be,mysterious bonds slowly but surely weave their forms".

Him having the same dream as Roger.

In fishman island it was prophesied that luffy will destroy fishman island and that will happen someday whether luffy knows it or not so idk why everyone is so surprised and heated that he's the chosen one and how he's not free lmao why did no one have a problem with this back in fishman island lmao😭😭

Then there is the prophesy of oden in which he says that joyboy will come to wano and what did luffy do he fucking came lmaoo😭😭He told toki she has also been searching for the day the world is overturned and said to her to just jump to 20 years and it will happen.

Yamato talking to Momonosuke about how out of all the pirates as numerous as the stars in the sky you happened to meet him and brought him to this country and said that she can only consider this as an act of fate.

Ppl saying that fate doesn't exist in one piece are straight up in denial,it has been mentioned a lot ESPECIALLY in wano.

Even with zoro,when he was fighting king, hyogoro and kawamatsu were talking about how he looks just like ushimaru and ryuma right down to their sword handling that it's uncanny,they were talking about how this young man was the one to finally return shusui to wano.How it must be fate at work after all ryuma was also a one-eyed swordsman.

And now that it's confirmed that Ushimaru is the great uncle of Zoro and that Zoro is a descendant of Ryuma it makes this even funnier lmaoo😭You absolutely CAN NOT say that him being related to these ppl did not help him bc it fucking did lol he is destined to do this,I'm not saying he didn't train bc we all know he did but his talent was also there.For me he leans on talent more than hard work but that's just MY opinion.As for luffy he is without a doubt more talent than hard work(I'm not saying he didn't train we know he did).

Zoans are confirmed to have a will of their own which hints at the possibility of Luffy's fruit choosing him.Awakened zoans have the user be consumed by the fruit's animal,like for ex with luffy when he is in his awakened form he exudes contagious joy and tends to laugh more,feels light,(we know he doesn't get fully consumed like the jail beasts in impel down but he is not fully himself either)in short he acts like his fruit's animal,not so free now huh luffy lmaoo😭😭

Luffy literally is Joyboy and has a god fruit,how much clearer can Oda be lmao😭

[mugiwat]

sanuso headcannons

highkey sadder than my zolu ones

both are bi with a tendency towards women. both are attracted to men, but neither thought they would actually date a guy

usopp and kaya never really end up together at the end of the journey, the sea changed that village liar too much

sanji was always pushed around as a kid for being the soft one. the vinsmoke brothers laughed in his face when he mentioned to reiju that he might like boys and girls

usopp and sanji didn't really get close until after the whole arlong experience. honestly, usopp thought sanji was a pompous asshole even after the whole bartie incident and sanji thought usopp was a coward who shouldn't be on the seas

after the fight with arlong, usopp came to appreciate sanji's loyalty and sanji came to appreciate his wits

after retrieving nami, the crew talks a little about their homes in east blue, leaving sanji as an outcast from north blue

it was during a late night with usopp coming in for a midnight snack after watch that sanji mentions his vinsmoke past. he doesnt offer much detail, but more hints that his childhood was cruel with siblings and a father who hated everything about him.

"i don't know why im telling you this" "it's because no one will believe the liar"

since then, the two became a little closer and usopp moved his mini workshop into the galley. often they work in comfortable silence, enjoying the others' presence. no words are needed between the two, but they become dependent on the others' sanity

it was somewhere between entering the grandline and recruiting chopper that the two begin to date

during alabasta, Mr. Prince becomes the later inspiration for Sogeking. Usopp admires the persona that Mr. Prince represents and it was only natural to model his courage and bravery after Sanji

sanji loves going shopping for groceries with the sniper, usopp knows a surprising amount of rare spices and herbs

unlike luffy and zoro, the two are much much much more subtle about their relationship, keeping it under wraps. its not until late that nami and robin figure it out

after sanji is shocked by eneru, almost dying, usopp really realizes that maybe he shouldnt have taken those quiet nights on merry for granted. it was during that last night of celebrations that the two hid briefly away in merry, sharing a kiss and getting caught by robin's wandering eyes

their relationship often is spent in quiet moments in the galley and subtle signs like favorite foods or quick inventions for the kitchen

usopp fighting luffy and leaving the crew tore an instant rift in their relationship; "do i mean nothing to you?"

still, sanji found usopp after the fight and took care of him, cooking him food and not letting him starve on the street. they decided to cut off the relationship before it began... better for them to move on with their dreams than cause leftover pain

sanji's heart just about stopped when he saw sogeking and hearing that funny deep voice of his made him just about cry

after enies lobby, the two got back together, never quite repaired, but willing to heal those wounds

they reveal their relationship in the first few nights on the brand new sunny go

thriller bark was a whirlwind of an adventure and sanji couldn't be more proud of usopp's victory over perona

once kuma separated the crew, the two worked extremely hard to become stronger not only for the crew, but for each other. sanji going to kamabakka kingdom and eventually talking to iva-chan honestly made sanji question himself even more

usopp worked extra hard to turn into the man he imagined himself to be. working to be muscular and strong at least in appearance... and becoming more brave than he was before

reuniting in sabody was short and rushed... it wasn't until they settled in fishman island that they two actually got a chance to be alone.

seeing fishman island reminded usopp how small he really is in the world. sanji's bright eyes looking at the bubbles below them reminded him of home and east blue, but also of the uncertainty of the tides

however, the rose colored glasses shattered once sanji practically died from seeing mermaids. this left usopp unsure about his own position in their relationship, feeling ugly, inadequet, and undesireable

usopp ends it with sanji shortly after that with no explaination. he refused to talk to sanji unless it was needed. he ended up taking a backseat in the crew. they weren't the same quiet teenages that would sit in the galley anymore. this was the new world, they needed to grow up

usopp spend punk hazaard and the interlude of dressrosa not speaking to sanji, unless needed. their fight is a partial reason why the crew splits up to pursue different goals

it isn't until after sanji goes missing back to the vinsmokes that usopp reconsiders his stance. when he hears the news all he could think of is that innocent sanji back in east blue, talking about his disowned family back in north blue

after they retrieve sanji from wholecake and practically declare war on the world, all usopp can do is hug the cook and apologize for everything

the two end up giving it a second chance, restarting as "new people" in the form of wano

and that's all for now, honestly, my hope is that they end up going back to east blue together, owning the baratie and visiting syrup village... I think usopp would love the balance between the sea and home... but who knows with these two. I love their relationship so much, I feel like its so real and so traumatic. these two are the most emotional of the straw hats, in my opinion. lot of trauma here

I absolutely can't wait to see the upcoming arcs and hopefully a little more sanuso <3

[imaeraser]

Hello there

Can I please get the straw hats reaction to reader who is an marine admiral quitting the marine and wanting to join the them

Gender neutral please

Thanks for the request!

Luffy

He is ecstatic

Another crew member that he can hold dear to his heart

Unlike most of the crew, you came willingly

Of course, this caused the crew to be suspicious, but Luffy is bouncing around with excitement

I mean he already has two people in the navy who like him, what could go wrong by accepting an Admiral into his crew?

“Show me that move again!” He will constantly be watching you train, and ogle in awe at the amount of strength you have

But be warned, once you show him it once, you’re gonna have to do it again

You’re gonna have to get used to the chaotic nature of Luffy and his “plans” because it isn’t structured like the Navy

But that also gives you more freedom to do what you want… as long as you help/save Luffy on the way

He’ll kinda treat you like a new toy, and after that wears off he’ll treat you like the rest of the crew

Don’t delude yourself though, he is still your captain, and when in desperate situations he will get serious with you (another thing you have to get used to)

8/10 is not bad, but he needs to chill a little— can’t blame him though, you are an ex-navy admiral

Zoro

Opposite of Luffy

Not excited, but suspicious and a little angry

Sure it may be nice to have one less “enemy” and one more crew member, but he is on edge about your allegiance

You could be a spy for all he knows or an underhand way for the navy to kill Luffy and his crew

And he won’t be having any of that

He’ll be taking fewer naps, and opt to watch you instead. He’ll always be tense around you. He’s getting ready in case you attack

He won’t say anything since his captain already accepted you, but that doesn’t mean he’ll welcome you

Don’t think that trying to suck up to him will help you either. He’ll accept whatever you offer (ex: money for a sword), but he’ll only see that as you trying to gain his trust to backstab him later

The only way for you to gain his trust is to a) give them your backstory and why you quit the navy and joined them b) Stay with them long enough to just naturally become a member (as well as help them in ways that hurt the navy— several times) c) nearly die trying to save someone from the crew

After one or a combination of all of those things, he will no longer question you and relax and open up a bit

You’ll know that the first mate trusts you when he’ll share a cup of sake and take a nap— right in front of you

3/10 the only good this is that he’s not cutting your gut open

Nami

She is also suspicious of you too, but she hides it better than Zoro

Instead, she’ll leave the watching to Zoro, and go to Robin to discuss her worries (they are such an iconic duo)

Nami knows that Luffy will accept anyone onto the crew, so she feels responsible for making sure it’s in the best interests of the Strawhats

She’ll weigh the pros and cons carefully and advise everyone to be careful, but at the end of the day Luffy listens to no one

She won’t outright shun you, but she’ll be wary around you

That is until… you give her money

This tactic may not work on Zoro, but it will work on her

All of a sudden you’re her new favorite person

Just sit out on the deck with Nami and Robin and listen to Nami talk about how stupid the rest of the crew is

If you make cool-headed decisions and can stop the crew from getting into disasters, Nami will forever be thankful

It might take a while for her to warm up, but when she does (or when you give her money) be prepared for a feisty friend

7/10 can be unwelcoming, but it doesn’t take much to win her over

Usopp

Like everyone except Luffy, he is wary (and mostly scared, you could beat him up)

Seeing his nervous and pessimistic nature, he would not believe that you are on their side

He’ll try to act cool and distrusting, but once he sees you do something funny he’ll buckle

Bad people can’t be funny - Usopp. At least that’s what he seems to think

If you mess around with him, Chopper, and Luffy you’re good

No suspicions after

He’ll show you his inventions and will prank you from time to time

He’ll welcome you with wide arms

(He’s just glad that he doesn’t have to fight someone so powerful)

He act’s pretty normal

He just treats you like any other crew member

8/10 fun, until he tests out a new invention on you

Sanji

Isn’t really on edge

He knows that he can’t change Luffy’s mind so he won’t bother trying

Of course, he’ll be careful, but he trusts that the crew can handle it if something does arise

As long as you appreciate his food you’re fine

Just don’t waste it

Because if you do, that’s when his unwelcoming side comes out

But I don’t think that’ll be a problem, because his food is amazing

6/10 he is pretty indifferent

Chopper

Is nervous, but if Luffy gives the okay, then it's okay

...right?

Is confused on why you would quit the navy and join a pirate group (just like the rest of them), but he doesn’t ask why

If you get hurt, ad go to him he’ll treat you

Then compliment him and he’ll get all gushy

The moral of the story— just compliment him and you’ll be fine

Hang out with him, Usopp, and Luffy—> and the goofy trio will become a quartet

Make him Cotton-candy and he’ll let you pat his head

It truly isn’t too different from how he treats everyone else, aside from the rocky beginning

He is amazed at how strong you are

(And then he thinks about how difficult things could’ve been if you stayed in the navy)

8/10 nothing to complain about here

Robin

Isn’t on edge

After all, didn't she join similarly?

And she knows that Luffy will do what he wants to do, so she’ll just stick to reading her books

I feel like she would be the most welcoming (without having to do anything on your part)

You can come to her and talk about how you feel like you are somewhat an outcast in the group, and she’ll listen and sympathize

You guys could relate to a lot of things

This doesn't mean she isn’t watching you

She is very observant due to the way she grew up, and old habits die hard

But don’t be too sad, she watches everyone (mostly to make sure no one gets hurt)

If you ask her she’ll give you tips on how to win over each of the crew members

She would know because she had to do it

10/10 super helpful and welcoming

Franky

I can see him being suspicious, but not caring

Again, no one can control Luffy, so he’s just gonna do whatever he usually does

He’ll let you watch him, and help him out with whatever

He’ll joke around, and act pretty normal

He’s still suspicious but he is too super to care

Because he also trusts that the crew can handle anything if things go south

If you can connect him with Vegapunk, I think you would be his favorite person

That’s because he can make more beams

Giving him cola would also help ease his suspicions

6/10 Like Sanji he’s indifferent

Brook

Will quirk a non-existing eyebrow, but your joining would not be the strangest thing he’s seen

He’s gonna try to be welcoming and get you settled since many other members are still on edge around you

He knows that Luffy wants you on the crew, so he’ll do everything in his power to try and make you as comfortable as possible

But he will not hesitate to protect the crew if he thinks you are up to something

His loyalty lies with them, and not you— yet

He can’t afford to lose his crew again, don't be upset about it

But after sailing around for a while, he’ll accept you into the family

I can see you two having tea time, while he asks you what it was like being a navy admiral

And he will admire the fact that you were able to attain such a high rank and respect you as such

9/10 is not bad, and he’ll hide his suspensions well

Jinbei

Does not think it’s a smart idea to accept you on the crew

And he will voice his opinions

But don't worry, Luffy won’t listen anyway

Seeing as he is an ex-warlord of the sea, he would probably somewhat know you. Or at least heard about you before

He just doesn't trust that an admiral would drop their position to sail with the Strawhats

He won’t show his distrust like Zoro (he’s more mature than that), but that doesn't mean it’s not there

He just wants whatever is in the best interest of Luffy

But what is done is done, so he does try his best to push aside his preconceived notions and get to know you and welcome you

Like Zoro, he wouldn’t trust you until you prove your loyalty

I can see him joining the Brook tea times, and listening in on what life was like as and Admiral

And if you’re lucky he’ll share what it was like on Fishman island

8/10 nothing to complain about, other than him being a bit cold

[pure-kirarin]

The rose left unwatered (Law x f!reader)

Heyo guys ! this is my first multi part fanfiction and I hope that you will all like it =w=.  No TW for now apart for coming smut in next chapters~  This was originally a request by @soul-stealer-reaper​ . Thanks for requesting :) originally you asked for a scenario with rough NSFW where Law has a crush on a girl that the government is afraid of and that has high bounty. As this will have some parts, everything you asked for will come in the next chapters so no worries :’) ! I won’t hide that wrote quite freely tho, I hope that it’s fine.  Synopsis : You have felt unwanted for so long that you forgot the last time you felt like you belonged. Quite paradoxical, when you are one of the most wanted “criminals” in the new world. You cross paths with Law after joining the strawhats at Fishman Island to “kill some time” and you both feel a weird connection from the moment your eyes met, curiosity, hatred or desire, did it really matter as long as feelings were involved ? ---------------------------

A rose left unwatered will wither, A heart left unloved will rot, A sweet dream left untouched will go bitter,  A love left unspoken will be forgot. Nemo -  Murder in Venice

The first time that Law saw you, he found you extremely annoying. He remembered that he saw your wanted poster somewhere, with one of the highest bounties that he has ever seen. Seeing such a high bounty made him raise an eyebrow at first, what could you have done to have the whole world on your back ? The second thought that came to his mind was that of detachement, then he flinched at that thought.

The first time that Law saw you in person was after his Allience with the strawhats. You stayed at the ship the whole time, you didn't even bother to follow others to punk Hazard or to help them with their plans. He thought that you were an extremely selfish person and you reminded him of the person that he hated most. That way you had of doing what you wanted without caring about others, the smirk you had on your lips at all times, never submitting, always acting so sure of yourself, it irritated him.

How could someone get such a strong reaction out of him ? He didn't even know, he always eyed you from afar and it was enough to know that you prfoundly, passionately got on his nerves.

You joined the strawhats in the Fishmen Island, finding your way to them and just asking to join. Luffy's simplistic demeanor meant that he accepted right away, not caring about who you were and not flinching at your high bounty.

You made it clear that you were just staying to be entertained, in fact, you didn't want to fight, you didn't want to help anyone, your curiosity was just peaked by Luffy, by that man that defied the world government, by that man that defied everyone at Marineford. You weren't impressed, but you just felt sympathy towards him and wanted to find some company.

You found what you were looking for, in fact, life with the strawhats was enjoyable, you didn't get along with Usopp or Nami. The former thought that you were « too scary » and would kill them in their sleep, the latter hated how little you were willing to cooperate.

You had your own reason, but nobody on that ship was able to grasp your personnality, you just had your own way of thinking, your own internal logic that nobody seemed to get. Who were you ? Why were you there and why was the whole world on your back ? All these questions were provoking Law, teasing him endlessly. His curiosity was growing day after day and you were always there, on a lounge chair enjoying the burn of the sun on your skin, not caring about anything else, not caring about him, not that he cared...did he ? You got on his nerves just by being there, he felt obseverd yet, he wasn't the kind of people to get flustered but your gaze was so intense, feline.

It was a soft night on the sunny, a few days before getting to Dressrosa.  On this night, the strawhats decided to gather around after dinner like always. They enjoyed socializing and spending time together, telling stories and playing silly games.  It was quite late so Momo was already sleeping. Everyone was on the deck enjoying some drinks and you were on the crow's nest, peaceful.

« Y/N-chaaawn~ » Screamed Sanji, making you look down. « Come have some fun with us, don't stay there on your own ! »

« - Yeah Y/N ! We're all having fun here. »  Said Luffy.

You jumped gracefully from the crow's nest just like a cat. You then looked around circularly before taking place between Law and Robin as she silently made some space for you. The atmosphere was light and everyone was enjoying themselves. Zoro was drinking bottle after bottle as Sanji was screaming at him. Usopp was telling you all for the tenth time about how he took down a sea king with his little finger and Luffy and Chopper were captivated by how cool that was.

You were just silently enjoying that sense of peace till Nami asked you out of nowhere

« Oh true Y/N, I actually never asked but I am curious, why is your bounty so high ? What have you done ? »

For a second your expression changed and everyone's eyes were on you. You just decided to tell them some kind of lie and you said that you killed a celestial dragon. Everyone looked at you in awe, killing a celestial dragon means that you had to escape from admirals. You excused yourself then saying you were tired, therefore going to sleep.

After hours of partying Strawhats went to sleep. You got out of the girl's quarter wearing only a night gown. Your thoughts were waltzing since earlier's events and you were looking melancolically at the ocean. The sound of the waves was so calming, you got close to the board of the sunny, placing your elbows on the wooden surface. You didn't notice it when Law came your way, he wasn't sleeping either, his sleeping schedule was always herractic. He was still intrigued by the lie you told earlier and by your overall attitude, something about you drew him towards you like a magnet.

-(Y/N)-ya...You didn't kill a celestial dragon, did you?

His voice was low and hoarse, stealing a murmur out of your lips. Your eyes met his, gray, icy. It was the first time he said your name outloud, actually, you briefly ever interacted since he got on this ship.

-Trafalgar ?..

You were wondering why did he bring this up, he never ever showed interest in you and you in him. In fact, now that you looked at him more in detail, you could say that he was an exceptionally handsome male with soft dark hair and a gloomy but all the more seductive cast of demeanor.

He could obtain any female he wanted at a snap of his fingers. You looked away and added :

-I thought that you disliked me. Why do you even ask ?

He raised an eyebrow, but got back to his stoic expression almost immediatly. He didn't know that it showed. However, you were wrong, he was starting to get intrigued by you, by your high bounty, by the detached way you acted. He was usually the one to observe and analyse people, but something about you...He couldn't put a finger on.

-I don't like lies.

-I have my own reasons...I'm sure there are a lot of things that you want to keep secret.

You hesitated then looked his side. He seemed calm still and just shrugged, ready to go back to his spot but then you added ;

-I lied because I didn't want to involve anyone in this...When I was just a child, I was a part of a dozen kids that were selected to take part into a « government experiment »...I don't want to go into details but...you clenched your fist, eyes fixed on an imaginary point in front of you I am the only survivor of that experiment...Therefore I'm being tracked... We were given power...To this day I don't know its extent...But I know that with just a blow of my fingers I could...you gasped How could a child be granted such a power ? Why did they have to choose for me ? I didn't want any of this....I never wanted to fight, I don't want to fight. I just wanted to be normal, to have a family, to feel wanted...haha...your laugh was bitter I mean, I know that I am the most wanted person you probably met, but I didn't mean it in that way. I hope that this satisfies your curiosity, Trafalgar Law.

Your eyes met, he looked in them, deep, searching for traces of honesty. You were telling the truth, there wasn't a doubt. He liked the way his name sounded out of your lips, it was the first time that he heard these three letters murmured by you. It's as if his first name sounded different, you had that way of saying it, almost like a whisper. You looked so vulnerable in your nightgown, so fragile despite your usual arrogant carapace. The fiery tigress looked like a sweet kitten and he was surprised by the way he just wanted to reassure you. He brushed that thought quickly and added, stoic ;

-I see, why did you tell me ?  

-You just asked me to, no ? I just felt like we were a bit alike...Ah. Also, quit asking me questions....This is starting to feel like a doctor examination...Now it's my turn to ask. Why do you even care ? I didn't think that the surgeon of death was such a curious person.

He scratched his chin, hesitating for a second, but then he just said bluntly ;

-The first time I saw you, I thought that you were extremely annoying.

- Ah ? you looked at him with a straight face, but still a bit offended If we're playing first impressions then...

-But I get it now.

He wasn't annoyed, in fact, he was just fascinated. It wasn't animosity that he felt but desire to know more about you. It wasn't that he was making sure that you're not endangering anyone, he wanted to look at you, it was just excuses upon excuses, rationalization for a case of irrational fascination. Now that the diagnostic was there, he could understand his emotions more clearly.

-You are talking in riddles but well...Whatever...Why did you form an alliance with Luffy by the way ? I wonder how you're able to handle all of his energy if you can't even stand mine haha.

-Let me correct you ; I don't hate you. He stops for a moment then he adds. There is a man that I would like to kill.

You turn now, back against the wooden border of the ship. You had an amused look on your face, wondering who was that man that he wanted to take down ;

-Now that's interesting ! Let me guess, who is it ?

-You are quite curious yourself, (Y/N)-ya...

He thought it was only fair, you opened up to him, he opened up to you, but telling you the details wasn't for now.

-So you are using the strawhats ?

-I am not sure who is using who. And what is your reason for joing the strawhats ?

-Luffy, you said with dreamy eyes, it's the D in his name...I have been drawn to people with this letter in their names like a magnet...I don't know...I just believe it's fate...

He was startled by your answer, so you knew about the « D » letter ? He also had this letter in his name...He just added then, with a face that didn't betray his surprise ;

-Oh , a girl like you believes in such romantic stories ?

-And what is a girl like me like ? You added, amused. I mean, apart from annoying.

-...Quit it already.

His tone was stable as always. He didn't show it but he thought that it was cute of you, how you insisted and played along. You faced him, your eyes looking right into his and you weren't one to look down, oh no. Irisis into his irisis, looking for him and digging something into him. He didn't even know what you meant by such a look, once again, feline.

The salty smell of the ocean's water mixed with the odor of your fruity perfume made that moment a bit more enjoyable and he wasn't even the type of person to enjoy chatting.

Check mate, you made up for that horrible first impression. You added then ;

-You avoided my question by the way, why wouldn't I believe in « such romantic stories » ? What do you think you know about « a girl like me » ?

You got a bit closer, amused, and he thought that it was getting a bit dangerous. You had a fake woeful look in your eyes. His limbs were filled to the brim with that ocean perfume of yours mixed with that sweet taste, and for a second it was as if that odor operated some kind of spell over him, because a surprising thought occured to his mind ; what would your lips taste like ? Certainly salty like the ocean and a tad like peaches.

Unsettled and unfocused he said ;

-Shouldn't you be sleeping ?

In reality, he didn't want these thoughts to make a nest out of his head and decided to cut the conversation quite abruptly. Your rocked your body back, almost like a child and rose your eyebrows in a semi-sarcastic semi-dramatic way.

-I'm a bit too old for a bed time don't you think, Trafalgar ?

-Just Law.

-Yes yes ! L-a-w...See you tomorrow ! You're not as uptight as I thought.

-(Y/N)-ya.

He just said your name in a strict way, probably indicating that you needed to go. His tone was firm, stop teasing already.

You looked at him with a diminishing smile, pronouncing every single letter so slowly, stretching his name on your lips so that these three tiny letters seemed endless. You tossed your hair, and something about the whole situation, about your feminine charm, something about the breeze of the night made the both of you feel unbearable tension. The type of tension that happens between a man and a woman at three in the morning, that tension that makes every little detail, every look in the eyes, every brush of the fingers feel indecent.

The eyes of a woman can't lie, his ego was stroked as he thought he had a glimpse of your hidden desire.You turned to go back to the girl's quarters, his eyes still hanged on your silhouette. ----------- I hope that you liked this first part. Please tell me what you think. It is a great motivator to know that I’m writing and being read. <3 I wish you all a nice day !

[more-than-a-gentleman]

How Nami acts depending on who she is with at the time...

To be honest, I had this as a draft for quite some time but with the release of the new chapter I decided to post it now. So, In honor of Nami’s magnificent moment in chapter 995, this post is Nami centric.

Nami has been a really interesting character since the start. Unlike characters like Luffy, Zoro or Ussop who are almost “Monotone”, pretty much act the same the whole time, she changes the way she acts or thinks depending on who she is with at the current moment.

Another main point to mention is that when it comes to the Captian, all strawhats are the same in terms of having absolute faith in him. Whether they think that from the start or during the situation, the absolute trust must be there.

Ussop in Alabasta, Zoro in Thriller Bark, Sanji in Zou and now Nami in Wano Chapter 995. There are more and many others already posted these moments. I will do one for Chapter 1000 pretty soon.

But when it comes to the crew members between themselves, things change... some are closer than the other and so on...

So I decided to analyze Nami’s behavior with members that she was in danger with to see how she acts and what her thought process/ emotions could be... and this time two characters stand out that bring the best out of her.

1- The Captian Luffy

When she is with Luffy, she tries to be the “brains” she knows Luffy is an idiot so she always tries to think of ways to give him an advantage for him to work with.

In skypiea, first he tells her to head back to the ship because she is in the way, and she does just that without thinking twice or looking back. But then in the Ark, she fails to find a solution to give Luffy an edge on Enel, and her whole thought process is how to escape. She could’ve held her clima tact and did something with it, but while Luffy was on board Oda decided to make Nami sit back and watch even against an extremely powerful opponent Enel (cuz if they were fodder then there is no need for her to fight to begin with).

In WCI, this time she was able to provide support to Luffy by making the biscuits wet and brittle, but she did not fight. She went into kingbaum’s mouth because it was a safe place.

In summary, Nami wants to provide support to Luffy by being smart and from afar, enough to stay out of the fight. Like the others, she knows Luffy is tough therefore she doesnt worry much about him (I am not saying at all, of course she does worry, but only in extreme conditions like any other member)

2- Zoro

With Zoro, she does her best not to be involved in any way. She does not hesitate to disappear.

In Whiskey Peak, she orders Zoro to do all the fighting for her while she does nothing.

In Alabasta, once the enemy appeared, even though there was a woman, she disappeared instantly. She left them for Zoro and ran away.

In Fishman Island, after hearing about Arlong and Jimbei from Hordy. She vanished leaving Ussop and Brook with Zoro to fight. Camie even asks if it was okay and Nami didnt mind at all.

In summary, Nami does not want any part to do with Zoro’s fights.

3- Ussop

Of course... our famous duo. With Ussop, they are always scared together. They expect things from each other at the same time. When in the clear, they succeed because they are comfortable and safe, but when in danger they fail because of fear.

In Little Garden, basically that moment explains everything. They want the other to be dependable.

In skypiea, we have the most famous duo fight, where they are both scared as hell and fail miserably against Enel.

In Punk Hazard, we have two moments where when they are alone they failed against Ceasar and Ussop was disappointed to see Nami who was in Sanji’s body. Then we have when they were far away and safe, so they were calm and collected and their teamwork worked.

In summary, Nami with Ussop will be comfortable and effective if they were safe and far but weak and scared when in the frontline.

The sad thing is... like I said I had this post before ch.995 but I wish they proved me wrong now😅.

4- Chopper

With Chopper, she acts in two ways. She tries to be the mature one and tell Chopper what to do, and other times in a pinch she acts like she does with Ussop.

In Enies Lobby and Water 7, their moments are not like the others (in term of danger level) but we can see she is telling him what to do.

In Punk Hazard and Dressrosa, she was terrified and metally weak. She was in no shape to fight.

In WCI, she is back to being the mature one by explaining to Chopper what to do.

In summary, Nami will try and keep her composure when she can, but loses it when things become dangerous.

5- Brook

With Brook, we didnt see much of Nami and Brook together a lot but basically he is a mixture of Luffy and Zoro. But Brook himself acts like Nami and Chopper when they are scared.

In Zou, she asks Brook to take care of the enemy. At first, he got rid of them but when they came back she sat back and watch. And she does mention that his company is more troublesome than his worth😂.

In summary, Nami would sit back and watch but will help if he get immobilized just like she would do with Luffy, Chopper and Robin because of DF abilities.

6- Franky

With Franky, I couldnt find a moment where she acts a specific way when he is around. I am aware of the moment she calls him “Big Bro” in Wano but it is not the same like being in frontline long enough with him for her to think or act a certain way.

Now, there is a reason I left these two characters to the end. This is what I mean when characters are closer to some than others.

7- Robin

With Robin, again we dont see them in the frontline much. Since back in Skypiea, they keep splitting up and Nami and Robin never stay in the same team.

There was the Davy back fight team, but it was a game not like the others.

In Wano, we can see that they depend on each other to keep watch of each other’s back.

In summary, this is expected since they are the only two women on the crew. Nami feels confident enough while depending on Robin for support and she would do the same.

9- Sanji

Unlike with Luffy, Nami never sat back and watched during major enemies. She always looked back and didnt want to leave. She knows Sanji uses his brain unlike Luffy so she never thought of using tricks and strategies. Whenever he was hurt or about to get hurt, she will pull out her clima tact without a second thought even if she was terrified seconds ago.

Unlike with Zoro, Nami never left Sanji behind on her own, he was always the one to tell her to go ahead. She forgets that she is on the frontline and doesnt run away. When he tells her to stay in a safe place she shows up anyway.

Unlike with Ussop, Nami never gets soo scared she becomes practically useless. She depends on Sanji but not entirely. She wants to but doesnt expect much from Ussop but she can count on Sanji everytime.

Unlike with Chopper, in dire situations she doesnt need to be the mature one since Sanji gets serious when he has to. She might ask for favors but it doesnt sound like an order like she does with Chopper, since she decided for him to be the temporary Captain of the small group when Luffy isnt around.

Unlike with Brook (Luffy, Chopper, Robin), she doesnt need to worry about him falling in the sea since he doesnt have DF powers. He doesnt cause her trouble during fights.

Similar to Robin, Nami always wants to stay side by side. She knows he will have her back and she wants to support him too. It never happened since HE never let it happen, since he doesnt want her to be in danger and get injured because of him.

We have seen time and time again that Nami considers herself weak and fragile. Yes, she does head to combat when she has to but she prefers not to. She wants to stay far, she wants the others to handle business.

But when it comes to anything to do with Sanji whether he is there or not... she somehow gets courage out of nowhere, she decides to head into the frontline on her own, she will claim that she is tough and strong. She forgets about far or close enemies

In summary, when Nami is with Sanji, she doesnt have to worry about anything except for ways to support him. She is at her strongest, bravest and most confident side.

What makes this interesting is when it comes to Robin, it is a given. As the only two women in the crew, that is to be expected, but why is Sanji the only one who is different in terms of bringing out the best of Nami? Why is he treated different than the other 2 monsters? Why is he treated different than all the other guys?

A quick note: I tried my best to include all Nami’s moments with the others (preferably alone) and re-read all of them but if I missed any then I am sorry about that😅. This here is why Nami is one of my favorite characters in One Piece, that is how I always saw Nami but if I made a mistake or overlooked something again I apologize but I doubt it will change what Nami’s character is about.

I dont know what will happen in the future (obviously) but until now, this has been the case. She might break one or maybe all the things I mentioned, but after 900+ of this right here, this has to mean something....

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

Do you think the references to dawn in Wano can be connected to the fact that Luffy came from Dawn Island? Because Toki says that nine shadows will bring the blinding dawn (I can't remember exactly what she said) and since Kanjuro is a traitor, and Luffy is one of the leaders of the three way alliance, it could all be subtle references that Luffy is going to beat Kaido...?

no- hm. okay, i think a connection can be drawn, but maybe not exactly the one you’re thinking of. i don’t think all the dawn imagery is a direct reference to the fact that luffy (from dawn island) is going to beat kaidou, i think they’re both manifestations of the same running motif. 

dawn and sunrise are a very strong overarching theme/motif in one piece. the very first chapter and volume of the story are both called romance dawn (which, i’d be willing to bet, is the first chapter title anyone remembers when trying to think of their favorites, i know it is for me). and the same for the first chapter and volume after the timeskip- romance dawn for the new world. 

where it really becomes obvious, though, is in whole cake island, with pedro, who believes very strongly in the coming ‘dawn of the world’, even naming his pirate crew after it and dying for the sake of bringing it- and it becomes apparent to us that this is something roger believed in as well. and this specific concept of the coming dawn is only reinforced by all its appearances in wano.

i think dawn in one piece is liberation, and new beginnings. 

you see it in fishman island, with the running theme of a path to the sun, to the dawn, for a race of people oppressed at the bottom of the ocean. and you see it in wano, too, with toki’s prophecy of twenty years of night, of oppression and misery, only ended by the brilliance of dawn. 

and one piece is a story about freedom, at its core. so it makes sense that the story would start from dawn island, and it makes sense that luffy, so endlessly free, who liberates damn near everyone he meets, would begin his grand adventure from there, in a chapter called romance dawn. 

[batfam-nalu-onepiece]

When Brooke awakens his Devil Fruit

Brooke never really thought he could awaken his devil fruit. It’s not like he can turn everything around him to string like Doflamingo. But along his journey and when Luffy becomes King of the Pirates, what he discovers is his awakening allows him to call back the souls of the dead. And he takes full advantage of this.

Brooke specifically waits for the right time to use it for his crew

Luffy:

He waits for Luffy, Sabo, and Garp to be back at their hole town with Makino, Dadan and the other Mountain bandits to have them speak to Ace one last time and tell him he was able to achieve his dream of becoming King of the Pirates. Ace tells Garp that he loves him and that he is sorry for all the pain he has caused him. He is overjoyed to see Sabo alive and thanks him for looking out for Luffy when he couldn’t and Sabo thanks him for the same. Dadan and Makino are overjoyed seeing those three reunited again. Maybe call White beards Soul and Gold Rogers for Ace as well. Roger meeting Luffy and being proud to have someone like Luffy be the next king of the pirates. Luffy made sure to have Shanks and Rayleigh there too so theycan see his old Captain. Roger tells Shanks that he did a job and gave his hat to a worthy man. Rayleigh gets to see his bestfriend one more time and Roger thanks him for helping train Luffy. Roger thanks Garp for taking care of Ace for him and Garp just punches him because he is about to cry (Maybe have Kobe there as a Bonus because Luffy values his friendship and wants to introduce him to his brothers)

Zoro:

They travel to Zoro’s hike town with his sensei and call back Kuina’s soul so he can tell her he achieved his dream and became the worlds greatest swordsman. He tells her that he made sure to take extra care of her sword and that he never forgot their promise to each other and trained hard every day. He even pokes fun at her talking about how Tashigi looks and acts just like her and how she has been chasing him all over the world so it was like Kuina was also chasing after him, trying to achieve her dream which made Zoro train even harder.

Nami:

They return to Cocoyasi Village to meet up with Nojiko and Genzo and call back Bellmere soo they can talk to her again and Nami tells her she achieved her dream of drawing a map of the entire world. She tells her mom about all her travels and how she found a family that can always make her smile. She even shows her the Tangerine trees in the Sunny saying she grows them exactly the same way to make sure her nakama get to have a taste of Bellmere’s tangerines.

Usopp:

They call Usopp’s mom’s soul at his home town so he can tell her he became a brave warrior of the see like his father. He tells her all the adventures he has been on. He starts off by saying “Hi mom. You came back to us” like he used to say about his father. His Dad standing beside him saying that Usopp keep his promise and became a brave pirate, even more great than himself. He introduces his mom and dad to Kaya. His mom absolutely loves her and is happy he found someone. They bond when his mom tells Kaya that it will be hard to love Usopp since he is a pirate and neve home and Kaya responds saying she knows it may be hard, but if Usopp is free, and happy that is all she could ask for. Besides, that the kind of man she fell in love with in the first place.

Sanji:

They meet up with Zeff at the Baratie and call back Sanji’s mom’s soul to tell her that he became and amazing chef and found the all blue. Sanji’s mom thanks Zeff for looking after her son and for teaching him how to be a great chef. Everyone at the Baratie wonder how someone as annoying and argumentative as Sanji could ever come from such a sweet woman. Then Sanji kicks them and they all laugh. (Luffy asked Nami to contact Reiju and tell them to come because he knew she would want to see her kids again and they would love it so Sanji is with his siblings, Judge, and Zeph. Sanji wasn’t happy about it but he realized they were her family too and he couldn’t just keep them from speaking to their mom one more time. Even if most of them are jerks) Sanji shows his mom his cooking by cooking a special meal for her. A variation of the first meal he ever made for her. She says it’s the most wonderful food she has ever tasted and can tell that she actually meant it (i know I know. How can she eat if she’s a soul? Just go with it) Reiju tells her mom she loves her and how sorry she is for not taking better care of Sanji. Her mom tells her what a wonderful job she did and that she loves her. The other brothers finally show emotion that they never knew they could. Seeing their mom again after she died woke something up in them and they apologize for being dicks their entire life and that they love her. She responds by saying that they are her sons and she loves them no matter what. She tells her children what fine and strong people they became. Judge even apologizes to her for everything he’s done (What Sanji did during the Whole Cake Arc really made them reevaluate their life)

Chopper:

They return to The Sakura Kingdome to see Doctor Kureha and Dalton, where they call back Dr. Hiriluk’s should back to tell him that his son went out to see and became an doctor and travelled the seas as a pirate just like Hiriluk wanted. They also recreate his powder again and show him the cherry blossoms one last time before his soul returns to beyond the grave. Chopper even teacher Hiriluk the new things he learned while at sea and all the different diseases and things he has cured. Hiriluk is happy his son went out to sea and thankful when Chopper tells him what Luffy did for him and his flag even before he really knew chopper.

Robin:

Even though they cannot return to Robin’s home, they sail the Sunny to where the island used to be located and call back Robin’s mom and the others archaeologists so Robin can see her mother again and tell them about the lost history. She tells her mom about the Poneglyphs and the other ancient cities she found like Skypiea. As a bonus Brooke also calls back Jaguar D. Saul and Robin tells him that she found her nakama who will protect and cherish her and will never leave her. Saul thanks the Strawhats and after hearing what they did for her at Enies Lobby, he knew she found an amazing crew. He even laughed and smiles at the story saying that Robin has joined one crazy crew. Saul took one last long look at the people who would challenge the world if it meant protecting Robin and knew that she would never be lonely and sad again. Her mother gave her a hug and said she’s happy that she survived the buster call and how proud she is for becoming an archaeologist and finding out the lost history.

Franky:

They return to Water 7 and meet with Granny Kokoro and call back Tom’s soul. Cranky gets to tell him that he created a ship that sailed across the entire world just like he did and is now the shipwright to the new King of the Pirates. Iceberg tells him that he is working on or completed making Water 7 float. Tom is proud of the man iceberg became, and how successful and beloved he is as the mayor of Water 7. Tom takes a look at the Sunny and says it’s even greater than anything he could have built including the Oro Jackson, Roger’s ship. He admires the work and detail Frank put into the ship and could tell that the crew loved their ship very much. Tom meets Nico Robin and apologizing for doubting her and believing she would use her knowledge for evil. Robin smiles and says it’s ok and they talk all night. Tom meets the Franky Family, the people willing to storm Enies Lobby to save Franky. He thanks them and The Strawhats for saving his son hd apologizes to Franky and Iceberg for even putting them through that by passing down the Pluton blueprints. They laugh it off and Franky says he is actually thankful to have had them because without it, he would have never joined the Strawhats and build the ship of his dream.

Jinbe:

They return to Fishman island where they reunite with Shirahoshi, and her family. With Jinbe, the recall Fisher Tiger and Queen Otohime’s soul. They get to tell the two that the relationship between fishmen and humans have gotten better. Jinbe can tell Fisher Tiger all he had accomplished including jointing the Strawhats. Shirahoshi and her family can tell Otohime that they returned to they participate in discussions with the world government and other countries and have a good relationship with humans. Shirahoshi tells her mom about how Luffy taught her to be brave. They both leave knowing their species is in good hands and thank the Strawhats for being the gateway to the fishmen co-existing with humans

Brooke:

When they return and see Laboon again, Brooke calls back the spirits of his old crew so they can all keep their promis to Laboon. They play their music for Laboon again so he can hear the real thing instead of the recording (don’t ask me how they can play jules if if their dead just go along with it. It’s sweeter that way). Brooke can introduce his old crew to his new one, telling his old captain not to worry because even with them gone, he has found a new place he can call home.

Vivi: (and the rest of the crew)

If Vivi’s father dies (because it seems like that may happen) They return to Alabasta and Vivi and Karoo get to see the King Nefertari again and maybe her mom too considering I don’t actually know what happened to her. Vivi is happy to meet to new crew members and love how none of them have changed personality wise. Robin apologizes nonstop and Vivi forgives her in a second. She says that anyone Luffy likes is a good person so Robin doesn’t need to apologize anymore. She even thanks her for not telling Crocodile where Pluton is and for all the times she has saved Luffy. While there at Alabasta, he aslo calls back the spirit of the Going Merry. The very same Klabautermann that saved them time after time. They thought about doing this at Usopp’s village but he said that Vivi was once a part of their crew too and deserves the chance to see the Merry again. The spirit of the merry is happy they found a new ship to call home and is thankful to Franky building the ship. It even says that it knew of the ship because part of her spirit is still with them, on the mini merry and thanks Franky for building it out of her wood. This causes every to cry saying how happy they are that the Merry is still with them (yes even Zoro. He tried to not cry but couldn’t help it. He turned around thinking Sanji would make fun of him But Sanji knew that he could never make fun of him for this). Usopp and Luffy immediately says that the mini merry cannot be in the docking stations anymkre and bring her onto the deck. No one disagrees or argues with them.

Law:

As a thanks to Trafalgar Law for all his help and everything they’ve been through, they call back Corazone’s soul and he tells him that he loves him and is greatful for everything he did for him. He introduces him to the Heart pirates, named in honor of Corazone and shows him that he made the right decision in saving his life. Law also insisted that Sengoku be there because he loved Corazone like a son. Sengoku at this point is retired and he’s never admit this, but he is happy that Law and Luffy met because it gave him another moment with the man he viewed as a son. (Sengoku also couldn’t help but notice how much alike Luffy and Garp are. Especially when Garp was Luffy’s age and laughs knowing how much trouble Luffy will give the Navy considering the amount of trouble Garp gave the Navy and he worked for them)

Rebecca:

They return to Dressrosa and let Rebecca,Kyros, Viola and the other see Scarlett again where she sees that her daughter grew up to be an amazing woman and that Kyros has protected ever since.

Momonosuke:

They Return to Wano and Momonosuke, Hiyori, kin and the other Samurai can see Oden again and his wife. Momonosuke can tell his father that he is following in his footsteps in order to become a great Shogun to make sure Wano prospers. Hiyori tells her father that she gave his sword, Enma, to Zoro. She thought he’d be mad so she tried to explain to him that he saved her life, Saved Wano, and is a worthy swordsman but Oden stops her midway saying that he doesn’t care about the sword. He’s just happy his family is safe and that if she gave his sword away, he knows that it would have been for a good cause and to someone worthy. The other Samurai get to tell Oden that they avenged him and saved his country like they promised. They even bring back Yasui so his daughter can see him again. Momonosuke also introduce his father to O-Tama and his father likes her and thinks she’s a good math for his son. Momonosuke blushes but Luffy, Kin, Nami, Robin, Sanji, Zoro and honestly everyone agrees and already consider them as a couple. Brooke even brings back Ryuma so they can clear Zoro’s name of stealing Shisui. Zoro spars with Ryuma and Oden. Their fight changes the geography of Wano a bit.

Carrot:

They go to Zou and call back Pedro’s soul so Carrot and everyone can see him. Carrot thanks him and shows him how strong she became. Luffy thanks him for sacrificing himself for him and Pedro is happy knowing the Dawn of the New World that he believed was coming has finally arrived. He never regretted his sacrifice for a second.

I’m assuming there is a 24 hour limit to each soul called back or something like it. But if not consider that after they each have their own individual heartfelt moment with their loved ones that they lost, the Strawhats bring EVERYONE, and yes I mean everyone that was mentioned, to Laugh Tale for a huge party. All the souls of the departed that where mentioned meet each other and celebrate the Luffy becoming King of the Pirates. Roger, Rayleigh and Whitebeard get to see Oden again. Nami ends up punching Gold Roger for doing something stupid on a reflex thinking it was Luffy. It actually really hurts Roger and as Nami apologizes, Bellmere looks proudly at her. Luffy laughs and Nami beats him up twice as hard. Roger, Whitebeard, Shanks, Oden and Fisher Tiger are now scared of her. They know Luffy has the best Navigator in the world, but are wondering if it’s worth it with him much she has punched Luffy in the short time they’ve know her. All while Brooke and the Rumbar Pirates play Bink’s Sake the entire time.

(If someone wants to make art of this, please do and tag me in it so I can see it and cry of happiness)

[lo-55]

Lightning In A Bottle Ch. 2

Nanohana wasn’t changed much, to the point that Nao was beginning to wonder how long she had been inside her crystal prison. She had no idea how much time had passed, but if the boy who had broken her out of the rock hadn’t recognized her or her flag it had to have been a while. 

And that hat…

It had to be a duplicate, surely.

Nao tucked her hands into the pockets of her pants. Her high leather boots kept the sand out of her socks, at least, and when Luffy managed to burn whole sacks of Raindance powder her cape kept her dry. At her side, Odenta and Mikazuki hung as heavy comforts in their sheaths. They didn’t garner nearly as much attention in the city as Nao and the Gem’s had when they had arrived however long ago that was. Back there the city had emptied out as soon as they stepped foot in the sand covered streets of the Alabastan port. 

No, no one even looked twice at them, there were so many people going through the city. 

Not her, or Luffy in his hat. 

How peculiar. 

Nao made a mental note to get a hold of a newspaper as soon as she could, or maybe visit Ohara. They would have the best records about what she’d missed. 

It would have to wait. Ohara was a long ways from Alabasta, and it would be hard to sail Blood Stone without someone else helping her. The ship was just a little felucca, hardly big enough for fifteen people, but she was tough as nails and made for the roughest waters in the world. All the same, it wasn’t safe to sail alone in the Grand Line, where the weather might change without warning, when there wasn’t someone to stay awake and keep watch. Not to mention Marine’s, other pirates, and all sorts of other dangers. Sea Kings probably hadn’t gone extinct since she went under. She’d rather not deal with them. 

Nao was so busy contemplating her ship that she nearly walked right by the restaurant that Luffy went shooting into. 

She had to backtrack to poke her head inside. A crowd had gathered, and Luffy was ignoring it entirely in face of ordering lunch. A pair of unconscious bodies lay through several broken walls. 

Nao cocked her head. Had Luffy done that when hed stretched out and launched himself like a demented rubberband? She knew it had to be a Devil Fruit, but she didn’t expect him to go causing that much destruction mindlessly.  

What a weird kid. 

Ah well. Pirate.

Nao took a seat next to Luffy while the chef frantically started cooking. Whoever had been in before them had eaten a lot, with dirty plates stacked nearly to the ceiling. Now he was feeding Luffy, and her too. 

Nao made a mental note to tip him well. 

She casually elbowed Luffy’s face out of the way and stole a whole chicken to rip into. 

“Hey!” he shouted around a mouthful of food. His head stretched unnaturally away on his neck. “That’s mine!” 

“Finders keepers,” she said succinctly, and shoveled it into her face as fast as she could. Time hadn’t passed for her at all inside the stone. Her injuries from the battle weren’t healed, and she didn’t feel well rested. She was famished, but not starving like she’d spent months unconscious. 

Nevertheless, she’d always been a big eater. She needed the energy to keep up with her lifestyle, and to keep herself strong enough to fight. She wouldn't let her broad shoulders shrivel or her powerful legs grow weak if she could help it. It was a death sentence.  

She nearly bit Luffy’s hand inhaling spicy noodles next, and a hank of lamb. The chef was sweating and out of breath but he kept putting food on the counter and they kept eating. Luffy was chatting with the locals while he ate. 

“Why’s there a hole in the wall? Is that some weird hobby of yours?”

“YOU’RE THE ONE WHO PUT THE HOLE IN THE WALL!” 

She knew it. 

Nao was in the middle of a plate of roasted peppers when one of the formerly-unconscious men climbed out of the hole in the wall. She watched him get slammed back down by a man in a fur coat, and the next thing she knew she was getting dragged through the streets of Nanohara by Luffy. 

Why are we running? That guy isn’t even that strong...

“Tashigi!” the man chasing them shouted, “Stop them!” 

Nao looked forwards to see a girl with a sword. 

“I’ll handle her,” she offered Luffy, who nodded and let go so he could go bouncing up onto the rooftops like a ninja or something. In one smooth move Nao drew Odenta from her side and lifted it to block a blow from the other girl, Tashigi. 

“Nice sword,” Nao grinned sharply at the girl over their locked blades. Her form was good, but she wasn’t very strong. Too bad. 

“Yours is too. It’s a shame it’s being used by pirate scum!” 

“Xeshishishi, tell you what, if you can beat me you can have her.” 

 The man who’d been smashed into the floor landed next to the two. An orange hat rested on his head and he had a bad slung over one shoulder. Black hair fell in soft waves to frame his cheeks, which were covered with freckles. 

There was something familiar about him… 

“Excuse me, ladies,” he said politely, startling both of them into looking away from their crossed blades to him instead. He tipped his hat towards them, then the building that Luffy had jumped up onto. He was blocked from it by their swords. “I have to catch up with my brother now.” 

“Uh, sure,” said the marine girl. They pulled their blades away to make a path for him. 

“Why are you telling us this…?” the redhead countered, looking confused. She faltered when she got a good look at his face, recognition shooting through her. Nao sucked in a breath. He looked like- 

“Hey, hold on-!” 

“Sorry, I can’t,” Portgas waved to them and shot over the rooftops, after his brother and the marine. Nao shook her head. She would see him again, if he was chasing Luffy. 

Nao drew back and slashed again easily. Each move was economic and graceful. She spared no energy, partially because she simply didn’t have any. Tashigi blocked, but the force pushed her back a few feet. 

Nao parried her next attack and side stepped to smack her on the back of the neck with Odenta, sending her careening to the ground.  

Someone screamed, but no blood came from the fallen marine. 

She touched the back of her neck in confusion. “Wha-?”

Nao didn’t answer. 

She was already gone. 

Nao ducked around a corner and ran after Luffy, following his Haki until she caught up with him and a group of colorful people. Hadn’t he said he was a pirate? Or he was going to be King of the Pirates. That was what he’d said. Well, to be king of them you needed to be a pirate in the first place, right? 

That sounded right. 

So these people were probably his crew. 

When he saw her he grinned and threw his hand out. It stretched far enough to grab her by the wrist and yank her forwards. 

“Hey! You made it past the sword lady!” 

“Well yeah,” Nao landed beside him running. Her leg was starting to ache where a cut had caught her over the knee.  

“Who are you supposed to be?” A curly haired young man with a long nose demanded, eying her. 

“She’s a rock person I found,” Luffy said cheerfully.  

“That. About sums it up,” Nao felt herself smile involuntarily. “I’m Roche Nao,” she said for the second time that day. She really hoped they stopped running soon. Her leg was seriously starting to ache. 

“So Luffy picked up someone else weird,” an orange haired girl looked exasperated more than anything else. Nao felt like she should have been offended, but she just shrugged. She was too tired to be upset with people who hadn’t actually done anything to her.

Besides, she wasn’t wrong. 

They came upon a pretty caraval, with a sweet looking figure head. A sheep. Nao felt herself smile. It was cute and light hearted, like this crew seemed to be. Nothing at all like the swift, devil faced Blood Stone. Her eyes were two carved rubies, and a pair of snakes twined around her in a macabre necklace that matched the one that hung beneath Nao’s own shirt. 

“Permission to come aboard?” she asked Luffy lightly. The boy beamed at her and tipped the brim of his hat. 

“Granted!” 

They scampered onto the ship and in a whirlwind of motion they set sail. The caravel carried them away from the port. The pirate flag flapped in the wind, showing off a skull wearing a straw hat. 

Seriously, what was up with that hat? 

Had that up-and-coming volcano really given it to some upstart?

...actually. That sounded exactly like something he would do.

She realized that their little pet (a raccoon?) was staring at her only when he shouted suddenly. 

“Ah! You’re bleeding!” 

It was a testement to how tired she was that she hadn’t noticed that he was a mink, and not just a weird animal. 

“Hah? Where?” 

“Your leg! Quick, take off your pants and I’ll- ouch!” 

The orange haired girl smacked him over the head. “Don’t ask it like that!” she scolded. 

“But I need to see how bad it is! She might need a doctor!” 

“You’re the doctor!” 

Ah. Nao would have preferred they didn’t know she was actually injured, or weak, but there was nothing to be done about it. They seemed like good people anyhow, as far as pirates went. 

“Well then, mister doctor, where’s your office?” 

“A-ah! I don’t have a real office yet. We’ve been using the bathroom.” 

“Then lead the way.” 

The doctor, Tony Tony Chopper, guided her down to the bathroom. The Caravel was small without being cramped. Nao took off her boots and pants, now stained with blood, so he could clean and stitch her leg. He treated her smaller scrapes and bruises as well, and stuck bandaids across her cuts. 

He left so she could clean herself properly, wash her hair and get the blood off of her. She watched the pink water wash down the drain and wondered where her crew was. What had happened to Elba, Talisa, Adrien and Pearl? Were Rize and Hinami still injured? Had the marine’s tended to their wounds? Tier had escaped into the sea before a blast from a marine flagship had sent them hurtling out of the little cove they’d been hiding in and beached their ship. Had she made it back to fishman island? 

She needed to find out. She owed it to her crew after she  had failed them all.  

There was a knock on the door.  

She cracked it open to find the blond man standing outside, holding a bundle of clothes in his arms. Her red hair dripped across her shoulders, but in a few minutes it would be dry and wildly curly again. 

“I bought an extra outfit for Nami or Vivi, but now I see it was destiny that I have it ready for you!” 

He had literal hearts in her eyes when he presented them to her. 

Nao took them carefully. The clothes were lightweight and soft, so soft that they caught on the sword-callouses on her fingers. 

“Thank you?” Her clothes weren’t ruined, by any means. Did she really need a new outfit? 

“If you need any help changing I-” 

She shut the door on his face. “Nope.” 

They definitely didn’t recognize her. No one who did was stupid enough to flirt with her. Her dad would kill them. 

Nao changed into the clothes and was disappointed to find that they were dancers clothes. 

Yeah. No. 

She couldn’t fight in that! 

Instead she cleaned her pants as best as she could, used a small sewing kit she kept in her cape to fix the cut in them, and redressed. 

She'll have to find a hair tie eventually. 

When she came back up to deck the other man they’d run into was crouched on the outer rail. With his back partially to her while he chatted with someone else Nao caught a glimpse of a tattoo on his back. 

It was familiar, too. He nodded to Nao when she came to stand beside the green haired man. Solo? 

Most of his attention was on Luffy, not her. 

“Luffy. Will you come join the Whitebeard Pirate Crew? With your friends, too, of course.”

Whitebeard pirates. Whitebeard. Edward Newgate. 

Nao could feel a headache starting to throb behind her eyes. 

“No way!” 

The man laughed. “Just thought I'd ask! Whitebeard is the greatest pirate I've ever known. I want to make him the pirate king. Not you, Luffy.” 

Nao internally winced. Brutal. They were obviously close. Childhood friends? 

“That's okay! I'll just fight him.” 

Nao blinked at Luffy’s back. Was he stupid? Or just crazy? 

Either way, Nao liked him. 

She couldn’t start her hunt for her crew yet. She didn’t know how long she was trapped, and she didn’t know where everyone had gone. She also wasn’t in any shape to go rushing off and finding out. Her mother would have killed her for doing something as impulsive as grabbing the nearest Marine and demanding to know where her crew had been taken. And her dad… 

Her heart twisted in her chest. Nao shook her head. She wouldn't let herself have a breakdown yet. Not here. Not yet. 

“Hey, Luffy.” 

He turned his head to look at her. Nao offered him a half bow. “Sorry but, I’m going to have to take advantage of your hospitality for now. Until I can get in contact with my own crew.” 

Luffy shot her cheerful grin. “Sure, okay. You can hang out with us for a while.” 

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” the blue girl stepped forwards. Nao really needed to figure out everyone’s names. She only knew Luffy and Chopper. “We’re not here for tourism. Where we’ll be going is bound to be dangerous.”

Nao cocked her head. Yeah. “I appreciate you worrying. But I’m a pirate as much as anyone else. I won’t change my mind just because it’s dangerous.” 

Besides, they were going to Yuba, where Nao was supposed to meet with her crew. 

Molly should have already gotten there and set up shop. 

“Wait for us, Moll. We’ll get there, even if it takes a while.”

Molly pursed her black-painted lips. “I don’t like it, captain. This splitting up stuff. You already sent Harry and Monty back to Zou. We’re stronger together.” 

“I know we are. But with dad-”  

“Don’t worry,” Nao looked the girl in the eye and lay her hand on Odenta’s hilt. “I won’t ask any of you to be responsible for me.”

“I am my own captain, after all.” 

[goldenscar]

@xdiez​ says ...

01.  the magician  :  how does your muse feel about fate ? do they believe they can change their own destiny ?

tarot questions [ open ! ]

           for someone who doesn’t like to be controlled, he has an odd strong belief in fate. oftentimes, his outward expression of his belief is in terms of consequences or at least things he cares to give reasons to when its not explainable. exhibit a - him cutting a pirate’s ship in half and saying it was part of their imminent fate and he does believe this, even if it’s said half-assedly and he was clearly at fault ( someone had mentioned before though that the pirate crew would’ve been involved in all the fishman island shenanigans and the journey difficulties otherwise though ... but also i’m not going to excuse his dumbassery. ) 

he has a strong confidence in his own fate and treads onward with that same confidence and while he doesn’t want to get snarky or rely on fate entirely, when he has a good feeling for something, it has a tendency to go his way. 

fate isn’t something he actively thinks about -- when things happen, they just ... happen so unless the situation calls for it, he doesn’t turn to fate/luck for an explanation or aid. rather, he tends to challenge fate/luck ( exhibit b - throwing sandai kitetsu in the air to see if it’d wop his arm off ) just to see the ultimate outcome. 

there are things that he doesn’t actively think about or consider when it comes to fate and he would never say something cheesy in regards to these particular topics but ... meeting people, certain acts enacted by his peers, and the changes that are made on the islands that the straw hats stopped by ... those last two are things he doesn’t really think about and therefore, doesn’t necessarily connect them to fate. with the lives the straw hats changed, he’s closer to thinking it’s a part of luffy’s/the crew’s influence rather than leaving it to an outside force. there might be a thin string attached to fate, but he isn’t the type of strong believer where fate is what lead them to that island or fate is why everything happened -- because he has a stronger connection to luffy and his crew and he knows of how strong their influence can be. 

in terms of meeting people, like i said, it’s not something he’ll ever admit outwardly in a super positive light ... like he’ll never say “oh, it was fate that lead me to you guys, my nakamas” mainly because that’s on the bridge of expressing affection and he doesn’t express affection like that cause it’s embarrassing. but in his own personal belief, during Real moments when zoro is actually Thinking ( my hc is that zoro doesnt Think, i will elaborate in the future ) to himself, for only brief seconds, veerrrrryyyyy brief, probably only happened once during a party or during a midnight talk with the straw hats or during one of their camping parties and such ... he would think that it was fate or some luck that brought luffy to him and saved him. and in meeting tashigi, the flickering thoughts of “what kind of trick is this, fate” would pass and when they get robin back from enies lobby! the same person who assisted in aiding the destruction of their former friend’s country came to be the very person that they all love and care for now -- a quirk of fate. 

zoro walks his own path. despite his many touches with fate and luck, they’re just side characters to his story and aids that would ultimately lead him to his ambition. he believes that he can fight no matter what is in front of him, he believes that he can defeat anything that gets in his way and he won’t ever lose -- he believes that he’ll reach his ambitions. and he doesn’t ponder too much about what fate thinks. he doesn’t believe in destiny in accordance to his dreams because becoming the world’s greatest swordsman is just what he wants to do, what he strive to do for all his years of being a swordsman, not his destiny. so to him, there’s no destiny for him to change. but whatever ultimately lies at the end of his path, it’s after he has fought all his battles, after he has used all of his strength to do what he can do. only then, can he say that it was fate. 

[eirist]

Little Bits and Pieces of Heaven

A WHIFF OF NOSTALGIA

One-shot #: 9

Disclaimer: One Piece (and its characters) belongs to Eiichiro Oda-sensei.

Reminder: I have no beta-reader. Any grammatical and spelling errors are solely mine.

Warning: OOC possible. One shot. PWP.

Rating: T

Note: In honor of the Romance Dawn Trio (or 2/3 of the RDT). Because they are really missed.

Summary: She wanted to remember. She wanted to bask at the feeling of remembering the beginning…

Nami's eyes squinted against the harsh glare of the mid-afternoon sun.

The Straw Hats had just arrived on a quaint and surprisingly peaceful island—a rare find in the tumultuous New World.

A quick survey done by their archaeologist and doctor revealed that the island is not a territory of any of the monstrous Yonko, nor is it under the protection of the marines. It had most of the crew sighing in relief as they relish at the thought that they can somehow relax.

It was almost too good to be true—finding a place not touched by the turbulence happening in the New World. She had gotten used to docking on islands and getting into unwanted confrontations and fights that a brief respite seems like an unachievable dream.

She stepped into the port and perused the docks for any sign of movements or life. Robin had said something about the town’s weird practice of closing shops and businesses, stalling all work and affairs in favor of taking naps during the day’s hottest hours.

Great. An island fit for their lazy swordsman.

Even with that knowledge, the others still headed out to explore said island. Nami was about to head into town herself (shops may be closed, but hey, she can survey the place for cartography purposes); when she stopped short by the dock to take in the island’s scenic view.

The Mugiwara’s navigator lifted a hand to shade her eyes from the sun’s glare.

This island is beautiful. She mused as her chocolate brown eyes surveyed the surroundings. The colors around her are so vibrant and the sun up in the sky just served to heighten their rich, natural hues—turning the greens of the forest, greener; the blue of the sea, bluer. The mid-afternoon rays also created beautiful sparkles across the ocean as if someone carelessly scattered numerous pricey jewels on it.

Somehow it feels like she’s back on Conomi Islands in East Blue.

Nostalgia suddenly kicked in. Memories of a lifetime ago resurfaced, bringing to mind images of warm smiles and soothing scents of cigarette smoke and tangerines.

There was a sudden movement at the corner of her eye and her brown orbs shifted to look at the boats bobbing idly on top of the water. Their small flags swayed with the ocean breeze, beckoning at her.

A smile made its way across her lips and she moved to approach them.

There was nothing special about the boats, to be honest. They are small, typical-looking and are probably owned by the fishermen living in the island. They don’t really look that sturdy. A strong storm will sweep it away ruthlessly and crack it to smithereens.

But somehow looking at them, another wave of nostalgia swept inside her.

This time the memory is of two ordinarily simple boats sailing side by side; one with a plain white sail and the other with a clown Jolly Roger, heading towards adventure.

And freedom. She thought wistfully as she stared at the glinting sea. Life back then revolved around stealing treasures, reporting back to Arlong, and then stealing treasures again—a never ending cycle.

Or so she thought.

Then came Luffy. And then Zoro. And everything just went from bad to good and then to better.

If it weren't for that chance encounter, she and her island would still be in the grasp of that detestable saw shark fishman.

Unconsciously, she extended a foot to lightly tap one of the boats, watching it bobbed atop the water.

It was almost perfect. Just like the boats that took them to Gecko Islands where Usopp’s village lies.

All that is missing is a barrel of apples, a goofy smile under a straw hat and a haughty smirk on a face still not marred by a scar.  

Nami’s smile widened at that. They've come a long way haven't they? With lots of adventures, new found friends and a ship awesome enough to sail to the ends of the world.

Without second thoughts, she stepped into the boat just so she could remember what it feels like to be in something so simple, so little and so... exposed. She wondered what will it be like to sail this humble contraption in the New World sea—even for just a moment.

"Oi Nami,"

Someone had suddenly called her and she automatically turned towards the voice, a bit peeved at the intrusion on her wistful moment.

Roronoa Zoro was standing on the dock with a serious expression on his face, one eye fixed intently at her.

"Zoro," she returned evenly, mirroring the serious countenance of her green-haired nakama. Gone now was the young man with the lax attitude and expression. Somehow, their journey changed them. A lot.

Especially him.

He used to laugh so boisterously and unrestrainedly.

The swordsman took a step towards her, a frown marring his features. Nami stayed silent as she watched him took in the boat, trying to find a reason why the orange-haired navigator was standing on it.

"You're not planning on leaving us again are you?" He asked after a few seconds of contemplation.

Nami's eyes widened at that. What the...?

And despite herself she started laughing.

What an incredulous notion! Trust Zoro to come up with something as stupid as that.

Said swordsman merely folded his arms across his chest, apparently not amused with her reaction.

"Hahaha! Where in the four seas did you get that idea?" Nami asked in between laughs. "Hahaha! Gosh Zoro, you have the weirdest sense of humor honestly. Hahaha!"

"Well given the history…" he began and Nami cut him off by suddenly grabbing at the hem of his green garb.

The tall lad frowned as Nami pulled at his robe lightly. When he didn't budge, she pulled again. "Join me Zoro," she said a bit cheekily for his taste.

He merely lifted an eyebrow at her demand.

"Come on," she tugged at him again.

"What are you doing?"

Nami sighed in exasperation. Knowing this man, it would take a loooong explanation as to why she wants him on the boat. And Zoro would take a loooong time before getting her point.

"Just join me ok?"

With a snort, the former pirate hunter surprisingly complied with her demand, more to stop her from tugging his clothes off him than anything.

"Now what?" He asked as stepped into the boat to join her. It swayed slightly from the added weight and Nami wavered a bit, out of balance, being used to the sturdy deck of the Thousand Sunny.

Automatically, the swordsman’s hand shot up to grab her arm to steady her.

She looked up to him and grinned sassily. "Thanks Zoro! Now all we need is another boat and a barrel of apples," she declared, looking around. Though she doubts if he would get it, knowing well how the green-haired idiot’s mind works.

 This time, both of Zoro's eyebrows lifted questioningly. "A barrel of apples?! Hey are you experiencing a heat stroke or something?" He asked, looking at her as if she had grown two extra heads. "I can go fetch Chopper so he can look at you."

"Oh shut it, you still won't get it even if I explain it."

"OI!"

Nami dismissed his retort with a wave of her hand. "Just stop asking questions and do as I say, I'll buy you some drinks later."

That shut him up and definitely put him in a rather agreeable mood.

"Hmmm," she pondered, looking at the other boats around her. "Should I borrow another?" She tapped a finger underneath her chin as she considered her options.

Zoro decided to settle down on the boat, removing his swords from his sash. He set them beside him before resting his broad back on the boat’s side, yawning. "Isn't that called stealing?" He questioned as he languidly stretched his legs in front of him. He stole a glance at the mapmaker before placing both of his hands behind his head.

Nami glared at him. "Didn't you hear what I said? BORROWING. I'll bring it back later."

"Why do you need to BORROW a boat? Or boats?" Zoro emphasized the word ‘borrow’, looking curiously at her. "You need to sail or something? Use the mini-merry."

"Tch," she sounded out in a tone that clearly says she thinks he's an idiot.

Zoro just scoffed and closed his eye. Right now, a nap sounds just about good. He'll let Nami do whatever the hell she wants and leave her to her crazy ideas. He’s into this for the free drinks after all.

A few seconds later he felt the boat started to drift towards the sea.

He opened an eye to see Nami had just finished adjusting the small sail. The sea breeze blew lifting the strands of her long, orange hair.

He sat straight, checking if she indeed got another boat and was a bit relieved to see that she did not.

"Nami," he called her. “The hell are you really doing?"

"Just relax Zoro," she moved to sat across him, stretching her legs the same way he did and taking the space beside his own. "We're just sailing. It's a beautiful day, after all."

Zoro’s eye gazed at the enthralling blue of water in front of them before shifting towards her warily. “You’re not planning to drown me in the middle of the sea, are you?” He just had to blurt that one out.

Nami’s eyes narrowed at his allegation and she glared at him with enough coldness to freeze the entire New World seas.

“That is actually a good idea,” she replied scathingly. “One less mouth to feed and drink the booze barrels dry.”  

“You mean it’ll help you save some money, you stingy onna,” Zoro countered. Swiftly, he moved his leg out of the way before Nami can give it a good kick.

“So?” Nami huffed. She stopped trying to kick his leg once his hand was able to catch her ankle. “My stinginess put clothes on your back and food and booze in your mouth.”

The green-haired lad grinned sardonically. “And you have my gratitude, really.”

Nami pulled her leg out of his grasp, sticking her tongue out at him before shifting her attention towards the bow. He only grinned widely at her childish response. It’s nice to rile her up every once in a while. He finds it oddly relaxing… that is if she did not manage to pull him into a shouting match that seems to become a source of entertainment for some of their crewmates.

The wind blew her long hair back and Zoro noted that there was this certain warm smile on her face as he watched her keenly. They’ve been reunited for some time now but he rarely gets the chance to look at her up close since most of the time they are screaming at each other’s faces or there would be too much nakama around them or too much happening around them or all at the same time.

He followed her example and watched the boat’s front bobbed up and down the waves. Occasionally the sea water sprayed over them, salty and stinging.

If he had known he’ll be doing this instead of spending the day sitting inside one of the town’s taverns with a mug of beer in his hand, he would’ve brought some fishing tools. Fishing sounds absolutely good right now and the weather’s rather perfect for it too.

He nudged Nami’s leg with his, to get her attention.

“Where are we really going?” He questioned again once she had her gaze on him.

“Nowhere in particular,” she replied with a smile too enigmatic for Zoro to just dismiss.

“Na-mi,” he said her name a bit exasperatedly. She knows how he hates asking questions repeatedly.

She rolled her eyes at his impatience. She’s not really bothered with it and was used to it. His idiocy on the other hand, is another thing.

“I just want to head out to the middle of the sea Zo-ro,” she explained, using the same tone he used when he said her name.

“Why?”

Nami groaned. “Just indulge me. I did promise you free beers.”

“I’m sure you’ll be wiggling out the payment for my ‘free’ beers from some gullible, lascivious townsfolk,” Zoro muttered.

The navigator just smirked at him. “Do not patronize my ways pirate hunter,” she languorously settled both of her legs on top of his. She crossed her arms on her chest and smiled smugly at him. “I’m a pirate after all.”

Zoro snorted. “You didn’t want to be one when I met you.”

That stilled the mapmaker. Then her smirk turned into an amused smile. “Yeah I didn’t want to be.” Her eyes seemed to dance with merriment at the memory. “You remembered.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. You hardly remember people you fought with before or some other events we’ve experienced.”

“That’s because they’re insignificant.”  

His answer made her smile reach her eyes.

“Besides,” he continued. “Luffy won’t shut up about getting you as our navigator.” 

“Real-ly?” Nami mouthed humorously. She knows how adamant Luffy was about making her their navigator even after finding out that she betrayed them.

“Yeah. What do you think made me follow you to your village?”

Nami looked at him pointedly, waiting for him to explain.

Zoro stared back at her without so much a blink. “Captain ordered me to bring his navigator back.”

“Oh? So you didn’t do it out of your own volition?”

“Now why would I do that?” Zoro frowned, placing both of his hand behind his head. With a tiger-like yawn he continued, “I couldn’t care less if you were our navigator or not.”

Nami responded by kicking his leg again, making sure to make the heel of her shoe dug into his dumb skin painfully.

Zoro’s hand quickly closed around her ankle again, lifting her foot away before it can make a hole in his leg. “Damn it Nami!”

“You are such an ass,” Nami hissed at him, obviously peeved at his answer.

“Hey, you went and run off with the Merry leaving all of us behind, clueless.” He shoved her leg away from him rather brusquely.

“Well you damn know I had my reasons!” Nami retorted, glowering at his barbaric treatment of her leg. She bent a little to check if he had done any damage to her dainty ankle with that powerful hand of his, even if she knows that he wouldn’t deliberately hurt her.

A nerve ticked on Zoro’s forehead as he watched her. He knows well enough that Nami’s gonna use this as blackmail material.

Like he would let her. Huffing, he lightly swatted her hand away to check himself. She’s not gonna hold this one over him.

Without another word, he gently placed her feet on his thigh and started massaging her ankle.

Nami’s lips curled into pleased smile. So someone’s thinking ahead eh? Blackmails and debts really work well with Zoro.

“Do not think this makes us even,” she wagged a finger at him.

“Tch. Always with the blackmail and debt interest shit.”

“Of course!”

Two years and Nami is still as money-loving as when he first met her.

“Sometimes you are not all that bad Zoro,” Nami said with a sigh as she watched him knead her ankle.

“I don’t think there’s any damage at all,” Zoro ignored what she said, stopping his ministration. “It’s not like you’re delicate as you would like other people to think.”

A snarl escaped Nami’s lips. “And sometimes you are this bad.” She pouted, taking back what she said earlier.

Zoro just laughed in response, pushing both of her legs away from his own. “You’re much worse than me woman,” he smirked arrogantly at her. “You are bad all the time.”

“Why you!” She gritted her teeth and launched herself at him so she can bonk that stupid marimo head of his repeatedly for saying that.

The boat tipped dangerously from her movement. And Nami’s heart skipped a beat at the thought of going overboard.

But thankfully she did not. She stopped or rather, was stopped by Zoro’s hand closing around her wrists.

“Hahaha!” Zoro laughed again when he saw her reaction both at his teasing and from nearly going overboard. “You should know better than that Nami.” His deep voice was warmed by a rarely expressed mirth before he laughed again.

Nami stared at the him. Amazed.

When was the last time Zoro sounded so carefree?

Though he was laughing at her expense. But, oh well, she can always charge a ridiculous amount of beli under his name for that.

She just watched him for a moment, so loud and rowdy that she can’t help but smile at seeing him laughing without so much a care in the world.

Just like the younger Zoro from the good old days.

Nami relaxed a little before pulling her hand away from his grasp to bonk him on the head… lightly.

“If you fall, I’m not rescuing you.”

“Oh shut up!”

The swordsman continued laughing and she was tempted to hit him much harder but she decided against it.

Seeing the usually sullen and stoic man like this is a rare treat after all. Honestly, she was a bit worried that the further they sailed into the New World, the more Zoro turned serious and dangerous.

Though she understands how perilous their journey is now unlike when they were in the Grand Line. Understand that he needs to be much stronger, more focused and at times more merciless because a wrong move can cost them all their lives.

But sometimes, she wishes that he didn’t have to change so much.

“Afraid to get wet Nami?” Zoro’s voice cut through her thoughts. He was smiling wickedly at her, alerting the navigator that he was up to no good.

“Don’t you dare Zoro,” she moved away from him. With his strength, he can easily toss her to the sea if he wants too. “I’ll have Zeus fry your hide if you throw me overboard.”

That earned her another laugh from the green-haired man.

She made a show of grabbing her Clima-tact and Zoro promptly stopped laughing but not before throwing a mischievous smirk her way.

A sea gull cried overhead, casting a shadow on their small boat. They looked up as it soared above them, their gazes following its white form as it flew towards where the Sunny was anchored and perched itself on the crow's nest’s roof.

The pirate flag atop the nest flapped wildly, its black color a stark contrast against the clear blue sky. Somehow the movement made the skull wearing a straw hat seemed to smile at them from its spot.

Who would’ve thought that they’d be sailing under a jolly roger as ludicrous as that? Not to mention under a captain who is just as equally ridiculous.

Both seemed to be lost in their own thoughts, not noticing that a small smile had graced each of their lips. Was it really years ago when they first decided to join Luffy in his crazy adventures? Time sure flies fast.

They continued sailing onto the deeper part of the sea where the turquoise water turned to ultramarine. The wind blew stronger and a blur of orange caught Zoro’s eye.

Nami’s hair looked so vibrant under the afternoon sun. It stood out against the cool hues of blues and greens that surrounded them. It was a good thing she decided to grow it longer when they were separated. It suits her better. She looked far different from that short-haired, cheeky brat that he always needs to lookout for and save.  

He heaved a sigh. When had they grown up?

It wasn’t long ago when they were all just dilly-dallying in the Grand Line.

Now…

Zoro decided to break the silence that settled between, and also to stop the weird thoughts that seemed to emerge from the deepest recesses of his mind.

“Thought you were gonna go shopping with Robin?" He suddenly asked out of the blue, catching Nami off-guard.

“Hmmm? How did you know?”

“You always shop whenever we dock.”

Nami’s hair whipped across her face. She brought a hand up to hold the untameable stands and grinned. “I was supposed to, but something caught my attention…” she tilted her face towards the wind, letting it caress her face and blow her long orange locks back. “Haven’t felt like this in a long time.”

“What?”

“Just sailing you know,” she answered, taking a deep breath of the salty sea air.

"Huh?"  

“Just sailing…” she repeated.

“I don’t get it.”

Nami blew at the bangs in her forehead in exasperation. “Just sailing Zoro. Just. Sailing.” She stared at him, gauging his reaction. His face was scrunched up in a manner that says he doesn’t get it still.

Zoro grumbled inwardly. He was hoping she’d finally give him the damn reason why they were sailing in the middle of the sea instead of painting the middle of the town red. The woman in front of him was not making any sense at all.

“If I had known you wanted to just laze around and drift aimlessly, I should’ve bought some sake with me,” he muttered. It was, after all, a very fine and relaxing day. Perfect for napping, fishing or drinking. All the things he likes.

Nami pursed her lips disapprovingly. “Tch. Always complaining!”

He glowered at her. “I have a lot to complain with you dragging me out here with nothing to do but sail and stare at you.”

A Cheshire cat-like grin spread across Nami’s lips and Zoro mentally punched himself. That did not come out right.

“Oh?” Nami said teasingly. She nudged his leg with her foot. “You can also stare at the view around you Zoro. That is if you are tired of staring at me.”

The swordsman groaned. She will not let him live this down.

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Oh so what do you mean?”

Zoro exhaled heavily. He owed her no explanations. “I need a drink,” he muttered. “Let’s just go back to the docks.”

Nami tut-tutted, shaking a finger at him. “You are not getting away with this Zoroo,” she sing-songed.

“Yes I am woman,” he growled. “Turn the boat around. I need my drink!”

“Ah, don’t you want to stare at me longer while we sail?”

Zoro shot her a venomous glare, his face turning red.

“I’m kidding Zoro, no need to be so uptight!”

“I’m not!”

She winked at him suggestively. “Aw Zoro, it’s not that bad,” she tried to appease him by patting his knee. “It’s free to stare. I won’t charge you I promise!”

“Woman, if you don’t turn this boat around I’ll chuck you overboard.”

Nami threw her head back and laughed. If Zoro’s face could get any redder, his head would surely explode. He was scowling darkly at her now, embarrassed at his slip up.

Regardless. She does appreciate it. More than he’ll ever know. And more than she’ll ever freely admit. Though, she doesn’t want to delve deeper into that… for now.

She shifted from her position and sat suddenly beside him, giggling when he suddenly stiffened at their closeness.

“We both know you won’t do that.” She said, nudging his shoulder with her own.

“How sure are you?” Zoro quirked an eyebrow at her.

“I just know,” Nami smiled dazzlingly at him. He might be brutish in his ways, but he definitely always makes sure she’s safe. Just like their captain.

“Hmph…” was the only answer she got as he folded his arms across his chest and refused to look at her.

She laughed again. “Alright you’re no fun,” she snickered, poking at his still reddened cheek. She got a growl from her ministration. She then moved to stand up to adjust the sail.

Zoro rubbed a hand on his face. Nami always have the ability to draw a lot of emotions from him and it always left him feeling drained. And sometimes, just like now, embarrassed.

“Ready the paddles Zoro, we are heading back.”  

He grunted an affirmative and watched her adjust the sail again. He stood up to help her. The sooner they arrive at the port; the sooner he can get his free drinks.

Though it means being in the company of the wicked witch for the rest of the day. Which can be both a good and bad thing for him.

He grabbed at the rope in her hands, nodding at her. The wind was blowing strong and he doubts if she can man the sail with that scrawny arms of hers. She beamed at him and gave him instructions on how to turn the small vessel around.

The moment he finished tying the ropes, he turned to her. “Nami,” he called to her. “What are you really trying to achieve? You’re not the type to waste time just like this and not gain anything.”

Nami gazed at his face. Zoro sometimes amazes her with how well he knows her.

He was staring at her seriously, brows furrowed in an attempt to figure out her intentions. She exhaled and stared back at the seemingly endless blue sea.

“I just want to feel it again Zoro,” she responded in a pensive manner. “I want to feel what it’s like to sail in a boat like this and not a ship.” She looked straight in his eye. “Just like before… when we first began sailing.”

That hit home.

And he felt it. That feeling from long ago. The excitement of setting sail in just a small boat to chase your dreams that seems out of reach. The thrill of cruising toward unknown islands not knowing what’ll happen or what to expect.

Just the pure enjoyment of searching for nothing and everything while gaining new nakamas, new experiences and new goals to achieve and protect. Just the pure pleasure of diving headfirst into adventure.

Just sailing. As Nami had put it.

This is what she must be aiming to feel by arbitrarily getting in this boat and crazily drifting into the middle of the sea with him in tow.

She wanted to remember.

She wanted to bask at the feeling of remembering the beginning… what she, him and Luffy started.

His eye traveled to her face. She was smiling the same way the 18-year old, short-orange haired girl from years ago did as she set sail with them for the first time after their captain convinced her to navigate for them.

That witch with the special talent to predict the weather.

“You're right," he suddenly spoke out.

Nami turned to face him, surprised.

It was the swordsman turn to smile at her and a brief image of a young Zoro flashed in her mind.

"We're missing a barrel of apples."

And the navigator’s eyes widened at that. A smile appeared on her face again, this time, brighter than the afternoon sun, warmer.

"And an idiot captain." They both said at the same time.

[neverwatchedonepiece]

563-564: "A Shocking Fact! the True Identity of Hordy!" and "Back to Zero! Earnest Wishes for Luffy!"

...

I’m guessing this is what all the caught-up OP fans have been waiting for this entire arc.

Here’s the verdict: I really liked the “Nothing” twist. Oda was brave to create a realistic villain like Hordy Jones. And he is probably one of the most realistic OP villains. I get why people hated it. But I know people like this guy and I think other OP fans who come from a background where there are real, engrained systemic, centuries-old problems (racism, sectarianism, whatever -ism plagues your town), they will see Hordy Jones and his goons in all the downtrodden, bitter, brainwashed poor people who had nothing to cling to but the past and a manufactured sense of social superiority.

But I’ll go into that later. There were a couple of happy Strawhat scenes. Can’t ignore them, so will dive back into the serious Hordy stuff later.

Leave It All to the Strawhats

Just have to give a brief thumbs up for the return of Sane Sanji. Or at least the Sanji I like best: the one who is smart, sarcastic and smoking. Loved that scene with the Sea Bonze guy when he did a Moria and inflated to a large size. “How do you like my size?” Sea Bonze guy boasted.

“Kraken’s bigger,” Sanji said bluntly.

“OH YEAH, HOW ‘BOUT NOW?”

“Still bigger.”

At this rate, Sanji won’t have to lift another finger. The Sea Bonze guy will keep inflating, take out more and more of his own team, and Sanji can sit back, smoke and enjoy the view.

Chopper’s little moment with Zoro was great too. I’ve always thought Zoro and Chopper have this weird, special kind of understanding. They were paired up in Strong World and, I have no evidence to base this on so tell me if I’m wrong, but I don’t remember Zoro ever ragging on Chopper like he sometimes does with the other Strawhats. (It’s almost like he knows Chopper’s a sensitive, kind, little soul so he wants to protect him? The other Strawhats can take the banter, so he goes for it.) 

Whatever the case, Chopper busted out his Heavy Point and went toe-to-toe with the strongest of the Fishmen Goons. Zoro turned and joked, “Hey, Chopper! That was the form that gave you the most human look, but now you look more monster-like.” It’s nice that Zoro can joke like that with Chopper. He knows Chopper was sensitive about his humanity. It was almost like Zoro was saying, “Hey, that form’s strong. Are you okay with the look?”

But Chopper’s self-esteem has rocketed since he joined the Strawhats. “I wanted to look like a human because I wanted friends. Now I want to be a monster who helps Luffy!”

Chopper really has accepted himself. Excuse me while I dab my eyes with this tissue.

Also, Zoro is making short work of Drunk Sword Fish Guy. “Bring the strongest swordsman on Fishman Island,” he said. “You’re not even strong enough to kill my boredom.”

Hospital treatment needed for that burn.

And I just have to say that scene with Robin freeing the human pirate slaves was spectacular. The little moment between her and Jimbei (”I cannot refuse the request of a handsome man”), her spinning the situation to prevent grudges against innocent Fishmen (”You can thank Jimbei for asking me to free you”) and that Cuerpo Fleurs: Double Clutch move...

It was beautiful. ;_; I only wish she had used it on Spandam. The only thing better than one clutch is two. But that Hammond guy had it coming, so I’m not complaining.

And speaking of slave-taking racist scumbags...

It Always Starts Small

I definitely liked the “Nothing” twist. 

It was a shock at first. Must admit that. I kind of stared at the screen and laughed for a moment before what Fukaboshi said sank in.

“Hordy is a monster brought to life by our environment. The New Fishman Pirates are monsters created by an ancient grudge. A grudge born from our ancestors in the shadow of Fishman Island. They fear the grudge will be forgotten, their anger against humans dispelled. That’s why they are so impatient. They want humans to be evil so they can justify their crusade. They just want to see bloodshed. They don’t even want peace for Fishmen. Their hatred is not rooted in experience or true beliefs. They have no substance. They are completely empty.”

It might seem a cop out. Mundane. Motiveless. But that’s the thing. Hordy does have a motive: his empty hatred drives him.

And the sad thing is, I totally get what Oda’s trying to do here. Kind of wish I didn’t, but I do. I know people like Hordy. I’ve mentioned this before here, but where I live, sectarianism is a thing. Two branches of the same bloody religion have divided my part of the planet for centuries. There’s a horrible history of repression and terrorism on both sides. Now there are segregated schools and whichever football team you support outs you as “on a side”. Even your name and where you work can mark you. If you visit FB pages dedicated to the city, you won’t have to look far for sectarian posts. Dive into the football teams and, oh boy, you are in for a real treat! 

The thing is, the people who are most virulently into this crap are often (but not always) the poorest, most downtrodden people in society. Scrape the bottom and there you will find them. There’s a lot of poverty where I live (relative compared to the rest of the world, of course). Grinding poverty means you don’t have much going for you. All you have to feel superior is your football team and your religion. (And these people actually have very little knowledge on the tenets of their respective religions, by the way. Same goes for social history. Ask them anything and they’ll get angry because they know they know nothing.) All they know is: the other side is BAD. Why? Because dad said so, and his dad said so, and so did his. They cling desperately to empty hatred.

Hordy Jones and his goons are like that. Though they’re even worse. At least the sectarian folk from my city have actually met each other in the streets after a game and have beaten the crap out of each other face to face. Hordy has never met a single human in his life.

“What did humans do to you?”

“Nothing.”

He straight up admitted it. 

I loved the way Oda revealed how Hordy acquired his toxic prejudice. Because it was realistic.

Lynchings

It started small. Drip feeding the hatred. Every inch of Fishman District, that poverty-stricken, lawless place where there was nothing to do but hate. Every week another attack. Every week another kidnapping. Every once and a while a hero comes along, dying a martyr’s death (one was lauded for burning down the Human Shoppe. Probably a small business run by Fishmen, but what does that matter?) As a kid, Little Hordy loved heroes.

Then a Big Hero came along. Arlong. He liked to sit the little kiddies down and tell them tales of humans. Drip feed that poison in their ears. I guess this is what Otohime was trying to counteract. (Now that scene when she scolded the Fishmen who were about to lynch St Myosgard is really put in perspective.)

“This is a crusade! Ages ago, the filth we call humans envied the chosen and gifted Fishmen. They decided to persecute us. They were everywhere, like maggots.  Humans used the only advantage they had: numbers. They drove us down to the sea floor. Never forget our grudge against the humans. Humans know and fear that their reckoning day will come, and that’s when we’ll make them pay!”

The worst, most insidious statement was this: “Never forget our history. Feel the disappointment of the dead. Take over their resentment. Hold a grudge against humans.”

That line: “feel the disappointment of the dead”... that’s evil. Proper emotional blackmail. These people died with hatred festering in their hearts. Honour the glorious dead. Damn... I feel sorry for Fisher Tiger being used in this way.

Hordy was so twisted by the poison poured in his ear on all sides that he couldn’t even listen to a story young Hatchi told about Rayleigh. He was a human but he was different. Rayleigh never made a face when he looked at Hatchi. “I don’t like your story, Hatchi,” Hordy said. “It makes me sick.”

When Tiger was killed by Marines, Hordy’s gang, swilling beer in a pub, concluded he wasn’t the chosen hero. Someone had to step up to take his place.

Then - and I could hardly believe this was in a kid’s show - it went all KKK. Torchlit lynchings of Fishmen who had helped humans in some way (one poor guy donated blood). The Royal Family were obviously traitors. They wanted to forgive humans. Jimbei was a traitor too. He had joined the Shichibukai. 

“This country needs a hero,” Hordy Jones concluded. And he decided that he would be that “hero”. So he pulled the trigger on Otohime and stoked the fire of hatred against humans. The contrast between the funeral scenes and Hordy’s gang laughing it up at the pub was infuriating but effective.

Then, ten years later, it was time for their revenge. “This is a crusade. Prepare to kill as many humans as you can before your own death. We are devoting our lives to this vengeance.”

I wonder if Hordy will be willing to sacrifice his own life for his ideals? Or is that only for other people? 

Push the Reset Button

You know what else I liked? Fukaboshi’s reaction to the realisation of where Hordy Jones had come from.

It was what Otohime had realised years ago, but maybe never had the chance to discuss it with her kids.

“I don’t know when, but we lost contact with Fishman District. They’ve become something like an isolated, dark side of Fishman Island. We pretended not to see the twisted hatred building up in that lawless ditch in the deep water. I filled mother’s shoes, I collected signatures, but it was only superficial. I thought I was making progress. It was too late! People like them are the ones my mother feared the most. We should have fought with ourselves first. We should have fought our own feelings towards humans. Mother was killed by the grudge growing on Fishman Island. Maybe she knew it. But a part of me held that resentment and hated humans for killing my mother. Dead people take their regret to the grave, so  grudge is an illusion the living create and they alone cultivate it. Because I hated humans, I overlooked the resentment in Fishman District. When I finally noticed, it had become too powerful and beyond control.”

See, this is why I respect Fukaboshi a lot. He admits he had a part to play in the mess. Granted, I think he is justified, in a sad way. For ten years, he grew up believing a human had shot his mother dead. Despite that, he carried on her dream. But the whole Fishman District being a lawless, broken place that was ignored is interesting. If you leave a place to rot and don’t do anything about it, the people there will become poor and downtrodden. It is really easy to radicalise people who have nothing to lose. What the Royal Family should have done was double down on Otohime’s efforts to include Fishman District, to alleviate the poverty and lawlessness. Maybe that would have helped. Maybe.

His solution to the problem? It was pretty radical, actually.

“If nothing is done, Fishman Island will destroy itself through hatred of humans! We don’t need the past! Reset our history to zero. Wipe out those phantoms who shut the island away from the sun. Bring Fishman Island back to zero!

That’s also pretty radical. I guess Fukaboshi thinks there’s so much necrotic, gangrenous flesh poisoning Fishman Island that it’ll be best to just amputate the diseased limbs than let it spread any further. It’s sad that it’s come to that point, but I guess the hate is too strong.

Luckily, Fukaboshi and Shirahoshi have a Luffy who doesn’t give a crap about the past. “As long as you let me handle it my way, don’t worry,” Luffy assured. “Our minds were made up when we arrived at the plaza with Jimbei. We won’t let anyone harm Fishman Island. Leave it all up to us, Brother-Hoshi. We’re friends, right?”

I dunno, but I get the funniest feeling that this particular, rubbery human has made a lasting impression on Fukaboshi. ;)

Be honest. It’s how you’d want to go too.

[infriga]

Is one piece an easy anime to get into? Like, I used to watch a bit here and there a while back, but as of now I'm not sure who or what happens in the anime. Love the fanart and your own one piece/gravity falls crossover, so I guess that's why I came to you with this question. :)

Ok so, I love One Piece a lot, so this might be a longer answer than you anticipated. Sorry lol, I’ll try to add a TL;DR at the end. I mostly just elaborate on the benefits of reading the manga or watching the anime, or consuming both, and give some info for ease of watching/reading.

The most important thing to know about One Piece is that it’s not something you can watch in bits and pieces. It’s a show built heavily on continuity. It takes a while for this to become apparent, but even some of the most mundane early stuff can come back later when you least expect it. Oda’s world building is one of the best parts of the series. Plus there’s no such thing as a status quo for One Piece, so it’s constantly changing and thus skipping around will lead to confusion. There is consistently a change of some sort after every arc, without fail. But! It’s not hard to get into, because it’s just a linear story, not a series of reboots or spin-offs. So the easiest thing to do is just watch or read it in order. Start from the beginning and go from there. It sounds daunting, but there’s no rush, and it goes by a lot faster than you’d think. I know early episodes have that 90′s anime cheese dripping off them, but once you hit episode 30 and the Aarlong Park arc starts it starts to pick up and grow the beard so to speak.

If you’re not picky about watching or reading, or just prefer reading, then I recommend the manga, it’s got faster pacing, no filler, and Oda’s art is spectacular once he really hits his stride. 

He can pack a crazy amount of detail into a page, and his panel choreography is really good. I recommend Mangarock.com for reading since I know they at least don’t have the shitty infamous “Bisoromi bear” translations, but once you hit somewhere mid WCI arc Jamini’s box is the best scanlation out there. The One Piece subreddit usually posts the chapters as soon as they’re translated, though you should avoid it if you’re not caught up since it’s full of spoilers. The Viz translations aren’t too bad, but they do use Zolo instead of Zoro, which most fans hate, and they avoid swears a lot in earlier arcs which can sound kind of funny. They’re pirates, they have potty mouths. Sanji sprinkles his sentences with the Japanese equivalent of “shit” as a verbal tic which for some reason often goes untranslated. Every time you hear him say “kuso” that’s what he’s doing.

If you’re more of an anime person Then Crunchyroll or funimation’s website are good choices, or torrents if you’re a pirate haha. I don’t know what fansubs are the best, but I think most are decent, and nyaa.si is a good anime torrent site (I recommend Deluge as a torrent client). Crunchyroll can sometimes have weird translation decisions, but if you know a bit of Japanese to make up for it that isn’t a big deal.

The benefits of the anime is that it has an amazing voice cast, in Japanese at least, though I’ve heard the Funimation Enlgish dub is alright (don’t touch the 4kids dub with a 10 foot pole). It also has an amazing sound track as well. It does have a tendency to dial up the fanservice in later arcs a bit, especially compared to the manga, but the story is still in tact so if that’s not a big deal for you then you can just ignore the more egregious moments. Here’s a list showing which episodes are filler, or mostly filler, and the wiki also has them all colour coded, though watch out for spoilers on the wiki. The only reason I recommend skipping filler is mainly because some early filler contradicts later canon, they aren’t know for being the worst filler arcs in the history of anime, but they’re not generally too amazing either (except the G8 arc which is a good filler arc). The biggest issue is that some filler arcs end the arc with half the episode being canon, so look out for that. It’s generally not a bad idea to check the second half of the last episode of a filler arc, especially in the earlier episodes where they did that more often. Luckily there’s not a lot of filler and it usually isn’t too long. Some people often recommend checking out One Pace but I don’t, because One Pace isn’t finished, and it skips a few things. So it’s better for a re-watch.

If you’re interested in movies, the ones most worth watching are the 4th movie: Dead End Adventure - watch after the Alabasta arc, 6th Movie: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island - Watch after the Skypiea arc (my personal favourite), 10th movie: Strong World - Watch after the Thriller Bark arc, Film Z - Watch after the Fishman Island arc, and Film Gold - Watch after the Dressrosa arc.

If you want to both watch the anime and read the manga then I recommend watching the anime first, since that way you won’t constantly be comparing it to the manga and you’ll be able to enjoy both more overall. It’s hard not to compare the two, so if you let the anime speak for itself first I find people tend to enjoy it more overall. And you can switch to the manga at any time if you want.

TL;DR: Start from the beginning, don’t skip anything canon since One Piece is very continuity heavy. May be cheesy at first but that’s cause it originally came out in the 90s.

Read the manga if you prefer reading the source material, watch the anime if you prefer to watch rather than read, and just make sure to skip filler using a filler list (except the G8 arc which is a good filler arc). You can also look on the wiki episode guide since it’s colour coded, but the wiki may have spoilers so do so with caution. If you want to consume both watch the anime first then read the manga, so you don’t have to compare the anime to the manga all the time.

Don’t let the length scare you too badly. Oda has managed to do what few can: maintain consistent quality in a series for over 20 years. It may not be for everyone I’m sure, but it’s easily my favourite manga series I’ve ever read, and if you like world building, found family, lore, history, and adventure, then you’ll probably really enjoy it!

[enziroth]

Seagreen Pt 11

Things have started to settle down a little bit! God, it feels so good to write again, especially on this. I’m going to make an attempt at Black and White next, to see if I’m de-stressed enough to work on it it without issues.

Anyway, here’s this.

"You said you just outswim most stuff, right? You planning on running your whole life?" Kid wasn't able to comprehend how someone could just...walk away from something, allowing it the chance to bite them in the ass later. Unfinished business was ugly; he liked having his problems nice and solved, and preferably stuck full of metal.

"It's better than being trapped on Fishman Island. I'd rather be out here and hunted than stuck in a glorified bubble prison."

Kid couldn't argue with that. If he was on the same island for more than a week, he started getting antsy.

Another quiet pause. Those seemed common for them, the little moments of silence after they'd matched each other in wit or will. They'd both take the time to gather themselves, planning their next move.

Kid was the first to break it this time. “Why’d you follow me to Sirrock, then?”

“To make sure the job got done.”

Makes sense. Kid moved on to the next question. “Why’d you help me out?”

“Because the job wasn’t getting done.”

This is obviously doing nothing to make Law open up, so Kid tries a different route. "Your tail's been out for a while."

"So it has."

"I haven't jumped you," he added.

"So you haven't." Law's tone was devoid of emotion.

"Got anything to say about that?"

"You're not even looking at it, of course it's not affecting you."

Kid forced himself to look away from Law's face, letting his eyes roam deliberately slow over the rest of his body. Huh, those markings on his chest really were shaped like a heart, too sharp-lined to be natural. He'd have to ask about them. And the wavy fins along his forearms; what were they for? He'd have to ask about those, too.

This time, he felt the jolt when his gaze reached the tail. It was like his mind had been hijacked, his thoughts forcibly redirected from casual curiosity to sudden, harsh need. Reaching out, grabbing handfuls of scaled muscles and pushing down to grind against-

"Fuck," he said, more to ground himself with his own voice than anything else. "Okay, yeah, I see it."

Law's response sounded small in his ears, as if coming from very far away. "See what? ....Eustass? ....can ...hear me?"

That long coil spread out on his bed, holding it between his hands and watching it bend and writhe beneath him- Kid struggled to force a coherent thought through the heavy murk in his head. Holy shit, had it really been this strong the last time he'd seen Law? "Yeah, I'm here."

"What are....thinking?" Law was shifting a bit in the water to get a better look at him, the movement causing little ripples to move up and down his tail. Kid knew he should answer Law, knew he should look away, but he just couldn't manage the will to do it. He just knew that Law would feel amazing under him, and God, he couldn't think of any good reason not to have him right here right now.

Kid realized, abruptly, that he was losing the battle in his head. It was only a matter of time until he broke and either pulled Law up on the dinghy or just jumped in the water to get to him.

"Put...away. Away. Put it away!" he managed after several tries, and the tail was gone between one blink and the next. Kid's senses hit him all at once; the sound of waves, the smell of salt, and the pain in his fingers from where they were clenched tight around the rim of the boat.

Law was watching him curiously, head cocked to one side. His tail was hidden safely beneath the surface once more. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that you seem to possess a remarkable amount of self-control. But of course, that can't be."

"You ass," he bit out. "That was way harder than last time."

"Was it? Hmm." The merman's tone was flippant, but his eyes cut away for a split second and Kid knew there was a reason behind it.

Kid rested his head in his hands, rubbing his palms over his eyes. The merman's tail had to be one of the weirdest things he'd ever come across on the Grand Line, and he'd seen some pretty weird shit. "Fucking hell," he whispered, under his breath. "Fucking...hell. What am I supposed to do?"

"Nothing, Eustass." Law sounded bitter, his face tight and words clipped. "There's nothing you can do. Is there anything else you need, or can I leave without you threatening to tear my ears off?"

There had been something, something Wire had made him swear to get before sending him down in the dinghy, but it didn't seem important now. "Will you still follow me around?"

Law was quiet for a moment. "Maybe. Maybe not. Why do you care? I'm not joining your crew."

"What if I need saving again?" He was only half joking.

"You've already made it clear that you don't intend on returning any favors."

"You said it'd be a shame for me to throw away such a nice body."

"You'd be surprised at how many drowning bodies I come across down here. Perhaps I'll find a nicer one." Law was doing it again, deflecting everything he could come up with. The merman was clearly running out of patience, fingers tapping the boat's rim and eyes sliding to the horizon.

Kid found himself increasingly desperate. "I can protect you, you know. If anyone comes after you."

"I've lived my whole life this way, Eustass. I can protect myself."

"Do you need anything? Money? Maps? We've got it."

"Eustass." Law didn't sound exasperated as much as simply tired. "Stop. It isn't going to work."

There was nothing he could say to that. Kid felt pathetic, and if his crew had been here he'd have dropped it long before he sunk to this point.

"If you need anything," he said, annoyance sparking at how weak his voice came out, "You come find me. Okay?"

Law closed his eyes, exhaling long and slow. Kid was getting used to the oddities of his face now, the sharp-lined gills cut in his neck and the winged fins behind his cheekbones. They were still odd, making him start whenever he caught them out of the corner of his eye, but they no longer gave him shivers just from looking at them. It was so odd, how unlike everything else he was…

"Okay."

And he was gone.

 "Did you get it?" was the first thing that greeted Kid after his crew hauled him back onto the ship.

"Get what?" He remembered the instant the words came out of his mouth, and swore. The seaweed. "Fuck, I didn't even think about it."

Wire frowned at him, but Kid was in no mood to deal with the man's disappointment. He already had Killer's to look forward to, not to mention his own.

He briefly considered heading straight to his own room, just calling it quits for the night without letting his first mate know just how much of a fucking failure he'd been. But the lecture he'd get tomorrow would be twice as bad, maybe worse with the secondhand rumors Killer would get from the crew.

So he turns at the hallway and drags his ass to the medbay.

Killer takes one look at Kid, slumped in the doorway with his head down, and just seems to fucking know. Even drug-addled as he is, his first mate is smart enough to pick up on what Kid isn’t saying. “I’m not going to say that you knew this would happen, because you probably didn’t even think about it, but that thing has literally no reason to come with us.”

“He fought for me,” Kid starts, but Killer shakes his head. With his mask off, it’s so much worse; Kid could see the disappointment.

It doesn’t stop him though, and he goes on. “The marine guy, he was a slaver. Had some kind of tracking fruit power…he was chasing him, and Law heard of me and led him to me and no don’t put your damn hand up, I’m not done!” Stopping there made it sound so bad, so much worse than it was, and even though it really had kind of been like that, Kid wasn’t going to sit through a lecture about the wrong damn thing.

Killer eyes him, then lowers his hand. Kid waits for him to do it, feeling like an idiot for doing so because he’s the captain, damnit, but it’s good to know that Killer’s going to listen.

He starts again. “So he led the guy to me, because he wanted me to kill him and end the problem. After I…escaped…”

Killer snorts, but Kid’s happy enough to have his ear that he doesn’t give him shit for it.

“After I escaped, the guy was pissed and starting doing his tracking thing on me. Law followed us to Sirrock to make sure he died.”

“Metal ships,” Killer mused. “I wondered why they’d have ironclads out so far from land, they’re shit for speed in the currents around here, and especially knowing you’re around…”

“…He can’t chew through metal,” Kid finished. He honestly haven’t given it that much thought, tossing it under the heading of marines being morons, but it made sense. “When I crushed the ironclads, they sent out wooden ones. Fuck, that guy must’ve been a total fucking idiot. He knew Law could go right through that stuff, and he still sent them after me?”

“You do tend to do that to people,” Killer pointed out.

“You’re damn right.” He’d had eight separate bands of island militias swear to track him down and kill him at all costs for what he’d done to their homes. Kid and his crew had even had the pleasure of seeing one, their first, be eaten by a sea king when they strayed a little too close to the Calm Belt trying to get a few shots off at him.

Damn, maybe he’d have nine now. He knew he’d seen a few people escape from the fire on Sirrock, using fishing boats moored at the smaller harbor; burning their island to shit was a good reason to swear vengeance, right?

The thought brightened him considerably. He didn’t need Law; he was perfectly formidable by himself. Hell, he’d made it this far, and survived everything that came at him, whether or not he’d had help.

He was going to be perfectly fine.

 Three days later, Killer’s quick grip was the only thing keeping him from going over the railing when he saw a flash of gold in the waves behind the ship.

[sanjiafsincedayone]

SaNa is a good ship

It’s time I make a proper post… It’s been too long and I really want to be a contributor to this fandom, I just can’t always make time for it.

I want to talk about Sanji and Nami and some pointers, if you will, about why shipping them makes sense. Now this does not mean that SaNami is a superior ship in anyway or that others aren’t free to ship whatever they want, because first and foremost shipping is supposed to be fun.

So, what I want to say are just why SaNami can make sense from a writing perspective, and also with some of my own added opinions on why it’s a good ship. This post will not cover all my reasons for shipping SaNa personally, but there will of course be bias, it’s not really anything any shipper can ever avoid. But I am trying to talk about things that still makes sense, so I still consider this an analysis. I hope you enjoy this.

Sanji and Nami’s personalities work well together and they understand each other.

Arguably this could be said about most strawhats, but I still want to talk about it a little deeper. As the story has been written there are many good moments of interaction between Sanji and Nami that shows that they have a pretty mature relationship, despite what many might think. And especially during Enies Lobby (Nami talking to Sanji about his chivalry), Fishman Island (Sanji talking about Nami’s past), Punk Hazar (Nami asking to save the children) and on Zou (them discussing the minks, Nami being worried and of course her talking about Sanji’s past) the two of them seems to have gotten some good serious moments together that comes with showing understanding for each other.

We can also see that their minds are quite alike with similar mentality and intelligence. Something that is actually rather important, and for me personally a reason why I usually like certain ships. Being on the same level and having enough understading of each other is a good way to develop any relationship. Basically they get along really well and they would have a good foundation for a romantic relationship to grow from.

But at the same time they also have their moments of disagreement, and they can listen and discuss to get to an answer which is essential if we would want a relationship to work well (of course Oda isn’t exactly the most realistic writer, but still). This is a good and stable ground to base a relationship on, because it shows that they actually listen to each other. It’s also important that they actually seem to want to learn more about each other, and that Oda has used them to show the other person’s past or to highlight their personality traits. I’ll get back to this a little later.

Despite what people may think they can grow as people and as fighters in each other’s company.

Nami and Sanji have a lot of fights that relates to the other. Nami has even specifically been pointed out as a weakness when it comes to Sanji. I’ve talked about that in more detail in my post: Sanji and Nami - Fights and danger. This is in itself rather interesting because that means Oda subtly ties them together quite often. It’s a way to highlight their relationship without the other even having to be present.

In fact, when it comes to their battle abilities we’ve already seen the both of them get stronger and develop new skills in regards to the other. Sanji even seems to get Nami as a “battle booster” in a lot of fights. What I mean by that is that Oda specifically make Nami a part of Sanji’s battle in some way which can then lead to him winning the battle. The first example is in Arlong Park where Kuroobi talks bad about Nami which pushes Sanji over the edge, Sanji vs Wadatsumi is another. Even a case as with Mr. 2 turning into Nami is an example of this. Over the years this has happened a lot. And in both fights and with Sanji’s sacrifices we can see that Nami is a more prominant figure than any other.

Then with Nami we can see how her fight with Kalifa came from after Sanji lost, and in Skypiea too Nami fought to protect Usopp and Sanji. Sadly Nami doesn’t have as many fights, but there are still examples where Sanji has been present, in thought or otherwise. Even when they had their body switch Nami commented about how Sanji’s strong body saved her.

We also saw Nami under Sanji’s command as they fought against Big Mom, something she and the others later got praised for. Sanji also didn’t act when Nami got attacked by Wanda after Nami told him she could handle it. Mostly I just want to point out that just because Sanji likes protecting Nami that doesn’t mean that he thinks she’s weak or that she won’t grow as a fighter in his presence. Somehow there is this image of Nami not getting any time to shine because of Sanji if they are togehter because “she’s a delicate thing and not a person that can take care of herself“, but this just isn’t how Oda has written it. This is not how Sanji sees Nami. He wants to protect her, yes, but not because he think she’s weak.

One very important thing when writing characters is for them to grow and evolve as the story progress, of course this goes way beyond just getting stronger. Some might think that Sanji and Nami as a combination would simply be stuck in their worst habits, particularly Sanji and his perverseness. But as we have already seen a few times in the Whole Cake Island arc, and even before that, there are plenty of times where Sanji acts very normal and mature around women too. And this includes his relationship with Nami. Actually Sanji’s relationships with his female nakama is already a good ground for him to develop how he acts towards women. Unfortunately, Sanji digressed a bit after the time skip, but that has mostly been amended by Oda already. The latest chapter was something of a setback for Sanji, but it is still a part of his character to be a pervert, and I am sure that trait is there to stay.

But again, as with all the strawhats Oda has shown them both growing individually and also together, being there to witness the other person’s moments and thus giving them a better understanding of each other.

Now as for Sanji’s trope of being a pervert it wouldn’t’ take a lot to make it work even with Sanji getting romantically involved. Early on a lot of Sanji’s jokes were more based on fawning and flowing hearts rather than actual perverseness. Getting back to that a bit and also making it solely focused on Nami would enable Sanji to still feel like the same character without it getting in the way of a serious relationship. In fact, Nami acting tsundere and hitting Sanji for being a pervert could even still be part of their interactions too, just with a slight twist. As it is now most of Sanji’s perverted jokes are already aimed at Nami. So, the jokes could still be there, and Sanji could still fawn, just in a different way. Basically what I’m trying to say is that Sanji would simply have to stop his over the top actions, mostly with other women, which is something I definitely don’t see as impossible. Now the key is writing this well of course, but either way this would be a subtle enough change to make Sanji still feel like the same character while still making him more mature.

Many people are quite tired of Sanji being over the top with nosebleeds and such, but it’s still to be expected of Sanji’s character. However, we need to remember that Sanji being a pervert doesn’t have to mean that SaNa can’t happen. Sanji is not in a relationship, and thus him oogling other girls is not an offence against Nami (though I would prefer him being more chill). It’s also very possible that what Sanji really craves is true love, just look how he acted towards Purin, trying to convince himself that he could be happy with her, only to get devestated when she proved to be evil. We’ve also seen Sanji become much more innocent when actual prospects of love has been present. Like asking for a simple kiss on the cheek from Violet.

Hence Sanji getting romantically involved could in itself be a very natural way for Oda to make him grow and develop as a character. Same could happen with Nami. Nami has already changed more prominently than Sanji has though, so her growth as a character could be slightly different.

But basically Sanji and Nami getting together, if written well, could make the both of them better people/characters while still maintaining the gags that Oda loves. He could even throw in more of the jealousy type gags, which he already uses from time to time with Sanji in regards to Nami.

Now I’ve talked about what many see as a problem when it comes to Sanji x Nami, so now I’ll move on to things Oda has done while writing that should be taken into consideration.

A change in the relationship

For romance to work in One Piece without the readers getting thrown off there needs to be a clearer development in a at least partly romantic tone. If Oda ever writes romance for a strawhat I don’t see it being too obvious, but it still needs to feel natural for the readers to accept it. Of course past development is also important, but that is just a foundation from which new interactions and feelings needs to develop.

Now, if we ponder the idea of Sanji and Nami actually getting together (if so most likely slowly getting more developed together in a romantic way) towards the end of the series we could possibly already see the change in their dynamics that would be necessary.

In the most recent arc we’ve seen them act in ways towards or in regards to each other that we have not seen before and in storytelling this kind of catalyst is very common. It’s why tropes like “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone” are used a lot. Because even if things are always slowly developing there are usually a need for a trigger to make a bigger change more plausible when writing. This is a way to make readers more adapt to the focused on relationship and more in tune with the fact that it’s changing. I’m not saying this is exactly what is happening with Sanji and Nami, but it could be, at least in part.

(Please ignore the bad translation) The slap in itself could be seen as a sort of turning-point for them, a hurdle they will need to get over, and that might then lead to further development between them as a reconciliation is necessary. In a story this could be the low point in their relationship, the final straw of a problem that will need to be resolved by the end.

We did see them talk about it briefly, which is another moments that should’t be ignored. Nami specifically said she won’t forgive Sanji, something Sanji specifically worried about. It’s another very common trope in storytelling, and I was quite surpised with how Oda highligthed it so much.

Nami is acting typically tsundere in regards to Sanji here, and that too is a typical manga trope that could mean something when it comes to Sanji and Nami’s relationship changing. Nami clearly wants Sanji back, but she is still hurt and has not yet forgiven him. This just shows how personal it was this time. Also, again Oda took the time to highlight Sanji’s worry about Nami’s reaction specifically, something that is very in character but also makes the readers realize that what happened between Sanji and Nami with the slap was not to be taken lightly.

And the thing is that it’s still not resolved, proving it could be an even bigger deal. Meaning Oda could very well have a plan for their proper making up that in the long run also become a new catalyst for a serious romantic development. It happens gradually, but is sped up by bigger individual moments. The wedding itself or the end of the arc still holds possibilities for more such moments to happen between Sanji and Nami.

Involvement in each other’s storylines.

Sanji has often had Nami play a part in his fights, as I briefly mentioned earlier, and out of all women in One Piece Sanji has by far had the most interactions with Nami. Which is nothing strange considering she’s a nakama and she joined before Robin. But besides that Oda also likes to put Sanji and Nami together quite a lot. Especially if we compare between Nami and Robin this becomes rather obvious. This is of course not a romantic indicator in any way, but it does show that Oda focus more on developing and showing their dynamics compared to again for example between Robin and Sanji. Even when I group Sanji tends to communicate more with Nami than with Robin. Basically we can see that at the very least Oda is more interested in the dynamics between Sanji and Nami than Sanji and Robin. Of course the fact that the five first strawhats have been together longer also matters here, but either way Sanji and Nami has had plenty of moments over the years. But most of those moments have been rather subtle, or one-sided.

As many SaNami fans has noted before, the fact that the two of them seem to be unconscious a lot of the time they otherwise could have had rather good moments is also interesting. Even so the two of them have shown great interest in each other’s past, they’ve been involved in the other person’s fights in different ways and have of course had plenty of moments where they help the other or worry about the other. This could also be about only nakamaship as they are both very caring people, but there are still quite a lot of these moments between them compared to some other strawhats. Meaning Oda has indeed put some effort into showing their interactions. It’s not a ship with zero development if you will, no matter if you see it as purely nakamaship or not the two of them have had quite a lot of moments though often very subtle.

Now, we should also note that Oda has repeatedly used Nami as a means to highlight Sanji in this arc. Which is also a way to show Nami’s true thoughts about Sanji, that she as a rather tsundere character don’t usually show. The increased focus on one character from another is also a very common way to make readers see things that might not have been noticeable before. We can see that the chapters in Zou and after has actually had a lot of casual readers react to certain SaNami moments (even Toei has upped the moments in the anime). Of course not all see it as a serious leeway into romance, but the fact that it has been noticed could very well be a start. And again, having moments like the slap, showing how Sanji is particularly worried about Nami’s reaction and having Nami say that she will never forgive Sanji are other examples that brings attention, as well as show how personally affected they are by each other.

Sanji’s interest in Nami

Putting aside Nami’s side of things for now, the fact that Sanji is so obviously interested in Nami does make it more difficult for other ships to happen. Now, this is in no way me saying that Nami has to be with Sanji because she owes it to him or because what he wants is more important than what she wants. No, because this is not the real world. This is a story written by a person with a purpose and an end in mind.

What I’m trying to get at is that Oda writing about Sanji’s obvious interest in Nami and showing him being jealous many times means that for Sanji to not break character there needs to be a good resolution. Now, either Oda could write Sanji off to another character that makes him happy, or he could leave things open, meaning no change from how things are currently. But doing the opposite, meaning making Nami end up with someone else while Sanji can just stand and watch while being jealous, does not seem very likely. Mostly because Oda would have to resolve a love issue and that’s just not his focus. Again, this could make Sanji seem like a horrible person, but this is all in line with how Oda has written him this far. (The same can actually be said about Hancock, though she’s less important as she’s not one of the main characters.) To simplify we can say that to have Sanji happy at the end of series there are three likely outcomes, either he ends up with Nami, with someone else or Oda leave things the way they are with no romance at all for the strawhats. Because it seems unlikely that Oda will change this part of Sanji’s character that he has actually gone out of his way to show plenty of times.

The last one is the most likely one since we know Oda won’t focus too much on romance. But it is by far more possible that Sanji ends up with Nami than any other woman. Why? Well, because Oda has over 20 years put more emphasis on Sanji’s relationship with Nami over any other woman. Now Purin was perhaps a real contender until she turned out to be evil, but it seems unlikely that Oda would throw in yet another possible romantic interest for Sanji after the current arc. (Or he could kill Sanji and get rid of the “problem”.) More or less, unless Oda wants to deal with heartbreak again for Sanji the best option is for Oda to either let things be or to give Sanji what he wants; love. I know it sounds bad, but this has nothing to do with Sanji being rude or possessive or not wanting what is best for Nami. A real person can deal with this and put the others person’s happiness before their own, but they would still have to deal with it, meaning Oda would have to deal with it and I just don’t think he would. He would somehow have to compensate simply for Sanji to have the happy end I’m sure Oda will give to all of his main characters.

A character like Sanji that has also always been about love, often talking about it, and also with the recent developments regarding his past, makes him a more likely option for love by the end of the story. Love is always a hurricane!

I suppose one could argue Oda would just simply make Sanji move on to another “target”, and that is of course a possibility too. But if so the choices Oda has made with focusing Sanji so much on Nami would be rather odd. Even just evening it out between her and Robin would have been a better way to go from the beginning.

Romantic themes

Again, we have to remember that everything Oda puts in the manga is a conscious choice. A choice that to a various degree has a purpose within the story. Now, a lot of the things he’s done with Sanji and Nami are moments that in different ways can be seen as unnecessary unless Oda wants to show Sanji’s interest in Nami more prominently. I am talking about romantic themed moments in particular, because there are of course also many moments that can be purely seen as between nakama. That being said, moments between nakama are of course also important and are needed for a more solid relationship no matter if it’s later developed into romance or not.

What are romantic themed moments then? Well, no matter how much of a joke it might be Sanji rescuing Nami from a forced wedding and holding her in a wedding dress is a story point that didn’t have to happen that way. Sanji took a knife for Nami while the bad guy questioned why Sanji would die for her. That is in at least some way a romantic scene. Not a moment for romance to develop between the characters, but clearly there for the readers to note. The thing is that symbolism is a very important tool when writing, and having two characters involved in the rescue of each other from marriages is worth noting at the very least.

In Thriller Bark it’s also interesting to note that Sanji’s zombie talked about love as a strong power in front of and because of Nami. Nami even recognized it as something Sanji would say. It was not about being a pervert, but about love. He also had Sanji’s zombie protect Nami while later on kicking Robin. Now, these choices were made by Oda, and though they could be insignificant, they should still be taken into consideration.

Sanji’s other sacrifices can more easily be seen as him simply being the kind man he is and being there to help his nakama. Another detail that Oda could have done differently is the love letter that Sanji wrote to Nami in Water 7. Again, perhaps it’s just seen as a stupid joke, but it was another romantic typical gesture that didn’t have to happen. Same thing with Oda’s recent joke about Nami proposing to Sanji. Did it have to be there, in that way? Even better examples are Sanji actually asking Nami if she loves him. Something he hasn’t done with any other woman which just shows that it wouldn’t have been strange at all for Oda to simply skip them. Or at least make them happen with other characters too.

Also, the first time we saw Sanji with heart-eyes was with Nami. And they were openly flirting after and Sanji even got a hug. Even if it is not meant to be taken seriously it’s still there to be noticed, and many people shipped Sanji and Nami early on because of it and moments that followed in the Arlong arc.

Again, Sanji does a lot of love-related things to many female characters. But there are things that makes Nami special. Even the –san and –kun matters in this because it would have been so easy for Sanji to just call other women with –san. It wouldn’t be weird at all, so why doesn’t he? Why keep it specially for Nami? These are definitely choices Oda has made consciously, and even if they are rather minor they are still worth taking into consideration. Not to mention that even if they are significant or not they are still great moments for shippers.

Shipping Sanji and Nami is actually rather great, because we get a lot of good moments that with shipping goggles on can easily be seen as romantic. We never expected Sanji to carry Nami in a wedding dress, we never expected Nami to cry about Sanji being gone, or worry about never getting to see him again (at least not voicing it out loud), we never expected Nami to slap Sanji and for Nami to be so personal about her not being able to forgive him. Things can change constantly, but either way Oda is bringing a lot of excitement to the SaNa shippers.

In conclusion, these are just some of my reasons for why SaNa is a good ship and why the way Oda has told the story with Sanji and Nami’s characters is not in the way for a romance to develop. Meaning that’s it’s easy for us that like Sanji and Nami together to dream on and hope for romantic development to happen. What we can say is that no matter if SaNami is for you or not it is still a good ship in the sense that it could work within the story and the friendship and proper dynamics are there for shippers to support. Everything else is just a bonus really!

I hope at least some of you found this to be an interesting read. There are of course plenty of other good reasons to ship SaNami that I didn’t bring up, but I felt like writing this with a certain focus to storytelling and writing. Let me know what you thought, I love reading your comments! Thanks for reading~