#can you tell who my favorite cp9 member is?

[rollinouttahere-writes]

Can we get some stuff recharging adult Lucky and Kaku? … asking for a friend.

anon I am gently kissing you on the forehead, thank you so much I have been wanting to talk about them since finishing Enies Lobby

under the cut because I am mentally ill about this man

When they meet, it's in the kitchen of the Going Merry when he comes to check out the ship. Lucky was already a little rattled from the Franky Family trying to jump them, so a strange man suddenly appearing on the ship definitely scares her a bit.

That, and the whole Enel situation happened like not even a week ago.

She freezes and stares at him when he walks in, and he isn't doing any better. He just came to do an evaluation on a ship and now he's finding this poor, battered woman cowering in one of the rooms.

He snaps out of it and is quick to explain who he is and why he's there. Once she's calmed down and realized she isn't about to be attacked again, he steps closer and asks in a hushed tone if she needs help. Rescuing people being held hostage on a pirate ship is hardly a first for Galley-La.

Her attempts to convince him that she is actually fine aren't particularly successful, but he doesn't force her to come with. He does talk her into showing him around the ship "just in case he misses something", but really he's just worried Zoro is going to do something to Lucky when he isn't looking.

Just as he's leaving, he slips a piece of paper into her pocket. It's hastily jotted down directions to Dock 1 if she changes her mind. Lucky is somewhat charmed. While his concern was ultimately unnecessary, it was very sweet of him.

Kaku, meanwhile, is having a crisis. Being able to shut down and disregard emotions is something he had to get good at in his line of work, so why could he not get Lucky out of his head? Why does he feel like he needs to go back and save her? He puts it aside, but just barely.

It keeps building as the arc progresses and further encounters make him feel even more hot under the collar. He went out of his way to bring her some lunch while also covertly doing CP9 stuff because she mentioned wishing she could've tried this one particular food Water 7 was known for. He's down bad and has no idea what to do.

Ultimately, he leaves her behind when their cover is blown and they all head to Enies Lobby, but when she comes there... His resolve breaks. Clearly this is meant to be, why else would she have come here despite the danger? She was meant to be his. She wants this as bad as he does.

After being defeated by Zoro, he uses the last of his strength to find and bring her with him. He's 100% ready to leave everything behind just to be with her. This doesn't work out thanks to Lucky having an impact dial on her, but even after taking such a vicious blow, he's still attempting to reach out to her.

Kaku hates who and what he is. He never asked to be an assassin, none of them did, but he could never fully settle into the roll. A part of him always resented the people who did this to him. Who forced him to live such a horrible life when he could have been normal if they'd laid eyes on anyone but him.

Lucky is his second chance. She's an opportunity to run away and restart his disaster of a life. To experience the normalcy he had up until now thought would only ever be a fantasy.

All he wants is to walk away from all this and be a normal, happy couple living a refreshingly mundane life. Sure, it wouldn't be completely normal, they would have to move around constantly to evade detection from the world government that would absolutely be looking for him, but it's nothing they can't persevere through together.

The thing he wants most is a family. The memories of his own family from his childhood are so far away and unclear that he isn't even entirely sure they're real or just something he came up with to make himself feel better. But now, with Lucky, he could have something indisputably real. Their children would be as adorable as they would be loved, that's what he tells her when he's trying to force convince her to come with him.

Kaku is delusional to an extreme. He only ever sees Lucky as a victim of circumstance that is so traumatized from her past that she can't be trusted to make good decisions for herself. That's why she needs a little push, he tells himself.

Please ask me more about him, I'm obsessed as you can probably tell.

[aceopmari]

If the Straw Hats Had a Reality Show Dedicated to Pirates Headcanon! Ft: Law!

With how infamous the pirate crew gotten, it was only natural that they were soon granted the rights to have their own reality show, like other famous pirates in the Grand Line and the New World.

Get ready for Keeping Up with the Straw Hats!

Luffy: Whether it was his strength, or his childlike innocence, Luffy was a fan favorite!

He often ignored the producers suggestions to make the show more interesting.

Luffy didn’t like when the producers told him to punch a random person on the street when they were visiting an island.

Was not getting paid, as he owed the producers over 10,000 berris for punching the camera one time in anger, when the director attempted to take his meat away. The director was only making a suggestion for a much healthier diet for the star of the show.

Luffy also skipped out on a lot of confessional sessions. Mainly because he really didn’t have much to hide to begin with. But if he did go, it was mainly to either show appreciation for his crew or to make public declarations:

“Sanji’s cooking the BEST!”

“Do we get free meat with this show?”

“I’m going to kick Mingo’s ass!”

Zoro: The viewers found Zoro amusing! Whether it be him constantly getting lost, or his heated arguments with Sanji. The producers would rush over to him, cameras and all whenever they caught the two together.

Zoro was surprisingly popular with female viewers. They enjoyed watching him sweat whenever he would work out in the crows nest.

Zoro didn’t care about the show really. Just as long as he gets to work out, drink booze, and sleep, he’s good.

The producers always looked forward to his confessionals after he fights with Sanji:

“That damn shitty cook! Just who the hell does he think he is?!”

“That curly brow dumbass is gonna get himself killed one of these days!”

Sanji: Was angry that Zoro was racking in more views from the female viewers than he was!

Why him?! Why not me?!

He kicked the camera man straight in the chin when he told him that Zoro was naturally more popular than he was.

Sanji desperately tried to win over the female viewers by showing off his fighting skills or his culinary expertise.

He was excited when he finally got some fan mail from the fans!

It turned out to be from the okamas though…

If Sanji went to the confessionals, it was usually to cry about why women weren’t interested in him…or to talk shit about Zoro:

“Just what does he have that I don’t on this show?”

“Why aren’t all the beautiful ladies watching me?”

Little did Sanji know, he caught the eyes of Violet and Pudding.

Nami: An absolute slut for the camera! The producers LOVED her!

One couldn’t tell who was using who more. All that mattered was what would bring them more views and more money.

Whenever it was filming time, Nami would purposely wear a bikini without the jeans to draw in the male viewing audience.

Add the extra seductive act she would put on, and nosebleeds would cover millions of transponder snail television screens.

Loved to give tours of the Sunny and show off her designer clothes.

Would parade around the islands, using Momonosuke as an accessory to manipulate the fans into loving her more.

Nami LOVED to take advantage of the fanbase, often subtly asking for gifts mainly money through the fan mail she receives. Next to Robin, she had the most.

Nami became very vain and strict with the crew on how to present themselves for the camera and had to keep members like Luffy in check to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid to cause the show to be cancelled. But just in case, as a backup, she could always start an Only Fans.

One might say that the fame and fortune was getting to her head, as she would purposely start up drama whenever she was out on an island. Would probably steal from a city mayor if it meant she could get the fans taking for weeks.

Whenever she was in the confessionals, it was mainly to complain about Luffy’s or Zoro’s antics.

Would probably shit talk about Robin, although faking it the whole time, to get some drama started:

“Honestly! I wish Luffy would just use some common sense for once!”

“Robin thinks she’s all that! But everyone knows, I’m the prettiest girl on the show!”

“I’ll let you film me in the bath. It’ll cost you 1 million beri!”

Franky: Loved the camera! One sided on the producers part since they didn’t enjoy Franky’s sense of…ahem…style.

He would dance, be loud, or show off his cool body.

If he was in the confessional room, it was to complain openly to the producers on why they did him dirty.

“Hey! I saw last weeks episode! Why did you cut my scene out, bro?!”

Ussop: Although not nearly as popular as Nami, Ussop was interesting enough to get some viewers watching the show, even unintentionally.

Ussop used the show to make himself seem cooler, mainly through the confessionals.

The lies he told caught the attention of viewers worldwide, though very few could sees past his lies.

The producers didn’t care, so long as there were viewers.

“Yes it was I! The Great Captain Ussop who defeated CP9!”

“Wait wait! Cut that out! Cut that scene out! I meant SniperKing!”

Chopper: The Worlds Favorite Cutie Pie!

Choppers looks alone were enough to win the hearts of viewers! Mostly the female reindeer mink.

Combine that with his child like innocence and he’s instantly a popular household name!

On top of that he already has many sponsorships from multiple sweet brands. (Mainly cotton candy ones.)

Choppers pretty shy on camera and often does his usual dance when he’s nervous. The audience eats it up.

He doesn’t gossip. When it comes to confessionals, he’s usually talking about Zoro’s recklessness when it comes to bandages, or Sanji’s nose bleeding habits.

Jimbei: Not particular interested in TV or fame, but used being on TV to his advantage to spread his word and try stop discrimination against fishmen.

The producers found him boring and didn’t look forward to filming him, especially at confessionals…but at the very least, he was able to bring in views due to his former status as a warlord.

Robin: Had many admirers! She enjoyed being on the show. Often is seen on screen on a lavish shopping trip with Nami.

She does her part to make the show more interesting, whether it is be her dark sense of humor or putting her devil fruit powers to good use.

She once used it on a producer when he asked her to do something suggestive for views. After that, the producers never messed with her again, out of fear for their lives.

Not much for confessionals though, except when she’s expressing how amused she is at Luffy’s antics.

She may appeared to be calm and quiet but you better believe that the rumors she would stir up, would get the people talking!

Piers Morgans was having a field day with the headlines:

“Did Cat Burgler Nami Get Breast Implants?!”

“Roronoa Zoro: Honorable Swordsmen or Man Thot?! Gets Caught Sleeping with Wano’s Most Beautiful Woman!”

“Is Monkey D Luffy, Secretly Seeing His Crewmates Sister From the Germa Kingdom?!”

Brook: Fans loved seeing Soul King on screen. In some episodes he’s either playing music or he’s attempting a panty raid in Nani’s room. Which often results in him getting beat up by her every time.

Anything he says in the confessional‘s ends up with his signature laugh.

Law: Made a special guest appearance since starting hiw alliance with Luffy.

You can imagine his look of surprise, when the crew showed up on Punk Hazard with a camera crew and all.

He wasn’t at all interested in being on TV. His famous “I hate bread” made him an instant fan favorite. And meme along the fanbase.

He didn’t like that…

Law hated being followed around by the camera crew on the Thousand Sunny or when he simply just wanted peace. He frequently scolded the producers to stop or told Luffy to call off the cameras, but neither listened.

He only wanted to discuss the alliance plans in private with the crew and didn’t want the producers to catch any of it for the world to see.

As time went on, and Law was getting sucked into the Straw Hat shenanigans. He found himself wandering into the confessional where he would frequently complain about the crew. Mainly the captain.

“Mugiwara-ya will be the death of me…”

“Rorona-ya has no sense of direction…”

“How has the crew survived this long? They don’t ever strategize when it comes to making a plan!”

Viewer Reactions:

Sabo: Enjoys watching his little brother on screen, and always has a good laugh. Koala would often scold him for abandoning his duties to go watch the show.

Hancock: Would briefly abandon her duties as Pirate Empress for the whole day if it meant, she could watch Luffy on screen.

Took up most of his fan mail, and gifts that had meat.

Hancock would be envious of Nami and Robin on her screen, wishing she was their with Luffy.

Mihawk: Reality shows weren’t his usual choice of television entertainment, but he did watch, soley to watch over Zoro’s progress as a swordsmen. He would lie if Perona asked him if he found what he saw the slightest bit amusing.

Ace: He got a kick out watching his little brother on screen. Often laughing at Luffy’s antics. He saw that Luffy’s crew was slowly riding in more views on the reality show The WhiteBeard Pirates had. Ace wasn’t too worried but he knew he had to step it up.

Shanks: Often shaking his head and smiling in amusement at the sight of Luffy on screen. Would sometimes watch the show with Ace as the two spoke fondly of him.

Big Mom: Was furious that Luffy was racking in more views than her crew combined. Everyone used to love Big Mom’s wedding cake special episodes.

“MUGIWARAAAAA!” *Smashes TV*

Garp: Nearly choked on his crackers at the sight of his crazy grandson invading his screen.

“LUFFY NOOOOOO!”

Smoker: If any marine soldier was caught watching, Keeping Up with the Straw Hats, you better believe that he’ll would be raised at HQ. in secret though, he would watch it. Not for entertainment, but more so to study the Straw Hats moves.

Buggy: Screeching out in jealously seeing Straw Hat Luffy was popular enough to be given his own show and not him.

Kid: Was sitting at a bar one night and spat out his drink in anger at the sight of Straw Hat on his screen.

Nearly popped a blood vessel when he saw Law on screen.

“The hell?! Even Trafalgar?! How come those bastards get their own show?!”

Killer remained silent. He knew the reason why the Kid Pirates never picked up the rights to a pirate reality show was because of how scary Kid was.

Dragon: Used the show as a way to keep up with his son. Although in secret, since he didn’t want his army to notice.

Germa 66: Mixed reactions.

“That’s no son of mine.” Judge would say.

Reiju giggled at the sight of the screen. After a mission, she would look forward to watching the show to see her brother.

Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji expressed annoyance and criticized Sanji. Although would never admit that they were each jealous that Sanji got to be on a reality show instead of the Germa Kingdom itself.

Yamato: Wants to be on the show. Not for the fame, but mainly to spread the word and tell the world what a horrible father, Kaido is and spread Oden’s legacy to the world.

[softrozene]

Receiving a Hug from Their Crush

Anonymous requested: Hi my friend ! I hope all is well in your life ! can i please ask a little scenario for Rob Lucci, Kuzan and Killer who receive an unexpected hug from the person they secretly have a crush on ? how would they react ? make it as soft as possible and maybe a little nsfw if you want, thanks in advance 🤭

Mhm- I could not really see them acting “inappropriately” in this scenario so I just had them have a few inappropriate thoughts. Since these characters come off aloof, I had to give the Reader a “soft” personality- I do hope that is alright! Besides that, this so fluffy and came out longer than expected- I hope you enjoy this hon! I hope all is well in your life too anon!

Killer, Kuzan, Lucci x Reader (Gender Neutral/Nonbinary)

Warnings: Fluff- Suggestive thoughts, these characters are flustered. Uh, I know Killer is in the wano arc but I am not caught up to that so he may seem a little ooc since I am only using what I have seen from him in the Sabaody arc!

Words: 1673

Killer-

Killer felt great- His captain must feel greater. They after all made it into the New World. They feel unstoppable which of course is a bad thing, but one that they will bask in until they meet their match.

For now, Killer wanted nothing more but to continue to feel the excitement the crew is feeling. Even more so- Seeing that smile on your face. It has been a while since you joined their crew per Kid’s request (more like demand but hey, Kid knows when he sees talent).

So, it took a while for him to figure you out- Especially since you seemed so… Kind. It is normal to be kind to friends and the crew but even to strangers you were, and it threw him off. Once he found out you had no ulterior motive, he realized… He actually liked this soft personality.

It was a nice contrast to the mostly hostile personality the crew has to strangers. Though- It gave them all the need to protect your naivety. They did not mind at all but after a while for Killer- He realized that he had a crush on you.

It was weird for him, but it made him seek you out more out of anyone else in the crew. It turned out to be the right move because you understand him. His rather silent approach to people. You understood that and did not press him to talk to you unless he wanted to every now and then- Even then you were happy to carry the conversation.

You even made his meals after finding out he preferred noodles because of his mask. You took it upon yourself to make them- And it warmed his heart.

Because of this crush- Killer has experienced many new feelings, some of them more heated than others. For example, whenever you talked to him and leaned in further than what he is normally used to- He could not help his mind wander to the warmth your body created and how it would feel against his.

He longed for it but of course, it is just a crush. He knows better. He does not try to pursue these feelings either- Not wanting to get emotions involved or danger the crew.

That is the idea until you do something that makes his brain have a short-circuit.

Just one day after making him some dinner separate from the crew- You place the bowl of pasta down in front of him and proceeded to hug him. That… Sent a shock through his whole body. It was totally unexpected. After knowing you for a long while he did not take you as the touchy type and now that you actually hugged him, no matter how brief it was, he realized- He enjoyed it.

He enjoys your touch, and his mind wanders more. Screw logic- You are worth pursuing and he vows to make his feelings known.

Kuzan (Aokiji)-

“Why must you bother the new recruits?” Sengoku questions.

Kuzan yawns, completely not interested in this conversation. He is here for one sole reason instead of biking around the world, and it is because of you- Not the new recruits you are currently training. He sure did not mean to make them cry- He just pointed out how their forms were not useful unlike you who tried to encourage them to use whatever forms they liked as long as they followed the rest of your training.

“I will be on my way soon enough,” Kuzan murmurs.

Sengoku sighs knowing this is not going to go anywhere and neither is Kuzan. This happens too far often and all because Kuzan took an interest in a fellow marine. Completely inappropriate in Sengkou’s mind as the boss, but he allows it as long as it does not interfere with their marine work.

“It is (Name), isn’t it? Fine- Go ahead. I will tell them they are free of their duties but only for the night. These recruits need their basic training fully finished by the end of the week,” He mumbles giving in.

Kuzan just smiles at this. This is how it usually goes when he comes back to the marine headquarters. He longs to just either train with you one-on-one or steals you away- Or his personal favorite, take over the training session in an attempt to impress you.

However, he is not in the mood today. He longs just for a nap with your presence and then he can be on his way. It is easiest for everyone to let Kuzan spend time with you in order for him to get his work done. It could not be even more obvious to everyone too that he has a crush on you and yet you are the most oblivious person on the planet apparently.

Even when Kuzan fully flirts with you- You do not react to it. Not that he minds- He rather much enjoys your naïve and calm demeanor. It is refreshing among all these other marines who seek justice in a terrifying manner.

With permission, Kuzan goes back to the training grounds where he had earlier ruined your recruits’ concentration. The grounds are completely empty, and he waits a few minutes- Getting impatient, for you to return here with the good news of being dismissed for today.

He hears your footsteps and goes to greet you when he feels arms wrap around his mid-section. He raises an eyebrow at your unusual happy attitude. Usually, when he ruins one of your training sessions like he did today you would be grumpy but instead, you are hugging him?

Not only that but it makes his usual cold atmosphere soften. You are hugging him and… It feels nice.

Though the way you are squeezing him… He knows it is supposed to be loving but he can’t help the instant dirty thoughts and wonders of how your warmth could mix with his.

You pull back too soon, and he frowns.

“Kuzan, you need to stop ruining my training sessions. If you want to see me that is all you have to say,” You still manage to say in the gentlest voice ever despite the stern look you give him.

For once he fights off his perverse thoughts and just says in more of a demand. “Hug me again.”

You do not question him. Instead, you give him that brilliant smile before sliding your arms around him again. Yeah…

He can nap later.

Lucci Rob-

*First let me say this headcanon for Rob, he would 100% be touch-starved so in this situation, he would come to be a bit obsessed with hugs from his crush. Continuing on-

Lucci could not get any more annoyed with today. It has been exhausting and all he has been doing is paperwork from his last mission with CP9. He can’t wait until they can finally move to CP0. Then he won’t be stuck at Cipher Pol’s headquarters. He will not need to be pestered by the other member’s annoying behavior.

“Lucci-“

He nearly snaps at the voice, until he feels something wrap around him from behind. A head leans against his back and he just freezes.

“What is this- What are you doing?” He questions.

He already knows it is you- Their newest and definitely strongest (in his opinion) member. Somehow you captured Cipher Pol’s attention with your strength, but it did not match your personality. None of these missions do and he hated your guts at first- He saw you as weak and saw you merely as a distraction until he witnessed your strength when you trained with Kaku then him.

Your personality- He wanted to originally crush it. To form it into what he was raised to be- Merciless. It turned out you were also merciless but in a way that your target knows you do not want to torture them but will if you have to.

He hated that kind of person working here but, in the end- It was exactly what attracted him to you. He fought it off for so long but your everlasting kindness and the strength you showed to him eventually made him bring down his barrier. He allowed you to talk to him and he would give short curt replies in return.

That was all it was until he realized you even brought an animalistic side to him (he wants to believe that it is due to his devil-fruit and not the fact that he is still human).

So, hugging him like this and right now? It sets his skin aflame. He would want nothing more than to just devour you in acts of pure passion (and he will say hate) as he forgets about his stress but of course he can’t. Your relationship is definitely not that far along, and this is just a silly little crush he has.

“Sorry- Did I scare you? You looked upset so I thought you needed a hug. Even though our professions make us hard with our emotions- I like to think we all need hugs now and then. We are still very human despite our job. Wouldn’t you agree?” You ask… Still holding him.

He hates that he loves your touch and that- It really does seem to make this terribly long day better. He hates it but he will admit it.

“I do agree… Do you hug the others?” Lucci questions.

You finally pull back so you can look at him. That adorning smile that paints your face makes his heart ache in the best way possible. Especially when you answer. “No- You are the first one I felt comfortable doing that to. I am sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“No. I rather enjoyed it. I… Would appreciate it if you did it again in the future- However, I oppose you doing it to others,” He states.

You may have a too soft personality in his opinion, but you are not naïve. You definitely understood his possessive tones as you agree to it.

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

The Voyage So Far: Enies Lobby

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

this is still one of my very favorite nami panels. i think she’s really great through all of water 7 and enies lobby in general, actually, even though she isn’t really one of the characters in focus for a lot of it- like zoro and sanji, she stays pretty steadfast and very badass even though everything that happens, and never gives up on robin for a moment despite being one of the ‘weaker’ members of the crew. and it’s always fun to see her playing with lightning.

one of my favorite jokes from the first half or so of enies lobby is the strawhats both being completely unsurprised that luffy charges in ahead of them as soon as they arrive AND being able to find him immediately by following the explosions. they know him so well. 

luffy’s never been scared of dying, going all the way back to when he told coby he was fine with dying for his dream back in chapter two or three. that conversation is what his exchange with blueno here reminds me of- blueno asks him how long he intends to keep fighting, and luffy says until he dies, like there’s nothing to it.

it’s always been a trait of his to face death unflinching with a grin, so long as it’s for the sake of something he cares about, be it his crew or his brother or his dream, and i just really like that about him.  

i’ll go into it in the dressrosa post too, but i think it’s really impressive just how long oda held off on giving luffy any sort of significant power-up. he gets his first big power boost in the whole series here, forty volumes in. i’ve always liked that oda is very conservative with power boosts like this, because it both keeps the series’ powerscaling in check and makes the times it does happen much weightier. this is a monumental moment, and it feels like it.

also, i love the way gear two is drawn pre-timeskip, especially with the steam. it looks very cool and atmospheric.

i really like how united the strawhat crew feels throughout enies lobby, after all the internal turmoil and discord of water seven. even though the matter of usopp leaving the crew is still unresolved, they’ll all together once more, on the same page, and fully united in the goal of saving robin, whatever consequences it might bring. 

the tree of knowledge has such a cool design- it looks massive, and even more than that, it looks old. you look at that tree and you know its been there for easily thousands of years. its seen entire eras of history, and it would be priceless even without the countless books stored inside it.

and then it burns.

i’m so endlessly sad about the tragedy that is robin’s relationship with her mother. they never even got to see each other until their world was ending, and even then only for a couple minutes.

olvia is a very interesting character, because she’s someone who chose her dream over the people she loved. that’s not an inherently good or bad choice, but it is a choice she made, and it’s what led to the ending she and robin had to have. i’ve wondered a lot what might have happened if she chose the other way, if she never left or if she came back sooner or if she chose to flee the buster call with robin, and how different (and almost certainly better) robin’s life would have been if she had.

in a way, olvia reminds me a lot of kouzuki toki. they both die in order to fling a light of knowledge and hope into the future, and they both send their children away and choose to stay behind to choke on ash for the sake of a better tomorrow. 

i didn’t really notice until putting these panels together, but a lot of things burn in enies lobby. ohara burns, and the pluton plans and the world government flag, and enies lobby itself, and at the end, the going merry burns, too. if you extend it back to water seven, there’s the galley-la headquarters, too. in an arc that deals so much with the preservation and destruction of history and knowledge, it’s a fitting motif. 

the world government flag burning is still to this day one of the most striking panels out of a series full of them, in my opinion. in one act, the strawhats proclaim their absolute defiance against the world government, and their willingness to make enemies of the greatest power in the world for the sake of their friend.

it’s also another one of those moments that’s interesting to think about in the context of luffy’s past. it was a ship flying that same flag that shot sabo down, and while luffy wasn’t there to see it, i don’t think he’s oblivious to that fact, especially given how he says just before this he understands robin’s enemies perfectly.

dadan told him and ace that there was nothing they could do against the whole world, and luffy went and did it anyways.

sometimes i just think about how scary it must have been for robin, someone who’s been weighed down by the shackles of her past with no escape in sight for so very long, to open herself up and let herself hope, for life and freedom and a dream that’s always been out of reach. 

franky has a lot of really great moments between this arc and water seven- his conversation with usopp as usopp is working on merry and his talk with robin on the sea train are two others. it’s almost impressive how quickly he becomes an immensely likable character once we start getting to know him, given how he’s first introduced as an absolute piece of shit.

his burning of the pluton plans is a favorite of mine, and i think it might be because, like so many people before and after him, he’s choosing here to stake all his hopes on the strawhats, on luffy’s ability to pull off the impossible and on robin’s goodness. when robin’s only ever been chased and hated and called a demon by the world, franky chooses to trust her and luffy with the legacy his dad died for, and neither of them let him down.

monster point looks SO FUCKING TERRIFYING in enies lobby, and i LOVE it. look at that. franky is seven and half feet tall, and in front of monster point he’s tiny. monster point is huge, and dead-eyed, and a force of absolute destruction. i do kind of wish we got to see chopper go completely feral like this more often. he deserves to be terrifying!

i love how much FAITH all the rest of the strawhats continue to have in usopp throughout enies lobby. he left the crew and they really would have a right to be angry at him if they chose to, but it doesn’t even seem to cross any of their minds. they’re just happy he’s okay, and they include him again without missing a beat, because he’s still their friend and they know down to their bones they can trust him, even after everything. 

i’ve always really loved zoro and kaku’s little moment of post-battle banter here- zoro relays paulie’s message about cp9 being fired, kaku says he’s out of a job, zoro tells him to try the zoo, and kaku cracks up.

it feels very real to me for whatever reason, and i think part of it ties back into how well one piece handles morality with its characters- zoro and kaku are genuinely pretty similar people who get along decently, it just happens that they wound up on opposite sides. there are series where you’d never see moments like this due to the lines between good and bad being so firmly drawn, and i love how one piece blurs those lines so much they may as well not exist a lot of the time.

this is the other sequence, along with luffy climbing the drum rockies barehanded, that always makes me physically cringe to look at. it looks so painful. robin is so nearly powerless here, but not quite- she can still buy time for her crew to catch up, even if it’s only seconds, even if she risks shattering her teeth or even her jaw in the process. she’s spent so long giving up and has only just started daring to hope- she’s not about to go gentle.

there aren’t many panels that give me catharsis like this one. there really aren’t.

oda’s villains are usually complicated and awful and often a little admirable, if only for how clever or how terrifyingly powerful they are, but every now and then he comes up with someone who’s just pathetic and cowardly and pointlessly cruel. spandam is like this, obviously, and so is orochi, and the celestial dragons, and i’d argue flampe from whole cake island as well. and there’s nothing like seeing characters like them- weak, cruel people so assured in their own power and rightness- get obliterated.

one of the things i really like about enies lobby is that nobody really gets sidelined- everybody gets multiple chances to shine. luffy, usopp, and obviously robin are the most in focus, obviously, but zoro, sanji, nami, chopper, and even franky all get a bunch of individual awesome moments. oda’s ability to handle his cast satisfyingly is consistently really impressive (if sometimes strained in huge ensemble arcs like dressrosa or wano) and it really shows here, i think.

i just really love the entire climax of enies lobby. much like the arc as a whole, it just feels triumphant, even though the situation is extremely dire. luffy unlocking gear three, robin’s cuffs getting unlocked, usopp shooting spandam and the marines all the way from the tower of justice- it’s all just good, a long chain of much-needed victories and catharses, and it feels very good to read.

i’ll always be impressed by just how much characterization oda manages to give merry, a boat. she’s only really a character in water seven and the end of enies lobby, only about two chapters of which she actually speaks in. and yet i don’t think you’d find a single one piece fan who disagrees that merry’s death is easily one of the most heartwrenching in the entire series.

i love the reactions of the strawhats to robin’s thanks. they’ve just gone through hell to save her, most of them are beat to shit and they all risked their lives, and yet they all just smile, or brush it off, because to them there’s nothing else they could have done. it’s all worth it, so long as they got her back, so long as she’s safe and happy.

merry’s funeral just hits me in the chest every single time i read it. it’s tragic, of course, but there’s also something almost lovely about it, something peaceful about her getting to go out on her own terms, carrying her crew to safety one last time, defying every rule of the universe to do it. just like a strawhat pirate.

oda’s ability to communicate emotion through expressions really comes through here, too. merry has the only lines in this scene, fitting for her death in the limelight, but the shots of every other crewmate’s face let us know at a glance just what they’re all feeling and just how strongly they’re feeling it.

you know, i’d forgotten we only learn the name of the new world after enies lobby. we only get proper exposition about the revolutionary army and the yonkou here, too, despite them being set up since loguetown and jaya (or alabasta, or even chapter one if you count from shanks’s introduction) respectively. oda’s ability to parse out exposition and explanation so we always have just the right amount of information is really impressive- we always have more questions, but we also always have the feeling that those questions have answers, and that sooner or later they’ll be revealed.

points at shanks. i just think he’s neat.

it’s my opinion that one of the great joys of one piece is seeing luffy and the crew rise up in the world, and seeing them gain more and more notoriety. i love nothing they do ever happens in a vacuum- everything has impacts, and there are always outside eyes watching, and often those impacts are things that they never could have predicted.

ace and blackbeard is still, i think, definitely one of the coolest looking fights in the whole series. it’s not all that often we get to see two people with extremely flashy and showy abilities go all-out against each other, and the resulting fireworks are still really something to behold, despite how badly it all ends. 

[pagingdoctorbedlam]

What does CP9 do during the Halloween season?

What a wonderful question for my favorite holiday! Here you go under the readmore~

Rob Lucci: Lucci pretends not to care about Halloween. He holds onto his aloofness for as long as he can. But we KNOW he's the one who sews himself and Hattori matching outfits, and if you think this man isn't going to deck himself out for Halloween in the fanciest damn homemade outfit he can, you've got another thing coming. Lucci passively starts planning early, scribbling designs and acquiring fabrics on the sly, and spends all his October freetime in a frenzy of sewing. Not only will he and Hattori have outfits, but if someone else on the team doesn't have an outfit up to his standards, he'll make one for them as well. Can't let someone else's bad outfit drag the team down, after all. (And he's secretly proud of the praise his outfits get, even allowing a smile to break past the aloofness.)

Kaku: Kaku absolutely loves exploring in the time leading up to Halloween. The changing colors of the trees, the brisk air against his face as he runs, the decorations that slowly cover the buildings...everything's so fresh and exciting again! Kaku's also developed a habit of acquiring a spooky outfit ahead of time and bounding through the city at night, sparking a rumor of some creepy monster on the loose...only to reveal that it's been him all along on Halloween. (He gave Paulie in particular a pretty big fright one year).

Kalifa: Kalifa honestly isn't a huge fan of Halloween (ESPECIALLY all the guys leering at her "sexy" costumes), but she's not going to stamp on the others' joy so long as they don't drag her along on any foolish schemes. Besides, she's pretty unflappable when it comes to being scared, so she'll absolutely binge horror movies and laugh at every jump scare. Her inability to be scared means she gets dragged along to every scary excursion as the "brave friend", and she takes her payment in the choicest Halloween candy and seasonal beverages. No one has yet to scare her with anything aside from dirt.

Blueno: Blueno's used to being very busy on Halloween, especially during his time as a bartender. His humor gets more morbid but remains pretty deadpan, which he uses to great effect as he slings bizarre cocktails. And yes, he absolutely uses his devil fruit powers to slip in and out of places to scare people, even if it's simply by saying hi. The others might get annoyed at getting spooked, but it's rare to see Blueno legitimately enjoying himself, so they tend to let it slide.

Jabra: If you celebrate Halloween with Jabra, you WILL end up in a Haunted House or Corn Maze, and you WILL inevitably get lost and end up scaring the poor staff members. It happens every year without fail; Jabra goes off to find the biggest pumpkins for Halloween, gets distracted by haunted attractions, declares himself too brave to be spooked by anything, and in you go. Then his superstitious side kicks in. He punched a "ghost" once and nearly got arrested. At least afterwards, he'll get you some warm cider or something for your troubles. Jabra also notoriously goes nuts for pumpkin ale every Halloween.

Kumadori: As fun as modern Halloween can be, Kumadori knows the importance of keeping tradition alive. While he'll still celebrate Halloween with spectacular makeup and ghost stories, what he actually observes is the day afterwards (Samhain/Day of the Dead/All Hallows Day/etc). On this day, Kumadori sets out offerings and tells stories of the dearly departed, believing it to be the day when the dead are the closest to the world of the living. Expect lots of crying...but many of those are happy tears, full of love and memories. You are always welcome to join him to talk about your lost loved ones, if you don't want to be alone.

Fukuro: Fukuro absolutely loves Halloween. Particularly decorating; he's one of the best pumpkin carvers on the team, and he's got a knack for finding weird, kitschy decorations to hang up everywhere. He'll hide a few in unexpected places too; you may be finding Halloween decorations squirreled away in nooks and crannies for the rest of the year. He also loves telling ghost stories, and his gossipy manner of speaking leans into the telling really well.

BONUS Spandam: Spandam's favorite holiday is "Halloween is over and all the candy is 50% off". Doesn't like Halloween itself because he thinks everyone is out to scare him (which knowing his squad...they probably are). Hands out ancient leftover candy to Trick-or-Treaters, and saves anything with peanuts for Funkfried.

Nero: Keeps going to the scariest haunts in town to prove that he's tough...except he gets scared and sneaks out early, pretending he made it through in record time.

Bedlam (CP9 OC): Bedlam was very confused by Halloween at first...mostly the decorating of pumpkins instead of just eating this practically sacred food. While they're still a bit leery on that front, they'll happily sip any and all pumpkin-flavored beverages while snarking about the medical inaccuracies about various Halloween outfits and displays. They'll likely dress up for Halloween too, as it's one of the only times they can show off their wings without worry of repercussion.

[luccislegs]

Hello my queen, my holy grail, the almighty. I absolutely love everything you post. May I request head cannons for Kaku and maybe Lucci with them being with normal civilian women for the act. Please make it cute and fluffy with some spice please. Thank you. If your not able to I understand

⇥ rules!

⇥  non-one piece requests open!

— — —

kaku:

Kaku doesn’t feel too bad at first. Sometimes he’s reminded of his mission, but he’s prone to losing himself in the act and forgetting. He’s happy with a normal civvie life, more than he should be for an assassin playing a part. 

At some point, probably a few years into the program, it dawns on him that he can’t keep it up. His first thought is that he needs to end it. It might hurt, but it’ll still be better than you getting caught up and ostracized or worse. 

But then he gets home and sees you standing there, smiling so bright at him, so happy that he’s home, and the words get caught in his throat. You can tell something is up based on the pensive look on his face, but as soon as he catches you looking he flips it off, giving you just enough of a smile that lets you know he’s okay, just thinking. You give him a hesitant smile back, and the moment passes.

His favorite pastime is definitely cuddling with you. He’s been very touch starved, so any chance he gets he wraps you up in his arms. As soon as he walks through the door, if you aren’t there to greet him, he’ll seek you out and hug you from behind, nuzzling your hair and just breathing you in. Sometimes he’ll pick you up if you’re in the middle of chores and whisk you away, falling to the couch with you to nap or watch TV, snuggling close to you. There’s always that little niggling in the back of his mind, as he stares down at you sleeping peacefully in his embrace, that it’s the happiest he’s ever been and it’s going to end soon.

After a long day at work, he’ll sometimes go out with other members of Galley-La, just to keep up friendly appearances. And afterwards, he’ll meet up with the other members of CP9 and go through the same intel, picking apart anything new, and sigh with relief when he’s done. Hopping from rooftop to rooftop, the anxiety in his chest will ease as he slips into his home. The dark shape of you soothes any lingering unease as he slides into the sheets beside you. The gentle sounds you make as you curl up against him, running your hands down his muscled chest, the sleepy kisses you litter on his neck, all of it combines until he’s got you pinned to the bed.

By then, you’re awake enough to respond and arch up when his fingers slide up your sides to tweak a nipple, sighing and gasping his name in turns. It only encourages him to continue, now desperate to hear more pleas and calls of his name, needing to know that you’re his. He doesn’t rush, even though he’s tired and has work the next day, because he wants to commit every sound you make and the feel of your skin on his to memory.

When you come undone underneath him, he relishes the fingers tugging on his hair and digging into his shoulders hard enough to sting. He sags over you, still propped up on his elbows and his forehead resting lightly on yours as he catches his breath. Smiling back when you grin up at him, he rolls off of you, pulling you so close you’re practically laying on top of him and laying kisses everywhere he can reach. Sometimes there’s a sleepy conversation about the day, but more often than not you both fall asleep naked and sweaty, and it’s enough for him to forget that his reason for being in Water 7 isn’t you.

Lucci:

Lucci doesn’t actually start out as wanting anything to do with you. You’re just around him all the time at the cafe he frequents or the bar, and it builds into a friends with benefits situation. When he needs to blow off steam, you’re who he goes to.

After a while, though, he finds himself seeking you out for things that aren’t sex, like lunch or a stroll through Water 7 on a festival night. Sometimes, he’ll even find you waiting for him to leave work, suggesting dinner or some other activity you both enjoy. After a year, he would be more surprised if you *didn’t* know anything about each other. And no matter how hard he tried to keep his feelings separate from you, he’s cognizant that it didn’t work.

Unfortunately, Lucci doesn’t really care about your feelings. He’s still got that disconnection going for him, so when he leaves it won’t sting as much as it will for Kaku. At least, that’s what he tells himself, without realizing how compartmentalized his feelings are.

There are a lot of nights after the first year that he just sneaks into your house (with prior permission of course, you’ve had a talk about coming and going already) and crawls into the bed beside you. Sometimes he’ll wake you with warm, callused hands running down the skin of your thighs, spreading them for easier access to your center and relishing the gasps and cries of his name as he brings you over the edge. Other times he’ll simply fall asleep, not even bothering to drag you to him before he does, and yet somehow still finds himself entangled with you when he wakes up the next morning.

It becomes a routine before he realizes it, though he doesn’t ever allow you to come to his home, wanting the space to remain his and his alone, along with the comings and goings of the other CP9 agents. Being the leader, his house is the hub and he wouldn’t want you accidentally stumbling on anything you shouldn’t about the mission. It’s a point of contention in the relationship, one that he does everything he can to distract you from. It’s one of the few times he loses his temper when you pester him about it.

When news comes down that the Strawhats are about to show up in Water 7 and that the mission is to take the next step, he doesn’t hesitate to break it off with you. Regardless of your tears, confusion, and pleas, he remains stoic, telling you it simply isn’t working and leaving you. He doesn’t comfort you or reveal anything, leaving you cold and alone and hurt. He’ll say it’s for your own good, but in reality he can’t handle knowing that he failed in his mission not to get attached. When he gets home that night, he doesn’t sleep.

[multi-wild-imagines]

Just How Strong is Nero?

(So forgive me that this is not something that may appeal to anyone but I really wanted to share my ideas of this and my own observation.)

Let’s start off with the lowest CP9 member in the Doriki ranking, aside from Spandam himself, Kalifa ranks at 630 Doriki. What’s the point of that observation? Well Kalifa has mastered all 6 of the 6 Powers whereas Nero has only mastered 4 out of the 6 Powers.  Aside from that let us continue

I’ve been able to identify that each individual train on the Puffing Tom, has 24 seats and seeing that the navy/spies are sitting in twos. The seats are double-sided which did give me 12 of each side and together of course 24. And than 24 times the number of men per seat so 2 giving me a total of 48 men; that of course is an estimate depending on the sizes of men and space available but that is the best I can round it up to.  So now the order of the 7 cars from the end up starts with government officials and Jerry in the 7th, the 5th car with 40 (that will become important later) navy men and T-Bone, the 4th holds Wanze, the 3rd with Nero, the 2nd with the 4 CP9 members and of course the 1st with Robin. The 6th car held a few government officials along with both Usopp and Franky. As stated by Corgi (Government official) “They get stronger the further up you go in the train.” Nero falls behind Wanze who he himself is quite strong as evidenced by how Sanji who was having a hard time using his legs (that couldn’t hit Wanze) and had to rely on his acrobatic skills and using kitchen knifes to cut all of the ramen from Wanze, and then beating him senseless. It was thanks to the ramen armor that enabled Wanze to block Sanji’s kicks but aside from that Nero is the next one up indicating that he is stronger than Wanze.

His fight with Franky is the only time we see his fighting skills and well even his personality. He is shown to be quite nimble and flexible physically so that becomes an advantage to him. People has pointed him out to be gullible due to Franky telling him to look behind his back (Nero’s back) and sucker punching him. I mean that is something anyone would do even for an assassin I’d say the problem was that he wasn’t on guard, so I am taking that out of consideration that he is easily fooled.

So going back to the number of men per car; and once again as stated by Corgi the 5th car held 40 men so that allows me to know that the car can hold 40 men and potentially more. So with just the average Doriki for a navy men is 10; giving me 400. I’d say Nero’s Doriki does not go any lower than 400. I may be using this as a pointless logic but it does make sense in its own way to just give an indication for just Nero himself with just 4 of the 6 powers too.

I also was thinking about who would win in a fight between Nero and Kalifa. I’d like to think that it would be Nero (for that he is a personal favorite of mine). Getting rid of my own bias towards Nero I still think he’d have a chance. Say this is prior to Kalifa eating the Bubble-Bubble Fruit to make it more ‘fair’. Kalifa is quite strong herself but also riddled with little flaws. And in no way am I calling her dumb but it is what it is. Intellectually I believe Nero to be a tad bit smarter as in tactical and processing; I do say that for that Kalifa takes a while to understand that ‘monster’ was not Nami whom she thought it was. I mean it’s connection she made cause it was only Nami and her there so yeah it was a silly observation. But she’s not as smart as her secretary persona had seemed.  He may have a slight advantage with his pistols but only if he is able to bound Kalifa in place or slow her down or even fool her. It seems he can quickly identify weaknesses within others but with a bit more of fighting and time. I also do say that Nero may be smarter due to one silly reason; he knew what a Centaur was. Yes silly but the years that One Piece takes place in isn’t necessarily a period of vast information and easily accessible knowledge. It’s an extremely asinine claim but in my mind it makes sense. But in the end Nero may be stuck on the defensive side and subdued by Kalifa eventually.

With all of this I have concluded that Nero is defiantly under 600 and over 400 using the 10 Doriki per navy men in the cars. So with this I say that he is around 550 to 450 Doriki.

Nero is quite strong without a doubt but that is compared to regular people. Regardless he isn’t well loved or well cared for but I still think he was an interesting one indeed.

And let me say that I did use the Manga to get my information and so; this is merely but my own observation of this silly question.

~Noelle~