#don’t even get me started on Law choosing to pilot a *fucking submarine* like an absolute lunatic

[asymmetryestablished]

since my return to tumblr I’ve been seeing a lot of ppl talking abt disabilities & I have one piece brainrot real bad so I figured I’d babble a bit

it took me a weirdly long time to realize that... Shanks is disabled??? like. he lost an arm. if the fan theory is correct, he lost his sword arm. and only after losing his sword arm did this man go on to become one of the four most powerful people on the seas.

and he’s not the only one!!! Crocodile’s missing a hand. Tashigi’s probably legally blind without her glasses, which she keeps fucking losing. Fujitora’s blind, Zolo’s sense of direction is so bad it probably qualifies as some sort of intellectual disability — hell, Whitebeard himself, Edward fucking Newgate, is on a ventilator for the entire time he spends on the page/screen. and yet.

none of these people are defined by their disability. Whitebeard is considered the strongest man in the world. Zolo is fucking Zolo. Fujitora’s an admiral, which is the only reason I’m calling him Fujitora in the first place. Tashigi is Smoker’s right-hand man. Crocodile is one of the first truly imposing villains the straw hats come across, and, oh yeah, still making himself relevant nearly a thousand chapters later. and Shanks... well, Shanks is one of the Four Emperors, a.k.a. legally classified as one of the four biggest threats to the current world order. he’s doing pretty okay for himself for a guy who visibly struggles to button his shirts.

it just makes me think. Oda has made a world where disability accommodations are... normalized. in a weird sort of way, but still. hell, this is a maritime setting — having a devil fruit power is a permanent disability, and yet people don’t hesitate to take them on. because everyone is just... used to accommodating them. can’t swim? don’t go overboard, keep someone on watch around the water, bathe with a friend. only one hand? that’s fine, that’s why you keep your first mate around. can’t see? we have superpowers for that. we can handle it. to paraphrase Usopp: you do what you can, and leave the rest to your crewmates.

anyway I really love one piece