#don’t you just hate when people say Zoro has no character arc?

[kacievvbbbb]

I think it’s interesting how as time goes on Zoro kind of becomes more and more like mihawk in some ways whether that’s just because if you spend time with someone for 2 years you’re bound to pick up their habits or a deliberate attempt to emulate him is a conversation for another time. And Mihawk and Zoro where already pretty similar at the start so it’s a little hard to notice now.

But yeah whether unconsciously or consciously Zoro is becoming a bit more like Mihawk and it’s interesting to think that while this means maturing in some ways (he’s swordsmanship for one but he’s also just quieter much more assured of himself) it also means deaging in some others.

Despite their significant age gap and general dispositions, when it comes down to it Zoro is just a lot more emotionally mature and developed than Mihawk is. And a big part of why is because he found something larger than himself to devote his life too, hell Mihawk himself even kind of acknowledges this when he agrees to take Zoro on as a student when Zoro begs for the sake of his captain and crew. He acknowledges that putting aside his own ego and dreams for the sake of someone else isn’t something he can do and sees it as a fault in himself and a strength in Zoro.

Mihawk may be outwardly mature and his skills defiently did not stagnant but I’d wager that Mentally Mihawk is still stuck at the same age he was when he took over the title of world’s strongest swordsman. Honestly maybe even younger. And it isn’t until training Zoro, letting Perona stay with him, for probably the first time in his life taking charge of lives outside his own did he finally unarrest his development.

If Zoro is purposely trying to emulate Hawkeyes, which it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was that’s who he’s trying to be Afterall, then it would honestly set him back emotionally because fundamentally as he is now Mihawk’s attitude doesn’t work in a crew. It’s too singular, too abrasive. And while that abrasiveness can be useful in Zoro’s role as Luffy’s first mate sometimes it makes him a little too callous a little too apathetic, like with his disregard for Luffy’s sadness over vegapunk.

But Zoro has his crew to temper that, they are honestly just too ridiculous to ever stay serious around. And try as he might to hide it Zoro is also just a silly dude who likes to be horrifically petty with his opponents. And zoro still has so much fire in him, so much he has too prove and so much he wants to protect to ever really fall into Mihawk’s apathy. Zoro has Luffy who even after they reach their dreams will probably still continue to turn the world upside down forever keeping Zoro in some kind of trouble and his life interesting.

Zoro can’t be Mihawk because even Mihawk can’t be Mihawk anymore. Being with crossguild and crossing with the Red hair pirates and the strawhats is going to change him, it has too. if Mihawk is going to live after losing his title he’s probably gonna have to become a little bit more like Zoro.

[beanghostprincess]

I have this thought for quite some time, coming mostly from my twitter and Reddit interactions.

I kinda love the amount of hate I see towards Buggy. People hate how Oda loves this clown and keeps bringing him up, how he is getting more connections to story, how he gets that high bounty. They hate him because he doesn’t have powers, or isn’t smart.

And the fact that so many of them try to cope by putting Mihawk in place of Buggy is incredible. Mihawk is not some lost friend who is having insanely deep contention to shanks, BUGGY IS.

But I guess he’s not “cool and powerful” enough and they don’t get why shanks could be friends with “someone like that” (actual take I saw a lot).

I can’t wait for buggy to be more important just to see everyone lose their minds. If he gets to laugh tale, the best day of my life. And I’m not even that big on Buggy

These takes make me so angry because they're just??? Not true at all??? Most of these opinions come from the general audience and dudebros who don't take the time to analyze Buggy and just accept his character the way other characters see him. Instead of stopping for a second and thinking about why he does what he does and why Oda likes him so much, they just assume he's the lame clown everyone in the OP world thinks he is. Which is, in my opinion, extremely sad. And you don't even have to analyze shit?? Like, okay, I get it. Chapter 1082 is crucial for his character and perhaps if you don't read that you might think he's useless and Oda uses him too much for what he actually does for the story (bullshit, by the way, I'm just trying to find a reasoning behind their shitty takes). But after reading 1082??????????? Okay???? Whatever. Buggy haters get on my nerves, not because they don't like Buggy, but because they don't understand him.

Saying Buggy isn't smart is uhhh. It's just not true. The fact that he's constantly placed next to the biggest, most feared, and strategic pirates in the world just doesn't help him at all to prove that, tbh. I'd be scared af if I had gone through all the things he has, honestly. Like- People- People just ignore Water 7 and the whole thing with Usopp being a coward but wanting to be more than that because of his dream and that being scared doesn't necessarily mean something bad??? I think people just forget entire arcs and scenes to post these things. Buggy might not be the bravest but he understands the pirate world better than anybody and he's genuinely smart, he's just constantly placed in situations that force his character to be scared af (for obvious reasons) and everyone looks down on him for that. Which makes total sense for his character because his whole thing is feeling inferior and being compared to others when he has many talents himself. He isn't dumb, he just has the worst luck in the whole fucking world. Or the best. It sort of depends.

I think he lost his bravery and sense of adventure when he gave up on his dream, but now that he's being more confident in the fact that he could achieve it, we will see him using his full potential. And I am so, so excited for that. The speech he gives in chapter 1082 changed my life and it's easily my favorite chapter from the whole manga. I really, really hope they do something with that. I want him to have all the wonderful scenes he deserves.

And, okay, about the Mihawk thing: I don't agree with that that much? Like, okay, I can see people often making Mishanks relationship more than what it actually is, but tbf, Mihawk is barely a character here because Oda hasn't given him screentime of his own. He's always there for another character (Shanks, Zoro, Cross guild, etc). What we do know about him is that he went all his way to find Shanks and tell him about Luffy?? Like. Okay, babe, I know what you are. What we do know is that Shanks and him have something going on and I would really like to know WHAT exactly. I'm not even a huge Mishanks shipper but I completely understand why people like it. I prefer other ships like Shuggy and Cross Guild but, well, I don't think they use Mihawk to take over Buggy's place. I think they just want Mihawk to have some story because Oda barely gives him one. But I can see where you're coming from, though. I can see a lot of people using Shuggy's dynamic for them sometimes and it bothers me because these two have their own thing and they could easily just?? Ship both things??

People saying they don't understand why Shanks would be friends with somebody like Buggy is so funny to me, because we barely know anything about Shanks either, lmfao. He's the cool and powerful role model of the main character. He's literally the most cliché thing in the whole wide world, shut up. And I absolutely love him and he has wayyy more personality than these types of characters usually have, but I am tired of seeing takes like this as if Buggy wasn't one of the most interesting characters in this manga. But, also, Shanks would just?? Kick these people's asses for this shit. Saying you don't understand why Shanks would be friends with Buggy is just admitting you think the same way people in-world think about him, which is just admitting you don't understand his character. At least people in-world think that way because they don't know Buggy's story. You know Buggy's story. You should know why Shanks is friends with him and cares so much about him. But also?? Even if Buggy truly was a fucking loser with no talent and no dreams. Saying Shanks needs a reason for being friends with him is so dumb. Have you considered that... Sometimes... Most of the time... People don't have a reason for being friends with somebody and you don't need to find a reason for somebody's love?? Like- Perhaps Shanks just fucking loves Buggy because that's his childhood friend and he doesn't care about his abilities or talents. Perhaps he just loves him for who he is. I don't think it's that hard to understand, honestly.

You're not that big on Buggy, but I am. I really am. He's probably getting a tragic ending with Shanks but I do not care. If he ever gets to Laugh Tale or- Or if he ends up believing in himself finally. If he gets closure with him (which he will get, because Oda loves these two too much to leave them without closure). I will be the happiest person in the whole world. My mind and body say "Luffy king of the pirates!!" but my heart cries of happiness every time I think about Buggy being the king. I love him so fucking much.

[cozage]

A few people have asked…

So here’s the 2.5 things that I didn’t love about the OPLA

[SPOILERS FOR OPLA BELOW]

Again, just to reiterate: I LOVED the Live Action. It was beautiful, lovely storytelling. Everyone involved put everything they had in it and you can really see that.  But there were some changes that I didn’t think were justified, and they were both in Arlong Park.  

1. The Cocoyasi Village Residents genuinely hating Nami. In the manga and anime it’s very heavily implied (and maybe outright said? I can’t remember) that the residents of Cocoyasi Village are AWARE that Nami is trying to save their town. They only act like they hate her to try and get her to stop sacrificing herself. I’m not entirely sure why the call to change that was made, but it made me really sad the way Nojiko treated her in the OPLA (especially after seeing the moment in the manga where she tells Nami that “tattoos are just decoration; they don’t actually mean anything!”). A lot of the decisions to cut scenes with young Nami and Nojiko (and just young Nami in general) really took the punch out of her backstory. 

2. Garp and Koby meeting up with Luffy in the East Blue. I actually REALLY loved the Garp/Koby/Helmeppo storyline up until the last moment. I think it added to the world building and showed us very early on how the World Government is morally questionable and how the world operates. It also helped close the gap of how Koby and Garp got to know each other and how he falls under his command. I really enjoyed following them along for the ride. Until Cocoyasi Village. There was something about that moment that felt…off? I don’t even know why. Maybe it was because Garp has NEVER approved of Luffy being a pirate. He knows Luffys resolve, but he would never say “I was testing you to make sure you wanted this path” and then basically grant his blessing. I know there had to be some kind of resolution between them, but I didn’t like the way it ended. I wish it had been more like the Water 7 moment. Garp felt far too serious the entire time (the only time i really remember him laughing was when Luffy fired the cannonball back at the marine ship).

Impel Down spoilers

2.5 This is so small but we KNOW that Buggy cannot travel without his feet (unless I’m misremembering?). He has a range and cannot move out of it. So his head hitching a ride to the Baratie is just so canon-breaking it HURT ME. I know it’s unlikely we’ll ever make it to Impel Down for that to be a problem (I genuinely think Skypiea would probably be the last arc the LA could cover, but Water 7/Enie’s Lobby could be done if the budget was big enough) but it just BOTHERED ME. WHY. WHY DID THEY DO THAT. I know there’s ways to fix it (maybe he can’t MOVE after a certain range, but can still be carried?) but STILL. 

That’s really it, honestly. I know a lot of people had gripes about Usopp and Syrup Village, but I liked the changes. I never felt like Usopp was overshadowed (plus, background character is the way he likes it honestly, keeps him away from danger). I liked that Kaya was so welcoming and a part of the bigger storyline, and I loved the way it took place in the mansion instead of on the beach. I was OBSESSED with the way they did the Baratie, Sanji’s interactions, Mihawk's reasoning for going to the Baratie, and how he left Zoro and Luffy. 

I. ATE. UP. the zolu content during the Baratie and Nami/Zoro sibling dynamic really coming out there. Oda approved the absolute BEST changes during Baratie specifically, hes so real for that. 

I’m going to watch it again with my family, maybe I’ll feel differently after I rewatch.  Again it’s imperative you guys understand I ADORED this show, and I NEED a season two IMMEDIATELY. It was fantastic and if you haven’t watched it, go do that right NOW. 

[olivereactsaboutgarbage]

One Piece - Volume 35

Haha!! WOWIE!!! YIPPEE!!! I’VE RETURNED TO POSTING WITHOUT MAKING ANY NOTABLE MISTAKES!!!

I love One Piece! I love pirates! I love long-running shonen manga! And I also love italicizing random words for no reason! Do not pay very close attention to which words I italicize in what order! IT’S NOT INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT!!!

Chapter 328 - The Pirate Abduction Incident

Admittedly, even though February and March were, for certain reasons, not good months for me to have this additional task on my plate and actually expect to get it done consistently, the long absence has also done a number on me. What was happening in One Piece again? There were like fifteen new characters or something? I think I got spoiled at some point in February or March that one of them was evil... who were any of the fifteen of them again??? I don’t even remember when it was that I got spoiled.

Eh, I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’ll just jump into it! How much could I possibly have forgotten?

What? WHAT’S bad? What’s Sal talking about? Uh, hasn’t Oda ever heard of providing context clues??? -_-

Anyway, Tony Tony Chopper is standing near Sal, but Nico Robin isn’t. No one is a fan of that turn of events.

Oh right, I forgot, Sonic’s friend Tammy was in this arc being the mirror version of Sal. I hate Sonic’s friend Tammy! I hope he’s the person who I got spoiled about being evil.

Sonic’s friend Tammy says the Merry Go doesn’t have a spinal cord anymore. The... uh... what was I calling the guy from Ace Attorney: Justice For All? I guess I can call him Matt Engarde. Matt Engarde adds that carpenters don’t have access to cloning technology, so a ship without a spinal cord is dead with no cheap workarounds possible. It sucks for Lufpy... but I’d trust any assertion that came from Matt Engarde!

Lufpy doesn’t want to accept it. He doesn’t want to have to change this manga’s branding and merchandise. This, uh, this guy named... *checks notes WITHOUT GOLFING since I DON’T EVEN NEED TO GO GOLFING* Lorenz Hellman Gloucester Slightly To The Left... is his name. That guy tells Lufpy that makes Lufpy a bad person. Well, that’s true enough I suppose, if you take into account that capitalism systemically destroys innocent people.

Also there’s a guy who looks like a fed who hates the feds, and a fed who looks like an outlaw.

nami aren’t you an accomplished pickpocket yourself

Anyway, Nami decides to go to Franky’s House. I think that’s where the circus freaks live?

Unfortunately, Usopp is yet again dead while Nami is nearby. He’s lying on his back...

Chapter 329 - My Name Is Franky

Actually, I take back what I said about Lufpy being a bad person. The high ethical cost of survival increases the minimum severity of bad actions necessary to overcome humanity’s innate goodness.

That aside, chapter 329 begins with a flashback to what happened right after chapter 328. From that, I can intuit that a timeskip happened right after chapter 328!

Anyway, now that the flashback is over, it’s time for Zoro to talk to Sal and Sal’s friend Tony about what’s going on.

no, humans do that too

Well, maybe ships are still unique in that they do that in water. Humans tend to have a nice time in water, or drown, or both. Hey, that sentence I just said is kinda like the thesis statement of One Piece!

Anyway, Franky’s gimmick is that he has terrible financial sense. “Finally,” he says, “I have the exact amount of money I need, instead of slightly less. Since I don’t have slightly less, I won’t run into the problem where I spend it instead of having it when I need it. As a reward for giving me the exact amount of money I need, here’s money.”

Also, Usopp is there, because he changed his mind about being dead. Also, Franky is a star man, but like, also a robot? Hey, that’s just like Earthbound! Wait, but Earthbound’s gameplay isn’t very fun since there’s a lot of grinding, so why is Usopp there at Earthbound? I thought better of you, Usopp.

You’re one to talk, no-nose boy.

I refuse to acknowledge that triangle on Franky’s face as a nose. It is little more than a defect. Anyway, it looks like he’s wearing a mask, which would be on-brand for this arc since it’s an arc about people who wear masks, so he probably has no nose underneath.

See, I told you all Tony Tony Chopper was a yandere! Now he’s killing people so he can show off their blood. I knew something like this would happen.

Zoro, Tony Tony Chopper, and Sal all stand there and watch as Lufpy hilariously dies in water. And guess whose duty it is to save Lufpy from drowning? That’s right. SAL’S, AS ALWAYS.

Next, it’s time for the Combatant Trio to beat up Franky’s House. Already, I guess. Also, they’re mad at the house instead of the Starman, I guess. Also, Tony Tony Chopper grew huge muscles to blend in seamlessly among them, I guess.

Chapter 330 - It's Decided

WHAT??? TWO GUNS??? WHEN DID NAMI GET TWO GUNS? I THOUGHT HER THING WAS THE BIG STICK OF UNIMPRESSIVE MAGIC, WHEN DID SHE GET TWO GUNS

One of the Titans from Attack on Titan dies. I’m gonna be honest: That Titan had the type of swag I want, just... grotesquely warped, in true Attack on Titan fashion. I think I’m going to make that One Piece character my new Titansona. I will not show a picture of him.

The Combatant Trio and their sidekick continue to do various cool moves, so people start throwing garbage at them. The garbage does not prevent them from killing the house they hate so much.

Lufpy decides to stop being a capitalist, because on second thought he doesn’t even care that much about merchandise or branding.

Chapter 331 - The Big Argument

We open on the fed who looks like an outlaw. He’s not having a good day :(

Also, Lorenz Hellman Gloucester Slightly To The Left has a picture of Nico Robin as a little baby with lots of numbers on it. I miss Nico Robin. Where’d she run off to

Usopp is very much not a fan of Lufpy’s decision not to be a capitalist. I bet Usopp felt SO GOOD about his backstory being essential to the manga’s entire brand, huh? I bet it made him SO HAPPY. Well now he’s super upset instead, so the joke’s on him.

Oh right, I forgot how good Sal is at calling people out on their bullshit when it’s not his turn to be an idiot. It’s a good thing I didn’t forget anything else about Sal!

Lufpy decides to beat up a recovering hospital patient. Wait, and USOPP is involved in this situation, too?! I thought better of you, Usopp.

Sal tries to put a stop to this, but the events that will result in the End of Usopp have already been set in motion. Usopp decides a good way to accelerate this process is by challenging Lufpy to a duel.

Chapter 332 - Luffy vs. Usopp 

awww sad puppy :(

Usopp unleashes his most powerful attacks against Lufpy, but all it does is make a puppy sad. Zoro doesn’t want puppies to be sad, but he is powerless in the face of Usopp. There’s nothing to be done.

Damn this is badass. Usopp is way better at beating up Lufpy than Zoro is. Zoro was so bad at it, he accidentally beat someone else up instead. Although that’s in-character because Zoro is stupid <3.

Also, prior to those panels, Lufpy told Usopp to stop being a comic relief character. That was rich, considering who it came from. Anyway Usopp blows him up

Chapter 333 - Captain

Wow! 333! I won’t reach a chapter number this exciting again until 4444.

Lufpy finally ekes out the slightest advantage after spending the entire fight not doing that, but even that was exactly as Usopp planned. Lufpy is largely incapable of failure though, so Usopp‘s plans don’t matter much. Then Lufpy says “Well, obviously. Anyways I forfeit. You suck”

Sal attempts to prevent Tony Tony Chopper from doing doctor stuff to Usopp, saying that would be just as shameful as it would have been for Usopp to back down or something like that, but Tony Tony Chopper leaves some doctor stuff with Usopp anyways.

Chapter 334 - Big Trouble in the Secret Room 

It’s the Bean Bonus Room...! Hmm. Don’t ask me what that’s a reference to, because I wouldn’t be able to tell you.

Ooh! Is this arc gonna be a MURDER MYSTERY ARC with Lorenz Hellman Gloucester Slightly To The Left as the victim?! Hmm... Lufpy’s crew would need a detective... better hold off on getting a carpenter for now then. Which means they can just leave. Phew, glad this arc is over with! ...Wait, they don’t have a ship anymore. Well, Usopp can just leave, and everyone else can stop being main characters.

Lufpy and Nami are going to deal with the main plot, Oda forgot to include Nico Robin in this volume, Sal and Tony Tony Chopper are journeying to Oda to remind him about that, and Zoro... uh... Zoro... uh...

I guess sitting arcs out has historically been a favorite pastime of Zoro’s, so maybe this is no surprise.

OHHH, I forgot this arc had a train! Is the reason this arc has a train because it’s a murder mystery arc?! Franky loves being a train passenger.

Oh, and according to the Obligatory Murder Mystery Medical Professional, yet another mask is relevant in this arc. I hadn’t realized it until I’d written it out earlier in this post, but this arc really is going to be “ABOUT MASKS” in the same way as the Noland Kong arc was “ABOUT GODS”, isn’t it? The Quadruple-H mini-arc, then, would just have been a little bit of narrative housekeeping, like setting up Nico Robin’s whole dealio so that her character arc is primed and ready to intersect with this arc’s themes. Are all the One Piece arcs from here on out going to so heavily deal with themes relating to fundamental aspects of humanity and society? ...I mean I guess you could argue that that’s been a thing this whole time, but not nearly this deftly until recently. Bro... One Piece is good... and on an upward quality trajectory...

Sorry, I’ll stop rambling and get back to actually reading and commenting on One Piece like I’m supposed to be.

Franky took his mask off.

Chapter 335 - Warning

Well, his mask is off, but his face is imperceptible by the audience, and he’s mad. Meanwhile, the Scary Heart Woman has Scary Plans. This is due to the nature of some strange calamity that the townsfolk have gotten so used to that one of them is like “You DON’T KNOW?” when Sal asks.

OH... FRANKY IS... UM... FRANKY IS... UM...

Ugh, do I actually need to find the words to describe this?

Wait, I literally don’t. Check this out:

This is not what I expected from the leader of a gang of circus freaks who repeatedly get killed. The mask was somehow LESS bombastic than his face. I barely even get how that’s possible.

Oh, I was thinking to myself that Franky and Nico Robin BOTH seem too obvious to be the culprit if this were a true murder mystery, assuming we put aside the fact that Nico Robin has been a protagonist lately. I guess I was right to be thinking that, because the victim just implicated one and a half of the two of them.

I’m sure I would be blown away by this turn of events if I didn’t know how murder mysteries worked and was therefore very easily impressed, but neither of those things are true, so I’m just going to move on to the next chapter now.

Chapter 336 - Luffy vs. Franky

Franky... or, I guess now that his mask is off, I know him well enough that it’s not rude of me to just call him Ky, still has a rather inorganic nose after removing his mask. My assertion that he was a no-nose boy seems to hold water!

Also, he seems to be charging up a super attack, but Lufpy has not taken that as his cue to run. That’s Lufpy for you!

Ky’s super attack is actually fire elemental. Not only is Lufpy completely fine, but so is Nami, so I guess it was correct of them not to run. Good thinking on their part then.

Imagine if Nami was correct and Ky just died here after all the buildup. That would be funny. ...Which makes it entirely plausible. Except Ape already called dibs on fire powers, so probably not. Oda wouldn’t do something that would run the risk of making the audience get bored of fire powers, because then the audience might go away.

Predictably, Ky isn’t actually a fruit guy. He does have something no Devil Fruit holder ever will... detachable hands. I bet Lufpy is now regretting the fact that he didn’t run! Because when people don’t run, they regret it!

Meanwhile, Lorenz Hellman Gloucester Slightly To The Left is implicating the entire crew as conspirators against him. Well, that’s definitely wrong! He should really run those numbers again! He should do it now before it’s too late!

There’s also a cabinet barbarian.

Wait, woah, Ky has like, a gun with a scope? So he’s like DOING THE CYBORG THING doing the cyborg thing, then. Wacky! Almost as wacky as saying “there are only seconds remaining you fools, flee now I’m begging you” to a stinky pigeon! XD

Anyway, the fight between Lufpy and Ky gets interrupted pretty quick, because it’s Lorenz Hellman Gloucester Slightly To The Left’s squad of goons here to make Lufpy say he’s sorry! So sorry, but you had your chance! Is what they’ll make Lufpy say!

It’s good to be reading One Piece again.

It’s fun to be reading One Piece again.

I think I’m ready to not be nearly as absent if you stick around and keep checking this blog, or hit the follow button or whatever, so do STAY! :)

Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY! Do STAY!

[wellfine]

Seeing the Sanji gaining weight after wci post immediately after the SH body types post made me wonder if your Sanji is... actually underweight/close to underweight? Like it doesn’t seem quite Sanji-Zeff dynamics to remain distressingly underfed dispute an athletic lifestyle but at the same time, ‘Sanji doesn’t believe he deserves more food than some unfeeling distant guide to correct living tells him he does’ feels very correct. So I imagine he stress eats during WCI and gains like 15 kilos and then post wci loses maybe 5-7 of those kilos, ultimately coming into equilibrium at something closer to a healthy body weight now the true depth of his trauma has been laid bare & accepted by the straw hats

Oops! You activated my deep Sanji headcanon trap card! Lotta words below (CW for talk of disordered eating)

I definitely drew/see Sanji as being a little underweight due to a difficult relationship with food, which I tried to hint at in my notes, but I tend not to say it outright that often because it always invites people with weird attitudes about disordered eating/underweight bodies/etc. I also tried to contrast between his "repose" and the other characters' to show how his body fat percentage tends to stay lower, while the other characters fluctuate (e.g. Zoro) or stay at a higher BF% and end up with less visible muscle definition as a result (e.g. Usopp).

To be totally honest with you Sanji has a lot in common with people at risk of disordered eating - traumatic childhood, being told he was worthless, especially based on his failure to achieve physical 'perfection', total deprivation of control over his earlier life (both when he was on Germa and when he was starving with Zeff), specific lack of control over his food (starving with Zeff especially), a love of food that manifests in preparing food for others' enjoyment rather than his own, and general difficulty accepting his own self-worth (running to Germa in order to save anyone, his difficulty accepting that Luffy wanted him as his chef, his attempt to sacrifice himself at Thriller Bark, etc).

People have misconceptions about what an eating disorder is, and whenever I try and bring it up, there are people who say he could never have one because "he starved once, why would he ever go hungry again!!" (when food scarcity especially in early childhood is a HUGE contributor to developing disordered eating) "he's a chef he loves food" (not everyone with an eating disorder hates food) "he's not underweight" (I mean, thanks to their overrepresentation in media people don't always recognise what underweight bodies really look like, especially when those people are also muscular, but to wit, you do not need to or want to be underweight to have disordered eating) "he's not a teen girl" (eyeroll emoji)... and not even touching the worse comments that dump on people with disordered eating etc. in order to insist their fav could NEVER, as if it's a moral judgement to have an ED, and implying it would somehow be an insult to Sanji.

Fact of the matter is most people's disordered eating has nothing to do with how they look, though I think you could also make the argument Sanji meets that criteria, too (I don't think a dude whose most defining character trait - tied with his eyebrow - is that he covers half his face 24/7 could be described as "confident in his appearance"). Most eating disorders emerge from a lack of control, which is like... Sanji's whole thing. He had no control over his life at Germa, he had no control over his situation on the rock, and we can see how fastidious he is about other aspects of control in his life as an adult. Monitoring his food intake down to the kilojoule is a very likely way he might deal with the trauma he's gone through. There's also the desire to make invisible/internal trauma visible, like other forms of self-harm. I think Sanji both wants people to worry about him and also wants nobody to know anything is wrong with him whatsoever and so it could easily manifest in passive ways like this - Zeff or Nami etc. worrying over "have you eaten enough?" is much easier for him to process and accept than anyone recognising his internal trauma.

All this to say, I think Sanji - probably without even consciously realising it - has a complicated relationship with feeding himself that manifests in him maintaining a borderline-underweight BF% for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with his appearance. I don't think he would've been underfed while at the Baratie, but I still think he would've been developing controlling compulsions around food that would've grown more once he left that environment and was solely in charge of not only his nutrition, but an entire crew's.

I think he probably tries to make sure he eats enough, mostly so that he can still be a useful and functional Straw Hat, but it's a manual thing. Like he doesn't realise until he's back underweight again and starting to notice the effects and has to pour butter over all his meals for a few weeks, lmao. And I think he definitely struggles emotionally with the idea of not "deserving" or "earning" certain foods, and using food (or lack thereof) as a way to punish himself. Add on to the fact that he's been smoking since he was a kid so his appetite is probably shot to hell, and I think you just have a guy whose natural inclination is not to eat more than absolutely necessary and oh, oops, he has a whole ship full of people he loves more than anything he has to feed first, guess he'll just have to make do on the scraps.

A few others have also pointed out the aspect of weight gain as a form/result of healing from trauma, and I can totally see this for Sanji, too. Comfort eating often stems from the exact same reasons as restrictive eating, control/lack thereof again being a major one. I don't think he would have to lose any of the weight gained in order to be happy or healed, though. Maybe he would gradually lose some of the weight he gained during WCI, maybe he wouldn't, but I think overall the arc works as a very appropriate backdrop to explore Sanji working through and starting recovery from disordered eating on top of his recovery from his other traumas.

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

The Voyage So Far: Thriller Bark

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)

the tone of thriller bark is super fun- the combination of horror and comedy is done really well, and i like how it’s set at the very start, with the introduction of a seemingly terrifying situation and character (brook and his ghost ship) that are very quickly revealed to be anything but. 

i also like that we hear singing and see music notes before we ever even see brook. we’re associating our musician with music before we even know him. 

brook’s recruitment is delightful, and so very luffy. of course he would want a talking skeleton musician on his crew, and of course he wouldn’t be fazed by brook in the slightest except to think he’s cool. i love him a lot. 

for the most part, thriller bark isn’t actually scary despite its horror theming- but it does get some good moments in, and of them, i think the reveal of cindry’s room is definitely the best. it’s not scary, necessarily, but it’s deeply creepy, and only becomes more so when you learn why it’s like that and what exactly hogback did. 

i love how team-based thriller bark feels. especially immediately following water 7/enies lobby (in which two crewmates leave and the crew has to deal with a ton of internal strife) and preceding sabaody (where the crew gets separated), it’s just so nice. it’s most obvious in the team fight versus oars (and i’ll get to that later because i LOVE it), but also in smaller moments like robin and franky’s team fight against the spider zombie.

the team just feels so cohesive in thriller bark, and it’s really good. robin and franky are the two newest crewmates, but they already trust each other enough to pull off some fantastic teamwork. 

usopp is really good in thriller bark. he also has the best outfit in this entire arc. 

my two favorite fights in this arc are usopp versus perona and zoro versus ryuuma, for very different reasons. 

zoro’s fight with ryuuma is fantastically cool, and i really like the level of respect and understanding that seems to exist between them. you have an ancient samurai and a modern samurai, separated by several hundred years, dueling it out to the best of their abilities- it’s really just awesome. 

usopp’s fight with perona is very different, because they’re both people who hate fighting directly and will avoid it whenever possible. their fight is a mess of diversions and distractions that makes usopp’s moments of courage and triumph, like sticking his hand into a bear’s mouth, not to mention his ultimate victory, all the more satisfying. 

i just really like seeing usopp grow and accomplish things!!

i’m aware there’s an argument to be made that the character we meet in this arc isn’t really ryuuma, because ryuuma is 1) dead and 2) possessed by brook’s shadow, but it isn’t going to stop me from saying ryuuma is awesome. 

the clouds of fire he’s frequently shown with are also gorgeous, and definitely evocative of the style oda will later use to draw wano, which is a very cool touch. 

everything about cindry makes me so, so sad. 

i’d also argue that the fact that she overcomes hogback’s conditioning by finally expressing emotion, first by crying and then by smiling, is the first manifestation of the same thread we’ll later see with koala and the slaves of the celestial dragons. one piece says over and over again that there is no point where someone stops being human, no matter how much agency they’re robbed of. 

i just think nami giving her attempted rapist several thousand volts to the face is very very sexy of her

like i mentioned, the crew against oars is such a HIGHLIGHT of this arc. i think it’s one of the only times we actually see the entire crew focused on a singular opponent (the only other case i can think of is the pacifista and then kuma at sabaody), and it’s just so much fun to see. 

i also appreciate that the strawhats carry the first half of this fight without needing luffy to be there. he might be their captain and the linchpin of the crew, but they’re still a crew when he’s not around, and still very capable of working together without him. 

this is just still one of my favorite gags.

continuing re: the team fight against oars, the final sequence where the entire crew coordinates for one final attack, some of them working to incapacitate oars and others to weaken him and other to position him just right for luffy’s final blow to paralyze him- that’s the GOOD SHIT.

i don’t know that there’s much i can say about zoro’s confrontation with kuma that hasn’t already been said, so all i’ll say is that zoro’s loyalty to luffy is absolutely staggering, and hits me in the chest every time i so much as think about it.

zoro has the second “luffy’s going to be pirate king” moment, i believe, after usopp in alabasta, and definitely one of the most memorable. 

there’s something about luffy on top of brook’s piano that always delights me. i think this is their dynamic in a picture: brook playing music, and luffy listening, and talking, and cheering him up. 

there’s something about the ending of thriller bark that really hits, in a way not really shared by other arcs. there’s a certain finality to it, a swan song. i think it was sarc opbackgrounds who pointed out that unlike most other character flashbacks, which come at the middle of the arc to add extra weight before the climax, brook’s comes at the end. the battle’s already finished, and now it’s time for him to close out the last fifty years and bid farewell to his old crew before setting sail for a new dream. 

it’s really nice. this is how the rumbar pirates get to go out: singing and dancing, after the battle’s already won, as their last survivor finally gets pick his hopes and dreams back up again and set out to sea once more.

it’s not a panel, really, but i feel like i have to include binks no sake in here. for one, it’s a really good song and sticks in my head like glue whenever i so much as see the lyrics. second of all, it’s the pin that holds this ending together, the shared point between the past and the present. the rumbar pirates sing it for their final performance and they sang it for laboon years before; brook sings it alone to himself on his ship, lost in the fog; and the strawhats celebrate and dance and sing it at the tops of their lungs.

i’m a sucker for a good musical throughline, but i think this is probably the first time i’ve ever seen it done well in a fucking text-based medium. 

i’m happy for him :’)

i LOVE the new crewmember toasts so much. look at them!! look how happy they all are!! 

[rodeoxqueen]

Dante, Vergil, and V Watching One Piece With Their Male S/O

Howdy, 

This is a surprise gift-fic for @mooshs-crack-headcanons. Paul, if you are reading this, *socially-distanced cowboy kisses*. For my lone rangers who don’t watch One Piece, get on that horse because this show is fantastic. 

-Rodeo

Dante 

“Alright, I’ll watch it with you.” He says, coming over to your place on Cavaliere. He doesn’t really watch that much TV. Mind you, he doesn’t pay the internet and cable bill anyway. 

Dante has a really bad attention span for keeping up with shows. However, One Piece always has flashbacks to the previous scenes and he can always catch back up after spacing out.

 He never remembers the names. He just calls them by their hair color or powers. 

He likes Shanks and Ace a lot. He relates to the older and carefree Shanks and of course he loves that fiery cowboy. (When you-know-what happens, he actually starts sobbing. )

“I can tell why you like this show’s characters so much.” 

“Why’s that?” He gestures to his own chest and Zoro’s bare torso.

“You like man boobs, don’t you babe?” He teases. You smack him on the left tit. 

He really loves the zany chaotic scenes in the show, such as Luffy just grabbing his friends and catapulting them somewhere. The absurd humor really gets him laughing, such as when Zoro, Nami, Brook, and Kinomon are running around in Punk Hazard. 

“Wow, that was a lot for one arc.” 

“Wait till we get to the 900th episode-” 

“W H A T.” 

His brain explodes at the Wano arc. 

“I connected the lines-”

“You didn’t connect shit.” 

 He will make up his own attack names.  

“Gomu gomu no…...getting a beer.” He laughs as he pops open a Bud Light. 

“Gomu gomu no….smacking my boyfriend on the ass!” You hate that one. 

All in all, he loves the show and watching it with you.

Vergil 

Vergil doesn’t know why you agreed to sit down and watch so many hours of One Piece. However, it gives him an opportunity to hold you as he reads his poetry book. 

Eventually, the crackhead nature of the show distracts him and he ends up watching it with you. 

He actually gets really into the lore of the show. The poneglyphs and the origin of the devil fruits are fascinating concepts to him. 

“Of course you’d be into the devil fruits, Vergil.” You scoff as he gently traces your neck. 

“Don’t forget who’s your king.” He snarks back, smirk dropping as Luffy shouts another ridiculous attack name. 

“He sounds like my idiot brother.” Vergil gripes as you refill your glass.

There’s a lot going on in this show, a lot of action and a lot of slapstick humor. He has a blank stare but it’s because he’s trying to read into everything. 

Vergil remembers all the characters’ names, but forgets their faces. The opposite of his brother. 

The fight scenes are very interesting. He always gazes at the sword fights with this intensity, scrutinizing what the characters can do. 

He probably tries a couple moves like Law’s Room and Zoro’s One Sword Style. He doesn’t know what a weab is but still assaults Dante when he calls him that. 

One time you caught his doppelganger doing Franky’s “Super” pose and you laughed so hard you cried and slid down a wall, unable to stand up. He tries to convince you it never happened. It definitely happened. 

He tries not to be emotional when he learns about the Donquixote brothers’ backstory. One brother giving everything for power, the other brother fighting against him? Where has he heard this before? 

He likes how One Piece gives these powerful, top dog characters such riveting although sometimes strange backstories. It’s humanizing and validating. 

Vergil attempts not to show that Mihawk is his favorite. 

“He’s the most reasonable one here. It is relatable.” He argues. 

“Yeah, just like you, he also has a punk goth child with an attitude.” You point to Perona on the screen.

“Foolishness.” He says endearingly. 

It’s a decent show. He always knows where you guys left off, no matter what. 

V

V loves hearing about what makes you passionate. So when you talk about this pirate show, he offers to watch it with you. 

Next thing you know, he’s just blown away at how this show is about pirates but strays so far from that historical period. 

“My love, there is a pink birdman-” 

“Yeah, that’s just the tip of this iceberg.” 

Griffon joins you in your escapades, Shadow not caring to do anything but cuddle the two of you. 

V appreciates a good backstory and inner monologue. Connecting the plot points and character motive allows him to tolerate the moments of excessive fanservice. 

“I would ponder why anyone would consider this appropriate. This does not move the plot in any way.” 

“Yeah, straight people are crazy.” 

“Agreed.” 

Griffon loves Doflamingo. So, so much. V, on the other hand, prefers Basil Hawkins and Law.

“Gee, I wonder why.”

Law’s tattooed and sarcastic, Basil mysterious and poetic. Those two are literally your boyfriend’s fusion. He’s also white-blonde and black-haired too. What a coincidence. 

Law’s backstory gets V a little bit under the weather. It’s a bit too relatable for him. Luckily, you’re there to comfort him.

“But look! After everything, Law got a lot of friends and crewmates who would do anything for him, and a giant polar bear.” 

“Yes, you’re right. I have my family and darling muse right by my side.” Griffon squawks as Shadow raises her head and grumbles with disapproval. 

“Hey, asshole-” 

“And yes, my panther familiar and pestering chicken,” V smirks. 

V appreciates the show and once in a while, he will laugh at a well-placed joke. 

All in all, the boys have fun watching One Piece. It’s slapstick but handles social topics and tragic backstories with such grace. Although some points are oddly too relatable or hit a soft spot for these Spardas, it makes them feel like Oda actually understands them in a distant way. 

[side-lizabeth]

ONE PIECE DRESSROSA-ZOU ARCS IMPRESSIONS

This part is the spoiler-free part of my impressions.

I don’t know what I was expecting from Dressrosa but it didn’t left me wanting for more... outside the animation part, probably. But I mean when you get spoiled on how OP’s being animated rn, no sh*t. Although I really did enjoy the new characters. Cavendish is accidentally becoming one of my favourite characters and this is because of the anime of Gintama... But that’s because I’m finding more and more seiyuus in One Piece that just so happened to be voicing recurrent characters (or straight up main characters) in Gintama, so I shouldn’t be suprised.

And then there’s Zou and I’d lie if I’d say I should have had expected an island with furries, and yet I didn’t. ...and once again the “holy sh*t I wasn’t expecting these seiyuus being in One Piece too” striked back. But at this point I don’t know if it’s really because of Gintama or just because I’m starting to go back to my old teen hobbies like when I was a hardcore Seiyuu fan, and recognizing a lot of seiyuus is giving me a huge bust of serotonin. (?)

Above all, I liked Dressrosa more than Zou, even if Dressrosa has... it’s own issues.

If you want to go straight up to the spoiler section, click down here:

Let’s start with Dressrosa:

I thought to just continue this lil update, where I started the non spoiler section by saying that I won’t feel any shame or make an apology for reblogging non stop posts of Roronoa Zoro, I’m still on that Idea, fight me if you want(maybe no); but I decided to explain more about my first impressions, and then maybe elaborate extra stuff from those bullet point-lighning round from that post.

Overall, I had fun. I geniuently enjoyed Doffy as a villain, and his motivations where pretty interesting too. NGL, this arc is basically new world Alabasta” and it pretty much shows... But the thing is that this time it was a little bit more interesting because of Doffy.

Doffy being the combo of Warlord and Celestial Dragon may sound like that moment of the Simpsons of “it’s just the same doll but with a new hat” in comparison to Alabasta, but even if I also enjoyed Crocodile as a villain in there, at least Doffy had a more interesting backstory and motivations to explore... while Crocodile was just an excuse to show off Nico Robin in all her glory. That’s it. I said it. (and probably made a fwend sad). Please, Crocodile, sir, next time you come back please do show us the secret Ivankov and you only know and then we talk.

Overall, I just had the time of my life hating Doffy, that’s it. I’m not going to try to explain anything else. I’m a basic b*tch whose favourite villains are the ones who are just so evil I just have the time of my life hating on. Like Tsurumi from Golden Kamuy, another despicable motherf*cker, for instance.

And now that I’m talking about Doffy... I KNOW UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE LIKE CORA-SAN AND I ALSO JOIN THE GANG. BEST FATHER EVER AND HE BARELY WAS ONE FOR 6 MONTHS. BUT GAVE BABY TORAO ENOUGH LOVE TO PREVENT HIM FROM BECOMING LIKE HIS BROTHER. KUDOS TO HIM.

...Btw, I just need to break this impressions one moment to openly say that, as a Spaniard, I feel weird now saying Doffy’s entire name. For a reason. And Cora-san’s too. Now I understand english speakers(americans to be more precisely) when they watch Bungou Stray Dogs and some characters from there just happened to be named after famous english literature writers... (the first comparison I just thought about, don’t attack me plz)

Also, kudos to the voice actors because they did an amazing job and I had even more fun, like for instance Koyama Rikiya. I absolutely loved Kyros thanks mainly to him... Although I wish I could entirely say the same about Rebecca and Baby 5 because they barelly had any screentime or, at least personally speaking, didn’t to bring something interesting tothe table... Well, maybe I can excuse Baby 5 because of the ending of Punk Hazard, but with Rebecca definetly not. FFS her seiyuu is the Queen Hayashibara Megumi, I was expecting more from Rebecca (although maybe the blame is really in me for expecting that much) than what we got. But don’t get me wrong, I did like her but.. I wanted just a little bit more of her.

Another thing I enjoyed a lot was the introduction of Fujitora. I knew he was popular for a reason, but I wasn’t expecting it to be... because of this. I was expecting him to be popular only because he was a blind old man who could fight harder than the dudebro’s gary stu fanfic-like idea they have of Zoro, but he’s definetly not that. Fujitora is a really interesting man who geniuently thinks about people’s safety (can’t say the same about Sakazuki and Borsalino, lol), and I respect that.

*LAST MOMENT EDIT BECAUSE I FORGOT ANOTHER VERY IMPORTANT THING* THE REUNION OF LUFFY AND SABO MADE ME CRY TOO. I DON’T KNOW, I’M CRYING TOO MUCH OVER ONE PIECE

Now I’m just going through some bullet points from the update post:

First bullet point I’m actually elaborating: The Colloseum part was hella boring.

I just couldn’t stand it. I barely gave any sh*t about the characters and there’s also times where I’m just thinking that the Colloseum part could had been handled differently, with more interesting characters but well, that’s my opinion. I mean the only tournament arcs that I genuenly enjoyed were the Galaxy Wars from Saint Seiya (the OG one from the 80′s if somebody’s wondering), and maybe the Heaven’s Arena arc from HxH, so even if I was interested on seeing the OP take on it.. It kinda went sour for me at the beggining of this tournament, honestly. The fight versus Diamante was probably one of the very few interesting things happening inside the tournament.

And don’t get me wrong, interesting things do happen inside, like the encounter of Luffy and Rebecca, the fate of the losers from the colloseum, etc. But the tournament arc itself... not the best thing, pretty boring tbh.

The second bullet point I’m actually elaborating, but this time I’m literally copy-pasting the bullet point... for a reason: I STARTED TO SWEAT IN F*CKING FEAR WHEN NAMI’S GROUP ENCOUNTERED BIG MAM’S SHIP, AND EVEN MORE WHEN SANJI SAID “I’M GETTING INTO THAT SHIP”. NO. PLEASE. DON’T. I’M NOT READY FOR WHOLE CAKE ISLAND YET.

Look, by the time I’m writing this I’m already in Whole Cake and let me just tell you one thing; I’m still not ready for this arc. I know it’s very important, specially for Sanji’s development as a character and it’s like a re-introduction of him, but I’d lie if I’d said that I “do feel sensitive” around the themes explored in this arc, and it’s personally tought to go throught it but... Since it’s just too long and too personal to share the entire reason on a public post, I’m just leaving it as the following: “I’m not ready to tackle those themes, but I feel like I need to tackle them if I want to be the best version of myself”. That’s all.

The third and last bullet point I’m actually elaborating, LET ME TELL YOU HOW GINTAMA F*CKED ME UP ENTIRELY

For the sake of being short, I’m a crazy Gintama fan. I’m almost like an encyclopedia of shorts for all(?) Gintama content. I’ve been like this since I was 14-15 y/o (when I’m writing this I’m currently 25), so of course, if there’s something that remotely resembles something from Gintama (mainly gintama jokes or references when it happens), I’ll react to it instantly (but in a healthy way, not like an obnoxious annoying elitist lil sh*t of a fan), and sadly, part of this curse I ended up with included reconizing every single seiyuu that appeared in Gintama (or at least the ones who voiced important/popular characters) in other anime. And of course, seiyuus from Gintama did already appear before Dressrosa; like kid Ace’s seiyuu Sakaguchi Daisuke (voice of Shinpachi), or... Akainu’s seiyuu Tachiki Fumihiko (voice of Hasegawa “Madao” Taizou)... But then there’s Dressrosa and... It just went all over the board (pun not intended... does it even count as one tho?).

And don’t get me wrong, this did also happened to me on reverse with One Piece Seiyuus, but.... coming back to “Gintama f*cked me up”, it hitted differently, because it almost looked like they were casted to play certain characters based on the characters they played in Gintama and... NGL, it made everything even more hilarious. Like the fact that Kugimiya Rie voices a bad mouthed “child” in One Piece(Sugar)... just like she does in Gintama(Kagura). And I know technically speaking Sugar “is an adult” BUT, if we follow the logic of her Hobby Hobby fruit, she’s doomed to be an eternal child for the rest of her life, as in “no more development like a normal adult human would”. I’m just saying what the canon says, don’t mind me.

...Or Cavendish. I can confirm you that Cavendish is pretty much Gintama’s Katsura Kotarou’s madness as an OP character. And now he’s one of my favourite background characters in One Piece... Mainly because of that. And yes, they do in fact share the seiyuu Ishida Akira. (Also, is it just me or is he inspired by Lady Oscar from The Rose of Versailles???)

...So yeah, TLDR: too much gintama made me shout “oh shit, gintama’s taking over one piece”

Now with the Zou impressions

I liked the idea of Zou being an “island”, that’s not an Island but a millennia old elephant, walking around and hard to track down. Brilliant. Also, I’m pretty sure it’s inspired by something mythological but I still can’t point out which one.

...also I wasn’t expecting Pedro to be voiced by Miki Shin’Ichiro, in the same way I wasn’t expecting Orikasa Fumiko as Wanda... although she already voiced someone previously in One Piece so...

Even if it was a short arc, it gave a lot of valuable information like the origin of the poneglyphs and the link between the Mink tribe and the Kozuki clan from Wano but...

What I wasn’t expecting was how we got introduced to the Whole Cake arc. I came to this arc, thinking the Whole Cake thing won’t be that mentioned and... I ended up crying because of the sacrifice Sanji was willing to partake in... I feel bad for that guy... And since by the time of writing this I’m already in Whole Cake... Without spoilers I’ll say: yeah, no sh*t I was feeling bad for him” (also because I got almost entirely spoiled over all Whole Cake arc).

...but look, ngl, I didn’t like very much the ending of this arc. Probably what happened to Momonosuke and the Millennia old elephant may be more interesting and better explained in the near future but... I was more confused than anything, and I’m hopping it to be better explained in the future. I’ll just leave it as such.

Over all, if I had to choose, I’d say that Dressrosa was more entertaining than Zou... Although Zou did deliver bigger stuff when it comes to plot development, while Dressrosa was more focused on the next step to overthrow a Yonkou than anything, I felt like I had more ”fun” watching Dressrosa... Probably because I also want to get to Wano already.

.

.

.

Now I’m in Whole Cake arc, I’m more or less by the beggining of the arc and oh boy... This arc is going to be harder than expected and the only thing ready I have are the pocket tissues by my side because I already know I’m going to cry the hell out of this arc. And of course, have my soul utterly destroyed by the Reintroduction of Sanji and his past.

I hope he has a break after this because wow... He needs too many hugs to count. Probably more than Luffy in Marineford.

[soyouareandrewdobson]

Alex ze Pirate “Mini Review” 1: About Male Abuse

Alex ze Pirate is in my opinion the WORST “comic” series Dobson has ever written up until this point (date for archives: June 2020). Sure, I agree with people that his “hot take” comics on Star Wars Fans, political issues and virtue signaling for the sake of making brownie points are worse overall cause they are uneducated propaganda that give insight in how much of a loathsome human being driven by spite he genuinely is, but Alex “offends” me as someone who enjoys fiction. It may not be the worst thing ever written, but it just does so many things wrong in terms of storywriting, storytelling, presentation and creating fictional characters, I can’t help but wonder what went wrong that Dobson even remotely thought this thing would be a “successful” comic series to establish him as a creator. Cause I can tell you, having read the likes of Don Rosa’s work on Disney, Hilda, Cleopatra in Space, Spirou, Asterix, One Piece (of which I will talk a lot in my next few posts) and many more, I can confirm by comparison that Dobson’s pirates as a published comic would have only one use on the public shelves: alternative for toilet paper during the COVID-19 epidemic

 Believe me, I would love to write an in depth analysis of everything wrong with Alex ze Pirate, from the lazy artwork up to even the publication history of this trainwrack. But doing so would take a lot of time and there is one individual part of this I think deserve at least extra attention. Something that in my opinion embodies quite well a lot of things I consider wrong with this comic. So before I am going over Alex in its entirety (and believe me, the day will come) let me just talk within the next few posts about one certain aspect and story of the comic, that genuinely got me to loath this comic to the core: Sam the Cabin Boy and “his” own individual story Dobson drew in three parts around 2010.  

For starters, lets talk who Sam is: Sam is one of the main characters in the comic and actually the first person who joined Alex and Peggy in the initial pages of Legends, the “original” form of Alex ze Pirate.

See, back in 2004, Dobson released Alex ze Pirate in form of a single comic volume called “Legends” which features Alex trying to recruit a crew. The thing is around 78 pages thick and based on what I saw pretty terribly paced. For comparison: When Luffy in One Piece got his crew together, he spend multiple volumes and at least three minor story arcs to get Zoro, Nami, Sanji and Usopp to join him. All while also giving us good insight into the kind of people his new crewmates were (especially Sanji’s and Nami’s backstory got to me), defeating the likes of Buggy and Captain Black, meeting Dracula Mihawk and defeating one of the biggest bastards Eichiro Oda ever created in form of Arlong. What is the story how Sam joins the crew? An orphanage organizes an auction and sells kids off. Which I assume was even illegal in pirate times, so kudos for already showing us how despicable the world of Alex ze Pirate is to begin with and how much it deserves to be nuked in some sort of alien invasion.

 Sam also doesn’t really get anything to do when he is introduced, just helping Alex escape on a small boat. Which is weird because he does not know her at all, she is just some stranger who bought him off and has no means to keep him in check, so why even bother following her and not let the mob get rid of Alex? 

Anyway, I wish I could tell more about Sam’s involvement in Legends, but I don’t have really more than some scans of it in the beginning and near the end. So I don’t know his involvement in the rest of the volume. I also can’t say how he plays out in volume two, because that does not exist at all. Cause for reasons I will never understand, Dobson just abandoned the idea of telling a “coherent” and ongoing story with Alex ze Pirate and instead went to his colored one page comics/strips with it, turning it into what some people called “Garfield with Pirates” (which I consider a genuine insult towards any newspaper comic out there, even something as Boondocks). And the first thing we see of Sam in “classic” Alex ze Pirate?

 The perverted dwarf of the crew showing of his shota underwear so that Alex and Sam stop bickering who is the cutest, leaving him embarrassed and humiliated.

 Which kinda sums up his role in the comic to a t. Cause this is what Sam is: He is the buttmonkey of the crew. And honestly, I would not have a total problem with Sam being a buttmonkey, if a) he wasn’t it all the time, b) he would actually do something to deserve any form of humiliation and c) if the other characters in this comic itself would not be some of the biggest assholes I have ever seen, who get away with abusing the poor lad.

 See, here is the problem: In a crew featuring a choleric homophobic soulless ginger

 A black rat person who wants to fuck the ginger even without her consent

 A furry abomination that has the same brain wavelengths as Chris Chan 

And a perverted dwarf who tries to impersonate Happosai from Ranma 1/2

 Sam is the only decent person in the entire crew. He works hard, he even questions the morality of his friends at times, he is honest, he is not perverted, almost good to the point of childish innocence and he has a very humble “goal” which is he wants to own his own piece of gold. Not even a big pile of treasure, just one single coin would be enough for him.

 So he is likeable and relatable. In fact, if anything goes by, he may have been one of the most popular ones in the comic. And yet he is the one who gets constantly abused by “fate” and his friends, because as Dobson would say it, he is supposed to be the buttmonkey. There is just one problem: People do not necessarily like buttmonkeys.

I can primarily speak only for myself here, but I hope what I have to say resonates with others too. See, I get it: A character who is the butt of a joke can be fun. Like Daffy in Duck Amuck. But there is a fine line where a character being humiliated for the sake of a joke is fun (and perhaps even deserved because of his own shortcomings or deeds/actions that make the humiliation sort of kharmic, like lets say Johnny Bravo) and a character being humiliated to the point it feels disproportional, unfunny and mean spirited if not outright sadistic, can be crossed. Take Meg Griffin from Family Guy for example whose only “purpose” for existing within the last 12+ years is to get shat on by her family and the writers. People have no idea for a plot with her, so what do they do? Have her father physically and emotionally abuse her, fart in her face for what is supposed to count as a joke and then add additional insult to it by acknowledging that they are only doing this, because they have no other idea for her and think abuse is fun. Let me just tell you from experience, it is not.

And that is essentially what Sam is: He is the Meg Griffin of Alex ze Pirate, used by his creator as the butt of very unfunny jokes, even if he does not deserve any of the things said or done to him. Want to see some examples?

 How about the description Dobson gives Sam within the introduction of one of his volumes, showing how little Dobson as the creator even cares for him.

Why is he called an unworthy “slob” if he is the only one who actually works? Shouldn’t a slob be someone like Dobson, who can’t even take care of himself anymore? Also the confirmation that he was kidnapped at the age of 16. And as we have no clarification how much time passed between Legends Vol. 1 and anything afterwards, that means that in a way Alex is a child abuser.

And now, here some examples by the rest of the cast. Like Uncle Peggy framing him for all sorts of his perverted actions and even trying to kill him for no apparent reason?

Alex trying to kill him with chicken pox…

…Destroying all his worldly posessions which is hilarious because he is a poor orphan…

…Essentially describing him as worthless because he was born with an Y-chromosome…

… doing the kind of thing Dobson claims women would never do to man, using their sex appeal to hurt them…

…forcing him to do some unnecessary and rather petty work for her in a physics defying manner (seriously, the way he holds the axe does not compute with how he swings it. Try it out yourself)

… stealing his food and just being a cruel sadistic cunt to him just because it is fun.

Which is “funny” in so far as that there are a few comics indicating she would jump his dick and ride it like a little pony if she could.

 By the way, Talus and Atea are not better. None of them calls Alex out on her bullshit on average, Atea uses Sam to trigger traps in one story arc…

And Talus, the closest to a “friend” he is supposed to have, once for no apparent reason made him dig through his litterbox

And don’t get me even started when the characters decide to gang up on Sam, to the point he gets sexually harassedor is called to be less worth as a human being than the dirt you find in your belly button

Fuck’s sake, even in fanart everyone gangs up on him, even the freaking big bad of the story everyone is supposed to hate or be afraid of

 Bottom line, Sam is an abuse victim played for laughs in this comics. And just to clarify, I do not think this was Dobson’s intention. But if the character is undeservingly the butt of jokes for the majority of over 120 strips, it turns nasty. The way Sam is treated, I just find disgusting and indictive of just how unlikable any other character in this comic is to the point I do not want to see this being turned into a proper “franchise”. And I assume others were disgusted by it too, cause Dobson eventually decided to make a story more or less addressing the treatment Sam receives, while also attempting to prove that deep down the assholes with starring roles in this trainwrack care for him. How did this play out? Well, I am going to talk about it, so likely not well. If you want to see the details, grab yourself some popcorn and take a toilet break before we tackle part 2 of this thing.

[where-s-all-blue]

Okay so I've entered the Alabasta Arc now (I am actually pretty close to the climax in my rererewatch) so here's some thoughts:

Reverse Mountain:

I personally adored the mishaps the crew has on their way to the GrandLine, and the entire reverse mountain is very intriguing to me to this day. One day, I'll figure out just how on earth that thing works.

Laboon's story, tear jerking, absolutely devastating. Luffy being able to talk sense into a WHALE tells all you need about his ability to befriend beings. He also was the first one to hear Laboon, foreshadow for his later on found ability to Hear All Things or Haki?

Whiskey Peaks:

Ahh the time Vivi tried to be a villain. And Mister 9 is an absolute sweetheart. Honestly they made a pretty good team even if neither of them actually knew how fighting works. Personally I would've loved to see more of them, Mister 9 and Miss Monday seemed like interesting characters.

I keep forgetting about Zoro having supersonic speed in these, I kind of miss him just disappearing only to reappear right in middle of the group to mock their reaction of looking at the place he just was sitting on. The speed of him and his ability to momentarily cut through things he later on can't pretty much just tells you that he does have it in him, but it just isn't conscious thing yet. Also unconscious usage of haki spotted?

Vivi being The Vivi Nefertari is one of the more interesting and intense sequences in the pre-timeskip era, even if it takes less time than for example the Arlong Park does and shows just how devastatingly strong both Luffy and Zoro are. I can't believe that these idiots would retort to a fist fight mid battle.

Mister 5's ability is very unhygienic and I'd like to drown him in sanitizer, Miss Valentine needs to be silenced forever, her laughter creeps me out and she honestly doesn't add any value into the conversation. This is a duo I'd like to murder slowly.

Igram blowing up still gets me, the reactions of the characters, the devastated facial expression of Vivi, the sound design, the shocked looks, it's just so well executed.

Vivi's reaction of mixed feelings regarding Miss All Sunday/Robin, albeit just, is very confusing for me. I remember when I met her the first time and all I could think of was "She's a nice person" just based on her facial expression and the words she used.

I forgot that Luffy broke the eternal log pose Robin gave them. Not because he didn't trust her but because the choice Vivi would've been forced to make after the shock of loosing Igram would've been too much. Also because he didn't want anyone to dictate HOW they get there, he's the captain and as such it's his job to make the final decision, he also appears to have been convinced that this way Vivi would be safe.

Little Garden:

Aah, Little Garden, the island I'd simultaneously love and hate. Love because dinosaurs, hate because loud and probably insects large enough to use me as a quick caffeine filled pick-me-up. I might have a problem.

The fact that I can understand the thought process of these giants concerns me greatly. Is this the power of the Monkey Brain?

Mister 3 would be an amazing character if only we could see his self proclaimed genius in action and hear him go through plans etc. I feel like he's just trying to compensate on his lack of battlefield knowledge and experience. Miss Golden Week is highkey a mood and I love her. I, too, want to paint whatever I want and get paid for it.

Zoro actually started to hack through his own leg because he wanted to fight so badly, what a mad lad. Usopp honestly is flexing with his quick thinking and reflexes here. We love that for him. Go you funky little sniper.

Luffy might've used observation haki instinctively in the Mister 3 crowd.

Sanji managing to outright fool Crocodile to believe that he is Mister 3 indicates that Crocodile has never heard the voices of his underlings before and just assuming that the man who answered is Mister 3. The two also apparently have similar sense of humour. That Crocodile is aware of based on what Robin has told him.

Sanji both taking down the Unluckies without any hesitation nor stopping to think about where they came from really tells volumes about him. He also apparently lied so convincingly that Crocodile was 100% sure that it was Mister 3 fighting Luffy and not a chef beating up his long distance murder pets.

Nami was bitten by a bug, which was the carrier of a rare, nearly dead disease. Based on the amount of time one would usually need to wait for the sickness to develop, I'd say that they were about a week on the ocean before Nami developed the fever.

None of the crew members, Vivi included, thought about doing a full body check on her to see if there were any other symptoms than fever, ie her body actively fighting against the infection/sickness. Also her sickness isn't apparently something that spreads, so it's very unlikely for it to be virus based or spread similar to flu.

Drum Island/Sakura Kingdom:

Nami is capable of sensing the weather, and act upon her feelings, under 40C fever. If I have any level of fever, I am rendered near vegetative state until my fever either goes down or raises past certain level. What I'm saying is that Nami is some sort of Goddess or superhero because of being able to do anything with that fever.

Vivi needing to think about whether or not she can afford waiting extra days for being taken to Alabasta or to change the course to find a doctor is one of the stupidest things ever especially since the person who is sick with such a high fever happens to be the navigator.

Warm welcome by residents is warm. And by warm I mean freezingly cold. I can't believe that Luffy thought about yelling to the person before Vivi bowed her head prompting Luffy to do the same (though heavily "encouraged" by Vivi). Vivi saying that Luffy isn't fit to be the captain reflects very strongly her own views and beliefs, but she keeps forgetting something very simple, yet important. Background. She has no idea about Luffy's past nor how he grew up, she hasn't been long enough with the crew to be able to tell just why people follow Luffy, nor is she aware of how he communicates with people. She doesn't realise that when it comes to Luffy, humility isn't a word to describe him with nor that he would be able to set his own pride aside just yet, Luffy is a 17 year old, a mere child, who has just set out on the sea few months ago, who only knows the harshness of the world, where to survive, you must take things with force or be aggressive. She also isn't familiar with Luffy's way of helping others and going all in no matter the situation.

It's interesting to see how from the time Vivi is with them, Luffy is clearly paying attention to how she does things and how she presents herself, the mannerisms and the likes. It's not as clear idolisation and wish for being equal/better than someone as it was with Katakuri's use of haki, but he is striving to learn. If not because he acknowledges how important manners and humility are, but because it makes things easier on certain places. He especially starts to pay more attention to it once Ace joins them.

By the way the sickness Nami is struck with? It's most likely the same as the one that cost the life of Captain Yorkie of the Rumbar Pirates. After all, the ship doctor couldn't heal it, he didn't know how to, he could only prolong his death for a little while, few days max.

Chopper is a joy to have around and I'd physically fight Doctor Kureha at first sight because WOMAN! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ATTACKING YOUR PATIENTS JUST BECAUSE THEY GOT OUT OF THE BED! What if they need to use the restroom. I don't care if you're a youthful 139 year old lady, you can't just do that. Also how the hell are you still able to move that well? Most people I see start to slowly loose their mobility at 60 as their joints are starting to wear out causing pain and their muscle mass is lowering due to the inability to move as much as during their prime.

I am surprised that a reindeer even cares about something like a blue nose. The devilfruit thing? Yeah sure, but not the blue nose. These local reindeer are dicks with human level of obsession to look like the "norm". News flash, there is no default anything. Your appearances are purely dictated by a set of genes that decide to either activate or deactivate as they please without any warning and genes can skip multiple generations. That's why I apparently look identical to my great grandmother.

Nami is kind towards other women and animals. Men not so much, my assumption is that she is carrying a trauma from the Arlong time that she hasn't yet processed and as such she is even now a bit guarded against the rest of the crew.

Hiriluk's character is closer to that of a mad scientist or a very enthusiastic chemist who keeps forgetting that people aren't test subjects. His curiosity and and enthusiasm are something to strive for even if his methods are questionable, all he does want is to bring people sense of hope, wonder and awe. Though I can't help but to wonder about his story. The thief (him) having a serious incurable heart condition and seeing cherry blossoms that cured him. A metaphor for his past self being relentless and uncaring while thieving, but the indescribable beauty of the scenery he saw changed his heart to be more generous and kind?

Hiriluk's death is one of the most important ones in the series if you ask me, it defined Chopper and who he became; Doctor hoping to be capable of curing any disease there is.

[pikkugootti]

ONE PIECE ☠ ARC REVIEW

WARNING ! - THIS POST CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ONE PIECE ANIME 

Starting words;

I decided to do this just for shits and giggles. I have no other way to organise my thoughts/ people aren’t interested in hearing about One Piece, so I will just start writing here about the anime and the arcs. 

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

East Blue Saga

 ROMANCE DAWN ARC

This arc is pretty classic. It’s a little introduction to One Piece and I don’t know is it fair to compare this to the latest episodes. After all these episodes cam out in 1999, so the animation is what it is. 

Now that I have consumed at least 600+ episodes of the anime, I can say my favorite thing is that there are many characters who make later appears (i.e. Helmeppo, Coby and Matilda-sama)

Main story impacts-

how Luffy got his hat

who Shanks is

how Luffy got his powers

why he leaves for the sea

recruiting of Zoro

main focus of the serie

-are some that recur ***multiple*** times during the anime, so technically Romance Dawn Arc could be skipped completely(if ur stupid and you don’t want to watch all of One Piece)

One of the main reasons you get hooked on One Piece is due to how long it is and it almost becoming as part of your life and characters feeling like family members.

 ORANGE TOWN ARC

This arc introduces one of the most important characters in the series: Buggy the Clown!

Buggy will develop later down the anime, but he has big connections in the pirate world although being dumb and average as a pirate. 

This arc also introduces Nami and Nami’s and Straw Hat Crew’s turbulent relationship starts. 

I have to say, I really hate Nami. She never becomes a lovable main character. She is always an asshole no matter what. And even after she “joins” Straw Hat Crew, she always denies being part of them?

SYRUP VILLAGE ARC

This arc is the first arc to give filler in my opinion. 

“The man in the treasure chest” is skippable, because it doesn’t add anything to the story. Although it gives us a lovable character; Gaimon. 

This arc has a really wholesome ending in my opinion.

Next we get introduced to Usopp and later on in the arc we are given his backstory. The first backstory to be given for the characters (if we ignore Luffy’s past).

This arc also gives us one of my favorite characters; Jango! 

I have weird attraction to strange characters and it will become very obvious quite soon...

This whole arc gave me quite tense moments when the final showdown came - Black Cat pirates against the Straw Hats.

The concept of Black Cat pirates was very appealing to me, but they were quite forgettable to be honest.

BARATIE ARC

Baratie arc is important for introducing few characters; Sanji, Fullbody and Dracule Mihawk, one of the seven Warlords.

TO BE CONTINUED !

[thewildomega]

Star in the Sand Ch. 2

Sitting at the table with your second cup of tea in your hand you watched as he flipped through another one of the manga, this time one of Impale down. 

"Straw-hat is the main character of these books?" he asked and heard her hum. Rolling his eyes he looked over the scene where they made their escape. "How far back does his story go?"

"Well it starts off with him in a barrel on Alvida's ship. He had just started out and didn't even have any crew members yet."

"Alvida? How did he get in a barrel on her ship?" he asked.

"He ate all the food in it and fell asleep, he was drifting in the ocean and this cargo ship picked it up not knowing he was inside. Alvida attacked the ship, took he barrel onto her own ship and left it there. When he woke up he busted out and defeated her. He takes one of the small ships and goes to Shell Town where he picks up Zoro." you told him, lifting your cup to take another sip of your tea. 

That boy was strange, nothing about it. "And how far along does this story go? How does it end?"

"It hasn't yet, where are you at? What was the last thing that happened?" you asked him. 

Taking a deep breath he leaned back in the chair and looked at her. "I left after the war, I plan to head to the New world." he told her. 

"Ah, so you are in the two year time skip. Okay well I am a little past that." 

Narrowing his eyes he looked at her, "What do you mean two year time skip?" 

"There is a time skip in the story, two years where you don't see anything that happened, everyone mostly goes their separate ways. Luffy is very distraught over Ace's death, the Straw-hate pirates aren't even together where you are now." you said with a shrug.

"But they get back together after this... time skip?" he asked and saw her nod. Humming he thought on it all before looking back into her eyes. "You said you are further into the story than where I just came from, am I still alive?" he asked. 

"Yes." you answered simply.

Humming he tapped his foot. "So you also know everything that is going to happen in the near future." 

"Well that's not set in stone and I am not that much further." you said with a tilt of your head. 

"Everything that I have read in that book has been true to my knowledge." he stated. "So tell me what happens next." he said with a smile. 

"I'm not telling you." you said with a small grin and saw his smile drop. 

"Why not?" he growled. 

"Because that's foreshadowing and it might throw things out of wack." you told him, finishing you tea. Standing you moved towards the sink, "Besides you're not even in the next arc." you told him, putting your cup in the sink. 

Getting up he moved after her, "I am not asking, I am demanding you tell me." he said, not used to people telling him no. Seeing her turn around and look at him he saw the same calm look on her face. "You know me woman, you know what I am capable of..."

"Yes I know who you are but I am willing to bet that you haven't been able to use your powers since you got here because there is no such thing as devil fruits here." you told him with a sigh. Seeing the angry expression on his face you looked up at him and gave a small grin, "I can tell you that none of things that have happen will affect you. You have not been caught by the marines and you are not dead so let the rest be a surprise." you said with a shrug. Glancing towards the clock you saw it was well past midnight. "Look I really have to go to bed, I have to go to work tomorrow. There is a second bedroom you can stay in until we can figure out how to get you back if you would like." you told him in a calm voice. 

Looking down into her ever calm eyes he again felt his temper dwindle down and let out a deep sigh. He just couldn't seem to stay angry at her, the thought of causing her harm in any way making him feel strange. Gritting his teeth he nodded and saw her give him a small grin before she turned off the kitchen light and showed him to the guest bedroom where a simple bed waited for him. 

Seeing him standing in the door way you looked down, you knew it wasn't much, not high class living like he was used to but it was all you had to offer. "Goodnight Crocodile." you said in a soft voice before walking down the hall a bit to your own bedroom. 

He didn't say anything as she bid him a goodnight and when he heard her door shut he didn't hear the click of the lock follow. Did this woman have no fear? Perhaps she was just stupid? Looking back towards the bedroom that would be his for the time being he stepped inside and closed the door. 

.................................

Waking up he put the too tight shirt back on along with his hook before walking out of the room. Her bedroom door was closed still but he coudl hear what sounded like water dripping. Going across the hall to the bathroom he turned on the light with the switch and saw there was a folded pile of clothes on the vanity, his clothes. Quickly pulling them on he buttoned his shirt but decided to leave off the scarf for now. Brushing back his hair with his hand he glanced up at his reflection to make sure he looked decent before leaving the room. Making himself busy by looking over her books he heard her door open and glanced over as she walked into the room. 

"Oh good morning, I see you saw your clothes." you said before walking past him into the kitchen. Opening the fridge you grabbed a bottle of water and closed it to see him leaning in the entryway. "There is coffee up there if you would like some, cups are in the cabinet above along with sugar, creamer is in the fridge." You told him. Grabbing your keys and purse you turned back to him when he spoke. 

Watching her walk around and grab things he let his eyes glance over her body. She was wearing a pair of jeans that were tight fitting down to about her mid calf where they flared out some. A button up black shirt adorned her upper half and he noticed she had the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her long red hair was left hanging down her back in waves. She looked... nice, attractive. "How long will you be at work?" he asked. 

"I don't get off until twelve tonight." 

That was a long time, "Where do you work exactly?" he asked. 

"I'm a bartender at the local bar in town." you told him. "You are welcome to whatever you want, there isn't much food wise, I haven't been shopping yet but I am sure you can find something." 

Grunting he looked around the home, "And what exactly am I supposed to do all day?" he asked. 

"I don't know, read a book, watch TV, go for a walk... plan your next country domination." you told him with a shrug. 

Ignoring her sarcastic comment at the end he narrowed his eyes at her, "What is a TV?" he asked. 

Walking towards the living room you grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. Seeing his shocked and confused expression you held back your grin. "You can flip through different channels with these buttons and these control the volume. This one is to turn it on and off. There are like 300 channels so I am sure you can find something to watch." You told him, pointing to the buttons and flipping through a few channels until you saw something familiar and giggled, "Oh look Peter Pan is on, the writer of One piece based your character off the pirate in this movie." you told him. 

Furrowing his brows he watched the moving picture, seeing a young boy dressed in green flying around. "What pirate?" he asked as she handed him the remote and moved towards the door to put on her boots. 

"Captain James Hook." you told him and saw his brows drop further. "Don't look at me like that I didn't name him. I have to go, see you later, if you're not sleeping."

................................

Getting home you parked your truck and let out a heavy sigh as you opened the door and headed up the steps towards your front door. The TV was still on, you hoped he hadn't fell asleep in front of it again. He had now been here for three days and he had been doing well at keeping himself busy. He had already finished four books, one being Treasure island. For the most part he kept the house clean, there would be a few dishes but nothing more than that. Opening the front door you stepped inside and quietly took off your boots. Glancing towards the couch you saw him sitting there watching something. Looking towards the TV you rose a brow and moved over to sit on the couch, leaving a space between the both of you. Handing him the bag of food you relaxed for the first time today. "You are watching Pirates of the Caribbean?" you asked, a little amused.

"It caught my attention, they had been on for the past few hours." he said simply. Looking into the bag curiously he took out the thing wrapped up in paper.

"It's a burger and fries, I didn't know if you ate." you said, your eyes closing as your body begged for sleep. 

Humming he unwrapped the thing and looked it over before taking a bite. It was good, most of the things she had brought him were to his liking but none of it compared to her actual cooking. Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye he saw her eyes were closed and her head was resting on her palm. Over the three days he had been here she had worked everyday, leaving at around 8 or so and staying gone until she got home around 12:30. Every morning there was some sort of breakfast waiting for him meaning she woke much earlier that eight. Three days straight of working sixteen hours or more, no wonder the woman was exhausted. Not once had she complained though, he hadn't heard a single bad word out of her the whole time he had been here. "Do you work tomorrow?" he asked, seeing her eyes snap open before they hung heavily over her eyes. 

Sitting up you rubbed your eyes and nodded. "Yes, I don't have to be in until two though. If you would like we can go into town and see about finding you some new clothes before I have to go to work." you told him, forcing yourself to stand on sore feet. Going to the cabinet you pulled out the bottle of pain medicine and dumped two into your palm, hoping to kill your headache before it became a migraine. 

She would buy him clothes? So far he had been trying to deal with the ones he had been wearing and then the too small ones when he had to. Watching her moved about the dark kitchen he raised his chin. "If it isn't too much of a problem."

Shaking your head you sighed. "No you need more than one set of clothes. They won't be as high fashion as you are used to but I'll do the best I can." you told him. Realizing how that probably sounded you bit the inside of your lip and looked down. "I'm sorry. I.. I'm going to head to bed. Good night Crocodile." 

Furrowing his brows he watched her walk from the room and heard the soft shutting of her bedroom door. Had she apologized to him because she couldn't afford nice clothes? Humming he looked around her home again, it was fairly bare and simple. Other than books he hadn't seen any personal touches, there wasn't even any pictures of her family on the walls. Finishing the food she had bought him he stood and tossed the paper bag in the trash before turning off the TV and heading to the room to call it a night. 

......................................

Waking up the next morning you looked to the clock and saw it was almost ten, shit. Quickly getting out of bed you pulled on some clothes and brushed your hair and teeth. Walking out into the kitchen you saw Crocodile sitting at the table drinking his coffee, a book in his hand. "I'm sorry, I overslept." you told him but heard him reply in his normal deep voice. 

"Do not apologize, you need rest." he assured her. 

Sighing you slowed down some and moved to make yourself some coffee. Grabbing the pot you looked back to his own cup. "Would you like a refill?" you asked. 

Giving her a small nod he watched as she came over to refill his cup for him before moving to put it back and add creamer to her coffee. Looking her over he blinked slowly, "Your mother and father must be proud to have a daughter as well mannered as you." he said, meaning to pay her a compliment but when her brows lowered and her lip moved back between her teeth he knew he had said something wrong. 

Releasing your lip you took a deep breath and stared at your cup as you steered the brown liquid inside. "Actually I.. I was an orphan." you told him, keeping your eyes down. Tapping the spoon on the rim you gave a small grin, "But thank you all the same." you told him. "I treat people how I would like to be treated." you said softly. Taking a deep breath you turned towards him, leaning against the counter and holding the hot cup in your hands. "What are you reading?" you asked, glancing down to the book now resting on the table as he lifted the cup. 

So that was why there were no pictures, lifting his cup to his lips he took a sip before looking to her when she asked him about the book. "Dracula." he said with a sigh. "I haven't gotten too far yet."

"It's a good book, a classic. There are like a hundred movies based on it." you told him. Seeing him raise a brow you grinned. "If you like it and you want to, we can watch the best one, well in my opinion." 

Grinning he nodded, "Very well." 

After the both of you finished your coffee and a small breakfast you cooked you walked him out to your truck seeing him look at the thing with one brow raised. "I've told you all about it, it isn't going to bite you." you said with a small grin. Seeing him give you a small glare you rolled your eyes. He was already annoyed when you told him he couldn't wear his hook into the stores in town, explaining that no one wore things like that here. After a stare down he finally removed the heavy thing and pulled his sleeve down over his scared wrist. Opening the passenger for him you waved you hand towards the inside, "Age before beauty." you said with a teasing grin.

Huffing he moved inside the 'Truck'. "I'll have you know if you were anyone else you would be dead by now." he threatened but it only made her let out a small giggle. The sound making something flutter in his chest for a moment before he quickly looked away from her. 

Shutting the door for him you rounded the truck to get in the driver's side. Buckling your seat belt you looked to him and raised a brow. The ever stubborn man let out a deep sigh as he reached behind him to grab the belt and mimic your movements. As soon as it snapped into place you started the vehicle and started driving to town. 

He mostly just glanced out the window as the moved, there were lots of trees and he could see a few mountains in the distance. Seeing a large body of water he lifted his chin, "Is that the sea?" he asked. 

"No, that's the Missouri river, the ocean is probably about a good 2 days drive from here." you told him. 

Humming he looked at her, "Have you ever been to it, the sea?" he asked.

"Not since before I could remember." you told him, pulling down the road going into town. 

"If you can't remember then how do you know you were there at all?" he asked when her words made no sense.

"Well I was told that I was found in a basket that had washed up on shore when I was only a couple months old." you told him. 

Frowning he looked to her, "All by yourself?"

"Yep. The lady at the orphanage said that some fisherman found me when they heard me crying. Said there wan't any one else around or anything in the basket with me but a wool blanket and a locket." 

"Was anything in the locket? What did it look like?" he was honestly curious about the whole ordeal, it was like something out of a storybook. 

Reaching into your shirt you pulled the gold locket over your head and held it out for him. It was funny you had never let anyone touch your most prized possession before but you... trusted him. Probably stupid since he was a pirate and all. 

Taking the golden locket into his hand he looked it over, seeing a wave looking design carved into the top that had been almost rubbed almost smooth, age most likely. Seeing a small button on the side he pressed it with his thumb and saw it flip open. Looking on the inside he saw a badly faded and water stained black and white picture of a man and woman, a small babe int he woman's arms that he assumed was her. On the other side was what looked sort of like a log post. "These are called compasses here correct?" he asked. 

"Yes but that one is broken." you told him.

Reading the engraving around the edge he turned it in his hand, 'Your heart will be your guide.' Humming he closed it and handed it back to her as she stopped the truck and tuned it off. 

"Thank you." you told him putting it back around your neck and tucking it into your shirt. "Okay so this is the only place that is probably going to have your size." you said as you opened the door and got out of the vehicle, tossing your purse on your shoulder and tossing your keys inside. Walking to the front you saw Crocodile come to stand by you, his eyes looking around at the small shopping center. "Ready?" you asked and heard him hum. 

Sitting in one of the chairs by the fitting rooms you played a game of chess on your phone while Crocodile tried on the clothing he had picked out. Hearing the door open you glanced up at him and saw some of the clothes hanging over his left arm. "Find some you like?" you asked. 

"Yes, this should been enough." he said in a deep voice. He had picked out three pair of pants and three shirts, one being a shirt that he saw her looking at. It was a dark blue button up shirt with long sleeves and made of a cotton material, surprisingly it was very comfortable and he liked it was easy to button. He had also go a single pair of lounge pants that he could wear at nighttime. 

"Okay. Well bring them over to the counter." you said as you stood and walked with him towards the counter. 

Watching the woman at the front counter fold and place the items in a bag.

"Your total is $127.53." the woman said.

Feeling his brow twitch a little at the price he next saw as y/n took out a card of sorts and swiped it through this machine. When the woman behind the counter handed her a piece of paper and told them to have a good day he quickly grabbed the bag before y/n could. It was bad enough she was buying him clothes he wouldn't make her carry his bags as well. Seeing her grin softly up at him he bowed his head some and walked out of the store with her. 

Unlocking the truck you looked to him, "Are you hungry?" you asked him, seeing as it was lunch time. When he nodded his head a little you grinned at him and tilted your head. 

Shutting the door to the truck he followed her to another place a few ways down from the clothing store. When she opened the door and held it open for him he felt his brow twitch again. He had always been a traditional person and the way he saw it a man should be the one doing things like this for a woman, not the other way around. He knew she wasn't doing it because she thought he was handicap, well she better not be, no he had come to notice she was just a kind person. An extremely kind person. Had this been the other way around and she had showed up needing help he would have no doubt laughed in her face and kicked her to the street. For some odd reason though she had saw fit to help him and had yet to ask for anything in return. He had been waiting for it over the past few days but nothing came. Sitting at a booth in the far corner he saw as a young man came over and handed them menus. 

"Hey there y/n." 

"Hello Lance, how are you doing today?" you asked with a kind smile. 

"Doing good, hope you are too. See you brought company today. What can I get you to drink sir"?" he asked. 

She must come here often. "Water will be fine." he said and saw the boy nod. 

"Okay be right back." 

Furrowing his brows he looked to the woman in front of him. "He didn't ask what you wanted to drink."

Grinning you looked at him, "That's because I get the same thing every time I come." you told him simply. 

"And what would that be?" he asked as he lifted the menu to look it over. 

"Freshly squeezed lemonade." you smiled. 

Humming he saw the boy set both glasses down on the table and heard him say he would be back to take their order in a few minutes. "So any suggestions?" he said with a sigh. 

"Well I like all the food but the Ruben but that's because I don't care for rye bread." you said with a shrug. 

"What is a hot dog?" he asked.

"Do you want the honest answer or the more appealing one?" you asked and saw his brow raise. "Pretty much all the parts on a pig that people wouldn't normally eat ground together and made into a long stick like thing that is slapped on a bun with some mustard and ketchup."

Knitting his brows he closed his mouth and took a deep breath before dropping the menu and reaching for his drink. "I'll go with the fish." he said and heard her giggle again. Once his food was set before him he looked down at it and hummed, it smelled good at least. Looking up he saw her just sitting there sipping at her lemonade, "Where is your food?" he asked. 

Snapping your eyes up to him you shook your head, "I don't eat lunch." you told him. 

Frowning he glanced down at his food before looking back up to her, "Then why did you bring us here?"

"You said you were hungry." you shrugged. 

"If I would have known you weren't going to get anything I would have just waited until we got back to your home." he growled, not liking the fact that she was again doing something for him. 

"It's fine Crocodile, I am fine with my lemonade, you eat." you told him. 

Taking a deep breath he glared at her. She was back to looking down at her phone, completely missing the hard look he was giving her. Gritting his teeth he let out a deep sigh, why couldn't he stay angry at her? Lifting his fork he placed a piece of fish in his mouth, the food now tasting bland in his mouth knowing he was the only one eating. "What are you doing?" he asked. 

Looking back up at him you tilted your head some, "Playing chess, it's a strategy game." you said. 

"Go on..." he said, wanting something to talk about. 

After telling him about the game you saw him nod. 

"Is it a game you can only play on that thing?" he asked. 

"No, there is a physical version, I don't have a set at home though." you told him. Thinking you bot your lip, "I think there s one at the bar though, if I can find it I'll bring it home and we can play... if you want to that is." you said, looking down when you realized how desperate you probably sounded. 

"It sounds like a challenge, I like them." he nodded. Finishing his food he took a sip of his drink, "I would like to go to this bar you work at, it is growing bore some at your home." he said. 

Shocked you looked back to him and nodded, "If you want to go that's fine but I won't be able to take you back home, you'll have to stay there until I get off and that won't be until 12 tonight. Also it's kind of a rough place." you warned. 

"I have spent plenty of nights in shady bars before, I think I will manage." 

"Okay if you are sure." you said. Standing you tossed down a few bills on the table, leaving Lance a tip as well. 

Standing he slid out of the booth and walked with her to the door but this time he stepped forward to open the door for her. That fluttering in his chest returning when she smiled at him and gave him a small thank you. 

[husbandograveyard]

Hewwo Hazel uwu 🔫😀👾😭😜😳⏰😏🎆💓?

Hewwo Bas! The UwU is strong today  o(>ω<)o Thank you for your questions! 

🔫 - Fave canon arc? 

Thriller Bark. It made me laugh SO HARD. One piece is one of the few anime that genuinely makes me laugh out loud, usually im more of a “hmpft” blowing air out of my nose laught kinda gal, but one piece gave me a lot of joy and laughter, and mostly during thriller bark. Besides that, the fights and the general plot thickening and things coming together, and Zoro’s sacrifice all made this one of my top favorite archs! The pacing was very good as well, compared to, for example, Dressrosa. 

😀 - Most favorite Straw Hat?

aaaaaa don’t make me choose  This is very hard! The initial thought was Zoro because well it’s Zoro and most of his lines never fail to make me laugh. Robin is the one I admire most cause it’s the kind of lady idk if I wanna be her or be with her yknow? And Chopper also popped up because well.. he’s the absolute most adorable bean and I love him and his cuteness. 

I’m gonna conclude a tie between Zoro and Robin, and Chopper can be on their shoulders being adorable?   (´･ᴗ･ ` )

👾 - Fave villain?

Perona as far as she was an actual villain, her negative spooks are the best attack ever and no one can tell me otherwise. 

In terms of bigger antagonists, probably the Charlotte family? I’m counting them as one, just for now, since they are all super interesting and I like seeing them on screen more than ceasar or moria or doffy and 100000x more than friggin Blackbeard (Imagine me using the ‘dinkleberg voice’ whenever I say blackbeard).  Doffy is a good villain. But he makes me too mad so he only gets a flaminglemention and not the top spot ha. 

😭 - Saddest scene?

Just like one piece is the series that made me laugh he most, it’s also the one that made me cry the most. Almost embarrassingly much. I ugly sobbed for a few hours straight around Ace’s death. I was spoiled, I knew it was gonna happen, but I did not know how exactly, so ehm from impel down on, every scene they showed him I teared up at least. (oops).  BUT there was one other scene that made me cry a lot that I have to mention because I did not expect to cry for that moment. I knew about the time skip, I knew about the training, I knew they were gonna take some time off to get stronger. BUT I did not know how and when and the circumstances. The moment Kuma separated them, the agony and the helplessness. My heart. I could not take it. That was too sad. 

Honorable mentions for the Bellemere scene very early on and saying goodbye to merry. Just too many heartbreaking moments but I feel that’s what makes the series so nice, you need to get hurt sometimes in order to get more attached to characters. 

😜 - Funniest character?

Ehm. In terms of delivering hilarious one-liners and making me laugh while not actually being funny on purpose: Zoro. The dumb is too much and is hilarious. He says funny things while not being funny and there’s just too many peak comedy moments in him getting lost or ‘wanting to get made into a wax statue in this pose”. 

Luffy gets a mention in situational humor too because that dumbassery is hilarious as well. 

Other than that. Probably a tie between Usopp and Franky. It’s just so stupid, but the sheer simpleness of most of the humor makes it so easy to digest and look at! 

😳 - Any crushes?

Any? Many! ehm, to not make this answer a couple thousand words long, quickfire! Ace, he has the charisma, the feralness, the politeness and the freckles.  Shanks, he’s just the sweetest, sexiest mystery man who knows what his priorities are.  Sabo, all the feralness, less of the politeness, all of the cuteness. His smile can revive puppies.  Zoro: the Dumbassery, the muscles, the brutal honesty and that soff soff mossy hair.  Kid: again, the dumbassery, the rudeness while still caring for his bunch of misfits. I love me a good tulip.  Robin: The beauty, the grace, the humor, the fashion, the intellect. Again, dk if i want to be her or be with her.  Vivi: The courage, the love, the sweetness amongst the badassery, step on me princess.  Honorable mentions for Killer, A bunch of people showing up in Wano that I’ve only seen spoilers pop up for. And writing some character has had me reconsidering all the crushes all together. In conclusion: WHY IS EVERYONE IN ONE PIECE SO ATTRACTIVE??? safe for you Blackbeard honey, you could fall off a cliff and I’d applaud. 

⏰ - How long have you been into One Piece? 

Not that long at all. When I was 14? ish I started my anime journey. I watched 15-20? episodes of One Piece and hated it. Around that time one piece was somewhere in between 500-600 eps and I could not imagine ever catching up to that, especially since my strict parents limited my computer use to 3h a week. 

Then a friend really got into it I think about 5? years ago and kept talking about it and how it was actually good. I was starting to do an effort to watch all the ‘big’ and ‘must-see’ anime and promised myself I’d watch One Piece, eventually. 

Then this year at the end of October 2019 I actually started watching it. I had grown up a lot, and could now appreciate the anime way more for what it was? I fell in love and binged the entire thing in more or less six months with some small breaks in between for work, school, books, and other anime. Highly considering re-downloading so I can rewatch my favorite parts soon. My biggest problem is that once I love something, I go ALL IN and I will love everything about it and obsess. And thus this Tumblr was created as the hiatus started and I wanted something One Piece to keep me distracted. I eventually want to collect the manga but I now don’t have the space for it in my tiny room. 

😏 - Favorite scene? 

Sabo and Luffy reuniting! The reveal, the tears, the hug, and the ridiculousness of Luffy with the beard and all, just made it perfect. Absolutely loved it.

OH and Luffy punching the celestial dragon. The absolute energy in that scene made me grin like an idiot yet gave me goosebumps. Punch those slave-owning bitches luffy, thank you! 

🎆 - Something you can’t wait for??!! 

ALL of what is to come in Wano. I’ve been catching spoilers here and there and i just cannot wait! There’s gonna be so much reveals and new characters and comebacks and all the things I did not know I need in my life. 

And I would like some more reveals on Shanks and his crew since we literally know next to nothing about them, besides the fact that even the admirals seemed to be at least wary of their powers and I just really need to know. (or not, since mystery adds to the charm). 

I can’t wait for the abolishment of the government and the death/defeat of blackbeard (assuming that will happen at some point, a girl can dream). 

💓 - Which character do you relate to the most?

SO HARD. Hardest question. Ehm... Ace and Usopp I think? I struggle with family a lot, but I have a chosen family that I wouldn’t trade for the world. I am hella insecure, but I try my best most of the time and I am extremely loyal, even though I have no particular talents, I try and help here and there and hopefully can make some people happy that way! 

If you read all the way through here, thank you for coming to my Ted talk! It was so long  („• ֊ •„) but it was also so much fun  (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ

[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. 

[darthchic]

Character War: Zoro vs Sanji

Trying to put my own bias aside, and because I’m bored here in quarantine, I was thinking about how I could fairly break down parts of Zoro and Sanji’s characters and compare them. I want to see if I can analytically decide which character is more well realised or well written (just because there’s always that rivalry between both the characters and the fans, you often can’t help but ask yourself these kinds of questions).

EDIT: OH, and SPOILERS if you wish to read this and are not up to date

If the question was “Who’s the more popular character?” though, Zoro wins hands down, no contest.

 So, I broke the two characters down into categories:

–    Design

–    Fighting Style

–    Fights/Achievements

–    Coolness

–    Backstory

–    Gag

–    Development

 Design: Neither Zoro or Sanji have designs that particularly stand out to me, not within their own universe or in anime in general. Seriously, think of some crazy-ass looking characters you've seen in other anime and Zoro and Sanji simply pale in comparison. Heck, they pale in comparison to some of their fellow crewmates (Usopp, Chopper, Franky, Brook etc.) and over time their designs have probably been... how to put this... made more attractive as time goes on? Cause you know, you gotta let the female fans have some eye candy too. And with attractiveness tends to come more “normalness” (not a word but whatever) cause you can't go too crazy with the overall design in case it becomes off-putting. The only thing that really stands out for Zoro and Sanji respectively is hair colour and eyebrows.

–    Still if I had to declare one of them the winner... I'd have to say Sanji, just for his more 'unique' eyebrows. We've seen plenty of anime/manga featuring characters with hair colours that match every colour in the rainbow, so it's commonplace for someone to have green or pink hair and no-one really bats an eye. Peculiar eyebrows however are less common, although not rare (as far as I can tell), but for anime fans, it's something I think people still instantly notice more so than a character's hair colour. So.... point to SANJI! But barely, and it’s not much of a win.

 Sanji 1/0 Zoro

 Fighting Style: Again, neither a sword fighting style or kicking fight style is exactly uncommon, but I am edging towards Sanji's fighting style and I'll try to justify why, even if it is due to my own personal preferences. To me, sword fighting is often the go-to 'bad-ass' method of fighting, cause, come on, SWORDS ARE COOL (can't help but think about the overwhelming popularity of Pokemon Sword vs Pokemon Shield for example). Sword fights/fighters are iconic and that’s the issue at times for me because I feel like I've seen enough sword fights at this point, and not just in anime. So, while they're fun, their overexposure makes me appreciate something different a lot more.

–    To me, Sanji's style has a bit more 'kick' to it (oh yes!) and his reasons for using a kicking style are a bit more unique and interesting as well (being that he’s a cook and can’t damage his hands, the tools to his craft). His style is fun to watch, requires a bit more imagination when designing his moves, but it also has a strange kind of elegance to it which I appreciate. Not that sword fighting can't look elegant (Hello, ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’), but I love that people often joke that some shots of Sanji make it look like he could be a dancer which I find amusing, because it’s true. Plus, I admire the fact that he's the only Straw-hat that fights without either a magic power/devil fruit or a literal weapon (though he has now grown accustomed to the raid suit, so…). But, for the majority of the story so far, the dude has just used his legs and that’s it. And is the 3rd (or fourth if you count Jinbei now) most powerful member of the crew, and still impressively strong overall amongst a massive cast of crazy powerful characters. Also, dude can fly. Actually fly. He can fight in the skies, sing “Walking in the Air” and it would not seem completely ridiculous. So, people reading this may not agree, but, point to SANJI!

Sanji 2/0 Zoro

 Fights/Achievements: I feel that most fans prefer Zoro's fights as he tends to take on the second strongest villains of each arc (with Luffy obviously taking on the strongest), which is automatic epicness. I know some fans even argue that Zoro would have no problems taking on the strongest villains in Luffy's place anyway, though I would disagree simply due to the fact that if Luffy were weaker/equal in strength to Zoro then why would he even be captain? The guy who's gonna be the Pirate King can hardly be weaker than one of his own crewmates, it ain't right!

–    Anyway, Zoro's battles tend to be straight-up badass one-on-one feats of strength, while Sanji's can be a mix of badass and sometimes plain goofy (thinking of Sanji vs Mr. 2 here or Sanji vs Wanze). And I do think Oda makes it clear that Zoro is the more powerful of the two, making his wins a lot more impressive, awe-inspiring, and show how physically far he’ll go in order to succeed (man should really have no blood left in his body). For me personally though, I often found many of Zoro’s fights a bit dull, like his fight with Mr. 1 for e.g. (ha, ironic), and when I watch his big battle with Kaku, while I like Kaku as a character, I had a hard time taking the image of Zoro fighting a sword-wielding Giraffe seriously. Sanji fighting a wolf with a moustache often looks goofy as well, but at least wolves come across as a bit more threatening (unless you have been on a scary Safari tour o__O…).

–    Alas, I would give Zoro the point for fights simply because I know how much the fandom appreciates them and the effort he puts in, BUT.... as for achievements... Maybe I'm being sneaky with this, but for me, while Sanji's fights maybe aren't considered as iconic as Zoro's, his actions towards helping the crew solidified Sanji's usefulness to the crew as not only a fighter but a tactician, and without him at a certain point, there wouldn't be any epic Zoro fights to appreciate. Sanji's rescue of the crew in Alabasta was pretty damn awesome, the fact they wouldn't have even reached Alabasta in the first place if Sanji hadn't gotten a hold of the Alabasta eternal log pose is hilarious, his saving of Usopp and Nami in Skypeia, his enabling of the Merry to escape without being blown to smithereens in the Enies Lobby arc, it's all just undeniably awesome. And to me, just as equally iconic and important as Zoro's fights, sooooo... I'm calling it a TIE!

 Sanji 3/1 Zoro

 Coolness: HAHA! Ok, come on, I love Sanji, but Oda's portrayal of him can get a bit ridiculous at times and sometimes rob him of his dignity, whereas with Zoro, Oda really doesn't humiliate him that much. He's usually always cool and epic and never seems to leave a negative impression in the eyes of fans. So, no question about it, point to ZORO!

 Sanji 3/2 Zoro

 Backstory: Ok, maybe it's just me, but I don't think many are gonna argue that Sanji has the better backstory? There's just more of it, it's better fleshed out, it establishes his character relationships and motives far better, it's just... better? Zoro's backstory perhaps is still to be further developed, but as it stands...

–    Zoro = Wants to become the greatest swordsman because of a promise he made to his dead rival/childhood friend. Nice, but doesn’t feel very original or special. Where did he come from before all that? Where/who is Zoro's family? Why did he want to be a swordsman in the first place? Cause it's cool? It just leaves me feeling annoyed because there’s these gaps and things left unanswered within his story and I can't tell if Oda's even going to give us any answers! But with a possibility that Zoro is from Wano, maybe something is eventually going to be explained? Still, I feel like Oda needs to be careful he doesn't make a repetitive tragic backstory, cause I worry that at some point he's going to run out of ideas on how to make each new backstory more uniquely depressing than the last, to the point where it's gonna be a 'been there, done that' kind of deal. Or maybe he’ll actually reveal that Zoro has a DUN-DUN-DUN living mother. I mean, that’s rarely done in this series, so that would be pretty shocking.

–    Sanji = Born as a quadruplet (still so weird to me) to a royal family, kind mother but douche-bag father. Mother dies saving Sanji's humanity because said douche-bag father violated mother and children by tampering with them before birth in order to make his children into sociopathic weapons. Sanji grew up emotionally and physically abused by father and brothers because he had kindness and compassion, and the abuse got so bad that he was even locked in a jail cell with an iron mask on his face because his father was ashamed of his existence. Mother, of course, dies, leaving Sanji with only an older sister to turn to, who could only be nice to him in secret and laugh at him in public. He decided to become a chef during imprisonment due to his mother giving him the only praise he had ever received and he enjoyed making her happy. Finally escapes douche-bag family thanks to decent sister freeing him, but only after promising to never admit he was related to his douche-bag father, further destroying him emotionally. Next, the ship he worked on was destroyed in a tidal wave, killing all his friends at the time, and left him alone on a rock with little food and a pirate who recently kicked the crap out of him. Went months without food only to find out that the pirate he hated had given him all the food, forcing him to cannibalize himself to survive. And all this happened before he was just 10 years old. So, from then on Sanji grew up with a fixed dedication/appreciation for food, but a clearly messed up self-image due to years of abuse and being told he was a failure by his biological father. Not to mention the man who saved his life, while a good man at heart, kinda has a messed up moral compass of his own, and kinda f**ked up Sanji's head in his own way (seriously, Sanji can't bring himself to hit a woman to save his own life cause he can't bear disappointing/disobeying Zeff, the man who actually loved him like a son? Jeez).

–    For real, Sanji's story is a doozy, and Zoro's just doesn't compare (at least not at the moment). Sorry, but clear point goes to SANJI!

 Sanji 4/2 Zoro

 Gag: Possibly debatable again, but I honestly do prefer (and the fandom majority seem to prefer) Zoro's whole getting lost gag to Sanji being a looney tunes pervert (some of the faces Oda draws, I swear!) I don't mind anime perverts so long as they have some substance to their character, but Oda places ‘Pervert Sanji’ in some situations where you're left screaming, “NOW'S NOT THE TIME DAMMIT!” Some moments can be thrown off kilter by the perverseness and/or fanservice to the point where you're just left face-palming. Arguably, the same can be said for Zoro, especially with his wandering off and getting lost in Wano right before Luffy faced off against Kaido (not that Zoro could do much about that anyway if he hadn't gotten lost), but just how easily he gets lost is so ridiculous that it veers right around from being annoying and returns straight back to being hilarious because of how mind-boggling it is. xD So, point to ZZZZZORO!

 Sanji 4/3 Zoro

  Development: Once again, another debatable one. Too debatable! There's no way around it; some may say Sanji's ‘self-rediscovery’ arc in Whole Cake Island made him the better developed character (or didn’t develop him at all) and some will say that Zoro's “Nothing happened” moment is the pinnacle of character development in One Piece, and to me, too much of it comes down to preference and I find it hard to justify why one is potentially better developed than the other. Especially when there could still be further development for them to come. So.... yeah, another TIE!

 Sanji 5/4 Zoro

So, there it is, I killed some great time in quarantine with this(!) Maybe there’s more ‘categories’ I could have added, but with what I came up with, I really did try not to be bias here. I do think it’s important to have a character that can hit ‘all the beats’, deliver in terms of action scenes, comedy and the emotional hard-hitting moments too. I can’t help but appreciate the male characters who are more in touch with their emotions and show vulnerability, which is what I appreciate with Sanji, and why I probably don’t connect with Zoro as much as I’d like to?

Going through all of this however has made me think that I'm actually fairer than I thought I was. No? Yes? Close call anyway.

[whirlybirdwhat]

Its been awhile since I Rambled so guess what y'all are getting tonight!

Today’s topic is going to be Family; specifically, the family dynamics/examples in One Piece.

In the first two ‘arcs’, Shells Town and Orange Town, there isn’t a single mention of family beyond ChouChou (a good doggy) and his owner, and even that is less familial and more Pet-owner friendship, obviously. Instead, the arcs focus on introducing characters (Luffy, Zoro, Nami) and establishing world building and themes of the story - This is what the One Piece is, This what the series is all about, dreams and chasing them forever.

It isn’t until Syrup we get a mention of family, and even then its just Usopp’s lack of one, as he has a dead mother, and a faraway father. The most important aspect of this is that Usopp doesn’t really know his father beyond a role model.

It isn’t until the Baratie and Cocoyasi Arcs that we see any importance placed on ‘family,’ which is little over 40 chapters into the series. 

And so BOOM - another major theme is introduced into the series, subtly tying into the main theme (Dreams and chasing them) and etc. 

I personally however like how it was introduced behind everything else because you eventually become completely blindsided to how important family is in One Piece. And not just any family - the family you choose which is simply awesome!

So lets start looking at these family’s shall we?

All of these families are really diverse in their dynamics, so lets start with the easiest example - Usopp, who has none.

As previously stated, Usopp’s mother is dead, and for all we love Yasopp he pretty much ditched the kid. So - an example of a lack of family and how that influenced Usopp, without him turning into a ‘woe is me, I hate my dad’ character which can be common trope in fiction. Pretty interesting if you ask me.

Zoro can also be seen to have no family, and unlike Usopp, he never appears to have had any in the first place (Wano Arc may explain), and, yet again, doesn’t fall into a common trope for this.

Moving on, the next family relationship seen in One Piece is Sanji and Zeff, which is incredibly heart warming to me. Classic Single Dad trying to get his son to move out trope lol. More seriously, this is another family dynamic that we see - 

and very different from the next person, Name, who has no parent at all and when she did, she had a single mother. Bell-mere is an amazing example of a mom struggling to feed her kids and literally willing to do anything for these two girls she found in the wreckage of a battle. Bell-mere is also one of the few examples of some kick-ass moms we see in the series.

While One Piece follows the ‘kill the moms/absent mom’ trope they do make them awesome characters who definitely did not lie down and take their deaths nicely.

Nami’s arc is also the first time we see a sibling and also the first time we see the sibling get wounded in front of another hi ace , and begins to add value to the found family theme.

Because Nojiko chose to be Nami’s sister. Bell-mere chose to be Nami’s mother. Further back, Zeff chose to be Sanji’s father.

And then we meet (rip) Ace, who appears to be a blood relative of Luffy’s, adding importance not only the family we choose but the family we have. Of course, this is debunked later, but it definitely reinforces the ‘I love my family’ thing we have going on (Hey have you seen my baby brother - that's my kid brother - don’t hurt my brother - have I said Luffy’s my brother yet - Ace, Alabasta, pre death)

Oh! And we can’t forget about Chopper’s lovely parents who love him despite the fact that he’s not even human, (I salute you old medical people) and Vivi’s father who clearly adores his daughter and is very proud and supportive of her?

Alright.

And then there were four. 

Robin and Franky’s backstories happen at the same time and are vastly different yet incredibly similar.

Robin’s story is about losing family, even the family you had for but a few days (Saul) and eventually reclaiming a family for yourself. She is also one of the few characters who have a biological relative.

Franky’s story is about the continuous gain and loss of the same family. He started out with nothing - his parents threw him overboard for gods sake - but then he gained Tom, Icebarg, and Kokoro, and the frog (I forget how to spell his name oops) and formed a relationship with them... only to lose them again when Tom died and then gained them again along with the Franky Family.

His story is also very cool because, unlike the others, he was the leader of his family and not the one relying on the others. Also unlike the others, he lost his family when he was an adult. 

Now - what are the similarities between the two, you may ask? Well, for one, they both inadvertently caused the death of a loved one (Robin, Saul and Franky, Tom). Their biological family was either abusive (Robins Aunt, Franky Parents for throwing him overboard) or absent (Robin’s parents as explorers, Franky’s for abandoning him), yet their ‘first’ found family was people who were part of their career - the shipwrights for Franky and the archeologists for Robin!

Essentially, the message here is your work, your job, your coworkers can be your family too - it doesn’t have to be someone who fills a familial role specifically!

Lastly we have Brook, the Sanji situation and Luffy - Jimbei’s will come at a later date once I get the hang of his backstory and character. 

Brook first - he lost it all as an adult. Thats essentially all I have to say, as we know very little of his childhood. But as an adult he lost the family he created, the Rumbar pirates, and Laboon, proving that not only can adults make their own families but they can lose it too - different from the rest of the then teenage straw hats.

His family is also similar to Chopper’s as species doesn’t matter to Brook - he loves Laboon as if he were a dear human friend. 

Which is just sweet yknow?

The opposite of Sanji’s biological family, who are assholes. This is great family dynamic because it proves that only the people who you think of as family, are family, and not every family is kind and loving. Which sucks, but is an important thing to realize, as it contrasts all the other messages we have had so far from One Piece!

Then we have Luffy. He is one of the few characters with living biological family - and one of the few who just doesn’t care. Luffy hits the mark of every box in a way - he’s lost family (Ace, Sabo), he has absent parental figures (his mom, whoever she it, and Dragon) actual parental figures (Dadan, if you want, Makino, and Shanks at least as a role model) family by choice (His brothers) abusive yet weirdly loving family (Gramps) and self sacrificing family (Rip Ace)

Whats important though is how it effects him - specifically in Marineford.

He does all of that for family, feels like he would die if he didn’t, and built his own family out of the Strawhats. With Marineford, the theme of family, chosen family, was emphasized and finally hammered in.

tl;dr The Straw Hat Pirate crew and One Piece in general has a wide array of characters with diverse families, all who influence the characters by their absence, presence and actions one way or another, and help bolster the subtle theme of ‘found family is important’ in One Piece, especially with the Marineford arc (Rip Ace). It is also important to note that most of the characters. gave up the family they had to be with their family in the Strawhats, which wow, my heart.

Anyway, that's it, this is long so I'm not checking it for errors, have fun!!! I just needed to say something about how how I love those family dynamics in one piece