#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.

[amindofstone]

ONE PIECE! Deep talk, No. 2

a/n: Annyeonghaseyo! (*says that in a poorly done imitation of the voice of Jackson Wang XXD). How are you doing guys! How´s life? Are you happy? Are you sad? Y´all families doing good? I hope that each and every one of you s doing great and gets to experience happy days.

My dear readers and followers, I think I don´t deserve. I decided to work on my “ONE PIECE! Deep talk” and give you a no. 2. Like mentioned before if there is anything you want me to talk about just tell me and I will do my best. No matter if it´s about a character, a scene, an episode, the way the story developed etc. Just give me an input and I will see if there is anything my over thinking brain has to say. Other than that, happy reading!

· In the following I would like to talk about a character I instantly fell in love with as a child. I always thought that he was really cool and super strong in many ways. But next to that I also saw that character as someone really funny and super hilarious for many ways.

· The character I am referring to is Roronoa Zoro aka. “Pirate Hunter” (aka. “The vice captain of the strawhats” since Bartolomeo likes to call him that XD)

· There are some things about Zoro that caught my eye as an adult One Piece watcher and made me like him even more.

· I always saw Zoro as an amazingly well done character by Oda and never actually found any flaws until I realized that some characteristic traits (?) and or habits he has are his flaws, if one thinks about it for some time. But this is not what I want to talk about this time. I will leave it for some other time.

· This time I would like to talk about his loyalty to Luffy.

· Yeah, I know! I know that all of the Strawhats are loyal to him but still it´s a specific something that makes him even more loyal to Luffy in my eyes.

· Starting from his trust in him. Zoro blindly follows his orders without even thinking twice about the after. He runs head first into every situation with him no matter the circumstances.

· Man wanted to fight Kaido with just his crew and the heart pirates and he just went along with it stating that if his captain wanted to fight a yonko he will surly follow him

· In here I would like to mention one specific thing that really made me clap and say “Mans damn right!”. I even would have gave him a standing ovation if it only wasn´t 2 in the morning.

· Remember the “Water 7 Arc”. In which the strawhats had to get a new ship because the going merry was not in the shape to be used anymore but Usopp was against it what was the beginning of a huge drama. Remember that?

· I sadly don´t remember the whole thing anymore but it came that they wanted to leave and take Usopp with them who actually left the crew because of the disagreement he had with Luffy. Luffy was ready to go and get him but Zoro did not let him go. In fact he even said that he would leave the crew if their captain went to get Usopp back just like that.

· I was so impressed by his action and his words. I really couldn´t believe what was happening there.

· He couldn´t accept the fact that Usopp could go against the word of their captain Luffy. Their captain who wanted to become the pirate king and cross the grand line. He did not accept the fact that Luffy didn´t dare do anything about Usopps behavior and resistance.

· Zoro saying that being in a pirate crew is all about trust and loyalty towards the crew mates but most of all the captain. He stated that he dared to go against Luffys orders now and surely will do so in the future too if he does not show him the consequences of his actions. In my opinion Usopps actions were purely out of emotional events in his live, which why I cana absolutely understand Zoros state of mind.

· There were on their way to find the laughtale and live the life of pirates. Pirates that are hated and feared by the world, its people and most of all the government. They weren´t playing pirate like he used to back in his hometown. I really like Usopp because he is a funny and also relatable character but in this arc he made me really mad over his actions.

· Now back to Zoro.

· His words and his state of mind in the episode of 325 (I guess) showed how much he values loyalty.

· He was strictly against Luffy taking him back before he apologized properly to him. Him, Luffy who was his Captain, the man that allowed him to sail with him and his friends he trusted and cared for.

· Another moment that showed his loyalty to his captain was his solo fight with Kuma

· Kuma was sent to come back to the government with the head of Luffy. During the fight between the strawhats Kuma said that the only thing that would make him stop hurting the pirates and the civilians of the Thriller Bark was the strawhats handing him Luffy so he could bring the higher ups his head. Zoro thus got on his knees and offered him his live in exchange of Luffys. Sanji in that moment also made a move but at the end it was Zoro who made a deal with Kuma. He took all of Luffys pain and threw away his live and determination to become the worlds best swordman just so he could become the pirate king.

· “If I can´t even protect my captains dreams then whatever ambition I have is nothing but talk.”

· Maybe it was his position of the first mate that made him go that far but I personally think that it was the fact that he simply cherishes loyalty and of course Luffy a lot.

· Sticking to that I also want to talk about his decision to keep the deal he had with Kuma to himself and not tell others or let anyone know why Luffy was feeling so healthy and good after a tough fight with the pacifista.

· It kinda made me think that his action and the decision he made were a matter of course to him. It kind of made me think that it was something natural to do. To sacrifice his life for his captains. He didn´t wanted any of his crew mates to know what he did because he saw it as a part of his job and duty when he decided to join Luffy on his journey.

· And that was what made me truly fall in love with him. He might not show many emotions or sometimes even any at all but he truly and always cares for his crew.

· Oh and there is something else I would like to drop. For those who watched the movie Gold probably would know or remember that. But the scene in which Tesoro came seeing Zoro telling him that he will die and his crew will never be able to get the amount of money he asked for in exchange for his live. Remember what Zoro said! His words made me so damn proud! He said something like

· “If I don’t believe in them there is nothing to believe in.”

· Anyways, that’s it for know I guess.

[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. 

[zotash]

Discussing the most common arguments against Zoro x Tashigi

I realized I’ve been seeing the same criticisms over and over again, on forums, Twitter, Reddit etc. for almost a decade now, so I decided to make a comprehensive post to discuss them. Yes, I have a lot of free time these days.

As a disclaimer, these are just my opinions and there might be other ZoTash fans who think differently. This is not against the people who just don’t like this ship because it’s not their cup of tea. Saying “it’s not my thing” is totally valid. I only want to discuss arguments that are repeatedly used against ZoTash that make no sense to me, and explain why.

1. “People only ship Zoro with Tashigi because of Kuina”

Okay, what does this even mean? I see this a lot but I think it has at least a couple of different interpretations:

Interpretation no. 1: “People only ship Zoro with Tashigi because they think she’s Kuina” -> No. I’ve always believed Kuina is dead and is not Tashigi, mainly because of the following reasons:

Oda drew Kuina's dead body and her grave, where her father brings news of Zoro and has laid her training katana to rest. This is all in the manga.

Kuina and Tashigi canonically have different ages (Kuina would be 22 and Tashigi is 23) and they have different birthdays, that come from readers’ suggestions in SBSs.

Oda drew Tashigi as a child in an SBS and she looks nothing like Kuina.

Zoro's dream and backstory would lose all meaning if Kuina were still alive, as Kuina’s death is basically his cornerstone.

Interpretation no. 2: “People only ship Zoro with Tashigi because Tashigi reminds Zoro of Kuina” -> Is this implying we think Zoro was in love with Kuina and he can’t get over it so he’s projecting Kuina onto Tashigi? Personally, I don’t think Zoro felt anything for Kuina other than friendship and admiration. And they were 10 and 11... It could have been a childhood crush at best, not actual romantic love.

It’s a fact that Tashigi reminds Zoro of Kuina, but Zoro has gotten over it and doesn’t consider Tashigi a “copycat” anymore (as per Oda’s own words). Despite what some may believe, Kuina doesn’t really feature in most of the ZoTash ship discussion. Yes, she’s at the center of Zoro and Tashigi’s main misunderstanding, but their relationship has progressed past the “omg she looks like Kuina” phase now.

2. “Tashigi is a marine, her and Zoro being together would not work.”

I think people saying this should first of all re-read the series, because they are missing the entire point of One Piece – that is to tear down any artificial divide imposed by society/the goverment/tradition when it’s an obstacle to freedom, including freedom to love.

Luffy and the Strawhats with their actions are the catalysts for this. Marine and Pirates won’t matter in the end, the only thing that will matter is whether to side with the new Dawn brought along by Luffy or oppose it. And I think Tashigi (with Smoker) will side with the good side, given the direction their characters have been going in.

Once Zoro and Tashigi’s pirate/marine labels wash away, what remains are two individuals who are very similar, have chemistry, and share the same ideals and the same passion for swordsmanship. So, yes, in my opinion it would work.

As for Zoro, I’ve seen people say that being with Tashigi would go against his “pirate code” and I’m like– what? This is not about someone leaving their crew or disobeying their captain. Tashigi has nothing to do with Zoro’s pirate code. This is about Zoro, a pirate, doing whatever he wants and making his own decisions. Which is what pirates do. And if you don’t believe me, here’s what Oda – speaking through Sanji – thinks about pirate-marine relationships:

3. “Zoro just considers Tashigi an annoyance.”

I think this argument also comes from a superficial reading of the characters and from being oblivious to tropes certain authors like Oda like to use.

First, Zoro seems to consider everyone an annoyance, including people from his own crew, because that’s part of his tough guy act. Do you also believe Zoro truly hates Sanji, since he always puts up an annoyed face with him? Again, let’s hear what Oda/Sanji has to say on the matter:

Second, I do agree that at the beginning, pre-timeskip, Zoro was truly annoyed by Tashigi. That was both for comedic effect and also how enemies-to-lovers arcs work. But things have changed since the timeskip, with Zoro not freaking out anymore at the sight of Tashigi, showing more interest in her, initiating physical contact, and taking care of her when she was injured.

Third, the bickering and the “annoyed” reaction is typical of many Oda couples or couples-to-be. Oda often likes to use the like-an-old-married-couple trope for people that are indeed going to get married or be in a relationship:

4. “Zoro has only feelings for swords.”

This always makes me laugh because I’m like, dude–

I mean, the association Tashigi = swords is so strong that on official One Piece merch she’s always represented by the kanji for “sword” 刀 while Zoro has to make do with 斬, “to cut”. And to think that 刀 is even Zoro’s own signature! Sorry Zoro, there’s a bigger sword nerd in town.

I believe Tashigi is exactly Zoro’s type also because she can understand his lifelong dedication to swordsmanship and share in it. She’s been through a very similar life experience with swords, and Zoro would only benefit from a partnership with her that allows him to expand his sword knowledge. People say Zoro only cares about swords, but if it weren’t for Tashigi he wouldn’t even know Wadō Ichimonji’s name. Swords are what connect them.

And to be honest, I find statements like “Zoro only has eyes for swords” very simplistic. He’s not a one-note, gag character. He’s capable of having complex feelings and multiple interests.

---

So, yeah. I think these four are the most frequent arguments used against this ship. I’ve also seen weirder ones, and some that really made me laugh, but they’re not worth mentioning here. Let me know if there are others worth analyzing and of course anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion!

[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.

[cienie-isengardu]

K, O, P?

Thank you for the lovely ask, it was fun to write! :D

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

Hard to pick the one character, even more since the best of character development I love so much are not tied to one arc but happens through the whole story. But since I’m on OP kick lately, Roronoa Zoro gets all the honor. 

I love how at first he promised to follow Luffy as long as the rubber-man didn't get in the way of his goal (and threatened him with death otherwise) but took his commitment very seriously from day one. And somehow through the relatively short journey, Zoro literally threw away his ambitions, pride, life, everything for Luffy’s sake. And not only for Luffy, but for the crew as a whole, because  Roronoa is always ready to stay behind, to be left behind, to protect nakama at all cost. And the best part of this development is that, Zoro’s priorities changed from carrying the burden of promise and shared ambition with a dead friend being the best to giving everything to Luffy, while it does not change what Zoro is at the core. It doesn’t make him a better man in the sense of an improved attitude or outlook on life. Hell, I would say it makes him more workaholic with the need to get stronger, pushing himself harder than before once he gets to know the wider world better, but Zoro is ruthless and rude as he was. He is born killer and monster in human form that don’t give a fuck about the world, politics, what society thinks while his own moral sense does not budge at all. He was and is willing to kill, he enjoys fighting and drinking, has this ambitious as hell goal of being the best. The development does not change who Zoro is, but what matters to him the most and this growing loyalty and trust can be seen through the whole story and I don’t know what would need to happen for such dedication falter even for a bit.

And like I said, this is not something that happened in one arc, but was happening through the whole story, from earlier little occasional clashes with Luffy to being of one mind with his captain while always ready to carry the burden when Luffy can’t do it, ready to stay behind and protect nakama. What makes the final of Thriller Bark one of the coolest pledge of loyalty but not the best development arc itself, really, because Zoro’s character develops in that direction from day one and the decision made in Thriller Bark is just a result of all the previous adventures.

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

I’m going to cheat with that and instead of a random song, I will give you two I have on loop already for several days: Broken Crown and I gave you all by Mumford & Sons, because both suit Donquixote Brothers so well and could tell the same events from two different perspectives. In advance sorry for ranting but these two songs kill me emotionally so much, I must talk in length about them!

Broken Crown is all about Rosi rejecting the “crown” given to him by brother (“I'll never be your chosen one”) and yet… still caring and sadly, knowing it too well he wouldn’t pull the trigger (“but oh my heart, was flawed I knew my weakness. So hold my hand consign me not to darkness“) and the final lines, gosh:

So crawl on my belly 'til the sun goes down

I'll never wear your broken crown 

I took the road and I fucked it all away 

Now in this twilight, how dare you speak of grace 

So crawl on my belly 'til the sun goes down 

I'll never wear your broken crown 

I can take the road and I can fuck it all away 

But in this twilight, our choices seal our fate

And then, I gave you all is just so Doffy about Rosinante, it hurts. Seriously. Like, I really believe he never meant to hurt his brother (and maybe never understood he did), and the whole last lines are just so on spot:

But I gave you all 

But you rip it from my hands 

And you swear it's all gone 

And you rip out all I have

Just to say that you've won 

Well now you've won

It’s just so, so about Rosi stealing Law and Opi Opi no Mi even though Doffy already “gave [him] all” what he could. And the most ironic thing? When people usually think about their last meeting, we remember that Doffy killed his younger brother, but in fact, Rosi DID WIN in the long run. He cured Law and saved him from Doffy, he stole Opi Opi no Mi and took away from brother a chance for immortality, even if just for a while. Which is like three main victories in one strike and he did sort of say it to Doffy’s face (“[Law] is already free!!”). 

Just… so many feelings from two songs that fit well two brothers so different from each other. And the regrets and hate, and lack of understanding and spite. Seriously, it makes me think about their last meeting so much :(

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

I have three major growing ideas, but since I’m in a good mood, I will share the happiest AU in which Donquixote Rosinante never played the role of spy and confronted Doflamingo in the open sea as a Marine Officer. 

Or more like: Doffy found out his bro is alive but part of Marine, so of course he couldn’t leave him in peace and like the maniac he is, chased after Rosinante across all the sea to recruit him into the Family - to no avail. So Doffy’s main reason to become Shichibukai was just so he could jump on Rosi’s warship and annoy the fuck of him, like an older brother should. And Rosi can’t kick him overboat, since as a Warlord Doflamingo is untouchable by Marines. Or at least in theory, because Rosi serves under Garp’s command*, and the old Vice-Admiral does not mind to punch some sense into Doffy (and Rosi) with fist of love, cause no punk like Doffy will tell Monkey D. Garp  what he should or shouldn’t do on his own ship and if bros are lucky, Tsuru may save them from this madman… or not). Despite that causing ruckus between sailors is much better than boredom, and Doffy seeks out his younger brother under all excuses and more often than not, visits just to rant about all annoying people and bitching on Kaido or Sengoku or Nobles or really, everything and maybe for a drink or two and napping between one and another business meeting, because there is no better nap than under Rosi’s silencing powers. It is worth, no matter that more often than not Garp is kicking his ass, even when in fact he acts as a good boy should. And maybe, just maybe Doffy is so bored with all his underground business going well that he is actually doing “government dog” work of hunting down random pirates. Or more likely, slaughtering every asshole who dare insult his clumsy brother.

Because no matter what, Rosi is his baby bro and he belongs to Doffy even if the dumbass stubbornly refuses to join the Family. Which is fine, one day Doflamingo will find a way to change his brother's mind and until that day comes, he will mess with Marines as much as he can. Which is all fair, because Rosi too does mess with Doffy’s underground business whenever he has a chance and the klutz set on fire accidentally himself AND so many Doffy’s stuff one may wonder if he really is that clumsy or does he do that on purpose. Trebol thinks the latter, cause somehow Rosi always drops things on him by stumbling or spilt hot tea in his face. Doffy finds that amusing as hell, even more when his little bro uses his devil fruit powers to mute half of the Family just to piss them off. At least, as long as Rosi remembers to unmute them before leaving (sometimes the lil shit does not unmute them on purpose and Doffy is forced to chase him around the sea to undo the damage. Younger brothers can be a really pain in the ass).

So Doffy & Rosi kinda have this I-hate-you-but-I-love-you-dumbass relationship over the years until Law comes into picture and of course, Law stab the younger Donquixote and of course, Rosinante kidnap the kid to find a cure and maybe, just maybe, kidnap his brother along the way, and drag Law and Doffy on forced family vacation that involves burning a few dozens of hospitals, a lot screaming at each other and some terapeutic honest talks that no one really wants but everyone needs. Law gets the Ope Ope Mi, Doffy and Rosi kinda explain to each other all the traumatic shit from childhood and made sort of peace.

So, in the end, Doffy does not take over Dressrosa but is still doing his shady business and just being himself, just with better mental stability (cause Rosi keeps muting Trebol and all his shitty talk about what king can or cannot do on every occasion). Rosi has a brother that is not complete monster but not the good man either, but he isn’t ordered to kill him or lie to, and even though they are on opposite side, Rosinante can always call Doffy on den den mushi and shout at him for hours for all the stupid shit he pulled without any regrets or fear (and sometimes, Doffy does listen). Law is saved but still decides to sail and causing havoc as pirate captain while both Donquixote brothers are doting on him and of course, allying himself with Monkey D. Luffy, while the poor Sengoku just gets constant migraine for dealing with all the nonsense of Monkey D. and Donquixote family drama (but secretly feeling relieved that his son is finally doing fine). Garp on other hand, find it hilarious as hell. The World Government does not find it hilarious at all.

 *Sengoku doesn’t like putting his precious Rosinante under Garp’s command because the Hero of Marines of course drags the poor kid into all possible troubles and chaos, but since Rosi is brother of Doflamingo and Doffy is hated by Nobles, Garp is the best protector for younger Donquixote. He will punch everyone who would dare to hurt the kid of his closest friend, including World Nobles and their armies. The side effect is that Rosi is looking after Ace and Luffy, once they set sails, because they are uncle Garp’s grandkids and he will happily save Ace’s ass before Blackbeard get his hand on him and be even kind enough to give the kid a choice: either he comes back to Whitebeard or Rosi takes him straight to grandpa Garp and so Ace ends safe under pop’s watchful eyes once and for good.

Here, a happy Donquixote Bros AU. You’re welcome!

ask meme

[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 !

[olivereactsaboutgarbage]

One Piece Chapters 103-111

Sorry, I meant to say “One Piece Chapters 103_!!!” but I forgot to hold shift for the last bit. “_” in this context means “and then the 8 after that”.

Chapter 103 - The Whale

It’s a flower... it’s a man... no, it’s Super um well I can’t say “man”

Super is a weirdo.

Oh, it’s just like The Truman Show! Super must be Truman.

Anyway, the crew is speculating based on certain pieces of evidence that the whale isn’t a hoax after all. Although of course they haven’t seen what Lufpy’s seen.

lmao what a speech bubble

HUH??? SUPERSPIES WITH REGAL ROCKET LAUNCHERS ARE INFILTRATING THE METALLIC INTERIOR OF THE WHALE??? HUH???

of course they will

SuperTruman is immune to rocket blasts, so he tanks a couple in order to protect the whale. I guess the whale really isn’t a hoax? It just has elaborate body mods?

Oh, the whale was friends with a nonzero amount of humans who have since disappeared forever, and is thusly obsessed with a certain location. We’re doing the dog who isn’t named Jake again.

Chapter 104 - Cape Promise

This chapter largely centers around the crew discussing the whale’s predicament, until Lufpy starts attacking it, declaring that some day he will be even stronger than it. Call that a “palindrome whale”.

Chapter 105 - Log Pose

In order to make the whale stop headbutting things, Lufpy gives it some body art. Wait that begs the question. Why didn’t the guy who gave it body mods. Simply give it a helmet.

Well whatever.

The crew is hanging out and having fun, but their compass isn’t working. SuperTruman explains that the Grand Line is a place where compasses don’t work, so they need a BetterCompass. But they already have one, so Nami assaults Lufpy arbitrarily. Hm this would probably be a bad time to bring up my “Nami = Dad, Lufpy = Mom” reading.

Oh it’s like Space Junk Galaxy. They’ll need to travel from pull star to pull star. Only each one can have events and characters. So it’s a bit different as well.

اٗ —ðsžšåÞя½ © ????ðsžšåÞя— there’s an Ultimate Pull Star at the end of Space Junk Galaxy: Raftel. I guess something super special and important will happen when Lufpy and his crew reach it. Or they just won’t. One of those two.

Lufpy pulls the signature move that distinguishes him from Nami: Eating bones. —ðsžšåÞя½ © ????ðsžšåÞя—� Usopp doesn’t eat bones either.

Sanji assaults Lufpy because he wanted Nami to eat bones. This makes sense. Sanji is, after all, a reformed non-bone-eater.

Next, Usopp and Zoro need to find excuses to assault Lufpy. This will level up Lufpy into Brooding Antihero Lufpy who has cast off the shackles known as the power of friendship.

Instead of that happening, Nami assaults Sanji, thusly establishing a hierarchy. The crew’s BetterCompass also got destroyed at some point in there, but it’s okay, because they immediately get another one. I guess the universal forces that govern One Piece really don’t want there to be an arc about needing to seek out a BetterCompass.

Also, the superspies have their own personal Team Dark counterparts who are animals instead of humans.

Wait, now that this sequence has drawn attention to it... HOW IS LUFPY ALIVE?! WHAT DID HE DO TO SURVIVE?!

Oh, never mind, in the next panel Sanji has his arm around Lufpy’s neck. Man, why is Sanji always the one who gets relegated to preventing-Lufpy-from-drowning duties? Usopp or someone should pick up the slack a little. I thought better of you, Usopp.

Sanji also prevents the female superspy from drowning! Sanji has a dangerous addiction to preventing people from drowning! This will be the crew’s downfall later.

Anyway, Lufpy agrees to let the Team Hero superspies be their new Johnny and Yosaku. I like them better than Johnny and Yosaku though, so I actually won’t mind having them around.

Chapter 106 - The Town of Welcome

We get a time skip to Christmastime or something like that. Lufpy and Usopp are building snow sculptures, but Nami hates winter, so she isn’t. Relatable.

Actually, the time skip to Christmastime was only a few moments long. That is the power of the Grand Line. Or I guess maybe it’s like Narnia, where it’s always winter but never Christmas. Indeterminate.

A new disaster is happening every single tiny panel. Then Zoro wakes up and everything’s fine. This is the power of Zoro’s Dream...!

What the hell is that. How is that biologically possible. It’s grotesque.

The crew reaches some big cactuses, so the superspies immediately leave. What?! No... how come Johnny and Yosaku got all that focus and the superspies are gone before we even truly knew them? How unfair!

Anyway, the crew has to stay near the cactuses for a while, but there’s a problem: Usopp has a disease that squeezes his speech bubbles.

The cactus area turns out to be inhabited by lots of friendly people. One of them has a saxophone. Nami doesn’t seem into it, but there’s NO CHOICE. NO CHOICE. NO CHOICE.

Chapter 107 - Moonlight and Tombstones

Lufpy is engaging in fetishes as usual.

As for what Usopp and Zoro is doing, Usopp is doing the best thing possible to do in this situation, and Zoro is doing a lamer version of what Nami is doing. How in-character of them.

...I like how while Lufpy is in a food coma and Zoro and Nami are passed out drunk, Usopp collapses from... bragging-induced ecstasy?

¶ðsžšåÞя©©ráÚÆ ????▀¶ðsžšåÞя©©ráÚÆ ????▀ the guy with the saxophone is actually the prequel to the male superspy.

It turns out Zoro’s real reason for drinking less than Nami was that he wasn’t actually drunk. Zoro explains that since he uses swords, he’s not the type of guy who actually drinks enough to pass out. I guess since one of Zoro’s fifteen gimmicks is taking naps while sober, it makes sense that he wouldn’t want to take a drunken nap. ...Maybe if Zoro had an endless supply of beer he’d be more useful.

Woah, the cactus’s spines are all actually graves? That’s the goofiest possible way a thing could be totally metal.

Zoro’s enemies say “We’re not idiots!” and shoot each other with guns.

The saxophone guy proclaims that Zoro shouldn’t be hard to stop, because he’s just one swordsman... but that’s just it, isn’t it? The fewer the swords, the stronger the opponent. Zoro will surely win. In the meantime, though, the saxophone is super deadly.

Chapter 108 - 100 Bounty Hunters

...hey wait if zoro knew that there was an evil organization wouldn’t it have been smarter to not let his crewmates pass out, so he could have four allies in this fight?

OH HECK YES THERE’S COWBOYS

AND THE NUN IS DONKEY KONG’S DAUGHTER

Zoro complains about his cursed sword: It destroyed a mallet he wanted it to merely collide with, which means it’s rowdy or something. By calling his cursed sword a “problem child”, Zoro also manages to summon an ACTUAL problem child, who wields yet another nun as his weapon. Zoro doesn’t find that very notable.

Next, Zoro ends up knocking over one or two ladderfuls of people. The joke’s on him, though, because ladders can also be used as bludgeoning weapons! So can fists! But so can turning the tables on people by grabbing them by the face, I guess.

Zoro’s enemies decide that he, and not Lufpy, must be the true main character of One Piece.

Chapter 109 - A Question of Duty

Zoro is now against the ultimate powers of his REAL enemies: A saxophone, a Chocobo, and front-flips. It occurs to me: Lufpy would be mad if he found out how much of a non-1v1 Zoro is engaging in right now. Totally uncool, Zoro! Even considering the fact that Lufpy is okay with clearing out small fry if doing so leads to a 1v1, Zoro is still engaged in a 1v3 right now!

For the guy who does frontflips, Zoro asks him to do more flips and he does a backflip to his death.

For the woman with a Chocobo, she hypnotizes him with her boobs but then the Chocobo kills her.

However, Zoro is still an anti-Lufpy rebel, so the frontflip guy and Chocobo woman turn out to not be dead, ensuring that Zoro still isn’t fighting a 1v1! In fact, the frontflip guy has another trick: His baseball bat has a “grappling the-end-of-the-bat” function in lieu of being a grappling hook. The Chocobo woman has another trick too: Taking Lufpy hostage while he sleeps! The saxophone guy has another trick too: GUNS IN HIS HAIR???

Zoro wins the fight by swinging the frontflip guy around and using him as a weapon. Then using Lufpy as a trampoline in a fetishistic type of way for maximum damage against the saxophone guy.

The night is over!

Chapter 110 - The Night Isn’t Over

Lufpy wakes up, so Lufpy goes to sleep.

The animalistic Team Dark looms... and a Team Even Darker shows its face.

It turns out Team Even Darker is looking for a double agent who is only pretending to serve Zoro’s enemies’ interests, but actually serves a monarchy. That’s right: It’s the saxophone guy. And also the female member of Team Hero, also known as the Chocobo woman, also known as a princess.

The male member of Team Hero (also known as the frontflip guy) is very confused, but decides to do a heroic sacrifice anyway. The saxophone guy wants Zoro to get involved with this.

Nami shows up to agree to the saxophone guy’s request (for a price). Hell yes!! It’s Nami!! I’m glad drunkenness isn’t a real thing.

Chapter 111 - The Secret Criminal Organization

The fact that Nami also wasn’t drunk is very funny, because it presumably means she was simply choosing not to do anything to help Zoro while he was fighting for his life. I love Nami so much.

Meanwhile, Lufpy is going to indulge his scat fetish.

This is a nice establishing shot.

The stronger of the two nuns also confusedly engages in a heroic sacrifice. She gets exploded. This is the Devil Fruit Power of the male member of Team Even Darker: Exploding people.

The princess gets saved from getting exploded by a Zoro ex Machina like so:

Meanwhile, Nami does her part: She’s learning about the bad guys. It turns out their secret organization revolves around a system where the closer your name is to that of the enigmatic “Mr. Zero”, the more power you hold. I hope the final boss of this arc is a guy named Mr. Zeko or something (obviously it would be different in the original Japanese). That would be a lot funnier than something like a Mr. One or whatever.

When interrogated as to his motives, Zoro says “I have my reasons” because that’s a cooler thing to say than “I wouldn’t be bothering with this if it weren’t for the fact that Nami wants money”.

Lufpy decides to oppose Zoro. Well I hope that doesn’t turn out poorly.

turn out

turn out

turn out

turn out

turn out

turn out

[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.