#even if he did hear sanji's childhood story if sanji said not to act luffy wouldn't move a muscle

[cheswirls]

ok these tags made me think abt one of my favorite aspects of luffy's character so i'm getting a little meta. kinda long so under a cut she goes

to contrast luffy not caring about what happened to others in their past, and going hand-in-hand with this, oda does a great job of showing how much luffy values people at present. to luffy, it doesn't matter what kind of person or what kinds of things you did before. all that matters is a person's character as they are when luffy interacts with them (and sometimes with his crewmates, but again, at present).

luffy values how people present themselves, and this is the leading reason why he's the first to fall for obvious ploys and trickery and lies and such. he's willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt until they prove him otherwise.

a great example of this is rebecca, and a foil example is doflamingo. rebecca helps luffy from their first interaction, and then gives him food when he's hungry even though he has nothing to give back in return. when she tries to kill luffy, it's without conviction, and it goes against everything she's shown him so far. that's the reason he never takes her attempt seriously. eventually she backs down and devolves into tears, blaming doflamingo for everything wrong with her life. this, i believe(?) is also luffy's first grievance against doflamingo, since law has never admitted any personal strife with him up to this point.

doflamingo is built up as a threat and an obstacle they have to thwart in order to take down kaido. but since law's plan was originally to have kaido kill doflamingo, only using the strawhats as a way to force doflamingo's hand and take away his one bargaining chip with the yonko, the situation is always painted in a way that leaves doflamingo as one piece in the puzzle, one cog in the machine that constantly twists and turns many other gears.

he did the same thing with caesar, except on punk hazard, luffy and co were constantly exposed to all of caesar's criminal acts and ill intentions, so whether law chose to be honest or not, things were becoming known either way. even then, with figuring out the kids were being drugged and experimented on, with learning caesar didn't value the men under him at all, and with finding caesar planned to kill them all to keep quiet, the real turning point for luffy regarding his opinion of caesar only happened when he met momo. it was finding this half-starved kid left to rot in a garbage dump and having said kid admit he was concerned for the other children in the compound because he knew caesar's true intentions (and the fact that none of them were supposed to live for very long). it was hearing another of caesar's actions turning out to be more lies that makes luffy boil over. he was angry when he left with momo, but he was furious when he ran into brownbeard and observed firsthand how caesar treated him. that was the final straw, but it still took a bit to get there. luffy was still happy-go-lucky about kidnapping caesar back when chopper discovered the kids were being drugged. it's never a single thing that gets his opinion to fully swap (to a negative one) but it's almost always a single kind act that gets him to view someone positively.

luffy didn't really hold ill regard to doflamingo until rebecca cries in front of him and blames doflamingo for her problems. he was never up for head hunting doflamngo until law got shot in front of him, even going so far as to tell franky and co to stop toy soldier from going after the warlord because it was rebecca's desire to keep toy soldier out of trouble. until law was shot and taken hostage, luffy didn't have much animosity towards doflamingo. law tells luffy that doflamingo killed someone dear to him and that's why he holds such a grudge, and later luffy is still intent on arguing with law over which of them was going to grind doflamingo into dust (the specific moment i'm thinking of is a gag where luffy says he has a 16-year-old grudge in order to 'beat' law's 13-year-old one).

it took learning toy soldier is rebecca's father and rebecca can't even live with him while he's a toy, and the birdcage going up to demonstrate just how little doflamingo cares for the citizens of the country he rules, and seeing law's arm cut off (and his "dead body") and law crying as he accepts his defeat/death at doflamingo's hands because he wasn't strong enough to carry out his revenge. luffy goes from mad to enraged very, very quickly, and it's never for his own benefit. doflamingo has never personally wronged luffy, but because his grievances have stacked up so profoundly high and luffy is witness to them firsthand (and they involve people he cares for) then of course he's going to go ballistic.

before i go back to rebecca, a lot of this trait in luffy can be summed up as him clinging to shanks' words from his childhood: about brushing off things that happen to him, but never letting anyone mess with his friends/crew.

regarding rebecca, it's fun to look back and see luffy's opinion so drastically change on so many points after doflamingo shoots law. he goes back on what he said earlier and gives franky permission to wreak havoc along with toy soldier and the king riku coalition. nami makes him see how much law sacrificed to give them a one-up on doflamingo and suddenly luffy is hell-bent on getting law back. this is also right around his first declaration of the plan switching to defeating (and dethroning ig) doflamingo.

luffy has so many positive interactions with kyros in the beginning as well, so learning he and rebecca share a connection pairs the two in his mind. idr where he is, maybe the plateau, but when he talks to robin and rebecca on the denden mushi, he tells her to stay alive until she can see her dad again. he protects her from the giant toy puppet at the flower field, he defends her and viola from doflamingo's parasitic strings, and he seeks her out before leaving the island and helps her get partway to her dad (enabling her to catch him in time) after seeing how unsatisfied she is with where she's at. rebecca is such a good narrative foil to vivi, and it shows with luffy by being a good example of how little time it takes to get him attached to someone. most of dressrosa takes place in less than a 24h time period (honestly more like 12-15, considering they arrived after cp0 did in the morning and doflamingo was defeated before the sun set) and still luffy manages to form such a meaningful connection with this girl he knows very little about, all things considered.

(another way worth mentioning, in how vivi and rebecca are foils, is how much responsibility rebecca tries to shoulder throughout the arc and how all the adults around her won't let her do it because she shouldn't have to. viola, robin, acilia, kyros, luffy, even sabo - everyone shoulders her burdens at different points and keeps her from actions she'll later regret. it just so happens that luffy does this more than once, and the moments he acts for her are always something worth noting.)

the same happened with tama in act one. tama's connection with ace or the kozuki wasn't really important to luffy - it was the fact that she gave him food to eat and made herself sick with water trying to keep luffy from the fact that she was hungry. it's why he goes through so much effort to rescue her from hold'em and share the food he stole from the paradise farm with tama and the villagers (and specifically the villagers that helped take care of tama - that's the point of influence). i may have the order wrong, but if not: when kaido blows a hole through the mountain kuri castle sits on, luffy is in shock. he's not angry again until he runs into speed and she reveals kaido attacked her and tama, and after that he is furious enough to attack kaido directly and deal with the consequences of causing a scene.

the present matters to luffy because who you are and what you did in the past doesn't have to define you. nami was a thief, zoro hunted pirates for bounty, franky was a Whole Criminal in the eyes of water 7's citizens. robin was branded a criminal by the world government for something that happened when she was eight, and still luffy refuses to let this affect what he knows about her as a person.

we can swing around to wci too, because there's interesting dichotomy there as well. sanji beats luffy into unconsciousness and yet luffy still refuses to doubt him. sanji tells him straight up that his family is horrible and he should have no love for them, yet he still wants to save them from their fate. it's a great character moment for luffy to recognize this and find to fault, because to him, sanji has always been such a kind person. that's that defining factor that keeps coming up and creating full circle moments in wci (any anyone who doesn't like the arc bc they think sanji didn't do enough or have enough growth is missing the point but i digress) and it's really neat to reveal this through luffy, to have his opinion of sanji be so unshakable that he knows there has to be an ulterior reason sanji is acting so opposed to him.

the point is that the enemy has always been big mom, and sanji has to come to terms with that before luffy straight up says it aloud (via crashing the wedding). this is sanji being held hostage by a yonko with his family sitting on death's doorsteps. wci is about sanji moving past his childhood trauma and how the crewmembers he has with him help him do so, assist in any way they possibly can. luffy knows it was sanji's family that put the exploding wrist cuffs on him, like there are still signs that sanji has a bad relationship with the vinsmokes without him outright saying so. but it's also sanji's responsibility to handle things as he wants to, and it's his conflict he's involved his crewmates in, so even though luffy is his captain, luffy gives sanji the front seat to deal with things as he likes. the big mom pirates are the enemy, and sanji's scummy no-good family has to be saved even though they don't deserve it, and sanji has to be overly kind even when he shouldn't be because it's so ingrained in his nature to do so. and when he asks for help, in the present, so caught up in desperation that he's in tears, then of course luffy is going to answer that plea to the best of his ability, despite what he might think otherwise.

Imagine gear 5 Luffy facing Sanji's brothers. They aren't going to last a second.

Oh my god wait YEAH I have made a post about smth similar to this concept before, here

[entropiceye1342]

Spoiler free review for Netflix's live action One Piece!

WOW.

A lot of stuff to love! I absolutely ADORE this take on the adventure of the Straw Hat Pirates!

The Straw Hats are all cast perfectly, the supporting cast is spot on. Everyone NAILS their characters!

Give the man a crown!

Iñaki Godoy as Luffy is goofy and oblivious in all the right ways. He sticks the perfect landing of the emotional intelligence that was crucial to bring the deeper side of Luffy to life, and doesn't neglect the hyperactive child side either! Seeing him gleefully bounce around - both in and out of fights- was special. The CGI was pretty good! Better than I expected, really. I appreciate making Luffy a little more level-headed, it's a good choice to tone down the chaos goblin for live action 🤣

It was magnificent to see Luffy grow into a "real" pirate in this arc, and he will be the KING!

Mackenyu as Zoro is a bit "too cool" but honestly I expected it to happen, people tend to overlook the fact that 90% of the time he's just as dumb as Luffy 🤷 but MAN is he cool. He really surpassed my expectations for the fight scenes, and did not skip on the brutality! 3 Sword Style was stunningly realized and incredible fun to watch- even without drawing a single blade!

His one liners and sarcasm are on point, ESPECIALLY regarding Sanji 🤣

Emily Rudd as Nami is INCREDIBLE. Smart as a whip and wily as ever, this cat burglar lands on her feet! In and out of combat, Nami is quick on her feet and with her wit. One Piece passes the Bechdel test once again, and her story is every bit the emotional powerhouse as its manga and anime counterparts- better in some moments! 'Nuff said.

Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp is delightful, though unfortunately he doesn't get as much time to shine as the others. When he does though, it's fantastic!

He really got the little things down about the character without needing to be as over the top as his counterparts- a bullseye from the sniper!

Sanji is perfect as well, you can SEE the training Taz Skylar went through for the part, from the mouth watering food to the killer martial arts. Every bit as fun to watch as the rest of the Monster Trio! My expectations for him were already high, and he kicked them into the stratosphere.

I'm glad they toned down the flirting, they found the right balance and played it well. Sanji matches Zoro in the bickering spectacularly, an absolute must that exceeded my hopes in both of their performances.

I'm not gonna list everyone but because I love this stupid fucking clown:

Jeff Ward as Buggy is an absolute TREAT, I am a huge fan of this take on the character. The perfect storm of bumbling dipshit who wants to be taken seriously, but still pretty intimidating at times. LOVE it. His jokes are GOLD.

Speaking of! Gold Roger, the man who started it all! *mwah!* Dazzling performances from him AND the Marines.

The few nitpicks I have are minor, the childhood acting ranges from ok to abysmal, Lily Fisher as young Nami is a notable standout. Some of the "minor" characters suffer from wooden acting, but honestly that's about the worst of it.

The Fishmen look a little low budget in their early appearances, but are absolutely PERFECT when they are the ones in the spotlight. Absolutely phenomenal work from McKinley Belcher III, my biggest fear from this was Arlong being done wrong and he CRUSHED IT!

The soundtrack was rousing, it truly felt like a call to adventure! And above all the SET DESIGN 😭

They TRULY brought the world that Oda Senseii has been drawing for us all these years, to life.

And now, anime One Piece is trending on Netflix.

THE GREAT PIRATE ERA IS HERE!

Here's to hoping Netflix doesn't Netflix it 🍻

What did you think?

Especially if this is your introduction to One Piece, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts!

[cienie-isengardu]

The development of Law’s relationship with Zoro - Part 4: Dressrosa, The Breaking Point (Saving Law)

<<Part I: Before Meeting>> <<Part II: Sabaody Archipelago, The First Meeting>> <<Part III: Punk Hazard, The Alliance (A)>> <<Part III: Punk Hazard, The Alliance (B)>>  <<Part IV: Dressrosa, The Breaking Point (The Plan Failed)__ (Saving Law)__(Protecting Law)__ (Birdcage, Pica and Doflamingo)__ (Aftermath)>>

The mission of saving Law (chapter 731) was carried by Luffy, Zoro and Kinemon, while Franky, Robin and Usopp were responsible for destroying the factory with the help of dwarves.

Before Luffy left the Colosseum, he met Sabo (his and Ace's long-lost brother that up to this moment was considered to die in their childhood) which made Straw Hat emotionally shaken. Due to the excess of emotions, Luffy couldn’t stop crying what didn’t go unnoticed by Zoro:

Though Zoro is usually lenient in regards to Luffy’s moods, the trio managed to run away from marines in disguises made by Kinemon and get close to Royal Palace while Luffy still cried without a proper explanation why. Zoro’s patience finally ran out:

Zoro not only told Luffy to get a grip of himself (“do you still want to go save Law?”), but also actually smacked him. This… is a very uncommon act for Zoro. Because yes, he never beat around the bush when it comes to telling hard truth nor hesitate to reprimand his nakama (or, just straight sum up their antics as “idiotic”), but hitting Luffy is mainly done by Nami and Usopp or Sanji. It can’t be said that Zoro never displayed “a rough approach” to Luffy before - because he did it too from time to time, especially in the earlier parts of the story yet after time-skip, I can’t recall any moment similar to this one. It is so uncommon now for him to lose patience in regard to Luffy’s antics and/or emotional “breakdown” to the point of hitting him and yet it happened when Roronoa and Luffy were in the middle of a rescue mission to save Law.

Luffy - a man for whom Zoro was ready to give up his life, and for whom he was so worried once he learned about Ace’s death - was a crying mess since he left the colosseum (and some time already have passed between that and now) and Zoro just smacked his captain in a way Nami and Usopp usually do. What speaks a lot about the level of distress / pressure he must have felt.

Of course, it is hard to tell for sure, if Zoro was so worried about Law because he already took to liking him, or was that more about saving ally as returning debt, since Law saved Nami, Chopper, Brook, Momonosuke and Sanji from Doflamingo. I personally think it is a mix of both reasons. Zoro always took seriously his duties and “promises” (and alliance is a form of unsaid promise) but for all Straw Hats, at this point of story Law was no more “just ally”. Whatever his reasons were, taking down Doflamingo was something very personal; a matter worth dying. Straw Hats, not even knowing the full story behind Law’s choice, did not want to let him down.

In the meanwhile, in the Royal Palace, Law was put on the throne of Corazon. It is hard to tell, was he truly unconscious or did he pretend to not bring the enemy's attention to himself but if the latter, he could listen to Doflamingo’s talk with (ex)King Riku about the situation. Luffy was stuck in the Colosseum, ignoring the plan. Franky was actually doing what he promised to do, but without any support, which was not good enough. Like Doffy said, the alliance's only pieces left were Pirate Hunter Zoro and samurai Kinemon whose location and intention were unknown. What wasn’t the best information but not the worst either - there was still hope Straw Hats had some plan in mind. Especially since Doflamingo did not mention at all what happened with the rest of the crew, so Sunny Go could sail already far away from Dressrosa.

On their way, the rescue team was aided by dwarf Wicca and Viola, who had personal reasons to hate Doflamingo. With her help, pirates get a chance to invade the palace by secret passage not known even to the enemy (chapter 735). The long stairs were going to take them inside lower part of building but Zoro came with smart shortcut by using “handmade lift”

While Kinemon was making sure Viola was not left behind, Zoro’s impatience showed up again by rushing Luffy - even though his captain wasn’t even fooling around and did as he was told.

Was Zoro in such a hurry because of the heavy pressure of time (Law captured by enemy willing to hurt him beyond necessary and Franky’s team already on move) or just simple desire for fight, hard to tell for sure. But in all fairness, looking how Zoro was willing to follow Viola to another secret passage rather than directly attacking enemy soldiers (in contrast to Luffy who simply punched the main door with gomu gomu no gigant pistol), seems like saving Law was a serious matter to him, not just an occasion for a good fight. His reaction to Luffy’s directness points to that too, because usually Zoro was first to follow the captain into fight and not so ago his idea to get inside the colosseum unnoticed was to cut it… gently.

Now, Zoro, Kinemon, Wicca and Viola were pretty shocked and / or pissed at Straw Hat. Zoro’s whole reaction was, well, extremely expressive.

Once Luffy made ruckus, Doflamingo was informed about intruders (chapter 736):

Since Doffy was still in the same room as Law, Trafalgar may or may not hear that Luffy (who was supposed to fight in Colosseum, to Doffy’s great surprise) and Zoro actually get inside the palace. To save him, instead of destroying SMILE Factory. What, in the current state of Law’s mind was the wrong decision to make.

Anyway, the rescue team was soon confronted by Pica, one of three top Doflamingo’s officers. Zoro stayed behind to fight with the enemy, so Luffy and Viola could head to the throne room, to save Law (chapter 740).

In meanwhile, Law clearly regained consciousness, listening in silence to Doffy’s rant about Straw Hats and their unexpected attack on Sugar and connection to the little Tontatta people.

Law of course couldn’t know what was going on since he had no information about Sugar’s role in enslaving people nor who the dwarves were. He said to Doflamingo he barely could understand what he was saying. Yet one look at his former boss (the biting nails reflex) could tell Trafagar how serious the situation was and maybe, just maybe the Straw Hats knew what they were doing which means that his plan wasn’t a total failure. Yet questioned, Law also said “I have nothing to do with them anymore… the alliance is over”.

Law could say that to confuse (mess) with already uneasy Doflamingo or because he truly believed the alliance was over - or maybe rather, should be, to not drag Straw Hats into their death? Most likely it was a mix of all reasons, but one thing was clear - Law didn’t wait for rescue.

Soon it turned out that Straw Hats dealt a serious blow to the enemy. Law probably didn’t know what was going on, but hearing Trebol crying(?) over the Den Den Mushi and seeing Doflamingo’s reaction was some sort of reassurance in the difficult situation of his.

A victory of the alliance that seriously reduced the enemy's advantage. Then out of nowhere, a one-legged man (Kyros) attacked Doflamingo and soon Monkey D. Luffy showed up to fight Shichibukai. Law’s reaction? So, so unhappy to see Luffy who should (alongside with Zoro) worry about destroying factory rather him (chapter 744):

Not that Luffy listened or cared for what Law had to say on the matter.

The situation get out of Doflamingo’s control to the point he decided to use “Birdcage” - something that clearly terrified Law (a detail that will be important later to talk about):

Luffy had a short lived skirmish with an enemy that ultimately ended by throwing Law, Luffy, Viola, KIng Riku, and Kyros out of the room by Pica (who went to aid Doflamingo). All of them landed in the place where Zoro already was (chapter 745), still looking for Pica who just disappeared during their fight. Doflamingo then started the Birdcage, intending to A) kill everyone (beside his own Family) before the truth would come out and B) make everyone play his “game” in which people murder each other (“Kill or be killed! All of the people of this country are now “hunters”!!! If you want to be saved… you have no choice but to take someone’s head!!!”) and C) set high prices on Straw Hat-Heart pirates and their allies. Zoro, Law and Luffy get on the list of course.

The next part: Protecting Law

[plume8now]

omu! how about a one piece galavant au?? as in op charas in a galavant setting

So basically this Galavant AU (for those who don’t know: a medieval musical AU you should totally check) is just Luffy acting like in canon, walking his way downtown and taking along anyone he wants to befriend. Luffy’s songs are about adventures, friends and foods. 

Meeting Zoro

As a kid, Luffy heard about thelegend of the Graal so he’s definitely looking for it no matter what people sayabout it. He used to live in a farm but said fuck responsibilities andexpectations and left to travel, became an adventurer and pirate along the way,created so much chaos right away he met Zoro who’s like a local policeman or piratehunter or whatever but Luffy’s just so incredible he manages to defeat him(probably sang something horribly and Zoro passed out) (just kidding) (or amI?) and welp this job was boring anyways. Somehow with Zoro they both end upcrossing like 4 or 5 countries within a week cause that’s how lost they are. Zoro’s songs are about training, finding his way back to wherever he wanted to go, and swords.

Meeting Nami & Usopp

Then they meet Nami who randomlysteals Zoro and Luffy’s goods, something Luffy doesn’t really care about causeit wasn’t food, however Zoro is completely infuriated cause she took his swordsso he’s losing his shit and chases her to get those back. As they’re lookingfor her, they meet Usopp, a merchant who is actually secretly in business withNami cause they get along pretty well even though when it comes to money Namiis never to be trusted. Nami’s songs are about money, profit, and her daily life. 

 Usopp tries to sell them shitty things that Luffy absolutelywants to buy but since they’re broke can’t so now he has a real reason to bemotivated. Usopp’s songs are about obviously fake stories, and incredible adventures. Usopp follows them and they find Nami flirting with a blondstupid-looking guy who’s all about her. Clearly she’s just here to steal fromhim, but she does not have to cause the idiot already gave her everything. Eventhough she appreciates, she tries to get rid of him because the guy is damnannoying, and as she tries to lose him in the crowd, faces Zoro again.

Oops.

Meeting Sanji

Zoro gets angry and asks her toreturn his swords, but Sanji intervenes and fights him. Luffy yells in hunger(yes hunger, not anger) and Nami takes advantage of this chaos to pretend she’sworking for Usopp and puts the blame on him. Usopp panics and denies – cause it’strue they only are partners if anything – though they actually find the swordsin his things – because Nami’s that good. The issue is settled by a dinner andLuffy telling them to follow him cause Usopp’s stories are terrific – and hesings pretty well – and Nami’s joining cause she sees the profit she could makeout of this association – plus, the Graal is interesting and Luffy is definitelynot anyone so might as well follow the guy. Since Nami joined Sanji’s decision isquickly taken – though that’s actually not the only reason, for he feels veryat ease with them and actually talked to as an equal, no better nor lesser thanthem.

About Sanji: he is a prince who’stried to run away from his family a hundred times and is known as “the dramaprince” so basically all his songs are about how his family is shitty etc. ThisAU gets this family as still an abusive one though they are not violent with him– he’s still rejected and made fun of. Reiju is still secretly nice to him andhelped him run away, so that’s how they meet Sanji as he is on his last escape. Sanji’s songs are about his loneliness, the beauty of women, his feelings for his family and cooking.

Meeting Robin & Vivi

Robin is a sort of spy fromanother country who knows very well who Sanji is and recognised him right away,so she comes to talk and stay with them cause she could gather interesting informationto share, and maybe even get into the castle easily. She’s right in a way,because later on, thanks to the reputation they’re making along the way, theymeet a princess called Vivi who’s been looking for them to help free hercountry from the invasion that is currently happening. Sanji, whom everyone expectedto support her right away, does not react, and this is Nami answering cause royalty= money. Also that girl does look kinda cute. Sanji avoids Vivi a bit becausethey actually met each other in their childhood during royal meetings – he’snot sure she could remember him because he did not appear a lot in public or inthose kinds of events but he does not want to risk it. Vivi totally recognizedhim but says nothing – so, along with Robin, they’re the only ones to know. Robin’s songs are about her secrete identity, her mysterious life - probably saying things like “oh if they knew” but actually not saying anything about what’s to be known so the viewer is as confused cause nothing to be learnt - and her dark humour. Vivi’s songs are about her despair and support for her family and kingdom, her gratefulness and her relationship with the Straw Hats.

Meeting Franky & Chopper

They agree to come and help herthough her country is not next door, so they look for an actual boat orsomething to get there as fast as possible, hence how they meet Franky. Franky’s songs are about new inventions and his work on the boat, and how he’s finally getting away from this country. 

Ontheir way to Vivi’s country, they hear about a beast who is guarding somethingin the mountains so Luffy does not hesitate and runs to get the Graal, when itwas actually just Chopper trying to live his life and slowly turning into some kindof Grinch. Luffy finds him amusing and he joins them just like that – this mountainwas annoying anyways and he was tired of singing his solos to the wind. Chopper’s songs are about loneliness, friendship and support.

BONUS: Ace & Sabo

Ace and Sabo are in this universetoo, Luffy meets Ace in Vivi’s country like in canon (imagine the brotp song please)and Sabo is actually working in Sanji’s country in the resistance cause half ofthe country can’t bear the Vinsmoke’s tyranny and plots against them. Sabo ismuch more politically involved than Ace and Luffy – his brothers like in canon,though he only met them in a trip to one of his houses with his noble family.He remained there a few months and then had to leave again with his family, butran away and definitely stayed with Ace and Luffy for a while before he leftagain to work against noble tyranny. Ace just travels to find himself becauseeven though Gol D Roger does not exist he’s still an orphan in this AU and kindabecame a pirate when he left. Ace’s songs are completely chaotic and Sabo’s songs are revolutionaries.

[sunnyul]

Hi can I ask some analysis on some of Sanji ships? ZoSan, LuSan, LawSan, SaNa, SanVio, SanPud?

ZoSan: They’re basically two sides of the same coin. Though they differ from each other in some aspects, both have core traits of being monstrously powerful, fiercely competitive, and suicidally self-sacrificial. I think their deepest bond comes from sharing the pivotal position of flanking Luffy, and watching out for the crew while their captain takes out the main enemies. They may bicker with each other due to their competitive nature, but it’s mostly friendly rivalry between peers that show how close they are (and they do show agreement on really important matters). Their mutual respect and trust is almost tangible, and I think Sanji in particular deeply admires Zoro’s strength and determination. From Zoro’s perspective, I think it’s rare for someone full of pride like him to actually acknowledge a person’s power and trustworthiness to the point of having absolute confidence. He’s lucky to have Sanji who he can secretly count on to always have his back, really. And of course, the best part of their dynamics is that all of this is mostly left unsaid between them.

LuSan: The ship that really needs to be reevaluated after the current arc. I don’t doubt that Luffy has equal love for all of his nakama, but Sanji’s the only one who got to hear “I can’t become Pirate King without you” from him. Also, you know just how much Luffy loves to eat, and he went as far as going on a hunger strike for the first time in his life just to get his cook back. It should also be noted that Luffy’s the person who understands Sanji best in terms of personal history. Out of the crew, only Luffy got the hear about Sanji’s experience of starvation and what Zeff and the Baratie meant to him. He was also the only person present when Sanji joined the crew, and up to now no one other than him has ever seen Sanji truly cry. In short, there are a lot of exclusive moments between them. To add on, I think Luffy could be particularly fond of Sanji in that he’s the main provider of what he loves the most: food. Sanji might call him out for bad table manners and such but I can easily imagine him always thanking Luffy for loving his cooking so much.  

LawSan: At first sight, what clearly ties them together is that they’re both North Blue boys. I haven’t sighted any common denominators in their past stories yet but who knows - what happened in their childhood could be connected in some way or another, given their hometowns’ relative geographic proximity. That being said, it’s interesting how traumatic incidents shaped their characters differently. Whereas Sanji still had enough resilience to maintain his childhood innocence and hope for the future to some extent despite all that he had gone through, Law was totally stripped of his humanity until Corazon went out of his way to mend him back. What resulted in this difference is debatable but it certainly is worth noting. I don’t think it’s likely that they have particular feelings for each other just because they’re both from North Blue, but it’s possible that Law regards Sanji as the most sensible and reliable Straw Hat in terms of strategic planning, since he’s the one who pointed out his flaw and reminded him the bigger picture in Dressrosa. For Sanji, Law’s probably one hell of a picky bastard who deserves to get his ass kicked for hating bread. and umeboshi XD 

SaNa: Be it in a platonic or romantic sense, I believe Nami holds a special place in Sanji’s heart. She’s probably the first woman he got to interact on a regular basis outside the framework of the Baratie, not to mention that the first mission he had to go through as a Straw Hat was none other than saving her from Arlong. Sanji swoons over just about any lady of course, but I think he genuinely likes Nami’s character, from her cunning nature and wildness to her bravery, kind heart and willingness to sacrifice herself for the sake of everyone else. Nami might constantly brush away Sanji’s swooning out of annoyance, but I think she was so worried about him in the current arc partly because she’s grateful for all the care he shows for her, either consciously or unconsciously. Also, it need not be said that Nami’s the person who had the best understanding of Sanji’s situation and how he must be feeling in this arc, since she had gone through same shit before and that’s when she got to know Sanji as nakama. I think she slapped him not just because he hurt Luffy, but also because she was disappointed that he thought his nakama would be stupid enough to believe his lies and actually throw him out. Anyway the development of their relationship in this arc is quite amazing and I’m definitely looking forward to more intimate moments between them.

SanVio: Just like Pudding, Viola was deeply touched by Sanji’s pure and kind heart (you could say it was his chivalry that won her heart, but I think at the root of his chivalry lies his gentle caring nature). She could’ve seen more than just Sanji’s skeleton, curly eyebrows and perversion (ahem) with her eyes, like what a heart of gold he has and maybe that’s one of the reasons she thinks so highly of him? Sanji did nosebleed massively after she hugged him and all, but I think this ship is more about how Viola feels for Sanji than vise versa. Their meeting was very brief and Sanji parted with her without getting to know her all that well, but he did manage to leave a lasting powerful impression on her - enough to make her blush and smile with fondness. I have a hunch that they’re going to meet again some way or another and when they actually do reunite, Viola’s going to help out Sanji big time.

SanPud: Ah, the groom and the bride in question. If Sanji and Pudding really get married, I can imagine their relationship working out pretty well somehow. Sanji has no qualms whatsoever about marrying a three-eyed girl (not only having no qualms but he actually thinks her eye is beautiful) and he’d rejoice when teaching Pudding how to make chocolate (provided that she really does love to make it and wasn’t acting). As for Pudding, well, I think she totally fell for Sanji after he complimented her third eye so Sanji just being Sanji would be enough for her, I assume. Since they both had the traumatic experience of being abused by their own family, I think they can deepen their relationship by talking about their childhood trauma and comforting each other. Sanji in particular can give Pudding a lot of advice and assistance and maybe that would heal her twisted personality to some extent. This is all based on the assumption that they’re getting married of course, but even if they don’t it’s likely that their encounter with each other would become a lasting memory to both of them. After all, they did make each other succumb to tears, albeit on different occasions.