#even tho this isnt really analysis and instead is just. funsies

[swordsmans]

@ozo-blog it took me a minute to find the scene from skypiea!!! (mostly because i got caught up in skimming... it's such a fun arc)

that was chs. 252-3 apparently!! this isnt every panel, just the relevant ones.

youre so right tho this whole scene (whole arc tbh) is a rlly good example. something something "he got the spirit" meme; if you wanted to play in this space, you could argue that it's because small game like rats and frogs falls into the "nitty gritty" of what is/isnt edible. the "canon" gag here is probably that he and sanji are monsters who'll eat anything (and chopper is either also a monster or just generally an animal and doesn't get that rats and frogs arent acceptable people food), but yknow. the layers are funny to me.

in general, i think 115 is the earliest mention of hunting we have (that i can think of), which is fun. its also true that zoro's the one the mention of hunting is tied to. this leaves most of the east blue up for grabs, tho it's suffice to say that by this point in the timeline they're all well-versed enough in, like, dealing with the wilderness--regardless of the interim. (also--115 is the first mention of sanjis pirate lunches. and it has nami's "dont your cares just melt away on a ship like this" line to vivi. and the teeny "aye aye capn" zoro. and the usopp and nami ALL ALONE panel. ughhghg 115 in general is such a fun chapter.)

as for street smarts--oh, for sure, no doubt. maybe its too involved, but i went back and skimmed loguetown/rogue town and in ch. 96 we get this panel:

but i couldnt tell who says the initial line so i skimmed ep. 48, and it's luffy--

which makes sense, since the same chapter has a little flash to foosha as everyone's getting luffy's first bounty poster. and its... so tiny, comparatively. meanwhile everyone else is like "cool. a town. off we go." which tracks completely. like, for all the trouble zoro gets into, loguetown/rogue town is a great early example of the "street smarts" side of zoro in general--meanwhile luffy ends up nearly dying uhhh three chapters in (thanks buggy).

anyway. did i get off track? probably. but this was fun (and i got to reread a chunk of skypiea lmao) so thank u

i just really, really love the idea of zoro having no real "survival skills" because he had a much more traditional (if atypical) childhood/youth than most of the crew. bandit heritage aside, he was raised in a tight-knit and relatively peaceful community with (at best) agricultural outskirts. he doesn't leave until he's much older, at which point he becomes a bounty hunter as a way to make money (to pay for food, shelter, etc. presumably in villages, towns, and cities). we know from the non-canon johnny and yosaku backstories that he "hunted" for bounties in cities/towns, at least partially.

meanwhile luffy has been running around the wilderness since he was like seven years old, securing his own food, building fire and shelter, and just generally toughening up/learning how to live in nature. we know he had a pretty extensive knowledge of bugs and how to catch them, so with that + his childhood i don't think it's a stretch to assume he also has an understanding of edible plants and non-monstrous wildlife (even if its not all applicable outside the East Blue). he's survived on his own in the wilderness for years at a time at least twice in canon.

i think it's fun to think of them having... some sort of "zoro is lost in more ways than one" kinda vibe early on in their journey, especially since they're constantly broke pre-timeskip and we know that at least by little garden the crew has started hunting and foraging to supplement their stores. you could absolutely rope the rest of the east blue grew into this, but zoro is still sort of the outlier with his background.

i dunno. maybe i just like the image of luffy trying to teach zoro how to hunt or fish and both of them just having the dumbest time with it. luffy would be really earnest but impatient--and zoro would be stubborn about admitting he doesn't know shit but would still listen and absorb anyway.

luffy having no clue how to start small and work up to new skills, so they end up going after massive wild boars or something as a first or second lesson and zoro just rolls with it because sure, yeah, thats normal. what the hell does he know? (and also hes fucking. zoro. so.)

or luffy teaching zoro to fish normally but also like a bear fishes (standing knee-deep in the water and catching fish with his bare hands) because it looks more fun that way and he cant. and zoro just fucking up soooo bad but getting really competitive anyway, even though luffy is just, like, sitting on a nearby rock yelling (frankly terrible) directions at him or something. zoro catches nothing and luffy tells him he looks stupid getting angry at the river so of course zoro is going to master fucking. bare-handed fishing because the man's got one braincell and its 99% stubborn pride.

he fucking sucks at starting a fire, wouldnt even consider building proper shelter, and in general would not make it 0.2 seconds outside a populated environment without his captain--a guy raised by the jungle and ace, who was basically a wild animal himself.

idk. survival-competent luffy is very near and dear to my heart.