#i mean zolo

[midgardianqueenreturns]

The 4Kids One Piece dub is insane (old news, I know), but at least you can understand the rationale for most of the weird changes they made or how they came to be.

Some however, are so bafflingly bizarre you wonder how they even came up. Like, whose idea was it that Zoro (oops I mean Zolo) should have a new gimmick where he randomly makes animal noises and now you have scenes where he’s clucking like a chicken or barking. HOW??? Mind you, in these scenes he wasn’t really saying anything inappropriate in the original Japanese. It’s so hilarious, for all the wrong reasons, BUT STILL.

[munyequitos]

i wish so bad that 4kids got to dub through skypiea. it would've been awesome. the random tarzan noises as a running bit is already a 4kids level joke. Come On.

[kotaka-kun]

writing fic for an anime/manga based fandom makes me feel so pretentious bc i cant write characters names the way the western fandom has romanized their names... like. i am writing their names the way theyre said. sorry idk what to tell u

[just-absolutely-super]

okay so Viz will remember Corazon's name begins with a C and not a K

and they'll change the Tontatta princess's name from "Mancherie" to "Mansherry"

BUT WE'RE STILL GONNA IGNORE THAT ZORO'S NAME HAS AN R AND NOT AN L???

[serendippertyy]

E4 Abstrabbit? I'd love to see your own take at a fankid for the two!

I've actually been meaning to make one for a while now so ty for this opportunity! 😅

i made this when I should've been asleep SOOO this design is subject to change but for now...

here's patchwork!! goes by they/he/it/patches !! :]

they're mostly nonverbal by choice, talking in emoticons and making video game noises

main inspo was those bendy bunny toys, vintage easter plushies, zolo toys, and 90s arcade carpet patterns

haven't really considered how kids would work in the digital realm, maybe something like merging codes like in that game little alchemy LOL I'm not tech savvy enough to make something up ask caine 🙄

[cuntyglam]

usopp, scared shitless with sanji and luffy while they’re under attack: we’ve got zero! i mean zoro- no i mean zolo chances, no no ZERO- i wonder how zoro’s doing.

this guy can’t help but think about his other boyfriend even when he’s literally being chased by people trying to kill him.

[0104-vikita]

I was more so referring to how Zooble feels not only left out, but in addition to the birthday card and hearing about how "great" Zolo is from other people, is very reflective of a distant relationship.

Like one sibling is out living their own life, looking out and having fun with friends, having many accomplishments, but... They don't make any time for their sibling. Causing the other sibling to feel like they're in their shadow, unnoticed.

(Of course That's not exactly what's going on in the comic, since it's a different senario, BUT if you look at the scenes differently...)

Ohh okey, I think I was taking the comic too literally then, but I get your point.

I also assumed that you were asking that in regards to my AU since..well, this is my ask box. In my Au, it is not weird for Zoobles in general to live their own life separately, but that doesn't necessarily mean they aren't close with their family. That's why I was emphasizing that it's a different circumstance.

This is a little bit of lore stuff but if one Zooble wears the pieces of another member they can literally communicate through them, so essentially, Zoobles are always alone and never alone at the same time.

[17-noodlebird]

*breathes in*

So I had a weird dream last night....

I had a dream I was working at a night shift at a 24/7 sushi bar, with all my coworkers. It was like 3 in the morning. We were making sushi, and a bunch of rice balls/onigiri (the rice balls were the customers' to-go snack for a road trip.

Said customers were none other than The Amazing Digital Circus themselves.

Me and my coworkers were gossiping and commenting what was going on in the tiny dining area, though we could hear what they were saying.

Zooble and Gangle were having a mini-date for themselves (obviously surrounded by the company of their companions), hence why they ordered the sushi.

Pomni was just kinda out of it, being sleepy and all (do keep in mind, it was like in the middle of the night)

Jax was snuggling up with Ragatha, because she was feeling very drowsy, having been the designated driver to this sushi bar.

Caine was completely drunk (hence why Ragatha was the designated driver that night) and threw up in a potted plant that happened to be here in the dining area. Kinger was the one to help the wasted ringleader (back rubs and all), and we kinda just watched the whole thing happened. I don't remember if I was the one to ask one of my coworkers to check in on Caine, or if it was another coworker, but one of my coworkers ended up checking up on the two (we didn't want to take any chances, stomach bugs and food poisoning cases are potential health violations in this facility, don't ask how I came to that conclusion). Kinger confirmed what we had suspected — the teeth man was drunk out of his mind (another coworker pointed out he walked a bit funny and needed assistance).

We had nicknames for the characters cuz we didn't know their names and plus, they were definitely out of the ordinary:

Zooble was referred to as "Zolo" (I was told by a third coworker of mine that they remember having Zolo toys as a kid, before their mom forced them to get rid of them in a yard sale), Gangle was referred to as "Ribbons", cuz what else was she supposed to be anyway? Ragatha was called "Redhead" cuz of her red hair made of yarn, Jax was referred as "The Rabbit" or "Mr. Rabbit", I can't exactly remember. Pomni was "Jester Girl", take a wild freaking guess as to why lmao. I remember a fourth coworker blurting out "Is that a walking chess piece!?" so naturally, Kinger was called "Walking Chess Piece" by the staff. Caine was referred to as "Teeth Man".

A fifth coworker, who did all of the cooking, and I mean ALL OF IT, was taking his sweet old time with the rice balls. And I quote from Toy Story 2: "You can't rush art!"

So anyway, as Zooble and Gangle ate their sushi, and the others waited for the rice balls to be finished, we were kinda just... Talking amongst ourselves watching everything happen from afar, and checking up on the customers every once in a while.... The chef coworker finished the last of the rice balls, much to the relief of our customers, who were beyond drowsy. I could hear what Jax and Ragatha said, but based on what happened next, it looked like Jax was going to be the one driving because of how sleepy Ragatha was. That was kinda what happened lol.

✨ Now Part 2 Of My Dream Was Zooble x Gangle smut— ✨

I dunno man

[as-i-watch]

let me zolo him has killed king over 500 times to help the one Souls community

Im sorry i know what all the words mean but i dont understand what they mean together

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1090 - Initial Thoughts

Confusion

That was certainly the thoughts that arose upon hearing news of spoilers in a week that's meant to be a break. Honestly I thought it was fakes, attempts to stir fans unaware with falsities.

But lo, they do look very real. If they do become fake expect me to delete this one but the panels, the colour, it all seems to track. Of course TCB hasn't translated it yet so I've had to go back to my older sources, so the context may not be as good.

Spoilers for the Chapter, maybe? Still tentative, but support the Official Release of course

A very rare Kuro return...in the cover page, I do still wonder about the East Blue guys; Kuro, Morgan, Krieg, Gin, not Arlong though don't really give a crap about the shahaha man

We haven't recapped what happened yet, but we've picked up where we left off

Luffy's out with his regular introductions across the Den Den Mushi, which is kinda alarming with the Gorosei on the other side

He confirms to be allied with Vegapunk and uses York's safety to barter the fleet backing off

Embodying evil lads have you considered why humanitarian genius Dr. Vegapunk is allying with a Yonko against the World Government right now?

Ooooh Kizaru's not the only ones listening in, Morgans is too, which means Vivi's getting the scoop...Wapol's also there

The Gorosei engage in Monkey D. Luffy for the first time, asking about their numbers

Luffy goes to answer with 'including the injured' but Robin (identified by the Gorosei) shuts off comms

WHO HURT OUR ROBIN!?

Robin, bandaged around her bare chest, reminds Luffy not to give the enemy information

Through spoiler-talk I couldn't avoid a post saying that Robin was 'uncharacteristic' with people hoping that Devon had already swapped with Robin but this didn't seem uncharacteristic at all

Plus Luffy was hoping that giving them all the info would make the Marines back off, which Usopp points out is not likely

Saturn's already plotting though; they need to keep York, Punk Records and the lab for the Mother Flame (changed back to Flame by Stephen...who still won't fix Zoro/Zolo)

Vice Admiral Doberman does make a case for Lucci and the CP agents, which Saturn affirms is an option and he's just prioritizing the worst case scenario

Aaaaand there it is 'Humans are like insects, they will always reproduce'

Back to York, who uses her communication with the Gorosei to try and threaten the Straw Hats against harming her, only to be smacked by Nami

No seriously who hurt my queen, my wife, my light of the Revolutionaries? I will break them, they will wish they were never drawn

Of course Robin's baby boy Chopper is tending to her so she's in good hands, hooves, hand-hooves

Ah Kaku is also recovering, lamenting taking 2 of the Seraphim

Guessing that means S-Hawk and another (maybe S-Snake) went after Team Atlas/Chopper/Robin, meaning Kaku and Zoro must've engaged against the two since they were following S-Hawk, causing Robin to get hurt

Lilith also mourns Shaka, Pythagoras and the still-alive Edison

For all that aggression Lilith did care, even for Shaka

Lucci's reviewing the situation, which Kaku notices...sus

Usopp contacts with Underground, with the CP agents

They're living it up, dining for the first time in months, they've gone the way the G5 have with the Straw Hats

The Seraphim are also down there, with the CP agents, but trapped in bubbles

The bubbles are reinforced with the same stuff in the Mark 3 Pacifista, with some sea prism energy too

The Seraphim don't look too roughed up, though Snake and Hawk look additionally perturbed

Franky also thanks S-Snake for depetrifying them, which Vegapunk was curious about

Turns out that S-Snake carries the same weakness for Luffy, which Jinbe points out also having seen it first hand

Vegapunk does wonder about the Lineage Factor playing in, I guess he only got Boa's blood after Marineford

Atlas has gotten systems up and running, but the dome remains up, because York locked it in a password she kept from the Records

Stussy is also still here, reviewing the problem with the giant fleet, so she and the Stella look to Nami

The log hasn't reset, but they can still move to the ones active, they set their sights on one of them, which Stella confirms to be Elbaf

Visible shock from Luffy and Usopp, and surprise from Robin too, which leads to singing

Since they cannot escape from the coast, they must leave through the back, but there's still the matter of the fleet and the shield

The VegaForce can fly the Sunny but only out to Egghead's borders, but Franky reassures Vegapunk that they can Coup de Burst the rest of the way

As a result, Atlas, Edison and Stella plan to hack past York's password

With Lilith in charge of the VegaForce, she, Bonney, Luffy and Franky are off to the Sunny

Lilith seems excited, but Bonney and Luffy will miss the food

Bonney praises Sanji though, I wonder if something happened with her and him in the night to make her see him in a high regard

Luffy mentions she's cheerier now though, having given up on killing Vegapunk, since she was crying last night (almost a parallel to Morgans saying the same to Vivi)

Ah sneaky cat, Lucci has been contacting the Navy, that's why he was muttering before, he's given them the whole report

Kizaru and Saturn still feel confident that Luffy's cornered though, though I also feel like they're overestimating the crew

Saturn asks if Kizaru can bypass the shield, since he is light, Kizaru can but notes Sentomaru is down below

Interesting stuff though, even though Saturn suggests ignoring him, Kizaru refuses, he has his own ethics there and he refuses to ignore someone fighting for their duty

He does also pragmatically note that the fleet will be attacked by the Sea Beasts and Mark 3s

But Lucci already found the lab where the Mother Flame is made, which is concerning, York may not be needed at all

The Vice Admirals ready themselves, planning to assault the sea beasts first with intent to free the CP agents

Kizaru makes the move, and Sentomaru is braced for it

The pacifista are ordered to sink the fleet, so down below's gonna turn into a mini-warzone

And Sentomaru and Kizaru clash, the former's Ryou-based ultimate defense vs Kizaru's lightspeed kick

The impact shines bright underneath the labophase, and Luffy senses Kizaru's presence

It's a good chapter even if it is fake.

Taking the impression that it's not because it likely isn't, we do seem to be developing on an exit strategy from Egghead, whether that means direct confrontation with Kizaru remains to be seen.

On the one hand, Kizaru vs Luffy or vs another of the Monster Trio is considered to be the fight of the arc, but maybe it isn't the case? There's still that Blackbeard ship to consider after all. Plus with Saturn coming all the way here we have to expect some physical activity from him. It's not entirely clear how it will go, Oda likely baited a lot of fans with the nine Vice Admirals on the fleet but with Robin injured she may not be as handy in a fight right now. Lucci is still on their side too, and I would guess he plans to strike Stussy at the most opportune moment.

I think I'm most worried about this lab, because you can't make more Mother Flames without more catastrophic consequences. The Gorosei outrank Vegapunk when it comes to the Seraphim so they'd still have them on-hand too. I wonder if the Straw Hats, Vegapunk and Bonney can simply leave Egghead with all that there, plus all that cool tech they could use to upgrade Usopp and Franky, knowing that the Gorosei still get what they want. So we might be in for more delay from leaving, we are expecting an incident to occur after all. I also can't shake some Sabaody energy in this chapter, they say 'we're going to Elbaf' but now Kizaru's here, it's very much like 'we're going to Fishman Island' but now Kizaru's here...it took so long to get to Fishman island and it's taken so long to get to Elbaf XD Still excited though, doubt Shanks will still be there but you could get more Kid and maybe even Big Mom, maybe even Law because Bepo has to surface somewhere.

I am still hoping we track back to what happened the previous day, for the fights and for the Kuma memories, I still also hope Franky gets some shine before leaving the island of his hero. Also I need to put whoever hurt Robin on my list.

But yeah it's a weird spot, since my brain still says 'we're in a break, where did this chapter come from? It must be fake' but it also says 'it looks too much like other chapters to be fake, right down to the grain' so it's messing with my head a little. Either way we'll know next Friday, which means we're getting a week with no official chapter either way.

[nhi-theuser]

One Piece Book Club: Chapters 1-3

Chapter 1:

Yippie!!!! One Piece begins with everyone’s favorite execution😁😁

New guy: Gold Roger, who is instantly executed lmaoooo

Our first look at Luffy!

New guy: Red Haired Shanks, who, presumably, has red hair

Luffy wants to be a pirate but he’s a little goober who can’t swim yet, approx 7 years old I think

New guy: Shanks’ first mate(unnamed so far)

They’re all pretty cool so far ngl

New guy: Makino! She’s the barmaid!! And Luffy puts everything on a treasure tab it seems. Also! Makino is very strong!! Look at that barrel of beer! (She’s holding a barrel labeled beer when introduced) A barrel of liquid is Not light

LUFFY YOU IDIOT WHAT ARE YOU EATING <- (i know exactly what he ate)

New guy: Higuma, some kind of bandit who loves terrorizing normal civilians

I think this line is really funny given Luffy exclusively has like crazy ass people as role models(to me)

I wanted to mention really quickly—but shanks got hit over the head with a glass bottle, which in real life is typically a life threatening attack. Realism is irrelevant given that this is one piece, but things like this are too common and underemphasized in media, so I wanted to bring it up in the off chance someone got the bright idea to recreate that move irl. Be careful not to kill people!!! It’s worryingly easy!!

Rest of the chapter goes something like this: Luffy defends shanks and his crews honor against higuma and gets beat for it, and the shanks and his crew pull of to stop that!!

Luffy gets snatched and eventually dropped into the sea, about to get eaten by a sea monster when shanks turns up and quite literally glares at it until it fucks off. Unfortunately, shanks lost an arm during the ordeal. Fortunately, Luffy gains a hat!

Ten year timeskip finds Luffy sailing away to become a pirate in his own!

Chapter 2:

Ah.

LUFFY ARE YOU ACTUALLY TWEAKING RN THATS GONNA KILL YOU

New guy: Lady Alvida of the… pirate ship. I’ll get back to you when I find out the name of the crew

New guy: Koby! My traumatized little guy!! No spine whatsoever but I think that’s a trauma response😁

New guy mention: Roronoa… Zolo. Because the translation hasn’t been updated I guess. Like, you know, just the official translation that I’ve been reading legally.

KOBY WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU😭 YOURE TOO TRAUMATIZED TO USE YOUR OWN GETAWAY BOAT😭😭😭

Luffy they’d never make me hate on your dreams (doesn’t mean I won’t hate on you though be prepared <3)

Rest of chapter is Koby being like “I wanna be a Marine!” And alvida pulls up like “🤨😡you wanna do what?? You said you were gonna capture ME?!” And then luffy punches her and makes the other crew give him and koby a little boat to sail away (we also get quick lore that to get/find the one piece you gotta go to the grand line, which people refer to as the pirates graveyard)

Chapter 3:

Luffy and koby pull up at the marine town where ‘zolo’ is located, and have a quick meal cause food is important yeah.

This combination of panels is insane😭

“Maybe they just got carried away” listen little bro(this statement is funny for meta reasons) but that is a crazy ass assumption😭😭 like the thought process is genuinely interesting though yk like “oh, they reacted like crazy when hearing about the scary guy! Maybe they went overboard and also reacted hearing about the captain morgan guy”

New guy: Captain Morgan!! Some random guy that’s running the show in this town apparently

New guy:(officially) Roronoa Zoro! That very first panel of him the page before his full body that’s a partial side profile goes hard as hell, super menacing frfr

Also he’s like strung up like a more normal (“normal”) version of like idk jesus getting crucified?? I don’t know why I was thinking of it but??? Something about it feels like it’s supposed to be symbolic of something but I have a hard time displaying media literacy during first reads so let me come back to this one after witnessing parallels or something thanks gang

Zoro says he’s been up there for nine days!😟 which would kill a normal person I’m pretty sure because dehydration kills after like three days.. I’ve heard of cases where people can survive longer under very specific circumstances but that’s neither here nor there, bro looks like he has a head wound and a line of blood out the corner of his mouth so like realism for the loss lmao

New guy: little girl! Who I don’t know the name of, but she’s trying to feed Zoro and has a very kindness aura, though I would probably use a different word if I could recall a better one

New guy: Helmeppo, some guy with like an evil version of a Karen cut and the son of captain morgan. Bro is an ass stomping on that little girls food just because she made it weird😭😭

Yk what I AM seeing parallels but between all these panels where the background whites out and its two people (one of which is always Luffy) let me cook real quick I’ll come up with something later on trust trust

Also Luffy is wild, it’s so so interesting that he’s trying to decide if Zoro should join or not due to his having a bad reputation, makes it interesting to see his psychology regarding life as a pirate. He sees piracy as freedom to chase dreams and happiness and stuff, while most others perceive it as the ability to evade the law and do illegal acts/crime as you please

Zoro displaying good character as Luffy casually is so funny for no reason—though quick mention it’s pretty interesting that to me from my general perception of Luffy is that he’d like to eat anything, though food stomped into the ground is a reasonable line, just interesting given, again, his I’ll eat very many things attitude

Luffy tells the little girl Zoro ate the food she made for him and has a quick chat with her and koby about being good and stuff, and Luffy later punches Helmeppo after he(helmeppo) declares he was super lying about making a deal with Zoro to free him

Luffy declares he wants Zoro on his crew!!

Chapter 1-3 summary and thoughts:

- Luffy backstory where he gets devil fruit powers and how he got his hat from shanks

- Luffy meets Koby(wants to be a marine as his dream), saves him from alvida, and pulls up at a marine town

- Enter Zoro! Luffy decides he wants Zoro on his crew after judging him to be a good character and witnessing what it’s like in the marine town

Not much to say that I haven’t already, but I like it a lot! Pacing is pretty fast given the reputation regarding the length of one piece, if I had no clue what was to follow from this point, I’d claim it(the pacing) similar to that of CSM, but, yeah we all know lol.

Be back next time to commentate on the next couple chapters!

[salteytakesonmanga]

*DEEP SIGH* The Zoro/Zolo name thing remains one of the most annoying artifacts of what it was like trying to get manga licensed and translated Back In The Day.

If anyone is wondering, it's because the rights holders for the character Zorro (the Mexican vigilante whose name means "fox") are notoriously litigious. To be fair to them, a masked swordsman with the name Zoro is pretty damn close. And they had just released a movie with another in the works when the English translation started. But also... It's a 100 year old media property. Come the fuck on. They're still making Zorro stories and comics (I mostly see them as weird crossovers with other classic movies) but it's almost like, idk, they're totally different characters with totally different markets? Whatever...

Another translation tragedy (in Zoro's favor?) Alvida never called Zoro clever. She just called him "notorious."

It's like the early translators were bending over backwards to inject SOME kind of voice into these lines, even if it meant completely changing the original meaning. Or maybe they were just antsy about blank space. Lord knows they obliterate any breathing room on the page with the clumsy sound effects...

[bcdwclves]

oh hey, i got zolo— i mean zorro— shit, i mean Zoro.

[afleshboy]

We Will Leave Just as We Came

A moment between friends when one has been dead for ten years and the other is hanging on by a thread.

Heavily inspired by this. If I'm not thinking about this every day, assume something is wrong with me. I know it's referencing further into the future but I'm not there yet.

Re Zoro vs Zolo, I mainly read the manga and in my brain he was born with the given name Zolo and so everyone that knew him as a kid refers to him as such. When he got out and started like bounty hunting and what have you it switched to Zoro for reasons and he honestly does not care which one is used.

Title taken here.

__________________________________________________

When Zoro woke up, he noticed the petals of the flowers first. There was one hanging lazily over his field of vision. The dark blue of the flower somehow contrasted against the light blue of the sky above him.

He laid there for a moment, getting his bearings.

It was warm, but not uncomfortably so, and there was even a light breeze that caused the flower to shift sideways before going back to its original position.

Where was he?

He sat up.

Before him was a field of the same dark blue flowers, every so often a smattering of other colors, maybe different patches of them if he could see beyond the one that he was currently in.

It was peaceful, and he found that there was less weight on his shoulders than usual. It was nice.

Then he sensed something, no, someone behind him. And he knew who it was before she even sat down next to him.

She hadn’t aged past eleven, though he guessed she had no reason to. There was no way of knowing what she would have looked like if she had gotten any older but those same dark eyes never changed. In fact, they almost seemed wiser.

“Kuina.” And god if it didn’t sound like someone had punched him in the stomach when he said it from how strangled her name was. He was almost embarrassed, especially when she raised an eyebrow at him. He didn't know how to tell her that he hadn't used her name since she died.

Wait. Had he really not said her name since she died?

“What are you doing here, Zolo?”

His eyes snapped back to her at the question. She seemed much more content in this field of flowers than he was, his fingers looking for something to play with when he realized that he didn’t have any of his swords. He didn’t have their sword. There was something to be said about material items in the afterlife but there was still an ache that formed at the loss.

“Zolo.”

Right. He should answer her.

“Well, I guess I died.” Zoro probably shouldn’t sound as sarcastic as he did but there was a little laugh next to him so he was doing alright.

“Not yet.” She said, not caring how annoyingly mysterious that was.

“What do you mean not yet? I’m here, you’re here and-” And he suddenly remembered how he got here.

His skin stung as he remembered the cuts that had appeared on him almost magically, like he had been fighting someone who wasn’t there. Each slice dug into him, some of them he swore went to the bone.

That was nothing compared to the absolute ache of his muscles. Some of them he could tell ached from overuse and others from the absolute beat down that he had never received. It did compound his already battered body from his own fights.

The worst were the cracks. The feeling of his bones splintering from nothing. He didn’t know how many ribs a person had but he was pretty sure every single one had snapped and cracked until standing had been a struggle.

Zoro didn’t remember how the blood had gotten everywhere, he could see it in his mind. When he had come back to his senses not only was he covered in it, a haphazard circle around him was too. It looked like enough blood to kill three men, but as he felt his legs buckle he knew it was all his.

He didn’t remember moving to cause this odd pattern. Or what exactly had come first or if it all came at one. He did remember the pain and screaming until his throat was raw. Then he kept going.

“You’d do a lot for him.” Kuina’s voice made it clear it wasn’t a question. She was right though, as the image of Luffy popped into his head. He didn’t want to die, but he couldn’t see it happen to him.

“Yeah, I guess I would.” And despite it, even as his body ached with phantom pain, he laughed. “He’s gonna be king of the pirates you know?”

And that seemed to break her calm facade for a moment. She looked annoyed as she rolled her eyes and it caused Zoro to snicker. “What does that even mean? And what does that have to do with you?”

He had an idea of what that title meant before. He had been a pirate hunter after all, and he heard a lot of them talk about the idea of being king. None of them were like Luffy. None of them made him want to see a world where that came true. None of them made him want to fight with all the strength in him to make sure it came true. At least the second question was easy.

“I don’t know but I think even if I did, Luffy would find a way to surprise me.”

She huffed.

"And why wouldn't the king of the pirates have the world's greatest swordsman by his side? He should only have the best."

Well. He had the best.

They sat in silence for a while, Zoro leaning back on his hands as the sun beamed down on them. Every so often that breeze would come by causing the whole field to flutter into life before it went still again.

He wondered if this was it, just this field for the rest of… Whatever this was. It felt like it should be boring but the absolute peace he felt kept him from following that thought too deeply.

“So. What did you mean by ‘not yet’?” He didn’t really know what this was supposed to be if he wasn’t dead. Though that did cause a sting in his chest he didn’t want to think about just yet. He hadn’t gotten to be the world’s greatest swordsman, he had failed himself and her. Even through the shame he knew he wouldn’t have changed what he did.

Kuina tilted her head at him, which he ignored for now in favor of looking off in the distance at some yellow flowers. Sunflowers?

“You still have a chance.” She said finally, a hint of bitterness in her voice. “You can still go back, if you’re strong enough.”

If he was strong enough? Even as he thought that, he felt the heaviness in his limbs. Like something was dragging him down to the ground and the pain that had been an ache was now sharper.

Right. If he was strong enough to leave.

He would have to live with that pain until he got better, and he would have to be okay with the knowledge that he was leaving behind this heaven where he was pain free. That he was leaving behind her again.

Zoro remembered the look on Sanji’s face when he had come to find him. The anger and shock that gave way to fear that he knew was mirrored on his own face at the time. He would do it again, he would die for any of them in a heartbeat. Still.

He hadn’t wanted to die. He still doesn’t. He had things he needed to finish, promises to fulfill.

He needed to protect his friends.

“That sounds like a challenge.”

She scoffed. “Just be sure you don’t lose like you did to me.”

As they spoke, the ache in his bones got stronger. He was starting to feel the trickle of something on his chest and head. He knew it had to be blood, he could smell the metallic tang. He was fighting to go back.

“Kuina.” He looked at her, glad when her eyes found his as well. There was so much he wanted to tell her, so much he wanted to apologize for. That she was still remembered after all this time.

Everything he thought he would say, wanted to say, to her died in his throat. A small voice told him he’d have time later, to tell her everything. That he would have even more stories to share.

Her small arms wrapped around his torso, not even able to clasp her hands at his back like she likely would have done when they were kids. If they had ever hugged. Zoro scooped her up, hugging her back with all the strength he could as it was becoming increasingly clear he didn’t have that much to give as he got closer and closer to going back.

The flowers were disappearing around them, until all that was left was Zoro and Kuina. The hug felt as firm and real as when he got the rare ones from the crew (barring Luffy who threw himself at him whenever he could). He still had a promise to her to fulfill, a promise to himself, and a promise to everyone onboard the Sunny.

She knew this, even if she would miss him. “I still haven’t heard of you up here. Work harder, idiot.”

The last thing Zoro heard before he woke up to a hovering Chopper was his own laugh being carried away in the wind.

[scales-claws-and-thorns]

explains my own drabble because i don't feel like writing another drabble from tai's perspective

all of this is basically stuff running in the background anyway, doesn't usually appear in rp

tai was extremely trigger-happy when he just worked out of ul'dah, but that was because of the targets he was going after.

he wasn't really supposed to kill people, that was just an option, up to his discretion as it was to every agent

but as soon as he'd find information about the empire, their life was forfeit

so now, zolo doesn't know what tai would do

now they operate out of ishgard and ul'dah, the empire isn't a threat, so...?

but he does know how tai operates, after working with him for many years at this point, so as a contingency to rein him in a little, he hired mercer. he'd probably have hired lyneth too if she had any standing in ul'dah.

but she's a runner for the krakens (or was?) which isn't particularly useful to him and he doesn't think getting the limsa branch to reach out would go anywhere

tai hasn't killed people. recently. or maybe just one. and it was one that zolo happened to catch onto so he's assuming others are his work as well.

but they're not. at least, not directly.

it is possible tai provided some encouragement or means that were previously not had. but he didn't kill them.

he is going to let zolo think that he did, though.

[queerical]

I posted 4,206 times in 2022

129 posts created (3%)

4,077 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@eternal-flame

@uncontinuous

@mrs-theirin

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I tagged 4,206 of my posts in 2022

#one piece - 415 posts

#video - 413 posts

#me - 251 posts

#laugh track - 232 posts

#the witcher - 187 posts

#flashing gif - 141 posts

#tropes - 138 posts

#anime - 133 posts

#roronoa zoro - 122 posts

#dracula - 112 posts

Longest Tag: 124 characters

#you're just sitting on your high horse smug in having one up on them becuz you have more life experience and ''know better''

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

honestly kind of in love with the fact that zoro is Just Some Guy

like. luffy is the son of monkey d. dragon. usopp is the son of a member of shanks' crew. nami had her history with arlong. chopper is a fucking reindeer doctor. robin was the most wanted woman as an 8 yr old. sanji is a prince from a family of assassins. franky is a fucking cyborg. jinbe is a merman. vivi is a princess. brooke is a goddamn skeleton

and then. you have zoro. who's just there with all these ppl with notable backstories like "yea i was obsessed with sword fighting as a kid, and then my best friend died so i decided to become the world's greatest swordsman" and by god that is what he is doing

man is off the wall batshit insane for literally no reason that's just Who He Is. he became a renowned pirate hunter by complete fucking accident. ppl were always mistaking him for the captain and he was just like nah. he's the only one in the worst generation that doesnt have a devil fruit power, he's Just That Fucking Good At Swords

fuck. i love him

141 notes - Posted February 5, 2022

#4

i love luffy and robin's relationship so much 🥺

149 notes - Posted February 27, 2022

#3

Sanji: Aww, marimo, you had a crush on me? That's so embarrassing.

Zoro: We're married.

Sanji: Still.

176 notes - Posted March 18, 2022

#2

i can't fucking breathe usopp really looked zolo in the eye and told him he was going to hell

217 notes - Posted February 27, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

i haven't seen any criticisms about this, so idk if it's an unpopular opinion or not, but i actually like that oda draws yamato like he draws his cis female characters. i mean, yamato deserves muscles, but that's true of pretty much every female character as well so. we'll set that aside for now

kiku passes pretty well. oda basically draws her like he draws cis women, and it is refreshing as hell to see a transfem character who /isn't/ a transmisogynist caricature

but in yamato's case, i like that he's curvy with big tits because.. everyone still recognizes him as man. he doesn't have to pass, he doesn't have to look like the cis male characters. his body is unaltered, he seems pretty comfortable with it, and he's a man and everyone knows it. he's welcomed in the men's bath. even his shitty ass father uses his correct pronouns

this is a nuanced subject ofc and trans people's experiences are many and varied and our representation should reflect that. but in line with that, there are trans people who don't pass, or who can't pass, or who don't care about passing. there are trans people who don't really feel compelled to change their bodies

and it's nice to see a trans character like that, personally. yamato has a body that most people consider female but he is unapologetically male and no one questions his manhood. he is how he is and he is a man

678 notes - Posted September 14, 2022

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