#luffy and destiny

[glassedplanets]

i cannot believe it's taken me this long to do a destiny AU but wow better late than never

playing very fast and loose with both canons here - pirate crews = renegade clans, marines/world gov't = vanguard (sorry actual vanguard whomst i love). the one piece is the traveler??? who knows. anyways:

luffy, human lightbearer

subclass: yippee!

loadout: wahoo!

ghost: mugi, one-of-a-kind shell given to him by shanks as a kinderguardian. the shell seems to change when he supers. What's Up With That!

all prismatic all the time, basically a dark age guardian. zero boundaries between class and subclass. just does whatever is fun. doesn't care until he Does and then you're fucked.

regularly wears (steals) class items from clanmates, it was a little alarming at first but they all feel whatever about it now

should not be trusted with raid mechanics.

zoro, awoken titan

subclass: strand

primary: breakneck (OG roll)

secondary: ergo sum (void/caster/wolfpack)

heavy: falling guillotine (OG godroll, WWB/relentless)

exotic: stoicism (inmost/star-eater or inmost/synthos)

ghost: wado, received from kuina after her death (don't think about this too hard. jaren ward/shin malphur situation. whatever). wado's shell was cloven by mihawk in a duel.

wears sanji's old bond looped into his mark, will not answer questions about this

specced hard into banner for a fuckoff insane melee loop, rotates melee buffs with luffy and sanji

mostly DPS/add clear, uses that ergo roll so that sanji/luffy/franky (haz prop) can get wolfpack, if the boss can't be meleed then Why Is He Even Here

flat-out banned from participating in the mechanics of several raid encounters on account of going to the wrong fucking place (vault, gatekeeper, sol inherent, totems, etc.), if he gets torn between dimensions or anything but first in queenswalk then everyone just has to desperately pray for the best.

ran vanguard bounties regularly until he eventually refused to cooperate with the then-head of the cosmodrome's operations; luffy found him with kuina's ghost bound and freed them both. The Rest Is History.

distributary-born but doesn't know (or care), kept being greeted weirdly by people in the dreaming city (which i guess is where we have wano's events......... kaido is literally a dragon, so)

VJ-G-66-03 sanji, human (?) warlock

subclass: prismatic, solar super

primary: fatebringer (OG fatebringer roll™)

secondary: tarrabah

heavy: apex predator (recon/B&S)

exotic: solipsism (assassin/synthos)

ghost: mignon, received from zeff after voluntarily giving up his light for sanji

wears zoro's old mark tied below his bond, will not answer questions about this

specced into Burn Motherfucker Burn, solar buddy + snaps, frontline add clear alongside luffy and zoro, also part of the "if the boss can't be meleed/snapped then why am i even here" gang

CAN be trusted with raid mechanics but is often better utilized keeping adds off the other half of the fireteam

sanji's body is riddled with vintech implants that don't seem to do anything. they're most definitely new, and sanji wasn't rezzed that long ago, but vintech was lost in the collapse along with everything else and the only thing that really survived is a bunch of muddled records found at old vega collective sites.

sanji was the vintech patriarch's one failed experiment; his consciousness refused transfer to an exo body and after many attempts, he was discarded but managed to survive through the kindness of dark-age guardians until he was taken in by zeff.

he has three vertical black facial markings; each experiment has a number of markings corresponding to their order (and color) in the sequence.

and other straw hats! i have a little less about them, but:

nami, human hunter

subclass: arcstaff (Throw Stick/well of bad/i don't remember its actual name)

primary: patron of lost causes

secondary: riskrunner

heavy: stormchaser

exotic: liar's handshake

ghost: zeus, stolen from big mom (tangerine shell)

(was tempted to do stormcaller unlimited power but arcstaff is... you know)

usopp, human hunter

subclass: solar, precision goldie

primary: succession

secondary: trinity ghoul

heavy: scintillation

exotic: nighthawk

ghost: merry (sheepshead shell)

can and should be trusted with raid mechanics along w/ nami

and the rest of the crew i'm not 100% set on buuuuut:

chopper: exo warlock (well of radiance)

robin: awoken warlock (strand? void?)

franky: exo titan (thundercrash)

brook: exo hunter (stasis)

jinbei: awoken titan (stasis? arc?)

misc others:

law: awoken prismatic hunter, blinky knife

reiju-0: exo void hunter, tether + smoke bomb, le monarque

ichiji-1: exo solar hunter, blade barrage

niji-2: exo arc titan, striker, ACD/0

yonji-4: exo strand titan

and textless, glow-less versions if you got this far!

[judgmentalfishnun]

Beautiful that Luffy exists because Crocodile found out Dragon wanted to dismantle the World Government and let him skip the condom.

[tuxxydo]

luffy's fruit is based on nika "the warrior of liberation" and ivankov describes kuma's fruit as "the hand of liberation." and when kuma's power is first explained, usopp describes it as "the most ridiculous devil fruit [he's] ever heard of!" then when luffy's fruit gets reexplained—when it's true power is revealed—the gorosei describe it as "the most ridiculous power in the world!" do you also want to kill yourself over this?

[kacievvbbbb]

Luffy really will stay answering the phone “Hello This is Monkey D. Luffy Future King of the Pirates.” He will give you his name his address his social security number and his future job title. He stay manifest destiny.

And honestly? He’s right. Let the people know my boy

[finn-silvers-draws]

Displaced Destiny — [ First ] [ Previous ] Pages 9-10 [ Next ]

Alright. So. I have had these pages finished for months. I started work on two more and then just accidentally put it off for a long long time. I wanted to keep up the bunches of four for consistency, but at this point some kind of update is more important than the amount of pages in it.

Anyway! This was my first time drawing Makino as well as Magra (who I randomly made the bandit’s doctor for the sake of not having to design a new character)! I personally really like how they both came out! Also, cuz I’m not sure if it’s super clear here, Ventus got that oversized shirt from the bandits.

I will add the links to the other pages soon, but I’ve got some school work that desperately needs my attention right now!

Edit: links have been added!

[beanghostprincess]

Do you think someone getting a fruit is just an accident or is this some kind of destiny?

Mmm. Saying it's destiny does sound a lot more poetic and it's said fruits have a soul of their own and it would make sense that a lot of these devil fruit users were found by the fruit and not the other way around. However! I think destiny gets in the way of freedom and being the one to act upon your dreams and decisions and free will, so maybe it's some kind of destiny. But also maybe, in Luffy's case, he was just a stupid kid who wanted to follow his dream so bad he chose to act freely and eat the fruit. And I think the fact that Luffy ate it because of his personality and views on freedom is more poetic than destiny itself. Maybe it's a mix. They were destined to find each other at some point, but because Luffy is the personification of freedom and joy, he kind of found his way to it on his own. I think it really depends on the fruit and the character, ngl.

[salteytakesonmanga]

This is a badass line, but I think it also scratches the surface of something that comes up a lot in One Piece.

Birth is not destiny.

Species, race, class, gender, nationality, family history, strength… None of these things dictate how you have to live your life. But they DO affect your circumstances, and you WILL have to deal with them in some way. Accept it, manipulate it, reject it, deny it, curse it… We see a lot of ways people respond to their history. But thinking about it, it’s never really framed as “overcoming it.” Your circumstances, love them or hate them or anything in between, are part of you. Comparing this attitude to other shonen series, this is pretty fucking revolutionary. If you have to "overcome" something it suggests that it is an immutable fact of reality. One Piece throws that entire idea out, so "overcoming one's humble birth" or "overcoming one's unfortunate circumstances" isn't the framing Oda uses.

Here, Luffy is not saying he will “overcome” Arlong’s strength. He’s saying he has different strength. Luffy’s species is not a handicap compared to Arlong. It’s not even an advantage. It’s just a difference. It would be stupid for Luffy to try to compete in bite strength with Arlong* so he doesn’t bother worrying about that comparison.

This is maybe Luffy’s greatest strength: to see the world exactly as it is, without letting himself be blinded or distracted by what “common sense” says he should see.

I need to do a lot more thinking about this before I can articulate exactly what I think Oda is doing here, but you see some version of this theme appear again and again. Hopefully by the time it comes back around I’ll have a clearer idea of what I’m trying to say lol

[entermynightmare]

Who's winning the twerk off?

[whirlybirdwhat]

i REALLY should be studying but i need to make more destiny aus of stuff i like. how fucked would it be if ace came back as a guardian bur obv. as we have seen w/ crow. he ain't ace anymore. wouldn't that be so fun like look luffy! here's your brother! atually sike its your brothers body w/ a new soul made of a giant orbs light. have fun! amnesia brother take two except LMAO. HE AINT THAT GUY ANYMORE. SORRY

[themadamwizard]

Gum Gum Ghost

[hauntingblue]

Roger and nika keep me up at night I swear I get the similarities between roger and luffy, because he is his idol and wants to be pirate king so luffy being similar to him is destiny etc. but these similarities would also extend to roger and nika: the smile, the want for freedom.... so roger was just unlucky he didn't get the nika fruit? Should he had eaten it? Why did shanks steal it? Was roger a nika follower of some kind? Was info about nika on laughtale? Because nika awakens in very special occasions where the host is in sync with nika, by being similar to luffy, roger would have been a good host too? BUT WHY?

[torawro]

sosa my prettiest girl! sooo i just got home and was greeted by your feedback... all the day's exhaustion suddenly vanished and i'm here typing with so much energy. first of all, thank you for leaving such nice words under the zoro fic! i can't stress enough how happy you made me feel! and i am glad to know that the fic evoke such feeling from u <3 thank u so much for being kind!

ps. i love condescending luffy w all my heart and i'll def shove it everyone's throat /pos >:D

hunter my most gorgeous angel <3 i honestly love when u come to visit me 🎀 just like how you felt happier reading my feedback, i am also glad to hear that my commentary made you feel such positive things and practically revitalized !! 🥹 you are so so welcome btw i love reading your work (as i exclaim to you all the time) it really is such an experience diving into the worlds you craft with your fingers so thank you !!! u too are the kindest ever <33

[finn-silvers-draws]

Displaced Destiny — [ First ] [ Previous ] Page 11 [ Next ]

Listen. Beating Baldur’s Gate 3 honor mode (and just the game in general lol) had my brain in a vice grip. And then art fight. I need to give myself an actual schedule for this thing if I wanna keep a consistent pace. This page has been done for months, so I might as well post it.

Will add links tomorrow. Edit: Links have been added.

[l-in-the-light]

This, so much. I even wrote a joke about Oda struggling to bend Law to be the evil guy he planned him to be, but tbh I never found a source for that "Law was supposed to be evil" belief either. I had a feeling those are rumours, because I read some interviews and One Piece magazine translations, and this never came up. Heh.

But I have few extra thoughts here, and I'm gonna use this occassion to share :D

I think I get why this scene looks so different from the sketched one. It's because in the sketch Oda didn't incorporate yet Sanji and Law's dynamics. Those fleshed out as he was going. Sanji seems like he's cornering Law here, but it's actually not what's going on imo!

Because look at the scene in next chapter. They're all *worried* for Law. Sanji included. We know Sanji, he might pretend to be harsh towards guys and say he doesn't care, but *he always cares* and worries and protects people (Usopp, anyone?). That's why the scene from above isn't Sanji cornering Law just because he doesn't trust him and thinks he's up to no good. It's actually Sanji using the last possible moment to talk some sense into Law, because he thinks Law is losing their final goal from sight, getting too passionate about Doflamingo. He doesn't even care if Law has some hidden agenda. He says all of that because, yes, he is worried Law is gonna do something stupid and possibly die in the process (and was he wrong? No, he wasn't).

Why would Strawhats care for Law? This is just an alliance! I heard that argument so many times already. Yeah, but Luffy cares, and they know their captain pretty well so they will care as well, for his sake, if not for anything else. Besides Strawhats are actually a bunch of good people, so of course they will care, even for "strangers". Sanji also saved Kinemon who happens to be a dude, not a lady, and Sanji has no connection to him whatsoever. He simply does that because he cares for people.

And Law isn't so scheming and shady there like Oda planned in his original sketch, because Sanji's line also changed. Now he isn't confronting Law because he's distrustful but worried instead, and I think Law realized that. He recognized the worry coming from the blond guy always smoking a cigarette who also respected his dislike of bread and made onigiri especially for him at breakfast. We can say many things about Law, but not that he can't recognize care when he sees (and receives) it. And I could bet anything he looks so surprised there because someone reminding him slightly of his favourite Cora-san (blond, always smoking, caring) is worrying for him and asking him "are you not overfocusing on Doflamingo?"; that must have hit close to home. It's like Cora-san himself appeared in front of him and asked that question to Law, through Sanji.

But Law is a stubborn bastard and he wouldn't change his goal anyway.

Ok so sometimes I see people claiming Oda originally planned for Law to be evil. Did he actually say that? I can't find much on it

This and "Law is Oda's wife's favorite character" ROFL

Videos like this might've been the culprit behind this rumor. Law being 'named after a brutal pirate and allegedly had terrible rumors about him', doesn't equate to "Law was meant to be evil." No matter how canon-coded it seems, something can't be called a "fact" unless there's a legitimate reference. So far, Oda has made no such statement about Law.

The video used a draft image to back the point that Law was depicted as "scheming and manipulative" during Punk Hazard, taken from OP magazine vol. 8:

Sanji's dialogue, roughly: "Your strategy is to go head on against Doflamingo and Kaido, and to weaken Kaido's military strength, isn't it? And we're *in it together* because we believe the outcome benefits us, as well.

What are you planning?

I don't mind going ahead (to Zou), but I won't leave my friends in danger."

Law: Sharp at bargaining, aren't you...

It's not from Punk Hazard, it was Dressrosa.

Not to mention in both draft and finalized versions, it was Sanji cornering Law, not the other way around. IMHO it didn't add or subtract much from law's character as we already know him.

It's very likely that Law was planned to be (more) morally grey and manipulative. But inflating it as Oda's statement makes it a misinformation. This fandom sadly has a lot of these, thanks to engagement farming content creators.

[blazingsun-481-insta]

[beanghostprincess]

On Luffy's birthday, I wanna remind all of you that one of the things that makes him one of the most influential and ground-breaking shonen protagonists is that he makes things happen. No fate or prophecy or destiny leads his path. He's the one choosing, freely, what he wants to do and he will do it. And in consequence, he makes things happen in the manga that affect everybody around him. The story doesn't tell him what to do and instead, he is the one telling how the story should go. That and the fact that his whole character is meant to spread the message of following your dreams and living with laughter and joy are the reasons why celebrating his existence is so important to so many.