#luffy still doesn't know

[norakbubbles]

Sanji: Am I straight?

Zoro: I hope not

Usopp: Not since you met Zoro

Franky: Nope

Robin: No

Nami: Definitely not

Sanji: ...I meant my parking

Everyone:

Zoro: Still no

[tekitothemagpie]

Imagine, some time throughout their adventure, Luffy and Zoro get separated from the other Strawhats on some island, which is governed by their enemies.

They're surrounded by strong foes and each fight a strong opponent.

Zoro gets severely injured and loses his consciousness. Luffy, of course, freaks out and immediately goes to help his first mate.

He makes a retreat, seeing Zoro's condition and finds shelter somewhere far away from the battlefield. He doesn't know much but still patches Zoro up the best he can and just holds his swordsman as tight as he can. Waits for him to wake up and for all to be better.

While holding his dearest first mate with the most care and tenderness one can express, he's absolutely furious, with the biggest frown on his face, he swears that whoever did this will pay for it, his Haki oozing out of him and knocking out everyone/everything in range.

[lulu-the-bugaboo]

Ever think about how Sabo is probably going to outlive Luffy as well (because of his shortened lifespan) and really be left alone like he originally feared when he got his memories back

Even though he was the first one who was assumed dead, in reality he is gonna be the last one left

[general-cyno]

wano has become a favorite arc of mine for different reasons and it also gave me a lot of zolu brainworms to mull over, so here I go (again). spoilers for some of the big reveals in the arc so beware

despite getting separated shortly after reuniting, yasuie's execution once again highlighted how similarly minded zoro and luffy are - like zoro, luffy gets pissed at the sight of ppl laughing at yasuie after he's killed, though they both learn it's due to the effects of the smile fruits. and despite the fact that doing so could put their plan in jeopardy (hence why sanji yells at zoro to cool his head), luffy actively cheers zoro on (from the distance) when he goes after orochi in retaliation

a nice tiny moment is also back when they're together. luffy was worried since big mom appeared in wano yet jimbei (who had stayed in whole cake island to fend her off along his former crew so the straw hats could escape) hadn't arrived. albeit zoro wasn't even part of the WCI arc events, he's quick to reassure luffy:

although I'm not certain whether law was referring to them specifically or not, there's a part during the discussion of the raid where he says there's two idiots who, no matter how much planning goes into it, are likely to charge straight in regardless. then, of course, this happens:

(so yeah. I think they're probably the idiots)

and funnily enough, zoro doesn't get lost for once. not only does he find luffy, any intention zoro had of (ironically, considering he was causing a ruckus himself) chastising luffy for messing up the infiltration goes out the window when he tells zoro about the spilled oshiruko

this is a direct callback to their interactions with tama when they first reunited in wano. it's cute how attached they got to her and yeah, they're both stupidly reckless at times but this is one occasion in which it isn't just for the sake of chaotic shenanigans - it's them getting angry at how these ppl are disrespecting what tama and the oshiruko stand for. to those present, it seems foolish/weird since they don't understand the context behind it, but it's the kind of understanding that goes on between luffy and zoro precisely bc of the moments they share together.

there's some good panels of both worrying about each other after getting hurt and zoro carrying an injured luffy to safety. they're soooo.

this was pretty good too:

their plan to jump to the roof to face kaido ultimately fails here but it's still cute that zoro's so willing now to just cling to and let luffy carry him around like this (arlong park zoro has come a long way lol). it also says a lot abt luffy's trust in both the crew and zoro that he was fine letting them in charge below while he and zoro went to face kaido together.

the x drake ordeal was kind of funny but it served to show exactly why zoro complements luffy so well. luffy tends to be very trusting toward others, even those who might've started out as enemies which usually works out fine but still. zoro's quick to remind luffy that the guy's a traitor and unreliable, and (along with some of the other straw hats) refuses to blindly accept the impromptu alliance. it's interesting though, that zoro doesn't entirely disregard luffy's opinion nor x drake's help per se - he's just understandably wary of drake's true intentions (pointing out that he's still hiding where he stands in the whole conflict) and eventually agrees to team up. love the balance of it ngl.

that said, the actual fight on the roof has to be one of my favorite parts! it's probably one of the most obvious occasions in which zoro's role as luffy's first mate/right hand man and how much luffy relies on him too shines through. there's zoro slashing big mom and kaido's fire attacks so they wouldn't hurt luffy, taking the lead in attempting to stave off kaido and big mom's joint attack (and succeeding for a bit) despite the fact that he's got three powerful captains beside him, and several panels of him protecting luffy. this one was particularly crazy

this is pretty much zoro's equivalent to "if you wanna kill him you'll have to kill ME first". insane. I love them so much. zoro may be the one to have more instances in which he gets to demonstrate his loyalty and protectiveness towards luffy rather than the opposite - but knowing luffy's the one who usually risks himself for others in grandiose ways, I find it very compelling that zoro gets to be the one to protect him in these important moments, that luffy trusts him to do it and even thanks him for it here in this arc. to me, there's a reason why, out of the whole crew, zoro was the only one to take part in this particular confrontation. mutual trust/understanding/respect etc are at the core of their relationship. it's a two way thing.

fast forward to zoro vs king and OF COURSE this mf thought of luffy when facing the guy.

I posted about this the other day, but something similar happened during zoro's duel against mihawk. when the latter asks what drives zoro to fight despite being so weak, it's this exact part of his meeting with luffy at the marine base that he recalls. zoro has certainly driven himself to get stronger for the crew's sake and for his dream, but it's clear that luffy (and his own promise to kuina) is one of zoro's biggest motivators. he's also the one person zoro has cast aside that very dream of his for so... (thriller bark zoro you live in my heart always).

when zoro wins against king, too, it's his promise to never lose that he recalls. the promise he made to luffy. regardless of how you interpret their relationship, it's obvious luffy means a lot to zoro and moments like these don't let the readers forget it.

that said, this was perhaps the most insane part to me:

just when you think zolu can't get more trope-y than it already is, the manga says: wait a fucking second. canon sun/moon, heaven/hell, god/demon zolu.

I was already spoiled about these bits, though they were exciting to read through anyway. I think it's very curious that both zoro's ancestry and his conqueror's haki reveal happened during the arc where the true nature of luffy's devil fruit comes to light and his awakening into joyboy/nika takes place. can't say for sure what oda's planning for them in the future, but wano is probably the biggest glimpse so far as to the kind of figures luffy and zoro are bound to become (or are already becoming) in one piece's universe.

joyboy luffy being considered a hero to wano only rivaled by shimotsuki ryuma is also so... oof, knowing that ryuma (also called god of the blade) is zoro's ancestor, whose zombie he faced back in thriller bark and whose sword shusui he wielded for a while after that, and that he resembles physically too (both being one-eyed samurai/swordsmen). there's a lot more parallels to be drawn between them, and zoro's conqueror's haki adds a whole new layer to their relationship, but a detail that's fascinating to me is that both zoro's presence and joyboy's awakening in wano are hailed as the work of fate at different points, by kawamatsu and zunesha respectively.

overall there seems to be a thread of "fate" that's tying the story together from the void century to roger's era to the present but choice is also an important aspect imo. zoro and luffy are an example, bc in spite of how their stories have turned out to be somewhat intertwined... it was luffy's choice to seek out the demon pirate hunter and rope him into his crew. it was zoro's choice to join him, to make a promise that'd tie his own dream to luffy's. there's a potential that neither of them could've reached if they hadn't come together to sail in that dinghy and formed an entire crew (a family!) that have all of them journeying towards their dreams, always relying on and striving to become better for one another. all of these little choices for luffy and zoro led them up to this point and onwards, which tbh is just really fucking good.

[alumirp]

Luffy works as security for a fight club. It is illegal and is located in the poorest and most remote part of the city, where the police have no interest in going. The problem is, while the job pays well and beating up drunks or competitors who break the rules is fun, things can also get ugly and he ends up getting injured.

The best option to treat these injuries is to go to the 24-hour clinic on the other side of the city, a few minutes from Luffy's house.

That's where Law works, he's a grumpy doctor with a history of terrible insomnia who always takes the most godless shifts at the most ungodly hours. Luffy is a very popular visitor and at this point Law has stopped asking questions, knowing he won't get satisfactory answers. Plus, the guy didn't seem like he was lying when he said he was a security guard and not a gangster.

Still, especially with the number of visits and the growing crush, Law can't help but worry. A security guard shouldn't get hurt that much. They play this game where Luffy comes in hurt, Law scolds him and treats him anyway and then they flirt, for a few minutes before Law has to see another patient for a few months, without ever going any further than that.

The fun ends when the next time Luffy goes to the clinic looking for stitches, he doesn't find Law. Not the time after that and not the next. In fact, the next time he sees Law, the doctor is being dragged, chained and bruised, into the fighting ring, pitted against an opponent twice his size.

[alevens]

dumb idea where when they see each other again while on the Grand Line, Koby's nervous as fuck to see Luffy again because he's not only worth one hundred million berry, he just saved "demon child" Nico Robin from Enies Lobby, winning against the entirety of CP9, and well, he's just- prettier than he remembers, he's nervous too and most importantly, because in the time they've spent away, both living their own lives, Koby figured out the real reason why he has so many copies of Luffy's bounty poster and why he sometimes dreams about reuniting again with him under different circumstances than him being a marine and Luffy being a pirate,

because he has a crush on him.

so he's there, still nervous but happy as hell that Luffy hasn't forgotten about him, then he asks, that even if they're enemies they're still...

"Of course!" Luffy says, laughing as he puts an arm around him. "We're still boyfriends, silly, even if you're a marine."

and then all hell breaks loose.

[moongothic]

You know. If Crocodad Real. How would Luffy even react if he found out. Like really, how the fuck would he feel about it.

'Cause like how I went over in this post (briefly at the end), we don't even know how Luffy feels about Crocodile as he is right now, so can you imagine how that bombshell would impact things

Like my running theory is that Luffy still hates Crocodile but maybe not quite as much as pre-Impel Down since he kiiinda owes him etc

And Luffy does not seem to give a shit about blood connections, at least not that much. Like don't get me wrong, Luffy's family are the people who were there for him when he was a child, those are the people he cares about and his bio-parents don't really matter. But also, honestly, I think the reason Luffy doesn't give a shit about who his parents are is because he doesn't know them. Luffy cares about people who he knows and likes, and while he doesn't give a shit about Dragon right now, it's arguably because he simply just doesn't know him. If the two actually get to meet and know each other, like if Luffy takes a liking Dragon, he'll probably accept Dragon as his dad and as his family. But on his own terms. It's up to Luffy to decide

And that's why like. How would Luffy react to finding out he has another dad and that one is fucking Crocodile. Because he already hates the man. It would not be happy news for him I'm sure

The other thing is that normally Luffy does not give a flying fuck about people's sad backstories. He didn't care to hear what happened to Nami and her village for example, because what really mattered was that there was a person he cared about who was deeply hurt and in danger and he wanted to help said person. And that's where I'm so torn. Because on one hand, it would be perfectly on-brand for Luffy to not give a shit of Crocodile had a sob story to tell. But also, I could imagine Luffy being so fucking confused over the news that he'd want to hear the truth of like, who what where how why, in detail. So that, you know, he could make his own decision and figure out if he wants to considder Crocodile is other dad or disown him.

Like, both feel like things Luffy would do

So really, would the real deciding factor might be just... the circumstances where Luffy finds out???

God knows, I can not imagine Crocodile himself telling Luffy anything ever. The kid already hates him, he knows it, so he'd probably think it'd be for the best if Luffy never found out

So how else could Luffy find out then?

As far as we know, the only other person who could confirm it would be Dragon himself, and considdering how he probably feels about his ex (see: Alabasta Coup Attempt), I can't imagine him wanting to talk about Crocodile to Luffy in lenght or in a positive light. Like I can't imagine Dragon wanting to tell Luffy at all is the point, not unless he wanted to like apologize to Luffy because it is arguably his fault Luffy and Crocodile fought in Alabasta to near-death to begin with. (Sidenote since we don't know how the break-up happened to begin with, it's totally possible Crocodile could've asked Dragon to never let their kid find out what happened to his "mom")

And now, this is where I'm gonna go completely off the rails, but. As I was wondering if there was any other way Luffy could find out...

S-Croc is made with Crocodile's DNA.

(And actually before I even go into S-Croc, super quick sidenote: If Kuma can extract memories out of people and allow other people to literally see them... Like I can't tell if Kuma's memories got absorbed by Bonney when she looked into them or if Kuma's Memory Bubble is still on Egghead, but if viewing the memories isn't the same as having them inserted into a vessel permanently... Like if Kuma isn't turbo-dead, could there be a scenario where we have Kuma (or S-Bear) yeet out Croc's memories and have Luffy just look into them? Because god knows Crocodile might just refuse to speak about it and that could be the only way to get The Whole Truth if Dragon doesn't want to talk about it either?) (Of course, Crocodile would understand just How Persistent Luffy is so if Luffy just kept on annoying him about it, Crocodile could maybe give up eventually because he knows he can't get Luffy to piss off until he spills the beans)

So currently the Strawhat's plan is for them to go and escort the Vegapunks to Elbaf (if nothing goes funny after the flashback is over, which remains to be seen)

2. There is the mystery of what sex S-Croc is going to be, because there is a possibility that if Crocodile is trans then his Seraphim could be pre-T (though this entirely depends on whether or not Ivankov's HRT changes even the DNA of person. Since it's MAGIC HRT I would prefer it to, not gonna lie, and I would not appreciate any "you may look different but your DNA will tell the truth!" rhetoric in the story but I may be asking too much from Oda)

3. And there's also the mystery of what Devil Fruit ability S-Croc might have, since all the Seraphim have been given Fruit powers, and we know Vegapunk can't replicate Crocodile's Sand Logia.

All things considdered, I think the actual, most likely known ability S-Croc might end up with would be like, Mr 3's wax powers (hilariously), mainly because I could imagine it being flexible enough to work in Crocodile's fighting style, so it'd be the easiest for S-Croc to adapt to (like if you can make anything from wax, then why not sharp blades to fling at people) (Also we know Vegapunk would have access to this power since Mr 3 was in Impel Down, when they also got Daz' powers)

But also I had joked before how it'd be funny if S-Croc was a Crocodile Zoan for no reason. Like it'd be fitting since Crocodile was already the Only Logia of the OG Shichibukai, so making his Seraphim the Only Zoan would be funny as hell (if it's even possible, which we can't say if it will/won't be). Additionally, making him a Crocodile Zoan would be hysterically on-the-nose.

(Sidenote: If there was a crocodile Zoan Fruit, what sub-category do you think it'd fall into? Like would it be Ryu Ryu like all the dinosaur-themed Zoans are, or maybe even a different model of Uo Uo (same as Kaidou)? Since "wani" could be considdered a different type of serpent-dragon, and if Vegapunk was researching how to recreate Kaidou's fruit, it's plausible he might've accidentally recreated some other related-fruit in the process or afterwards?? (Also since Kaidou's Uo Uo is a specific model (Seiryu) it would make sense if there was another Uo Uo model Fruit, and this could be an excelent opportunity to use it))

The thing about Zoans though is that, as it's been brought up once or twice before, Zoan fruits can kind of have a "mind of their own" and influence the user in unexpected ways.

And as all we Crocodad Truthers know.

Crocodiles are protective of their babies.

ALSO: The Seraphim do have enough personal will-power that they may (slightly) disobey orders they've been given. Case-and-point, S-Snake undoing the Petrification on the Strawhats after Luffy asked her to, since S-Snake is fond of Luffy just like Hancock is

Sidenote, it was kind of made a point how Vegapunk considdered his artificial replica of Kaidou's dragon fruit a compete failure simply because instead of a blue dragon, the user would turn into a pink one instead. So if Vegapunk tried to make a Seraphim of Crocodile, knowing full-well he couldn't even give the Seraphim the same ability as the OG, and then the Seraphim turns out the wrong sex for no reason?? I could see him being confused as hell and considder S-Croc "a failed Seraphim"

So really, all we'd really need to happen would be for the Strawhats to somehow encounter the remaining three Seraphim while escorting the Vegapunks to Elbaf. Mind you, IDK how that could even happen since as far as we know they've been deployed the Emptee Bluffs

And then just have S-Croc either disobey orders to hunt Luffy or even even have him be protective of Luffy (following that Zoan Instinct, one even he can't explain, it's just Instinct). Have Sanji be like "hey why the fuck is this one a girl, isn't it supposed to be Crocodile", followed by Vegapunk explaining this Seraphim was a failure for reasons even he can't understand

Then have Jinbei remember the conversation Crocodile and Ivankov had at Impel Down (suspicious considdering Ivankov's abilities and this "failed Seraphim"), and maybe if Crocodile had any involvement with the Revolutionaries and Robin was suspicious of him she could even bring that up

Along with any other minor details that may be bothering the crew about the whole deal

And so if the Strawhats and Vegapunk just put all their braincells together and rubbed them real hard, they could maybe come to a hypothesis as to why S-Croc is a "failure" and protective of Luffy, and maybe even a potential explanation as to why The Real Crocodile was protective of Luffy in Marineford for no fucking reason

And maybe, just maybe, Vegapunk could confirm that suspicion with a DNA test. All he needs to do is check Luffy's and compare it to Crocodile's.

Not sure Luffy would want to do the DNA test, like knowing Luffy he might prefer to just ask Crocodile in person if they ever ran to each other again

But boy, if he somehow did agree to a DNA test, and there was a match... oh boy

But again. This entire scenario is BEYOND off-the-rails. Technically plausible! But honestly if Luffy is ever gonna find out (assuming Crocodad Real) then it's gonna be from Dragon

I just wanted to get the theoretical scenario out of my system okay, I had to get the brainworms out of my brain

[beanghostprincess]

people assume luffy is naive and childish because he has a very cheerful attitude and i need those people to touch grass, eat it with a spoon and choke on reality because god forbid people have personalities

[pinkcrittertomb]

I am so obsessed with the idea of Zoro being a butch woman who uses he/him pronouns and no one having a clue

[cosmicrhetoric]

i respect the whole no romance among crew members ever thing between the straw hats (frobin real. who said that) v much but nami is like. okay. i think that oda was so careful early on about avoiding a few of the female shounen character tropes when it came to nami that it is actually impossible to read her as anything other than a lesbian. im not even talking about vivi like wtf was all this then

[millimononym]

Ok so does anyone else find it funny how tumblr apparently got paid to promote the upcoming one piece live action thing (cause why else would the Luffy tab be there) and the best they could come up with is making a bar that just says "Luffy" with like 5 posts inside it and nothing else. Very bold of tumblr as a failing company to do the barest of bare minimums with that advertising i must say

[doctortonytchopper]

So the thing is that in Marineford, Boa Hancock did tell Smoker she was engaged to Luffy. And like at no point did he see any interactions between them where Luffy denied this. He has no reason to not believe that based on the actions of both of them.

And like I just can't imagine how much he must have been sweating during Punk Hazard, BURNING to ask Luffy if he actually got married to the pirate empress. Like I'm pretty certain Smoker still very much believes Luffy and Hancock are married.

[a-bit-of-cest]

Luffy the type of guy to let the dog watch

[balsee]

i haven't seen whole cake island in its entirety yet so forgive me if i misconstrue some things, but the romance between pudding and sanji really doesn't work for me mainly because pudding is 16 years old. and while i normally enjoy the way oda portrays relationships between certain characters, i think the dynamic between pudding and sanji would be better if there was no romantic payoff between the two of them at the end. sanji's genuine acceptance of pudding's third eye is such a radical act of kindness for her, and it would be lovely to see this as the first stepping stone of many for pudding's character development. not only that, but it would really highlight how sanji's unflinching kindness has the power to change another person and break the bonds that have been holding them captive for most of their lives. if they ever do meet again, i hope that pudding would get the chance to tell sanji just how much that meant to her and they part ways as friends.

[franeridan]

I was thinking about how hug-y opla luffy is and I realised that if you strictly consider instances in which he meant to hug someone and not just hold them (so take out every single time he's picked up someone and either lugged them around or flung them across a battlefield) in the manga he hasn't actually hugged that many people at all, has he

[moongothic]

I do kinda wonder, considdering how much Luffy hates being alone... On those first levels of Impel Down, did Luffy stick to Buggy as if they had been glued together, not because he trusted the clown (let alone liked him), but because Luffy hates being alone and being with Buggy meant he wouldn't be alone?

Like think about it, Luffy didn't give a damn when he ran into Buggy, it wasn't a Happy Reunion like it was with Bon-chan

"Oh, it's Buggy" vs "You're alive!!"

And while we know Luffy is at least A Little Stupid, Luffy does have pretty good instincts when it comes to making judgements about people, and he has emotional intelligence when needed So between Luffy not really liking Buggy when they reunited in Impel Down, and Luffy even currently thinking Buggy is a loser, it seems unlikely to me Luffy like, wanted to team up with Buggy when they ran into each other. But Luffy did understand he'd have a hard time getting to the bottom of Impel Down by himself, and he knew Buggy would be mostly harmless in this situation. If anything, the clown could maybe help him along the way, even if only a little. And yeah, at least he wouldn't have to be alone if Buggy came along.

I think that might be why Luffy decided to give the treasure map to Buggy

Like yes, Luffy may have been naïve to think Buggy wouldn't ditch him as soon as he got the map instead of keeping his end of the deal, but also. Maybe for Luffy the risk of getting ditched was a better option than not trying and being alone anyways.

Maybe Luffy chose to give the map to Buggy because of that, so he wouldn't be stuck alone.