#one d library

[merlins-strawberriesandroses]

POV you’ve informed the Queen and the Court’s Sorcerer of something and they very clearly know something that they’re not letting on

[helioswritings]

The way Luffy kisses is messy; excited, crawling into your lap like he’s trying to become one entity while shoving his tongue down your throat, it’s all a part of him.

You giggle as he presses a kiss to the crook of your neck, more teeth than kiss at that point. He pulls away when you hiss, inspecting the mark.

“Can I…leave another?” He asks, toying with the collar of your shirt.

His pupils are blown and his lips are swollen and pulled back into a sly grin, but you can’t find a real reason to say no, so you nod.

Another turns into two which turns into who knows how many; but you’re almost certain you look like you’ve been mauled when he finally pulls away; sated. You wonder if Luffy has uncovered some sort of deeply buried need to mark you, to make it known that it was him that left all those marks on your neck.

His grin is wider now, less primal and more Luffy. “Perfect.”

You’re definitely a lot more lightheaded and flustered than he is, more keyed up too, but he can’t stop poking and prodding the marks he left on you.

���When these go away, I’m going to leave more, okay?” Hes positively vibrating with excitement.

“I can’t walk around with hickeys on my neck.”

“Why not?!”

“Because! Its not- one. You can leave one hickey.”

Call you weak, or whatever, but you couldn’t help it.

He grins. You have a feeling maybe you shouldn’t give into his whims so easily.

[ikiprian]

Barbara Gordon's Coding & Computer Cram School is a popular YouTube series. Tucker Foley is a star student.

Barbara Gordon's Cram School posts free online courses for both coding and computer engineering. Think Crash Course in terms of entertainment, but college lecture in terms of depth. Hundreds of thousands of viewers flock to it— students who missed a class, people looking to add new skills to a resume, even simple hobbyists. It’s a project Barbara’s proud of.

Sometimes, when she wants to relax, she’ll even hop in the comments and spend an afternoon troubleshooting a viewer’s project with them.

User “Fryer-Tuck” has especially interesting ones. Barbara finds herself seeking out his comments, checking in on whatever this crazy kid is making next. An app for collecting GPS pings and assembling them on a map in real-time, an algorithm that connects geographic points to predict something’s movement taking a hundred other variables into account, simplified versions of incredibly complex homemade programs so they can run on incredibly limited CPU’s.

(Barbara wants to buy the kid a PC. It seems he’s got natural talent, but he keeps making reference to a PDA. Talk about 90’s! This guy’s hardware probably predates his birth.)

She chats with him more and more, switching to less public PM threads, and eventually, he opens up. His latest project, though, is not something Barbara has personal experience with.

FT: so if you found, hypothetically, a mysterious glowing substance that affects tech in weird and wacky ways that could totally have potential but might be vaguely sentient/otherworldly…. what would you do and how would you experiment with it. safely, of course. and hypothetically

BG: I’d make sure all my tests were in disposable devices and quarantined programs to keep it from infecting my important stuff. Dare I ask… how weird and wacky is it?

FT: uhhh. theoretically, a person composed of this substance once used it to enter a video game. like physical body, into the computer, onto the screen? moving around and talking and fighting enemies within the game?

FT: its been experimented with before, but not on any tech with a brain. just basic shields and blasters and stuff, its an energy source. also was put in a car once

FT: i wanna see how it affects software, yk? bc i already know it can. mess around and see how far i can push it

BG: […]

FT: … barbara?

BG: Sorry, thinking. Would you mind sharing more details? You said “blasters?”

Honestly. Kid genius with access to some truly wacky materials and even wackier weapons, she needs to start a file on him before he full sends to either hero or villain.

[OR: Tucker is a self-taught hacker, but if he were to credit a teacher, he'd name Barbara Gordon's Coding & Computer Cram School! He's even caught the attention of Dr. Gordon herself. She's full of sage advice, and with how she preaches the value of a good VPN, he's sure she's not pro-government. Maybe she'll help him as he studies the many applications of ecto-tech!]

[agent37]

theyre dancing :)

[+ angela and limbus birthday :33]

[onepiece-treasurecove]

Redraw of an impact frame that I want to consume with my s o u l

Screenshot reference below!

[iris-nonsense]

They're two idiots

[cent-scratchnsniff]

something bad did indeed happen to that man. spent abt 25 minutes trying to find a better picture of that one (1) offical piece with his eyes open that wasnt compressed or tiny

[shalom-iamcominghome]

The amount of jews I know who are planning on or are currently running private libraries is a non-zero number. Can't beat the well-read allegations for real 😭

[prima-after-dawn]

Sentinel Prime gave *you could've been my pet* optics to D-16 tell me I'm wrong.

OMG WHERE WHICH SCENE I MUST FIND IT AND DELIVER THE SCREENSHOT TO THE PEOPLE

[cybertron-smash-or-pass]

TF One D-16

[zondearts]

Opal in the Phoenix library... yeah

[hermitscratch]

15 for gem/pearl?

Send me a pairing + a number! || Accepting

15. An underwater kiss, Gem/Pearl, 1295 words

Gem could forgive a lot of weird things. It was the nature of the server to remind her at every opportunity that normal was relative. It was normal for Zedaph to dedicate his time to pursuits unfathomable to his fellow hermits. It was normal for hermits to be as shaped by their bases as their bases are by them, like Tango in the Deep Frost Citadel last season. It was normal for Joe to be a puppet- a very new normal, but nonetheless nobody had batted a lash at it after the first five minutes, because of course Joe would be a puppet.

Gem reckoned she knew enough about this fisherwoman schtick by now to know that her catches going missing as she reeled them in was... less than normal.

It was the same, every time. She'd cast her hook, watch her bobber, and reel the moment she felt something, anything, pull her line taut with enough force to be more than a passing wave. She caught the junk just fine, a growing pile filling the space behind her, but whenever a proper bite came along, there'd be a quick tug on her line like the fish was fighting back, and then, the hook would come up empty.

After that happened for the fifth or sixth time, Gem flopped back on the dock with a groan. She didn't even need the fish! She had barrels full, but now she was annoyed on principle. She earned those catches fair and square.

"I thought I was the favorite!" Gem reprimanded in no particular direction as she sat back up. The ocean would hear her no matter where she was. "Getting bored playing keep-away with Grian's mending book, so now you've gotta take my fish? Look at me! Fish is my thing!" She wasn't about to let the ocean take it from her, either.

One more time, she tried. Kneeling at the very edge of the dock, she cast her line without its sinkers, purposely shallow. She needed a fish she could keep an eye on, no matter the size. When she got a bite, she reeled it in slowly, and just as it breached the water-

A scaly hand reached out and nabbed it off the hook.

Gem gasped, tossing her rod aside to grip the edge of the dock and peer under it. "I saw that! Where is it?!" Only the water's ripples answered her, a blur of distorted motion below that was gone before she could catch a proper glimpse.

There was a beat of silence. Gem sighed in exasperation, pressing her forehead to the weathered wood of the dock.

"I'll forgive you callin' me an it," A voice from behind Gem said, "'cause you look like you're havin' a rough go."

She knew that voice. Gem lifted her head fast enough that she almost tumbled off the dock's edge. Pearl was in the water, one arm propped on the dock to keep herself above it. She grinned, all teeth, and offered a lazy wave with her free hand- a hand that was still holding the fish she'd pulled from Gem's hook. "Thanks for the meal, by the way. This is way easier than hunting 'em myself!"

The fish wasn't large. Pearl tilted her head back, held the fish by its tail, and dropped it unceremoniously into her mouth. Suddenly Gem cared a lot less about her missing catch.

"You're welcome," Gem answered, fully distracted by the state of Pearl's body. She hadn't seen Pearl since the season's introduction, only hearing through the grapevine that she was based near Tango and Etho, but she's pretty sure the fish tail is new. "I should thank you, honestly, I've got more fish than I have space. Hey, speaking of fish, how long have you been one?"

Pearl's eyes shined, letting go of the dock to swim a circle, giving Gem a good view of her tail at work. "Pretty cool, right?" Her scales glittered a shade of maroon that flashed closer to purple in the sun, with accents of green around her chest, face, and down her arms. "I've still got my land legs, of course- oh, oh! And I can be backwards!"

"Backwards?" Gem tilted her head, intrigued, "You mean-?"

"You heard me," Pearl giggled, "Fish top and human bottom! Makes it harder to swim, but it makes for a great prank. Nailed Cleo with it earlier today," She sounded proud.

"That's amazing," Gem said, grinning with mischief, "Get Doc next."

Pearl cackled, "I'll see what I can do."

In time, Gem returned to fishing. Pearl stuck around to chat and catch up, and demonstrated that she was more than capable of fishing for herself. Gem lost a lot of bait to the distraction, watching Pearl's lithe silhouette dart through the water faster than the fish could escape her, but she can't say she minded.

"Here's the part that I don't get," Gem began, reeling in a hefty salmon that Pearl had chased onto her hook, "You were only wearing that salmon helmet for a little bit! How'd your code take to it so fast? Beef's been walking around in a salmonskin suit, and he's not a fish! Grian's practically drinking the ocean! And being a Mer would be so on-brand for me!"

"Oooh," Pearl teased, following Gem to the water's edge to watch her ice her latest catch. She sniffed, "Do I smell a little hint of jealousy, Gem?" "No," Gem replied wryly, "You smell a lot. I mean, look at you! You're big and fast and pretty, and think of how useful it'd be for building below sea level!" There were ways around it, of course. Conduits, potions, and the like, but it couldn't be the same. "I'd love to experience the underwater world the way you can."

"Do you want to?" Pearl asked suddenly, drifting back to the end of the dock.

Gem quirked a brow, closing the barrel and brushing scales from her hands as she followed, "I mean, of course I do, I just said-?" Pearl was gone. Gem leaned over the edge of the dock, looking for her.

A familiar hand shot up, grabbed a fistful of Gem's tunic, and pulled her into the water.

Gem had been in this water a thousand times before. Feet dangling off the dock, wading waist-deep to untangle equipment, swimming around to maintain the hull of her anchored tugboat, but it felt so much deeper when she didn't intend to be there. Briefly, she panicked, a flurry of bubbles that did more to disorient her. She wondered if she remembered to reset her spawn at her own home.

Familiar hands were holding her arms, holding her upright, and Gem opened her eyes against the salty sting to find Pearl's, mischievous and delighted. 'Relax,' Gem saw her mouth, 'I've gotcha.'

Familiar lips pressed to Gem's, and the gasp that followed was involuntary. The water burned, and Gem tried to cough, to move, but Pearl held her tight until, all at once, the discomfort went away.

Pearl pulled back. Gem watched her, confused by the kiss and the sensation of drowning that no longer felt like drowning. As if in answer, Pearl took Gem's hand and brought it to her own neck.

Gills fluttered under Gem's fingers.

"It won't last long," Pearl said, and Gem could hear her as easily as if they were above water. Pearl offered Gem her arm, "How's about I take you on a tour of that coral reef we saw on day one?"

"You better," Gem answered, holding Pearl's arm, "You owe me for that jumpscare."

Pearl's eyes wrinkled happily, "I bet I can make it up to you."

Laughing underwater was a strange feeling, but Gem could get used to it.

[crowdusk]

One Piece Chapter 1132: Adventure in Elbaph (thoughts & predictions for the arc)

Part 1 here.

Lessons in strength  

I also think strength is going to be one of the biggest themes in this arc. We’re in the final saga, and although we know Oda’s not interested in writing a typical shonen with a lot of fighting, it’s sort of inevitable that the final war will be, well, a war. The Strawhats are going to be up against some formidable enemies – from the Marines to the Elders and the Holy Knights – so it only makes sense that they need to be able to hold their own in battle. We’ve just had an arc where we saw them struggle against the Five Elders, even with DorryBrogy and their crew’s help, so I expect there will be some growth necessary before those final showdowns. Of course they get stronger every arc, but I think this one will make that quite explicit. And where better to develop strength than the ancient island of Elbaph, and a country of proud fighters that, as Loki said, once lived and breathed warfare? 

More specifically, though, I think this arc will look at definitions of strength. What does strength mean? How do we define it? What is it important for? One piece and the Strawhats have already answered these questions, but I believe Elbaph will take it further. In light of Gear 5, we see that the true definition of Luffy’s strength is not simply physical, but creative – how much can he break free of expectations, play, and imagine? Gear 5 Luffy does not follow the rules of reality, and this is crucial. The reality of the One Piece world is dire, as it is – people oppressed by the power-hungry and so-called gods, isolated from one another by geography, targeted by bigotry. The task is to refuse this reality, and break it to make a new one. 

Like many readers, I’ve been waiting to see a lot of growth from Usopp in particular, during this arc. Of course that’s because his dream is so tied to Elbaph, but let's get into more detail. Usopp is never going to be an inhumanely strong fighter like Zoro (no matter what the powerscalers say and expect). He isn’t supposed to be! That isn’t his strength! That’s not why we and his crew love him. Usopp’s strength is in bravely facing down his fears every single day, as a normal guy who doesn’t have extraordinary physical prowess. Usopp’s strength is that he believes, and he tries, and he fights with his whole heart for what he cares about. He inspires other people with his stories, and his words are powerful. As we know, stories are so important in the One Piece world (Skypiea was a whole arc related to a story most famous for being a huge lie!). I could say a lot more about Usopp but I won’t here because this is already long enough, but he is first and foremost human, compassionate, creative, and imaginative. He keeps trying for himself and his friends, regardless of not having the lofty dreams of some of his crewmates. That’s why Luffy liked him and recruited him. It would go against his whole character for him to have some kind of sudden wild power-up like I’ve seen people expect. 

Rather, his journey is about him reckoning with himself around what it truly means to be a brave warrior of the sea, because ultimately only he can define that for himself. I think he was first inspired by Dorry and Brogy, but that he might well find that he can’t simply follow the Elbaph codes to the book to achieve his dream. In Wano, we saw that Usopp was particularly upset with the samurai’s values when Kin’emon and Kiku were prepared to die in Onigashima because he strongly disagreed that it was right for them to “take responsibility” by throwing their lives away, proclaiming that he would rather “cling to life with snot running from [his] nose.” I don’t expect the dynamic to be the same in Elbaph, since of course he deeply idolises the giants and has a much different relationship with them. However, I think his path this arc is going to be one of taking what works for him in terms of being courageous and confident in his abilities, while also realising that he already is brave and can be strong on his own terms using his specific skills (long-distance precision sniping, surprise attacks, storytelling and playing with reality using his intelligence as we saw in Thriller Bark). He’ll develop his fighting abilities (observation haki, maybe get some cool new plants from the Elbaph jungle) but most importantly develop confidence, and understand the power of his words in battle (see: becoming God Usopp in Dressrosa). Incidentally, I fully believe we will see him leading 8,000 men some day – not because he’s some overpowered fighter, but because people are drawn to his speaking. 

On the opposite end of things, I think we’re also going to see Zoro go through an important learning curve. Clearly, the swordsman is not in a great headspace. He literally saw Death in Wano and it freaked him out despite him always proclaiming he has no fear. He was then off his game in Egghead, leading to him clearly repressing his feelings of fear and guilt afterwards (see: him calling Luffy pathetic for being upset they lost Stella). Something’s off with him and he’s trying to hold it together, but I’m hoping Elbaph might just burst his dam of inner anxiety. As we know, Zoro’s whole thing is strength – being strong enough to become the best swordsman in the world, being strong enough to protect his crewmates and make Luffy the Pirate King. He takes that responsibility incredibly seriously, to the point of being much too hard on himself and his body. 

Zoro needs to learn a parallel lesson to Usopp – that the expectations he places on himself as a fighter and protector cannot be too rigid and extreme, or they become self-destructive. Prioritising the values of honour and strength can help you grow, but they can just as easily become chains holding you back. We know that’s not what Luffy wants or expects – the Pirate King’s crew should be free! That’s why I really think we need to see Zoro cut himself some slack and remember to rely on others. Being obsessed with individual strength is unhealthy, and may well cause more damage than good in the end. Mihawk is a good example of that – he’s the strongest swordsman in the world, but he’s completely alone. What did he sacrifice for his throne, and was it worth it? 

I would love to see Zoro in Elbaph finally allow himself some vulnerability, ask for help, stop repressing his emotions and work with others instead of fixating on simply training to an extreme level. I want to see him get over his ego a little (or a lot). Unfortunately, knowing how stubborn he is, this lesson may need to be learned through some kind of painful experience. Don’t get me wrong, I say this from a place of so much love for Zoro. It’s difficult to see him be so closed off and hard on himself, as much as I understand where it comes from. So if events on Elbaph lead him to have to face all the fear and emotions he’s not dealing with, I think it will only make him a stronger and more resilient fighter. This could very well be Zoro having to deal with the promise he made to Sanji and realising he can’t take on that responsibility alone, nor would the other crewmembers want him to. Or, maybe that impossible choice would help him understand that he isn’t just an emotionless fighting machine – that what powers his strength is his dedication and love for his friends in the way that it is for all the Strawhats.  

What I would also really like to see out of Zoro’s development is more teamwork with Sanji, since they mirror each other’s growth (with Sanji currently going through his own mutation-related changes) and need to work together as the wings of the Pirate King. Of course that doesn’t mean they’re always going to fight as a team, but I can imagine that they might need to against particularly tough enemies. I do think whatever happens with the promise, they will come out of it stronger (if maybe traumatised) somehow. Oda’s cheesy – he loves demonstrating the power of friendship and deep love. We saw that in Egghead with Kuma protecting Bonney against all odds. Kuma, like Nika and Joyboy, essentially broke reality and science because he loved his daughter so much. One Piece is just that kind of story. Plus, the whole point of Sanji and Zoro being Luffy’s wings is that they reflect each other perfectly, and they are at their most powerful when they work in sync, balancing out each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Sanji is too driven by emotion, with that balance currently changing slightly with the Raid Suit mutations. Zoro, on the other hand, isn’t connected enough to his emotions, and I think something needs to happen (potentially in this arc) to move him towards being more driven by them. I love the symmetry of it all. They can then balance each other out with even greater coherence, which will translate into battle.

Elbaph technology, ancient technology

I can’t wait to learn more about the painters (sunstones) that have been introduced to us in this arc. They’re incredibly reminiscent of Skypiea’s dials, with a hint of sun-based technology that makes me think of Vegapunk’s research and his dreams. Now, Oda could just very well never explain what they really are, or where they come from – we never got answers about the dials. However, given that we’re much further along in the story, I’m hoping we will get more information. My suspicion regarding the dial technology is that it came from the moon with the sky people who became the Skypieans, Shandorans, Birkans and Lunarians. Alternatively, it might have been developed by the Ancient Kingdom. 

The painters of Elbaph could be a technology of similarly ancient origin (there may be more kinds of painters that serve different purposes, like the dials). Given we’re likely to start getting more information about the Ancient Kingdom and the Void Century if Robin visits Saul and his library, it would make sense for Oda to start bringing together the threads of these ‘otherworldly’ technologies. On top of that, Egghead very much highlighted technology as critically important – something that can cause immense harm, as well as bring immense relief and ease to people’s lives. We know that the Ancient Kingdom had incredibly advanced and sophisticated technology, and it seems like too much of a coincidence to me that islands and societies with strong historical links to that kingdom would also happen to have sustainable technologies that haven’t been shared with the world at large. 

Speaking of Egghead technology, I’m curious to see if we get more information about why Elbaph has island clouds. We know from Egghead that they’re formed when pyrobloin (also found in seastone) meets water vapour after being ejected in volcanic eruptions – and that Vegapunk managed to create them and maintain them artificially. It makes sense that Elbaph’s Sun World is high enough in altitude for island clouds to exist stably there, but does that mean there are also volcanoes around there? Were they created a long time in the past when there were volcanoes there? Same question goes for Skypiea. Can the giants work with and manipulate island cloud in the way the Skypieans did, too? Regardless, they’re going to become invaluable given Vegapunk’s global flood prediction. Scientists like Haredas and the remaining Punk satellites’ knowledge of how to create them might become essential to saving people’s lives, as hinted during Egghead. And again, I sense connections to the Ancient Kingdom’s technological prowess that I believe we’ll start to get more and more pieces of as the story progresses in Elbaph.I’m sure the connection to seastone and Wano is important – even the idea of bringing together the elements of earth, water and air/sky (which happen to be linked to each of the ancient weapons) as well as fire/the sun and the Motherflame?? Oda’s cooking something, I know it. 

With all of that said, I'm very excited to see what Nami might learn and do this arc – we've already seen her invoke "divine retribution", and I wouldn't be surprised if we see some more of her skills in a setting as nature and environment-based as this. On top of that, she's one of the scientists of their crew. She's a genius when it comes to weather science and technology, so who knows what she'll be able to do with painters and other weather-related technology on Elbaph, or even knowledge from Saul's library.

One of the biggest challenges in the One Piece world and one of the reasons that the world government is able to maintain dominance to some extent is its literal geography. It’s a world mostly covered by sea, with the only large land mass being the Red Line where the World Government's leadership is based. Parts of the sea cannot be crossed unless you have specific technology (Calm Belts) and on top of the usual difficulties and dangers of maritime travel, the Grand Line harbours extremely erratic and dangerous weather phenomena. This disconnection of people across the world serves to break up collective power, connection and communication, which is part of the reason why the Great Pirate Age was so threatening to the World Government. Normal people basically can’t travel long distances because they lack the resources and technology to do so safely. 

As we’ve seen, technology is a double-edged sword – in the hands of those in power, it can easily become a tool of dominance and destruction, as with the Motherflame. However, if distributed amongst the people for the purposes of bringing better quality of life, it is also invaluable (as we’ve seen with the dials and painters so far). I believe we’ll see more examples of this emerge from this arc, potentially even including tools from the Ancient Kingdom itself. I imagine that part of the downfall of that advanced civilisation might have been their resources and technology. Perhaps they themselves took things too far, or maybe some other group wanted control of what they had, leading to war. 

The return of the princess

One thing that did surprise me slightly in this chapter is the reunion of the Strawhats, because I genuinely thought Oda was going to keep them split up. My reasoning was that he would keep the Alabasta crew and older crew apart, to make it impossible for the message from Vivi to get to the relevant crewmembers. This makes me sound like I don’t want Vivi back ASAP and I promise, I do! For clarity, I think Vivi is (already) the last Strawhat and will join the crew on the Sunny sooner or later. Something that supports the idea of her meeting them on Elbaph is that we’re of course getting a lot of parallels and throwbacks to Little Garden (DorryBro, the giant animals, themes of strength) and who was with them on that island? None other than our beloved princess. Oda loves doing things like that. 

To be honest, I thought he would want to draw it out for longer, just to tease us. Of course, just because the crew is back together for now doesn’t mean that a) they’ll stay together for long (although I would love for that to be the case) or b) the Strawhats who saw the newspaper will bring it up to the others. I’m sure Robin will want to see Saul as soon as possible after the welcome feast (maybe even immediately if he’s unwell), and they might not all go with her. Plus, there’s no guarantee that any of the crew who did read the newspaper would think to mention it to the others (since only Robin picked up on the mark). It’s not like they got new bounties after Egghead. On the other hand, someone could just produce a copy at the feast as an update, and someone like Nami picks it up – it wouldn’t be that clunky for Oda to do. 

Initially upon reading it felt to me like the Vivi thing was going to be forgotten and left for a while, especially if the crew got split up. Thinking about it now, I really don’t know what kind of timeframe we’ll get. There are just too many possibilities to guess. He could have it be something that gets relatively resolved quickly and they send a message to Vivi early in the arc (I’m sure they can send a letter to the WEJ) so she can start heading over (again, don’t know how long that would take), or it could be something that’s left aside for a while. I have no idea. Also, very smart of Oda to put her on an airship that could just, directly land on the Sun level of a certain giant tree. Hmmmmmm. 

We also know Sabo needs to talk to her and Luffy, so I’m anticipating (praying) we might see him meet up with them towards the end of Elbaph, or shortly after. No, I’m not being delusional just because I want to see him...

Brag Men, fictional romance and Shadow the Hedgehog

Lastly, I wanted to talk about the very ominous ending of this chapter, which of course will have caught everyone’s attention. If you remembered Louis Arnot and Brag Men, big kudos to you. I will own up and say I remembered Louis Arnot vaguely being mentioned in relation to Little Garden, but not much else. 

It feels obvious to state, but the first thing that jumps to mind for me is that Oda is once again making the parallels between Little Garden and Elbaph extremely clear. He is also showing us that Brag Men and this Louis Arnot character are important in the One Piece world, which was previously hinted at. Specifically, it ties into Montblanc Noland’s story and the Skypiea arc, and further strengthens the key theme of stories in Elbaph. Both Brag Men and Noland’s story are considered fictional or even lies by most people. However, we know that Noland’s story turned out to be completely true, including the fact that the sky islands do exist and can be reached, and likewise with Louis Arnot’s account of Little Garden. It seems very clear that Elbaph is going to explore ideas around fantasy vs reality, truth vs lies, fact vs fiction, myths and storytelling, and the nature of what’s possible in the world of One Piece. I think Oda will get a little meta, and I love it. 

On the topic of the actual Louis Arnot quote, two things jump out at me. Firstly, the emphasis once again on Warland being a part of Elbaph, which I discussed earlier. This raises the question of when people started predominantly calling it Elbaph, and why? What changed, or was erased, on the island? Secondly, Arnot’s warning that travellers should not regret their “lost time” or overstay their welcome. I’ve touched on ideas around this earlier as well, but I think there are many options as to why this might be. It could be a question of time passing strangely (like on Little Garden), danger (whether from the environment or the inhabitants), or something else. My guess right now is a combination of those. Since before the arrival on Elbaph, the giants have been associated with a stretching out and lengthening of time, as well as a detachment from reality itself (e.g. the Green Fairy alcohol and hallucinations, the idea of drinking and feasting for days). It makes me think of entering a fae realm where time passes differently, and it’s all too easy to never return to the real world, or maybe even become trapped. I also think there may well be threats to humans especially due to internal conflict, secrets kept well-hidden on the island, and/or hostility from certain inhabitants. It feels too early to say much else.

What was particularly interesting to me, though, is the choice of visuals Oda paired with the Arnot quote. In the panel where we see a natural jungle landscape, with a huge bear right in the middle of it, there is a tiny mysterious silhouette. It is wearing what looks in shape like a Wano-style straw hat, and seems to have a distinctive spiky hairstyle or coat. Of course not that much can be deduced from this one panel, but this figure does look very similar to the seated one we saw after Egghead, who was drinking from a bottle and saying “come on…”. The hat is the same, and if you zoom in, it looks like they are holding something to their mouth (a bottle?). I’m putting my money on it being the same person, and I also think it may well be the same mystery character from the cover story of Chapter 631, where we see Crocus drinking with someone who’s back is turned. They are wearing the same Wano-style amigasa and have spiky hair. Crocus seems happy and relaxed, so they probably know each other and are quite close. Obviously we know absolutely nothing about this character apart from a vague silhouette and maybe their hair and hat, but I will put on my clown makeup and say I think it’s Scopper Gaban. 

Why? Because I want it to be. This theorising about the silhouette is the part I’m fully just including for fun, because we have so little to go on but. He would be friends with Crocus since they were both on Roger’s crew, he has spiky hair which might now be white from age, he’s been to Wano, it would make sense for Oda to make him cross paths with the Strawhats, and he’s strong – which he would need to be to get from Twin Cape to the New World alone, and to survive in the wilderness of Elbaph. Also, I just think it’s interesting that we haven’t yet heard anything about someone who was clearly extremely strong in Roger’s crew (unconfirmed but likely Roger’s #3 after Rayleigh). I have no other evidence, but that’s my theory. The timeline of Louis Arnot’s activity would actually also fit with someone from the Roger Pirates (pen name, maybe?) but I feel like that’s stretching it. I will be a clown if it turns out to be someone we’ve never met before, or even just Louis Arnot himself (real not pen name), but that’s fine. I’m manifesting. 

The last thing I’ll say about the last page of the chapter is that the last panel, with the pitch-black background, very much reminds me of the ‘blackout’ panels we saw during the Lego world adventure a few chapters ago. It could of course just be a coincidence, and Oda’s using the background for pure dramatic effect. But, and again I am in a full face of clown makeup, something else could be going on… [insert DOOM! panel]

[chromatic-lamina]

Nice detail from Artur's chapter secrets!

When Nami acknowledges [Luffy's] passion for Shanks, Luffy says it’s the same way she feels for Molley-mere, which is in reality referring to Belle-mere. This is a nice detail, as it shows that the Straw Hats tell each other about their pasts, much like we saw with Luffy knowing about Robin and Saul. If you remember, during Arlong Park, Luffy refused to listen to Nami’s backstory from Nojiko, but here he clearly knows about Belle-mere, meaning that Nami still told Luffy the whole story afterwards.

I included the scan copy, because the official ditches the 'san', and I think it's important.

However, back to Artur's commentary, honestly, I think it's kinda obvious, but it is nice to have it confirmed. Cos' all that goes on the page can't be all that goes on in the OP world.

[nerdy-talks]

Obey Me! Nightbringer Lesson 22 Spoilers!

Mammon has been my favorite brother ever since the very first Lesson of OG Obey Me!

I've also been a HUGE fan of Mammon's greedy behavior towards us probably because I like yanderes so much lol

But wow.... The newest Lesson in Obey Me! Nightbringer actually had me feeling.... apprehensive? Unsure?? Scared??? Horny?!?!

Aww... Beel 💙 (don't be so sure~ lol)

Mammon is aggressively possessive. Dangerously possessive. He's not thinking clearly.

I don't blame him since his sin is obviously taking over and he is unable to control himself. But....

If the same thing is gonna happen with the rest of the boys, we better buckle up and hold on tight!

Personally, I feel like I'd be able to handle Mammon, Levi, and Belphie. Possibly even Satan since I can understand his wrath/rage (though I might just be way too overconfident there).

But Lucifer, Asmo, and Beel?

Asmo will be trying to fuck seduce us nonstop. Beel may possibly try to devour us.

And Lucifer's overflowing pride will probably mean that he will view any help that we try to offer him as us, a "lowly human", underestimating and patronizing him... which will severely piss him off.

I'm hoping all of this means that we will start forging pacts with the brothers along the way/as we help each of them.

Because if not... We're screwed considering our magic currently isn't working and Solomon's magic is progressively getting weaker.

At this point, I can't wait for the next lesson. I want to know what happens next, I want to see how we're gonna save Mammon. I want the entire story all at once even though that's not possible.... I'm just impatient xD

[ajkaruu]

its been two weeks since ive watched one piece and i miss him dearly