#one piece meta

[no1onepiecefan]

thinking about how the last thing ace ever felt before he died was luffy’s strawhat. his last tactile memory was of red ribbon and coarse straw, of his brother's most identifiable feature, a very encapsulation of luffy.

luffy’s strawhat is a symbol of his dream as much as it is a symbol of liberation. true freedom was a notion that ace felt only fleetingly in the moments before he passed but he felt it nonetheless, mirroring how he held onto luffy's strawhat before plummeting to the ground. ace, in his final seconds, felt free in every sense of the word. he embraced freedom both figuratively through his realisation and literally as he held onto luffy’s strawhat, knowing he saved him.

[hidefromeveryone]

there's a lot to analyze about the chapters post-moria fight with kuma in thriller bark, but one small detail is sticking out in my mind lately: sanji's intervention in the zoro vs. kuma fight.

i'm not talking about ch 485, when sanji attempts to offer himself up to kuma as a sacrifice instead of zoro. before that, in ch 484, there's a moment where sanji intervenes by kicking kuma in the head.

this moment sticks out to me bc, prior to this, sanji largely respected zoro's fights. he only intervened if zoro and him needed to swap roles (arlong park) or to team up against an enemy (foxy pirates).

there's one reason sanji would do this: kuma was about to attack zoro's back. all of the straw hats know their crew well, including their values. sanji doesn't fight with his hands bc they are precious to him as a chef. and zoro? "scars on the back are a swordsman's shame."

sanji was there for zoro vs. mihawk. he's seen the way zoro pushes himself beyond his limits to continually improve his skills and work towards achieving his dream. he knows that if kuma were to complete his attack, one that zoro cannot hope to evade in his injured and exhausted state, that it would ruin him.

so sanji intervenes. he allows zoro to get mad at him. bc he'd rather zoro hate him then feel as though he's failed to protect his own values.

which is why zoro's sacrifice is so painful for them both only a chapter later. all that blood, all that hurt. there's no way that a single inch of zoro's body escaped injury, including his back.

but that time, it was his choice to make.

[featheredmoonwings]

I think this might be a long answer, so I'll get out from the comments to continue!

My feelings on this really depend on mood XD

But, I feel there's a part of Doflamingo that's DEFINITELY influencing the style choice. There's no way a man like him is passively letting something like that happen. Either Rosinante picked the style to match Dofi and Dofi APPROVED or Doflamingo told him they could match (coat) and with the make up Rosinante wanted to further emulate him.

Also, like you said, he is most definitely a caricature of his brother. But for me I think Rosinante is trying more to fit in than mock. Maybe he can't bring himself to smile Doflamingo, or at the very least not smile with the same viciousness his brother does.

To me personally the triangles under his eye are the most Rosinante thing about his whole outfit because this man MISERABLE and has been that way since he was in the marines, maybe that's the only way to show how he truly feels.

As I said in the comments, this could be a very long topic in which we explore all the possibilities and might'ves. Was the outfit planed from the star with the marines? Did it evolve over time? How much was it Rosinante wanting to fit in or getting his own style? How much was Doflamingo imposing these things on him?

So, SO many questions. But I kinda like that because it lets us explore different possibilities in fic 😁

I wonder if Rosinante got to pick his outfits when he was undercover or if Doflamingo picked them out like either way Rosinante's outfit and makeup definitely make him a clownish caricature of his brother, and honestly, I don't think people talk about that.

What do yall think?

[twenty-qs]

I love that Usopp is the only straw hat who interacts with our main girl in One Piece Fan Letter. Because Usopp gets it. He’s been there. Of all the Straw Hats, I feel like he’s the closest one to a “normal” person. Even now with all the insane skills he has—the portrayal of the other Straw Hats on Sabaody felt like celebrity cameos, giants spotted in the wild…whereas Usopp is portrayed as just a guy. Bending down to help a girl pick up her things, checking if she’s ok, giving her terrible advice on how to sneak into a bar. Part of this is because at this point Usopp doesn’t have a bounty under his own name, so nobody would know him. But it’s notable that for all the little fandom jokes and Easter eggs the episode sprinkles in, nobody mentions Sogeking. It would’ve been so easy to drop even one quick joke about it. But no. Because with Usopp, we don’t love him for the persona. We love him for the goofy, insecure, empathetic guy that he is. So of course the Straw Hat with the most speaking lines in an episode about regular people is Usopp. Of course he’s the one to see our girl, actually see her, and reach out to her. Of course.

[thymechaos]

i just can't believe that oda fucking create sanji, a stereotypical ladies man who simps to an embarrassing degree for women while having his hackles comically raised around everyone he perceives as a man - and most notably butting heads with the more obvious ~manly man~ of the crew. haha, classic anime running gag, the kind that gets obnoxious at times but still makes you laugh.

AND THEN, like a billion chapters later, motherfucker steeples his fingers and goes "soooooooo... what makes a person Like That?"

and the answer is that he grew up in fucking Toxic Masculinity, The Kingdom. the answer is that he was always Different, in a way other guys instinctively perceived as weak, and that made him the target of visceral scorn and violence. the answer is that he was sensitive, sweet, caring, nurturing - feminine-coded traits which are only valued by patriarchy insofar that they're performed by women in service of men. the answer is that in a kingdom comprised almost entirely by violent men, the only ones who were ever kind to him, the only safety he ever had, were a girl and a woman.

so cooking is for women and servants, it makes you less of a man. only women will ever really value you for your passions and dreams. women are also actively hurt by the way the world works, they are unsafe unless they comply with men's violence, and you have to protect them.

(men will always know what you are, and they will hurt you if you let them.)

and even after he leaves... at baratie he is cherished and respected, but even that is an extremely masculine environment. we don't talk about our feelings, we don't let our guard down, the only love is tough love. when he tries to express his artistry and express himself through his cooking, rather than just filling orders and making money, he gets mocked.

so here is a man who will not raise a hand to a woman, because he rejects the masculinity he was raised with and refuses to become yet another man subjecting women to violence. he is desperate for women's attention and affection because it's SAFE, it's the only kind he can trust. other men are potential threats and must be treated as such. he must at all times be snarky, tough, Not Feminine, because to be perceived otherwise is to be powerless, to be hurt.

like y'all. the queer coding of it all? the overtly feminist themes? the active rejection of toxic masculinity and the way it's shown to be directly tied to imperialism? what the fuck.

[raconteur-wanpi]

THE "ZORO MIGHT BE SANJI'S MIRROR / RIVAL / SHADOW, BUT USOPP IS HIS FOIL" META.

[contactlessdrivethru]

there is something unique and deeply special about monkey d luffy as a protagonist. he’s overwhelmingly ADORED by the fandom. he’s consistently the most or at least top 3 most popular characters in the whole series. peoples takes about him are gushingly positive. and that’s… really uncommon.

a LOT of fandoms i’ve witnessed or been in have a tendency to favor characters other than the main character. especially in anime. the main characters are often written as a blank slate for readers/watchers to project onto, but that makes them not as interesting and so they don’t get the fan attention.

but luffy is so far from that. and he’s ALWAYS been this way. we love him so much. he’s the heart of the story and the heart of the fandom in every single way. and i think that speaks to how well-written he is as a character. he’s fun and charming and complex and interesting and he makes us laugh and cry and cheer and hope and love. he’s able to inspire so much joy in people, both in his world but also in this one. and i think that’s really special. i feel so grateful to have found this story that means so much to me, and i’m so grateful that luffy exists.

[1000sunnygo]

Shanks and Rosinante are the same age.

Bless this tweet for putting their ages together.

These two men were born in the same year. At the same place. As younger brothers of morally corrupt older brothers proud of their Celestial lineage. Both became deeply involved with a young "D" approximately around the same time. Both stole a legendary devil fruit in the exact same year, 13 years before the start of the story, when Luffy was 6 and Law was 13.

I've been thinking about it all day.

[starrynightarchive]

say what you will about zosan as a ship but you would be fool if you think they hate each other. they are undeniably best friends.

they get on each other's nerves. they wash dishes together. they are baring their teeth at each other every day. they fight together and it feels like a dance. it feels like breathing. it feels like they have known each other forever. they both think the other is the worst person to ever exist on this planet. they trust each other with their lives. every step, every sprint, every fight. they don't have to look back to see if the other is keeping up because of course he is. he is the most infuriating, head strong, insane bastard in the world. of course he's keeping up. how annoying.

it's unspoken, this bond between them. they could be at each other's throats but when the marines or the world government or even the fucking devil is in front of them to bring them down, they're on their feet. legs blazing, swords unsheathed. they know their way around each other like the back of their hand. one call of the other's name and he's already there, ready to bring the whole world down. they are the wings of the pirate king. they are the pillars that hold up the home that their captain built. they are two sides of the same coin. sanji and zoro, zoro and sanji, sanjiandzoro.

plates always filled with food that smells like home. hands always searching, always reaching out to pull him back to the right path with an obscenity or two or a million more. but for all his whining, he still comes to get him, every single time.

i will keep you safe. i won't let you lose your way.

eyes always watching. grin sharp and mad, words puling him out of the hell that is his mind with a taunt. silent nights spent in each other's company. the back of a sword jabbed at his ribs. silent determination. steady, solid, under your hands as you lose consciousness.

i will keep you safe. i won't let you forget your worth.

they've never known love that doesn't tear out of them, snarling, spitting, biting. they've never known tenderness. the crew teaches them love in their strange, gentle, loud ways and it's beautiful, it's confusing, it hurts in the best way possible. but with each other? they don't have to hold back. there's something so intimate about holding someone by their collar, dragging them close and yelling look. look. this is how i love. i will kick your face in and make you the best meal you've ever had. i will spend all my time thinking of stupid names to call you. i won't ever say you matter to me, but i will die for you. i will trust you with all that is important to me. look at this fucking mess. this is how i will always love. with teeth and nails and intent to kill. are you afraid yet? only to have the other lean closer with a grin so feral and say, do your worst, asshole.

they are nakama. they are rivals. they are friends. what they have cannot be put down in one word but in the end, the word will come down to something close to love.

[maximumqueer]

Luffy still not realizing that he is who the Iron Giant is talking to when it is calling him Joyboy is very funny

but it also reinforces the themes surrounding Luffy and the concept of Joyboy and Nika.

Because while Luffy in gear 5 looks similar to how Joyboy has been depicted, he is not literally a reincarnation of Joyboy. He is not the second coming of a god, he is - first and foremost - Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will be King of the Pirates. And him still not acknowledging that he could (even potentially) be the "Joyboy" that the robot is referring to solidifies that.

And what is particularly impressive to me about this thematic throughline, is that it is able to coexist with the belief of characters like Bonney, Kuma, the giants etc. that Luffy is the second coming of Joyboy, of Nika. Because Luffy isn't that. We the audience know that Luffy awakened his devil fruit, and that his resemblance to the Nika and Joyboy of history is because they both had/have the same fruit. We know that Luffy is still Luffy. He has not been possessed by a god (hell, we don't even know if deities actually exist in the would of One Piece, as we have only ever seen the worshipers of them), or by the previous wielder of the fruit. Luffy is still Luffy. If anything, his awakening has amplified who he is, not changed him. And it is in this way that Luffy sort of becomes a Schrodinger's Chosen One.

Because the narrative of One Piece does not present him as a chosen one. He awakened a devil fruit, but not because that was his destiny, or because he knew of some greater prophecy surrounding it. Luffy's actions are for no one but himself and his friends (as in he is not making his decisions with the knowledge of a prophecy, whether it be to fulfil it or avoid it). He is not guided by fate, and anytime we see Luffy follow in the footsteps of another by inheriting their will, it is his own choice. Luffy chose to pursue being the next pirate king, and chose to keep Ace's promise to Tama (and the people of Wano). But certain characters within One Piece do view him as this pre-ordained return of Joyboy. And they are not treated as idiots for this, their faith in the return of their god is treated seriously, and with respect. And their faith IS rewarded, just not necessarily in the way they were expecting. They DO get Joyboy, but not as a reincarnation or a possession, but as a person who can choose to take up the mantle of Joyboy, if he so wishes. And even if he doesn't, Luffy cares enough about freedom (both for himself and others he cares for) that they will still get Joyboy, even if that isn't his name.

[kacievvbbbb]

Sabo really got that serial killer rizz about him

Like look at those eyes. Those are the eyes of a man that has several things wrong with him and he's about to make each and every one of them and this rusty pipe, your problem.

Fucking two steps away from "you wanna know how i got these scars", ass look.

He goes from so adorable, bending so koala can put on his hat, to I have not a single polite gene in my body and I will destroy you mentally before I destroy you physically to Just straight beating people's asses with a pipe like a thug

I'm obsessed with him.

[no1onepiecefan]

i really adore just how loved marco is in the one piece universe, and what that means for his character.

marco is so beloved. as the first division commander of the whitebeard pirates, a veteran of over thirty years and three wars, he has unparalleled connections. marco knows many of the most famous, renown men in one piece, and they equally know of him.

figures like whitebeard, oden, shanks, ace, luffy, etc; everyone who has ever meant anything in the larger scope of the one piece world. every man who has left an unimaginable mark on history, for lack of better words, really likes marco. every icon of piracy that the plot frames in a positive light loves him, all by varying degree of knowing him but nonetheless. and i really think it speaks hugely of his integrity when you have that many figures loving you dearly. if their opinion of him is positive, then who's opinion can be trusted more?

(near) every enemy he's faced: admirals, big mom, king, queen, etc, many of whom you would doubt have the capacity for civil respect do just that. even marco's enemies seem to have a baseline respect as they face him, and just that level of universal likability, or at the very least admissibility, is something that i don't know if we see in any other character to that extent. everyone hates someone and everyone is hated by someone, but oddly, everyone really seems to have the time of day for marco.

maybe it's his supportive role; he's as pacifistic and gentle as an infamous pirate gets. his flames cannot burn, and while he is incredibly competent on a battlefield, that's not where his name is usually found; he's a doctor. the whitebeard's reach as a crew of thousands is far and wide as well- tales of his kindness must have been carried across every ocean, but that's all assumptions and educated guesses. regardless, everyone’s opinion of marco is lacking malice, even when they��re on opposite sides.

everyone likes him, and it's just a detail that i find really sweet. it says so much about his character; there’s a level of trust that can be placed in the opinions of these great man, and it's an opinion they all collectively share. marco is lovely, with everyone's agreement

[l-in-the-light]

Trafalgar Law on touching and being touched

It won't be a perverted post despite the title lol. But I won't stop your imagination, be free!

There's this funny theme going on with Law and Luffy in particular that picked my interest.

Luffy touched him first.

And he later returned the gesture, much more awkwardly.

Again, Luffy grabbed him angrily first.

Law made sure to return the gesture. (btw he also does it with Zoro, who was the first one to wrap an arm around him at post-Dressrosa feast. In Wano Law has no problem grabbing Zoro and shouts at him angrily. Again, it was Zoro who initiated the touch first).

Law grabbing Luffy to teleport them makes Luffy react in a curious way, you wanna know why?

Because it totally feels like this moment. Both Law and Ace, right after getting uncuffed, grabbed Luffy in same way to get him to a safer place. Ace-Law parallel in relation to Luffy kills me. The whole Dressrosa arc's plotline between Luffy and Law is just Marineford Went Well This Time. Ngl I kinda hated Oda at first for that. Now i dig it.

He didn't seem to like that. Luffy says "Let's all get along well!", but Law thinks alliances don't have to "get along".

Mistranslation here. What Law says here, being so surprised, is "nakayoshi ka?!" which means "you two get along?!" or "you two are buddy-buddies?!". It's a callback to Luffy declaring that Law and Strawhats crew should get along (he uses same word then, nakayoku-get along), Law learns here that Luffy's crew indeed "gets along well". You can interpret it whatever way you wish, but I will use it this time to put this scene into context:

The same gesture Luffy did to him before, but Law didn't return it to Luffy - that's because they're not crewmates. But he takes the lesson to heart and "gets along" with his own crew. Omg I can't believe i'm writing it, I make Law sound like this completely awkward adult who doesn't know how to be friends with people.

But bear with me, the shit is only starting. If you don't want to have feels I reccommend you just laugh at it and stop reading here. I digged up a feels landmine by accident. In-depth study starts below!

It's also a possible callback to the "reassurance" Law got from Cora-san. "I'm counting on you to escape" and Law did. He counts for his crew to steer the submarine well in similar manner.

Law's family didn't seem very touchy-feely, so please keep that in mind as well. He's got limited experience with touches and the few touches he did get familiar with were either taken away from him or brutalized.

Law getting patted on the head lovingly by his parent.

Next time this loving gesture happens, he gets thrown from like two-floor building into a pile of garbage.

And then he gets lied to that everything will be fine. We all know it wasn't.

Do you still wonder why he hates being touched on the head?

The sister touches his face gently while showing child Law support and compassion, reminding him not to despair, someone kind will help him.

Corazon doing the same gentle touch to the face while crying for him, thinking of all the pain Law had to experience. Indeed, the world sent Law someone kind. And Law lost him and blames himself for that.

Law holding Lammy's hand while lying to her that it will be alright. He never does that gesture again to anyone.

The sister holding Law's hand.

"Don't come closer! Don't touch us! We will get infected!" even doing the barrier gesture (I guess that's why Law doesn't get along with Bartolomeo). I used only few examples, there is much more, I just couldn't bear posting them all. Anyway, Law's got the message, his touch is unwanted. The body and mind remembers this.

Similar shit said at the auction in Sabaody about Fishmen, we don't see Law's reaction to that, but we can guess already that it was for sure triggering. Those people talking are sitting not that far away from him.

Ever wondered why Law throws people when teleporting? Besides the fact he avoids making contact with anyone unless they initiate it first, because that trauma is still strong in him ("Stay away! Don't come closer!"), there is one other possible reason:

Wonder no more! He does it to people because that's how people treated him as well, even people who apparently loved him.

Now that I have ruined the "Law is just an awkward unsocial nerd" joke for you, let me offer something to warm your heart a bit in exchange:

Corazon made sure to touch Law a lot and hold him in his arms, despite being often clumsy about it. I think he understood Law's trauma about being touched and his fear to touch or approach anyone, and tried to help him overcome it.

Being hugged and trying to return the gesture. Corazon's efforts did bring some results! But it only works for very few people, Law is still wary of people he doesn't know well. He expects to be unwanted and acts uneccessarily cold, distant and unapproachable because of that. But if you scroll back to the beginning of this post, you can see that he is trying his best to overcome it as well, one step at a time. Some things just can't be rushed.

And hey, at least he seems to be actually relaxed and almost like he *enjoys* being carried around. You think it makes him look uncool? Definitely. But suddenly it feels like Something Important, kinda intimate in a way and not just a silly comedy moment. It's a sign Law relies on people when he lets them carry him and that's why he doesn't protest.

Sanji is like "Why are you relaxing like that?! Get off!!" Finally, it makes sense why Law makes such a sour face here. Sanji should be grateful for the rare privileage after all! Anyway, this is anime-only extension, in manga Sanji actually doesn't tell Traffy to get off and Law chooses to scramble by himself, which doesn't taint the fragile trust those two just shared.

For those who made it to the end of this post, have I ruined Law's comedy moments for you forever? Because I sure just did that for myself.

I could also add one more cute thing from One Piece World Seeker Law's dlc, but I will let those interested to discover it by themselves!

I'm also amazed by the consistency of this theme. Both manga and anime never forget that touch is seemingly a big deal for Law.

[ladysatoru]

Thriller Bark really showed us how much sanji and zoro value each other. The moment when zoro knocks him out, sanji desperately turned to him trying to clutch zoro with his weak hands in the last moments before losing consciousness and dropping to the ground. He really thought he was never gonna see zoro again after this since the last thing he heard was zoro offering his head :(

[soft-niku-and-sake]

Zoro's eye scar theory:

x

Someone on Twitter has this theory that Zoro's eye scar is self-inflicted just like Luffy's and I genuinely can see that happening. It's more interesting and a better theory than Zoro having some hidden power under his eye or the baboons are the ones responsible for it LOL.

I mean Zoro doesn't really have a problem with handicapping himself just to prove a point. 

As you can see...

Zoro is like "You find it fun to poke my wound. I'll do you one better." *BAM! cuts himself*

But instead of "gaining his sense of honor" like what the original poster thought of, I kinda imagine Zoro doing this during his observation haki training with Mihawk. Compared to Rayleigh's training, wherein he's a tough but a gentler instructor, I can see Mihawk being stricter and would mock Zoro whenever he makes mistakes, and Zoro, being stubborn and arrogant, would slash his eye to prove to his teacher/rival he can master observation even with just one eye. (Well, this is also the same guy who would cut his legs during Little Garden and his hand when he was handcuffed with Usopp just to fight lol. Who says he won't blind himself. What a freak)

Moreover, people have been speculating that Zoro's potential enemy among the Blackbeard pirates would be Shiryu, who currently has the Clear Clear Fruit. If he were to fight someone who is a strong swordsman and can literally turn invisible, Zoro must have one hell of observational skill to defeat him. If we are going to see a flashback of him stabbing his eye, perhaps it will be during his battle with Shiryu.

I mean Oda could just give him a scar just to make him look cool (which is more likely lmao), but if it were to reveal what happened to his eye, I think this headcanon really makes sense, judging by the way Oda also likes to parallel Luffy and Zoro very much.

Luffy: Stabbing under his eye to prove a point to Shanks

Zoro: Slashing his eye to prove a point to Mihawk.

[patientwasabi]

I was thinking about Luffy not wanting to be a hero when I realized something.

His very simple yet insightful line, "heroes share their meat, I want all the meat", very clearly shows that heroes make sacrifices. He doesn't want to make sacrifices. Perhaps it's because he's been the sacrifice himself.

Garp is a hero. He's cool too. But he was hardly present in Luffy's childhood. No matter how much he'd get beaten by his grandpa, I bet he'd still rather have him around than not ("being alone is worse than being hurt."). Yet Garp very clearly makes a sacrifice here. Being a marine being a priority over his grandson in the absence of the child's father.

Later, after Enies Lobby, he finds out that Dragon is a revolutionary. Literally a hero of the people. What's he done? The cost he paid for a greater good? He sacrificed Luffy.

So, while Luffy loves really deeply and fights for this love, he would rather have a death grip on his precious ones by being a pirate than let go and sacrifice and become a hero.

This may very well just be me looking too deeply into it, but the idea of Luffy being the sacrifice just did something to my insides that is hard to explain.