#saying he was a dangerous and violent fishman'

[demonzoro]

for me, i think the most painful part of tom's workers and the whole backstory surrounding that is not actually the events of the backstory itself, but that even years after the worth of the sea train been proved and the way water seven has flourished because of it, tom's legacy is still marred by the misconception he was a violent traitor. the way the island's pride and joy is the galley-la company but iceburg still can't clear tom's name as the city he loves continues to badmouth his beloved mentor. robin shouting, "you have no idea how much the world government has warped my life!" the way the world government can completely corrode someone's history and legacy

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

The Voyage So Far: Dressrosa (Part One)

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

fujitora’s introduction is so memorable. we don’t even know he’s an admiral until a little while after this, but the way he’s introduced makes him both immediately intriguing and tentatively likable, and also shows he’s terrifyingly powerful. similar to wano, dressrosa is a very twisty arc with a lot of hidden identities and things and people that are not what they seem, and fujitora’s introduction establishes that right off the bat.

it’s no secret i really like law, and i think his relationships and dynamics with the strawhats are some of the reasons why. it’s very good. the way he usually interacts with them (read: suffering) contrasts against the very real respect and faith he develops for them, and for luffy in particular. he refuses to call luffy his subordinate, here, even though it would be basically a get-out-of-jail free card when it comes to dealing with fujitora, and it comes up again more than once later in this arc too (though never to the strawhats themselves).

genuinely the tournament subplot is one of my favorite parts of this entire arc, especially because it happens while the action in the rest of dressrosa is mostly still setting up. it’s so fun to watch luffy go completely ham with minimal consequences, especially because we know more or less from the beginning that he’s not really likely to face a challenge from anyone here. 

it allows the supporting cast to be built out as a pretty entertaining group in their own right, too, especially bartolomeo and cavendish, and sets up most of the future grand fleet without being too obvious about it. 

i may as well say now, because i’m sure i’ll be talking about it a lot: kyros is one of my favorite one piece parents, and his and rebecca’s relationship hits me in the fucking chest. i’m consistently upset that they got so much stolen from them, and very very glad that they got the happy ending they dearly deserved.

i really like rebecca. and i like her story, too. i know there are people who want her to be more of a fighter, more violent, but i think that’s missing the point. rebecca is someone who has been victimized and commodified and put on display to die in front of a country that hates her again and again and again, and she still stays gentle and good, and i think that makes her one of the strongest characters in this arc.

obviously in isolation ‘damsel in distress’ is not really a good trope (and i’ve complained about it before with regards to tashigi in punk hazard), but i also don’t think it’s really at play here. rebecca is someone who deserves to finally lay down her sword and rest and be happy and safe, and her father deserves the chance to give her the protection he hasn’t been able to. 

i really like when oda does things like this with paneling, i think it’s tremendously cool. there’s some similar examples with law’s powers in this arc and punk hazard as well, and it’s cool as hell every time. 

this is one of my favorite panels in all of dressrosa. 

kyros has a line a lot later on about ‘restoring the true dressrosa,’ and that’s what this scene makes me think of. this is the true dressrosa- the broken and forgotten and lost, down in the darkness beneath the city. and no matter what he may think of himself, riku is still their king. 

this panel also reminds me of the similar scene in udon in wano, where the prisoners kneel before momonosuke. which is, incidentally, another favorite of mine. i really like whenever one piece deals in themes of loyalty, i feel like it always hits very hard. 

[spoilers for recent wano chapters]

i think some parts of dressrosa line up very nicely with the recent reveal in wano that law’s new goal is uncovering the mystery of the will of d. it’s something that feels very natural and fitting for him, and i think this is one of the reasons why. 

of the Ds we’ve seen, law is the only one who’s been really shown to be actively aware of the name and the weight it holds (and thus, the only one to bother to keep it secret), and he even weaponizes it against doflamingo throughout dressrosa in order to throw him off balance, and succeeds. it feels like a very natural progression from that awareness to trying to understand its mystery, at least to me. 

barto is a great character because he’s introduced as being a completely unlikable shithead, and like, that’s not inaccurate, he totally is, but he also somehow winds up being likable anyways. part of that is his idolization of the strawhats (because, let’s be real, all of us can relate), but part of it is also that he’s kind of honorable in his own way, and i think him saving bellamy from dellinger despite having no stake in the situation just because they fought together is probably the best example of that.

i really like how the sabo reveal is handled. all the focus is placed on luffy and his reaction, and then we get our actual introduction to sabo as an adult slowly over the course of the next few chapters in how he acts and interacts with other characters throughout the tournament, culminating in his proper introduction after it’s over. 

the actual explanation of what happened to him, how he survived and the entirety of his reunion with luffy is saved for the end of the arc, and i think it’s good that it happens there, in a quiet time after the dust is settled, rather than being smacked in the middle of the rising action. 

of all the many many devil fruits that have appeared in one piece, i think sugar’s is the scariest, and also one of the ones i’ve probably thought the most about, if only in terms of its sheer inherent horror. the moment her spell is broken is, in my opinion, one of the most satisfying in the entire story. doflamingo’s hold over the entire country snaps, just like that.

the entire sequence of dressrosa’s great panic is one of my favorites in the whole series. i’m a really big fan of moments where the tides are all at once turned, and this is so very much one of those- sugar is knocked out; all the toys revert to human all at once, including kyros, who promptly decapitates (unfortunately not the real) doflamingo; sabo wins the tournament, eats the mera mera no mi, and obliterates the colosseum; and usopp becomes god. 

it’s really really good. 

even though this is a fake doflamingo it is very satisfying to see him get wrecked, and even though i love the outcome of the luffy and law versus mingo and trebol fight i do think kyros deserved to decapitate the real thing also.

usopp’s role and development in dressrosa is really great. it’s the most focus he’s gotten since water seven/enies lobby, and it comes at a time right when he’d been in the background for a rather long time. in dressrosa, he gets to be a proper hero- he indisputably saves the entire day not once but twice, and even doflamingo recognizes him as by far the biggest wrench in his plans- and more importantly, he gets to do it for the first time as himself, instead of having to hide behind a mask, as he did at both thriller bark and enies lobby. 

the way a lot of the fight panels with doflamingo specifically are drawn is very cool, i think. there’s a real sense of speed and danger to a lot of them, which makes sense, as doflamingo is a very dangerous opponent fully capable of slicing off limbs and heads with ease if his enemies make a wrong move, something both the characters and the audience are fully aware of by this point. 

to be continued in the next post with the rest of dressrosa!

[emperor-of-blood]

Knight of the Sea Jinbei!

The last member to join the Strawhats and also the last member I have left to classpect for this anon ask!

Jinbei is a fishman, a race of fish people born in the sea. Previously, he was the captain (after a split in the group) of the most famous group of fishman pirates, the Sun pirates. There's not a ton to say about them other than that they were very famous, worked under Big Mom, and were involved in freeing a bunch of slaves. The most notable members of this crew were Fisher Tiger (The previous captain) and Arlong (The main villain of Nami's arc). Jinbei himself spent a good portion of his time protecting the underwater city, fishman island, a necessary stop for pirates on their journey between the Grand Line and the New World.

Notably he also became a warlord, which is basically a pirate the gets pardoned by the government in exchange for helping them out. Jinbei meets Luffy first in prison during the Impel Down arc where he had been imprisoned for refusing the orders of the government despite being a warlord. He teams up with Luffy to help him escape and proves himself an ally during the following arcs. After the time skip he meets the Strawhats during their visit to Fishman Island and later again on Whole Cake island, where he finally joins the Strawhat crew officially.

Jinbei takes up position of the Helmsman of the crew, and drives the Thousand Sunny from then on. Although we haven't seen a ton of fighting from him, he's likely on par with Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji strength-wise.

So with his very short story out of the way...

Knight of Space

One who exploits [Space]/protects with [Space]

I swear him having "Knight" in his title had nothing to do with my decision.

Backtracking a moment to remind everyone of what is associated with Space: Creation, perspective, and isolation. All Space players have been naturally isolated and Jinbei is no exception. By Jinbei's own testament, fishmen view humanity as a violent and dangerous race. On top of this he separates himself further by taking it upon himself to personally protect Fishman Island. Becoming one of the seven Warlords is about as isolated as you can get in the world of One Piece. You're a traitor to all pirates but the government and the rest of the world still view you as a criminal. Because of this he gets a perspective of the world no one else can.

Now, specifically for the class part: part of exploiting the aspect involves it being scarce, and in the world of One Piece it's easy to see how. Every god damn island in this world has some bat shit crazy nonsense going on. Well, mostly everywhere; because Fishman Island is pretty chill. In fact, it's chill despite being a mandatory stop on the route to the New World. Which means literally every pirate hoping to cross has to go there. And there's really only been one big incident (Which is when the Straw Hats showed up). Jinbei has been keeping this ticking time bomb of a glorified gas station of an island almost completely under control. Likewise, the protecting using Space falls under the same category. He's not moving the island deeper underwater or anything, but he is putting himself between the island and anyone who might cause trouble.

There’s also... that one really important thing he does at the end of Marineford that I can’t talk about without huge spoilers. But it’s pretty Knight of Space-y.

I'd imagine Jinbei having a pretty rough session. In a standard Sburb session, the Knight is supposed to assist the Space player in their frog breeding, but as a Knight of Space... Jinbei is on his own. It's still doable and he's a capable guy so I'm sure he'd make it work, but he'd likely have to spend the majority of his session dealing with that, leaving little time for much else.

And that's it! The end of that One Piece ask I got like 2 years ago or something.

I am free.

[neverwatchedonepiece]

538-539: "The Straw Hats Defeated?! Hordy Gains Control of the Rygu Palace!" and "The Haunting Ties! Nami and the Fish-Man Pirates!"

Neptune’s finely tuned Roid-dar in action.

Finally figured out what was wrong with Chrome, so it’s business as usual. (FYI, it was the antivirus SSL scanning feature conflicting with certain websites’ certificates. Not great that I have to turn it off for browsers to function but that is a rant for another blog.)

On the Fishman Island arc front, 539 was the episode I’d been waiting for. I don’t have all the story yet but I know it’s coming. I’m excited to see what Oda does with Queen Otohime and Fisher Tiger’s stories. I also wanted to talk about Nami this post and I finally have the chance because she’s already at the Sea Forest and has met Jimbei (more on that later).

[title]

A Fishman Captain who can’t beat a human in a fight underwater without resorting to performance enhancing Fish Roids can’t amount to much, either. 

Just a thought.

Must say the spoileriffic title for 538 was unexpected. I honestly thought Zoro would win, or at least force a stalemate so that he could hold back the invasion with Usopp and Brook. Nope. Oda has diverted the plot in a direction I did not predict. Now I’m wondering how Neptune will retake the palace. I’m thinking a concerted effort, with the royal guard, maybe some citizens, plus reunited Strawhats out in force. Mainly so the Strawhats can clear their name because right now, the locals still believe they’re responsible for storming the palace and kidnapping Shirahoshi.

There was some good tension sustained when Zoro was fighting underwater and knew he had to surface to breathe. He defeated Hordy but was grabbed by a bunch of Hordy’s Roided Goons. When I was a kid, I remember playing Sonic the Hedgehog. There was nothing like that dread when Sonic was underwater and the oxygen countdown started. Find a bubble or else! Even though I knew Zoro’s plot shield would hold, I still felt that tension. xD For a moment, I was annoyed that Usopp didn’t go help him but then I realised Usopp was the only thing stopping Brook from sinking like a stone.

Neptune was great. I like the guy now. Compared to Hordy Jones, he’s an excellent leader. I brought up before his tendency to take advice, to listen to his people and consider their opinions even if he weighs them up and decides to do something else. In 537, it was obvious that Neptune cares about his people. He realised the Fish roids could be a real threat to his people’s safety. Instead of saving face, instead of a “we shall defend this palace to the death!” attitude that only gets people killed, Neptune only considered getting everyone out safely, and used his strength to secure an escape route: sacrificing himself in the process.

When his men did escape, they immediately thought of Neptune, of how he had helped them. They wanted to help Neptune because of everything he had done for them.

Compare that to Hordy “Become my Meat Shield or Die” Jones. He rules by fear and thinks of his dispensable soldiers in terms of what they can do for him.

It’s clear who the best king here is.

Must admit, though. Hordy Jones is organised. He instructed his head goons to assemble raiding parties to invade different districts of Mermaid Cove. Waterwheel Town, Candy Factory Town, Fishverly Hills, and other places I didn’t catch are under the control of Hordy Jones. His Head Goons wasted no time forcing the new regime and the new ideals on the locals, forcing them to commit a highly-charged political act of disrespect: step on an image of Queen Otohime or die. 

Naturally, Fukaboshi was fuming when he found out what was going on. That was his mother. Not cool. (I am hopeful he will lead the counterattack. I bet he’ll succeed Neptune some day.)

I’m also wondering about Big Mom. Candy Factory Town has fallen to Hordy Jones. If the tribues stop pouring in from Fishman Island, would she send someone to see what’s going on and kick Hordy’s ass herself? I mean, sure, the Roids make him strong, but this is a Yonkou were talking about here.

And Brook is a potential wild card here too. When Neptune, Zoro and Usopp were captured, Hordy’s Goons dismissed Brook. “What’s that skeleton doing here?” “Dunno.” I wonder if Brook will do a Sanji and complete the stealth missions this arc?

Jimbei’s Glorious Reaction Face

LUFFY-KUN, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

Watching Jimbei unravel like that was hilarious. It’s always funnier when the stoic characters crack. Only Luffy could stress someone out that much. And we got two in a row when he realised Hachi was there too. Chopper should start running blood pressure clinics for those suffering Strawhat-induced stress.

The object of Jimbei’s stress was that Luffy had appeared with Princess Shirahoshi in tow. Jimbei knew all the crap she had been through (I wonder if he tried to stop it before but couldn’t find Decken?). He also knew how unsafe it was for her to be outside. Just as he said this to Luffy, a random axe whirred through the air and Luffy deflected it.

I admire Luffy’s unwavering confidence that he can protect Shirahoshi (“She knows I’ve got her back!”) and I love that he did take her to the Sea Forest to pray at her mother’s grave (that was sad) but it is bloody dangerous, you’ve got to admit. Jimbei said the harrassment started after Queen Otohime’s death so poor Shirahosi couldn’t even attend her mother’s funeral (I need someone to kick that guy’s ass ASAP. Do not care who it is now.) What if Luffy suddenly has his hands full? Maybe Sanji will step in and fend off Decken, now that he’s back to normal, thank god. I guess the most effective treatment for Sanji’s weakness is immersion therapy.

The lack of message to Luffy is also suspicious. Why did Jimbei’s message not get through? Someone is intercepting communication. I wonder if Hordy is behind this too. Maybe he doesn’t want the peaceable but powerful Jimbei ruining his plans.

Den-san wondered what all the commotion was and shouted out from Sunny’s deck (and Franky had his “My captain is a dumbass” moment). Not long after, Nami and Camie arrived.

I liked that Oda assembled those three Merfolk and Fishmen together because they were able to represent different voices from Fishmen Island. It wasnt’ just one person speaking for their history. All of them had a voice.

Including a human who had been affected by the violent repercussions of Fishman Island’s brutal history.

Nami and Fishman History

I have been wanting to write about Nami for ages. After I finished the last post, I started thinking about Hordy and what he would think of Nami if he found out about her. I guessed he would hate her for betraying Arlong and would want revenge. It’s funny, but Hordy made the same mistake with Nami as Arlong did. He underestimated her. When she left with Camie, Hordy’s goons did tell him, but he dismissed the warning. Let them go. It doesn’t matter.

Now, I wonder if history will repeat itself. Nami has escaped, has told Luffy what’s going on and soon they will have the power to regroup, counterattack and re-take the palace. I doubt they will ever fix the relationships between humans and Fishfolk. But maybe they could be a symbol of improvement, if nothing else.

Nami’s reaction to Jimbei in the last episode was telling. Something was up there, I was certain of it. Again, in 538, she was indifferent to the point of wariness when she spoke to him. Camie was full of admiration. Nami was guarded. She also wanted to skip straight to the point and halted Sanji’s fool antics in their tracks because she had a bone to pick with Jimbei.

I had been thinking about Jimbei and how he might be related to all the troubles in Fishman Island.

I had no idea he was the one who set Arlong on the rampage in East Blue.

Nami must have known something. Maybe she heard Arlong talking about Jimbei. Maybe Arlong told stories about the Sun Pirates and Jimbei’s name came up.

Jimbei did apologise. He said he was grateful for the Strawhats stopping Arlong wreaking further havoc in East Blue. But for Nami - and Sanji for that matter (I am so glad the daft behaviour has stopped. I like Sanji best when he’s being serious) - the apology wasn’t quite enough.

Sanji remembered was Yosaku told them about JImbei (I would totally have forgot about this if not for the flashback). In exchange for joining the Shichibukai, he set Arlong loose. Still not sure exactly what that means. Did Jimbei say, “Right, Arlong, go get those stinky humans” or did he have to cut the extremist Arlong loose so he could ascend to an official government role and not be tainted be association?

Sanji was cool here. “If you wanna make excuses, fine,” he said. “But Nami here had her home taken over by Arlong and went through hell. Depending on what you say, I might not forgive you.”

Which is fair enough, actually. No one is obliged to forgive anyone.

Nami told her story. She also said that travelling to Sabaody Park and finding out about how awfully Fishmen are treated would never change the way she feels about Arlong, but now she understands why he thought that way.

That is hugely generous of her, honestly. Considering the way Nami was treated by Arlong, to even feel the tiniest shred of understanding for his motives is remarkable. She saw how Camie and Hachi were treated and I think it was a real eye-opener for her. One that she’d never forget

Then the story of Fishman Island was told by three Fishmen who had lived through the worst of its history, Jimbei, Hachi and Den-san.

Nami mentioned that Arlong Park looked exactly like Sabaody Park. Hachi said that when they were little, they yearned for what the human world had. That shot above is like poor street kids looking over a wall into a gated community and longing for the tiniest portion of what the rich people have. 

But when they grew up, they hurt so many humans, Hachi said. He heard that, long ago, Fishmen and Merfolk were considered mere fish by humans. (This reminds me of how 18th century western academics used to classify other races as subhuman. Disgusting.) But then two hundred years ago, the Ryugu Kingdom became a member of the World Government.

You would think that would improve relations, wouldn’t you? But no. The Celestial Dragons, the ones who held the real power, were still bigoted and were the worst of them all.

The Great Pirate Era hit and Den-san said that was the worst time of all. Human pirates rampaged through Fishman Island. It was taken over.

And now I know why Jimbei was so determined to fight and die for Whitebeard. Saint Whitebeard the Great saved Fishman Island, claimed it for his own and imposed peace.

But humans still didn’t like Fishmen. The Strawhats had seen that at Sabaody. Even though the World Government bridged the gap in relations, it did not improve much. 

Then two figures stepped up to change Fishman Island’s history forever.

Queen Otohime, Shirahoshi’s mother, tried to convince the islanders to live in harmony with humans. 

Fisher Tiger, the hero who invaded Mariejois ON HIS OWN to free the imprisoned Fishman slaves, called for a parting of the ways between Fishmen and humans. 

I haven’t heard all the story yet, but I’m guessing these two have a Major Difference of Opinion.

I can’t wait to hear the rest. 

This is some good stuff. I love the themes in this arc. There’s so much here that resonates strongly with current events. It’s almost spooky...

You’re right, Franky. There’s no point. Just smile and nod.

[reflectingchaos]

          trying to think of a good method for first headcanons, since they’re always the most difficult. especially for an original character, like where do I even start with how much I love them? the trick is to get other people to, right? so I’m going to take just a few minutes to talk about two more I’m hoping to bring on board once I get their information settled and find some folks to write them with. a good start, I suppose, will be to let you all know that they will essentially be merfolk. one day I hope to have a cool name for their species.

they are a set of twins, but their lives have violently separated them from each other for the majority of their lives. so their headcanons will usually be separate, but for the sake of introducing them I figured I would feature them both together in this one. their names, as you can see in the tags, are Ira and Ria. the names are anagrams of each other and Ira is the male while Ria is the female. these are the names that were given to them by their mother.

the running concept for the merfolk is that humans have been consistently overfishing and, as a result, not only are the pods growing smaller and struggling to keep themselves fed but they are also having to travel further and into more dangerous territory in order to hunt. during one of these hunts, Ira and Ria are both out learning to hunt and are tasked with catching their own fish on this run. both do well, but when Ira is on his way back with his catch a human fishing net scoops him up along with a ton of fish. the other merfolk, understandably shaken up by the sudden appearance, scatter and are too late in reacting to get Ira out of the net.

fast forward and the end result is Ria growing into a full-fledged merwoman in the ocean while Ira, being a revolutionary find for humans, is sold for a high price to a collector who values rare and unique items. needless to say, a merman is top of the list and he essentially grows up in this man’s specialized aquarium. the twins will eventually meet up again, much later in life, but Ira spends the rest of his childhood and a good majority of adulthood owned by this man until his death, where Ira ( along with most of the man’s other possessions ) are inherited by another.

               in my private works, it’s the granddaughter of the collector. but for roleplaying purposes, I am open to a plethora of other options. the only solid thing is that the twins are separated and Ira spends his time growing up around humans while his sister grows up in the ocean. in the case of these particular characters, I typically don’t follow the ‘magical merfolk’ concept where they develop human legs after drying out. if he dries out, then he’s just a dry fishman. that may seem boring to some, but I think it’s a rather fascinating concept since I’ve not really seen it done. most people are a fan of sprouting legs, but my merfolk are designed to be a theoretical evolutionary cousin of humans that we forgot about over generations.

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

Hello! Really amazing work, as per usual! I know you're past Fishman Island now and I am sorry to ask, but what exactly does Luffy say in his Declaration of War to Big Mom at the end of Fishman Island? The Viz translates it as "I can't leave this place in your hands. I'm going to find you in the New World, kick your butt, and annouce that Fishman Island is my territory!" Is that accurate? Does he really say "kick your butt"? Or, based on what you've said before, is it significantly more rude?

No problem! His full line is お前なんかに危なくて、預けられない。新世界でお前をブッ飛ばして、魚人島はおれのナワバリにするからな/omae nanka ni abunakute, azukerarenai. shinsekai de omae wo buttobashite, gyojintou wa ore no nawabari ni suru kara na!

The Viz translation looks to be mostly correct, although ブッ飛ばして/buttobashite should really be something more like ‘kick your ass/send you flying’ (literally it means something like ‘to violently send flying/blast away.’ it’s Luffy’s favorite threat). 

There’s also a couple really minor differences- the Japanese also has him clarify that he can’t leave Fishman Island in Big Mom’s keeping because she/her rule is 危ない/abunai, which means dangerous/hazardous. He also doesn’t say he’ll find her, just that he’ll beat her in the New World, and that he’ll make (する/suru) Fishman Island his territory rather than specifying he’ll announce it, although I suppose that’s basically the same thing. 

“You’re dangerous, and I can’t leave this island to you. I’ll kick your ass in the New World, and make Fishman Island my territory!”