#seeing them actually interact in marineford changed something in me

[ato-dato]

Speak for yourself, buddy

[missmungoe]

You write a lot of Shanks and I love it so much. I image it must be difficult to write some aspects when his backstory is incomplete. (Mainly thinking about the Pain-sharing AU and the necessity of Shanks telling Makino the story of his face scars)

So…I was wondering how you’ve imagined the details of Shanks getting the scars.

Apologies if you did address this in one of your fics, it’s been a few months since I checked for updates and I was delighted to find you here

It's a bit of a double-edged sword, because on the one hand there's so much room for your imagination, but I'd also love for my stories to not be completely unreadable when canon eventually contradicts something. I actually used to be a lot more hesitant about making up stuff for the characters whose backstories are open or have a lot of unanswered questions, because I used to want my stories to be as canon-compliant as possible, but over the years the way I interact with canon has changed, and I have more fun exploring the unanswered depths of these characters than I do trying to find ways to write around them. That being said, it's still important to me that the things I make up feel like they could be canon, that they seem plausible for the world and the characters involved, so I always have that in mind whenever I expand the little universe I've created within Oda's.

Shanks' scars is one example, and in the fics following Siren's Call, he tells Makino the story when he comes back during the timeskip, and similarly in Mnemosyne and Tideswept when she asks about them, so I haven't shied away from it. As for how I imagine it went down, going by the little info we have, I figure there was a fight between Shanks and Blackbeard where Shanks underestimated just how dirty Teach is willing to fight in order to win, and that the blow that gave him the scars came when he wasn't expecting it - for instance at a time where he considered their battle over. Shanks has a very strict honour code; Blackbeard does not, and so I thought this could be a plausible scenario. We know Blackbeard didn't think very highly of Shanks back then, and in the event that Shanks ended up besting him in a fight, especially if Teach also underestimated him, I could see him pulling a dirty move in order to come out on top (at least in his own definition). The fact that the scars still seem to bother Shanks also makes sense if they were achieved through dishonourable means:

So I've thought a lot about Shanks' scars! And I might be completely off course, but regardless of what the real story ends up being, I've had a lot of fun exploring this part of their backstory and how it's influenced their rivalry in the present, not just in terms of how they view each other (Shanks clearly considers Blackbeard a threat, and given Teach's remarks in Marineford, he no longer underestimates Shanks), but also with regard to Makino, and in my fics where Blackbeard is a main antagonist, his conflict with Makino often comes back to the scars: the one thing that she, the very embodiment of kindness and mercy, won't forgive. (Btw if this brand of angst is something you're interested in, aside from the Pain Sharing AU, Charybdis is probably the fic in Shanties where his scars play the biggest role.)

[beaulesbian]

That's a very good point, with taking into account just who hears this interraction (also with that- even Lucci could add another nasty jab at Zoro, if he's still capable of talking in the next chapter).

Yes, it might not be the best to hear Zoro get called like that in front of Jimbei, however I don't necessary think this is casting bad light on Luffy and the crew as a whole, just that something is off.

As you said, Jimbei was a captain and a first mate too, he has a lot of experience with how people think and act. The most obvious example would be how he helped Luffy after Marineford, he was there for him in one of his lowest moments and saw how Luffy loves and values each of his crew. I think that already let Jimbei know they're all worth to be on Luffy's crew just because he wants them there.

It's true that Jimbei is still getting used to how the Strawhats work together, so there's little to say if he even notices this to be out of the ordinary or just their typical banter between them. For me, in these panels it was more that Zoro noticed that change, but it could have go over Jimbei's head, until Zoro's reaction to it.

And honestly, the fact that it's Jimbei who went after Zoro, was very interesting to me, at first it was to back him up against Lucci (or show him way back lol), but for what followed it makes it even more sense:

The fact that it's Jimbei who hears Sanji call Zoro a liability (as it seems they used this word in the official translation) or a burden, and in next panel he sees Zoro using his conqueror's haki - somerhing no one of their crew knows about that Zoro can use this ability, is a perfect place for Jimbei to be, especially if Zoro would actually question his strength or value out loud. If Jimbei notices those words made a different impact than Sanji & Zoro's usual banter, he could give Zoro some words of comfort in his calm way of reassuring people around him. It would be a great parallel of how Jimbei helped Luffy (and maybe he could even say that Luffy was able to survive Marineford thanks to thinking of his crew, and Zoro was on the first place), and at the same time maybe help him understand what the Conqueror's haki means for Zoro to have.

Or he could just take into account what he heard and saw, and for the time being only keep an eye on both Zoro and Sanji to help later if necessary.

There's been a lot of similarity between Jimbei and Zoro, but they haven't really shared much space together, so this would be an interesting opportunity to see them interact more. Both of their first priorities are the same - Luffy and the crew. They're fighters and they're in some sense both great strategists on the battlefield. Jimbei being the last addition to the crew vs Zoro the first (and most loyal) of the Strawhats. The fact that Jimbei could diminish Zoro's worries IF those words strucked a chord Zoro didn't like, I feel it'd help them both to better understand each other and the situation.

There's many possibilites it could go in next chapter, part of me just hopes it would even be brought up again - with how the fast pace the story is moving on all account of other characters, there usually isn't much space for this type of emotional break and growth. We just have to wait and see 🤞

[egghead spoilers, up to chapter 1110]

Sanji's humanity & Zoro's strength

(or lack thereof) - a theory of possible conflict between Luffy's wings before the end of Egghead arc. Long post ahead. Like.. very long post.

So the new chapter had a very interesting new "banter" between Sanji and Zoro, but no, actually just Sanji, because there was no usual back and forth quips followed after.

Yes, this whole post started because of these few panels: (" ...!!")

After rereading the chapter more times I realized, Sanji's not even speaking to Zoro or knows that Zoro can hear him. He's talking about Zoro, and calling him a burden to the team.

Which is just baffling to me? (fair, maybe I'm looking too much into it and next chapter it would be explained in different way) but for now, I need to put this out there and make my own small (long) theory on this.

There's lot to be said about the word burden here, and I will get to it later in the post, but for now, let's start with Sanji and his eyebrow!

It wouldn't be a perfect story if Oda didn't tangle threads of each respective characters from multiple arcs before and brought them up together later on during one of the most difficult times when Strawhats and Luffy are facing off with so much danger (reminds me of Sabaody but in a very different way).

In this instance Sanji's past could be brought up again, something that started worrying him since his fight with Queen in Wano, and especially given that his left eyebrow has been changing its shape quite a lot during the run of the Egghead arc.

Here's just few panels throughout end of Wano up to current Egghead chapter, where Sanji' left eyebrow is in the focus on the pages:

Chapter 1029 was the first part where Sanji was thinking his body might be undergoing some changes he couldn't control -broken bones insantly healed, stronger and faster than ever before, due to him beforehand using the Germa suit which possibly triggered this sort of superhuman modification he wasn't really aware of until then. When he realized he couldn't remember certain memories, he panicked, thinking he might be changing into something similar like his brothers, a scientific weapon created by his father. The worry and panic was all the more present because he thought he hurt someone without his knowing, and that'd slowly take away his kindness and sense of humanity. (Too bad I hoped the changes his body might be undergoing would only be realization of his non-cis gender status, but maybe that's still on the table for sometime in the future.):

^In this second panel his face is on purpose shadowed, which was the last time he was shown in that chapter,

and only again was in chapter 1031 - where his eyebrow changed:

and it takes him to think about Luffy and what his purpose would be if something so important of him would change. He knows why Luffy went after him in WCI, he knows what values are important for Luffy and his crew, and of course he doesn't want to be reminded of his family and his brothers and act as they did. He chooses the humanity, the kindness that Luffy loves in him.

Even to the extent to call Zoro and make a deal with him - to kill Sanji if anything would go wrong with him. "If I'm not in my right mind, I want you to kill me." That much trust he has in Zoro to protect the crew and Luffy!

Of course Zoro wouldn't do anything reckless without a good reason, but part of their banter and understanding each other would be to promise something like that - echo of Thriller Bark and the range of how far Zoro would go to take on someone elses pain. It's a promise to win their separate fights, but also this was something that Sanji put out there for Zoro to take notice of. (I will come back to that later.):

(still the "bad eyebrow" - he had that the whole chapter 1031).

After his fight with Queen (where it was also cleared what his actions were and weren't), he was only shown two times until he woke up, and both times he had his eyebrow back on good side.

1036 & 1044 (hearing Luffy awaken his powers):

All the way up to Egghead he seemed to have his eyebrow drawn this way, and it started to change only during fights -

ch 1075, still good eyebrow, tho.. ehh this behavior.. whatever:

ch. 1078, protecting his crew from Seraphim, bad eyebrow:

in between chapters 1090 - 1105 (most of which were flashbacks and Sanji nor Strawhats were shown) he appeared with his typical eyebrow:

and it changed again in ch 1107 - when he was again protecting Bonney / fighting against Kizaru:

interesting was chapter 1108 where he's standing between Saturn and Vegapunk, and he's describing Saturn with "he's less and less human by the minute" while his own face was obscured, (I mean.. interesting choice of words and what character said it, huh?):

and the next page he still has the bad eyebrow:

in chapter 1109 it's back on his typical side, where it continues from previous chapter of Sanji carrying Vegapunk- so at some point it must have shifted back (and I'm curious if these changes would be noticable in the animation). At this part he's watching how Saturn is summoning the other Gorosei to Egghead:

Which leads me to the point from above with Zoro.

chapter 1110 and their interactions (for me) was just off. I like their usual banter and bickering, it's funny (if it's in the manga and contained to few panels to make sense, not so much in the anime, but i'm not going into that now), but the thing to call anyone of their crew a "burden" just doesn't fit right. (Especially after WCI... c'mon Sanji, and especially to someone like Zoro, who's always the first one to think about the crew.)

I would understand it if he laughed along with the words to elevate their seriousness, or said something like "Finish it up, Mosshead, we need to get moving." but no. He calls him a burden. And again as I mentioned, it pretty much could have been even Sanji not realizing Zoro can hear that.

These words (in my opinion) were chosen on purpose for multiple reasons:

First we have the Zoro vs Lucci fight that goes on for a while in the real world - in the One Piece world it might be just few minutes - plus we don't know how tough were the fights with the Seraphim which let others be injured.

When Lucci attacked, Zoro immediately thrown himself with him away from the rest of the crew. Zoro was possibly stalling with the fight for time to leave. I feel he could have finished that fight earlier but that wasn't the point. The point might have been to hold him back from his crew.

also this was possibly the only fight after King where Zoro could test the limits of his powers and haki, just like Luffy in the Udon prison in Wano was basically training, this (and the Seraphim fights we haven't seen) could be something similar for Zoro.

Some people think that just because of these characters getting new powers it means they already understand how to use them/how it works, but that's usually not the point of how stories go - there can be progress and there can be setbacks, growing up but also falling back down, which makes the stories more interesting.

The words that Lucci used against Zoro were basically the same thing that Sanji said to Zoro few chapters later:

Amongst them he pointed out the Strawhats inability to cut off one of their own out of their crew to save others - like Lucci left Kaku behind just chapters before this fight when he attacked Vegapunk and Stussy (and Sanji trapped Kaku in the bubble prison). It's a play on very different characters and how they think and act to show clearly how they different they are.

The words burden or dead-weight really stood out, already when Lucci said it in chapter 1107, and the fact that they were targetting Zoro - someone who always blames himself (in his mind, not usually out loud) for not being strong enough, and someone who always has protecting his crew at the first place, was interesting in the connection to Sanji repeating basically the same words in the latest chapter.

I will probably make a different separate post only focusing on Zoro and his fear of being weak, but for the purposes of this post, just to pick a few moments where it's important in the manga:

One of the first time I've noticed how much Zoro keeps berating himself with words like "not strong enough" "too lax" "still too soft" "if I'd been stronger/ faster/ better..."

was just after Little Garden arc, where he almost cut off his ankles just to keep fighting. Time after time the crew encounters strong enemies and Zoro gets a new understanding how far up is the limit that he has to reach to keep the crew safe, so he keeps training. ch. 129:

When Luffy went to fight Crocodile and Zoro was worried and kept training on the way to Alubarna, this banter between Sanji and Zoro felt typical between them - it's about the two way street, the back and forth (that's why that new chapter and insult from Sanji feels so foreign, there's no reply, not quip back - only silence and some sort of determination, which isn't good nor bad, just.. weird.) ch. 179:

and after the final fight of Alabasta, possibly one of the first times I really started paying attention to how much it gets to Zoro, this question of how strong he needs to be. (along with what possibly was one of the first introduction of his haki and how he began training the Observation haki, disguised as meditation in the terms of the early manga) ch. 213:

Thriller Bark was one of the biggest arcs in this sense of Zoro and his protectiveness towards the crew and Sanji knows that - he knows what happened there, he even wanted to sacrifice himself in stead of Zoro for Luffy (but this is beside the point here, and I talked about it in other post before).

Zoro took on himself Luffy's pain, and after that arc he still went right to train as soon as he could despite being still injured, ch. 490. "still too weak!"

which goes through to Sabaody arc.

Chapter 510 until the end of that arc is just painful to go through again. Luffy was worried for Zoro and didn't know the scope of his injuries, while Sanji knew and was concerned in his own way too - that is another thing of how they care, sometimes wordlessly but there is that understanding of what to mention or not. ("Burden" still shouldn't be one of the words to use between them, not that far into the story.)

Now - fast forward to Punk Hazard where one of similar moments played out - Zoro telling Luffy not to goof around because they got in the New world and needed to take things seriously.

It was one of those small moments where Sanji was actually one of the few people shown with reaction to Zoro's words and his urgency, ch 678:

Sanji saying "He's so tough on himself" really puts into perspective how he sees Zoro - he knows what he's been through, and knows to what extremes he's willing to go to protect his crew.

He's definitely not someone who would carelessly call Zoro "a burden" even in the time and place and situation they found themselves on Egghead, if anything, he was supposed to be one of the first ones to know how serious is Zoro always about protecting the crew. (Even in the beginning of Egghead, Zoro stayed at first on the Sunny because "who will save them when they will need saving.")

There's few others scenes and parts where Zoro questions his worth and strength, especially in later Wano, calculating what needs to be done so they have strength to face off with Kaido, ch 980:

and later against King, ch 1033 "it was my strength that was lacking!" while unlocking his Conqueror's haki, still unknowingly:

The fact that it's been happening pretty much since the beginning of the story - how Zoro views himself as not strong enough, yet persisting in always getting stronger and protecting his crew - means so much for what character Zoro is and how much he values and loves his crew (just like all the other Strawhats in different ways), and also, as I've been catching up so quickly with the manga, there's been that hope for some call out of this behavior, to poke it where it hurts, to see what would happen if someone turns those words Zoro possibly feels in his mind against him out loud. And that's kind of what's been happening lately - and I'm curious what impact will this have on both Zoro personally and on the other Strawhats, depending who will be around for the conclusion.

Zoro is one of the few strawhats really thinking about the future, plans and what they need to still fight through, carefully calculating what his opponents might be doing, how strong they are and how much of a problem it would be to go through them.

And Sanji normally understands that, he knows how Zoro works and the other way around, that's why he still protected him when Zoro was injured, (if anything, in this moment Zoro could have been something like hinderance or annoyance to Sanji, yet he never said something like that), ch. 1015:

Even on Egghead, where there was temporary truce with Lucci and Kaku, Zoro pointed out how to recognize the Seraphim's weaknesses, and apologized for 'wasting their stamina' - again, calculating on his strength, ch. 1077:

Zoro isn't just fighting for the sake of a fight, he does have his dream and does know what's important to focus on (he himself always keeps the crew in focus when it's important!)

So it's difficult to have a conclusion about the whole Zoro vs Lucci fight without knowing what is Zoro thinking - hopefully in next chapter we will have more info on it (that is number 1111 - Zoro's birthday and bounty! so I hope it will be a big focus on Zoro again). But even beside that, it was obvious in such short time two people around him suddenly called him a burden to his team - something he takes very close to his heart and mind, something that will hopefully have some consequences for us to see and read, because as Oda is choosing words definitely carefully to have the right impact, two very similar words like "burden" don't seem like a coincidence.

To wrap this up - with Sanji telling this to Zoro felt different than their usuall banter, and as I said before - maybe because Sanji wasn't even speaking to Zoro. At the same time, on Wano Sanji gave Zoro a clue that somehting was happening with him, the fact that there was a panel with just Zoro's ear twitching and then being silent, thinking, and not replying to Sanji with anything that would hint to us about his state of mind, and it could mean he's also aware of some difference in Sanji's acting.

The way he says this reminds me of the what Sanji was thinking during his fight with Queen - "what would be more useful to Luffy, regular flesh-and-blood body? Or a cruel, cold emotionless warrior of science." Even for this small part of seeing him speak with Jimbei and hearing what Zoro was up to until then, he speaks without almost any emotions beside anger? Even with his eyebrow not indicating the change, precisely, it doesn't have to be connected in this way, except physical fights, but there could be something still changing within Sanji to make him act this way, a way that really isn't something we've seen before. I think if in next chapters he speaks to Nami, Robin or some other woman without his typical over-the-top pleasanteries, it could indicate how much of a problem this could be for the Strawhats.

So we have Sanji's need to stay human and kind, the pact created with Zoro to kill him if anything felt wrong; and we have Zoro - someone who's biggest purpose from the beginning was to protect the crew and Luffy, while many times we've seen him question his own strength, and now two people in the span of like 5 minutes in the One Piece time are calling him a burden.

It will be interesting to see if this is heading towards a clash or conflict between Luffy's wings while Luffy needs the support to fight / flee from the Gorosei.

To end this too long post, I feel it's very on point for One Piece not to have a sole focus on just one character going through it™ in one arc, but it's always a few crumbs here and few hints there. This sort of conflict would be perfect to deal with both of Zoro and Sanji's respective fears - because this is very much about fears in their minds, while at the same time if they can resolve this, it would only strengthen their crew once again.

[mooshs-crack-headcanons]

Here you go, you all knew it was coming.

And no, this is not just because of me on record being a huge fucking simp for him.

In defense of Shanks given chapter 1044:

Since english translation is out I'm going to talk about it. Spoilers below:

I don't think he's a rat or at least in the way twitter is framing him out to be.

I don't believe in the "Shanks was actually evil this entire time" theory either, Oda has made some pretty stupid writing decisions before but I refuse to believe he would actually do something as predictable and stupid like that until I see it.

The most I see him being IF we're going down this road is him being an antagonist and not a villain; think of Buggy who was the main antagonist in his own introductory arc then kind of chilled out and was an ally once Impel down/marineford happened vs someone like Doflamingo who given every single one of his interactions he's had in the story just kind of proves himself that he's a villain and he has no interest of changing not when he can have all of this power he thinks is his birthright and his birthright was wrongly taken from him and he wants the entire world to burn for it.

Now, we know basically only tiny scraps of information about Shanks. Now while this point can be used on both sides of the argument I'm going to use what Oda has made a point to show about him in my defense - that being Shanks has been shown to be very thoughtful, reasonable, and that the fucker is always planning and thinking about the future. He has motives, which granted we don’t know much about, in almost every single serious interactions we see him in and because it's Oda we're not getting a full entire picture leaving us to speculate but I think there's an Oda twist in here somewhere where at a base level things don't appear as they seem (think of the whole Oden dancing in the streets thing) but I don't think the twist here is going to be, again, something very predictable and in my opinion cheap as the "Shanks was evil the entire time" thing, personally I think it's going to be more interesting and unexpected than that, like maybe build up for the whole Shanks is Rocks' son theory which maybe deserves it's own post 👉👈

But anyway, break down time on each point twitter is throwing a hissy fit over:

I really don't think if he told the Grousei where Luffy is so they could send cp0 out to kill him he wouldn't said this shortly before he set off to see the Grousei, alone on a beach, just reading the newspaper, if he just thought Luffy would be easily taken out by CP0:

I mean come on the same newspaper article was saying how's he's a "fith emporer" even if he did tell the Grousei where he was I think there's an entirely different motive behind it at least in his eyes that he's still very sure that he and Luffy will see each other again.

Do I think he knew the true nature of Luffy's fruit at the very start? Yes. Do I think "Oh he just wanted for himself to become joyboy to make Roger proud" like some people on twitter are saying? Absolutely fucking not. This fruit, Joyboy, in the world government's eyes is absolutely fucking dangerous to them and their hold on power and the fact THEY had it makes it even more dangerous because they can just give it to Im and have them who is just living in the shadows of Pangaea Castle, the person that most likely only the grousei know about - and that's it the fruit never to be seen again unless I'm eats it and who knows what would happen next but surely nothing good but reassuring the world government's power. However, does Shanks know about Im? We don't know but still I think even if he doesn't and he knows about that fruit he can simply put two and two together that if the world government gets their hands on it that could be really really really bad and therefore he that's why he steals it.

But why the gum gum fruit thing? Simple, the grousei wants no one besides themselves to know about Joyboy so why not twist the truth of the fruit and call it the gum gum fruit so the marines/cipher pol who they hire to find it thinks nothing of it and just "Oh its just rubber powers? Ok, weird but let's go find it I guess?" and safely securing the fruit that way so no one "wants it" and so Joyboy's name can be completely erased.

How does Shanks know about it? He traveled on Roger's crew and even if he and Buggy didn't go to laughtale I still think it's perfectly reasonable for him to learn about Joyboy somehow after Roger's death, I mean Kaido knows about it, and again there's a really big blank periods with Shanks so perfect flashback material.

But why didn't he tell Luffy at the start? Luffy, who was 7, a child who wanted to become a pirate just like him, just ate the most dangerous fruit to the government's eyes - the fucking Nika fruit and expect him just to drop everything and tell him, a 7 year old, how the government is going to want him more than dead because a fruit he accidentally ate because he was hungry and crush his dreams? Nah, just tell him the lie and let him figure out on his own he'll get stronger that way. And I mean with how blunt Luffy is and how he declares who he is and what devil fruit he has I mean... it sort of helped out in the end because I'm very sure the grousei would have been much alert to the fact way sooner if he was declaring every fight he had the model Nika fruit every fight instead of the rubber fruit.

So what was Shanks' intention with his meeting with the Grousei? I still 100% the pirate Shanks went to talk about is still Blackbeard, it makes sense, even if the other two Yonko are allied with one another the two yonko in question are Kaido and Big Mom, even if they destroy the government like planned when it comes to the one piece there is absolutely no way they would ever share and even if they could get to that point, it's Kaido and Big Mom they would absolutely destroy one another over one small disagreement and that leaves of the balance then just; the world government, the warlords, and two emperor's: Shanks and Teach and it seems that Shanks is the only one that's not underestimating Blackbeard, because Teach too is a crafty planning individual and you know the moment Kaido and Big Mom fall he's going to use the fact there's two empty places of the Yonko to his advantage and act just as the world goes into hysterics over their defeat. He did it at marineford and he can easily do it again given the opportunity and that opportunity is soon coming. I fully believe the Red Haired pirates are definitely one of the strongest pirate crews, even with their small size and I'm pretty sure (as of right now that Oda has made clear and I really hope it stays this way) not a single member of his crew has a devil fruit and yet they've reached Yonko crew status - if you really think about it in comparison to the other big heavy hitting crews that's fucking insane, and it proves Shanks picks quality of quantity and it fucking works. However. This. Still. Isn't. Enough.

So here's my guess/prediction of how that Grousei meeting came to be/how it turned out:

Shanks needs allies if he even wants a chance to stand against Blackbeard given how the payback war turned out for the remains of the Whitebeard crew, which I'd like to think at the time he offered his full support to help fight in but Marco and the rest of the Whitebeard crew probably declined with something lines of: "This is a family matter." and he let them go on their own against him that time, but now things are different since at the time of the payback war Teach wasn't a Yonko just yet (I think?) and now he is and he's been relatively quiet ever since the beginning of the timeskip and that's concerning especially with this whole thing with Big Mom and Kaido kicking up. However, right now Shanks finds himself in a corner when it comes to allies - the Whitebeard crew retired and spread out, the other two Yonko are batshit and are currently fighting each other and even if they weren't Shanks clashed with Kaido before Marineford and it's implied he either won or convinced him to turn back and Big Mom... is Big Mom. Highly doubt either of them would help him out or even take Blackbeard seriously. How else does he has? Maybe reinforcements from his territory islands? Who else? I highly doubt Luffy because I don't think he'd call for Luffy to help him because he doesn't want to drag Luffy out of his own thing, especially now given Luffy's basically a phantom fith emporer that's now getting involved in both Kaido and Big Mom's business? Mihawk? Mihawk's dealing with the abolishment of the warlord system and has marines ships he has to cut up so he's unavailable? Who else?

The government.

With the marines and the cipher pol and all the shit they have just to pull a buster call is an official just as much steps in shit on island he doesn't like, the government xld very well be the last and only chance to actually fight against all the crazy shit Blackbeard has. Does Shanks like the government? No probably not, he is a pirate - an emporer at that - and out of anyone I'm pretty sure he sees its corruption and all but I think he still recognizes its power (why it's so dangerous teamed up with its corruption) but that power can be very useful in this situation where he feels need to go talk to the Grousei himself most likely with agreed he bring no weapons but given he being the most reasonable out of the Yonko is why the Grousei let him up to talk to them.

Now, if he told them everything - Luffy having the Nika fruit and his where his current location is: on wano, is it possible that maybe this could be sort of a way trade? Shanks giving Luffy's information in exchange for the Grousei sending marines, most likely the admiral, after Teach? Shanks, again very sure of himself that he'd see Luffy again soon, giving the information to the government because Luffy's already way proved his skills in order to challenge the Yonko that even if the government sends their cipher pol goons after him that they're going to be no match for him, afterall Luffy's true challenges now is knocking the Yonko themselves off their feet, yes and that even includes Shanks himself, but I really don't think he minds that much and what will make Shanks' fight differentiate from the others is the intention of it; like a challenge to be steel edge in proof of how far Luffy has come since their days together in Fuisha.

No this all is just my prediction of how Oda is approaching this but if he does it's up to him if the Grousei (more like Im's choice) take up their end of the deal or not but it's clear they've used Shanks word to their advantage to target where Luffy is now... but I highly doubt their going to get farther than that.

Now, everything I've said in this post could be wrong and that would be okay. Again, the most I see Shanks being is an antagonist and for reasons we just haven't been clued in about because Oda hasn't given that much information about him yet, given his entire role in the story since the beginning with that promise that Luffy will return that hat when he has become a great pirate - something clearly speaking for the end of the story, and personally I don't even think then he's going to accept the hat back given the whole theme of inherited will and all, meaning he's probably going to want Luffy to keep it so he can pass it along to the next generation and so on.

Oh and just the idea of evil Shanks is fucking, AGAIN, predictable as some shit you'd predictable in the early chapters of "Look at him come back and be evil and entirely different than how Luffy remembered him." is just fucking stupid and cheap and wouldn't match up with what Oda has shown and if he does go down this road I'm sure me and a lot of fans, especially EARLY EARLY fans here from the very beginning would be very disappointed with that outcome and I really hope this isn't the case and Oda can make that wait all the more interesting and worth it.

Tldr: It's okay to speculate, it's what I've been doing this entire post. But quit spreading your automatic dramatic assumptions and your "I knew he was going to be evil this whole time." bullshit about a character with as much of importance as Shanks out of here when it's fucking Oda writing the story. Just wait until he himself addresses the whole thing again with further context and hold your tongue with that or you'll risk the chance of just looking stupid.

But I've said it in a previous thirst post: I'm a ride or die for this red haired idiot no matter what so ✌😅✌ we'll have to see where this goes.

[pure-kirarin]

The rose left unwatered (Law x f!reader)

Heyo guys ! this is my first multi part fanfiction and I hope that you will all like it =w=.  No TW for now apart for coming smut in next chapters~  This was originally a request by @soul-stealer-reaper​ . Thanks for requesting :) originally you asked for a scenario with rough NSFW where Law has a crush on a girl that the government is afraid of and that has high bounty. As this will have some parts, everything you asked for will come in the next chapters so no worries :’) ! I won’t hide that wrote quite freely tho, I hope that it’s fine.  Synopsis : You have felt unwanted for so long that you forgot the last time you felt like you belonged. Quite paradoxical, when you are one of the most wanted “criminals” in the new world. You cross paths with Law after joining the strawhats at Fishman Island to “kill some time” and you both feel a weird connection from the moment your eyes met, curiosity, hatred or desire, did it really matter as long as feelings were involved ? ---------------------------

A rose left unwatered will wither, A heart left unloved will rot, A sweet dream left untouched will go bitter,  A love left unspoken will be forgot. Nemo -  Murder in Venice

The first time that Law saw you, he found you extremely annoying. He remembered that he saw your wanted poster somewhere, with one of the highest bounties that he has ever seen. Seeing such a high bounty made him raise an eyebrow at first, what could you have done to have the whole world on your back ? The second thought that came to his mind was that of detachement, then he flinched at that thought.

The first time that Law saw you in person was after his Allience with the strawhats. You stayed at the ship the whole time, you didn't even bother to follow others to punk Hazard or to help them with their plans. He thought that you were an extremely selfish person and you reminded him of the person that he hated most. That way you had of doing what you wanted without caring about others, the smirk you had on your lips at all times, never submitting, always acting so sure of yourself, it irritated him.

How could someone get such a strong reaction out of him ? He didn't even know, he always eyed you from afar and it was enough to know that you prfoundly, passionately got on his nerves.

You joined the strawhats in the Fishmen Island, finding your way to them and just asking to join. Luffy's simplistic demeanor meant that he accepted right away, not caring about who you were and not flinching at your high bounty.

You made it clear that you were just staying to be entertained, in fact, you didn't want to fight, you didn't want to help anyone, your curiosity was just peaked by Luffy, by that man that defied the world government, by that man that defied everyone at Marineford. You weren't impressed, but you just felt sympathy towards him and wanted to find some company.

You found what you were looking for, in fact, life with the strawhats was enjoyable, you didn't get along with Usopp or Nami. The former thought that you were « too scary » and would kill them in their sleep, the latter hated how little you were willing to cooperate.

You had your own reason, but nobody on that ship was able to grasp your personnality, you just had your own way of thinking, your own internal logic that nobody seemed to get. Who were you ? Why were you there and why was the whole world on your back ? All these questions were provoking Law, teasing him endlessly. His curiosity was growing day after day and you were always there, on a lounge chair enjoying the burn of the sun on your skin, not caring about anything else, not caring about him, not that he cared...did he ? You got on his nerves just by being there, he felt obseverd yet, he wasn't the kind of people to get flustered but your gaze was so intense, feline.

It was a soft night on the sunny, a few days before getting to Dressrosa.  On this night, the strawhats decided to gather around after dinner like always. They enjoyed socializing and spending time together, telling stories and playing silly games.  It was quite late so Momo was already sleeping. Everyone was on the deck enjoying some drinks and you were on the crow's nest, peaceful.

« Y/N-chaaawn~ » Screamed Sanji, making you look down. « Come have some fun with us, don't stay there on your own ! »

« - Yeah Y/N ! We're all having fun here. »  Said Luffy.

You jumped gracefully from the crow's nest just like a cat. You then looked around circularly before taking place between Law and Robin as she silently made some space for you. The atmosphere was light and everyone was enjoying themselves. Zoro was drinking bottle after bottle as Sanji was screaming at him. Usopp was telling you all for the tenth time about how he took down a sea king with his little finger and Luffy and Chopper were captivated by how cool that was.

You were just silently enjoying that sense of peace till Nami asked you out of nowhere

« Oh true Y/N, I actually never asked but I am curious, why is your bounty so high ? What have you done ? »

For a second your expression changed and everyone's eyes were on you. You just decided to tell them some kind of lie and you said that you killed a celestial dragon. Everyone looked at you in awe, killing a celestial dragon means that you had to escape from admirals. You excused yourself then saying you were tired, therefore going to sleep.

After hours of partying Strawhats went to sleep. You got out of the girl's quarter wearing only a night gown. Your thoughts were waltzing since earlier's events and you were looking melancolically at the ocean. The sound of the waves was so calming, you got close to the board of the sunny, placing your elbows on the wooden surface. You didn't notice it when Law came your way, he wasn't sleeping either, his sleeping schedule was always herractic. He was still intrigued by the lie you told earlier and by your overall attitude, something about you drew him towards you like a magnet.

-(Y/N)-ya...You didn't kill a celestial dragon, did you?

His voice was low and hoarse, stealing a murmur out of your lips. Your eyes met his, gray, icy. It was the first time he said your name outloud, actually, you briefly ever interacted since he got on this ship.

-Trafalgar ?..

You were wondering why did he bring this up, he never ever showed interest in you and you in him. In fact, now that you looked at him more in detail, you could say that he was an exceptionally handsome male with soft dark hair and a gloomy but all the more seductive cast of demeanor.

He could obtain any female he wanted at a snap of his fingers. You looked away and added :

-I thought that you disliked me. Why do you even ask ?

He raised an eyebrow, but got back to his stoic expression almost immediatly. He didn't know that it showed. However, you were wrong, he was starting to get intrigued by you, by your high bounty, by the detached way you acted. He was usually the one to observe and analyse people, but something about you...He couldn't put a finger on.

-I don't like lies.

-I have my own reasons...I'm sure there are a lot of things that you want to keep secret.

You hesitated then looked his side. He seemed calm still and just shrugged, ready to go back to his spot but then you added ;

-I lied because I didn't want to involve anyone in this...When I was just a child, I was a part of a dozen kids that were selected to take part into a « government experiment »...I don't want to go into details but...you clenched your fist, eyes fixed on an imaginary point in front of you I am the only survivor of that experiment...Therefore I'm being tracked... We were given power...To this day I don't know its extent...But I know that with just a blow of my fingers I could...you gasped How could a child be granted such a power ? Why did they have to choose for me ? I didn't want any of this....I never wanted to fight, I don't want to fight. I just wanted to be normal, to have a family, to feel wanted...haha...your laugh was bitter I mean, I know that I am the most wanted person you probably met, but I didn't mean it in that way. I hope that this satisfies your curiosity, Trafalgar Law.

Your eyes met, he looked in them, deep, searching for traces of honesty. You were telling the truth, there wasn't a doubt. He liked the way his name sounded out of your lips, it was the first time that he heard these three letters murmured by you. It's as if his first name sounded different, you had that way of saying it, almost like a whisper. You looked so vulnerable in your nightgown, so fragile despite your usual arrogant carapace. The fiery tigress looked like a sweet kitten and he was surprised by the way he just wanted to reassure you. He brushed that thought quickly and added, stoic ;

-I see, why did you tell me ?  

-You just asked me to, no ? I just felt like we were a bit alike...Ah. Also, quit asking me questions....This is starting to feel like a doctor examination...Now it's my turn to ask. Why do you even care ? I didn't think that the surgeon of death was such a curious person.

He scratched his chin, hesitating for a second, but then he just said bluntly ;

-The first time I saw you, I thought that you were extremely annoying.

- Ah ? you looked at him with a straight face, but still a bit offended If we're playing first impressions then...

-But I get it now.

He wasn't annoyed, in fact, he was just fascinated. It wasn't animosity that he felt but desire to know more about you. It wasn't that he was making sure that you're not endangering anyone, he wanted to look at you, it was just excuses upon excuses, rationalization for a case of irrational fascination. Now that the diagnostic was there, he could understand his emotions more clearly.

-You are talking in riddles but well...Whatever...Why did you form an alliance with Luffy by the way ? I wonder how you're able to handle all of his energy if you can't even stand mine haha.

-Let me correct you ; I don't hate you. He stops for a moment then he adds. There is a man that I would like to kill.

You turn now, back against the wooden border of the ship. You had an amused look on your face, wondering who was that man that he wanted to take down ;

-Now that's interesting ! Let me guess, who is it ?

-You are quite curious yourself, (Y/N)-ya...

He thought it was only fair, you opened up to him, he opened up to you, but telling you the details wasn't for now.

-So you are using the strawhats ?

-I am not sure who is using who. And what is your reason for joing the strawhats ?

-Luffy, you said with dreamy eyes, it's the D in his name...I have been drawn to people with this letter in their names like a magnet...I don't know...I just believe it's fate...

He was startled by your answer, so you knew about the « D » letter ? He also had this letter in his name...He just added then, with a face that didn't betray his surprise ;

-Oh , a girl like you believes in such romantic stories ?

-And what is a girl like me like ? You added, amused. I mean, apart from annoying.

-...Quit it already.

His tone was stable as always. He didn't show it but he thought that it was cute of you, how you insisted and played along. You faced him, your eyes looking right into his and you weren't one to look down, oh no. Irisis into his irisis, looking for him and digging something into him. He didn't even know what you meant by such a look, once again, feline.

The salty smell of the ocean's water mixed with the odor of your fruity perfume made that moment a bit more enjoyable and he wasn't even the type of person to enjoy chatting.

Check mate, you made up for that horrible first impression. You added then ;

-You avoided my question by the way, why wouldn't I believe in « such romantic stories » ? What do you think you know about « a girl like me » ?

You got a bit closer, amused, and he thought that it was getting a bit dangerous. You had a fake woeful look in your eyes. His limbs were filled to the brim with that ocean perfume of yours mixed with that sweet taste, and for a second it was as if that odor operated some kind of spell over him, because a surprising thought occured to his mind ; what would your lips taste like ? Certainly salty like the ocean and a tad like peaches.

Unsettled and unfocused he said ;

-Shouldn't you be sleeping ?

In reality, he didn't want these thoughts to make a nest out of his head and decided to cut the conversation quite abruptly. Your rocked your body back, almost like a child and rose your eyebrows in a semi-sarcastic semi-dramatic way.

-I'm a bit too old for a bed time don't you think, Trafalgar ?

-Just Law.

-Yes yes ! L-a-w...See you tomorrow ! You're not as uptight as I thought.

-(Y/N)-ya.

He just said your name in a strict way, probably indicating that you needed to go. His tone was firm, stop teasing already.

You looked at him with a diminishing smile, pronouncing every single letter so slowly, stretching his name on your lips so that these three tiny letters seemed endless. You tossed your hair, and something about the whole situation, about your feminine charm, something about the breeze of the night made the both of you feel unbearable tension. The type of tension that happens between a man and a woman at three in the morning, that tension that makes every little detail, every look in the eyes, every brush of the fingers feel indecent.

The eyes of a woman can't lie, his ego was stroked as he thought he had a glimpse of your hidden desire.You turned to go back to the girl's quarters, his eyes still hanged on your silhouette. ----------- I hope that you liked this first part. Please tell me what you think. It is a great motivator to know that I’m writing and being read. <3 I wish you all a nice day !

[midnightluck]

If whitebeard went back in time, how do you think his knowledge of and relationship with ace would affect his interactions with roger? (idk, i just want some ace+wbp. not even fluff, just something that involves their relationship being important, and them really caring about eachother. there isnt nearly enough fic in the fandom that actually focuses on these things)

I guess the question is from when to when? When I was thinking about it I kinda figured from Marineford to maybe a year or two before, but going back to Roger’s time, that would be–that could be major.

But at the same time, he probably wouldn’t change much at all? Maybe little things, but he loves his children too much to allow for the possibility of missing them by changing things? Also it would rely a lot on his memory, and there’s a lot he wouldn’t’ve bothered memorizing because why would he?

It might end up a situation like we see a lot in fic, where he goes to pick up/sends someone to get the brats from Dawn Island and they grow up on the Moby Dick. But then again–

If he knew Ace grew up wild and he knew he was Roger’s son and he went back far enough–maybe he quietly lets Garp know he can take a kid along. Maybe Garp agrees because Whitebeard is strong enough to protect him and constant movement is safer than staying still. Maybe Ace grows up as part of a giant family and loves easily and unconditionally, and maybe Whitebeard sends Garp progress reports stressing how much they love having a kid, so that a few years later when Garp has a grandbrat of his own, his first thought is Whitebeard instead of bandits. Maybe they grow up strong and solid under the love of a yonko and the wings of a phoenix. Maybe they form the core and the heart of a crew that becomes known as a family, and Edward Newgate looks at his children, all of them, and aches with pride because this is both his dream come true and the best gift he can give to a young boy who deserves a second chance.

Luffy still wants to be Pirate King and Ace says he wants to leave and form his own crew, and Whitebeard laughs and helps them go. Ace comes back after a while citing homesickness and they have never thrown a bigger impromptu party than then. Luffy continues on, and he gathers a crew and spreads his name across the Grand Line and the whole crew coo over his Wanted Posters and keep eyes out when they go scouting. Whitebeard doesn’t know what has changed for Luffy because he doesn’t know what his original crew was, but the boy is loud and happy and strong enough to protect his nakama and his dreams, and that’s more than enough for him.

Ace goes by Portgas, but out of caution instead of necessity, and he loves his brother and his life and his family and his luck, and the world is a bight big place full of wonder. Luffy never calls but he does answer his den den mushi, so there’s at least that.

He dreams in fire and fear, though, and never knows why. When he mentions it to Whitebeard, the man sets him on one gigantic knee and smiles sadly down at him and says not to worry, they’re just nightmares of a life never lived. Ace doesn’t understand but he also doesn’t want to see his Pops look like that, so he stops asking. He naps during the day instead, because those dreams are still fire, but more smiling and warmth and blue, filled with saudade. He wakes up alone and lonely, but it’s better than waking up scared, and there’s always someone around who’s happy to see him and talk and give out hugs.

On the morning he turns twenty one, he wakes up and blinks his eyes clear, making straight for Pops even before breakfast. He climbs up and sits with him and says, “Thank you,” and “I love you,” and when Edward, dying inside and riddled with IVs asks him what he wants, Ace looks at him and says, “You’ve already given me everything I ever wanted,” and they sit together and smile.