#specifically in how Ace and Sabo mirror each other

[sweetsmalldog]

It’s that time of night where I’m incredibly mentally unwell about the ASL brothers

[zethsdumpster]

Rate the Ship - Vinsmoke Yonji x Sabo

NOTP | Ew/uncomfortable | Eh |Alright | I like it! | They look nice together| Let’s do it! | OTP | OTP of OTPs

Who realized they were in love first- Yonji

Who said “I love you” first - Sabo

How did they fall in love? – Yonji finds Sabo super cool (and likes how he can and will suplex/manhandle him) and keeps trying to impress him, Sabo thinks his determination and (mostly failed) attempts are really cute

How was their first kiss? – it's a sudden instance of mutual understanding during a soft moment, they both go in for the kiss slowly and when the gentle touch of their lips light sparks for them, they decide to keep going

Who proposed? – Yonji

Who is the best man/men? – Ace, Luffy. Ichiji, Niji & Sanji

Who is the bride’s maid(s)? – Reiju

Who did the most planning? – Sabo

Who stressed the most? – Yonji

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? – Judge, Stelly and Sabo's parents

Who is the one to instigate things? – both

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? – Yonji

Who is the stricter parent? - Sabo

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? - Yonji

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? – both

Who is the more loved parent? – both

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? – both

Who cried the most at graduation? – Yonji

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? – Sabo

Who does the most cooking? – Sabo

Who is the most picky in their food choice? – Yonji

Who does the grocery shopping? – Sabo

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? – both

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - both

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidentally while cooking? – Yonji

Who cleans the room? – Sabo

Who cleans up after the pets? - Sabo

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - Yonji

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? – neither

Who takes the longer showers/baths? – neither

Who takes the dog out for a walk? – Yonji

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? – neither

Who plays the most pranks? – Sabo

Who would have the others’ picture as their phone background - Yonji

Who leaves notes written in fog on the bathroom mirror- Sabo

Who buys the other cheesy gifts- Yonji

Who initiated the first kiss- both

Who kisses the other awake in the morning- Sabo

Gives nose/forehead kisses – Sabo

Who starts tickle fights- Sabo

Who asks who if they can join the other in the shower- Yonji

Who surprises the other in the middle of the day at work with lunch- Yonji

Who was nervous and shy on the first date – neither

Gets jealous the most- Yonji

Drags the other person out into the water on beach day - neither

Who kills/takes out the spiders- Sabo

Who loudly proclaims their love when they’re drunk- Yonji

When I started shipping it- read a cute threat fic on twitter...

What makes me happy about them- they're just really cute, yk? with Yonji's excited puppy top energy + Sabo showing him the wonders of Revolution

What makes me sad about them- Yonji has been doomed by his father to be on the other side of the war that Sabo fights

Things done in fanfic that annoys me- this isn't really specific to this ship but when out of the siblings (not counting Sanji) only Yonji gets to free himself from/escape Judge (generally when only one gets to do it and the other are abandoned/left behind, it just so happens that I've seen it mostly with Yonji)

Things I look for in fanfic- the fics...

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other- I really haven't thought much about it tbh

My happily ever after for them- they take down Germa together uwu

[touchmycoat]

Hey i absolutely adore your blog and your writing is *chefs kiss* 💕💖💕 i wanted to know what your fave ships are and if you have any notps? I wanna write something and im rather new in the fandom and it would be cool to talk it out with someone i guess? But i dont wanna spook u with any pairings you dont like?

oooh hello and welcome~!! Thank you for the kindly words, and fuck yeah, hit me up anytime. 😁😁😁 If you’ve read my fics you know my favs heheh: Anybody/Marco basically, but obviously I lovelovelove MAS with all my heart. I don’t think I really have notps except like, underage shit. I def do have my preferences though!! that’s… more a process of continuous discovery, but let’s just say the rule of thumb is, if the ship contains any of the following themes i’m very easily sold: sacrifice, fealty, worship, duality/mirroring/shadowing, power play, potentials for rituals….

And I’m 100% into most poly ships :O The more…. the better….

But okay let me try to be a little more helpful and give you specifics lmfao. Under the cut ‘cause shit got long.

All my favs! Luffy is playful chill asexual to me, and he’s so ready to like anyone y’know? Zoro… i’m down to ship him with anyone but it’s gotta come with a compelling case for why he’s fixating on them and not his swords (hence why ZoLu is peak priority there, but not something i thirst for). Nami can and will bang, i lovelovelove flirty Nami, Nami going soft for a dorky-but-strong-willed woman.

For the popular ships there—I was never into LawLu, but I’m not averse? This is 100% my ignorance speaking but I just don’t know what more of a story you can get out of them besides Luffy-is-bright-and-Law-deals-with-that. I can be in the mood for that, but not often. After WCI i got a whole lot of real estate in my heart for Sanji/Luffy i gotta admit. Haven’t headed down that rabbit hole but i’m ready to. ZoSan has its moments, but I do not believe in the “wow they yell at each other all the time they must actually be in love” take at all; if i’m gonna read ZoSan it better be seriously dealing with their vitriol, all the things they genuinely cannot stand about each other, and then still offer up good reasons they’d wanna be together lol. Or just, y’know, reframe that vitriol convincingly. I just don’t wanna read about how people who yell at each other all day are doing it out of love.

I… could genuinely be very into SaNami. I think they have very interesting gender dynamics! Nami out there being swindling swashbuckling no good thief and ocean science PhD and fucking cartographer, Sanji being in the kitchen. Nami cares for people by providing them cash and gold, Sanji cares for people by providing them food. I… have very mixed opinions on Sanji (as many do), but the idea of him with Nami? Him snapping out of that fanciful grand romantic schtick and getting serious with one person? And the idea of Nami being soft for her crew, and Sanji being the one out of the Monster Trio who needs the most protecting?

…I just think it’s neat. Anyways.

Ace!!!!! Who don’t I ship him with. I had a whole Ace/Nami moment skjdfksd but just casual fuck buddies and mainline NamiVivi (which is aces, pun intended). Chromi’s showed me the way, and I have Novel A unread still sitting on my desk but Ace/Deuce is fantastic. SanAce? I’m here for it. Smoker/Ace is a bit of a relic but hell, it’s great. Anything poetic i’m almost always already into.

Sabo!! Motherfucker. Again, who don’t I ship him with. People started me on that SaboLaw train a little bit ago, and they’d be the bitchiest duo to write. SaboKoala is fucking amazing, I love them as trauma buddies dealing with Very Stressful Lives together. Lucky brought up SaboKoalaAce and that really hits my whole heart with a baseball bat in the best way. Also SaboDeuce???????? Fucking hell, that’s a Whole Clusterfuck, but a brilliant one.

…I really do mean it when I say I’ll ship Marco with anyone. Anyone. Some people… wish I wouldn’t…

….Okay except Dadbeard. That’s father, I can’t really go in for that.

Ummmmm that’s pretty much all I got for now! Seriously hit me up with more specifics, just to chat~~~ 💖💖i’m… a mess, but i’m a friendly one :D

[ohshanksno]

Sorry for the blurriness @wineismyname because I honestly don’t know how to reblog replies. I’ll tag as opspoilers just in case because I talk about Whole Cake Island based off on what I know. 

In all honestly? I’m pretty damn excited because I’m so curious as to what he’s gonna do as the big bang. I got a gut feeling about this shit. I know someone’s (or some people, maybe?) gonna die (I have bets on Marco, and a small bet on Shanks. I’ve heard rumors about Zoro. I doubt Sabo would die again but it’s gotta be a death that, like, transitions the ending for One Piece. It’s gotta be something that makes Luffy rethink his choices in some way or fashion. Now, if it was Teach, then....well...aight then.)

...

Now this is me just rambling about it. I might be wrong, but it’s just some thoughts. This is my envisionment for the ending of One Piece and I got too excited and it got waayyyyy too long so it’s under a read more, hah.

This question reminded me of the time where Mum and I went out to go find some steel toe shoes for me, and I was driving and fell asleep at the wheel (VERY dangerous, kids! Don’t do this, EVER! If tired, please pull over and rest or switch with someone else!) Mum woke me up by talking to me, and she asked me to talk about One Piece and that really woke me up.

I remember telling her specifically about the ending, and how Oda was gonna do something much more extravagant. I have a feeling that Luffy would be devastated, especially (if) going against Blackbeard. Knowing little about Teach, he’d probably take Luffy on one on one, instead of the usual fight where he comes across the minions before coming to the big boss. Like, in a video game!

Right now Luffy’s suffering huge losses due to Cracker, that mirror lady, Katakuri and losing Sanji, and he still hasn’t gone against Big Mom yet. That’s as far as I know because Tumblr. He still has yet to go against Kaido (my bro reminded me this the other day when I mentioned the alliance he was still in with Law) and going against Blackbeard? All of this would look like child’s play when Teach comes into the screen.

I envision the fight like, something that won’t be so...childish, like the rest of them. They both got a grudge (Teach with Luffy being in his way? and Luffy with Marineford) so of course this is gonna be the most serious fight ever since Lucci and Arlong. It’s not gonna be like Eneru, or Crocodile, or Moria, or...I know I’m missing some people. Oh, Doflamingo! He was serious but not serious serious. I kinda breezed through that arc, sorry. 

So they finally meet up, right?

“So, you’ve decided to come down this road, Strawhat?”

Luffy points at him. “I’m here to beat you.”

Blackbeard’s crew is gonna be watching this shit like they’re in a movie theater, and Luffy’s crew/fleet (if Sanji and Zoro are still there, hah, and Law and Marco and maybe Shanks might be there too? Who the fuck knows) are gonna be watching too but they’re cautious, especially with Kuzan on their side. I bet Robin’s gonna have a few words with him about that. Money goes for Robin possibly fighting Kuzan. More money if Shanks and Marco do show up and try to plan together to whip Blackbeard’s ass.

Most people would probably believe Luffy to make the first hit, right? Nah, not this time. He’s probably gonna stand there and Teach is gonna wonder “why aren’t you doing anything aren’t you pissed?”

“I am. But I’m not gonna be careless about this.” because he’s impulsive and he’s seen what happened. His impulsiveness here would and will get him killed. He’s come too far to die here.

Now, there’s an 94% chance that Burgess is gonna ruin everything and attack first so he lunges at Luffy because GOD was his captain taking forever at this and Laffitte is like “you’re a fucking dumbass did you not remember the plan that we went through 5 times before we got here” and Luffy’s about to defend himself but I think that Jinbei might be the first to step up, right? Or Zoro, if he’s still alive? Then suddenly it’s an all out brawl between a fleet and 12 people.

Luffy and Blackbeard are on their own battlefield and they’re just staring each other down. They’re not moving.

“So we meet again, Strawhat?”

Luffy doesn’t say anything.

“Hmm. You’re a lot smarter than what you let on.”

Luffy’s haki is going up and Blackbeard starts his D.F. powers. 

“Although, I must admit, Ace was much more impulsive than you are.” Teach probably would say something to get Luffy to be angry so he can gain the upper hand. 

And that little bit of shock and unfocused attention is what’s gonna cost him and before he knows it he’s getting sucked into the Black Vortex and there’s a beatdown going on. Yeah Luffy’s getting his ass kicked but so is Blackbeard with Luffy’s Gum Gum Pistols because he doesn’t have enough time to form his haki anymore.

Then, Blackbeard grabs him again but this time he holds Luffy close to him and gabs his face and looks right into his eyes. Luffy can’t help but look into him and Blackbeard starts smiling.

“Ahh...I see it now...that restless fear. Are you scared? What are you so afraid for?”

And Luffy can feel his powers being sapped and he’s struggling, bu tht more he struggles the more his powers get drained (if you Played One Piece: Unlimited World Red and got to the end of the game, you’d understand what it’s like in this envisionment) and there are people calling Luffy’s name and he can’t really hear them because it feels like he’s dying.

“Tell me, Strawhat...what’s your worst fear?”

And Luffy’s brought into pure darkness and he can’t see anything. Luffy then understands. There’s a reason why everyone’s afraid of him. There’s a reason why he’s so strong. Because his devil fruit feeds off people’s fears. (I hope to god that’s what it’ll be like because if it isn’t then Blackbeard isn’t shit)

[anonymouscrocodilefan]

Addendum: Ex-Slave Croco Theory

LONG TIME NO POST, and not quite a shower thought, but it occurred to me at one point that I never actually debunked the other common theory about Croco’s secret (the one Ivankov has on him).

The major theories I’m aware of (all of which I find flawed):

1. FTM Croco (Croco was a woman & other gender/sexuality-related variations). This is the immediate conclusion most people jump to, and I’m pretty sure it’s a red herring. Although, as I’ve mentioned, I wouldn’t mind if it were true. I pretty thoroughly debunked this in one of my first posts: http://anonymouscrocodilefan.tumblr.com/post/132946232157/2-crocodiles-past

2. Croco was on Whitebeard’s crew (in some variations the chopped off hand was to remove WB’s tattoo). And is for some reason ashamed of that and/or left for reasons related to his weakness. This has been completely debunked by Word of God. See my very first post: http://anonymouscrocodilefan.tumblr.com/post/132880323933/1-crocodile-the-warlord

3. Croco’s missing hand originally had a different power from the “drying” ability of his right; the secret behind this removed power is related to his other weakness. I don’t think this theory is as widespread as the others, nor am I particularly against it. But I don’t really buy it either. Plus I think with the advent of “awakened” powers as a concept, this idea is getting less and less likely. I’ve only ever tangentially discussed this though (never directly addressed the specifics of this theory): http://anonymouscrocodilefan.tumblr.com/post/135195626561/shower-thought-handedness

4. An actual physical/power-related weakness (aside from the water weakness and the obvious existence of haki). Discussed this in the same post as FTM Croc. This one seems to make sense in context, but is narratively unsatisfying to me. I can kinda imagine it though – if water is a weakness, I wonder about wind (water clumps sand, but wind does the opposite)? Still, Oda could’ve easily done the same scene with something along the lines of “no worries, I know how to defeat him” – so the specific and somewhat ambiguous use of the word “weakness” and Iva promising not to give him away if he behaves is... interesting.

5. Croco is a former slave (like Hancock and Fisher Tiger). I can’t believe I never discussed or even brought up this theory... because it’s actually one of the earliest ideas I personally considered (along with “Croco has revolutionary connections [beyond the acquaintance with Iva]”, which I’ve long since discarded).

Like the “revolutionary” theory, I discarded it very early on (and didn’t see it discussed nearly as often), which is probably why it slipped my mind.

Also, my arguments against this particular theory are mostly circumstantial, like my arguments against the missing hand/physical weakness theories (but unlike the FTM/WB theories, which have fairly solid textual evidence working against them and in the latter case has been explicitly contradicted by Oda’s statements).

Still, it’s probably worth discussing. So here are my thoughts.

First of all, it’s a tempting theory on the surface. Unlike the FTM and WB theories, it also gives him a valid motivation for his dislike of the government (and apparent desire to create a Utopia [we are soooo short on details there, including how seriously he meant it]). It would also fairly neatly explain his trust issues, although maybe not why he’s so adamant at first about human connections being worthless (the WB theory probably does the best on that one, but like I said, it’s total bunk).

Nonetheless, it doesn’t really “feel” right, either.

As I’ve previously noted (see the post with FTM Croco), Crocodile’s reaction to Iva’s threat is actually relatively subdued despite the way the whole thing’s been blown up in the collective fandom consciousness. Sure, it pisses him off, but he’s not upset or anything either. We have several known ex-slave characters whose behavior can be easily contrasted with his, in fact. Fisher Tiger’s undying hatred. Hancock’s deep shame. Koala is the most well-adjusted one we’ve seen so far, but I think that’s probably down to the fact that she was still very young at the time (much younger than Hancock!) and has since grown up in a very supportive environment. For all three though, there is that underlying sense of having been betrayed by the government and its support of an inherently unjust system, and moreover by humanity itself. On the other hand, Croco’s scorn for the Marines and the government overall seems more akin to Law’s feelings on the subject, i.e. they’re useless assholes. In other words, yes he has trust issues, but he never comes across as traumatized. (Law maybe isn’t the BEST comparison there.)

The timing is tricky. Surprisingly, we know a handful of solid dates for Croco, despite the fact that he’s never gotten a backstory flashback. All of which I’ve discussed before, but again – he was at age 22 present for Roger’s execution. He became a Warlord shortly thereafter, with his defeat by Whitebeard presumably marking his first real setback as a pirate. Around age 30 he was featuring in newspapers for his “heroic” acts. By the time the series starts, he’s been a public figure for 20 years or so. Basically, he could’ve only been a slave during his child/teen years... and couldn’t have been part of the big breakout all the other known ex-slaves escaped during. That is, he would’ve had to escape on his own, or I suppose potentially with Revolutionary aid (which maybe accounts for the eventual Iva meeting when he’s a rookie). The former seems unlikely, no matter how clever the dude is. But the latter would have more naturally led to him being involved in the Revolutionary faction sooner or later rather than setting sail to compete with Roger and Whitebeard and coming up with his own grandiose schemes.

I talk about this all the time, but if we can trust his SBS child illustration – and I think we can, based on past experience – he was already toting around a real gun as a kid. And in fact it seems like he was probably already fairly skilled in its usage (mentioned this in the handedness post, but I have a feeling that his gun is holstered in a cavalry draw position rather than the more typical cross draw). His expression and stance also already lack that veneer of innocence that many (not all) of the child illustrations tend to have. From that (among other things), I’ve always gotten the sense that he was a street kid who pretty much raised himself/grew up in the underworld... and would have been far too careful and shrewd to have been captured by anyone.

If his missing hand was the one with the tattoo (kinda has to be, since he had to get undressed for the Impel Down “baptism”)... well, Croco’s much too pragmatic to have chopped it off just because of a tattoo. Especially when there are more obvious ways of subverting or hiding the symbol (see also: Sun Pirates). No matter how well he’s adapted to the lack of it, he is NOT the kind of man who would have willingly given up the practical benefits of having two working hands, imo. Even to escape (he’s no Zoro lol).

I dunno, even if all the above points can technically be written around, it feels kind of redundant to have another ex-slave Warlord in the mix. Sometimes redundancy is good, and adds thematic texture due to the different nuances. But I think we’re already pretty well covered.

(The remaining variations on this theory that I actually think are kind of viable but require way too much guesswork: he betrayed his allies into slavery [after being betrayed by them first, I’m thinking], OR he attempted to pull a rescue but failed [again, perhaps due to treachery] and chose to abandon them/save his own skin. These not only fit what we know about his personality, but also provide a decent explanation for why Iva specifically would be involved/aware, and suit the context of the exchange during Impel Down. Like I said though, way too much guesswork, especially re: what exactly in this scenario would serve as a hold over him.)

As for what I personally think the actual secret is, if not those two above options – my thoughts haven’t really changed that much since I originally wrote the FTM debunk post. In my view the three main options are 1) the backstory behind him obtaining his fruit; 2) whatever backstory there might be regarding his hook/scar (assuming they’re not just design elements like Doffy’s sunglasses LOL); and 3) the backstory behind his knowledge of Pluton and the poneglyphs (plus I assume he’s one of the few who knows the truth behind Ohara). Possibly those options might even be related to each other.

The only somewhat new addition to my thoughts: since Oda’s made the parallels between Croco and Luffy* even more explicit than before, I suspect Croco had a similar experience as Luffy/Sabo/Ace did in the Gray Terminal. (Remember that I think Croco was a street kid.) Only his reaction was something more along the lines of Sabo’s, if Sabo hadn’t gotten proper guidance in form of Dragon and had turned pirate instead.

(… I can’t be the only one who can imagine alternate universe Sabo going the evil mastermind route, can I?)

* The Croco/Luffy parallels are key to the Alabasta arc, and Oda then brought them up again with the SBS about Croco’s pirating history. And as I’ve argued in my MBTI posts before, their personalities are mirrors of each other (rather than “in opposition”).

But I’ve also seen people point out that there’s an interesting parallel to be found between Croco and Ace as well. (Both talented and ambitious young Logias who challenged WB early on in their pirating careers; one submitted, one picked himself back up to attempt his own path.)

Which I think makes it not unreasonable to eventually see an echo of Sabo in Croco as well. (Although I have previously thought the more explicit Sabo foil was Doflamingo, hence him turning up specifically during Dressrosa.)

I mean no matter what, the weirdly romantic vibe of Baroque Works and the idealism implied in “Operation Utopia” have been cracking me up for ages. And that���s gotta have its roots in something, right? Odd to think about, but we actually know way more of what makes Doflamingo “tick,” what his driving motivations are. We never got a true explanation for Croco. Just like Big Mom’s yearning for family and belonging is a corrupted version of Whitebeard’s family ethos (and note apparently SHE wants to construct a “utopia” of sorts as well), Croco’s stubborn opposition to the government strikes me as a corrupted version of the Revolutionary stance. That’s like the one thing we’ve known about him all along, the one reason we know he was after Pluton – and Marineford only further supported this. I mean yeah, no pirate actually LIKES the government for obvious reasons, but Croco’s disdain has been consistently highlighted in particular.

I’m convinced it means something.