#this is incredible.... after the war if sanji looks weird at a woman zoro is just gonna take put his sword amd behead him.....

[hauntingblue]

ZORO LORE FINALLY ⁉️

[touchmycoat]

um hey Nami/Reiju would be such a valid ship, like:

- Nami the Hugest Lesbian

- who would be so protective of Sanji at first. They all know that in her heart, Reiju is kind, but she’s still the One Who Stayed, who could only bandage but never prevent, who chose to side with the violence for the sake of self-preservation

- but Nami also knows a thing or two about looking like the bad guy, so she’s sympathetic. Sanji doesn’t blame Reiju, so neither does Nami—plus she saved Luffy’s life.

- and now Reiju

- I fully believe vying for beautiful women is genetically programmed into all Vinsmoke children

- Reiju who is so grateful for her baby brother’s crew mates, particularly this lovely little lady

- Nami, who often looks scared and wary, but marches into battle anyways for her friends, for the sake of doing the right thing

- can you imagine Reiju learning about Nami’s past, perhaps on one quiet and tentative evening bonding with Sanji, sharing a glass of wine

- Nami, who found the strength, as a CHILD, to stand between her beloved village and Arlong. Who couldn’t have the Cocoyashi villagers killing themselves to rescue her, not when she was gonna rescue THEM. Who took up the mantle of the bad guy with no thought at all, because she knew what was important, what she wanted to protect with all her heart.

- can you imagine Reiju CRYING, just finding herself suddenly wracked by these choking sobs, breath unable to pass

- because this incredible woman, as a girl, had been able to do what Reiju never could. Because Reiju had given in to the fear, had shut away all the unhappiness and heartache she ever felt in order to hide from the pain.

- can you imagine Nami finding out, and telling Reiju, quietly, about all the bad things she’s seen, she’s done, she’s let happen as a teenage girl stealing from the world. She asks if Reiju can absolve her of the guilt of throwing other people under the bus, young pirates, old pirates, everybody with stories and pasts that she didn’t care about. She hated all pirates once. She may have never slit a throat, but she’s certainly left people on a sinking ship. Can Reiju forgive that girl for putting her own safety first, when cast into a bad situation?

- Reiju says yes, she can easily absolve a child. But Poison Pink is not a child, hasn’t been one for ages. She’s known, all the while, what standing with Germa 66 means, and yet she stayed, feet planted in those goddamn raid boots. Surely she can’t be absolved of that.

- no, Nami agrees. But if Nami’s learned anything from making a career out of backstabbing, it’s that there’s really no such thing as absolution. There’s certainly forgiveness from person to person, but no one is ever wholly “absolved” because no one is ever everything to everyone. All you can do is figure out whom you want to forgive you, and work toward that.

- and if you’re lucky enough to love a brother like Sanji-kun, she would add, he’d have already forgiven you.

- so not to sound cheesy or anything, but what it really comes down to is can you forgive yourself.

- can you? Reiju asks Nami, quietly and with so much on the line.

- most days, yes, is Nami’s proud answer. But on the days you can’t...

- well, on the days you can’t, you make sure to feed a little slice of mikan to Luffy. You make sure to shift Zoro’s swords out of kicking range from exiting the cabin door (you with your cat burglar hands are the only one who can do it so silently, Zoro doesn’t shift in his sleep). You make sure to check in on Usopp’s new experiments and inventions. You make sure to thank Sanji for the delicious afternoon tea.

- you praise Chopper’s work ethic. You tell Robin about the most recent novel you read and ask for recommendations. You bring Franky a chilled bottle of coke and take one of his many sea-faring bikes out for a spin. You point to a place on an old world map and challenge Brook to play a song from that region. You cuddle with Carrot in between her wrestling bouts with Luffy. You pay it forward, is her point, to the Nakama you treasure, every little gesture as a self-aware vow, “I promise I won’t betray you, not like I did before.”

- Reiju is unconvinced. Death, it seemed to her, was the easiest compensation. Why else would the world have death penalties? In death, there was no risk of a second betrayal. There was no risk of going back to that cool mask of Poison Pink. No risk to her, no risk to others.

- Nami getting ticked, as she does at anyone who throws away their life. She reminds herself this is not an unknowing child though, but a grown woman who has survived an incredibly violent life. How EASY it was for Ichiji, Niji, Yonji, who had someone else handily cut the humanity out of them. Reiju had to do it herself, and if left messy scars.

- I held onto life because I had something to protect, Nami says. I had people I loved and a dream I wanted to fulfill no matter what. You... you’ve got to find that.

- I’m a human weapon crafted for war, Reiju answers with no trace of self-pity whatsoever, sounding instead bewildered. I’m a mercenary. Sure, I would like to protect Sanji, but even you would admit that’s a rare chance to be had.

- ...it’s a process.

- and then Nami snaps her fingers, an idea coming to mind.

- a mercenary, huh? You take any job for money?

- we may be evil, Reiju says carefully, but we still have a code.

- then how about I hire you for a job?

- if any of the Strawhats witnessed this moment, their jaws would be on the floor, seeing Nami willingly fork over money. Reiju just looks bemused.

- the job is to go protect someone who needs it. It can be anybody. Just... you’re so strong Reiju, and you can do so much. Germa’s already taken so much of your life, I would hate to see them ruin the rest.

- cue Reiju’s arc of self-discovery, figuring out what she likes, what she wants, what she cares about. She admires Sanji so much for his passion in cooking, Nami for her passion in cartography. She wants something like that for herself so, so bad.

- (maybe she becomes a rare amphibian conservationist. All those poisonous frogs 🐸 , and the slimy bastards remind her somewhat-fondly of her stupid brothers-minus-Sanji.)

- anyways omg, Nami giving Reiju job after job like, “go give someone a present they didn’t expect,” or, “go give someone comfort in a moment of need.”

- Nami’s growing love for this weird, beautiful, poison-drinking older lady who wants to not want to die so badly. She also gets to delight in Reiju always coming back, to see Sanji sure, but also to see her specifically. Reiju develops a habit of bringing back presents: advance tech, old maps, weather gadgets, canned oranges from different islands. Nami gets someone as fixated on GIVING her things as Sanji is, but some of Reiju’s presents make her blush.

- omg, Nami giving Reiju a map to Cocoyashi village. “Go give someone a hug for me.” Reiju and Nojiko bonding over the bonfire that is Nami, saving both their lives.

Wow anyways this can go on and on but!!! Even Sanji would ship it!!! God, he’d be so stressed out about who to give the shovel talk to, ‘cause that’s his sister but also that’s ~Nami-swan~ but in the end he just ends up talking Reiju out of shovel-talking herself and encourages both of them to go for what they want.

[creative-type]

Worth A Thousand Words III: Oda and Stealth Character Development

So...what’s the point of the Skypiea arc? It’s a question One Piece fans and detractors alike ask. I don’t know the answer, but it was probably because Oda thought it would be cool. By its very nature One Piece is not a tightly woven story. Rather, it’s  a sprawling adventure epic, and it does sprawl epically.

Skypiea is, however, an excellent arc when it comes to Straw Hat development, and today I want to focus on one scene in particular with regards to my favorite Nico Robin. 

No, not that one. 

While there is a certain significance to the fact that a survivalist like Robin would choose to side with the Straw Hats over the hugely powerful Enel, the moment Zoro catches Robin is more important to Zoro than Robin. He was the most openly against her, the one who trusted her the least for the longest amount of time. Here Oda is showing us in big flashing lights that, yeah, Zoro has accepted Robin as part of the crew. 

But I don’t want to talk about big, flashy character moments. I want to talk about this

Robin actually gets a pretty decent chunk of screen time during the Sky Island Saga as a whole. It was easier back then because Oda was juggling six main characters instead of nine, but it’s pretty easy to tell he was giving Robin special focus. 

This makes sense. Firstly, Robin was a former enemy, so there’s a need to separate Nico Robin from her Miss All Sunday persona. Secondly, as important as Robin’s dreams are to the narrative as a whole, her position on the ship is the only one that isn’t strictly necessary. Any pirate crew requires fighters, cooks, navigators and the like, but very few would deem  “archaeologist” as a position needing to be filled. So immediately after adding her to the crew Oda makes up a situation where Robin’s skills are helpful and necessary

In this scene Robin also establishes she’s the only one in the crew who’s even heard of the sky islands, while giving some much-needed wisdom to Nami. This, along with what we’ve seen in chapter 218 and the end of 217 gives us what we need to know about Robin’s personality and position in the Straw Hat’s crew. Then shortly after stealing Jaya’s eternal pose from Masira (showing off yet another skill usually relegated to Nami) Robin almost disappears from the narrative entirely and is largely absent from the Jaya sub-arc.

To be fair, up until this point she had been wearing Nami’s clothes, and Robin is, like, almost a foot taller than she is. Some shopping is justifiable here, but it brings me to one of the most important things to keep in mind when analyzing Robin as a character:

Isolation and Distance

One of the best ways to visually convey that a character is emotionally distant is to physically separate them from other people. When Robin first showed up as Miss All Sunday she was sailing the ocean alone. During her confrontation with the Straw Hats about their route she sat far above them where she couldn’t be touched. She left that argument with only her rad turtle ship for company, and spent a surprisingly large amount of the Baroque Works Saga apart from Crocodile despite ostensibly being his partner in crime.

Robin continues to be less than engaged after joining the crew. Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp  fool off with one another constantly. Sanji and Zoro fight. Even Nami is known to smack the rest upside the head when they’re being stupid. Robin alone sits above all their antics, not showing her first face fault in a series lousy with them until well after the timeskip.

It’s pretty easy to pick up in the dialogue that Robin never calls any of the Straw Hats by their actual names, preferring to refer to them by their occupation (or their nose, in Usopp’s case). But the use of impersonal nicknames can’t be the reader’s only clue to Robin’s personality. Both Vivi and Robin have a habit of calling Zoro “Mr. Bushido”, but while the desert princess is kind, personable, and if anything cares a little too much, Robin is distant, standoffish, and at times even cold towards others around her. 

You can even glean some insight from her fighting style. Robin doesn’t have to be in the same room with someone to kill them. She attacks from a distance, relying on stealth and surprise to snap necks and dislocate limbs. It’s brutally efficient and deeply impersonal, perfect for an assassin - or, perhaps, a young girl who was forced to learn on the fly how to fight against much larger opponents who showed no restraint or mercy.  

This is something that was emphasized more in the anime where they had the benefit of knowing Robin’s backstory ahead of time and working little clues into the post-Alabasta filler. They’re a little on the nose at times, but episode 131 is a good example of what I’m talking about here, especially when emphasizing the fact that during the early chapters after joining the crew Robin often doesn’t speak unless directly addressed. To quote Oda in the Volume 71 SBS:

Reader: Robin always talks about creepy things in front of the crew. But her own thoughts, she often thinks of fun stuff like “cats” or “Dress Rosa”. Why doesn’t Robin talk about these things with the crew to make them laugh?

Oda: Even though Robin likes cute things, she’s a bit dark/creepy herself, so if she tries to put these cut thoughts into words there is a chance it may come out as scary/ominous. That’s the kind of woman Robin is.

Robin censers herself to avoid sounding weird. There’s enough evidence of her macabre sense of humor (spoke aloud) to assume that she has embraced her morbid self...most of the time. But Robin has been an outcast her entire life. Even before the Buster Call the citizens of Ohara were calling her demon/monster/creep/insert appropriate insult here.

(For those who don’t remember, the bruise on her cheek is from the other kids who were throwing rocks at her )

Robin spends large stretches of the Skypiea arc by herself, which further emphasizes the importance of what group interaction we do see. Robin has been hiding behind a well-crafted facade for nigh on twenty years because she needed to be a demon in order to survive the cutthroat world in which she lived. 

Which takes us to point number two

Survival

Robin is all about living to see another day. Or she was until Crocodile shanked her (more on this below) Because of her past, she views the world through the lens of a survivor. It shapes how she thinks and how she acts, and Robin at this point doesn’t know any other way to live. 

Robin has been miserably lonely for a long, long time, but believes if she allows herself to get close to others they’ll betray her. She learned the hard way not to trust anyone and that to let your guard down is to die. We see in Alabasta that Robin isn’t afraid to use deadly force against those who get in her way. 

She’s got a bit of a mean streak, too. Though Robin didn’t kill Tagashi, she almost crippled her. That leg injury could have ended Tashigi’s career as a swordsman, which is almost crueler than killing her outright.

When Robin’s backstory is revealed in full the audience is always shown as Robin being the one betrayed, and never the betrayer. I think this helps garner sympathy, but her interaction with Crocodile shows that she’s not above a little backstabbing herself. Aokiji says that every organization she’s ever been a part of no longer exists, and I think that’s only possible if her reputation is at least somewhat deserved. When it comes to finding out the truth of the Void Century, Robin has literally the worst tunnel vision ever.

Which brings me to my last point

Openness to Change

Throughout the Sky Island Saga Robin is a woman who has lost her reason to live. Her only lead to the Rio Poneglyph was a dead end, and she doesn’t find Roger’s message until the end of the arc. That leaves a big chunk of time where she’s staying with the Straw Hats just because she can.

I think if she were as truly as fiercely pragmatic as she (and others) claim then she has no business on the Going Merry. Half of what the Straw Hats do is idiotic and should get them killed, and it’s amazing that they’ve survived this long as it is. Since Robin had resigned herself to death during the tail end of the Alabasta arc, we can assume that the idea of dying doesn’t bother her. Yes, Luffy made her go on, but she’s still stuck in this directionless limbo.   

This is important because it gives Robin something other to focus on than the Void Century. Her desire to find the True History consumed her to the point where she was willing to work with Crocodile for four years and bring a “good” country to the brink of ruin. Without this obsession driving every decision Robin makes, she can take a step back and see the Straw Hat Pirates for what they really are.

The Stealth Character Development

Robin is not the focus of chapter 253. It’s a transition chapter situated between the first and second halves of the Skypea arc. The Straw Hats have reunited had their obligatory split the party moment that happen with frighteningly regularity. The crew are setting up camp as night approaches, comparing notes of what they’ve discovered so far.

Until this point, Robin has been with Zoro and Nami. These two make up 2/3 of the Straw Hats who showed initial distrust to Robin, and at this point Zoro stil hasn’t accepted her as one of their own. Yet they treat her with respect, and Nami especially seems to look up to her as an older sister figure.

Then Nami finds the other half of Cricket’s house, and without hesitation Zoro follows the comparatively weaker crew mate through the incredibly dangerous forest, which displays a trust for one another that would be very appealing to someone like Robin.

When the Straw Hats finally reunite, everyone is on good terms with one another. Remember, at this they’ve have stumbled into the middle of a civil war, made enemies with an unknown entity with a god complex, branded themselves as criminals, and almost gotten their ship destroyed. Some of their misfortune is just that - misfortune. But bad decision making plays at least a part of their current circumstance. It would be easy to turn on one another, and I think most pirates would. Just see how Usopp reacts when he sees what’s happened to the Merry

Anyone who has read the Water 7 arc knows how much Usopp loves this ship, but his first concern is Chopper. Compare to how any one of the Baroque Works agents reacted when someone failed a mission. Instead of falling apart during a time of crisis, the Straw Hats come closer together. 

Chapter 253 begins with the crew setting up camp. Once again Robin goes off and does her own thing, this time finding a hunk of rock salt to use for cooking. Sanji predictably praises her, but he also reveals that he’s got a brain in his head by saying how important salt is to survival. Tick another box in the Straw Hat’s favor.

Every one of the Straw Hats helps set up camp, even the captain (useless as he may be). More than that, they each reveal a little of their talents. It’s sort of a reverse of what happens earlier in the arc when Robin showed off for the rest of the Straw Hat’s benefit. Through this Robin sees that the Straw Hats aren’t just good fighters, but smart and skilled as well. 

After establishing the location of the gold and making plans for the next day, Robin makes a practical suggestion

This sequence marks the beginning of Robin’s stealth character development. She’s speaking here as a pragmatist and a survivor. Her point is valid, and any sensible person would have agreed with her. 

The Straw Hat Pirates are many things, but sensible isn’t one of them. Luffy turns to Usopp in complete disbelief, while Usopp basically says “Go easy on her, Cap, there’s no way she could have known.”

Until this point, Robin has not been questioned by the Straw Hats. She’s not seen this sort of reaction directed at her, especially by Luffy. Her face says it all

Robin’s expression is pretty neutral here, but you can’t hide that sweat drop XD. She’s genuinely concerned that she’s made some sort of mistake. Remember, in Robin’s dog-eat-dog world a making a mistake is tantamount to death. She’s spent twenty years allying with people who at the very least distrust her, and more often than not try to kill her. And now, stuck up in in such a precarious position 10.000 meters above ground she has to be especially careful.

It’s okay, Robin, you’ve not done anything wrong. Luffy is just a dork

Note that Nami - the other survivalist in the crew - immediately jumps to her defense. They’re outnumbered by Zoro and Sanji, who have already made a giant bonfire. 

Before we know it, the Straw Hats are partying with a bunch of wild wolves (Oda, plz...). They’re stuck deep in enemy territory on the night before a planned raid on the city of gold...and the Straw Hat Pirates are having a blast. Usopp’s playing the drums, Nami’s getting plastered, the rest are dancing their little hearts away, and Robin...Robin is smiling. This has got to be one of the most surreal, bizarre situations she’s ever seen.

 Which brings us back to the image I started with

This says a lot about where Robin is at this point in the story. We can’t see her face clearly, but it’s established on the other half of the spread that she’s enjoying herself. Yet she remains distant, both physically and emotionally. The only thing that’s keeping Robin from joining in is Robin herself.

The Skypiea arc is important to Robin’s development because it rekindles her dream, but more than that it gives us moments like this where Robin is exposed to something she’s desired for twenty years, something we see later she’s always wanted but never believed that she would have.

The Straw Hat Pirates accept Robin unconditionally and show her a side of life that she’s never seen before. Even without knowing her entire backstory, by the time the Water 7 arc rolls around the audience genuinely believes that Robin would sacrifice her life, and the lives of every one else in the world, just to save the Straw Hat Pirates, and that wouldn’t be possible if Oda hadn’t given us this scene and others like it. 

To put it another way, I fully believe that Robin would still make the same decisions during Water 7/Enies Lobby regardless of whether she found Roger’s message or not. The Skypiean Poneglyph furthers Robin’s part of the plot, but chapter 253 furthers her character arc.

What makes this all the more impressive is that Oda trusts his readers enough to figure it out for themselves. Unlike the anime, he never calls attention to Robin’s isolation and her gradual warming to the crew. Gan Fall wakes up on the very next page, and the focus shifts to more exposition, ending with the big reveal of what vearth is and why in the it’s so important. The development is stealthy. 

Oda never makes a big deal of when Robin starts calling the crew by their real names during Thriller Bark. He doesn’t shove it in our face when she feels comfortable enough to tell Franky off for being stupid in Chopper’s body during Punk Hazard. He’s constantly using small moments all throughout the series to show how the crew has changed and grown, which is partially why people don’t think the characters have much depth.

It’s there, but without reading carefully it can be lost with everything else that’s going on. Just compare the Skypiean party to the end of Enies Lobby and tell me that Robin hasn’t changed. I dare you.

[aerialflight]

Okay, one idea I really want is the Straw Hats ending up in the Rise of the Guardians world and they all end up as spirits.

They’re all confused how they end up here, and who knows how long they’re around to influence things, but the very idea of them just existing in that kind of way is hilarious to think about.

Robin (Egypt) – sphynx, a speaker of truth yet is a mystery, talking in riddles and takes great fun in confusing people. Loves knowledge and loves people who loves it too. Shares knowledge to people if she could, loves books. Since there are so many different versions of sphynxes in different cultures and countries, she can pop up in those countries anytime she wants, haha. She never shares how she does it when most spirits can’t, and loves frustrating people by giving them cryptic answers if asked.

Usopp (Africa) – African storyteller like in the stories, tall tales, has a tendency to travel, which is unusual for his kind who is emphatic on tradition. He explores and searches for his crew actively, and on the way, collects stories as he does. Him and Robin actually are the ones who travel around the most (exempting Luffy, who none of the Straw Hats can find cause he can’t stand fucking still damn it Luffy) and keeps everyone updated on each other. Headcanon of mine is that he inspired and helped write the Anderson Fairy tales, LOL.

Zoro (Japan) – a ‘wandering samurai’. In the legends, ghosts of samurais wander in search of a purpose. Hilariously for Zoro, he does it cause he’s genuinely fucking lost, which Sanji finds incredibly amusing.

Nami (Irish) – an Irish witch, which also is hilarious. She mostly ends up in bars or inns, tricking other spirits to pay ludicrous prices or favors when they want gossip or info from her. She and Robin are kind of opposites of each other, with Robin always speaking the truth, yet twists and riddles it out so people would have to be clever enough to solve it themselves. Nami, on the other hand, just lies all the time and people would have to be clever enough to know when she is. However, she never breaks promises or deals. And she’s always lenient to children.

Chopper (Canada) – Bigfoot, which explains A LOT. Though, there are multiple Bigfoots, so he’s just one of the many. Instead, he is a DOCTOR BIGFOOT, which is even weirder and funnier. He’s like, basically that friendly monster you find in a forest that people warn off and is just misunderstood, haha. Whenever children get lost, he leads them back home and heals them if they’re injured.

Franky (American) – He’s an engineer, he embodies inventing and creating. He’s also a fixer upper and an inventor all at once. He inspires people to create new things and is so enthusiastic about all these new immigrants who come into the mixing pot. New ideas in the air! He’s ecstatic about the industrial times and its growth, but absolutely hates the conditions of the people, and rages against people who claim it was ‘progress.’ Bring in the new, sure that’s great. But to kick people down while doing so boils his blood. He and Luffy interact a lot cause America is A Hot Mess of everything, hahaha.

Brook (Austria) – He’s a fucking ghost. A genuine fucking ghost who haunts Austria’s castles and at night, people can hear a violin playing and rowdy songs that don’t fit the setting at all. People see a skeleton at the corner of their eye with a ridiculous afro prancing around the grounds and it’s really freaky. He gossips with other ghosts of old monarchs (I’m headcanoning people with strong influence over the country or has strong personalities end up lingering for a while) and Usopp visits from time to time.

Sanji (France) – he’s a Sea Cook. Kind of a minor sea god who helps sailors sail safely, makes sure to guide them to areas with lots of fish if they get hungry, and spends most of his time in the ships’ kitchens yelling at cooks to add citrus food, nonono what are you doing with that potato you’re skinning it wrong. What about the nutrients?! So basically this grumpy, neatly suited man swearing up a storm and fruitlessly kicking people’s heads when they’re acting like idiots and hovering around like a mother hen. Also, he is absolutely enraged at the old belief that having a woman onboard is bad luck. Fuck you idiots who have no manners do you have any idea how long it’s been since I’ve seen a woman? Stop fucking ruining this for me!

Luffy (Brazil) – He’s Freedom. Like, that’s it. If the Guardians of Childhood had been looking, they would’ve thought he would be PERFECT for the job, but the Man in the Moon is really, really amused by Luffy’s existence and leaves him be to his own devices. He’s too big even in this world, and he just ends up in countries that need people to rise up, to fight back. He’s in revolutions, protests, wars, cheering people on and fighting with them. He bolsters their strength, makes them laugh in hard times, make them invincible against things that are huge and indomitable looking. He’s just, unchangeable. No matter how bad it is, he keeps smiling.

And just, imagine everyone reacting to them? Like, Ombric meeting Robin and them talking about books and both enthusiastically sharing knowledge with each other, and Robin being all secretive the whole time.

“I want nothing but the truth.” The woman’s voice rang in the room, forthright and honest. With her masks stripped along with her sly words and subtle smiles, she looked powerful. A hungry girl who saw the world in shades of grey, hanging in the backdrop and always watching, observing, waiting.

There’s a finality to her voice, the verdict set with nothing stopping her path. This is her last ditch effort to get him to talk, a method that revealed her heart, her core.

The dark skin, mystery surrounding her like a cloak, clever words with clever answers. A familiar nose that he swore he’s seen missing from great wonders-

“You’re a sphinx!” Ombric exclaimed, shocked.

She laughed, the sound reverberating the room and just as warm as her natural climate.

“I am.” She conceded with a small smile. “I have to be something to people after all.”

Japan is an island, so Sanji ends up visiting Zoro a lot since even though the mosshead has no fucking idea from left to right, always is able to find a shoreline somehow and they constantly butt heads whenever they do.

“Feeding people your shit food? I feel sorry for them.”

“Shut up! At least I’m not called the ‘Wandering Samurai.’ Wandering my ass. More like ‘lost shitface who doesn’t know North from up.’”

“Yeah? And why do people call you Sea Cook? Should’ve been ‘swirlybrow bastard’ or ‘lovesick idiot.’”

Or Chopper the friendly Bigfoot helping lost children, sometimes in his small form to calm them down, and big when he needs to protect them from other predators or monsters. Usopp basically being their network, able to travel around the most and spread the Straw Hats adventures to others, or make up stories of his own. Luffy and Franky adventuring around America cause seriously, there’s so much weird shit going on there.

Nami abso-fucking-lutely delighted that there are maps, there are better tools, better ways to man the sea. And despite what mortals think in this world, the sea is still pretty exciting here though not as much as their old world. What withe the loch ness monster, atlantis, mermaids (Sanji was fucking delighted), and more. Sanji probably knows the sea better than any of them now.

“… Has Usopp found the others yet?”

“Yeah, the haggling witch is screwing people over back in Ireland as usual. And last I saw, Franky was ready to kill this guy building a train or something.”

“I met Chopper.” It had been difficult for the giant spirit to come near the ocean. His place was more inland. Sanji grimaced around his cigarette that looked nothing like what existed during this current time period. It was a mystery where he got his neverending supply, though he thanked every day for it. “He’s helping some kids out. Turns out people are the same no matter where we are.”

Yeah, I would really love to see someone write this.