#this precedes the rescue arc

[angeart]

I'm not saying I'm easy to summon, I'm just saying I see a tease and I'm like hi yes tell me everything pls.

Was it a nice nest while they had it at least? Did they have it for a bit before it burned?

(also circus tease ooo)

-🎀

i do want you to be easy to summon. please be easy to summon <3

yes, it was the nicest nest! it was high up, surrounded by a meadow and a stream filtering into a lake, a forest stretching around it all, eventually merging into a jungle biome in a not too far distance. of course it was all still makeshift, but it was theirs.

they were there for a while, everything quiet and serene, lulling them into false sense of security. for a while, it genuinely seemed like it could all be over, like they could finally breathe. like they could really stay and settle and be okay. like it's alright to just be.

and maybe for the first time in a long while, they felt like they could stretch their wings.

maybe they ran around and giggled. maybe they made fires and cooked warm meals. maybe they toiled soil and planted seeds, readying for a future.

maybe they ventured into the nearby jungle, and found a birb friend, an incredible rarity and a proof of life, of something winged surviving and maybe even thriving here.

maybe one day, scar woke up to grian gliding freely through the sky, wings catching the marvellous glow of a sunrise.

maybe there was sheepish, much-needed preening, and cuddles, and kiss-pressed laughter. reasurrances and teases and everything else that goes along with it.

maybe scar stood at the edge of a little cliff, safe over water, spreading his tattered wings as grian stood by his side, eager to experiment, to see if he can still glide.

maybe they had some breakdowns and tears, inevitably curling against each other, breaths heaving and sobs hitching, but ultimately they were safe through all that hurt, tucked into each other's hold.

and maybe there was confusion and confessions (ahem mimic arc), and much needed late-night talks, and sun-naps, and little joys taken whenever they presented themselves.

maybe there were actually so many steps towards healing.

—and everything got taken away in an instant.

[eroguron0nsense]

Garp, Fascism, and Parental Failure

Garp is truly one of the most interesting One Piece characters for me because of the extent to which his dogged, relentless devotion to a fascist system–and the supposed "order" it promises to uphold in the face of anarchy or rebellion–perseveres no matter how many times it fails him and his son and his grandsons. He's fully aware of the deep-seated corruption and atrocity, and feels some kind of moral obligation to bend its rules to protect the innocent (as we can see with his attempts to protect Rouge and Ace), but when faced with widespread femicide and infanticide, genocide, slavery and endless examples of egregious cruelty, he is unable to comprehend the notion that the system is indefensible, or that the only moral choice he can possibly make when faced with that level of atrocity is to leave and resist it. His son recognizing the inherent, inexcusable failures of the World Government and its armed enforcers–literally quitting the force to start a revolution– changes nothing. The order to slaughter pregnant people and infants at Baterilla can't convince him otherwise. The countless instances of bribery, the tolerance of atrocity from state-sanctioned privateers, everything about the history of the Valley of the Gods are all things he's aware of, and takes issue with, but never comes to the conclusion that he cannot affect positive change within a system designed for oppression. The public execution of his grandson–a prime example of the marine's fundamentally irrational, arrogant, vindictive cruelty clearly bound to blow up in all of their faces even before their Pyrrhic victory at the summit war–makes him waver, but even when confronted with this obvious, indefensible injustice against a child he raised and rescued by people seeking to murder him on live TV and desecrate his corpse as a show of power, he cannot bring himself to act against it in any meaningful way no matter how much it hurts him to leave his grandson to die. If he can't veto it, he'll stay Vice Admiral and suffer through Ace being sacrificed on the altar of fascist state control, and functionally leave Luffy for dead in the process while he's at it. He fails every single person he wanted to love–Ace, Luffy, and almost certainly Dragon–and allows himself to be reluctantly complicit in countless crimes against humanity again and again and again because he's so deeply steeped in this notion of preservation of order through state control that he convinces himself that even this disgusting, atrocious, fundamentally flawed and untenable excuse for a government is better than abolition, better than revolution, or just the act of expecting accountability or literally anything better from the systems that issue false promises to protect you. Dadan beating the living shit out of him and calling him a failure as a grandfather, as a self proclaimed defender of the people, is one of the most important scenes in the Postwar Arc because a lesser series might frame Garp as a tragic, helpless figure suffering more than anyone else due to conflict of love and duty, but One Piece refuses to whitewash his actions/inaction or allow the grief and suffering caused by systems he's complicit in to take precedence over its real victims: the D brothers.

There's so much I could say about statism and anarchism and the ways people have internalized the supposed necessity of state violence to the extent they can't oppose that violence even when it ruins them or their loved ones, but that horrible indoctrination and its devastating consequences for both him and his family are what makes Garp so fascinating to watch and so thematically/politically important to One Piece as a whole.

[whoishotteranimepolls]

In Defense of Nami and Robin (Off Anon for the pics)

So, yes, Oda's way of drawing women is...not great. But they are written beautifully, and to be fair, Toei (The anime) makes the design issue even worse than it is in the manga. (Also, the way in which they ugly cry is amazing, full snot, tears, wobbly lips, red face).

Nami and Robin are some of the best written, well rounded female characters I've seen. They have similar arcs, with tragic backstories that shaped how they see the world and affects their actions and relationships to others, and they have to learn to rely on others, and ask for help and put their trust in others. They are integral to the plot, Luffy will never be able to achieve his dream of being the Pirate King without them.

So first of all, Nami

Yes, this is probably the best picture of Nami's waist in the series, at least, post-time skip

Nami is the Navigator of the Strawhat Pirates, and an officer of the grand fleet. Unfortunately, the same face syndrome does start with her, a lot of the female characters will have her face. But design aesthetics aside, she is a wonder, complex, and dynamic character.

She was adopted by a marine women and raised on a tangerine farm with her older sister. They were poor, Nami always got her sister's hand-me-downs and their mom often skipped meals to make sure her girls had enough to eat. Nami, was an average 8 year old brat who did resent not having enough money to eat, or have clothes, or to buy navigation books like she wanted. But she was loved. So, of course, pirates attacked her village. They demanded a fine from each of the families in town based on adults and children in the household, and her mom was killed because she only had enough money for the girls. The same pirate, Arlong, made a deal with Nami, she could buy back her village for 100,000 belli, but in the meantime, she had to join his crew and work for him creating maps, where he preceded to work her until her fingers bled. She also became a thief and stole money from other pirates to add to the funds to buy her village back. This is where her catch phrase "I only love money and tangerines!" comes from. She intended to betray the Strawhats, but realized that they were the only people to ever show her love and kindness, and when Arlong betrayed her, she learned how to ask for help, to ease her burdens and rely on others when she needed it. Her scene where she was trying to cut her Arlong Pirate's tattoo off before asking Luffy for help remains one of the most profound moments in anime. While she was saved from Arlong, I wouldn't say she was necessarily a damsel in distress, she tried everything in her power, and part of her arc was accepting she didn't have to be alone. Luffy also never insisted on helping her because she was a weak girl or anything, he didn't care at all about her backstory, he just wanted to hurt whoever made her cry.

Apart of Nami's character is her love of money, desire to create maps and navigate the world, and how much she loves her friends/family and is willing to sacrifice for them, as well as the amount of forgiveness and kindness she is capable of and her love for children. She forgave one of the pirates that kept her as a slave, and when his friend, Camie, was almost sold into slavery, Nami didn't hesitate to spend all the money they had to buy her freedom. She discovered children were being experimented on by a crazy scientist and nearly went scorched earth.

When Nami came face to face with an enemy she couldn't beat, despite being a coward and thinking of herself as weak, she didn't back down because she refused to dismiss her captain. She showed incredible bravery and integrity, refusing to lie and break her ideals.

But she can also hold her own as well, she doesn't always lose or need to be rescued. She fights with a Clima-Tact, a weapon that allows her to summon lightning and use weather phenomena to her advantage. She beat Kalifa, a government assassin, Miss-Double-Finger, one of the strongest assassins in Baroque Works, Hotori and Kotori, and various other pirates. She also is particularly agile and has pretty high endurance. (Bonus points, in an anime filler arc, she is the first character with on-screen confirmed kill)

She also is a very skilled navigator, thief, liar, can predict weather phenomenon, maintains the crew's money and budget, a con artist, and cartography (including sea charts which are very difficult). She loves fashion, money, shopping, and is vain. She also somehow maintains her mom's tangerine trees while on a sailing ship.

The fandom widely considered her to be a lesbian, but of course that is only coding/head canons. But she has had very close relationships to other women in the series, including Vivi, and has expressed that she "has a soft spot for strong marine women."

Nico Robin

Her introduction to the series was strong, as she is one of the strongest members of the enemy faction Baroque Works. She was a serious threat, managing to infiltrate the Strawhat's ship and steal Luffy's hat and living to tell the tale, but she was also very mysterious and compelling. Despite being an enemy, she saved Luffy's life, and expressed amusement over his antics. When she tried to commit suicide in the tombs below Alabasta, after betraying her boss, Luffy saved her life, despite her protests. In return, she snuck back onto his ship and made herself his problem.

Like Nami, she has a tragic past that cause her profound trauma, sadness, a distrust in others, but ultimately, she found hope in the Strawhat pirates, and in Luffy, learning how to rely on them, and in return, being relied on. She can ask for help from them, but they ask for help from her as well.

When she was a child, her mother left to sail the seas and become an archaeologist. She was outcasted by her aunt, and her village, but she was accepted by the scholars who lived on her island. The island's name was Ohara. Against the other archaeologists wishes, she learned how to read the mysterious poneglyphs because she wanted to learn the true history of the world. Her first friend was a giant who washed up on the island and taught her how to laugh. But the World Government outlawed the language of the poneglyphs and learning about the true history. And so, they wiped her island clean off the map in an act called a Buster Call, and every single person but Robin was died. Desperate to capture her, they placed a 79,000,000 bounty on her head when she was only 8 years old, dubbed her a "devil child" and claimed she destroyed several marine battleships. For nearly 20 years she ran from organization to organization, only for all of them to betray her and try and turn her in.

While sailing with Luffy, it was the happiest she had ever been. Despite being an enemy just weeks earlier, they accepted her. Even when she was injured by another enemy, Zoro was pissed on her behalf. SO when the World Government finally caught up with her and blackmailed her into helping them while threatening to enact a Buster Call on the Strawhats (and an innocent island) she agreed to go along with them, even trying to sacrifice her own life so that the Strawhats can escape.

Of course, Luffy declared war on the Government and made Robin admit she didn't want to die, she wanted to live.

Robin is smart, capable, caring, funny, and strong. She just wants to learn history and have a family, and she suffered for years before she was finally able to be free enough to do so. She is a strong fighter because she had to be, and she is completely willing to became a monster and protect her friends. She hasn't been in many fights, but she won all of the ones she was in. She wasn't fooled by mind games and magic of enemies in Wano, and kept a calm and collected head. She is a skilled historian, archaeologist, osteologists, assassin, espionage, linguistics, and was a popular geisha. For most of the series she held the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, highest bounties in the crew. When an enemy threatened the crew, a different enemy pointed out that, (at least, With Luffy not there) Zoro and Robin were labeled as the strongest and most threatening members of the crew, capable of killing an enemy before the rest of the crew were even aware of the threat. Oh, and she has a demon form.

Other Female Characters: Kiku/O-Kiku/Kikunojo of the Fallen Snow

A canonical transgender women who is also a samurai. She is completely accepted for who she is by everyone in the story, and is another strong and capable female character. She is shy and tries to keep a low profile (despite being 8 feet tall), but is more than willing to defend the weak and win back her home island.

The original ask mentioned healers, and there isn't a whole lot of female doctors/healers in One Piece but there is Dr. Kureha. Kureha is the oldest human character, wears crop tops in winter, and will beat Luffy with a rubber chicken and an axe for calling her old. She taught Chopper everything he knows. She is crotchety and stingy, but an amazing doctor and a professional.

Boa Hancock:

Yes she is the most beautiful woman in the world, and yes, her design leaves some to be desired. But she is also a rape victim and a former slave, she hates men, and runs an empire of female pirates. She shows kindness to Luffy once he establishes he holds no sexual desire for her and wanted so save the lives of people he just met.

Other Notable Female Designs

The first mermaid we meet is Kokoro:

Dadan is Luffy's adopted mom who raised 3 feral boys and is the leader of a band of mountain bandits:

Big Mom is one of the strongest female pirates in the series and has dozens of children:

Vice Admiral Tsuru is one of the strongest female marines:

Boa Sandersonia and Marigold, Hancock's sister with the same backstory :

Lola, one of Nami's friends:

Other Gender Stuff:

Ivankov and Inazuma who are genderfluid, and Ivankov is the Queen of an island of queer people

Bonclay who is genderqueer, refered to as both male and female

And Morley who is also transfem

Despite the character designs, One Piece has some of the best written female characters, even if at first glance they may seem like stereotypical shonen women, they hold much more complexity to them. They aren't all damsels in distress, but their strength goes beyond just being able to kick ass. They are kind and compassionate, and they kindness are rarely seen as a weakness. They are smart and experts in their fields of study, which is wide and varied, from history, cartography, science, and medicine. There are several female rulers of their countries, including Hancock, Vivi, and Big Mom. There is a variety of body types and faces, even if they are lacking in compared to male characters. All of their backstories are unique, fleshed out, and has an impact on their characters and their character arcs.

Did I spend two hours typing a 2000+ word essay on women and started to lose steam? Yes. Am I passionate about female characters in One Piece? Also yes. Can you tell I'm very gay for these characters? Probably. Am I sorry to the mod/followers for the long post? Eh, y'all asked for this lmao. Did I catch all the spelling mistakes in my frantically written essay. Maybe

For context, they are responding to this post about Nami and Robin

I don't have anything else to add other than great work

[l-in-the-light]

The most embarrassing series of posts about Lawlu you will ever read: edition Dressrosa (part 6)

Two long posts in one day?? I guess I really wanted to get into "carrying Law like a bag of treasure" mini-arc that badly haha. Love is a hurricane so let's go!

Luffy's back to his "I don't have time for this" antics. He wants to save Torao, there's no time to be idle or to waste, alright!

Luffy's done with being patient and sticking to plans. He was interested in his life to stick to only one plan anyway, which he believes is shattered now. Too bad, Viola. You're just not Law.

Luffy has enough of waiting! Faster, faster! And again, not interested in any other plans, unless they're Law's. (yes, he asks about the plan, but only to complain. He's not gonna listen)

Torao's fine! Luffy looks really happy and he calmed down a bit and does he have a slight blush here or what lol. But like I told you all, he's not interested in listening to plans and idling around. He wants to go, go, go and he isn't even trying to understand what they're waiting for. This is the Luffy we all know, the "before Law" Luffy lol.

To understand why Law says that the alliance is finished, we need to rewind to his fight with Doflamingo. He said that to protect the Strawhats. In case Law gets captured and loses (and he expected to be defeated), cutting his ties with Strawhats should make them all leave the country, right? After all they will have no more business here because the whole alliance was focused on Law's plan, and once that is no longer their business, in Law's mind it means they will leave. After all that's what pirates do. They don't care about countries, old allies etc.

I mean, if it was anyone else than Strawhats, Law would be right, wouldn't he? He just didn't know them well enough yet at this point. He probably thought saving kids at Punk Hazard was just a whim on their part, a precedence, and normally they would only do such things for their friends. And Law isn't their friend, neither is anyone in Dressrosa.

Luffy: Omg Law I missed you so much!

Law: Not this again!

Luffy wastes no time anymore and is so, so happy to be able to rescue Law it's unreal. Meanwhile Law tries to push him away, shocked that he's here.

He tries three different tactics to push Luffy away: 1. You were supposed to take care of the factory, did you do it already? 2. The alliance is no more, scram from here 3. If you rescue me, I will be your enemy!

This is probably The Moment when Trafalgar Law realized Luffy treats him as a friend, someone to risk your life for to help. Law isn't having any of that. Luffy risks his life for friends, and Law wants the exact opposite: protect him no matter what. Those two desires clash here.

Luffy almost fell for it, to be fair. But then decides he will rescue Law no matter what he's saying. He did the same for Ace in Marineford, despite Ace screaming this is not his business, so why would Law's words stop him now?

I love how Luffy calls Law selfish. I mean, he's kinda right about it. Law doesn't take into account Luffy's feelings here. And Luffy also doesn't take Law's feelings into account here. It's a battle of who will rescue the other, lol. They're so hopeless, I swear...

Law's last attempt gets completely ignored. He again is dragged into Luffy's pace here and he knows it. He lost to Luffy, again. Hence why he will allow himself to "get saved" from this moment on, which I think makes Luffy actually happy - after all Ace didn't allow himself to be saved.

And yes, the "I'll kill you" is a lie. All things Ace said at Marineford to keep Luffy away were also lies. Those are all hints for us to connect the dots here. Not that anyone believed Law here anyway lol. There's just no way he would actually harm Luffy after trying to protect him for freaking two arcs now. But he would and will say just about anything, if it has even a slight chance of pushing Luffy away.

Now we have to address the elephant in the room. Does it all mean that Trafalgar Law was suicidal and actually expected Luffy to leave him to die? Well, yes and no. Yes, because he does care for Luffy more than he cares for himself, for multiple reasons (low self-esteem might be one of them actually). Let's not forget Luffy is the life he saved in Marineford. Saving lives means everything to Law.

No, because did you notice Viola magically spawned a key to Law's cuffs? Did you notice how prepared she was in this whole arc, even handing Sanji a map to secret factory, almost like she knew that's exactly the thing they're missing in their plan? Well. I think Law lied and did visit Dressrosa before. And made Viola his secret ally, a great chess piece on the board that's capable of making her own decisions and prepared in case Law needs a backup plan (remember fake cuffs in Punk Hazard? It's the same logic applied here. Law always covers ways to recover from precarious situations/possible emergencies/mistakes). In other words, getting captured by Mingo and rescued with help of his ally, was a part of his backup plan. Yes, he planned his own capture, you heard me right. It wasn't his plan A. Just a backup plan B or C.

You're welcome if that turned your understanding of Dressrosa's plot upside down. I'm always happy to deliver! Oh if you only knew how much of Law's plan was probably obscured from us. Because I don't think Viola is his only secret ally. Ofc you're free not to believe it and just accept the old truth fandom believes in, which is Law being a selfish suicidal idiot. Let's move on for now!

Important to remember: this is Law's narration here. After all he's the only one in this group that knows what Doffy's birdcage is, having experienced it before. He has a clear PTSD moment about it and speaks his actual mind here. Which is him being terrified that innocent people will die, all because Law's plan went to shit. He's most likely already blaming himself for that. This is definitely not the result he wanted, which might be one more reason why his original plan was so indirect in dethroning Doflamingo. He was hoping to avoid stuff like this.

Luffy taking care of Law's sword <3 Busy talking with Zoro over some stuff, meanwhile Law pays attention to Doffy's broadcast, because Luffy doesn't. Those two really fill each other's blank spots, and they do so naturally.

First time Law hears that Luffy is now after Doflamingo. He reacts to it, trying to make Luffy understand that it's a dangerous decision, assuming Luffy is just swayed by emotions.

And their wishes clash again. Law tells Luffy it's better to give it up and scramble. Law no longer tries to push Luffy away, he realizes he lost that battle already. But he's still not giving up on keeping Luffy safe. Ironic, considering he's practically helpless and cuffed here (but the key to the cuffs should be nearby). Just moments ago he clearly regretted the fact innocent people got dragged into this deadly game, but here he is trying to downplay it and even disregard it as not important.

Luffy's not having any of that. Either he heard his regret before and connected the dots, or he still deeply believes Law to be a good person. He expects him to want to help this country too. If Luffy doesn't doubt Law even once, no matter what Law has to say about it, why should we? Luffy's usually the best at reading people, their emotions and judging if they're good people or not. I definitely trust him when he calls someone a good person, and i think you all should as well.

What Luffy and Law are actually communicating here is this:

Law: "This is going too far, we should stop. We might lose our lives here" (as in: I don't want you to lose your life here).

Luffy: "This is no time to be worrying about that! We're already dragged in this!" Or even... "I'm not letting you give up everything just to protect my life! I will carry your wish to save Dressrosa!" (but I doubt Law understands it this way)

Of course Law is taken aback here. He doesn't understand why Luffy is so attached to this country already or why he made his final decision already (and we might also question it with him, because we saw how Luffy respected the plan before! Not even Rebecca or fake peace could sway him! And Law apparently was more aware of it than we expected him to be). It was less than a day. He will find out eventually though, because it will keep bugging him and be constantly on his mind, hence his immediate reaction:

And now he finally gets it. Yep, it was because of food. And it will be because of food again in Wano. It's not the full reason, but oh god it is hilarious. Neverending cycle of suffering for Law continues on.

I guess Luffy's deep interest in Law is reciprocated after all. Law is also unusually interested in things concerning Luffy and stuff about Luffy seems to be always on Law's mind.

Law already knows what's gonna happen, just by hearing "the direct one!!" answer. He still is in disbelief.

Neverneding cycle of suffering. No wonder he becomes a zen monk by Wano.

And it continues. He clearly doesn't enjoy the freestyle jumping off the cliff while being at someone else's mercy or being tossed around. Luckily for him, Luffy holds him tight.

Considering how he was just so heavily manhandled, you can't hold it against Law here that he's kinda petty. Also Luffy's panic is adorable, he's like "oh no, I totally messed it up" which he usually wouldn't care much about, but now he's literally carrying Law with him, so it's no longer about his own safety (he doesn't care) but Law's (he cares about that a lot). And can I just point out since Luffy grabbed Law he never lets him go anymore? Yeah, he loses him occassionally, but never lets Zoro carry him even for a second. Nope, Luffy's gonna carry his own treasure the whole way all up to Mingo's castle and no one's gonna put hands on it!

And I believe this to be the reason. Luffy knows that the whole Doflamingo's Family got a beef with Law, but also normal citizens would be trying to get Law, and Law is still wearing seastone cuffs so can't do much. So Luffy takes it upon himself to take care of him now! And he's so overprotective he won't let anyone else do that!

And again, it's mutual. Law, despite his position, will still fret over Luffy's wellbeing all the time. My god, can they just stop being so obvious? Worry for yourself for once, Law!

He worries and worries some more and doesn't even complain when he lands face first on the ground.

Special mention for Luffy caring about innocent people, because this proves to Law that Luffy actually does care deeply about things like that! By Wano Law will accept it as the truth and Luffy's general MO.

I wonder how it felt when Luffy laughed while holding Law on his arm like that. Law must have felt him laughing through the vibrations in his own body. It's just... so casually intimate between them. Of course Law doesn't miss the chance to actually scold them both, because they do attract unneccessary troubles on them and they're already in bad spot. Law's worrying never ends!

I just wanna point it out: Luffy is falling here, but he still holds Law close, refusing to let him go.

This is here just so you can also stare at both of them lying down at the same time, because that's so rare, whenever Luffy's not on guard, Law usually is, but not here. Here they're just both little sheeps and Zoro has to step up his game instead. Maybe on some subconscious level, Law actually feels safe when Luffy carries him, because he felt safe when Corazon carried him forever ago as well.

I just love how Luffy realizes what Cavendish is up to and rescues Law. And there we go, the infamous "crewmate" debate. Let's start with Luffy. Many people assume Luffy just lied here to protect Torao, because that's the easiest option. But it doesn't take into account Luffy's personality. Luffy never jokes about crewmate's status and if he calls you one, he actually means it (yes, I do believe he tried to seriously recruit zombie tree and Kinemon's legs. He was so deeply disappointed when he found out Kin's legs aren't a seperate entity!). Luffy means every word he said here and he only voices it outloud exactly because it will help keep Cavendish away from Law. And it's not the first time the "nakama" thing is hinted at:

He says it here as well. "My crew's life is more important than flame-flame fruit". But at this point none of the Strawhats is in any immediate danger. Law though, is, indeed.

But when did Luffy start to think of Law as his crewmate? Punk Hazard? Dressrosa after he saw Law being shot? Well, my personal bet is right after Marineford. Because by rescuing him Law proved to Luffy he's a good person. And that's all Luffy needs to want someone as a crewmate. It does help though that he saw Law fight and must consider him really strong.

There's one interesting thing here though. Usually when Luffy declares someone his crewmate/nakama, he would pursue them no matter what. But in Law's case, he just... waits. Seems he wants Law to be the one to make the final decision, and until he does, Luffy will wait for him forever. You think I'm reaching? Watch till we get to Wano haha.

Funny thing is, Zoro caught up on that before Luffy even put it into words. Let's remind ourselves of Zoro's sword languague in Water 7 for a moment:

He explains he doesn't pick sides and he draws his sword a bit and closes it again ("clicking" it) to make the point. He also gives his friends a choice: they need to decide now whether Robin is an enemy or a crewmate (original uses the nakama word). Now fast forward to Dressrosa:

Zoro does the same gesture from Water 7 and it's meant for Law. He's telling him basically the same message here "choose your side, are you with us (nakama) or against us (enemy)." It's right after Luffy and Law quarrel about fleeing or staying and helping the country. Law is also a swordsman, he most likely understood the message, hence his shocked reaction, because he was faced with an ultimatum from Luffy's wingman.

And what's Law's stance on it? He clearly refused there, right? "I'm not!" but that was before he was ready to give his actual answer, so of course he would be mad, he semi-expected this is Luffy deciding things for him. He realizes just a moment later that it's actually not the case and why Luffy said it, hence he shuts up. He shares his final decision only after Zoro leaves to fight Pica and I bet you anything it was on purpose, he was avoiding giving his actual answer in front of the other. Maybe he just thinks Zoro's crazy and might indeed treat him as an enemy as the result... or maybe, just maybe, he is actually torn. I mean, he's allowed to feel confused, he just evolved from a friend to a crewmate in a matter of one hour or less.

Law's hat is on and so is Luffy's, at the exact same time. Shared solidarity <3

Law isn't often taken aback by Luffy, but here he is. I guess it's the first time he sees Luffy so stupidly stubborn over something and the realization hits him like a truck. Yes, Law, Luffy can be just as stubbornly petty as you, are you up for the competition? Seeing your face I would assume that's a "no" haha. He might later on.

Law: Too close! (he's making a very uncomfortable expression and Jeef is leaning all over him).

Luffy: Hands off and get off!!

It looks like Luffy wants to protect Law, but actually I think he's just trying to literally push the guy off so he can win the petty competition of who reaches Doffy first. I'm sure Law appreciated Luffy pushing the guy off.

But it can be also because Luffy wanted Jeef and Abdullah to get away from his treasure that he tugged on Moocy right behind himself lol.

Should we ask ourselves another question? Why is Law allowing himself to be handled this way? There are actually multiple possible reasons for that: 1. He decided that no matter what Luffy wants he will tag along with it, there's no way he's leaving Luffy alone to face Mingo 2. He actually likes being carried around (we have Corazon to thank for that) 3. He's actually too weak in those cuffs to get himself to that palace. Which would explain why he doesn't even try to sit up while on Moocy or why his guard wasn't on around Cavendish, normally he wouldn't allow himself a mistake like that, no matter how much Luffy manhandled him. Though like I said before, I don't exclude "trust" as the partial reason as well. I just don't think it would be enough to make Law stop fretting and worrying.

The love adventures of Luffy carrying Law around will continue in next part!

[antianakin]

@theneutralmime

I generally don't think that Obi-Wan's presence would've changed anything for Anakin, but it might depend on where he ends up during the attack on Palpatine.

If he goes with Mace and the other three to arrest Palpatine, it allows for one other person to be fighting him as an obstacle. For the sake of argument, let's say that he ISN'T one of the ones who immediately dies and so Palpatine then is facing TWO people instead of one and once Mace gets him to the point where he's deflecting lightning, it opens up an opportunity for Obi-Wan to maybe strike him while he's distracted before Anakin can even get to the office.

If he ends up staying with Anakin at the Temple instead, he has a chance to perhaps try to talk Anakin down from going to Palpatine's office. If that doesn't succeed, he can slow Anakin down which gives Mace a chance to finish Palpatine off before Anakin can get there. We do see Obi-Wan succeed at talking Anakin off a ledge during AOTC when Padme's life is in danger, so there's a precedent for his success here, but if we take TCW into account then we see Obi-Wan have less and less success at this over the years. When the Rush Clovis 2.0 arc is happening, Obi-Wan goes to talk to Anakin about it and utterly fails to reach Anakin in any meaningful way. After Ahsoka leaves, it looks like Obi-Wan has even less ability to calm Anakin down than before. Obi-Wan also talks to him about the Palpatine situation after the scene with the Council in ROTS and, while Anakin doesn't relent in the moment, he does sort-of apologize later (he mostly apologizes for embarrassing Obi-Wan and doesn't seem to have actually changed his opinion on the Council or its choices at all, so it's a mostly meaningless apology in my opinion and doesn't show that Obi-Wan was able to actually get through to Anakin in a way that matters). So while it's POSSIBLE Obi-Wan might be able to talk Anakin out of going to rescue Palpatine while they're still at the Temple, the chances are pretty small.

If we get to the point where Anakin is ALREADY IN PALPATINE'S OFFICE and Palpatine is still alive and Obi-Wan is having to try to convince him to let Palpatine die there, I don't think there's a chance in hell that he succeeds. By the time Anakin makes it to Palpatine's office, he's made his choice. If the Jedi won't be convinced into letting Palpatine live, Anakin is committed to stopping them by force because he CANNOT live without Padme and he believes Palpatine is the only person who can help him save her. Again, the best thing Obi-Wan is likely going to be able to do here is probably be a physical obstacle in Anakin's way, giving Mace a chance to finish off Palpatine before Anakin can chop his arm off.

[jane-lynndrake-t]

Hi! I am Janet Lynn Drake, but I prefer Jan or Jane!

It’s been a wild couple weeks! Not every day you wake up as a 43 year old and realizing you don’t remember the last 20 years!

Things I’ve learned so far:

I got married???

I have a son???

Assassins are involved???

I died????

Welp. I guess there’s a heck of a lot to learn, huh.

This is an rp blog for Janet Drake from DC Comics

Synopsis: Janet Drake has been dead for 4 years. She and her husband was kidnapped, ransomed and poisoned right when they were rescued. She did not survive. 4 years after her death she woke up in a pseudo hospital and quickly realized her need to escape. Now, she needs your help to puzzle back pieces of her life while sharing her own thoughts and feelings with you!

Ask questions! Help Miss Drake in solving some mysteries!

This is my first time making an rp blog so apologies in advance.

House Rules, General Questions, and a Masterlist ahead!

House rules:

Do not repost.

Do not feed into ai.

Keep questions sfw pls

This blog was created to be a chill creative space so please don’t bring in real life tragedies into it

No batcest im begging

I probably won't respond to asks about shipping thoughts in general, sorry! (There will be an exploration about Jan and Jack’s marriage)

Masterlist

Hospital arc (the prologue)

Homeward arc (current arc)

Questions:

Who's Janet Drake?

The stepping stone in the rite of passage of becoming a hero. And yet, not enough to even be a fridged character.

A mother to a boy, but not a hero.

What is the interpretation for her character?

More canon aligned.

How did she die?

Same as canon!

What does she remember last????

She'd love to answer that question herself ;)

answered!

Does she remember death?

Kinda!

Almost!

Yeah!

AND why Jane/Jan?????

Bc the rest of the drakes have shortened nicknames. Theres a precedent and it should be FOLLOWED

Are you including OCs?

Yes. Because to be a full fledged character she needs to have outward influences from before she met Jack and before she had Tim. I want to make her more than just what’s written on her tombstone. She was once also a daughter, a sister, a hero (not in the dc way but more like in the normal way) and a friend. You can’t make her those things if she doesn’t have other people as well.

Where are we in the plot right now?

After escaping her captors, she, Owens, and Z are trying to make it back to Gotham without any of their previous contacts. Meaning theyre starting from the ground up. She has just learned of her death, her husband, and her son.

Bruh, why do this??????

Because Miss Drake deserves better 😭 bestie deserves an actual character and interests so I wanted to see what vibes with her. Also I'm more motivated to practice drawing if I have a reason in mind.

Yes, this is also to help me out in improving my art, haaaaaaaaa

Can I send OOC asks?

Absolutely!

[princess-of-the-corner]

As of today, if you had a nickel for all the times Joan of Arc was shown as a magical girl you'd have four, as far I know:

Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne: a 1998 manga with anime adaptation, it features Joan's reincarnation in the modern day on a mission from God, stealing magical chess pieces to foil the devil's plan.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: the final episode of the original series, aired in 2011, shows Joan on the pyre as one of the magical girls rescued by Madoka. The manga Puella Magi Tart Magica (with the name Tart being taken from the original spelling of her name, Jehanne Tart) was eventually made, detailing her story and ending with Joan on the pyre as Madoka is coming for her.

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir: Joan first shows up in the season 1 finale, with her image appearing on a stained glass window facing a goddamn' dragon. The actual Joan gets time displaced and briefly meets Marinette in "Ephemeral", and her ghost is summoned in "Reunion".

Giovanna Pulzella: a song from Italian parody band Bardomagno released on October 25 2024, the video shows her going from a "normal" maiden that hears the voice of God into a warrior as a magical girl transformation that gives her armor and a new haircut.

Now, how historically accurate are they?

Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne: Not in the slightest. They took the bare bones of Jeanne's tale and adapted it to a phantom thief story, throwing the magical girl thing in to make it work and going utterly against the actual history while accidentally getting the medieval Catholic idea of purity of a woman right.

PMMM: Extremely accurate down to her haircut (though incorrectly showing her as a blonde), and featuring a lot of historical character in the proper time and action with a single exception justified by virtue of being Perenelle Flamel (that is someone said by folk tales to be immortal), though with a few poetic licenses due the magical girl setting. Especially notable her banner (preserved after her capture but destroyed during the French Revolution), based on historical descriptions except for Kyubey (that Joan thinks is an angel) replacing Jesus, prompting those who see it to comment on how ugly it is (and explaining why descriptions differ), and her reaction of awe to a Soul Gem (by Catholic doctrine the body is merely a container of the soul, so being suddenly able to TOUCH her soul is taken as proof of the Incubator's divine power).

Miraculous: mixed bag, and irritating. For starters it's the only time they presented her with her historical black hair, if with a cut contrary to descriptions preceding her prisony. In "Ephemeral" she calls for Bertrand de Poulengy, a French knight historically known only for being her follower from BEFORE meeting the Dauphine Charles to her rehabilitation trial, only to follow it up with her attacking with her sword when her own testimony at the heresy trial, confirmed by witnesses at the rehabilitation trail, explain she never used the sword in combat, only as decoration and to chase prostitutes out of the camp (and breaking one on the back of one of the prostitutes). And in "Reunion" her ghost (by some accident identical to how ghosts were seen in the Middle Ages, as an image of the soul of a defunct left in the world to help the living or made by the devil to tempt them) shows her famous temper and references how the French throne was in fact vacant from the death of Charles VI in 1422 to the anointment and coronation of Charles VII in 1431 (long story short one could truly be King of France through the coronation in Reims and needed to be a knight for it, but the city was in English hands until retaken by Joan and Henry V was below the minimum knighthood age), only for her devotion to God (great enough she was eventually made Saint Joan) to go unmentioned and her devotion to France being ignored for a trite romantic plot that included Charles VII and Henry V being presented as warmongers prolonging the war for their own ambition IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION TO INFORMATIONS SHE HAD MENTIONED EARLIER IN THE EPISODE (when she was asked who was King of France in 1423 and she started explaining why the answer was "no one").

Giovanna Pulzella: Quite accurate except for the jokes (it's a parody band, after all), as expected by Bardomagno, whose members are all history buffs. Just don't ask why Charles VII is shown as looking like the main character from the old manga Kaibutsu-kun, that's one pun for older Italians that would make Chat Noir groan.

And if you ask me, when the magical girl manga and the parody band that are both taking artistic licenses make a better job representing Saint Joan than the guy who supposedly is a fan of the Maiden of Orleans, one has the right to be angry.

It's a bit of a mess

[genichisojo]

Kagurabachi's Popularity: Familiarity Through Structure

Having a degree in writing and media is so fun because I can write an essay on why Kagurabachi can be defined as well written through craft standards and attribute its popularity overseas to its structure, which is framed similarly to western movies.

And I am!

After this interview confirmed that Takeru Hokazono, author of Kagurabachi, is a huge fan of western films, I went back to this idea I was playing with in October when KB had less than ten chapters. I had been reading since day one, and I knew it was good, and other overseas fan knew it was good. But what made it so good to us, overseas?

I made a quick thread on it on my Twitter account (that I never posted) where I mentioned Blake Snyder's Save the Cat book on script writing and story structure. I also brought up characterization and how it would've been really popular in my comic book class from undergrad. This thread discussed both Chihiro and Sojo, and the quick yet steady pace of the manga has given us more characters and moments to pinpoint. To not overwhelm myself, I'm not going to discuss the craft of characterization (maybe another time), and I'm not going to do a beat sheet for Sojo. For now, I'll try to stay under the first arc to map out why Kagurabachi has so far moved like a high budget film in manga form. So, spoilers ahead!

A quick lesson on Save the Cat, its three main characteristics are: Three act structure Fifteen plot beats Mostly applied to American Hollywood films

One of the biggest things I noticed right away was the resemblance a lot of the chapters, even the story as a whole, had to Snyder's beat sheet. This beat sheet that comes from Snyder's book is somewhat of an industry standard, so a lot of movies, even those that preceded Snyder, go through this structure of Act 1, 2, and 3. Snyder just identified the parts and broke them down to fifteen beats. Plus he dubbed the save the cat moment:

A decisive moment in which a protagonist demonstrates they are worth rooting for. Having the protagonist save a cat can be literal or figurative.

This was something KB needed and did have to have us warm up to Chihiro who post time skip, just gave gloomy orphan energy in the previous chapters. Here, Char would be our cat. Chihiro chose to save Char and chose to protect her, and continued to fight for her until she was rescued. He made this choice even before it's revealed that Char's mother died for her, something that would parallel Chihiro. This is what got readers to see him three dimensionally after being introduced to him. He's still the caring little 14 year old we saw at the start, who continues to take care of the innocent despite the tragedy he's been through. It is only natural for us to care for him, too.

Above are the fifteen beats of Save the Cat and although KB on occasion doesn't hit all fifteen exactly as specified, especially final image as it's continuing, the song and dance is quite similar. Here are examples of The Dark Knight (2008) and Inglourious Basterds (2009), two movies that have inspired Hokazono's work.

Before Chihiro meets Char, we get his opening image of him and his dad forging which is works well as the entire story revolves on the consequences of them creating weapons. We get the set up to his world where he lives with his dad who made famous katanas that wield the power to end a war. The theme is stated, and it's not kept a secret: The katanas they make are weapons made to kill people. Are they willing to carry the burden? In another variation of this question, is Chihiro willing to carry the burdens unintentionally passed down by his father?

The catalyst is his father's murder that catapults him into seeking revenge and recover the katanas.

Now, for the rest of the story, this structure can be applied to the first 18 chapters or even 1-3 chapters at a time which in my opinion, is kind of insane. There's story telling inside the story telling, and these moments are both subtle and grand, signs of a strong and captivating writer. Hollywood would kill for a script like this these days. In order to get you to believe me how prominent these beats are, I'm going to do arc one and Daruma's story. The main story line should be around act one and two right now as of chapter 20, if we want to get down into it, but if anything, this feels like it's moving like a second "movie."

Overall, this structure that comes from Hollywood movies can be identified in multiples parts of Kagurbachi's storytelling. I was going to do beat sheet's for Char and Sojo's stories as well, but I think this is enough of an example of a bigger picture versus smaller. Although other mangas also fall into three act structures, as most story telling does, KB masterfully uses the 15 beats to its advantage. I believe the familiarity of this pace is what hooked oversea audiences, and aside from that, the characters that quickly capture us.

Very quickly, because I don't want to make this about characterization, Chihiro is well written through his past, who he chooses to kill and save, his dialogue that can be surprisingly vulnerable at times, and his cool façade that melts because of how hot he truly runs. He is also straight up a badass. We get handed Char's background in an "all is lost" segment as well as some lore that can present her as a resource for the main cast. We see Azami's phone background photo that's minimum 3+ years old- a government employee with a soft spot for his friends, one who he is still clearly grieving. We get one tiny yet so fucked up bit of Sojo when we see him get a flashback where he's a child and his single dialogue of "I truly love Kunishige Rokuhira," that launched his type of villainy in the maniacal fanboy category. Who does it like that? Nobody but Takeru Hokazono.

Thank you for reading this essay! I do have two other essays drafted, one on Sojo's possible return (I'm a delusional Sojo fan) and just his overall significance and impact as the first villain even if he doesn't return, and on Hiyuki plus servant leadership versus self service.

[slady-ao3]

Let’s hear your top favorite Leo and Raph moments it can be for any iteration. Let’s make challenging one from each iteration lol then we can do some sweet Donnie x mikey moments XD

Top favorite Leo and Raph moments from each iteration? Gotcha!

(Maybe not 'top' per se, but I'll mention some significant ones.)

'87: (Disclaimer- I need to watch the entire series, so this is limited.)

Off the top of my head, I'd say it's S2E1 when Raphael called Leonardo "Fearless Leader" for the first time. Technically, Michelangelo referred to him as "o fearless leader" first but Raphael kept it going so this set a precedent. This same episode is when Leo starts dealing with the seriousness of responsibility.

90s: Leo's vigil over Raph during his coma and the moment he woke up. Leo is anxious and Raph is calm, seeing them balance each other even with their usual temperament was touching.

2k3: I've only watched the series fully once and there are so many good moments of connectivity, but a powerful time was during Leo's PTSD arc in Season 4. Everyone in the family were stressed out because the calm one wasn't at peace, but none more than Raph. There were so many comments from others about how Leo was acting like Raph, to the point Raph finally tried to "have words about this attitude" of Leo acting like Raph. (So similar to my 90s moment of the two balancing each other by alternating their normal personalities.)

2007: As much as I and most everyone else were like, "what the heck was THAT?" about the rooftop fight, my top moment was Raph rescuing Leo. When Raph handed him the set of swords saying he will need these only for Leo to turn to him and reply that he needs him too... again, similar to my 90s moment of the two when Leo was telling Raph how he needs him.

2012: So many good moments here, from the little hand thing they do in S1E4 during the whole A-team vs B-team episode to all the times Raph apologizes to Leo... but my top is when they flipped my favorite 90s moment (hmm starting to think this was a pivotal scene for me). Like when I say I was just absolutely ecstatic at the throwback... I was absolutely ecstatic! Since they condensed three months into less than three minutes, reading fanfics on insight into that time is one of my favorite tropes.

2014/2016 (Bay): Two moments tie. One, when Raph threatens one day he will leave and Leo has to reassure the younger two that he isn't going anywhere and just glares at him- it makes me laugh. Second, when Raph finds all three of them in the lab and only calls out to Leo- it makes me smile.

2018/Rise: During the movie, Leo's apology to Raph. During the series, is much harder because they have so many cute moments so here's my top three:

3) Leo calling Raph 'Big Daddy' during "Clothes Don't Make the Turtle" - it literally made my jaw drop.

2) Leo saying he's been on "Team Raph" this whole time and Raph smiles giving him a fist bump replying, "My turtle! Member since day one." (One Man's Junk)

1) Pretty much the entire "Down with the Sickness" episode- from watching Raph play DDR while Leo is distracting him to the way Leo babbles encouragement up to the ending when Leo ruins things rushing to give Raph a hug after calling him "my little Raph-a-doodle!" I literally watch this every time I'm sick because it cheers me up!

>>"Raphael, I love you, my brother, but you do tend to fail in big moments. Pishposh! But that’s what makes you, you! Now bring it in, buddy! I’m gonna hug you till a smile comes out!"<<

[nikibogwater]

Aight, y’all know the deal by now. I’m someone who takes stories way more seriously than I’m probably supposed to. I revel in a good emotional shake-down brought on by an epic tale. Time to put on my Sentimental Goggles and really dig into this latest Zelda game, and see if I can explain why I feel it has the darkest and hardest-hitting story of any in the series so far. TotK Spoilers begin below the cut. 

To start, we must acknowledge the precedent set by Breath of the Wild. BotW, despite being set in a post-apocalyptic wilderness teetering on the brink of destruction, is very much a story about hope. Zelda even says as much during the game’s opening: “You are the light--our light--that must shine upon Hyrule once again.” In the midst of a devastating catastrophe, one little seed of hope survived--Link. BotW follows this little seed as it at last blossoms into a force that is powerful enough to defeat the Calamity and put Hyrule back to rights. It’s a pretty straightforward and feel-good plot, even if it does have its fair share of bittersweet elements.

The thing that makes Tears of the Kingdom so effectively dark is that it begins by mercilessly ripping away that sense of hope that was a constant in its predecessor. Everything Link and Zelda fought for is undone in an instant. Hyrule is in even greater peril than before. This is no longer a tale of a budding seed of hope, it’s a frantic, desperate scramble to preserve what little remains of their world. 

Throughout much of this story, Link’s biggest motivation is reuniting with Zelda. While he serves as a light for Hyrule as a whole, Zelda has always been a light for him, and for us as the players. I don’t think it’s too much of a controversial statement to say that BotW’s iteration of Princess Zelda is the most well-developed in the series to date. Zelda has always been the heart and soul of the series, but this is especially true for BotW because she is no longer just Link’s partner in destiny or childhood friend. She is a fully-realized protagonist with a character arc that endears her to us as the players. She isn’t just important to Link, or to Hyrule at large. She’s important to us. Which is why I felt a legitimate sense of grief and despair when Link discovered that she couldn’t be rescued this time. No joke, there were a few minutes where I actually wanted to stop playing after seeing the final Dragon’s Tear memory. 

Breath of the Wild’s story is a statement of hope. By contrast, Tears of the Kingdom’s story is a question, one that most of us don’t want to even consider: What do you do when hope dies? What do you do when your light is taken away from you? The answer is perhaps as merciless as the question: you just keep going. Even if there is no Zelda waiting for you at the end of the fight (at least as far as Link knows), you still have a job to do. You still have to face the dark depths and the nightmares that dwell within. You still have to fight, even when it seems like there is no chance of winning. 

In this way, both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom feel like more than just games to me. They’re the kind of story that I carry with me into the real world. The kind that I look back on when I need to feel hopeful, or push through my own dark depths. Sure, it’s not a masterpiece of literature or anything, but it was a story that resonated with me all the same, thanks in no small part to TotK’s commitment to embracing the dark and the hopeless. There are times when it is enough to be reminded that I am strong, that I am capable of overcoming any challenge set before me. But when that challenge is no longer a puzzle or a personal flaw--when it’s say, grieving the loss of a loved one or longing to return to a happier time, it is just as comforting to be told, with brutal honesty, that yes, this feels hopeless. This feels like it could never possibly turn out alright in the end. But you must keep going. You must fight until you find your hope again, even if it can’t be the same as it was before. After all, that is what it means to be the light--their light--that must shine upon the world once again. 

[the-dog-watch]

The Nutmeg of Consolation

I was talking on twitter how I have an nonspecific affection for all the boats in this series, so I suppose I was destined to love this one regardless. This book is both sweet and nutty to me, just like the ship of its namesake. It’s sentimental, but its sentimentality is shot through with a tinge of unease; enjoy these good times while they last, it seems to be saying (I have learned to always do this, in these books.) There's a sense of foreboding or oncoming disaster—which isn't new; both The Ionian Mission and Treason’s Harbour were suffused with dread—but it’s also planting the seeds of upcoming discord, both among the crew and between Jack and Stephen themselves, which is somewhat novel. 

Jo Walton said in her review this book lacked a clear shape and could have been split up and added to books before and after it but I very much disagree. Joy is the keynote of this book; unconstrained, pure joy is a part of this book in a way that is not present in either the preceding or succeeding novels, a joy that's made more vivid by its contrast with some very dark moments--an island in Melanesia that has been decimated by smallpox but for two small children, or the Botany Bay penal colony where we catch up with poor Padeen.

The strength of this book is Stephen’s character arc. It forces him to step up and take responsibility, for those two little girls I mentioned, and for Padeen, and these sort of messy demands for emotional attachment and connection are something that a Stephen from earlier in the series might have shied away from, especially when he’s under stress. He’s worried about Diana, he’s worried about their baby, he’s worried about his financial situation. It’s hard not to feel a little proud of him for how he handles everything (no laudanum this time!) and of course it’s impossible not to feel extremely happy for him when he finally learns that he has a daughter.

“Why, Doctor,” [Tom] said, his face brightening, “how happy I am to see you back. You look as gay as a popinjay, as cheerful as if you had found a five pound note. I hope you brought the poor old barky some good luck at last. God love us, what a week!”

Perfect Girlfriend Tom Pullings reacting to Stephen’s face after he gets the news, confirming what I have always known about Stephen: that he is cute, despite his constant insistence that he’s the ugliest girl in school.

We start on the beach with the erstwhile Dianes (RIP Diane!!!) shipwrecked in the South China Sea. After a rough start and a pirate attack, they are rescued and their fortunes turn around when the governor of Batavia gives them a new ship, The Nutmeg of Consolation. What a name! She is my new best friend in all the world.

It'd be hard to dislike this book, even if I wanted to. Joy is its keynote, as I said, starting with the fortuitous reunion early on with Surprise and culminating with Stephen finally receiving the word that his daughter has been born back at Ashgrove Cottage. Between this and the reunion with Padeen in the hospital in Botany Bay, the climax of this book sees Stephen at maybe the most emotional we've ever seen him, and the highest pitch of his spirits coincides with a nearly fatal rupture with Jack.

Their disagreement is over Padeen, whose imprisonment in the penal colony Stephen feels responsible for, for the reason that he kind of is. He feels guilty enough about it that he almost doesn't want to see Padeen at all, just wants to arrange Padeen to have a less abusive work environment from afar, but of course after a very touching reunion with a flogged and emaciated Padeen, he promises to help Padeen escape and is then shocked when he learns that Jack has no intention of allowing any convict, even Padeen, to escape on the Surprise. After wrestling with himself all night (and remembering, "Hey, I became insanely wealthy five books ago,") Stephen resolves to leave the ship rather than abandon Padeen, as he sees no use in reasoning with Jack.

"Middle-age has come upon Jack Aubrey at last, the creature. I never thought it would."

MEOW. God both Stephen and Jack so bad at being mean to each other, even at their most pissed off.

The break-up is narrowly avoided same as it always is: by some absolutely goof-ass near-fatal cataclysm that befalls Stephen, rendering him utterly adorable and winning him his point assuming he doesn’t succumb to his injuries, which of course he doesn’t. This time the cataclysm is a platypus sting, last time it was nearly OD'ing on opium and falling off a tower, and the time before that it was falling out the stern window into the fucking ocean. Stephen is near-death but he wins the argument with Jack in absentia; Padeen carries him back to Surprise, Jack is in no state to object, and the other Surprises naturally don't even think it's a question; of course Padeen is coming with them.

Is this cheap? Am I sick of conflict being obviated each time by Stephen nearly dying? Honestly...your Honor, his bisexual airs and swagless haplessness have bewitched me body and soul. He can fall off as many towers and get poisoned by as many monotremes as he wants as long as it keeps being so fucking funny, and as long as it keeps reminding Jack not to be an asshole and to remember the power of friendship and camaraderie and all that gay shit. Usually when Stephen and Jack are fighting about whatever I don't feel compelled to take sides but in this case it's Padeen all the way, baby. I don't fuck around, Jack can eat it.

My advice to Jack: maybe fix your liver, balance your humors, get fat and happy again?? Maybe experience the redemptive power of love and you'll calm down??? Spoilers: that is basically what happens (the book ends with him and Stephen literally holding hands) but he's still smarting from the disagreement at the beginning of the next book, with my new NEW best friend Clarissa Oakes, who for once is an actual woman and not a boat like I assumed she would be when I first saw the title of the book in the UK. I don't hold her not being a boat against her, though, and neither should you. See you next time!

Personal Ranking

The Far Side of the World (10) > HMS Surprise (3) > Desolation Island (5) > The Nutmeg of Consolation (14) > The Reverse of the Medal (11) > The Ionian Mission (8) > The Fortune of War (6) > Master & Commander (1) > The Surgeon’s Mate (7) > Treason's Harbour (9) > The Letter of Marque (12) > The Thirteen-Gun Salute (13) > Post Captain (2) > The Mauritius Command (4)

[whovianwatchingstartrek]

A Whovian Watches Star Trek for the First Time: Part 078 - Slave Market Rescue

Star Trek: Enterprise - Season 4 Episode 4 - Borderland

We start this one with a cold open on a Klingon War Ship, which picks up two humans, who then precede to kill everyone aboard.

After the intro, we cut to a Starfleet prison, where Archer is visiting someone, specifically a prisoner who is apparently a genius for genetic modification. This guy and archer have the start of pretty interesting philosophical discussion about how inventions can bring both positives and negatives into the world, and the inventor's responsibility over those consiquences.. It's pretty on the nose way to bring an episode's theme into play, but it is an amazing theme to cover. The episode is about genetic engineering, and uses the example of nuclear science as a comparison example, but I'm also kind of reminded of another example in the Haber Process, a chemical process that can be used to make Fertiliser for crops really cheaply, but was also used to produce poison gas in World War 1.

Apparently, the humans who massacred that Klingon ship were genetically enhanced humans stolen by this prisoner. Archer is tasked with finding them, and bringing them back to earth. The Prisoner, his name Arik Soong, brings fantastic energy as a villain. I love his small innocent jabs at everyone, like telling Malcolm he "hasn't been seeing his share of the publicity". The way he delights getting under everyone's skin is just great, and I love that he seems to have some genuine parental love for the Augments. He is a fascinating villain.

It's lovely seeing Enterprise finally fixed up from the Damage the Xindi put in it. T'Pol has now officially joined Starfleet, and it's kinda cute that he got her a gift for signing up. I love the slight redesign that the bridge has received. The blue really makes it look a lot nicer than just the cold grey over the previous seasons had. A lot less utilitarian, and more homely.

While hunting the Augments, Enterprise is hit and Run by an alien group called The Orion Syndicate, apparently slavers, who transport 9 people off of Enterprise, so Enterprise's current mission is diverted to rescue them.

Luckily, Soong has access to the slave market planet, so he and Archer transport down together for the rescue. Archer's plan is to buy out the prisoners, which works for most of the captives, but T'pol was already sold. The plan to save her involved starting a full blown Riot. However during the process Soong attempts an escape of his own. Archer does successfully bring him back to Enterprise however.

Throughout the episode, we keep cutting back to the augments, and while I'm sure the whole power struggle between Malik and Raakin is plot important, I didn't really care much for them at all, at least until the end. Malik's ruthless takeover and murder of Raakin though was great at setting him up as a villain.

During the escape, some Orions open a firefight with Enterprise, but the Augments show up in their Klingon ship. They fight their way through enterprise, take archer hostage all for rescuing Soong, then make their escape.

This episode was a good set up for the coming story arc. We've got a phenomenal pair of villains, an amazing theme to play with and one hell of a cliffhanger. I'm excited for this arc.

Also, just because of how my day worked out, I ended up watching this one with my Partner, who has never watched an episode of Star Trek before and I'm still taking through Doctor Who. His review is that it "wasn't bad"

[glouchyouchy]

Just a quick post laying out a few pointers ( since I unexpectedly received a handful of queries about my fanfic ( The Mandalorian and the Jedi... thank you for your interest BTW :) )) that basically boil down to these four :

1) A Look Back. - 1 in the latest chapter ( which I labelled as III.2 but is also chapter 8 numerically ( https://archiveofourown.org/works/51672316/chapters/132792904 ) ) directly PRECEDES A Look Back. - 2 in II.2 ( chapter 3, numerically ( https://archiveofourown.org/works/51672316/chapters/130814095 )). It gets confusing, I know ( sorry >_< ), but the idea behind the anachronistic telling of the story is so 'scenes' which have similar themes or which tie in together ( cause / effect ) are grouped together to achieve some point that I want to come across. :)

2) Doesn't Bo-Katan acting basically like Ursa's AMIGA / Sabine's aunt mean you're making her REALLY OLD by the time of the Mandalorian? ( I think this is a Bo-Din shipper's concern :)) ) = Don't worry, I'm a Bo-Din shipper as well! Also, I think the age consistency issue with her has already been pointed out ( Bo was shown to be active and very much already in her physical prime ( and already old enough to be leading people ) in the Clone Wars era ( see the Satine / Obi-Wan arc ), which means she's possibly in her late 40s, maybe even in her 50s or 60s by the time of the Mando-verse ). My personal head-canon is simple : Mandalorians ( or those who I assume are actual native / genetic Mandalorians like Bo-Katan, Ursa, and Sabine ) are basically Star Wars SAIYANS ( yes, from Dragon Ball! ). While they have roughly the same lifespan as humans, they retain their physical primes / youth until the day they die ( I haven't had any cause yet to assume that they have longer life-spans that regular humans like Luke, Leia, as well as Han and Lando ( truth be told they actually look TOO OLD in the sequel trilogy ( over a decade too old, IMO, because those movies supposedly occur JUST 35, 40 years AFTER the original trilogy ( I could be wrong though ( don't trust me on this, I'm no expert :)) )); if they do eventually end up being shown in canon to actually have longer lifespans than regular humans, though... that would make them Star Wars NUMENOREANS / Dunedain ( like Aragorn ), I guess ).

3) When does the attempted attack by the Empire on the Lothal sector occur? ( The one where Hera was in danger of being defeated ( the battle over Garel ) until Sabine comes to the rescue with a sizable contingent of Lothalite defence force fighters ) = This is II.3, Five Years Later. - 1 ( numerically in chapter 4 ). Just before the battle of Endor, but a good while after Hoth :) I'd say it happens just days before the events shown in The Return of the Jedi :)

4) When does II.1 The Lonesome Tower. occur? = ( this is in in chapter 2, numerically ) Just before Peridea. - 4.2 in the latest chapter, III.2 ( numerically chapter 8 )! :)

Hopefully these will help :) Thank you again for reading! See you soon!

[stardustjessie]

JESSIE'S 2024 ROADMAP

So, I just wanted to ramble about the projects I have planned out for 2024. I've been very ambitious about some due to being able to afford to invest in them. Of course, art will forever be my #1 ambition and will continue to improve my craft. I'm always finding new ways to improve and exploring new ideas. However; I do have various non-digital art related! And I want to tell you all on my own personal blog about them and what you can look forward from me in the future!

MUSIC PROJECTS

I've actually been taking my time to figure out how FL Studios work, and how to work with it with Audacity. I've been attempting at voice training, so once I'm satisfied with my voice, I'd really love to do lyrics. I'm planning on working out something special for the first quarter of 2024. An EP called "Hear my Voice! (Existence)". I want it to be focused on the progress of HRT and Voice Training and just the idea of artistic freedom and the great feeling it is to be able to create things the way I want after being so long unable to. I don't know, 3 songs sound good for an EP. I want to be crafty and creative with them. I'd love for it to be Lo-Fi Pop Punk. As in, actual Lo-Fi, not the Synthwave kind of Lo-Fi. I want it to be the classic lower quality and lower frequency sounding music. I have a grudging respect for Lo-Fi and what it can represent, so I want to have my own take on it. The other project would be a proper album for once I get the hang of it all. I plan to call it "Celestial Wishes". I so far only have the plans for it to be Pop Punk and be very angelic sounding. I want it to be like heaven answering my wishes to finally do music. Obviously I won't sing about that-! I want it to carry the story of Ponies living life and miracles happening in various ways. How many songs ? God knows! It's only an idea thus far, and will take shape later. Right now I want to focus on making a couple of singles, maybe having one done in December still even. That and focusing on the overall theming and style I want for "Hear my Voice! (Existence)". I'll post all of these on a new Youtube Channel I've created, StardustJessie Music! Subscribe for when I start posting some!

YOUTUBE VIDEOS

I don't know how aware you are, but I do have a Youtube Channel. I primarily post Video Game Analysis Essays. I'm extremely proud of the ones I made this year, those being Deus Ex 2 and Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Well, I have two more videos planned out! The first, POKEMON SUN & MOON ARE GREAT AND HERE'S WHY; Which I'm very ambitious and passionate about this idea. Everyone was very quick to defend Sword & Shield, Sun & Moon didn't get that same treatment. I want to be one to defend Sun & Moon, which I have a lot of argument for, and have a lot to say about its history and the state of pokemon in that age. I actually really hated S&M when I first played it and deeply regretted buying Ultra Sun (Which I still do.), so it's almost like a redemption arc for me! I'll have to gather up a shitload of footage though. Pokemon Red, Silver, Sapphire, Ruby, Diamond, Black, X, Alpha Sapphire, Red Team Rescue, Explorers of Sky, Gates to Infinity, Super Mystery Dungeon, Sword, Violet, Rescue Team DX, Sun, Ultra Sun, and more! These are just the pokemon games I'll have to record! Not to count other games I bring up as a precedent and examples like Persona 4 which is some 60 hours of gameplay! So yeah. It's a lengthy project. Thankfully I'm purchasing a 4TB HDD this week so I should be able to gather that much footage without a worry. I imagine I'll only have this done in a year or even 2025! It's a tough project. However; I want to also work on another video! MORROWIND WALKED SO SKYRIM COULD RUN (AWAY WITH MY MONEY); I really despite Skyrim for a lot of reasons. But I really love Morrowind. A lot of the things I see people praise Skyrim are things I genuinely believe they'd have a better time and enjoyment of those aspects if they played Skyrim. I believe I can actually get this video done in 2024 as these games are waaaaaaaaaaaay shorter than all the shit I have to play for a Pokemon project! But even then, Skyrim would be some 30 hours and Morrowind some 15, not to mention any other games I talk about. It's a great topic to analyse and I'll be very ambitious. I should get to write it sometime and have a W.I.P project in mid 2024 so it'll be my annual essay.

BOOK PROJECTS

I'm very interested in writing my own book honestly. Ever since I read Dracula I've considered writing a story that touches on similar themes and ideas and can evolve them further through the lens of 2024. I'm slowly taking shots at it. Sometimes I write a sentence or two. As any Tumblr Writer knows, it's very tough. Be on the look out! Once I have anything concrete I'll definitely post!

I believe this would be it! I don't have many individual projects, but they are ambitious and time consuming projects that I want to have done next year or have something substantial to show in 2024! There are more projects, like my Game Project which I'm very passionate about and have 74 pages of documentation of and still working on it! Since it's on very early planning stage I rather not talk too much. But maybe 2025 roadmap ? Thank you for reading this if you have at all! I just want somewhere to put all my ideas. Who knows. It'll be interesting in 2034 to look back to 22 year old me being so ambitious, while 32 year old me has those ambitions fully realised and onto new projects. This is almost like an archival of my personal artistic ambition and my passion for the crafts of Writing, Visual Arts and Music.

[ibtk]

Book Review: Stephen McCranie's Space Boy, Volume 15 (2023)

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Edelweiss.)

In Volume 15 of SPACE BOY, the covert ops really start to heat up: Cassie and Schafer visit the newly "rescued" Tamara, who insists that her memories were stolen by a bright light. A light against which she struggled, valiantly, and managed to guard two convictions - that Amy is still alive (despite news reports to the contrary!!!), and that James Silber is absolutely not to be trusted. Meanwhile, Amy finds a new sense of purpose at the First Contact Project: helping Qiana uncover the truth behind Aleksander Lesnik's murder - and the seemingly mundane archaeological work preceding his entanglement with the FCP. Meanwhile, Oliver comes to his own (in some ways tragic) realization, which sends him to Dr. Kim for advice.

Finally, for a touch of levity, the volume ends with a super-cute Lil' Amy strip wherein she and Jemmah attempt to ... make a baby (it's all about the jeans).

As always, SPACE BOY is a sweet and gentle - yet utterly compelling - scifi read.

[crookshanks23]

Season 1, Episode 30: Van on the Run - Season 1, Episode 33: Anchor Management

General thoughts:

So, I listened to all 4 of these episodes in a run, while doing chores and stuff, so I wasn't able to type out my thoughts as I go, so this is going to be a bit of a summary of all 4. This whole section is the transition from Arc 1 (find and rescue the kids) to Arc 2 (get our anchors and go home).

Van on the Run: Ep 30

Love the parody of Cat's in the Cradle at the beginning of this one. This is a fun episode. We get another wonderful interaction between Barry and Henry (plus Henry's angry driving is an interesting energy). Then, we get all of the tavern stuff, which is great. We get some cool call-back moments, like with people getting excited to see "Hi, I'm Ron". There's not a ton that happens here, beyond the dads and the kids running away, but it's an enjoyable breath of fresh air after the heaviness of the combat episode that preceded it.

Home! Err... the Odyssey!: Ep 31

Another episode where not a ton happens. The dads talk with Erin for a bit to figure out how to get out. They make their way back to the portal and realize that they can't leave. Highlights of this one include Beth's Bartok impression, Anthony's orc voices, and the image of all of these people getting squished against the back window of the Honda Odyssey as they all failed to get the doors open. RIP Odyssey-san. We'll miss you. Enjoy being home.

Grilling in the Name Of: Ep 32

The Folger's parody intro is very fun. All the dads and the kids get caught by the orcs and they start to cook them and the group works to escape. Yup. That's the episode. Some highlights here (and there are many, even though not much happens): the return of Chekov's snake, Henry slapping butts on his way up to the ledge, and general combat shenanigans with Ron's Skip-it and Glenn's jug.

Anchor Management: Ep 33:

This episode starts with the party doing all they can to save Chekov's snake. Then, they learn more about anchors from Erin and summon the cow demon and a bread demon to get some Daddy Magic to help them find their anchors. By the end, all the dads know where they need to go from here, and then Walter shows up at the very end looking for Paeden. Highlights from this one: Ron's rendition of Stayin' Alive (I wish they had put this on the Dadz Bop album), Ron's beautiful moment with Terry Jr., Henry's monologue/rant about veganism, the moment with the demon bread is hilarious, and I love the stinger with Walter at the end.

Phew. All caught up on these now. Haven't listened to the next episode yet. I'll go back to individual posts from there.

Next time... what was, on my first listen, my least favorite episode. I think it is, in fact, the only one I haven't re-listened to at all. I'm going to try to go in with an open mind and remind myself that there are some great gems even in the ones that were less enjoyable the first couple of times around.