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My quick first thoughts about chapter 1113

Stalemated by the coffee being too hot, brutal Oda, just brutal 🫣

Yeah, that's certainly why the chapter is titled that ☕

Love this gag about Franky's wanted poster continuing to pop up.

Huge Bird cranky that he must play hide and seek to find the real source of the broadcast. He's a grumpy old man who hates games and hates fun haha.

Ah, so the snail was a diversion, curious who set it up and when. And if they wanted to fool anyone in particular.

Bonus York being an extra cute scrunkly this chapter. Almost makes me forget there is Stussy or Robonosuke this chapter.

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And We're Live!

Bruh a Miss Kaya update? Sweet! As we've said with Academy, this blog fully stans certified good girl Miss Kaya. I love her outfit here, she was really one of this series's first more classy, modest girlies and say what you will about how Oda draws women but I'm noticing she's not one of the ones who got a Timeskip breast augmentation. Usopp's former crew look like they're growing up fast too. This is a good group, still hope we get more Kaya in Academy because I really like her as the sickly girl who doesn't make it to school all the time. Clever use of a character on Sohei Koji's part.

We can talk about Academy over Golden Week though, because Vegapunk's message is going live! Which means sadly we're done with the fun of dicking around for ten minutes. The Vega Coffee bit was so, so good though. We'll get to the ramifications as we go but first there is a reason for Miss Kaya. Take note of all these people we see, how places like Torino highlight that darker side. VP will even own up to some of his own "sins" in his message. It's a very diffuse reaction to the man. Someone who inspires a lot of different reactions. It's important to pay attention when a story does that, but let's move on:

Hahaha lol eat a dick Mars. Classic decoy maneuver. We did get the brain in a jar! In a chapter where Vegapunk "confirms" his own death and an arc where we've played this game with Kuma. Remember Mars doesn't actually know the deal, he himself is pondering a little over what counts as the real Vegapunk. So I'm inclined to ponder if it is just what we see; part of his brain serving as more or less a hard drive. As much the real him as that paw bubble of memories was the real Kuma. Shout-out to Bonney and her Giant-ish future by the way. It was cool, but pretty much reinforces the same themes. You're acting like Luffy and the crew has fully shifted to treating you (appropriately) as a little kid to watch out for.

The decoy snail though...I like it. Could it have been a long game by Vegapunk? Of course, and keeping York out of the loop is believable. But being on the floor randomly is still weird and putting it right in front of the big brain tank seems rather risky for Vegapunk. Why would he want to nudge at that connection. Get what I'm saying? This is a weirder beat than it seems, but it would make perfect sense through the lens of someone else reacting. Great way to cover one's tracks by just letting the natural assumption take course. There's one part of Vegapunk's speech that bolsters this to me:

Please do not assume that the ones who strike me down are evil. That plus what he says here? Do...not track with thinking the Gorosei would be the ones who came after him. Sounds a little more like he expected Luffy, Bonney, someone like that to take him out. Or even Lucci. It's subtle, but actually a great remind that this all has nothing to do with the Straw Hats. Remember that old theme? The extra effort from the World Government is because of an emperor drifting into the situation. You can't act so casually when the world rocks in your wake. That still seems to be the core lesson for Luffy.

Speaking of, we get another nudge at one of last night's big mysteries. How did Robin get in such rough shape? The scenes before we skip the night set it up okay, she was headed right into a confrontation with York. But it's still a lingering question. And speaking of "lingering," you have the Gorosei hammering that Bakura Town/Ryokugyu theme hard. Reminds me of someone who knows no one called Vermin. The message though, it's what we're all here for. Well, I'm here for Nami Protect Mode.

I have some thoughts about this. Not the reveal itself. Sorta what we saw with Lulusia at the start, the fallout I mean. Excellent through line with Wano and it's own history. Makes Iceberg look so cool in hindsight because he at least was a good enough leader to see it happening locally. Type of thing a shipwright-turned-politician would notice your typical noble wouldn't. Very classic looming threat, makes me think of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou which was our world after massive sea level rise.

Let me just say one thing. This is fucking hilarious from a certain perspective. Imagine you're chilling. Doing your thing. Every PC and Windows product in the world fires up. Bill Gates is streaming live. He takes ten minutes to dick around with coffee then promptly announces his death before telling everyone their own death is imminent because [government conspiracy]. The reaction is going to be wild. Makes me think of David Bowie's "Five Years." If you're a fan, see if you can find the live version from the Dinah Shore show. You won't regret it. That Man Who Fell to Earth look was iconic and you gotta love managing a 4th wall break in a rock opera.

We've talked about this with Robonosuke, who's hanging around in the background still. This is an even better detail someone who learned a lot from Toki would know. Even if it's indirect relevance, it's the exact type of knowledge a modern scholar would find as a big surprise but a friend of the lady from the Void Century could just casually know. Maybe not a fancy sea chart, but say to the degree of a rough map?

Just saying, type of thing there's scenes to support it. The map is right there with some of the first ones that really show Kiku acting like a nanny with Momonosuke. The Act plot with Olin had a lot of subtle bait the girl's a little distinct from the group we'd build on in Act 3. Aside from all that though, just this basic setup of the chapter? We start on a few vignettes around the world showing different reactions to Vegapunk. Then we set up everyone in dire straits as Luffy's run out of gas. Injected a little new mystery through Stussy/York. Now we end on a big reveal that doesn't affect the matter at hand as we pull away from the island?

It's easy to say at a lot of points but if there's a third cutaway...we may be going into it after Golden Week.

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Cheeks 🐡

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Last one of these until I have some really cool stuff I've built to show off. Just learned of the Buildertopia where you can make a blank slate to work with and I'mma do something cool with the lagoon layout. But we talked about this, the Mirror of Ra and breaking the transformation curse on the Princess of Moonbrooke.

So if you take it back to the first chapter island Furrowfield, there was a pupper that helped sniff out seeds. Turns out she was a girl all along! And as a great evolution of the bit, she was stuck as a dog so long she kinda still acts like one. I called her Gidget so it was good she stuck with that name. Sally Fields is a queen.

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Diphenhydramine, Benadryl or its variants. One of those common medications it is actually quite easy to overdose on. It can cause delirium and hallucinations when you're past that point.

(Seriously, if you're some teen reading this thinking it sounds fun...no. Not this one. It's just stupid and risky. If you're gonna experiment try Salvia.)

what i want to know is what kind of cold meds are you guys taking that make you have visual hallucinations

[basedkikuenjoyer]

These were some of my favorite moments in the journey I immortalized in film. Left was back in chapter two, a big part of Khrumbul-Dun is restoring Goldirocks the Golem to his prior glory and what good Cantlin native can resist that? Fun little bonus detail for mainline fans, the builder is from Cantlin/Mercado in the shared DQ1-3 universe. A walled city guarded by a golem in the first game and it's walls help it stay relatively better off back in the past for the third. Actually can't go there in 2 because Alefgard is winnowed down a bit. Riding the big guy to punch cave walls was a blast though.

The other is making a jailbreak from the prison arc. You get captured, break out with Malroth and a slime buddy. Fun part I liked honestly. Took away a lot of your ability to build but it was a pretty short segment that gave you some challenges around limited resources. DQ loves throwing you in prison since Samano in DQ3, and what good quest doesn't have trouble with the law? More than anything I just thought it was a sweet pic of my dopey builder doing a little jailbreak, into the city zone.

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Like I said, an obvious sign telling me it's a mimic didn't stop me from thinking "but what if it isn't?" I love Frieren for the after the journey story and all but mostly because I kinda am Frieren. Fun idea for D&D nerds btw, one thing that never got translated over into most RPGs is that old-school mimics were capable of speech. Anyways, figured out how to get pics from the game's snapshot mode over to here. I like games including the ability to take pics more.

Ahead is my favorite from the main story quest, and it's big spoilers for DQ Builders 2. So like...be warned:

Someone familiar with the game might recognize and anachronism here, I shouldn't have Malroth for this part. My bro, it's something a lot of people didn't like about the story and I didn't either. There's a traitor in Moonbrooke's midst, and he turns the people against your bro. Meaning our bro Malroth gets thrown in jail and blames you. Causes a rift that sets up the grand finale. I was pissed honestly. Like...you expect me to want to sit around and build for these shitheads after that? It's a black game, the game kinda forces you to feel like a bad friend because I was ready to tell Moonbrooke to go fuck itself. No seriously, I actually did commemorate the moment:

Yeah I just sat on the tower and made them defend their own damn castle for any of the battles. Talk about good Dragon Quest design. It's like what I said about the late-stage boss fight in DQ5. Furrowfield makes you feel the threat of dudes attacking your base. Those skeletons will make you have to rebuild a bit. Progressively past that it becomes less of a threat. Sorta frontloads the fear a Minecraft creeper strikes in you. Anyways, us flying over the field. I stumbled into that early. It did nothing to diminish the impact of one of the coolest moments in the game. Especially for an older fan of DQ2.

That's Rendarak in this game, or Rhone as I'm used to it. Moonbrooke is the snowy winter land this time. Rhone is a peaceful valley tucked away in the mountains. And even the main hero of the mainline counterpart's home of Midenhall is there. This is where you should get the reveal the world is all an illusion. Smartly using an iconic moment from Dragon Quest 2 that really holds up even today. When you finally get to Hargon's Castle in that...it looks like Midenhall. Home. You can stay at an inn or buy stuff at shops but when you leave it resets your stats and inventory. Cool trick right? Though it does lead to a fun little bug you can do with cursed equipment to make the final push less of a grind.

My mind was fuckin' blown honestly. Seeing that verdant field, seeing the name Rendarak, scary monsters just casually talking about how it's all an illusion. Wild. I honestly like the more eerie, bizarre feeling of just casually stumbling across this. And good on them for designing around my ability to just run around to parts of the island when I want. That's how I found a sweet portrait of the Princess of Moonbrooke!

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Great promo image for DQB2. Malroth about to lay the smackdown on the big scary demon. Finished the main story. Was it incredibly basic? Yes, but it got me. Moonbrooke drives a wedge between you and your buddy. Darkness consumes him. You rescue your bro with the sickest high five in recorded history. Cue philosophical ramblings about how building shit in an illusion world is totally rad. I agreed wholeheartedly and commemorated the occasion by building a bordello on my home island.

Still have a lot of post-game left, not to mention free reign to build shit. I believe I have also finally figured out how to get in-game photos off the PS4 and onto here so I can show stuff off. Game is excellent and more than worthy of the Dragon Quest franchise.

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Ah! We also had the rest of the Academy chapter! 44's part 2 didn't give a lot to talk about but it was kinda surreal to see what we did. Doffy & Cora...mending fences? Getting along? Man, it was cool seeing Rocinante back in Law's life but actually seeing the brothers getting along again is special. Somewhere along the way this stopped being a silly gag manga and is now this really good semi-official AU that can be such a fun what if.

This feels like a plateau for the pair? Hope Cora stays involved in the Kaido plot but even more that maybe we get back to someone we set up as a well of information on Oni Middle? With how good this was, I really, really hope we have some more sibling wish fulfillment in store with Izo & Ace.

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We're also back for these lovely dorks! Our fourth point in the Grand Slam. For the record, Yams is Oden so naturally also plays designated hitter. He's actually a massive upgrade because you know, club. Yamato has a most assuredly important task from Kin'emon, and money! What on Earth could Kin be asking him to do? No seriously this is pretty interesting. The Crane's husband is asking a favor.

Bold move, let's see how it goes. My attention is now piqued. And not just because I am curious if Yamato actually knows how money works. Really cool to pair with how York managed to tie like, that Bakura Town "manage the beast" theme with the Onigashima bombs in Yamato's story.

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Grand Slam

And I ain't talking Denny's. As much as I'd love to use the "Aspect" part of our title (I have a feeling there'll be other moments) and a riff on planets aligning...it's baseball season. Following "Bases Loaded" with a chapter that has four big points for me? C'mon. Wonder if Oda's been in on Ohtani fever? LA Dodgers picked up an incredible Japanese player who's been a big deal over there. I like to think about that occasionally when I watch Dodger games, though the KC Royals are my main team. At least they're not the New York Yankees...which gets me back to One Piece. Let's do three of these today, I like keeping the cover on its own. Do remember everything that follows happens in the shadow of Gear 5 running out here.

York! Please get this girl an emotional support burger. She needs one. We've talked before how this big-eyed blonde shook out to being a great little contrast to Okiku. Now look at this scene in particular, it's great how cute York is all chapter but this one shows it best to me. Your story right now is a combination of Yamato's story with the bombs in the Raid and that Bakura Town element between Kiku/Hawkins of trying to usher the big monster not make the entire place collateral damage. Smooth right? That aside, York's great and great this chapter. We'll get back to her in a sec but our next runner coming home is another favorite we haven't touched on in a while:

All the subtlety of a baseball bat to the head. Hi Stussy! You're lovely and it's not just because you and Kiku have very similar faces. It's also because you're a blonde and I love that your cover story was running whorehouses. Because that shit is cool, almost as cool as fitting in that whole deal of the Urashima Taro story being scattered around different sharp New World ladies. Stussy is trying to Bon herself. Not only that, but when the crew learns of it? Hammering that theme of respecting her decision to stay behind and lower the dome.

I still think if we have one more cutaway segment, you have all the right elements in play. Springboard with Stussy and her clone story as the lead-in but through the OG Buckin being with Marco bend it back to pulling a Kuma and showing our gaps in Wano. That pairs pretty damn nicely with our last segment today for one major reason:

So this is obviously a trap, right? But the way it's framed we've also taken the two people who might be able to pull something like this off in the background off the table. And is that the damn special snail Uta had!? Like...reasonable guess that's how Vegapunk intended to do a worldwide broadcast. Speaking of...I wanted more goofing but the continuation of the Vega Coffee gag was awesome. Type of gag I'd always want more of, still dethrones Nami's fearsome Future Kick as my favorite Egghead joke.

Mars though. It's suspicious as hell the antenna snail is just chilling on the floor in this dark room. Like the idea the gurgle sound is massive Vegapunk brain in a vat. Would rather it be the other fairly popular one someone is about to ambush him with a bubble gun. A minute before we go live. It's a perfect setup if we're gonna flip this on it's head, hijack the broadcast against the Gorosei more directly.

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Jojolands 14: Making That Title a Whole Lot More Literal

Once again, they. Araki's explaining land deeds and state registries so you know this is gonna be good. But...they. I get it, it's helpful exposition, that doesn't mean the characters understand. They're lovable idiots at least. And this is the next phase of the plot. Genius scheme from Meryl Mei to be honest, going big. Her logic is if the lava rock works on paper money it works based on the value humans ascribe objects. It's not naive enough to think you just need the land deed, but her idea is if we can get the kids to touch the rock to the originals held in the state registry, if those come back to them, she can work with that. So the goal is robbing billions worth of land from a shady corporation.

Which of course, means Meryl Mei is absolutely based from outer space for this one. Absolute girlboss, please take notes Dragona. So onward with our trip to the government office!

Speaking of. Our trip to the government offices once again puts Dragona in the spotlight. If there's any doubt she's filling Buccirati's shoes in this Vento Aureo homage...I bet you're also still holding out hope we're totally not doing a trans narrative with her. We already did the ID gag, I really hope they deadass put Obama on there. Honestly though this goes pretty smoothly for an operation. Because Dragona's right; they're public records so the story that Paco's a student works here. But gang...maybe don't dress so outlandishly if you wanna stay low key?

I know, I know. It isn't Jojo's Mundane Adventure. This was all great though, they pull it off without a hitch and the lava rock goes crazy in D's boob pocket. Leaving us off on:

Sapphire Scale? Nah, seriously sounds like this rock human stuff from part 8? I still haven't finished Jojolion so I'm as confused as our heroes here. Curious to see where it goes, hilarious how Jodio's group pulls up thinking they're just chillin'.

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One Piece Academy Chapter 45: Brothers part 2 (Quick translation)

source | translation index

Trebol: Corazon?! How come you're okay~?!

Diamante: Uhahaha...Is that Law I see?

Pica:...!

Zoro: Ow, those are some mean looks.

Sanji: Did they gather to gang up on Corazon?

Nami/Usopp: NOOOO~~!!

Luffy: Mingo you jerk!! Doing what you did to Corao, I still haven't--!!

Usopp: God forbid.. Luffy, don't provoke them!!

Gladeus: So that's the Straw hat? How cheeky...

Doflamingo: Down there...There's one of my Kitchen cars.

Let's go eat.

everyone: ??!

Luffy: UHOWWWH!! SO THIS IS THE LOBSTER ONIGIRI! LOOKS SUPER TASTY!!

Nami: Luffy, you!

Luffy: R-right...I shouldn't eat... they haven't made up yet... !

Usopp: Corao!! That guy definitely has some plans under his sleeves!

Baby 5: Of course! Don't underestimate our Young Master!

Law: *clink*

Cora: *step* *step*

Law: Cora san!

tears in my eyes

Cora: Delicious!

(........)

Cora: The flavor was a bit strong.

Doflamingo: Kids these days prefer that way.

Coby: It's not a trap?!

And they're eating together like nothing happened... How is that...?

Luffy: Shiishishihi.... I see!

Baby 5: Is it okay, Young Master?

Doflamingo: I have successfully settled things with Corazon.

But for whatever reason, he's here and doing great. Take it as just another outcome.

T/N: throwback to when Doffy said Law's erroneous choices lead to the outcome where Cora got stabbed

Law:

Doflamingo: What is it? Law.

Law: I will never forgive you. That is all.

Cora: Law...

Law: Not saying in the spirit of revenge, though.

Thanks to Cora san, I've become free... I refuse to live with my heart trapped within your clutch.

I will surpass you by myself, of my own volition.

And someday, I'll have you mopping the floor after beating the crap out of you!

That's how thugs settle their business, don't they?

Doflamingo: Fufufufu... well, that's something to look forward to.

Sugar: *noms*

Doflamingo: *stands up*

Cora:.....

Luffy: Oi Mingo, you don't wanna party?

Baby 5: Young Master is busy! Unlike you people!!

Luffy: What's up with that guy anyway...

*brothers take opposite directions*

Franky: There he goes. To the school?

Corazon: Well, time for another strategy meeting!

Law:

Cora: Huh?

Luffy: FWOOOOOOH~~~!!!

Cora: Straw hat ya!!?

Nami: Where are you going, Luffy??

Luffy: SCHOOL!!!

Sanji: Hold on a second!!!

Continues in Reblog ⬇️

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Full chapter post tomorrow, but this one going around is so funny. Jojolands 14 has Dragona using Smooth Operator on an ID for Charmingman. When he pulls his out we can kinda make out a name? Barack Hussein Obama. Who was from Hawaii. I wish I could get a bigger one without killing quality but checks out in my book.

So...this is Araki. Fun little blink and you miss it joke? Or does Charmingman have connections to the former president?

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Otsuru!! The most beautiful tea shop owner, imo. She was completed for the op collab over on Twitter. So happy that I got to take part in this event!!

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mine would probs be: one direction, taylor swift, ed sheeran, the script and coldplay 

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Edit of that time Marco proposed to Izo.