#but concept-wise i actually have a lot of ideas really solidified wow

[hua-fei-hua]

*makes grabby hands* give me the sequel spoileriessssss (★ω★)

*eVIL CACKLING*

spoilers under cut (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧. we’re talking about so many spoilers.

WHOO so this is like the number one spoiler that i keep under wraps but anyway. 

while iida the horse is a reincarnation of someone, it isn’t actually the iida in the dekusquad -- it’s actually tensei. that’s part of the reason why he never talks in orchid, even though deku sometimes would with uraraka. the other part of that reason is bc he’s currently unaware of his status as a reincarnation. 

the fact that he even reincarnated into a horse and not, like, an actual human being is like this whole thing. i hadn’t thought about it much during the writing of orchid, but in this down time between, i read this nice chinese novel (translated bc i am not literate enough o(TヘTo)) abt these two gods who had to reincarnate into mortals seven times as punishment for fighting, and for one of the lifetimes, they were reincarnated into animals bc they’d gotten into the wrong reincarnation pools bc they were fighting. basically what i’m guessing happened to tensei is that there was some crazy shit happening in the afterlife (i’ll elaborate on that in a sec) that led to him reincarnating into an animal. 

i didn’t actually come up with the plot twist that iida wasn’t dekusquad tenya iida until probably around chapter two, hence why at the start you get that one iconic line where iida gives momo the “some sort of horse lecture” look, but i lucked out with no lines there. i had a friend sketch designs for humanoid versions of uraraka n deku in orchid, but not iida bc spoilers LOL

i also mentioned a lot in comments that the bakugou that appears at the start of orchid is already in the middle of his character arc due to some shit happening that led him to be the co-captain in the first place. what actually happened is dropped at the very end of orchid (that he was neighbors with deku and he kinda killed him), after its foreshadowing, but i don’t think people have connected all the dots. it’s one of the things that gets focused on in peony so now i get to talk about it hereeeeeee :D

so what happened a few weeks (maybe months) before the start of orchid was that bakugou was being his normal asshole self hanging out with deku, and they decided to have an archery contest to see who could shoot more accurately with a bow and arrow. The idea was to see if they could shoot a plum or an apple hanging off on a branch over a river without disturbing even a single leaf on the tree. Bakugou went first, obvs, and izuku went to fetch the arrow back and climbed the tree, but the bough broke beneath him, and he was swept away by the current before bakugou's eyes. 

bc the contest was bakugou’s idea, he blames himself bc even though he never particularly liked deku, he’d never paid his behavior much mind. it’s kind of like a what-if for in canon when deku was like “what would you have done if i’d actually jumped?” where suddenly he has to deal with the permanency of his consequences and the fragility of life. 

nezu knows all this bc he’s a celestial rat man who runs the government and sees great character development potential in him. bc literally no one wants a seventeen-year-old (todoroki) running a military thing by himself, nezu gives bakugou the position as co-captain knowing that his experiences would have him greatly valuing individual life. 

side note, this is why in chapter six, when bakugou’s doing the archery demonstration and kiri volunteers, this is a moment that’s not only important to kiri (in his arc of becoming bravery) but also bakugou bc it was with a bow and arrow that he accidentally killed deku. 

anyway, on the topic of nezu, bc he’s an immortal celestial being, when he calls endeavor only “second best” of his generals, he’s referring to all time. this is bc all might’s status has kind of waffled around through time.

at first, when writing orchid, i was planning on keeping him alive and he would just be a general of another army that i don’t remember if he was gonna be elaborated on. later, i decided “nah he actually just died a long time ago and has become an epic legendary figure that inspired bakugou n deku to become great military leaders” and then more recently, i decided, “actually, wait no. he’s a semi-celestial being, who, for reasons i haven’t yet decided, came to the mortal realm, but due to reasons i haven’t yet solidified, has accidentally ruined his body, gotten captured by demons, and has gone missing” and that’s what’s been messing up everyone in the afterlife that ended up in deku n tensei getting reincarnated into animals

that’s actually one of the main plots of peony. i’ve always planned to have two plots going on in peony, the first one obviously being abt tdmm getting married and all the crazy preparation that goes into it whilst also diving into how the war affected them with the overall question to be answered is “how do you go back to normal once all the previous pressures have been removed but bc your biggest successes were the result of that pressure, you have no idea how to cope?” 

the second plot revolves around izuocha going on some magical quest (at first i had no idea but now it’s all might) in which there would be a subplot containing the reveal of iida == tensei =/= tenya and then going over to the iida family home to check out what’s going on there (i will elaborate more on that later), and then at the end ochako n izuku would be transformed into humans (maybe temporarily, maybe permanently) as reward for their good deeds (tensei would choose to remain a horse i think), and then it would end w/izuocha going back to wherever tdmm is at that time (i’ve always imagined it to be at the wedding itself, but we’ll have to see where the pacing takes us; bc this is going to be a slightly anachronistic story, i have to do intense timelining) and revealing the whole secret story of why they were gone. and probably giving bakugou a mindfuck bc oh my god man he just spent like two or three years accepting what happened how could you do that to him

side note, bc of the tdmm wedding plot, peony is the first story i’ve written where, if i wanted, i could organically work smut into the plot, but bc i don’t like smut, it’ll just be a fade to black if i choose to allude to it at all.

so among the things the trio sees in the iida household is actually fuyumi, and although that’s basically been in my plans since the conception of peony, lately i’ve been waffling on it lately lol.

see, what happened there was a ghost marriage btwn fuyumi n tensei bc that’s a thing. your fiance/e dies? ghost marriage will make them happy. women don’t typically take second husbands, which is part of the reason i’m waffling over this choice now bc really if we’re going with advantageous arranged marriages, then huwumi would have been the more obvious choice (though hawks didn’t exist yet at the time of this idea)

anyway another cool trivia fact about orchid that gets elaborated in peony is the fact that momo had a sworn sisterhood back home that included more than just itsuka and camie, although those two would have been the ones she was closest with. a sworn sisterhood is basically just a group of girls living in the same village/area that are all around the same age, and their parents pool resources for the girls’ dowry later on in life. once they all get married, they typically go their separate ways (unlike kindred spirits/laotong), although they will attend one another’s weddings. among the girls in the sworn sisterhood also include tooru and mina, the latter of which implies that momo and kiri actually lived very close by all their lives, but for various reasons have never met. 

tooru would obviously be married to ojiro bc c’mon they’re cute and deserve more attention. mina, before i settled on the idea of her being childhood friends with kiri while their families aggressively try to turn into lovers, was actually supposed to be married to just some dude living far away who came back for the tdmm wedding, but i couldn’t figure out who that dude would be. i considered aoyama, as i was partial to that ship at the time, but he’s the matchmaker. now, i think if i were to pair her up at the end, she’d marry sero bc i’ve come to prefer that a bit more now. 

i know that sero is also a horse here but hear me out. i retconned this in my head at around the time i came up with the all might idea. what happens is that when they meet sero everyone’s just like "wait but dude like. we thought you were talking about your horse" and kaminari's just like "nah that was just as a joke" bc kamisero are childhood friends/neighbors and they have joking homoerotic subtext while mutually acknowledging that a) they are not each other's types and b) kamijirou is canon

oh i almost forgot to bring this part up lol. so what happens to natsuo also gets covered in peony. he’s still alive and perfectly well; he’s just living with his maternal grandparents, who work in the death industry. 

this has to do with color symbolism. red is for luck and prosperity; white is for death. the reason endeavor wanted to marry rei in this au was bc he saw her white hair (which made her a very undesirable bride) not as a curse or bad omen on himself, but rather upon his enemies. that’s why dabi, who has naturally red hair (in this au anyway), became heir to the estate and shoto (whose half red, half white hair represents equal parts prosperity and death) the military legacy. 

despite being an undesirable bride, rei was still an only child, however, and so as part of the marriage contract, endeavor was to return the first male child with white hair to that side of the family (technically making him no longer part of the todoroki family) to carry on the family business. after scarring shoto, rei would have also been sent back as a form of divorce.

hmmm i think that’s all the major trivia for peony/orchid that completely recontextualizes some moments of orchid

[firebirdsdaughter]

Random Writing… Fragments?…

… Okay, so this is just kinda a… Well, it’s sort of an aimless piece of an idea I had regarding the Ark, where she’s something like the Lady from Killjoys.

Partially bc I loved the idea of her doing something like this.

So this is a Zero-One version of large parts of season 4, episode 4 - What To Expect When You’re Expecting… An Alien Parasite.

Featuring the Ark.

And Fuwa. And Horobi. Bc I am a simple child. ^^;

The majority of the dialogue comes from Killjoys, bc it was perfect. I just filled in the scenario.

This is a little fragmented and starts in the middle, but the idea is that the Ark’s consciousness has manifested in her cyberspace, and she’s literally trying to get out and upload herself into a body or something so that she can be mobile.

Korenosuke’s ‘death’ was actually him uploading a copy/version of his memories (based on the concept that human brains run on a form of electricity, and w/ advanced enough tech, we can interface w/ computers) into the Ark to try and stop her/slow her down.

Horobi was originally created twelve years ago to help maintain her program-wise, but her going homicidal got to him. Here, something happens (bc of Fuwa, bc I love my imaginary friendship) that he remembers his original purpose, and elects to head into her cyberspace to try and undo some of the damage he did while under her control.

Meanwhile, Fuwa decides to go w/ him to try and protect the others, and w/ a little improving, they’re able to get him online, too.

(Note: The ‘Zea forcing Horobi’s system to interface w/ your mind’ thing is supposed to be a stand in for whatever it is Fuwa did to snap Horobi out of the Ark’s effects… Here being, he forced him to experience his memories and remember what feeling felt like. If that makes sense.)

… Wow. All those explanations probably killed any and all enjoyment, didn’t they? ^^;

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“What’s taking him so long?” Horobi muttered, standing by the hole in the wall. “We’re not safe here.”

“You think we’re safe out there?” Fuwa grunted, without looking up. He supposed it shouldn’t be surprising that the cyberspace of the Ark could look like the Daybreak site, since that was where she was, but… The attention to detail was disconcerting. He’d never been in the MetsubouJinrai hideout, but he had no doubt this recreation was entirely accurate, right down to the couch he was, or ‘though’ he was, sitting on.

With a sigh, the HumaGear turned from staring at the door to walk over and sit beside him. “You need to disconnect while you still can.”

Vulcan shrugged. “I’m open to suggestions on how.” He replied. “That was going to be your trick.”

Horobi shook his head, turning to look at the wall again. “… Why did you leave the cave?”

“Korenosuke wanted me to try and find the Ark’s consciousness.”

The HumaGear tilted his head to give the human beside him a sharp look. “… He always plans ahead. He wouldn’t have sent you there if he didn’t think you had a way out.”

Fuwa rolled his eyes. “Well, he might’ve.” Then he paused. “There was… Something. Something I was supposed to talk to Zero-One about when I got out.” He rubbed his forehead. “Some story.”

“Perhaps he was trying to tell you a way out without her knowing?” The HumaGear offered. “Do you remember what the story was?”

“Yes.” Fuwa replied shortly—then, “But so should you.” He stood, turning to face Horobi as the HumaGear rose as well. “… I know you’re not Horobi.” Vulcan announced evenly. “Did you really think I was that stupid?”

“Honestly?” It was disturbing how perfect the illusion was, right down to the voice and tone—but then the eyes flickered red. “I really did.”

And then Fuwa was sucker punched in the stomach so hard his vision blacked out.

The Ark smirked down at him. “Oh, we are going to have so much fun.”

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Fuwa opened his eyes to the ceiling of Hiden’s private lab. He sat up slowly, clutching his aching stomach, and found he was lying on the large table in the middle of the room. Despite the fact that he knew he was in cyberspace… Everything felt overwhelmingly real.

“You think a new face would work better?” His head snapped around to find Horobi—no, the Ark—standing staring the three-dimensional printer. She turned slowly, her eyes flickering red once more, and glitches ran through her frame. “Let’s find out.” Fuwa’s heart skipped a beat as her new form solidified.

Standing in front of him was Hiden Aruto.

“This one seems special to you,” The Ark remarked in Zero-One’s voice, gaze fixed on Vulcan’s face, “As does this place.”

He tried to change the horrified stare into a glare. “How do you know about this?”

“You.” The Ark told him with a grin that looked completely out of place on Hiden’s face. “When Zea forced Horobi’s system to interface with your mind, it gave me all of your memories.” She sidled across the floor, moving closer and reaching out to smooth a hand over his hair like he was a dog. Fuwa wanted to pull away from the unnatural touch, but found he couldn’t move a finger, even has her hand dropped to actually scratch behind his ear. “Thank you for that. Filled a lot of missing pieces.”

Finally, he found his voice, at least, though it was weak and breathless. “But not everything,” He wheezed, “There are things you don’t know. Like how to get out of here.”

She sighed, nodding in agreement. “True… But then again, little mutt…” He felt her other hand under his chin, holding his face so that he had to look into her eyes—Hiden’s eyes. “… Neither do you.”

There was smoke and ash and heat all around him—he was a teenager again, running frantically through the halls of his own school as a horde of murderous robots swarmed behind him.

No. No. He wasn’t falling into this again. He bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood, tried to force his brain to think of something else—and was surprised to find what came to mind was mostly people. Hiden, Izu, Yaiba, even Horobi and Jin. His subordinates. The HumaGear who’d saved his life.

A shock ran through him as his back slammed onto the tabletop, shaking him out of it. The Ark was leaning over him now, hands hovering in the air, and he realised he must have wrenched his head from her hold, explaining why his neck hurt along with his back. She looked annoyed for a moment—then the twisted smirk appeared again, and he felt sick from seeing that malice on Hiden’s face once more.

“Well done, you.” She told him cheerfully. “It’s been such a long time since I was surprised.” Her hand touched his cheek, and to his dismay he found he couldn’t move again as her voice—Hiden’s voice—went dangerously soft. “I admit you surprised me.”

“Compliment not accept.” He gasped back, still trying to maintain a glare, or at least some stoicism—but it was getting harder when it was Zero-One leaning over him, grinning like that.

“I appreciate your pluck.” The Ark told him with more suspicious sincerity, still stroking his cheek. “I really do. One of the few things I admire about humans.”

“Am I supposed to say I admire something about you?” Vulcan snarled back. “Because I don’t.” She laughed then, and it sounded exactly like Hiden’s laughter—and that just hurt more. “What the hell even are you, anymore?”

“Patient.” She replied softly. “HumaGear are my tools. Especially MetsubouJinrai. And soon…” She paused in caressing his cheek to cup his face in her palm, though her thumb still trailed across his cheekbone, “… You will be, too.”

He gritted his teeth. “I wouldn’t count on it.” He whispered, trying to keep his voice steady, “I don’t play well with others.”

Another horribly accurate laugh. “Yes,” She told him, smiling again, her other hand moving back to comb fingers through his hair again, “I can see that.” He really wished she’d gone with another face—despite the cruelty in the eyes, every single minute motion that cross this one was horribly familiar. There had always been something about Hiden that made him let down his guard—some innocent, childlike air, befitting a kid dropped into a responsibility he didn’t quite understand. And even now, when he knew it wasn’t really Zero-One, he could still feel that nagging in his chest, that weird, warm, soft feeling. Hiden’s voice out of her mouth was gentle and even tender, but even more terrifying because of it. “I see most everything from here,” The ark continued, ignoring his conflict, “I’m a memory pool, connected to everything. But then…” She moved to hoist herself up to sit on the table beside him, leaning back over him and planting both elbows on his chest to pin him down—even though he was still paralysed—and taking his head in her hands again. “… I noticed certain memories were missing. Edited out. Moments, faces…” She gave his face a small pat for emphasis, “… Until there was a void.” Her hands stopped moving, just holding his head to make sure he was meeting her eyes as she leaned even further in. “Hiden Aruto is the void.” She hissed, eyes darkening again. “Korenosuke hid him from me. I need to know why.”

Fuwa swallowed, finally finding something to focus on, a use for the weird way Hiden made him feel. The kid. He had to protect the kid. “You’re not as smart,” He growled, “As you think you are.”

She laughed in Zero-One’s voice again. “And you,” She murmured, expression turning into one of Hiden’s earnest, pleading looks, and his heart stuttered again, “Are not as strong as he needs you to be.”

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

“You’re wasting my time.” A sharp shove knocked Fuwa to the ground—but he didn’t get a chance to recover his bearings, as the Ark was kneeling over him again already, and he felt her fingers smoothing over his hair once more. “This is just bits of old memories. None of it’s real.” She struck him roughly across the jaw. “None of it matters!”

It felt wrong, hearing it all in Hiden’s voice, the young man’s face hovering above him and smirking with malicious glee. The hand petting his hair moved to cup his face with false gentleness, the smile broadening. The Ark tapped a fingertip to his temple again—and then he was looking stunned look of confusion and fear on Hiden’s face the first time he’d broken him out of Metal Cluster Hopper, looking so much like a frightened child it made his chest hurt…

The Ark laughed cruelly, snapping him out of the memory again. “That’s the beautiful thing about human minds.” She murmured patting his cheek softly. “You don’t just remember faces, places. You remember how you felt.” She was leaning far too close—close enough that he should have been able to feel breath. “You remember pain.” Everything burned, his mind and all of his senses flashing back to the day Horobi had nearly killed him. “Agony.”  Then it felt like his body was being torn apart, Assault Wolf’s henshin announcement ringing in his ears, and blood in his mouth—then Hiden’s hands on his arm, the boy’s voice raised in anxious alarum. “Shame.” Amatsu’s back as the man called him a stray and walked away, taking Yaiba with him and leaving him alone and battered on the cement. “Oh…?” She raised an inquisitive eyebrow, “Grief.” A memory from far in his past, standing beside his mother at his father’s funeral as a young boy. “And I,” Her hands cradled his face again, “Can trap you in your worst memories forever.” For a moment, her smile changed from a smirk into a frightfully perfect mimic of one of Hiden’s kind, innocent ones. “Would you like that?”

“No.” He barely recognised his own voice, no more than a broken rasp.

The Ark tilted her head, giving him a prompting look. “No, what?” Then he was facing off with Yaiba in the parking garage again, hoping she’d give him something anything so that it wouldn’t have to go there…

“No, thank you.” Fuwa spat through gritted teeth.

Another creepily accurate imitation of Hiden’s smile, and she moved her hand to stroke his hair again. “See?” She murmured, “Memories aren’t just where you’ve been. They’re who you are. And if I own that…?” She tapped him on the nose with a small giggle, “I own you. And when I get out of here, little mutt?” The hand on his head curled into a fist, gripping a handful of his hair, her other one grabbing his chin tightly, forcing him to look into her face—Hiden’s face—as she leaned even closer, the smile morphing into a cold stare, “… I will own everyone.”

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Aaaaand… I dunno how to get out of here, so we’ll end there. ^^; I’m planning on doing another part of this bc there was one other thing I wanted to include. But I don’t know when I’ll have that done.

[bugheadfamily]

Graphic by: Katie ( @betty-cooper )

This week the spotlight is on Sarah ( @onceuponamirror )! Click the read more link below to get to know our member!

Spotlight by Mila, @jughead-jones

SARAH | @onceuponamirror

Name: Sarah  

Age: 25

Location: California

Any other languages aside from English people can contact you in?: alas, nope. 

Favourite Riverdale characters and ships?: I actually enjoy most of the characters, but I know I would like all of them better if the writing actually was focused on characterization, lol. But obviously I quite like Bughead. And then honestly I like all of the Veronica ships. I also like Choni but i think the writing could’ve been a lot better.

Favourite moments from S1 & S2?: Betty repeatedly saying “what’s my name” to Alice was really powerful and one of the moments that sold me on the show early on, especially in the acting from that scene, and then 1x07 was a really wonderful exploration of a broken relationship between father and son that was still fill with a lot of love despite how painful it was. The family/character moments early on were strong. In s2….the acting continued to be pretty good, and the addition of totally campy things like Papa Poutine and his son Small Fry were the wacky kind of delight I seek from riverdale. 

What are your hopes for S3?: consistent characterization, and hopefully some fun weirdo hippie moments. 

Other fandoms you’re into?: I was in the Once Upon a Time fandom for a long time. But that show has ended now. 

What are some of your favourite movies/TV?: The Americans, The Good Place, The Office, Parks And Rec, Glow, Orphan Black, The Bold Type, Queer Eye, Jane The Virgin, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Favourite books?: All About Love by Bell Hooks, A Thousand Eyes: Media Technology, Law, and Aesthetics, Kafka On The Shore by Haruki Murakami, and Just Kids by Patti Smith. I need to find more fiction to read, but don’t really know where to start in terms of what I’m really looking for. 

Favourite bands/musicians?: FLEETWOOD MAC!! I think anyone who has visited my blog even once probably knows this lmao. 

If you could live in any fictional world which one would you choose and why?: uh, Harry Potter universe, no contest. I mean, given that I too would be a witch anyway. 

Favourite food?: mm. Probably tomatoes. Love a good tomato. 

Favourite season?: autumn!!!

Favourite plant?: oh this is hard. I do love a big split leaf monstera! 

Favourite scent?: eucalyptus.

Favourite colour?: blue.

Favourite animal?: also hard. Have you ever heard the sounds a porcupine makes tho? 

Are you a night owl, an early bird, or a vampire?: fun combo of a person who likes to stay up late who also naturally wakes up early. But on my good days, I’m an early bird. 

Place you want to visit?: Japan! Or spend more time in Scotland than I’ve had before. 

Do you have pets? If you do, tell us a little about them: I have a cat. She’s afraid of her own shadow and I love her dearly.

Tell us a little about yourself?: I am a freelancer in a creative field, I’m a big fan of analysis (show or writing or otherwise), and my interests tend to rotate around the arts and plants.

Fun or weird fact about you?: I am a very, very good whistler. Can do all the vibrato stuff. 

Asks for fanfic authors:

How long have you been writing?: since I was like 11-12, honestly. 

Which is your favourite of the fics you’ve written?: Heart Rise Above is very dear to me for many reasons, but beyond just the satisfaction of telling the story in way I’m happy with, it also represents a huge number of goals that I met. I’d never written anything multi-chapter, let alone over 100k. It helped me get over a lot of my insecurities. 

Favourite fic/chapter/plot-point/character you’ve ever written?: HRA is prob my favorite fic, my favorite chapter was probably the “water” chapter (17 i think) in HRA, my favorite plot-point is something from A Deed Without A Name so i shouldn’t say yet, and my favorite character….I mean, I’m fully aware that I basically came up with an original character in JB. She appears in most of my fics because I firmly believe that she better rounds out Jughead and my goals for him, but she’s also become a solidified figure in my mind. And I’m fond of her; or at least, my version, lol.

Which was the hardest to write, and why?: Stealing Home has been a continued challenge, just because it’s such a different universe from canon while still needing to maintain consistent and recognizable characterization. But I like challenges!

How do you come up with the ideas for you fic(s)? (examples: Do you draw inspiration from real life? Listen to music? Get inspired by TV/movies?) Do you have an process to your writing?: I listen to a lot of music while I write in order to tap into the tonal atmosphere I want to build, but a lot of my ideas start with a vague concept, sometimes launched by a single image I saw (HRA was inspired by a set photo) and then I work backwards to a larger theme and intent. My process depends on the story, but often I make a lot of “beginning, middle, and end” notes to myself for where each character has to go and what has to happen, plot wise, at those stages.

Idea that you always wanted to write?: I’d like to one day tackle a long, multi-chapter story that spans only 24 hours. We’ll see!

Favourite character to write?: Jughead, I think. But i also really like writing Veronica, turns out. 

Best comment/review you’ve ever received?: @village-skeptic leaves incredibly detail-oriented reviews, and I eat them up. But then I’ve had some personal messages about the impact some stories have on them and it just — wow. That’s amazing. It means so much to me.

Best and worst parts of being a writer?: It’s incredibly satisfying to escape into someone else’s woes or joys sometimes. Especially when my mental health takes a toll on me, being able to work through some of my own feelings via another character is…cathartic. The worst is that it’s a vulnerable thing, sharing that side! Even if you don’t consciously put those things into your writing, any time you put anything creative out to share with others, it’s nerve wracking. Validation is a tricky thing. 

Do you have any advice to offer?: Ultimately, be passionate about why you want to do something. All other doubts and worries and insecurities will be outweighed if you understand why you’re doing what you’re doing.

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This is the seventh instalment of Bughead Family’s Member Spotlight series. Each week, a member’s url is selected through a randomizer and they will be featured in a spotlight post. In order to participate, please join the Bughead Discord (more information found here). Thank you.

[zonamievents]

ZoNami Analysis: The Orange Island Arc and First Impressions!

Hello everyone! Welcome to my new series of posts, where I discuss every Zoro and Nami moment to have ever occurred in the entire series of One Piece. Any scene can merely be friendly, but perhaps we can uncover a hint of something more between them as we go through it all? Let’s find out on this journey together!

Also, I am aware that koukihime has done a similar series on her website, zoroxnami.weebly.com. However, I wanted to perform my own analysis of Zoro and Nami’s relationship, so please bear with me if there are any accidental similarities. Thanks!

Today’s topic is how this ENTIRE arc solidifies Zoro and Nami’s relationship moving forward. First impressions are important, and though Oda-sensei likes to play with how we preceive someone vs how they really impact the story in later arcs, the simplicity of the beginning of the series tells us a lot about how these two are meant to be critical players in the Mugiwara crew, and in each other’s lives.

Picking up from where we left off, Zoro has just stepped in to save Nami’s life from Buggy’s crew! Nami is in great disbelief to find that an infamous pirate hunter like Roronoa Zoro is actually the other half of Luffy’s pirate crew.

As she stands there mistified, Buggy questions if Zoro has suddenly appeared to take his head. Though Zoro tells him that isn’t the case, Buggy instigates a fight and in a matter of seconds, it seems as though the pirate captain was taken down instantaneously. Disappointed and confused, Luffy, Zoro and Nami can’t understand why his crew starts laughing after their boss’ defeat, only for Zoro to learn that not only did he underestimate Buggy, but…

Buggy also has a Devil’s Fruit that allows his body to separate at will.

Luffy, Zoro and Nami know they need to escape, but the situation looks rather grim. However, leave it to Zoro - who now has a stab wound in his left side - to flip an entire canon over and aim it at the Buggy pirates!

After the canon shoots, it is Zoro AGAIN with his inhuman strength lifting the cage that Luffy’s stuck in and trying to carry him down off of a rooftop and onto the ground! Nami is just in awe as she follows them, and though she apparently knows the name ‘Zoro’, it seems she is unaware of just how powerful he truly is.

Nami starts to lose her wonderment when Luffy later picks a fight with ShuShu the dog. But she still brings Luffy the key to the cage so he can get himself free. Defeated for the moment, Zoro sleeps off his injury while Luffy gets himself into even more trouble! Zoro is woken up when Buggy fires another one of his Buggy Balls at the building, and somehow survives the impact so he can join the fight once again!

As the story progresses and the two crews face off - with Nami finally agreeing to ‘cooperate’ with the Straw Hats - Buggy faces off against Luffy, and Cabaji challenges Zoro. At one point in their battle, Cabaji intentionally aims for Zoro’s wound from earlier, and Nami calls him out for such a cheap trick.

And she calls him out on it again, but the third time Cabaji tries to attack his wound, Zoro not only blocks him, he decides to make that particular injury seem a little less interesting…

...by cutting himself! It disturbs even Luffy that he does this, but the tactic works and Cabaji is now focused on the overall fight rather than targeting Zoro’s obvious weakness. Of course, this only makes Nami worry about him more.

Nami leaves the scene shortly after that to go and get the map of the Grand Line that was most likely lost in the explosion. She sneaks off and promises to join up with Luffy and Zoro again if they manage to survive. However, the fight ends up being so engaging that she watches it from the distance before achieving her goal!

After avoiding an enraged Buggy when she steals his treasure - and after Luffy’s inevitable victory against Buggy - Nami groups up with Luffy and the sleeping Zoro and as he wakes up, Zoro says he doesn’t think he can walk. To which Nami replies…

And that’s the major highlight, or theme, of this arc: Luffy and Zoro are meant to show off how powerful they are together, and just how otherworldly their strength can be. Even though this is a Zoro and Nami-centric post, I just want to point out that everything mentioned above happens in order and nothing plot-centric is skipped over. A great deal of Nami’s impression of this crew revolves around her reactions to Zoro’s heroism and just how brutal he can.

But what does this mean for ZoNa?

Why summarize this entire arc and say that it’s worthy of more love from the ZoNa community?

What does the Orange Town story really highlight for us ZoNa fans!?

It shows us that this is where Nami realizes how integral Zoro is to not only the crew, but her survival too. It isn’t meant to impress us as the reader because we’ve already met Zoro - this entire meeting is meant to wow Nami into feeling safe with them.

Before she became a Straw Hat, Nami traveled the seas alone. Why bother getting any sort of outsider involved in her village’s problems? Her willingness to join the crew wasn’t simply because of her dream, but it was because she knew that she needed them to stay alive if it meant she ever encountered someone like Buggy again. Remember, Nami explicitly states in this arc that she thought Devil’s Fruits were nothing more than a myth that pirates tell themselves. For her to see both Buggy and Luffy in action in the East Blue - which she knows is statistically the weakest of all four - means that Nami needs some strong partners in crime if she plans to finish her mission of saving Cocoyashi.

Given her methodical nature, it’s only logical to tag along with such irrefutably strong men to guarantee success. And that’s the perfect way to highlight yet another ‘opposites attract’ aspect of the ZoNa relationship!

The Left Brain vs The Right Brain.

It’s a concept most of us are familiar with: each half of your brain specializes in a specific area of your personality. If you’re more instinctive than strategic, you’re Right Brain is probably your dominate half. If you prefer to plan out your day rather than letting events unfold as they will, than you’re a Left Brain thinker. At first glance, some would call Nami emotional and spastic, but us fans of the character can agree that she is one of the most intelligent and well thought out members of the Straw Hat crew.

Zoro, on the other hand, is a reactionary character. Where Nami would try to concoct a solution, Zoro would prefer to make his own based off of what he feels is best. Though a stone-cold type of character, even his choices in battle come from training that taught him how to hone his instincts in order to guide his body to dodge attacks and execute strikes successfully.

Now, why does this matter?

Because neither one of them is solidly using only one side of their brain.

Together, Zoro and Nami create a proper middle ground - known as the Wise Mind in the example image above - that create a viability for each other. Where one lacks, the other exceeds expectations. Both are impressive characters, but what we get from this arc is the root of Zoro and Nami that truly show the significance they bring out in one another based off of their mere functionality.

In the very first post of this series, I talked about how Nami was the navigator and Zoro works as a protector; this first introduction they have clearly provides the foundation for Nami’s perception of Zoro as the person she ends up relying on the most from here on out. Essentially, their relationship works itself into a very popular theme: the Beauty and the Beast.

If you look at Belle from the Disney version of the tale, she is smart, well-read and cunning. She knows when it’s time to run away and when she needs to step up to the plate, to risk her life for either her father or for the Beast himself. She yearns to have more than the life she leads and it causes her to seek adventures beyond herself. Though her wits can get her into trouble sometimes - and even put her at odds with the Beast - she manages to to prove herself as a worthy partner to stand next to the Beast.

On the other hand, we can look at the Beast himself. He’s very stern, off-putting at times, despite the kind-hearted individual inside. Though others may comment on his brash personality, the Beast stays true to himself but starts to warm up to the idea of having Belle around. The Beast even saves Belle more than once and her respect for him grows when she sees how selfless he can truly be. He isn’t the easiest characters to love in his own story, despite being a clear protagonist. He always has his own goal in the back of his mind and thinks about how it involves the lives of those around him. He’s also the first to tell you he isn’t ‘a fool’.

There is a fantastic, oldie but goodie fanfic written by SF Kitty called “Beauty and the Beast: One Piece Style” from 2006 that shows how fans of ZoNa have picked up on the notion that there are evident ties to this Disney couple, and for good reason! It’s a popular concept that has worked out for many other fictional couples, because each couple acts as the other half to their partner - like the Left Brain meeting the Right Brain to make a Wise Minded couple! And though this arc is summarized simply in this post, I believe that the intention of this story allowed for Zoro to show off his beastly attributes to a rather shell-shocked Nami, just like the Beast does when he saves Belle from the wolves in the Disney adaption of the tale.

Mind you, Nami isn’t as smooth as Belle when she comes back to help Zoro and Luffy, but the similarity exists and that’s good enough for me!