#i'm at the jaya arc

[mey-rin-is-fabulous]

"Why didn't you go too?"

Oh I don't know Nami maybe because he asked and Luffy said he didn't need help and Zoro is so incredibly whipped that if Luffy tells him not to fight he listens, if Luffy tells him to stay he stays

Like Nami where the hell have you been the past 100+ episodes, those two are about as in love as in love gets without them making out

[drawingwithdonnie]

my contribution to the Ninjago fandom

Jay burn scar + blind eye hc nabbed from my buddy @mycabbagesmycabbages >:) also yes I believe in oni/dragon trait Lloyd

original meme under the cut!

[devilfruitdyke]

shirt hair and little computer earrings acquired

[writingwithcolor]

Avoiding the white savior of the kingdom

@ceo-of-angst asked:

Okay so I'm writing a fantasy series. There's two main kingdoms though there is a third but that one doesn't have to do anything with this ask. Both of them are likely as big as a continent each so there are different climates everywhere, therefore there's a lot of diversity even within one country. The issues mostly is between the two kingdoms nationality wise, as there's a war. The prince of one of the kingdoms kills his older brother to gain the throne. This is where the issue starts. They have a younger (half)sister who ends up leading a revolution bc of her brother's bad rule (famine, war, dictatorship and incantation or sentence to fight to the death in war to anyone who doesn't obbey the government etc), she's white, she's helped by my main cast who are all poc (one of them also from nobility) from the other kingdom and I don't want to accidently make it a white savior She's not my main character though if anything we only see into her pov bc of a difference between kingdoms in book 2. Most of the pov is on my main cast so I don't know how this could pay out.

Add diversity to the kingdom

There is a simple solution: don’t make one kingdom all-white or all-BIPOC. Add in diversity and mixed race. You seem to already be doing that, and it’s not an issue of race but rather tyranny. White saviorism is when only a white character can solve a problem for BIPOC and they’re seen as the hero. If it’s a team effort, where your protagonist is fallible but well-intentioned, you should be fine. -Jaya

Questions to ask yourself

This critique got levied at Tamora Pierce’s Trickster series, and it’s a pretty valid critique of the books—every time you have a white person as a figurehead of an otherwise-diverse movement, you’re going to start getting into why this white person, and why then?

It’s especially salient if you have the person come into an already-established rebellion movement. Is her involvement the thing that gets the privilege necessary to make the movement valid? What about her makes her the ideal top person in the organization?

Why is she white?

My first question is: why is she white? Is it related to colorism and classism? If yes, then why are you automatically making the leading group white if there’s so much diversity and so many other groups can trend extremely pale?

Why are the kingdoms so big?

My second question is: why are the kingdoms so big? It’s actually frighteningly hard to run a continent-sized country. If you’re attempting to make these single groups so big simply for ease of worldbuilding, and for diversity’s sake, know that a country does not have to be large to contain a multitude of groups. You are allowed to have political rivalry in a small area and still maintain diversity within it.

How much privilege is she willing to give up?

My third question is: how much privilege is she willing to give up? Is she trying to take the throne for herself, or is she trying to destroy all of the structures that gave her status in the first place? Because that question will determine how willing the PoC around her are going to be. Why would they support a ruler if they’ve been subjugated by that family, with no real promise she’s going to be any different once she gets in power?

On the flipside, why would she be willing to give up any of her privilege in the name of removing her brother from the throne, and what stops her from going off the deep end once she has the ability to control others?

It’s likely doable to make this situation read as less of a white saviour, but in order to do that you’ll likely need to wask yourself a lot of hard questions about your motives and the character arc you want to have with her.

People may see a white savior, regardless

And you’ll also have to ask yourself if you’ll be comfortable with never really being able to avoid some people calling this a white saviour plot. Even if you do “everything right” and follow every bit of advice you can, there’s always going to be some people who aren’t too thrilled that the person saving everyone is white.

So examine your motives, really nail down what you’re trying to show with this, and come to terms with not making everyone happy no matter what you do.

~Mod Lesya

[biscuitboba]

I will never be normal about how zoro can't seem to take his eyes off his captain like even though luffy is stronger than him?? Like i've talked about this many many times before (probably) but the way he keeps an eye on luffy, making sure that luffy is okay??? Zoro and his luffy-oriented brain i swear... like how he is always trying to make sure that his captain is fine 24/7, i'm just-

Like for example, when he is waiting/looking out for luffy's arrival in jaya arc. (Also happened in adventure of nebulandia!)

Or him keeping an eye on luffy in punk hazard. Watching his captain from a perfect & safe distance.

Or it's also about how zoro likes to check on his captain. Voicing his concern, making sure that nothing is wrong with his captain by directly asking luffy about it (if he notices anything unusual from luffy)

Also thinking about zoro and his priority when it comes to luffy (luffy aka his number one priority, really)

Zoro and his worry wart side when it comes to his 'idiot' captain (tbh if i have to put all the panels (from the manga) for every time zoro worries about his beloved captain here, i don't think i can, cause it's zoro)

Like i just think it is crazy how much he cares for his captain, like yeah every single one of the strawhats are like that too, but with zoro it is very visible every. single. time. Like oda really shoved it into our face?? like yeah, zolu my absolute beloved<333

bonus, lil sanuso in the corner<3

[angel-eyes05]

What's In A Name

pairing: roronoa zoro x fem!reader

summary: as a master thief, you pride yourself on never getting caught. that is until you're caught by the straw hats as you try stealing from their ship. unable to turn you in to the authorities just yet, they'll have to make due with storing you on the going merry in the meantime. but, your time in confinement has allowed you to get particularly close to a certain swordsman. how close the two of you get is to be decided though.

warnings/info: nsfw mdni, oral sex (fem receiving), alcohol consumption, drunk/tipsy sex, face riding, my own sex headcanons for zoro are VERY clear here lmao ,takes place in between jaya and skypiea (please pretend theres more time at sea in between those arcs cause this will not work otherwise OK THANKS), this is for the pre-time skip zoro girlies (he's 19 pre-time skip dont come for me), no use of y/n, the first half of this is just cute shenanigans between reader and the straw hats. its a lot of character building stuff but i like it.

word count: 6.3k

notes: HI GUYS IM BACK IVE MADE MY RETURN I FOUND SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT!!!! and its the longest fic ive ever written too god damn what a comeback lmao. ok so i started watching one piece and im head over heels in love with this man...but i'm only up to water 7 rn so i only know how to properly write for pre-time skip zoro so thats how this is gonna go. i was looking for zoro/one piece fics to read but theyre literally all established relationship ones which aren't my cup of tea so im doing it myself lmao. also i didnt proofread i got too lazy sorry if some stuff doesnt make sense sorry sorry sorry but im a simple lazy tired girlie lmao enjoy!!

dividers by: @cafekitsune

You didn’t know any of their names.

You had been aboard the Going Merry for about three weeks now, and you still hadn’t learned anyone’s names. Granted, your reason for being there wasn’t to make friends anyway. That wasn’t particularly easy to do, being tied up in some storage closet and all. 

Being one of the few residents who actually lived on Jaya had allowed you to pick up a skill or two when it came to stealing. Pirates with big bounties and even bigger treasures left their ships unattended at the docks, leaving you with some perfect quick heists from time to time. Some steals were easier than others. As much as you believed in your talents, most of the time your ability to get out unscathed was based purely on the luck of the draw. It wasn’t an easy life, many recent nights leaving you with more injuries than berries and gold pieces, but it was all you knew having lived here for so long. 

After having taken a break from heists for a bit, you finally laid your eyes on a ship worth stealing from. A pirate ship with a goat out in front and seemingly orange trees next to the helm. Most of the ships at the dock had been there for a while, leaving the pirates on board used to your tricks already. Being low on cash was another factor. So, after a bit of planning, you made your way onto the ship.

Earlier, you had found that one of the windows to a cabin had been left open, so you decided to make your entrance through there. You gathered your things and dove into the crystal blue water by the dock. Once you made it to the back of the ship, you took your rope, with your own handmade grappling hook at the end, and swung it to hook on the window sill. Luckily for you, it stuck the landing on the first try. You smirked to yourself and used the hook as leverage to climb up onto the ship. Unfortunately, this seemed to be the ship’s bathroom. Not super ideal. You’d have to venture more out into the ship. But with this came the risk of getting caught. Given your dire circumstances though, it was a risk you were willing to take.

With an attempt to make as little creak as possible, you slightly opened the door into the rest of the interior. Coast was clear so far. Suddenly, a shake rattled throughout the interior. You tumbled onto the floor, pushing open a door due to your unbalance. What the fuck was that, you thought to yourself. It quickly became no matter though, when you noticed the door had opened up to a room with a treasure chest tucked away in the back. Jackpot. You slyly made your way into the room and shut the door behind you. 

The room was neatly kept, with bookshelves, a couch, two sleeping hammocks, and a desk with navigation tools on it. There was even a bar. Though temptation pursued at you, you had to stay on task. While making your way over to the chest, you heard different creaks vibrating across the walls of the ship. You prayed to yourself that it was just the wood’s reaction to the waves. As you had predicted, the chest was locked, so you searched your bag for anything that could key the lock. 

Time became of the essence quickly as the thuds and creaks on the ship grew louder and louder. Finally, the lock to the chest made a perfect click, as the chest unlocked. You lifted the roof of the chest to find a sight for sore eyes: jewels and gold galore. This was it, you were set. You were so in awe with the vision before you, that you had failed to notice the woman standing behind you. The image you saw in one of the emeralds was a tall figure, with jet-black hair just below her shoulders, and dazzling blue eyes. “Looking for something?” the woman questioned, almost sarcastically. You seemed to have forgotten rule number one of thieving. Remember to lock the door behind you.

Quick on your feet, you whip around to throw a punch in her face, but her reflexes seem to be quicker than yours by the way she catches your fist. You then attempt to kick out her legs. The image you see next shakes you to your core. A hand, seeming to appear out of thin air, attaches itself to your calf. The hand then slowly raises your fear-frozen body into the air, dangling you upside down like a party toy. You attempt to throw more hits at her, all seeming to be in vain though. You kick and scream, like a child throwing a tantrum, in an attempt to get out. The woman looks out into the hallway and signals over another one of her companions. Fuck, this is turning sour fast. Before you can make out any other features of the man, besides his cartoonishly long nose, he uses his slingshot to pelt a rock towards your forehead. Your vision goes black as the rest of the pirates rush into the room.

The rough fibers of the rope tying your wrists together were the first thing you felt as you woke up. This was quickly followed by the underlying nausea from the waves rocking the boat, reminding you why you preferred to stay on land. You attempted to stand up, but your dizziness and the rope tying you to the floor weren’t letting you get very far. Suddenly, the door to whatever room you were in swung open, and the group of 7 pirates living on board entered the room. You slinked yourself along the back wall, attempting to disappear into your skin. You weren’t sure what felt worse: The fear of what they were going to do to you, or the embarrassment that you had been doing this for so long and still got caught.

Nope, definitely the embarrassment.

The man, no boy was a better word to describe him, standing in the middle of them attempted to speak to you before a woman with short orange hair cut him off. “If you think we’re gonna let you get off easily just because we’re also pirates, you’d be sorely mistaken!” she spoke, fiery anger lacing her words. The tall woman from earlier put her hand on her shoulder, calming her down, and walked out towards you. You tried to scoot away as much as you could as she crouched down to your level. 

“Listen, we want this to be over as much as you do. We would love nothing more than to get you off our ship and drop you off at the nearest island. But unfortunately for us, that would mean having to find a group of marines to hand you over to, who we aren’t the best of friends with right now. And we can’t drop you back off at Jaya since we’re too far by this point. So, for now, we’ll just have to keep you tied down here if that works out with you.” You began to speak before the woman cut you off. “You don’t have much of a choice in the matter by the way.”

She stood back up and began to exit the room, the other pirates following her except for two. The boy with the straw hat and another man, with striking green hair and three swords lying in a holster on his belt. The boy looked somberly at you as if he was against this whole idea. But the green-haired one just stared at you. As uncomfortable as it made you feel, you couldn’t help staring back into his piercingly soft eyes. “Come on, let’s go,” the green-haired man said to the boy, finally breaking eye contact and turning his back to leave. The boy followed him shortly after. As he closed the door, you had nothing left to focus on except for the itchiness of the rope, the empty stuffiness surrounding the storage room, and your worsening seasickness.

The following weeks had the same routine. Each of the pirates on board took individual shifts watching you during the day when they were just out at sea. The strange reindeer creature would watch you when they were out on islands. The first shift was taken by the tall black-haired woman. She would come in at the break of dawn to make sure you didn’t find some way to escape at night. You two would sit in silence for a little more than two hours, asking and answering some questions before switching spots with the blonde one. His company was strange, with him hitting on you at random points in your conversations, but he always brought you breakfast in the morning. As much as he made you uncomfortable sometimes, you couldn’t deny that his cooking was the best you’d had in years. He’d even let you take a hit off his cigarettes if you ever asked, so his visits had its perks. 

The next shift was taken by the orange-haired one. The first thing she would always do when walking into the room was ask you how creepy the blonde one was. The answer varied on the day. Once she warmed up to you, she would bring you tangerines from the trees out on the deck. As the days passed, she eventually explained that the treasure you attempted to steal belonged to her, which you begrudgingly apologized for. On some level, you felt bad. These seemed to be small-time pirates, just trying to get by like you were. The more you learned about each of them, the worse you felt about your actions towards them. 

Around lunchtime, the long-nosed one would bring you your meal, cooked again by the blonde man. This member would go into detail about his next invention he was working on in his workshop. You admired his passion and energy towards his craft. His rants and rambles were normally interrupted by the reindeer creature coming in for his shift, causing intense, yet entertaining, arguments to break out between the two of them. The reindeer was the sweetest of all the crew members, always checking in on your health and helping you with your seasickness. He would talk about his home and his experiences there. You developed a pity for the creature. His presence was calming, and you felt as if you could let your guard down around him. That would change as soon as the straw hat boy would come bouncing into the room, scaring both you and the animal. You would soon come to learn the energetic boy was the captain of the ship, which shocked you. But you soon came to understand why. His crew had a massive respect for him, even if he was the root of half their problems.

Being on the ship, you got extremely close to all the pirates. Even the tall woman from before seemed to respect you in some way. You enjoyed all of their company. There was something strange about them though. One morning early in your stay on the ship, you could’ve sworn you’d heard the tall woman say something to the rest of the crew. 

“Whatever you do, don’t tell her your name. Your name is your biggest secret.”

You didn’t know any of their names. You had thought you heard some of them speak it to each other in passing conversations, but not enough to remember who was who. You had bonded with them, but if someone put a gun to your head and told you to name your prison guard pirates, you’d be dead in seconds.

Except for one.

Zoro seemed to be his name. He would come in for the last shift. His presence didn’t frighten you, but it slightly intimidated you. His habit of carrying his swords everywhere he went wasn’t helping. He was silent his entire shift, normally dosing off halfway through after spending around an hour sharpening his swords You didn’t even attempt to make conversation with him. You found out his name when the captain would yell for him to get back to his sleeping quarters. “Zoro! Your shift’s done, you can sleep for real now!” he shouted across the hall the first time it happened. Zoro almost bounced up from his sleep and gave you one look before bolting out of the room to catch up to the captain. You could hear the echoes of their bickering from down the hall as you giggled to yourself. At least he didn’t seem to always be that stern.

It seemed crazy to you. His name was the only one you knew, yet you knew the least about him. He had hardly said 5 sentences to you in the three weeks you had been on the boat. His stoicism was one of the things that drew you into him though. Something about his demeanor, how intensely he would sharpen his swords, how his worries seemed to melt away the minute he escaped into a slumber, and how alive he seemed when he was with his crew. It was enticing. You wanted to know more. You attempted asking him questions about himself, but the most you would get were one to two-word answers. The most you got from him was when your seasickness finally got to you, causing you to puke up the dinner the blonde one made for you. “Woah, are you okay?” he asked concernedly, shooting up from his seat. When your only response was a cough and more puke, he ran out of the room to go get the reindeer. One thing he failed to do was close the door behind him. 

You speculated your options. You had no idea where you were. You could be out in the middle of the ocean. Or you could be right about to dock at land. If you managed to scrape yourself about the ever-loosening rope and sneak out, you’d be free. You’d never have to worry about these pirates again. 

At this point though, did you want to?

You took too long to decide, the reindeer rushing into the room with his medical kit, the blonde one short behind him. As the reindeer gave you a dose of medicine and cleaned up your mess and the blonde one held your hand and consoled you, your attention stayed by the doorframe. Zoro leaned against the wood, watching the work from afar. What shocked you most of all was his face. For a man who seemed so disinterested in you and your existence, his brows were furrowed, his cheeks had a light pink stain on them, and a slight frown invaded his face. He was concerned. Maybe even a little nervous. But why? He’d never shown any sort of emotion towards you before other than sleepiness. Once the reindeer and the blonde one left, he continued with his shift. You noticed something though. He sat closer to you than he normally did. 

You couldn’t tell, but you were blushing the rest of his shift.

Once he left, you sat in silence, thoughts racing through your mind, until you finally fell asleep.

You noticed a change in his behavior in the next few days. When you would ask him a question, he would respond now. And with more than just a “yes” or “no” too. He had more energy around you and wouldn’t spend his whole shift asleep. He would even let out a chuckle now and then. You didn’t know what you had done differently to get him like this, but you liked him like this. He was sweeter than he let on. 

Something had changed in you too though. On the occasions, you would catch yourself looking over his appearance. The more you observed, the more you realized how handsome he was. His clear, warm skin, his hypnotic eyes, his striking hair. You caught his appearance giving you butterflies when he would walk into your storage room. Your heart skipping a beat when he would give you even the smallest smile. You would stare even more when he would nap during his shift. Noticing certain things. The way his breath would hitch sometimes. How he always slept with his mouth open and would wake himself up sometimes with his dry mouth coughs. How his chest rose and fell with his soft breaths. How fighting with a sword in his mouth probably made his tongue stronger than other men you’ve met. You felt weird about it sometimes. Almost like some freakish stalker. But you would feel better about yourself whenever you would catch him staring at you out of the corner of your eye. 

As time went on, the crew began to give you some more freedom. The tall woman began leaving some of her archeology books in the storage room to keep you entertained. The orange-haired one would show you all her marked-up maps. The long-nosed one would even let you out of the rope to test his inventions from time to time. With the door locked of course. And then, the big display came. One day, during everyone’s shift, they told you their names. The blonde one was Sanji. The orange-haired one was Nami. The reindeer was Chopper. The long-nosed one was Usopp. Their captain was Luffy. And the tall woman, who initiated your imprisonment, was Robin. It was a small gesture, but it meant the world to you. With each passing shift, you grew more excited for the next. To learn the next pirate’s name, and with that, their story. Until the last shift of the day came. And you realized.

You already knew his name.

“My name’s Zoro,” he said quietly. “I know,” you replied, bluntly. 

Something felt different about this shift. You didn’t feel the same excitement you normally felt when seeing him. Without your connection to him before, his being the only name you knew, something about him just didn’t excite you as much. Now he noticed your behavior change. “You okay?” he inquired. “Mhm,” you responded in monotony. The rest of his time there was spent in silence. 

You felt bad about what you were doing. This wasn’t his fault. Yet you were acting like this. It was almost as if the two of you swapped places. He was now the one trying to dig information out of you. And you gave him nothing more than blank faces and empty words. You wished you could figure out why you were acting like this, but you had no clue.

Today though, the crew was going to take an extra step towards including you. Throughout your time on the Going Merry, you had only left your little storage room prison a few times. To go to the bathroom and visit the kitchen on special occasions. But you hadn’t seen the sun in weeks. After proving to the crew you had changed, they planned a little surprise for you.

Robin woke you up earlier than usual. “Is everything ok?” you asked, still half asleep. Robin just smiled at you. “Come on, get up.” You looked at her confused, as she walked over to your restraints, untying you from the hook keeping the rope down. She took you by your restraints and walked you out to the room. The mix of drowsiness and confusion left you slightly panicked as you realized she was walking you out to the deck. She opened the door to a still-dark morning. 

The rest of the Straw Hats were sitting out on the deck, just conversing and eating an extra early breakfast, courtesy of Sanji. They all turned to you once you and Robin walked out. “What’s going on,” you asked, still very confused. “On Thursdays, we all like to get up early and sit out and watch the sunrise. And we were talking about it, and we felt like you should join us this time,” Nami smiled. She stood up and pranced over to you, mouth slightly agape and speechless, and took you over to sit in between her and Zoro. You turned to Zoro, overwhelmed with emotions. 

It had been so long since you felt a part of a community of people. You never exactly fit in with the ruthless bands of pirates coming and going on Jaya. Finally feeling connected to people, especially after you wronged them so horribly, brought you happiness you hadn’t felt in ages. 

A singular “I-” was all you could manage to get out, a tear trickling down your cheek. “Just enjoy it. They’ll be at each other’s throats again in a minute,” he joked, getting a soft laugh out of you. He smiled gently, brushing the tear off your cheek. His finger lingered there longer than expected. You blushed. The butterflies were back and you caught yourself staring again.

“What’s that supposed to mean!” Nami interrupted. “Well, it’s true!” Zoro retorted, leaning over you to yell at Nami. The two began arguing as you noticed the sun starting to peak out over the horizon. “Shut up you two, you’re gonna make her miss it!” Usopp and Luffy yelled. They stopped bickering once they also noticed the sky begin to turn orange. 

The pinks and oranges mixed together in a beautiful watercolor painting as the sun reflected its image on the ocean. The soft waves bobbed the ship up and down in a calming hypnotic motion, almost putting you back to sleep. The beauty of it all was so serene. Against popular opinion, you always preferred sunrises to sunsets. The representation of a new day beginning. It gave you hope in your most dire situations. 

You lifted your head back to see the colors slowly spreading to the rest of the sky. Everyone to your right was in the same headspace you were like they were in some sort of trance. They were all cuddling against each other, Robin holding Chopper in her lap, Luffy and Usopp mimicking each other’s smiles, and Nami resting her head on Sanji’s shoulder. They all seemed so close to each other. Like a little family. Connected. You turned to Zoro to see if he was doing the same as the others, but all you found was his eyes softly gazing into yours, and his hand slowly inching towards yours. The minute he snapped out of it, he sharply turned his head and hand away and cleared his throat. You couldn't help but laugh at his schoolboy behavior. With your ego controlling your actions, you took his hand and slowly intertwined his fingers with yours. You could see a smile float onto his face out of the corner of your eye. You did the same.

The rest of the day was spent out on the deck. The feeling of the sun on your skin for the first time in weeks was euphoric. All you wanted to do was soak it all in. The Straw Hats must have been in a good mood today, because, with some extra convincing, you got them to finally take off your shackles. You spent most of the day sunbathing out on the deck with Nami. She had let you borrow one of your bikinis. You two were slightly different sizes though, so the suit was a little tight on you. You didn’t mind very much. You were just happy to be out of the same clothes you had worn for 3 weeks. Sanji didn’t mind either, ogling both you and Nami and basically worshipping the two of you. “It’s ok, he’ll get over it in a few hours,” Nami consoled. You circled the deck a few times to see if Zoro was anywhere in sight, but you couldn’t seem to find him. He probably went inside to nap away from the heat. Part of you wanted him to get the rest he deserved. The other really wanted him to see you in your outfit. 

The day really took a turn when Usopp brought out the liquor from the kitchen. “I was saving that asshole!” Sanji yelled. “Oh come on, this is a special occasion!” Usopp pleaded. With some more convincing, Sanji finally gave in. You and the crew got increasingly drunk throughout the evening, Zoro eventually coming out from wherever he was napping to join the party. You all had even decided to jump into the ocean and swim around for a little bit. All except for Chopper, very sober and very nervous for any incoming sea monsters. He had managed to get you all back onto the ship with some very convincing pleading.

You and Zoro caught each other catching glimpses of one another throughout the rest of the day. Zoro admiring your figure in the swimsuit, and you ogling at the way his damp shirt hugged at his muscles. One by one, as day grew into night, crew members began to pass out on the deck, deciding to sleep outside for the night. You and the other members who wanted to go back into the cabin, Zoro and Robin, made your way back down into the ship. “Make sure you tie her back up. No hard feelings but we can’t be too careful.” Even slightly tipsy, she was still her stern old self. “Yeah whatever whatever, goodnight to you too,” Zoro drunkenly pushed off. You giggled and blushed as he took your hand and led you down the stairs into the cabin. Robin sighed to herself as she watched the two of you scamper off.

You felt your heartbeat get increasingly faster as he led you to your room. For some reason, the air in the hallway got thicker as you got closer. You blamed it on your tipsiness. But your heart slowly sank as you got to the door, realizing you had to say goodbye to Zoro for the day. He opened the door and stumbled into your room, leading you in behind him. He closed the door behind him, hesitating for a moment before going to wrap the rope back around your wrists. 

He seems distressed for some reason, breathing heavily and avoiding eye contact. You look down at your hands, as he so gently maneuvers the rope around them. The butterflies begin to well up in your stomach again, the alcohol fueling their ferocity. His hands. So calloused yet so gentle. You can smell the remnants of sake exuding from Zoro’s heavy breaths. You looked back up at him. Were you two always standing this close together? You the butterflies keep rising and rising. You don’t know what to do with yourself. You’re not sure if you should run, kiss him, punch him, but you have to do something before you implode. Until. He stops.

The rope undoes itself in his hands as he freezes. His hands are shaking, his breath is heavy, and his eyes avoid yours like the plague. You were just getting antsy but Zoro seemed in distress. “Hey?” you ask, lowering your hands and dropping the rope to the floor. “Zoro?” You take your hand under his chin and lift his eyes to yours. You might throw up at any second. His eyes are so softly intense. 

He brushed his thumb against your cheek, sending chills down your spine. You both want the same thing. Both of you are just too scared to take the chance. “It’s ok. You’re okay,” you reassure him, placing your hand over his heart. His heart, which happens to be underneath his bare chest, him having taken off his wet shirt earlier. His breathing slows, and his eyes move down ever so smoothly from your eyes to your plump lips. You catch yourself doing the same to him, and you inching closer to him. “You’re fine.” Closer. “We’re gonna be…fine.” Your lips barely brush each other. The gentleness of the kiss is calming though, as you notice Zoro’s breath slowing. 

You brush again. And again. And again. Lips touching a little more with each meet. Until they fully interlock. The two of you melt into each other as Zoro wanders your back into a wall for support. Your kisses are structured, made to get the most out of each meeting. You’re both ravenous for each other, but you know if you go at each other like mad dogs, you won’t get what you want. So you both take your time getting to know the feeling of the other person’s mouth. You slip a moan out as Zoro’s tongue seeps between your lips. His kisses get slightly more sloppy as he runs his hands down your body. He feels the underneath of your breasts, the curves of your waist and hips, and finds a nice resting place under your ass. Your hands roam his cheeks and jaw, making their way to tug slightly on his moss-colored hair. 

“Needed this,” Zoro whispers in between kisses. “Needed you so badly. But I didn’t know how.” He separates his lips from yours and plants kisses and hickeys along your jaw and neck. “I was always just too nervous for some reason. You make me so nervous.” His hands find their way into your bikini bottom and fondle your asscheeks, getting a low moan out of you. The alcohol must’ve given him a confidence boost. “Good to see you found your footing now,” you whisper in his ear. He chuckles, the butterflies speeding up in your stomach. 

The two of you stay here for a little bit. Hell, you could stay like this for hours. Just soaking each other in. Feeling his warmth brought a fire into your soul. You could tell Zoro was getting a little antsy though, one of his hands moving from your back to your front, beginning to slowly circle your clit. The other hand went to your bikini, untying the back and letting it fall to the floor as his mouth moved to your breast. Waves of pleasure crashed through your body as you let him do his work. “God, you sure this is your first time?” you moaned out. He removed his mouth from your nipple to talk. “Never said it was, sweetheart. You just assumed it.” “Well from the loner vibe you got going on mixed with being on this ship 24/7, you can’t blame me for thinking that.” “Well the loner vibe worked on you, so who’s to say it hasn’t worked on others?” he smirked. You laughed to yourself as he got down on his knees.

Zoro slipped off your bikini bottom, completing the set on the floor. He kissed your v-line with the same softness he treated your lips to. He sat back on his knees for a moment to catch his breath, looking up at you, as if to ask for permission. You held your hand out to his cheek and rubbed it with your thumb. His eyes closed as he placed his hand over yours, as if you would ever take it away from him. God now this was a sight you could get used to. He was so infatuated with you it made your heart ache. He was right here at your disposal, yet you wanted more of him. So you bent down and gave him a sloppy forehead kiss. Once you were back up, he decided to go in. 

Like most things he does, he started slow and controlled. He kissed and sucked on your inner thighs. Once his hand finally left your clit, you knew he was ready. He kissed your cunt, using his tongue to lick up your wetness. You could pass out right now if you had less self-control. Whimpers and moans left your lips, your hips naturally starting to grind against his nose, relieving the ache in your clit. You let him know what felt good by the tugs and yanks you put in his hair. He was a natural. Your guess about his tongue earlier was right too. “You taste so good, just as I imagined,” Zoro breathed onto your lips. You could tell he was starting to lose his composure with the way he continued to bury his face into your pussy. Your cunt naturally tightened around his tongue as he tasted you. Your hips began to buck into his face as your grinding pace increased, the butterflies turning into a white heat you felt getting stronger and stronger. Your bud was becoming more swollen by the second. Your grip on his hair tightened to make up for your failing knees. 

You wouldn’t be able to take much more. Zoro wouldn’t either, his hand making its way into his pants to relieve his own bulge. His pace got faster to match your grinds. The smack of your lips against his tongue, mixed with both of your moans, was pornographically loud. Suddenly, the situation of Robin or another crew member hearing became an apparent one to you. That worry quickly left your mind once one of Zoro’s hands made its way to fondle your nipple. If he asked you to follow him anywhere right now, you might just do it if it meant this every other night. You felt he knew your body better than you did. “So pretty. So good for me. You make this so easy,” Zoro groaned between licks. “Zoro god fuck me please!” Your final whimper sent you over the edge as you wailed and came all over his perfect face. He licked up your juices as he finished his own job as well. Your knees finally gave out as you fell on top of him, into his arms.

He brought you down gently, straddling you on his lap as you wrapped your arms around him. He traced his cum soaked hand across your back and kissed your nape. You were more exhausted than expected, almost passing out in the crook of his neck. Even now, he was so gentle with you. “You did so good, darling,” he praised, kissing your earlobe. “Want…more…want you…inside me,” you managed to get out. He just laughed and pushed you up to look at you. “If you took me right now, I don’t think you’d wake up tomorrow morning. Look at you, you can barely keep your eyes open, sweetheart,” he teased. You pouted. “Oh, you feel that proud of yourself?” your drunkenness fueling your frustration. “No no no, sweetheart,” he chuckled. Once your frown didn’t change, he stopped laughing and pressed a kiss deep into your forehead. “I’m sorry. What I meant was, if I fucked you with everything I have left right now, which is the only way I would want to do it, this floor would leave us with sore backs for weeks.” You stayed frowning. “I want to fuck you right, the way you deserve. And I can’t do it for you right now.” You pouted more at him. He smiled up at you and leaned in closer to your ear. “If you trust me, I promise I’ll make it worth your while. You’ll be walking funny for weeks.” God, you almost came again just now. You didn’t notice how much your jaw dropped until Zoro laughed at you. You couldn’t help but laugh back in tune with his infectious laughter. 

He kissed you with a fever behind his lips, then scanned the room around the two of you. “What’s wrong?” you drowsily asked. The exhaustion from you coming, the sleepiness brought by the alcohol, and how late it was getting was starting to overpower you. Zoro didn’t respond. He just grabbed your swimsuit and helped you put it back on, tightened your legs around his hips, and hoisted you up as he stood. You decided to ask questions once you had a clearer idea of what was happening. He opened the door and walked with you down the hallway, passing the girl’s quarters and into the men’s room. He checked inside quickly before bringing you in and signaling you to bring your legs down. You confusedly followed him to his bed as he groaned, rubbed his back, and sat down on the edge of the bunk. “Wanna explain to me what you’re doing?” you asked, slightly more awake. “If you think I’m just gonna leave you to sleep alone, tied up, on that dirty floor after what we just did, then you must think I’m a really shitty guy,” Zoro quipped before getting under the covers and trying to pull you down. You put some resistance towards him though. 

“B-but Zoro, I’m not supposed to be in here.”

“I know.”

“If someone catches me in here we’re both fucked.”

“They won’t catch you.”

“How do you know that?”

“I’ll wake up before Robin starts her shift.”

“Are you sure, I mean I just don’t kn-.”

“Hey.”

You stop your nervous rabbling and look at him as he sits back up. “Do you want to go back and sleep on the cold, dirty, hard floor?” You really didn’t. “No.” “Then stay here with me.” “But what if-.” “Do you trust me?”

You sure hope you did after all of that. His kind eyes reassured you in the darkness surrounding the two of you. You took a deep breath and nodded. “Do you trust me?” he asked again. “I trust you, Zoro,” you confirmed. He smiled kindly at you. “You’re fine. We’re gonna be fine.” He steadied you by placing his hands on your hips, running his hands along your waist, and pressing his lips into your tummy. You loved the way he looked at you. Like you were his whole world. It was comforting.

He took your hand and helped you into bed. You bundled yourself under the covers and wrapped yourself around his frame. He kissed your temples one more time before slipping into sleep, his light snores hypnotizing you into a slumber of your own.

The last thing you remember before dozing off was the feeling of his hands on your waist.

Everything you wanted was right here. In front of you. Straight out of a dream. Your only fear was that it would be gone once you woke up.

a/n: THIS TOOK FOREVER GOOD LORD. anyways thanks for being here for my comeback era lol. my upload schedule is NOT going to be consistent this is just a little splurge i wanted to write lol. thank you for reading i really appreciate it (i also really appreciate engagement lol please like repost comment etc im greedy). i love one piece and i love zoro. once i meet law expect all hell to break loose im gonna write so much fanfiction about him its concerning hes so fine im so excited. anyways lol thanks love you bye.

[general-cyno]

y'know, one zolu moment I don't talk about nearly as much as I should but that I love and find super interesting is the bar fight on jaya. and though I know there's mixed opinions on the latter, I also like the contrast between jaya AND whiskey peak.

when it comes to whiskey peak... I'm somewhere in the middle. as a concept I find it interesting too, since it involves zoro doing things on his own for the sake of the crew for the first time (iirc) and luffy being faced with the possibility of zoro not acting as honorably as he believes or trusts zoro to be at that point. thing is, luffy is someone who places great value in the kindness he receives and returns it tenfold. it's something we see throughout the story and in jaya as well actually, with cricket and his crew! this is also what's attracted him to most of the straw hats (if not every) and his allies also. so in theory, I don't think luffy reacting negatively to zoro attacking the ppl who'd been kind to him and the crew for seemingly no reason is entirely out of character, especially after waking up so disorientedly, and at least not that early on in the manga. he emphasizes it too, when he shows up to fight zoro,

the problem for me lies more on the actual execution of it rather than the idea as a whole. kinda goofy for luffy and zoro to drop lines like "now we'll find out who's superior" during it as if they'd had some sort of fighting style rivalry beforehand and it's kinda removed from the og point of the fight but they're dumb kids and the story can take some goofy turns at times so. shrugs.

I can't tell if whiskey peak was originally meant to have an impact or effect on their relationship afterwards (some opinions I've read insist oda was forced to include it) but if anything, it ended up demonstrating zoro and luffy are better off fighting together than against each other, even as they're going on about killing and beating the other up over a misunderstanding. it reminds me of one comment I read on a r/ddit post a while ago (about another topic though) that pointed out how in terms of fighting styles, zoro and luffy kind of complement and make up for each other's weaknesses, which is such a nice detail and layer to their relationship imo.

and assuming there was a genuine point to it all (it's more fun that way heh), I'd say that it really highlights the importance of moments like those in jaya and luffy choosing to trust zoro not to fight back against bellamy's crew.

as luffy has learned this far, zoro would never hurt anyone for no reason and if there's a "reason" it's usually, if not always, rooted in his wish and duty to keep everyone safe (in whiskey peak, the townsfolk were actually baroque works agents, bounty hunters, who had a tendency to trick pirates like them at the start of the grand line). plus, zoro may enjoy battle but he doesn't fight for revenge or feelings/motives of the sort, as he admits later in skypiea. he does, however, react when the people he cares about are in danger (*waves hand and points at anything involving luffy*), hurt (chopper in skypiea as an example, but there's plenty more) or he witnesses great injustice (like yasuie's execution in wano). he's also not the type to enjoy beating up someone weaker, much less for shits and giggles. he will even save enemies if luffy asks him to, as long as it doesn't pose a bigger or immediate (real) threat to the crew.

compare zoro saving smoker in alabasta vs him refusing to accept x drake as an ally at first due to his known status as a traitor in the wano arc, for example.

and of course jaya isn't an exception. when bellamy attacks luffy, zoro responds as usual:

luffy himself stands up ready to fight too, at first. but as nami brings up the sky island and everyone mocks them for it, then bellamy specifically takes it upon himself to ridicule them - insisting on how foolish it is for ppl to "waste time" chasing their dreams, especially pirates, luffy decides not to fight back and tells zoro to do the same.

this is one of those instances in which the "lu" of zolu really shines through, if you ask me. zoro's got a handful of grand gestures toward luffy on his belt, but this is one in which luffy does the heavy lifting for me. this is acknowledgedment and an insane amount of trust, a moment in which luffy's relying on zoro to understand his motives and to push back his usual protectiveness when faced with an enemy displaying a lot of hostility. and zoro gets it, stays true to the trust luffy's placing on him. he doesn't fight back, not even as nami watches and wonders why.

I sound like a broken record at this point, but OP's brought up in several and different circumstances the fact that luffy and zoro are actually pretty similar. they tend to behave the same way or echo each other's words even when they're apart, share similar views on death, on growing stronger for the sake of the ppl they care about, and more so when it comes to chasing and fighting for their dreams.

in the aftermath of the bar encounter, blackbeard tells nami that luffy and zoro actually won that fight. this includes a curious panel in which luffy reminisces both shanks and ace.

it makes sense why luffy shared this particular moment with zoro, when you think about it. those two are dreamers through and through, and if there's characters who can understand the importance of not only chasing those dreams but also keeping a promise, it's them - whose dreams they initially shared with ppl they cherished as kids and made promises to. for luffy there's ace and sabo, and shanks. for zoro it was kuina, then as an adult there was luffy himself. in a lot of ways, the straw hat is to luffy what wado ichimonji is to zoro. during that fight, bellamy represented everything luffy and zoro stand against both as characters and thematically speaking. and that, along with everything luffy's learned/come to know so far about zoro, is what he relied on. it's so good.

later, there's this scene with zoro and the rest, where nami wonders why zoro didn't go with luffy to face bellamy again:

(fun bit here is that zoro actually asked luffy before if he needed his help. it's a small panel but cute! he trusts that luffy can handle himself, as luffy told him he could, and knows there's no stopping him when he's made up his mind lol.)

whether zoro was referring to bellamy's strength or his lack of belief in/mockery of dreams, or both, it's clear he understood why luffy chose to do what he did and asked him to stay put back in the bar, and he could relate to luffy's motives as well. as I mentioned above, it makes sense why zoro in specific would, without luffy voicing them out loud.

the nicest part is how all of these moments are a product of the writing that's gone into luffy and zoro's relationship/dynamic. when luffy chooses to trust zoro with stuff like this, there's a chunk of context that precedes it (like whiskey peak). and when zoro decides to follow him, too, it's because his loyalty for and understanding of luffy has been continually built as the story progresses which is super compelling, and also wonderful to see.

[cyclondoojay]

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILERRRR

(just random shit that i loved, but still spoiler sorry)

so no one got the reference when cole had the idea to give zane that weird potion again to become tiny and go through the lock and open the door JUST like WHEN cole was a ghost and jay said "be the key cole, BE THE KEY!!"? noone? just me?

anyway zane and cole were sooo cute, and that witch lady too, ngl

NOT TO MENTION COLE X GEO SO FCKING ADORABLEEE (geo is so in love with him mygod)

also JAY MY GREATEST LOVE IS BACK

HOW WE FEELING JAYS STANS?

his entrance made me scream but when jay looked terrified of the reflection and his powers, MY POOR BABY WHAT HAPPENED WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU??!??? R U OAKY??!?!?

ohhhh and i can alredy taste aaalll the jaya angst, can't wait.

THE LOVE OF MY FUCKING LIFE

FINALLYYYY WE WIIINNNN

the way nya couldn't belive that he was the real jay cause he didn't know her... HAIAIXOOQIXIWIIAIX NYA THERE SOMETHING I HAVEN'T TOLD YOU I'M SORRY BU-

the jiang-smith siblings scene... I LOVED IT WITH ALL MY HERAT

i also loved that flashback and ohhh my god how i sobbed when nya said that kai, her BIG BROTHER was her HEROOO MY FUCKING GOD

*SNIFF* *SNIFF* TRAUMAA!?IAOAIXOWOIXIWIIX

and poor bonzle.. I didn't expect I would feel sorry for a character I honestly didn't care about, but now I love her, good job ninjago writers 👍 *sobbing*

AND KAI- shit..

but this means kai (and kai angst) and bonzle new friendship and I'm really excited

so much cliffhangers and ANGST until who know when..

and now, if you excuse me, I'll go kms (while watching jay ofc)

(also, arin could be the one ras recruit and not Jay? i mean yeah i like it... BUT WERE IS THE HONORABLE JAYS VILLAIN ARC? I NEED IT RN AYIXISUAIIX)

[beaulesbian]

i'm caught up with end of wano, so here's some parallels from one piece that could be or don't have to be connected, but are still pretty cool.

long post ahead & wano spoilers

protecting new era:

rayleigh protecting zoro at sabaody from an attack by kizaru, ch 511

luffy protecting law from an attack by doflamingo, with same move as rayleigh above, dressrosa ch 782

at the end of wano, ch 1055, shanks telling ryokugyu a similar thing as rayleigh above ("don't pick the buds before they sprout. their era is only just the beginning"),

shanks "when the new shoots that just changed pirating history are exhausted, (..) are you that afraid of the new era?!"

---

zoro king of hell

same page as luffy protecting law - with haki clashing against doflamingo, the panels after that talking about supreme king haki - qualities of a king,. in this context for doflamingo, ch 782

at amazon lily ppl reacting to luffy using supreme king haki, while he doesn't know he just did, ch. 519. "that's the haki of the chosen ones' only one in millions has that spirit!"

vs, zoro unknowingly unleashing haki of supreme king for (possibly) the first time, ch 997

and later during his rooftop fight against kaido, (and still denies/ doesn't know what they're talking about, which is very interesting). ch 1010

then during his fight with King, unleashing haki, which makes others around fall unconscious (as mentioned above to doflamingo is a sign of supreme king haki), ch 1033

and some more chapters later, claiming the title of King of Hell (funny in this context it was told to doflamingo he was chosen by the heavens, and for zoro he became the king of hell. smth smth about the character work there).,

and as always - connected to luffy and his dreams!. ch 1036

then there's the asura figure surrounding zoro's powers,

and i find it so interesting that on wikipedia about asura (which zoro's sword and fighting styles are also based on with hindu and buddhist religions) is mentioned they're "considered enemy of the gods"

i like how it's the same phrase as we also heard in the manga before form law's flashbacks about corazon, ch 764

this is in the context of the people with the D. name, and then mostly used for law himself, and luffy and how far he's come to truly wreck the world government, as well as them being a threat to the celestial dragons.

luffy and nika:

from point above, i like how the "enemy of gods" being applied to people with the name D. is also interesting in the context of luffy awakening his devil fruit powers, which are named sun god nika. (i know that in the phrase "enemy of gods" mean gods as the celestial dragons, but it's still interesting)

which doesn't take away from luffy's character as i was a bit worried at first.

he's testing the new skills and powers, and he sees how he can reach the new limits he couldn't before. it might have been the devil fruit that chose who would eat it, but it's luffy and his dream that make the decisons., ch 1045

and ch 1049

luffy in ch 507 & 1053, his core ideals are still the same

---

not fighting someone

shanks not fighting the mountain bandits, and luffy not understanding it, ch 1

jaya arc, luffy and zoro not fighting against bellamy, and nami not understanding at first, ch 225

and ch 1054, momonosuke telling yamato not to fight the navy guy because he wants to be able to protect wano, and let yamato go to the seas as he wants to - it's just that similar energy that luffy has when he tells someone not to fight (or when to fight), without almost any explanations.

also loved this usopp moment!, - could be paralelled to his whole character arc. ch 1036.

he's so real for saying this to kin and kiku (and samurai in general). he's always scared and sometimes can be acting like a coward, but he always, always, stands up for his crew and fights to live through whatever hell luffy puts in front of them.

-- wano was so good and there are so many thoughts about one piece in my head now, about each of the characters and their development/meanings/themes! OTL

[wariizoro]

u : why are they getting along so well?

z : got something in common, i guess.

teasing zoro hahahah!

they do bickering.. but i barely notice on the anime heh

"hey, luffy..."

zoro : need help?

luffy : nah, i'm fine alone. (they're small fries, right luffy??)

and when cricket tried to stop luffy and zoro just— ajsgssjgsjsj

JAYA ARC | 04

[taddymason]

What do you think about S6 Jay? I've always felt conflicted about his character due to this season, (but that comes from the fact that Skybound is a total mess). I didn't like how he used his wishes to impress Nya so she would date him. It annoyed me that he kept making decisions that wronged his friends because he couldn't let go of the idea she didn't want a relationship with him. I'm conscious this is the consequence of the messy love triangle from season 3, but it would've been nice to see Jay growing up from his relationship with Nya. (And if the writers were so desperate to make Jay and Nya endgame, at least they could've shown us Jay apologizing for everything he did during the season (lying to his friends, not accepting her refusal). They could've shown us Nya bring up the love triangle, and why she went for Cole when she was with Jay. You know, resolve the problems in their relationship and the things each of them did).

But no, they show us Jay making his final wish: "I wish you had taken my hand, and no one ever found that teapot in the first place". That decision feels like he hasn't progressed about his relationship with Nya from the start of the season. At the beginning of Skybound, she clarifies she doesn't want to be with him, so why would Jay wish she had taken his hand? Like, she's dying, and he's still thinking about that moment. What the hell? There were so many ways that scene could've gone, instead of Jay making her do something against her will. (Kind of? I think that depends on the interpretation of each person).

On the other hand, I didn't like how Nya's feelings were handled. One of the main problems her character had to face in season 6 was feeling she wasn't able to choose her destiny. She found out she was destined to be with Jay, and Nadakhan was forcing her to be with him. She literally said she felt that her whole life had been defined by other people, rather than by herself. However, at the end of the season, Jay wishes she had done what she didn't want to do at first.

I don't know, Skybound feels like an amount of missed opportunities for Nya's and Jay's character development.

Oh, skybound. skybound.

This season is a disaster for me and probably the season I feel the most conflicted about.

Overall I think most of the characters this season are pretty ooc. From Cole making sexist jokes for no reason, to Lloyd remaining strangely quiet throughout the EP5 conflict, to Jay throwing his own friends' security out the window to be with Nya. NOT EVEN S3 JAY (which was also a low point) WAS LIKE THIS. Even with all of his insecurities or rivalry with him, as soon as the situation demanded it or Cole was in danger (S3EP9) Jay could focus on what was at stake.

Instead, for some reason during the middle of the season Jay is EXTREMELY desperate to be with Nya to the point that he doesn't even care about his own team.

Look, I don't even mind that they make a season where Jay is an asshole and has to confront the consequences of his actions to learn to be more mature and aware of what he does (most of my fics are like that anyway). Do they want to do a season where Jay lies until his mistakes blow up in his face and where his selfishness is finally tested? I'm on board. If there is something that makes him such an interesting character, it's his flaws. Jay is selfish, he lies very often, he is opportunistic, and that makes his arcs so different from everyone else's.

Now, I hate that this is all solely because of his obsession with Nya. I've said it before but the worst thing about Jaya is when she becomes Jay's only motivation and interest to do everything he does. The season punishes Jay for resorting to wishes, not for continuing to believe that he has the right to be with Nya as if it were a necessity for him. The moral of the season shouldn't be "if you wish something enough, you'll find a way to make it happen" but; you don't need to be with someone else to be happy. Jay doesn't have to depend on Nya for his own happiness, and the season surprisingly never says otherwise.

From start to the ending, Nya remains Jay's final motivation. Literally her final wish is him imposing her will on her again (I know the wish supposedly didn't affect Nya but I think it's a mistake to make a character's wishes remain static from the beginning to the end of history).

so basically the season is a bunch of wasted potential that could have been a really good season to develop both characters. There are good things in S6, I'm not going to deny it. Jay from EP6 onwards has some pretty good moments, like him learning to be a leader, showing that he is a capable and intelligent member who ends up motivating others (Jay inspiring people is a rant for another day). And it's probably the most seriously the show takes his character.

I think the season would be better if it ended up addressing other things as well. There are many hints of Jay feeling worthless, Jay being insecure because he is poor/weak, believing he needs to be with Nya to be happy. And the season doesn't do much with this anyway. So, wouldn't it be better if the season wasn't Jay and Nya getting back together, but rather Jay realizing his own worth as a person? What if Jay resorts to wishes because he doesn't feel valuable as a member of the team? because he starts to believe that Nya is a better blue ninja than him? Or because his powers begin to fail and weaken as he is not maintaining his true potential by allowing himself to be consumed by his own insecurities? There are MANY ways to resolve this conflict without having Nya come back to him as some kind of prize.

...This is spoilers for my Skybound rewrite btw

but yeah, I agree with everything you say, Jay and Nya deserved better this season and I think what affected it the most was making the ending have to be these two getting back together with just ONE episode of them speaking sincerely

Sorry for the long post, Ty for the ask! ^^

[superanimepirate]

Ok so I'm going feral over One Piece live action so here's my season 2 wishlist in no particular order.

Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Kureha, she already called dibs lol. Let her go feral

Middle Eastern actress for Vivi (and Cobra)

Don't fuck up Chopper (no idea how to handle him, but Detective Pikachu did fine so please?). I'm ready for his backstory to destroy me

Continue the title card thing with the jolly Rogers (And have Vivi, Dr. Hililuk, Chopper, and Ace. Ooh maybe the Rumbar pirates for Laboon's episode)

Queer Bon Clay

Trans Crocodile

Garp tries to ignore Luffy to pursue Baroque Works. Smoker becomes season 2 marine antagonist. The inevitably butt heads. Nami is slightly paranoid over who in the crew knows Smoker, because why else is he chasing them?

References/Cameos to Masked Deuce and Sabo

References/Cameos to Bartolomeo, the supernovas, or members of the grand fleet

Little Garden and the Giants

I'm sure they are going to have to cut and trim some stuff down, especially if they only have 8 eps, but hopefully the pacing will be fine. Alabasta saga does kind of have a lot of characters and moving parts.

Some set up for future arcs? Like how they set up baroque works and had the Noland story, maybe there could be hints to the sky island, Jaya, or Water Seven.

Please reference G8 please let them be canon even if we never see them

Let Zoro have a ball at Whiskey Peak. As a treat

Mr. Prince

Big bro Zoro and Chopper

Pell stays dead (Sorry birdman)

Not saying make NamiVivi canon. But I am saying to make them gay af

Keep up the homoerotism between the crew that was beautiful (Yes this is about the Zolu scene. But also the Sanlu. And Lusopp)

[gffa]

Have you also watched the One Piece anime? After watching the new live action I was like “oooh! I should check out the anime!” But it is like 1000 episodes. Is it worth it?

Hi! I've watched a good chunk of the One Piece anime, yes! I watched up through at least the Arabasta arc, probably up through episode 150 or so, but at the time that was all that was released, so I had to switch to the manga. (I kind of fell out of One Piece for awhile after certain events in the manga hurt my heart too much to keep going for awhile, but I've always intended to go back. So I would say I've read somewhere just past half of the manga?) So, take that into consideration, that I'm coming from "started with the anime, got 150 episodes in, that's all the further the anime was along at the time, so I had to switch to the manga, but I fell out somewhere around chapter 500 or so, but that was long enough that I had plenty of time to compare the manga and the anime to each other, once the anime caught up to where I was in the manga". My ideal One Piece watching order is pretty much exactly what I went through: - Be prepared for the first ~20 episodes to be kind of dull, maybe you'll like them, but most people find them kind of tedious, but idk maybe you could skip the first 30 episodes or so because OPLA covers the events reasonably well - Watch up through the Arabasta arc (episode 150 or so), the pacing of the anime is really, really watchable up to that point and the voice actors are ASTOUNDINGLY perfect in their roles - Switch to the manga for the Jaya arc/Skypiea arc, unless you're having a really hard time with it, Skypiea should still be pretty good pacing (up to episode 195 or so) - SERIOUSLY GET OUT OF THE ANIME AROUND THIS POINT because it has to start stretching out the events to fill time because it catches up to the manga too quickly, so there's a TON of filler, like by the time I went to try to watch the events of the Davy Back Fight in the anime, it was EXCRUTIATING trying to slog through the long, looooooong minutes of characters just STARING at each other to fill time Is it worth it? Yes, yes, and yes. One Piece is genuinely my favorite manga ever, nothing has ever come close to how well done I've found it to be. It's not perfect, it definitely has trouble when it comes to women (though, I think Oda is at least trying to get better about that) and the art style isn't going to be for everyone, but the sheer WORLDBUILDING and PLOT are absolutely NUTS, Oda knew exactly where this story was heading when he started and you can see that dedication unfold as it goes along, things that you had no idea were important back then, that just seemed random, will suddenly be MASSIVELY important, like as an example: When Shanks tells the sea monster to GET LOST! after it chomps his arm, there's a whooshing, the camera in both the anime/manga and the live action make a point of how the air kind of 'shakes' around him, and it's super dramatic, right? THAT'S GOING TO BE IMPORTANT LATER and watching OPLA I was struck all over again HOLY SHIT ODA PLANNED THAT FROM THE BEGINNING. One Piece is a deeply silly and ridiculous series, not everything is meant to be taken seriously, sometimes it's just Oda joking around and being goofy! But there's a genuine story about friendships and a massively internally consistent world that will slowly unfold before you and some of the most epic battles I've ever seen. One Piece is a series that has made me genuinely cry over Luffy's hat more than once, it has made me cry over a ship, that's how powerfully the story can affect my emotions, because it's genuinely such a loveable series. Yeah, I absolutely do recommend it! Start with the anime, but for the love of all things holy, stop at least around episode 200 and switch to the manga, it's a tough adjustment for a few chapters, but it's totally worth it!!

[1000sunnygo]

Now that opla season two is semi-confimed and the script has been written,

I'm trying to fit myself into the producer's shoes and map out the contents for the future seasons, especially season 2.

.

Season 2

* Steven Maeda was regretting that they couldn't incorporate Loguetown. I see it as no looking back. Straw hats won't visit there. Smoker and Dragon may interact in an entirely different scenario at Logue town (chasing after Buggy and Alvida?) and Zoro may get his swords elsewhere. Smoker decides to chase after this new Pirate crew. Tashigi may appear as a background role, she'll be left at Logue town and take charge in Smoker's absence.

* We're not visiting Laboon's stomach. Crocus will be chilling outside. Luffy will rile up Laboon and paint the jolly roger. Less than 15 minutes before location changes.

* Whiskey peak will be completely adapted. The producers know the appeal of zoro More importantly, shooting indoors is cost effective. I think this is where Vivi is introduced, the rest of the story remains the same.

* Igaram will die. The eternal pose to Arabasta could be directly passed from him (or plan B, written below)

* Little Garden is either skipped or completely rewritten. The giants aren't there, maybe they already left for Elbaf (or worse, killed offscreen by Baroque works agents). As a wild card, Gaimon story could be merged, where he shares the tale of the giants. Maybe the giant goldfish makes it in for the Usopp gag. Nami will be bitten by a mystery bug and will immediately fall sick.

If we're lucky, Mr. 3's wax house stays. Maybe Sanji will be the one who beats Mr. 3 directly and secures the eternal pose to Arabasta.

* Drum island to cure Nami. I'm not sure what they'll do with Chopper but I assume they'll use prosthetics, Chopper will stay in Heavy Point for the most time. The will of D scene is kept. Wapol is significantly watered down but I think he'll make it in.

* 1-1.5 for the Arabasta lore (the Yuba visit plotline could be adjusted to merge with Katorea/Rain dinners), 2 episodes for everyone's fights and the Civil war plotline. Smoker is heavily included, maybe Ace stays till the end to help them out.

* The scene of Vivi's farewell and Robin's recruitment wraps up the season.

Future seasons

* As for season 3 which could be the final season, they may try to end on a high note and move to Enies Lobby instead of Skypiea. Considering actor's ages and other limitations, I don't think it's unlikely.

* There would be an original extended plot at Jaya to prove the existence of a Sky island via Montblanc Cricket and his excavated golds. But that's it. Maybe Cricket also found the skypiea poneglyph somewhere in the forest that fell from the sky long time ago. Bellamy could be the arc villain and the one to attack Cricket, Luffy beats him and Cricket shares some of his Gold as a gratitude.

* Long Ring Long Land stays to let the crew bond with Robin (Matt Owens said he likes this arc).

* if we're LUCKIER and get to season 4, Thriller bark subplot would only be a single episode and heavily focused on Brook's joining. Zoro scene stays, Moriah might be fodderized by Kuma the same way Krieg was this season.

*Shabondy arc another episode, Amazon Lily one episode, Impel Down two episodes. Marineford is cut short and simplified.

I can't extend my imagination past pre timeskip lol but I'd love to be proven wrong.

[everynicorobin]

what are your absolute favorite robin panels from each arc/island?

This got so long that I hit the image limit, so this is part one of a five part post!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Whiskey Peak

Chapter 114

This is the first time we have a clear full-body shot of Robin! She barely moves from this point on until she leaves on her turtle friend, not even raising a finger to take down the Strawhats.

Chapter 114

I like how cheeky she is here, not only stealing Luffy's hat but putting it on top of her own :)

Alabasta

Chapter 170

An absolutely iconic panel. She's just showing off her power here to mock Pell and Vivi.

Chapter: 173

I enjoy this one simply because it kinda looks like she has two weirdly long and skinny legs. Milkwalker

Chapter 200

This is just delightful. It's the first time she's laughing and smiling without being sarcastic or mocking, and it's because of Luffy's stupid "Water Luffy" move.

Chapter 217

Another iconic panel. She's just beautiful here - look at how her hair flutters in the wind. Ever since she showed up as a surprise stowaway for the second time, she's been smiling.

Chapter 218

Godddd just look at her... look at her smile...

Jaya

Chapter 219

Robin rarely performs hands-on archaeology, so this scene is very cool to see. She gets to show off her smarts, too, by figuring out how the person died and using the hole in his skull and the ship's cargo to estimate how old the ship was.

Chapter 221

After the moment where she states that her specialty is assassination, this is one of the first times she and Usopp become a comedy duo, and one of her first morbid comments after joining the crew.

Chapter 229

She's just very cute here and the reading pose is #relatable

Skypiea

Chapter 239

This is one of the first times she starts to realize what the Strawhats are all about, and when just being around them gives her a new lease on life, psychologically instead of literally being dragged away from death. She's not joining in the romp, but she's just happy to watch her new crew have fun, and I'm sure this was the beginnings of when she fell in love with them.

Chapter 253

And speaking of falling in love with the crew...

Chapter 255

Not only is this hilarious, it's a cute moment between Robin and Chopper :)

Chapter 268

This is just a nice scene. She's spent a couple hours now not only searching for the lost city, but fighting off enemies on the way and literally digging into the ground to get there. She deserves a break.

Chapter 296

Another moment of her loving her new crew, whether she wants to or not. No matter how much the Strawhats might bicker, they follow Luffy to the end.

Chapter 301

Another wonderful smile from our favorite Robin

Long Ring Long Land

Chapter 307

Very amusing to me that she somehow keeps a book in that outfit, and that she's taking the time to read it while there is a dire situation on their hands

Chapter 312

Women supporting women we love to see it

Chapter 319

This is the first time we see Robin really vulnerable in front of her crew. This whole scene is a great moment for her character, showing the normally calm and collected woman suddenly so scared she's fallen down and frozen in fear (though not literally just yet), and it does a good job setting up her character growth in W7/EL.

Chapter 320

Related to the previous one, this is another great look at Robin's character. Here she's already willing to sacrifice herself if it means everyone else will get away, just like she tries to do in Water 7, and I suspect she attacked Aokiji to goad him into focusing on her instead of Luffy and the others.

Chapter 321

Once again we're coming back to Robin and her newfound love for the crew. She's perfectly fine here, but according to the next chapter, it appeared to the rest of the crew that she recovered a little after Luffy, leaving the room after he did. I wonder what she was thinking about while resting - was she worried about the fact that she could no longer leave of her own free will, having become attached to them? Was she preparing to give herself over to the WG should Aokiji alert his comrades? Was she contemplating suicide in order to free the Strawhats from the perceived burden of having her as a crewmate?

Water 7

Chapter 323

Yes we are once more coming back to the "Robin loves the Strawhats so so much" hour. Look at her smile!

Chapter 325

The introduction of a fantastic and iconic outfit, and she's hanging out with Chopper :)

Chapter 340

This is an interesting scene. Robin is telling this to Sanji and Chopper to try to keep them away from her - she's clearly stating that she's leaving the crew, and trying to emphasize that she herself is dangerous to have around to make them stay away. But even though she loves them, it's apparent that she doesn't know them well enough yet, because this only makes them more worried about her and desperate to go after her.

Chapter 340

A continuation of the above - despite that she's trying to drive them away from her, she can't help but leave them with kind words, and thank them for everything they've done for her.

Chapter 347

She's trying so hard to play the part of the villain here, deliberately being vague with her wording to make it sound like she's sacrificing the Strawhats for her own dream when in fact it's the other way around. I'm not sure if it's because she has trouble being vulnerable with people at this point in time, or if it's because she correctly thinks that the others won't accept her actual reason.

From Chapter 359, I had to include this whole sequence because. Augh. Augh. We finally know the truth, that she loves the crew so much that even though they brought back her will to live, she's ready to die all over again just so they can keep going. She can't betray them so she can live this time - it seems like she never even considered that possibility despite doing it so many times in the past. And she just has to tell someone the truth. She might not have said anything if Iceburg hadn't accused her of being on good terms with the government, and insulted her dream. aaaaaauuuuuuuggggggghhhhhhhhhh

Chapter 370

We return to the comedy abruptly! Endlessly amusing how serious and calm she is here while Sogeking is doing goofy things with his arms for truly no reason.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

[mayumayu56]

✨️Reading One Piece with my Dofladile goggles on✨️

(My English is kinda trash)

Let's start with these amazing panels

Ahhh yes Doflamingo kicking Luffy around while talking about Crocodile being defeated because of him.

Now let's go back to the first time we saw doflamingo...

"Let's discuss what we came here to discuss...Fufufufu! And quickly wrap up this meeting"

He was in marijoa literally bullying the marines to start the meeting, he wanted to know what happened.

Then he says..

"I wasn't planning to come either, but my business has been going so smoothly as of late, I came here out of boredom"

Hmmmm idk that sounds very sus, he is obviously obsessed he was literally going through the bounties until he saw Luffy's bounty and decided it was him.

Of course he's going to attend the meeting to know what is going on..

And ...

what made me make this post in the first place is this..

Why did He go to jaya???? The island the Strawhats went to right after Alabasta🤨

Was he fucking chasing after Luffy???

He came from dressrosa (in the new world)-> to marijoa to attend the meeting -> (then after he became sure it's luffy he literally flied across half of the world through sabaody, water 7 and all those islands) -> to reach Jaya

And if you read the page you can conclude that doflamingo probably called bellamy with a din din mushi to tell him to just kick the strawhats out, and not fight them (he knew Bellamy would lose), and if bellamy lost, doflamingo will kill him for humiliating doflamingo's flag, that was the agreement we learned about in dressrosa, he spared him here...

Now why did doflamingo tell him to just leave the strawhats alone, and yet come to jaya running??? I'm just picturing him really mad, flying over the clouds like that scene in punk hazard, and planning to take revenge on luffy himself😂 especially since luffy is a D too.

And when bellamy said: "If I merely kicked them out... they will get to your position eventually"

Doflamingo replied: "That is very thoughtful of you my royal follower. I like that.."

And started talking about the new era and shit, did he decide to wait for Luffy to come to him instead???

Marineford

"Current and former Shichibukai all gathered here...fufufu"

He was very excited to see Crocodile again 🥰

And finally the fated reunion..

LOOK AT HIM

He even helped Croc by stopping jozu🥰

And started flirting OMG DOFFY CALM DOWN

There's just something about this exchange, it feels very... out of place, everyone around them fighting while they're standing in the middle of the battle field flirting and having a friendly conversation in front of white beard's ship,and doflamingo inviting crocodile to team up against white beard to bring the new era, since everyone knows croc has a grudge against him.

and I think this is the only time we see crocodile smile in this arc, the exchange ends with him being a tsundere as usual which is great, I also feel like this shows they knew each other from a time back when they were rookies, they were both at lougetown the day of Roger's execution, so they probably go waaay back.

So when crocodile switched sides, and started helping white beard (the symbol of the old era) against the government, doflamingo got mad..

Now why the hell is doflamingo focusing on crocodile this much???

What is Oda thinking?? What exactly is their relationship?

I hope we have a similar scene after doffy breaks out from prison, but in reverse with crocodile asking doffy how he found the bath of blood, and Then doflamingo asking to join cross guild (basically begging to be his subordinate like crocodile said), that would be awesome foreshadowing.

Then they would be working together ushering in the new era for real this time!! Maybe With moria and mihawk too!! They were all at Roger's execution after all, but now they're all fighting against the world government, while in marineford crocodile was the only one on whitebeard's side, while doffy, mihawk, and moria were fighting on behalf the world government.