#kozuki mai

[listening-to-thunder]

Luffy & Oden: Parallels Wano eyecatches 960-965 | 966-971 | 972-976

[onepiecebdays]

may 19th - kozuki sukiyaki

debut chapter: 911

recent chapter: 1056

current age: 81

affiliation: kozuki family

bounty: none

[birthday-hell]

Kozuki Sukiyaki

Happy Birthday

May 19

[yoonavii]

Boozey recovery

Zoro x Reader

A/n: this takes place during episode 1079. you stay by your boyfriend's side, waiting for him to wake up.

The Flower Capital glowed with the aftermath of victory, lanterns illuminating the streets as the Straw Hat crew and their allies reveled in the joyous triumph over the Beast Pirates. Laughter and cheers echoed through the air, and the aroma of celebratory feasts wafted through the bustling streets. Yet, within the quiet confines of the Kozuki castle, away from the jubilation, two figures rested. Luffy and Zoro, bearing the visible wounds of their fierce battle, were recuperating in the stillness of the chambers. As the festivities unfolded beyond the castle walls, you chose to remain at Zoro's side. Sitting by the bedside, you watched him sleep, his breathing steady but the lines of exhaustion still etched on his face. "I was so worried," you whispered to the slumbering swordsman, your fingers gently tracing the bandages that adorned his injuries. "But you made it through, just like always."

The room was filled with a tender silence, the occasional distant cheers from outside only accentuating the intimacy between you and the swordsman you held dear. Leaning forward, you placed a soft kiss on his cheek, your affection a silent reassurance. To your delight, Zoro stirred, his eyes slowly blinking open. A small smile graced his lips at the sight of you. "Hey," he rasped, his voice rough from both sleep and battle. "Hey yourself" you replied, relief flooding your voice. "How are you feeling baby?"

"Like I've been run over by a stampede of giants," he admitted, a twinkle of humor in his eyes. "But I'm alive, thanks to you." You couldn't suppress a smile, "I'm just glad you're okay. You had us all worried, you know?" Zoro's gaze softened as he reached out to cup your cheek. "I wouldn't want to worry you. And I owe you for taking care of me." Before you could respond, he pulled you closer, his lips meeting yours in a lingering kiss. It was a kiss filled with gratitude, unspoken emotions, and the relief of being alive after the chaos of battle. Breaking the kiss, Zoro spoke, "I deserve a proper kiss, don't I?"

You chuckled, "You do."

As he leaned in for another kiss, the door creaked open. It was Sanji, carrying a tray of food. His eyes widened in mock surprise. "Ah, the marimo wakes up, and the first thing on his mind is smooching. Classic." Rolling his eyes, Zoro grinned and accepted the offered food. "I need my strength, Cook. Where's the booze?" You laughed, "Careful, Zoro. You're not in the best shape."

Ignoring your warning, he got up, displaying a resilience that both impressed and worried you. "I survived a war; a little party won't hurt me." With that, he strolled out of the room, leaving you shaking your head in amusement. Following him into the festivities, you couldn't help but feel grateful for the moments of tenderness and the shared victory that bound you and Zoro together.

©𝐘𝐎𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐈— Any sign/evidence of plagiarism made from outside this name will be dealt with by whatever means necessary. Legal action may occur if non fanfiction works are plagiarized.

[grainjew]

Nikaposting Pt 2: Symbology & Syncretism

This is the second of a series of posts about Nika & associated religious practice in the One Piece world. As I write and post the rest of the series, I’ll add links to this header.

Pt 1: Crypto-Religion | Pt 3: Joyboy was Shandian | Pt 4: Sun God Tropes

Enormous credit to @oriigami for being my discussion partner through all of this and having a substantial influence on the final product. Check out our ao3 series Joyful for a narrative rather than analytical take on the Nika tradition, and definitely go read her OP blog @kaizokuou-ni-naru for meta and translation fun facts.

-

So About That Sun Symbol (and all those sun gods)

Context note: This post assumes you’ve read pt 1. If you haven’t, the TLDR is that the Nika cult is best categorized as a crypto-religion and may not ever have existed outside of a cryptic and oral form.

There’s a lot of sun gods in One Piece. And there’s a lot of appearances of that sun symbol we discussed briefly in pt 1, with the disconnected rays. This post will cover that symbol, the survival of non-Kuma Nika cult branches, and the proliferation of sun gods across the One Piece world.

The sun symbol can be found everywhere, in what seems at first to be a wildly disparate collection of places. There are a number of borderline cases, so I’ll be defining the “Nika sun symbol” as being any symbol with a central circle, disconnected rays, and four- or eight-fold radial symmetry. This leaves us the below list (images of the majority of these instances can be found in this very helpful post):

The Kuma-Bonney/Buccaneer version found in his church and on the amulet he left for her (8 circular rays) ; this is our basic template for the symbol

The Alabasta national symbol (8 droplet-shaped rays; the droplets seem to be drawn at various different orientations depending on the panel)

The Kozuki crest (8 circular rays in the center of a bird in the center of another circle also there’s some sprouts or something)

The Shandian crest (8 circular rays inside a larger circle, also the central circle contains the kanji for kami/god)

The Sun Pirates’ mark (4 more traditional flaring rays; the rays seem to be drawn inconsistently, especially in the anime)

There’s also Ace’s dagger, which has the basic template version, but one can assume he bought that thing in Alabasta or something like that.

From this we can conclude that the sun with disconnected rays is not exclusively a Nika symbol- in fact I would be surprised if it was, because of how prominently it was displayed in Kuma’s church (see the discussion in pt 1). However, Alabasta, Shandora, and Wano are all poneglyph countries, and were all involved in some way or another in [incomprehensible void century muttering]. I would be extremely unsurprised if the sun with disconnected rays wasn’t a more widely-spread popular symbol among [void century muttering] countries back then, which was adopted by Nika worshippers as their secret symbol around that time and simultaneously retained in more benign form by certain nations as an element of their national symbology.

(Sidenote: If you were unaware, Oda snagged this symbol from a castle in his hometown and clearly just seems to enjoy drawing it. However that doesn’t matter to us in meta analysis land. We continue.)

The Nika cult absolutely survived outside Kuma’s family: at the very least, among slaves on Mariejois. There’s a very high chance Fisher Tiger heard Nika stories while enslaved- the compositional similarity of the Sun Pirates’ mark to the base Nika symbol, Jinbe’s pissed off refusal to answer any of Who’s-Who’s questions, Fisher Tiger’s own status as a warrior of liberation, and of course, the Sun Pirates’ name and the importance of the sun to the residents of Fishman Island all point in this direction.

The proliferation of the Nika sun symbol across the world also points, to me, to at least pockets of the Nika cult potentially surviving in cryptic form across the world, like Kuma’s family did, with various levels of conscious awareness about what their rituals and symbols actually mean and what secret seditious knowledge they’re actually carrying.

However! All that said! Not all sun gods are Nikas- At least, not completely.

Upon their arrival at Egghead Island, Dorry and Broggy identified Luffy as the Sun God. However, I contend that Nika was not originally Elbaf’s sun god.

In expository Nika dialogue, Nika is specifically cited as a god of slaves (& as an ethnic or cultural god of the buccaneer people), and the giants as far as we know are (1), not a traditionally enslaved people nor particularly easy to enslave, (2), are based on Vikings & have their own pantheon which includes a god of war, & (3), while I can absolutely see how a tradition of a prolonged fast > feast festival would have evolved around a Nika figure, it does still feel a little strange. That’s supposed to be a Luffy-alike!

Besides this, the Shandian pantheon also includes a sun god, and I think it’s reasonable to assume that the sun god in question existed prior to any awakened user of the Nika fruit running around causing issues (although, more on my thoughts about Joyboy and Shandora in pt 3). Human sacrifice traditions also feel about as odd for a Luffy figure as fasting does, and while obviously Luffy, Joyboy, and Nika aren’t the same person, with the way One Piece’s narrative conventions work they’re probably quite similar.

Solar deities are the lynchpins of many if not most traditions in the real world. Sun’s a very notable noticable thing that follows a set course across the sky and brings light and life! And especially in One Piece, where the sun is also a critical thematic element and motif, I would be surprised if the majority of One Piece cultures hadn’t developed their own sun gods at some point or other.

So, all that said, why were Dorry and Broggy calling Luffy Sun God? Syncretism.

Not every god has a mythical zoan or the things would be wildly more common- only gods and figures with, as @oriigami put it while we were talking about this, a particularly potent wish attached to them. Even fewer gods have awakened mythical zoan users around. So when an awakened user of a sun god’s mythical zoan is running around (and particularly, a sun god with an incredibly potent wish attached, because Nika is a god of liberation as well as the sun, and it’s a god that people wish they could be and emulate as a matter of course), it’s easy to fold them into your mythology as your sun god. Tradition is very malleable! He’s the sun, even if he’s not exactly how you traditionally pictured it.

Traditions are very good at working with what they get, and at the moment what they get is a smiling, laughing pirate captain and liberator of slaves. What could be better?

[drowning-moonlight]

Public Executions in One Piece, Inherited Will, and how Gol D Roger Haunts the Narrative

Since I've gotten caught up in the manga, I am struck by how executions - especially public ones - are used as a narrative device and are even used for character development in some ways as well. Specifically in how the characters that are executed may die physically but their Wills and spirit lives on. There are the obvious ones like Ace and Roger but I also see this with character such as Mont Blanc Noland and Kozuki Oden. I see certain parallels between these government sanctioned killings that I'm sure Oda wrote the story that way on purpose.

Historically and in media like One Piece, public executions serve the purpose of not only punishing the person being killed for crimes they committed - real or perceived - but also to discourage others from committing similar crimes. The thing with One Piece though is that most of these public executions backfire on the ones in charge.

Ace and Roger's executions mirror each other in that the Marines and World Government wanted to end piracy but instead both of them being killed actually ushered in new ages of piracy.

Roger turned himself in and the Marines used his public execution as an opportunity to basically say something like, "Hey, we have the King of Pirates here and we're going to kill him in front of the whole world. This will happen to every pirate we can get our hands on. We are able to kill the King himself, we can definitely get you small time pirates too so you might as well give up being pirate!" But Roger's last words of course completely flipped this around declaring, "If you can find my treasure, the One Piece, then you too can be the next Pirate King!" He destroyed the Navy's plans with his final words and kicked off an era of far more piracy than there ever was before. He dies in body but not in spirit. His spirit and Will lives on for literal decades after his death in every single person who goes searching for the One Piece. The Marines may have succeeded in killing the man but they failed so spectacularly with killing his spirit.

Likewise with Ace's execution, the Navy wanted to end Roger's bloodline and pick a fight with Whitebeard, the strongest pirate in the world at that time. By doing this, they wanted to end this New Age of Piracy. If they could kill the son of the previous Pirate King and also kill the pirate closest to becoming the next Pirate King in one fell swoop then surely this would discourage pirates the world over and prevent people from wanting to become pirates in the future. But again it backfired. The Marines may have succeeded in killing Ace and Whitebeard but their deaths - just as Roger's - ushered in another New Age of Piracy. Whitebeard's last words especially kicked off more people becoming pirates, "The One Piece is real!" Throughout the story we see a few times when characters don't believe that the One Piece is even real, and the Navy probably wants people to think that because if there's no big treasure to find, then there's less of a reason for people to be pirates. But Whitebeard stomps on that notion with his last words:

Ace's execution, which was meant to discourage piracy and get revenge on Roger for starting the New Pirate Age, actually sets off more piracy and changes the story from here on out. Though they both die, just like Roger before them, Ace and Whitebeard's death's carry on meaning and inspiration for future pirates. The world of One Piece is forever changed from this one moment. The story and main character is never the same again after this. Again, the Marine's may have succeeded in killing their physical bodies but the inherited Will of Ace and Roger and Whitebeard lives on in the next generation of pirates.

Roger's execution is also heavily paralleled by the execution of Mont Blanc Noland in the flashbacks of Skypeia. This execution wasn't as grand or far reaching as the Marines killing Roger but the parallel is there. Noland was executed by a king for the perceived crime of lying to said king. He wasn't a wanted criminal the way Roger was but their ends are the same.

The framing of his execution is so similar to Roger's. And later in the series, Ace's execution mirrors them both as well.

The visual parallels are so striking that I doubt it was done accidentally. And just as with Roger, Noland's execution spurred on others to look for the lost city of gold that Noland had found, not knowing that it was in the sky instead of in the ocean. Nolan's death didn't necessarily start a new age of piracy but it did inspire people to go looking for treasure. Which is exactly what Roger's death caused. This search for treasure trickled all the way down to his descendant Cricket and also Luffy, furthering the theme of Inherited Will.

Then there is Kozuki Oden's execution by Kaido in the Wano flashbacks. Kaido wanted to kill Oden for the danger he posed and so that Kaido could further take over Wano without the head of the Kozuki clan stopping him. Oden also wanted to open Wano to the rest of the world and Kaido wanted to stop that. But Oden's death had basically the same affect that Roger's death did: inspiring others and carrying on his will. Even Oden and Kaido himself say as much right before Oden dies:

Is this not metaphorically exactly how Roger died too? The circumstances of their deaths are different but they both still die knowing that their Wills will live on after they are gone. They know that they will not be forgotten. "My soul will live on!! For I am a story to accompany you drinks..." Roger lives on in this way as well, especially through Silvers Rayleigh.

Again, Kaido may have succeeded in killing Oden's body but his spirit lives on to inspire others in the future and thus doesn't really die. His execution backfires and Kaido is eventually taken down by those who carried on Oden's Will.

What's more interesting about this than the other public executions in the series is that Kaido seems to be aware that the death of Oden - and later Luffy - will be remembered. "They will speak of you for years to come," he says to a dying Oden. I find that fascinating. And when Luffy "died," Kaido again mentions that he will be remembered:

It's interesting to me that Kaido is aware that their death's won't really be the end for Oden and Luffy, whereas the Marines and WG definitely didn't seem to understand that publicly killing Roger, Ace, and Whitebeard would mean that they would essentially be martyred and live on in spirit. Kaido seems to have more understanding of what their deaths will cause than the Marines do, which I find... odd... and I'm not sure where to go with that thought.

I also find it interesting that Luffy doesn't care or even want to be remembered once he dies. It's just like Oden saying, "They can forget me, for all I care," but he does go on to say he's a story to accompany people's drinks. Luffy, on the other hand, doesn't seem to see his death that way. He says he doesn't need people to tell tales of his great battle and that once you're dead there's nothing left but bones. It honestly feels like sort of a hopeless statement from Luffy and I'm not sure how to interpret it. Roger seemed to know that his last words would insure that he would not be forgotten, so this difference with Luffy is interesting.

Now what Kaido did to Luffy wasn't a public execution like all the other deaths mentioned before but I think this interaction between them still sheds light on the theme of remembering people after they die. Even though Luffy seems to be saying that he doesn't want to be remembered after he dies, I think we can all agree that he will be remembered when and if that time comes.

And it all goes back to quite literally the very start of the series. Roger's execution is the very first thing we learn about in One Piece. It's the very first scene ever shown, the preamble, the prelude, whatever you want to call it. He's the first named character in the entire series. We learn about Roger's death and his impact on the story before we learn anything at all about Luffy himself.

Roger truly does Haunt the Narrative of One Piece so much and his execution is mirrored by multiple other characters throughout the series that it can't be a coincidence.

it's just... the public executions in One Piece truly do hit different than in other media, don't they?

[blacknovelist]

(one piece wano arc spoilers)

So like @guardianlioness and I were talking about one piece and thematic stuff and generally losing our minds and we were talking especially about like

How Zoro and Sanji and Luffy are a Trio but also how Zoro and Sanji are explicitly also painted to be a duo to Luffy, right, like. They're the "Wings of the Pirate King". Together, they protect and look after the crew, but also their captain. They are, effectively, equals in what they do, "official" roles IN the crew itself aside. Zoro, with his high physical power as their physical defense and Sanji, with his high empathy and compassion as an emotional bulwark

And

Like

Okay. Here's the thing. Here's the proverbial problem. Cause right now, as it stands, Oda's introduced an unbalance to the duo. We were specifically talking about how frustrating it kind of is that the imbalance exists.

Because Oda gave Zoro conqueror's haki. He and Luffy share this— but it leaves Sanji as an odd one out. Thematically, it makes no sense to end with this like... off kilter seesaw. Why would you build these two up to BE on even standing only to take that away from them? Don't get me wrong, Zoro having conqueror's haki is a delicious character choice that I think adds fascinating complexity to Zoro and his position in the crew. He's a powerhouse, he's exerting his will over reality, and he follows his Captain the future Pirate King without question. Haki. Love it. Brilliant. But it makes no sense in the overarching thematic line between him and Sanji in regards to Luffy.

Giving Sanji conqueror's naturally wouldn't fix the issue, because frankly that defeats the entire purpose OF the char building that's been established in whole cake island. Sanji rejected the line of noble, of royalty, of power. It makes no SENSE for sanji to have it, he's not someone looking TO conquer or overcome the way Zoro is, it doesn't FIT him. And saying the stuff with his raid suit and the Germa augmentation rearing its head is the balance point is nonsensical for the same reason. Sanji already rejected all of that power and what it means and reclaimed it in a new way. Explicitly, directly, he denounced these things, directly ASSOCIATES them with a loss of humanity and his very self, wants nothing more to DO with it. Not only does it not make sense, but going back on it would be a slap in the face to all the development Sanji's gone through up until now, even laying aside the fact that it doesn't parallel Luffy at all so the unbalance isn't really addressed in that case.

But you know. Conqueror's Haki isn't the only thing Luffy has to proverbially offer. Conqueror's Haki is the overt, the direct, the loud and forceful. There's a lot we don't understand, between the stuff we do. It bears down and exerts over reality, makes demands of it. It tells you to listen.

What do we know about The Voice Of All Things? Not a lot. We know it seems to enable one to hear not the words, but the intention, the truth of other living things and even in objects, especially those with will like the Poneglyphs. We know Roger had it, Zunesha has it, the Kozuki line seemed generally to have it. The Three Eyed tribe may be capable of awakening it in themselves. We don't know if it's purely something you're born with or not. We don't know what it means, if anything, except for this: to hear the voice is to listen to the world around you and understand its heart.

When Luffy enters Gear 5, the only one who can tell at first is Zunesha. Zunesha can hear his heartbeat, and conveys this through the Voice to Momonosuke.

The anime conveys it more clearly, but it's in the manga text, too. Immediately after Zunesha realizes this... Onigashima is shaking. No one quite knows yet what's going on, other than Kaido is here and the world around them is trembling. Those on the battlefield, they've got front row seats to witnessing the transformation, what comes next.

Zoro and Sanji have finished their fights. They're conked the fuck out post battle, like usual... or they should be. But here's the thing. Right after Zunesha calls for Joyboy, from a room distant to the fighting, offset from the war waging outside...

Sanji's part in the major battles is over by this point. If they wanted to emphasize a "the crew knows their captain" moment, why not showcase the other strawhats too? The ones not on ground zero? But it doesn't show anyone else. It focuses. on. him.

Sanji, who's a deeply compassionate and kind man. Sanji, who stopped and paid attention even to the biological relatives he couldn't stand when he could've walked free without a care. Sanji, with his skills in Observation, in already listening to and feeling out others' intentions...

Zoro having conqueror's haki doesn't make sense on its own. It unbalances the duality of the Wings of the Pirate King. But give Sanji the power to hear the Voice Of All Things or something damn well close... that's a pretty good parallel to each other and their roles to Luffy, don't you think?

[tot-musica]

Hi, may I request some romantic hcs with Nami, Uta, & Kiku with a gn!reader? tysm! :3

Here you go Anon! Sorry this took so long, hope you like them 😊

Nami:

Will both charge you interest, and then immediately turn around and spoil you with gifts.

Even if you're not a fashionista - well now you are.

She found you sleeping under the Mikan trees one day, and sat staring at you fondly until you woke up.

Sunbathing.

Her kisses are firm and mischievous, often taking you by surprise and running away before you can react.

You like to make things she might like out of Mikan's - perfume, soap, candles - whether they turn out good or bad, it always turns her cheeks red.

Perhaps you'd think Sanji would be jealous of you - but quite the contrary! If Nami-swan likes you, then you must be perfect, and that is what he wants for his pretty ladies.

Though she might be jealous of how much Zeus likes you. You can't help it, snuggling with a literal cloud is a dream.

Perhaps … one day you might present a ring? It would be a beautifully crafted thing with the help of Usopp and Franky, gold in color and carved with intricate designs of leaves and Mikan blossoms, with little citrines at the center.

Uta:

She sings. You dance. The same way her voice travels and traverses dimensions, your soul leaves the husk of your body, flying, dancing, gracing the skies as high as her singing.

Laying side by side, you enter your shared world. A place no one else can enter. This place is warm, always sunny, with a breeze, lying under a single tree in a meadow. The grass is as soft as plush fabric, and a creek flows with pristine water, tickling your toes.

On lonely nights, she'll sit on the window nook, gazing out the panes. It doesn't matter what time it is. You're always there, sitting behind her in a warm embrace with your head on her shoulder.

Her kisses are soft and chaste, but emotional and loving. She leans her forehead against yours and smiles.

With effortless ease, you can do each other's hair day by day.

You often link pinkies, and so one day, you both tie a ribbon around each other's fingers, so you'll never forget your promise, and no matter what may separate you, you’ll always find your way back to one another.

"You and me - we can change this world. I really think we can pull it off." Both of you share twin acts of godly power. All those who can hear her sing will fall peacefully to her dreams. Anyone who can see you dance will succumb as well.

She is the princess of this land, and you'll always be her knight.

You'll make sure that this concert goes off without a hitch. A New Genesis will be born.

Kiku:

With Wano finally free again, you both open a tea house in the Flower Capital, close enough to the palace, and near enough to be within the hustle and bustle of the crowds.

No matter how hard you try, you just can't get makeup right - no need to worry though. One of her favorite pastimes is applying makeup to your face.

You can't help but drool when she practices with her katana. Someone is elbowing you to stop simping.

The simping is worse when she dons her Mengu armor.

Her kisses are soft and loving - but she always must fix your lipstick afterwards to your amusement.

The first fire festival free of Kaidou’s rule - all are making merry in the name of the Kozuki clan, and the raid on Onigashima the year prior. Lantern’s light with wishes of joy rather than anguish and disparity - fireworks shoot off and silhouette Kiku’s face as you both sit on one of the palace rooftops, eating all manners of snacks and goodies you splurged on in the lively market, but it’s nice to get away from the thick of the crowds and party on your own.

How does she make everything she wears look perfect? How does she always look perfect?

She pulls you close, resting your heads on one another as the sky shines as bright as the day in rainbow light.

---

AO3 Link:

[bestygogirl]

BEST YGO GIRL TOURNAMENT

Submissions: Closed

Tournament begins evening of September 26. Polls will last one week.

There will be 64 match ups in round 1 and to make it easier, these will be split up into four groups of 16.

I will not reblog propaganda that is bashing one opponent rather than being primarily focused on supporting one.

Mod IS biased but won't be voting.

Groups and match ups under the cut!

(match orders subject to change)

Group A:

Barbara VS Rovian Kirishima

Aqua VS Yoko Sakaki

Eve VS Sushiko Maki

Gloria Tyler VS Princess G

Dog-Chan VS Ranran Nanahoshi

Melissa Claire VS Miyu Sugisaki

Brooke Walker/Umimi VS Epoch

Himika Akaba VS Queen

Akari Tsukumo VS Aileen Rao

Reira Akaba VS Kyoko Taki

Luna (zexal manga) VS Sorako Noodle

Grace Tyler VS Sunavalon Dryatrentiay

Cathy Katherine VS Manya Atachi

Ray Akaba VS Kiku Kamishirakawa

E’Rah VS Asaka Mutsuba

Houchun Mieru VS Nanaho Nanahoshi

Group B:

Yuzu Hiragi VS Entermate Uni

Aoi Zaizen/Blue Angel VS Entermate Corn

Sayaka Sasayama VS Dian Keto

Mimi Atachi VS Diabellestar

Asana Mutsuba VS Cyber Tutu

Yuamu Ohdo VS Dark Magician Girl

Ranze Nanahoshi VS Darklord Ixchel

Yuna Goha VS Cyber Angel Dakini

Light Tsukiko VS Blue Eyes Abyss Dragon

Rebecca Hawkins VS Condemned Darklord/Maiden/Witch

Ecclesia VS Baronne de Fleur

Yugi’s Mom VS Ash Blossom & Joyus Spring

Echo VS Sky Striker Raye

Princess Rose VS Apollousa

Mizuchi Saiou VS Tour Guide from the Underworld

Emi Ayukawa VS Sunny

Group C:

Masumi Kotsu VS Winda

Tiger (Haruka Kamijo) VS Traptrix Rafflesia

Yuka Goha VS Tearlaments Kitkallos

Anzu Mazaki VS Silent Magician

Mitsuko Hiramori VS Sevens Road Wtich

Isis Ishtar VS Pumprincess of Ghosts

Mana VS Prima Guitarna

Rei Saotome VS Performapal Ladyange

Luna VS Nini the Mirror Mikanko

Tome VS Lyna the Light Charmer

Yubel VS Madolche Queen Tiaramisu

Mikage Sagari VS Insect Queen

Anna Kozuki VS Lady Labyrinth

Misty Lola VS Kitt

Rio Kamishiro VS Hu-Li the Jewel Mikanko

Ayu Ayukawa VS Ha-Ra the Sword Mikanko

Group D:

Serena/Celina VS Emma

Asuka Tenjoin VS Miss Mystery

Carly Nagisa VS Haru Tsukumo

Miho Nosaka VS Patty

Kotori Mizuki VS Momoe Hamaguchi

Romin Kirishima VS Junko Makurada

Ghost Girl/Emma Bessho VS Sera

Ruri Kurosaki VS Vivian Wong

Mai Kujaku VS Dinois Velgear

Kisara VS Droite

Shizuka Kawai VS Princess Adena

Camula VS Risa Kagayama

Martha VS Tilla Mook

Aki Izayou VS Xiangsheng Magician

Sherry LeBlanc VS Blaze Maiden, Rino

Rin VS Underworld Goddess of the Closed World

[mezzy303]

Ok laddies time for this week's theory time (do I need to make a masterpost of my theories? This is getting a little ridiculous lol)

Spoilers for One Piece chapter 1115 spoilers under the cut

The way I jumped and threwwww my kindle (onto pillows) when Vegapunk confirmed all the Atlantis theories!!!!!!! I made the mistake of reading it right before bed and I was wide awake for like another two hours talking to a friend and just thinking about it 😅

I honestly was ready to scrap my theory from ch 1113 about there being whole continents 800 years ago before a great flood happened, and I'm still reeling on how it all turned out to be true besides the natural phenomenon part (here's my theory from ch 1114). And Oda once again proves how fucking genius he is bc I never expected 200 meters?????? Omg???? That's over 650ft for my fellow US folks. Here's an image going around Twitter from a YouTube video that shows what are own world would look like if sea levels rose 200m

Insanity

These recent chapters have had me really questioning the mechanics of the One Piece world lol. Tbh I think we all just assumed that the world was just Like That and mainly functioned to drive the plot forward. But there are actual reasons behind it?? With this revelation, I started thinking about how the sinking of land could have been intentional on the Allies' part, beyond the destruction of the Great Kingdom and erasing it from history. The way the world is now, with the Red Line going all the way around and the Calm Belts running perpendicular to it, it's incredibly hard to travel between the different Seas. The islands are also fairly isolated from each other, especially on the Grand Line. It makes it hard for information to travel around, and the only way to get world news is through a heavily vetted newspaper. To me, it all seems purposeful to further subjugate the world by physically dividing the people, making them easier to control and rule over.

I also want to reiterate how easy it would've been to erase the Great Kingdom from history and collective memory when the Allies/World Government had the capabilities of mass destruction that could cause sea levels to rise hundreds of meters. Not only does it make the original land inaccessible, the amount of people that died was probably immense. And with the death of a large number of people comes the loss of knowledge. Those that survived likely wouldn't have wanted to pass down information on the Great Kingdom from both the trauma of the event and the fear of retribution by the World Govt (I assume the laws forbidding research on the Void Century was immediate). So potentially after just one generation, knowledge on the Great Kingdom and how the world used to be would've disappeared. Iirc only the Minks and the Kozuki family passed down info on the kingdom's existence, and their lands are largely isolated from the rest of the world. (Speaking of which, they both are in locations where further rising sea levels wouldn't affect them)

Looking into it further, the way the geography of the world also seems like it's trying to prevent (or at least discourage) people from getting into or leaving the Grand Line and also travel between islands. Just trying to get to that sea is dangerous because it requires a person to either sail through Reverse Mountain, where many pirates canonically have died because of the crazy currents and storms and end up crashing into the mountain, or going through the Calm Belt, which is current and wind free and infested with Sea Kings. And once you're in the Grand Line, the waters itself are extremely difficult to navigate. Now what's in the Grand Line that the Allies may have wanted to prevent people from getting to? Laugh Tale.

For a little while now, I've been playing around with the idea on how the magnetic fields on each island may have been created to specifically help a pirate/sailor get to Laugh Tale. We've already seen Kidd using his awakened devil fruit powers to change the polarity of different objects, what if it's possible to change the polarity of an entire island? With those powers, a person could have created the seven paths of the Grand Line. I'm still trying to decide if this was done outside the Allies' control, or if it was an order from the Allies and the person was secretly loyal to the Great Kingdom.

And don't think I missed that little detail Vegapunk said about the Allies using ancient weapons!!!!!!! Literally each chapter has been teasing the reveal of the Elders having Uranus!!!! ｡゜(｀Д´)゜｡ It seems like the Lulusia attack really was just a taste of what their weapon can do. I can't imagine how big an attack (or how many attacks in succession?) it would take to cause 200m sea level change???

[melonteee]

Unpopular Opinion: It doesn't bother me that Yamato hasn't joined the crew.

Yamato is not a character that catches my attention, maybe it's because the only thing he has is the fact that he is trans and that he thinks he is kozuki oden (And I'm not going to lie to you, that got annoying pretty quickly), or maybe Maybe it's because it's very noticeable that he was a character that Oda created and didn't Think much about His role and because of that he didn't do much in the entire Raid (he doesn't even have a major fight in all of Onigashima, he just exchanges a few blows with Kaido).

And it may be that if he had joined he would have eventually become an interesting character, but with everything we saw in Wano, I don't mind that he stayed in Wano.

(Sorry For The Long Rant, but i wanted to share My Toughts With someone)

(Love Your Vídeos)

Anon you've hit something here cause I DO think there was much more interesting things with Yamato aside from he's trans (which in all realness is a bit of an odd thing to say but I know you didn't mean anything negative by that) BUT the biggest issue with his joining, is everything interesting surrounding Yamato connects him to WANO.

LONG POST sorry for that

I was saying from the start I NEVER expected Yamato to join and it felt like another Vivi situation to me, where we were cock teased to hell and back by Vivi joining but, in the end, she didn't officially join. And when you think about Vivi, and you think about her story, you realise all of her passions and goals were directly connected to Alabasta. In current day story, this is beginning to change, hence why there's possibility of her joining the Strawhats permanently now (IMO!!! TO ME!!!)

Yamato's own focus was completely around Oden, and yes he wanted to see the world, but he had a MUCH stronger connection to the land of Wano and to the CHARACTERS of Wano. I don't think it was a split decision by Oda at ALL to have Yamato not join, because we can SEE there was plenty of implications Yamato would stay in Wano for both the country and for the people.

A major example is the fact the land of Wano fell into disarray due to Oden's leaving. This was his biggest guilt and burden of his life. Yamato was very nearly about to follow in Oden's footsteps and possibly have the same thing happen, but instead he decided to stay to protect the land of Wano as he saw - with Kaido now gone - the island was open to attackers (especially the world gov) who wanted to profit off it. The reason Yamato is such a strong individual was not for the Strawhat's sake, but for Wano. And, with Yamato choosing to selflessly stay and protect Wano - he's made up for Oden's guilt of originally leaving it and having it fall apart due to his absence.

Another major example is his connection with Momo! It's shocking to me that no one seemed to notice Yamato's building of relationship in the entirety of Wano had NOTHING to do with Luffy, but with Momo! Yamato stuck with and encouraged Momo throughout the near entire raid on Onigashima, and it was kind of a set deal to me that Yamato would definitely stay back and help Momo rebuild the land of Wano at that point. After all, if we think about the other members joining, they always had a large amount of time or a significant moment with Luffy. Even Robin in Alabasta saved him from death and gave him his hat, while Franky didn't exactly connect directly with Luffy, but with Usopp throughout a lot of Water 7.

All of Yamato's significant moments were with Momo, all his relationship building was with Momo, and Yamato more so just observed Luffy fighting than really connecting with him.

What I'm saying here is, I truly do see Yamato saying he'll join as a huge red herring. And while it may not have been the smartest gotcha moment, I think it's unfair to say Oda just decided to veto a decision in ten seconds due to whatever ridiculous reasons people were coming up with. Especially when I, personally, saw a lot against the idea of Yamato joining - just like with Vivi.

As I'm sure we all know, adding a new Strawhat is a HUGE deal, for both the story and for merchandising purposes (lmao). So I really don't think Oda would just decide against adding a Strawhat like, two chapters later because he got cold feet or something. I think there's plenty enough in Yamato's story to show us he had other major priorities to attend to, and had connections he now had to protect and nurture within Wano.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

If Moria had been the victor when he attacked Wano 23 years ago and killed Kaido, what would the most interesting ripple effects be to you?

No excuses, I wanted to think on this one because it's a good question and I may have forgotten about it in the chaos of having to change jobs. Then remembered it...but still needed to think on it. KIIIIIIII-SHI-SHI-SHI!

Alright, so 23 years before present day Moria shoves a big brick bat boot up Kaido's carp ass and flings him out of Wano. Battle went down in Ringo, Oden didn't comment on it deeply so currently my canon assumption is maaaaaybe a retainer (coughKikutheRingonativecough) went to observe/interacted with Geckojiro. The big question is what happens between him and Oden after. We're going to assume Kiku watched from a safe distance then ran to tell Oden after the battle ended with Moria standing tall.

Feel like Oden would want to meet him is a given. Were you just here to beat Kaido for your reputation as a pirate? Come to Kuri, wait for us to clean up Orochi's side of things, no no you're an honored guest, Moria may be leaving with a Road Poneglyph and a lead on the next. Are you going to press specifically wanting Ryuma's corpse and Shusui? You have another big fight on your hands. That said, I don't see Oden or the Akazaya having such a moral objection they'd freak over Moria reanimating some of the Beast Pirates. They found some way to love Kanjuro's hobgoblin ass. Speaking of...guess he just keeps up the act until he dies? I mean I guess he'd tell Orochi but how much does that matter? Unless I guess Moria could be the type to work as Orochi's new heavy but based on the man's own words he was a lot like Luffy until getting beat so doubt that's the case. Even Thriller Bark Moria is in the shallow end of One Piece's evil pool.

So I think he moves on with the Kozuki's blessing. Wano is under its rightful shogun, Oden doesn't die, Luffy gets to meet 42yo total MILF Kiku and who can say whether or not we as readers are better or worse for that? Wano's borders would be long open by the time our Rubber boy is setting off. Who knows what that means for Pluton.

[earth-machine-bearglitch]

Illustration by gutsbro14

She perked up suddenly.

"Oh yes! I said I was going to tell you the tale of Kozuki Oden and his adventures!"

She giggled, and then looked away.

"And…may I say something, Izuku?"

'"Sure." He wondered what she meant.

"The way you spoke of this Yagi Toshinori, this All Might!" she proclaimed. "I liked your story about him too. What a heroic figure!"

Izuku let out a chuckle.

"Thanks. He was my hero, someone I'll always admire."

Yamato's smile lit up the room; but it was softer than the smiles she had given him before.

"I know the feeling…" she said, sadly. Then she shook her head, her old enthusiasm returning.

"But enough of that! Time for my story! Are you ready, Izuku?"

Izuku made himself comfortable, and rubbed his eyes.

"Go right ahead. Do you mind me asking questions?"

"Not at all! I didn't want to interrupt you, since you were reciting from memory."

Yamato beamed, and opened the journal.

"My name is Kozuki Oden," she read aloud, with a confident tone. "I am writing in this journal to document my thoughts, my travels and my journeys across my home, the Land of Wano. I am writing this entry at the age of 15, at the order of my stiff and nagging father, the Shogun. This first entry, I will document my childhood first, as a way of recollection and perspective on my younger years..."

[Chapter 7, Heroes of the New World by Zaru]

[birthday-hell]

Kozuki Sukiyaki

Happy Birthday

May 19

[megashadowdragon]

Oda Revealed The MEANING of IMU'S Name But It Was Lost In Translation!! | One Piece 1086 how the etymology of the name

venus being the gold planet makes ghandi gorosei ( nasujiro) being named after it quite fitting since he is likely from wano which was known as the land of gold ev

twitter theory related to the vid

However, what does "nero" mean? Well, speaking of all the Grecoroman gods among the Gorosei, in Greek "nero" is the word for water. Which could tie with the theory that Imu may be the Mother(flame?) of nature Umi, the Sea (6/9)

But on the other side of the Grecoroman, in Italian, and other languages too, "nero" is the word for the color "black". Which makes sense as Imu is not just always depicted as a black silhouette, but even appears as a dark mass when transformed. But there's more to it; (7/9)

I've previously speculated that Imu may be an opposite to Joyboy. While Nika symbolizes pure white, the light of the Dawn, Imu symbolizes pitch black, the darkness of the night. Both are cartoonish, but while Nika is just goofy, Imu is like a walking nightmare (8/9)

imu is likely a woman ( given that imu is likely representing umi the mother of life ) and its fitting since mother oda once said in an sbs that mother is the opposite of adventure

@bottlepiecemuses

youtube comments

Imu Nerona Nerina is a girl’s name meaning “sea god” and is of Italian origin. A Latinized form of Greek Nērinē, from the name of the sea god Nēreus. Imu backwards Umi is sea. Nerona sounds like more foreshadowing for Imu as the the sea devil and the origin of devil fruits.Show less

A nice parallel that might be true as the Figarland family representing the moon might be that it starks as a contrast to the Kozuki. Both are symbolic to the moon while the Figarland are the dark side (standing with Nerona Imu) and Kozuki the lighted part (standing with Joyboy). Maybe they're destined to clash?

Ok so here is a thing I noticed: Oda very weirdly chose the seats for the 5 elders this chapter. If we look at the panel of the introduction, the 2 on the right panel have their names as the actual planets, while the 3 on the left are puns on the planets, which makes me think that Saturn and Mars are older than the other 3. It would also allign with them having gone through the perenial youth operation and explain the incosistency from chapter 1037, since in that chapter, the ones that thought the Nika fruit is a legend are very conveniently the same 3 Gorosei on the left with the planet names mispelled, so the younger ones

I would love for this to go even further and see Imu being the boy that emperor Nero had castrated and made to act like his old wife because of their striking resemblance…it would make sort of sense out of the fact that Imu seems to hate Vivi more than most people, if she was the reincarnation of the person that Imu was first enslaved because of….

( though there are some claims that the story was just slander)

[superanimepirate]

How Ohara Foreshadowed the Ancient Weapons and the Cult of Nika

Part 1: The Solar System

It is my opinion that the Ancient Kingdom, the Ancient Weapons, and Nika’s connection to it all was foreshadowed in the Ohara flashback. In this post we’ll go through some background information and evidence, then onto my personal theory of the matter.  This got a bit big, so I’ve split it into 3 main parts. 

First of all, many people have noticed that these symbols are very similar:

(Plus many more throughout the story) They are 8 circles around a central circle, sometimes with other stuff added around it, like the Kozuki crest or the cross. For now, I will be focusing on the circles. 

Now, Moving onto this scene from the Ohara flashback and the model of the One Piece World, which is another example of similar imagery.

Interestingly, there are only 7 satellites around the central planet (Counting the satellite of a satellite)that we can see. Most people assumed they were moons, but with the introduction of the minks and moon cycles, I don’t think that is it. The next popular theory is that of a geocentric model of the solar system. 

I instead propose that it is neither, but instead an Orrery. 

As Wikipedia states, “An orrery is a mechanical model of the Solar System that illustrates or predicts the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons, usually according to the heliocentric model.” It is used to show the position of the planets in the night sky, to track time, and predict astrological events such as solar and lunar eclipses. The current model is primarily based on Benjamin Martin Orrery , but a version of it was created during Ancient Greece and is considered one of the first analogue computers.

Here is an example that resembles the one from Ohara:

Now there is something I find odd about the Ohara model, however.

(Behold my shitty editing skills)

There are 7 planets but 5 orbits.  1 and 2 are on the yellow orbit, 3 and 7 are on the red, 4 and 5 are on the purple, and 6 is on the blue. But there is none on the green. I propose that there is, or once was, an 8th planet that would have been on the green orbit. Or the green is just a wire to keep the others in place. In that case, the 8th planet would be on the blue, since the blue is the only one with a single planet on its orbit.  Either  way, there is a  missing planet that is either hidden on the other side of this model that we can’t see, or it was destroyed. 

In our world, our solar system consists of 8 planets, but when Oda started, it had 9. Therefore, I think the One Piece universe had 9 planets, but one was destroyed.  And I do think that the archaeologists know about it, most likely through ancient texts/models. But they know that that planet is gone.

And I think this is what is behind the common symbol of a central circle surrounded by 8 smaller ones, it is a model of the solar system as seen by the main planet. And it is a representation of not only the Sun, but of the Solar System, the planets that circle the sun. Nika is not only the sun god, but he is the god of the solar system. 

Additionally, there are 9 Rio Poneglyphs that are meant to reveal the history of the void century. Why nine? Is it one for each of the planets in the solar system? 8 squares around a central square. We see this motif again, but this time with different shapes, and of the poneglyphs that are meant to reveal the true history.

TLDR: The model we see in Ohara is neither a geometric model of the universe or showing that there are seven moons, but instead it is an Orrery, a model of the solar system as it relates to a central planet in order to predict astrological events. The Ohara model may indicate that there is a missing 9th planet in the solar system. And the circular motif that keeps popping up is representative of the planets in the solar system as well as the sun because Nika is not only the sun god, but the god of the solar system.

So, what happened to the 9th planet?