#lucci attacked him so he needs to beat up luccy himself

[galleylapresident]

Behold: the blorbo AU arises from the depths to beat out all my other AUs to have a proper one shot written about it.

It started, oddly enough, with Kalifa. Despite Paulie's endless rants about how women should dress, he was always the first one to attack anyone who dared take advantage of one of the "scantily clad hussies" around Water 7. By the third time Kalifa watched Paulie hurl a drunkard through a window and into a canal for laying hands on a waitress, she knew for a fact that Paulie was all bark and no bite where women were concerned. No matter what he said, he'd be the first at her back if anyone tried anything.

Blueno was next. Despite Paulie's endless I.O.Us and ever-growing tab, Paulie always helped him clean up and close the bar on nights he was around. He even refused to take discounts on his drinks for the free labor. "Friends should help friends" he insisted while carrying in the endless kegs of beer that went into watering the thirsty mouths of Water 7. Hours and hours of work went into helping Blueno haul stock, clean spills, and repair broken furniture for free. Despite the mess of his personal life, Paulie was never one to turn way when someone needed help.

Then it was Kaku. As the youngest of the shipwrights—barely eighteen—he knew he had to prove himself to the older and more experienced shipwrights if he wanted to get close to Iceberg. That meant hours studying ships after work and meticulous effort to ensure that each knot, nail, and board were placed correctly. Paulie was at his side the entire time. Whether it was quizzing Kaku on different techniques or dragging him to Blueno's when he felt like his eyes were about to melt out of his head, Paulie always seemed to know what Kaku needed. He was always there, a willing teacher and listening ear.

Last was Lucci. At first, he saw Paulie as little more than what was on the surface. A skilled shipwright, Iceberg's first disciple, and a drunkard with a gambling problem. In many ways, Paulie was simply a problem that Lucci would eventually have to eliminate. Constantly attacking Kalifa for her clothing, following Kaku around the worksite all the time, and the way he was constantly beggin Blueno for drinks were just a few of the ways Paulie made himself a nuisance. That wasn't even counting Paulie's obsession with hearing Lucci's real voice or the debt collectors that skulked around the worksite each day. Truthfully, it seemed a miracle that Iceberg hadn't kicked Paulie out yet.

And yet... there was something fascinating about him too. About the way Kalifa always turned to Paulie whenever she needed a hand with disposing a handsy asshole. About the way Paulie knew exactly where Blueno kept his cleaning supplies and how he liked to organize the stockroom. About the way Kaku's knowledge had improved by leaps and bounds and how Paulie was happy to show off Kaku's work when Iceberg was around.

About how he took the time to research the kinds of foods that were good for pigeons. How he always made sure Hattori was out of the way before getting into it with Lucci. How he never pushed Lucci to speak despite his endless jokes about Lucci needing Hattori to talk to people.

It was baffling. It was absurd. It was... nice.

Paulie was an unfailingly kind person where it counted. In the world they had grown up in—one of assassins, murder, and unflinching devotion to the world government—that was rare indeed.

So it started with Kalifa, then Blueno, then Kaku, and finally Lucci. One by one, Paulie wormed his way into their hearts. None of them voiced it, but they all knew that Paulie was someone they would protect if their mission allowed it. He was a good man. If he could curtail his flaws, if he could defend himself and Water 7 from people like them, Paulie would be the perfect man to take up the reins after Iceberg

After all, even if Iceberg willingly handed over the plans, he would still need a successor one day.

And who better to secretly prepare Paulie for such a fate than them?

[koalas-koalas-everywhere]

*runs into stage at full speed and almost overshoots the mic, skidding back to be able to grab it* but do we realize that Nika form isn't gear 5??? I mean, besides the fact that we know that the technical term is "awakening". All the previous gears aren't so much unlocked by Luffy (besides the fact that both gears 4 depend on him """unlocking""" haki) but something he develops through his own ingenuity? Gear 1 is him manipulating his muscles into pumping his blood faster and more strongly through his body, increasing his power — he's not just making himself hotter through force of will. Gear 2 isn't him increasing his body mass (as a paramecia, he wouldn't have been able to do it, although now we know he's a zoan type), it's him literally blowing air into his body to inflate it. Same thing goes for boundman, a form reinforced by haki mixed with rubber, which is so impressive when you think about it. Snakeman is such incredible control over his body that he can change the direction of his punches several times. I cannot overstate that these aren't forms in the way Chopper's Points are forms — not that he didn't achieve four to five extra forms through ingenuity, too, with his medical knowledge, but there's a difference between unlocking them (they always existed, he just needed to discover them) and developing them. Ultimately, the rumble balls don't elongate his horns or arms or make his hair grow, they allow Chopper to will them to do that, in the same way that, once Luffy awakens his fruit, he can tap into it, even if it takes some effort.

That's why we can't compare "gear 5" with the other gears when it comes to the damage they are/might be doing to Luffy's body (post-time skip, they have little to no effect one him, so he might have become strong enough to handle them... in the same way he's strong enough to rip the mast out of the ship and carry it up a whale). With all his other gears, Luffy's forcing his body to do unnatural things and putting it under enormous strain (isn't blowing air into your bloodstream supposed to give you a heart attack???). Meanwhile, we should look at g5 like we do Chopper's kaiju form, or Doflamingo turning buildings into strings, or Katakuri turning everything into mochi — extremely draining, especially at first, but in the same way a muscle will struggle with a certain weight at first but get better once you've trained it. When he says, "beat loudly, heart!" or "hit that beat!", it's not in response to it stopping, but to it beating normally instead of *battery solo*, aka it's his way of activating his Nika form. It didn't actually kill him, and if it did, it would have been from exhaustion, not from, say, wearing his veins thin and overtaxing his heart because he's trying to push gallons at the speed he's usually circulating liters.

And since I'm talking about his Nika form — it's interesting that while he's using it, he seems to be less affected by haki? Like, being hit with haki by Sanji and Katakuri in Whole Cake Island made him loose a tooth, both times, when we know his bones have to be rubber too or the rest of it wouldn't work. Still, when hit by haki, they react like they're normal. Meanwhile, while it's clear that it causes him pain, he still reacts as if he was rubber, his face molding itself to Kaido's club. I have no idea what that means, I'm just bringing it up.

Also, since I believe that Luffy's gears are not zoan type forms, that means that he was scammed out of either a form or two — compare to Chopper who has his original reindeer form, a middle point (his usual form) and a "full human" form, which he could always access, even without his rumble balls (can you imagine Chopper awakening his df and turning into like. a dude), or Rob Lucci who has a human form, a beast form, and a halfway point (I'm more willing to consider his slimmer, faster point as a form, unlike Luffy's gears, because, while he uses a technique called Life Return to achieve it, that's just another words for extreme control of his body, meaning he's still willing it to happen, like how Chopper needs rumble balls to control his additional forms at first, but eventually develops enough control to access them on his own. Luffy, outside of Nika form, can't will his fist into becoming bigger, he has to blow air into it). Luffy only has his usual rubber form and his awakened Nika form. Again, compare to Lucci, whose awakened form isn't actually a full leopard (that's his beast form) but a powered-up version of his halfway point, Nika isn't the "full" form of Luffy's df (and that awakened zoan types don't become a fuller version of their model in general, and that Chopper's awakening is more likely to be a powered up version of Brain Point). So there's a chance Luffy has a full-human form (no rubber) and a depowered Nika form (rubber, white haired, but without a lot of his abilities like flying and turning other stuff into rubber).

Also, why can he, as a zoan type, turn other things into rubber, when that's supposed to be a paramecia and probably logia type thing? I mean, not that we're ever told that, directly, but I don't see Rob Lucci turning people and stuff into leopards— *yelps* *exits left, pursued by Kuma*

[danwhobrowses]

Why Tashigi Deserves More Respect

I really gotta remember these other things I plan on writing XD Often I get reminded though by people around me criticizing something I realise ‘that’s a little misunderstood’ and then get compelled to write about it. For today we’re looking at the female Marine of One Piece, Tashigi. Now before we start, I want to make a point that Tashigi is still an underused character brimming with potential that Oda seems to shy a lot from. Oda can still sincerely do a lot more with her and I for one have been disappointed by her lack of use in Stampede and lack of appearance in Wano. However, I get a lot of people who feel that Tashigi is ‘useless’, and I’m going to say that this isn’t really the case.

Argument 1: Her Battles

Of course, a lot of strength regarding a character comes with their ability to come out victorious. It can harm any character in a show to constantly be on the losing side of a fight and it does hurt Tashigi (and Smoker) a lot that they do end up that way. While I would love Tashigi to have her first clean win since those guys in Loguetown I’d like to remind you that Tashigi’s fights do have a bit of defense to them, let’s look at all of Tashigi’s named opponents

Zoro (Loguetown) - We always knew that Zoro was winning this, while she was bested by Zoro the purpose of the story wasn’t ever going to be Tashigi being stronger, instead this was Zoro having to confront her similarities with Kuina in personality rather than skill.

Nico Robin/Miss All Sunday (Alabasta) - While Tashigi was unable to even strike Robin back in Alabasta, Robin’s devil fruit allowed her to be perfect for such a situation. A trained and deadly assassin, Tashigi’s physical confrontation was never going to succeed, but what was key to this battle was Tashigi’s realization in regards to the failure of Justice. In the end she had to rely on Luffy to defeat the Pirates the WG had assigned to maintain the balance.

Luffy (Marineford/Punk Hazard) - Luffy and Tashigi briefly crossed paths in Marineford, Luffy swiftly dodged her but again, Tashigi was never going to defeat Luffy and was merely a doorway to put Smoker and Luffy into a fight. It’s also worth reminding that Tashigi must’ve been capable enough to hold her own against Whitebeard’s lesser forces, since she was uninjured from Marineford. They also crossed at Punk Hazard, but then they were both weakened by being in unfamiliar bodies, something which Luffy even acknowledges.

Trafalgar Law (Punk Hazard) - as pictured above, Tashigi’s defeat to Law was another gateway for Smoker to enter the fight, but this one had more purpose in showing Tashigi’s willpower, which we will get to. As you can tell, there’s a theme: Tashigi would never have beaten Law in terms of the narrative, why do we hold it against Tashigi that she lost to the guy who later did this?

Ceasar Clown (Punk Hazard) - while listed as a fight, she fell the same way as Robin and Franky due to his DF being unrevealed, again this being a gateway to sell that Ceasar had a danger to him, I wouldn’t actually count it as a fight.

Vergo (Punk Hazard) - the Donquixote spy is one of Doflamingo’s deadliest subordinates. The original Corazon, Tashigi’s conflict with Vergo brought Sanji into the fight and once again highlighted to Tashigi the corruption within the Marines themselves. Like Law (and the next), we can’t be too harsh on Tashigi losing to Vergo, the guy easily fended off Sanji to the point of almost breaking Sanji’s leg, he also was able to beat Smoker

Monet (Punk Hazard) - Monet is a mixed one, because Zoro quickly defeats her she was quickly overshadowed by the fact that she struggled to even get on the offensive, broadening the gap between them. But, I’d like to remind everyone that Monet was able to force Luffy into fleeing their battle and was handling Robin, Nami and Chopper at once. Tashigi hadn’t completely lost either, I would bet that she’d fight without an arm, maybe not successfully but she would, and she got the finishing blow on Monet - her second offensive attack against Monet put her away and while technically this doesn’t count as a W for Tashigi she did not technically lose in this fight either

As you can see, while it’s easy to say that ‘Tashigi never wins her fights, so she’s weak’ it really undermines the opposition she willingly puts herself against. Narratively there’d be no reason for Tashigi to win these fights, doing so would lead to confusion and disbelief (for instance, would you have seen Luffy beating Kaido solo back in Bakura Town? No, obviously). Tashigi is still strong, she’s able to survive the Grand Line, easily deflect cannon fire with her sword and use Haki, the latter cannot be said for Main Characters like Nami, Chopper, Franky, Carrot and somehow Robin (like girl you spent 2 years with the Revolutionaries, where’s your Haki?). While we would love a win to validate this, Oda always puts her against an opponent that would be difficult for her to win against, and we thus mistake her inability to win as weakness. So that leads to another argument. Argument 2: Tashigi always punches above her weight While this is very much true, One Piece has often told us that being the strongest doesn’t always mean that you will win. Consider 90% of Nami and Usopp’s wins, Luffy’s wins over Crocodile, Enel, Lucci, Magellan, Cracker and Katakuri, the weak may not be able to choose how they die but that doesn’t mean that the strong can either.  I’d also like to argue that Tashigi’s motive on fighting strong opponents is not because she feels that she is stronger, she fights them because they are the enemy that needs to be stopped, her motives are pure in her pursuit of justice just as the Straw Hats fight stronger opponents because it fulfills a just cause such as saving Alabasta, their crewmates, people who had their shadows stolen, Camie, Fishman Island, the Punk Hazard children, Dressrosa, Zou or Wano. Tashigi really gets criticized for it because it doesn’t yield the results it does for major characters, often needing help to get the victory. In that I wanna point out a harsh truth as well; Goku - the people many anime fans will compare power scales against - almost never beats the main villain on his own in DBZ or DBS. Freeza - required damage from Krillin, Gohan, Vegeta and Piccolo before the win, and he didn’t finish him off, Cell - tags out to Gohan, who also needs Vegeta’s help to win, Buu - needs Vegeta’s help via fusion and a full power recharge by the Dragon Balls, Beerus - he lost, Golden Freeza - he got jumped by Sorbet and needed Whis’ rewind, Hit - he gave up, Fused Zamasu - lost, and needed Zeno to wipe him out, Jiren - needed Freeza and 17′s help and Vegeta’s energy and finally Broly - needed fusion. So maybe, if even Son Goku cannot win on his own, we can cut Tashigi a little bit of slack given that she’s not even a main character.

Argument 3: ‘She does nothing’ I don’t really like this insinuation. Often Smoker and Tashigi are the ones that pick up the mess after all the enemies are defeated, but for some reason that equates to ‘doing nothing’. I think because people see Tashigi as interchangeable with any other character she is thus useless because she is not mandatory. However, Tashigi’s role is much more complex than that.

Even if she’s not strong enough to fight the biggest fishes in the pond, she still manages to grow and prove her worth. If Tashigi was replaced with any generic marine captain a lot of what happened would be different. It was Tashigi who identified Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu for Zoro, Tashigi who (albeit reluctantly) directed Luffy to Crocodile, Tashigi who kept the Straw Hats safe from arrest in Alabasta, Tashigi who convinced Smoker that he needed to swallow his pride and side with Law and Luffy to stop Ceasar and it was Tashigi who convinced Nami to entrust the Punk Hazard children to them. Through her experiences she also cultivates her own unique sense of Justice. While she follows Smoker’s doctrine of ‘A Pirate will always be a Pirate’ and that the Shichibukai system and the World Government as a whole is flawed, she has also learned for herself that there are times that pride must be set aside, in a way Tashigi’s sense of Justice has become a combination of Smoker’s and Fujitora’s: in order to rebuild justice, the navy itself must become strong enough to not depend on pirates, but pride cannot supersede the greater good. In addition, implying she does nothing also implies that she doesn’t practice her own sense of justice either. She stepped in on Zoro twice to protect her men from harm, before even arriving at Punk Hazard we learned that she had a good relationship with the parents who had their children kidnapped as they asked specifically for her which in turn led her to personally strive to reunite the children with their parents and she even protected the truth of Vergo from G-5 so that they didn’t feel betrayed and demoralized. Of the things Tashigi does, nothing is not one of them, she displays compassion, fairness and determination in definitive moments. Argument 3: She’s too hung up on her Feminism

So, one of the major dynamics of Tashigi and Zoro is her misconception that Zoro wouldn’t cut her because she was a woman, a belief that women have to prove themselves more to be seen as strong against men being one of the beliefs she shares with Zoro’s childhood rival Kuina. While it can be a tad irksome that she’d hang onto this with Zoro, until Monet Zoro never actually demonstrated the contrary to her. This is mainly a complaint by hindsight, we only dislike the opinion because we’ve seen Zoro more than Tashigi has, and she’s not 100% wrong, Zoro himself has been a bit of a traditionalist, in Skypeia he angrily chastised Enel for attacking Robin since she was a woman, and he only does step in on Monet to save Tashigi - not even finishing her off despite being very capable of doing so. Outside of Zoro, Tashigi’s feelings that she gets treated differently due to her gender is proven and reflected in how G-5 treat her with little authority, only really listening to her because she’s pretty. You can’t be too hard on Tashigi given that she is constantly faced with this truth on a daily basis, and her desire to be seen for her strength and skills are still an amicable one, it’s worth noting that even Law recognized that her mentality and warrior’s spirit was far greater than he swordsmanship, but he only thought this internally. In Tashigi’s case it would help her confidence to be given validation, and not in the condescending way Zoro usually talks to people.  While it can be annoying that she immediately thinks that she’s being treated differently because she’s a woman, this also shows that she wants to be treated as an equal; if she is defeated in combat she wants to be cut to preserve her honour, it is the mentality all Great Samurai have, including Zoro. Oda does something with Tashigi he rarely does with any woman in One Piece in making her less sexualised and body-confident to reflect her goal of being recognized by her spirit and actions rather than her appearance, but he also makes that complex for the character which in a way this is most important for.

Argument 4: She’s not a good Rival for Zoro

I think one of the biggest misconceptions about Tashigi’s character is that she is meant to be Zoro’s rival, in a similar manner to how Smoker and Luffy are embroiled in a Garp/Roger-esque cat and mouse chase. Because of this, people expect Tashigi to advance at a similar scale to Zoro to keep him on his toes, to make sure that he doesn’t end up complacent in his strive to become the World’s Greatest Swordsman. Her former likeness to Kuina also adds to this misconception, since because Kuina was Zoro’s rival with the same goal and always stronger than Zoro himself, Tashigi must be similar.

But this is not why Tashigi and Zoro are always put together. Tashigi is not Zoro’s rival, no other character we’ve met has the same goal as Zoro, and this keeps his story free to develop with different challenges. Tashigi’s pursuit of strength is not for the same reasons as Zoro, she doesn’t want to be the World’s Greatest Swordsperson, she only wants to protect the sanctity of the Meito and keep them out of unworthy hands. Her pursuit of Zoro was both because he dishonoured her in their fight and so she could claim Wado Ichimonji. In the New World however we don’t see that as much from Tashigi, even when she sees Shusui she doesn’t make a point to declare taking it from him because he’s unworthy (like Kin’emon would later do), this is because she does acknowledge his strength and worthiness of using these Meito, her personal conflict now though is to be seen as worthy to him as a swordsperson rather than a pirate to a marine.  In reality, Tashigi is instead Zoro’s and Kuina’s foil. She is similar in looks and perspective to Kuina but different in everything else from clumsiness, skill and ambition, the fact that Zoro struggles to handle this leads to the two becoming entwined in their respective journeys. No person gets under Zoro’s skin like Tashigi does, even to a point where he was reluctant to even be in eyeshot of her - how many people have you seen Roronoa Zoro hide from? They are each other’s foil because they are both stubborn people out to prove something but put on two different sides that conflict. That is the true purpose of their dynamic, their confrontations expose one another and show places where they can still grow and I still feel that we haven’t scratched the surface of this relationship.

Argument 5: She’s not Important

A combination of the earlier arguments, Tashigi gets a lot of flack because people think she’s not important enough as a character to have the screentime she gets. While it’s not hard to see why people feel that, it usually comes with people giving up on the idea that there’s a greater plan for her. It may just be me, but I am reluctant to believe that Tashigi appears in several forms of merchandise including calendars, games (as NPCs, Bosses, Supports or playable characters) and even figurines and not have a purpose in the greater scope of the story, do we really expect that from Oda? I doubt that very much! Granted, Wano would’ve been a perfect placement for her to push herself given the views on women in the country and it being the homeland of famous Meito. And yes, she could’ve had a much greater role in Stampede given how well they managed Smoker in it. We are allowed to be disappointed by this, but the fact that Tashigi has remained as consistent in presence as she has been in the show does hint at a bigger role, even if it’s being that wave of revolutionizing the Marines with Coby and Fujitora, her own origins or finally proving herself to the audience and to Zoro, Tashigi is not done and thus she is still important. “Just because they say a bird cannot fly, doesn’t mean that it never will” - Oda SBS 17 on Tashigi and Kuina’s names being named after flightless birds So, Why does Tashigi deserve more Respect? Tashigi as a character is one of Oda’s more subtle progressions. In contrast to Zoro who we see grow, we don’t see how Tashigi gets from A to B, we can also contrast to Coby whose rise becomes as magnificent as his puberty that Tashigi’s growth is much less abrupt and more steady, we see her struggles more than we do Coby where his successes are only heard in passing. Tashigi can also act as the ‘normal person’ in the marines, we compare her to Zoro in strength because she uses a sword but we never give her the benefit of the doubt that Roronoa Zoro is a bloody superhuman, plus not everyone has the great luxury of being trained by Dracule Mihawk for 2 years...furthermore, her challenges against Devil Fruit users are always filled with good intentions and strong willpower, but still self-doubt and shame, if anything Tashigi is one of the most human characters of One Piece for this reason; she learns, she suffers, she grows and she does it all without the luxury of Shonen perks such as superhuman power or endurance. Also she is a good person, she has a strong sense of morality and will, an altruistic desire and even in the situation she gets put in she makes a step that leads to the plot going in a positive direction. And for a character that has been in as many arcs as she has, there is still so much potential left to be untapped that fans are still after 2 decades eager to see from her.

Tashigi is a strong, valiant and just person, who is still really powerful if people stop trying to compare her to the likes of Luffy, Law and Zoro. Even when she fails she picks herself up and can still come out with a small victory from protecting innocents, arresting criminals and escorting children to get help. She is a lot stronger than people give her credit for and it’s for that she deserves respect.

[luccislegs]

Hi! Can I get a scenario for Lucci and his girlfriend? After it’s revealed that he is a CP9 agent and she asks him “was our relationship real or it was all fake?”. Happy ending please, this world is already dark and sad as it is. Also you are an amazing writer!

i’m putting the warnings that it’s 2k words, there’s cursing, angst, hurt/comfort, and possible ooc but i tried really, really hard to make him in-character but also still soft for his partner. i really like how this turned out i hope y’all do too.

That night was a blur. 

Your attention was caught between what was going on at Galley-La and setting up for Aqua Laguna, and it made you an erratic, harried, and nervous mess. You were worried for all the people you had become friends with over the last few years, but mostly you were worried for your partner, Lucci. He was one of the strongest foremen on the docks, but whoever was attacking Iceburg was clearly dangerous, and even if you knew he’d be okay, you still worried.

Sleep came in fits and, when you finally woke up the next morning, it was to the news that the attackers hadn’t been the Strawhat Pirates, but Galley-La dockworkers. Your blood turned to ice in your veins as you hurried to the docks, desperate to find Lucci, but most of Dock 1 was empty. Nor could you find the main foremen, or Iceburg. It was via a passing doctor, tending to the injured dock workers, that you got more information. It was the same time you learned that your whole relationship with Lucci was a lie.

You didn’t remember the walk home, and most of the rest of the day was a hazy mix of tears, anger, and betrayal. All of it left you feeling empty and drained, but mostly you were hurt. 

Over the next few weeks, no one knew what to say to you. They couldn’t blame you for being involved with Lucci. He had fooled everyone and no one believed you had been involved in whatever he and his cohorts had done. But condolences didn’t seem right, and there was nothing to forgive, but somehow something had changed and all of you seemed to be dancing around each other like something needed to be said.

After a while, the pain stopped, but you never really stopped hoping he would come back. What he did was awful, and he was a liar and a spy and he murdered people for a living, but even knowing all of that didn’t change how he held you at night or the way he comforted you when you were at your lowest. The way that the foremen and Franky Family made it sound, Lucci was a cold-hearted bastard who didn’t even know what the word love meant, let alone how to love someone. But that wasn’t what your memories said, nor was it what your traitorous heart was telling you. 

It was another one of those nights, where you came into your house and took in the empty space, devoid of the warmth that once made it home, and decided you weren’t going to deal with the myriad of emotions it brought with it. Mentally checking out, you threw your things to the floor, intending to just go to bed, when the creak of a floorboard down the hall stilled you.

Your heart in your throat, you called out, “Who’s there?”

In an instant, a shadow appeared at the end of the hallway, and you fell back with a shriek as Lucci’s towering figure entered the living room. How he moved so fast was beyond you, and you didn’t have time to process escape before he was squatting down in front of you.

He looked a mess. 

There were bandages on his cheek and dark circles under his eyes. His usually sleek and wavy hair was hung limp and dull around his face, which itself looked pale. Gentle hands wrapped around your arms, hauling you to your feet and before you even knew you were standing, you were being embraced. 

Your brain fought to catch up with everything you were seeing and, when it finally did, you broke.

“What the hell, Lucci?” you screamed. Or tried to. Your voice was hoarse with unshed tears, but those too were rapidly beginning to stream down your face. “What are you doing here? If they catch–” 

Wait.

Why were you worried about them catching him? He deserved to be caught. After everything he did: the attempted murder, the lying, the framing, the deceit. 

He more than deserved it. 

Well, that was what you told yourself, but you never even opened your mouth to yell. 

He really looked like shit, now that you took him in. It was clear he hadn’t been having a good time of it since he left Water 7, and you couldn’t help your curiosity. 

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be celebrating your victory with the rest of the World Government?” you snap, wiggling out of his arms. He didn’t let you go without a fight, but when you slapped his hands away, he let them fall.

“That didn’t go according to plan,” he said, watching you step further away from him. He had to fight the urge to follow you, to engulf you in his arms again. He had missed you more desperately than he had realized, more desperately than he had let anyone else know. Underneath his usual aloof demeanor, he was buzzing with anxiety. 

The World Government had done it’s best to train emotions out of him, but somehow you and you alone had gotten under his skin. He didn’t know if it was your soft kindness, or your confidence, or your soundless acceptance of things life threw at you, but he had fallen for you hard. And he had hoped that in time, maybe you could be coaxed to accept him for what he was.

But the universe hadn’t given him the opportunity.

You scoffed at his words and turned from him, wanting to face anywhere but him. For weeks you had thought about what you would say to him if you saw him again, how you would react. And yet, now that he stood in front of you, you were nowhere near prepared to deal with this, emotionally or mentally, and you could feel the exhaustion just beneath the newly formed headache beating at your temples.

“Yeah? Good. How could you? I mean, Lucci, five years. You’ve been here for five fucking years and that meant nothing to you?” you asked, still holding yourself like you might fall apart if you so much as relaxed. He said nothing, and you sighed, tilting your head as if that would alleviate anything. “If it meant nothing to you, if those friendships you formed– or pretended to form, anyway– meant nothing, why are you here? You clearly don’t give a shit about me–”

That set him off. He would readily admit that there was no lingering affection for anyone else in this backwater island, but he couldn’t even lie to himself about his feelings for you.

“That’s exactly why I’m here. I do care about you, though I don’t suppose you have any reason to believe me. Why else would I come back?” he asked. He could feel anger simmering just beneath the surface, though he wasn’t sure if it was at himself or you. You deserved the world and he had lit it aflame and handed you the ashes, and expected you to accept them as a substitute for the happiness you could have had with someone else. 

 Watching the myriad of emotions flicker across your face was like a slap to the face.

Denial, hope, anger, hurt: all of it was an open book on your face and he read them easily, but you stood fast, even as tears streamed down your face. He hadn’t expected it to be easy, hadn’t expected you to come running back into his arms with happiness. It was only fair that he take your anger, because he had abandoned you without a word and left you to the wolves.

The sigh you expelled was tired, your fingers cramping from the white knuckle grip on your arms as you stared blankly at the wall. It would be so easy to give into him, it was what you wanted to do, but how could you ever trust his words again? Shaking your head, you hunched down into yourself. “I don’t think I can do this, Lucci. Three years is a long time to lie, three years is a long time to lie and then attempt an assassination and then come back and ask me to forgive you.”

Your words were barely a whisper, but Lucci caught them all to easily. He could also hear the hesitation in your voice, and he wasn’t above using it to his advantage. “_____, would you have believed me if I told you? Would you have accepted it?” He cupped your face gently and lifted your head so he could look you in the eyes. His words weren’t what you wanted to hear, but you talked about honesty, and that’s what he was doing. He was being honest. “I couldn’t trust you to keep my secret. But don’t think I didn’t feel anything for you. Don’t think I don’t feel anything for you.”

Your head was beginning to swim from an uncomfortable mix of too many emotions and too much crying. His hands were warm and real on your face, comforting you. You hadn’t even realized you were cold. 

His words stung, but they were true. You understood the need for secrecy. His job demanded it. But were you willing to accept it? Could you really be with him if that’s how it was always going to be? And what about the residents of Water 7? How could you look them in the eyes when you were sheltering the very person that had almost turned their lives upside down? Your life upside down?

But that was the thing, wasn’t it? He had turned your life upside down in so many different ways, entwined his life with yours that detangling the threads would require scissors, and you weren’t sure you wanted that. Your memories with him weren’t wrong, weren’t bad, and certainly didn’t reflect the assassin he apparently was. 

“Which is the real you, Lucci? Can you tell me that?” you asked, voice barely above a whisper. Surrounded by him, the faded scent of cologne still lingering on his crumpled suit and filling your overwhelmed mind, it was too easy to fall into his charms again.

He paused, still staring at you with those soul-piercing silver eyes as he thought about his answer. Who he is is not who is with you, and he wonders if you’ll believe that. It’s the truth, whether you do or not, and when he tells you he can see that flicker of hope again in your tired eyes.

Maybe, if you were a stronger, less selfish person, you would resist, tell him to get lost and take the time to move on. But you were none of those things, and you didn’t have the power to resist the familiar comfort of his callused hands on your skin, or the soft warmth with which he was looking at you.

Tears spilled over and gathered against his fingers, and he could see the fight leave you just before you curled yourself into his embrace. He welcomed you, relished the familiar feeling, the only person he’s ever allowed so close to him, in more ways than one. Twenty years he’d gone without needing the touch of another person, but somehow you not only wormed your way under his skin, but planted yourself there, making him crave the intimacy.

He wasn’t going to promise you that he would never lie to you again, would not entertain the notion that things would go smoothly or perfectly or on forever, but he wasn’t concerned with the future this time.

Just you, in his arms, for however long he could hold you.

[recentanimenews]

Ranking Luffy's 20 Best Knockouts For The One Piece Anime's 20th Anniversary

  We love One Piece because of its themes - the idea that, because the ocean is so vast, you'll one day find a place where you belong. That even though others may tear you down or forget about you, your dreams will never die. That it's your duty to stand up for your friends, because you know they'd stand up for you. Those are all beautiful and well developed motifs in the One Piece world. But you know what else is beautiful and well developed in the One Piece world? Luffy's ability to knock someone out. 

  Thanks to Luffy's grit and Gum Gum powers, we've been treated to some of the best KO's in anime history in One Piece. And I think, since the 20th anniversary of the anime is October 20th, 2019, we should celebrate twenty of them here. And I think, in the first spot, we should have...

  20. Don Krieg

  I'm gonna start with this one because it always felt like Luffy, using Gum Gum Gatling, and then Gum Gum Pistol, and then 2 Gum Gum Bazookas, and finally finishing off Krieg with Gum Gum Giant Gavel, was executing a combo move. Like if he'd accidentally pressed X instead of B at the end there, he would've gone for another Gum Gum Pistol and lost the quick time event. 

  19. Charlotte Cadenza

  This one earns a spot on the list because of the desperation of it. We don't usually see Luffy go all MMA on someone, but in trying to make his way back to meet Sanji, he chokes out one of the big quintuplets. That's raw, and I hope that, when Luffy finally faces down Blackbeard again, he busts out a Rear Naked Choke on him or at least a Kimura Armlock. 

  18. Holdem

  This obviously isn't the first Red Hawk that Luffy's ever used (Other notable uses include his fight against Byrnndi World in the 3D2Y special, against Hody Jones, and in that awesome tag team attack with Law against Doflamingo.) But with work by key animator Takashi Kojima, his Red Hawk against Holdem is especially beautiful. I could watch it all day. And I have. 

17. Oars

  Luffy gets the chance to knock out not one, but two giants in Thriller Bark, with the first being Oars and the second being a Gecko Moria that's gone all Shadow's Asgard on everybody. However, I'm gonna give this spot to Oars. Not only does this Gigant Bazooka come after a battle with the entire Straw Hat crew, but we also get an X-Ray of Oars' spine as it happens. It's pretty rad. 

  16. Kuro

      I can't imagine that, even after evaluating every possible outcome or option, that "Man of a Thousand Plans" Captain Kuro would've thought that he'd be defeated by a goofy rubber head screaming in his face and then caving his skull in. It's not the most humiliating way to go out, but considering Kuro spent years trying to enact the perfect scheme and talking trash about being a pirate, it's on up there. 

  15. Foxy

  I'm a Foxy stan, a Long Ring Long Land Big Fan, and a Davy Back apologist. I LOVE this arc, and I love Foxy. But that doesn't mean that I didn't rejoice when Luffy finally got the win here. However, I have to give most of the credit to Bin Shimada, who is the best at voicing truly obnoxious One Piece villains (He also voice Wapol.) Heck, he's one of the best at voicing villains in general, as his versatility has also led him to being behind the roar behind Dragon Ball's Broly. 

  14. Usopp

  Oh, I picked a sad one. The battle between Luffy and Usopp is the most depressing in One Piece's history, with Usopp pouring everything he has into a fight where defeat is almost 100% inevitable, and Luffy being forced to beat up the crew member that he often relates to the most. As a fight, it's equal parts thrilling and depressing, and as the start of the perfect Water 7/Enies Lobby arcs, it's....also equal parts thrilling and depressing. 

  13. Buggy

  This is the battle that would set the standard for inventive conclusions to One Piece fights and even though it's less dramatic than some of the finishing blows to come, it deserves a spot on this list due to how iconic it feels now. It's a final fight that teaches you that One Piece just might be somethng special when it comes to handing defeat to its villains. 

  12. Cracker

    I like this fight because it establishes two things: 1) It makes Luffy a genuine threat to the stability and heirarchy of Whole Cake Island (even if he's not ready to take on Big Mom directly yet), and 2) It shows us that the Sanji Retrieval Team can get the job done. Also, I like pairing this fight with the last one with Buggy, because in both cases, it's Luffy getting a crucial assist from Nami and they make a great team. 

  11. Lucci

   Luffy's fight against Rob Lucci is one of the most well-constructed fights in anime, a contest that flip flops between a battle of nearly equal strengths, a desperate underdog journey, and an immensely satisfying and almost terrifying conclusion. Luffy closing his eyes and screaming while pummeling Lucci through the wall is such a visceral, violent way to end this fight and shows that while clever inventiveness can be handy in a battle on the Grand Line, sometimes you just need sheer will. 

  10. Sea King

    Not only is this a "Yeah! One Piece is the best!" punch, but it's also an integral part of the "We Are" opening. If I was a DJ, I'd play that song at every club I worked at. People would be like "DJ MERRY, PLAY THE LATEST POST MALONE!" and I'd be like "Right on it!" and then I'd just play "We Are" again. 

  9. Wapol

  As I mentioned, Wapol is one of the most obnoxious anime villains out there. So if he didn't get something that would deserve a spot on this list, I would've rioted, or at least been very disappointed on Twitter. Luckily, Wapol, pleading with Luffy, gets rocketed into the Drum Island stratosphere. It's literally the nicest option for him. 

  8. Doflamingo

  Doflamingo's defeat is a long time coming. Shown as a particularly malicious guy back during the Skypiea arc, then shown to be an agent of the underworld with a hand in weapons and trafficking, then revealed to be the false king of Dressrosa, he's needed a punch to the everywhere for almost 15 years of One Piece's run. And Luffy gives it to him, knocking him down through the streets of the city that he terrorized for so long. 

  7. Blueno

      Power-ups are fairly expected in shows like One Piece. But that's not a diss on them at all. I LOVE when a protagonist gets notably stronger and can pull off cool new moves and maybe gets a new haircut. But Luffy going Second Gear and then absolutely making a mockery of Blueno is something to behold. Blueno's look of stunned disbelief makes it even better, and it's just a warm-up for the war against the rest of CP9 to come. 

  6. Crocodile

  For most of the Alabasta arc, Luffy is 0-2 in battles against Crocodile. But, while Dvorak's New World Symphony: 4th Movement plays, Luffy uses the blood that he's shed to counter Crocodile's sand to knock him up through Alubarna. It's rare to hear someone call "rubber bro uses his magical fists to shatter the internal organs of an evil desert-themed gentleman" a truly majestic scene, but this is beautiful work. If there was a Church of Eiichiro Oda, this would be painted on the ceiling. Get lost, Michelangelo. 

  5. Arlong

  The trend of "Luffy beats the main villain of the arc by knocking him through something large" that we've seen with foes like Crocodile, Enel, Lucci, and Doflamingo was established here with Arlong. Horrified at the way that he's treated Nami, Luffy uses a Gum Gum Battle-Axe to turn Arlong's vertebrate into chowder. 

  4. Enel

      Luffy using the body of a psychopathic tyrant to ring the Shandorian Bell, thus proving to Mont Blanc Noland's descendent that the City of Gold did exist and freeing the citizens of Skypiea from Enel's reign is both poetic and just a cool looking set piece. It's a reminder of just how fulfilling reading/watching One Piece is, and how the details of the story often culminate in these big, lovely bouquets of fisticuffs and never lose any of their meaning or importance along the way.

  3. Katakuri

    No, this isn't a typical knockout, as Luffy falls down first and Katakuri dropping feels like more of a spiritual defeat than a physical one. But with the knockout of Katakuri comes the changing of an ideology, and the allowance of failure, something that Katakuri had never given himself before. So it not only signals the end of the fantastic main duel of the arc, but legitimate character growth for the antagonist. Also, it comes after the Fourth Gear Snake Man fight, which is one of the best animated episodes in the entire show. 

  2. Charlos

      The most gif'd moment of One Piece ever, Luffy punching Charlos so hard that it seems to break the anime needs no explanation. It's perfect. 

  1. Bellamy

  "Do I know how to throw a punch, you ask?" Luffy rearranging Bellamy's skull after Bellamy mocks his belief in dreams and myth is a perfect distillation of one of the themes of One Piece: Those who believe in something VS Those who simply want to tear down those beliefs. And though the fight to follow your dreams and live a free life on the sea would continue, Luffy scored a victory for it here. Dreams: 1, Bellamy's Ability To Go Without A Neck Brace: 0.

  What is your favorite One Piece knockout? Do you agree with the placements on this list? Let us know in the comments!

    ----------------------

  Daniel Dockery is a writer and editor for Crunchyroll. You should follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[wordsdrippinginink]

Marcoace, fisrt meeting Great British Bakeoff AU

Ace stares at his cake and wants to cry because it’s perfect, just like it was when he had been practicing at home over the last week, it was also harder to move.

“Need some help?” Marco asks, turned partially to face him. “I’ve got a minute before my cake come out if you need a hand.”

“Please,” Ace says smiling brightly. “Grab two spatulas, if you don’t mind, that way we can each lift two corners.”

Marco twirls the spatulas when he grabs them, laughing at the look that Ace knows is on his face, “Sorry, my brothers always tell me I should do that. We moving to the platter or the rack?”

“Platter, not enough time for the rack.”

“True enough,” Marco agrees sliding his spatulas under two corners. “Count of three?”

“Yeah, ready?” Ace swallows nervously, staring at his cake and hoping, praying, that it wouldn’t fall to pieces when they started to lift it. “One, two, three!”

Ace can feel the tears as they the cake to the platter, shoulders slumping in relief as he and Marco slide their spatulas out from under it, “Thank you, Marco.”

“No problem, I’m glad to help,” he stops something beeps and gestures to the oven. “That’s mine. Pardon me.”

“Yeah,” Ace says softly, turning back to his cake and grabbing one of the baking sheets to try and make it cool faster. He still had icing to put on and decorations- Ace was going to kill Sabo for setting him up for this- and then, if he was good enough today he would have be back next weekend.

Judging is harsh, but Ace was expecting that. It’s been getting harsher since they’ve lost more competitors. There’s only six of the original twelve of them and Ace’s heart always feels like it’s going to beat out of his chest when Marco sits next to him, offering his hand when he notices that Ace’s are white knuckled around his apron.

“Thanks,” Ace mutters, feeling his face heat up as they wait. “Do you ever just hope to get sent home?”

“If only to escape the heart attack that this is going to give me?” Marco whispers back, grinning just slightly. “Yeah, but it’s fun too.”

Ace snorts as Lucci sniffs and glares at them, “I mean, sure, but I’m shaking with fear.”

“You shouldn’t, your bakes are good. They’ve had nothing but compliments for you this week.”

“My brothers like desserts,” Ace says, finally glancing at him. “And they liked your cupcake thingys yesterday, remember?”

“I also came fifth in technical,” Marco reminds him.

“I think you did well in the showstopper.”

“You’re sweet. Uh-oh,” Marco sighs, “here they come.”

Tsuru and Sakazuki look calm and collected as always as they stand off to the side, letting Vivi and Nami step forward to announce who was star baker and who wouldn’t join them next week. Ace squeezes Marco’s hand, biting a smile back when Marco squeezes back.

“I have the bad news this week,” Nami pouts as she takes a small step forward to gain their attention. “Next week the person that won’t be joining us is...” Ace knows that the cameras are on their faces. “Bonney.”

Ace feels himself relax, before frowning, because Bonney was good. But she had come last in technical this week and even burned her initial bake. 

“I have the slightly better job this time,” Vivi says smiling brightly. “This week’s star baker is someone who not only made a chocolate cake so decadent that my dentist will be paying him for more, but an amazing triple fruit pie, this week’s star baker is Ace!”

Ace feels like he’s seeing things through water as Marco throws an arm around him and hugs him. He can hear Lucci’s begrudging congratulations and feels when Bonney slams into him and demands that he win for them both, but it’s distant until he’s following them out the tent to the tube.

“You did well,” Marco says smiling again. “I’m glad.”

“Shouldn’t you want to do well yourself?” Ace shoots back.

Marco laughs, “Well that’s true, hard to flirt with you if I’m not in the tent. Maybe next week I can convince you to give me a number?”

[kingcocoabutter]

Pride And Prejudice

One of the most iconic scenes in #VinlandSaga is this one:

 Halfdan tells Thorfinn that he will give him the funding he needs for his venture as long as the latter licks his boot. To a wealthy man, having someone else *struggle* to put aside their pride and do something so debased and shameful is a greater reward and provides a greater thrill than gold or produce. He’s shocked, however, when Thorfinn bends down to do so without a moment of hesitation, even asking which boot to lick. Halfdan is repulsed because he can’t believe someone would sacrifice their dignity in such a manner but to Thorfinn it’s such a small price to pay for the sake of his dream. But I digress because I’m not really here to talk about Thorfinn, I’m here to talk about Sanji and false pride. Now maybe this is premature but I HATE the idea that Sanji did not even hesitate before deciding that he was going to use the Raid Suit as a disguise when taking on Page One (especially after the events of WCI and even post arc) which were meant to be about how he was escaping his family’s legacy. And fans have offered up innumerable justifications for his willingness to do so, ranging from how it’s “acceptable” because he will *only* use it as a disguise or how he’s putting aside his “pride” for the sake of the crew. And it really fits in with this mythological perception we have of Sanji as being the Strawhat’s “shield” or their white knight and how willing he is to throw himself into harm’s way to protect his crew. Some of which is true. But I’d argue that out of all the SH’s not only is Sanji the most deeply flawed but he is also the one SH of which the fandom has the most flawed misconceptions.

Sanji is SUPREMELY prideful. And that in and of itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s problematic in the way that Oda has framed it with regards to the story and his attitudes towards certain demographics. Sanji is SUPREMELY proud of his status as a man and a chef and he VIOLENTLY rejects anything that would lead others to perceive him as less than in those regards. Hence his virulent homophobic/transphobic attitudes to the point where he has created an attack that is the literal embodiment of his gay panic. As he told the LGBTQ+ denizens of Peachy Kingdom. 

This attitude also manifests with regards to his treatment/perceptions of women, whom he showers whom he deifies and showers with adoration/love/affection while simultaneously objectifying and sexually assaulting them not realizing how contradictory those attitudes are. I’ve written about the latter extensively and so I’ll refrain from espousing anything further but I will most definitely be addressing one of his more controversial attitudes (i.e. his refusal) to hit women later in this thread but first I must digress.

I’ve been vocal in my disdain of how lackadaisical the SH’s attitudes/approach to declaring war with one of the Emperors has been and personal dislike aside I don’t think any of their approaches has irked me as much as Sangoro the Soba chef. Tasked with collecting information/intel on Kaido’s forces, “Sangoro” instead does this: 

Now again I admit that maybe he had some plan we are not privy to but it’s the events that follow that tempt my ire. Kyoshiro sends some goons to wreck Sangoro’s Soba stall and in the process they wreck some food thus earning Sanji’s ire. So of course the reasonable way to respond is for him to beat the crap out of all of them for daring to disrespect food.

The way the events play out is very much #OnePiece and very much what we know of Sanji. Not debating that. But it again goes to show how little this series has progressed and it’s characters have developed or changed over the course of 900 chapters. I get mad when fans suggest that Sanji is going to don the raid suit to protect his crew when his actions re the Soba shop are what led to the crew being endangered in the first place. The SH’s are in the heart of enemy territory and yet none of them are acting as such. How are we supposed to believe that the Emperor’s are one of this world’s most powerful forces of nature, and that Law/Luffy working together have only a 30% chance of victory if their plan is *flawlessly* executed and everything goes according to plan when the SH’s lack any kind of awareness that they cannot act as they like?

A more powerful narrative arc would have seen Sanji putting on a façade and allowing the goons to destroy his stall and ruin the food, and him apologizing for having set up an unlicensed stall. Would it go against everything that Sanji stands for? Of course! But as he stupidly points out later, when Page One is chasing them, Robin and Nami would be in trouble if they get caught and were tortured for information. So if he realized that why would he do something that would very obviously draw attention to himself when their goal is to be discrete?

And I’m not saying that Sanji wouldn’t or shouldn’t retaliate. He could have donned a disguise (not the fucking raid suit) at night and paid the goons a visit at night to exact vengeance for what they did and that way there would be no attention drawn to him or the SH’s. Hell Oda could have even turned “Sangoro” into a mythological figure by taking a page from Food Wars book and having Sanji operate a food stall that shows up in different districts of Wano at night serving food to the hungry masses and then disappearing. And similar to Food Wars this mythical stall would serve different varieties of food every night creating an air of mystery and excitement that would make the people of Wano seek it out. This would have been a great way to collect information, inspire the masses, and frustrate Kaido’s forces by keeping them preoccupied with this so the others could operate in secret.

But Oda can’t or won’t do that because he can’t do anything that would make Sanji look less noble or do anything akin to asking him to sacrifice his pride for the sake of the greater good. I mean we’ve seen this all the way back in W7/EL when he was willing to let a crewmate die for the sake of his pride. And let me make it very clear that Sanji’s refusal to hit women isn’t noble or moral or even acceptable when it’s so blindingly hypocritical when he turns around and assaults and objectifies them. And again for a man that claims to love women he doesn’t even put on the pretense of caring about them in any non-superficial way. What good is his adoration of them when he outright ignores how they’re treated and abused by others? It’s the equivalent of claiming to value/love freedom and yet remain silent when minorities are being assaulted and discriminated against. 

And what frustrates me even more than all of that is that Sanji’s only able to do what he does and hold the moral high ground and never question his values because Oda will never let him be wrong. He can never face a consequence for making the wrong choice. One of my favorite moments and lines from The Dresden Files *SPOILER* is one where Harry is going through a crisis of faith and when talking to his father he gets this advice:

H: “I crossed a line”

F: “I know. It only means what you decide it means.”

H: “What?”

F: “Harry, life isn’t simple. There is such a thing as black and white. Right and wrong. But when you’re in the thick of things, sometimes it’s hard for us to tell. You didn’t do what you did for your own benefit. You did it so you could protect others. That doesn’t make it right – but it doesn’t make you a monster, either. You still have free will. You still get to choose what you will do and what you will become. As long as you believe you are responsible for your choices, you still are.”

And another:

“Take the high road if you want to. Choose to walk away from this strength in the name of principle. But after your noble death, everyone who might one day have come to you for help, everyone who is killed in the aftermath of the Darkhallow – every life you might have protected in the future will be on your head. That is the act of a coward. It is beneath contempt.”

The only reason the SH’s and hell even Sanji are able to play off his sexism as “chivalry” or “nobility” on W7/EL (or hell even with Pudding) is with the acceptance of the idea that no one was harmed by his actions. On W7/EL this meant acknowledging that Robin would not die and that she would be rescued no matter what. And you can spin that any way you like (he had faith in the crew etc.) but what the crux of it comes down to is this: what would Sanji have done if Robin had been killed because of his failure to act? How would the crew react? Would they blame him or would they split the blame equally amongst themselves. Would this make Sanji reconsider his position? What if Kalifa had been like Lucci personality wise? Would he have behaved the same way if after she immobilized him she went after the other SH’s? After Nami?

The reason those quotes above spoke to me is how they relate to the idea of choice. I’ve been told that if Sanji were to hit a woman that it would somehow “ruin his character” or that it would mean that he somehow after that would justify hitting all enemy female combatants without regard for his “chivalry”. That’s all bullshit. There is a difference between *choosing* to fight a woman and hitting one in a blatant abuse of power. It’s about time that he starts taking responsibility for his actions and choices into his own hands and owns them rather than ascribing them to something external. Given the choice between taking an enemy combatant out of commission to save the life of a friend or holding on to your principles and placing the burden on your teammates, it’s obvious which action is worthy of praise and which is one is worthy of contempt. Too bad we seem to have got them flipped.