#opla 1x06

[zorobae]

[1liv]

[a-hidden-piece-of-happiness]

"Don't you have a dream?" - OPLA, 1x06

[dvarapala]

while most - if not all - interactions are set post syzygy canon for the ease of rping. i'm placing the opla interactions around the 50% mark of syzygy. the first part of the story has already happened. the second part? it's happening as we speak. which means she is looking for a blade called the nandaki aka the source of joy to defeat svarbhanu.

without further ado, let's get into the opla of it all!

there are whispers, of course, about this weird girl, this weird woman, with her weird clothes and her weird way of speaking. most people are used to weird and quirky, though, so no one pays that - or her - any mind when she weaves in and out of the crowds.

(though there are people who think she has something to do with the heavenly yaksha aka doflamingo, because she, too, wields strings and threads despite not having consumed the string string fruit.)

the romance dawn trio meets her properly at the bar in 1x01. though to them, she's just a person who makes the little girl laugh. just someone who eyes zoro and his swords and who eyes nami, too, because nami is hot. she has clocked luffy as well (because how can you not?) and koby too. a marine hits on her and she pretends and insists she doesn't speak english/the common tongue while blatantly ignoring that she did just that zero point five seconds ago to the barkeep.

it is clear she has been through a lot; it is clear she is running from something. from someone.

she drinks something non-alcoholic because while she does love a good cocktail, she wants to keep her head clear if she needs to fight. the bar brawl scene happens and udy is activated. she is entranced and enchanted by the way zoro moves, by the way he fights, by his blades. everything about zoro is gorgeous and dangerous and beautiful, though when she hears his monniker of pirate hunter, she thinks twice. thrice, even.

udyati is wholly absent in 1x02 but bits and pieces of her story unravel after the romance dawn trio meet vena zaman (santhosh sreeram), omisha kaushal (ashley ganger) and ayush dahiya (josh heuston) after the circus fiasco: udyati was once kalindi zaman's puppet for years. made to do things she didn't want to. kalindi (aishwarya rai-bacchan) is long gone now, however.

in 1x03 and 1x04, udyati is also absent from the main plot but there are some scenes interspersed with the main plot. it becomes clear that udyati has taken a vachan - a verbal vow with physical consequences for mind, body and soul if not followed through and fulfilled. the thing is, though, she can't remember exactly what it is that she promised to the mahavidyas aka the great wisdoms.

1x05 sees udyati make her way to baratie, exhausted. the chef - sanji - finds her curled up in a booth in the corner and feeds her. she genuinely thinks he's kind and she also genuinely thinks he's hot. udyati has the currency to pay for the meal but it's not berry's, further cementing the fact that she's not of this world. before she can pay, though, mihawk appears and he and zoro get into an intense swordfight.

in 1x06, udyati debates the merits of staying but flees when no one's looking; she feels bad about doing this, however. (usopp probably sees her go, though. she also had at least one conversation at the bar with him in the previous episode.)

during 1x07 she makes her way to conomi island because she still feels bad for skipping out and part of her is just drawn to the straw-hat pirate crew. she arrives right when arlong starts attacking coco village.

and in 1x08 udyati helps fight off the fish-men together with sanji and zoro and usopp while luffy fights garp. after their victory, udyati apologizes to sanji for skipping out without paying for the meal. udyati tells them the truth and tells her she's from elsewhere. then, she says goodbye to the strawhats before the marines arrive.

post opla canon, udyati will pop up in loguetown where she is chased by vena and his colleagues who are still intent on extracting the information they feel they are owed.

the scene goes like this: in loguetown, we see udyati wander around. doing a bit of window shopping. she's still looking for a very specific blade called the nandaki which is commonly known as the source of joy. at some point, vena and omisha and ayush spot her and they give chase. udyati runs but loguetown is a busy place so she bumps into quite a few people. one of which is a lady who wants to buy a dress; the lady holds up two. one lavender, one green. udyati rushes past with a rushed apology and yells at her to get the lavender one as that one brings out her eyes. vena and his colleagues unintentionally end up chasing udyati into the arms of the straw-hat pirates once again and a fight ensues.

[zorobae]

[zorobae]

Is every day gonna be this crazy with you?

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ZoLu + touching

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ZoLu + hands

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I, Roronoa Zoro, vow to stand by your side from now until the end. You're my captain, Luffy. And I'm your first mate.

[zorobae]

ZoLu + saying so much without saying anything at all

[zorobae]

[zorobae]

Between Sanji subtly telling Luffy to be more decisive and Nami straight-up criticizing Luffy for being a bad leader and Luffy afterwards losing to Arlong and seemingly losing one of his crew members — Luffy is actually doubting himself at this point. In the manga, Luffy doesn’t get remotely humbled like this until much later. Luffy always saves and protects his crew members but when he is the one who needs something — when he needs encouragement or getting saved — it is usually Zoro, his first mate, who does or says the right thing. In this case, Zoro renews Luffy’s confidence in his crew (by vowing to be a part of it until the end) and also in his role as the captain. And again, the first time this happens in the manga is much later so I am just beyond appreciative that they gave us such a moment this soon on the show.

[zorobae]

ZoLu — favorite quotes (season 1)