#saga of becoming a dragon

[scoots-canoe]

look at this freaking imp

[pabs-art]

Thank you for everything! Our hero!

[dorokora]

Seeing the new welfare CG…

On that note. Why are there sentient tentacles inside of these dragons anyway?!?!

[asmidge]

emotional over how Android 17 was built to kill and now his job is protecting life. he doesn’t want to kill the poachers even though they directly threaten the animals that are so important to him

he has a wife and kids now and has an actual life, something that Dr Gero never envisioned for him or his sister. they were created as tools meant to kill Goku but they’re his friend now. they live for themselves and value the lives that they were originally meant to destroy

[payaso-gomi]

you guys can have a little Piccolo wip bc you're pretty epic

[rulesforthedance]

You know how some babies/toddlers will go through a phase where they’ll only open their mouths for food if you swoop it at them and go “nyoom, here comes the airplane, into the hangar!”...?

Well, Henry’s current phase is he will only eat his greens if I pick him up and swoop him. At his food. If he is still and I move the food, he ignores it. If the food is still and he is moving, he will eat it. Sometimes it also works if I just pick up his hind end and sort of wheelbarrow him toward it.

[berrisweetsiren]

“...Is this what it felt like…when you rose…as a phoenix…?”

With the dust cleared, I had stood in the middle of what was once the two dragons of ice and fire. I was breathless, hands trembling as I put a hand to my wrist- checking what I could to indicate that- truly…I was still alive. Somehow. 

Somehow.

What strength remained in my legs had all but fallen apart, sinking into the ice and snow as my stare cast out along the now empty field. All around me, I heard cheers and uproar, celebration…and yet, I felt…

Nothing. Nothing at all.

“Is…is it over?” My mouth moved before I could even think to ask, still in shock over the events that had just occurred. Everything I worked towards led to all of this…everything I’ve done, and the culmination of my work, and suddenly it was all…over.

“It…It looks so, Commander,” Over the communications line, Taimi spoke up, “But…it’s not completely over, you know. With both Jormag and Primordus gone… We may just have a doomsday crisis on our hands.”

I blinked, the information not registering. Everything felt so…hazy…And oddly warm. Even kneeled in the snow, with my armor shredded and my skin touching the ice…I felt warm. A burning sensation crawled up my arm, and I gave a nervous little laugh.

“Of course…Of course I remember.” I mumbled into the intercom, “It’s never really over, is it Taimi?”

“W…what do you mean? Commander?” I could hear the vague sound of Taimi typing rapidly on her computer, “Is everything alright?”

How honest could I be at this point? If I lied, and said I was fine… Sure, I’d maintain some sense of dignity over my comrades. I’d remain the strong, bold leader that they needed of me… But I just couldn’t keep it together. 

If I gave the truth though…

“I’m…I’m always fine, Taimi.” I eventually mutter, “I’ve…always gotta be fine, you know?”

Another laugh escapes my lips, not even believing my own lie, “Thorns, it’s warm.”

“Warm? Hold on.” 

Taimi’s typing escalated, and she gave a notable little gasp at…whatever it was she found.

“Commander- Elias. I need you to just…calm down. Your readings are very…unstable right now, and by the looks of it all the magic you’ve consumed over our time together could simply erupt out of you at any moment. You have to just…breathe, okay? Did you consume any other magic you didn’t mean to?”

“Taimi, you don’t understand,” I whisper, deflecting the last question with trembling  hands as I held the com close to my face, “You don’t even…know half of it…”

Taimi was silent for a moment, before signing, “Then let us in…please. I don’t know about that meathead of a champion, but all of us at Dragon’s Watch, we-”

“I can’t.” I immediately interjected. Out of all of our friends, it was Taimi I had confided the most in… which, honestly, was…probably shitty of me. I was a good bit older than her, and it wasn’t quite right to confide my burdens onto…onto a teenager.

“Fuck,” I whispered, hunching over myself. In the revelry, I found myself just beating myself up even more. I couldn’t have prevented any of this, could I? I couldn’t have stopped the world from going into an apocalyptic state… and I couldn’t even protect those I cared the most about. 

“Deep breaths, Elias,” Taimi rarely called me by name, “You can get through this…”

“Just like I’ve had to get through everything else, Taimi?!” I exclaimed, frustration beginning to boil over. I felt the magic in my veins begin to burn, and my arms trembled at its strength.

By now, the celebration had dimmed- seemingly due to the scene I was…no doubt making of myself. 

“Look, why don’t we just get in the helicopter and head back to the Eye of North, and discuss things there?” Taimi asked, her voice uncertain as if she was trying to diffuse a ticking time bomb. Hell, in a way I probably was, and I choked through my own laughter.

“Fuck me, Taimi, I’ve had to do all of this in the matter of a year or two! I don’t even recall anymore who I am outside of all of this!” I cried out into the com, not even listening to her as my hand tightened around the device, “I’ve been fighting, and fighting, and causing more and more and more problems for everyone around me! What is the fucking point?! I gave my everything to stop the world from ending, and what has happened in return!? I only lose, more and more of both myself- and everyone I ever knew!”

I hiss through my teeth, pain laced as I felt something drip off my cheek. Reaching an unsteady hand to touch my face, I wince further and see bright red liquid at my fingertips… not blood, not by a long shot… but tears. Liquid fire. It burned my cheeks, causing my head to start to fade into a fuzziness I couldn’t describe. Delirium? I don’t know. The deafening silence was growing so loud in my ears, however, that I could only turn around, standing and trying to get my bearings as I stared the crowd down.

“What?! Is this like some type of show to all of you?! Yes, this is who I really am! This is who your beloved Fatebreaker is! A fucking coward!” I exclaim, fingertips burning as I clenched the handle of my hammer, “Come on now, say it! You all know that I’m like a fucking jinx wherever I go!”

“Commander…” Caithe went to reassure me, and I swatted her hand away.

“No! I don’t want to hear it from you, of all people!” I hiss at her, brushing the bangs out of my face, “I’m so fucking tired of everyone either hating me, or wanting my help! I gave my everything for the safety of this world- I killed the love of my life so she would be free of Mordremoth’s voice, I even fucking DIED trying to protect my own mentor from dying to the hands of a God- and yet all I hear is how I’m a plight and that I’m the reason all of this happens!”

I cackle even more amidst my sobs, sparks lighting in my hands flickering on and off like a broken lighter, “You know…Joko, he was right about me. All I’ve ever done is make things worse, and now look where we are…” My knees trembled, and I fell back into the ice and snow, a sob starting to bubble out of my throat unwillingly. 

“Elias, please, your readings-” Taimi tried to intercept, but my hand gripped…too tight, the device shattering immediately in my palm. I just…felt nothing. And yet everything at the same time. Like every scar was about to burst open, like my mind was about to melt and all I’d be reduced to was just the pain and anguish of it all. I couldn’t even stop it. The buildup of the year and a half of everything being ripped away from me- my sense of self, my loves, my dignity and my sense of moral justice- it all came crashing down at once like a house of cards, curling into myself to try and recontain all that pain. Some part of me knew, though, it was for naught… Though, something caught my eye. A familiar red color, that caused my outburst to pause…for the briefest moments.  I turned, and saw her… Ashe. 

And it almost felt real… Gods, it almost felt real. I just desperately whispered to her. “...Is this what it felt like…when you rose…as a phoenix…?”

“Everybody, clear out, now!” I could faintly hear someone else exclaim, as I felt everything start to burn- burn more and more until there was nothing else.

…And all I could remember, was the scream that tipped off my lips before everything had gone black.

[felassan]

In this next chapter of the critically-acclaimed saga, players will step into Dragon Age’snewest fully-customizable hero, Rook, battling on the front lines alongside an extraordinary cast of heroes known as the Veilguard. Fellowship is central to the experience of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, with each companion entering the fray with their own storylines, motivations and skill trees. In this tale that will decide the fate of Thedas forever, Rook must rise up, rally a team and forge relationships to become the unexpected leader others believe in.

Protagonist information from EA. Rook is confirmed. : ) [source]

[arceviste]

it started lol, the great saga of misunderstanding

Cale being mistaken as a dragon count (1)

also, this is something that someone whos DEFINITELY not a dragon would say (well he isn't one but he's sure can become one)

[bluegiragi]

hello! i'm gira, i go by she/her, and i've been making fanart for the cod fandom for about four months now :) the majority of that time's been spent on the soapbox saga, which is sort of just what i call the very plot-ridden porn comic featuring ghost, soap and konig. and recently i've been working on the monster 141 au!

i'm here to address the reasoning behind how i assigned certain monsters to certain characters, particularly the POC characters as well as accusations of racism regarding me neglecting gaz in all my art :) whoever you are, if you're reading this in good faith, i thank you! i earnestly never intended to make anyone feel uncomfortable from my work.

The Monster AU

i won't post the blog who brought this issue up mainly because, (realistically speaking) i think people might go after them and spam them with hate so I'm paraphrasing here. but basically..."how come all the POC in the Monster AU are assigned animal-associated monsters? Comparisons to animals can be incredibly demeaning when it comes to minorities".

I completely agree! But earnestly, I think my desire to assign every character a 'monster' that was relevant to their culture overshadowed the part of my brain that would've raised red flags about this sort of thing. There's the argument here that I could've assigned these characters cooler monsters such as Price who is a dragon, and Ghost who is a wraith, but I wanted to be respectful of all the minorities in the COD cast by giving them creatures that reflected their culture and personality.

ALEJANDRO - NAGUAL

In the Monster AU, Alejandro is a nagual, which is considered a guardian spirit in Mesoamerican culture. Typically, it's said that the nagual is the shapeshifted form that powerful men can transform into in order to do evil (although that doesn't apply in this case, Ale's a heroic lad), and can come in the forms of a jaguar, deer, dog or bird. I chose a jaguar, since it seemed to be the most common form of nagual depiction in the resources I was looking at. The 'panther mode' isn't pre-established as part of nagual mythology, but since most panthers are just black jaguars, i thought the association wouldn't be unreasonable.

I chose Alejandro to be a nagual because it's so in character for him to be protective of his home. The idea of him being a literal guardian spirit for all he considers his just made sense to me :)

--

RODOLFO (RUDY) - CADEJOS

In this AU, Rudy is the vessel for two cadejos, which are legendary dog spirits popular in the mythology of Central America, parts of South America and Mexico. Historically, they've been known as psychopomps (guides to help humans into the afterlife following their death) but modern interpretation has shifted to depict them as the good guardian dog and the evil attacking dog respectively.

A lot of the minute information about the cadejos tends to differ depending on the source. Like whether they're actually two separate dogs, or they're the same dog just in different 'modes', or how big they are. My personal depiction of them has them sized as normal dogs (although their spirit nature means they can move into small spaces pretty easily by just becoming immaterial temporarily) and as separate spirits that have been passed down through Rudy's family generationally.

I chose the cadejo for Rudy because although I wanted to include him in the Monster AU, i still liked keeping him as a character who was a bit more 'human' than Alejandro. I think Ale needs Rudy to hold him back sometimes, and having the two cadejo definitely helps with that. Sort of like how cheetahs in zoos have therapy dogs growing up because they're so anxious all the time! I think it also does a good job of showing Rudy's two sides as well, like he's a softie who just wants to protect those he loves, but he's capable of a lot of violence too.

--

VALERIA - GORGON

Valeria is a gorgon which, admittedly, is not part of Mexican mythology. However, I was put in a bit of a bind here, since my research didn't really reveal to me a monster in Mexican culture that I thought would suit Valeria's vibe (manipulative, elulsive) and I just felt like a gorgon would be perfect for her. Medusa's myth has her being continuously demeaned by the men in her life and is a symbol of female empowerment, which I thought was a great reflection of the implied reason that Valeria left the army was due to internal sexism. There's also the perfect parallel of how anyone who sees El Sin Nombre's face dies, and Medusa's whole 'turn you to stone' thing.

I thought i could compromise by making Valeria a gorgon but her hair would be Mexican black kingsnakes but...turns out they're actually not that dangerous. Some people even keep them as pets! So I decided to keep the visual, but make her a pit viper, a subfamily of vipers found in the Americas as well as Eurasia.

--

HORANGI - HAETAE

Horangi is a haetae (해태) which is a beast in Korean mythology that typically comes in the form of a horned lion or dog. It's prevalent in a lot of cultures in East Asia actually, although it goes under different names depending on the region - kaichi for Japan, xiezhi for China. I made Horangi a tiger variant on the creature because...well...'horangi' means 'tiger' in korean. It just made sense to me to put that little twist on it.

Typically, haetae are seen as spirits of judgement, that decide on innocent and guilty parties in disputes and punish the latter. It's also considered a guardian against fire (hence the fire immunity and cloud manipulation powers I gave him).

GAZ - HARPY

Gaz is a harpy which, I won't lie, was purely inspired by the fact that he seems to keep falling out of helicopters. But it's also because...yeah, I did neglect Gaz in the soapbox saga. But I think I neglected...everyone in the soapbox saga who weren't directly involved in the main ship. I sort of just tunnel visioned on the main three, so my exclusion of characters isn't just limited to Gaz, it was included Price, Laswell, Alejandro, Rudy, Graves etc.

I just want to make clear that my treatment of Gaz in particular isn't reflective of any inner preference against him. And to make good on that, me assigning Gaz wings of all things was to help me spend more time on him in the Monster AU! I think the contrast between Gaz being an upstart harpy, and Price being a one-winged dragon has a lot of potential as a mentor/protege relationship (and perhaps even something more) and it's why I assigned this monster to him. I really wanted to establish a connection upfront, but just making Gaz another dragon felt cheap - the harpy thing felt a little more in turn with his character :)

--

I really hope this cleared up any remaining frustrations with my designs for the Monster AU. I hope you can see that I never meant anything demeaning by assigning these monsters to their respective characters - in fact, I earnestly tried to go out of my way and be respectful to their backgrounds.

In any case, if you have any more questions I'd be happy to answer them - I'd just ask you to please ask politely :)

[sailorstarr-chan4]

Anime Titles Summarized (Poorly)

Vampire Knight: *insert Twilight joke here* Ouran High School Host Club: *small child voice* There's debauchery here! Sailor Moon: Everyone's bi. No, I mean it. EVERYONE. Clannad: I'm not crying yOU'RE CRYING Your Lie in April: Mommy Issues & Lots of Tissues Fruits Basket: MOMMY ISSUES ON STEROIDS Yuri on Ice: Sexy gay figure skating Sk8 the Infinity: Sexy gay skate-boarding Blue Exorcist: "[Satan] may have been your father, but he wasn't your daddy." FullMetal Alchemist: Family is your best ally Trigun: Family is your worst enemy Kaguya-sama Love is War: Idiots to Lovers the anime The Ancient Magus Bride: What if a monsterfucker romance was also Ace? Violet Evergarden: Gorgeously animated ✨TRAUMA✨ Made in Abyss: Adorably animated ✨TRAUMA✨ Madoka Magica: *Admiral Ackbar voice* IT'S A TRAP! My Hero Academia: X-Men alternative universe where mutants are the majority of the population Yu Yu Hakusho: Yusuke came here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. And he's all out of bubble gum. Inuyasha: Time travel, youkai, and jewel shards, oh my! Ranma 1/2: The original bisexual harem Urusei Yatsura: Crack. Just pure, unadulterated alien crack. MAO: Feral Catgirl x Tired Catboy Tokyo Mew Mew: Cute girl fursonas are named after food Shugo Chara!: His Dark Materials magical girl!AU Kamisama Kiss: The How to Train Your Dragon of shoujo Noragami: Girl adopts homeless god Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle: Eat your heart out, Doctor Who Skip-Beat!: Eat your heart out, slow burn fanfiction Kiss Him Not Me: Losing weight = gaining a harem Baccano!: Murders on the Immortal Mafia Express Cowboy Bebop: Bounty hunters need therapy Attack on Titan: EVERYONE NEEDS THERAPY Alice in the Country of Hearts: The sexiest and unhealthiest escapism Cardcaptor Sakura: Beautiful gay representation, terrible Elephant in the Room Fushigi Yuugi: Look, when I said falling in love with a fictional character, I didn't mean that LITERALLY-- Angel Sanctuary: Mutual incest destroys the world as we know it Guilty Crown: Unrequited incest destroys the world as we know it Zombie Land Saga: The undead as cutesy idols. That's it. That's the show. Yurikuma Arashi: Lesbian bears Princess Tutu: Duck becomes ballerina

[dduane]

A different Noggin

After @petermorwood and I got married, we started the process of many long discussions about what kinds of media we'd each grown up with that the other one had never seen or heard of before.

During this process I discovered to my astonishment that a limited-animation series of which I had only the vaguest memory was actually a real thing. (Which was reassuring, as for some years I'd half believed that I'd dreamed or hallucinated it.)

It turns out that WNET in New York—my home PBS TV station—had for a short time in the early 1960s carried episodes of a charming British animated series the name of which I'd long forgotten. But when I described a memory of "mournful clarinet* music" and mentioned the first few lines of the only episode I thought I remembered—"In the land of the North, where the black rocks stand guard against the cold seas—" Peter immediately laughed and said, "Noggin the Nog!"

And of course that's what it was: one of numerous BBC animated series devised by the amazing writer/animator Oliver Postgate and his collaborator, puppeteer and artist Peter Firmin—later jointly responsible for classics like Bagpuss and The Clangers.

Noggin (for those of you who haven't met him yet) starts out as the Prince of the Nogs, the northern people over whom he eventually becomes King, despite the continual machinations of his evil uncle Nogbad the Bad. It's all extraordinarily good-natured and gentle stuff, witty and inventive, with Noggin's intelligence and kindness repeatedly saving him and his friends from trouble. You can see the first episode of the series here.

What brings the subject up right now, though, is that this morning I mentioned Noggin to Peter and said "I wonder how much Noggin they've got on YouTube?" Peter went looking... and then found something astonishing: an episode of Noggin that someone had fandubbed into Old English. Here it is. (Do turn the captions on: they've subtitled this episode in OE.)

...Meanwhile, if you're already familiar with this series, you may like to hear that The Sagas of Noggin the Nog is available on DVD from the Dragons' Friendly Society.

*Actually oboe, I think.

[biscuitsofthesevenseas]

DRAGON LORE ANALYSIS TIME

Warning: kind of long(an)

I think we all know where this story is going. The fact that Longan is normally quite nonchalant but then we get this monstrosity of a facial expression as soon as Pitaya decides to chip off his helmet, is just... like I think this guy has more going on than the game is letting us know. Like why did he just decide to sink into the ocean for a couple thousand years after seeing the vision instead of, you know, eagerly anticipating it? Why do they hate cookies so much, how did they receive more power than the other dragons, and if they do despise cookies with all their might then how did Snakefruit get to the palace alive for the first time? I mean, we do know that their power is flawed (proof of that is Pond Dinos existence) , but considering how much the dragon talks about its raw power, I'm not exactly sure whether they actually know about the flaws (well, except for acknowledging, and having therefore, beef with Pond Dino).

Im also slightly disappointed this update ended on a cliffhanger, especially with all the hype, leaks, and the amount of time the Dragon Saga has been going on for. Its been nearly 5 or 6 years since Pitaya was released, and we still haven't even gotten to the final battle yet.

On that note, I think I might as well say what I think will happen in finale. For a start, I kind of hope there will be a Lychee redemption arc. It sound hilarious, but like, think about it. Rambutan wants her friend back, even if said 'friend' was and is a life-sucking succubus dragon. Lychee herself is probably the least popular of the dragons (used to be ananas but they gained a bunch of new fans, including myself, this update.) She's been completely sidelined in lore, even her own release cutscenes focusing on Rambutan more than her. She appeared a total of two times this entire update, and not much more throughout this megaupdate. Oh and she's the only legendary without a costume since Ananas and Pitaya got theirs this megaupdate, so I think that update will give her one. A redemption arc would be interesting and it would give her the opportunity to not end the saga as longans servant. (I also realised that it would be extremely funny if longan also got redeened and received a costume for it. Like, angelic Longan. Angelic Longan. Think about it.)

Now, Snakefruit. I do not trust that thing one bit, and I am 100% expecting a plot twist on the final DS update where it tries to steal longans dragon form after longan gets inevitably defeated (crob doesn't do killing most of the time, although it would be great if longan just straight up died.) I mean sure, it made a deal with lotus, bla bla blah, but you aren't forgetting that this is the creature that somehow managed to steal all the cookies' life forces in order to become a dragon. And whats the deal with Snakefruit anyways? How did it even grasp the idea of becoming a dragon? I just happened to realise we know almost nothing about it apart from its goals. Devsis, give the snake lore please.

My fingers hurt now I think I'll stop typing-

[vintagerpg]

Right off a semi-non-sequitor strategy game, DL12: Dragons of Faith (1986) gets right into…another mass combat heavy scenario. Hooray. Again, there is a ton of stuff in the package — the module and its folder, a sheet of little tarot cards, die-cut chits for the Battlesystem bits, another big ol’ map. Borderline decadent product design, tbh.

The digression of DL11 aside, this picks up directly from the action of DL10. I don’t honestly know what novel we are mirroring at this point — my recollection of Spring Dawning is spotty, and these modules have never really reflected the novels with any great care. At least part of the action here is still in the tail end of Winter Night. There is a ton of stuff in here that isn’t in the books, for sure. I don’t remember Spring Dawning well, but I am SURE there wasn’t a gigantic underwater battle in it. Conversely, I am pretty sure there are character moments in the novels that aren’t reflected in the module, but I’ve already come to terms with that since Sturm is potentially still alive at the tabletop. At any rate, the game is structured like the previous installments — narrative heavy, with players really navigating a series of events more than a dungeon, city or wilderness. The formula does feel like it has become rather refined at this point (it better be, with nearly 60 events in the chain!) even if I don’t really love how it is brought to bear, if that makes sense.

The little tarot deck is interesting. In a way, it is a regurgitation from I6: Ravenloft: they get drawn and tell the players about specific things that are going on in the game. It’s…OK? I don’t feel like, thematically, they fit very well, but what do I know? They are used in the subsequent modules and, like, become the basis of a whole new game with SAGA System in the late ‘90s (which powered the Dragonlance Fifth Age game and a Marvel Super Heroes game).

[moongothic]

This is gonna turn into some Crocodad Propaganda eventually but putting the man aside for a little bit

Let's be real for a moment. Regardless of who Luffy's other biological parent is, regardless of if they're relevant to the story or not, no matter what has become of that person, if they're dead or somewhere out there alive, etc-- I believe Oda "knows the truth".

Although it took One Piece until post-Enies Lobby to reveal some of Luffy's blood relatives to us, Oda had technically introduced both Garp and Dragon to us all the way back in the East Blue saga. And Ace was introduced not too long after in the Baroque Works saga, along with his tattoo which held that secret tribute to Sabo all along. (Also he was introduced as "Portgaz D. Ace" meaning Oda must've intended to make the two non-blood brothers from the get-go.) All this means that Luffy's family, both adopted and blood relatives, have been in Oda's mind from the very begining of the story. And so if Oda had figured out Luffy's grandfather, father and at least one brother (if not both) from the begining, then why would he not have decided what became of the person who gave birth to the idiot as well? Like considdering how detail-oriented and meticulous Oda can be, would it not be unusual for him to essentially forget about a character that important (in the sense that Luffy literally would not exist without them) and just handwave them away without much thought? Would that not be out of character for Oda? As such, I don't think it is not unreasonable for us to believe that Oda would know what happened to Luffy's other bio-parent. Mind you, it really could be just something like "Luffy's mother died of The Disease when Luffy was a baby", or "the mom fell down the stairs" or "was eaten by a bear in the woods" or something, anything, whatever. Even if it truly does not matter to the story one bit, I'm sure Oda knows the truth of what happened and why that character wasn't a part of Luffy's life.

But at the same time, if the identity and the fate of Luffy's birthing parent truly did not matter to the story at all, then why wouldn't Oda just tell us who that was and what happened to them? In an SBS or an interview? It's not like people haven't been asking about it, because fans and staff alike have been asking about it for years. If the information really would not change anything, be it the direction the story will take or how we view the characters, if it really is just worthless trivia, then why keep it away from us?

Now of course, I'm sure you'd want to point out that one time Oda told Mayumi Tanaka that "A young boy's adventure begins after he leaves his mother's arms. I want to tell this young boy's adventure story, so his mom is not part of it." And Oda isn't known for lying, we do kind of want to take what he told Mayumi Tanaka at face value. At the same time though. If Luffy's other parent did become a plot relevant character in like the final 200 chapters of the story, after a 1100 chapters, they and their potential connection to Luffy would not have mattered to the story for 90% of its run. For an overwhealming majority of Luffy's adventure, that person would not have been a part of it. So if that character did become relevant, and Oda was lying, then it'd be a white lie at worst. But also, if Oda did intend to reveal that other parent eventually, when the time was right, then surely he wouldn't want to get people hyped up about it way ahead of time. If it did turn out to be a big plot twist or an otherwise important plot point, Oda would want to keep it under the wraps and a secret until the right time, you don't want to spoil something like that. Not to mention it could end up working like a distraction and make people not focus on the more important things happening in the story currently. So really, I think we'd all forgive him for a white lie there. Not to mention, technically speaking, if Luffy doesn't even have a mom but two dads, then Oda wouldn't really be lying either.

But that does bring up an important thing to considder.

If Crocodile does turn out to be Luffy's other dad, when did Oda get that idea, and when would he have committed to it?

Because, keep in mind, One Piece began back in 1997. Twenty seven whole years ago. Which means there's two things to considder; the evolution of queer rights over the past near three decades, as well as the fact that One Piece has more than surpassed Oda's original plans for the series. We must not forget how for a manga to remain serialized in Weekly Shounen JUMP, you need to perform well in the popularity polls consistently; if your manga starts dropping in popularity, JUMP can cancel it and force you end it prematurely. Of course, Oda arguably does not have to worry about those polls anymore after all these decades, there's no way in hell JUMP would ever cancel fucking One Piece in this day and age. But that might not have been the case 15 years ago, that was not the case 20 years ago, and that was absolutely not the fucking case 25 years ago. Like we all famously know that Oda originally planned One Piece to maybe run for like a year, then five years, then ten etc etc. That really is because at the begining of his career he had no quarantee he'd be able to tell the full story he was slow cooking at the back of his mind. Back in the early days, One Piece could've been canceled and ended prematurely, so Oda smartly chose to write it focusing very specifically on what mattered to the story at that moment, in the short term. Yes, he did start laying out the groundwork for things to come, but he did it so subtly that had OP been forced to end early, the series wouldn't have been left with too many massive, gaping plotholes or unresolved sidestories. Another thing to keep in mind is how comic artists for JUMP do have editors etc who can have a say in what goes into the manga (famously, Sasuke only existed because Matashi Kishimoto's editor suggested it). So again, while Oda might be able to do whatever the hell he pleases in One Piece at this point, that wouldn't have been the case 20+ years ago. He would have been more or less at the whims of his editors back in the day.

So would Oda have thought about giving Luffy, the main character of the series, a transgender father back in the year 2000? Could that really have been the secret plan from the start? And would Oda's editor(s) at JUMP have allowed that? Or, did Oda maybe come up with the idea later?

Now just so we're clear, I am NOT suggesting Crocodad was Oda's original intent and that his editors didn't let him do it or anything like that, my tinfoil hat isn't on that fucking tight. What I do want to suggest, is that it is plausible Crocodile being Luffy's other dad was an idea Oda was playing around with at the back of his mind from the begining, but wasn't sure he'd ever get to, mainly due to the uncertainty of series' future and partially because he could've been unsure if his editors would even allow him to write that story. And IF this was the case, Oda may not have even started committing to to the idea until around the CP9 saga. Or, it's possible Oda only got the idea sometime after the completion of the Alabasta arc/during Skypiea saga, and started laying down the groundwork for during Summit War so that, if he ever got around to it, he'd be able to commit and tell that story.

Regardless, let's be real.

It is interesting and kind of suspicious how Crocodile does just happen to be introduced around the same time the rest of Luffy's family was first shown to us, even if we didn't know Garp and Dragon were Luffy's family yet (this was also the same time the first canon queer character was introduced; Oda was playing around with queer characters during Crocodile's introduction, possibly testing the waters to see what he could get away with?) During the CP9 Saga we got the Miss Goldenweek cover story, where we see what's become of Crocodile after the fall of Baroque Works. This is of course adding to the world building of the CP9 Saga (where we're told the criminals who go through Enies Lobby are either sent to Impel Down or to Marineford; so us finding out Crocodile's gone to ID is playing off of what we knew would become of Robin and Franky and the Strawhats not come to rescue them. AND it's foreshadowing for the Summit War Saga), but also, soon after we were reminded of Crocodile and told where he's been sent off to, we were finally formally introduced to Garp and Dragon (Garp having already been mentioned by Aokiji at the begining of the Saga). And we close off the Saga watching Ace and Blackbeard have their fateful match. So again, Crocodile was on Oda's mind around the same time the rest of Luffy's family was. And indeed, after Thriller Bark we then move onto Summit War proper, where Oda does all The Things we would considder The Groundwork for Crocodad, most important being the introduction of Ivankov and their Devil Fruit. But again, just like before, Crocodile just happens to be there at the same time as this saga, which really heavily focuses on Luffy's family, plays out. While we learn about Dragon's secretive nature and connection to Iva-chan, Garp's feelings for the boys, Ace's struggle with his heritage and Luffy's love for him, Sabo and Garp... Yeah, Crocodile's just... Also there.

Whenever Oda starts dwelling into Luffy's family, Crocodile is always there. It's a bizarre coincidence if nothing else.

(And oh won't you look at that, Crocodile has once again become a plot relevant character, just in time for The Final Saga where Dragon has also started becoming actually plot relevant as well)

All of this to say, again.

The fact that Oda has refused to tell us anything about Luffy's other parent is sus, and to me indicates that either although unusual for him Oda genuinely just doesn't give a damn about Luffy's other parent, or he's been trying to play it safe for years so that if he ever got the opportunity, he could give Luffy two dads. (Or maybe there's some other twist that has nothing to do with Crocodile, that is possible too, I just feel like if that was the case then why hide it for 27 years?)

Whatever the case, I'm sure Oda knows the truth.

And I'm sure we will find out the truth eventually, be it on the pages of the comic or in the SBS.

[arialerendeair]

Dreamling Fic Masterpost

Dreamling Masterpost

Decided it was high-time that I made a Masterpost of my Dreamling content because I have much of it! So here it is! If a fic is a part of a series, I'll link the series. All fics are complete unless listed in progress!

Bingo Masterpost | Ao3 Collection

An Immortal, an Endless, a Human-Turned-Dream-Eager Walk Into A Bar (and find a Missing Ray of Sunshine) |  15k

Those Who Kink Together, Stay Together | 4k

My Heart’s Protector | 5k

Make It Count | 120k

Well Matched | 31k

Dreaming of Warmth | 1.1k

Weathering A Storm | 11k

Synthetic Dreams | 7k

The Heart of an Endless | 4k

Half Your Age Plus Seven… Billion? | 10.7k

My Stranger | 6k

Iustitia | 9k

The War for The Dreaming | 32k

A Husband, A Consort, A Nightmare | 9k

Common Dating Misconceptions | 6k

A Bastion of Warmth | 7k

Ye Olde YouTube Love Story | 7k

The Not-So-Accidental Baby Acquisition | 5k

A Worthy Proposal | 7k

Hope of the Endless is Created, Taught, and Courted (Mostly In That Order) | 23k

Drifting with Dream | 12k

Dragon Wars | 39k

Summer Rain | 5k

Shifting Gears | 5k

The Barghest Nightmare | 19k

Hopefully Verse

Hopes & Dreams | 35k

Hoping Dinner Goes Well | 9.5

A Symbol of Hope | 3k

Hope Holds the Gates | 5.5k

Shattered Hopes and Rebuilt Dreams | 6k

Hope Destroys to Build Again | 4k

A New and Hopeful Future | 5k

The Art of Weapon-Related Seduction (As Observed by Hob Gadling & Dream of the Endless) Verse

The Art of Seduction Via Longbow | 12k

The Continuing Art of Seduction Via Weapons Demonstrations (And Leather Pants) | 11.5k

The Art of Nerdery (and Seduction) Via Lightsabers | 4k

Checkmate Verse

Discover Check, and Incidentally Mate | 6k

The Grandmaster Title (And Reward) | 13k

Dreamling Week 2023

A-Courting to You | 1.1k

Dragon Bonded | 5k

Anything | 3k

Pretending! Unless... | 4k

Jealousy Does Not Become Him | 4k

Or | 2.5k

All in a Day's Kidnapping | 6k

Standalone Dreamling Fics

Alexander is Endlessly Surprising | 30k

Vengeance Burns | 4k

The King Consort Goes to War | 8k

Nightmaric Catharsis | 15k

The Price | 22k

Begin, Muse, when the two now break and clash, Dream of the Endless and Lucifer Morningstar | 9k

The Decline in the Art of Kidnapping | 4k

Necessary Friction | 5k

Torment | 8k

Daydream in Love | 5k

In the Rain | 2k

Broken Pots Still Hold Water | 9k

A Dream of Rescue | 51k

Five Times the Dreaming Needed Dream - and One Time They Needed Each Other | 8k

Rescuing Hope of the Endless | 9k

On Fierce and Wild Wings | 33k

Hob Gadling, King Consort (And Friends) | 12.3k

Into the Unknown, Together | 4k

Learning to Say Goodbye | 1k

Struggle | 1.1k

The Storyteller | 2k

Lustful Daydreams | 3k

Songs and Sagas of a Fate Determined | 4k

Becoming Hope of the Endless | 6k | IN PROGRESS

While You Were Sleeping | 4k

Braided Longing | 13k

A Dream Model | 30k

A Dream of Dragons | 32k

Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day? (AKA The Sonnet-Off) | 7.5k

Dreams Make Living Worthwhile | 63k

Broken Glass | 12k

Dethroned | 24k

A Family Stands Tall | 10k

A Blundered Beginning | 12k

What's a Bit of Death Between Friends | 9k

Call of the Wild | 28k

Rewrite the Stars | 60k

Old Town Road (AKA The "Hob is a Horse Girl" Fic) | 12k | IN PROGRESS

Well, That's Curious | 39k

Colour Forecasting (Co-authored with @blueberrymffn) 289k out of 625k posted)

Will be updated as I post more fic!