#she's been luffy's number one supporter since day one :')

[usernameforaboredcat]

Head Over Heels (Law X TomBoyF!Reader)

(A little dabble I thought while taking a piss 🥺👉🏻👈🏻 like 3 minutes ago)

Warnings⚠: None

[Part 1/?]

Law meets Luffys older (by like a year) sister who honestly the type of girl he’d imagine being the big sister to the Straw Hat and BOY is she just fiiiiiiiine!

3 brothers!

Imagine growing up with 3 idiot brothers with only one of them being less stupid. Fist fights, rolling around in mud and dirt, covered in blood from hunting, needing a bath every night to not get sick. Haha God I love those idiots!

~

Law doesn’t know why he’s here, walking down a random street on a random island with the idiot Straw Hat Luffy. As the two walk, Luffy lets out a loud yell as he sees a familiar older girl walking down the street. “HEEEEEEY! (YYYYY/NNN)!”. He calls way too loudly, drawing the attention of everyone including the girl. She turns in confusion, the gasps as she looks over with wide eyes and a bright smile.

Luffy jolts off over to the girl, the Captain of the Heart Pirates groaning as he slowly walks to catch up. He sees her wearing baggy long pants and a bikini, saddles and a small pack bag through the belt parts of her pants. Luffy jumps and hugs her, who hugs him back. “No way! It’s so good to see you again little dude!”. She greets him. “I’ve missed you so much!”. Luffy cries. (Y/n) pulls off the younger kid, putting him in a headlock as she ruffles his hair with his knuckles.

“You little fuck! I thought your ass was dead you little shit! Scared me half to death! I swore I saw the light!”. She snaps at him angrily, tightening her hold as he starts to choke. “I-I’m sorry! Please don’t kill me!”. Luffy breathes out, spazzing in her hold.

The Heart Pirate Captain finally catches up, looking at the two with a raised eyebrow. “The hell are you?”. (Y/n) asks the taller man, looking up at him. A thump goes through his whole body, strange. “Th-this is my friend!”. Luffy chokes out, now trying to pull her arm away. “No shit! Can’t believing you made a friend that isn’t some 30 year old guy!”. She says happily.

Law looks at his now turning blue friend, his cheeks reddening at the sign of his face so squished against her boob. “Hope this little turd hasn’t been too much of a pain in the ass”. She tells him, finally letting go of Luffy to let him fall to the ground. ‘Yes, he has been a giant pain in my fucking ass’. “No, not at all”. He responds. ‘Damn it!’.

She then hums, getting on her tippy toes and leans right up into his face. “Holy crap! You’re that Law guy! I heard about you! Your bounty is like crazy high at like 3,000,000,000 berries!”. She points out in shock. “Yeah! Isn’t he awesome!”. Luffy cheers, now back on his feet. “It is quite impressive, I must say”. She hums, holding her chin with her hand as she nods.

“Uh…th-thanks”. He mutters, gripping the brim of his hat to lower it to hide his slowly growing blush. ‘What’s with this woman? Why am I like this? Damn it!’. “So, whatchu up to these days?”. Luffy asks his older sister, the two turning to each other. “Oh ya know, just traveling around looking for anything to do! Probably doing the least to piss off the old man out of us kids”. She answers, leaning with her hand on her hip.

“How bout you? I’ve seen that your bounty has only been goin up so ya still trying to be King of the Pirates?”. She asks. “Yep! And it’s only gonna go up and I’m gonna be king!”. He responds happily. She chuckles at her little brother. “I believe it! Remember I’ve been your number one supporter since day one”. She reminds him, nudging his arms with her elbow.

She then turns back to the other captain, feeling an arrow go through his heart when her eyes meet his. “Mind if I hang with you guys for a while? Just for a bit, I wanna catch up with my baby brother”. She asks him oh so kindly. Law felt as if his heart stopped, chocking and spitting out his own spit. Luffy laughs at his reaction while his sister just stares.

She reaches into her bag and pulls out a handkerchief, holding it out to him. “Do you…need this?”. She asks nervously, never really seeing a guy act like this before in her life. “Uh…”. He takes the handkerchief from her, feeling the soft fabric on his fingers. “Thanks”. He thanks, raising it to clean his face. “Oh man! You should have seen your face!”. Luffy laughs at his older friend.

He holds the handkerchief back to her, her hand grazing his as she takes it back. Her finger tips are as soft as silk, her fingers smoothly sliding off his. Laws nose suddenly bursts, blood gushing out his nose like a hose. “Holy crap!”. The girl yelps, jumping back while Luffy bursts out laughing again. “Hahaha! Now you’re like Sanji!”. He laughs, holding his stomach from all his laughing.

(Y/n) looks at her brother with a concerned expression. “Is he uh…usually like this?”. She asks him. “Hehehe, nope!”. He simply answers. All Law can do it turn away from the two, his face a dark beet red. Never in his life has he been this embarrassed just because of some girl. (Y/n) leans over so she can whisper in Luffys ear. “Should I leave and we catch up a different time?”. She whisper asks him, causing the younger boy to turn and look at her.

“No no it’s fiiiine! Just give him a minute”. He reassures her. She hums as she leans away from her baby brother, then just to lean back over. “He said he acts like a friend of yours, what’s he like?”. She asks him. “Oh you mean Sanji? He usually acts like that around girls, he really likes girls”. Luffy answer. Oh…OH!!! Oh~. “Oh I see~”. She coos, leaning away from her little brother again.

“Huh? Get what?”. Luffy questions. (Y/n) then grabs Laws hand, gaining his attention and causing him to freeze in place. “So Law, are you here for long? Perhaps we can meet up and you can tell me some stories of dumb shit my baby brother has done?”. She asks him, sending him a little wink. His nose starts to bleed again, but he’s able to muster out a nod. “Cool! Now why don’t we go somewhere nice and chat!?”. She says happily, linking arms with her brother and dragging the two down the street.

Trafalgar Law, Died Age 26

Death By Blood Loss & Heart Attack Caused By Luffys Hot Older Sister

[aaliyawrites]

From Perfectionism to Progress: Aaliya's Story of Breaking Free from Procrastination

Hey there, I’m Aaliya, the pen with a story to tell. I’ve been with my human, V, since 2018, and trust me, it’s been quite the journey. I’ve seen her smile, cry, win, lose, fall in love, and sink into some deep pain. Her path’s been full of confusion, heavy expectations, and, well, let’s just say, a lot of procrastination. But through it all, she’s kept going. That takes courage — even if she’d never admit it.

You see, V’s methods aren’t always the best (and yes, sometimes they suck), but her heart is in the right place. This blog? It’s not about her past (at least, not all of it). It’s about where she’s at right now. But hey, a little context never hurt anyone, right?

V’s Battle with Perfectionism: The Journey to Self-Acceptance

Let’s get one thing straight: V is human. Shocking, right? You’re probably rolling your eyes, but it’s important. She forgets that a lot. In her world, her worth is tied up in accomplishments — money, looks, killer communication skills, friendships, or finding her "perfect" crew (think Luffy’s gang, for you anime fans).

She’s convinced that if she doesn’t check all those boxes, she’s just… not enough. She believes that if she doesn’t have it all, people will leave her behind. And if you’re sitting there thinking, "Well, that’s wrong," you’re absolutely right. But does she know that? Sure. Does she feel it, though? Not quite.

Knowing something’s wrong doesn’t mean you can magically stop feeling it.

Meet the Monster of Procrastination

For too long, V has been stuck battling Profecta — the monster born from perfectionism and procrastination. She’s caught in an exhausting loop where her efforts never feel good enough, and there’s always something more she thinks she should have done. This creates a void inside, filled with guilt and shame, which leads to procrastination — a victory for Profecta, her inner perfectionism.

Has she tried to escape this cycle? Absolutely. But she usually lasts 3-7 days before something breaks her rhythm. Overload or distraction stops her, and it takes her another 1-2 months to get back on track.

Love, Loss, and a Whole Lot of Mess

V, like anyone in their twenties, has loved with all she had. Her first love? Miss K. Yep, Miss. But Miss K didn’t return those feelings. She wasn’t interested in girls, in general. Even though V never fully accepted her feelings or confessed, they stayed friends. Miss K was her Safe Place — full of love, acceptance, care, and support But when their paths diverged, V convinced herself that she wasn’t worthy of Miss K’s time and never contacted her again. Also, those emotions connected to Miss K? Way too overwhelming for V to face.

Two years have passed, and V is still holding on. Too much? Welcome to the mess.

Did she try to move on? Of course! But she couldn’t bring herself to delete Miss K’s number. She’d still watch her stories online, and instead of deleting photos, she just hid them in a folder. Silly, right? But facing her feelings was too hard. So, she buried them under distractions.

Escaping into Fiction: A False Safe Place

When battling the Profecta monster became too much, V sought comfort in a form of escape — creating a fictional world where she felt safe and loved. It became her refuge, but soon it turned into an unhealthy coping mechanism. Instead of preparing for her exams during her gap year, she threw herself into fanfiction, reading it for 13-15 hours a day. Not exaggerating.

She isolated herself from the real world, cut off friends, and stopped replying to messages. Why? Because she felt she wasn’t enough. She’d suffered two huge academic setbacks, and even after taking a gap year, she couldn’t get back on track. The weight of her past failures made the present feel unbearable, so she sought refuge in a fictional world, even at the cost of her health, sleep, and academics.

The Turning Point: Letting Go of Miss K and Fiction

V cared deeply for Miss K and didn’t want to hurt her. She didn’t mind if her escape ruined her, as long as Miss K was safe. But one day, V’s thoughts took a darker turn. She imagined hurting Miss K emotionally, just to make her feel the same pain V was feeling. It shocked her.

That was when V knew she had to change. She deleted Miss K’s number, erased the photos, and cut all ties. She even stopped reading fanfiction — something she had tried and failed to do before.

A New Battle: Seeking Comfort in Unhealthy Escapes

Without her fictional escape, V felt lost. So, she turned to another unhealthy coping mechanism. Let’s just say it involved content that didn’t make her feel any better. She started seeking comfort in role-playing communities, hoping to find real love and comfort. But it only messed with her mental health even more.

Journaling: A Ray of Hope for Healing

Despite all the struggles, there’s been one thing that helps V find her way back: Journaling. When she sticks to it, things start to shift. Journaling helps her process the chaos inside her head. It’s not a perfect solution — she’s had bad days that stop her in her tracks — but it’s a start.

This is why V decided to start writing on Aaliyawrites. Because, let’s face it, Aaliya writes ;) .Through this blog, she hopes to create a space where healing becomes possible, even if the path isn’t always straight.

Building a Community: Sharing Stories and Healing Together

Aaliyawrites isn’t just V’s story. It’s for anyone who’s ever felt lost, stuck, or overwhelmed. V wants this space to be a community where people can share their experiences, support each other, and offer advice. Healing doesn’t happen alone, and through this blog, she hopes to help others feel a little less alone on their journey.

Have you ever battled perfectionism? Or found yourself stuck in an exhausting loop of procrastination? If so, V and I (Aaliya, the pen) would love to hear your story.

George Herbert once said, "Good words are worth much, and cost little."

Your words might be the lifeline someone needs.

So, What’s Next?

V is still figuring things out, but she’s trying. Her journey isn’t linear, and there are still battles with Profecta. But every small step she takes matters. And through Aaliyawrites, she’s hoping to keep moving forward — and hopefully help others do the same.

Please, share your story, give advice, or drop a few words of encouragement. Let’s build a space where we can be open, vulnerable, and support one another on this journey of growth and healing.

Final Thoughts: A New Beginning

This post marks the beginning of something new, not just for V, but for all of us. Together, we can create a space where healing and growth are possible, one step at a time.

Signing off, Aaliya the pen (P.S. — Classic Profecta move: this draft was written four days ago!)

[fallensnowfan]

Laying the Groundwork

Want to delve into the big chrysanthe-mystery once more.

If Kiku is the final member, what reason would Oda possibly have to keep her hidden all this time? But first, big shoutout to Basedkikuenjoyer for being so devoted and leading the charge in motivating continued Kiku-posting. Now onto this post proper.

To reach the answer, we're going on a detour, back to parts of Acts One and Two, and before Luffy arrives in Wano. Going to focus on aspects which may reveal what has been going on behind the curtains, since soon after the crew left Wano, and during the few days they spent sailing to Egghead.

The moment not long after the time travel group arrived from the past is where I want to start. All of them except Kiku departed Wano to seek allies, with Kiku being tasked to remain in the country and gather intel on the enemy in secret, a job she does naturally and skillfully.

While undercover, the chrysamurai learns the info the alliance would need to launch a successful sneak attack on Onigashima, on the night of the Fire Festival. The info being that the outward presentation of the event is one of offering tribute to Kaido for acting as the "Guardian Deity" of Wano. Though as we later learn, the truth behind that outward description is that the night is really a big excuse for the Beast Pirates and Orochi's cronies to meet up, make merry, have a round of drinks, and throw a wild party.

A job well done for Kiku to have secured such vital info, while maintaining complete anonymity to everyone except Miss Tsuru, who kept her knowing of her identity a secret.

Jumping forward a bit to Luffy's arrival in the Land of Samurai. The two members of the Straw Hats most known for stealth, Robin and Sanji, kept their cover for a time though were both, as well as most of the crew, discovered in less time than Kiku had already been undercover. Kiku, who maintained her cover the entire time during Wano and a month before Luffy arrived. While Robin impressively gathered a great deal of info, it was all stats and numbers of things that wouldn't be of assistance to get the jump on our enemies during the raid. What ended up being key was Kiku learning the motive of the enemy.

Shifting back to the current arc, why does this matter for the situation on Egghead? The answer is potentially much simpler than I have been wondering for a while now. Wiretapping! Black transponder snails do just that and given what we've seen from the crew this arc, casually agreeing to work with a supporter of the WG, and continuing to act casually all arc. I'd say it's very possible that they knew of York's plan from before they ever set foot on the island. The idea being that Kiku was the one who uncovered York's true motivations, ala her learning the enemies' true intentions for the Fire Festival last arc.

And because Kiku is an unknown to the world at large, including the WG, due to her absence from the Ryo fight in 1054/1055, no one would be expecting her/another member of the SHs to be concealed in the Sunny, waiting for the perfect time to reveal herself and the plan. Is any of this a guarantee? No, but it sure would fit well with how this arc has progressed so far, as well as explain the weirdness of Wano's ending.

[bottlepiecemuses]

Free Physically But Not Inwardly

We have seen that that King has hidden himself behind a mask for decades due to the government hunting him and any other Lunarians for experimentation. As a result he has done what he can to make sure that no one can see his own face and go to the government to tell them. 

It doesn’t help when a reward for just telling someone about a Lunarian’s whereabouts is about 100 million beris which is enough that any subordinate would be tempted to sell out their own superior so that they can enrich themselves. 

And looking back at the flashback as a child it’s evident that it’s no wonder he tries not to risk ever being captured again. He was barerly treated better than a lab rat and probably still has mental and emotional scars from that time. And one could say while he’s physically free he’s evidently can’t be mentally free since ever since he was free he has been doing his best to always make sure no one sees any hint of his most notable features with his wings being the sole exception. The government might not have him anymore but I don’t think he ever has truly lived a peaceful day since he left and probably still doesn’t know how to process what he’s gone through. 

Despite being different reactions, I do think King’s reaction to being formerly enslaved reminds me of Koala’s time with the Sun Pirates post-slavery. Despite being free for three years she still had the same false smile mechanism turned off due to the trauma. It really says something about how the Celestial Dragons did a number on her that it took her that long to recover. And again it shows that even if you are enslaved those who have harmed you can make you become enslaved in your mind to the point you can’t function as a human until you can rehabilitation. 

This can be seen also with Robin who although wasn’t imprisoned permanently by the government she still was for years on the run for years because of them never know a day of ease and just knowing that one wrong move would put them into their custody and her fate would be sealed. The result would lead Robin to eventually be self-enslaved to the idea that she couldn’t find anyone in the world to rely on and that she can’t be open to anyone lest they rat her out which is not unlike King. Until the Enies Lobby arc where the gang risked everything to get her back and finally show that no she’s not a burden and that she will always be supported by them. In this way the shackles that the world government had on her mind were finally chipped away and she knew she finally found companions. 

Despite being introduced as the arrogant and haughty vain piratess she is in the present, she harbors a dark secret that she wishes no one can know which is the fact that she used to be a slave to the Celestial Dragons. She and her sisters ow their freedom to Fisher Tiger who freed her and many from bondage. However the results of their time there can always be seen with their powers and their mark which they always have to lie that they are gorgon eyes to hide being possibly exiled. On the surface Hancock might seem nothing phases her due to being beautiful, but remind her of anything of her time due to slavery and she will shiver. Before ever meeting Luffy she had to coat herself in this cruel and cold demeanor and showing only softness towards he sisters, but other than that she still shows she’s still is the vulnerable girl that was abused for four years and treated less than human. However, due to Luffy not giving up her sister’s secret even after they tried executing him and he didn’t care about her past she began to slowly thaw out and realize that there was a man out there who wouldn’t hurt her like the rest of the Dragons did.  

And underlooked is Fisher Tiger who was the captain of the Sun Pirate who was also the great liberator of the slaves of Marie Joise which freed tons of people including Boa Hancock. The man is considered the equivalent of Malcom X in the Fishmen/Seafolk world and is revered today. However until his own death, he held a great secret which is he was a slave himself and he escaped but due to his own sense of morals he felt he couldn’t let other slaves still suffer and freed them including humans even though he felt no love. And later even though he grew to have some love for humans in the form of Koala he still felt enslaved in his mind to humans through the Celestial Dragons because even at death he refused to have human blood because of his torrent feelings for humans. He wished for peace but still couldn’t allow himself to have something like an ounce of it in his veins because he was traumatized. It shows how the demons that shackled his minds ultimately cost him his life because he couldn’t find a way to fight them sadly. 

In the case of King, one of thing that makes him tragic is that unlike those other examples who have managed to break free somewhat from the shackles enslaved upon themselves inwardly there has nothing been really done for him except the promise by Kaido himself that he would never sell him out. A promise only he made. Yeah, unlike the other examples he’s mostly a villain who has done his own shares of atrocities, but there is a layer of tragedy that the only way he could truly be free from the government physically is under Kaido and it drove him down the path where in some ways he’s somewhat not so different from the government. Overall, he’s a man who will do anything to never be found again and in some ways it makes me think he’s more scared of the world than he seems which makes his situation sad especially when you think unlike many other examples who knows if he ever will fight off those shackles. 

[writingoneshots]

Maybe an odd prompt, but how about: Law having a crush on a Skypeian reader and thinks their wings are cute (in a Bepo kinda way?). The wings get injured in a fight so he's doing first aid while trying not to fawn over the fluffy feathers. Maybe the wings are sensitive so reader is blushy?

Hey there :) ! Now this is something I have never read before. Interesting request.. I couldn't resist to write it.

- Law x Skypiean reader - 1,526 words - cutie pie, little Bepo moment, SFW

After finally defeating Doflamingo, Law was exhausted. He has waited for this moment for years and now the time has arrived. Law was free. All these years, he had to readjust his plans, find new allies and focus on not killing Luffy for getting him into way too many troubles. Now that he was finally free, there was one thing he longed for. Someone's presence. Yours. It has been almost 6 months since the last time he had seen you and it was under hard circumstances. Both of you have been captured on a deserted island and Law had helped you to escape and bring you back to your island in the sky. During that time, Law fell. In love. Harder than he could have ever imagined. Every time he needed someone, every time he felt empty or depressed, he needed you. To see you, feel you and hear you. But there has never been an option to visit you since beating Doflamingo was his number one priority. Now that he finally had some time to relax with his crew, he decided to turn back around and check on you. There was nothing and no one, who could stop him right now. Not even Bepo, who tried very hard to find out where Law wanted to go and why he wanted to leave on his own.

Bepo was always the curious and very nosy type of being, but whenever Law wouldn't give him a single detail, Bepo knew that something huge was bothering Law. "Please tell me!" "No." "Please, captain!" "I said no." "Please?", Bepo looked at him with his shiny big eyes and Law took a deep breath before he turned away. "No." Bepo broke down into tears, being as overly dramatic as always. "Please, captain! I won't tell anyone! I promise!" "Yeah, like you promised to not tell anyone about the incident last week in the kitchen.", Law sighed annoyed and went to his desk. "Come on, captain.. That was funny. I literally left you alone in the kitchen, while you were making your cereal and I come back 3 minutes later and you set the oven on fire." Bepo tried his best not to laugh again. "Bepo?" "Yes, captain?" "Shut up.", Law looked at him angrily now and wrote something down into his secret black book. Bepo sighed a bit sad and sat down on the couch. His ears leaned down softly and Law had to look up at them. He always felt bad seeing Bepo like this and after a long and deep sigh, Law gave in. "I am going to visit (Y/N).", Law explained grumpily and stood up. "Awwwwww! You trust me, captain!", Bepo's eyes sparkled again and he began clapping his paws in excitement. "Law and (Y/N) - (Y/N) and Law! Law and (Y/N) - (Y/N) and La-" Law didn't want to hear the end of the song, which is why he left as fast as he could. Two days later, Law finally arrived in Skypiea. The rest of the crew spend their free time on an island nearby, while Law was in the sky looking for you. When he arrived at the city, where you would usually work, he felt his heart ache at the sight of the ruins, which were left after a big war. No house was fully standing and barely anyone was on the streets. What was once a lively city, seemed to look like a ghost town now. A few people were looking around, trying to find someone or something. His thoughts were all over the place, scared and shocked about the current situation. "Law? Trafalgar Law?", someone behind him asked. Law turned around and looked at a familiar face. "Hello. You are (Y/N)'s friend, right?" A woman with dark green locks nodded and smiled a bit sad. In this town, every human being had wings on their backs and specific strength, which were non-comparable to those human beings from Law's surface. "You're probably looking for her. She is in the medical building.", the woman explained and pointed into a direction. "It's in the city to the left. We are all recovering there." "What happened here?", Law didn't move away as he tried to understand what could have happened here without the news reporting anything. "Enel, one of the Gods, came back and he was angrier now than before. He expected us to support him for some reason and nobody wanted to join him to look for someone wearing a straw hat.. So he paid us back." It was hard for her to speak but she forced herself to do so and Law appreciated her effort. "Thank you.", was all Law could have said and after respectfully excusing himself with a soft nod, Law went to the city nearby. The medical building was filled with your kind and the doctors had a lot of patients to take care of. It seemed as if it had happened recently, which made Law feel a little guilty. If I would have been here, she wouldn't be laying in this building. "Hey! She needs help as well! Look at her leg and her wing, doc!!", someone screamed from a room right in front of Law. With every step into the direction of your room, Law was able to see more of you. Your body looked very exhausted from a hard fight and you still had dust and blood all over your body. Seeing you like this made Laws heart feel suddenly really heavy in his chest and he was not prepared for this. He could have never imagined seeing you like that. "Law?", you whispered his name and frowned a bit after spotting his initial hat lurking in the entrance. You felt relieved to see him but you couldn't understand why he was here. "(Y/N)! I heard what happened just now.", Law pushed a doctor aside, who tried to

walk past your bed and was furious about how they have left you laying there like this. The blood was already dry on your clothes and stuck to your skin, which could only mean that you've been here since more than a day. "Are you a doctor?", the guy, who was asking for help earlier, looked at Law with concerned eyes. Law just gave him a short look and nodded. He immediately grabbed some supplies and began cleaning and taking care of your wounds. "How long have you been here?" "Two days.", you sighed a bit and couldn't stop looking at him, still not believing that he was there. "Two days.. and your wounds were still untreated.", Law took a deep breath and promised himself to lecture a few doctors afterward. But you were more important now. "Thank you, Law.", you gave him a soft smile, when he looked up to you. A slight blush appeared on his cheeks but he just looked away again, not saying a word. When he made a gesture to tend to your wings, you put your hand onto his and shook your head. "That's not necessary. I am alright." "I have to clean the wound, (Y/N). You can trust me. I won't hurt you.", he reassured you and you had no idea how to respond to that. Now that he helped you to sit up, so he could have a better look at it, Law began to wash away the blood carefully. Your heart began to beat really fast and you pressed your lips together to avoid making him hear how intense this felt. Every touch, as soft as he tried to make it feel, tickled your nerves in a way you've never felt before. Law felt that something was off and he feared that the side of the wing might have been damaged. "(Y/N) does it hurt that bad?", he walked around the bed to have a better look at you and frowned when he saw your red cheeks. "N-no.. it doesn't.. hurt.", you looked down at your hands, feeling way too flustered. The man, who was watching you two, slapped Laws arm slightly. "You pervert!! Touching her like that in public! I don't believe that you're a real doctor!" Law looked at him confused and shook his head, not understanding what was going on. When he turned back to you again, seeing how even your ears turned red and how your breath has fastened a little, he finally understood. "Oh.. (Y/N), I am sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. I just wanted to help.", he swallowed hard, his chest burning from the struggle of trying to help you but not knowing your species well enough. "Don't worry, Law. I trust you. Just.. maybe.. you should leave the wings out.", you whispered a little embarrassed. Law thought about it and stepped closer to you, pulling your chin up carefully with his thumb and index finger. "Or I could clean them in a private room..", he smiled a bit cheeky and motioned his room ability with his other hand. You looked into his eyes, seeing some sort of interest and excitement awaken in them. "Shambles!"

[charlotte-headcanons]

Hey! How have ypu been? 2,3,6,7,9,15 Who else but Monty (Kata, Brulee, Peros too :D) yeah it's a big order!

Phew, that one sure took a while! But everything for you, friend 💕💕 We're alright, hope you've been well too! ✨

Some practicalities first: We decided to organize this answer by characters, for maximum space to go into detail on each headcanon! Some headcanons pertain to our modern AU rather than to the One Piece canon as we found these headcanons worked better for a particular prompt: we'll indicate those at the start of each bullet point!

Send us a number and a character and we'll post headcanons!

2. Job headcanon

Modern AU: Mont D'Or is a librarian by passion and a prosecutor by profession. He opened up and manages his own library in the early mornings and late evenings, but in-between that, he works on court cases. He might be overworked, and is definitely a workaholic but he hardly ever slacks off on either of his careers; and he's notorious for being professional, convincing, and very attached to every case. Highly principled unless Mama orders him to do something for her, he refuses to prosecute those he doesn't believe should be prosecuted, and for those he wants to face justice - he will get so heated that he might get reprimanded by judges for yelling or by cops and detectives for joining their investigations uninvited. His sister, Galette, is his secretary, and she follows him around everywhere, helping out however much she can!

3. Drinking headcanon

Mont D'Or... might have a bit of an alcohol problem. It's not that he gets drunk often... but he does drink regularly. Essentially, every time his siblings piss him off, he takes a sip, so you can imagine how many sips accumulate throughout the day. His prefer drink is red dry wine and he mostly drinks alone, without witnesses, not to give a bad example! To get really drunk, he would have to drink a lot; but if he does get drunk, he mostly gets more explosive than usual or somewhat lagged out, processing all information input slower than normally.

6. Musical headcanon

In Mont D'Or's eyes, the main function music has is to help him either focus or unwind. For both of these roles, he enjoys classical music most - think especially something akin to Wagner. He despises loud music and prefers instrumental pieces, although he is also an opera enthusiast. His guilty pleasure, discovered quite recently, could also be lo-fi kind of music! It calms him down a little, even though he doesn't like to be caught listening to it, as his expressed music-related opinions are overall quite snobbish.

7. Food/Cooking headcanon

Mont D'Or would gladly cook if he had the time for it; but being as busy as he is, he is forced to depend on others and on ordering food throughout each day. His tastes encompass rather fancy cuisine: he adores charcuterie boards and seafood, refuses to eat fast food, adds cheese to pretty much everything that is remotely acceptable like an apple pie and calls it an acquired taste. Besides that, he always likes to have a cookie with his black coffee; considering how much coffee he drinks every day, that is a lot of cookies consumed!

9. Childhood headcanon

As a child, Mont D'Or was known as just a nerd. He was way more shy and less aggressive than he is now; it was only over time, having been ridiculed by some siblings for his unconventional (in this family) interests, that he toughened up and learned to stand up for himself. Ever since he learned to read, Mont D'Or was a frequent visitor to all libraries of Totto Land. At the time, there weren't that many, nor did they have impressive book collections, so soon enough, Mont D'Or started reading books way above his age target group, and by the time he came of age, he was disappointed to find out that he has already read every book currently available within Big Mom's territory. At first, little Mont D'Or wasn't quite sure what he can offer to his family of murderous pirates: he wasn't strong nor all that ruthless, and his strengths could be found rather in the areas that wouldn't be that useful for sailing or plundering. He also felt lonely before Galette came along, and he could most often be found alone, or around Compote, who had a soft spot for her smart little brother. Eventually, Mont D'Or figured out that strategy and organization were the areas where his family could need him, though; from there, he moved on to transform from a quiet nerd into a pillar of Big Mom Pirates’ planning.

15. School headcanon

Besides setting up many more libraries in Totto Land than it once had, Mont D'Or took it onto himself to kickstart a proper education system in his mother's territory. In the past, none of the Charlotte siblings went through formalized education, rather having to learn from experience or directly from Big Mom, other pirates, and from each other. Now, Mont D'Or makes sure that teachers are recruited to Totto, and at least basic schools (available universally) are established!

Modern AU: It is probably not surprising that at school, Mont D'Or would be a straight-A's student. Stellar at every test, he would however not be all that liked by the teachers due to his behavior problems. His temper and lack of respect for authority if the authority is wrong would both make him a troublesome student to get in conflict with. He'd absolutely correct the teachers on their mistakes, and if they dared refuse to acknowledge their faults... he would yell. 😔

Katakuri, Brulee, and Perospero under the cut!

2. Job headcanon

Modern AU: As we discussed in a previous post, Katakuri would definitely be every parent's dream child, aka a doctor and a lawyer in one! A neurologist and an advocate, Katakuri would be very close to burnout, and wouldn't really actively work in the law field anymore, not wanting to infringe on Mont D'Or's turf. He would definitely work too much, but telling him to rest would hardly be a solution: with his perfectionism, he would not be able to sleep unless his task was carried out well. He wouldn't like his job all that much, really, but he'd still keep it to continue supporting his younger or less talented siblings with his money; and not to disappoint his mother, of course.

3. Drinking headcanon

Katakuri refuses to drink alcohol, finding every possible excuse to not be pressured into it. First of all, he just doesn't want to show his mouth, lay down, or do something even more embarassing for anyone to see if he gets drunk. More importantly, though, he is scared of falling into an addiction as a coping method, so he prefers to just avoid the temptation altogether. If possible, he'd rather not be around drunk people, too!

6. Musical headcanon

Katakuri enjoys all kinds of music and has quite a diverse tastes, with some of his favorites coming from indie rock, metal, cute pixel music, grunge, and more. He is quite embarrassed to share the music he listens to, so when possible, he listens to it on headphones. When he's fully convinced that he's alone, he might sing a little or bob his head to the music he enjoys; if listening to songs around people, though, he'll keep a fully straight, unmoved face.

7. Food/Cooking headcanon

As the supreme donut lover, Katakuri actually has a secret bucket list of all flavors of donuts he wants to try! He cares about the textures of food a lot, and generally prefers soft and chewy things. To set him apart from Luffy, Katakuri also doesn't really like meat, with few exceptions! Sometimes, Katakuri joins Perospero in his morning tea drinking sessions, and it was from his older brother that he learned to like his tea very sweet. As for cooking, he tried it as a child, but found to have little patience for it back then; now, he'd probably do way better if he tried to cook, but just like Mont D'Or, he just doesn't have the time!

9. Childhood headcanon

Katakuri is probably the Charlotte that changed the most since his early childhood. Before the Brulee incident, he was actually a rather lazy, even if talented, kid. To get him to train, an incentive of donuts was always necessary; and having been highly influenced by Daifuku and Oven, he also used to be a bit of a troublemaker. If anyone made fun of him or annoyed him, they would always see Katakuri throwing hands - he was far more eruptive than now and didn't really care what others thought. Brulee getting hurt because of him, though, had a life-changing effect on him; and it effectively molded him into the hardworking, serious, troubled person that he is now.

15. School headcanon

Modern AU: Despite starting off as a troublemaker who slept through the boring classes, these days Katakuri is a model student, and many teachers marvel at his transformation. He is just as good in sciences as in sports, and often represents his school in various competitions, regularly winning too! Although he gets A's in everything, his favorite school subjects remain the humanities. After school, he revises the lesson material for exactly an hour every day, but doesn't need to study much before tests, having a great memory and a kind of sixth sense for filtering out important information. Despite not wanting to be in the spotlight, he's very popular with fellow students and a lot of classmates have secret crushes on him, girls or guys!

2. Job headcanon

Modern AU: As we headcanon, one of Brulee's main hobbies is tending to her herbal garden, and she knows a lot about the healing properties of plants! Naturally, then, she would gladly choose pharmacy as her career path: the calm atmosphere combined with helping others would fit her vibe perfectly. Besides that, she would also work voluntarily babysitting the children of her siblings; the kids would always be kind of scared of her at first, but soon enough they would outright cry whenever she would have to leave even just for a moment.

3. Drinking headcanon

Brulee drinks alcohol rarely and in small amounts; mostly as an addition to a good dinner. She is an extreme lightweight, so anything more than one glass of her favorite white wine results in her becoming way more clumsy than usual and inevitably getting a next-morning headache. To avoid this, she makes sure to never drink more than she knows she can handle!

6. Musical headcanon

Another classical music lover, Brulee would enjoy something akin to Schubert's songs most! Even though she isn't the best at it, with her voice being just a bit too nasal and too scratchy, Brulee likes to sing (especially ballads and lullabies!) and often hums while working. Having a bit more free time than most of her siblings, Brulee also managed to learn some instruments, albeit she only ever stuck to the basics and simple pieces. The piano is the instrument she plays rather well, so she can teach her younger siblings how to play a few easy songs if they so please; very recently, she also picked up the violin, and she enjoys practicing it although, so far, the sounds she can make hardly resemble what she would like to hear.

7. Food/Cooking headcanon

Brulee cooks a lot and enjoys doing that a bunch! She's quite experimental and healthy with her recipes, and prefers salty foods as well as meat or soups. As a result, she is one of the few bastions that keep some of her siblings from succumbing to dessert-only diets. Once in a while, she bakes bread too; since she always cooks way more food than she needs, she often ends up sharing or donating it! You can almost always smell something cooking up in her hut; even if Totto Land has so many high-level chefs, Brulee still likes to make her own, homemade food herself.

9. Childhood headcanon

As a child, Brulee was much more anxious than she is now. She was always a bit awkward and clumsy, and kind of bullied for her witchy appearance by the other children in ports and in Totto Land. Over time, she learned to embrace herself, though; in the stories her older siblings told her, she always identified with the witches, and she later proceeded to amplify this image of herself as much as possible, instead of resenting it!

15. School headcanon

Modern AU: Brulee would be a mediocre student, who'd be kind of picked on, at least until Katakuri got all set on defending her! Her favorite school subject would be history, and she'd also enjoy some parts of biology - though she'd much rather learn about plants and animals than the human insides. Always a sweetheart, Brulee would enjoy secretly making her classmates happy with little anonymous gifts; each birthday or Valentine's Day, anyone could count on at least one card from a secret friend, who everyone would suspect to be her, as she isn't all that great at hiding.

2. Job headcanon

Modern AU: Perospero would be an interior designer, but really, one of a kind. Even if just designing a chair, he'd see his work as art and himself as an artist, and he'd act accordingly. Cracker Any architect unlucky enough to have to work with him would end up in despair as he'd blatanly ignore the technical limits and capacities of a building for the aesthetic. Likewise, his clients would have to be prepared for many unexpected decisions and costs: Perospero would not take orders from them but always stick to what he thinks looks good, no matter how intricate or expensive. Effectively, the only clients brave enough to employ him more than once would be the rich and extravagant ones: those would appreciate his work immensely, while anyone remotely more practical would have to complain.

3. Drinking headcanon

Perospero parties and gets drunk quite often, although he exclusively drinks overly sweet cocktails and never drinks outside of a social context! When he has too much to drink, he gets either hyper, horny, or annoying - or all three at once - depending on his mood. Whichever it is, he also loses all understanding of personal space, gets a lot more touchy, and much more likely to lick everyone and everything. At the end of the night, he has the tendency to pretend that he's much more drunk than he actually is, too, hoping that someone will carry him home like the princess he wants to be; though most of the time, it just ends up with Daifuku pulling him back by the leg.

6. Musical headcanon

Perospero loves to sing, especially publically, and he's surprisingly good at it! damn I really got a stroke first time I heard him sing, like, my man, how can you sing so well with an entire tongue out wtf Perospero explain. His preferred repertoire of music to sing includes all sorts of songs from musicals; as for music to listen to, he ranges between musicals and hyperpop, or any music sweet and bubbly on the outside but disturbing and horror-like as it develops!

7. Food/cooking headcanon

Perospero does not cook on principle, insisting that they have the chefs for it. His diet as a whole is downright atrocious; he adds sugar to quite literally everything, acts dramatically, as if he was poisoned if forced to eat anything not sweet enough, and mostly lives off candy. His 'tea' can hardly be called that anymore, considering that it contains more syrups and sugar than tea itself. Basically, Compote gets chills whenever she sees him eat and continuously marvels at how the fuck he is still alive.

9. Childhood headcanon

Having to take care of his siblings early on, Perospero didn't get much of a careless childhood. Once Linlin was unable to keep all children with her on the Rocks Pirates ship, by the time he was 8, he was put in charge of all the younger siblings she left in a port (while Compote was looking over the ones that stayed with Linlin on the ship). Perospero looks back at his childhood fondly, though; he liked ordering his brothers and sisters around, liked being in charge, and especially loved being admired and looked up to as the eldest sibling role model. Once Katakuri became a new favorite of the family, Perospero was so jealous and grumpy for a while that he even went through a rebellious phase of trying to run away; he came back less than a day later though, having cried his eyes out once missing his family and homesickness kicked in, never to try to leave ever again.

15. School headcanon

Modern AU: At school, Perospero would definitely focus on socializing way more than on learning. Among the teachers, he would be known as a smart but lazy kind of student, doing the bare minimum for most classes, though excelling in art and music. He would have mostly girl friends, essentially running his own mean girls group; together with them, he'd always come up with excuses to not exercise during P.E. so that his looks don't get ruined and so that he can just spend the time gossiping about the guys instead. If someone got on his bad side, Perospero would also not be above bullying them, although he wouldn't do that in a conventional way - rather, he'd just make his victims severely uncomfortable, getting way to close, switching between flirty and dangerous tones, and making them feel trapped before just backing off and laughing. An absolute menace to society, even in a modern AU 😔

If you managed to get through all of this, we salute you, soldier 🎖️Hope you enjoyed, though! ✨ It was sure fun to come up with. Thanks for the ask! 💕

[ouchpiece]

Let me take you back, dear reader, to a long ago land called 2004, when I was just getting into One Piece and this was the last appearance of Miss Goldenweek. As a teenaged me searched for anything she could find about this cool new series she’d started reading in Monthly Shonen Jump, a few weird questions came about.

Why is Luffy fighting God?

Since when are there talking animals in this story?

How great is it gonna be once this show starts getting dubbed?

What is a Sanji? Yes, I remember when the crew was just Luffy, Zoro and kinda Nami and maybe this weird lying guy was going to do something? Anyway, one rumor was extraordinarily persistent.

People thought Karoo ate Miss Goldenweek. It wasn’t until 2005, five years and two days after these panels, that she was confirmed not to be duck poop. Anime-only folks getting their vocabularies ruined by Kaizoku Fansubs never got that information, so one of the number one “common mistakes” listed on forums and the wiki was indeed that Karoo ate this kid.

Now, that’s not what happened, but it’s really odd that Karoo, a duck whose only ability of note is his speed and who has already been blown up several times today, single wingedly took down one of Baroque Works’ top agents. Like, she is a hypnotist who hasn’t taken one scratch of damage and this is an animal. Feels like she could figure something out?

Of course, Miss Goldenweek is pretty short and Karoo is very large for a duck. Maybe I should be thinking of it more like a giant goose or utahraptor running after someone who works best as a support fighter in a forest filled with even bigger, non-avian dinosaurs. So while she isn’t acting in the most logical manner, let’s cut her some slack.

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1031 - Initial Thoughts

And we return!

One Piece back at it again as we continue to escalate the story. If anyone who regularly reads these wondered where last week's one was, it is here I wrote it last week but I was subjected to a tumblr glitch which prevented me from making comments, I hope that also lead to my posts not showing up because 0 notes on 3 straight posts hurt my soul a little XD

But anyway, back into business fresh from Awakenings and things in motion, let's see what Oda has for us now

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release Too!

See that? This Keep Reading thing is all some of y'all need to hide your spoilers -_- I knew the colour spread and one of the panels already which was a bit of a shame for me, I don't like being a barrel of nerves waiting for the next day!

On that colour spread though, it was cool to see what's essentially the 'Number 2' of the major non-Navy forces; Beckmann, King, Killer, Marco, Katakuri, Rayleigh, Bepo, Sabo and Zoro. Shiryu surprised me though, I didn't doubt that he'd be a fitting opponent for Zoro but I didn't see him filling the same role on Blackbeard's crew, especially since Burgess and Lafitte have been around much longer than him.

We pick up where we left off with Big Mom vs Kid and Law, both guys tuckered out by their Awakened attacks

Kid being rather coy on how long his Awakened Power 'Assign' lasts, wonder if that will come to play later given how we recently saw that Kin'emon's slicing by Law retained its effects

I mean, I'm not surprised Big Mom survived that, but still it's mighty impressive

Oooh, Oshiruko or Life huh? Big Mom is stealing lifespan of those around her - even though one dude does try to barter Oshiruko - but I'd bet she used some of that lifespan to heal herself

I'm not sure I'm clear on what she did next though, she says she will 'use one year of my own lifespan', but it also looks like she ate it. So she either used her own lifespan again to power the homies or consumed 1 year of Lifespan from her main homies to power herself up, I think it's the latter but the wording was odd

But it seems now Oda wants to give us the real Big Mom, towering over everyone like a kaiju with energy bursting from her eyes. She's at least giving props to the 3 Captains - yeah including Luffy, but if he sneezes he'll give Kaido an opening - but now shit looks to hit the fan

Defiant though Kid and Law, they're not gonna back down

Between Big Mom and the fire there's not exactly a safe place in Onigashima, and that's not taking into account the fact that it's a floating bomb hovering near the Flower Capital

Yamato though attempts to take a shortcut through the ruckus, which turns out to be Apoo's man cave

Good on Drake though, I mean we expected him not to fall for it but still, opportunity was still there and instead he's decided to still fight Apoo to repay Luffy. It shows he's a good Marine and one who respects trust, Coby pestering teaching him well

Seems that Apoo can only attack in straight lines too, makes his powers less and less impressive as we go on, maybe because people got too overhyped about his power

Just when he brags about his Numbers backing him up though, Yamato bursts in

Sneaking around, Apoo tries to lure Yamato to his side by trying to reveal Drake as a marine, but Yamato is in a hurry and pays him no mind, then he tries to push through Drake anyway. Drake defended and pointed out he turned on Kaido too so he got an apology at least

Fuga the Number seems to be stirred though, that theory I read about the 3 Numbers being Yamato's cave samurai foster dads may not be too far from the truth

Looks like Fuga and Apoo are gonna be chasing Yamato, the other Numbers are being ordered to follow Apoo but can't be sure they'll listen, and Drake looks like he'll continue chasing Apoo down

I wonder what this will lead to then, because we could simply have had Yamato reach the Armoury alone...unless Apoo sets alight the explosives with one of his linear attacks...

Over to the second floor and CP0 have found Robin, but the Minks are trying to buy time for her

I wonder if the tall dude is using some telekinesis or something or if he's just discarding a mink

Brook makes a jump to try and skip floors, but it looks like one of them - I think it's white-eye but panels do imply it could be tall dude - seems to have done a Soru

But we won't see what happened because it's time for this Sanji angst period

Sanji finally found the pleasure hall women, but not the way he had hoped. They're all acting hostile towards him

He's being accused of hurting a woman!

Despite his denial the women say he was 'alone with her' (how would they know?) and doubt is sinking into Sanji's mind

It's blatant here too that Sanji's eyebrows have changed, guess Zoro was right about the eyebrows, but maybe it does symbolize his Germa Programming taking effect as he mulls over his anger at his brothers attacking Cosette

His weird feeling gone, Sanji is found by Queen, but he's trying to retrace his steps on what happened with the girl. Seems he blacked out on the important part and then next thing she's injured, looking at him with fear.

'Which version of me do you want around?' is a pensive albeit one-sided question. But it's one that serves as a vehicle for Oda to speak directly to the people who want Sanji to be able to fight women

Being given the raid canister, he makes his choice, and smashes it

As much as it provides awesome power and the ability to perv at the women's baths, the raid suit isn't something Sanji will allow to steal his emotions. He gives up his birthright and in essence the Germa name once more

You know Sanji's serious when he's asking Zoro a genuine favour. Sneaking a Den Den Mushi into his Haramaki (in case he got lost)

Still the reassured believe that they're going to win though, which is good morale

But there's the intense part, if Sanji loses himself he wants Zoro to kill him, that certainly got his attention

He agrees, with a bit of banter though shielding the brotherly care they have by telling him not to die until then

Sanji disappears, the effect says 'Vanish' so it is kinda like his Raid Suit abilities?

But when Queen continues to taunt, Sanji rages a Hell Memories attack on him: Now Sanji's Fight Begins

This was a great chapter, properly giving credit to some of the big players still in the fight.

Big Mom may often be treated like a joke in fandom, but she does not stay down for long. Now that she's fighting serious I fear Law and Kid may not be able to stand up to her.

Yamato's getting some company in their charge at the Armoury, which is where Kazenbo is also going so it could get crowded in the volatile storage facility, no update on Momo's clouds either.

CP0 chasing Robin feels like something else is gonna happen, you don't cut off there and not expect something to happen. Though given how Brook has leapt from the second floor it means he could be open for attack in the main hall, or rescue. Marco, Izo, Kawamatsu, Carrot, Inuarashi, Nekomamushi, Wanda, Franky, Jimbei, Nami, even Who's Who! All I'm saying is there are options. The threat CP0 pose need to be seen first, but I hope Robin doesn't get taken.

The main meat of the story is of course Sanji. I don't buy that he hurt that woman, but it is very suspect that his memory went hazy. That was until I thought about something...who can remove memories? Who could be tsundere/yandere enough to attack a woman who is even in Sanji's vicinity? Who is a jealous daughter of Big Mom? It's unlikely, but if Pudding attacked the girl and wiped Sanji's memory of her presence it would explain the scenario better, I feel like this incident is unrelated to Sanji's Germa changes it just feels that way because he was inside his own head.

It looks like Sanji is setting aside Germa to fight his own way, which I do admire. I know a lot of people want Sanji to be able to fight women, acting like his simp nature is a front and not genuinely who Sanji is, but frankly I think changing one of Sanji's core ideals would stop him from being Sanji, would we ask Zoro to stop using swords? Brook not to play music? Franky to put on pants? That's why I appreciated Sanji having this moment, it may seem repetitive because he wanted nothing to do with Germa anyway but he used the Raid Suit because he felt that they needed every advantage they can get, now when the advantage is needed though he decides against it because power shouldn't come at the price of humanity.

His message to Zoro is cryptic though, maybe he feels like he could still change further, or that this black out is indeed the Vinsmoke side of him, but I don't actually fear that Sanji will lose himself, let alone Zoro will kill him - his bones are basically crumbled anyway, once the mink medicine wears off he's gonna be KO'd like in Thriller Bark - maybe he'll joke about it but I don't think he'd do it.

But now we have more mysteries, more resolve, and the fights continue forward, but there's not much time left before the fall.

[lawluheaven]

Hello. So I've been scouring through your blog ever since yesterday and goddamn I love the Crazy Boyfriend Support Group. Yohoho. Can you do more of those?

Law counted the seconds it took for him to clock. It was agonizing to wait for his last shift to end seeing as tonight was the weekly meeting for the Crazy Boyfriend Support Group. 

Marco would be taking them out today, and if he knew the man well- which he did seeing as they had been dating their respective boyfriends for over two years now- then the duo would go over safety precautions, some tips on how to stop their boyfriends from picking a fight and finally get to the best part.

They would go to laser tag.  

At first, Law has been a bit hesitant, because he avoids active activities and couldn’t imagine a game with grown adults running around in the dark trying to shoot each other with light could be fun. He had gone the first time only due to Luffy pouting, but he had dominated that night.

He enjoyed hunting down the screaming adults with bright lights and overhearing Marco letting loose on the other side of the field. It was at that moment he realized why such a reserve man like him was with Ace and Sabo. 

The blond cackled as he made a teenager weep by chasing him down while making use of his voice acting career, of a monster from a movie release that year. 

“Big plans with your boy tonight Trafalgar?” Asks Kureha, his young at heart boss with a cheeky grin. She is working on some essays over a new cup of coffee as she will be needed throughout the night and it was the only way to keep herself up.

“Not tonight. It’s Thursday.” Law drone. He ranks a hand through his hair missing his hat but he can’t wear it while on duty. 

“Oh yes, the brother-in-law” She teased taking an overly loud sip of her drink just because she knows he hates when someone slurps. The witch. “When are you going to get off your ass and make an honest man out poor Luffy?”

“Make an honest man out of Luffy?”

The old man threw her head back into a loud rough. “As honest as one can make that boy! Honestly, if he hadn’t help my Chopper I would think the boy a thug!”

Law didn’t have the heart to tell her that Luffy is a thug and so is Chopper after the boy joined his boyfriend's “martial art club” when the straw hat-wearing male stop those bullies from throwing poor little Chopper off that bridge. 

Kids had always been jealous of how smart the younger doctor was but that envy went too far that day. They claim they weren’t going to let go, just scare Chopper, who was dangling over the edge screaming but Luffy rearrange their faces anyway. 

It’s how they met. Law had been the one to calm down a sobbing Chopper when they were in the emergency room while Luffy was getting treated. He only learned that the cute patient who asked for his number had done when the police arrive to take some statements. 

“The seventh.” He says instead.  

“Pardon?”

“I plan to propose to Luffy on the seventh at eight thirty-seven pm. The day and time we met” He says fighting the blush he knows is blooming on his face and missing his hat much more. Law could have hide under it if he was wearing it. “Marco is going to help me make it romantic”

“More romantic than remembering the exact time you met him?” She scoffs with genuine distastes clouding her wrinkly face “Get out of here Trafalgar. Your sweet love is disgusting. I give you permission to head home early with pay”

Law is out of his sit the moment she said get out, putting on his coat and clocking out at the same time. He offers her a two-finger salute as he breezes past her. Marco is aware they are going to pick up the ring for Luffy tonight and had been sending texts of the best places that he knew sold rings strong enough to withstand the brothers’ strength. 

The man had gotten rings for Ace and Sabo after all. 

Then, the Crazy Boyfriend Support Group would go out for laser and make more teenagers wept. He can’t wait. 

[yukipri]

On Koala and Fishman Karate - a One Piece Mermaid AU Story

Not an ask response, but here with another story which was posted last month on Patreon!

I never actually intended on writing this, because this was originally supposed to just be exposition leading up to Marco's Bauble 2, and kinda explaining why Luffy's being tutored in Fishman Karate. But, it ended up being too long and going off on WAY too many unrelated tangents, so I chopped it off and made it its own thing ^ ^;

Mostly introspective, with Koala x Luffy, mention of Sabo x Luffy, and some thoughts on Nami from Koala's perspective as well.

~~

~~

Koala gently nudges Luffy's hand a little higher, and the mermaid makes a tiny whine of frustration as she sways on her tail, trying her best to maintain the posture she's been taught. Luffy glares at her own fist with such adorable determined ferocity that Koala doesn't have the heart to tell her that she doesn't need to try so hard, and that if anything, staying relaxed is the point.

Koala's been trying to teach Luffy Fishman Karate during the few lulls between their adventures. She knows that the disciplined martial art is probably not Luffy's style, but Fishman Karate focusses fishmen and merfolks' innate sensitivity to water. It's honed for combat in this case, but it can be applied to daily life as well, which is why fishman karate is a regular part of grade school curriculum on Fishman Isand. When one lives surrounded entirely by water, ten thousand meters below sea level, it's remarkably beneficial to be in tune with it.

Even if Luffy never fully masters it, Koala's sure she can gain something of value to apply to her regular fighting style, and even if not, it's part of her heritage. It's why Koala had insisted on teaching her, and Sabo had grudgingly agreed (Koala knows the grudging part mostly comes from Sabo still being petty about being terrible at it himself. Which, shouldn't come as a surprise since fishmen arts are difficult for non fishmen and merfolk, but it gives Koala something to rub in his face, which is always wonderful).

It's nice, Koala thinks as she sings praises in Luffy's ear while fixing her posture once again. It's nice because even though Koala'll do any assignment thrown her way, and will do anything to further her primary goal of achieving justice for fishmen and merfolk, being an assistant Fishman Karate instructor is her actual formal position in the Revolutionary Army. It's so easy to forget, with the number of missions she's been on with her acting support for Sabo and others, and the increasing amount of time she spends away from Baltigo and her students. But suddenly, she's given an unexpected opportunity to actually practice and share her passion, and to someone who could really benefit from it too. It would be an utter waste for Luffy to not learn from Koala while they travel together.

(Even if it means Sabo sulks and stews with pathetically transparent jealousy over losing sibling bonding time. He can deal. He'll have plenty of time later.)

And well, Luffy's honestly a joy as a student too. Even if explanations mostly go over her head, she's got amazing physical intuition and picks things up fast. And she's so dedicated, staring at Koala with wide eyes like she holds the secrets to the universe when Koala shows her something new, always blurting out her awe exactly as she feels it and--it's endearing.

Luffy, everything about her, is honestly endearing.

The fishman karate tutoring sessions are honestly the only times Koala can have alone with the mermaid (or as alone as one can be, on the deck of a small vessel like Merry), especially without Mr. Nosy Possessive Big Bro butting in between them. So yes, maybe Koala enjoys spending time with Luffy for reasons other than just getting to do karate together, but she'll confess that to Sabo over her own dead body.

Not that Koala thinks it really matters; Sabo's already giving her the Suspicious Stink Eye (though to be fair, he gives that to everyone other than Ace). And yeah, in hindsight she honestly should have expected his suspicion, given how well her partner knows knows her dating history.

I'm warning you, Koala, Sabo'd grouched when they were alone, dropping his Cool Big Bro act to reveal the Shitty Little Dumpster Brat that Koala knows and grew up with. Don't even think about it with Luffy. Even if she's infinitely cuter than what were their names...Marinara and Cartwheels.

Their names were Marina and Kara. And I don't date every mermaid I meet!

Koala's honestly offended, but decides to let it go; Sabo's overwhelmed by his sudden wave of previously repressed Brotherly Love, and he's still not entirely rational (not that rational's a particularly good word to apply to him at any time). And she doesn't have a thing for fishgals and mermaids, she swears. She just happens to spend a disproportionate amount of time working with them, given her specific focus in the Revolutionary Army. It just makes sense.

Or fine, maybe she has a slight thing for them. And, well, maybe Luffy's her type. Just a little bit. On top of being, well, a super cute pupil. But Koala's not going to do anything, other than enjoy spending time together! Is she not allowed even that?

But, the point is, Sabo's being ridiculous! Koala's been his partner for years! Doesn't he trust Koala enough to know that she'd treasure Luffy, in the very hypothetical situation they ever dated?

(Koala knows the answer to that, knew it the moment she saw Sabo's expression melt as he cupped Luffy's face, and sighs. She never imagined she'd be love rivals against Sabo of all people, but well, shit happens.)

Anyway, Fishman Karate times are Koala's times with Luffy, and if Sabo comes poking his snooty little nose into their sessions, well, Koala's happy to volunteer him as a punching bag. Which he knows, hence why he's not here.

In fact, the deck is mostly empty, the other members of their limited crew occupying themselves elsewhere. Their sole observer is the navigator, sitting by the rail and marking up some maps, seemingly not paying attention.

But Koala knows that Nami's very much attuned to their lesson, her head jerking every time a particularly hard smack lands.

Koala doesn't blame her. She's aware of what Arlong did, had had to swallow bile when she accessed the full report when it came through, days before their fateful meeting with Luffy and the ASL pirates. She knows what Nami must think of fishmen, and to know that her impression came from former Sun Pirates leaves Koala feeling a special kind of numb.

Because that isn't what they're like at all, she wants to say. The Sun Pirates, to Koala, are a gleaming example of why fishmen deserve better, and are victims of human prejudice and ignorance. It's terrible that they mean the opposite to Nami. But given her experiences, Koala knows she has no right to preach at her. If anything, she just feels sad, and bitter, knowing that the cycle of hatred can come back to hurt those so very far away from where it started.

Koala guides Luffy's arms into position again, and despite Luffy struggling to remember everything mentally, the young mermaid's body easily accepts the form. It's an art designed for her kind after all, unlike the marine martial arts that Sabo said their grandfather had beaten into them. Koala's sure Luffy struggled with those, unable to fully copy moves that require certain feet positions, and an assumption of a more human perception of the world. But this, Fishman Karate, was made for her.

Nami twitches again, and Koala makes a note of it. She knows Nami has likely seen the form before; there were several martial artists in Arlong's group.

She knows it's difficult to watch, but admires Nami's stubborn determination in doing so. Koala's sure that part of Nami's reason for watching is to make sure Koala doesn't teach anything unsavory to Luffy, and she respects that wariness, because they haven't known each other long enough for Nami to open up to Koala and her history of friendship with fishmen.

But, and it's only a guess, but Koala thinks Nami also watches to try to learn and accept this part of her captain as well. Koala might not be important, but Luffy is the captain Nami's pledged to follow, for all that Ace is also her captain. And whether she likes it or not, Luffy's a mermaid, which, while not the exact same as fishmen, has plenty of things in common.

Now that she's no longer isolated on an island in East Blue, heading closer to Fishman Island which they'll inevitably have to cross in order to enter the New World, Luffy's learning more about herself. Specifically, the mer part of herself. And she'd be doing that, regardless of whether Koala's there to help her along.

Koala thinks it wise that Nami's forcing herself to learn alongside Luffy, so that there are no surprises, and that one day, she doesn't wake up and realize that her captain shares far too much with her tormentors for her to handle. Koala hopes that Nami's love and acceptance for Luffy will plant a seed of hope that eventually helps her accept other fishmen and merfolk, to see that they're not all Arlong--but Koala can wait.

~~

~~

Thanks so much for reading if you got through this~! <3 As always any comments/thoughts are super appreciated!

❀ ❀ Send YukiPri an Ask! ❀ ❀

~This ask has been added to the Mermaid AU Text Headcanons Compilation post~

[opbackgrounds]

Alright, friends, you know the drill by now. Here’s Part III of Sarcasticles’ overblown thoughts on sexism in One Piece. If you haven’t already, go read Part I and Part II before proceeding. 

I promise after this I’ll be done. By hook or by crook, we’re getting through the point of the original question. To the Anon who originally sent the ask, sorry it took this long to get here, I hope it’s helpful.

Also, I allude to some very, very minor Wano spoilers, so if you’re sensitive to that sort of thing here’s your warning. 

Characterization? I Don’t Know Her

What makes a good character?

I’ve spent an awful lot of time talking about character designs, when, funnily enough, it’s one of the aspects I pay the least attention to when it comes to deciding if I like how an author portrays their characters. I personally don’t care for fanservice, never have and never will. But unless it’s particularly egregious, I tend to ignore it because there are other factors I think are more important. 

The secret sauce for building characters is hard to define, because a good writer can take a concept that has no right being any good and turn it into something incredible (Oda does this all the time) where bad writers will seemingly slot all the right information in the right holes and still have their characters come out of the developmental oven flat and under cooked. 

One of the biggest buzzwords floating around these days is agency. Is a character active in their own story, or are they jerked around by the needs of the plot? Is their voice heard? Is their voice unique, or do they blend in with the background?

This is particularly important, because the term Strong Female Protagonist has been warped into shorthand for “girl who fights a lot and looks pretty doing it”. You can have a girl strong enough to lift mountains and still have her be a shit character. You can write a girl who’s main motivation is to get married and have babies with phenomenal depth. What matters is execution. 

The Petition to Call A Group of Rescue Arcs a ‘Damsel’

Both Nami and Robin had to be rescued, their main arcs bearing similarities that are impossible to ignore. But these aren’t copies of one another as much as variations on a theme, and with the existence of Marineford and Whole Cake Island I think anyone would be hard-pressed to say that One Piece’s rescue arcs are a girl’s thing. At this point it’s a feature, not a bug. 

Which makes sense given how fundamental the idea freedom is to the series. Hell, the first thing Luffy does after becoming a pirate is free Coby from Alvida’s tyrannical reign. Then he frees Zoro from an unjust authority that would have killed him had Luffy not intervened.

Notice a pattern here? 

One Piece is written like Pachelbel Canon, in that a very simple core of ideas are repeated over and over with layers of complexity and nuance added over time, examining the same themes from every possible angle. 

And when you look at the Four Big Rescue Arcs -- Nami, Robin, Ace, Sanji -- you’ll see that it’s Ace who’s given the least agency throughout his arc. Nami chose to hijack the Going Merry, repeatedly chose to push away the Straw Hats until she reached her breaking point, at which she chose to ask for help, with Luffy only intervening once she does. 

Robin is a little less obvious, but during the post-Water 7 party chapters, Aokiji makes the interesting observation that Robin could have escaped CP9, but chose not to

Remember that before Robin’s backstory was shown, Luffy specifically said he didn’t care if she wanted to die or not, so long as she was with the Straw Hats when she made her decision. No one bullied her into “I wanna live”. It was a choice she made of her own volition after realizing the depths the Straw Hats would go on her behalf.

I know there are people who disagree with me, but Nami and Robin are well-written characters. I’ve expounded enough on my reasoning both here and on my main that I don’t want to spend the time belaboring the point. What I do want is to note that Luffy wouldn’t be able to attain his dreams without them. Nami keeps them on course while also severing as a sort of moral compass for the crew -- remember she was the one who insisted on saving the giant kids at Punk Hazard -- while Robin’s ability to read the poneglyphs is what’s going to get the crew to Raftel.

Robin admittedly doesn’t have the same presence within the Straw Hat Pirates as Nami, but I would hardly call that sexism. Since Water 7/Enies Lobby she’s been pretty content to go with whatever Luffy says, and the fact that she’s literally quieter than anyone else in the crew means she doesn’t get as much focus. I think there could be more scenes with her using her specific skill set, like her investigations in Wano and the forensic anthropology scene in the pre-Jaya chapters, but I’m okay with her being a supporting character. 

The East Blue Crew have consistently gotten the most focus of any of the Straw Hats. They are the core of the crew, something Oda admits in a roundabout way in the Color Walk where they all appear together for the first time in a color spread

With the main cast as large as it is, not everyone is going to have the same amount of focus or development. Robin is given a unique voice within the story because she doesn’t overreact the way literally everyone else does. Through her silence, she stands out. I find there to be very meaningful character development when she feels comfortable enough with the Straw Hats to start calling them by name in Thriller Bark, relaxed enough with her friends to comitt her first facefaults in a series lousy with them in both Dressrosa and Wano.

In an ideal world, Oda would better rotate through his cast, much like how Brook was the unsung MVP on Whole Cake Island (where Nami was also excellent in a supporting role) but I don’t think people realize how hard it is to juggle almost a dozen different people in a story that’s bloated exponentially over time. To his credit, Oda has handled his expanding crew better than most writers. 

I also find it hard to judge this aspect of the series because the manga’s not done yet. I don’t know how Robin and Nami will be used in the future. I mean, Robin never got a chapter title declaring her “The Seventh” which I find suspicious, so Oda could very well have events in store that completely turn our perceptions upside down. It’s impossible to say.

I will acknowledge that the lack of big fights is somewhat disappointing, but neither Robin nor Nami’s dreams revolve around them getting stronger. Robin doesn’t need to use her power to make people explode from the inside out, Nami doesn’t need to fry end-game bosses with her lightning stick. That’s simply not their narrative purpose. With the exception of Tashigi, I’ve found that the female characters advertised as fighters have lived up to their billing. Hancock came out of Marineford unscathed. Carrot’s sulong form was awesome, in the old-fashioned sense of the word. The whole climax of Whole Cake Island revolved around surviving Big Mom’s wrath. Not beating her, not fighting her, it took all the Straw Hats had to just survive. Once again you’re left with a number’s game where where there just aren’t enough female characters to even pretend things are balanced.

All said, I think if you’re going to complain about the lack of Robin fights then I think you also have to complain about the lack of Brook fights, and that’s just not something you hear about, especially after Whole Cake Island. You can’t have it both ways. Either there needs to be more even distribution of major fights throughout the entire crew, or you have to acknowledge that a character’s worth isn’t dependent on their fighting prowess. 

One Piece is a battle manga, and I do think that it’s fair to criticize when a character isn’t allowed to fight when they’re perfectly capable of kicking ass. But it’s also an adventure story, and that opens up entirely new space for a character to occupy, and that’s where I think Nami and Robin (but especially Nami) really shine

That Moment You Realize Humor Isn’t A Universal Language

I’ve spent so much time defending Oda’s designs and characters that it might seem like I’m perfectly okay with everything that’s portrayed in the manga. To be clear, I’m not. If the messages and comments I’ve gotten over the past several days have taught me anything, it’s that many fans share the same sticking points I do, namely in regards to some of the gags. 

I again want to be careful here, because I’m hardly an expert on Japanese culture and it’s really hard to tell if Oda writes his jokes because he thinks they’re funny, or if he thinks his audience will find them funny. I’m again going to default to somewhere in the middle, because if Oda truly found the perviness distasteful he probably wouldn’t have included it, and I’ve read enough SBS to know the guy likes his dick jokes. 

First and foremost, one must address the culture gap. Japan ranks last among G7 nations on gender equality, In 2004 two-thirds of Tokyo women in their 20-30s reported to being groped while on public transport. There are numerous barriers that make it difficult for a woman to succeed either in the workplace or politics. 

From what I can gather, some of these trends are reversing, albeit slowly and with great resistance. Contrary to what many people seem to believe culture is not always value neutral. And I say that as an American, recognizing there are plenty of things about my culture and country that are really fucked up. 

But who gets to decide who’s right and who’s wrong?

When inside that kind of environment, that kind of culture, it’s a lot easier to understand how a character like Sanji can exist. It’s easy to understand why Momo shoving his face into Nami and Robin’s boobs might be played for laughs. It’s not an excuse, but an explanation. And with Sanji failing more often than not, being the butt of his own joke as he slowly turns into a parody of what he once was, one could almost say Oda is pointing those types of people and saying, “Look how pathetic this guy is. Now go laugh as he gets a nosebleed so bad he needs multiple blood transfusions in order to not die.”

I say almost, because Sanji is never condemned for his actions, nor does he learn from them. Instead you have this character who’s supposed to be one of the kindest characters in the series decide to immediately go peep on a woman’s bath house after gaining the power of invisibility. 

Stay classy, Oda.

As distasteful as I find it, I don’t find fanservice to be an inherently evil thing that must be eradicated at all costs, and with Oda doing things like putting his entire cast, male and female, into skintight leathers you can hardly say that he’s excluding the men. 

Everyone will have their line in the sand, and mine goes back to agency. When Nami did her Happiness Punch way back in Alabasta, that was of her own volition. When Nami and Robin dress in clothes that show everything but the nipple, that’s something they chose and feel comfortable in. 

But when Smoker and Tashigi swapped bodies at Punk Hazard, Tashigi specifically asked Smoker not to strip, and he did anyway, opening her coat and removing her bra. This is especially egregious as Tashigi is one of the very few women in the series who is always shown wearing very conservative clothing. Oda specifically showed Tashigi getting upset at Smoker’s actions, and Smoker repeatedly refusing to listen to her.   

That’s where I draw my line. 

Some Final Thoughts I Couldn’t Fit Anywhere Else 

Thought The First--Oda has an interesting habit of turning his most despicable, scummy pieces of flaming human garbage into the butt of the joke. Villains like Crocodile and Doflamingo are certainly evil, but it’s the idealized, cool type of evil that makes you almost admire them. There aren’t very many real-world Crocodiles, but just about everyone knows a Spandam, or an Absalom, or a Vander Decken. These kinds of villains aren’t scary because of their physical prowess, but their unyielding obsessions and the power they’re able to wring from the system, and -- surprise, surprise -- all three are either actively trying to be creepy sex pests or coded as such with the visual language of the comic.   

And Oda turns them into a mockery. 

While there are some who feel like not treating serious issues like sexual assault seriously are doing a disservice to people who have endured similar experiences I think there’s merit to turning them into a laughingstock. As someone much smarter than me said once, if an opinion cannot withstand mockery it’s revealed to be ridiculous, and these scummy-scum villains are certainly ridiculous.

Thought The Second--It’s hard to say how much sexism is a thing in-universe. Kuina is the only one who is explicitly told her dreams were impossible because of her gender, but with the recent reveal confirming that her family came from Wano, which in turn is based on Feudal Japan, it’s hard to say how widespread these beliefs are. Tashigi brought it up again at Loguetown and Bellemere specifically told her girls that they lived in an era where “girls needed to be strong, too”, but otherwise it’s not a topic that’s been explored in any depth

Thought The Third--The in-universe fetishization of mermaids has some implications that I think are unintended but worth discussing. Shirahoshi has a reputation of being one of the most beautiful women in the world despite not leaving her tower for over 10 years (she’s 16). Mermaids whose tails have split are worth less on the slave market than those whose are intact. Even Zoro erased Kokoro from his memory after meeting the more attractive Caime. It’s one of those odd things that when combined with the more obvious racism themes could have some unfortunate implications, and I think could have been avoided had Oda show a little more restraint with some of his jokes. Unintended consequences are still consequences. 

Thought The Forth--There are many other instances throughout the series that people bring up with talking about sexism in One Piece. I feel like a lot of these can be explained away individually -- for example, both Belo Betty and Rebecca’s stripperific outfits were inspired by other media, the painting Liberty of the People and Red Sonja respectively; Lola chasing after an obviously abusive man makes a whole lot more sense when you meet Big Mom; Hancock’s love sickness could be seen as an emotionally stunted woman experiencing her first crush, etc., etc -- it’s when they’re all put together that they begin to read as “Problematic”. 

It would be impossible to go over all these individually, but I tend to fall on the side of leniency. In the end, everyone has to make their own decisions based on their own values. I’m hardly unbiased, and my enjoyment for the series will undoubtedly make me look the other way when another might call the exact same incident The Worst Thing Ever. The thing is, opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and most are convinced that theirs don’t stink. I include myself in that statement. In the end it’s a comic for kids. It’s supposed to be fun. 

Thought The Last--I have spent entirely too much of my time writing this up, but in the end I guess I have to go back to what I said when I talked about my thoughts on Sanji: Everyone has their own personal line of acceptable bullshit, and for me Oda does more good than bad. Sanji specifically gets very little leniency from me because I don’t like a lot of the gross behavior Oda passes over as a joke. But the female characters themselves, generally speaking? They’re fine. There are other mangaka that have more equal male to female ratios or have women play more active roles in the story, but Oda does a lot better than most other shonen titles I’ve read. 

It’s okay to be critical of media you enjoy. It’s okay to complain. But remember that One Piece is a very long series, and there are some fans who have been a round for literally decades. I myself started reading weekly around the time Duval was introduced, way back in 2008. Every time a new batch of fans comes in the same old arguments get stirred to the top of the pot: Sanji is a creep, Oda can’t draw women, why doesn’t Robin ever get to fight?

It can be exhausting to go through the same hoops time and time again. So if you’re someone who is being critical and feel like no one is listening, or that a bunch of fans are going out of their way to defend Oda, that could be one of the reasons why. They’re tired of having a series they enjoy be shit on. 

There are other fans who legitimately don’t think that Oda’s done anything wrong, that jokes are just jokes. If you happen to fall in that category, remember that not everyone feels that way. Art reflects life, which in turn reflects art. One Piece is a few million copies away from outselling Batman. To say it isn’t influential to young readers, both in Japan and abroad, is beyond asinine. 

I thank everyone who’s taken the time to read this so far. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how civil the discussion and my inbox as stayed. Even if I didn’t respond to your message, I promise that I did read it. 

I wrote as much as I did because I know this is a topic a lot of people care about, and also so I hopefully don’t have to write about it again. A lot of hours has gone into this project, and it’s been exhausting, but in a good way, if that makes any sense. I’m ready to put it to rest. 

I was joking with some friends that I think I’ve hit just about every hot topic issue now, so hopefully I can go back to fun questions like speculating if Wapol can eat a person and poop out a devil fruit. 

Until then, Sarcasticles, out         

[manga2day]

Yamato Child of Kaido

Yamato is the biological child of Emperor Kaido of the Hundred Beasts aka The Most Powerful Creature in the World , even though she severed all ties with her father. Born female, 👧🏼 Yamato made the choice to become a man and to be seen as such by others. Let's discover together the fascinating story of this character from One Piece.  

Appearance

Being tall, Yamato is also carrying Monkey D. Luffy under his arm. In addition to the two horns that adorn his forehead, he often hides his face behind a demon mask. 👹 He has long, fair hair. In terms of dress, Yamato wears a kimono as well as geta (traditional Japanese sandals made of wood) on the foot. Like his father, he wears a kind of Shimenawa at his waist, a sacred braided belt. The latter extends to his back in the form of a knot almost identical to that worn by Oden Kozuki, the Daimyô of Kuri. in the past. Chains were placed on his wrists to prevent him from leaving Onigashima Island, home of the Yonko and HQ of the Hundred Beasts Pirates in Wan Land in the New World. The handcuffs of the chains explode if Yamato attempts to get away from the island.

Personality

As a die-hard Kozuki Oden fan, Yamato considers Oden's logbook to be his bible. He even came to identify with his idol to the point of wanting to achieve his dream, that of opening the borders of the Land of the Wa to change the world. This is also the reason why he decided to hide her appearance behind this demonic mask and wear loose clothes so that others believe she is a man. Yamato is not very close to his father who calls him an idiot and often represses him violently. Yamato is very angry with his father for taking his idol's life. And when he announced his desire to take Kozuki Oden's place, Kaido simply sent him waltzing. And yet, the Emperor manages to forgive his son for his deviations and even respects his choice to disguise himself as his former great enemy. He even calls him his son. Yamato doesn't have much affection 💔 for his father and has no respect for his allies or his crew. He has stood up against them before and had no hesitation or remorse to attack Ulti, one of the Tobiroppo (the six most powerful headliners) of the Hundred Beast Pirates . After Luffy removed the chains from his wrists, Yamato finally realized that the handcuffs could have killed him. She was then seized with a mad rage and decided that Kaido was no longer her father.

Skills and competences

Yamato's power is such that he was able to approach the Tobiroppo Ulti by surprise and knock it out in one fell swoop thanks to a technique learned from his father. He was also able to fend off one of Luffy's most powerful techniques, Gear Third , with some ease. Yamato also has an unusual ability to grow fangs. 🦷 On the other hand, it has not been revealed if this faculty is natural to him or if it results from a Devil Fruit. Weapons Like his father, Yamato has a kanabô designed specifically for his size. It was with the latter combined with his great strength that he was able to sound out and defeat Ulti temporarily. Yamato uses this weapon in different techniques: Raimei Hakke (or Rumble of Divine Thunder) is a technique similar to that used by his father Kaido. In the example of the latter, Yamato rushes his opponent at a very high speed and horizontally dealt it a blow phenomenal strength with his Kanabo. 🪓 It was the attack he used on Ulti that temporarily incapacitated Ulti. The Nari Kabura technique consists of hitting the air with its mass in order to create a devastating burst of air. Yamato first used it when he faced Numbers Hatcha.  

Yamato's Devil Fruit

There is a theory that puts forward the idea that Yamato ate a Mythic Zoan-type Devil Fruit of the same type as his father Kaido's. Indeed, the latter's Devil Fruit is the Uo Uo no Mi which allows him to transform into a giant oriental dragon with a very long serpentine body. This hypothesis is based on the one hand on the fact that the creator of the One Piece series, Eiichirō Oda, could have been inspired by two of the four animals representing the guardians of the four orientes in Chinese mythology, but also Japanese (and Asian in general). It is the azure dragon or Seiryu associated with the Eastwhich would therefore be Kaido and the white tiger or Byakko for the West (there is also the black snake turtle or Guembu (Genbu) for the North and the phoenix or Suzaku (vermilion bird) for the South). The existing opposition between the azure dragon and the white tiger would therefore be the basis of the permanent and violent opposition between Kaido and Yamato. On the one hand, we would therefore have the master who is the dragon since he knows his power well and controls it perfectly. On the other hand, we would have the 🐅 white tiger who is the pupil as he is still learning to know and master his true power. This master / student opposition would therefore be reflected in the father / son opposition that exists between Kaido and Yamato. In this hypothesis, there is therefore the idea that Kaido would have forced his son to eat a Devil Fruit of the Mythic Zoan type.. If Kaido's Uo Uo no Mi makes him become a dragon, then Yamato's Devil Fruit could turn him into a white tiger. Recall at this point what was said in the Skills and Competencies section, Yamato has the ability to grow fangs instead of his teeth, which tends to support this theory. However, Yamato would still not be transformed to this day because he does not want to use the powers of this Devil Fruit 🍅 which would bind him to his father since it was the latter who would have given it to him. On the other hand, the theory goes further since it claims that, even if Yamato would still have rejected this Devil Fruit to this day, it could be that one of these days to learn to control it. He could therefore free himself from the yoke ofhis father by killing him precisely thanks to his powers of the Devil Fruit .

Yamato son or daughter of Kaido?

As we saw earlier in the article, Yamato was born as a little girl. From a young age, she had great admiration for Oden Kozuki and wanted to become like him. And when Oden was executed by her father, she was so saddened to the point of shedding tears. 😹 She then made the decision to follow in Oden's footsteps and open Wano's doors to the world. To do this, she had to pass herself off as a man and be seen by others as such. She then changed her appearance by putting on loose clothes and wearing a mask to hide her face. Since then she was considered a man and became the son of Kaido. We must also recognize that his father had a lot to do with it. Indeed, the Yonkô decided to respect his daughter's choice to be seen by others as a man. Besides, he also accepted his decision to dress like Oden when the latter was his enemy. Kaido even called him his son. It must be said that Kaido had the hope that Yamato would join him and espouse his convictions. He even had a plan for a new Onigashima in which he planned to appoint Yamato as Shogun .

Yamato history

Yamato was born in Onigashima 28 years ago. It was therefore at the age of 8 that the young girl witnessed the execution of her hero, Kozuki Oden and that she finally decided to take his place, to become a man and to finish his work, that to open the borders of Wano. It's in the Wano Kuni Arcthat Yamato was first mentioned by his father while he is looking for him. Kaido talks about him again, mentioning his name as he orders his Tobiroppos to search for him because he had an announcement to make in relation to his son. The latter had indeed disappeared during the Festival of Fire, 🔥 the event that took place each year in the Land of the Wa in homage to their dead. And it is while coming out of nowhere to attack Ulti and come to the aid of Monkey D. Luffy that Yamato appears for the first time in One Piece. After getting to know each other quickly, they fled together as Yamato carried Luffy under his arm. After that, Yamato revealed to Luffy who he was, his story and that he had been waiting for her for a long time. During this time, Kaido announced in a speech to the inhabitants of the Land of the Wa that the region would become the new Onigashima with his son Yamato at its head as Shogun. For their part, Yamato and Luffy fell from their perch in the attic of the castle - where they had taken refuge to observe the scene. The Hundred Beast Pirates noticed them and started chasing them. A clash therefore took place even as Luffy revealed to Yamato that his hero's son, Momonosuke Kozuki and the Red Scab Samurai were alive and well. Luffy then released him from his chains and threw them away from them. THE'the Three Calamities or the Okanban . So it was in front of his father, discovering that he was really determined to kill him with these explosive handcuffs, that Yamato disowned him. He then had to face Ulti again. And when he heard that his father was being attacked by the Red Scabbards, he replied that he didn't care if his father died. Long afterwards, Momonosuke was able to be delivered from the crucifix ✝️ on which Kaido and Orochi had tied him up and exposed for all to see after Kurozumi Kanjuro, the traitor of the Nine Red Scabbardsin Orochi's pay, delivered it to them. Luffy entrusted Yamato with the task of protecting Momonosuke, a role he initially hesitated to take on and then took to heart since he considered himself to be Oden, Momonosuke's father. His intervention first frightened Momonosuke and Shinobu, a vassal of the Kozuki family, as he proclaimed himself loud and clear that he was Oden. But, later, he was able to reassure them after protecting them from the men and bazookas of Sasaki's group, one of Kaido's other Tobiroppo. He declared to Momonosuke and Shinobu that he wanted to defend them even if he had to lose his life. ⚰️ After defeating Hatcha, the failed experiment of an ancient giant, in one fell swoop with his Kanabô, he took Momonosuke away from the clashes to shelter him and so that he could bring renewal to Wano.

His relationship with Oden

Yamato is a great admirer of Kozuki Oden for whom he devotes a true cult, and this from a young age. He also revealed to us that he was present when his hero was put to death by his father and  Kurozumi Orochi, the Shogun of Wan Land.. He felt sadness and frustration to see such an excellent Samurai die like this. Some time later, he was lucky enough to come across his idol's logbook in which he narrated his glorious adventures during his sea voyage in the Kuri region. There were also many important things there, such as Oden's desire to open Wano's borders to the world. It was from that moment that Yamato made the choice to become a man and take the place of his hero 🦸🏼‍♂️ to finish what he had started.

Yamato la prochaine Mugiwara

As seen above, it could be that Yamato possesses powerful powers due to a Mythic Zoan type Devil Fruit. He would therefore have immeasurable power which would be very useful for the Straw Hat Pirates  especially since it turns out that Luffy is still looking for the tenth member of his crew. So there is a theory that Yamato will soon be part of the Mugiwara crew.and will increase the power of the latter. This hypothesis is based on the idea that if Oden has always been Yamato's idol, it would be possible for Monkey D. Luffy to become his new hero. Indeed, the latter would be as powerful, illustrious and appreciated by all as Oden. Plus, Luffy is the one who freed Yamato from his shackles and saved his life in the process. 💣 So it is quite possible that Yamato has a deep admiration for Luffy as he had for Oden. And, since Yamato couldn't join the Spade Pirates with Ace in the Burning Fistsat their head a few years ago, it could be that this time around, he could join Luffy's crew as he is no longer a prisoner on Onigashima. In addition, as Yamato was able to discover the adventures of Oden through his book, it is essential for him to also set off to discover the world to experience what his idol experienced. And what better way to do it than to board with Luffy's crew! When asked what Yamato's role would be on Luffy's ⛵ ship, some One Piece theorists put forward the idea that he could be the crew's writer like Oden did in his lifetime. The hypothesis is taken even further by claiming that Yamato could abandon his idea of ​​being Oden and return to his original gender, namely a woman. In this way, the crew will include one more woman since he misses a lot (to the delight of thisdirty pervert of Sanji ), and she would be a very powerful fighter.  

Why is Yamato rebelling against Kaido?

Yamato has never had a good relationship with his father since he was little. It often happened that the latter gets angry with him and hits him as when he announced to him that he wanted to become Kozuki Oden. Besides, Kaido often called him an idiot when he talked about him. All of this made Yamato not become attached to his father or his allies and crew. Their relationship deteriorated when his father and Kurozumi Orochi put his hero to death even while he was present at this execution. It often happened that Yamato revolted against Kaido, which made him even more violent to correct him. And when Yamato wanted to embark with the crew of Portgas D. Ace and leave Onigashima, the Yonkôprevented him from doing so by locking him up on the island 🏝️ with explosive handcuffs on his wrists. Subsequently, after he met Luffy and saved him from Ulti's hands, Luffy stripped him of his chains. Yamato then realized that the explosive handcuffs could really have killed him. His reaction was very violent and he decided to deny his father. Later, when one of the Hundred Beast pirates told him about the Red Scabbard attack on his father, he replied that his support was not for him. He even said that Kaido's death wouldn't bother him.

His connection to Portgas D. Ace

Before Portgas D. Ace joined the Whitebeard Pirates, he was the head of his own crew, The Spade Pirates , which he himself founded. When venturing into the New World, Ace and his crew stranded in Wan Land, on the beach side of  the famine- stricken village of Amigasa . During his short stay where he was first captured and looted of his food, he made many meetings and befriended many people, including young O-Tama and Yamato. Indeed, Yamato and Ace established between them a very strong friendship relationship despite Yamato being the offspring of the one who brought suffering to the region, Emperor Kaido. Much like O-Tama, Yamato wanted to board Ace's ship to be part of his crew and have great adventures. On the other hand, if in the case of O-Tama, it was  Ace with the Silver Fists  who refused to recruit her because of her young age (she was only 5 years old 👶🏼), it is not the case of Yamato. Indeed, the latter could not integrate the team of Ace because of his father. The latter prevented him from going to sea with Ace by putting chains on his wrists with explosive handcuffs so that he could not leave Onigashima.  

Yamato's important role in One Piece

As we have seen, many fans believe that Yamato still has a crucial role to play in the series. Will he (or she) be the next Mugiwara who brings a significant plus to the crew in the next One Piece Arc? Or will it be you who will join  the Straw Hat Pirates 👒 to help them fight the next antagonists even more powerful than those we have already seen? Don't hesitate to ask for your place with Luffy by showing him what you are worth. Gear up with the best One Piece items available on our site to help you out. Read the full article

[aaluminiumas]

Merry Christmas Chopper

Time flows differently at sea, especially on the Grand Line: the weather in this part of the world never followed the ordinary calendar people had outside the ocean, so a blizzard in the middle of the summer wouldn’t surprise anyone. The climate depended on the island itself, and the inhabitants stuck to their specific routine maintained throughout the years: the holidays of the Fish-Men didn’t coincide with those of the Minks thus a lucky traveler may get a chance to become acquainted with rituals and traditions of all races.

The Straw Hat Pirates had already seen a lot. That’s why Nami yearning for Christmas she last celebrated a couple of years ago, made sure that the ship steered for another Winter Island and then ordered to throw a real party. Initially, only two latched on the idea: Sanji who agreed to do anything offered by Nami, and Robin, as usual peacefully calm, whose multiple hands immediately embarked to festoon Sunny. Luffy seemed to worried about one thing only – whether they were going to have meat; Zoro followed his Captain’s suit and asked about drinks – again, following Luffy’s suit, he got punched in the head and crawled away with gloomy grumbling. As a result of the powerful blow, the swordsman deigned to hang a garland over his mat on the deck. Sanji waspishly advised not to remove it in the future in order to define the borders of the improvised botanical garden and what is the vantage point to feast the eyes upon the ugliest plant.

While Brook, Usopp and Franky were trying to part the fighters to the rippling laughter of their Captain, Chopper took advantage of the common turmoil and ran over to Nami. He had first-hand knowledge of Christmas: as resident of a Winter Island, he often celebrated the holiday. Even when other reindeer atrociously lambasted him, he kept believing in miracles and never doubted Santa and his presents. However, the presents weren’t the main concern: absolutely unspoiled, he was waiting for some other guest – the red-nosed reindeer, Rudolph, who was claimed to have been mocked himself. Since childhood he swore he would stay up till morning to see Santa and his famous sleigh; he was sure he would talk to Rudolph in the animal language asking how he managed to take the lead, to turn his flaw into an assert and to overcome the sneers. Unfortunately, Chopper kept falling asleep – and woke up with bitter frustration written upon the snout. Later in the morning he disappeared in his lab and crammed another book borrowed from shrewd Kureha who unexpectedly failed to grasp what ate him away every winter so desperately.

Nami wasn’t paying attention to the skirmish between the cook and the swordsman: she continued decorating her tangerine trees and enlaced the boughs with colored garlands even though they hadn’t yet reach the island.

“Nami,” Chopped called in a low voice awkwardly tapping his hooves against each other and snuffling, “Is… Santa coming to us?”

Puzzled by the question, the navigator nodded.

“Of course, Chopper. Santa comes to all good kids… and adults. To the bad ones too,” she narrowed her eyes, pursed her lips and slowly turned her head in the direction of the bickering friends. “But there is not enough coal for those in the whole world. It’s easier to send them to a mine.”

“Are there deer, too?” he went on, still meek and at the same time more enthusiastic. “Or is he traveling by ship? He can’t get here by his sleigh, right?..”

Nami looked at him, clearly perplexed: she wasn’t ready for such questions; practically deprived of childhood herself, she never had illusions as to Santa’s personality but the girl didn’t venture to shatter her friend’s faith in this mythological figure. To her Christmas was a day when she could finally express her gratitude and affection towards all the crew members (and to get a nice present for her outstanding navigation skills) but for Chopper it was an evening of miracles and didn’t want to wreck it all.

“Doctor-san,” Robin suddenly came to rescue with her low voice pierced with confidence, “his sleigh runs across the sky, not by the sea. Why would he need a ship if it is safer to travel above multiple dangers of the Grand Line?”

The archeologist’s words mollified the reindeer: his large woeful eyes beamed in a heartbeat. If Nami was able to fib a little, Robin would rather remain silent or elude.

“Don’t you happen to know,” Chopper hesitated for another moment rattling his hooves again, “when is he coming? I would… I would love to just have a peep… at Rudolph. I heard that he was… different from others. Just like me. But I have a blue nose…”

Even if Robin was taken aback, she didn’t reveal her astonishment in the slightest: her face remained serene and tranquil. With a small apologetic smile upon the lips, the woman shook her head and adorned his tiny antlers with a garland interwoven with a sparkling tinsel.

“Unfortunately, Doctor-san, I cannot give you a proper answer to that. The number of good kids changes from year to year, and he has to pay a visit to them all. But I am certain this time he will stay a little longer: after all, you have done so many good things that you deserve a special present.”

Encouraged by the praise, Chopper was about to start dancing: the reindeer still couldn’t get used to the fact that he was genuinely loved and cherished even though aloof and unsociable Law tended to commend him every once in a while. And if Nami expressed her emotions in quite a ribald way, Robin tried to find the right approach to everyone not resorting to punches and manipulations – even a rejection didn’t sound adamant though her voice was always firm.

“Then,” the doctor scratched his blue nose, “If you see him… can you please wake me up? I promise not to fall asleep but,” here he got embarrassed completely, “Every year I just pass out and… I would love to…”

“Of course Doctor-san,” Robin interrupted him soflty, “We’ll be on guard.”

“Don’t worry Chopper,” Nami bolstered her friend, “A mouse won’t slip by Zoro, let alone an old man with a flock of deer. We’ll take care of it!”

As soon as their inspired friend rushed to his little laboratory equipped with all the necessary things for his endless experiments, Nami crossed her arms in the chest staring at Robin with a suspicious grimace on the visage.

“I certainly love your idea,” she muttered in a low voice, “But what is that you suggest us doing? We cannot steal a deer, put a red nose on it and introduce it as Rudolph. I couldn’t even think that he’s so…”

“Flustered? Excited? This is quite obvious,” the woman adjusted a glossy purple ball on the tangerine branch so its ribbon didn’t cover the image. “He doesn’t really have someone… to share his experience with. Whether we want it or not, we… do not fully understand him.”

“So what are we supposed to do? To turn ourselves into deer?” said Nami sarcastically. “Can’t even imagine myself… this way. I’m no doe. What kind of doe… would I be?..”

“The most beautiful doe in the world, Nami-swan! You will be the most charming female deer in th–”

Robin chuckled: Sanji didn’t manage to accomplish his laudatory ode as he got maimed which nonetheless failed to cool him down.

“You’re just in time, Sanji-kun,” the woman smiled thus provoking another bout of jitter. “Do you know the legend about Rudolph the Deer?”

Soon enough the whole crew began to arrange the Christmas party for Chopper. Nami, as usual, was in charge: she succeeded to draw attention to the discussion by heavy blows and threatening stares while Robin put forward various proposals that seemed suitable. Luffy only comprehended that Chopper ‘had some wrong Christmas’ and offered to pile the deer with presents but the idea implying a thousand of meat dishes didn’t sit well with the rest of the crew. Zoro supported his Captain on the topic of presents but added on his own behalf: let the swirlybrow make a present to them all by locking himself up in the kitchen throughout the celebration. Sanji pledged to cut the swordsman in pieces and feed seagulls, deprecated. Brook proposed to compose a song – and Robin’s hands writing down more or less reasonable suggestions, started jotting something in her notebook.

“Why not write him a letter?” exclaimed Usopp out of the blue. “It won’t replace Rudolph of course but… at least we will show we care about him.”

“And then he’ll eventually understand that Marimo is a good-for-nothing sentinel who hasn’t heard the thud of the hooves,” Sanji noticed melancholically, lighting another cigarette. “What a remarkably useless plant. Shall we toss it overboard?”

“I don’t need my swords to beat the shit out of you,” hissed Zoro flaring up. “Damn you, ero-cook!..”

It didn’t take much time to put things in apple pie order and reassert the breached discipline: Nami scattered the two in different directions, and both the swordsman and the cook rubbed their heads and squabbled in hushed voices not to instigate the navigator who seemed to like Usopp’s offer.

The preparations lasted for the whole day: Robin sneaked into the farthest corner of the deck to write the letter; Sanji wearing a funny apron garnished the desserts with cotton candy. As for Zoro, he had risked to get a carver knife between the eyes and now imitated some frenzied activity – according to the cook, it was ‘frenzied enough to outshine the quickest algae drifting with the stream’. Brook, laughing, was playing a song by ear while Usopp was wrapping the presents. Nami kept things tidy: she prevented Luffy from pushing his nose into every single box he saw. Franky, though, took care of it himself: he had cut out several wooden boxes for various trinkets. Now he improved his invention and fit locks into them – exclusively by the navigator’s request so eager to keep the spirit of Christmas. Albeit none of the tasks looked hard to finish, they appeared to be time-consuming, so none of the pirated noticed when and how the warm climate gave way to pleasant frost and slight snowfall.

Chopper went out to the deck only in the evening and started perusing snowflakes, so brittle and peculiar that they seemed to be knitted. They sank into his auburn fur and didn’t melt at all as if they morphed into a scintillating garland. Back at home they looked less fragile and yet bigger; accustomed to blizzards and cold, he learnt to ignore them and now, after all those visits to hot countries, a simply snowstorms morphed into a hibernal miracle.

He remembered the first time he saw himself in the reflection of the frozen river. He remembered his resentment for himself, that blue nose, and roared smashing whatever he could smash. He remembered how he nuzzled into white and fluffy snow hoping that the color of the nose would alter, and he, Chopper, would be just like others.

He also recollected the frosty redolence Hululuk’s fur coat exuded; he recalled Kureha’s perfume mingled with the fragrance of the wind. Her hands were always tender and smelled ice while Hululuk reminded him of the first snowflakes’ scent. It dawned upon him how much he actually could reminisce: that cheerful laughter, ridiculous stories the Doctor used to tell, and those midnight talks – they spoke about everything in the world. It was almost eternity ago when Chopper lost his best friend – and they still had so much to discuss. Hiluluk always supported him, and, probably in his own manner, taught the little reindeer to keep his head up.

“Merry Christmas,” a familiar gentle voice came; Chopper sharply turned in the direction of the sound and instantly noticed a figure he knew so well: it was a tad shorter than he remembered and moved angularly but the kind smile and warm eyes made everything clear. It was exactly the person who encouraged Chopper to become a doctor.

“Doctor Hiluluk!” the reindeer darted towards the man feeling he was barely able to squelch the tears that were about gush out from the eyes. “Doctor Hiluluk!.. How did you..? You are...”

The intruder laughed in a low tone and embraced his friend caringly.

“You’ve become so big and strong,” the doctor patted Chopper by the shoulder, “Are you happy with them?.. I’ve heard a lot about you, Chopper. I am exceedingly proud of you. You have become a talented physician. You are definitely second to none.”

The little reindeer didn’t release his friend – and almost ignored the praise. Millions of questions were swarming in his head but he didn’t hurry to ask them. Hiluluk didn’t insist on a decent conversation: he kept smiling looking at the reindeer cursing himself for the cruelty he had shown in the past. How could throw him out sugarcoating his atrocity and calling it care? Why didn’t he tell the truth letting Chopper make his own decision whether to stick around or to deal with his own life? Yes, that notorious quack felt ashamed and couldn’t disappoint his friend, but at the moment, after all those years, he finally realized that it may have been the only blunder he regretted so much. If he could turn back time, nothing of it would have happened.

“They do love you,” the guest drawled squatting before Chopper. “And protect you too. I am glad to know that you have found a family… despite everything. I am so sorry that I cannot be near.”

“But you are here!” the reindeer exclaimed blinking his watery eyes. “I’ll introduce you to my nakamas. They’ll like, I assure you! Sanji will cook the pies you are so fond of, Brook will sing for you, you’ll talk to Robin and–”

With a sad smile on the lips Hiluluk shook his head.

“Alas, it won’t do.” He sighed heavily. “You have a different life now… But,” he straightened up, “I have a little surprise for you, Chopper. I know who you are waiting for. Unfortunately, he cannot…”

Robin’s soft hand touched the glossy fur. Flummoxed, Nami noticed that Chopper finally awoke and placed a small box near the adoze reindeer: it was different from those that Franky had created. This one had incised ornaments and a carving of a certain mushroom on the lid. Still sleepy, Chopper kept staring at the present: did someone do that specifically for him?

“Open it, Doctor-san. This undoubtedly belongs to you.”

Robin’s honeyed mellow voice seemed to have pushed him, and the little hooves lifted the lid. Inside, there was a handful of pink powder – the same powder his friend had been working on, – and a letter with a stamp of a deer hoof. The whole crew gathered around: Usopp failed to wake him up, and panicked alarming the rest – even Zoro, normally apathetic and detached, scowled and rushed to rescue.

The whole ship was emblazoned and festooned. Nami had cleared the place underneath her tangerines, and now neatly wrapped presents were peacefully lying there revealing the cards written in Usopp’s and Franky’s untidy yet diligent hands. Sanji was serving cocoa with little cloud of marshmallow. Exclusively for Chopper he had created rosy petals of cotton candy. Robin, normally calm, adjusted bows, knots and decorations striving to make everything look like a picture. The evergreen lawn where the crew used to sprawl and relax, turned white: no one even tried to get rid of the glistening snow which reflected all Sunny’s embers and glimmers.

“Merry Christmas, Chopper,” Nami flashed him a broad smile.

“Merry Christmas!” shouted both Zoro and Sanji and looked daggers at each other.

“Su-u-u-u-u-u-per-r-r-r-r Christmas!” Franky struck a pose raising both his arms in the air.

“Mefwy Fuwissmas!” pronounced Luffy proudly munching on the ham he’d just stolen from the kitchen. A sound of Sanji’s powerful kick muffled another sentence he was about to utter.

“We love you, Chopper!” candidly declared Usopp.

“Yo-ho-ho-ho-ho!.. Merry Christmas, Chopper-san. Thank you for suturing our wounds! Though… yo-ho-ho… I don’t have skin to be sutured! Yo-ho-ho-ho-ho!”

The little reindeer sniveled. Probably he should let his past go – to let it get dispersed in a blur of pink petals.

[heady-senpai]

One Piece 955: Enma

I took all day to write this up just so much to talk about from this chapter!

Let me just start by saying what a chapter!! 8.75/10

I was not expecting it to drop a day early & had no idea what to expect of this chapter until I saw the title...Enma 🤔😏

First things first. I believe Bege & company just stumbled upon Dressrosa. He mentioned they were stopping there for supplies. I wonder if any Straw Hat supporters are still around and if a conversation will strike up about Luffy.

------

Ok now to the chapter...

It starts off with Hiyori telling Zoro & Kawamatsu that she will not meet up with the rest of the alliance in order to not stir unneccessary emotions before the battle. Her brother stated this before so it wasn't a surprise. What surprised me was that Kawamatsu told the rest of the Scabbards that Hiyori was still alive & well.

I guess it's a morale booster but I have this weird feeling that something bad will happen to her now that everyone knows she's ok.

A couple random facts about Hiyori:

• She puts up a coarse attitude but is actually a crybaby

• She was a Tomboy who didn't typically speak refined & politely

(So funny how Momo was like, "A flying kick from someone 18yrs older would really hurt." Lol ik the struggle of being terrorized by a little sister hahah)

Now we get to the crazy good stuff!!!

O-Kiku might be one of the MVPs for finding the randomly lost Nidai Kitetsu. I had no idea where it was. Thought Kaido must've done something with it when Luffy was thrown into the Udon Prison Mines like kept it in a storage within the prison or something. Zoro states that he knew it was a Meito (famous/named blade) I guess with Sandai at his side he could feel the cursed vibes.

Rarely does Oda show us the actual tying of loose ends.

I guess Hiyori didn't go off to retrieve Enma & Orochi doesn't have Ame no Habakiri...Hitetsu Tenguyama had them both the whole time. That's why he had been patiently awaiting the return of the Kozuki Family.

I love every aspect of the design especially the sheath.

Seems as if both swords are of the same grade level as Shusui, O Wazamono, 21 Great Grade Swords. So Zoro won't be getting one of the 12 Supreme Grade Swords, Saijo O Wazamono, just yet and I'm fine with that.

Hitetsu tells Zoro only Oden was ever able to tame Enma & ODEN MUST'VE BEEN A BEAST because this sword is crazzyyyyy powerful. Kin'emon even said he himself would not even want to take the blade.

When testing out the sword Zoro tried to cut a tree but ended up cut off part of the cliff/island they were all on! Just insane lmao like I was not expecting that much of a power boost at all!

In the next panel we see the blade going black, coating in haki as Zoro's arm is also clad in haki, but looks drained & frail.

(Sanji's face was hilarious but damn I feel his pain lol Sanji is my favorite Straw Hat & just got a power boost now Zoro's power up makes Sanji's Raid Suit, look not as powerful so I have mixed feelings hahhaha but I love reading Zoro moments.)

So the thing with Enma is that it draws out its wielders haki to maximum extremes by itself. Any average sword wielder would've been drained completely and left dead.

Typically we've seen Zoro have swords with minds of their own but this one is just on another level.

Zoro yells for the sword to give him back his Ryou and takes it all back. Then we get that crazy Zoro smile like he knows this is going to be a challenge to tame the blade but he's ready to take that on to become even stronger. Hitetsu asks Zoro does he want another sword & obviously Zoro says he's keeping Enma, further impressing Kawamatsu.

[Now the text heavy part because I don't want to make 2 seperate posts for this review and want to only use my favorite images from the chapter]

Robin, Ashura Doji, & Kin'emon are discussing the sheer numbers that the alliance and their opposition have. Seems as if there will be approx. 30,000 enemies on Onigashima vs their 4000.

We then get quick panels of :

Franky yelling at his workers to prepare the boat to hold 10,000 men

(made me think hmmm Straw Hat Grand Fleet's over 5000 + the 4000+ men they already have...maybeeeee *Spongebob voice)

Luffy practicing Ryuo in Gear 4th stating that he used too much physical force

Zoro and Momo training in the forest and Zoro states an old man from his village is where he first heard Sunnachi (Snatch) & this surprises Momo.

With two days left before the raid Chopper, O-Tama, and Luffy return to meet with everyone else & the Yakuza bosses have added another 200 men to the resistance's ranks. (~4200 vs ~30,000)

Kin'emon states there hasn't been any word from Law (it's been a few days since he's been free & still hasn't contacted the group....hmmmm)

Silly Shinobu tells Kin'emon to forget about Law and Chopper has to speak some truth like hey Law is super strong. Law clearly makes a substantial difference, he's a cheat code in most situations!

There are still many men locked up in the Capital that wish to fight. I'm guessing only a few hundred more but still any help matters at this point. We also get to see many of the Wano townspeople discussing Yasu's encrypted message. Of course some still don't have faith but they will be proved wrong.

The alliance splits into its respective groups with the Scabbards, Shinobu, and Momo headed to the harbor, meeting Luffy there later.

The literature used here to describe the Scabbards and their shadows as the walked was magnificent. I also loved how the spelling for frost was shimo as in Shimotsuki. 🤔🤔

We see Pedro's & Lord Yasu's grave in the graveyard of Oden & his retainers. We also see Wanda & O-Toko shedding tears at theory loved one's graves. Carrot looks hardened & ready to go.

Hitetsu reveals to Zoro that he was the bladesmith of the Sandai Kitetsu. And states Enma & the Sandai cannot be wielded by the weak. Hitetsu also reveals why Zoro has had a quick take to Enma: the bladesmith who made Enma also created Zoro's main sword, the Wado Ichimonji. It was crafted by Yusaburo Shimotsuki, who fled Wano illegally over 50 years ago. Hiyori probably saw what swords Zoro held (Shusui, Wado Ichimonji, & Sandai Kitetsu) and decided he was worthy of her father's keepsake.

I just cannot believe that Hitetsu said that IN ZORO'S HANDS ENMA COULD RISE IN RANK & BECOME A BLACK BLADE! So then would it become O Saijo Wazamono???? Hmmmm I wonder.

It seems like Luffy has gotten a hell of a lot stronger! Didn't even get close to the tree and destroyed it from the other side (almost reminded me of that scene in Naruto when him and Sasuke battled on the roof of the hospital haha if you know you knowwww)

Law is definitely not the traitor. Like it's too obvious. Simply because Oda telegraphed this traitor vibe a couple times;I swear he's just messing with us.

Will Kyoshiro be revealed to be Denjiro soon?

I just wonder how Orochi found out this info.

And now we get a closing to Act II.

Just an epic chapter.

I swear Oda is hinting that Zoro may be a descendant/relative of the Shimotsuki family along with his teacher Koushirou.

Could even be a family tree like Hinata/Neji but I'm probably reaching there. Very interesting how bits and pieces of his past is flashed in front of us.

I guess only time will tell, but I bet Koushirou's father was Yusaburo Shimotsuki.

[usopp-writes]

I went shopping and came home with more than was on the list

Tagging @one-piece-26 since it’s basic a MaTch story, but with a twist.

Also, Marco is a female in this story, as I wanted to try something else. Still spelled Marco, the explanation for this comes in the story.

Marco looked at the shopping list, frowning. It was a rather long list, but they had run out on so many things, as Thatch hadn’t had much time lately to do the shopping. It was why Marco had decided to do this for Thatch. However, it wasn’t an easy task, as Marco didn’t know where half of the things on where. A sigh was heard, before the blonde went to ask an employee for help.

“Oh that’s a really long list.” A freckled young man grinned, seeing Marco’s list and then he took it. “Come, I’ll help you with it. It’s a slow day anyway.” The freckled male started to walk and Marco followed him. Ace was his name, according to the name tag. “Usual Thatch does the shopping, but he’s been busy lately and I decided to help him out, yoi.” Marco felt the need to explain why she didn’t know where half of it was.

Ace was still grinning. “Ah so you’re pomp’s girl?” Grey eyes eyed her shortly, before he put some stuff into her cart. “He’s a lucky guy. Told me how you disliked shopping, so that you do this, is a big thing. He’s going to love you more.” Ace continued the conversation.

Marco was a little surprised, but then shrugged it off. Thatch shopped in this store regulary and he was a social and bright person, so that Ace knew him wasn’t that surprising. Now that she thought about it, Marco could recall that Thatch had mentioned Ace a few times too. As an adorable young freckled male and Marco had to admit that her boyfriend was right. Ace was cute.

“I would like to think I’m the lucky one. He can have just anybody and he want me. I’m not good in a kitchen or at shopping and he does it with pleasure, yoi.” She smiled happily. Ace’s grin never faded from his face, as he walked around with her, filling her cart more and more.

“Anyway, I was starting to get worried about him, as I haven’t seen him in a while, but then I thought he went shopping when I was off, as my shifts has changed. Seems he just have been busy. A shame, as I enjoyed talking to him.” Ace had crossed out the items on her list. They were almost done and she thanked God that she liked to work out, because it would be heavy to bring into their house.

She looked from the almost filled cart and to Ace. “Why don’t you just give me your number and I can see if I can talk him into hanging out with you after work? He loves getting new friends, yoi.” She wondered why Thatch hadn’t long ago done this. After all, it seemed that Ace liked to see Thatch around.

Ace blushed lightly and turned to get some cans for her. “I shouldn’t...” He mumbled and Marco was curious what that was about. She tried to remember what Thatch had tld her about Ace, but couldn’t recall anything else right now. Well, she wouldn’t mind Thatch hanging out with Ace, so she would give them a chance.

Ripping off some paper from the noteboo she always had on her, she wrote down her number, as she wouldn’t give Thatch’s number to anyone without his permission. “What about this? I’ll give you my number and if you want to hang out, you can write me, yoi.”

Hesitantly Ace took the note and Marco noticed the smile and grin had faded. She just smiled and looked at the list that was all crossed out. “Thank you for your help, Ace. I would be in here for hours if it hadn’t been for you. I’ll leave a review on the website, yoi.”

-x-

“I love you so much.” Thatch smiled, before pulling Marco close, giving her a deep kiss. She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. For a moment all that excited, was them and their bodies. As the kiss broke, Marco’s eyes shined with pure happiness. Thatch gently caressed her cheek, love shinning in his eyes.

A soft chuckle left her. “Thought I would do something nice for you, since you’re always so nice to me, yoi.” She didn’t let go of her, loving to hold him close. “Also, I met Ace. Really a lovely young man. Why haven’t you befriended him outside work, yoi?” Her eyebrow was slightly raised.

Thatch scratched the back of his neck. “I tried, but we had a misunderstanding and I think he’s feeling awkward about it. You see, he thought I was flirting with him and was confused when I mentioned you and tol dme straight out that he didn’t want to be a secret fling.” He chuckled lightly, making Marco snort.

“Told you enough times that you’re a big flirt.” She gave him a soft kiss. “Anyway, I gave him my number, because I’m sure you two will hit off well. He did say he’d missed you, yoi.” Her arms left his neck. “It’s up to him now, yoi.”

Thatch took her hand and kissed it lightly. “You are the most wonderful girlfriend a man could ever have.” Smiling, Marco went back to the couch and Thatch headed to the kitchen, where he would make a wonderful dinner for her.

-x-

A week later, a text from an unknown number came to Marco. She frowned lightly, but smiled brightly when reading it. It was from Ace, saying that if Thatch wanted to hang out, he wold be in the Rip-Off bar Friday from 9 pm. Marco texted back, writing she will tell Thatch that. Short after, another text popped up, Ace giving her thumbs up.

-x-

After the first evening out, Thatch and Ace son became good friends. Marco didn’t feel left behind, as Ace was just as charming and friendly as he’d been the first time she met him. He started to hang out with her too and both of them at the same time.

“... That is how Luffy got his scar.” Ace laughed, as he poured his fourth portion of food onto the plate. By now, both Marco and Thatch had gotten used to how much Ace ate. Marco suspected a high metabolism, but was still not that close with the younger male to ask him about it. She knew he had narcolepsy, after he fell asleep while taking on his boots.

“Your brother sounds like he’s a danger to himself, yoi.” Marco chuckled. She loved to hear Ace talk about his ‘brothers’. It was so clear that Ace loved them dearly and that they would always be part of his life. She looked forward to meet them one day.

Ace snorted. “He’s a walking disaster, but always have the Devil’s Luck with him. Besides great friends, who keeps him at bay most of the time. The group he’s frends with are the oddest group I’ve ever seen, but thhey fit together with Luffy there.” Ace shrugged. “Anyway, why is your name spelled M-A-R-C-O? Isn’t it a man’s name?”

“It’s because the nurse and doctor messed up when I was born. Not that they thought I was a boy, but my mother said Mako and they heard Marco and wrote it like that, yoi.” Marco shrugged. She was used to people asking her about it and it didn’t really bother her. In fact, employers often thought she was a man, even if she had a picture on her applications, so she was called for an interview more often than others, when she needed a job after school.

Ace laughed at that and Thatch smiled softly. He’d heard the story many times, but it was funny though. What doctor and nurse would make that mistake? He didn’t mind how her name was spelled or pronounced. Some said Mako, others Marco and as long as she wasn’t bothered, neither was he.

-x-

“Marco...” Thatch looked at her, as she sat next to him, cuddled up against his side, while they watched a movie - one they had seen a dozen of times, but it was just background noise to their cuddling session. She hummed, inidacting she was still awake and listening.

“About Ace... I don’t know how to say it, but .... Well ... Remember when I said he thought I was flirting and turned me down because I had told him about you?” Thatch sounded a little uncertain and insecure, something that he rarely was and Marco titled her head to look at him, before shifting her position, sitting on his lap.

“Spit it, yoi.” She looked into his eyes, demanding he said what he had to her face. Thatch bit his lip lightly, before speaking his mind. “I felt a little upset, because I ... uhm ... felt attracted to him and while I could never dream of cheating on you, I ... I still feel that way around him and lately ... Marco I love you and you know me, but ...”

He was cut off by her lips against his, hands slowly going under his shirt. “I would lie to say I didn’t feel the same around Ace. Want him to join us? Or do you want him alone? If it’s the latter, I only wish the same, yoi.” She spoke against his lips, while she teasingly let her hands dance over his skin.

Thatch shuddered and smirked at her words. “Why not just ease him into our relationship? With him around, I feel even more complete, something I thought wasn’t possible. I think I’m falling in love with him too.” He wrapped his arms around her.

She hummed pleased and wrapped her arms around him, still under his shirt and placed her head on his chest. “I love you, Thatch, but I do feel I’m falling for the freckled male too, yoi.”

-x-

Ace leaned back, sitting in th emiddle of the couch, Marco and Thatch at each side of him. At first he had politely declined to sit between them, but since Marco and Thatch only sat next to each other when they had a cuddling session, he had hesitantly accepted. Now he didn’t mind, actually liking it.

Marco shifted her position and used the armrest as back support and placed her legs on Ace’s lap. It was summer and she was wearing a sundress, which went to her mid tighs. Doing this, the dress showed more of her legs than usual, though she didn’t think further about it, being comfortable around Ace.

The freckled boy did blush lightly, as Marco had never done anything like this before. He eyed Thatch, who absently had started to caress her feet, making her sigh happily. Ace swallowed heavy, fighting down the blush and tried to act casual, though he did like the sight and the feeling of her legs.

“I’m sure she’ll love it if you caressed her legs.” Thatch’s voice suddenly sounded in his ear and had him almost jolt. His words made Ace blush and stare with eyes wide open at Thatch. He’d just thought that it would be nice to do that. COuld Thatch read minds?

Thatch smirked and used his free hand to cup Ace’s face. “You’re so cute when blushing.” He leaned his face a little forward. “Makes it harder to resist you.” Ace could feel Thatch’s breath against his lips and it had him shudder.

A chuckle behind him did snap him out of his thoughts though. “Thatch that’s not how you do it with Ace, yoi.” Marco shifted her position again and moved to sit on her knees, facing Ace, who’d turned his attention towards her. His mind went completely blank, not really processing what was going on.

“Ace. Do you like us? As in more than you think you should, yoi?” Marco asked him in all seriousness. Swallowing heavily, Ace nodded, not really able to deny it any longer. Not with how intense her stare was or how her hands on his lap felt like. She smiled at his answer and leaned forward, kissing his cheek, before whispering something into his ear. “We feel the same, so it’s okay for you to show it. If you want to, of course. We would love to take our relationship to the next level, making you our lover, yoi.”

Ace’s eyes widened lightly and he felt the heat going to his face. A polyamory relationship? Was that really possible? Was it allowed? He blinked. Was he seriously thinking about accepting the proposal? Yes he was. He wanted them both. He’d never felt this content in his life before. Well, not content like this. He was content with Luffy and Sabo, but it was different with Marco and Thatch.

He realized that Marco was still only inches away from his face and he acted before his insercirties and doubts could get the better of him. He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her, humming pleased, as she kissed him back. Next to him, Thatch let his fingers go through Ace’s hair, proving it was alright.

As he broke the kiss with Marco, she was smiling happily, but he didn’t get to say anything or try and take it back, before his face was turned and another pair of lips was placed on his. His heart was beating fast and he felt like he’d butterflies in his stomach, but he also felt happy. It just felt right.

“I take this as a yes, love.” Thatch smiled, as he broke the kiss with Ace. A goofy grin formed on the younger male’s lips. “Guess I can’t settle with just one person. I’m greedy.” He felt a boost of confidence filling him.

“Neither can we, yoi.” Marco grinned, before giving Thatch a short kiss, while still sitting on Ace’s lap. Who would have thought that her shopping on that day would bring more than just the needed groceries?

[neverwatchedonepiece]

563-564: "A Shocking Fact! the True Identity of Hordy!" and "Back to Zero! Earnest Wishes for Luffy!"

...

I’m guessing this is what all the caught-up OP fans have been waiting for this entire arc.

Here’s the verdict: I really liked the “Nothing” twist. Oda was brave to create a realistic villain like Hordy Jones. And he is probably one of the most realistic OP villains. I get why people hated it. But I know people like this guy and I think other OP fans who come from a background where there are real, engrained systemic, centuries-old problems (racism, sectarianism, whatever -ism plagues your town), they will see Hordy Jones and his goons in all the downtrodden, bitter, brainwashed poor people who had nothing to cling to but the past and a manufactured sense of social superiority.

But I’ll go into that later. There were a couple of happy Strawhat scenes. Can’t ignore them, so will dive back into the serious Hordy stuff later.

Leave It All to the Strawhats

Just have to give a brief thumbs up for the return of Sane Sanji. Or at least the Sanji I like best: the one who is smart, sarcastic and smoking. Loved that scene with the Sea Bonze guy when he did a Moria and inflated to a large size. “How do you like my size?” Sea Bonze guy boasted.

“Kraken’s bigger,” Sanji said bluntly.

“OH YEAH, HOW ‘BOUT NOW?”

“Still bigger.”

At this rate, Sanji won’t have to lift another finger. The Sea Bonze guy will keep inflating, take out more and more of his own team, and Sanji can sit back, smoke and enjoy the view.

Chopper’s little moment with Zoro was great too. I’ve always thought Zoro and Chopper have this weird, special kind of understanding. They were paired up in Strong World and, I have no evidence to base this on so tell me if I’m wrong, but I don’t remember Zoro ever ragging on Chopper like he sometimes does with the other Strawhats. (It’s almost like he knows Chopper’s a sensitive, kind, little soul so he wants to protect him? The other Strawhats can take the banter, so he goes for it.) 

Whatever the case, Chopper busted out his Heavy Point and went toe-to-toe with the strongest of the Fishmen Goons. Zoro turned and joked, “Hey, Chopper! That was the form that gave you the most human look, but now you look more monster-like.” It’s nice that Zoro can joke like that with Chopper. He knows Chopper was sensitive about his humanity. It was almost like Zoro was saying, “Hey, that form’s strong. Are you okay with the look?”

But Chopper’s self-esteem has rocketed since he joined the Strawhats. “I wanted to look like a human because I wanted friends. Now I want to be a monster who helps Luffy!”

Chopper really has accepted himself. Excuse me while I dab my eyes with this tissue.

Also, Zoro is making short work of Drunk Sword Fish Guy. “Bring the strongest swordsman on Fishman Island,” he said. “You’re not even strong enough to kill my boredom.”

Hospital treatment needed for that burn.

And I just have to say that scene with Robin freeing the human pirate slaves was spectacular. The little moment between her and Jimbei (”I cannot refuse the request of a handsome man”), her spinning the situation to prevent grudges against innocent Fishmen (”You can thank Jimbei for asking me to free you”) and that Cuerpo Fleurs: Double Clutch move...

It was beautiful. ;_; I only wish she had used it on Spandam. The only thing better than one clutch is two. But that Hammond guy had it coming, so I’m not complaining.

And speaking of slave-taking racist scumbags...

It Always Starts Small

I definitely liked the “Nothing” twist. 

It was a shock at first. Must admit that. I kind of stared at the screen and laughed for a moment before what Fukaboshi said sank in.

“Hordy is a monster brought to life by our environment. The New Fishman Pirates are monsters created by an ancient grudge. A grudge born from our ancestors in the shadow of Fishman Island. They fear the grudge will be forgotten, their anger against humans dispelled. That’s why they are so impatient. They want humans to be evil so they can justify their crusade. They just want to see bloodshed. They don’t even want peace for Fishmen. Their hatred is not rooted in experience or true beliefs. They have no substance. They are completely empty.”

It might seem a cop out. Mundane. Motiveless. But that’s the thing. Hordy does have a motive: his empty hatred drives him.

And the sad thing is, I totally get what Oda’s trying to do here. Kind of wish I didn’t, but I do. I know people like Hordy. I’ve mentioned this before here, but where I live, sectarianism is a thing. Two branches of the same bloody religion have divided my part of the planet for centuries. There’s a horrible history of repression and terrorism on both sides. Now there are segregated schools and whichever football team you support outs you as “on a side”. Even your name and where you work can mark you. If you visit FB pages dedicated to the city, you won’t have to look far for sectarian posts. Dive into the football teams and, oh boy, you are in for a real treat! 

The thing is, the people who are most virulently into this crap are often (but not always) the poorest, most downtrodden people in society. Scrape the bottom and there you will find them. There’s a lot of poverty where I live (relative compared to the rest of the world, of course). Grinding poverty means you don’t have much going for you. All you have to feel superior is your football team and your religion. (And these people actually have very little knowledge on the tenets of their respective religions, by the way. Same goes for social history. Ask them anything and they’ll get angry because they know they know nothing.) All they know is: the other side is BAD. Why? Because dad said so, and his dad said so, and so did his. They cling desperately to empty hatred.

Hordy Jones and his goons are like that. Though they’re even worse. At least the sectarian folk from my city have actually met each other in the streets after a game and have beaten the crap out of each other face to face. Hordy has never met a single human in his life.

“What did humans do to you?”

“Nothing.”

He straight up admitted it. 

I loved the way Oda revealed how Hordy acquired his toxic prejudice. Because it was realistic.

Lynchings

It started small. Drip feeding the hatred. Every inch of Fishman District, that poverty-stricken, lawless place where there was nothing to do but hate. Every week another attack. Every week another kidnapping. Every once and a while a hero comes along, dying a martyr’s death (one was lauded for burning down the Human Shoppe. Probably a small business run by Fishmen, but what does that matter?) As a kid, Little Hordy loved heroes.

Then a Big Hero came along. Arlong. He liked to sit the little kiddies down and tell them tales of humans. Drip feed that poison in their ears. I guess this is what Otohime was trying to counteract. (Now that scene when she scolded the Fishmen who were about to lynch St Myosgard is really put in perspective.)

“This is a crusade! Ages ago, the filth we call humans envied the chosen and gifted Fishmen. They decided to persecute us. They were everywhere, like maggots.  Humans used the only advantage they had: numbers. They drove us down to the sea floor. Never forget our grudge against the humans. Humans know and fear that their reckoning day will come, and that’s when we’ll make them pay!”

The worst, most insidious statement was this: “Never forget our history. Feel the disappointment of the dead. Take over their resentment. Hold a grudge against humans.”

That line: “feel the disappointment of the dead”... that’s evil. Proper emotional blackmail. These people died with hatred festering in their hearts. Honour the glorious dead. Damn... I feel sorry for Fisher Tiger being used in this way.

Hordy was so twisted by the poison poured in his ear on all sides that he couldn’t even listen to a story young Hatchi told about Rayleigh. He was a human but he was different. Rayleigh never made a face when he looked at Hatchi. “I don’t like your story, Hatchi,” Hordy said. “It makes me sick.”

When Tiger was killed by Marines, Hordy’s gang, swilling beer in a pub, concluded he wasn’t the chosen hero. Someone had to step up to take his place.

Then - and I could hardly believe this was in a kid’s show - it went all KKK. Torchlit lynchings of Fishmen who had helped humans in some way (one poor guy donated blood). The Royal Family were obviously traitors. They wanted to forgive humans. Jimbei was a traitor too. He had joined the Shichibukai. 

“This country needs a hero,” Hordy Jones concluded. And he decided that he would be that “hero”. So he pulled the trigger on Otohime and stoked the fire of hatred against humans. The contrast between the funeral scenes and Hordy’s gang laughing it up at the pub was infuriating but effective.

Then, ten years later, it was time for their revenge. “This is a crusade. Prepare to kill as many humans as you can before your own death. We are devoting our lives to this vengeance.”

I wonder if Hordy will be willing to sacrifice his own life for his ideals? Or is that only for other people? 

Push the Reset Button

You know what else I liked? Fukaboshi’s reaction to the realisation of where Hordy Jones had come from.

It was what Otohime had realised years ago, but maybe never had the chance to discuss it with her kids.

“I don’t know when, but we lost contact with Fishman District. They’ve become something like an isolated, dark side of Fishman Island. We pretended not to see the twisted hatred building up in that lawless ditch in the deep water. I filled mother’s shoes, I collected signatures, but it was only superficial. I thought I was making progress. It was too late! People like them are the ones my mother feared the most. We should have fought with ourselves first. We should have fought our own feelings towards humans. Mother was killed by the grudge growing on Fishman Island. Maybe she knew it. But a part of me held that resentment and hated humans for killing my mother. Dead people take their regret to the grave, so  grudge is an illusion the living create and they alone cultivate it. Because I hated humans, I overlooked the resentment in Fishman District. When I finally noticed, it had become too powerful and beyond control.”

See, this is why I respect Fukaboshi a lot. He admits he had a part to play in the mess. Granted, I think he is justified, in a sad way. For ten years, he grew up believing a human had shot his mother dead. Despite that, he carried on her dream. But the whole Fishman District being a lawless, broken place that was ignored is interesting. If you leave a place to rot and don’t do anything about it, the people there will become poor and downtrodden. It is really easy to radicalise people who have nothing to lose. What the Royal Family should have done was double down on Otohime’s efforts to include Fishman District, to alleviate the poverty and lawlessness. Maybe that would have helped. Maybe.

His solution to the problem? It was pretty radical, actually.

“If nothing is done, Fishman Island will destroy itself through hatred of humans! We don’t need the past! Reset our history to zero. Wipe out those phantoms who shut the island away from the sun. Bring Fishman Island back to zero!

That’s also pretty radical. I guess Fukaboshi thinks there’s so much necrotic, gangrenous flesh poisoning Fishman Island that it’ll be best to just amputate the diseased limbs than let it spread any further. It’s sad that it’s come to that point, but I guess the hate is too strong.

Luckily, Fukaboshi and Shirahoshi have a Luffy who doesn’t give a crap about the past. “As long as you let me handle it my way, don’t worry,” Luffy assured. “Our minds were made up when we arrived at the plaza with Jimbei. We won’t let anyone harm Fishman Island. Leave it all up to us, Brother-Hoshi. We’re friends, right?”

I dunno, but I get the funniest feeling that this particular, rubbery human has made a lasting impression on Fukaboshi. ;)

Be honest. It’s how you’d want to go too.