#wano after raid on onigashima was so pretty ;-;

[beanghostprincess]

Thinking back on Sanji × Usopp × Kaya, I have come up with this scenario:

So, it's post final war. Everything has gone down and the Strawhats can finally celebrate their victory and reunite with their loved ones. Sanji and Usopp have been togheter for quite sometime, but part of Usopp still whishes that things had gone differentely between him and Kaya. After all they were with each other at their respective lowest points, being the only people they could fully trust and the only person that Usopp felt comfortable with sharing certain things. (Ninjin, Piiman, and Tamaneg were too young to understand some stuff, like what are you gonna say to a bunch of 5-7 year olds?)

Usopp has talked about this with Sanji, and Sanji is fully supportive of the possible idea of starting a poly relatioship with Kaya. After all Usopp had talked a lot about her and very positevely, and for Sanji its also one more beautiful lady in his life.

So there is this huge post war celebration where you got all of the Strawhats's allies, friends and family. (at least the one who made it after the battle) Kaya happily approaches Usopp in a huge hug. She is so happy that he got to live out his dream, and became a brave warrior of the sea just like he wanted. And of course she also thrilled to met all of his crewmates since she only knew three of them and not even that well.

We get a bit of sn intriduction, untill finally Usopp gets to introduce her to Sanji. And let me tell you: they get along so well. Firstly Sanji greets her in sych a nice polite way. She is used to suitors, she's an heiress after all, but Sanji is different. He compliments her with such nice, soft, welcoming words she had never experienced before. He looks at her in a way no one has ever done before and her respects her as well. She is almos5 ashamed to admitt it, but Sanji made a way better first impression tyan Usopp. (Not that it was hard tho, the guy literally broke into her house lmao)

They start talking to eachother, Usopp doesn't tell her about him and Sanji dating, she wants them to know each ither a bit first. So during the banquet (Luffy is hosting this victory party, of course there is a shit tone of food. And Zeff came as well so its pretty good) They all share the good things about their adventure. Usopp would start listing some of his proudest feats, like finding the only weakness of the ghost princess of Thriller Bark, or ending the 20 years of hortor that the warlord Doflamingo brought upon Dressrosa. This time he doesn't need to lie, he has proved himself as brave, and he believes in himself too. And Sanji would throw in some other bits as well, like the raid on Onigashima and how working togheter ultimately saved Wano.

Kaya is fashinayed by all of this. She is so happy about Usopp growing stronger and more confidentely, and of course about him meeting new people as well. She kinda whishes that she had been there too, to support Usopp and his friends and maybe help out. She will also talk about some of the stuff that has happened to her, like her medical studies and maybe some doctor trivia. She woukd at one point mention some kind of plant that can be used to extract a type of medication but before she can say its name Usopp and Sanji said it in unison. They both knew it because Usopp had experiences with plants in the 2 years soent training, and Sanji uses it as a great substitute for basil sometimes. They all laugh at this coincidence.

After a while tho Kaya and Sanji would start talking a bit more with each other. Even on more simple stuff maybe realated to desing or fashion, considering they both grew up surrounded by luxurious things. (With Kaya being a heiress, and Sanji being a former prince with a charming fashion sense). Usopp just whatches them, and he is so glad that they are getting along. He knew they would have likely liked eachother, after all they were both compassionate, kind, composed and mature individuals who had things in common.

And so, pleased with this, Usopp would come foward, and tell her that him Sanji were dating. Kaya is surprised at first, but she is happy for them, even if she whishes her and Usopp could have somehow been togheter. But then, the two of them would finally adress the elephant in the room, and propose her the idea of polyamory. Because surprise, surorise, Usopp still does love her, and Sanji is really fond of her too.

Kaya is taken aback. She does still love Usopp as well, and Sanji is great as well, they clicked off almost immediately. She tells them that she will defenetely think about it and that it is a possibility that she is willing to take. Usopp and Sanji are happy about this, and after the whole banquet ends (spoiler: its gonna be very fucking long, but it diesn't matter cause One Piece parties are on a whole different level of great and Nami is paying) she will come foward and finally, accept this offer and join their relationship.

Meanwhile the whole crew as well as Zeff and the 3 Usopp pirates (Yasopp still has his I-can't-face-my-child-after-all-these-years desease) are all watching this from afar.

And bonus scene: once Yasopp does decide to congratulate his son about his boyfriend and girlfriend he is chased away from them violently by at least 20 different people. Usopp notices, but pretends not to have and just cringes inside.

I love this so much!!!! I'm always thinking about Sanusokaya. My beloveds. They'd have such a great and sweet dynamic together. I think Usopp looks at Sanji and some things he does reminds him of Kaya. He has a type for sure. And the relationship between Kaya and Sanji would be just,, So cute. They'd be together for Usopp at first, but I think their relationship would obviously grow into something way deeper and intimate without Usopp necessarily having to be around. Kaya sees Sanji as who he truly is and Sanji sees all the kindness in the world in her. Usopp couldn't be happier, really. He's the luckiest man in the world.

[real-jaune-isms]

Green Haired Swordsman Meets Green-eyed Monster

*In the days following the Raid on Onigashima, Luffy and Zoro were nearly comatose from their exertion and wounds. Now, after a week, Zoro just woke up and was greeted with a sight he hadn't expected.*

Zoro: My head... damn I need some booze. Robin:I can get you some in just a minute. Zoro: Wh- Robin, the hell are you doing here? Where are the others? Robin: Luffy woke up about an hour ago and ran off, and the rest of our nakama had follow after him to make sure he didn't destroy anything in his search for food. Zoro: Heh... yeah, that sounds like him. Still doesn't answer why you stayed, though. Robin: *clears her throat and looks away* Well, someone had to make sure you weren't alone whenever you woke up, and to explain the situation so you didn't wander around in confusion. And I... drew the short straw. Zoro: Well then, I guess I appreciate the courtesy. So what situation needs explaining? Luffy beat Kaido, obviously, but what else happened? Robin: *smiles at how immediately confident Zoro is in their victory* Well, the two of you have been passed out from your wounds for a week, and in that time Momonosuke-sama revealed his presence to the country and declared himself the Shogun. I almost didn't believe what I was seeing, but it seems Shinobu-chan used her power to age him up by 20 years. Fuhuhuhu~ Zoro: Ah, so the brat reclaimed his clan's place on top. Good for him I guess, hopefully Kin'emon and the others can help him get a handle on that. The age thing sounds wild, but I did see him flying around as a full sized dragon so that tracks. Anything else? Robin: Um... yes, actually, there was something I wanted to talk to you about, Zoro-kun. I suppose you mentioned it in passing before the raid but... you spent some time with Momonosuke-sama's sister, didn't you? Zoro: Hmm? Ah, yeah, I was with Hiyori for a couple days. Robin: *eyes narrowed and glowering a bit* Yes, and it must have been quite an eventful period. When she heard you were incapacitated, she insisted on coming to see you. She begged Chopper to let her help with your treatment, and more than a few times tried to nestle beside you for comfort. You two must have... bonded quite a bit... for her to be so close and caring towards you. Zoro: Yeah, you could probably say that. She let me claim Enma after that weapons bandit took Shusui, I saved her from Kid's first mate while he was running around as that serial killer, we slept together... Robin: I'm sorry, you did what?!?! With a woman you knew for less than a week?? I know I've been coy and playful in the past, but I didn't realize you'd find someone else this quickly. Zoro: The hell do you mean? We just- oh for the love of... I mean we shared a bed, and I didn't even ask for it. We were in a shack in Ringo, which was pretty damn cold, and she was helping treat a nasty stab wound I got from Kid's buddy. I was trying to get some rest to help it heal, and I guess while I slept she draped her coat over me for a blanket and then went to sleep next to me to share body heat. We had that kid with the big eyes who laughed a lot with us too, and nothing lewd happened. I mean, she offered me her body, but I wasn't interested in that. Robin: Oh... I see. I'm sorry for getting so... worked up. I guess I just... Zoro: Thought I'd gotten laid with the first girl that offered? That's the pervy cook's thing. Robin: Well she is the Oiran of the Flower Capital. Zoro: Ah, so she's a professional at seduction and I'd be in an elite crowd for getting with her. I'm not into having sex for the glory. Robin: But this is the country your family descends from! Surely it reminded you of home, and you might have felt something special in the prospect of a woman who shares your culture?? *She's growing more exasperated, and hating the words even as she says them because they're justifying why he should be with another woman* Zoro: I never cared much about my village being founded by a Wano samurai, and I'm happy with the culture I'm part of now, being a pirate. Why do you actually care so much about this? Robin: Because clearly she loves you!! Zoro: *Sigh* Robin, I know she does. And it's flattering, she's a very pretty woman, but she's just not my type.

[melonteee]

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

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

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

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

(Love Your Vídeos)

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

LONG POST sorry for that

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[cebwrites]

What role do you think kirin will play if he was canon?

Btw I love kirin he is so freaking pretty

I actually have a somewhat solid thing of how he'd interact with canon actually!

To keep things simple:

Kirin's first appearance was on Sabaody and was sent to Impel Down helping his/Law's crews escape, and broke out with the rest of them during the ID arc

In Marineford he was one of the people helping Luffy generally get across the battlefield and had his leg severed by Doflamingo (it'd be reattached by Law later)

Post-timeskip he shows up on Barto's ship in the middle of the night to track Law down after they went radio silent for a few months and intended to stop their plans when he saw Law's face in the paper next to Luffy

He spends most of his time on Zou interacting with the Strawhats because he's too mad to talk to Law at the moment, but they make up on the way to Wano (Kirin's crew having already set sail for Wano because Kirin's other partner is native to it and needed to aid the battle)

At Wano, everyone splits up to go "under cover" as planned, and at the raid on Onigashima Kirin's knocked three floors down from the rooftop battle and gets his dumbass healed by Marco, there are other misc battles but I said I'd keep things brief lol

And that's the end of Wano where they all sail in different directions! (Kirin and Law in the same)

I don't think Oda would allow him to be nearly as queer (in a good way lmao) let alone with Law but that's just how it is in his canon <3

[usopp-writes]

May I please request a drabble or hc with Denjiro, where reader is admiring him from afar, never daring to actually hope he'll ever acknowledge them? Or just something sweet and fluff with him, since he so deserve some sweetness in his life, after what he'd been through for 20 years.

Thank you.

Rookie of the sea

Yes, he so deserve love and someone doting on him. While I haven't written for Denjiro before, I do want to write this and I hope I'll do him justice. Thank you for requesting this, dear Rookie. May this satisfy you.

Enjoy <3

Denjiro x GN reader SFW Word count: 1,540

Wano was free of the reign of Kaido and Orochi. You couldn’t believe it. More than twenty years in hell, where the people – your family and friends – had suffered and lost so much, was now over and done with. You could breathe again, though the island was still chaotic. The news about the defeat of the Yonko and that slimy bastard – as you called Orochi – spread like wildfire. Apparently there had been a raid at Onigashima during the festival; led by the Red Scabbards – you had thought they were all gone – pirates, samurais and other allies. The raid had been a success, it seemed, but you wondered what this would mean for the future of Wano. Would it truly be free?

Sighing, you wandered through the streets of the capital, your feet leading you to the house of Kyoshiro where you had worked up until now. He wasn’t there, you hadn’t even seen him at the festival and you wondered if it was his way of grieving from the loss of Komurasaki. You didn’t know the circumstances of her death, but she had been under his protection, you’d been slightly jealous of their relationship. Of course he would still be grieving, but maybe he’d been invited to the festivities on Onigashima too?

If that was the case, you should probably make your way to the island that now lay upon land. You didn’t understand how, but that wasn’t the questions that drove you. No, you had come to realize that you didn’t just admire Kyoshiro, you loved him. With all your heart and now that he was gone without a trace, you felt like the chance to confess had passed. Maybe he was dead, killed in the raid? If so, would you be able to find his body and at least give him a proper burial? Would the victors of this raid even allow you that? After all, you’d been a loyal servant to Kyoshiro for years, always doing his biding, no matter how odd they were.

You kept going, leaving the capital, alongside so many others, who had raided the farms that had been under Kaido’s control. You assumed they were going to bring the victorious people food after a long and most likely tiresome fight and battle. It must had been one hell of a fight, considering the island was here and looked like it’d been through a lot or maybe it had always looked like this? You actually didn’t know, but well, it didn’t matter. Your goal was to find Kyoshiro.

Standing in front of the island, you wondered how you were supposed to get onto it. Even the people from the town looked puzzled to as how they were going to bring the food to those who had fought so hard, while they’d partied. Somehow your silent question was answered and you got the means to get onto the island. You didn’t spare one moment and rushed up, afraid the opportunity would vanish again or your resolve was fading back to nothingness.

You quickly found out that everyone was gathered at one place. Carefully walking around – you didn’t want people to notice you and think you were here to use this opportunity to get riches for Kyoshiro – you searched for any indication that your boss and love was here or had been there.

The aftermath of the fight left you astounded, though. How could anyone survive all this? So much destruction and you’d noticed that some of the wounds were pretty bad. Not that you had medical knowledge, but even a blind man could see that some wounds were almost deadly. If it had been you or anyone else, then you might have been dead already, but this had been a battle with some of the strongest people that lived in Wano and then pirates from the outside, who all had been tough enough to survive the harsh sea. You’d heard from Kyoshiro how rough the sea was and one wrong move or decision would cost your life and the life of those sailing with you.

Suddenly long blue hair caught your eyes; the same color of your love, though the hairstyle was definitely different. However, the height and his eyes were the same. Was this man Kyoshiro in disguise? And was that Komurasaki at his side? But she was dead. Had you all died and was this the afterlife then? What was going on?

You stood there, gaping at the two, unable to move, unable to progress the scene in front of you. Vaguely you noticed other yakuza bosses, but your attention was fully on the man with the blue hair and the beautiful woman at his side. Your heart raced, so many emotions rushed over you. Not only the dawning fact that Komuraski had somehow survived, but the raid had succeeded. Kaido and Orochi was no more in control of Wano.

Not registering that the blue-haired man moved, his speed surprising you, when he was suddenly in front of you. He towered you easily and you looked up at him. Even if this wasn’t Kyoshiro, this man was handsome too, taking your breath away for a brief moment.

“You’re here, y/n.”

Blinking, you tilted your head in confusion. “I know you?”

He chuckled and knelt down, gently placing his hand on your cheek, making you blush at the touch. “Forgive me, because I have ignored you all these years. I don’t deserve your admiration nor do I deserve your love, because I have deceived you. I’m Denjiro, one of the nine Scabbards, who hid behind the name Kyoshiro in hopes that this day would come.”

You took in a sharp breath, shock written in your face. Kyoshiro was Denjiro? You’d always admired the Red Scabbards, praying to them for a better tomorrow each night. They were the hope you had clung to in these rough times, the hope Toki planted with her prophesy lied within them and now one of them was here, in front of you?

“…”

You opened your mouth to speak, but didn’t know what to say at first. Instead you placed your hand on his, as his words fully settled in your mind. He knew. He knew what you felt for him. You were not just a minor servant of his, as you’d believed. He’d noticed you, noticed the unspoken words in your eyes and subtle actions. You didn’t know he was this observant.

Taking a deep breath to steady your nerves, you placed your own hand on his cheek. “You did what you had to do, so this day would come. In your eyes lies the truth. I saw struggle and sadness in your eyes and I wanted to be the one to take that away from you, but it seemed that nothing I could ever had done would have been able to do so. There’s nothing to forgive. You gave me and Wano what our heart desired. Freedom. I also know what you did at night.”

He smiled, relief flushing through him, as you didn’t seem to hate him or be angry at him. Yes, he’d done what was necessary to survive and protect those he held dear, you being one of them. For years he’d felt and seen your admiration and love towards him grown, each year slowly killing him more, as he also felt the same towards you, but he was lying to you. Lying to the country, to the people that suffered so much, but he’d tried to give back. And you knew. He was so happy you had known and still been at his side. You and Hiyori had been his suns, the ones that kept him going.

Taking your hand in his, he kissed it gently. “Allow me to make up for the time we could have together. If you still want to, I would love for you to stay at my side, helping me, the Red Scabbards and the two children of Oden, Kozuki Momonosuke and Kozuki Hiyori to rebuild our country.” He gestured to the young and beautiful woman that had come to stand next to him, when he said Hiyori.

“Y/n, you have been so loyal to us. I am forever grateful for all you’ve done. Please accept my apology for deceiving you too, as I lived under the name Komurasaki.”

You bowed respectfully to the woman. “Princess, you have nothing to apologize for. If anyone else had known your true identity you would have not been staying here today. I am so grateful and happy that you survived and endured so much for us. Accept my heart and my soul, as I will help you rebuild your country. At the side of Denjiro.” You eyed the man, your face flustered and heart racing. Saying his name had been weird, but also so right.

Smiling, Denjiro raised himself again, placing a hand on your shoulder. “Come; let’s start right here and now, by helping the wounded.”

With a flutter in your heart, you nodded and followed them into the place of chaos. Today was the happiest day in your life. The day you and your country got freedom and where your heart found the love you’d yearned for in years.

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1050 - Initial Thoughts

After another tediously long break we're here

50 chapters since Roof Piece started, and now we're back on Wano's floor

The raid on Onigashima might be over, but the Wano arc is still not done

Spoilers for the chapter, support the Official Release too!

Starting with the cover story and of course it's Reiju and Ichiji. Mans got no qualms throttling a kid with a knife but I'd rather have had Baeju front an centre. Told you it wasn't Blackbeard though

We pick up where we left off, Kaido crashing through the ground, even reverting to his human form

Excuse Oda but 'Hole made by *Law', he made the hole with his monster Shock Wille BM is simply falling through it

Nice touch though that Kaido only has one horn

I do wonder about those cracks though, it may destroy the waterfall entirely and make Wano easier to access for the WG ships

Yamato is on scene to catch Luffy too

Aha, title card revised, I guess that means Kaido is officially out

We also get some more flashing back with the festival as Toko and Hitetsu release their balloons

Yasu being a good dad and even eating the SMILE so Toko won't be ostracized is bittersweet, as is Hitetsu telling Toko that their dad let themselves die for a rebellion to continue

Knowing the message, Toko changes their message from 'wanting to see' Yasu to thanking him, which just hits you a little in the heart

We don't say it enough, but the festival panels have been wonderfully drawn, I hope somewhere Megumi Ishitani is rubbing her hands together in hopes of working these shots into the anime too

From the dome roof, Nekomamushi (moved pretty fast there) announces victory, as well as revealing that Momo was the pink dragon to the Samurai and that he pulled the island to safety

Oh hey Inu's alive, tbf we hadn't seen him since he beat Jack so I was thinking he might've died from overdoing Su Long

Raizo's still working though, meanwhile Kawamatsu and Denjiro have the luxury of not having to do much after fighting Kaido

Aw Bepo, and I guess aw Killer but I guess that's more non-physical

Yeah eat shit Apoo! Tell Morgans everything!

Marco you little stoic pineapple, I guess this is like a wednesday for him back in the day

No Carrot though which I'm sad about, girl's birthday was yesterday let the rabbit have her friends and be happy

No rest for Chopper though; Usopp and Franky have arrived with the wounded, boy could use some more doctors *looks directly at Law, his crew, and Marco*

Interesting, it seems through Momo's dialogue that Zunesha was to be used to open Wano's borders, but now Momo's decided against it - which to be honest is fair, but the structural integrity of the waterfall may make that border thing more difficult. He should at least issue a less stringent rule towards wanting to leave the country though

The remaining members of Kaido's crew still attack though (oh god if the waterfall breaks then Big Mom's force could come in too! Can't knock them off a waterfall if there is none!) being in denial about Kaido's defeat

Yamato though starts using his rank, telling them to honour the fact that Momo saved all their asses from Onigashima. I'm surprised they took it really, Kaido has never offered such honour, but I guess they don't wanna face Yamato (or Franky who Brook needs to hold back)

The ground rumbles though as Babanuki witnesses an underwater volcanic eruption, caused by Big Mom and Kaido's plummet

The scariest part of all of this though is that I don't think that would even kill them, if anything the eruption (which should really be a class A disaster for Wano with that much ash and magma) is probably gonna spit them out of the ocean

Luffy gets the win card too

Oh so you see and hear THAT do ya? Not the giant island that has been hurtling towards you or the gigantic clash of a flaming dragon and giant fist?

Momo comes to the flower capital to calm things, but of course everyone thinks he's Kaido

After Momo reassures everyone he decides to change back, leaving the dramatic smoke for the figures of the past to emerge

Of course, everyone sees 'Komurasaki' first, proceeding to simping (I mean, I still don't think she's top 10 but okay) and then 'Kyoshiro' without his hair

And we cliffhang on Denjiro announcing the next shogun of Wano

So it was indeed the end, no twist in the tale. And while I've said it before I'm fine with it.

People do invest too much stake into fan theories sometimes; would it have been cool to see ghosts or Zoro kill Kaido? Sure, but it would've also been cool to see Tashigi in Wano, and for Drake and Hawkins to fight alongside the supernova, and for Kaido to take particular interest in Chopper for his zoan army before fighting against the entire straw hat crew, sometimes the story just doesn't go that way and in this case, Kaido getting up one more time wasn't in it.

And let's not act like Kaido lost to 'just a big punch', he was slammed down by a Conqueror's Coated, Awakened Mythical Zoan punch the size of a small island coated in Ryou, and then it seems the eruption finished it. Given how much Kaido had survived up to this point it's fine, it's not like Luffy does much else anyway, his key attack is Punch, next people will be asking Zoro to win a fight without cutting.

And it still worth noting that he's going to have to wake up, I sincerely doubt that he and Big Mom are dead, so it does matter what their next moves are. Especially Big Mom's, the territory is likely lost for Kaido but BM has her crew still at full strength, does she sting or extract? Can even pick up some surviving scraps from Kaido's crew, and a Poneglyph if she's extra sneaky.

But yeah, this was a 'nice' chapter, one where you feel the dust starting to settle. Of course, more stuff can still happen; the volcanoes should be a problem but who knows in One Piece, Zunesha and the WG are at the back door, there's a lot of dead but a lot of living, Wano's leadership is going to change and Kaido's crew will likely need to tuck their tails between their legs. Then of course there's Zoro, Kiku and Kin'emon to deal with, and we haven't seen if Sanji survived his episode carrying Osome, Robin and Jinbe were absent from this chapter - as was Carrot, and Wanda, and Caribou, and Shinobu... - and outside of the fact that we're gonna have one hell of a rager, there feels like more is left to discover in Wano itself.

Like I said, the raid is over, but the Wano arc's not done yet.

[auxiliarydetective]

One Piece OC Outfit Inspo - Wano Country (Luna)

Oh boy, I'm honestly really scared of this. I have next to know knowledge on how to properly wear and accessorize a kimono and I want you to know that I know nothing before going into this post.

Not counting the Beast Pirates disguise, Wano has three outfits for each female character, so my OCs naturally had to get three each too! But because we have a photo limit of 10, I'll have to give Luna and Inari their own posts

Outfit #1: Assuming her new role

Luna would have it hard in Wano with her huge wings. There's no way to hide them! So, I think Kin'emon would have her stay somewhere secluded. She would stay in Ringo (the snow region of the Land of Wano) where she would pose as a tengu, a yōkai/kami sometimes depicted with wings. In Ringo, she would quickly meet Gyukimaru upon crossing the Oihagi Bridge. He'd attack her but since she only carries weapons made of her own magic, he can't steal them. They meet again when she tries to enter the cemetery. The third time they meet is when Luna is fighting a group of Beast Pirates close to the cemetery. After this, Gyukimaru realizes Luna is an ally and they start protecting the graves together.

Luna's clothing is kept in mostly white, making her blend into the snow. She wears a yukata and keeps her hair in a simple bun decorated with white tsunami kanzashi (the flowers) and a bira-bira kanzashi (the hair pin - bira-bira are the dangling pieces) with a moon motif.

Outfit #2: In the bathhouse Tending to Zoro's wounds

Of course, Luna's wings also make it impossible for her to go to a bathhouse incognito - especially if the people searching it are Hawkins and X Drake, who would recognize her at first glance. But I still wanted justice for her and a third outfit (kimono are so pretty, I just had to), so I thought of another instance where she would want to wear a simpler kimono. Zoro gets injured, so there's the reason. She would want to take care of her friend

Simple and practical. Instead of having any fancy hairpins, she simply has a few pearls woven into her bun.

Outfit #3: Raid on Onigashima

Now, her Beast Pirates disguise is the one outfit on Wano where her wings would have helped. Everyone would think she's a Gifter, a Zoan user! But that's not what this is about.

Now, listen, I know this is not a kimono, it's a hanfu. But this post isn't meant to be Luna's exact outfit, it's just reference. In this case, pretty rough reference. For Luna, I'm looking for a shorter, more batttle-approproate kimono. One like this hanfu with an obi much like the belt in the picture above. She'd be wearing more solid, practical hairpins like the ones above to keep her hair up.

[eirist]

Little Bits and Pieces of Heaven

EASY, LOVE

One-shot #: 24

Disclaimer: One Piece (and its characters) belongs to Eiichiro Oda-sensei.

Reminder: I have no beta-reader. Any grammatical and spelling errors are solely mine.

Warning: OOC possible. One shot.

Rating: T

Note: This can be a companion story to Calm Before the Storm. I rarely write one-shots with an ongoing arc timeline but the story’s much better in Wano set-up. I originally tried a different setting but it didn’t work out.

Title is borrowed from the song Easy, Love by Tom West. It has nothing to do with the story plot but when I came across it, I immediately thought it suits this one-shot best.

Summary: Since when did falling for someone been so easy?

Nami silently observed from the upper deck of the Sunny as the samurais of Wano Kuni arrived from their journey from the Ringo region.

If the merrymaking at Kuri beach—where a barbecue celebration (one of the many they had for the last few days)—was already loud and boisterous before… it turned to a total pandemonium once the group dismounted their horses to join the party.

Luffy was hollering from too much excitement; yelling Zoro’s name as he bounded towards the swordsman—who was getting off his own horse—so he could glomp him.

Her lips quirked in amusement. Idiots. Look how happy they both are to see each other.

It’s been days since the green-haired man traveled to the northern region to pay his respects to the samurai Ryuma who gave him Shusui. Few of the red scabbards went with him…

…along with Momo’s sister, Hiyori.

Nami pursed her lips at that. And it immediately turned into a frown when she noticed Zoro assisting the beautiful woman down from her own horse. Even with Luffy still entangled around him, his rubbery arms encircling the taller man’s torso, Zoro was still able to effortlessly lift Hiyori and set her down carefully on the ground.

Hiyori looked absolutely pleased. Her hands lingered on Zoro’s shoulders as Luffy continued cheering right at his ear.

Then Sanji decided to enter the scene to gripe and swear at his rival before taking the now-surprised Hiyori’s hands off Zoro to lead her towards the feasting table in a frenzy of popping hearts, nose bleed and drool.

Nami would’ve blown him some kisses for that. The look Hiyori threw on Zoro’s way didn’t escape her eyes yet the dense man was expectedly was oblivious to it; his attention was completely on his captain as he tried to pry him off his person.

She studied Zoro for a few seconds. He was being unusually nice… if not extra nice to the former oiran. Well… Hiyori was, after all, the reason why he got his hands on a new and more powerful sword.

And apparently, as Brook had gossiped to her and Usopp one drunken evening, it wasn’t just the sword. The musician had caught them in a rather… compromising position when he happened upon them in the hideaway hut back in Ringo.

Her frown deepened. The familiar sensation of something weighing down her chest came back again. Just like that night when she first heard the story.

Her hands twitched involuntarily and she didn’t notice that she was clutching the railing quite hard.

“Nami? Are you alright?”

The navigator whipped her head sharply towards the voice.

Robin was standing a few feet away from her with a questioning look on her face. She just emerge from the library and was holding a book in her hand when she spotted the younger woman so deep in her thoughts as she gaze at party below.

“Sorry,” Nami said in a sheepish tone, feeling weirdly guilty at being caught spacing out. “Got distracted for a second. What was that again Robin?”

The archaeologist smiled as she approached her, not bothering to repeat her question. She peered down below. “Ara, they’re finally back.”

“Yeah…” Nami followed her gaze. “We can now set sail… that is if our captain is finally done with all these feasts.”

Robin giggled. “I doubt that. Now that Zoro’s here, he’ll probably want to celebrate again.”

“Hmmm…” Nami smiled at her. “I don’t know why I bother with that thought when I already know what’s gonna happen.”

“Fufufu… shall we join them?” Robin asked.

Nami brushed back a stray tendril of hair that escaped her pony tail and shook her head. “You go ahead first.”

Robin nodded. She patted Nami’s shoulder lightly before heading down the galley. From the looks of it something was bothering the navigator.

But for now it’s much better to leave Nami to her thoughts. She’ll eventually share whatever was on her mind when she’s ready.

“Oiiii Nami! Namiiiii!” Luffy was shouting from the shore, waving his rubbery arms enthusiastically to get her attention. “Look! Look! Zoro’s finally back!” He started tapping Zoro’s back with enough force to earn a death glare from the surly man as he growled for him to stop.

Nami rolled her eyes at their antics.

Zoro tilted his head to her direction and their eyes met.

They held each other’s gazes. Nami willed her face to remain expressionless as they continued their stare off.

The katana wielder raised an eyebrow at her, wondering why her reception was as cold as the northern region he had just recently came from.

And just like that, Nami tore her gaze away from him and turned on her heel disappearing from his sight.

Zoro was left confused. What just happened? She didn’t even bother to greet him and just stared straight at him like he was someone she didn’t know.

Did he owe her something?

Beside him Luffy stopped his antics and blinked, also baffled by Nami’s odd behavior.

“Ne, Zoro. Did you do something?”

-------------------------

“So did you do something?” Usopp queried, raising both eyebrows as he regarded the swordsman beside him suspiciously.

They were sitting on one of the feasting tables, eating and drinking. The former pirate hunter just told him about what happened earlier.

“I just got back!” Zoro hissed at him, slamming the tankard he was holding down the table. “How can I do something when I’m not even here these past few days?!”

Usopp shrugged. “Maybe you did something before you left.” He suggested, stabbing another slab of meat with his fork and taking a hefty bite from it.

“Like what?!”

The sniper shrugged his shoulders again unable to give an answer. He had long ago learned that Nami’s temperament is as unpredictable as the New World weather. Sunny with a high chance of thunderbolts. No use trying to figure it out.

“Oi Robin,” Zoro then turned towards the older woman who was sitting beside him. He nudged his head towards the Sunny’s direction. “What’s with her?”

Robin shifted her eyes towards the empty upper deck. Nami still hasn’t come down to join them and had probably barricaded herself inside the library. She shook her head apologetically. “I honestly do not know Zoro.”

“What did I do now?” Zoro grouchily asked no one in particular and Robin’s lips quirked up at his predictable reaction.

“Ara… Are you saying you did something?”

“No.” Zoro snarled as he eyed her indignantly. “I didn’t!”

“Maybe she’s just in one of her moods?” Usopp interjected. “You know how she is.”

“She probably is.” Robin agreed. “Best to stay clear for now Zoro.”

Clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth irritably, Zoro reached for a bottle of sake.

They were ok before he left. More than ok to be honest as he recalled their drinking session days before the raid in Onigashima.

So what happened?

-------------------------

The sound of the revelry was beginning to increase in volume indicating that it was starting to shift into full swing as cheers and singing filled the air.

Yet everything was lost on the orange-haired woman who was sitting by herself in the ship’s library. Her pretty brown eyes were fixed intently on the window just behind her mapping desk.

Oh she is in a mood alright. Ever since she realized what the heavy feeling that was settling inside her was.

By Kami, she’s jealous.

Yes indeed, she is.

She tipped her head back and groaned. What a nasty feeling.

And to think this was all because of that moronic, directionless swordsman.

She likes him. That she was sure now. That’s the reason why she was so down when she heard Brook’s story about him and Hiyori. And when he set off to Ringo with said woman in tow, not even bothering to ask if any of the Straw Hats wants to go with them.

And she’s not gonna even touch the scene she witnessed earlier when he assisted her down from her horse like he had been a gentleman all his life.

What else could have possibly happened to them? They’ve spent a lot of time together after all.

Zoro never mentioned anything about her that night she was drinking with him. And it’s not like she should be privy to it. What Zoro do or does is his own business.

She banged a fist on her mapping desk to stop the thoughts and winced when she realized that it was a damn rash action.

But the pain in her hand was nothing like the one wrenching her heart.

She smiled wistfully. And here she honestly thought there was something… between them.

Foolish, foolish thought! She chastised herself. How can she let herself be pulled in that moment with him!

And now… here she is.

Never mind that that was not the first time it happened and she realized it will not be the last.

She bit the insides of her cheeks. Now is not the time for this. She better straighten her thoughts and get a hold of herself. Some of her friends are pretty intuitive, they’d know at a glance that something’s up with her. She’s pretty sure Robin’s brilliant mind has already put two and two together.

Squaring her shoulders, she decided she’d come down to join the merriment after five more minutes.

Taking a deep breath to settle her nerves, she closed her eyes and…

The library door suddenly swung open; the heavy foot falls that followed it gave away who just entered.

Damn it! She’s not ready to face him yet!

She steeled herself when he crossed the room. She heard him grab a chair and set it down just beside her with a ‘thud’.

She didn’t even flinched at the sound. Normally she would be bitching about it. Complaining on how crass he is.

Instead she just kept quiet.

“What is it?” Zoro grunted; a bit peeved that she ignored his presence knowing full well why he was there.

“Nothing,” she answered after a few seconds, still not looking at him.

Zoro made a disapproving sound. He knows something is up. Nami cannot lie to him. He knows her too well.

“Spill.”

She remained quiet. And it was so unnerving to him. Whatever it was, he was getting the idea that it was serious. She was usually upfront with whatever she was thinking.

The silence that hovered between them was intolerable. It was pushing him over the edge.

Then Nami turned her head towards him. A determined look was all over her face.

And her lovely, brown eyes.

“I’m jealous.”

Zoro blanked at that. He heard what she just said—loud and clear.

And yet his mind cannot process what she finally decided to divulge.

He opened his mouth to say something… to blurt out an expletive, a retort.

But nothing came out.

Nami was looking at him intently, watching him. She watched as his usually nonchalant expression cracked, his cool composure completely obliterated by that phrase.

His face slowly colored.

There was no other way than to hit him with the truth. She readied herself for his outburst.

Instead he surprised her by stammering and turning into a deeper shade of red.

A chuckle escaped her.

What an adorable idiot he is.

She riveted her gaze back to the window. This is more than what she expected.

Amusing as it may seem, the heavy feeling from earlier still hadn’t left her.

Beside her Zoro continued spluttering.

That should be enough to keep him at bay. Nami thought amusedly.

She heard him took a deep breath before finally muttering a ‘damn it’.

And he suddenly leaned towards her, reaching out to grasp her hand roughly in his.

It drew her attention back to him.

He was grumbling something under his breath. She couldn’t quite catch what it was because her heart was thumping wildly inside her chest and blood was rushing to her head.

Zoro held her hand in his even as he refused to look at her. His face was so red now that steam would probably come out of his ears in a matter of seconds.

For a moment, Nami honestly thought he would combust.

But he still didn’t release her hand. Instead he held it tighter.

Nami chewed on her lower lip fighting the smile that wanted to grace her lips.

Just like that… everything felt better now.

Drat. She’s so screwed.

Nobody said a word. They remained quiet with their hands linked.

“So…” Nami began, deciding to break the silence. “Is this your way of—”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t evenlet me finished!”

“Just shut up.”

A hush fell between them again.

“So… you’re jealous?”

“Ugh. Shut up Zoro!”

[chenziee]

Six: The Celebration

Day 6: BBQ/Movie night for @opnamizine​‘s Tangerine Summer :D Barely grazed the prompts this time but in my defence, making up a video dial and coming up with some way for them to find one that made sense would be too complicated so you get an alternative xD

Heads up for minor LawLu again because I have no self-control.

[Read on AO3 | Read from day 1]

----------

“Here you go, Nami-san.”

The navigator smiled as she accepted the plate that was handed to her. “Thank you, Sanji,” she said, admiring the smell of perfectly cooked meat.

Honestly, Sanji had them all so spoiled, like dining at a 5 star restaurant three times a day plus snacks. And yet, he always outdid himself. Apparently, even something as simple as a barbecue could be made into a work of art, even when making it for all the people who had survived their raid of Onigashima—and not just their crew, Torao’s crew, the samurai, and the minks. No, it was for everyone they had picked up along the way as well. Including the Kid pirates, the rebels, the prisoners and the yakuza, and even some of the Beast pirates that were now somehow Tama’s pets, it was hundreds, thousands of people.

Even with help of many other cooks, Sanji still had more than enough work on his hands but… he looked like he was enjoying himself immensely and Nami was glad. When she remembered how sad, cold and unhappy he was when they had finally found him on Whole Cake Island, it was like he was a different person. Like he was alive.  

“You don’t forget to eat, too,” Nami teased, chuckling when Sanji froze and blinked at her owlishly, eyes wide with shock.

“I— Thank you, Nami-san,” he said after a moment, looking away, and Nami was pretty sure that was a blush on his face.

It was cute how he always got caught off guard when someone looked out for him for a change. If this was a few weeks ago, Nami could just hear the ‘Aww, Nami-swan, you’re so beautiful when you’re kind!’ and see his dramatic, love-struck flailing. He always did that when trying to deflect and brush off things that might affect him but at last, it looked like he was putting in an effort to get used to it; slowly learning to accept the care and love his friends were giving him.

Nami smiled, a genuine, happy smile, as she nodded and turned away. They would teach Sanji to be kind to himself yet. After all, the Straw Hats were nothing if not stubborn.

That was a problem for later, however.

Tonight, they were celebrating.

The trip back towards the stage was short but given how the Komurasaki was one of the performing geishas and dancers, it was no surprise that the area beneath was packed. And with a plate overflowing with food, it was almost a miracle that she managed to make her way through the crowd and back to her friends without any incident.

When she finally sat down on the ground in between Robin and Luffy, she let out a relieved sigh. “Here, Sanji’s special barbecue,” she announced.

Immediately, everyone cheered quietly as to not interrupt the music and dancing too much before grabbing for the plate, in a hurry to steal some for themselves before Luffy could get to it.

But then… Luffy didn’t.

Exchanging a worried glance with the rest of the crew, Nami went to ask what was wrong but before she could so much as open her mouth, Tama spoke up instead. “Mm this is so tasty!” she said, the happiness in her voice almost tangible.

“I know, right?” Luffy grinned proudly. “Sanji’s cooking is amazing.”

“Aren’t you going to eat, big bro?” she asked then, her cheeks puffed up with all the food in her mouth.

Luffy shook his head, petting Tama’s head where she sat in between his legs and looked back at him questioningly. With a soft smile, Luffy finally replied, “Nope, I’m stuffed. You can have my portion if you want.”

Tama’s face split up in a blinding smile, nodding enthusiastically before she turned her focus back on the pile of meat in front of her. Luffy simply watched her, that soft expression still on her face and Nami… felt like the whole world turned upside down. Luffy letting someone else have all his food. Luffy. Unbelievable.

Blinking a few times, Nami noticed everyone else was staring at the scene with an open mouth, obviously just as shocked as she felt. It was only a long while later that slowly, she turned to her other side to exchange a look with Robin. The other woman was covering her mouth to hide a smile—or likely muffle her laughter, judging by the way her eyes danced with joy—and, guessing easily that they were thinking the same thing, Nami, too, had to laugh.

Shaking her head, she followed Robin’s example to look at Torao, who was sitting on Luffy’s other side. “I think your boyfriend just adopted your first child. Congratulations,” she told him sincerely, biting at her bottom lip to try and keep her expression at least remotely straight at the face Law made.

"I did not consent to this," Torao replied, frowning deeply as he glared at Luffy, then Tama, then Luffy again.

"I honestly don't think anyone ever consented to anything with Luffy," Usopp noted helpfully.

A large pout appeared on Luffy's face as he crossed his arms over his chest. "But you're fine with it!"

"Again, Straw Hat-ya. That's not the point." Law let go of a long-suffering sigh, looking so incredibly tired. Nami wondered how many years of his life this poor man had lost over the last two, maybe three months since they had run into him.

But well, that was just a part of the course with Luffy—or their crew as a whole, really. And even if everyone complained about it, no one could deny the post-victory celebrations were well worth all the stress and… adjusted plans.

Nami, for one, certainly couldn't.

Ignoring the bickering couple and laughing friends, Nami turned her attention to the entertainment. She had to admit, it was pretty obvious why Hiyori became the oiran; she was beautiful up there, even without full make up or her hair styled the elaborate way she used to wear before. It was as if she was born for the stage. And the happiness radiating off of her, the relief from Wano's hard-fought, finally achieved freedom, was only making her more mesmerizing. Just looking at her move gracefully as she played on her shamisen, full of energy and not fighting her wide smile, it made Nami so incredibly happy as well.

Ever since she had set sail with Luffy, Nami had witnessed several times the pure joy of a country being rid of their tyrants, thanks to Luffy. She had been one of the people he had saved this way. But seeing it, hearing it, being at the centre of it… it never got old.

And if the celebration came with amazing food and plenty of booze, friends and laughter, and gifts of golden dragon statues from the shogun's castle, who was she to turn away?

[megashadowdragon]

Warning: this theory contains HEAVY SPOILERS! If you’re not fully caught up with the manga, read at your own risk.

Since English isn’t my first language, I apologize in advance for any spelling/grammar mistakes. Also, this is my first time posting.

It’s practically obvious to everyone that we will get a Kaido flashback in this arc, whether he dies or not: of course, there will be a part about his time in the Rocks Pirates, but we will also get to know possibly one of the most important people for him: his wife.

Because, let’s face it, Oda hasn’t done much yet to give his personality some depth and not being just an arrogant, cruel, child-beating antagonist with a penchant for alcohol and an obsession for death, and a figure such a woman he loved could be a great opportunity for doing so.

Some might speculate that she’s actually dead and that’s why Kaido started drinking.

It could be true but, knowing Oda, he would never introduce a deceased character of that importance out of the blue, without some sort of foreshadowing: a well-kept grave located in a secret place where an important character stumbles upon in the Onigashima raid (on screen, obviously), a framed portrait on a desk or a wall, a name seemingly being thrown offhandedly in a conversation… but there is nothing in Wano which even remotely resembles one of those things.

Therefore, she must be alive.

(Also, there are already too much fundamental figures in various characters’ history who ended up dead in flashbacks, such as Bellemere, Rocinante, Russian and so on. Come on, Oda.)

Is she going to be someone new, at least?

Well, that’s a possibility, however in next arc(s) new characters will be introduced and One Piece has got more than a thousand of them already… quite a lot, aren’t they? Consequently, there is a very good chance for her to be someone who has been already introduced into the story.

Of course, there must have been some sort of foreshadowing when she had been introduced, too: she was the lover of a Yonko, after all. Has there been a woman with an unknown lover in the past arcs?

Yes, actually.

It was her:

And I believe that the mysterious man she fell in love with was none other than Kaido himself. But wait, there’s more: Gloriosa has also eaten a Devil Fruit. An extremely powerful one.

Don’t worry, I will explain everything on the way. Now, hold onto your seat, because this will be quite the long ride.

Kaido and Gloriosa comparison

Kaido of the Beasts, Governor General of the Beasts Pirates, one of the Four Emperors, the Strongest Being in the world and Gloriosa, a former Kuja ruler. These two may have little to nothing in common... or have they?

Probably the most striking difference between them is their respective height: while Kaido easily dwarfs normal humans, Gloriosa is shorter than Luffy; however, both of their heights are currently not canonically stated.

Unstated as both of their ages are, although it’s clear that both of them are past their younger days: in Gloriosa this is highlighted by her grey hair and wrinkled face, but it’s clear that Kaido is not that young any more, too, having crow’s feet under his eyes and forehead lines. It is likely that these two are quite close in age, actually.

A notably interesting fact is, canon heights and ages of the various characters, along with things such as their favourite food, are revealed in the SBS corner in manga volumes. And yet, not even one of these little pieces of information has been revealed for both Kaido and Gloriosa.

It’s very unlikely that nobody has ever sent these question to Oda, or that the latter forgot to answer them; given the importance of the two characters in the arc where they have appeared, there must be a very specific reason why Oda didn’t tell us a thing. More than that, when Gloriosa talked about her Love Sickness in chapter 522, there was no flashback; not even silhouettes.

With these things and questions on mind, let’s move on to their position. Kaido is now an Emperor of the Sea, and Gloriosa was an Empress of the Kuja. Also, while Gloriosa was an Empress Kaido held no particular position, except by maybe being a pirate captain; and now the tables have turned, Kaido being an Emperor and Gloriosa being a nobody. A neat little parallel, isn’t it?

Now, let’s get to their Haki usage and knowledge: Gloriosa seems to have some knowledge about how it works and the characteristics of the people who are able to use the various Colours: in fact, in chapter 521 she comments about Luffy’s Haki, surprised by how he willingly bowed his head to Hancock to help those who saved him instead of a boat to leave the island without a second thought. She is not a confirmed user of any form of Haki; however, in a place where pretty much every powerful warrior can use at least Observation and Armament, it is hinted she is a wielder of these two colours at least and, since she used to be an Empress, there is also a chance she can use Conqueror’s, too. Kaido is a confirmed Observation, Armament and Conqueror user, and also one of the very few people, as he himself stated in chapter 1010, who can make the latter colour flowing through their body and coat their weapon(s). In the very same chapter, he also recognized Zoro’s illusions while performing Ashura as a manifestation of Conqueror’s Haki, revealing his in-depth knowledge about the subject.

Last but certainly not least... their strength. Kaido one-shot Luffy in Gear Fourth despite the Emperor being so drunk he could not stand on his feet properly; also, he was able to clash against a fellow Yonko for days and tanked pretty much both all the Scabbard’s hits and the majority of the Supernova’s attacks on the rooftop. Moreover, how can his absolutely epic introduction not be taken into account? He fell from a Sky Island literally 10000 metres above the sea level and he ended up with... a strong headache. I’ll tell you what: Gloriosa fell from a great height, too! In addiction to it, she landed without suffering any serious consequences, as shown in chapter 517, where she landed on her feet seemingly undamaged after Hancock quite literally threw her out of the Kuja Castle. As Gloriosa herself said, she might have grown old, but she is still a Kuja warrior. Also, being a former ruler where strength is beauty, she undoubtedly was a force to be reckoned with in her prime.

That being said*... Maybe they’re not so different, after all, huh?*

Mythology references

One Piece has loads of references to Japanese myths and folklore, however Wano is especially loaded with these; and how could it not be? It is inspired by Japan, after all.

Moreover, since Kaido can transform into a dragon, there must be some kind of reference to Japanese myths and legends regarding these legendary creatures.

There’s one in particular, which might be the key to Kaido’s backstory: the story of the Enoshima Dragon.

According to this myth, in the mountains near the Koshigoe village lived a five-headed dragon, called Gozuryu, who terrorized the inhabitants over a period of some-thousand years by provoking countless natural disasters such as huge storms, floods and earthquakes, as well as eating their children. The villagers kept praying and praying, until something happened: in 31st May, 552 AD, during a bigger and more violent storm than the usual, the clouds split in two and a rock began to emerge from the sea. A beautiful woman descended from a ray of light where the clouds slit and sat foot on the island just created, making it her home. The dragon, who assisted to the whole thing, immediately fell in love with her and asked her to marry him.

The woman, who was perfectly aware of the dragon’s evil actions, was none other than the goddess Benzaiten herself.

Benzaiten on a white dragon

Now, there are two versions of how the story ends: in one, the goddess turned him down at first, and told the dragon she would have considered his proposal only if he helped the people he used to terrorise. Gozuryu accepted and the village prospered thanks to their dual protection; in the end, the goddess agreed to marry him and the couple lived happily until the dragon met his demise. In the other version, Benzaiten straight up refused Gozuryu’s proposal due to his evil actions; ashamed for his wrongdoings, the dragon promised the goddess he would have never disturbed the village again, and retired in the mountains where he died of guilt.

Anyway, regardless of how the story goes, when the dragon died he fused with the land of Kamakura, creating the Dragon’s Mouth hill (Japanese: Tatsu no kuchi yama) facing south, the direction of the island where his beloved lived. Needless to say, the island of the myth is Enoshima.

The comparison between Kaido and Gozuryu is immediate: both are extremely cruel towards children, with the former having no qualms beating them, even his own, and the latter eating them. Moreover, the Emperor, much like the five-headed dragon, terrorizes the inhabitants of the place near where he lives (Wano Country and Koshigoe Village respectively) turning the land into completely inhabitable wasteland in the process, and is capable of causing huge storms; his apparition in chapter 921 is also being accompanied by a thunderstorm. Note that, in Chapter 1003, Zoro states that fighting Kaido was like “facing a natural disaster”, much like the natural catastrophes Gozuryu caused.

Now, let’s talk about Benzaiten.

Goddess of water (especially rivers), eloquence, and good fortune, Benzaiten is considered one of the protector deities of Japan, where she’s one of the most beloved and revered gods: every major city has at least one place for her worship and countless temples and shrines dedicated to her cult are present in many other areas across the country, all located near water sources such as rivers, ponds, lakes or even in the sea. She is part of Japan’s Seven Lucky Gods, and she’s the only woman among them.

Benzaiten, however, is not originally Japanese: she is in fact a syncretic deity derived from the Hindu goddess Saraswati whose cult was brought to Japan by Buddhist monks who arrived in the VII century from China.

Due to her extreme complexity, only the most relevant facts to this theory will be reported.

She wasn’t very popular until the XI century, when her cult was fused with Ugajin’s, an obscure Japanese Kami of water, agriculture and good fortune, often represented as an old man with a snake body. Once this happened, her popularity skyrocketed as a goddess of water and by assonance ‘of everything that flows’: rivers, eloquence, knowledge, music, art and Haki. Even nowadays, Uga Benzaiten, the goddess with Ugajin on her head, is one of the most common Benzaiten representations.

Both lived in an island inhabited only by women: Gloriosa in Amazon Lily, and Benzaiten in Enoshima, since she was the sole inhabitant of said island and also a woman;

Benzaiten originated from an Indian goddess and Gloriosas, the flowers which Gloriosa was named after, grow in India too! Gloriosa superba is even Tamil Nadu’s national flower.

Due to being goddess of water, Benzaiten was naturally associated with animals connected with said element: snakes, turtles… and dragons. Especially the white ones, since this colour is linked with water in Japanese culture.

Snakes are a big part of Amazon Lily’s culture: almost every warrior on the island has her own Snake Weapon which can be used as a bow, the island’s dome is sculpted with snake motifs, the Perfume Yuda, Kuja Pirates’ flagship, is carried by two Yuda snakes, even Kuja, the name of the tribe, means ‘Nine snakes’

White snakes were considered to be Benzaiten’s main messengers and avatars and Gloriosa in Share the World opening appeared with a blue top and*...* a white snake.

Also, the traditional representation of the Black Warrior is a turtle intertwined with a snake, much like Kujas with their Snake Weapon. Due to these facts, I believe that Gloriosa has eaten the Mythical Zoan Kame Kame no Mi model: Genbu.

Timeline and character analysis – a PERSONAL take on what could have happened and when (and why)

For this section, other than time markings scattered throughout the story, Momonosuke’s (biological 8 – actual 28), Yamato’s (28), and Hancock’s (31) ages will also be taken into account for comparison.

It is known that the Rocks Pirates were defeated and subsequently disbanded 38 years before the current time. Also, Kaido was captured, and presumably sentenced to jail, eighteen times; given his reputation and danger, it’s pretty safe to assume that at least one of those nine prison ships he sunk was directed to Impel Down.

Impel Down is actually not that far from Amazon Lily: the journey takes one sailing week with an average ship, while Marine ones can make it in just four days, about half the time, because of the reserved currents. In my opinion, it makes sense thinking that Kaido has sunk a prison ship in the Paradise and somehow ended up in Amazon Lily.

Now, everyone here knows the supreme rule of the Island of Women:

NO. MEN. ALLOWED.

For any reasons.

So, by the laws of the island, he was imprisoned and, just like Luffy, was sentenced to death. But, like the latter pirate did, Kaido defeated/broke/knocked unconscious all the animal/things commonly used for executions on the island, therefore the Empress finally decided to take the matter into her own hands.

I believe the Kuja Empress at the time was Gloriosa. Why?

Well, it was stated that 33 years ago the remnants of the Rocks Pirates sent off to found their own crews, and probably Kaido arrived in Amazon Lily even earlier, between 38 and 33 years ago. As Hancock stated, Gloriosa is actually the former-former-former empress of Amazon Lily: this means that there were two Empresses between her and Hancock; since the latter is stated to have become Empress at the age of 18, 13 years ago, and given that the other two unnamed Empresses died of Love Sickness which probably is more likely to strike the unlucky rulers at a fairly young age, 20-25 years are more than enough for two Empresses to have reigned.

To estimate her actual force at the time, let’s analyse her name a bit.

Like all Kujas, Gloriosa is named after a flower (or a genus of those): Gloriosa is a genus of 12 flower species, widely spread in areas of the world such as Africa, the Arabic Peninsula and tropical parts of Asia. It can reach 3 metres in height and they display showy, vibrant-colored flowers with distinctively shaped petals, earning them the nickname of fire lily.

So, the question arises spontaneously: why is this short, wrinkly old woman named after one of the most beautiful (and tallest) flowers in the world? Given Oda’s attention even for the tiniest details, I highly doubt he chose this name randomly; at least, not for her.

Either she’s a grotesque parody of her own name… or it could be a foreshadow.

Gloriosa is also the Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan word meaning ‘glorious’, if the subject it’s related to is feminine and singular. A truly fitting name for a ruler and the wife of a Yonko, isn’t it? And Kaido want his death to be… glorious.

Maybe Gloriosa in her prime was actually even more beautiful and stronger than the current Hancock, to the point where nobody had ever beaten her in combat.

Anyway, you know how the saying goes: if it’s one on one, always bet on Kaido.

Therefore, Gloriosa was defeated for the first time. By a man.

Hancock’s case probably gives us how Empresses fall ill with Love Sickness: it happens when a man catches them off guard by behaving in a totally and positively unexpected way, defying all the previous experiences the rulers have. Hancock fell in love with Luffy because he showed her kindness and didn’t judge her when she told him about her past; Gloriosa got Love Sickness because she fell in love with Kaido for his strength.

Because love… is always like a Dragon Twister hurricane!

How about Kaido?

It is common knowledge that he respects physical strength, even in his enemies.

That’s probably why he joined the Rocks Pirates in the first place: out of respect for Rocks D. Xebec, because he was actually the first person ever to defeat him in combat.

Just like Zoro with Kuina, or Douglas Bullet with Gol D. Roger (in the Stampede movie).

Gloriosa may have not defeated him in combat, but she surely gave him a very good run for his money, maybe she almost won. And he respected her for that, to the point where he actually accepted to leave Amazon Lily, even if he won. He stayed there for a little more, while a ship for him to sail the sea was being prepared, and lived peacefully (meaning: extensively touched and examined) with the Kujas.; what are the chances that one of his favourite (or least) foods is actually penne with Gorgonzola and Sea King’s meat, the island’s culinary speciality?

When he sat sail, he probably found out that the Empress snuck aboard his ship when he was far away from the island already. He thought of bringing her back, but, after listening to her reasons, he decided to let her stay with him because, let’s face it, Kaido is not Luffy, he actually appreciates the company of women.

The most beautiful woman in the world fell in love with him and contracted a mysterious illness which would have killed her if she didn’t go with him and follow him anywhere?

Oh no! /s

I’ll tell you what, I don’t think that Kaido was actually in love with her at first that much. He surely enjoyed spending passionate nights with her, and was amused by her curiosity due to Gloriosa knowing little to nothing about the external world.

There was a specific moment when he actually fell in love with her.

Have you noticed that, despite being often shirtless, Kaido's back is never fully uncovered even in his dragon form? He always wears a coat, a shirt, or both.

That hints that Kaido has some kind of mark on his back he wants to hide from public view, just like the Gorgon Sisters. Something must have happened that made him show her said mark, maybe Gloriosa caught a glimpse and asked him to see it. Anyway, Kaido was reclutant at first, but she had the right to know, she was his wife after all.

So he showed it to her, in a way that, when it will be shown in the flashback, might be a callback to when Hancock showed Luffy the Celestial Dragon hoof.

That mark meant that for the world he had and would always have been something inhuman, a failed experiment, a monster; even Big Mom, who has the best spy network in the world, calls him a 'thing'. But Gloriosa didn’t judge him for said mark, nor she believed he was a monster. For Gloriosa, he was just Kaido, the man who she had fallen in love with.

That's when Kaido fell for her. And he fell hard, probably to the point of no return.

At some point, the two conceived a child, and that's when Kaido decided that it was time to move to Wano instead of travelling the world: the pirate life is dangerous for grown people let alone for a child, plus he was one of the most wanted men by the World Government, meaning the child was in danger simply by existing.

But how did Kaido know about Wano?

He probably heard something about the Continent Puller and the ‘country’ he formed about 600 years before but, since it was a closed nation, he probably didn’t know much more until he met someone who escaped from said island: Kurozumi Higurashi.

41 years ago, she told Orochi that she fled the country because of the persecutions against the Kurozumi clan, and because she knew nothing about the outside world, joining pirates was the easier choice. Also, in that way she could have found allies and power for the Kurozumi cause easier.

The Mane Mane no Mi allows the user to create a perfect copy of a person whose face has been touched. She transformed in a woman, who, judging by the color scheme in the anime, is heavily hinted to be Bakkin and a young Shiki, both known members of the Rocks Pirates, so Higurashi may have traveled with said crew for a while. There she met Kaido, who she sensed he could have been a great help for the Kurozumis: big, powerful, and stupid, easy to manipulate.

A closed off country not part of the World Government: a perfect nation for Kaido to reside to ensure the safety of his family (mainly his child, because Gloriosa was more than capable of defending herself) and to use as a base for his operations.

When Oden went with Whitebeard 29 years ago, there were no factories in Wano, but they were there when Toki arrived in Wano with Momonosuke, who was 3 at the time, and Hiyori; so Kaido must have arrived in Wano three years earlier at last.

Gloriosa may not have been the Kuja Empress anymore, but had everything a woman like her could ask for: she was one of the heads of a soon to be powerful army, plus a devoted, loving husband and a child.

Why did she leave it all behind?

I have already talked about the parallels between Gloriosa and turtles in the mythology section, but here’s another one: in Chinese culture, turtle (especially turtle egg) is a very serious insult regarding the morality of one’s mother; that’s why Genbu is called Black Warrior instead of Black Tortoise.

This also expands one of Wano’s most prominent themes: betrayal.

Gloriosa was forced to leave Wano and Yamato behind because she cheated on Kaido. But with who?

Well, the Beast Pirates follow a card games and decks naming theme, and currently there is none named Ace; also, when Oden faced Kaido, Jack was only 8, so my hypothesis is that the third Calamity before him was called Ace. He probably had a crush on Gloriosa and when she went to him for comfort while Kaido was away, probably out to recruit subordinates or captured, he couldn’t resist.

But Kaido caught the two in the act, and was absolutely furious.

He killed Ace, and his position remained vacant for quite some time, until Jack finally took his place in the Calamities; that's why, in Episode 972, there were only King and Queen along with the fodder.

However, Kaido couldn't bring himself to kill his wife personally, so he offered her a choice: be dispatched by the hands of King or Queen, or leave and never return.

Gloriosa chose the second option.

She packed her things and left, only to realize she had nowhere to go: Wano obviously was not an option, but she couldn't just go back to Amazon Lily, not after she betrayed Kujas by abandoning them while she was an Empress. Plus, as a pirate, she was wanted by the Marine. So she lived on the run, continuously assuming new identities and never staying in the same place for too long.

Also, Love Sickness certainly has played its role in weakening her, making her age faster and dramatically decreasing her height in the process.

Taking a look at Hancock’s bed, it’s decisiverly oversized for her: said bed could comfortably fit a laid Boa Hancock together with her Snake Weapon, which is way larger than the others, her sisters, the doctor and Gloriosa, and still have room left for someone else to stand on it.

It is very likely that this bed was the Empress’s for a long time, and, since that position is not inherited, it had to fit Kujas of all sizes. So Gloriosa could have been taller in her youth, maybe a little shorter than Kaido, but still enough to handle him.

Anyway, Gloriosa managed to survive through sheer willpower, the same that allows her to snap out of Hancock’s charm much faster than the others, until her feelings for Kaido eventually faded away, thus healing from said illness.

When she finally arrived to Sabaody Archipelago, at least fifteen years ago, she was unrecognisable. Coincidentally, Shakky's Rip-Off bar was searching for new waiters, and Gloriosa applied because she needed money. The former pirate immediately recognised her.

How is that possible? Feminine intuition!

In chapter 591, she correctly predicted that Hancock would became smitten with Luffy despite not seeing her for thirteen years and every evidence in Hancock's behaviour pointing out the contrary. (Also in the very same chapter Hancock asks Gloriosa how to have a proper marriage while surrounded by monkeys wearing Wano's typical hat. Let that sink in).

Shakky understood that Kaido had no interest in her anymore and let her stay with her and Rayleigh, until the Boa sisters arrived and Gloriosa could finally return to Amazon Lily with the excuse of bringing them back home.

On the other hand, Kaido was devastated, to say the least.

Can you blame him? His beloved wife was cheating on him with one of his most trusted subordinates. He needed to forget, to get rid of all those negative feelings overwhelming him: that's why he started drinking.

However, Kaido isn't stupid. Okay, he may not be as smart as Benn Beckman, the most intelligent person introduced in the East Blue arc, but he surely has some brains: you don't reach and mantain high positions within a crew without some smarts, let alone being an Emperor of the Sea. Kaido soon realised that he caught the two relatively easily. Too easily.

Almost if they wanted to get caught in the act.

While Kaido was drinking his sorrow away, someone else was toasting to a risky plan gone smoothly.

The Kurozumi clan.

Higurashi may have lured Kaido into Wano and the alliance with the Kurozumi, but she didn’t predict that he would have arrived with a wife and a child. Gloriosa probably had a great influence on Kaido, who was (and maybe is still) regarded as little more than a muscle head; and the Kurozumis were actually afraid that she may have been plotting something. This impression was confirmed by the Onibanshu who spied the two pirates: probably Gloriosa wasn't happy about the shogun and suggested her husband some ways to dethronate him.

She was a threat, and they needed to get rid of her as soon as possible.

They sensed that one of Kaido’s top subordinates had feelings for Gloriosa, and they decided to use this fact to their advantage. So Higurashi transformed using her Devil Fruit powers and seduced the crew’s Ace, in a time and a place where she was sure Kaido could see them, while someone else distracted Gloriosa. In the end, everything went according to plan.

However, when Kaido saw the old hag using her powers some time after, he understood everything. But he had no concrete proofs, and certainly wasn't in the position to kill someone so important to his pawn based only on simple suspects; so he waited, until the perfect moment arrived.

Meanwhile, Kaido kept drinking, to forget his actions and to numb his guilt. At first, a little quantity of alcohol did the trick, but eventually he needed more and more, slowly falling into addiction.

You know, Gloriosas’ beauty is only matched by their toxicity: as proud members of the Colchicaceae family, they contain colchicine, a powerful metabolic toxin; all parts of these plants can be fatal if eaten, even a simple touch can cause skin irritation. Due to this, Gloriosa superba has been used for centuries to commit suicide.

Just like colchicine corrodes the body, alcohol, together with shame, guilt and anger, slowly eroded Kaido’s soul, corrupting him from within.

While Kaido's original plan for Wano was simply to make the island his operational base, after all that happened he decided to destroy and utterly annihililate it, just like Orochi destroyed his happiness. The shogun was fine with his ally’s devastations and never suspected that Kaido knew. The latter made Orochi believe he wouldn’t touch the Flower Capital, just to completely erase it from the face of Earth once his army would have been powerful enough to fight an all-out war. Revenge is a dish best served cold and then smashed on the forehead.

The rest is history.

Surely Kaido will be defeated, but he will not be completely dealt with in this arc.

Yamato probably got their kind, selfless nature from Gloriosa. The latter would have never approved of the terms of Kaido’s promise to Oden, let alone all the hostages and atrocities done by her husband; since Oden began to dance naked in the streets 25 years ago, probably Gloriosa was already gone at that time.

Because of this, Yamato has little to no memories of their mother, so they will likely ask Kaido about her at the end of the battle. However, Kaido himself doesn’t know her whereabouts because he didn’t send spies after her; at first, because he didn’t care about her anymore. When he realised his mistake, he still didn’t search for her because otherwise it would have shown that she was still important to him. He is not naive, he knows there are spies in his ranks, even at high levels; therefore he wants to avoid attracting unwanted attentions to her.

Plus, Kaido doesn’t even want to know, because Gloriosa probably is dead or has found another person to be with; and he deep down knows that those news would definitely break him.

However, there’s one little detail: Gloriosa’s speech quirk-nyon. Even if her appearance has changed quite a bit, she surely did nyot change her way of talking. Luffy would probably understand Kaido is talking about her because of this, and will tell them that she’s alive and well in Amazon Lily.

It is a known fact that our protagonist either kills the villains’ dreams or changes them: Kaido will change his goal too. He wouldn’t want to die yet, he will probably want to meet Gloriosa again to apologize properly for what he had done to her.

Thus, he will survive the battle and somehow, after almost thirty years, Kaido and Gloriosa will meet again.

Will Gloriosa forgive him? Will she not?

Only Oda will tell.

Other references

Black Maria Many people actually believe she’s a Kuja, and I admit, they have pretty good reasons for thinking so. Let’s start by her name: other than being a card game, Black Maria is also a variety of bougainvillea, a clear reference to Kuja’s floral naming theme; there is also a flower named Spider Lily (Lycoris radiata) referencing her Devil Fruit powers and Amazon Lily alike. Black Maria has also flowers in her hair; the most prominent ones, colored in red, have also five petals, much like the one Gloriosa wears in her hair! She is also the owner of a brothel in Onigashima and, also due to her size, it’s heavily implied that she and Kaido have a… passionate relationship, as Oda would put it (However, Kaido probably views her as nothing more than a distraction). Of course, Kaido and his wife must have had their passionate moments, since they have a child. Moreover, Benzaiten is almost always represented playing a biwa, and, as shown in chapter 992, Black Maria can play it very well. She also has a remarkable singing voice, a feature which was one of the basic requisites to become a geisha. Geishas also were protected by Benzaiten. All in all, Black Maria is actually the biggest reference to Gloriosa... in a literal and figurative sense! Oh, one last thing: the men tied to her webs in Chapter 1005 can be a symbol for Kaido’s soul, unable to move on and perpetually being trapped in the memories and regrets of his relationship with Gloriosa together with his alcohol addiction.

Kaido’s flagship Currently, Kaido’s flagship is the only one among the four Emperors’ which has yet to be seen or named. Some speculate that it’s actually Onigashima, but, in my opinion, that’s not the case: why would he travel with his entire home, with the concrete risk of it being destroyed every time he faces an opponent? Also, Yamato is in there: they have explosive handcuffs which doesn’t allow them to leave the island, but what if someone with internal destruction haki actually removes them thus freeing Yamato and letting them escape? Also, what if Yamato actually gets severely wounded, or worse, killed by invaders? Kaido actually strikes me as an overprotective dad, thus he will never directly expose his child to external danger. The handcuffs will explode if and only if Yamato actually tries to leave Onigashima: if they stay there, nothing will happen. Plus, in chapter 997, when Kaido started lifting Onigashima someone said that the island had never trembled like that before. Kaido actually has his flagship, and the reason why it hasn’t been shown is its name. I’ve said before that Gloriosa means glorious in some languages, therefore there’s a big chance that the ship will have in its name also the Japanese word of the same meaning. Maybe it’s called ‘Glorious Dragon’ in Japanese, or something like that.

Yamato Now, this will touch one of the most controversial topics within the community right now, which is Yamato’s gender; I wish not to discuss about it under this post, because this isn’t the time nor the place (IMO it’s better to delay the discussion at the end of this arc, when Yamato will hopefully detach from the Kozuki Oden persona and find their own identity). Regardless of all this, Yamato was born as a female: and Kujas give birth to female babies only.

Kaido and Big Mom comparison: Although they were part of the same pirate crew for some time and both of them being now Emperors, there are a lot of things about their characters which mark these two as counterparts: first of all, Kaido is male and Big Mom is female. Big Mom belongs to the older generations of pirates, while Kaido belongs to the new one (together with Shanks). Kaido drinks a lot while Big Mom eats a lot. Big Mom has more than 80 children, while Kaido just one*. Lastly, Big Mom has had many unknown husbands, who she married and treated as equals only to discard them when their children are born, revealing she had zero feelings towards them. With the previous comparisons in mind, it would make perfect sense for Kaido to have had only one wife who has already appeared in the story and who he has loved dearly and maybe still does.

*In my opinion, Katakuri, Oven and Daifuku aren’t Kaido’s sons. Even if the physical resemblance is uncanny, there are two major arguments against this supposed paternity: first, the triplets don’t display any type of horns, which Yamato, the known child of Kaido, has. Secondly, the Yonko’s age: he is surely younger than 68, since this is Big Mom’s age and she considers him like a little brother; however, being heavily implied that Shakuyaku was part of the Rocks Pirates as well and she was considered a pirate, while Kaido was only an apprentice, it’s implicitly stated that he must be younger than her, too. She’s now 64, and this puts his maximum age at 63; given the triplet’s age, 48, Kaido may have had them when he was 15, which is an age when men usually have reached their sexual maturity, but he may be even younger than that, so draw your conclusion.

I admit, this turned out a lot longer than I actually expected. My sincerest kudos to you, dear reader, for reading all this time-consuming post – I hope you enjoyed it as much as I had fun writing it.

Please, let me know your thoughts, they are more than welcome!

TL;DR: Gloriosa is Kaido’s wife and Yamato’s mother, she has eaten the mythical variant of the Kame Kame fruit, Katakuri is not Kaido’s son and Gin will become Pirate King.

comments on reddit  :

kaido has been revealed to be 59 

I really want to know who yamatos mother was and I am willing to accept any theory for now

[strawbewwysamurai]

hello!! i saw your art for your OC if she were in the akazaya, and i love it. i really like when people have a bunch of AUs for a single OC. would you mind telling me more about this part of rory's story?? what happens to her after the execution, what's her role, and any ships??(PS i see that you also love... kyoshiro... what a guy right!!)

Oh my gosh yes, I love this peacock-looking fool and his big dumb grins-- 10ft tall and could kick my butt in 3000 different ways, but I would very much like to hug him because he needs it badly,,, I could talk about him a bunch, especially since I’m fully caught up manga wise,,

And OMG!!! Someone sending me an ask about Rory!!! You just made my whole week!!!!! :DDD

Oh man I think I altered Wano arc so much that it's only half recognizable so excuse my self indulgence if this isn't anything you were expecting-- But I ship her with the big himbo Oden himself in this au, so I had to do some dancing to make everything work! ^^ Oden also avoids execution, but I'll explain how as well!

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Rory was an outsider who escaped from a Celestial Dragon's ship and found her way crashing into the shores of Wano! She met Oden in Kuri fairly early on into his reforming of it, and she practically broke his nose when he tried flirting with her because she was so panicked after everything she had been through, and his confident nature ^^; he thought it was hilarious and endearing, but she ran off before he could continue talking to her or find out why she was dressed so strangely, being from outside of Wano and all.

Later, Oden and the Akazaya learn about a girl causing trouble at the Flower Capital, so despite his not-yet-lifted banishment from there, they travel there to see what’s going on. Of course upon arriving he sees the same girl as before crashing into food carts and people as she tries to get away from guards trying to catch her for being an outsider to question her, especially because of the destruction she had caused.

The Akazaya were pretty unsuccessful in catching her themselves, to the point where she actually managed to bite Denjiro, much to his shock and hollering. They only managed to finally catch her when Oden decided to stop laughing and help, and they ended up taking her back to Kuri as Oden told the other guardsmen that she was with them and from there. Given Kuri’s prior reputation, they believed it easily and just wanted to get Oden back out of the capital. 

They let her go free after talking to her about how she had gotten there and after Oden had excitedly asked her about the world outside of Wano’s borders, and she ended up deciding to stick around. Over the course of a while, she ended up falling for Oden and him for her, and she trained to become one of his retainers and a part of the Akazaya. She saw all the others as her brothers and sister, and was very close to Kin’emon, and Denjiro after the two of them stopped being grumps towards each other. She was especially close with Denjiro.

Also in my au, Toki's a ninja who works with Shinobu and the Akazaya closely, because of the Amatsuki clan's ties with the Kozuki clan. Because of this, her son Momonosuke is later chosen as a successor to Oden because of just how close she is to both Rory and Oden and how much they cared for her children.

As for the execution, Toki was present and was able to time-jump Oden ahead before the finishing blow was given to him, shortly after the Akazaya had taken off towards the castle. Oden ends up in present time at the capital, and manages to go into hiding after he figures out what Toki had done. Knowing fully well how he had been overtaken before, and how powerful Orochi and Kaido could be now, he decided to actually think before he acts for once and remained hidden for a while. 

Of course, back in the past, Toki’s actions shocked everyone, thinking she had just teleported a half-dead man somewhere. It gave her a chance to take off and escape to Oden castle to warn Rory about what was happening. 

When they arrived there, Toki gives the Akazaya basically the speech she gives them in canon, before Kawamatsu leaves with Hiyori and she sends the others into time. 

Rory gets sent off with Kin'emon and Co. through time and travels with him throughout the canon arcs leading to Wano! Everyone spends the time believing both Toki and Oden perished two decades ago, because Toki never had a moment to explain that she had sent Oden off after the boiling. 

 Later on, Rory and Kin’emon become separated shortly after returning back to Wano after Zou, though, and she ends up getting caught by some of Kyoshiro's men and taken to him. Upon where he instantly recognizes her as the dork he used to call a little sister, and despite his hopes and Toki’s prophecy, is shocked and overjoyed to see her alive and okay. 

He takes her to a private room and reveals his identity to her, and they have a tearful reunion before she begins working as a geisha for him so he can keep her safe and close. She finds her way back to Kin’emon and the others though, explaining where she’s been and what she’s been doing, but keeps Denjiro’s secret up until he reveals himself on the way to the raid. 

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I'm still ironing out the timeline and how everything happens with Toki and the Whitebeard pirates to the Roger pirates misadventures, and how I’ll work the Onigashima Raid in this au, but this is everything I have so far in short~ Even if it's... not exactly short ^^; Thank you so so much for asking and reading though!! I don’t often get to ramble about Rory to others besides friends, and I love doing so a lot!!! Have a lovely week lovely!!! <333 

And I never mind further asks about things I’ve mentioned or any asks about my ocs just saying

[the-bejeesus]

Another One Piece Birthday that Somehow Reveals a Lot of Lore

      So about a year ago I discussed how the Vivre Card Databooks use snow men’s birthdays to prove that a pre-timeskip arc occurred specifically at a certain date, allowing us to estimate when every pre-timeskip arc took place. However, because of the margin of error in the estimations, along with the vagueness of a “two year timeskip”, it was too difficult to pinpoint dates on any post-timeskip arcs.

      Well, not anymore. You see, for awhile now we’ve known that the Straw Hat Pirates’ birthday is June 13th, but we had no clue what that meant. Well, somebody translated the page for me, and it represents the day the Straw Hats reunited on Sabaody, making the Return to Sabaody arc take place June 13th, 1524. So now all we have to is take note of the passage of time to further estimate arc dates.

Our first immediate hurdle is the Straw Hats all losing consciousness. However, it can be assumed that they didn’t pass out for an entire day.

Despite Sanji passing out from blood loss, there’s no indication that a day has passed.

Despite Fishman Island having its own underwater light source, it appears that night and day still pass. Perhaps the tree is using light from the sun, so it can’t light up the water unless the sun’s out. Anyways, I’m going to count this as one day.

Arriving on Punk Hazard, there’s a huge storm, so it’s hard to tell if it’s day or night. But I would assume it’s the morning of June 14.

Again, there’s some evil knockout gas trying to get in our way, but because not much time seems to pass in Luffy’s group between Nami’s group passing out and waking up, I wouldn’t assume much time has passed. Probably not even an hour.

But that’s not all, Luffy and co are defeated by Caesar and once again left unconscious. However, Zoro’s team is left in tact, so it’s shown that not much time passes before they wake up.

Now you would think that the aftermath at least was a long time, right? After all, Mocha took some powerful drugs and needed recovery. But actually it would appear Law’s treatment was radically successful. The Straw Hats are having a huge banquet at the beginning of the aftermath, and people are still eating just when they’re about to leave.

When they set out, that’s when they finally go to sleep, making Punk Hazard June 14th and just a little bit of June 15th.

While you may have heard the phrase “Dressrosa is 100 chapters but somehow it all covers the course of one day”, and while that’s partially true, it’s ignoring the aftermath of the Dressrosa arc.

For one, night is shown to pass, but on top of that, it’s noted that the Straw Hats have stayed for 3 days since Doffy’s defeat, making it June 18th.

Zou begins on the same day,

Only for a week’s worth of sailing to pass later, making it June 25th.

“Now hold on, a week is vague. It could be exactly 7 days, or it could be 10, or 5!” True, but the dates add up when Robin says “can you tell us everything about the last 11 days from the start?” If it’s June 25th, the last 11 days have been June 15th through June 25th.

As Nami and co go on describing what’s been happening, night passes. This is the only time they can meet Master Cat Viper, as he and Duke Dogstorm have alternating shifts, making it June 26th.

Despite treating Zunesha’s injuries, no passage of time is really indicated, so when Luffy’s group leaves, it can be assumed to still be June 26th.

Now this is where it gets confusing. The Straw Hats note it’ll take multiple days to get to Whole Cake Island.

Then we’re told that it’s still just the first day since they’ve set off, though.

Then it cuts to Sanji and it’s several days later. What do you mean several?

Then when it comes back to the Straw Hats, it’s a few days later. A few??? Is that compounded by Sanji’s “several days later” or seperate?

So now we’re in Totto Land. I would assume it’s once again a week later, making it July 3rd.

Pudding sets up a reindez-vous for tomorrow, on July 4.

We do indeed end up seeing it takes a whole day to actually get to Whole Cake Island.

After the battle with Sanji, night falls. If you’re thinking “hey it’s just a storm” this is proven wrong by Big Mom going to sleep with Brook. The next day is July 5th.

After the wedding, the pursuit of the Straw Hats is shown to go all night long. making it July 6th.

It’s extremely hard to pinpoint when the Reverie happened because the Straw Hats are barely in it, so I’m just gonna say it’s July 6th.

Going into Wano there’s already some problems. For one, there’s no mention of how long it took to get there. And on top of that, they get shipwrecked and pass out. I think it’s safe to assume that it at least took a day to get there, considering how far behind their trail Big Mom ends up being. So it’d be July 7.

Then Kin’emon goes on to say that the Night of the Fire Festival, when they will raid Onigashima, is in exactly two weeks. So the Night of the Fire Festival would be July 21.

And sure enough those two weeks pass exactly as planned.

That is essentially the most info I could find. It’s rather unfortunate that guesswork had to be laid out once we got into Whole Cake Island, but I feel like it’s still pretty accurate.

So, combining what we’ve just estimated with the list of pre-timeskip dates I determined in a previous post, here’s the unofficial complete One Piece story arc timeline:

Pre-timeskip:

East Blue Saga -January 25th, 1522 — February 17th, 1522-

Romance Dawn -January 25th, 1522 — January 26th, 1522-

Orange Town -January 29th, 1522-

Syrup Village -January 30th, 1522 — February 2nd, 1522-

Baratie -February 5th, 1522 — February 10th, 1522-

Arlong Park -February 12th, 1522 — February 15th, 1522-

Loguetown -February 17th, 1522-

Alabasta Saga -February 18th, 1522 — March 8th, 1522-

Reverse Mountain -February 18th, 1522-

Whiskey Peak -February 18th, 1522-

Little Garden -February 21st, 1522-

Drum Island -February 24th, 1522-

Alabasta -March 1st, 1522 — March 8th, 1522-

Sky Island Saga -March 11th, 1522 — March 14th, 1522-

Jaya -March 11th, 1522-

Skypiea -March 12th, 1522 — March 14th, 1522-

Water 7 Saga -March 15th, 1522 — March 30th, 1522-

Long Ring Long Land -March 15th, 1522-

Water 7 -March 22nd, 1522 — March 23rd, 1522-

Enies Lobby -March 24th, 1522-

Post-Enies Lobby -March 27th, 1522 — March 30th, 1522-

Thriller Bark Saga -April 2nd, 1522 — April 5th, 1522-

Thriller Bark -April 2nd, 1522 — April 5th, 1522-

Summit War Saga -April 9th, 1522 — May 5th, 1522-

Sabaody Archipelago -April 9th, 1522-

Amazon Lily -April 11th, 1522-

Impel Down -April 15th, 1522 — April 16th, 1522-

Marineford -April 17th, 1522-

Post-War -May 1st, 1522 — May 5th, 1522-

Post-timeskip:

Fishman Island Saga -June 13th, 1524 — June 14th, 1524-

Return to Sabaody -June 13th, 1524-

Fishman Island -June 13th, 1524 — June 14th, 1524-

Dressrosa Saga -June 14th, 1524 — June 18th, 1524-

Punk Hazard -June 14th, 1524 — June 15th, 1524-

Dressrosa -June 15th, 1524 — June 18th, 1524-

Yonko Saga -June 18th, 1524 — July 21st, 1524 (continuing)-

Zou -June 18th, 1524 — June 26th, 1524-

Whole Cake Island -June 26th, 1524 — July 6th, 1524-

Reverie -July 6th, 1524-

Wano-kuni -July 6th, 1524 — July 21st, 1524 (continuing)-

What I find most interesting about these dates is that, a year ago I concluded that the pre-timeskip ended on May 5th, so if the Straw Hats were to wait exactly two years to get back together, June 13th, is not actually that far off. If it was like April or September that Return to Sabaody was supposed to happen, I’d be in a bit of trouble. I also find it interesting that everything from Return to Sabaody to most of Dressrosa was three days, and then over a month has gone by since then, almost entirely from traveling, sleeping, and waiting for the Fire Festival to come around.

[wessasaurus-rex]

One Piece: Chapter 973 - Predictions

It is interesting to see the 20 years idea came from Oden. In the end, it seems that by having learned of all the secrets of the world, Oden had a much better understanding of the overall picture than Toki. After all, the end of the void century might have been a very chaotic time and Toki was maybe too young to understand what was going on.

An updated timelinel:

41 years ago: start of the flashback, the Mountain God incident

39 years ago: Oden becomes Daimyo of Kuri. The same year, Roger reaches Lode Star and realizes there might be another "last island”

38 years ago: the incident at God Valley

33 years ago: former Rocks pirates start recruiting. Kawamatsu, Inu and Nekko join Oden

30 years ago: Oden joins WB and leaves Wano

28 years ago: Roger realizes he has a terminal disease, he goes to the twin capes to recruit Crocus and starts his last journey. Momonosuke is born on the Moby Dick.

26 years ago: Hiyori is born on the Moby Dick. Oden is poached by Roger and leaves the Whitebeard pirates for a year. Roger is shown the road poneglyph from Zou.

25 years ago: Roger and his crew reach the final island and name it Laugh Tale, they then disband. Oden comes back to Wano, then starts to make a fool of himself.

24 years ago: Roger turns himself in to the Marines and is executed.

23 years ago: Moria clashes against Kaido. Ryuma's grave is robbed.

20 years ago: Oden and his men attack Kaido, they are defeated and captured. Oden is executed but saves his retainers. Momonosuke and Kinemon are sent 20 years into the future.

I really hope that there is more to the reason behind the start of Nekos and Inus feud. A 20 year long hatred for eachother just because Neko rejoiced ? Why would Inu hate him for that ? Neko didnt provoke Orochi and Kaido, Oden himself said their minds were already set on killing him anyway. Now, to some prediction:

Chapter 973: This chapter is the last in the flashback. Usually Oda doesnt match the end of a flashback with the end of a chapter, he likes to transition in and off of it between his panels. Toki's mind is set on sending the scabbards 20 years into the future. Now they only have to come to her. At the start of the chapter we will switch back to Kinemons party fleeing the Flower capital. Shinobu may have to sacrifice herself to stall Orochis men in pursue. Along the way, as we know, the argument between Neko and Inu will get worse and they will eventually fight among themselves. That will enable Orochis men to capture them. The other scabbards will not stop and continue rushing back to Kuri. They will find that Odens castle is already in flames, attacked by Kaidos crew. Kaido is inside the castle, preparing to eliminate Odens family. Denjiro and Ashura will attack Kaido and drive him off to buy some time. Toki will then explain her power to the scabbards and send Kinemon, Kiku, Raizo, Kanjuro and Momo 20 years in the future. She will then entrust Hiyori to Kawamatsu and tell him to go into hiding. Finally, she will tell her prophecy as the castle will collapse in flames. I believe that a this moment she chose to teleport 20 years in the future to see if the scabbards would succeed. It is possible that she chose a date further back in time than the scabbards and that she hasnt even reappeared in the present a this stage. If she decided to do that, I dont think it would be shown just yet in the story. In the second half of the chapter we will have the last panels from the past and transition back to the present, on the shore where the scabbards were awaiting their allies. Their argument will be interrupted when an arrow with a message will land close to them, an arrow shot by Usopp from far away and bearing a message from Luffy.

I think this 3rd act needs to address two more plot points regarding Wano's intrigues before the raid on Onigashima takes place in the fourth act. Who is the traitor, and who really is Kyoshiro ? There are chances these two intrigues are linked, and will be solved together. And for that, the plot needs to move back to the flower capital.

So about Kyoshiro. I do believe in the theory where Denjiro and Kyoshiro are the same person. There are several clues leading to that. First, there is the fact Kyoshiro is not loyal to Orochi, at all. He has also been introduced in the first act along the remaining scabbards. Kiku: chapter 913, Kyoshiro: chapter 919, Ashura: chapter 920, Kawamastu: chapter 920. Conveniently, he is also a samurai and money changer. When he finds the card with Kinemons coded message for the rebellion, he seems to understand it. For the record, only those who secretely swore 20 years ago to rize up when the time is ripe were meant to understand the message (so those who had a crescent tatoo on their ankle). He also talks about Toki's death like a first-hand witness. But who was there when she died ? Kaido, his men, maybe some retainers of Kuri and probably Denjiro and Ashura. Where Im getting is that story-wise Kyoshiro was left behind in the capital on purpose. He will join the uprising and enable the thousand or so captured samurai in the capital to take up arms (which will bring their forces to ~5000, the ideal number Kinemon was hoping for at the start of the arc). He will also potentially help in finding the traitor if there is any.

Speaking of the traitor. I tried spinning the problem in every direction I could think of. There are too many possibilities still when you consider that important info might be withheld by Oda. For instance,  it is possible that Shinobu was captured and tortured 20 years ago, had her spirit broken and now secretely serves Orochi. Which would explain the contrast between the thorough and badass Shinobu from the past and the goofy and somewhat incompetent Shinonu from the present. Or the two are not the same person and the present one is an impostor. Still too many possibilities, and not only regarding Shinobu.

A word regarding Luffy/Joy Boy. I really don't think Oda is taking the path of some "reincarnation". I think only the will/drive for freedom is surviving and passing from individual to individual. But all is not about the will and ideal. One can only accomplish so much without some sort of natural power. Some people are forces of nature and blessed with attributes such as conqueror haki/ ability to hear the voice of all things/ ability to turn all the people around you into allies. There is one or more of such type born with those attributes in each generation. All of them will not use these abilities for good purposes. All of them will not become explorers or pirates, all of them will not have the opportunity to reach Laugh Tale and learn the secrets of the world. And even if they did, we understand now that they need at least the help of Poseidon to do anything about it. I think Montblanc Norland was a predecessor  of Luffy and Roger. He ran out of luck and got executed before accomplishing more. Roger was a "chosen one" as much as Luffy and Norland but was too early and he understood it. He was still the first to reach the last island since the void century and decided to make good use of this feat for the future. With Luffy we are only following the story of that one capable man who came at the right time, who was by any means luckier that all those who preceded him. The reason Oden really believes in the coming of a new Joy Boy in 20 years is because of what he heard from the sea kings and the actions of Roger. By talking of the One Piece and initiating a new pirate era, Roger ensured that the capable individual(s) of the next generation had a pretty good chance to strife for freedom and try to explore the whole world and its history.

[sparda3g]

One Piece Chapter 920 Review

Gather around, fans. It’s time for a story about the Wano Country; a country that was once beloved for all and currently beloved for scums. After the shocking revelation of Kin’emon and others, it’s most fitting to clear out some of the past history’s mysteries. While it won’t answer all, in fact leaving some questions behind, this chapter evaluated the value of recovering the country to its former glory with the rising hype for a potential warfare.

If you are fond of the series’ rich world-building, then this chapter is for you. Throughout, it’s about the origin of Oden, Kin’emon and others’ backstory before time-warping to the present, and connections with many present characters. Oden Castle was actually called Kuri Castle; already presenting Oden as a caring and lovable man. Putting his people first above all. Although he was beloved, he was considered as a wild card as he went through violent fights and essentially exiled from the Flower Capital.

The country wasn’t completely paradise as there was once a lawless area, which is self-explanatory with criminals and such. The real shocker about it is that place was Kuri; in other words, it was once an awful place. Even Shogun back then didn’t want to touch it. That’s where Oden reappeared and took on Ashura Douji. I’m very aware of the reference to Japanese culture. No, there won’t be any reincarnation…for now. Anyway, he was so evil and powerful, and yet Oden defeated him. That’s where the paradise feel was born.

I should mention that Oden was the son of Shogun Kouzuki Sukiyaki. While Shogun failed to act upon Kuri’s problems, Oden took on the challenge and won. For an exile, he sure was capable to be a Shogun. To top it all off, he forced the criminals to become workers and created a paradise for the citizens. Eventually, his father heard the story and bestowed him the title of Daimyo of Kuri at the age of 20. That’s pretty impressive. The one fond quote Kin’emon would always remember from him is “It’s too cramped here.” To me, that tells me Oden was indeed a nice fellow.

The story gets a short break with Zoro, who is of course lost. The funny thing about him is he believes his friends are the one that are lost. He believe it because he rode on that Komainu. Why Luffy and Zoro’s logic are going bonkers lately? Oh well, they do make me laugh. I don’t know what will happen to him, but I get the feeling he will drag trouble along with him. What else is new?

Duke Inuarashi makes his return. I do like him, so I was happy to see him again. I do wonder on who will break the news about Pedro’s demise. It’s going to suck when it happens. Outside of the prediction, it’s rather touching when he is at the beach, recollecting the good memories he has with his first meeting with Oden. It’s already said that he and Nekomamushi have fond connection with the Samurai, so this was heartwarming to know where it began.

I really like the silent storytelling treatment while pointing out Oden and his establishments. He was so beloved by many, including Whitebeard and Gol D. Roger. The part that makes it heartwarming is how there’s no speech bubbles coming from Kin’emon and others, but their reactions are delightful. You can see how great Oden was just by watching their expressions. It will make you laugh, it will have you in awed, and it will make you feel happy. Sadly, it will make you feel sad and frustrated.

It’s a smooth move of Oda to skip the story for us fans and let only Strawhats hear about the turning event. It keeps us engaged with the story, leaving us wondering why Oden had to die the way it did. It appears to me that Orochi was probably a friend of Oden, only to backstab him in the end. I can only guess based on Nami’s reaction. It’s a smart move in writing perspective to keep us interested in Orochi. After the early soothing atmosphere, it’s sad to see Kin’emon and others from the past to breakdown into tears. His saddening words about Oden’s final moment was emotional; words about 20 years ago, only it happened a few months ago for them felt heavy.

Kin’emon and others’ last action before time-warp is tragic and questionable. I feel bad for them for running towards to the castle, only to find it already in fire, thanks to Kaido. That’s one tie-in to hate Kaido. It’s rather sad that they had to “ignore” Inuarashi and Nekomamushi when they were caught by Orochi’s subordinates. I don’t blame them for their minds most likely were running wild with fear and sorrow.

Then we enter the questionable part of the story but in a good way. Lady Toki, the wife of Oden, was with Hiyori and Momo inside the burning castle. The story does confirm that she was the one with the ability to go to the future, but cannot go back to the past. The interesting part is she came from the distant past; at least according to the rumor. This has a good potential to expand the lore with some of her recollections that could associate with Gol D. Roger, D. Family, or even beyond. Don’t forget how Law is part of D. and that didn’t cross my mind at all, so you never know when we get a visual flashback.

It was at that point that Kin’emon made a final pledge with her that no matter how far into the future he and others will go, they will do whatever it takes to fulfill Oden’s wish. She gave them Momo to take care of and the time-warp took them 20 years later. What about Hiyori? Was she dead already? Can Toki foresee the future of when the time of Orochi and Kaido’s reign end? Was choosing 20 years a random time-warp destination or was it “destiny?” Shame that she couldn’t warp time with them, but perhaps she was hurt or can’t do it on herself anymore.

It’s rather frightening to instantly warp to the future and witness the same country under new lifestyle. It’s equivalent to a prisoner, who was imprisoned for 20 years, now able to roam back to the city, only life has advanced far ahead of him, and that can turn his head off. In here, they felt that they have no chance to fulfill Oden’s wish for everything seems paradise for the rotten and hell for the poor. Their mind changed when they met few people that had been waiting for their return.

Judging by that guy’s words, it appears that Toki may in fact can see the future or at least set the time destination. 20 years is pretty specific. That said does that mean it’s guaranteed that this present time is where the Wano Country will “reborn?” The only problem is at what cost. Hope was slowly rising back in their heart, but then they all split apart under unlucky circumstances.

Raizou was separated during the chase from the country. That’s when they were told to meet back at Zou. Then due to bad navigation and landed on Dressrosa, out of all places, Kanjuro was separated. Lastly, the rest landed on Punk Hazard and were taken by Caesar. The story of the rising sun began when Luffy meets Kin’emon. That’s one touching story. It’s amazing how it feels like one big saga, starring with Punk Hazard Arc. It’s like one massive build-up for this arc, including Whole Cake Island Arc, if we were to believe Big Mom and Kaido joined forces. What a journey.

Now we have the backstory out of the way, it’s time to increase the hype level for the next action phase. Kin’emon enters the war plan phase, which already has me pumping up. He names all the forces they currently have: Straw Hat Crew, The Musketeers and The Guardians of the Mink Tribe, Heart Pirates (Law), and the Rebels. The idea is to have 5000 strong to match up. Oh, that has “calling for Luffy’s fleet” written all over it. Damn, this is hype. Sure, starting a war is not an idea, but you damn sure know it’s going to happen. Okay, I am jumping ahead.

Anyway, the idea now is to wait for two weeks. Their intention is to gather information and take the Commander’s head. Damn, that’s hardcore, but necessary. In two weeks, they will commence the raid on Onigashima, where Kaido resides. Holy crap, what!? Translation: our main hype begins in two weeks; the series’ timeline, not ours (sadly). Oda knows when and we can only starve until he feeds it to us. After the backstory and the gathering names of troops, I couldn’t be any more excited.

Overall, this was a compelling and interesting chapter from top to bottom. I really enjoyed the backstory, even with some skipped moments, but it only got me more curious and interested. I’m glad Toki’s Devil Fruit ability can only make her travel to the future, which spares from fans from the headache, let alone Oda himself. The hype level continue to escalate higher with the two-week plan that will be massive. Once again, One Piece is taking a break. The future is killing me.

Oh, and the chapter’s cover is hilarious.

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1023 - Initial Thoughts

15 Minutes is on the clock

Onigashima reaches the mainland and the fights continue on. Including the Wings of the King vs the Disasters of the Beast

Without further ado, let's get into it

Spoilers for Chapter 1023, Support the Official Release too

Vivi cover page is nice, proper Disney Princess action with Karoo being jealous birb again, but now I have worries because last we heard something went down with Alabasta...all those post-Reverie questions

Back to where we left off with the boys being back in town

Miyagi can you not ominously foreshadow Zoro's future pain please?

Kawamatsu's here to save Zoro from interference, and Hyou's telling the Yakuza not to get in the way of this fight

Marco though is a pensive Pineapple, taking a good long look at King as he recalls Whitebeard telling him about King's race living on the Red Line before the world nobles, Void Century and before stuff

Mention of Gods does fuel one of my old post fan theories, but also fuels that the WG kicked King's race out of the Red Line

Izo though out here saving Marco from being an easy target, tbh Marineford did show he was prone to a surprise attack

Asking Izo if they believe in God though in a raid that may lead to their deaths is kinda irreverent right now though huh?

Queen back to hyping themselves up though

Hm? Is there a limitation to Sanji's raid suit? Sanji's saying he feels weird

Zoro wasting no time to banter with it though, saving Sanji from King as Sanji returns the favour with Queen

Queen does make a valid point though, as much as Sanji expresses that he is unenhanced by Germa he can also set himself on fire, I do wonder if it is just part of that enhancement in there that he expresses as his 'fiery hot passion'

Lunarian though, that must be King's species' name: moon people again I bet which feeds my fan theories

Also since we mentioned Germa again what happened to them? Jimbei made it out after all and I wanna see me some alive and well Baeju

I would issue doubt on Queen's claim that their enhancements are beyond Vegapunk's, given how little we know of Vegapunk after all

King's got a special sword too, it can change its edge to be teethy which he used to ensnare Zoro's swords

Wado saves Zoro's face from eating King's spiked fist though

King does make a fair point though, traditional weapons are romanticized but a fight's about getting every advantage you can, Zoro at least respects that since King never claimed to be a Swordsman, while also reminding King that he could be a feral bastard too

Kinda gave me mini Mr. 1 fight vibes there

Oh here we go, potential Zoro lineage time

Kawamatsu and Hyou muse over how Zoro was like Ushimaru when he was young, even down to his style (though that could be more Shimotsuki Koushiro's doing since he's Zoro's master)

Also Ushimaru was Ryuma's direct descendant, which means that 1. Ryuma banged, 2. Swordsmanship runs in the blood and 3. Ryuma banged

Also Ryuma also had the one eye, and it does seem pretty mythical that a swordsman of similar skill and stature returns Shusui back to Wano (even though this should mean that Shusui would be Zoro's birthright and he was kinda forced into relinquishing it)

Also worth reminding that Kozaburo was Kuina's grandpa so there may only be loose relations if Zoro is a Shimotsuki too, we don't exactly know how Kozaburo and Ushimaru are related if it's by blood or clan, plus I still wonder about Tashigi

Over to Jack vs Inu though, and Jack's hybrid form is just...weird

I did not need to see an Elephant head with abs you know Oda!

Both are pretty tired, as Jack mocks Inu saying he has forgiven Zou for the Raizo stuff, since he already destroyed most of it

Inu though with the shoulder toss, reminding Jack that they had to make these sacrifices to get to here

But we're getting the epic speech, and the hole in the roof caused by Ashura's sacrifice is changing Inu back into Su Long

Same thing is happening with Neko, turning Su Long in front of Carrot and Wanda (who I guess are covering from the moon) as he stares down Perospero

And I'm glad Neko's pointing out that Pedro's sacrifice is valid. I truthfully always felt a bit iffy about people saying that Carrot's desire to avenge Pedro was ill-found because 'Pedro killed himself'. Had Pedro not sacrificed himself then Brook and Chopper would've been dead by candy and Big Mom would've obliterated the rest on the ship

Raizo and Megaforehead though prelude with the mention of maturity, that everyone - even the Akazaya - needed time to mature into who they wanted to be

Down to the surface though and the Heart Pirates are on high alert/panic, they think Kaido's here

But it's Momo, and he looks magnificent

Shinobu's aged him up to 28, the age he'd be had he not been leapt through time, but now she's upset he looks like Kaido

There's new fire in Momo's eyes though, the return ascent begins!

Can you feel that? It feels like the last stretch before the ultimate battle of Wano

Sanji and Zoro vs King and Queen hopefully will remain a tag bout, but I am curious as to King's abilities and what's affecting Sanji in terms of the raid suit. It's not bad to have a limitation but this is the first we've heard of it after seeing him use it 4 times. I don't hate Zoro being a Shimotsuki, though I do feel like we could've built to this, plus we're still lacking in the how.

One wonders what role Marco will now play, and whether Tiny Tiny Chopper is due to recover. We haven't heard from the others for a bit, nor CP0 nor Yamato. Our Pineapple does have unfinished business with Edward Weevil tbf so he could make it out, Izo may be a variable in that, they've yet to learn of Kiku's fate.

Also we never did see who that mystery person was did we? Still could be Hiyori

Marco's musing about gods does feel like we're gonna get more about King, and more lore of the world that Robin will love to soak up like a sponge, Oda have been leaving these seeds since Skypeia, and where there are Gods, there are Devils.

We are however getting major death flags from the minks, one last turn to Su Long to enable their efforts. I like how Ashura's sacrifice is not in vain because of this though, it makes me wonder if there's a slither of hope for Kin and Kiku. If anything though the minks will die from exhaustion rather than being defeated, Su Long eats away at you after all, it's probably gonna be traumatizing for Carrot a little but I hope we see some resolve out of her more like when she was in Zou and WCI, I still want her for Nakama.

And then the final coup de grace, giant dragon Momo, it's one hell of a panel and it means we're bringing Luffy back into the fight. But the extent of Momo's ripening is only in body remember, in mind he's still young. But now we have the setup for the final fight between Luffy and Kaido, I'll expect in that time we'll have to try and finish off everything else with the Akazaya, reconvening the Straw Hats, King, Queen, Big Mom, Kid, Law, Killer, Hawkins, Apoo and Drake.

Act's not over yet, less than 15 minutes until Onigashima Falls.

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 2021 - Initial Thoughts

After Obon snuck in and delayed the chapter we can return to normal programming. Fresh off the heels of Devil Robin and Momo's request we jump back into One Piece, but not where we left off

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release too!

Our cover page this time is Leo and co playing Hide and Seek, they're not that good at it

The map is actually quite handy for showing where the Straw Hats are as well, looks like Franky's well away from the others but nearest to the performance floor, if Nami and Usopp are to reconvene with Robin and Brook they'll likely have to go around BM fighting Kid and Law

Odd also that Ulti and Pay-Pay weren't shown defeated

15 Minutes is not a lot of time either, remember it took Luffy hours to days to defeat Big Mom's sweet commanders, time is not on our side

Luffy's eaten his fill but Caribou is in the background panicking, I'm guessing he's being told that he has to enter the battle

Finally back to the Raizo/Forehead fight

We finally seeing those patented earlobe crackers

Raizo is on the back foot though, because Forehead is exposing his emotions to give away his deception

Finally getting to see Izo and Denjiro during Raizo's speech, but also Kin, Kiku and Ashura's bodies too. I still hope Kin's alive though

Over to Killer vs Hawkins and despite losing a lot of strawmen Hawkins remains confident

and that's why, he somehow got Kid's soul bound to a Straw Man! Does that mean Killer was cutting down other members of his crew?

Come on Hawkins, I've stood up for you for this long, now you're just being a creepy evil Alucard in this place

But playing Devil's Advocate, it may seem like Hawkins doesn't want Kid to die, or else why would he tell Killer?

2 Options though I think Killer could use; cut off Hawkins' arm which Kid is missing or Sea Prism Stone. Though I'd still rather see Hawkins turn on Kaido but at least he's flexing some threat level here

King's back though, and with Queen they're making quick work of the SMILE atrocities

Marco and Sanji are also down having been forced to fight both

King and Queen are after Zoro though, they know it's over if he heals because he's already scarred Kaido today

Pero bastard as well sniping candy arrows

...I'm pretty sure Sanji still married Pudding, the plan was to shoot him as he kissed the bride right so technically they exchanged vows and stuff. But anyway is Sanji died you probably still would've had to team with Kaido because Luffy would still go to Wano

Neko finally fucking arrives, what take a couple of wrong turns buddy?

Taking it outside may also bode well for Carrot and Wanda, who may've recovered by now to perhaps help out, one hopes at least for Carrot, don't want to see her be leverage now

King and Queen have found Cactus Zoro, but Marco makes the save!

Huhhhhh, King is from a race that lived atop the Red Line? Were they ousted from Marejois?

Marco though immediately gives up, he's used his power and he's ready to let the next generation fight

Zoro is reunleashed, and Sanji's there to fight with him too

Tiny Tiny Chopper's face though XD

No squabbling this time though, they have the same goal in mind, win and Luffy's one step closer to being king

Ahhh ain't those boys back in town

finally gonna get a proper Zoro/Sanji team up it looks like against King and Queen. Which works for a lot of reasons but also that I don't think King and Queen can synergize as well. It'll take time though, Sanji hasn't put back in the Raid Suit after all so until then we know he's not at his best

In the defeat of the Tobi Roppo we've put some newer fights in place or back in the forefront so the action will continue. A 15 minute time limit though does make one wonder how it's all gonna go down at that point

maybe Act 3 ends with Kaido about to drop Onigashima, we'll have to see, but a lot is still left to cover, much is still left to do

Clock's ticking Luffy, gotta make your move now.