#yes i said self inserts. there are MULTIPLE dragon ball self inserts lol

[malewifehenrycooldown]

I was going to write up a post about my ship with Android 18 but then realised I had to explain the whole 'But what about Krillin?!' question. So here's a meme I quickly put together to demonstrate how the ship works.

[neverwatchedonepiece]

486: “The Show Begins! Blackbeard's Plot Is Revealed!”

Holy crap, that was amazing... *_*

Just when you think Oda has run out of curve balls to throw and all that’s left is to tidy up the loose ends of an epic arc, he launches this one into outer space.

The best part? I had no clue what was coming. My opinion of Teach and his crew as plot catalysts is totally cemented now. Once they show up, all bets are off.

Argh, I can’t wait to talk about it! I wish I had watched it earlier. I was still bummed about Ace and Whitebeard and couldn’t muster any reviewing energy. Now, the fire is back! As much as I love Whitebeard, that Blackbeard twist was above and beyond.

Let’s get the other stuff out the way first!

Welp, Akainu’s Alive

I was holding out hope someone would find him at the bottom of the ocean during cleanup, but nope, he was clinging to a rock. Damn you, Akainu, and your uncanny grip strength. The way he returned to the battlefield was creative, though, I’ll give him that. He punched a hole in the rock he was holding, melted it and created a lava tunnel, which he walked through, muttering darkly about justice (probably).

While he trudged back looking like an angry, melting waxwork, everyone congregated on the battlefield was still reeling from Whitebeard’s glorious death. The entire world, who had been watching, were also reeling. Some idiots were celebrating, but of course we know most of the general OPverse population have been spoonfed government propaganda all their lives. Oh well. They’ll find out the hard way that Whitebeard had been keeping the peace on a lot of islands.

Rayleigh was watching too. Must’ve been weird for him. All the people he used to know are dropping like flies. I suppose that’s all part and parcel of growing old but normal folk don’t usually get to watch their mates die in battle on television.

Doflamingo was also cheerfully engaged with the plot twist. He felt weirdly like a viewer. He picked himself a nice rock, sat down and was like, “So Teach, what are you up to with those criminals and that jail manager, eh???”

At least Marco, Vista, Ivankov and Jimbei had the sense to obey Whitebeard’s final order and tried to get the hell out of Marineford. Jimbei’s resolve to take care of Luffy has convinced me he will be next in line for the Sea Dad title. This resolve was tained by major pathos when it was revealed Ace planned ahead in case he died, asking Jimbei to look out for his little brother. 

At the time, Jimbei refused, saying he only did that for people he held in high regard. Hauling ass with Luffy slung under one arm and Hancock covering them, he fully admitted he still hasn’t broken his self-imposed vow. We all know what that means. He is now Luffy’s Uncle Jimbei FOR REAL and is now stuck with an adorable, adopted, rubbery nephew for life. I expect him to sign the legal papers any day now.

Just as they were about to board the ship, Aokiji appeared out of nowhere and froze the water. At which point, Akainu, the literal hot mess, pulled himself from the ground and was like, “ACCESS DENIED, PIRATES. HAND OVER DRAGON’S SON!” Jimbei was prepared to die, but Ivankov saved him the trouble. There’s another one with obligations to Luffy (mainly because he couldn’t face Dragon ever again if little Luffy died on his watch).

While this was going down, Buggy managed to spin his wailing cowardice into another PR coup. Success! The fact he froze when Teach and Whitebeard were fighting was, of course, a sign of compassion for the enemy! Saint Buggy has so much to teach us about life. As he high-tailed it off the battlefield, his crew dropped the DDM.

Turns out this was a good thing. It increased ratings for the Blackbeard Pirates’ Magic Show: Live from Marineford!

Every Little Thing He Does Is... Magic? No. Tragic. Yeah, I Meant Tragic.

Must confess I laughed a lot at this bit before Oda dropped the curveball. It was oddly comedic, with Blackbeard saying, “Woof, thank god the old man’s finally dead!” and Laffite appearing at his shoulder, like, “Ahem, Captain, our show?” to which Blackbeard said, “Lol, yeah, almost forgot. Let’s go guys!”

When they flung that black cloth over Whitebeard, I almost lost it laughing. Like, Teach... Blackbeards... are you for real? Are you going for an ACTUAL magic show here? Then Teach wriggled under the cloth and Laffite told off some curious Marines for getting too close, like a ten year old at a talent show. “NUUUU, DON’T LOOK, WE’RE NOT READY!!! RIGHT, OKAY, HERE’S OUR MAGIC SHOW PRESENTED BY CAPTAIN TEACH, PLZ APPLAUD!”

I refuse to believe they rehearsed this. All they had to do was play Could It Be Magic and I would have been hospitalized for split sides.

When Blackbeard was ready, the cloth was whipped off to reveal...

Nowt. A massive nowt.

I laughed.

Then Teach said, “Watch this, nerds.”

And I grabbed all the laughter and shoved it back in my mouth because holy crap the painfully ill-rehearsed Tragic Show was totally worth the earth-shattering reveal.

Teach said before they would put on a show that would ‘shake the world’.

I see what you did there, Teach. You intended on stealing Whitebeard’s Tremor Tremor Fruit all along. 

In his words, “The gravity of darkness brings total annihilation. And the power of tremor destroys everything! I possess both! No one can compete with me now. I'm the strongest man in the world!”

Yup. So now Teach possesses two extremely powerful fruits. I’m not sure how this is possible but Marco said Teach is ‘physically different’ from other people. This seems to hint that Teach is special and very few characters would be able to replicate this trick.

It seems there was a real risk the Tragic Show wouldn’t go Blackbeard’s way. Shiryu hinted that if it didn’t go well, the crew would have disbanded. Just as well Teach’s gamble paid off. I wonder if there is a risk to Teach when he absorbs multiple fruits? How does he do it? How did he even figure out he could do it? I have many questions.

The coolest part, though, was the excellent speech he made after he pulled off the show of the century.

“The tremor fruit destroys everything! No one can compete with me. Tell all the people in the world, the boring people who love peace, the Marines, the World Government, and pirates! The future of the world is now determined. Yes, here comes the era that I conquer!”

Welp. That does it.

Good job breaking it, Marines. You fell for Teach’s scheme, hook, line and sinker.

Y’all are gonna regret celebrating Whitebeard’s death.

*insert Barry Manilow*