box4brains - Tumblr blog

box4brains · 3 months

Text

On Law, Lies and Love

Hi! I will once again be (gushing) talking about Trafalgar Law.

Setting some ground lines; I am a manga reader, and as the anime is based on the manga, I consider manga canon, with everything else being in different levels of canon-ified fannon. (ie, if something happens in the anime that isn’t in the manga, like a filler or a movie, I view it as “friendly suggestion” rather than canon). That being said, I do enjoy watching the anime reactions on yt, so I will be taking things that I noticed in the anime into this… “character study” (for lack of a better word). A fair warning; I’m Swedish, so English isn’t my first language (so apologies if I use words wrong). I don’t speak Japanese either, I do know some stuff, but again, apologies if I misunderstand anything here.

Deep dive into Laws psyche after the cut;

Let’s dive deeper into how I view Laws character/personality in the manga/show. Specifically towards the topic of “love” and “lies”, who I think has an extremely complex (if not convoluted) relationship with.

Let’s go into something that might be a bit of an HC for me, it’s based on little hints throughout the series, so I don’t begrudge anyone that would disagree… and that is; that Law is, in fact, incredibly gullible. It’s only the fact that life basically kicked him in the face- twice- before the age of 14 that has him extremely suspicious and distrustful about anything and everything he hears.

And the fact I bring this up is because it all ties back into the discussion about love and lies.

So Law was born into an environment that not only looked magical and beautiful, but where (I believe) he grew up into something as close to an utopia I feel anything could be in the world of One Piece. There was no classism, no racism (though I think that might be because I doubt that there was much diversity in Flevance), health care was free, jobs and education plentiful and nothing to complicate someone’s desire to chase either of them. Religion was a cornerstone of their way of life (viewing their ways of life as a blessing from God).

In every way imaginable, a tightly knit community viewing their compassion and love for each other as perhaps a greater source of pride than the metal that had made their country so wealthy in the first place.

That’s how Law grows up. And due to his gullible nature, he takes it all in. People are fundamentally good and kind, because of course they are, that’s what he’s been told. It’s one of the fundamental truths of the universe as far as Law’s concerned. It’s the privilege of a human being to be kind and humble, to help others in need isn’t a virtue, it’s something fundamental that makes people people. It’s a blessing and gift from God, to be able to help and be there for others.

So Law, as a small child, takes all he’s taught and for many, many years, questions nothing and takes all his little responsibilities with the outmost seriousness.

He brings home hurt animals (and sometimes people), when Lami is born he decides that he too wants to be a doctor, just like his parents. His parents that he loves and cherish more than anything else in the world, Lami quickly rising to a close second, though Law thinks she’s in a special category, one just for her. (His parents laugh and explain what he’s feeling and his role as an older brother, Law swears then and there that he’s going to protect Lami no matter what.)

Time flies, and one day an mysterious disease starts rearing its ugly head. Law is confused, and slowly getting more and more scared as the numbers grows. One day a border wall is built around the country. He watches as the navy comes to take the royal family away and at first he’s confused, he thinks that maybe they left to get help, but they never come back, neither the royal family nor the navy. No help comes from the world at all. In fact, it’s the opposite. The borders are completely closed, no one can get out, no food or aid is getting in either.

Law worries, but his parents tell him to have faith, they are fighting to find a cure… surely once they find the cause, the cure won’t be far behind, and this whole nightmare will be a thing of the past. Law believes them, because he knows that they would never lie to him or hurt him.

Well, they eventually find the cause of the outbreak. It’s the very thing that made them rich and allowed Flevance to become known throughout the world as “the pride of the North”. They don’t understand, the metal was supposed to be safe to mine, all attempts to get help from the outside world is met with cold and damning silence. They’ve more or less abandoned Law to take care of himself and Lami, all their efforts and energy is poured into trying to find something, some way, to save the people afflicted, to save their children’s lives.

Law puts his whole faith into his family, into the God he was raised to worship, he doesn’t know why they are afflicted the way they are, but he refuses to disbelieve either God or his parents. They are his corner stones in life. They will pull through.

He spends most of his time repeating this to himself, to Lami, and he works hard doing anything and everything he can to try and help his sister.

He’s not a doctor (not yet, he tells himself) but he knows how important hope and belief is to a patient. So he tells Lami what she needs to hear to keep her spirit up, even if he has to lie to do so. He’s certain that any negative impact the lies will cause will be worth it as long as Lami recovers. He prays everyday for God to show mercy on them and help them in their need.

Law stays by his sister’s side nearly every waking moment. He will sometimes sneak out to meet the Sister of the church when Lami is asleep in the hopes that the prayers in the church will reach God better, or to ask for guidance and advice (Law doesn’t go to his parents, he’s terrified he’ll distract them from finding a cure).

Otherwise his days consist of sitting by his sisters side, holding her hand and giving her whatever help or assistance that he can offer to alleviate her suffering. Sometimes when it’s really bad (or more often after all the painkillers and other medications that helped with the pain had run out) he’d crawl into bed with her and gently cradle her little body as he’d sing softly to her.

While all this is happening, Law is afraid, he is terrified, but he can’t show it, he needs to be strong for Lami and he doesn’t dare ad to his parents woes by letting fear tear him down. No, he has to be strong, he can’t let the fact that he’s just a scared little child cause his parents to falter in their desperate search for the cure. If he breaks, they will worry, even more than they already do, and then who will care for Lami? Law is positive that his parents only have the power to devote themselves to the research as they do because they believe that Law and Lami will be okay with each other. But if Law can’t stay strong, how can he care for Lami and keep her strong? How can he keep his parents strong and confident that the only thing they need to focus on is curing the disease if they have to worry about their children or split their efforts between research and caring for Law and Lami?

No, Law would rather his soul be damned for all eternity than risk being the reason his parents don’t find the cure in time (because there is a cure, Law is certain, his parents told him not to worry, and therefore there’s a cure, Law knows)

It’s only when night falls and Lami sleeps and Law is alone and desperately trying to keep the fear he feels clawing at his chest by praying or checking on his parents. If they are busy he usually sneaks out to talk to the Sister in their church. He often confesses to her about the fear that threatens to make him crumble and she always listens to him with the same kind, understanding smile she always has, before reminding him that god sees, god hears, and god cares. She praise Law for his goodness and caring heart, and that god will reward him and give him the strength he needs to overcome this ordeal, all he needs to do is believe and ask.

Law always leaves the church feeling better, like something inside him has strengthened, and he carries his head high in hope and belief in god, in the Sister, and in his parents. Determined to not let something as silly as fear cause him to doubt everything he knows and loves.

But on the nights when Lami isn’t the only one who is sleeping, Law usually tries to tuck in the exhausted bodies of his parents. He tries to shuffle the papers into neat little piles so that it’s not a total mess when his parents eventually wake up again. He tries to not pay attention to the stuff that is written on those papers, but he’s always been a curious child and he’s so, so desperate for anything that can be good news, a breakthrough, anything.

But the stuff in the papers are damning stuff. He lears about the real truth about the disease. It’s not a disease at all, but poison. He learns that Lami has less than a year left to live. He learns that he will be dead and gone long before he’s even 15. He learns that there’s no cure…

#wip #don’t read this

1 note · View note

box4brains · 4 months

Text

I just want to talk about Law…

Kinda hc-y, could I get other ppls opinions and views on these things?

So!

I hc Law as someone who has extreme issues with control. In fact, he knows he can be unreasonable and extreme when it comes to being in control, however due to his trauma he associates not being in control with the worst moments of his life and thus fear it more than anything else.

He can’t not be in control and not fear he’ll lose anything and everything he holds dear.

I know there’s a lot of jokes about how relaxed Law was before the time skip and while it’s possible that it’s just Oda not having cemented his character, I generally look at it as Law just… being a cocky little shit.

Law is someone I see as extremely cautious, strong and clever. He wouldn’t put himself or his crew in danger if he could avoid it. And in case he can’t avoid it, try ending it as fast as possible and in whatever manner is safest to him and his crew.

So unlike Luffy he never had any close calls all through the first half of the GL. He never encountered any truly strong marines or enemies the same way Luffy did.

I don’t think he’d go out of his way to be antagonistic or pick fights like Kid either.

Law is definitely still cautious, but the first half of the GL basically being a breeze would definitely make him a cocky little bastard. At least until the war between the WBP and the marines gave him a wake up call in the form of a metaphorical slap to the face.

But it it still doesn’t adequately explain his “new” personality in Punk Hazard (imo).

He appears to act hastily, is grim and severe and appears to be in the middle of a suicide attack. Seems weird and kinda ooc… at least without a good reason for it.

I generally look at it like this;

Law is acting more hastily than he’d prefer, because he knows he’s running out of time.

We know his original plan to take down Doflamingo wasn’t what he’d actually wanted to do. Law wanted revenge, he wanted to fight Doflamingo himself, not set up this elaborate scheme that basically used Kaido to do what he couldn’t.

So what’s the rush?

I believe that Law designed the Heart pirates logo/jolly roger and picked the name as a way to honor Cora’s memory, but it was also meant to send the message to Doflamingo “I’m your Corazon, I’m coming home”. That’s why the flag look so alike, remember, Doffy doesn’t know that Law was present when he killed his brother. Doffy doesn’t know that Law knows that Doffy means to use him to further his own agenda.

From Doffys pov it probably looks like Law disappeared only to appear maybe 5-6 years later as a pirate, practically wearing his symbol and carrying the title/name he raised him to inherit.

I believe Law would know Doflamingo well enough that Doflamingo would take it as a sign that he was (perhaps slowly and meticulously, just as he was taught) making his way back “home”.

Hell, Doflamingo probably was all happy and smug about it. His 3:rd Corazon was working his way up in the world, making his way back to his side, despite his own brother having done everything in his power to mess everything up.

Remember, Law was in no hurry to make his way into the New World. I think it’s because he knows he can only prolong his appearance in front of Doffy for so long if he did.

Now, I hc hard that Law and the Heart pirates deal in the black market, specifically because Law knows that Doflamingo is Joker, and he needs all the dirt and information he can get to try and stay one step ahead of Doffy, and to try to find his weak spots.

Well, he finds out about SAD, Smile and Kaido. Finally he’s got something he might use to his advantage. However, he also finds out that Kaido’s almost done creating his army of world domination. Maybe he gives it a year or so before the whole world will be dragged into a war guaranteed to change the world forever, both politically and geographically. And then all his knowledge will be useless.

And Law knows Doffy won’t wait another decade or so before he might be able to tackle Doflamingo again.

No, his only choice is to get in front of the storm brewing on the horizon, to take charge and use the pieces all around him to place himself in the eye of the hurricane and use the powers around him to accomplish his own goals.

He needs to use Kaido to take out Doflamingo. It doesn’t matter if Kaidos army of beasts is almost done, practically done or just a single person short. Kaidos temper is legendary, and his rage against Doflamingo failing to fulfill his duties would lead to a clash between them, a clash Doflamingo has no hope of winning.

A strong and clever pirate could sweep in after an stake his claim in the New World. The probability of coming out on top is abysmally small, but Doffys defeat is practically guaranteed, and the rewards of success is incredibly enticing. Not to mention he has no other choice.

Now Law is a warlord during this. He needs the contacts in the navy and he needs something to be a plausible reason for not turning up at Doflamingos doorstep with a smile and begging to be his puppet.

Law knows, Doflamingo likes useful pawns, but Laws biggest use is to die so Doffy can live forever, and Doflamingo isn’t going to wait forever, regardless of how much Law improves his abilities and allure as someone who’s usefulness is off the charts.

So he gets his hands on a eternal pose to PH and says goodbye to his crew… They don’t want to part, but they know that his orders are absolute, to disobey orders is to be kicked from the crew, so they go, and pray to anything that will listen to please let their captain come back to them.

And Law negotiates with Ceasar. He gives him his heart, his freedom, his most precious thing, what Cora-san died slowly and agonizingly to give him. And then… Luffy

For the second time in Laws life, Luffy crashes into his life, turning everything upside down and blowing all his carefully laid plans out of the water.

Luffy who’s freedom itself, Luffy who’s the very definition of the D that Cora-san spoke of. The storm that declared war against the world, the enemy of the gods that punched a celestial dragon in the face without a moment’s hesitation.

In the face of such an free soul, the invisible leach that Ceasar has around Laws neck chafe something terrible. Listening to the clown happily talking about how he made drug addicts of small children, something in Law finally snaps and he ends up hunting down Luffy with the goal of making an alliance.

Because some part of Law trusts Luffy, regardless of how much he hates it, swears up and down that he doesn’t, that he shouldn’t…

After all, Luffy and his crew are perhaps the definition of the type of people that he can’t help but open his heart for. (Strong-willed, happy-go-lucky and determined with a tendency to do everything in their power for those they care for). And that terrifies him. Because Luffy can’t be controlled, and therefore Law cannot protect him.

And Law just can’t handle losing a loved one again. Never again. There’s a reason he always makes sure to place himself between anything that would do them harm and his crew.

Anyway, I sure would like to hear other people’s thoughts and/or hc of Law and his character

… I spent most of the night writing this 🙄 oh well…

#trafalgar d water law #trafalgar law #trafalgardwaterlaw #character discussion #one piece #heart pirates #rant

86 notes · View notes

box4brains · 4 months

Text

So this is part of a continuation of this;

It’s more of ff style of writing than previous, because I think writing it in the same style as previous would be annoying to me so….

~.~

Law was definitely not sulking and hiding behind the tangerine trees that for some reason grew on the Straw Hat Pirates ship. (Though his doctor side approved, it was a good source of vitamins).

He should have known that the peace wouldn’t last (well, he did know that, he just wanted to live in denial for a while longer) and it was with a great sigh he finally turned around to acknowledge Franky and Nico Robin who were the… first? Only ones?- to search him out.

Law was about to say something snappy about how he refused to be the one to give that captain of theirs “the talk” -and they couldn’t make him damnit - when he saw the look on Nico-ya’s face and promptly closed his mouth without any sound.

Well, I guess you could say that she was smiling pleasantly. Except for the fact it sent chills down his back. Still, Law was a Captain, he refused to be intimidated, regardless of who or what he was facing.

“What do you want?”

There was a threat there somewhere, Law approved, he refused to back down from anyone. Still, even disregarding the alliance, the fact he was currently trapped on their ship and not a crew member to call on if shit hit the fan or evening the battlefield, even disregarding all that; Law didn’t want to fight Nico Robin.

If it was from some sort of mistaken sense of solidarity, from being sole survivors of state sponsored genecide, or acknowledging her ability and intelligence, Law didn’t know. But he knew she was dangerous, just like he himself was dangerous, perhaps more through circumstance than temperament, but dangerous nonetheless.

“Well, we figured it would be beneficial for all parties involved if we could talk to you about… Luffy.” Franky said giving Law a thumbs up.

Law narrows his eyes at Franky. He could hear what the cyborg was saying, and what he wasn’t.

“I’m not giving that brat a crash-course in sex and intimacy just so I can have a discussion with him I in no ways wish to engage in!!”

“Well…” Franky starts before being derailed by Robin laughing softly to herself.

“Why not turn him down? I’m rather curious about why you haven’t even tried telling him his feelings aren’t mutual.” Despite her smile no longer being creepy, Law found her new smile even harder to face. Could a smile be all-knowing? Law sure as fuck didn’t like it.

Telling himself that he was just turning back around to look at the ocean - he wasn’t running away from having to look those two in their stupid, knowing eyes, oh no - Law muttered a “as if Straw hat-ya would listen.”

“Oi!” Franky immediately interrupted. “Luffy is a lot of things, but if you explained to him that you’re not interested he’ll listen- assuming you mean it.”

“And that’s the fucking problem!” Law snapped slamming his fist down on the railing.

“I DON’T have a problem with Straw hat-ya or I being intimate! What I don’t want to do is make this alliance any messier than it already is! I don’t want to be fucking responsible for his introduction into intimacy and sex! I swear the little fucker is going to succeed with what even the damn lead failed to do and make my hair turn white!”

Robins eyes grew wide and she made a gesture as if she was about to reach out and grab the man ranting in front of her before controlling herself and letting her hands rest at her sides.

“You think I’ll get fucking anywhere telling that menace you call a captain that I don’t really mind having someone like him as a partner, it’s just more logical to not engage?!?”

“Listen, I SUPER understand what you’re saying, I’m just trying to make you understand how Luffy works.” Franky said. “You’re not wrong in understanding that saying something stupid like that isn’t going to accomplish anything, but I don’t think you really understand how Luffy works! You can’t really put him in a group of other people and be like ‘Luffy’s just like these people’. Luffy is always going to be Luffy. It’s like the only constant thing that you can count on. That and logposes, I suppose.”

Law took a deep breath trying to get his temper under control. “Your point?”

“Right,” Franky laughed. “You unintentionally put a condition in place earlier. You won’t discuss the matter with Luffy until he learns about sex, Luffy wants you two to come to an agreement - is it or isn’t it something he can pursue with you - so Luffy will try to learn about sex.”

“I don’t se- “ Law started to grumble before being interrupted by Franky.

“Listen! Luffy is Luffy, he’s in a class of himself. He’ll hear what he wants to hear, see what he wants to see and do what he wants to do. As terrifying as that sounds, it still kinda always works out, because he’s Luffy. He struggles sometimes with stuff most people don’t have problems with and accomplishes feats no-one could’ve dreamed of. He’s different. Simple. But not necessarily stupid, well, most of the time.”

“Look, let me give you an example; when we were at fishman island, I had my shipwright master’s brother come and help us with re-coating the ship, and I told Luffy that when I explained who the stranger on the ship was. Somehow Luffy came to the understanding that he was a shipwright there to coat my brother… is that really the understanding you want Luffy to have about anything sexual?”

Law could feel the color drain from his face.

“If Luffy doesn’t feel like it concerns him, he’s not going to listen properly, and love it or hate it, but as long as you’re the only person in the world that makes it seem appealing to him, you’ll remain the only one most likely to be able to explain these things to him.”

Law grabbed his sword before running off swearing vehemently under his breath.

“Right!” Franky exclaimed. “Good talk - and good luck - I’m SUPER happy to have it over and done with!”

Squinting at the archeologist, Franky raised his shades and asked; “oi, you doing alright?”

Robin recoiled lightly before murmuring softly; “what? Oh, yes, I’m doing fine… just hoping that I’m wrong about something, for Traffy’s sake, if nothing else.”

Robin gave the shipwright one of her enigmatic, if slightly sad-looking, smiles before accepting the arm he offered her as they returned to their normal life on the Sunny.

~.~

What’s this? Frobin? In my silly little stories? It’s more likely than you think!

All jokes aside, I do love me some sideship Frobin… feel free to read into it if you want, to me it works platonically too.

Some side notes, Laws demands of a sexual partner isn’t based on gender or looks. It’s (some kind of) chemistry and being able to look at his partner as an equal (or the very least, not looking down on his partner, or being looked down upon). Due to that he doesn’t buy sex, he doesn’t do anything with his crew or patients. He wants equality so a person who he feels responsible for, someone he doesn’t respect, anything that makes it “unequal playing field” is a huge no-go for him.

His reluctance to be intimate with Luffy is part from him viewing Luffy as too young and inexperienced to make an informed decision, and is iffy about how much he feels like Luffy basically owing him a life-debt might be influencing his feelings on the matter.

His reason for finding Luffy appealing is because Luffy is strong, not easily influenced (as much as he’s frustrated with it), and he actually likes and respects Luffy as a person.

The reason Robin was all scary in the beginning is because she was pissed at Law for making Chopper decide that the crew would need a safe sex talk. No one wants to listen to a talk like that from the person you see as basically the little brother/baby of the crew.

Next; more fun with Law trying to make Luffy understand sex and intimacy and how it affects people! Maybe 🤔 this part and that part was originally supposed to be one part, after all… the switch in writing kinda threw me off tho so for now enjoy 😅

#lulawlu #lulaw #lawlu #and the tale continues…#I write all this on my phone btw #it’s a major pain because I’m slow :p #and the dog usually ends up demanding walkies #I do love the unholy little terror tho❤️

10 notes · View notes

box4brains · 4 months

Text

The trilling continuation…! (Insomnia sucks and I had fun writing that last night… there’s originally like 3 parts to this but idk if I’ll write it all)

Law: ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!?

Luffy: No? Silly Traffy, why would you think that? Shi-shi-shi *bright smile*

Law: *eye-twitch* Never mind that…

Law: Anyway, to get back to your previous question, do you even understand what you’re asking??

Luffy: Of course I do! Sex, right?

Law: …Right. And you know what that is? Have you had any education or experience in the matter?

Luffy: Nope! 😁

Law: *facepalm*

Luffy: But Ace told me that sex is special fun and if you like the other person and they’re right for you it’s supposed to feel really good!

Law: *thinking* Ace, huh… *flashback to Luffy screaming for Ace*

Law: *sigh*

Law: Well, he’s not wrong…

Law: !!! *chokes on nothing*

Law: Are you implying that you think I’m “right for you”?!?

Luffy: How would I know? But I told you, right?

Law: ?

Luffy: I REALLY like you!😁

Law: *blushes beet-red* *like tip-of-the-ears-glowing-in-the-dark type of red*

Luffy: I never cared for stuff like kisses or sex before, I always thought it was kinda gross you know? but I really like you, and I remembered what Ace told me when I was little and I just thought I’d really like to have sex with Traffy…

Law:… *mentally* don’t open the can of worms, don’t open the can of worms, don’topenthecanofwormsdon’t-

Law: When you say “gross” -

Law: *mentally* DAMN IT!

Luffy: Well, I know people like it, I just never really understood why… there’s so much more fun stuff to do! Like eating! Or adventuring! Or hunting for food! Or finding cool bugs! Or cool rocks! Or cool -

Law: *raises hand* Ok, thanks, I got it.

Law: What I don’t understand is why you’re interested in sex with me if you think it’s gross…

Luffy: *groaning as if Law is being dense*

Law: *bristles at the idea that Luffy would think he’s stupid*

Luffy: What’s so hard to understand about it? Everyone has people who they don’t want to do those kinds of things with, right? Like, kissing or having sex with them is something that they find gross… But they also have people that they look at and think “I would like to do that with them”, right? I’m just like that, only until now, nobody’s ever been interesting until now!

Law: *stunned*

Luffy: I know you said that we don’t need to have sex to seal the alliance, but it doesn’t change the fact that when you suggested it I thought it was something that would happen… and you know what? I realized that not only did the idea of me doing those things to someone else not gross me out, but I felt like it was a new adventure to go on! But that’s only because it’s you, Traffy! I realized I want to try those things with you, I want to feel good and make you feel good, I want it not because I want sex or kisses, but because I want you!

Law: !

Law: Wait- hold on just a minute! You know what this alliance is about! I have no intention of making it any more complicated than it already is!

Luffy: Why would sex make it complicated?

Everyone: 😐😑🫠

Law: *muttering* Why indeed…

Law: A-anyway, I don’t bed virgins!

Luffy: Eh? Why?

Law: Because I prefer a partner who knows what they like and has some ideas of what I might like… Virgins are overrated and they often get attached and then it always ends up messy, since I have no interest in settling down somewhere.

Luffy: See, that’s not a problem! I know what I want and I have no desire to settle down somewhere either!

Law: What part of you knows what you’re doing?!? You literally have no clue about anything concerning sex!

Luffy: Some things you just know, the rest you can figure out along the way 😄

Law: I’m not gonna take this conversation seriously until you get a better understanding of what it entails!

Luffy: What does that mean?

Law: No!!!

Law: *to chopper* As a ship-doctor you should be better at educating your patients, sexual health and safety is especially important on a ship! *stomps off*

Chopper: Eeh?!?

Chopper: I- I always figured that you guys would come to me if there was something… Have I been failing you all this time?!? *teary eyes*

Everyone else: *sweat drops*

More LuLawLu silliness; after Punk Hazard eddition!

Luffy; Hey, hey, Traffy! Since this is my first alliance, when are we supposed to consummate it?

The rest of the Straw Hats: ?!?

Law: *chokes on his riceball*

Law, wheezing: W-what?!?

Luffy: Shanks told me that an alliance is just like a marriage and that you have to ‘consummate’ it to make it official. *big grin*

Law: *thinking* WTF has Red-Hair-ya been teaching this kid?!?

Law: *coughing* Well… while there’s certainly alliances where… that… happens, it’s not a must, or even a given, that it has to happen.

Luffy: *thinking* So… you’re saying it doesn’t have to happen?

Law: Exactly! *accepts glass of water from Sanji*

Luffy: …But what if I want to?

Law: *chokes on water*

#lulawlu #lulaw #the road goes ever on and on #this did not want to be written like I had it in my head #lol #oh well

264 notes · View notes

box4brains · 4 months

Text

More LuLawLu silliness; after Punk Hazard eddition!

Luffy; Hey, hey, Traffy! Since this is my first alliance, when are we supposed to consummate it?

The rest of the Straw Hats: ?!?

Law: *chokes on his riceball*

Law, wheezing: W-what?!?

Luffy: Shanks told me that an alliance is just like a marriage and that you have to ‘consummate’ it to make it official. *big grin*

Law: *thinking* WTF has Red-Hair-ya been teaching this kid?!?

Law: *coughing* Well… while there’s certainly alliances where… that… happens, it’s not a must, or even a given, that it has to happen.

Luffy: *thinking* So… you’re saying it doesn’t have to happen?

Law: Exactly! *accepts glass of water from Sanji*

Luffy: …But what if I want to?

Law: *chokes on water*

#lulawlu #lulaw #lawlu #does this little scenario go on in my head? yes #might post it later #for now #enjoy

264 notes · View notes

box4brains · 4 months

Text

Some LuLawLu silliness for the soul;

(Fake scenario)

Law: You want to fuck me so badly it makes you look stupid!!

Luffy: No, I want to fuck you so badly it makes YOU look stupid!!!

Law: *flustered and confused*

(Bonus; Franky in the background: Luffy uses confusion, it’s SUPER effective!)

#lulawlu #lulaw #I have a second one coming too #did I just stumble across the ywtfm meme and this popped up in my head?#yes #yes i did

16 notes · View notes

box4brains · 4 months

Text

small aside but y'know how luffy's stupidity is usually met with physical abuse of some kind? anyway. here's law's worst in response to luffy being manipulated by his arch nemesis

#I just love this so much #😭🥰

927 notes · View notes

box4brains · 4 months

Text

The sad thing is I think he’s trying to make it easier for Luffy by acting like that…

It made me think about how in Dressrosa he tried to scare Luffy away in the throne room by telling him to go away and then threatening to kill him should he (Luffy) let him free from the sea stone cuffs, when he obviously tried to get Luffy and crew away because he didn’t want them to die (especially not because of him).

It comes across like Law is just doing a mental mantra of ‘ok! Alliance is over! Back to status quo; we’re enemies… I don’t like them and they don’t like me!’

But it’s kinda sad bc I feel like I do about Dressrosa, that Law’s trying to sever the ties between them in some misguided attempt to spare both sides… but just like in Dressrosa, Luffy sees right through that shit and doesn’t give a damn (lol)

and another thing- i seriously dont understand how after everything law and luffy have gone through: saobody, marineford, punk hazard, dressrosa, zou, wano - a grand total of two suicidal episodes (one each respectively), one warlord and two emperors defeated along the way - the words law parted ways with luffy with were essentially "if you get in my way next time i see you i won't hesitate to kill you" like bro don't talk to your symbol of hope and renewed faith in life like that

377 notes · View notes

box4brains · 4 months

Text

This is great!

But in the interest of all having 3 pokemon, might I suggest;

shellder or it’s evo for ussop (it defends by closing its shell/hides from enemies, I don’t usually use it but I think it learns lock-on and “shooting attacks” like icicles shots)

Dellibird for chopper (present can both heal and hurt, fits the Christmas team with chopper’s introduction)

Growlith for franky (loyalty/protective, breaths fire)

And since jimbei is “first son of the sea” I think he should have kyogre, or lapras if a legendary is no good (since lapras are strong and usually kind to humans)

No harm meant suggesting this, btw, please ignore if you’re happy with it the way it is 😅

Straw Hat crew ~ Pokemon Trainers

👒 Luffy : Aipom (or Ambipom), Snorlax, Solgaleo

⚔️ Zoro: Lucario, Sirfetch'd, Sceptile

🧭 Nami: Castform, Persian, Kilowattrel

🤥 Usopp: Inteleon, Shiftry

👨‍🍳 Sanji: Blaziken, Cinderace, Alcremie

💉 Chopper: Blissey, Bayleef

📖 Nico Robin: Roserade, Spiritomb, Cofagrigus

🛠 Franky: Blastoise, Gurdurr

⚰️ Brook: Mismagius, Marowake, Kricketune

🌊 Jinbe: Swampert, Poliwrath

350 notes · View notes

box4brains · 4 months

Text

Honestly, I generally only engage with people on this website/app or sometimes gush to ff writers who’s work I really enjoyed and want to encourage and support… that is to say; I have 0 personal encounters with people who hate a ship I like (for any reason) but I do find it wild that people have such problems with lulawlu only over the ages, when I think it’s pretty obvious that if they were to date and it’d be toxic it’s absolutely Luffy who’s the problem! (since he’s an unstoppable force of nature that has can be called a “joyride” but only in the sense that the “joy” is optional but the “ride” isn’t.)

And I do love age gap ships where the younger one is in charge. I could see it being problematic if the younger one is this submissive wilting flower, but Luffy is as far away from that as you can get, so I don’t see the issue.

Well, not entirely accurate I suppose, I have read enough stories where people write Luffy like he’s still 7 or something… I can no longer read stories that tag stuff like “Luffy being pure/innocent” or “Luffy being a ray of sunlight” without going 🤢. It’s also why I can’t handle Luffy being the “bottom”. He’s almost always depicted as a child or a girl… sometimes both and I find that triggering. It’s sad when the fandom puts you off a ship (sexual or not) you like, but you can’t really do anything about it. (Except maybe pushing for a culture of better tagging and warnings. Either way, threats or bullying isn’t the answer)

As far as I’m concerned, the only way Luffy can be called a ray of sunshine is in the context that he’s the entire gd weather forecast.

But I’m picky I guess😂 I really prefer to read stories where the characters feel so close to canon as possible. Even when I hate the character in question (I can’t stand bashing fics, like, I get it, I hate them too, but you really don’t have to bastardize their character…).

Maybe some people like reading about new characters as long as they come packaged in something familiar… but it’s not for me. And I know it’s not for me, so I don’t make a stink about it and just get on with my day.

I find it wild that the age of consent is so high in the states, here in Sweden it’s 15, so I never really got the people crying pedo about the ship. Like they didn’t even meet until Luffy was over 17 (as in, passed his 17:th bday, not over 17 yo). But if there’s places where the aoc is 18, I guess I can be charable enough to see their point… though pedo really implies that they go after children, not late teens imo.

Though I don’t see anything happening between the two until dressrosa, so time skip would make Luffy 19 so that shouldn’t be a problem for them then.

Though a 7 year gap might seem like a lot, and in some ways it is (especially if you’re 17 or something, imagine at 17 your partner is 10!), I can’t help thinking about how that’s the age gap between me and my bf, who I met at 35, and I was suuuper reluctant to start ‘dating’ him because I felt like he should find someone closer to his age (and less damaged) but he was determined to love me into submission and I guess it worked 😅

Didn’t mean to go off on a tangent, but the tangent was kinda relevant.

The point I was trying to make was; 7 years doesn’t mean that a relationship is going to be problematic or toxic any more than someone who dates people who are their own age is going to be perfect and problem free.

The people that it concerns matters.

I don’t see anything in Law that could indicate that if he was to date/hock up/have sex with Luffy, it’d be because Luffy is a teenager. And only because he’s a teenager, I’m talking kicking Luffy to the curb as soon as he passes 20 and going out to get a new teenager to date. Because God knows he wouldn’t be with Luffy because he’s easy to manipulate and/or make him follow orders.

I see Luffy as being somewhere on the aroace spectrum while I see Law as being somewhere on the demi/ace spectrum while also being a bit aromatic. Because I might not have a dick, but I don’t think the kind of guilt Law seems to struggle with is conducive for a active sex-life. So I think Law would express very little to low sexdrive. In the context of canon anyway. For the sake of some hot, mindless xxx I have been known to dabble in ff 😂

Law is a little tsun-bun and a trauma-llama, that takes time to overcome so I usually prefer that fics are slow to account for it in their relationship. I’m also an impatient w***e so I usually read a lot of pwp too… I multi ship Law with a lot of people, the man can’t get loved enough imo xD

Aaah, I feel like I can’t stay on topic 😅

Well, that’s what a night of insomnia does to someone, I suppose.

I guess this was just a long rambly mess about how I really don’t see how some people can have such an problem with this one ship, but I also kinda understand it, at least if you ignore the facts?

Is LawLu/LuLaw "problematic"? /rant

I woke up yet again with a debilitating lower back pain and so seeing some dumb Tiktok user call LawLu a pedo!ship yet again was finally enough to make me write this rant. I have already blocked some people who keep spewing this narrative so I might be preaching to the choir here, but so be it.

To start with: I am not a psychologist or any kind of mental health specialist. I am a cis woman, so I also won't claim any deeper knowledge in relationships between gay men. However I am a criminal lawyer who has specialized in violent and/or sexual crimes, including crimes against children, and in doing that have acquired knowledge that I think can go a bit deeper than "age gap bad". And while I personally believe in letting people ship whatever they want in their own corners of the internet, this particular topic bothers me immensely as I see that it waters down concepts such as grooming.

So with those disclaimers out of the way, let us dissect the claim "shipping LawLu is problematic". Buckle up, this will take a while!

Terms and what they mean

proship(ing) (Wiktionary)

(fandom slang) One who supports a specific ship or shipping in general. [since 1996]

(fandom slang) One who supports a ship or shipping deemed problematic (e.g., due to incest, age differences, abusive dynamics, etc.), and/or believes in the freedom to create and consume fanworks with such elements. [since 2010]

(A/N: latter meaning is especially prelevant on Twitter)

age of consent (Wikipedia)

"The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally claim that the sexual activity was consensual, and such sexual activity may be considered child sexual abuse or statutory rape." (direct quote)

Currently the legal age of consent varies globally between 13 to 18 years, with most countries falling in the 15-17 age range, including most of Asia and Europe. Many age of consent laws have for situations where the other partner is in a position of power (teacher, police etc.), or conversely if "there is no great difference in the ages or the mental and physical maturity of the persons involved" leniency can be applied, especially when both partners are under 18.

It should also be noted that in some countries men and women have different ages of consent, or that gay sex (not lesbian sex) has a higher age of consent.

grooming (Merriam-Webster)

:to build a trusting relationship with (a minor) in order to exploit them especially for non-consensual sexual activity

(from several governmental/health organisations)

Grooming can be directed towards minors and adults who are at risk of being abused. The end goal to grooming is to directly abuse the victim (sexually/physically/financially etc.) and/or to manipulate them into doing things they otherwise wouldn't do.

Signs that someone is being groomed include but are not limited to:

becoming secretive and withdrawn

being in a close relationship with an adult/older person (especially children)

receiving money and/or gifts and not telling others where they got them from

sudden changes in behavior, especially in regards to sexual promiscuity

isolating oneself from friends and family

substance abuse

mental health problems

Typical ways groomers gain the trust of their victim:

lying about their age and status

using their profession or reputation to pressure the victim

offering advice, attention, understanding or giving gifts

taking the victim away from their family, e.g. to a vacation

Typical ways groomers manipulate their victim:

● Positive Reinforcement – praise, superficial charm, overt attention, ego stroking, ‘love bombing’. Claiming that there is a special connection, which could be romantic, spiritual, intellectual etc. This bond is often reinforced by groomer asking for the

victim to keep things secret.

● Negative Reinforcement – Nagging, yelling, ‘ghosting’, silent treatment, ‘playing the victim'

exposing the victims to sexual content not suitable for their age

physical punishment for 'wrongdoings'

Is Law a child molester/groomer/otherwise problematic if shipped with Luffy?

Short answer: no. I do not see how you could read the above information and come to that conclusion. There is nothing in canon material that would suggest Law has/could/would harm Luffy in any way similar to those mentioned above.

Long answer:

About the age gap

The main reason why people call LawLu a problematic ship is of course the age gap. Pre-timeskip Luffy is 17 and Law is 24, then 19 and 26 afterwards.

As seen above under the age of consent section, even their pre-timeskip relationship would be legal in most countries right now. However as we all know, legality does not always equal morality, and that's not the only guideline one should observe. I still would like to point out that the age of consent being 18 is actually rarer, with Africa currently being the only continent where it is about as prevalent as 15-16. I can't help but think that the idea of "if you fuck anyone under 18 while being a legal adult you are a groomer pedo" comes from the US, in which several states have the aforementioned threshold of 18 (and from where most internet users hail from). The same country where you can get a driver's license and buy guns as a teenager, but can't legally drink until 21... I digress. I am not saying that any specific country holds the right moral answer to this question, or that the majority opinion is automatically the right one, but it does give credit to the idea that 18 years is not a magic number that somehow alters your brain chemistry in a meaningful way.

Speaking from my own experience, an age gap like LawLu have pre-timeskip would probably raise eyebrows in my own country. But I am living in a modern-age welfare state that is about as far removed from One Piece world as can be. Not only are they operating in a pre-industrial era (...ish), but they have a political climate and governments most of us can't possible imagine. A lot of the people in One Piece live constantly in a state of war, terror and political upheaval. There are no child protective services or laws in place: both Luffy and Law were left to fend for themselves and were almost killed by several adults in their childhood. And, oh, they have both become PIRATE CAPTAINS WHEN THEY WERE STILL TEENAGERS.

This is not to say that people living in such conditions do not deserve the same protections and moral consideration as we do/have. This is not to say that people, especially lgbt-identifying ones, living outside the law should have less protection than what we have. What I mean is that it should be obvious enough that their world is so vastly different from us that it is hopelessly naive to assume that just because Luffy is 17 that the relationship is automatically morally corrupt. The world around them sees no wrong in Luffy leading his own crew on the high seas at that age, sees no problem sentencing him to death for it, yet people irl claim that he doesn't have the mental or sexual autonomy to be in a relationship of his own choosing by that point? That there is no consideration of other factors, no nuance?

Which brings me to:

About Luffy's character

It infuriates me to no end that the modern social media reduces any and all people under 18, often under 25, to helpless children who are always led astray be older people who are ALWAYS "groomers". While it is very important to be aware of that very real problem especially on the internet, it is just disingenuous to claim this of all age gap relationships.

Luffy is one of the most well-defined characters in shounen manga. These are just some of the points about his character that should be crystal clear by now:

he knows what he wants and stops at nothing to get it

he is a very good judge of character (even before learning to use Haki to suss out malicious intent)

he won't tolerate treating others as "less than"

he is very good at establishing his boundaries and telling others about his likes/dislikes

he is both mentally and physically one of the strongest characters in the show.

he has almost no brain-to-mouth filter and is a very bad liar almost to the point of not being able to keep secrets

In short, Luffy is a character who is very sure of himself in a positive way, is capable of protecting himself and his friends, knows what kind of people are bad in general or bad for him and his crew in specific. He is quick to trust but he will just as easily denounce people if they prove to be shitheads. He rarely associates with people who are objectively morally bankrupt, Impel Down being a notable exception and that was only because his only brother's (that he knew of) life was on the line. On top of that he has a crew full of people who love him, will do anything to protect him and who rarely leave his side. And even on the purely physical side he was already stronger than most other pirates of his generation pre-timeskip, especially through having Conqueror's Haki.

It weirds me out immensely that people see Luffy as almost a child who is incapable of defending himself. I cringe so hard when I see him written as being a weepy, scared kid who needs big buff men to save him. He might behave childishly quite often, but that does not mean he is childish or let alone a child. There is also no evidence of him having a developmental disorder of any kind, and despite people often portraying asexuality as such, he isn't canonically shown to have any hangups/trauma relating to sex. Being disinterested does not mean he wouldn't know what sex is or that he couldn't consent to it.

So, even if you take his and Law's meeting pre-timeskip and imagine the worst possible outcome... I still can't see a way for Law being able to come out on top, to manage to manipulate Luffy in such a short time with him being protected from all sides. The only possible timing would have been after Marineford, when Luffy was for some time on Law's mercy with Jinbe knocked out. And yet even this only makes sense if you purposefully misconstrue Law's character to fit your purposes.

About Law's character

Law is one of the most complex characters in One Piece in my opinion, and it isn't a wonder that many people either unintentionally or on purpose misread/misunderstand him. Hell, he is introduced as "The Surgeon of Death" with even Eustass motherfucking Kid being leery of him. However I don't think that there is any proof in canon to suggest that he would be the kind of predator some people seem to paint him as.

To be honest I do think that on another timeline, without Corazon's and other Heart Pirates' influence, Law would be physically and mentally capable of manipulating people like a groomer would. But in the timeline we have, there is simply no evidence of him being that kind of person. What we do have evidence of is the following:

he isn't seen hurting innocent people

he isn't seen violating anyone's personal space/boundaries

he is disgusted by characters like Caesar and Doffy's immorality

he isn't seen ogling after anyone, even Boa Hancock (like Luffy)

he does not take credit for others' achievements and has little interest in his own bounty

he is easily persuaded by Luffy/Straw Hats into helping others (even if he grumbles about it)

he hasn't tried to hold him saving Luffy over his head once.

Yes, Law can lie and scheme. Yes, he technically betrayed Luffy seeing that he didn't reveal the true target for the alliance. But even then he ended up regretting the lies and tried to save the Straw Hats from being further involved. And after Dressrosa you can see that he wants to protect them the same as he would protect his own crew.

In my opinion Law could be a bad guy capable and willing of grooming only if you stretch the character traits you see in canon into unrecognizable, dark versions of themselves. Dark fics are their own category which I won't touch here, but suffice it to say that you can do this to any character in any fandom, not just Law, and it would be highly unfair to judge him on "what ifs". That is why I firmly believe that even if he had the means to hurt Luffy on the Polar Tang after Marineford, he wouldn't have. He is not that kind of person, plain and simple.

About LawLu's shipping in general

Most LawLu shipping I see takes place post-timeskip, meaning the romantic/sexual parts. While for many it might be purely because of the ick Luffy's pre-ts age gives them, I also think that there is a noticeable shift in chemistry between the two from Punk Hazard onwards. It is no wonder the ship grew in popularity after timeskip, along with Law's personal popularity ranking. Punk Hazard and Dressrosa form a natural evolution in their relationship, and it's there even as a platonic one in canon. If nothing else, Luffy and Law are friends/allies, and most importantly equals as captains when they leave Dressrosa, no matter how much Law might deny it.

And that's the thing that so many people willfully ignore. Their age gap is the only thing Law has over Luffy even pre-timeskip. Luffy has a higher bounty, he has Conqueror's Haki and better Haki usage in general, has many friends and allies in high places... Even if Law's Devil Fruit ability could incapacitate Luffy, it has been shown that Law can't use his power for long periods of time without running out of stamina, something Luffy in contrast has a nigh-infinite amount of. Through his age Law has more experience/knowledge of the world around them, but Luffy has his crew to fill in the blanks as needed ("I can't even lie! But I can defeat you"). Also in the eyes of the government Law and Luffy are almost equal members of the Worst Generation with Luffy being the bigger threat. There is nothing Law has over Luffy pre-timeskip except for his age.

Moreover, do you honestly think that Law could have even for a minute been able to force himself upon Luffy without someone intervening? Like, say, Luffy's crew, who willingly let Law onto their ship on Punk Hazard after Luffy told them Law's a good guy? Jinbe or Rayleigh who didn't accuse Law of anything immoral after Marineford? Do you think that any of the older Straw Hat's wouldn't have called Law out for trying to manipulate Luffy into doing something that would cause him harm? Their only concern was Law betraying them as a pirate, and even then it came across as an inconvenience, not a threat.

There are so many smaller things to consider still, but I think I have made my point quite clear so far. In summary: if you feel the ick from LawLu/LuLaw, you can just not ship it. Feel free to block us who do ship it, mute the tags, do whatever you need to. But don't misconstrue the characters and go around bleeting about grooming and pedophilia when there is no basis for it.

#rant post #sorry not sorry #insomnia strikes again

176 notes · View notes

box4brains · 4 months

Text

Law is a man used to being carried around by people, I refuse to believe anything different. XD

Just thinking about Law getting carried through the majority of Dressrosa like a ragdoll

86 notes · View notes

box4brains · 4 months

Text

Super interesting take!

My personal hc for why sengoku and garp back the navy despite being (or being portrayed as) “good guys” is that they are trying to serve their justice using the corrupt system to their benefit.

Like, they can’t abandon the world to the whims of a corrupt regime, so they try to change it from the inside. However, the very foundation (and head) of the organization is corrupt (not there for the people’s sake) and they get basically trapped, being unwilling to walk away (to abandon every civilian on the planet) and trying to do good, even if it’s just taking up space that could have filled up with a monster.

But in the end they are just hopelessly fooling themselves; at best putting a bandaid on a stab wound, hoping that help will arrive in time, at worst aiding and abetting the worst people on the planet.

Like, they have a different idea of justice, a different idea of how to protect the people in the world… I think they are wrong, but I can see why or how they could have their views and convictions?

Like let’s take a look at the two “good” forces in the world. The navy that is run by people who genuinely believe and care about justice that is there for the people and the revolutionary army.

Then there’s two forces for “evil”, the corrupt navy and piracy. And I see the pirates as having given up; they have no interest or intention to change the way the world works. They do as they wish, mostly robbing people and/or murdering. In a way they desire freedom from the powers that be, but they don’t really care about making it a reality for other people.

The “good” navy tries to keep the civilians safe but also ignorant. They almost infantilize them. Then there’s the RA, they do the opposite, more or less. They try to rally the people; the world/government is corrupt! Stand up and fight!

I see it as a fundamental difference in world view (“the masses are weak, need protection, and the world may be corrupt but you can play its game and change it” vs “The masses are strong and united we can change the corrupt world we live in”)

Like I said, I can totally see why a “good” person could hold either view, I also think that the people who support the government (especially in the face of the horrible corruption) are wrong. But then again, I can’t really blame anyone who doesn’t have the courage to leave, especially if they really know how brutal the government is (speaking of lesser marines here). Endangering family, friends or loved ones isn’t something done easily. Dragon had to basically disown his child and leave him with someone who had pretty much drank the WG cool-aid.

But I think it’s these muddled gray areas that make for fun and interesting characters 😅

"The Marines Are Garp's Found Family"

I am something of a certified Garp hater but one of the things I see floating around a lot of comments sections regarding Garp's behaviour at Marineford (i.e. his conflict of love and duty re: failing to do the right thing and help save Ace/leave the Marines for any number of reasons) is the notion that Garp is choosing between two found families: his grandchildren, and the marines that he's come to see as a second/found family in the vein of every other One Piece child looking for a place to belong and this is, as far as I can tell, pulled out of someone's ass. We truly don't know enough about Garp or what he thinks of the Marines to conclude that they are, in any way, shape, or form for him, a family that effectively filled a need for him that wasn't already met. He's mentored some kids, certainly, and he's close to Sengoku, but Garp is a massive mystery and the only feelings we see him display toward the Marines are a) absolute, flawed loyalty and b) a desire to see them change with a subsequent generation, hence his willingness to defend Coby til the bitter end. Garp's dedication to the Marines reads more like steadfast dedication to the platonic ideals of their propaganda –in spite of him knowing full well how fundamentally corrupt and oppressive they are– than anything related to seeing them as his kin or family; you know, the thing he decided was less important than his duty to The Evil Empire. If we're talking about Found Family though, there's a marine with a way stronger perception of that, who we know for a fact was raised by Sengoku and dedicated his life to serving the people who took him in after he lost everything. Corazon more than anyone sees Sengoku as his adoptive father, and the feeling's returned; after his expulsion from Mariejois and the incredible traumas of his childhood, they're the only people who gave him safety, stability, and affection. He has more motivation than virtually anyone to be unflinchingly, painfully loyal to the Navy, but when he's confronted with Law–a sole survivor of Flevance and living incarnation of the WG's cruelty–he's horrified, guilt-stricken, and eventually risks everything for a child he's only really known for a short time, betraying the Navy and his original mission to steal the Ope Ope no Mi, because he knows in his heart that it's the right thing to do as a parent. He dies for love, but also to a lesser extent for justice– to give a child who's lost everything to the oppressive system he was part of, a child everyone else has failed and abused, who was condemned to death by the World Government, a second chance at life. Cora had a found family in the Marines and he left/betrayed them anyway because he knew, when confronted with a living example of their atrocities, where his real duty and morals lay. That their hypothetical interests didn't supersede the life of a little boy that their higher ups stole everything from and ruined. Garp could never.

#me rambling #lol #sengoku the buddha #monkey d garp #monkey d dragon

119 notes · View notes