#op analysis

[dykealloy]

such a small detail but I cannot stop thinking about law leaving kikoku by luffy's bedside when he went out to talk with hancock and ivankov. idk it stirs up a lot of questions. like does law do this often? does law, like zoro, talk to his well-behaved cursed sword like "kikoku, sit. watch." before he leaves to go have lunch or a well deserved twenty minute post-surgery nap. is this the protective equivalent to leaving a baseball bat by the bedside? doctor's bedside manner emotional support blade? but then I also can't help but notice that it's unsheathed. which... actually, who is that sword protecting really, just sitting there? did luffy wake up more than once in the cradle of that submarine while his body was still recovering? (drugged up to the gills, entirely noncoherent, unable to be reasoned with, going in and out of consciousness, the only thought running through his mind being "ace"). probably would've been a nightmare for the heart crew

#touches the soil. what happened here #thinking about ohmilk's 'i took care of you' piece again #edit: ive been kindly informed that in japan. historically. leaving a sword in the ground was a sign of respect for the fallen. #so law was likely doing this as a sign of respect for ace. specifically since it was placed next to luffy #which is all very nice of law and heartbreaking but i still like to speculate on the layers to this action #CJ's op watch-through #one piece #op #lawlu #monkey d. luffy #straw hat luffy #monkey d luffy #trafalgar law #surgeon of death #op meta #op analysis

[swordsmans]

a lengthy breakdown of why ch. 878 is one of the best luffy moments in the entire series (to me)

question: favorite luffy moment?

oooomg it would have to be the scene in ch. 878 immediately after pedro's death--when luffy 1) snaps the crew out of their grief because they're in danger, 2) comes up with an extremely efficient escape plan for his crew 3) comes up with an extremely efficient plan to deal with katakuri 4) snaps the crew out of their grief again 5) gets the crew to execute their escape 6) executes his own plan (+ bonus moment in 880/881 because it's technically the "end" of this scene).

this whole moment on the ship is the Captain Of The Straw Hat Pirates moment for me. hang on, i'm gonna include manga caps because i dont think ive ever talked about the way the dialogue is set up in this scene before and im stealing this opportunity lmao

like, we almost never see luffy really engage with his role as captain and leader in a traditional sense--yes, he's captain, but in most arcs he fits the "The Big Guy" role more than the leader, and often the broader captain-ish duties fall to other characters (e.g. planning and executing strategy outside of battle, mostly). like, half of the entire joke in both dressrosa and wano is that luffy doesn't plan (even though we, the readers, know that he does) and yet in WCI he not only showcases his skills as a leader but does so flawlessly.

(for context, "The Big Guy" is basically the trope of like... the most powerful person, the one you know is always going to win/solve any problem by the end of it--the character who's going to fight the biggest bad in a story and who often can't deal with "little" problems within a story because it would undermine the internal logic of a story's power-scaling. i have many thoughts on The Big Guy and i think one piece is one of the few series that does it well, along with spyxfamily re: yor... but i digress.)

so here's where i think the "moment" starts in ch. 878. for a refresher, in ch. 877 luffy+co reach the sunny, fine chopper/brook encased in candy, katakuri attacks, big mom attacks, the sunny gets stuck in candy, and then pedro sacrifices himself. at this point in time, luffy+co have been on the ship for all of a few seconds--in 877, nami is trying to set up a coup de burst and explain how it works to jinbei at the same time, luffy is holding off katakuri, but nothing is really happening. when pedro sacrifices himself no one knows what his plan is so they don't have time to incorporate it into their escape strategy (which is basically nonexistent at this point). then--wham! pedro is down, the candy breaks, and there's a split-second of decision time that luffy jumps on, which brings us to 878

everyone is shocked and grieving, their tentative set-up is completely derailed, and luffy immediately takes charge--starting with "can we fly, nami?!"

he addresses nami as the navigator/in charge of the physical ship itself a this point (+ she set up the coup de burst in 877), then addresses the crew as a whole in "let's set sail, people!!"--like, the way this is phrased sets him apart slightly as someone with the authority to speak to the group as a whole; he's getting everyone's attention. then his declaration!!! "if we waste this moment... then we throw away his sacrifice!!"

he's completely taking charge of the situation and focusing on getting the rest of the crew to safety. it is his job as captain to look out for the whole, so he doesn't waste a second--which is so incredible, because we know luffy is emotional, that's his whole thing. he's incredibly emotionally-driven and emotionally-intelligent, but during this entire scene he is being emotionally driven to protect his crew, which in turn gives time for his (often-overlooked) intelligence and pragmatism to shine.

once he has everyone's attention as a group, he goes back to addressing crew members individually--which i think is really important because that's, like, literally what you do in a crisis when you're taking charge. you get everyone on the same page, then you single people out so no one feels lost or unmoored--everyone has something to do, everyone feels included in the solution in some way.

in these two pages alone, he addresses nami, chopper, and brook individually, and then jinbei responds (so he's also participating individually). i think the fact that carrot is excluded here also kind of supports this whole thing, because carrot isn't technically a straw hat--luffy isn't her captain, even though she's under his protection at this point. here, he's ordering his crew in his capacity as a leader.

and then, of course, there's the moment:

yes, he's talking to katakuri here, but he's also on the sunny's deck screaming--and his address to the crew doesn't have a distinct "end point" from a dialogue perspective, he just gets cut off when katakuri attacks carrot. here, i think he's declaring this as much to katakuri as the straw hats themselves. i think the "end" of this whole scene in 880/881 when he reassures the crew (after holding the fucking mirror shards in his mouth--god this whole scene is just so good) that everything will be fine supports this, too, because that feels like the end of the crew address to me. but i'll get there.

now that he has the crew on track to execute their own escape (by giving them step by step orders to do so, basically), he tackles the katakuri problem. at this point, he's already figured out what to do, because he's gearing up for the elephant gun grip that he uses to pull katakuri into the mirror world, and he doesn't tell anyone else his plan because it's his responsibility as captain to take care of the crew (as opposed to just his responsibility as The Big Guy to take out the strongest enemy, which--if we were just adhering to The Big Guy trope, i think he would have shouted his plan along with everything else. basically authority [no one needs to know my plan because it's my responsibility to handle it and i know i will] vs. equality [im the strongest but we're all in this together so here's what im going to do], and he's authority.)

then we get another crew address, this time starting individually then talking to the group. they see the shadow--they realize pedro has died but perospero has survived--nami is seconds from absolutely spiraling again (just look at that panel of her, oh my god). further proof that luffy is the most emotionally intelligent character in the entire series, luffy immediately redirects everyone's attention a second time, focusing them away from their grief again and onto their own escape again.

since this is, like, a second wave of grief/horror, he starts with the individual address--snapping everyone out of it directly because a whole-crew address might not cut it and he needs to include carrot, here.

then mid-address, he grabs brulee and starts executing his katakuri takedown plan. his focus here is entirely on keeping his crew safe in the most efficient way possible, and in two pages we get: assessing the situation (grief 2) -> solving the immediate problem (the escape plan starts to derail, everyone needs to snap back out of it) -> solving the next problem (katakuri) -> inspiring them to carry on because he's about to leave.

(seriously. i cannot overstate how great the brulee grab mid-dialogue is in the broader context of this scene. seriously.)

(also, the way the group -> individual -> individual -> group address works in this whole scene feels like such a beautiful closed dialogue loop... even on a structural level it's designed to have the biggest possible impact. love u oda.)

then, of course, we have the culmination of this whole thing--the mirror smash. with ruthless efficiency, he not only isolates the biggest immediate threat (katakuri) but also the character who poses the biggest danger to the crew's escape--brulee. all three of them have been completely separated from his crew, and now he can both keep an eye on brulee and the mirrors (which is most of 880/881), the "intelligence" part of the plan, and confront katakuri directly, the "battle" part of the plan.

also, the decision to isolate katakuri works both ways here--he's not only protecting the crew from katakuri as an enemy, but he's also protecting the crew from their fight. we see in subsequent chapters that the katakuri fight absolutely decimates the mirror world. if they were to face off anywhere near the sunny, people would get hurt. if katakuri were to escape, not only could he harm the crew but luffy would have to give chase and bring the fight back to katakuri, wherever he ends up (attacking the crew). i fully believe the decision to isolate brulee shows that he's aware of this--their fight has to stay in the mirror world, because the only way he'll win is by operating at full power and his full power is destructive.

also--this moment is just really cool, okay? it's so, so cool.

honorable mention to the rest of this "scene" as it's continued in the next few chapters, specifically the way this whole thing culminates--luffy holding the last mirror shards in his mouth to make sure he can communicate his final reassurances to the crew without the risk of those shards falling into enemy hands.

to me, this is as solidly and completely an "i'm the captain of this ship!" moment as the declaration itself, and every time i think about it for more than 0.2 seconds i start to go crazy. but. it it technically a different "moment" (and is also extremely self-explanatory) so i won't go into it here.

also, side note because this didn't fit anywhere--i think this scene not only stands on its own as one of luffy's most badass moments but also works as a really amazing example of his character growth--particularly compared to scenes like the usopp fight in water 7 (different scenario technically because usopp isn't an enemy, but it is one of the premier moments when he struggles with the burden of being captain).

anyway, sorry this got stupid long *jazz hands*

#one piece #luffy #op analysis #i dont know if i have any kind of tag for this stuff actually #since i almost never do anything like this outside of dms #however... this is also a perfect example of why i DONT rlly do analysis outside the dms... because it's stupid long #gyro.txt

[xxscarletxrosexx]

SpyxFamily Season 2 OP is finally here! Also, my attention kept honing in on the teapot & teacups, so here's an analysis.

(Possible spoiler ahead--you've been warned!)

What I've noticed is that the teapot is only held by Twilight, who I see is the leader of the family, and he's solely the only one pouring the teapot. We've already established in season 1 that the teacups are symbolic of the characters' bond/identity in the Forger Family and closeness with one another. So, each time the family is seen holding teacups, it's a Forger family moment (if that makes sense). The way I perceive the teapot is that it's Operation Strix.

SS1: In the beginning, Twilight is seen as very cautious and protective of the teapot (he even puts it under a sleeve to keep it warm -- furthering my understanding that he has control/is very protective of it).

SS2: It isn't until the car scene that we see the teapot again w/ Twilight. This time along with Anya and Yor's teacups. Everyone's cups are filled with the same beverage which could represent their ties as the Forger's. Twilight's crazy driving represents him driving the wheel of his mission. The turbulence in his driving along with his teacup and teapot moving could represent his control of his spy life (the car), control of Operation Strix (teapot), and control as Loid Forger (teacup).

SS3: When Loid pours the teapot and we see water, I perceive it as Twilight/Loid probably experiencing failures (despite how cute and upbeat this design and seen is). This is b/c the tea inside the teapot has been washed away by water. We also notice that Anya is holding her cup and it's not being poured into. So it may also be a sign of discord in the Forger family. Also, I love that the Forgers "drowned" which represents drowning in their respective missions/problems in their involvement in the mission or with each other.

SS4: We have a clear view of all members of the Forger's with their teapot and teacups. Twilight/Loid is missing his teacup here. I may be stretching a bit, but my analysis of this scene is that regardless of having his teacup (Loid Forger), he doesn't forget his role to care for Anya. We also notice that Yor's cup is empty, and yet both she and Twilight prioritize saving Anya. As a result, I see this as the family still working together even if they're not on the same page with each other--not being on the same page represented by the absence of tea in their cups.

SS5: Twilight has redeemed himself as evidenced by the piping hot teapot, and he also has his teacup too along with Yor and Anya. I also like they used airplanes here b/c it could also have a symbolic meaning that, together, they're figuratively on top of the world.

SS6: Twilight is now more relaxed when pouring the content of the tea (Operation Strix) out to Anya because he can now trust that his family (Yor, specifically) will have his back.

SS7: When Yor sips the tea, I see more of a symbiotic relationship going on here. When Yor is seen drinking her tea, Anya is happy. I see this as "papa is trusting mama" from Anya's perspective, and of course, she just wants her parents to be happy (and possibly in love with each other). And when Anya is happy, Operation Strix goes well (recall that Anya's emotions easily influence Twilight).

SS8: Same thing is happening here. Twilight pours tea for Anya but Yor catches it, which is a lovely transition that this will be a Yor-centered season (aka Cruise Arc).

SS9 & SS10: Harmony / being on the same page together / united as a family from henceforth regardless of their crazy adventures (shown with them upside down) together.

TLDR; I love this teacup/teapot engagement with the Forger family because it essentially summarizes the Forger's relationship with one another from S1. This is such a good OP b/c whatever ep is shown will show the growth in their relationship w/ each other.

#spy x family #spy x family season 2 #spy x family season 2 op #spy x family season 2 op analysis #analysis #op analysis #Twilight #Yor Briar #Yor Forger #Loid Forger #Anya Forger #Forger family #scarlywroteathing #Youtube

[writesailingdreams]

The biggest thing missing in OPLA is self-determinate freedom, prominently in Luffy's character. It spends more time talking about being good rather than being free, which is more what OG!Luffy wants - becoming the Pirate King means being the freest in the world.

#opla spoilers #one piece #opla #monkey d. luffy #opla luffy #freedom #op themes #one piece musings #op analysis #narrative comparison #don't want to say its not there but it's...softer in some ways

[vivika-ka]

Hello, fellow humans! 

I finally finished editing the “One Piece Through Celtic Mythology Lens” video! 

For this video, I focus on the possible inspiration of Celtic mythology in One Piece, and how its theme regarding balance translates through the Will of the D.

How do the characters belonging to the D clan fit with characters who belong to either the Tuatha Dé Dannan (gods) or the Fomoire (evil gods)? What is the role of inherited will in terms of divine order? The video strives to answer these questions.

If you’re unfamiliar with Celtic Mythology, I got you <3 I explain all the traditions and beliefs I’ve made this video based on! 

If it’s up your alley, please check it out! <3

#youtube #one piece #one piece analysis #one piece meta #one piece commentary #op analysis #op #celtic mythology #mythology #video essay #monkey d. luffy #luffy #sun god nika #will of the d #rocks d. xebec #op imu #blackbeard #marshal d teach #trafalgar law #trafalgar d water law #op vivi #vivi one piece #donquixote doflamingo #donquixote rocinante #kozuki clan #donquixote rosinante #kozuki momonosuke #kozuki hiyori #kozuki oden #kozuki toki

[thought-about-it]

Here's me over-analyzing a single panel to try to gauge Oda's intentions between Sanji and Jewelry Bonney. (Okay, not just this panel, but I just got to typing because of this one.) 1. Sanji caring about Bonney's safety but has not been fawning over her disrespectfully, which shows that she could potentialy be a viable love interest or a Straw Hat member. (If we're still on that 10-members thing, but I have my separate thoughts on that.)

2. Sanji has not been shown fawning over Bonney disrespectfully, because she is actually still a young, underage child and that would be creepy in retrospect. (Yet there has been some pretty fanservice heavy shots with her, so I dunno about this.)

3. Sanji finally has gotten over his extreme idolization of females in general after Wano, and his interactions with Bonney simply showcases his general character development. (I personally hope it's this last one.)

#op ch 1095 #sanji #jewelry bonney #one piece #op analysis

[laughingsour]

Rest in Peace T-Bone

It happened chapters ago, but I remembered this happened and I’m crying.

When we learned of Cross Guild, we cheered because we were hoping that people like this guy...

Or this guy...

or this guy...

Would be given a taste of their own medicine. But of course, we should’ve known this story isn’t that cut and dry. Of course Onigumo, Dobberman and Nezumi wouldn’t care less about the civilians they would kill to stay alive. Of course the most affected by this would be the few who couldn’t bring themselves to harm civilians.

Like this guy...

As it’s been pointed out, his death is an eye opener that this is NOT a simple case of bullies getting their just desserts, it’s bullies draging good people to the mess THEY made.

It’s yet another injustice, one that was coming for a long time to the surprise of no one with awareness, yes. But an injustice nontheless.

Will the family that claimed T-Bone’s bounty ever know that he was a good man and feel guilty?, will they never know and cheer for his death? or will they know and still cheer?

I doubt we’ll ever know, but we do know that we can’t blame the starving family for it and that Mr. “100 good deeds a day” does not regret feeding them. And that’s all we can ask from a One Piece character.

I salute you T-Bone, you didn’t deserve this and the Navy didn’t deserve you.

Rest in Peace. 

#one piece #op analysis #One piece 1082 #Cross guild #Marines #T-bone #one piece spoilers #op spoilers

[possessionisamyth]

Rambling thoughts, but I feel like Sanji's time on Drag Queen Island was a shit show for more than what he says about being surrounded by "ugly men dressed as women". The framing of him running for his life and some of his fight scenes makes me wonder how much of his consent was revoked or boundaries ignored when it comes to casual touch. Don't twist my words. I'm not saying these touches were sexual.

I am saying they dressed him up in a way that made him distinctly uncomfortable. They didn't give him the option of choosing his own clothes. I don't know who did his hair and make up either when we see him later enjoying dressing up in drag. I want to say maybe those feelings of enjoyment for varied gender expression were mixed up with the crossed personal boundaries and comphet to make him double down on his manhood and masculinity before the two years were up.

That's probably why he's so Like That when we see him again in Sabaody. It's over compensation to the max going all the way down to Fishman Island. Ivankov can change people's secondary sex characteristics, so there's no way he didn't see a woman's tit on and off during his stay there. The only way he'd know who came to the island as a woman or a man first is if they told him, and I don't think any of them cared too much to even think about that.

Good news is he has calmed down since then, now only getting horrible nosebleeds at the sight of a naked woman instead of when one just breathes in his direction. Which is more in line than before the time skip. Plus, he has realized both Nami and Robin are as capable if not more capable than he is when it comes the same barrage of battles. I will take that scene of him asking Robin to help him in Wano to my grave. Their enemies framed it as emasculating, but Sanji's whole spiel to Usopp in Water 7 was "I'll do what you can't do, and you do what I can't", and this was the perfect example of him upholding that belief. This is a distinct difference from his "I have to protect the women" rhetoric he upheld for a lot of arcs pre-timeskip. If he still held onto that rhetoric as tightly as he did before, he would've cried for help to one of the other guys regardless of spider-lady's demands, but he didn't. He believed in her.

Not to mention, there's also something extremely funny about this giant woman beating the shit out of Sanji saying she wants to kill Robin and to call her there right now. Sanji weighed his options because he knows Robin would kill that woman and everyone in her way before going "aight, bet, I'll call her."

#one piece #black leg sanji #sanji #op analysis #will someone anyone go into a marine headquarters and change his name on his poster pls #PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

[konfuse]

I’m trying to find your Frobin Proof post for a friend, please;; where can I find it?

Hey there!

Do you mean this one?

It's a bit on the older side now and I do think I should work on certain points like that fact that in the new family dynamic Franky is not the father anymore... but that does not change the fact that Oda described the accomplishment of a husband laying his head on the lap of his wife to climbing a mountain and reaching the peak.

If you meant another one feel free to write me again!

#Frobin #analysis #I should reread it and maybe edit it a bit more #One Piece #OP analysis #why I ship FRobin #One ship to rule them all

[frobin]

Also, we’re in the endgame, meaning close to the end that he gave romance hints between Sanji x Pudding, Zoro x Hiyori, Franky X Robin(the caress and the motorbike ride scene) those are fairly recent as well. That’s that. Usopp has Kaya back home. Chopper has that Mink. Brook doesn’t need anyone. Cause he is a skeleton. Luffy I believe promised Hancock and Amazon Lily that he will return. All that remains is Nami’s love interest. That’s about all I can think of. These posts should be longer.

I want to be honest with you. I want to stay as neutral as possible to all ships.

All beside FRobin who I fully support and hope will become canon and while I accept other Robin and Franky ships, I don‘t support them.

I understand why people ship Sanji x Pudding and Zoro x Hiyori. The ships have good bases and as a person I appreciate that. Same can be said about Nami x Vivi and Zoro x Luffy. Same with Kaya x Usopp and Usopp x Sanji

I of course have preferences. I have written down some headcanons here, also as neutral as possible... sometimes less because after all I'm only human XD

You can also submit entries: https://frobin.tumblr.com/submit

It's not as anonymous as the asks though.

Let's continue with your post but I put it under a read more because it is really not about FRobin:

Anon: Continued…Nami was the only one in Dressrosa who cared for Law’s well being and defending his plan. In the manga she was so shocked he got shot and the anime since they ship law and robin, they included the reaction of the other straw hats on sunny,when in the manga Nami’s reaction was only shown , she then passionately took charge and told everyone to follow law’s plans and she only went to zou for Law’s sake(at first she was hesitant going there) but knowing his condition, she went to zou

In zou, someone(maybe Luffy)asks about Law’s whereabouts and in the manga it’s chopper who answers while in the anime it’s robin who answers. Also in the anime, They made Nami brush off the topic about Law while in the manga she never did that. In the anime,They were pushing the Sanji and Nami thing while that was not like that at all in the manga. She was genuinely worried for sanji as the other nakama. She would have done the same if let’s say zoro left as well. Worried just as a nakama.

Continued…toei animation doesn’t want any other female for law other than robin. Which is very biased as you can see. Which is weird because they used to ship law and Nami together in the past. Even though Nami did so much for him. Which is canon. In zou, Nami was talking about the log pose, she mentions Law and he looks at Nami softly and in the anime they didn’t animated law looking at Nami softly, in fact they didn’t animate it at all. How biased are they? Because this goes against their…

Ship. You clearly see it. Also after Jack’s attack on the elephant sends everyone flying all over the place, Nami is holding onto Luffy’s head and there is Law standing next to Nami for no reason really in the manga, while the anime did animate that scene but they didn’t put Law next to Nami like how it was in the manga. Someone on the anime team is so scared of Law x Nami happening(in the past they did ship them) it goes against their ship of Law and robin….

…the staff or some members who liked Law x Nami were probably changed thus why the change from one ship to the other. I doubt Oda had anything to do with it since the anime is doing their own thing like spoiling zoro’s conqueror’s haki way before it should have happened as in the manga it was against Kaido that this reveal happened. You can see the bias and I can’t be the only one noticing this. Here we can talk about these topics cause we know we aren’t toxic like some other fans. We rely on

We rely on facts and proof here which is why the frobin fandom doesn’t shake much at anything. Also in that colorspread where the heart and the straw hats pirates are mingling together, Robin is looking back at Franky on the opposite side of her. While Oda put Nami at Law’s side and he is smiling like we never seen him before with a female. Nami is also smiling being next to him. Also Law’s crew shachi and penguin are blushing at Nami being there as well. Continued…

… it seems Nami is close to Law’s crew as in they seem fond of her. Also Oda’s wife (real life Nami)supposedly has a crush on Law. I would try to find out what her favourite female character might be in one piece obviously. That might be a hint for Law. Also Kishimoto’s wife loved naruto with hinata thus why they happened. And clearly hinata seemed the best choice for naruto as well since she is so kind and loves him for his personality. I would look for what his wife likes , a female for Law.

I don't have much to say (she said like a liar).

Thank you for trusting me with these messages! Thank you for the trust, really.

Those differences between Manga and Anime can be found for any number of scene and is why I rarely take the anime as canon. It's easier to not take it as canon at all.

To be fair, I haven't thought much about Nami/Law at all (I think I read one or two fics out of curiosity?)... which is mostly because I don't care much for Law as a character (except he is a nerdy dork and being embarassed by someone else - mostly in OP Party) but I do understand why you ship them. And I hope this stage I'm providing will help you find other Law/Nami shipper.

Also looking up some Law/Nami on tumblr this posting by @bubbly-bungee-may is a good start if someone is curious about possible scenes:

There are also some really amazing fanarts, really. I did a quick skim and the artists are madly talented.

With that, I continue to more in-box shenanigans.

Until next time, anon :)

#Not Frobin #lawna #Law x Nami #LawXNami #LawNami #OP analysis #OP meta #long post #anmie #manga #comparison #also apparently there are a lot of german LawNami shipper #kon

[dykealloy]

i keep going back to this moment. obviously there's the palpable devotion from zoro towards luffy which is all very insane, elicits the urge to chew through drywall etc etc. but I can't help but get caught on the way this is phrased. suggesting maybe zoro isn't the only one mihawk is talking about here. as in, I'm getting opla shuggy rant energy, i.e.

which is about as blatant and transparent as it gets in terms of the older wiser figure with a connection to shanks speaking about his own experiences (under the weak veil of this being about Luffy). but back to mihawk talking about zoro whilst also talking about himself. I'm having to extrapolate a fair bit here given my limited knowledge of his history, but here's what we do know - mihawk never belonged to a crew, was a "rival" of shanks before he "lost interest" in killing him at some point after he lost his arm ("it's always for the sake of another" - given how powerful shanks still is at this point - one of the four emperors - i'd like to think there's something more to this).

when zoro falls to his blade outside the Baratie and he tells luffy "that's a more treacherous path than even mine" after hearing his main goal is to become king of the pirates, do you think perhaps there's a chance he's projecting some old buried anxiety/fear from his youth about the thought of facing shanks, standing by his side and falling. It's giving "I am not worthy until I prove I'm the best", which if true, was followed after many years by "Now I am the best and it's hollow and empty and I regret all those days I could have had with you".

luffy gave zoro direction - a greater purpose and a family. luffy enables his aspirations, but he also provides zoro the freedom to have something more than just this obsessive structure where the only thing that matters is becoming top dog - something beyond years and years of endless relentless training fueled in part by his loyalty to kuina but also the grief of her loss. without luffy, zoro could very likely have followed mihawk's path, something @joyish-little-boy pointed out in one of @assiraphales' posts.

despite being recognised by the world at large as the greatest swordsman alive, and supposedly having achieved all there is for him to strive for, mihawk has never struck me as a man awfully satisfied with where he is.

#mihawk looking zoro straight in the eyes: i know how to manipulate you. fellow fag. #buggy getting distracting midway through his villain monologue and wistfully staring into space: i hate him. i miss him. #mishanks #shuggy #zolu #anyway. do you think zoro telling mihawk that 'the only thing luffy's afraid of is being alone' resonated with mihawk. #do you think it fucked him up? #i think maybe so. #one piece #op #opla #CJ's op watch-through #dracule mihawk #red haired shanks #buggy the clown #zoro #op meta #op analysis

[ariadne-mouse]

"Do not take me for some conjuror of cheap tricks!" says man who spent the last several hours providing the fireworks show for a birthday party

#gandalf I'm coming for you #(jk) #watching this movie is like meeting an old friend again #and in the last couple years I've gotten more into media analysis and am appreciating even more things than before #op #the fellowship of the ring #lotr #lord of the rings #tolkien

[i-am-minty-fresh]

I love in post-time skip when the Strawhats meet a new pirate foe or a new marine officer with the piss poor task of reining them in and they’re like, “oh so this is the fabled strawhats crew, eh? I am aware of your strength and resilience, and will treat you as the dangerous collection of super soldiers and assassins that you must be-“

Only to see that none of the strawhats have acknowledged their presence at all. Zoro and Sanji are still fighting. Chopper’s still napping in Robin’s lap as she reads. Usopp and Luffy are still finger-painting on the helm. Brook hasn’t stopped playing and Jimbei hasn’t stopped peacefully listening. Franky’s helping Nami design a new desk for map making without as much of a glance in the intruders direction.

The pirate/marine gets to see the ridiculousness of the crew in full view. They’re just a bunch of silly guys. They’re just a bunch of silly guys with power scaling so off the fucking chart that they have embarrassed the world government along with every Emperor of the Sea, most Warlords, and all of the Worst Generation.

Isn’t that thought terrifying? That they weren’t even taking any of that all too seriously? What if they had? What if Luffy wanted his enemies to bleed? To choke on their own blood? Would this group follow him? Slit their throats? Snap their spines? Burn them, beat them, tear them limb from limb?

The strawhat crew could run the ocean red if they wanted but instead they spend their afternoons finger-painting and designing new map making equipment and sunbathing.

Let’s all be thankful for Luffy’s endless mercy.

#one piece #minty musings #monkey d luffy #black leg sanji #roronoa zoro #character analysis #god usopp #cat burglar nami #cyborg franky #nico robin #jinbei #first son of the sea jinbe #jinbe #soul king brook #one piece brook #tony tony chopper #op chopper

[midnight-in-town]

My take on Sir Crocodile's past, including the possibility of the CrocoParent theory

(Because I can't help thinking about it, in the midst of Kuma and Bonney's heart-wrenching flashback...)

Crocodile is one of the few Warlords we still hardly know anything about, but we're bound to know about his past at some point (same for Mihawk with whom he's currently working, as well as Moria who stole like half (?) of the Rocks Pirates' corpses), starting with the panel that launched all the theories, back in Impel Down :

Thanks to Kuma's flashback, we know Ivankov used to be a slave to the Celestial Dragons up until God's Valley. As for what happened at God's Valley, we don't know the full story yet but what we know is that...

...the Rocks Pirates were defeated and disbanded by the alliance between Garp and Roger. Some (?) of them were cloned by MADS (like Stussy for a still unknown reason) and Roger then became the next biggest threat of piracy.

Their leader's name was Xebec and other people have already explained that it possibly is related to Sebek/Sobek, an ancient Egyptian deity represented either in its form or as a human with a crocodile head. And, as we all know thanks to the Alabasta arc, Sir Crocodile is strongly associated with Sobek/Sebek too.

From there, it's not a stretch to imagine that Sir Crocodile is Rocks D. Xebec's child and was also present on God's Valley, which is how Crocodile and Ivankov possibly first "met". Ivankov witnessed Rocks' defeat as well as his child's survival...

...probably thanks to Whitebeard. Because, considering how the government tracked Ace and Luffy because of their dads, it's clear that any child of Xebec would be hunted by the government just as much and, like he did for Ace, Whitebeard probably saved and offered shelter to Xebec's kid for a while.

Whitebeard saving Croc as a child on God's Valley could be the reason why Croc seemingly hated Whitebeard so much : Whitebeard saving him instead of avenging Rocks, his captain, on God's Valley and then later probably defeated Crocodile, when Croc decided to become a pirate and went after the One Piece, could explain the animosity that we saw during Marineford.

Anyway, because of God's Valley, this could be the secret Iva knows about Croc: he's the surviving child of Rocks D. Xebec, thanks to Whitebeard.

Whitebeard choosing to save him rather than his Captain and then later defeating him could also explain why Croc has strong issues when it comes to trusting others :

Another hint that Croc is related to Rocks is Blackbeard. A popular theory/understanding in the fandom is that, while Luffy inherited Roger's Will, Blackbeard inherited Rocks' (leading to the idea that Rocks vs Garp & Roger will be paralleled with Blackbeard vs Luffy & Koby). This is especially interesting, considering that Blackbeard replaced Croc as a Warlord after he was defeated and sent to Impel Down, which is when they met :

Crocodile also has a lot of "mannerisms" hinting he's a D. He's strongly interested in the Void Century, poneglyphs and the ancient weapons.

Additionally, upon learning during Marineford about Ace's and Luffy's being hunted by the Government because of their fathers, he intervened to protect them...

These acts, outside of the CrocoParent theory (see below), can be explained by Croc's own experience of being hunted because of who his father was, but also by what Ivankov said to Law, who's also a D :

To conclude, I'm a strong advocate that Sir Crocodile is actually Rocks D. Crocodile and he obviously couldn't keep his father's name, in order to avoid being hunted during his entire life by the Government.

But what about the CrocoParent theory?

Well, as much as I'm an immense and dedicated fan of this theory (full explanation here), a part of me doesn't trust Oda to be brave enough to go down that road, even if I'm also eagerly waiting for him to. :D

Whether Croc was afab or amab though, the theory that he's Rocks' kid still applies. The only difference is that, if Croc was afab, then on top of knowing about who his father was, Iva also helped Croc with transitioning, thanks to their devil fruit.

Of course, it's probably through meeting Iva that Croc then came to meet some members of the Revolutionary Army, like Dragon. He gave birth to Luffy, transitioned afterwards with Iva's help and his actions at Marineford (protecting both Ace and Luffy) are not only because he used to be hunted as Rocks' kid, but also because he just learnt that Luffy is Dragon's son and thus his own child. :))

After all, to quote Dragon in the latest chapter of Kuma's flashback...

... "a child is their parents' weak spot" seems to ring to the same bell as Croc's "if you want to protect something, do it right" (like giving up on raising Luffy and leaving him in a remote village of East Blue, to avoid him being hunted by the World Government).

Anyway, long post, sorry about it! I hope we'll know soon about Croc's past. Let me know if I missed some hints ! :D

#one piece #sir crocodile #rocks d. xebec #monkey d. luffy #emporio ivankov #crocomom #dadodile #monkey d. dragon #portgas d. ace #whitebeard #blackbeard #impel down #marineford #god's valley #op theory #op1101 #my analysis #<- also lmao Dragon being like 'plz don't talk about my kid it's like a threat to me' despite knowing very well who Kuma's kid is #it was immensely funny to me

[vivika-ka]

I'm excited about the next topic I’ll be writing for my next video essay 💛

If you enjoy One Piece analyses, I’m leaving this sneak peek here 🌞

If fandom discussion is up your alley, I'm leaving a link to my first video that covers how fandom and shipping have changed compared to the last 10 years!

I'm providing the link to the Tumblr posts because there are very insightful comments not only on the YouTube video but also on the Tumblr post.

Please check it out 💛

#one piece #trafalgar law #one piece analysis #op analysis #op meta #one piece meta #op commentary #one piece commentary #celtic mythology #one piece mythology #fandom discourse #fandom discussion #fandom ships #one piece ships #fandom culture #moral purity #purity culture #puritanism #media consumption

[sailing-ever-west]

I'm obsessed with Nami in the realm of female character writing, because on the surface her arc is to be saved by a guy/group of guys, and generally with female characters that's used to take away their agency or power and/or support a romance. But with Nami...it does none of that. Her story is about learning to depend on others, but rather than reducing her power in any way, it increases it. The isolation she experienced before wasn't independence, but part of her oppression, so having a family to support her gives her infinitely more freedom.

Luffy is her captain, but the way Luffy does that is never to lord over people, it's to raise them up with him. And, importantly, he waits for it to be her choice. He stays supportively in reach until she asks for his help. The only time he intervenes without permission is to stop her from actively harming herself. And when he does intervene, it's not to whisk her away and keep her somewhere else safe where she's dependent on his security and protection, it's to literally beat the crap out of her oppressor so he's never a problem again and she's free to live her life either way. And although Sanji acts romantically toward her and the rescue follows his grand ideals of fighting for a beautiful lady, there's no expectation that she now owes him anything or has to give him a chance just because he helped her out of an abusive situation. He did it because he cared, not in exchange for anything. They were all willing to fight and bleed for her with next to nothing in return, and that's so vital.

Nami being a woman is definitely relevant to her story (using her beauty and pretend helplessness to steal without suspicion, the fact that she takes after her mom who was tough as nails in the male-dominated marines, the very real isolation and fear of being female surrounded by [fish]men with power over her), but it's important to note that she doesn't need saving because she's a woman, or due to any weakness on her part. She is shown as incredibly strong, brave, and clever, right from the beginning, but she was trapped in a situation with Arlong that would've been impossible for anyone to get out of alone. Now with a crew by her side, she no longer has to.

#one piece #cat burglar nami #one piece nami #arlong park #arlong park arc #one piece arlong #monkey d luffy #female characters #eichiro oda #female character writing #one piece analysis #one piece meta #op meta