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It is the height of delusion and self-absorbed narcissism that Hogback believes that Cindry--the person who has told him many times that she hates him and wishes he would die--is ecstatic to be "alive" and under his control.

#opbackgrounds #one piece #ch468 #hogback #read the room man #one piece analysis #one piece brilliant meta

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Like Absalom, there's something terribly real about Hogback's obsession, right down to the depression he falls into after Cindry initially died. I actually like that he wasn't the one to kill her. It adds the teensiest bit of complexity to his character, and while not said directly it makes sense that after being powerless to bring the person he "loved" back to life that he'd jump at the chance at joining someone like Moriah. Hogback wants to be known as the man who has conquered death, he wouldn't make this huge speech trying to convince Chopper about his ability otherwise, and it's easy to see how that obsession might have come about. There’s even some symbolism of this corruption in his character design, as he goes from wearing all white when Cindry was alive to all black after bringing her back from the dead.

#opbackgrounds #one piece #ch468 #hogback #cindry #*shivers* #characterization! #~symbolism~ #character design #one piece analysis #one piece brilliant meta

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By specifically using the world miracle to describe his experiments, Hogback is shifting his work from the scientific to the divine, taking on the role of God to the corpses he's reviving from the dead. And as God, he demands perfect obedience from his creations. It's important that throughout this monologue Hogback barely refers to Moriah at all, despite the fact that he would be nothing without his power, and specifically states that it's Cindry's looks and obedience that attracts him to this twisted, unnatural version of the person she was when she was alive, the version of Cindry that had the temerity to spurn his so-called "love".

This attitude mirrors the Celestial Dragons quite well. They base their godhood on what they--or more accurately their ancestors--created, demanding wealth, power, and submission from the masses of humanity that they rule over with a cruel and iron fist. They themselves have done nothing special, just like Hogback managing to stitch a bunch of corpses together is not the thing that brings them back to life, but demand the life and souls of their citizens all the same.

#opbackgrounds #one piece #ch468 #hogback #celestial dragons #themes threads and throughlines #one piece analysis #one piece brilliant meta #nico robin #usopp

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This has absolutely nothing to do with this scene but is at least tangentially related to the Thriller Bark arc so I'm gonna share it anyway. The word galvanize is an eponym derived from Luigi Galvani, who was a scientist and physician in the 18th century who helped pioneer the field of bioelectricity when he discovered that he could make dead frog legs move when ran through with an electric current, with later proponents of his work going so far as to shock human corpses attempting to bring them to life. This breakthrough would in part inspire the creation of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, which, some two hundred or so years later would in part inspire Thriller Bark.

So in a way I guess you could say Hogback has galvanized these corpses, albeit with shadows instead of electricity, forcing them to move without recreating true life.

#opbackgrounds #one piece #c468 #forgive me sometimes i just need an excuse to talk about fun facts #art imitates life #the key to good horror is examining the deepest fears of man and society #and 200 years ago that fear was not knowing how the hell electricity worked #as well as the danger of unbridled ambition and the pursuit of knowledge at all costs but that's besides the point #one piece analysis #one piece brilliant meta

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The lil' ellipsis from Robin speak volumes despite her silence.

And this is interesting because Dr. Kureha also charged astronomical amounts of money from her patients, so it's not practicing medicine for material gain that upsets Chopper, or even the fact that he didn't care about the patients he did help with his surgical skill. It's the fact that Hogback's a liar and a fraud whose work would be meaningless without the help of Moriah's devil fruit, who's deluded himself into thinking he's a genius who can bring the dead back to life. That's the reason Hogback is no longer a doctor in Chopper's eyes. I'm sure the other stuff doesn't help, but at least in the past Hogback was actually practicing medicine. All he's doing now is forcing a bunch of meat puppets to dance to his will

#opbackgrounds #one piece #ch468 #chopper #hogback #themes threads and throughlines #characterization! #one piece analysis #one piece brilliant meta

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Sometimes I cope by drawing wholesome things.

Sometimes I cope by diving deep into despair.

#one piece #one piece admirals #vegapunk #kizaru #borsalino #sentomaru #jewelry bonney #egghead spoilers #god what a great series #opbackgrounds

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Honestly, a not-insignificant contributing factor to my mid-20s gender crisis is that I used to think I was viscerally repulsed by playing as male characters in video games, but eventually I realised it was literally just playing as smarmy brown-haired thirtysomething dudes with an emotional range running the gamut from dull surprise to generic rage that put me off, and basically every other sort of male player character was fine. It's just that this happened to be when the Uncharted series was really taking off, so a solid 50% of all male video game protagonist fit that mould! Nathan Drake sucks so much that he made me question my gender, is what I mean to say.

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While you're analysing the Thriller Bark arc I must confess I love Moria and the hypocrite that he is.

As we know Moria got defeated so badly by Kaido that he lost his crew and chin that he decided to have a crew of just zombies so he never has to feel the pain of loss every again

But then he raises a young child for at least ten years to the point he has a spoiled daughter that is loyal to him to the point that despite at least two years of separation still tries to save him.

And then we have Moria himself being a hypocrite as he ventures into a Pirate Emperor territory just to save a crew mate. And then when he learns that Absalom is dead tries to avenge him by fighting a pirates emperor crew. So much for keeping people at arms length Moria

there are a lot of enemy groups in one piece that don't get along with one another, but the Thriller Bark crew isn't one of them--hell, later in the arc Absalom invites Hogback to his wedding. For as much as he's a lazy asshole I think part of that falls back on Moriah's leadership.

I bet he had a really fun crew to be on before Kaido rocked his shit.

#sarc talks #one piece #opbackgrounds #one piece analysis #one piece brilliant meta

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This is one of the few gags I feel is improved by the anime

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”where were robin and stussy in the newest chapter” doing THIS, obviously

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Uh, the actual request part of this one should hopefully get done soon. Voted on by the Patreon!

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I really enjoy how one piece theory youtubers are locked in an arms race to create the worst looking thumbnails and clickbait titles ever seen

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Preorders available, dial 1-800-073-NAMI on your transponder snail now!

bonus:

#one piece funny #one piece

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I love how Oda splits the scardy cat trio from the rest of the crew. It's the best of both worlds, with the comedy of showing the crew both being and not being afraid, with an extra layer of humor from highlighting the difference between the two groups.

#opbackgrounds #one piece #one piece analysis

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It is so incredibly kind of Franky to think of, and implement, the Mini Merry

#opbackgrounds #one piece #ships ahoy #I'm not crying you're crying #one piece analysis

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Usopp had no idea how contagious the antiadventureitis really is

#opbackgrounds #one piece #ch444 #deliberately misconstruing facts for my own amusement #it's especially bad because the doctor's got it too #one piece analysis