#and i think luffy's logic is a mix of things! one being that this guy has it coming because he had a major hand in robin's plight here | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

basedkikuenjoyer · 1 year

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What? No no, let’s back this whole thing up. Shut it down. I need a full explanation and entire story behind Granny Ori here. Welcome to the inner circle of only the finest minor blorbos girl. I love her. And Shanks’s blasé attitude telling her to worry about old age. Good to know Cavendish, Leo, and the rest of those dudes are solid allied captains. Naturally, if we’re looking at them being involved in Egghead then any amount of fleshing out such a concept in parallel stories bolsters the hype. This has been an idea floating around, needing to have some discretion when it comes to followers. We’ll see a terrific climax for this chapter leading into a break week but ultimately my main takeaway is that 1079 is a bit uncommon in Egghead for simply building on what 1078 started. The more this unfolds the more it all seems to be coming together rallied around a central thematic core.

Figure I’ll finish the thought because we’re back to time not really mattering all that much. It isn’t just seeing Shanks’s interactions with his fleet, we’re getting to see a lot more of how the man operates than we’re used to. Is it not consistent with the type of growth we’ve been on about for Luffy? Especially when you add in the Giants. It’s that whole incidental impact, the idea Kid made things a lot worse by making a pretty stupid faux pas. Shanks is just so damn brutally efficient here and I love every panel of it. Especially the very cool display of Foresight. Put a pin in that. Oh and hey, here we are also answering a little lingering question about Wano’s end again. It was just like Kaido @ Marineford; Shanks consistently seems to be interested in something a little beyond simple good and evil. I’d say it’s consistent with someone who knows his fate is to be “in between” so he’s made his journey about protecting what he fancies. But he lacks a certain drive to be the one to actually pull the trigger. This is what’s always stuck with me about him:

Just doesn’t seem like the type to have grand ambitions of his own and he can be a little too conflict averse. If we’re getting this involved though, and especially with the echo of how nice Uta parallels from Film Red, I think it’s time to give the weird element of how similar Kiku ends up being to Redtaro its due. That’ll come tomorrow and I hope you all enjoy it. As for Kidd? I hate it for the guy but it’s right up our alley here. You had every chance to learn the lesson in Wano and refused, that came around to bite you. Just like Ace & Izo...shoulda listened to Killer dude. He’s the one I really feel sad for. Kidd’s acting like Luffy used to, Luffy on Egghead is at least acting more like Shanks now. There’s a solid point there Kidd is useful for illustrating; seek freedom, but too much of a rebellious spirit and unwillingness to play the part when it’s advantageous leads to things like making new enemies incidentally. The Giants by all accounts should welcome one of the men who ended Big Mom. The Blackbeard ship showing up is interesting too for what it could say about Law...but that’s more nebulous since we don’t even know if it’s actually Blackbeard. Anyways, time for time shenanigans. It’s very cool to combine a big Foresight Haki scene with...

More of this with York! I love S-Snake’s lil “You got it dude” thumbs up. Shit...that means she could petrify me doesn’t it? I feel like I might be able to resist the real Hancock. It’s on brand, we’re seeing York in a light very reminiscent of Monet with the Punk Hazard kids mixed with a dash of this motif of rules and hierarchies. It’s also York, who we argued revealed herself as a pretty solid foil for Kiku last time, using a bit of that same mindset and aptitude. This same logic is why Kiku ran and hid behind Zoro before fucking with Urashima, of course she knows she’s twice his height.

Very trendy, very heirophant. It’s the narrative structure I’ve been looking out for a long time though. Reveal the mystery, go back and fill in the gaps that are all there around the breadcrumbs that were always hiding in plain sight. Like I said last time though, this just feels a little more like a prelude than a payoff. It’s too insular when you have so many ways to roll in what’s come before. The real meat of Egghead is still to come, and I for one am very excited.

#one piece #chapter 1079 #Post-Wano Musings #york #shanks #granny ori #s-snake

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human-enthusiast · 3 years

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Absurd Person #1 - Monkey D. Luffy (kid)

Let’s start with not only the main protagonist of One Piece but also the first character to give Luffy any sort of injury...

...his dumb, seven-year-old self...

*Disclaimer: I don’t own this image - screenshot from Episode of East Blue

The last time I wrote this, I forgot to hit save and my browser just reloaded the page and lost everything. After that I just went “I’m done” and rage quit Tumblr for the night (which I normally don’t do). That’s how my Sundays usually go😒🥴

Now Onward!

Basic Classifications

Real World Ethnicity/Nationality: Brazilian

Class: farm / country / lower class

Culture (the one he grew up around): Dawn Island - Sea-side village

Fishing community

Farming / Ranching community

Hard work ethic

Small and close community members; relatively friendly; little to non-existent conflict

Selective mix of being open towards strangers (especially with merchant vessels for better trading opportunities) and weariness towards those they expect to be harmful (likes Pirates; I’d imagine the people of Windmill Village were understandably unnerved with the Red-Haired Pirates first showing up).

Core values (personal to Luffy): pride, physical strength, adventures on and outside his home village,

Relation to authority: neutral - shifting slightly towards negative (no clear basis of opinion; can only go off on Luffy’s fascination with pirates as the main viewpoint)

(The added information feels a little scatter-shot but figured I give it a try based on little information from the manga panels and how it lines up with real-world similarities. Most information is based on logical speculation and could change with new information in later chapters.)

I know that the Romance Dawn arc consists of the chapters up until he meets Coby and Alvida (I think...), but the depiction of Luffy’s character in the first chapter seems different from when he is seventeen and setting out to sea. So, I’ll treat kid Luffy as a separate character for the first analysis.

First Impressions and Introduction

Now, I am an anime watcher, first and foremost, so my first impression of this character stems from the Anime. My introduction towards this ball of chaos was when he popped out of a barrel, that he put himself into after realizing that a whirlpool suddenly appeared (how he missed it? - It’s Luffy), and then inexplicably took a nap in. That was the absurd reason I was able to stick with One Piece in the first few arcs (until Baratie became one of the major reasons I stuck with it - I’ll explain why when we get there).

And since the first chapter was used for episode four in the anime, I was already somewhat familiar with how the story started and who Luffy was as a kid. However, reading the first chapter felt....different than what I would’ve expected. And because the anime cut out a few details from the chapter, there definitely are some things to take from kid Luffy at that point.

So my first impression was, as follows:

The kid is unhinged...That explains some things...

Complete wild child of a backwater village from Day 1.

LIKE-- The anime episode DID NOT explain how he got that scar and the guy didn’t bring it up ever. To be fair, that wasn’t a big focus because the anime didn’t make it a focus. Reading that part though did more for his character and a little of his upbringing, through speculation, making it a rather slow-building but also fascinating introduction into this series.

Just a bit of an add-on, but if the manga introduced Luffy in the same level of neutrality as what the Anime did, It may not have fully made it clear if Luffy was going to be the main protagonist. Then again, it’s a shounen manga, maybe it was rather obvious to everyone else. Regardless, his introduction served to

(1) Make his entrance memorable

(2) Establish his character that could either compare or set him apart from his teen self.

(3) Act as a sort of precursor towards the introduction of Luffy’s world and upbringing (which isn’t completely established until the last few arcs of Pre-Time Skip)

Personality

The best way I could describe Luffy at this point is a stereotypical kid...

Energetic, short-tempered, adventure-seeking, easily impressed, and ignorant...

That last description is actually something I brought up in a separate post about the “Fluid themes” of One Piece. Because I found that a small but overarching part in many (almost all) themes and world issues that One Piece reflects has some level of unawareness or apathy. Jimbe put it best during the Fishman Island Flashback when they found Koala (paraphrasing)

“They are afraid of us because they don’t know us.”

Know us referring to acknowledging them as people on the same level as humans.

Because of that and plenty of other instances from the East Blue, it can be a potential center for many characters who go up against or wish to explore the world and find that they are a frog in a well.

And that’s what kid Luffy represents. A rather aggressive frog in a well that wants out.

Granted, he is a seven-year-old, whose schooling has a closer equivalent to the 16th and 17th centuries of our world, living in what appears to be a farming community, so I’d imagine his education only focuses on at least the basic levels of reading/writing, mathematics, etc. A small, unexciting farming village probably has more concerns over their melon crops rather than what the world has going on. Adding in Luffy, you get a kid who dreams about being a pirate and adventuring outside the isolated village, making him avidly interested in a world he has no experience with. Or in a world he thinks is all fun and games.

That’s pretty standard for any child that has a mild and peaceful life. No doubt Shanks and his crew would tell him stories about their adventures. Not as a sort of attempt to make him a pirate, but because he was easily entertained by it, building up this expectation with stereotypical pirate personas. And whether he has his “destructive” tendencies before they became a fixture in Windmill Village, they definitely seemed to amp it up enough for Luffy to try and prove he was “man enough” to be a pirate at seven years old.

Then when you add in this idealistic expectation with the selfishness of a young child, it creates an opportunity to learn. Because, as any kid may go through, will find that their fantasy of the world won’t be what they expected, and will often react negatively. Luffy’s expectation of Shanks is that he is the strongest man worthy enough to be a pirate.

Now, Luffy’s view of a “real man” stems a lot from this stereotype of men solving their problems through fighting only. Which also embodies this rather damaging philosophy of never running away or backing down from a fight (which I refer to as stupid bravery - something that comes up in a certain other character).

The amazing thing about all the combined aspects of this kid is the ability to create a learning lesson for Luffy. Which can become a motivational factor in his pursuit as a pirate.

His easily impressed nature makes it known both when the Red-Haired Pirates talk positively about piracy adventures and when Shanks leaves the village. The difference between the moments can be showcased by the difference in determination and will to make an effort to achieve his dream. As he declared he wants to be King of The Pirates, he sets himself to work at it, rather than try and go with others.

How He Shapes the Story / World Around Them

I don’t know if anybody else made a similar connection (I wanna say someone DID but I can’t remember where) but in combination with Luffy’s general enthusiasm growing up hearing wild stories, his narrative reminds me so much of Don Quixote De La Mancha.

It’s been a while since I last read that story-- and by read I mean translate some paragraphs from Spanish to English during my Spanish I class in freshman year of high school. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Part I entails an old man who, after indulging himself with various stories of knights and valor, decides he wants to partake in his own adventures. Under various delusions and misadventures, his story becomes a rather well-known one.

Don Quixote was called the first “modern book”. That was something my Spanish teacher mentioned regarding its acknowledgment by the world and always stuck with me. It was one of the first stories of the early medieval period to focus on a regular man. Other stories before this tended to be about legends, gods, demigods-- individuals who often were referred to as legends because they were born into high status (often above humans). Either through original texts (often for religious purposes) and then through varying interpretations (such as the Arthurian Legends), these tales were a part of the status quo.

Kid Luffy is a person that reflects so much of the Don Quixote story (And not just because his village has windmills-- the most iconic scene about the knight’s story). He is that simple, normal boy that longs for his own adventures when there seemingly is already a well-talked-about story about someone who achieved infamy. In place of that is a man named Gold Roger whose execution we see in the manga’s opening. At this point, we don’t have much understanding about how it impacts the world as of yet, we just know it is setting up for something significant to the story.

Luffy becomes that “regular” person from a small-town with big expectations for a grand adventure.

That perspective can slowly build into the story by starting in a simple setting with a character going through one of the first dynamic changes in his life. Luffy’s experience with Shanks’s sacrifice sets a course in his own adventure. A story that trails into a rather bonkers adventure at the end of chapter 1.

His development is what shaped his world. It’s the way he learns when as it stems from the consequences of his actions. Especially ones where the smaller ones turn out to be very costly, making it a hard lesson that ingrains into the young kid. His actions created by his old ideologies sparked an intense reaction in the people around him. Especially Shanks, who felt he was worth losing an arm towards.

How The WORLD Shapes HIM

So, for the sake of the fact that kid Luffy’s “World” in Chapter 1 mostly consists of Windmill Village, I’m adding in Shank’s and his crew’s influence to extend and further give credence to his influence. Because, as of this point, Shanks represents a glimpse into the life of a pirate that Luffy strives for.

With Luffy being in a quiet environment all seven years of life, there is growth through basic schooling and healthy child development (theoretically since Makino seems to be the most likely one acting as his guardian), instead of doing things outside that norm. Now Shanks is the odd factor that creates new development into Luffy’s dreams and future ambitions.

The crew’s stories, charisma, and connection towards the kid actively (and probably unintentionally) created a positive expectation if he chose to pursue his dream. While that sounds inspiring, there were also negative aspects. Such as driving his ignorance and impatient nature to seek it out too early in his life.

Shanks then became a mediator. Luffy often has mixed feelings with Shanks as the man begets a level of encouragement while verbally making fun of Luffy for being a kid constantly. Despite that, it doesn’t completely deter Luffy’s ambitions. All it does is slowly drop his high expectations in Shanks after the first bar incident. This is again done by his childish outlook of physical strength and bravery equating to his ideal of a real man.

With Higama, Luffy learns about real-world dangers, and how bravery won’t always be enough to win battles. The same can be said for physical strength but at that moment it doesn’t apply to Luffy.

Shanks’ and the crew’s involvement helped Luffy’s views change. His expectations are fulfilled, which in turn reveal that he was wrong about them.

Finally, seeing Shanks’ sacrifice unfold drove Luffy into a pang of newfound guilt. By then, he was able to change one part of his world views from a childish fantasy into the beginnings of a mature way of thinking.

He gains some level of patience. Along with a set goal to work with. Attributes which are identifiable with Luffy in the chapters last few panels.

Patience = Luffy took time to train and learn to set sail at age seventeen.

Set goal = Be King of the Pirates

Add-Ons

When I say that kid Luffy, after Shanks’ sacrifice, gained a level of patience, it is meant as a deduction during that chapter. By no means am I insinuating that it became a permanent trait for his character. Because as of chapter 1, all of Luffy’s personality has yet to be revealed.

And this will apply to other posts for various characters. They may behave in ways during or in response to a particular event but it doesn’t necessarily equate to that becoming a whole personality trait. Calling Luffy patient, with having full acknowledgment of his personality during the bulk of One Piece, is completely off. But, there can and will be moments where Luffy will act patient when he deems it necessary.

This is a little hard to articulate but I hope it makes enough sense.

🏴‍☠️🐒

After-Notes

Here’s my first attempt at this analysis. It felt scattered even after editing everything. Breaking down characters sounds easy (and most times it is) but articulating and connecting things takes a lot of work.

Here's to hoping it gets easier with the next character. And maybe shorter paragraphs.

Up Next: Shanks (East Blue)

#OPA #One Piece #East Blue Saga #Romance Dawn Arc #Monkey D. Luffy #Chapter 1 #One Piece Characters #Worldbuilding #Analysis

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warlordgab · 4 years

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Analysis of shipping: Revisiting detracting arguments

I know some people were expecting more content here, and I'm sorry for taking so long to put this thing together. This post will be a little different from the other analyses you’ve seen here...

It's no secret this blog is mainly about LuNa...

...and NaLu

And several post made here are meant to showcase how their respective stories build them up through consistent bonding; defend their position as potent relationships by means of evidence and logic; or both.

We know standing next to each other in the same panel or frame are not “moments” if the context and/or the story doesn’t turn them into a meaningful interaction.

We know a girl slapping a guy is not something inherently romantic, and it’s not a defining trait of a potent relationship, specially when context says otherwise.

We know that brief rescue scenes are not always the sign of a potential romance as there are several elements needed to turn them into actual moments for a pairing

But, there are some arguments that persist because shallow shippers think they give meaning to their premises, disprove the potential another pairing has, or both. This post will deconstruct a couple of those arguments used to argue against LuNa and NaLu's position as potent relationships in their respective stories.

1) Romantic pursuit Vs. Consistent bonding

I was going to call this one the “Touka Argument”, or Touka's Rhetoric. Naming it after FT's Touka...

...she seemed to be the embodiment of nearly everything shippers argue against relationships as LuNa and NaLu until we got a comedic plot-twist worthy of a trolling writer.

Still, the argument goes a little bit like this: any one-sided pursuit of romance should become part of the endgame pairing. It doesn't matter if the story doesn't take such "affection" seriously, it doesn't matter if it is meant to be a joke with little to no weight, all that matters is the character actively looking for romance while proclaiming “love.”

A character who appears much later in the storyline openly expressing "love" for the MC. Meanwhile the MC shares far more development with a romantically inactive girl.

Some shippers may argue that the girls or guys who are actually "in love" are the ones who will win their object of affection. Others may admit this is a extremely subjective matter as some of these girls end up winning, which makes it hard to analyze this stuff properly. But, there's one thing that helps people to keep an objective perspective: development

If we take a look at relationships like Gruvia from Fairy Tail, we get to see that their most powerful scenes are not the ones that involve the characters being all mushy over each other, but the moments of actual emotional significance; actual build-up...

...created by impactful moments

Some of Hiro Mashima's works prove he's aware that what truly matters in this particular regard is not how often a character makes claims of love, but how much development she or he has with a significant other.

What about Eiichiro Oda and his works? We got one notable example from the Whole Cake island arc

One sincere gesture of kindness from Sanji (the local pervert and Casanova wannabe) was enough for him to get to Pudding's heart...

...when he shattered the image she had of herself as monster with that gesture, and later an armor-piercing question, she ended up falling for him as he was the only person on that island that saw her true face and still deemed her as a beautiful woman instead of a monster. Sanji had such impactful moments with Pudding without going "horny" mode on her.

Other authors know that this kind development is needed for the logical progression in both good storytelling and decent characterization. They may not say it out loud, but their works speak for themselves while showing even characters who are not looking for romantic love can eventually develop such bonds.

Take a look at relationships like Kenshi and Kaoru from Rurōni Kenshin...

...they became an item, despite neither of them being romantically active, because they bonded over time, supporting and caring for each other, to the point of developing a much deeper connection. No over-the-top corny lines nor becoming all horny on each other; it was just consistent bonding, which ultimately triumphed.

It's shouldn't come as a surprise given the author of Rurōni Kenshin mentored Eiichiro Oda.

And to add it more to the irony, there was another girl interested in Kenshin who got a role much greater in the anime than the manga, and who was more mild-tempered, feminine, and seductive.

Another mangaka who understood this matter is Seishi Kishimoto, brother of Masashi Kishimoto (of Naruto fame), and author of O-parts Hunters.

The moments shared by the main characters led Ruby to become Jio's emotional support, and both of them to get emotionally attached to one another. Another girl was interested in Jio, but consistent bonding made Jio and Ruby's connection remain as a potent relationship... as well as some other plot points.

And of course, there's the critically-acclaimed Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood for anime-only watchers) by Hiromu Arakawa.

Edward and Winry. Two well-written characters who weren't romantically active before ending up together, yet their relationship and later upgrade made total sense... I could name Roy and Riza too, but that would be overkill.

The point is that it's not the romantic pursuit (or gag-like claims of "love") that makes or breaks a pairing; it's all about the moments that leave an impact along with shared experiences which give a strong companionship the potential for a relationship upgrade.

2) Every shonen story is the same story?

While this argument sounds ridiculous, it serves as an umbrella for several other claims some shippers may use.

A lot of anime fans know that most popular shonen stories, such as Dragon Ball, usually feature underdeveloped relationships. So, more often than not, shippers may claim or imply significant moments and actual development mean little to nothing in a shonen story. This reasoning can be easily mixed with the "romantic pursuit" argument.

Another related argument is the "informed attribute," which means you can off-screen the whole relationship and just let a character or narration "tell" you how a pairing happened instead of "showing" you how they developed. Basically, a violation of "show, don't tell."

While it's true several shonen stories share similar tropes, the more you examine each story, the easier it becomes to tell them apart.

Eiichiro Oda wrote a story that could easily fit the concept of "romance," as in a dramatic narrative treating themes such as heroism, idealism, mystery and adventure...

In fact, according to Sugita, a former One Piece editor, "Oda revealed that One Piece was something of a deliberate subversion of Dragon Ball through having a vastly more complex story and characters, while Dragon Ball is a manga infamous for its simplicity."

This is consistent to Oda's own statement: "I write ONE PIECE as dramatically as I can. If I had written a pure battle manga, it would have been easily defeated by Dragon Ball."

Given the amount of themes the series covered and the engaging emotional narrative, the argument of this story being the same as every other popular shonen doesn't hold up. The characters are all bound together as true companions not by a desire to become "stronger," but because they're "in love with adventure" as the author put it.

What about Fairy Tail? Hiro Mashima wrote a fantasy shonen series centered around thematics that are common in other shonen stories: Companionship and Family.

While some people already commented how the manga seems to have strong similarities with One Piece, Hiro Mashima had his own ideas when making the story. As he himself said once: "Usually a shonen manga starts with just a main character, who then slowly accumulates his or her allies as the story progresses. But in the world of Fairy Tail, everybody pretty much knows each other at the beginning. That was sort of what I was going for."

In another interview he even stated one of the thematic differences in relation to his previous work: "Rave Master was about friends saving the whole world, but Fairy Tail is about closer-knit relationships."

This is consistent with what we've seen in Fairy Tail, as the titular guild is all about that theme, how different people of several backgrounds are connected by intimate bonds and the search for exciting adventures.

What about the characters?

Both Eiichiro Oda and Hiro Mashima (just like many other mangakas) grew up watching and/or reading Dragon Ball. But, are their main characters Luffy...

...and Natsu...

...just mere replicas of Goku and other shonen heroes?

It's true that many authors follow the shonen hero archetype when writing the protagonist of a series. Both Luffy and Natsu are golden-hearted idiot heroes, and both of them have personalities that reflect the idea of "No Challenge equals No Satisfaction."

But, unlike Goku their ultimate aim is not all about following an endless cycle of self-improvement. At their core, both Luffy and Natsu are thrill-seekers who are constantly looking for fun and adventure.

Luffy is all about freedom, and even if he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, he can still display actual leadership qualities when the situation calls for it. Natsu, like some other of his guildmates, is a mischievous trouble-maker but still pretty much the embodiment of the values of Fairy Tail.

The more you examine both characters, the more differences you can find...

All of this is related to shipping mainly because people may claim "every shonen story is the same story" to justify pairings that do not have enough canon material supporting them.

So, if the hero and the heroine have a far more substantial development and actual chemistry, shippers who oppose such characters getting together may imply the following: "if several popular mangakas make their official couples with no regard for moments or build-up, why Oda or Mashima should be any different."

Because each author is different, and even if their stories use similar tropes from time to time, elements like themes, purpose, focus, plot, and characters will vary from writer to writer.

3) Anime Vs. Manga

'It's easier to watch a series than read a story'

Which is why whenever a manga gets an anime adaptation, if the story is good, its popularity rises.

However, sometimes the directors and writers of the anime do not share the same vision as the mangaka. And people who are up to date with both mediums can perceive such differences. Dragged out fights, OOC moments, inconsistencies with plot points from the source material, etc. are common place in some adaptations.

But, some directors and other staff members take some liberties to add "shipping fuel" according to their own views and taste.

I apologize in advance if this comparison offends someone, I’m just using it as an example. The anime adaptation of Bleach made by Studio Pierrot featured some ship tease...

Such scenes weren't written by Tite Kubo, the author of Bleach. And they could easily pass as something "romantic."

However, during an interview, one of Bleach's editors, Toya Taichi, stated that "in Kubo sensei’s mind, Orihime is the heroine character and Rukia is a comrade" and he later summed it up as "feeling like a pal" (相棒 in japanese).

When it comes to modern japanese storytelling, the term "heroine" (ヒロイン in japanese) is interchangeable with "love interest." Orihime herself was even present in the Shonen Jump heroines covers. But, people who take filler scenes as the real deal may think otherwise.

When it comes to Fairy Tail, A-1 Pictures did a decent job in adapting the story but they also added shipping fuel, small things like Gray following Lucy and getting teased by Happy for it, or the big things like the non-canon expansion of the flashbacks involving Lisanna, which some people still treat as the signs of endgame pairings.

People who watched this version before reading the manga are more prone to overhype relationships that have little to no supporting evidence from Mashima's works. Fortunately A-1 Pictures toned it down later, too bad some shippers never forget...

If we talk about One Piece, the story is very different to say the least. TOEI Animation didn't stop in this regard, as some people may recall I already posted several of the changes they made for the sake of ship tease, and unlike A-1 Pictures they keep going and going with the moments they keep adding being more and more blatantly shippy (specially with Nami and Sanji) as time goes on.

Since One Piece is very long-running manga, more and more people only watch the anime and they take all those additions as the real deal despite the heroine of this story sharing far more development and solid chemistry with the hero.

However, not every fan is into well-developed relationships, so not every manga-reader will go LuNa/NaLu. Same could be said about anime-only watchers, as not all of them are swayed by filler, so not all of them will disregard LuNa/NaLu if they like consistent bonding.

The point is that the anime adaptation has a strong influence in how the fans perceive the story, the characters, and the bonds they build. And not every anime adaptation presents a favorable image of the in-canon premises made by the mangaka.

Here’s a little bonus:

Who's the One Piece heroine according to Oda?

When talking about Strong World, the movie he wrote, Oda said “I really wanted to make a ‘hero saves the heroine’ story." A movie about a hero (Luffy) saving the heroine (Nami). He added: "You might think otherwise, but I had no intention of bringing in someone new to fill that [heroine] role. So when I had to think about whom to use for it amongst the straw hats of course that meant Nami.”

He also stated in 2019, when an interviewer addressed the fact his wife is similar to Nami, "They say a mangaka often marries a person who's similar to the heroine."

Across the several years the manga had been going, Nami often appears in the Shonen Jump heroines covers due to her role in One Piece.

You can see the latest Jump heroines poster here

Who's the Fairy Tail heroine according to Mashima?

One of his latest works (HERO’S) answers this question...

Context: Ellie is talking about Haru, Natsu, and Shiki (the heroes of Rave, Fairy Tail, and Edens Zero). Each one of these girls has the role of "heroine" in each of their respective stories. One of them even ends up with the hero.

BONUS: The Elephant in the room

As you probably noticed, I used a lot of official statements to back up my post. However, even those who oppose LuNa and Nalu use those kind of statments...

In the case of One Piece, several fans considered "romantic love" a concept completely foreign from the series due to a couple of quotes from the author. When asked about this particular subject, Oda stated that the members of Straw Hat crew are "in love with adventure." And later when asked again, the mangaka said that since this is a shonen story "romance isn't depicted."

Based on these answers, several fans created the myth of "romantic love" not existing in One Piece. Many held onto this conclusion with so much intensity that they always dismissed the bad girl Alvida's obvious attraction to the hero (Luffy).

However, as a clever and perceptive reviewer pointed out we're talking about the same author that once claimed he doesn't kill characters and went as far as to say "I hate when supposedly dead characters come back to life." Yet his story has a couple of "supposedly dead" characters who turned out to be alive. No spoilers here.

Some of his statments are meant to be taken with a grain of salt. He said "romance wasn't depicted" but as of recent years it's been a thing in One Piece...

...Señor Pink and Russian are one example of how traditional romance gets integrated in both story and characters. So, using the author's words to invalidate all possibility of romance in One Piece no longer works.

Ironically, haters take Oda's old claims literally when talking about Luffy, but they completely forget about it as soon as someone mentions Nami or Robin in this particular regard. A clear display of a blatant double-standard...

When it comes to Fairy Tail, some haters love to quote that Natsu and Lucy are "more than friends but less than lovers."

Yet, they choose to ignore that in recent years, when asked about the relationship between these characters, Mashima himself replied: "I feel that the Natsu and Lucy ship is more suitable."

Some time before that statement, during a New York Comic Con, when asked what he feels is “right” in this regard Mashima held up his drawing of Natsu and Lucy...

...so everyone could see his answer to the question.

So, using Mashima's old quote to deny the plausibility of a relationship upgrade here and there is not going to work either.

If people want to defend a pairing or prove a potent relationship has what it takes to become canon, they should try to stay true to the author's works, and the story's internal logic, instead of trying to find a way around them and/or promoting a baseless process of elimination, all to justify another premise.

Consistent bonding, chemistry, and natural development coming from the author’s works should be superior to mere rethoric, hype, and/or anime filler

#one piece #fairy tail #eiichiro oda #hiro mashima #monkey d. luffy #nami #luffy x nami #lunami #luna #ルナミ #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #natsu x lucy #nalu #shipping #analysis #I'm ready for the salt...#this feels like committing blog seppuku #edited to correct a couple of mistakes

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nakunakunomi · 4 years

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Hi how are you? Just saw your Zoro x Reader x Law, that I loved so much (poor Marimo...). And I wanted to request a fic I once requested for another blog... Could you please write a headcanon about Ace and Sanji (polyrelationship), both dating Shanks and Mihawk's daughter in secret, and her parents discovering the relationship by accident when seeing them on a date/kissing/fluff scenario? It can be 2 o 3 person pov, what you feel better. Thanks for the attention and sorry for the bother.

Hiya! I am sorry it took so long! I loved your request, but there was so much to unpack and establish that I had to take my time and make sure everything was in there! For that reason, it has become quite long for HC, so I hope that compensates a little for the time you had to wait! Also, never apologise for requesting, you’re not bothering at all!! <3 Hope you enjoy!! <3

Getting caught - Sanji / reader / Ace

2nd person. female reader. Polyamory. Part 2 here!

Having Mihawk and Shanks as fathers isn’t easy. They’re super protective of their ‘little girl’ no matter how many times you try to make clear to them that you are a grown-ass adult, who can perfectly make decisions for herself.

Especially Mihawk is difficult to persuade to give you freedom. He prefers you stay on Kuraigana, which is hard to convince you of. There is nothing to do there and Shanks is out all the time, it’s only logical that adventure calls one day.

Shanks is the ‘cool dad’, who thinks it is important you have your freedom and such. But on the inside, he does worry. Keeping an eye on the newspapers to see if there’s anything about you.

Whenever the two of them got together, they always hoped you’d spend some quality time with you, but once you found yourself a crew, that became a little harder.

When they find out that crew is the strawhats…there’s some mixed reactions. Shanks thinks it’s hilarious, and although Mihawk insists they are not the best crew to hang around or be part of, he is secretly kind of relieved, knowing none of them would ever let someone harm you. And if they did they’d be into big trouble. And the crew are super close friends, which is nice, to have such an intense bond.

What they don’t know, and maybe for the best, is that it didn’t take long for you to form an even more intense bond with the ship’s cook, who you had fallen for, thanks to his neverending charm, love and just anything and everything he ever did.

The two of you had been dating for a while, but you hadn’t mentioned it in any of the letters you sent to either of your dads. Just to keep them from setting course to wherever you are to give your boyfriend a stern talking-to.

On top of that, the relationship had become even a little more complicated and hard to explain to your fathers after the crew had met Luffy’s older brother Ace at Alabasta.

Let’s just say Alabasta nights get cold and Ace was just what Sanji and you needed to warm up a little.

Ace, of course, couldn’t always be with the two of you, Whitebeard Pirate responsibilities as a commander and of course his search for Blackbeard still being his main focus, but he did try and visit you two as much as possible, making detours with the striker just to show up at the island you guys were at every now and then.

Usually unannounced, he lives for the surprised look on your faces, how you squeal and nearly tackle him in a hug, and Sanji’s content smile as he puts out his cigarette and discards it to join him and you in the happy reunion.

You guys see opportunity when your dads can finally convince each other and your crew to all get together to celebrate Luffy’s birthday. One big family party, the castle is big enough for everyone to sleep over comfortably, and it would be a well-deserved break from your adventure. It’s fun, but going island to island with Luffy’s chaotic good energy is exhausting sometimes.

But besides your break: there is also another thing: opportunity. Although it’d be hard to sneak around, you guys figure out that if all three leave for your room at separate times while the other people are still partying, and you wake up before everyone else does, you should be fine.

Plans made: Ace would just fall asleep, no need to even fake, and Sanji would help him go to his room, excusing himself as well because he’d propose to make a nice festive breakfast for everyone before the party was over and everyone would have to return to their own business.

You’d follow a little later, excusing yourself because you weren’t feeling too well and a good night’s sleep would be the best cure so you could be present at the breakfast.

The party came and so far so good: Ace had fallen asleep a little too early and not subtle at all, dropping his drink and making everyone stare before bursting into laughter, and nobody had questioned Sanji when he started dragging ace out of the big living room or had whined when he said that he’d be going to bed as well.

Okay, Luffy had whined a little, but well, he was distracted five seconds later when Ussop did something funny.

For you, escaping was a little harder. Your dads insistent on catching up with you, had been cornering you throughout most of the party, just to talk. You were getting nervous that they might have been suspecting something, but luckily for you, you managed to play it off for not feeling too well, and excused yourself too.

The party noises had become increasingly silent before dying out completely, but the three of you had barely noticed, making the best of the time you had for this rare moment of quality time in a soft big bed.

Ace had fallen asleep again, and Sanji and you were lazily tracing the freckles on his back, fighting against sleep to just enjoy this moment a little longer, knowing you’d have to act again once the sun came up, just to keep your overprotective fathers from murdering these two men you loved more than anything else in the world.

“We should probably sleep as well princess,” Sanji murmured as he laid down properly, “or they’ll know we definitely haven’t slept properly even though we left so early”.

Him saying that out loud was all you needed to give in to the sleep, knowing he was right, but not before giving the both of them a soft kiss goodnight.

The three of you didn't have much rest though, it felt like you had barely blinked when you were awoken by an “ahem” and extremely loud laughter.

Turns out, your dads had wanted to check up on you, and well, they had not found their darling y/n sleeping away some nausea as they had been expecting.

Shanks thought the whole thing was hilarious, hence the loud laughter, even more so when the three of you woke up and were immediately panicked.

Mihawk on the other hand was glaring daggers, mostly at the two males in your bed, but he spared some of those glares for you as well.

You couldn’t deny anything, and it took you a good few rounds of explaining.

Shanks was super interested in what you had to say but was muffling laughter throughout the whole thing, even after Mihawk had repeatedly sent him a glare as well.

In the end, they were more upset you had tried to keep it from them.

But that didn’t keep them from threatening Ace and Sanji that if they’d ever even dare to hurt you in any way they’d both be after them.

Ace and Sanji had never looked so pale. You had never ever been so embarrassed, but you were too flustered about being caught that you’d barely spoken ever since the two of them had woken you up.

Breakfast sure was going to be interesting.

#Sanji #Sanji x reader #Ace #Ace x reader #Portgas D ace #Portgas D ace x reader #Black leg sanji x reader #Dracule Mihawk #red-haired Shanks #polyamory #One piece #one piece writing #one piece headcanon #one piece x reader #headcanon #reader insert #request #underworldsheiress

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enziroth · 6 years

Text

No Future (Part 16)

Back in the swing of things, finally. Thanks to everyone who was waiting for being so patient, I know you guys didn’t get any warning that this would be late!

“Brother Katakuri is busy elsewhere this morning. Until he returns, you’re under my supervision.”

Sanji blinked up at her. Smoothie was relaxing in the hard-bread chair at the giant table in the middle of the room with a glass in her hand, which was funny, because Sanji couldn’t imagine how she managed to look comfortable with a sword that big strapped to her back.

He took a moment to absorb her words, trying to decide whether or not it was worth it to press for more information. He’d known Katakuri was missing the moment he woke up; there’d been a hollow feeling somewhere in his gut where the man’s aura usually pushed against him. He’d sensed Smoothie’s presence as well, but her aura was lighter and more pointed, piercing rather than blunt.

Sanji supposed it was for the best that he didn’t have to see Katakuri this morning, though. The warmth of the man’s hands had lingered on his skin long after he’d undressed and slid between the sheets, and from there it was a short, losing battle to keep Katakuri out of his head as he sought to relieve some of the pressure.

He rubbed his eyes, pushing the memory away before it could fully resurface. “Okay. Fine. What’s the plan for dinner tonight, then?”

Smoothie took a sip out of her glass, some kind of translucent orangish liquid swirling around in it. “A few attendants will be stopping by later to help with preparations. Dinner is at seven and the escort ships will take you over at five. Until then, it’s up to you what you want to do.”

Sanji waited a moment for any further instructions, but Smoothie didn’t seem to have anything else to say. He already knew what he wanted to make, and he’d had almost everything separated and portioned out before Cosette left last night, but after weeks of getting used to Katakuri’s precise instructions it was a little jarring to be-

Cosette.

He’d had plenty of time to think about her last night as well, and he’d resolved to simply ask Katakuri about his plans for her in the morning. No games, no trading, no trickery; just a straight-up demand to know what was going to happen to her.

But with Katakuri missing, Sanji had no way to know if he’d accepted his request or not. Smoothie had told him that the attendants would be here soon, so if she was amongst them, then he’d have his answer.

If she wasn’t...

There was nothing to be done for it now. Worrying would get him nowhere, and with such a packed day ahead of him, Sanji didn’t have time to waste on things he couldn’t change.

He was already moving on, already addressing the next problem. He’d planned a sweet-sauce pot roast as a main course for the kids, and he’d need to get it into the slow cooker before he started breakfast or there wouldn’t be time to carve it.

The attendants arrived only a few minutes after he’d stepped into the kitchen, and though there were a good dozen of them standing all together in a crowd, it only took Sanji half a second to realize that Cosette wasn’t one of them.

The first feeling to hit him was relief. The less time she spent in his presence, the safer she would be.

But where is she, then?

A surge of worry rose in his gut, catching at the back of his throat, but he found he could tamp it down with relative ease. Katakuri had told him Cosette was valuable, and Sanji had seen firsthand how talented of a chef she was; it wouldn’t make sense for them to hurt her.

They’d likely just send her back to wherever she’d been before, some peaceful home in a minister’s town. Why would they do anything else? What would be the point of holding her life over his head? A cooperative chef like her was probably worth twice as much as an enemy chef like him.

Katakuri had nothing to gain by using her as blackmail, either. He could already trade for practically any information he wanted, so why would he even bother going through extra steps?

In the light of day, without the panic clouding his mind, it was remarkably easy to see logic. Cosette would be fine. His secrets were safe. No one was going to die because of him, and he couldn’t recall how he’d ever thought otherwise.

Sanji clasped his hands together, surveying the lineup of cooks in front of him. “Alright, here’s what we’re going to do…”

After he’d finished giving his instructions to the chefs, his first order of business was to immediately kick them out. He hadn’t even made breakfast yet, and considering how chaotic his kitchen was going to be when all the dishes started coming out, he wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasted.

Sanji felt more like himself than he had in a while, more calm and in control. His eyelids weren’t heavy from lack of proper sleep, his mind seemed less clouded with a million different worries, and for the first time since he could remember, the light chill in the air didn’t seep into his bones. He was humming as he whisked spices into an egg mix, smiling as he thought of how delicious the air would smell with all the food he’d be making today.

Perhaps it’s because Katakuri’s gone. The man alone was enough to drive him crazy, between all the trades and the posturing and the constant sense of being on-edge.

But there was a heat in him that hadn’t died down even now, a comforting memory of strong hands and soft words that grounded him and told him he wasn’t alone. The fact that Cosette was gone spoke for how Katakuri had actually listened to him, even if his reasons for allowing the change were probably self-serving.

Sanji poured the mix into his pan, then swung across his kitchen and popped it into the oven. The cutting board was his next stop; he planned on a simple fried rice for the youngest of the kids, and it’d be easier later if he prepared the chicken now.

It was so easy to distract himself from his own thoughts, now. The fear and guilt were still there, at the back of his mind, but they felt…distant, more like unpleasant memories than actual feelings. There were other things to think about, like how much he was looking forward to making his favorite macaroni tonight and how good his breakfast quiche would taste.

The chicken gave easily beneath his knife, tender and juicy, and Sanji felt the familiar thrill of working with top-tier tools and ingredients. Thinking of how much work he had in front of him was energizing rather than daunting; it’d been so long since he’d been able to go all-out on a feast that the challenge excited him.

Perhaps that was what had lifted his spirits, along with Katakuri’s absence. He loved being relied on, loved having people look forward to his food and trust him to deliver. Making desserts for the Charlotte kids had been all fine and dandy, but their demands had left little room for his input. Here, his skill had been explicitly requested, Katakuri choosing him to make this dinner over all the other chefs in Totland.

With his crew, he’d hardly gone a day without the reassurance that he was wanted. Luffy begging for his food, Zoro seeking him out as a partner when he was itching for a fight, Nami requesting he turn her fresh harvest of tangerines into that juice she loved so much…with them, he knew he had a place.

Franky’s hand on his shoulder as he pulled him back to ask for seconds, Usopp tugging his sleeve to sheepishly ask for more fish bait, Robin running her fingers through his hair as she pulled it straight to make a clean trim.

Heat all around him, hanging in the air but somehow safe, a massive presence near him anchoring him with its strength.

“Just tell me what you want, Sanji.”

His fingers clenched tight, involuntarily, and the knife’s smooth movements came to a stuttering halt. He swore under his breath, fighting the urge to shake the memory away, but after a few more uneven slices he was forced to give up and toss the knife down.

There was no point in denying it. The helplessness that came with being a prisoner had struck a little too close to home, and over the past week, he’d been in an uncontrolled freefall sliding deeper into the dark pit inside his head.

It wasn’t Katakuri’s absence that had lifted him from that pit, and it wasn’t the thought of a new challenge, either. Warmth ran through his limbs in thin pulsing tendrils where there’d only been ice before, the steady heat a constant reminder that he was still alive and still fighting.

He could pretend all he wanted, but his body didn’t lie.

Sanji knew it was the touch he really craved, the steady presence of another human being near him that assured him he wasn’t still dreaming of freedom only to wake up to a cold, friendless cell. Isolation was the fear that stalked him, the terror that was waiting behind a few lonely nights, always ready to spring up and take hold if he didn’t fight it off.

Katakuri’s hands around him, strong, comforting, had been a lifeline he’d sorely needed. Being starved of soft words and a warm touch for so long had made him weak, frantic, desperate for-

The timer dial on the oven squeaked, a shrill high-pitched sound that pierced the air; his quiche was done. Sanji snapped out of his thoughts and reached for the oven mitts, making his way over to take it out and shut off the noise before he got a headache. There were bonuses to having the newest, most technologically advanced appliances in his kitchen here, but god, what he wouldn’t give for the pleasant little ding of the simple oven on the Sunny.

On the way over, he had to duck to avoid Smoothie’s legs, then duck again as she tried to move them out of his path and only managed to further obstruct him. It was funny how difficult it was to work around her, especially considering she was actually a little smaller than her brother.

Katakuri had made it feel almost natural, his presence heavy but rarely overbearing. It had always been a little cramped in the kitchen with him present, especially before the dividing wall had been knocked down, but Sanji had never worried about tripping over the man’s feet.

With Smoothie, it was far more obvious that she was out of place. While he’d went about preparing breakfast, she’d kept awkwardly moving around, trying to find a place to stand that wasn’t in his way. When she’d finally sat down in the chair in the corner of the room, Sanji then found himself maneuvering around her crossed legs as he gathered pans and ingredients, something that had never been a problem with Katakuri.

He had to duck under her legs once more to drop his quiche off on the cooling rack, narrowly avoiding whacking his head on her kneeguard when she tried to shift to the side. He could hardly be annoyed with her, considering how she was obviously trying her best to stay out of his way, but he was so unused to having obstacles in his kitchen that it took him by surprise each time she moved.

But only a moment’s thought told him that this was normal, and that Katakuri had been the outlier. The man’s foresight had to be a part of his everyday life at this rate, and Sanji suspected that without it he’d have been stepped on or tripped over ages ago. Considering that, it was a wonder Smoothie hadn’t squashed him yet.

Either way, Smoothie’s presence was just another issue to be dealt with in the long day ahead of him, and Sanji’s mind had already moved on to other things. He was crunching numbers in his head and flipping pancakes at the same time, determining when he’d need to start the pork in the second crockpot and how many of the children were likely to even touch the carrots.

Absorbed as he was, it took him a few moments to recognize the stale feeling in the air, and another few moments to realize that it was coming from Smoothie. It was a familiar feeling, albeit one he hadn’t come into contact with for quite a while, but it was easy enough to pinpoint. He had plenty of experience with it during the long sailing weeks on the Sunny, when island stops had been few and far between.

Boredom.

Smoothie, for all her carefully stiff posture and steady gaze on his back, was absolutely bored out of her mind.

There wasn’t any reason she shouldn’t be, really. She was stuck in the same place for however long it would take for Katakuri to return, with nothing to do but watch a bunch of chefs dart around in a kitchen that was far too small for her. Sanji never got tired of his work, but for a Sweet Commander who was probably used to battle plans and the dealings of a Yonko, it had to be pretty dull.

Funny that he hadn’t picked the feeling up from Katakuri before, considering how much time the man spent just sitting around watching him. Maybe he was just better at hiding it; he was a master of observation haki, after all.

Well, he could hardly let boredom run rampant in his kitchen, especially when the kind of food he was making today would hardly require his full attention. Sanji snagged a plate down from a cabinet above him, neatly slicing himself a square of fresh-baked quiche and leaning back against the counter to face Smoothie.

“So, what does a Sweet Commander do for fun around here?”

“…and he’s throwing noodles at me, out of his body, and he’s not even a devil fruit user! He’s just carrying around this big ramen-making machine all the time, and he fights by beating people up with noodles!”

The timer on the oven squeaked its shrill alarm, but it only got a half-second of it out before one of the dozen chefs scurrying around the kitchen banged its shell to turn it off. A blast of heart seared the room for a moment as the massive oven was opened, the succulent-sweet smell of roasted fruits filling the air, then the oven door slammed shut and the completed dish whisked off to the main room to be stacked with the others.

Smoothie leaned in a little closer to see Sanji around the massive turkey he was slashing away at. “I’ve heard stories of the kinds of men the government recruited for their special forces, but I’ve never fought one myself. Was he truly one of their best?”

A knife brandished in the air, a quick flick of his wrist, and the meat slid cleanly from the bones in thick, steaming slices. “I don’t remember what team he said he was on…six? Seven, maybe? But they trusted him enough to have him guarding a train to Enies Lobby, so he was definitely somebody.”

“I would like to face the Cipher Pol, one day,” Smoothie mused, leaning back in her chair and sipping from her glass. “I hear there is a man who can transform into a giraffe. It’s my favorite flavor, and Zoans always have a delightful spice.”

Sanji stacked the slices on a giant silver platter, arranging them in tasteful piles with ease before sliding the plate down the counter for the next chef to garnish. “Promise you’ll bring that juice sampler next time you visit? The way you described that cherry oak and pine mix makes me think it’d be perfect in a vodka sauce.”

“I promise,” Smoothie assured him, pulling up her legs to allow a pig-snouted chef to pass by with the last sizzling tray of fried dumplings. “And if you promise to give my personal team the recipe for that sour peach compote, I’ll squeeze you anything you like.”

Sanji grinned as he wiped down his knives, tossing them behind him to land perfectly back in their slots in the cutting block. “Deal.”

Smoothie smiled down at him behind her glass, a delighted shimmer in her eyes as voices rose around the kitchen informing Sanji that all the dishes had been completed. He clapped his hands, ushering everyone outside as they all swarmed around the gigantic array of food that had been piled into the main hall and congratulated each other on their work.

Heavy pounding came from the front door, and Smoothie rose from her chair to follow Sanji out of the kitchen.

Dinner was ready, and their escort was here.

#charlotte katakuri #sanji #katasan #i'm back!#hopefully there won't be any more issues #i missed having regular updates for this story

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