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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 3 years

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The Voyage So Far: Paramount War (Part Two)

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

ace’s execution is, in a way, the exception that proves the rule when it comes to one piece’s themes of blood and family. ace is set up to die for the crimes of a father he never knew and never wanted, and he does die here, but in the end he dies for the family he did choose, in the form of luffy, rather than the one he didn’t.

god do i wish we knew more about ms portgas d. rouge. with ace’s storyline pretty much wrapped it looks unlikely that we’re going to be learning more about her than what we got, which in my opinion is an absolute tragedy, because what little we do know about her is amazing and she’s an absolute badass. oda give us more female ds please.

whitebeard’s power is so cool. it might be one of the visually coolest devil fruits we’ve ever seen, in my opinion. he he causes earthquakes and tsunamis while far past his prime; he pulls the sky apart with his bare hands. this whole arc is world-shaking, and whitebeard’s power is perfectly appropriate for it.

doflamingo’s speech on justice and rightness is one of the most well-remembered quotes from this whole saga, and rightly so. i’ve always found it fascinating, myself, because he’s right. he dead-on hits how the one piece world works- the world government and the marines rule the world not because of any inherent actual goodness or justice or right, but because they won a war a very long time ago.

in a way, this reminds me of blackbeard’s line of “people’s dreams never die” from jaya. i like how oda isn’t afraid of letting his villains be right about the themes of the story, sometimes even having better awareness of them than the protagonists.

man, if i had to pick a single favorite spread out of the whole manga, it might be luffy’s marineford entrance. it’s so epic, and so completely unexpected for everyone else there. absolutely nobody was expecting strawhat luffy to drop out of the sky with a posse including two former warlords. it just makes me grin!! so much!!

it also gets followed up by a solid two pages of just people’s reactions, from smoker’s “what the HELL is he doing with CROCODILE” to moria’s immediate incoherent rage, and i just love that the world and cast of one piece is so well-established and built up that we know exactly how all of those people know luffy and why they react the way they do.

going back to what i mentioned in the last post about marineford being luffy’s conflict of interest arc, i’d say it’s also the only time where he isn’t the future king first and foremost. in this arc, before anything else, he’s a little brother.

there are a lot of what-if moments in marineford. moments where you kind of have to ask “what if this specific thing hadn’t happened, had gone differently?” would things have turned out differently? squard’s betrayal is one of them. does this change the outcome? would whitebeard have been able to survive if not for this injury? there’s no way to know. marineford is a lot of little tragedies, and they just pile up and up.

marineford has just so many incredibly striking spreads. all of the momentous moments (and there’s a lot of them, in this arc) are done full justice. this is such an image heavy post just because marineford is such an incredibly visually strong arc.

conqueror’s haki is so cool and i love the way it’s set up and built up throughout this saga, with luffy’s constant inadvertent uses of it, from duval’s bull to marigold and sandersonia to the wolves in impel down, all leading up to this moment.

i’ve heard people complain about conqueror’s as kind of a deus ex machina, but i honestly love it, it’s very cool and honestly i think it just seems to fit luffy as a power. if there was ever gonna be a character who turned willpower into a weapon, it would be monkey d. luffy.

i’m gonna take this chance to talk about garp, because this sequence of panels is heavily implied to be garp’s thoughts just before luffy punches him down, and it hurts. garp is a flawed person who makes some bad choices, and there’s no arguing that, but i think it’s very obvious he really, really cares about his grandsons, even if he never could understand them as people and that they never would have been happy as marines. and that’s just tragic, really.

the moment ace gets freed and the brief span of time where he and luffy can fight together feel so triumphant, and i think it’s one of the reasons the final tragedy of marineford hits so hard and feels so cruel, because luffy succeeds, here. he saves ace. he gives absolutely everything he had and makes it, and saves ace. the ultimate failure isn’t his. there was nothing more he could have done.

the first time i was reading one piece, i hit this page (which is also the last in the volume) and had to put the book away, take the bus downtown, wander around for a few hours, and buy myself some candy and some new books before i started feeling okay again.

the thing about ace’s death, i think, is that it’s a tragedy, but it also feels so completely essential to the story going forwards and luffy’s character growth specifically that it’s really, really hard to imagine one piece without it. there are a lot of (really excellent!) fix-fics out there for marineford, and although those are often really good and their authors super talented, i think it’s really hard for them to ever hit the same way canon does with regards to this.

i always think of this scene specifically in contrast to zoro and mihawk’s fight, back on baratie. zoro and mihawk are both people who believe in honor in battle, true victory or death, and that’s reflected in their fight, in zoro’s refusal to turn and run even in the face of imminent death, and mihawk’s respect for that resolve. whitebeard, too, is an honorable man. he refuses to turn to run, even when facing certain death.

the blackbeard pirates, however, are not.

i do enjoy how, just like roger’s, ace’s execution backfires tremendously on the marines. this was entirely a predictable outcome, too! this exact thing happened twenty years ago! the marines don’t learn. they don’t change. they’re so assured of their own rightness and power that they make stupid mistakes like holding a massive public execution after the last one blew up in their faces.

(this is why they need coby so badly, for the record, and why it’s important that he still decides to become a marine after witnessing their corruption firsthand in shells town. the marines are long overdue for a reformation, one that orients them towards real justice.)

i really, really enjoy crocodile in this saga. mostly because he hasn’t been redeemed at all, he’s still pretty much the exact same kinda awful person he was in alabasta, he’s just on luffy’s side this time, and it lets us see him in a better light, when he gets angry at whitebeard for nearly dying or when he helps luffy and jinbe escape to keep the marines from getting their way. few of one piece’s characters are truly so one-dimensional as they can seem, and i really appreciate that.

i really really love all the interactions between luffy, ace and sabo as kids. they’re so fun and bounce off of each other so well. even though we only see them together for a brief time, they really feel like siblings. (which of course only makes later events hurt so much more.

i’ve always been a little fascinated by the fact that it takes us this long to get luffy’s full backstory. it’s almost a fakeout, because we get part of his backstory in the very first chapter, and we’re kind of led to believe that’s all there is. it’s not until ace’s introduction nearly two hundred chapters in that we’re given any indication there’s more.

but at the same time, it makes sense. marineford is luffy’s focus arc, as arlong park to nami or thriller bark to brook. he hasn’t had a focal arc that’s really about him before this, while all his other crewmates have. it makes sense that this would be when he finally gets his flashback.

i think it’s cool that dragon and the revolutionaries show up at the grey terminal fire, because it’s one of the only looks we’ve gotten so far into what their actual regular operations are like. and, of course, they’re saving people. i really like this about the revolutionaries, that helping people in trouble is basically their modus operandi, when pretty much everyone else in one piece’s world mostly does saving on an incidental basis if at all.

i think a lot about how the last line of sabo’s letter to ace is also both of their last words to the strawhats.

death in one piece always feels much realer and more impactful to me than in most other series, and i think this is part of the reason why: in one piece, we are always shown the mourning. nami at bellemere’s grave, carrot grieving pedro, ace and whitebeard’s funeral.

there are fewer deaths, comparatively, than most other series, but they’re given so much room to echo. we’re still feeling the impacts of ace’s life and death in the most recent chapters of wano. it ties into the theme of inherited will and all the way back to hiriluk’s final speech, of men not being dead so long as they’re remembered.

the picture of luffy at marineford always kind of strikes me. he looks so young and so solemn, and yet much more himself than he did when we last saw him losing his mind on amazon lily. i really like it.

sometimes i just think about the sheer depth of trust and love the strawhats must have in each other to separate for two years, far longer than they were ever together, to solely dedicate themselves to improving for the sake of crew and captain. none of them even hesitate, and none of them ever doubt that the crew will be reformed at the end of it.

after all, luffy keeps his promises.

#the voyage so far #one piece #opmeta #not japanese #arc: marineford #arc: post marineford #long post

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recentanimenews · 3 years

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FEATURE SERIES: My Favorite One Piece Arc with Maffew

I love One Piece and I love talking to people who love One Piece. And with the series going on 23 years now, there is a whole lot to talk about. As the series is about to publish its 1000th chapter, a true feat in and of itself, we thought we should reflect upon the high-seas adventure and sit down with some notable names in the One Piece fan community and chat about the arcs they found to be especially important, or just ones they really, really liked.

Welcome to the next article in the series "My Favorite One Piece Arc!"

My next guest in this series is Maffew, creator of the popular pro wrestling web series Botchamania. For my chat with him, he chose the Alabasta Arc, in which Luffy and his crew not only have to save a desert kingdom but also topple Baroque Works and its powerful leader Crocodile.

A note on spoilers: If you haven't seen the Alabasta arc yet, this interview does contain major plot points. Watch the Alabasta arc starting RIGHT HERE if you'd like to catch up or rewatch!

Dan Dockery: So I guess my first basic question is, let’s say for some reason, I got to the end of Drum Island and I said “Well, One Piece ends here for me. This seems like a good finale.” What would you tell me to keep me going into the Alabasta Arc in one sentence?

Maffew: Well, after Chopper has made all the kids cry, you’ll need pickin’ up.

That’s pretty good! What was the impetus for you getting into One Piece? What made you want to jump into an anime that’s nearly one thousand episodes long at this point?

I think I tried watching it on YouTube back in 2009, and I just couldn’t get into it. At that point in my life, I wasn’t ready for a character like Luffy and his adventures, and I couldn’t wait for the villains he fought to kill him. So I dropped it. A year later, I’m in Germany and this wrestler ACH was doing a Q&A panel for this German wrestling organization called WXW. And ACH is a REALLY big One Piece fan, and even dresses up as Luffy in New Japan and Ring of Honor. And I was like “Hey, you watching JoJo?” because that was my thing at the time, and he was like “No, no. Just One Piece.” I said, “What else are you watching?” “Just One Piece.” And I’m like “Wait, what? Just the one?” But he was sellin’ it to me like he was a One Piece ad on QVC. And guys like Steve Yurko are so passionate about it, and if one person tells ya to watch something, you’re like “Eh, whatever,” but if five people tell you, you start to pay attention. So I’m gonna blame ACH and my good friend Steve Yurko for this.

What do you like about this arc in particular?

You get so much wonderful worldbuilding. They go to Alabasta, meet up with Mr. 2, and it’s one of those cool interactions where they’re meeting, but they don’t know who they are meeting exactly, like when they meet Blackbeard in Jaya. So later on, they’re like “Oh, it’s THEM!” There’s a real sense of everything not being really pre-determined at this point. It’s building everything through a bunch of pirates just doing stuff. Ace shows up, knocks out some assassins so he can get his royalty checks.

That’s such a funny way to put it.

Then we get Kung-Fu Dugongs, and they’re a pretty pure expression of One Piece. They’re all synchronized, they’re adorable, they play their part amid all the serious stuff, and they’re completely ridiculous, but they work anyway. And it’s with Alabasta that Eiichiro Oda starts to perfect the tropes that he puts into place throughout, with the new islands, the new leader who everyone loves but is actually a bad person, the crew having to deal with him and the Navy, them having to help put someone back in their position, etc. And even though, on paper, it reads like “Well, he’s gotta beat this dude and this dude and this dude,” it’s so much more chaotic and less formulaic than you’d expect. It keeps things interesting.

I agree. I like how he takes all of these pieces and he’s consistent with them, but Oda always plays around with how he sets them up.

But it’s all a foot massage before the real reason to watch Alabasta: Sir Croc.

Are you a big fan of him? That dude is so cool, conniving and powerful. He’s kinda the perfect villain.

Back when I was being miserable and first watching One Piece, I really liked him. I like the design, the sand powers that could actually pose a threat. I always appreciate it when a villain provides actual tension. It’s like why I think Goldeneye is still the best James Bond film. Because Alec Trevelyan is constantly reminding Bond “Remember, I could kill you. I’m from the same place as you. I can take your exploding watch and just, eh, I’ll stop that then. Thank you.” And Luffy loses twice to him in the three-match structure that really works here as it did for wrestling in the 70s.

How so?

So you’d have somebody like champion Bruno Sammartino and someone like Ivan Koloff or one of the Wild Samoans or Stan Stasiak. They’d have one match where the hero would beat Bruno by disqualification. Bruno’s still around to fight, but he’s lost. Luffy survives being thrown in the sand, but he’s been beaten. Then they have the second match, where Bruno would win because the villain would just give up and leave and get counted out. Luffy attacks Crocodile with water, but it’s not enough, and Crocodile just kinda leaves Luffy thinking it’s all done. And then Bruno would be like “Oh no ya don’t. Next time, you won’t be able to escape, because we’re gonna be in a cage match.” And then Bruno wins, just like Luffy wins by punching Crocodile up through that giant enclosed space. He escapes the cage.

It’s just so satisfying and that’s a great way to describe it. So, villains in the series have had extensive crew members before, but they haven’t been as recognizable and colorful as Croc’s crew, Baroque Works. Do you have a favorite member?

They’re all good in their own way, but at this point, I’m gonna go with Mr. 2. Eh, that’s probably too obvious an answer…

Mr. 2 is a lot of people’s favorite member.

Oh, who cares. I’ll go with Mr. 2. I like how Mr. 2 interacts with everyone, having fun with the boys and fighting Sanji with kicks but respecting him.

So, in this arc, there’s a lot of government intrigue and a revolution is about to happen, and everyone’s dissatisfied with their perception of the monarchy. How did you react to all of this political drama in One Piece?

Well, it’s great because you have Vivi, and you get to learn her motivations and because she’s on the crew, it gives you a reason to care for the crew and how all of the political intrigue affects them. Without her, you’d just hear about a war and say “Oh, sorry about that. Hope it goes well.” And with all this lore being thrown at you because you have Vivi and that connection, it’s adding to the main conflict, rather than distracting.

Yeah, Vivi really grounds it all with a personal attachment. Because otherwise it’s just savin’ the kingdom, which is cool and they’re good for it, but it doesn’t have the same impact. So, they did this back in the Arlong Park arc, but what returns here is the kind of 1 vs 1 match structure, where a member or members of the enemy crew are matched up against a Straw Hat or Hats. Mr. 1 has knife body parts, so he’s obviously gonna fight Zoro. Mr. 2 kicks and Sanji kicks, etc. What do you think about that kind of matchmaking, because it’s also a little wrestling-esque.

Yeah, right, like if you have D-Generation X fighting the Nation of Domination, you can’t just have The Rock fighting Triple H. Ya gotta have D’Lo Brown vs X-Pac and The Godfather vs Billy Gunn. I like it because the characters feel like they have to prove themselves, like Zoro’s a swordsman, and he’s gotta test himself against another swordsman. And Usopp does it when he fights Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas with Chopper, because they have a weird dynamic and they’re fighting two people and they have no clue what they’re up against.

So, at the end of the arc, they do the iconic “We can’t let Vivi become associated with pirates so we’ll hold up the X symbols on our arms in solidarity” pose. What did you think about that? Because it’s one of the most famous images in One Piece, and it’s hard to avoid it, even if you’ve never watched the series. Was that your first time seeing it?

It actually was. And I’m glad you brought this up because I was watching it and I thought “Wait, they’re just going? They’re not even keeping the duck?” And then they do that with the X and the original opening starts playing and I get goosebumps just remembering it. That really hit me. Because it finally got me really emotionally invested in the series. Made me feel a bit cheeky.

ONE PIECE LIGHTNING ROUND!

So, considering you’re such a huge pro wrestling fan, your lightning round is gonna be a bit different. I’m gonna say a Straw Hat that’s in the crew at this point and you tell me which wrestler they’re the most like. You can also tell me what time period they’d fit the most in, since wrestler personalities tend to change. So, Luffy?

Gotta be Cena. Specifically? With Luffy’s attitude? Probably 2015 defending-the-United States-Championship John Cena.

Zoro?

He’s all business, he likes to fight. So I gotta go with Cesaro.

Sanji?

Going with Eddie Guerrero.

Usopp?

That character is all over wrestling - the underdog who isn’t very good and uses every trick in the book to win. Gonna go with MJF. He had one of my favorite matches of this year against Cody Rhodes and he just had to use EVERYTHING to beat him - brass knuckles, distraction, chairs, everything he could to get that win. But he could be MJF, could be The Miz, could be Mikey Whipwreck from ECW, take your pick.

Nami?

Hmmm. Becky Lynch.

Chopper?

KeMonito

Robin?

Oh, she shows up after being booed for ages and you’re supposed to like her, so 2019 Charlotte Flair.

Stay tuned for the next installment of "My Favorite One Piece Arc" as we speak with One Piece's official English manga translator Stephen Paul on his favorite One Piece arc: Skypiea!!

Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Daniel Dockery

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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creative-type · 7 years

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Chapter 218 is Amazing and Here’s Why (Continued)

So I had intended to finish my analysis of chapter 218 of One Piece in one post, but things were starting to run a little long and I split it in two. Here’s Part 1 for those who are interested. For the rest of you, let’s jump in where we left off

I know I say this a lot, but I really like that panel. For one thing, Usopp is using a desk lamp. Knowing him, he probably invented it himself just for the occasion.

On a more serious note, the entire feel of this scene is completely different than the last time the Straw Hats as a group interacted with Robin. I wrote extensively on chapter 114 here, but what I want to draw attention to now is how the tables have (supposedly) turned. Remember how Robin held all the power and was seated above the Straw Hats while tossing them around like a bunch of punks?

Yeah, that’s no longer the case. Robin is surrounded by Usopp, Zoro, and Nami, the three Straw Hats who distrust her most. And while Usopp’s too much of a chicken to be intimidating, there’s no mistaking Zoro and Nami’s body language. They’re closed off, guarded, and Zoro at least has his weapons close at hand.

At the same time, the way the speech bubbles are placed draw attention to Chopper and Luffy. You can barely make out a hand, and one might assume it’s Sanji’s, as he’s the only Straw Hat not visible.

Which, of course, it’s not

This set up is the impetuous for three hilarious pages where Robin one by one wins over the Straw Hats (except Zoro, because he’s a killjoy). I recommend reading the entire sequence to get the full effect. It’s classic Oda humor from start to finish that makes me smile every time I read it

(especially this)

Now going back a bit, Robin tells Usopp that she’s an archaeologist from a long line of archaeologists and has been on the run for twenty years. Never once in this entire “interview” does she lie. In fact, I can’t recall Robin ever lying in the entire series, except for when she didn’t give Crocodile Pluton’s location.

There are a couple of different reasons for this. For one, it’s convenient for the narrative if the audience doesn’t have to second-guess everything the main characters say. On the whole the Straw Hats are pretty honest people - Usopp being the obvious exception. (Nami is also a bit of a wheeler and a dealer, but since Arlong Park is more prone to using her good looks and force of will to get her way over straight-up lying. That, or stealing what she wants outright.)

Secondly, Robin has had a bounty on her head for a long time. The Ohara incident was publicized around the world. There’s no reason to hide certain aspects of her backstory when it’s essentially public knowledge.

Still, it’s interesting to note that the one Straw Hat who is known world-wide as a demon who has betrayed every group she’s joined tells the truth here. It’s obvious that in addition to winning the Straw Hats over, Robin is using her ability to direct the attention away from herself. One might even suggest that Robin tells Usopp she’s an assassin to rattle him enough to avoid more personal questions. She does a masterful job of using each of the Straw Hat’s weaknesses against them.

It becomes more apparent later on that Robin is an incredibly private person. When Chopper and Sanji are looking for her on Water 7 they don’t know where to even to start, because there are no ancient ruins about, and that’s the only place they can think of where she would go.

Now, this falls more into the realm of theories and head canons, but since Robin’s whole dream focuses around finding The Truth and since her whole life has been ruined by vicious slander and falsehoods, I would imagine that Robin hates lying more than the average person. She will misdirect, avoid questions, or tell bits and pieces of well-known information without giving context, but she won’t lie.

Moving on, Robin uses the same intelligence and playful nature that was established in chapter 114 to avoid any more of Usopp’s questions (consistent characterization, gotta love it) before having a private word with Zoro. I like how Robin doesn’t even try the same tricks she used with the rest, because I think she knows it won’t work. Instead she addresses him more or less as an equal.

Assuming this is a nuanced and accurate translation, when Robin says “This isn’t that bad” we can make the assumption that she thought it would be bad. It’s understandable that she would think this way - the Straw Hats were her enemies not too long ago - but it brings up the point that Robin willingly stowed away on a ship she knew she wouldn’t be welcome because she had no place else to go. When Zoro affirms that the Straw Hats are basically a bunch of dorks, Robin smiles.

Now Robin smiles an awful lot for someone who wants to die. It’s basically her default expression, and it’s nothing but a front to hide her real feelings. She even smiles when she’s just been stabbed and is about to be buried alive after living a miserable, meaningless life without accomplishing anything she’s ever set out to do. That’s one deeply-rooted defense mechanism.

This is the first time we see Robin really be happy, and her surprise at learning that the Straw Hat Pirates are fun-loving and cheerful even when traveling with a former enemy is the kick-start to Robin’s character arc.

Because make no mistake, the Robin who joined the Straw Hat Pirates was the same Robin who joined Crocodile. All the stuff at the beginning of the chapter helps flesh her out into a fully-realized character instead of a cardboard Vivi replacement, but at this moment Robin’s beliefs about the Straw Hat Pirates are challenged, and a character can’t change if they aren’t challenged.

There’s a cute Zoro-pouty face to that ends this scene, and our focus swings back to the Straw Hats as a whole. An undetermined amount of time has passed because now they’re talking about the weather and Zoro is back to lifting weights

I don’t know if you can have foreshadowing that’s paid off in one panel, but Oda doesn’t waste a beat with the little clacks of wood against wood. For the second chapter in a row there’s an amazing twist at the end that no one could have seen coming. I already shown this spread in my last post, but it’s so epic it deserves a second viewing

I can’t remember if this is the only time Oda has used a real life quote in One Piece, but if not, it’s one of very few. And honestly, what could be more appropriate for a series like One Piece? The whole composition of this page is beautiful, and all the little details take my breath away. I really don’t get it when people say Oda’s art is ugly, because they’re wrong.

Anyway, things get crazy for a couple of pages while the Straw Hats try not to capsize. Oda has this thing he does when he uses square or rectangular panels for his dialogue and uneven shapes like trapezoids for action scenes. I think that’s pretty standard procedure for comics (I’m by no means an expert) but here Oda helps sell the chaos by composing his pages so it feels like the panels are tilting with the ship

There’s also a nice gag with Usopp that doubles as a character moment. Instead of grabbing hold for dear life Usopp sits and closes his eyes to pray, completely ignoring the problem in hopes that it goes away. It’s funny here when he gets a skeleton to the face, but it highlights a huge flaw that finally comes to a head during the Water 7/Enies Lobby arcs.

After that we get this sequence of panels

Please forgive my horrendous edit, but I wanted to show how the speech bubble fits into curve of the wave in the second panel and leads the eye through the rest of the sequence even though the individual images don’t really relate to one another. Oda constructs this scene in such a way that we feel the chaos, but he does so in an orderly fashion. Each panel gets smaller and smaller - similar to the “fade to black” technique I talked about previously, and it leads directly the last splash panel on the page

The chaos ends just as abruptly as it began. The Straw Hats are mystified, and, honestly, Oda could have ended the chapter here. It’s such a high note, a good dose of Grand Line craziness after so much focus on the crew. But Oda isn’t satisfied with stopping here. He ends the chapter with what I believe to be one of the best story hooks in the series, tied only with Zou for sheer “WTF, the Straw Hats are going where?” moments in all of One Piece.

Skypea isn’t my favorite arc in the series. A lot of people say the same. But if you can pretend that you’d never read/seen what was coming next and take the end of 218 for what it is - and that’s pure hype - then you’ve got to admit that Oda has done his job.

So that concludes our look into chapter 218 “The Log Pose and Why It Is Round”. To summarize my thoughts on the chapter and why it’s amazing

Ships fall from the sky

Oda never forgets

But he does lure us into thinking he does

Ships fall from the sky

Robin is established as a “protagonist” without necessarily being a “good guy”

Symbolism

Excellent page composition

Gags that reveal character

Consistent characterization with hints of further development to come

and last but not least

10. Ships falling from the sky

(Thanks to everyone who has the patience to read this far. Next I’ll continue my Nico Robin study with chapter 253, specifically looking at Robin’s place in the Skypea arc and how Oda prefers stealth development over big character moments. See you next time!)

#One Piece #Eiichiro Oda #Analysis #Nico Robin #Straw Hat Pirates #Writing #Manga #Character Study #creative-type analyzes

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sanjiafsincedayone · 7 years

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SaNa is a good ship

It’s time I make a proper post… It’s been too long and I really want to be a contributor to this fandom, I just can’t always make time for it.

I want to talk about Sanji and Nami and some pointers, if you will, about why shipping them makes sense. Now this does not mean that SaNami is a superior ship in anyway or that others aren’t free to ship whatever they want, because first and foremost shipping is supposed to be fun.

So, what I want to say are just why SaNami can make sense from a writing perspective, and also with some of my own added opinions on why it’s a good ship. This post will not cover all my reasons for shipping SaNa personally, but there will of course be bias, it’s not really anything any shipper can ever avoid. But I am trying to talk about things that still makes sense, so I still consider this an analysis. I hope you enjoy this.

Sanji and Nami’s personalities work well together and they understand each other.

Arguably this could be said about most strawhats, but I still want to talk about it a little deeper. As the story has been written there are many good moments of interaction between Sanji and Nami that shows that they have a pretty mature relationship, despite what many might think. And especially during Enies Lobby (Nami talking to Sanji about his chivalry), Fishman Island (Sanji talking about Nami’s past), Punk Hazar (Nami asking to save the children) and on Zou (them discussing the minks, Nami being worried and of course her talking about Sanji’s past) the two of them seems to have gotten some good serious moments together that comes with showing understanding for each other.

We can also see that their minds are quite alike with similar mentality and intelligence. Something that is actually rather important, and for me personally a reason why I usually like certain ships. Being on the same level and having enough understading of each other is a good way to develop any relationship. Basically they get along really well and they would have a good foundation for a romantic relationship to grow from.

But at the same time they also have their moments of disagreement, and they can listen and discuss to get to an answer which is essential if we would want a relationship to work well (of course Oda isn’t exactly the most realistic writer, but still). This is a good and stable ground to base a relationship on, because it shows that they actually listen to each other. It’s also important that they actually seem to want to learn more about each other, and that Oda has used them to show the other person’s past or to highlight their personality traits. I’ll get back to this a little later.

Despite what people may think they can grow as people and as fighters in each other’s company.

Nami and Sanji have a lot of fights that relates to the other. Nami has even specifically been pointed out as a weakness when it comes to Sanji. I’ve talked about that in more detail in my post: Sanji and Nami - Fights and danger. This is in itself rather interesting because that means Oda subtly ties them together quite often. It’s a way to highlight their relationship without the other even having to be present.

In fact, when it comes to their battle abilities we’ve already seen the both of them get stronger and develop new skills in regards to the other. Sanji even seems to get Nami as a “battle booster” in a lot of fights. What I mean by that is that Oda specifically make Nami a part of Sanji’s battle in some way which can then lead to him winning the battle. The first example is in Arlong Park where Kuroobi talks bad about Nami which pushes Sanji over the edge, Sanji vs Wadatsumi is another. Even a case as with Mr. 2 turning into Nami is an example of this. Over the years this has happened a lot. And in both fights and with Sanji’s sacrifices we can see that Nami is a more prominant figure than any other.

Then with Nami we can see how her fight with Kalifa came from after Sanji lost, and in Skypiea too Nami fought to protect Usopp and Sanji. Sadly Nami doesn’t have as many fights, but there are still examples where Sanji has been present, in thought or otherwise. Even when they had their body switch Nami commented about how Sanji’s strong body saved her.

We also saw Nami under Sanji’s command as they fought against Big Mom, something she and the others later got praised for. Sanji also didn’t act when Nami got attacked by Wanda after Nami told him she could handle it. Mostly I just want to point out that just because Sanji likes protecting Nami that doesn’t mean that he thinks she’s weak or that she won’t grow as a fighter in his presence. Somehow there is this image of Nami not getting any time to shine because of Sanji if they are togehter because “she’s a delicate thing and not a person that can take care of herself“, but this just isn’t how Oda has written it. This is not how Sanji sees Nami. He wants to protect her, yes, but not because he think she’s weak.

One very important thing when writing characters is for them to grow and evolve as the story progress, of course this goes way beyond just getting stronger. Some might think that Sanji and Nami as a combination would simply be stuck in their worst habits, particularly Sanji and his perverseness. But as we have already seen a few times in the Whole Cake Island arc, and even before that, there are plenty of times where Sanji acts very normal and mature around women too. And this includes his relationship with Nami. Actually Sanji’s relationships with his female nakama is already a good ground for him to develop how he acts towards women. Unfortunately, Sanji digressed a bit after the time skip, but that has mostly been amended by Oda already. The latest chapter was something of a setback for Sanji, but it is still a part of his character to be a pervert, and I am sure that trait is there to stay.

But again, as with all the strawhats Oda has shown them both growing individually and also together, being there to witness the other person’s moments and thus giving them a better understanding of each other.

Now as for Sanji’s trope of being a pervert it wouldn’t’ take a lot to make it work even with Sanji getting romantically involved. Early on a lot of Sanji’s jokes were more based on fawning and flowing hearts rather than actual perverseness. Getting back to that a bit and also making it solely focused on Nami would enable Sanji to still feel like the same character without it getting in the way of a serious relationship. In fact, Nami acting tsundere and hitting Sanji for being a pervert could even still be part of their interactions too, just with a slight twist. As it is now most of Sanji’s perverted jokes are already aimed at Nami. So, the jokes could still be there, and Sanji could still fawn, just in a different way. Basically what I’m trying to say is that Sanji would simply have to stop his over the top actions, mostly with other women, which is something I definitely don’t see as impossible. Now the key is writing this well of course, but either way this would be a subtle enough change to make Sanji still feel like the same character while still making him more mature.

Many people are quite tired of Sanji being over the top with nosebleeds and such, but it’s still to be expected of Sanji’s character. However, we need to remember that Sanji being a pervert doesn’t have to mean that SaNa can’t happen. Sanji is not in a relationship, and thus him oogling other girls is not an offence against Nami (though I would prefer him being more chill). It’s also very possible that what Sanji really craves is true love, just look how he acted towards Purin, trying to convince himself that he could be happy with her, only to get devestated when she proved to be evil. We’ve also seen Sanji become much more innocent when actual prospects of love has been present. Like asking for a simple kiss on the cheek from Violet.

Hence Sanji getting romantically involved could in itself be a very natural way for Oda to make him grow and develop as a character. Same could happen with Nami. Nami has already changed more prominently than Sanji has though, so her growth as a character could be slightly different.

But basically Sanji and Nami getting together, if written well, could make the both of them better people/characters while still maintaining the gags that Oda loves. He could even throw in more of the jealousy type gags, which he already uses from time to time with Sanji in regards to Nami.

Now I’ve talked about what many see as a problem when it comes to Sanji x Nami, so now I’ll move on to things Oda has done while writing that should be taken into consideration.

A change in the relationship

For romance to work in One Piece without the readers getting thrown off there needs to be a clearer development in a at least partly romantic tone. If Oda ever writes romance for a strawhat I don’t see it being too obvious, but it still needs to feel natural for the readers to accept it. Of course past development is also important, but that is just a foundation from which new interactions and feelings needs to develop.

Now, if we ponder the idea of Sanji and Nami actually getting together (if so most likely slowly getting more developed together in a romantic way) towards the end of the series we could possibly already see the change in their dynamics that would be necessary.

In the most recent arc we’ve seen them act in ways towards or in regards to each other that we have not seen before and in storytelling this kind of catalyst is very common. It’s why tropes like “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone” are used a lot. Because even if things are always slowly developing there are usually a need for a trigger to make a bigger change more plausible when writing. This is a way to make readers more adapt to the focused on relationship and more in tune with the fact that it’s changing. I’m not saying this is exactly what is happening with Sanji and Nami, but it could be, at least in part.

(Please ignore the bad translation) The slap in itself could be seen as a sort of turning-point for them, a hurdle they will need to get over, and that might then lead to further development between them as a reconciliation is necessary. In a story this could be the low point in their relationship, the final straw of a problem that will need to be resolved by the end.

We did see them talk about it briefly, which is another moments that should’t be ignored. Nami specifically said she won’t forgive Sanji, something Sanji specifically worried about. It’s another very common trope in storytelling, and I was quite surpised with how Oda highligthed it so much.

Nami is acting typically tsundere in regards to Sanji here, and that too is a typical manga trope that could mean something when it comes to Sanji and Nami’s relationship changing. Nami clearly wants Sanji back, but she is still hurt and has not yet forgiven him. This just shows how personal it was this time. Also, again Oda took the time to highlight Sanji’s worry about Nami’s reaction specifically, something that is very in character but also makes the readers realize that what happened between Sanji and Nami with the slap was not to be taken lightly.

And the thing is that it’s still not resolved, proving it could be an even bigger deal. Meaning Oda could very well have a plan for their proper making up that in the long run also become a new catalyst for a serious romantic development. It happens gradually, but is sped up by bigger individual moments. The wedding itself or the end of the arc still holds possibilities for more such moments to happen between Sanji and Nami.

Involvement in each other’s storylines.

Sanji has often had Nami play a part in his fights, as I briefly mentioned earlier, and out of all women in One Piece Sanji has by far had the most interactions with Nami. Which is nothing strange considering she’s a nakama and she joined before Robin. But besides that Oda also likes to put Sanji and Nami together quite a lot. Especially if we compare between Nami and Robin this becomes rather obvious. This is of course not a romantic indicator in any way, but it does show that Oda focus more on developing and showing their dynamics compared to again for example between Robin and Sanji. Even when I group Sanji tends to communicate more with Nami than with Robin. Basically we can see that at the very least Oda is more interested in the dynamics between Sanji and Nami than Sanji and Robin. Of course the fact that the five first strawhats have been together longer also matters here, but either way Sanji and Nami has had plenty of moments over the years. But most of those moments have been rather subtle, or one-sided.

As many SaNami fans has noted before, the fact that the two of them seem to be unconscious a lot of the time they otherwise could have had rather good moments is also interesting. Even so the two of them have shown great interest in each other’s past, they’ve been involved in the other person’s fights in different ways and have of course had plenty of moments where they help the other or worry about the other. This could also be about only nakamaship as they are both very caring people, but there are still quite a lot of these moments between them compared to some other strawhats. Meaning Oda has indeed put some effort into showing their interactions. It’s not a ship with zero development if you will, no matter if you see it as purely nakamaship or not the two of them have had quite a lot of moments though often very subtle.

Now, we should also note that Oda has repeatedly used Nami as a means to highlight Sanji in this arc. Which is also a way to show Nami’s true thoughts about Sanji, that she as a rather tsundere character don’t usually show. The increased focus on one character from another is also a very common way to make readers see things that might not have been noticeable before. We can see that the chapters in Zou and after has actually had a lot of casual readers react to certain SaNami moments (even Toei has upped the moments in the anime). Of course not all see it as a serious leeway into romance, but the fact that it has been noticed could very well be a start. And again, having moments like the slap, showing how Sanji is particularly worried about Nami’s reaction and having Nami say that she will never forgive Sanji are other examples that brings attention, as well as show how personally affected they are by each other.

Sanji’s interest in Nami

Putting aside Nami’s side of things for now, the fact that Sanji is so obviously interested in Nami does make it more difficult for other ships to happen. Now, this is in no way me saying that Nami has to be with Sanji because she owes it to him or because what he wants is more important than what she wants. No, because this is not the real world. This is a story written by a person with a purpose and an end in mind.

What I’m trying to get at is that Oda writing about Sanji’s obvious interest in Nami and showing him being jealous many times means that for Sanji to not break character there needs to be a good resolution. Now, either Oda could write Sanji off to another character that makes him happy, or he could leave things open, meaning no change from how things are currently. But doing the opposite, meaning making Nami end up with someone else while Sanji can just stand and watch while being jealous, does not seem very likely. Mostly because Oda would have to resolve a love issue and that’s just not his focus. Again, this could make Sanji seem like a horrible person, but this is all in line with how Oda has written him this far. (The same can actually be said about Hancock, though she’s less important as she’s not one of the main characters.) To simplify we can say that to have Sanji happy at the end of series there are three likely outcomes, either he ends up with Nami, with someone else or Oda leave things the way they are with no romance at all for the strawhats. Because it seems unlikely that Oda will change this part of Sanji’s character that he has actually gone out of his way to show plenty of times.

The last one is the most likely one since we know Oda won’t focus too much on romance. But it is by far more possible that Sanji ends up with Nami than any other woman. Why? Well, because Oda has over 20 years put more emphasis on Sanji’s relationship with Nami over any other woman. Now Purin was perhaps a real contender until she turned out to be evil, but it seems unlikely that Oda would throw in yet another possible romantic interest for Sanji after the current arc. (Or he could kill Sanji and get rid of the “problem”.) More or less, unless Oda wants to deal with heartbreak again for Sanji the best option is for Oda to either let things be or to give Sanji what he wants; love. I know it sounds bad, but this has nothing to do with Sanji being rude or possessive or not wanting what is best for Nami. A real person can deal with this and put the others person’s happiness before their own, but they would still have to deal with it, meaning Oda would have to deal with it and I just don’t think he would. He would somehow have to compensate simply for Sanji to have the happy end I’m sure Oda will give to all of his main characters.

A character like Sanji that has also always been about love, often talking about it, and also with the recent developments regarding his past, makes him a more likely option for love by the end of the story. Love is always a hurricane!

I suppose one could argue Oda would just simply make Sanji move on to another “target”, and that is of course a possibility too. But if so the choices Oda has made with focusing Sanji so much on Nami would be rather odd. Even just evening it out between her and Robin would have been a better way to go from the beginning.

Romantic themes

Again, we have to remember that everything Oda puts in the manga is a conscious choice. A choice that to a various degree has a purpose within the story. Now, a lot of the things he’s done with Sanji and Nami are moments that in different ways can be seen as unnecessary unless Oda wants to show Sanji’s interest in Nami more prominently. I am talking about romantic themed moments in particular, because there are of course also many moments that can be purely seen as between nakama. That being said, moments between nakama are of course also important and are needed for a more solid relationship no matter if it’s later developed into romance or not.

What are romantic themed moments then? Well, no matter how much of a joke it might be Sanji rescuing Nami from a forced wedding and holding her in a wedding dress is a story point that didn’t have to happen that way. Sanji took a knife for Nami while the bad guy questioned why Sanji would die for her. That is in at least some way a romantic scene. Not a moment for romance to develop between the characters, but clearly there for the readers to note. The thing is that symbolism is a very important tool when writing, and having two characters involved in the rescue of each other from marriages is worth noting at the very least.

In Thriller Bark it’s also interesting to note that Sanji’s zombie talked about love as a strong power in front of and because of Nami. Nami even recognized it as something Sanji would say. It was not about being a pervert, but about love. He also had Sanji’s zombie protect Nami while later on kicking Robin. Now, these choices were made by Oda, and though they could be insignificant, they should still be taken into consideration.

Sanji’s other sacrifices can more easily be seen as him simply being the kind man he is and being there to help his nakama. Another detail that Oda could have done differently is the love letter that Sanji wrote to Nami in Water 7. Again, perhaps it’s just seen as a stupid joke, but it was another romantic typical gesture that didn’t have to happen. Same thing with Oda’s recent joke about Nami proposing to Sanji. Did it have to be there, in that way? Even better examples are Sanji actually asking Nami if she loves him. Something he hasn’t done with any other woman which just shows that it wouldn’t have been strange at all for Oda to simply skip them. Or at least make them happen with other characters too.

Also, the first time we saw Sanji with heart-eyes was with Nami. And they were openly flirting after and Sanji even got a hug. Even if it is not meant to be taken seriously it’s still there to be noticed, and many people shipped Sanji and Nami early on because of it and moments that followed in the Arlong arc.

Again, Sanji does a lot of love-related things to many female characters. But there are things that makes Nami special. Even the –san and –kun matters in this because it would have been so easy for Sanji to just call other women with –san. It wouldn’t be weird at all, so why doesn’t he? Why keep it specially for Nami? These are definitely choices Oda has made consciously, and even if they are rather minor they are still worth taking into consideration. Not to mention that even if they are significant or not they are still great moments for shippers.

Shipping Sanji and Nami is actually rather great, because we get a lot of good moments that with shipping goggles on can easily be seen as romantic. We never expected Sanji to carry Nami in a wedding dress, we never expected Nami to cry about Sanji being gone, or worry about never getting to see him again (at least not voicing it out loud), we never expected Nami to slap Sanji and for Nami to be so personal about her not being able to forgive him. Things can change constantly, but either way Oda is bringing a lot of excitement to the SaNa shippers.

In conclusion, these are just some of my reasons for why SaNa is a good ship and why the way Oda has told the story with Sanji and Nami’s characters is not in the way for a romance to develop. Meaning that’s it’s easy for us that like Sanji and Nami together to dream on and hope for romantic development to happen. What we can say is that no matter if SaNami is for you or not it is still a good ship in the sense that it could work within the story and the friendship and proper dynamics are there for shippers to support. Everything else is just a bonus really!

I hope at least some of you found this to be an interesting read. There are of course plenty of other good reasons to ship SaNami that I didn’t bring up, but I felt like writing this with a certain focus to storytelling and writing. Let me know what you thought, I love reading your comments! Thanks for reading~

#sanji #nami #sanami #sanjixnami #sannami #one piece #my post #manga #eiichiro oda #one piece spoilers #shipping #character analysis #story analysis #one piece story analysis #writer perspective #sana

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mcaesarclown · 7 years

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1, 2, 4, 9, 10, 13, and 14 for Salty Ask Meme~

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?*

To be perfectly honest, while there are lots of popular pairings I don’t like or even outright dislike I sorta still ‘get’ all of them I guess… ppl are gonna find reasons to ship pretty much everything even if it’s just ‘my two fav characters who may not have met but bcs I love them both I wanna ship them’

But I guess this question is more ‘don’t get the appeal of even if you get why other ppl might see appeal?’ And I suppose I can name a few:

Sanji/literally any woman but mostly Nami: He treats women like… well… not human, and with Nami in particular he outright sexually assaulted her. I mean I ship fucked up stuff but… I admit it’s fucked up??

Zoro/Tashigi: All of their interactions are hostile and, in Zoro’s case, condescending, I mean I get rival ships and all but, honestly, in my personal opinion I really dislike the ‘forced heterosexual couple who clearly don’t like each other and argue all the time but are somehow still in love bcs?? Heterosexuality I guess’ also with rival ships I like the characters being at least somewhat equal in strength but… y’know One piece and lady characters…

2. Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?

There’s lots of ships that I only brotp but not all of them are like… super popular so idk I’ll name a few:

Franky/Robin: I don’t like to ship them romantically and as petty as it is, the only reason for that is the fandom and it’s tendency to act like it’s canon and attack anyone who dares to ship Robin with some other male character… classy. They are Nakama though so of course I ‘ship’ them platonically

Similarly Sanji and Nami are nakama so I do platonically like them together.

Zoro and Perona I don’t mind as romantic I guess but I do prefer it platonic

Luffy I also have a hard time shipping romantically/sexually in general though I DO ship some things with him like that but mostly I prefer platonic Luffy ships.

And to relate to my muse a bit: Caesar and Monet, I don’t ship them romantically at all but they are my platonic OTP~

4.Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?

The aforementioned Sanji/any woman, Franky/Robin, Zoro/Tashigi, most ppl/Luffy

And to add some: Caesar/Any woman, Doflamingo/Viola, Doflamingo/Law, Lucci/Paulie, Vinsmokes/Sanji. The popularity of those ship ranges from SUPER POPULAR to sorta popular to ‘why are you making fun of a clearly nonconsensual situation!? I know the author did it too but… ick??’

9.Most disliked character(s)? Why?

Answered here

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

Baratie arc, idk man it’s the introduction arc of a character I’m not fond of and the villain was boring as hell… I like Zoro’s fight with Mihawk though

Also the current, Tottoland arc gives me… mixed feelings, on one hand I LOVE LOVE the Big Mom and her family, Brook is amazing and so is Jinbei and Caesar is in the arc too and he’s my fav so YAY but on the other hand… Vinsmokes, Sanji drama and wtf are you doing to Pudding Oda…?

13. Unpopular opinion about XXX character?

Ah um… could you pls give me a specific character, there are so many to choose from ;.;

Let’s go with my muse for now though: Caesar is not a pedophile and those types of jokes with him are gross and not funny, also he is very very gay and that one panel with him and the ‘girl ship’ was also gross and not funny and ooc as hell.

14. Unpopular opinion about your fandom?

Ehh idk man I guess… like all fandoms the OP fandom is not perfect. Um um… I find it annoying how the ‘hot’ and ‘pretty’ characters get all the love while the ‘ugly’ ones are sidelined and deemed unworthy of any attention.

For example: While I was in Japan there were SO MANY merchandise sets that featured: Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Sabo, Ace, Law (and maybe Chopper), now what do those guys have in common?

Another example: Who are the most popular Charlotte siblings? Smoothie, KATAKURI, Cracker, Pudding, Praline, Amande and sometimes Galette, what do those guys have in common over the other siblings?

Third example: People HATE Caesar because he’s an asshole that tried to kill children (and wasn’t successful) but love Doflamingo/Crocodile/Lucci etc even if the former is literally Caesar’s boss who did the actual child kidnapping and sent them to CC and also tried to massacre an entire island full of innocent people (including children), Crocodile, similarly, also tried to commit mass genocide, Lucci’s solution to a hostage situation was to kill the hostages.

I’m not excusing what Caesar did, it was terrible and he is truly awful but… I wonder why he’s so unpopular and hated for what he did while other characters who are HOT™ are loved and praised despite all they’ve done…

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike any of those characters mentioned (exceptSanji) but HMMMMM…

#Inquiries #candymusings #Warning: saltiness #((ooc))#Long post

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actuallymuffet · 7 years

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One Year Later...

“Say cheese!”

On March 20th, 2016 Muffet was accepted to Città Alveare, and taken to Hive City against her will!

And now March 20th, 2017 marks her one year anniversary of being here, somehow managing to survive every activity check and every thought of dropping that came to my mind. Incredible!

And wow, it’s been a rather good year at that.

Over the course of the past year, Muffet has interacted with 155 unique* muses.

* In this case, unique includes duplicate muses, but ran by different people. For example, Muffet’s talked to a couple different Lapis Lazulis, but the first one dropped and a different one apped, so I counted them twice. Sue me!

(For the extra curious, this is a list of the muses she’s interacted with.)

The first muse she interacted with, and the person to originally show her around the city was Nick Valentine, from Fallout 4. Very helpful synth, that one is.

The only muse that’s still active that was let into Hive City on the same day as Muffet is @favillautcinis (assuming I didn’t miss someone when checking that). She was a re-app, so they don’t share an anniversary, but still!

The muses who have had the most threads with Muffet is actually a tie! Between @mellifluencex and @koraava— which makes sense. The first is her girlfriend, the second was her best friend.

The longest ongoing thread I currently have is with @arnath. We started it in May of last year!

Random fun facts out of the way, big, big thanks to @hyper-light for not only being the one to get me into Città in the first place way back when, but for being an incredibly good friend?? Like we’ve been mutuals for, what, over 2 years now? And you’re one of my absolute best friends??? That’s amazing and I love you so much !!!! You’re an absolutely amazing Drifter and I think you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who disagrees, and your writing, while not something I try to emulate per-se, played a large part in how my writing style developed in a good way. Because you’re writing is so so so incredibly well done. I love every thread we’ve had and I love that I’m lucky enough to know you!!!

I’d never even heard of Città (or any tumblr RP community, actually) before I learned about it through them and I’m so glad I did? I’ve had a ton of fun RPing my lovely spider wife on here (and a couple other muses, too!) and there’s so many of you and you’re all so, so good!!! Like, I wish I had enough time in the day to read all of your guys’ threads because everyone here in Città has lovely writing and lovely muses and I’m so happy I’m in the same group as a lot of you guys!!

And while I feel bad pointing to specific people and leaving everyone else out, but it rings especially true for a few of you!

Like @shadowesqxe, who from Korra to Nico and every muse in-between you’ve been an absolute dear to me and someone I’m really really glad I was able to meet through Città and I don’t know what I would do without you as a friend you’re so good and I love you so much! <3

Like @mellifluencex who is not only a great Nami but a great person and a great shipping partner who is oh so patient and understanding with me and an absolute joy to talk to (whether it be about the cute couple we write or about non-RP things in general) and did I mention how cute you are? You’re incredible and I love you <3

Like @scirephysica who has the best representation of Gaster I’ve ever seen, somehow defying the odds of writing an incredible character based off of a skeleton that barely exists seriously I’m consistently impressed by your writing and you’re a huge inspiration to me. And you let me come to you and talk about random Undertale headcanons and annoy you that way and you don’t complain and that’s really great. If only I weren’t so nervous about talking to you most of the time! ;o; I’m working on it I promise. <3 (Also you and your partner are super duper cute)

That’s just three people and I hate leaving people out but I could write a ton about a lot of people and if I tried I wouldn’t be done with this post until Muffet’s next anniversary. Just know that if I’ve ever RP’d with you, sent you a meme, talked to you outside of RPs like in IMs or on twitter, even if briefly, it means I like you and I like your muse and I’ve probably thought about talking to you more but can’t bring myself to do it. Seriously, you’re all great.

I’ve written waaaaay too much for someone who’s only been here a year when some of you have been here for four or more but that’s because a lot has happened this year for me specifically and Città is one of those things and it’s.. one of the best. One of the best years I’ve had, to my knowledge, and joining Città and the things that resulted from that are a big part of what made it so good!

So thanks to everyone who’s threaded with me, talked to me, sent me memes, interacted with me in basically any way. Somehow you’ve been able to put up with my writing that started awful but got better (at least I like to think so! And so do some of you~!) as time went on! And hopefully I’ll be able to improve even more in the time to come <3

#{out of pastries}#{One Year Later}#{If only I could write this much for some of my threads! OTL}#{And sorry for the @mention spam for those I mentioned ;v;}

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megashadowdragon · 7 years

Text

ussop will fight loki

youtube

dont forget that ussops based on aesopp who is famous for his fables and elbaf is the word fable in reverse

ussop has always liked and been associated with giants with him wanting to go to elbaf and be like

“Usopp’s literally had so much foreshadowing between him befriending giants and saying every couple of arcs how much he wants to go to Elbaf that it’s one of the only things I’m 100% certain will happen at some point.”

and ussops outright talked about how he wants to go there

“Nami’s happy somebody else has the same idea as her. But this is definitely one of the moments where Usopp is taking more specific strides toward his dream, and giants in general seem to play a large role in his story since he’s interacted with them at least three times now.”

The phrase “David and Goliath” has taken on a more secular meaning, denoting an underdog situation, a contest where a smaller, weaker opponent faces a much bigger, stronger adversary. and there were many times where ussop faced a bigger and stronger adversary. goliath is often portrayed as a giant and he ended up killed by a slingshot by david which ussop uses. so it makes sense for ussop to be involved in a elbaf arc and fight a giant

The underlying purpose of the story of Goliath is to show that Saul is not fit to be king (and that David is). Saul was chosen to lead the Israelites against their enemies, but when faced with Goliath he refuses to do so; Goliath is a giant, and Saul is a very tall man. His exact height is not given, but he was a head taller than anyone else in all Israel (1 Samuel 9:2), which implies he was over 6 feet tall (1.83 m) and the obvious challenger for Goliath. Also, Saul’s armour and weaponry are apparently no worse than Goliath’s (and David, of course, refuses Saul’s armour in any case). “David declares that when a lion or bear came and attacked his father’s sheep, he battled against it and killed it, [but Saul] has been cowering in fear instead of rising up and attacking the threat to his sheep (i.e. Israel).” david was brave in that scene and his bravery was emphasized in that scene where he risen up and fought against threats and ussops dream is to be a brave warrior of the sea so it would be fitting for this to happen ( its quite possible that this could be referenced with ussop taking down ten giants whether or not he ends up fighting loki (depending on whether loki is a bad guy) given ussops lie

)

and ussops lies tend to become reality as a coverpagee

and there is a coverpage with ussop havign a swimsuit saying lies become reality for alot fo his lies end up becoming the truth

first the lie about pirates are coming when eventually the black cat pirates did come ( though the strawhats stopped them)

(thoughthe lie about the huge mole could refer to kuro since a mole can refer to a spy who has worked his or her way into an organization or country which is what kuro did with kayas family

so its obvious that elbaf arc will be an ussop arc

Oda confirmed there WILL be an Elbaf arc (although it was already pretty obvious).

Another fun fact: ‘Elbaf’ spelled backwards is 'fable’. The name 'Usopp’ was derived from the Japanese word for 'lie’ (uso), as well as the name of the Ancient Greek storyteller, Aesop, who was famous for his fables.

so elbaf will be ussops arc which makes it clear to me that yassop will appear in this arc given that he is ussops father and ussop wants to be a brave man like yassop and the fact the red hair pirates have a boat like a vikings

One Piece was based on Vicky the Viking

leading to the theories that shanks is a reference to eric the red( Leif Eriksson's father, who founded set out west to find Greenland (Shanks is also from the West Blue). ) and him letting sea king take his arm to inspire luffy betting it on the new age was a reference to tyr letting fenrir take his hand

the clear Viking theme that both Elbaf and Shanks' crew have, and this being Usopp's arc to prove himself to Yasopp, it's pretty clear that the Elbaf arc will tie in to Shanks' crew

Yasopp was laughing his ass off when he saw ussops bounty poster so its quite likely thatsince whole cake island is sanjis arc , wano kuni is zoros arc that elbaf is ussops arc

plus its quite likely that lokis DF is an improved version of bon clays DF given that oda has no problem making DFs that have similarity's to another persons DF and is more powerful like machvises ton DF to mrs. valentines DF. and an improved version of bon clays DF fits loki since loki is a trickster and has had a history of shapeshifting where he turned into a fly an horse, a old woman etc and loki being a trickster would fit ussop as an opponent

I mean loki is the name of norse mythologys trickster god and ussop represents a tengu which is a trickster god

megashadowdragon . tumblr . /post/158547523152/ussop-represents-a-tengu

so ussop vs. loki will be two trickster gods facing each other ( with the whole david vs. goliath theme matching up with what their fight)

or even if you dont believe ussop represents a tengu it will still have a motif of god ussopp whose lies become truth vs prince loki god of deceit, mischief and Trickery

#one piece #one piece theory #one piece theories #one piece theorys #op theory #op theories #op theorys #god usopp #GOD USSOP #one piece meta #op meta #one piece elbaf #ussop #op usopp #usopp #one piece usopp #sogeking usopp #one piece loki

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positivepsychologyinterventions · 5 years

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Podcast: Humanizing the Patient Experience

Being hospitalized for any reason is never a fun time, but there are some instances where it can be a harrowing experience. This is especially true for psychiatric patients, who are already in a crisis even before being plunged into the hospital atmosphere, which can overwhelm them. This disconnect between patients and hospital staff has long been an issue. Today’s guest shares some insights on her work to improve this relationship.

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About Our Guest

Since 2017, Gretchen L. Ramsey, MPS has been the Director of Patient Experience at Geisinger Holy Spirit Hospital in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. In this capacity, she coaches and mentors providers, nurses, and non-clinicians who have patient contact in order to improve their ability to achieve higher levels of patient satisfaction.

PATIENT EXPERIENCE SHOW TRANSCRIPT

Editor’s Note: Please be mindful that this transcript has been computer generated and therefore may contain inaccuracies and grammar errors. Thank you.

Narrator 1: Welcome to the Psych Central show, where each episode presents an in-depth look at issues from the field of psychology and mental health – with host Gabe Howard and co-host Vincent M. Wales.

Gabe Howard: Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week’s episode of the Psych Central Show Podcast. My name is Gabe Howard and I’m here with my fellow host Vincent M. Wales, and today Vince and I will be talking to Gretchen L. Ramsey who is the director of patient experience at Geisinger Holy Spirit in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. In this capacity, as she says, she teaches people how to be nice to one another. Gretchen welcome to the show.

Gretchen L. Ramsey: Thanks, Gabe. I am so excited to be here. Hi Vince.

Vincent M. Wales: Hi there. I’m very intrigued by this teaches people how to be nice to one another, because I think that’s a big failing in our society as a whole.

Gretchen L. Ramsey: Absolutely absolutely. You know I had to develop an elevator speech because director of patient experience sounds a lot like the director of hospitality and a lot of ways it is very much the same. But in other aspects it much different and it is a opportunity to teach and train and to coach physicians and frontline staff how to recognize their own behaviors but then also recognize the behavior of a patient or a family member who just may not be having the best day and how to interact with them with a positive outcome as the ultimate goal.

Gabe Howard: I think that it’s very interesting speaking just as patient versus medical staff because those are two very very different experiences. One person, the patient, is, you know, sick and scared and out of their element and the other person, the medical staff, is at work. This is their normal. So if there was ever going to be like a misunderstanding I think that is just the perfect recipe for that to happen. Has that been your experience? Is that what you’re kind of working to solve?

Gretchen L. Ramsey: It is, Gabe, and I appreciate that astute observation particularly because not only is there just one sick person but there are multiple sick people coming in one after the other after the other or a dad or a mom bringing in a sick child with maybe multiple kids. So it’s not even a situation where you have a one at a time and Okay now I’m done and I can move to the next one you might have a line of three or four people. We have our front line, what we call our patient access rep, checking people in and they’re the front face of the organization. And so if they are not educated and trained properly on how to negotiate those interactions, then oftentimes what we see is the rest of the visit is what we call sort of managed down. So, before they even get back into that room, that first impression that they’ve had, if it has not been a positive one, will really impact the overall interaction that they have with his or her physician.

Vincent M. Wales: I think one of the most common areas where this is going to be the case is in the emergency room when the doctors there are not necessarily trained in how to deal with psychiatric patients. And I know that several years ago the Hospital Corporation of America collaborated with NAMI and they put together a training video called Competent Caring: When Mental Illness Becomes a Traumatic Event, because a lot of the people who get into an emergency room when they’re having a psychotic episode or something, you can’t treat them the same way that you would a normal patient. It just won’t work very well. And so it was a really really good video that they did and showed how easy it is to do things wrong with a psych patient.

Gretchen L. Ramsey: I’m glad you brought that up because specifically at Geisinger Holy Spirit, we recognize that too and so we picked up that same cue and very simply so our hospital administrator team decided to in fact build congruent to the reception area of the emergency department a completely separate intake area for those patients coming in the front door that presented in crisis, whether it was voluntary or involuntary. Because what we were seeing is so you know I have two humans that I’ve created and hopefully I’m doing a relatively decent job. One is 15 and one is ten and a half, and when I would take either one of them in, oftentimes you know it’d be late at night, you’re not feeling well, but you’re watching a person who is in mental crisis also walk in. And so in addition to trying to help your child, or your loved one, feel a little bit better and try to comfort them you also had somebody that was sitting right beside them that was in mental health crisis. So what we did is we built a separate intake area for those patients and we built it with the idea of being a bit more compassionate, a bit more inquisitive about what level they may be presenting at. And then we trained our really fantastic emergency department staff to be able to handle that and really be empathetic about the patient and the family members of the patient who may or may not be with them at that time.

Gabe Howard: I really like what you said there about how you’ve got a person in crisis and they’re impacting the people who aren’t in crisis. And the example that you used is you know you with your tiny humans right in the emergency room and because you felt uncomfortable and you felt uncomfortable and therefore you were worried about your child and what we’ve seen in psychiatric care is that burden almost always falls on the person who’s there for psychiatric care. You know, why don’t you calm down? You know, you’re scaring people, stop? You know we hear this time and time again and it just becomes this feedback loop. You’re in the emergency room because you can’t calm down because you’re presumably not in your right mind during crises. And then the people are yelling at you that you’re making people nervous or they’re afraid of violence and you need to control your behavior. You’re in the emergency room because you can’t control your behavior. And everybody thinks that is the reasonable thing, and it falls apart really quick because of everybody’s basic misunderstanding of what mental health crisis looks like. So now the person who’s sick has two problems. The problem they showed up at the emergency room for, and this problem of trying to make people comfortable while they’re sick and it sounds like your hospital is working to prevent that and educate people so that the end of the day the psychiatric patient has a much better chance of having a better outcome. Is that correct?

Gretchen L. Ramsey: Yeah absolutely. That’s really our main goal and as I’m probably sure you won’t be surprised to know that psychiatric inpatient unit in local hospital they are at capacity and so.

Gabe Howard: They lose money hand over fist. Not only are they filled up but they’re not even loss leaders. That’s I’ve heard somebody say well, it’s a loss leader. No it’s not, the psychiatric patient doesn’t come in to buy the pop and then leave with potato chips. It’s just loss all the way around and this makes people upset.

Gretchen L. Ramsey: It does. So that’s it. And you have to find ways all around this? And oftentimes you know what will happen is and recently I was actually walking out to my car which I walk in front of the emergency department every day to do and just happened to be leaving and it was a beautiful fall day and there was a family that was standing there and all of a sudden I just saw that young woman drop and she started to hang on to one of the concrete barriers that we have in front of the emergency department. And she just wasn’t going to get up. And you know long story short she worked in a nursing home and had never taken a vacation, hadn’t taken a vacation in six years.

Vincent M. Wales: Oh my God.

Gretchen L. Ramsey: Very young woman, very motivated and her mom and dad would say that, it’s her mom and dad were standing there. They had brought her in because she was just so exhausted and just so immediately evident that they were exhausted and she was exhausted and it turned into a bit of an incident with multiple people there. And as soon as the police are showing up you can see that she is agitated but our staff at Geisinger Holy Spirit, both in the emergency department, and in behavioral health crisis department just came out and surrounded her and it was a scary thing but it was also a very beautiful thing to watch. Particularly as the director of patient experience to watch staff be able to engage with a patient who is so deeply in crisis. And is just physically at the brink of physical exhaustion and cannot and is not capable of making a proper decision. But just to wrap around that patient that’s just something that you know when we talk about what motivates me to come back to work tomorrow. That’s the thing. And I think about that quite a bit and actually followed up with that family and that young woman is doing very very well. But I think at the moment of watching that her family was watching that too. So and they weren’t in even though they were in crisis. They’re going to remember that compassionate care that our team provided I think at Holy Spirit, and I think again that’s really what motivates me to come back every day.

Gabe Howard: That’s wonderful. Thank you.

Vincent M. Wales: So how does the work itself affect you? This kind of work has to be difficult on the patient experience professional too, right?

Gretchen L. Ramsey: It is.

Gabe Howard: Because you’re in charge of everybody. You get the complaints from both sides.

Gretchen L. Ramsey: Right. So I often say we’re a Catholic hospital and I keep telling people you know wine is the blood of Christ. It’s in the Bible people. And if we could just have some dispensaries around the hospital, I think it would really help everybody just all the way around. But in addition to a good glass of the blood of Christ when I get home, one of the things that really strikes me in my everyday work is you know when we’re looking at people the first question I have for them now is where are they on their Maslow’s hierarchy of need? You know when we think of the physiological need of food, water, and rest that’s really where I sort of I come back to my own pyramid because I realized that I can’t stay up until eleven thirty or five o’clock either on social media or watch my favorite baseball game. And so you know that later at night. We really need really good rest because that mental recharge that I think we all need and then really what I’ve started to do in the morning quite frankly gentlemen is I feel like at the moment my eyes open up people are asking me questions. So my tiny humans are constantly asking me something or my husband, who is fantastic, is constantly asking me something but I realize that that’s the trigger because I’m constantly solving problems. And so I need about an hour before I really get into my day. So I’ve really started taking that as getting up about an hour before I really need to get ready and just to do some silent reflection to do some devotional reading and just to reflect on the day before and the current day ahead just to get a mental checklist prepared so that I can be more successful and I’ve seen a great amount of success with that. Maybe a little bit more than two or three glasses of the blood of Christ. Thanks for asking.

Gabe Howard: We’re gonna step away to hear from our sponsor. We’ll be right back.

Narrator 2: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.com, secure, convenient and affordable online counselling. All counselors are licensed, accredited professionals. Anything you share is confidential. Schedule secure video or phone sessions, plus chat and text with your therapist whenever you feel it’s needed. A month of online therapy often costs less than a single traditional face-to-face session. Go to BetterHelp.com/PsychCentral and experience seven days of free therapy to see if online counselling is right for you. BetterHelp.com/PsychCentral.

Vincent M. Wales: Welcome back everyone. We are talking with Gretchen Ramsey about how to improve the patient experience.

Gabe Howard: I love that you brought up Maslow’s hierarchy of need and for those who don’t know just a real quick synopsis of that is, it’s this idea that people need more than one thing in order to be well. Specifically in psychology or mental health circles it’s all fine and well to have somebody have you know the correct medications or to have somebody be able to see a psychiatrist or a medical doctor and get the care that they need psychiatrically, but of course if they don’t have food or they’re homeless or they don’t feel safe, the medical care is only going to go so far and that’s a really bad explanation. You should probably Google it. But in general it’s just explaining that people need more than one thing and one of the things that you described is one of the things that people really really need that we’re really poor at giving ourselves is self care. Because we think that self care is actually pronounced selfish care. If you’re worried about yourself, you’re therefore not worried about your spouse, your tiny humans, your friends, your job, and therefore you’re lazy. But of course we’ve learned that if you don’t take care of yourself, you don’t have the internal fortitude to help others, so you tend to help them more poorly. Now am I explaining that correctly?

Gretchen L. Ramsey: No, Gabe, I think you really you know are on to there is something that it’s not only can you not function properly, you can’t again negotiate those situations you know come back to that idea of how many people are in front of you. You can’t take care of yourself. There’s no way that you’re going to be able to really give patients the vibrant experience that makes them feel like we are glad that they are here. And it’s a privilege to be able to take care of them. One of the things that I really started to hone in on is when I am working with staff, it’s a lot of behavior modification. So it’s first step of it is really just to educate them on the survey instrument that we use to give to the patients. And I would say it’s an open book test, that we’re giving you the test and I’m going to help you study. I’m going to give you the answers but what happens is oftentimes you realize that somebody’s pyramid the staff person. You know we think so oftentimes maybe it’s the patients who are coming in the door that may not have clothing and food and shelter. What I quickly realized as I worked the first few months on in this capacity, is it’s not just the patients, it’s our staff. It’s really our staff. I had a situation not that long ago where I was working in one of our family medicine clinics and somebody pulled me aside and said You know I think so-and-so may have gotten evicted. And I said why? And there was evidence that perhaps the staff person was living inside the clinic with her two tiny humans. And so it immediately snapped something in my brain to think here I am coaching this staff person, and if she had a tendency to be very quick with the patient, she would hang up if the patient was the patient for disagreeing and then all of a sudden I thought to myself It is no wonder, if she is worried about food insecurity shelter and where are we on that Maslow pyramid? So that’s my new approach. Interestingly enough to coaching and training and educating staff regardless of whether they are maybe an entry level patient experience representative or if they are a physician because a lot of times then you on the other end of the spectrum a physician who may be very stable at the bottom of that pyramid with their physiological needs being met now may be in the center of that pyramid where there may be some esteem issues or maybe they are striving to feel loved and connected in community with one another in some way. And that’s a barrier oftentimes to a patient experience because if they’re too friendly, then we know what can happen, and patients can get the wrong idea. And if they’re inactive, then I always say you know with the patients we’ve got to unlock that empathy box. So it’s a really interesting concept that I have been very focused in on and it has I think helped me become a stronger professional in terms of let’s figure out where they are. And then we can figure out how to coach educate and train them.

Vincent M. Wales: I just want to mention real quick that this sort of thing does not apply just to professionals. If you are an in-home caregiver for a loved one, for example, you also have to take care of your own needs before you can effectively maintain your relationship with them.

Gretchen L. Ramsey: And that’s a great point.

Vincent M. Wales: Well so what I would like to know is what’s the most challenging part for you of this job?

Gretchen L. Ramsey: I think it’s figuring out where they are. I think it’s figuring out where the individual or the staff member is on that pyramid. So you know I could be talking to a physician who has had 20 plus years of education and try to dissect it and figure out OK how can I help him or her the best? Because usually when they see me show up, they know that there is something amiss. But right now I think that’s the most challenging part of my job is just trying to figure out the best way to give staff and the best techniques for de-escalation of sometimes very vitriolic patients. And we could be talking about a staff person who just graduated from high school or you know we could be talking about maybe it’s a medical assistant who has had 18 months of post-secondary education. But how do we safely and effectively train them to de-escalate patients, when you both know oftentimes, it takes years and years and years of education to be able to do that properly and the people who do have the privilege to work with our other mental health patients and our patients who’ve gone to school for a very long time. So how do I condense that training right now? In today’s society and give that to the frontline staff? I think that’s one of the most challenging things that I’m currently faced with.

Gabe Howard: One of the things when you’re sort of describing your job and like the actual nuts and bolts of your job it sort of reminds me of human resources like they’re just trying to get management and employees to get along and to make sure that everybody follows the rules and that there’s no laws broken. Is your job kind of human resources? I mean I think a lot of people understand the role of human resources and you know maybe a lot of our audience doesn’t understand, you know, your role. I mean teaching people how to be nice. That sounds all great and everything. But isn’t that what human resources does? Teaches everybody to be nice? Can you kind of compare and contrast that a little?

Gretchen L. Ramsey: Yeah, that’s a great point and I think that the patient experience, the role of patient experience is you know it was born of the concept of the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services starting that survey instrument in the early 2000s and then going public with that reporting the findings from that first instrument in 2008. So I think the patient experience department, depending on what hospital or organization you’re talking about, may right reside in the human resource space that also might reside in the clinical space. But a lot of times that is what it is. I have a very close relationship with our human resources team. They have great relationships with our staff, but a lot of times I do have to collaborate with them just to say you know where are we with this person’s performance improvement and what is it that we can do to better help it and train and educate them? Additionally, working with our organizational development group and that’s our group of trainers that offer systematic training throughout the year on different subjects. A lot of times I’m going in and giving bits and pieces of those training. But I’m realizing the whole department could benefit and listen to and hear. So it is very human resources. You know it is a lot of behavior modification and management. But the bottom line is my job is really just to make sure that the staff understand how their interactions are being perceived by the patient. We know that that may not always be the case. When our surveys go out if they go if a patient is randomly selected to receive a survey by paper it would be about two weeks after the interaction. So they’ll get that paper survey in the mail. But if they are randomly selected to get the electronic version they’ll get it within the first 24 to 48 hours. So you can imagine which one tends to be more favorable. The ones that come in via the Internet are the ones that really tend to be a little bit more volatile because the experience is fresh in their mind. The more favorable ones happen to be the paper ones because a lot of times when you’re writing comments you actually have to take a good old fashioned pen, and you have to hand write those comments. If you want to give somebody a compliment, or if you want to really make a suggestion for improvement, or you have something negative to say, you have to write that out. So it’s my job as sort of in the middle of all of those spaces and I think that’s just what makes that type of work interesting because it’s not necessarily defined in one bucket or another but clinical or human resource or organizational development it kind of spans those chasm.

Gabe Howard: Thank you. Thank you for explaining that. We really appreciate it.

Gretchen L. Ramsey: Yeah. No problem.

Vincent M. Wales: So, Gretchen, where do you see this experience going? Do you see it evolving into bigger and better things? What’s on the horizon?

Gretchen L. Ramsey: Thanks for asking me that, Vince. I myself I really think that it is really heading down more of a psychological path that right now I think that if you would look up a job description for a patient experience director, many of them would require a nursing degree. They’re looking for that registered nurse or an R.N. because the idea is clinicians can train clinicians. I actually happen to have a non-clinical background. With our leadership team at Geisinger Holy Spirit thought was a good fit because now I have the lens of a patient. I really see this profession going from a place where they require, you know, in many cases, where they do require an R.N. and I can see it evolving to where they would actually require a degree in psychology because it truly is at the end of the day about getting people to change that behavior and break that cycle into something from a negative to a positive. I think in a recent podcast you interviewed Dr. Judd Brewster and I heard him call addiction, how did he say that? I think he described it as “the continued use despite adverse consequences.”

Vincent M. Wales: He’s right.

Gabe Howard: Yes.

Gretchen L. Ramsey: You say you know when you ask about the human resource space, I think that’s one of the challenges is if a person is treating a patient the same way and it’s having a negative impact and we can’t do anything to change that behavior. Then that really just becomes, OK, I’m at the end of my rope and I’m not sure what’s next. Oftentimes I find myself thinking, boy if I had a background in psychology perhaps this maybe this would have been more beneficial and to the point where I’ve even considered if I would ever go back to get a PhD. Which I think then I’d need a lot of blood of Christ if I have to figure something out because of my tiny humans. That it would probably be a PhD in psychology because I really see that’s what I believe is going to be the future of the director of patient experience.

Gabe Howard: That’s wonderful. Gretchen, thank you so much for being on the show. We really appreciate having you and it just shows you that we have a lot of work to do in the fact that this is new. I imagine the medical staff has been complaining about patients and patients have been complaining about medical staff for decades and this is a relatively new thing where we’re trying to bridge that gap and get everybody on the same page. I think what you’re doing is admirable and wonderful and I hope it spreads across the country and the world.

Vincent M. Wales: Definitely.

Gretchen L. Ramsey: Well thank you, and thank you for your great work to to get this topic out in a fun and easy to understand and digest it. It’s great as a professional to have those resources on you and your 30 minute commute. It’s nice to listen to something else than just talk radio.

Gabe Howard: This is perfect. You know if your commute ever goes to 35 minutes you’re gonna be in trouble. But if it ever drops to 20 you just make sure you drive the same route and you’ll be fine.

Gretchen L. Ramsey: Every time, yep.

Gabe Howard: All right. Thank you, Gretchen, and thank you everyone for tuning in, and remember you can get one week of free, convenient, affordable, private online counselling anytime anywhere just by visiting BetterHelp.com/PsychCentral. See everyone next week.

Narrator 1: Thank you for listening to the Psych Central Show. Please rate, review, and subscribe on iTunes or wherever you found this podcast. We encourage you to share our show on social media and with friends and family. Previous episodes can be found at PsychCentral.com/show. PsychCentral.com is the internet’s oldest and largest independent mental health website. Psych Central is overseen by Dr. John Grohol, a mental health expert and one of the pioneering leaders in online mental health. Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who travels nationally. You can find more information on Gabe at GabeHoward.com. Our co-host, Vincent M. Wales, is a trained suicide prevention crisis counselor and author of several award-winning speculative fiction novels. You can learn more about Vincent at VincentMWales.com. If you have feedback about the show, please email [email protected].

About The Psych Central Show Podcast Hosts

Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar and anxiety disorders. He is also one of the co-hosts of the popular show, A Bipolar, a Schizophrenic, and a Podcast. As a speaker, he travels nationally and is available to make your event stand out. To work with Gabe, please visit his website, gabehoward.com.

Vincent M. Wales is a former suicide prevention counselor who lives with persistent depressive disorder. He is also the author of several award-winning novels and creator of the costumed hero, Dynamistress. Visit his websites at www.vincentmwales.com and www.dynamistress.com.

from World of Psychology http://bit.ly/2vZWXOV via IFTTT

#IFTTT #World of Psychology

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erraticfairy · 5 years

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Podcast: Humanizing the Patient Experience

Subscribe to Our Show! And Remember to Review Us!

About Our Guest

PATIENT EXPERIENCE SHOW TRANSCRIPT

Editor’s Note: Please be mindful that this transcript has been computer generated and therefore may contain inaccuracies and grammar errors. Thank you.

Gretchen L. Ramsey: Thanks, Gabe. I am so excited to be here. Hi Vince.

Vincent M. Wales: Hi there. I’m very intrigued by this teaches people how to be nice to one another, because I think that’s a big failing in our society as a whole.

Vincent M. Wales: Oh my God.

Gabe Howard: That’s wonderful. Thank you.

Vincent M. Wales: So how does the work itself affect you? This kind of work has to be difficult on the patient experience professional too, right?

Gretchen L. Ramsey: It is.

Gabe Howard: Because you’re in charge of everybody. You get the complaints from both sides.

Gabe Howard: We’re gonna step away to hear from our sponsor. We’ll be right back.

Vincent M. Wales: Welcome back everyone. We are talking with Gretchen Ramsey about how to improve the patient experience.

Gretchen L. Ramsey: And that’s a great point.

Vincent M. Wales: Well so what I would like to know is what’s the most challenging part for you of this job?

Gabe Howard: Thank you. Thank you for explaining that. We really appreciate it.

Gretchen L. Ramsey: Yeah. No problem.

Vincent M. Wales: So, Gretchen, where do you see this experience going? Do you see it evolving into bigger and better things? What’s on the horizon?

Vincent M. Wales: He’s right.

Gabe Howard: Yes.

Vincent M. Wales: Definitely.

Gretchen L. Ramsey: Every time, yep.

About The Psych Central Show Podcast Hosts

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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 3 years

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The Voyage So Far: Wano (Part Two)

okay so the wano flashback is possibly my favorite in the whole series for a whole bunch of different reasons, and oden as a character is a big part of why. honestly, i think he’s great. he’s wildly entertaining and ridiculously likable, just like a folk hero should be.

i care about oden and the akazaya nine a lot. they have one of my favorite found family dynamics in the whole series, up there with the strawhats themselves- a bunch of thugs and castoffs who wound up gathering around this one wildly charismatic moron and deciding to be stronger and better for him.

i think they really feel like a family, in these little moments we get of them just interacting and messing around, and it only makes later events- oden’s death, the twenty-year separation, kanjurou’s betrayal- hurt all the worse.

on god it is the funniest thing on earth to me that this is how oden and izou wound up on whitebeard’s ship.

the roger pirates!! i really really like the roger pirates!! i love that there’s this entire predecessor crew who are both absolutely fucking fascinating from a lore perspective and who are just all individually really good characters with really fun relationships. the dynamics we get to see just in this brief part of the flashback are absolutely delightful. i think the fact that i would read a whole series just about the roger pirates is a testament to oda’s character writing.

there’s a specific sort of tragedy to the roger pirates, and i think it really hits home in their last few pages in this flashback. by all appearances, they were a crew just as close-knit as the strawhats are. they cared about each other a lot- that ship was their home.

and then their captain died, and they just- fell apart.

awhile back, in my sabaody post, i talked about how we get to know roger first as a story and then as a character by getting to meet characters who knew him personally. to the rest of the world, roger is a story, a name to curse or a height to aspire to. but for shanks and rayleigh and crocus and buggy and all the rest of the roger pirates, he was their captain.

the whole wano flashback, possibly more than any of the others in the series, really feels to me like a story being told, a folk tale being passed down, which makes sense, since it’s canonically framed as oden’s diary entries. and i think that framing device just adds so much to the atmosphere of this entire section of story, the feeling of myth and legend to it.

i honestly really like how oden’s death is handled. i have trouble articulating it, but it’s so much, so over the top, so heavily set up and foreshadowed- a legendary death for a legendary man, if that makes sense.

toki’s prophecy is one of my favorite motifs in this whole arc. wano is all about a country that’s been trapped and dying for years and years, holding out desperate hope for salvation. toki is the one who gave them that hope. she doesn’t try to tell them that everything will be okay, she says it will be dark and the darkness will be long, but the dawn will come, and even though she gave her life to do that, she did it smiling.

without toki, the wano arc never would have happened, because there would be no future to fight for.

this panel is the header on my favorite op discord server and sometimes i just scroll up and stare at it. it’s so good.

this entire sequence, starting from luffy law and kidd’s entrance, is probably my favorite in wano arc. it’s the turning of the sides, the daybreak after the darkest hour- these three show up, and then jinbe, and denjirou reveals his true colors and it’s revealed all the rest of the samurai left before orochi blew the bridges, and it turns out they haven’t lost a single step to kanjurou’s treachery. it just feels so good to read, after the prior hopelessness of the akazaya and the tragedy of the flashback.

i really like how the akazaya nine are absolutely ready to roast each other at any and all times. that’s how you know they’re best friends.

i think i mentioned it back in fishman island, but one of my favorite things is the strawhats just being absolutely cheerfully, chaotically destructive. every time we get to see them wreck havoc while nonchalantly bickering with each other it puts a huge smile on my face.

i think ulti and page one are very very funny and i like their dynamic a lot, it’s a laugh riot. i also like that oda lets luffy seriously fight a woman here!! i’m serious, we don’t see enough no-holds-barred fights between men and women (conventionally attractive women, specifically) in this series, so i’m pleasantly surprised when it does happen.

i do appreciate wano’s ability to continuously raise the “holy shit!” quotient without it ever really feeling like a twist just for the sake of the audience. like, i don’t know that anybody saw kaidou killing orochi coming, but at the same time, it feels like it does make sense, given what we know about kaidou, for him to do this.

my heart goes out to momo, honestly. he’s only eight, and in that time he’s lost his home and family and his whole world when he was thrown twenty years into the future, and he has the weight of his whole country resting on his shoulders. he’s borne up admirably under that stress, starting from zou and building up to this point.

i LOVE kin’emon’s speech to kaidou about luffy SO much. kin’emon’s come a long way from being a mostly comedy relief character in punk hazard to here, where he’s shouting down an emperor. i really like this progression- kin’emon doesn’t change, exactly, but the side of his character that is revealed in wano is very likable and admirable. it goes back to something i’ve mentioned before, about how one piece’s characters are very rarely one-dimensional.

kaidou’s dragon form is extremely cool, and so are most of the panels where it appears- it’s extremely striking, especially in panels like this, where he’s silhouetted against the moon.

i love... the ripple effects of luffy just being himself that spread throughout the world of one piece, and i think this is one of the best examples. luffy befriended coby all the way back in chapter two, mostly by accident, and now, nine hundred and some chapters later, that’s what leads to drake joining the strawhats’ side. because drake is friends with coby who says luffy is trustworthy, so when drake is stuck with nobody else to turn to, he turns to luffy.

moments like this really reinforce just how much the world and story of one piece is built on relationships between people, and i really like that. i like that instead of necessarily being built around abstract ideals or morals, characters’ actions are, more often than not, motivated by either specific personal goals or by their relationships with other characters. it feels much more true to life.

i like the loss of kiku’s arm, because it showcases exactly how serious the fight is on both sides. it both shows that kaidou is fighting to maim and kill and do whatever it takes to win, and that the akazaya are fully prepared to take whatever he throws at them. kiku gets back up smiling after losing her arm. neither side in this fight is even close to backing down, now or ever.

i genuinely can’t believe how long it took me to talk about yamato, so let me just say: i love him so much. part of this, i’m sure, is my personal bias towards any and all kickass queer characters, but part of it is just- he’s so cool. he’s ten feet tall and carries a club about as big as he is and tanks explosions like they’re nothing while also bickering with luffy and falling out of ceilings and generally being like... stupidly lovable.

i just like yamato a lot.

a thousand chapters in, and every strawhat but robin has had a moment where they declare luffy is going to be the king of the pirates, but honestly, i think nami’s might be my favorite yet. nami has always been a person who acts at a distance, not one inclined to direct confrontation and putting herself in danger-

and yet, when it comes down to it, when faced with a choice between death and disavowing her captain’s dream, even when assured by usopp that she would be fully justified in lying for her life, nami chooses luffy. even in the most dire of circumstances, all of the strawhats know luffy is going to be the king of the pirates, and none of them would ever deny it.

i kind of alluded to this back in my dressrosa post, but i really like the development of law’s new dream being discovering the meaning of the will of d. it just feels like a very good and natural progression for his character, given he’s the only holder of the will of d who we’ve been shown is consciously aware of it and what it might mean. and in general, i like seeing him having something else to work towards after doflamingo’s defeat.

i’ll end this by just saying i am so desperately curious to know what is in that book, and what yamato knows about the will of d, about the dawn of the world, about laugh tale.

guess we’ll find out, huh?

thanks for reading through to the end!! i had a lot of fun putting these posts together, and writing them up was a really cool way to be able to compile my thoughts headed into chapter 1000 and beyond. i can’t wait to see where oda takes us next.

#the voyage so far #arc: wano kuni #one piece #long post #opmeta #not japanese

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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 3 years

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The Voyage So Far: Wano (Part One)

shirahoshi seeing the sun for the first time is really a relatively minor and understated thing, among all the chaos and revelations of reverie, but it strikes me as one of the most meaningful little moments in the arc.

i LOVE the luffy fanclub. i love that a meeting of the world leaders winds up being a who’s-who with assorted friends of one of the world’s most notorious criminals, and it brings me SO much joy to see them meeting each other and being able to connect. i feel the same way about coby and rebecca meeting.

in general, and i think i said this at marineford too, i love that the one piece world is developed and interconnected and alive enough to allow for these sorts of interactions.

fucked up that this was almost a hundred chapters ago and we still have no clue what the fuck was up with this, isn’t it?

i do find the introduction of im fascinating. up until this point we’ve had two presumed final villains- blackbeard and akainu- who were first established pretty far back at jaya and enies lobby (in robin’s flashback) respectively. meanwhile, im isn’t even seen until chapter nine hundred and something. it feels very late-game, but at the same time, their existence doesn’t contradict anything previously established, and in fact jives pretty well with a lot of information more recently revealed in dressrosa.

in any case, when in doubt i do trust oda knows what he’s doing when handling his story, and i’m very excited to see what he does with this.

wano is SO PRETTY. i mentioned this before in fishman island, but i think wano is definitely the prettiest setting in the series to date. i think it’s obvious oda was both very excited to draw it and put a lot of work and research into his depiction of it, and wow does it pay off. wano is so bursting with life and detail, and frequently looks like an ukiyo-e painting come to life, and just- wow wow wow.

i love zoro and luffy’s reunion so much... i love how happy they are to see each other. it’s only been, what, a couple weeks in-universe? but luffy is pulling the full tackle-hug like he did for sabo at dressrosa. i love them.

i really like the outfits in wano, too!! zoro’s ronin look in particular i think suits him very well, and i also love luffy’s patchy yukata and robin’s geisha getup and they’re just very cool. this also applies to the non-strawhat wano characters, for the record, and kind of ties back to what i was just saying about wano being so full of detail. it has a very specific look, and everything from the outfits to the way things like the fire and the waves are drawn folds very neatly into that aesthetic.

as i’m writing this i just finished on the paramount war posts, so with that fresh on my mind, i have to say i really like the way ace (or rather, his memory) is incorporated into wano. he’s not really a major presence- that is, the fact that he was there before luffy has no real bearing on the plot. but there are people who knew and cared about him and remember him fondly, tama and yamato, and it just really helps add to this feeling that ace was a person and his life and death had real and lasting affects.

and it adds, too, to the fact that even if it took ace way too long to realize it, he was so thoroughly loved everywhere he went.

i have a lot of thoughts on the intersection of food and heroism in one piece (i keep trying to compile a coherent meta post on the subject and mostly failing). but i’ll settle for saying that in wano luffy is a hero by his own definition, as someone who shares food with others, and i doubt he realizes that, but i think it’s really interesting.

i know luffy’s fight with kaidou is kind of controversial in fandom but i love it, personally. it feels like a logical outcome for luffy to get his ass kicked the first time he tries to go up against a yonkou singlehandedly! he got wrecked when he tried to throw down with a shichibukai the first time, too, and this is just the next logical step from that.

luffy’s always been an underdog starting from nowhere and working his way up and up and up, and i love that for him. of course he’s going to get messed up the first time he tries punching an entire order of magnitude above his weight class. and then he’s going to get up and try again, and again, and again until he wins.

the act structure of wano is really neat, i think. it helps such a long and complicated arc feel a lot more structured and less interminable than it might otherwise, and it also gives specific breaks where we can cut away to the story happening on the outside world.

honestly i really like the whole udon prison segment. it’s fun! i like it for similar reasons i like the colosseum mini-arc in dressrosa, honestly, which is that there’s no real stress because we know luffy is the scariest person there by a country mile so we can just watch him go ham, and that’s fun. it consistently cracks me up that absolutely nobody is worried luffy’s in jail. they’re all just like “yeah, he’ll be fine.” and they’re right! he’s having the time of his life!

wano’s cast is fascinating, because almost nobody is who they first appear to be. almost everyone is wearing masks, whether literal or not- fitting, for an arc structured after a kabuki play. everyone is playing roles, from hiyori to denjirou to kanjurou to yasuie, and everyone lies.

this entire sequence at orochi’s party is one of my favorites in the whole arc- in fact, it was my favorite, until we reached a certain part i’ll get to in the next post. everything from komurasaki standing up for toko and slapping orochi to denjirou “killing” her to robin getting caught by the oniwabanshu and dissolving into petals to nami calling down a massive lightning bolt to cover their escape- it’s really good.

i’ve written extensively before about the smile fruits and the themes of smile and laughter in one piece and how important the freedom to feel and express emotion is. suffice it to say that for all the atrocities orochi commits against the people of wano, it’s feeding the smile fruits to the people of ebisu town that is his greatest crime, and the revelation of just what happened to those poor people ratchets up the tragedy of wano tenfold.

i do think it’s interesting to think about how if denjirou had been just a little less committed to his role, zoro would’ve killed orochi right here. it really drives home that orochi is nothing- he’s weak, he’s cowardly, he’s just lucky and clever and cruel enough to be able to get much more powerful people to do his work for him.

it’s infuriating that someone like him has been able to hold such power over the lives of the people of wano and ruin them so thoroughly, and that’s exactly the point.

wano is the arc where oda says you Will care about the supernovas and i’m like yeah

hey, another of my all-time favorite luffy panels!! i honestly just think this one sums him up as a character in a line more than almost any other- “i’m always free.”

just look at the detail on kidd’s metal hand holy shit holy shit. on occasion certain panels jump out at me that remind me that oda really is just, a genius at drawing on a technical level, even setting aside his writing and storytelling chops, and this is one of them.

oda is really, really good at creating the sense of a darkest hour- a time when all hope seems lost. the other best example in the series is in water seven, when the crew seems to be falling to pieces, merry is marked for death, robin’s gone, and the aqua laguna is coming. here, too- nobody comes to meet the akazaya nine, and the one chance they’ve waited twenty years and staked their lives on seems in danger of slipping through their fingers-

but the point of making it so all seems lost is so that when hope does appear, it shines all the brighter, and feels all the more triumphant. it’s always darkest before the dawn, and we all know how wano has been waiting for the dawn.

#the voyage so far #arc: reverie #arc: wano kuni #one piece #opmeta #not japanese #long post

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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 3 years

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The Voyage So Far: Punk Hazard

nami i love you

i reread nami’s backstory for the east blue post shortly before sitting down to write this one up, and it made her insistence on helping the punk hazard children hit a little different for me. they’re victimized and exploited kids, just like she was.

law’s devil fruit is genuinely one of my favorites, as well as, in my opinion, one of the visually coolest by far, and i love all the cool displays of it we get both in this arc and the next one

i know law gets clowned on a lot this arc, and that’s fantastic too, but he also has a lot of genuinely cool panels, especially early on

characters that remind me how gay i am

relatedly, i do think monet has one of the best visual designs introduced in the new world, especially for a character who, ultimately, is a minor antagonist. i’m not just saying that because she’s hot, either- her wings and talons flow so well with the rest of her design while giving her a monstery look that will later come out FULL force when she turns into a full-on snow monster.

law saying he’s free to go wherever he wants, and his chopping up anyone who even dares to question that right, hits a lot harder knowing his backstory and cora’s final words and thoughts

alliance time!! this was eight and a half years ago in real time, and these two are still working together. i kind of like thinking about this from law’s point of view, because he allied with the strawhats solely to have a few more hands on deck for his dressrosa suicide plot and definitely never assumed he would be around to actually go through with the ‘fighting kaidou’ part of the plan.

joke’s on him. he allied with the strawhats.

luffy’s smile here makes me very happy

kinda like thriller bark, punk hazard is another pretty teamwork-based arc, which is something i really love. it’s particularly fun in this case because there’re a bunch of vastly different people and groups thrown together (the strawhats; smoker, tashigi and the g-5 guys; law; kin’emon (and momo)) who are all very different and yet can work very well together when needs must.

smoker and tashigi get a downgrade in prominence post-timeskip, mostly because the introduction of armament haki means smoker just can’t be the threat he used to be anymore, and i have particular problems with tashigi’s treatment in this arc that i’ve written about before, but- all that said, smoker is still really, really good character in punk hazard, especially in his interactions with vergo and law.

i really love when little, forgettable details come up in ways you might not expect- of course nami’s heat ball hard counters monet’s powers, at least momentarily. she’s made of snow. oda is really incredible of keeping track of little things like this.

i may have issues with the monet fight but god if this isn’t sexy as hell

of the strawhats, i think chopper is actually one of the ones who shines the most in punk hazard. chopper has some of his best moments when faced with so-called ‘doctors’ who use science to hurt and dehumanize others, directly spitting on everything chopper values and believes in and everything hiriluk died for. he’s really good in thriller bark for the same reason.

this is one of my very favorite luffy panels.

law defeating (and ultimately killing) vergo is highly satisfying just on a first read with only context from this arc, given vergo’s earlier torture of law and his betrayal of the g-5 men’s trust in him, but it takes on an entire new dimension with the knowledge of law’s backstory and just what vergo did to him and cora.

fishman island might be the first major arc after the timeskip, but punk hazard, specifically law’s new era speech at the end of it, strike me as much more emblematic and a much better introduction of what the entire post-ts era of the story is about. it’s not just about survival anymore- it’s about directly, proactively confronting the old, entrenched systems of power that rule the world and then tearing them down to make room for a new world and a new age.

i’ve written... a lot of meta about the donquixote family, their strange, abusive cultishness and the obsessive love and loyalty they hold for doflamingo and how he doesn’t value them in nearly the same way, but this panel in particular is one that sticks with me.

i think this is the only time anyone other than luffy is described as “the man who will become the pirate king” (海賊王になる男/kaizoku-ou ni naru otoko). monet is ready to die for doflamingo, and this is her last thought. it ties very effectively into the twisted parallels between the donquixote pirates and the strawhats.

it might be obvious by now, but i’m a huge sucker for group shots

i couldn’t find a good place to mention it earlier, but i really love how kin’emon and momonosuke are introduced in this arc. they’re introduced as fairly inconsequential characters with no real indication that they’ll be anywhere near as important as they will be in the future.

and yet at the same time, there are a lot of details from this arc that make a lot more sense having read wano- momo’s fear of heights, kin’emon’s dislike of dragons, momo’s unwillingness to eat food given to him that hasn’t been taste-tested (definitely something he learned as a shogun’s son, and also probably what saved him from suffering the same fate as the other kids). oda is on a storytelling level i can’t even conceive.

doflamingo has already been pretty thoroughly established as a very dangerous person ever since his introduction back in jaya, but his absolutely destroying smoker and nearly killing him just for not telling him what wants to know really drives the point home, just in time for him to come to the fore as main antagonist of the next arc.

#the voyage so far #long post #one piece #opmeta #arc: punk hazard #not japanese

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