thinking about zoro being the crew's main protector.

it’s quite literally his role amongst the straw hats; luffy's captain, usopp's their sniper, sanji cooks, nami navigates, chopper's their doctor, franky's their shipwright, jinbei's their helmsman and brook's their musician but zoro? zoro's their swordsman. zoro’s their guardian. his job is to be the first line of defense and protect everybody else so they can focus on doing their own thing and sure, none of them really need protecting— but they don't have to worry about defending themselves, either, because whoever they can't or don't want to handle zoro will finish up (if he hasn't gotten to them first).

like imagine a bunch of idiots cornering one of the crew (bad idea.) and picking nami because she's the woman without a devil fruit, as opposed to robin (BAD idea.). they've got her surrounded in the dead end of an alleyway and have somehow neutralised her clima-tact and she’s not worried, she’s not.

but against twelve men and with her weapon essentially now just a regular staff, she might be panicking. just a little. she’s gotten a couple of them good enough that they’re down for the count before a chain wrapped around her ankle trips her. it pulls at enough memories, faded but never forgotten, to bring up a sickening wave of fear and anger— and nami decides that she’s had enough of the bullshit.

she takes a deep breath and screams. “ZORO!”

the silence afterwards is deafening. the wind shifts, gently lifting the pieces of hair stuck to her sweaty face, and the men laugh uneasily. one of them yanks hard on the chain and she spits at him, heels scrabbling against the dusty ground even as he starts reeling her in like a fish on a hook. “he can’t hear you, little missy,” he snickers, grin widening the longer nobody shows up.

it’s still on his face when his head slides right off his neck.

blood sprays right before his body crumples like a doll. it takes a second for the others to realise and then the screaming starts— none of them get any farther than three steps before zoro’s cutting them down, swift swings of his sword and almost surgically precise slices rendering them incapacitated if not plain dead.

“sorry i’m late, witch.” the swordsman’s breathing hard, gore dripping off his blades even as he arcs one down and snaps the chain off nami’s leg with a growl. “did they hurt you?”

“no. no, i’m fine,” nami breathes, her smile quivering just a little— not because she’s shaken, no. because she’s pissed.

zoro’s voice is gruff as always, but his hands are careful if not outright gentle as he kneels to inspect her ankle before pulling her to her feet. “stay close,” he mutters, making sure that she’s nodded before cutting them a path through the fray. they bump into chopper next, and the doctor’s out cold over zoro’s shoulder in his regular form by the time sanji joins them to guard their flank. nami’s taken to just using her clima-tact as a bat for now, and it’s admittedly efficient.

she knew zoro would come. he always does. for all that they bicker and snip at each other, zoro has always protected his crew— even when said crew was just three people on what could barely be called a boat. he’d fought for her at arlong park and he fights for her now, his sword slicing over her head at an enemy she can’t see as she ducks low to jam her staff into another’s stomach.

they’ve moved closer to their ship when they find jinbei, then robin, then usopp, then brook and franky, and then zoro’s yelling luff, time to go! and their captain’s launching them all back onto the Sunny with a gleeful cackle that makes nami wheeze a laugh as they land in a mildly painful pile of limbs. somebody’s elbow digs into her ribs and she’s pretty sure that’s sanji’s bony kneecap pressed into her lower back. the swordsman swears as he sets about trying to pry them all apart and luffy seems to be actively fighting him, based on how his cursing’s getting more and more colourful.

behind them, their enemies burn, sliced to pieces. they debrief in the galley and zoro refuses to come away from the door until nami drags him by the ear and sanji threatens to personally shove dessert down his throat. they both know it’s because zoro’s still guarding them from a threat that doesn’t exist anymore.

they know he pretends not to care as much as he does. they know he keeps his words blunt and his swords sharp, but zoro lets luffy hang off him, unfazed, and makes a marginal effort to stick to nami’s budget even when he’s getting booze, and he eats his dessert. every last bit. he lets usopp fire moving targets to slice through so they can both practice. he keeps collateral damage when sparring with sanji to a minimum. he stitches whoever needs it up himself when chopper’s a little too tired.

and when his crew calls, he answers.

(now with a part from nami’s pov!)

I think Nami would be a huge fan of Sitcoms because they're cozy and nothing happens and it reminds her of when she used to watch them with her mom and Nojiko. Zoro and Luffy catch her watching a sitcom someday and they complain about how nothing is happening, and she says that that's the whole point of the show and they don't know how to appreciate it because they're always either watching cartoons or fight movies. But then the two guys get extremely invested too and they end up binge-watching Seinfeld, Friends, That 70s Show, Cheers... I wholeheartedly think Luffy would love the found family trope and Zoro would end up getting into the dumbest arguments with Nami because they have different opinions on dramatic moments of the shows.

romance dawn trio (+ zolu) love language <3 loosely inspired by this beloved poem:

The Orange

At lunchtime I bought a huge orange—

The size of it made us all laugh.

I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—

They got quarters and I had a half.

And that orange, it made me so happy,

As ordinary things often do

Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park.

This is peace and contentment. It’s new.

The rest of the day was quite easy.

I did all the jobs on my list

And enjoyed them and had some time over.

I love you. I’m glad I exist.

— Wendy Cope

heat

For the 7days7sentences writing challenge I issued!

Prompt: heat Fandom: One Piece Character(s): Nami (plus some Zoro and Luffy)

The chill snakes into her blankets and settles into her skin until she’s gasping between dreaming and waking and dreaming again. She rolls in the covers like rolling in a current, feeling her own cold skin even as she dreams of all the notes she wants to add to a map she hasn’t even started. She’s awake enough to feel the wind and hear the nearby crash of waves, but she’s also running over the old wooden floors of Bell-mère’s house, running from a childhood nightmare only to freeze on the threshold, staring wide-eyed into the gaping dark void of a bedroom she no longer remembers—

Her eyes fly open as she chokes on panic, nails scraping into her shoulder as she tries to will the rush of blood in her head to shut up so she can hear where Arlong might be, if he’s seen her yet—

And then, between one blink and the next, she’s finally awake and knows that she’s away from Arlong (but still not free). She’s on a little island with two scrappy boats and two scrappier boys with a burnt-out fire and a full belly, the souring taste of the wine she stole coating her teeth, salty wind in her nose, and the promise of morning rain prickling at the nape of her neck—far off, but coming all the same. 

She looks to Luffy’s blanket—he didn’t seem to acknowledge the chill earlier in the night, but he’d been the one to build their fire big and roaring, insisting that they dance and sing and eat and drink around it like they were just kids sneaking away from their village—like they were pirates. But his spot is empty, his blankets gone, and she swallows back the he left me, they left me, did they take my money? that grips her throat. She hasn’t known them long but knows that they would never do that because they’re both kind of terrible at being pirates. 

(At least, they’re terrible for her definition of being pirates. As long as they’re sailing toward the horizon, Luffy seems to think that they’re doing pretty well for themselves.) 

But no, Zoro’s here—she finds him easily by following his snores. Squinting in the starlight, she finds Luffy curled up against Zoro’s side, his blanket wrapped around him. 

That lazy ass had woken up cold but hadn’t fixed the fire, leeching off of Zoro’s heat and leaving her to freeze. She shivers again and stands up, hesitating at how she doesn’t hesitate at stalking over with her own blankets. She crawls over the boys, uncaring about her knees and elbows waking them up as she burrows into their warmth. It doesn’t bother them, anyway—Luffy’s body gives in a way that’d be disconcertedly uncanny if it wasn’t so damn convenient. Zoro’s body—already so tough and strong despite the boyhood clinging to his gangly limbs and rounded cheeks—doesn’t give at all. 

The cold doesn’t leave her right away, but she sighs as their warmth seeps into her skin and pulls her easily back into sleepy depths. 

In her dream, she stands at Bell-mère’s door and stares at the yawning darkness, surprised to find herself unafraid. 

Note: yeeeaaahhh... this is more than seven sentences. But I found myself being late writing and posting because I kept struggling to find something to write with just seven sentences because I wanted THIS to be it. So. I figured it was better to write than not write at all??

Anyway! I love the Romance Dawn Trio! My babies!

zoro and nami girlboss duo. if you even care

hear me out...

as zoluna :o

i want more zoro/nami but like in a platonic way. i'm usually more of a usopp/nami (also platonic) fan because they're the cowardly duo you know? but i think zoro and nami's friendship could be so powerful because they'd shit talk everyone so bad. they're both haters.

staying warm in winter ❄️ 

-

happy holidays from yours truly AND the romance dawn trio! thank you so much for the support throughout 2023 especially on my works, i hope to draw more often next year!!

also, these are available as holiday postcards to purchase on my store until 12/30 ET time, one-time run only. thank you again for loving my art all these times! <3

What baffles me about zosan isn't that it's popular, bc people will always love enemies/rivals-to-lovers; what i find crazy is that it's the most famous ship in op out there like, the numbers in ao3 for instance, they're insanely high compared to other ships. I don't get it man what am i missing???

as u may know I am "playing in my sandpit ignoring the other sandpits until someone throws a shovel at my head" type of blogger when it comes to ships BUT I will say I have no idea. i have no idea. one thing about me is i will never ever ever be choosing enemies/rivals over the soft "i would die for you I understand u like no one else you make my journey better you are my soulmate (platonic or romantic)" pairing. its just never going to happen. I didn't go into op expecting to have a ship but as soon as I saw zoro heave the cage luffy was in over his head with a stab wound in his stomach (after watching luffy sail across the ocean for the demon pirate hunter) I knew it was all over for me. I couldn't even entertain the other ship(s).

I will say. TENTATIVELY AND VERY QUIETLY. that while I support other ships u go honey boo boo ship what u want. I don't like the way that side of the fandom can at times twist canon? which we all do from time to time (myself included) but one particular moment that was weird to me was when ppl were mad that zolu got so much attention in the live action (which godbless the zolu numbers are strengthening by the day) bc it "focused on the wrong relationships" and I...... I hate to break it but canonically zoro and luffy and the romance dawn trio are so integral. there's also the fact that people will say "you can't ship luffy because luffy is aroace" almost exclusively only when zoro is involved. which is a conversation in itself that i'd need a second cup of coffee for.

sidenote: also sanuso ??? being dismissed ????? and people saying they can't see it???? u can love ur rival to lovers ship all u want but it doesn't stop the fact that usopp is sanji's babygirl and their relationship can be SO flirty.

long story short idk i feel like zsn was just the name brand ship for so long (and from what i've gathered there was a certain level of taboo to certain other ones). I can't speak for other platforms but at least tumblr content wise the smaller ships are getting a bigger presence

I really miss the romance dawn trio where it's Zoro and Nami on either side of Luffy. The monster trio is great and everything but it does make me sad how Sanji took Nami's place. I miss the times when Zoro and Nami would threaten someone simultaneously, weapons drawn in sync. It felt so good in a gender way.

I've only just started thinking about this but I'd love to create things for an AU where Sanji just never gets that strong, and Nami powers up alongside Zoro and Luffy instead. I think it could be good for both Nami and Sanji's characters in different ways.

I think Sanji's whole thing about being made to feel subhuman for not being strong enough could be explored in such an interesting and even more powerful way if he really never got that strong. If he didn't ever have to be the warrior, if just being a cook like he always wanted to be was enough. Of course all the Strawhats contribute to the fights, but if he had more of a supportive role like Chopper that could be so interesting when it comes time to explore his insecurities. Going from 'the standards you were being held to are completely unreasonable and there's nothing wrong with being human' to 'you don't have to be strong at all, it's okay to just be you' could be soooo good. HE WOULD SUFFER SO MUCH MORE. But I think he'd end in an even healthier place. The journey could be so interesting.

AS FOR NAMI!!! She could be more like Zoro, fighting with the words of someone she lost in her mind. Bellemere told her to never lose to anyone, that girls have to strong too. It could be such a good what-if parallel to Kuina. If Kuina had a supportive adult encouraging her that she can be strong too, if her father hadn't been sexist, she could have gone just as far as Zoro does. The proof that her gender never made her inferior fighting right alongside him. God it'd be soooo satisfying and it'd make the message so much stronger. Also, Nami's slow development of becoming braver could be in the forefront. She'd have to fight herself so much harder to constantly be on the front lines. Plus, the comedy of an incredibly powerful person being a scaredycat is too good.

Which of course brings up, what happens to the scaredycat duo? I think the answer is related to what happens to Sanji's advice to Usopp in Water Seven. I think just because AU Sanji isn't strong, that doesn't mean he becomes any more fearful or less likely to put himself in harms way. Instead of the background gag of Nami and Usopp cowering together, it could change to Usopp constantly having to brave the battlefield to drag Sanji back out of it. I think they'd fight a lot, but very differently from Zoro and Sanji's fighting. Usopp gets mad because he doesn't want Sanji to get hurt, and it's hard to be truly hostile to someone with those kind of intentions.

Remember when Usopp reassured Chopper that 'it's okay to run away, just do what you can do'? And some of the others kinda made fun of him, like, 'That's your motto eh Usopp?'. He was telling Chopper what he wanted to hear, but much later we find he didn't really believe it, not when it's for himself. He also told Chopper it's okay when Merry's mast broke under his watch, "because we can replace the mast, but we can't replace you!" I think AU Usopp would be saying this kind of thing to Sanji all the time. They'd be very close. So when Usopp's insecurity gets the better of him in Water Seven, it's a huge betrayal for Sanji specifically. How could he say those things to him if all this time, he didn't really mean them? If it's not true for Usopp, where does that put Sanji?

It could go a lot of other ways too, though. Maybe their close relationship based on not being the strongest and being okay with it together would enable Sanji to talk Usopp down from leaving. Or, bad version, Sanji could take it just as personally as Usopp does, since Usopp is to him what Merry is to Usopp, and they both leave. God, they'd all be so heartbroken. Lots to think about...

As for Nami, I think she'd be a lot closer with Zoro. They'd be bickering all the time, but it would have that trust that Zoro and Luffy have underneath it. That if one of them needs a break, the other is there to pick up the slack. This is already their dynamic in a different way, both acting as secondary leaders, keeping things from getting too out of control. To me the best example of that is Whiskey Peak, when they're the only two who weren't fooled. I think it would help both of them retain their silliness if they were always on equal footing, fighting side-by-side. Some of my favorite East Blue moments are the couple of times they played jokes on the others together, and I think we'd see a lot more of that. When you trust the person next to you to be perfectly in-step with you, it's a lot easier to have fun even in dangerous situations.

I think especially Zoro needs help keeping his goofy side, and for Nami it'll help her get over her fears to have her reliable best friend right there egging her on. I just think they'd have a lot of fun!

Nami & Usopp, Zoro & Sanji, they're both fun dynamics, but I'd love to switch it up. There's just so much possibility to explore...

Pirating OPLA, thoughts

Episode 1

Garp being at Roger's execution is a nice touch

Really like how full Luffy's dinghy is-- crates of fruit, a barrel of fish instead of just one barrel of apples--- all makes sense. All the tiny details removed from manga that are just added onto opla for realism-- like the way the execution stand works, too, with the people cranking the manual lift to get roger up there. It's all very cool and makes the setting feel more piraty than mangapiece.

Our beloved Zoro tried to go to Sixis on a cruise ship. This is a good way to casually mention Zoro earlier (plus that's Ace's first island so it actually lines up on the One Piece map to be around Dawn Island--)

"it's worth more than the rest of our loot put together" a nika mention that can be interpreted as just a devil fruit mention

"You should never let anyone tell you what you can't do. If I did that, I never would have left my village to go find the One Piece." Luffy referencing Garp like this is so funny to me

Unlike mangapiece, Luffy invites Coby along before knowing his dream to become a marine. This makes me sad because now I wish la coby joined the crew

opla Shanks is weirdly more serious than mangapiece Shanks. Not necessarily in a bad way, just different. That's the attitude I'm takign for most of opla anyways.

Adding the Mr 7 and Zoro fight here is actually really cool

Beta Nami outfit aaaaa they moved the pre-orange town ship-stealing scene to serve as her introduction scene and that works so well for her.

I love that they all naturally congregated in Ririka's bar. Everyone congregates and chaos occurs. Really like how they switched things up while never really taking things off course.

"PIRATES SPREAD DISEASE" poster on the wall

Coby sliding under the table once a fight breaks outajslkdjalsijdsakj i love him pls

ADORE the barfight. It's Zoro vs Baroque Works but bite-sized and with everything we love about the most consistently badass member of the crew. Thank you.

Zoro really pulled a reverse on Helmeppo lmao. "Three swords? I only need one" proceeds to get curbed by zero swords

oh! Zoro introduced himself as pirate hunter. that makes him different from mangapiece where he explicitly says at some point that he never called himself that. But it fits the opla characterisation so fair enough.

Luffy popping out of the manhole to yell 'thanks' at Zoro just sends me. Makino taught him well.

Nami being the most independent and capable girlboss up until the second Luffy literally crashes into her life and ruins her plan is actually 100% compliant with the basis of their relationship.

Oh is this the ass naked Helmeppo scene everyone's been yelling abo--- oh it is. ok.

I've never realized how badly I wanted a Nami and Luffy fighting together scene until now. I just realized how little of those we get in Mangapiece. Holy shit.

Romance Dawn trio just has this really satisfying trio cohesion that I can't describe. They're forever my favourite trio in the strawhats and opla does a magnificent job of bringing justice to what the manga couldn't give them with its chapter and page limits, since their only trio time together without being dragged around by handicaps was in the gaimon arc.

Makes me a little sad that Coby's involvement in Shells gets cut down a little, but that's fine I guess, he got plenty of touchup in his introduction scene.

Luffy holding back laughter when he sees Helmeppo's hair. Zoro chuckling because "yeah I might've done that" and Nami just being speechless. They're so stupid i love them

Garp going silent when he hears a straw-hat pirate stole the map to the grand line. I like to think this could imply Roger also stole his map once upon a time, but for now I'm just laughing at Garp internally screeching "that STUPID GRANDSON it's been ONE DAY"

sci-fi au!

the romance dawn trio!

I was reminded that I actually really love sci-fi and I was physically unable to keep myself from putting Strawhats there

it's mostly designs and base information, so details under cut!

The distant future! The humanity had conquered numerous star system, built colonies there and even met aliens! Even if it seems like we now know everything about our galaxy, there still are dangerous and uncharted planets. And only one man is rumored to explore them all. It was Gol D. Roger a notorious space pirate, later bearing the title of the pirate king. He has built a great fortune and left it all on one of the planets on the very outskirts of the galaxy, for the future generation to find!

okay, I just wanted to say that :D

and, well, as can be seen this au is just One Piece but in space mainly inspired by Cowboy Be-Bop and all the sci-fi books I've read (very similar to star wars but more casual) with some differences. (I also didn't want to go full cyberpunk)

Roger was a space pirate and explorer. He did cause quite a lot of trouble, but people closest to him know that his biggest crime was being so free, that even gods became jealous of him. He travelled the whole galaxy, explored unknown planets and visited most dangerous places.

Since unlike the Grand Line the space isn't linear and the further they go the less signs of civilization they encounter, Strawhats have to return to established stations and run some errands to earn money to buy supplies, repair their ship. Of course, they take the most exciting jobs, which is why they go to wonderfully dangerous and interesting places and meet wonderfully dangerous and interesting people. Actually running around the whole galaxy seems to prove rather beneficial to their searching of Roger treasure. Since no one has any idea where he left the clues to it! It just so happens that idiots think similarly and planets that Roger was interested in pique Luffy's interest as well!

(and the side jobs they take are mostly bounty hunting (is taken care of by Zoro and whoever is free), aiding scientists by going to places no one wants to go because no one wants to risk their lives(and, you know, scanning the surface, checking on research stations placing probes etc) and sometimes even giving people(various people, not many of whom are lawful civilians. revolutionaries know Strawhats and love them) a ride, for money, of course)

Unfortunately, since Zoro's story is rather simple and I want to talk about Luffy's a bit later, so here is some trivia about Nami and Arlong Pirates. (and yes minks, fishmen, and longlegs and longarms are aliens :D )

Did you know that when space probe are launched into space, their route and time of the launch are set in the way to make the most use of the gravitational pull of the planets to save fuel? That's what Nami does! Her job is to calculate the best route for their ship to take. And while computer offers the safest way, she is willing to take risks :) which is why Strawhats travel faster than most other space sailors. Nami wasn't born on Earth, she and Nojiko were brought here by Bell-mère. Arlong pirates take control of settlements on asteroids and moons, and even some towns on Earth which are too small for the government to care. Nami, just like Zoro, had went into space before Luffy, but didn't go further than solar system.

would you do platonic ships???? 👀 nami x luffy and nami x sanji. i think luffy and sanji would both be very supportive of nami after she comes out as a lesbian. every time a random guy tries to hit on nami, luffy runs and screams “SHE’S A LESBIAN!!!!” luffy is way too honest but he’s got the spirit

you're asking me literally the best things ever!!! i'm gonna kiss your forehead c'mere--

i'm INSANE for platonic ships. most people don't often pay attention to the beauty of nami's relationship with the guys (especially with sanji and luffy) since they're always being shipped romantically with her. they make me physically unwell. they're so so so important to me. if i could talk about platonic sanami and platonic lunami all the time without it constantly being seen as shippy, believe me, i would be the most annoying person on this site.

btw, i literally choked on my drink while reading what you said about luffy yelling "SHE'S A LESBIAN!!!!!!!!!" because it's so damn real and canon and it's so fucking funny to picture him just- running from one side of the room to the other while yelling that,, he's so protective. maybe too intense about it, but yeah, he's got the spirit!

luffy and nami's relationship is actually really important to me personally because her story and background really resonate with me. i cried so damn much watching arlong park,, not gonna go into detail here, because you all know how important their dynamic and relationship are in canon, but they make me ill. nami spent years without having any friends because she didn't let herself trust others and even less, let herself deserve to have friends. and luffy just appears like a motherfucking ray of sunshine and helps her get out of that toxic and harmful situation she's in. she's herself with the crew. she can be rude and harsh sometimes to keep them in place and yet they still see her as the sweet, fun, caring girl she actually is. she is a thief and a menace and a bit of a bitch (in the BEST sense of the word) and they all know she's always going to be there for them. and she knows they're going to be there for her, too, always. the fact that luffy is always looking after her and protecting her no matter what? the way the first thing that always comes to his mind whenever they're in danger and he has to leave, is to tell either sanji or zoro to look after her for him? it makes me want to curl up and sob. it's not that he thinks she's weak, it's that he knows her fighting style is more to defend herself or others only when needed, and he won't let her be in danger like that. she's the brains, he's the captain. that's HIS navigator. i love the platonic possessiveness of it all. i love them clingy and sappy and holding each other whenever they are sad and always supporting each other. currently, i'm watching wci (everyone knows this because i'm the most annoying sanji fan so ofc i won't shut up) and the fact that she didn't run away when luffy told her so and stayed with him to fight?? the way she stays with him after the fight with sanji???? they are so,,, i just love them so damn much i'm gonna cry. and this is just the example i choose NOW because i'm in a wci mood, but i could talk about them for hours.

i love platonic clingy lunami. i want him to hug her like a koala. i want her to kiss his forehead when he's asking for attention. i want luffy to come to nami when he's feeling bad about something. i want nami to fix the straw hat while he sleeps on her lap. i want them to sleep together and cuddle and-- that scene in punk hazard where she casually feeds him???? that was so cute (this happening while the kids where literally crying makes everything funnier lmao). they understand each other so so well and they're both so protective of each other,,, it's INSANE. it also has to do with the fact that the romance dawn trio will always be at least a tinyyyy bit more personal and intimate than the others, being the first crewmates and all. never forget strong world for giving me so much lunami content. luffy loves her so damn much,,,,,,

she puts luffy in his place whenever he's acting a bit too stupid and he supports her no matter what. i think that's beautiful. because she's always labeled as scary when she gets mad (i mean, understandable) but he still sees her for who she actually is. and it's,,, so,,, so beautiful,,,

and as a lesbian??? i'm not gonna go into detail as to why lesbian nami is important to me because then i wouldn't shut up in ages, but she is so so so so personal to me. and luffy would be so damn supportive of her it makes me cry. in fact, i love the headcanon of the monster trio being all protective when it comes to men flirting with her. because she might know how to handle men to get what she wants, but sometimes guys just fucking suck and they will try to have their way with nami,,, and uhhhh that dude will probably end up dead. don't flirt with nami if you're a boy because you'll probably most definitely die in the hands of these three protective boys.

besides, there's nothing more personal and intimate than the friendship between an aroace and a lesbian. mutual 0 attraction to men, and full room to act clingy without it having to mean anything. i love them to death.

and yeah,,,,, sanami. platonic sanami. don't get me started on platonic sanami, i might actually die before being able to finish writing this whole thing.

i just,,, they make me,,, they make me so happy,,, i,,, cuteness and happiness overload,,,

i hate that i can't talk about them without people thinking it's romantic. I DON'T WANT THEM ROMANTICALLY I WANT THEM TO BE CLINGY AND SUPPORTIVE OF EACH OTHER IN A VERY PLATONIC HOMOSEXUAL WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

there's nothing more powerful than a lesbian and her golden retriever simp who's also a wet cat and would do anything for her. and oh! turns out the guy is actually very very genderfluid and bisexual and has so much trauma regarding gender and sexuality comprehension that she needs to help him get out of that mindset.

tl;tr: sanji bi trans is so repressed he needs a lesbian to help him.

the vinsmokes fucked up his mindset so much and tbh zeff's views on masculinity (love him tho, he's a great dad) didn't help either. but it's fine because nami is there to help him!!!! her!!!! them!!!! any pronouns sanji, woo-hoo!!!! ivankov would be proud. (projecting my genderfluid lesbian ass in this whole thing lmao)

anyway, the thing with platonic sanami is that i think they're perfect for each other. he simps for her but not only because she's pretty, but because everything nami is. he's constantly talking about her brains and strategies and he knows how fucked up her life has been and how strong she is. he admires her so so much,,, and tbh in my mind, where transfem genderfluid sanji is a thing, they admire her bc that's exactly how they want to be (using all pronouns here for her bc why not, c'mon). and nami might be a bit uhhh tired of sanji's behavior, but she loves him nevertheless. she went through so much during wci, watching sanji fighting with luffy and having to witness it??? when she slaps him in the face and doesn't use 'sanji-kun' like she always does?? it killed me. it hurt worse than a fucking breakup. and then she tells him that she won't let him go away again, and,,, it broke me. she cares so so much for him. she knows he's had a very fucked up life too. they make me go insane. he respects nami and cares about her opinion the most, and i'm tired of people always seeing their relationship as "funny simping guy x mean girl" NO!!!! SHUT UP!!! THEY'RE BEST FRIENDS AND THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO SO MUCH!!! THEY DESERVE TO BE HAPPY TOGETHER!!!!

forever thinking about how the code for the fridge is nami, robin and sanji's birthdays combined. they literally just- sat together and thought about a code. and they're the only ones who know this. it's so cute,,,

he respects and admires nami, and nami understands why he acts the way he does. and it's,,, so beautiful,,

i think that once she's helped him figure out his identity, they'd be even closer. i'm a sucker for clingy platonic relationships, as you can see, and them finally being able to be clingy would make me so happy. i enjoy sanami fanarts and content only bc i see them like that. they're so real. lesbian/trans bi solidarity.

also, we talk a lot about usopp and nami being gossiping besties, but i think nami and sanji would be the same. they judge you from the other side of the bar. they talk shit about you. be scared of the judgemental gays.

thriller bark. whole cake. skypiea. they have so many moments there,,, they make me so happy. whenever sanji saves her or whenever he's worried sick about her? i die. people die. it's me i'm people and platonic sanami kills me every time.

and you haven't asked me about these but shout out to usopp and zoro also being nami's protective besties. they all love her to death. don't hurt nami, you'll probably die.

Watching live action One Piece is such a juxtaposition. On the one hand Usopp breaking down and crying please believe me to Kaya is really important in the og... but I enjoyed the syrup village so much more in the live-action having marines not believe him and the calmer confrontation with Kaya

At the same time the betrayal felt worse in the anime, but Kayas growth was more interesting in the live action. Having Nami and Kaya interactions was so interesting... but it kind of minimized usopp and kayas bond, which is so instrumental to his character. Them canonizing Usopp x Kaya was great.

Obviously they couldn't improve the perfection of Arlong park, but Nami was on point it hits so hard when its revealed why shes working for Arlong...but Arlong wasn't nearly devious enough. I genuinely hate anime Arlong in the deepest recesses of my heart. LA Arlong, well he served his purpose, i think he was a good villain, the hatred isn't there though.

Obviously the first 2 episodes were peak, romance dawn trio are perfection. But they left out Hachi!! The most important Arlong henchman!!.

Having so much Coby was...an interesting choice.

It was kind of sad Sanjis arc was changed so much... but I absolutely loved it. The backstory was obviously amazing, and fishmen attacking baratie really showcased just how deadly of a threat they were in this saga. It also tied the episodes together really well. But I did not like the idea Sanji wasn't allowed to cook. He's the freaking number 2 guy of the restaurant. Zeff would never have just not let him cook!! He's a freaking cooking genius!!

I missed the Nami stabbing her hand scene. Her convincing Arlong to throw luffy in the water instead of killing him just wasn't as cool. But luffys reaction though...oh boy was that amazing.

Having Nami react to Zoros injury and fight was really cool, but I didn't love her getting angry at luffy and blaming him. Nami doesn't really blame people in serious situations.

Conclusion. I love the live action, but I think it's best to think of it as... more of like remake. After watching it over and really diving in to my initial reaction, I think I was relating it to much to the original. In my head I was differed them, but One Piece is so close to my heart, that I wasn't able to completely separate them.

This is ever after. A really great story based off one of the most impactful stories to be written. Just as ever after showcased cinderella but became its own thing that is beloved, so to has the live action of One Piece

Unless they do romance between crew members before the absolute end of the show, then I take everything back.

OPLA episode 2 - first impressions

I swear, I feel like a screamy fangirl, considering I have watched German One Piece since I was like... 12, quite literally, since it aired in 2003. Even though I haven't consistently read/watched the series, I had a stronger phase in 2011 or so and watching the series now brings a lot of nostalgia back. SPOILERS AHEAD.

I've said it before, but the Romance Dawn Trio is giving me SO much life. I have always had a fondness for OT3 dynamics and the dynamics portrayed here are just... Wow. (I told this a friend, but they actually kinda remind of me of the JJK trio here, but let's not digress.) Again, the whole thing with Zoro and Nami doing their best not to give the impression that they give a damn, just to STILL end up doing everything for Luffy and each other is giving me so many goddamn feelings every. Single. Time. Zoro and Nami have always been infamous for having that "One for you, one for me" dynamic, constantly bickering, always looking for that "equivalent exchange" with, apparently, no strings attached, only gains, no emotional attachment whatsoever... But the one thing they (and all strawhats, really) have in common is that they would move mountains (read: die) for Luffy. And that's where they'll always put their differences aside - the moment they smiled at each other, promising to kick butts of everyone they'd encounter (to eventually save Luffy) side by side, was everything to me. Maybe there aren't a lot of emotions between them, but even if they appear to be on completely different ends of the loyalty/motivation spectrum - there is that thing that links them together and that's just very enjoyable, despite all the bickering. ("There's something way more valuable than diamonds - knowledge!!!") Also, a piece of framing I haven't even REALLY thought about before is really nicely done - the fact that BOTH Zoro and Nami do NOT think highly of pirates at this point in time. So Luffy being Luffy, convincing them that he is indeed different... It makes their developing bond so much more special.

The LuNa scene at the beginning - even if we've already seen them in clips -, is just sending me. Luffy's ADHD energy is beautiful, you can really tell how excited he is - and how easily he attaches himself to his not crewmates. I mean, one of his love languages CLEARLY is physical touch after all (the second one is food sharing) and, again, I just love how natural it is. Or maybe that's just me.

... What is it with the way Zoro's opponents have been oozing with sexual tension towards him so far??? And he's not any better, seriously... I mean, we already have the lone wolf facade CRUMBLING HEAVILY, having Zoro basically CONFESS that "this simpleton in a strawhat" changed his way of thinking within HOURS of having known him.... Be still my ZoLu heart.

I love the foreshadowing in Shanks' portrayal, even as someone who hasn't completely caught up to everything that is happening.

I really enjoy that Buggy is actually portrayed to be terrifying, I think they did find a good middle ground in language usage not being TOO on the nose with everything. But the imminent fear of death is always there and his over-the-top, dramatic acting fits SO well.

Again, I really enjoy Koby's acting, his and Helmeppo's dynamics are great and Garp has been intimidating as well...

Luffy's good-hearted-main-character-energy is still through the roof and I love it. Never stop smiling, my friend.

Fight choreographies and CGI still look high quality to me.

Again, for me it's easy to take this for what it is, I feel heavily reminded of my beloved Digimon stageplay and I've known these characters for years, so my bias should not come as a surprise. But really? I enjoy being catered to and the quality speaks for itself!

NAMI FIXING THE HAT THOUGH!!! God, I love them.

Summer 2023 Anime-Round Up

A pretty mediocre season of anime tbh. But still some hidden gems to be found and appreciated. RIP to Zom 100 btw lmao. Anyway, here's the round up!

Anime of the Season: Bungou Stray Dogs 5th Season

Best Opening: Ao no Sumika (Jujutsu Kaisen S2)

Best Ending: Akari: (Jujutsu Kaisen S2)

Drops: Tenpuru, Liar Liar

Plans to Watch at a later date: Bang Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! , Dark Gathering, Spy Classroom Season 2

Completed:

Jobless Reincarnation: Season 2 - (6/10)

They told me that this season was just Rudeus trying to cure his ED. Too bad I didn't believe them. Not a fan of the "Solve my heartbreak over one of harem girls dumping me by finding another one of my harem girls" narrative that went on for 5 episodes more than it needed too. Unsure if I'll come back for more of this. After 3 cours of this show, I think I can confidently say I just don't like Rudeus.

Horimiya: Piece - (8/10)

Not every side-story worked for me, but most of them were pretty good. I just love how stupid and honest these kids are. Sometimes, the way anime glorifies high school life can be overbearing, but I can't help but wishing I enjoyed those days more whenever I watch this show. Gonna miss it.

Remi best girl.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Arc Part 2 - (7/10)

Definitely felt the exhaustion I remembered when reading the manga. I'm not sure what's Kubo fascination with long strings of fights while the plot stands completely still. Didn't enjoy it during the Arrancar arc, not enjoying now. At least Squad 0 redeemed themselves (somewhat)

My Happy Marriage - (8/10)

Still believe this show would be better if it didn't have all that supernatural stuff. Nevertheless, still enjoyable romance. Mio is a great lead and her development alongside Kiyoka was really good. We will be there for Season 2.

Reign of the Seven Spellblades - (6/10)

Remember when "Magic High School" was the genre that was oversaturated? Me neither. This show was enjoyable but had some weird moments. Also for once, I'd like a magic show that doesn't obsesses over the reproductive system. Probably won't watch any foreseeable sequel. Still rooting for Nanao to get that kiss.

Bungou Stray Dogs 5th Season - (9/10)

Actual Peak Fiction. Igarashi and his team at Bones just know how to make this show as stylish and cool as possible. Also this arc is by far the best one we've gotten so far. Could feel the tension at every episode where crazy shit happened. Shame I can't read the manga to find out what happens next lol.

Undead Girl Murder Farce - (8/10)

Now this is a show that had style in every corner of its being. Undead Murder Farce with just so fun to watch. The trio of Aya/Tsugaru/Shizuku is one of my favorites in recent times and the side characters we very memorable. I think the last arc when one for 1 or 2 episodes more than it needed too, but still enjoyable nonetheless

EDENS ZERO 2nd Season - (7/10)

This season was a lot more darker than what I usually expect from Mashima. Wish the presentation wasn't so exact to Fairy Tail, but it has some high points that exceeds it's sister series. Probably will check out the manga if a third season isn't announced sometime in the future.

Fate/strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn - (8/10)

An anime series by the team that did all those FGO commercials is any fate fans dream. Cannot wait for the full show of this. I hope Aniplex gives them enough time to animated this (they probably won't)