Hi By The Way I'm Never Going To Not Throw Up When Thinking About What BSD Says About Abusers And Victims.

"I'm sure he's got nothing to do with me!" says Luffy and I was waiting for him to say it. For him to hear all of this Nika lore and declare that, nope, I don't care, I'm not Nika, I'm not a liberator. It's just such a Luffy thing to do. But I know many fans actually will be shocked with Luffy's answer here or will just dismiss it. I have seen many opinions before that Luffy was always a liberator by choice, so becoming Nika is just natural course of events for him and he will have no problem embracing his role in the bigger scheme of things. Some even complained they hate that Luffy is Nika because they don't want Luffy to be the "fated hero" but instead a "from nobody to the king of the world" trope. But nope! Luffy just noped all of this himself.

Luffy is not a liberator and he's not an altruistic hero, he doesn't go from island to island aiming to save people, and if you think he wanted to, then please remember Fishmen Island and how unhappy he was with the idea of being a hero:

And now if you think Luffy changed since then because Dressrosa happened, then please remember what he asked of Momonosuke in Wano:

Yep, that's right. Luffy still *doesn't have any interest* in becoming a hero. If you think he's alright with that and changed his mind, then you're just not paying attention to him, sorry to say that. Luffy has been pretty consistent about this too and now he declared it yet again in Elbaf. It's the third time already.

You just think it's not a big deal because he so easily changed his mind in Fishmen Island, but it happened only because he had an actual reason to do that. Jimbei promised Luffy all the meat he wants. He gave him a *personal reason* to act like a hero, which is why Luffy agreed. And he did the same in Dressrosa. He wouldn't liberate that country if he didn't get attached first to Law and Rebecca (yes, in this order), and his crew to tontattas. They always do it for someone particular, for their friends. It's the same in Wano too, Luffy's constant motivation is Tama, Momo and Kinemon. He wants them to be happy, most of all, and he even says as much when he defeats Kaido: "I want a world where all of my friends can eat as much as they like".

There, he doesn't do it altruistically because he hates oppresion and villains who thrive on pain of common people and he can't stand seeing it. Yes, he probably thinks it's unfair, but he also grew up in Goa Kingdom, the very definition of unfair regime. He saves oppressed people only when they are his friends or has some other personal interest involved. He defeats the Marine base in Shells Town for Koby (and Zoro, later). He defeats Don Krieg so he can repay his food debt to Baratie. He defeats Arlong for Nami. He fights Wapol for Chopper (who saved Nami) and who he already considers his friend because of that. He fights for the Giants (Little Garden) and Vivi (Alabasta), Conis (Skypiea), Robin (Water 7 and Enies Lobby), Brook (Thriller Bark), Hachi (Sabaody) etc. Though, he does make friends rather easily, so usually it's not that big of a deal. But he isn't going out of his way to places he reads about in the newspapers that need to be liberated, he instead cares more for his own dream. He doesn't enter a certain island with the idea in mind that goes like "if I see some injustice here, I'm gonna bring this shit down". It's the other way around. He makes friends and realizes they're unhappy.

He wants them to be happy again and to live without regrets, and that's why he brings the shit down, whatever it is that makes people he cares about feel so unhappy. Because he thinks this is at least something he can do for his friends. Luffy doesn't think he can do a lot of things, he can't do much at all, but he can do one thing: beat up a guy when needed.

He knows how regret feels like ever since he believed Sabo died, he's not gonna sit there and do nothing next time something like this happens. That's why it's so important for him, to make sure his friends are happy. And that's why he beats up people and liberates countries. It's not for justice, he simply wants his friends to be happy.

But wait a moment, Luffy also wants freedom. Yes, he does. He wants to be the King of the Pirates, because for him it means to be free. And that's how he actually speaks about Nika as well:

He wants the freedom for himself. Isn't it funny that he thinks he already achieved it though?

And before you're disgusted by how selfish Luffy actually is, hear me out: Luffy is simply not a martyr. He won't die or sacrfice himself for the world to liberate it. He will instead die for the world if he thinks that will make his friends happy. Preferably though, he would want to survive and eat that meat with them, and be happy together.

Still, if you want him to be a liberator of a whole world it is actually possible, you just need to make it personal for Luffy, like I suggested. For example, put a person or multpile people who want to save/destroy the world (whichever option you fancy) on Luffy's crew. Luffy always cares for dreams of his crewmates and will always support them (because fullfilling their dreams will make them happy), so he would become a liberator if that helps them. But he would do it for them, not for the world.

Luffy is not a hero because he has a golden heart and a strong sense of justice. He's a hero when his friends are in danger instead, because instead of a golden heart, he simply has a big heart and makes friends wherever he goes. A martyr-like hero who sacrfices himself for people without caring for his own wellbeing is noble, but it's also not a healthy mentality, believe it or not. For starters, if you never care enough for yourself and are ready to throw your life away for a concept, what will happen with people who love you and care for you? Is it fair towards them to throw your life away without caring who you're leaving behind and how they will feel about it? Do you even care then for their feelings if your pursuit of greater good is more important to you? You can save the world and make people you love sad and unhappy, and like they don't even care anymore to live, because you were the one who made them happy and now you're gone. Did you save the world for them or destroyed it for them instead, as the result?

Luffy has his own interest in saving his friends too: so he's not alone again. Humans aren't selfless beings, but it doesn't automatically make us bad people either. And sometimes, while pursuing selfish things, we do something that appear to be extremely selfless. But at the bottom of it: we also do it for themselves, even if it kills us.

Tokyo Babylon taught me that every act is selfish, even if it appears like we do it for someone else: we simply want to feel better about ourselves then. There's nothing wrong with that, as long as we don't lose the sight of other people's feelings on our way. We can always share, after all, and that sharing is the bridge between the lone islands that people are.

Luffy, if he dies, will also say, just like Seishiro: "I didn't do it for you. I did everything by my own choice". For myself. Despite the fact it is also true he does it to make his friends happy. Being selfish and being selfless is like two sides of the same coin and both choices can end up actually hurting people. In the first case, because you care too much about yourself and too little about feelings of others, and in second case because you care too little about yourself and still too little about feelings of people that love and care for you. Can you spot the thing in common here?

Happy Birthday Poe! 🎂

While Loki bullying his brother and dissing his mom were obviously horrible things to do, I don't think that Loki actually felt any real prejudice towards Hajrudin or his mother. I think that he was just saying the thing that he knew would hurt his brother the most and this was part of an already established pattern of Loki lashing out due to already being treated poorly by the rest of Elbaf by this point.

Remember, every giant was dunking on Harald's first wife for being non-Elbafian so it's more likely that Loki, who is much younger than Hajrudin who himself looks about seven or eight here, parroted what the older giants were saying without understanding the actual weight of it. Kids say stupid shit they overhear from adults who should know better all the time.

Plus, notice how none of the older giants in this flashback are jumping to Hajrudin's defense or holding back Loki from attacking him? If anything, it looks like they're egging on the violence. Even Harald, the peace-loving king who just said he wants his sons to get along, isn't putting a stop to one of them beating the other bloody while spewing xenophobic remarks.

You could give Harald the benefit of the doubt by saying this happened when he wasn't around (I took the 'get along when i'm gone' as 'get along after i die' but he could have just been leaving on a day trip here), but still the giants are doing nothing to defend the king's eldest son from physical and verbal abuse even from one of their pariahs implicitly because, in their eyes, Loki isn't saying anything that they don't agree with.

Frankly, it's a miracle that Hajrudin didn't become as resentful of Elbaf as Loki did.

THE "ZORO MIGHT BE SANJI'S MIRROR / RIVAL / SHADOW, BUT USOPP IS HIS FOIL" META.

One Piece 1137 Spoilers

Not a review, just talking about a way Oda often handles characters and how we see that again this chapter.

OK while everyone is busy freaking out and talking about Shamrock and blah blah blah, I'm gonna bring up something way more inconsequential, but like.

I cannot BELIEVE Oda said "let's give Rodo, the comic-relief horrible creep, a tiny and extremely brief moment of genuinely humane characterization" lmao. Also let's use that as a chance to reflect on Zoro's role once more lol.

He has a habit of doing this -it reminds me a lot of how Helmeppo was nothing but a comic-relief bastard at first, but when you least expected it he somehow got a bunch of characterization and development. Oda loooves writing even the most unlikable characters to still feel like people. And honestly, it takes skill, even it it's in really small ways. And he does it in a way where they're not like, forgiven for their bad elements or anything, just expanded upon. Like, Rodo is still an asshole and creep, but even a joke of a character like him can have selfless motivations, and that's very interesting and hard to pull off as a writer.

I am now most curious to see more of Hajrudin and where his story takes him after this! Yeah yeah God Knights, whatever, that's cool too. But honestly, my attention was fully held by the Ancient Giant lore and potential Royal Family Drama instead! I neeeeed those Harald, Loki & Hajrudin flashbacks stat.

Elbaph has been showing a lot of thematic signs of like... weird behavior around Outcasts, actually. Between Harald ripping his own horns off becuase he considers the blood of ancient giants "barbaric" (how does this affect those still born with them?), Loki being branded as cursed and destined to be evil BEFORE his was even born, Hajrudin being seen as "not pure-blooded" due to his mother being from another giant tribe, even Rodo having only one friend (even though that's his fault honestly), and of course Collun being a branded a "wild child" and mocked by his peers... yeah. I see a Theme a bit.

Concept:

So my idea/theory that Fyodor’s going to cause Atsushi to lead him to the book is starting to feel a wee bit more plausible now.

Because while the page is gone the book is still out there.

And if defeating Gozen isn’t the answer to returning everyone then I’m pretty sure Atsushi will go hunt down the book in desperation.

I’ve always wondered if when the tiger seemingly chasing Atsushi to Yokohama in the beginning, it was because it was leading him to the book.

Which is in Yokohama.

That Atsushi might not know its location but the tiger does. And so maybe of Atsushi fully transforms he’ll be able to find it.

Unknowingly leading Fyodor to it.

And well…it does seem like it’s a full moon back there and we don’t know if All Men Are Equals can reach Atsushi now.

Since Teruko's story was revealed, I've seen some people saying that she wasn't twelve years old in the present day, but in the Great War, and since that was my first impression when I read the chapter, I wanted to talk a little bit about why this wouldn't make sense if we take into account the timeline that had already been established by the manga up to that point.

Because of Yosano's backstory, we know that the Great War began fourteen years before the current timeline, assuming that Mori recruited Yosano at the beginning of the conflict. (It's said that she was eleven years old when she entered the war, and as she is currently twenty-five years old, it is safe to assume that the war began, at least, fourteen years ago. Mori's age also agrees with this assumption.)

Back to Teruko's backstory, we are told that she started fighting in the war in her first months of life, as her ability meant that she could mature her body and mind, so she was already considered fit to be a soldier even though he was literally a baby. Just like Yosano, it's never stated that she was there from the beginning, and the chapter itself refutes this later, somewhat.

At the beginning of her flashback, the narrator talks about how Teruko's only childish characteristic is her appearance, which imply the idea that she is an adult today, and even the speech that she is only twelve years old, that she really is a child, can also be ambiguous as the scene changes to show Teruko during the war, giving the idea that during the war she had a childlike appearance because she was a child, but that now she uses that form for convenience, or any other unspecified reason.

However, if we consider everything we know about the war and when it occurred, it's possible to see that Teruko couldn't have served in the army while she was only a few months old and be over fourteen/fifteen years old, and we also know that the the war didn't last long enough for Teruko to have joined it when she was a few months old, and be twelve years old when it ended, at least according to what was shown in the manga.

Of course, she could be thirteen, fourteen, or fifteen, but the manga itself states that she is twelve, despite her ability being able to change her physical and mental age, so I see no reason to believe she isn't that age.

Also, the fact that she is twelve now only adds to the tragedy. She is a child who has only known war all her life and who died (as far as we know) to avenge the person who saved her life when she was just a few months old and had already seen people dying, already had to kill enemy soldiers, and was almost killed by them. It was supposed to be something sad, her life was destined to be a fight until the end, and not by her choice, because she had no choice to be here, to begin with.

Currently hyper boosting them on OPBR, celebratory art☆

I've been thinking about the moment where Douma suddenly confesses an attraction to Shinobu while the two were in limbo. It's short, and semi-serious, but I think it's a genuine - and tragic - feeling on Douma's part, and it hits him right at this moment.

From his earliest memories, Douma has been surrounded by suffering people, people who latched onto him for peace. He was raised to believe that he lived alone in a world of suffering people, and that his purpose was nothing but to ease their pain. There was no room for himself as a person. He had to be a saviour. People needed him. They latched onto a child and drained him dry emotionally so they could feel better, because they were dependant.

But Shinobu doesn't need him, not even for revenge, not anymore. Shinobu is content.

Douma is entranced. He took to Kotoha, Inosuke's mother, and liked her well enough to want her around, but she was still a dependant, like the rest of his followers. She was still a suffering person who relied upon him like everyone else. She fit neatly into his warped view of the world and its people, and could be discarded when necessary.

Shinobu is unlike anything Douma has ever seen before. He has never known contentment, not for anyone around him and especially not himself. He has lived more than a century believing that just pretending to be that purposeful, happy person was enough. But as Kanao rightly said, he is empty, and he knows it, and it haunts him.

Douma spent his entire life forcing himself to like and enjoy a role he was forced into in spite of his own feelings, and at the end he realised that it amounted to absolutely nothing. He was still empty, unfulfilled and miserable.

So the sight of a person, even the woman who killed him, showing the genuine joy of an ambition and life fulfilled, how could Douma not be smitten by it?

It's not true love, not based on Shinobu as an individual and certainly not healthy, but it's a sensation born from witnessing the purest iteration of the state of being that has so long eluded him. He now knows that such a thing is achievable, possible, and so should heaven and hell.

For more than a century, Douma knew that his life was a lie. He was not a seer, he could not hear the gods, but had to pretend otherwise because everyone believed - or said - otherwise. Living this lie developed a deep cynicism towards those things which people said were true, like salvation and peace.

Douma knew deep down that what he did was not salvation, and therefore believed that it was unachievable no matter how much he said otherwise.

But Shinobu proved him wrong. And no matter how Douma wants to hold onto the thing that proved him wrong, all that awaits him is hell. It was all too late.

Lol what da dawg do?

Oh.