I Hauve A Cold

ONE PIECE WANO SPOILERS FOR EP 1020

Sanji calling Robin for help in front of everyone is my favorite Sanji moment in this arc so far.

Like most of the fandom I have a love hate relationship with Sanji’s character because he has the potential to be a really well developed character but in many arcs ends up being a very shallow one. Coming off of Whole Cake Island which is a very strong Sanji arc, Wano felt soo lacking. His peeping gag was back, he was using the germa tech despite his conviction not to, he was insecure about Jinbei replacing him as the ‘smart’ one of the stronger strawhats. After an arc where our crew was separated and went through a lot for Sanji it felt like he was unsure of his place in the story and was revisiting all his “positions”.

Then came this villain Black Maria, who embodied and questioned the shallow aspect of his character and by extension his chivalry. She demonstrates that men like him are quick to think themselves heroes that save women from harassment and violence but internally want to inflict this harassment and violence on women as well. Sanji runs in thinking a woman might be getting harassed, beats up the guy, but when he’s escaping we see that exact scene is one of his fantasies. It’s legitimate criticism of his character. I wish it would be a learning moment. Sanji refuses to fight against women as usual and he’s put in a position where he can either die, call Robin and put his friend and a woman in danger, or fight women. This happens all the time but Sanji here makes the easy decision to cry for help.

What’s great about it is, this is an incredibly humiliating moment for a “chivalrous man”. We see a bunch of other manly men in the show react with disdain and ridicule at the fact that he would go crying for help from a woman, the opposite of “chivalry” in their eyes. Even the villain women working under Black Maria are shocked and disappointed because this doesn’t fit the “chivalrous” image. But Sanji isn’t giving up his friend, he’s not betraying her, he’s asking for help. Because he trusts her, because he knows he can rely on her. The key here being, unlike Black Maria’s expectations Sanji’s wish to protect women is not just to seem more manly and chivalrous. He would rather have the world think he’s a weak spineless coward than hit a woman. That’s in this context a rarer thing than to simply proclaim he’d rather die. It proves that his morals come from within and that he stands on them.

Robin, of course, shows up immediately, saves his ass and says “Thank you for relying on me, it made me happy”. This is what got me crying because Robin doesn’t think less of him for a second because their places have been swapped before. In water 7 and ennies lobby she tried to make the choice of dying instead of asking for help and putting her friends in danger. She saw first hand that that hurt them more than any buster call could have. It was her and Sanji on that train where she refused to accept his help and it did nothing but hurt them and delay the inevitable. She learned that day that she was worthy of being protected and that her friends would walk into a death trap for her. She was resolved to do the same. Of course it makes her happy to have the chance to do that for her crew.

On a side note, Sanji and Zoro’s views on women are often pitted against each other as “protect women” vs “view them as an equal” but this arc we saw Zoro protecting a woman that couldn’t fight (Komurasaki/Hiyori) and Sanji trusting and relying on a woman to save him in a dangerous situation.

The way Jon mirrors Talia's pose.

I read somewhere that its common in Arab culture to refer to someone close to you as your organs, implying you can’t live without them. Like how in english someone would say “my heart” (qalbi), in Arabic someone would also use “my liver” (kabidi) “my lungs” (riati). Notably, “my blood” is “Dami” which is funny bc it’s Damian’s shortened nickname.

Damian’s brothers have been using the nickname for years with or without knowing. I propose that as Damian gets closer to them, and Tim in particular, he responds in kind.

He starts to refer to Tim as “tuhali.”

…it means “my spleen.”

(Edit: this has now been confirmed by several Arabic speakers! Except the pronunciation of Dami (as in my blood) and Dami (shortened) are different which is sad. But my spleen idea works! So I’m happy!)

A Captain’s Love

A fully colored digital comic of the Strawhats from One Piece.

The first page only contains a panel with the words "A Captain's Love.“

The second page shows Luffy and Nami holding hands and smiling at each other. Pictured underneath is a close-up of their interlinked hands and the gray silhouette of a person asking "So, are you guys dating?" Another panel shows Nami's reaction: an appalled expression on her face and "huh?" written in bold red letters.

The second page depicts Luffy sitting on Zoro's lap, happily eating meat while Zoro is drinking. Next to them is a gray silhouette again, asking: "isn't that weird?" At the bottom of the page is Zoro's reaction: an intimidating glare with "WHAT" spelled out in big red capital letters behind him.

The third page contains a drawing of Luffy and Usopp, sleeping on spread out blankets and pillows on the floor while cuddling. Again, the silhouette of a person is in the corner, remarking: "you know what people might think." Usopp's reaction in an extra panel is giving the person a deeply disapproving side-eye, asking "oh yeah...?"

The fourth page depicts Luffy tighly hugging Robin while lifting her in the air as both of them are grinning. The gray silhouette of a person is asking: "Are you really gonna let him act like that with your girlfriend?" Pictured underneath is Franky, deeply confused expression on his face, only responding with a bewildered "uhh...."

The last panel shows Luffy, grinning and holding his hat. The asexual and the aromantic flag are pictured behind him.

I think instead of lame excuses like "Cass is away in Honk Kong" or "[x bat] is doing stuff from his team of heroes" or just ignoring Steph's existance altogether, it would be funny if fanfics took members of the Batfam out of comission by having them have their own fanfic-related cliché adventure

Like, a Jason-centered fic where he asks Alfred where is the replacement and Alfred just goes "oh, Master Timothy has just been possesed by himself from thee-years into the future and is away trying to prevent our horrible deaths" and that's it, Tim is having his own time-travelling fix-it fic in the background which is why he's not mentioned

Babs on a Babs-centric fic where she could really use some advice asking Bruce on comms where her Batgirls are and Bruce non-chalantly answers "Steph has been hit by a love potion and Cass has offered to help her to her apartment", Babs waits a moment and comments "oh... do we get the 'congrats on kissing' banner ready for tomorrow?", "no, I think it's a slow burn, give them a week" and the rest of the fic happens without them

Dick, entering a room and finding Duke "hey, is Damian acting weird this morning or what?" "I think he said something about being stuck on a time-loop until he learns the true meaning of christmas" "aren't we on july?" "Yeah I thought so too but when I asked he mentioned he had already gotten my help on two loops so I just left him be" "well I needed help with a case, you in?" and the rest of the fic is a Dick and Duke team-up

Jason and Tim have similar competence standards and end up swapping employees sometimes.

---

"Boss, I'm outta the game with this hip---"

"You're outta the beating-up-traffickers game. I got a guy who can get you into the scaring-the-rich game just fine."

"You mean, like...?" A fist into an open palm, quirked eyebrows.

"Nah, verbal intimidation only unless someone steps up to the plate. Mostly you got good eyes and this Wayne kid values having people around who can observe things that aren't spreadsheets."

"Hey, you said I did pretty good at that Excel thing!"

A pointed look.

"Ohhhh. I'm gonna get to learn spreadsheets and threaten people? Oh, man. Thanks, boss!"

"They've got the same insurance, too, so that'll roll over automatically."

---

Meanwhile, on Tim's end of things:

"I noticed that you tend to get impatient with slow results, that you're happy to yell at people for safety violations, and that your plan to remediate the company's incompetence in these areas involves 'firing every single one of them who can't get their head out of their ass.'" Tim smiled.

His employee smiled back. "I mean, that's why you hired me as safety supervisor, right?"

"Of course; your proactive attitude is one of the reasons we chose you. However, I also noticed that a lot of your frustration stems from employees whose work is being impacted by personal issues, often ones stemming from attacks by prominent local criminals."

"Listen, I'm from Minnesota. I know from cold. And I also know that you can't let a little hypothermia from Mr. Freeze screw up your numbers, especially not when those calculations impact lives." Squared shoulders, hands on the hips---yeah, definitely more of a cultural fit with Jason's organization.

Tim nodded and continued his pitch. "And you're competent with a firearm, correct?"

"Hey, I'm not about to go postal just because---"

"No, no, you misunderstand me. You're a skilled employee. I'm just wondering if you might benefit from transferring to a work environment in which you can shoot some of the people who are actually causing these problems."

"I'm sorry?"

"You have a dartboard with Leeds's face on it because he screwed up so many times after that Ivy incident put his kid in the hospital."

"...Okay, I admit that's not my best look."

"The organization I'm recommending you to has a printer next to the firing range; it's sized specifically for target paper."

"Oh."

"It's also an organization that works specifically to keep kids from needing to be in the hospital."

"Oh. You mean---" There was really only one group it could be.

"They need someone with your eye for logistics. Hood's work isn't 'legit,'" Tim made careful air quotes because the dorkiness tended to put people at ease, "but your insurance would roll over to them automatically. And you can rest assured that they take safety very seriously."

Damian: I'm the blood son, heir to the demon so you must listen-

Jason: Keep talking and I'll give your mom a different heir

Bruce(batblob): ( ⚆ _ ⚆ )

jason's the only person who can win in an argument against damian and nobody knows how until one day the boys get into a debate about whose plan to use for a case and damian threatens that if they don't listen to his plan and let him take the lead in an attack he'll make their lives a living hell forever and dick and tim don't know how to get him to step down until jason goes out of nowhere 'yeah ok demon brat why don't you take the lead and while you all fight i'll go have sex with your mom again how about that?'

silence for fifteen seconds. damian agrees to do jason's plan. dick and tim are fucking terrified.

I'm not aware how they come to know each other's true id

not to be "comment on fanfic even if they are oooold"

But I just read a pretty good fic published in 2014-2015 (you know, roughly TEN YEARS AGO) and I was like, damn this is so cool, I have to leave a comment, even if you know, they probably wont see it...

The author replied less than an hour later.

EP 1057

I spoke too soon. You’re telling me Sanji snuck a transponder snail into Zoro’s belly band without him noticing when bandaging him up “In case he’s dying in a ditch somewhere”.

Uses it to call him mid fight, mid existential crisis and says “we’re both going to win this fight. But afterwards if I’m not in my right mind I need you to kill me”.

Zoro is speechless for a second taken aback and then we hear through the snail that he says “…Okay. I’ll make sure I kill you myself. So you… don’t die until then” and we cut back to Zoro to see his eye shaking. The ‘don’t die until then’ was slightly more formal than the rest of the call said in a full sentence.

And we cut back to Sanji and he just says to my best translation the most casual “Sorry bout this” as they hang up.

I’m starting to see what y’all mean a little this shits driving me crazy.

ONE PIECE WANO SPOILERS FOR EP 1033

Paraphrasing the Sanji Zoro convo

Zoro: How are you so good at bandaging and splints

Sanji: It’s not that different from trussing and prepping meat

Zoro: Am just a piece of meat to you?

Sanji: Please, you’re not that appetizing