Not The Way

She's not wearing pants even though it's snowing because she used the fabric to attack that giant in the castle TO ME

I love them

CHUUYA DAYYYY !!,!,!

are the flags in the room with us right now

I think Oda is setting up King Harald as a red herring for the "he was actually evil and all giants on elbaph are fools except loki" twist but in reality he wasn't evil either, he just got brainwashed by the world government/holy knights/celestial dragons for many MANY years without realising it

Oda has already established that the wg owns the propaganda and is doing everything it can to suppress and manipulate information. But he hasn't actually shown what a constant stream of propaganda can do to a person. How it can change and radicalise someone to the point of becoming unrecognisable. How a person can change their entire world view if they're trapped in a bubble designed to change their core beliefs. How even your closest loved ones can't get through to you if you're in too deep.

The only person who could've possibly witnessed all of this development is Loki. Who in the end had to make an incredibly hard choice.

JUST TWO DADS DOING WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS BEST FOR THEIR BABIES

motivational poster for when you, too, need a dazai osamu in your brain speaking words of wisdom to help you through times of trouble

I did quickly go through the manga, with the help of the fanwiki, to see how much that "Atsushi's orphanage headmaster visions have been caused by Q" twist holds up (as sometimes, new plans come up as you write, especially if your series is over 10 years old)

In the first chapter, Atsushi has a flashback of the orphanage staff kicking him out, but they do not have individual identities. The first apparition of the headmaster as himself is when Atsushi is under the influence of Dogra Magra, in chapter 25, "Q":

His next apparition is in chapter 28, when Atsushi is being held in the Moby Dick, right before Lucy comes in and chooses to help him (note: that scene also compares Atsushi's abuse is to another person's, Lucy's.)

After that, there's chapter 39, "Portrait of a Father", where Atsushi doesn't hallucinate him, but we learn about who the man was to Atsushi, and witness his funeral.

His next hallucination is in chapter 52, at the very end of the Cannibalism arc. He explains to Akutagawa that the headmaster has been been haunting him less since (the final fight on) the Moby Dick, but has been silent since the funeral.

There are a few more mentions of the headmaster that I haven't mentioned, but a very notable one is that Atsushi saw becoming stronger and his upcoming fight against Akutagawa as a way to free himself from the headmaster's influence, much like Akutagawa saw it as a way to gain Dazai's approval.

I don't think we see Atsushi hallucinating the headmaster after this until chapter 122, but the Dazai hallucinations start showing up in chapter 63, so really not that long after the previous one. The next Dazai ones I could find were in chapters 78, 105 and 121.

The conclusion is therefore that Atsushi hallucinating the headmaster has been a very active and purposeful part of his journey as a character since very early on. It started manifesting after Atsushi's breakdown while under the influence of Q's ability, and it's taken various approaches as Atsushi faced different struggles, but it's always been there.

While wearing Dazai's face, the hallucination was given more credit in Atsushi's eyes, but its words were barely less sharp and hurtful. However, they did tend to push Atsushi into acting, rather than cowering and giving up.

We're seeing Atsushi heal in real time, no matter how messy it is, and I'm so proud of him.

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.

Oh no, they've been infected by Zoro's terrible sense of direction!

For some reason, I find this scene really cute. It’s right after Usopp absolutely decks Klahadore (Captain Kuro) for running his mouth about Yasopp and even questioning if he’s really Usopp’s dad. Usopp storms off, feeling like crap, sitting at the cliff overlooking the shore, tossing rocks into the water—when suddenly, Luffy pops up right in his space and goes, “Here you are!” because he’d been looking for him. Not just to find him, but because he knew Usopp needed validation. He knew Usopp was Yasopp’s son, and more importantly, he knew Usopp was his. Luffy could tell Usopp felt like sh*t, and in the most Luffy way possible, he sought him out—not with a big speech, not with some grand gesture, but just by showing up. Because sometimes, that’s all you need.

People love to downplay Usopp and act like he’s not one of Luffy’s closest friends, but moments like this prove otherwise. His arc really highlights just how selfless Luffy is when it comes to the people he truly cares about. In this scene, Usopp was already his, and Luffy had already claimed him—Usopp just hadn’t caught on yet. Luffy had basically said, "You're my friend. I like you. And I'm gonna help you." And Usopp, completely oblivious, just screams at Luffy for scaring him.

Honestly, isn’t that the sweetest thing? That’s why, when they argue and clash, it just hits different. Because they love each other—sometimes a little too much, to the point where they don’t always know how to give each other what they need. But that’s what makes them them.

People say Zoro and Luffy are in sync, that they’re soulmates in battle, but Usopp is the one who can hurt Luffy the most—yet also lift him up in ways no one else can. Yeah, Luffy’s the captain, and he’s supposed to be mature and responsible, but Usopp is the one who reminds him that he’s still just a 19-year-old. That sometimes, things aren’t that deep. But other times, they are, and Luffy needs someone to tell him that.

Usopp is the one who looks at the insanity of the Grand Line and says, “This sh*t isn’t normal.” And I think that’s what truly makes him Luffy’s in a way no one else is. Even if he can’t support him like his wings in battle, Usopp is the one who, in a moment like Marineford, could have told him, “What happened to you wasn’t normal. And you don’t have to pretend it is.

That’s why Usopp is his.