Charlemagne’s Cosplay And Crochet Corner

There are the teenagers on the cusp of adulthood like Dragon and Iva grappling with (for possibly the first time in the case of the former) the horrors of war and having to take up responsibility in rallying others and protecting other children when the adults in power throw them to the wolves.

There's the younger kids like Ginny and Kuma, right on the cusp of adolescence who are trying to help out the best they can and whose innocence isn't quite as eroded as Dragon's but it's getting there.

And then there are the littlest among them. Baby Shanks and Shamrock and little Teach who are utterly incapable of understanding what's going on as their homes and families are being torn apart around them. Utterly helpless to do anything but cry in terror.

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When Shanks said, "Come with me, Buggy," I think he's making an emotional decision. Their captain and father figure got executed. But before that, Roger probably told him about his origins and asked him to keep the world balanced until the right person finds the One Piece.

Shanks knew he and Buggy had talked about being their own captains of their ships (or rather, Buggy had talked about it, and Shanks was just agreeing), and yet, under the weight of the responsibility Roger had placed on him, Shanks chose his dream, chose Buggy, chose to escape it.

But Buggy left, and all that was left for Shanks was the logical decision to keep the world balanced until the right person finds the One Piece.

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Buggy was making a logical decision when he decided to forget his dream of finding the One Piece, because in his eyes, Roger acknowledged Shanks to be better. He would let go of his dream and support Shanks in getting the One Piece. Yes, his father figure and captain just died, but he was willing to kill a part of himself to live through someone else, because he thought that's how he was going to achieve his dream.

It's a random day on a random week when Bucky takes Steve's hands, not even giving him a chance to protest before starting

"If I was going to hit you right here, where would you put your feet to dodge?"

Confused but demonstrating regardless, Steve is left to follow instructions

"I'm hit, I'm falling this way, where are you going to put your hand to hold me up?"

Steve holding Bucky by the waist and shoulder to sway him to the side

"A bullet is coming this way, hold my had get me out of the way."

Steve holding Bucky's hand and pulling him close while Bucky twirls and wraps Steve arm around himself. By then Steve's confusion is giving way to a smile as he holds Bucky

"The floor is filled with traps and they're going to come out of here, here, here, and here. Dodge them in order."

"We're holding hands but something is gonna hit. Step back to let it shoot through between us, then pull me back in."

"I'm pulling a knife on you, take my hand to stop me and redirect it this way."

"Pull your legs like you're going to kick here. Yeah, like that."

"Dip back, then step forward like you're avoiding falling off the edge."

"Okay, hold my waist ike I'm fainting and you're keeping me up. Yeah, yeah, dipping."

And before Steve knows it, in the course of a week and a half, he's dancing like he's born to do it and having an UNBELIEVABLE amount of fun doing it

something I really really love about One Piece is the subtle (?) misdirection surrounding the parallels of Roger-Rayleigh & Shanks-Buggy.

Shanks is perceived by pretty much everyone as Roger's successor (sans Ace), he's got intense Haki and a fierce rep, he's a respected captain with the mettle to prove it, and he's got that same natural* laid-back chill.

Buggy, on the other hand, is in some ways (emphasis on IN SOME WAYS) Shanks' Ray. The right-hand man, never apart when they were children, but always a little behind instead. While Buggy and Shanks share/d a ton of pirate traits, there is a clear difference between their levels of daring, just like their pirate parents; Buggy, while a hot head, is the cautious sort. More of a strategist. Kind of (emphasis on KIND OF) like Rayleigh.

...But once you look into things a little closer, you'll see that in reality, it's switched.

Shanks doesn't want to be pirate king. He doesn't want wealth fame and power, he wants to be with Buggy, and more specifically, for Buggy to be happy. Shanks is fine taking a back seat. He seeks out back seats as much as possible, which isn't often because he has a reputation to keep up. That brings us to *laid-back chill. It's nature, yes, but it's hidden. Shanks doesn't wanna fight, he doesn't care, he wants to be free, but he can't because of his place in the world. He barely gets the chance. Shanks is not the sun, like, at all. He's the perfect example of the moon.

But BUGGY is a wonderful sun. Bright and flashy. Buggy takes up space and he wants. Buggy does want glory. He wants wealth fame power, and he wants to be big and strong and powerful, Buggy wants so bad to be Roger. And he has the courage, too. He has ambition, desires, a want for something bigger and better, greater than just the mundane, and Shanks just doesn't.

Roger wanted to turn the world upside down. Rayleigh was just along for the ride. Rayleigh would've followed Roger anywhere, and Roger wanted to go everywhere.

More of my manga vash cosplay!! :D

RED: LIFE

What if life just… begins again?

The second piece in my attempt to make OFMD art for every colour in the Gilbert Baker Pride Flag this month! This was a difficult one to decide on, but it’s the beginning of their new lives in so many ways, so I thought it would fit well, and, y’know, blood and smoke and fire and stuff 🥰

is it bad to cut off your employee's toes and feed them to him? well, yeah. obviously if I went to work tomorrow and my boss fed me my own toes I'd have some complaints. but I also have not tried to kill my boss' boyfriend multiple times or gotten the entire company arrested. I work in an office.

if you are a pirate captain and your first mate tries to kill your boyfriend multiple times and gets everyone arrested and then has the audacity to be a dick to you about it... well at that point you-the-pirate-captain would be pretty justified in just straight up killing him. anything short of that is weirdly merciful, actually.

aka a list of things that certain parts of the One Piece fandom do that I find mildly concerning:

(Do not use this post as an excuse to harass other creators. This is meant as a fandom critique that is not specific to anyone, but rather bringing to light an ongoing issue i've noticed)

Explicitly calling Shanks' crew - especially Beckman - his 'babysitters' (regardless of the context, it's pretty weird imo), or otherwise portraying him as some sort of burden to them. Marco's quips and Benn's quip about him being 'high maintenance' should not be taken at face value and interpreted as them hating him, because they very clearly don't. (with this kind of Shanks mischaracterisation, Benn is also often mischaracterised as well)

Anything that suggests that Shanks is entirely incapable of looking after himself and is dependent on others for it. Fics + discussions surrounding his having depression is one thing, but here I mean implications suggesting a dramatic lack of hygiene and the over-exaggeration of his drinking habit. (I just find it mildly obnoxious lmao)

Shanks being overly villainised just because he happens to have a complex moral code and acts as such (ie blowing up Barto's ship, plus generally working behind the scenes)