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Fun fact guys!

It took Luffy’s team about two weeks to arrive in Wano from Whole Cake if I remember correctly, and they were there for a few days. And I think it took a week to arrive at WC from Zou, and a week from Dressrosa to Zou. They were in Dressrosa for roughly 3-4 days total. It was about a day from Punk Hazard to Dressrosa, and about a day on Fishman Island.

That puts the start of the time skip around the end of January/start of February? I think? (I don’t have time to map it out exactly right now.) And now go back two years, the crew was on Sabaody around that time. So taking into account Luffy started his journey on his birthday in May…

The next birthdays to address are those of the two snow sculptures that Luffy and Usopp build on the way to Whiskey Peak (Yukidaru-san and Snow Queen), and the dummies that Igaram builds to cover for the Straw Hats on the night of Whiskey Peak. As you can see, the snow sculptures were built (and subsequently killed) on February 18th, and the dummies were created on February 19th. This firmly pins Whiskey Peak as having taken place on either the 18th or 19th of February. As a bonus, that would track with Syrup Village being in January if the Merry was built that year.

Finally, and most crucially, we have the Sunny’s birthday. We saw the Sunny being built (or for purposes of this post, born) with our own eyes, so we can confirm without any doubt that this happened as reported. The Sunny’s birthday is March 25th. That means, to be clear, that the day we witnessed its completion (and the day Franky’s balls were grabbed, at the conclusion of Post-Enies Lobby) was the 25th of March. That tracks with the date of Whiskey Peak. That also means that the rest of the pre-timeskip storyline, including the day the Straw Hats separated, happened after March 25th.

Ergo, the timeskip happens (presumably, if more time hasn’t deceptively elapsed in between) sometime in April. And we know the timeskip to have taken exactly 2 years, to the day. After all, if it were any arbitrary amount of time less than 2 years, the Straw Hats wouldn’t have been able to estimate what date to meet back up in Sabaody. I’ve even wrestled with the idea that they could have somehow rounded up a timeskip 1-2 months shorter into “2 years,” but this panel from chapter 598 confirms otherwise, as Luffy claims Rayleight taught him the basics in a year and a half and his since been away for 6 months.

Thereby, the Return to Sabaody occurs in April, and everything that happens in the New World thereafter must happen in April or later. Including Wano. (Because we know that more than a year certainly hasn’t passed between Return to Sabaody and Wano, so it can’t have looped back around.) This much is incontrovertible. Since we can approximate the New World content before Wano to have taken around a month, maybe a tad longer, Wano likely takes place anywhere from mid May to early June. Now, that’s where things turn sour. After all, Tama’s stated birthday is on March 3rd, right? You can confirm it with your own eyes based on the image below.

Evidently, this seems contradictory, an error in the databook. Realistically, that’s probably exactly what it is (in other words, an oversight), but in spirit with keeping the canon consistent, Tama’s circumstances just so happen to avail us to a handy-dandy workaround: Tama is an orphan. Furthermore, we know she was with Hitetsu in Amigasa Village when she was hanging around with Ace at age 5, so she was orphaned before age 5. That being the case, it’s very possible that Tama doesn’t actually know her true birthday (because she was too young to retain it), and consequently, what Luffy celebrated with her when he first arrived in Wano was her new ‘birthday,’ as in, the anniversary of her adoption, rather than her real birthday. That allows for her biological birthday to still be March 3rd, and her adoption day to be in May or June, when the Wano arc takes place based on our extrapolations above. Inconsistency resolved. Now, you might be wondering: how does any of this make sense, if Luffy started his journey on his birthday in May? Well, it’s possible that our Loofers is just such a dingus that he bummed around East Blue for 8 months on a boat before getting serious and reaching Whiskey Peak in February, but I don’t buy that, because either (a) Oda would have wanted to show what was happening during that time, or (b) Luffy would have gotten himself killed if he spent 8 months at sea by himself. Fortunately, the solution I have in mind also solves another inconsistency with the One Piece calendar: the fact that the characters don’t seem to mark an increase in age on their respective birthdays. You see, it’s been pointed out as a matter of contention in this fanbase many times that the Straw Hats are all still the same age by the timeskip as they are when they join the crew, and that post-timeskip, they’re all exactly 2 years older than they were when they joined. But wouldn’t some of those numbers changed if any of their birthdays passed in the interim (which is necessarily the case, because the SH birthdays are distributed throughout the year)? Well, not necessarily.... It’s my hypothesis that the One Piece world principally uses the East Asian age reckoning system, nowadays used in South Korea and Taiwan (but once used in Japan), in which all people add 1 to their ages on New Year’s Day, not their birthdays. They still celebrate and recognize their birthdays, but formally “age” on the New Year. That means the reason we don’t see the Straw Hats advancing in age is because they all do so on January 1st, not on their respective birthdays. By that account, I propose that both Ace and Luffy started their journeys on January 1st, not on May 5th in Luffy’s case. Nobody would question this in Ace’s case, because his literal birthday is January 1st anyway. But for Luffy, this is more significant. It would mean that he’d start his journey 3 years to the day after Ace started his, not 3 years and 5 months later. Secondly, it would line up roughly with the hypothetical date we set for Syrup Village based on the Merry’s birthday above, asserting that the East Blue saga takes place throughout January. This, once again, puts us on track to hit Whiskey Peak in February and finish Enies Lobby by late March, as the Vivre Card tells us. And everything lines up again~ So, my apologies if I’ve just trodden a bit on the ability to ascribe a precise date to the Raid on Onigashima, or the beginning of Wano in general. However, I don’t really see a way around this, given the dates we were so meticulously provided for these objects. Additionally, compiling the span from January through April in the pre-timeskip, and April through June at latest in the post-timeskip, we can reason that the Straw Hats have been sailing together for 5-6 months, maximum.

Are there any credible sources for this from folklorists, theologists, historians, local historians, Primary sources, psychologists, anthropologists, etc.,

A significant chunk of folklore that has since been codified as venerable, genuine information was likely the equivalent of some Old Norse tweet (available only to the social network of the original storyteller until proliferated far enough, ofc) or some such at one point in time. Where in the timeline do you hazard the historical threshold stands that distinguishes canonical mythos from contemporary apocrypha? If you have an opinion on the matter, that is. I’m not so much seeking a definitive date (since that would be quite unrealistic) so much as whether you feel there are any elements that must fall into place in the social, temporal, literate, or academic chronology of a piece of folklore in order to hammer in the nail that divides truth from modern fanfiction, essentially. And then we must ask, to what extent might there currently exist people who can circumvent that barrier and contribute to the lore legitimately in the present day, at an acceptable par with the lore from antiquity?

Folklore and folk beliefs do not appear out of nothing. Very rarely if ever can we prove that an important story, myth, or legend exists purely because one day someone just felt like saying it.

These stories we have surviving to study today often have hugely important historical contexts. They often exist to explain an event, be it natural, politics, or even a disease.

Depending on your own personal beliefs, perhaps something is totally “made up,” but it was made up for a purpose and ended up being important and relevant in the lives of the people who told it.

Folklore is extremely amazing in that it is fluid and often changes from one telling to the next, between generations, or while it crosses borders through the years.

However, that doesn’t mean anyone can say anything and qualify it as the next venerable version of that story.

I’m getting into “this could be a thesis” territory, so let me backtrack and say that what I’m referring to in my original post isn’t even whether or not people can add onto or invent new folklore.

Rather, I’m arguing that you cannot rewrite or erase the history of existing stories and beliefs.

An example is that people on this website often cite Changeling lore and claim that the Only Reason changeling myths exist is to vilify and excuse the abuse and rejection of neurodivergent children, especially those with Autism and ADHD.

While this is an extremely interesting concept that deservess exploration, we cannot claim that this is definitively, plainly, the Only Reason people believed in these tales and retold them, because the truth is many Changeling stories we do have don’t feature abuse of the Changeling at all. Attempting to claim that is the end all be all source of a belief that is far older even than any of its surviving tellings is rewriting history.

Another example is that people on tumblr are now often helpfully informing each other that “eye of newt,” and other such familiar “witches’ ingredients” have “secret” real meanings like Mustard Seed.

The earliest source I can find for this is a tweet, which cites an occult shop as its source.

It’s a cool idea, but people are now believing and telling others that this is Real Ancient Folk Language for magical ingredients.

Which it’s not, as far as I can find. If anyone has any better sources on that, awesome! It’s just one example.

Another example is Vampire lore on this site. I’ve been told numerous times my Vanpire headcanons for a FICTIONAL story don’t make sense because of “folklore” about Vampires they believe is true to what people believed in say, 17th century Poland. It’s cool lore they’re citing, but it’s from tumblr post. It’s inherently incorrect to claim people once believed that. They didn’t. It’s new.

So no. I’m not arguing that old lore cannot evolve and change. I’m saying we can’t come up with new cool concepts and instead of saying “this is a new cool concept,” claim “actually this is what people always thought.”

People tend to do that because they feel with time comes credibility. An ancient belief must hold more power than something new.

But all of this was new once. So new is fine and can be good.

Don’t try to rewrite history or divorce things from their contexts.

Are there any credible sources for this from folklorists, theologists, historians, local historians, Primary sources, psychologists, anthropologists, etc.,

A significant chunk of folklore that has since been codified as venerable, genuine information was likely the equivalent of some Old Norse tweet (available only to the social network of the original storyteller until proliferated far enough, ofc) or some such at one point in time. Where in the timeline do you hazard the historical threshold stands that distinguishes canonical mythos from contemporary apocrypha? If you have an opinion on the matter, that is. I’m not so much seeking a definitive date (since that would be quite unrealistic) so much as whether you feel there are any elements that must fall into place in the social, temporal, literate, or academic chronology of a piece of folklore in order to hammer in the nail that divides truth from modern fanfiction, essentially. And then we must ask, to what extent might there currently exist people who can circumvent that barrier and contribute to the lore legitimately in the present day, at an acceptable par with the lore from antiquity?

So y’all are picking topics that I’ve written about before. Short answer, I think the Warlord system has been brilliantly implemented within the series. For the answer, click on the link https://creative-type.tumblr.com/post/173506105506/several-months-ago-someone-asked-what-i-thought.

But to expand on your point of the Seven Warlords being a weak link between the Admirals and the Emperors, that’s kind of the point. At some point in time the World Government realized that if one of these mega-powerful pirates ever decided to openly challenge them, there was as good chance that they wouldn’t win. The Warlords are in essence mercenaries, and no one hires out a bunch of firepower unless they feel like they need it, nor are they going to put people on their payroll that they think are too strong for them to control. 

Meanwhile in Scotland…

India

Sudan

China (traditional)

Nigeria

Indonesia

Mongolia

Ghana

Ethiopia

Poland

Romania

Russia (1)

Russia (2)

Norway

japan 

japan the hard core traditional wedding costume

Turkey

Hungary

Navajo

maori (new zealand)

Fiji

Tonga

Estonia

Georgia (and other cultures of the Caucasus region)

Hmong

Kazakh

Inca/Quechua

Ainu

Sámi

Boy oh boy, do I have opinions.

(Rolls up sleeves, cracks knuckles, puts on tinfoil hat)

So I’ve actually talked about this a little with someone who knows a whole lot more about languages than I do, and I do think the biggest reason everyone speaks the same language is because it’s convenient for the story, but that’s no fun so lets talk conspiracy theories. 

As you said, both kanji and English exist in-universe, so it would not surprise me if there are more languages and we just don’t see them. Funnily enough, kanji is pretty much reserved for the marines when pretty much everything else uses English. Not sure if it means anything, but it’s an interesting tidbit nonetheless.

We do have a bit of dialectical differences, which is a nice touch. The Skypeans say hesso (aka bellybutton) as a greeting, the samurai of Wano speak in a very old-fashioned way, Duval’s accent comes out when he’s angry, etc. So not everything is unified. 

What I think is most interesting is that even the most isolated countries speak the same language as those controlled by the WG. People of both Wano and Skypiea of Noland’s time (the so-called ‘Era of Discovery’) can both communicate when outsiders show up on their doorstep. 

Even if the one land mass theory is correct, the one continent that existed would be big enough to support multiple languages. What I think is most likely is the poneglyphs don’t come from the ancient language but a ancient language, and the rest were wiped out when the WG took control during the Void Century. There is, unfortunately, historical precedent for conquering peoples to force their conquered subjects to switch languages, so I think it’s plausible.

As to how the WG would ensure their one language stays one language when the territories under their control are so isolated and widespread, I think that the media would play a big part. There’s evidence to support that the WG has at least partial control over the newspapers, and since they use news coos instead of ships distribution becomes less of an issue. Works written in these indigenous languages would have been destroyed during the Void Century. 

From the standpoint of an author trying to incorporate linguistic differences into my works, I’m intrigued~ :D

One Piece is such a huge sandbox to play with and I kind of think there might still exist smaller varieties within it that we haven’t been shown (Alabasta is a big enough country to house several cities more than a day times’ travel apart and, as such, is veeeeeeery likely, at least imo, to house several others which would be able to keep their own, ancient, dialects alive against the World Government’s will - be it only in the form of words used for code-switching with the common language or of more, we don’t know because we don’t get told, but it’s still probable that these exist)

Also: kanji is not only reserved for the marines, afaik, seeing as I’ve seen a standard ensign cap with the English letters “Marine” written on its front more than once already, implying that “only” the kanji combination for “Absolute Justice” is written in stylised kanji at all (and/or any other combinations, albeit I can’t think of any others off the top of my head atm).

The implications of the distinction seems clear to me: namely, that the common people can’t read kanji and “need” the direct translation of “Marine” to know whom they’re dealing with here (this would also imply, at least to my understanding of it, that at least one group of pirates - most probably more than one - has already tried impersonating a marine corps with a mishmash of kanji slapped on their heads, maybe - though, admittedly, this veers off into headcanon territory now XD).

But what we do already know is that animals speak in One Piece. And are understood (by Chopper), at least partly, implying that there might be language varieties to be found there, as well. :)

Haaaah, One Piece is such a treasure trove for these kind of questions~ XD

Hope my rambling didn’t annoy… here, have a happy chopper in return for all the inspiration you gave me:

And yes, the main ideas may have survived in the calligraphy present in the uniforms and on various surfaces, although it’s not too far a stretch to presume that the people serving under it have twisted it in their favour, is it? Moreover, I wonder how many marine ensigns truly can read the kanji - and are not just nodding along with whatever explanation of them they happen to be given? (as a reader, obviously, you know what they mean, but as an in-world character? huh, I do wonder…)

I have to admit I haven’t read as far as Wano yet, although I have accumulated a lot of second-hand knowledge about the arc so far and can’t wait to hear other people’s thoughts on the use of kanji in written works in universe there :)

On a completely unrelated note, I’ve recently rewatched the fourth movie (One Piece: Dead End Adventure) and noticed that some of the bottles behind the bartender in the first few scenes of it have not just English words on them, but there’s been a “La Musca-” or something the like mixed in there, as well, making me wonder just how many languages Oda has managed to get a hold of in his series….

With his faible for word play (here I would like to reference you to the tag #Oda’s name game on point, it’s hilarious and incredibly fascinating to go through!), I wouldn’t rule out that he’s simply got quite a few dictionaries (and lexicons in different languages too, perhaps) lying around and goes through them with a comb every time he needs anything… XD

It’s lovely talking about this :D I’m having fun! (though, to be honest, most of it is conjecture and speculation at this point, anyways) I have no more clever insights to offer for the moment, so have a busy Sengoku this time around:

In Robin’s chapter “The young girl from Baltigo” from the “ Mugiwara novels” written by Oda and Tomohito Ohsaki published in 2017 there is a little dialogue between Robin and a little girl from the revos army .

Boy oh boy, do I have opinions.

(Rolls up sleeves, cracks knuckles, puts on tinfoil hat)

So I’ve actually talked about this a little with someone who knows a whole lot more about languages than I do, and I do think the biggest reason everyone speaks the same language is because it’s convenient for the story, but that’s no fun so lets talk conspiracy theories. 

As you said, both kanji and English exist in-universe, so it would not surprise me if there are more languages and we just don’t see them. Funnily enough, kanji is pretty much reserved for the marines when pretty much everything else uses English. Not sure if it means anything, but it’s an interesting tidbit nonetheless.

We do have a bit of dialectical differences, which is a nice touch. The Skypeans say hesso (aka bellybutton) as a greeting, the samurai of Wano speak in a very old-fashioned way, Duval’s accent comes out when he’s angry, etc. So not everything is unified. 

What I think is most interesting is that even the most isolated countries speak the same language as those controlled by the WG. People of both Wano and Skypiea of Noland’s time (the so-called ‘Era of Discovery’) can both communicate when outsiders show up on their doorstep. 

Even if the one land mass theory is correct, the one continent that existed would be big enough to support multiple languages. What I think is most likely is the poneglyphs don’t come from the ancient language but a ancient language, and the rest were wiped out when the WG took control during the Void Century. There is, unfortunately, historical precedent for conquering peoples to force their conquered subjects to switch languages, so I think it’s plausible.

As to how the WG would ensure their one language stays one language when the territories under their control are so isolated and widespread, I think that the media would play a big part. There’s evidence to support that the WG has at least partial control over the newspapers, and since they use news coos instead of ships distribution becomes less of an issue. Works written in these indigenous languages would have been destroyed during the Void Century. 

From the standpoint of an author trying to incorporate linguistic differences into my works, I’m intrigued~ :D

One Piece is such a huge sandbox to play with and I kind of think there might still exist smaller varieties within it that we haven’t been shown (Alabasta is a big enough country to house several cities more than a day times’ travel apart and, as such, is veeeeeeery likely, at least imo, to house several others which would be able to keep their own, ancient, dialects alive against the World Government’s will - be it only in the form of words used for code-switching with the common language or of more, we don’t know because we don’t get told, but it’s still probable that these exist)

Also: kanji is not only reserved for the marines, afaik, seeing as I’ve seen a standard ensign cap with the English letters “Marine” written on its front more than once already, implying that “only” the kanji combination for “Absolute Justice” is written in stylised kanji at all (and/or any other combinations, albeit I can’t think of any others off the top of my head atm).

The implications of the distinction seems clear to me: namely, that the common people can’t read kanji and “need” the direct translation of “Marine” to know whom they’re dealing with here (this would also imply, at least to my understanding of it, that at least one group of pirates - most probably more than one - has already tried impersonating a marine corps with a mishmash of kanji slapped on their heads, maybe - though, admittedly, this veers off into headcanon territory now XD).

But what we do already know is that animals speak in One Piece. And are understood (by Chopper), at least partly, implying that there might be language varieties to be found there, as well. :)

Haaaah, One Piece is such a treasure trove for these kind of questions~ XD

Hope my rambling didn’t annoy… here, have a happy chopper in return for all the inspiration you gave me:

And yes, the main ideas may have survived in the calligraphy present in the uniforms and on various surfaces, although it’s not too far a stretch to presume that the people serving under it have twisted it in their favour, is it? Moreover, I wonder how many marine ensigns truly can read the kanji - and are not just nodding along with whatever explanation of them they happen to be given? (as a reader, obviously, you know what they mean, but as an in-world character? huh, I do wonder…)

I have to admit I haven’t read as far as Wano yet, although I have accumulated a lot of second-hand knowledge about the arc so far and can’t wait to hear other people’s thoughts on the use of kanji in written works in universe there :)

On a completely unrelated note, I’ve recently rewatched the fourth movie (One Piece: Dead End Adventure) and noticed that some of the bottles behind the bartender in the first few scenes of it have not just English words on them, but there’s been a “La Musca-” or something the like mixed in there, as well, making me wonder just how many languages Oda has managed to get a hold of in his series….

With his faible for word play (here I would like to reference you to the tag #Oda’s name game on point, it’s hilarious and incredibly fascinating to go through!), I wouldn’t rule out that he’s simply got quite a few dictionaries (and lexicons in different languages too, perhaps) lying around and goes through them with a comb every time he needs anything… XD

It’s lovely talking about this :D I’m having fun! (though, to be honest, most of it is conjecture and speculation at this point, anyways) I have no more clever insights to offer for the moment, so have a busy Sengoku this time around:

Boy oh boy, do I have opinions.

(Rolls up sleeves, cracks knuckles, puts on tinfoil hat)

So I’ve actually talked about this a little with someone who knows a whole lot more about languages than I do, and I do think the biggest reason everyone speaks the same language is because it’s convenient for the story, but that’s no fun so lets talk conspiracy theories. 

As you said, both kanji and English exist in-universe, so it would not surprise me if there are more languages and we just don’t see them. Funnily enough, kanji is pretty much reserved for the marines when pretty much everything else uses English. Not sure if it means anything, but it’s an interesting tidbit nonetheless.

We do have a bit of dialectical differences, which is a nice touch. The Skypeans say hesso (aka bellybutton) as a greeting, the samurai of Wano speak in a very old-fashioned way, Duval’s accent comes out when he’s angry, etc. So not everything is unified. 

What I think is most interesting is that even the most isolated countries speak the same language as those controlled by the WG. People of both Wano and Skypiea of Noland’s time (the so-called ‘Era of Discovery’) can both communicate when outsiders show up on their doorstep. 

Even if the one land mass theory is correct, the one continent that existed would be big enough to support multiple languages. What I think is most likely is the poneglyphs don’t come from the ancient language but a ancient language, and the rest were wiped out when the WG took control during the Void Century. There is, unfortunately, historical precedent for conquering peoples to force their conquered subjects to switch languages, so I think it’s plausible.

As to how the WG would ensure their one language stays one language when the territories under their control are so isolated and widespread, I think that the media would play a big part. There’s evidence to support that the WG has at least partial control over the newspapers, and since they use news coos instead of ships distribution becomes less of an issue. Works written in these indigenous languages would have been destroyed during the Void Century. 

From the standpoint of an author trying to incorporate linguistic differences into my works, I’m intrigued~ :D

One Piece is such a huge sandbox to play with and I kind of think there might still exist smaller varieties within it that we haven’t been shown (Alabasta is a big enough country to house several cities more than a day times’ travel apart and, as such, is veeeeeeery likely, at least imo, to house several others which would be able to keep their own, ancient, dialects alive against the World Government’s will - be it only in the form of words used for code-switching with the common language or of more, we don’t know because we don’t get told, but it’s still probable that these exist)

Also: kanji is not only reserved for the marines, afaik, seeing as I’ve seen a standard ensign cap with the English letters “Marine” written on its front more than once already, implying that “only” the kanji combination for “Absolute Justice” is written in stylised kanji at all (and/or any other combinations, albeit I can’t think of any others off the top of my head atm).

The implications of the distinction seems clear to me: namely, that the common people can’t read kanji and “need” the direct translation of “Marine” to know whom they’re dealing with here (this would also imply, at least to my understanding of it, that at least one group of pirates - most probably more than one - has already tried impersonating a marine corps with a mishmash of kanji slapped on their heads, maybe - though, admittedly, this veers off into headcanon territory now XD).

But what we do already know is that animals speak in One Piece. And are understood (by Chopper), at least partly, implying that there might be language varieties to be found there, as well. :)

Haaaah, One Piece is such a treasure trove for these kind of questions~ XD

Hope my rambling didn’t annoy… here, have a happy chopper in return for all the inspiration you gave me:

And yes, the main ideas may have survived in the calligraphy present in the uniforms and on various surfaces, although it’s not too far a stretch to presume that the people serving under it have twisted it in their favour, is it? Moreover, I wonder how many marine ensigns truly can read the kanji - and are not just nodding along with whatever explanation of them they happen to be given? (as a reader, obviously, you know what they mean, but as an in-world character? huh, I do wonder…)

I have to admit I haven’t read as far as Wano yet, although I have accumulated a lot of second-hand knowledge about the arc so far and can’t wait to hear other people’s thoughts on the use of kanji in written works in universe there :)

On a completely unrelated note, I’ve recently rewatched the fourth movie (One Piece: Dead End Adventure) and noticed that some of the bottles behind the bartender in the first few scenes of it have not just English words on them, but there’s been a “La Musca-” or something the like mixed in there, as well, making me wonder just how many languages Oda has managed to get a hold of in his series….

With his faible for word play (here I would like to reference you to the tag #Oda’s name game on point, it’s hilarious and incredibly fascinating to go through!), I wouldn’t rule out that he’s simply got quite a few dictionaries (and lexicons in different languages too, perhaps) lying around and goes through them with a comb every time he needs anything… XD

It’s lovely talking about this :D I’m having fun! (though, to be honest, most of it is conjecture and speculation at this point, anyways) I have no more clever insights to offer for the moment, so have a busy Sengoku this time around:

Boy oh boy, do I have opinions.

(Rolls up sleeves, cracks knuckles, puts on tinfoil hat)

So I’ve actually talked about this a little with someone who knows a whole lot more about languages than I do, and I do think the biggest reason everyone speaks the same language is because it’s convenient for the story, but that’s no fun so lets talk conspiracy theories. 

As you said, both kanji and English exist in-universe, so it would not surprise me if there are more languages and we just don’t see them. Funnily enough, kanji is pretty much reserved for the marines when pretty much everything else uses English. Not sure if it means anything, but it’s an interesting tidbit nonetheless.

We do have a bit of dialectical differences, which is a nice touch. The Skypeans say hesso (aka bellybutton) as a greeting, the samurai of Wano speak in a very old-fashioned way, Duval’s accent comes out when he’s angry, etc. So not everything is unified. 

What I think is most interesting is that even the most isolated countries speak the same language as those controlled by the WG. People of both Wano and Skypiea of Noland’s time (the so-called ‘Era of Discovery’) can both communicate when outsiders show up on their doorstep. 

Even if the one land mass theory is correct, the one continent that existed would be big enough to support multiple languages. What I think is most likely is the poneglyphs don’t come from the ancient language but a ancient language, and the rest were wiped out when the WG took control during the Void Century. There is, unfortunately, historical precedent for conquering peoples to force their conquered subjects to switch languages, so I think it’s plausible.

As to how the WG would ensure their one language stays one language when the territories under their control are so isolated and widespread, I think that the media would play a big part. There’s evidence to support that the WG has at least partial control over the newspapers, and since they use news coos instead of ships distribution becomes less of an issue. Works written in these indigenous languages would have been destroyed during the Void Century. 

From the standpoint of an author trying to incorporate linguistic differences into my works, I’m intrigued~ :D

One Piece is such a huge sandbox to play with and I kind of think there might still exist smaller varieties within it that we haven’t been shown (Alabasta is a big enough country to house several cities more than a day times’ travel apart and, as such, is veeeeeeery likely, at least imo, to house several others which would be able to keep their own, ancient, dialects alive against the World Government’s will - be it only in the form of words used for code-switching with the common language or of more, we don’t know because we don’t get told, but it’s still probable that these exist)

Also: kanji is not only reserved for the marines, afaik, seeing as I’ve seen a standard ensign cap with the English letters “Marine” written on its front more than once already, implying that “only” the kanji combination for “Absolute Justice” is written in stylised kanji at all (and/or any other combinations, albeit I can’t think of any others off the top of my head atm).

The implications of the distinction seems clear to me: namely, that the common people can’t read kanji and “need” the direct translation of “Marine” to know whom they’re dealing with here (this would also imply, at least to my understanding of it, that at least one group of pirates - most probably more than one - has already tried impersonating a marine corps with a mishmash of kanji slapped on their heads, maybe - though, admittedly, this veers off into headcanon territory now XD).

But what we do already know is that animals speak in One Piece. And are understood (by Chopper), at least partly, implying that there might be language varieties to be found there, as well. :)

Haaaah, One Piece is such a treasure trove for these kind of questions~ XD

Hope my rambling didn’t annoy… here, have a happy chopper in return for all the inspiration you gave me:

So, I was looking through the Thriller Bark arc and got to Sanji’s fight. 

Now oddly, as a young woman, Sanji never super bothered me here. Not sure why really. I saw his words as unacceptable but him as ultimately harmless. 

But I can see where this section causes a lot of people an issue with his character (an issue I feel he is steadily maturing out of).

I’m going to try to explain how I see both Sanji and the situation.

—-

Now, this entire situation reminded me of a quote from Bioshock where Andrew Ryan says “…the pervert who prowls the streets, looking for a victim he can ravish for his grotesque amusement.”

It was the “ a victim he can ravish for his grotesque amusement “ part that really spoke to me. It made me notice something strange about the variations of perversion in this battle. And I came to the odd conclusion that where Sanji has perverted or deviant thoughts, Absalom is the only true pervert of the two.

Now, before you rush to denounce me, let me explain.

Nami is the object of Sanji’s infatuation as well as Absalom’s obsession. Both love her body but Sanji also loves Nami because she is Nami.

Nami is just an object to Absalom. An object of beauty, but still just an object. Something for him to freely look at, touch, and own.

Absalom cares not what Nami wants or thinks. His desires alone are all that matter.

Now, switch over to Sanji!

Despite Nami being beautiful, she is not an object of beauty to him. No, she is a treasure.

And you need to take into mind what “treasure” means in the One Piece universe and specifically what “treasure” means to a Strawhat.

To a Strawhat, a treasure is something or someone more precious than words can describe, priceless and perfect, and worth dying over because it means all these things.

You can see that this is how Sanji feels about Nami from the beginning of the battle.

You notice how Sanji says “your knight”? Like always, Sanji puts himself in a submissive position to Nami. A knight is someone that serves and protects someone above them in either status or position.

He makes it clear that he belongs to her. Whereas Absalom makes it clear that he feels he owns Nami.

True perverts exert power and dominance of some level because it is all about them and their sexual needs. This is what Absalom does constantly.

Sanji does not. Sanji actually never puts himself in a position of power over any of the Strawhats or their friends.

He always puts their safety and worth far above himself. You see this all throughout the battle.

He never once gets mad about being attacked. He only gets mad that Nami was almost injured because of said attack.

He is protective of not only her body but also her purity.

He’s upset that Absalom may have done something awful, not because Sanji sees Nami as his to claim but rather because it would be an injustice and violation to Nami herself.

This is not to say that Sanji is perfect. He very much is a little deviant slut.

But despite this, he still holds to the fact that any injury or harm of any kind to Nami is unforgivable. 

This actually leads into something interesting about Sanji’s personality and showcasing how he’s a clear victim of child abuse of some kind (Which we now all know was severe physical, verbal, and emotional abuse as well as neglect.)

It took me a while to see it but as a whole Sanji has no sense of self-worth and his only confidence is in his cooking (This confidence is most likely due to how much work Zeff put into Sanji). The rest of his personality is a volatile mix of defiance and bravado.

He protects women not because they’re weak and need to be protected but rather because he’s strong and has the ability to do so. He constantly praises Nami and Robin on how cunning or strong they are. He never feels emasculated by them (most likely due to the fact that when he was little, women protected and cared for him as best they could). That may even be why he protects them now because he’s finally strong enough to repay his debt and give thanks for the help he received from the women in his life.

But I’m getting off-topic. Back to Sanji’s self-worth. He has none, always putting others before himself, and this is especially seen when he’s protecting a woman.

How much Nami, in her entirety, means to Sanji is shown in how much damage he takes in order to keep her from getting hurt. He couldn’t care less about himself because he really doesn’t care at all at this point. All that matters to him is Nami.

He protects her until the combat not only threatens harm to her but something as simple as her outfit as well.

I am feeling some symbolism here. 

Yes, he literally doesn’t want to stain her with his blood but he also thinks so lowly of himself that he doesn’t want to stain her with any of himself.

Which could explain why he never officially makes a move despite his obvious infatuation with her.

Sanji would rather admire her from afar than forcing her to be stuck with someone like him.

Which all leads into Sanji’s deviant thinking with peeping. Because peeping is so far his only offense towards women. He never claims women to be below him, he never initiates touch with women and doesn’t really claim to make any women his. He’d like to be theirs but doesn’t see them as his.

This all makes me think that he peeps because he feels he’ll never be good enough to actually be with a woman romantically or physically.

He has a bad case of infatuation on a mass scale. But due to child abuse at a very young development age, he appears to be stunted both emotionally and sexually. Leaving him with a sense of sexual immaturity where he doesn’t know how to properly act on feelings of desire or need, knowing only enough to realize it’s wrong to physically act on anything he feels.

So, how I see this battle, and other events of Sanji’s deviant thinking, is that Sanji is not so much perverted as mis-performing when it comes to his infatuation.

yes which is weird because I’ve never watched Naruto and neither have my parents

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: My perception of the Donquixote Family has always been basically, you take the found family idea that’s the basis of the Strawhat Pirates, and you kinda… corrupt it? 

Like, both crews are composed (we don’t get solid backstory on a good number of the Donquixote pirates, but just based on the ones we do know stuff about- Sugar and Monet, Baby 5, Law-) of lost, damaged people who were lifted up and given a place to belong by a leader whose most dangerous quality is explicitly noted to be his charisma. Which is indeed, you know, kinda a recipe for a cult, in the hands of the wrong person!

The Strawhats avoid that trap because Luffy doesn’t care about having power over others, and wouldn’t ever take advantage of his crewmates’ loyalty towards him, which is in turn what makes him worthy of it. Doflamingo, on the other hand- well, when I got this ask, the absolute first thing I thought of was the scene at the end of Punk Hazard where he tells Monet to die blowing up the island, and she’s already preparing to do it before he even has to say the word. 

Doflamingo’s relationship with his crew is very interesting, because although he calls them his family in a genuine way that he seems to very much mean, he also obviously sees him as tools and wouldn’t hesitate to kill them if it meant achieving his goals, and perhaps more importantly, they know that and are perfectly willing to die for his cause as well. Indoctrination and exploitation, for the record, are the two other main signs of a cult (the first being a charismatic leader), which Doflamingo is clearly pretty guilty of on both counts, especially with regards to the kids he took in.