Latest Posts by syllaw-16 - Page 2

The Conclave bit where Lawrence is told "His Holiness is refusing to get dressed" and 2 seconds later Vincent saying to Thomas "I was waiting for you to come" is driving me INSANE. Vincent wouldn't get dressed - wouldn't become the Pope - before getting Thomas's approval and understanding. He knew Thomas would come to him, he knew they would have to talk, and he would delay the WHOLE THING until Thomas came and Vincent told him his secret.

The frankness, the simplicity, the beauty of "I was waiting for you to come" - Doubting Thomas, you must believe in me before I become this.

Not me scrolling through the Conclave tag only to see no one talk about the deliberate positioning and framing of the women in this movie.

Pulling up this movie I completely expected to only encounter Sister Agnes as the one woman we see in the trailer, the conclave a space that has been kept from the female members of the church. Now, color me surprised when I started the movie and most of the establishing shots we got were focused on all the women working in the Vatican.

And it is such a deliberate choice, it does the film a disservice not to talk about it.

Because while Cardinal Lawrence is having his fifteenth breakdown during sequestering and Bellini finds the ambitious asshole within himself, Ray does all the leg work, and Bel---- we see the women work.

We see the kitchens, we see them cook, we see them stand aside. Most of the time when the Cardinals are conspiring it is the women who interrupt because they are busy working, walking, running errands.

And there is power in that.

I think it is very deliberate how often (and with such lingering gaze) the camera shows us the lives of the other half - partially to connect to the wider themes of the movie, on how Bellini asks for women to get more power but never thanks them, and how Benitez stumps them all by thanking the women preparing their meals when asked to say the prayer (considering his own probably tumultuous relationship to gender within the church).

But it also stands in direct opposition to a long tradition in story telling: servants don't exist. How often the heroes of a regency romance are "alone" because the two hand maidens and three maids don't really count.

Conclave doesn't do that.

It doesn't let us look away.

Between all the petty drama, the politics, and the real life consequences of the conclave, we never stop looking at the people doing all the work.

Yes, we follow the ups and downs of Lawrence and Co, but in doing so the movie reminds us again and again of the women working the kitchen.

And that was just such a powerful artistic choice in a movie about a famously misogynistic church... I loved it. And I had to talk about it.

My favorite thing about reading Dicks thought process vs literally how everyone else views him.

This is the least exaggerated version of this I will willing produce.

-older gen JL: thinks wing is dependable, charming, intelligent and a great leader, impressed how much he’s grown and how well he’s done in the hero world

Heroes his age: the golden standard that everyone tries to match up to and fails at one point in their sidekick-hood before accepting yeah I’m not Dick Grayson and having him lead them in a hero team. The defacto person to look towards in a crisis situation, manages tasks efficiently and doesn’t let personal details affect him. He’s cool, calm and collected while still being the most empathetic man on the planet.

Heroes younger than him: straight up awe. if the heroes who saw his awkward teenage phase, discowing and are privy to his love life info. How do you think people who just saw ‘Mr perfect’ without any of the painful growth to get there and since about 9 billion things have happened since Dick was Robin people have too much to talk about to ever bring it up. I see their thought processes going something like this

-oh my god is that nightwing like THE nightwing like Robins big brother nightwing like the leader of the titans nightwing is he looking at me oh my god he smiled at me wtf wtf wtf until they hyperventilate

(Source how Kow talks about dick Grayson like 99% of the time- ignore all Dan Dido works )

Batkids: awe with a side of insecurity bc that’s the gold standard and how tf are you supposed to get there. Even if you’re an amazing fighter like Cass, the leadership skills, ability to talk people down, make more allies than enemies, infiltrate, lie, cheat, steal, put on a million different masks and come out whole.

How does he know what he’s doing? How does he look so calm and collected when the worlds ending

Batman and Superman (remember when they co-parented in the 60s yeah me neither): like uncomfortable amounts of pride like the type of pride that feels too big for your chest as well as implicit trust.

For B specifically Dick is his crowing achievement as Batman

VS

Dick Grayson at any given moment pre Tom Taylor run: everything is my fault, I suck at everything, I’m never good enough to stop bad things from happening to the people I love it’s all my fault and I will never be able to stop it. My life is an accidental trolly problem except I didn’t know it when I started, I didn’t mean to press any levers I didn’t know what I was doing I am a burden who must make himself useful as an apology.

Like Dick is in a constant spiral of how much he hates his limits and how he just isn’t ever going to be strong,fast,smart or good enough while everyone is staring at him with heart eyes like omg it’s nightwing <3

Sometimes I feel like us as the bat family fandom forget how starry eyed people get about Nightwing canonically.

Because with the exception of early era Tim most of the Batkids are like. lol that’s my loser older brother or some variation of yeah…he’s some guy I guess? He helps me with homework?

And Nightwing is the canonically a center of multiversal light.

When Heroes meet Nightwing they do the vigorous handshake and the “it’s an honor to meet you sir, I have heard so much about you oh my god”

There are so many character where they are literally shown giggling and kicking their feet whenever Nightwing talks to them.

Even the people who don’t have the celebrity level worship of him respect the hell out of him and call him as soon as they need help.

From raven to Starfire to Superman to Superboy to all or the flashes there is so much respect and awe given to this one dude.

And it is deserved

But imagine you are Damian Wayne and you’ve been working with what 90% of the people you’ve met (all bats) have been calling an embarrassment to your father’s legacy.

Your mother hates him and your Grandfather doesn’t feel that strongly about him.

The red hood calls him an embarrassment and a coward and he couldn’t even keep Red Robin from running away.

Your father tells him that he never should have been Batman

And you’ve worked with him and you know what you think everyone is full of shit about him and you and him the new Batman and Robin are the best no matter what anyone says.

And fuck it the fact he keeps going in a suit that everyone tells him he’s not good enough for is scratching something in your brain that you’re refusing to acknowledge because why would you feel that way? You are the circus freak have nothing in common (shut up)

And then you meet the justice league and all the extended teams.

And people are falling over themselves to listen to a word out of your brothers, your Batman’s mouth. They wait for a nod or headshake and dictate decades worth of planning on it.

Both Drake and Todd’s hero teams ask him for advice with or without their designated bats presence.

The man of steel asks for child rearing advice and wonder woman cracks a joke about a spar

Newer heroes whisper about him in the halls

He’s literally your favorite hero’s favorite hero

And it’s breaking Damian’s Brain

Because well… he kinda gets slapped around in Gotham. He’s the butt of half the jokes the other Batkids make and Dick just smiles and takes it.

The rogues have a bounty on nightwings ass and he gets leered at by goons, rogues, civilians and anti-hero’s alike and he doesn’t say anything.

He lets oracle crack jokes about a pretty face and having to do everything herself

Let’s Jason run the alley despite the fact that apparently he knows how to take it back

Apparently he’s had 12 people tailing Drake since Paris and despite being the man Ra’s Al Ghul calls detective has yet to notice. (Because you can’t tell me Dick was just magically at the right place to catch Tim falling to his death on coincidence)

And necessary to peace talks because he’s the best they have at deescalation

Like imagine you are a child who was raised to believe power is this obvious, all consuming thing. That the ones who control the board are visibly larger than life figures who fought their way to the top and cling to power by even the thinnest hangnail if they had to.

People who ignore simpler morals or an overall greater goal or good

And then you’re taken in by the man who whispers the correct answers into the larger than life figures ear.

Like I feel like that would have such an impact because Dick didn’t take power from anyone to reach his goals, it’s why his siblings don’t really defer to him unless in crisis.

Dick didn’t take power, no people just looked at him and decided he was the best option to give it to.

Everyone basically looked at this kid and went, yeah you’re the future of all heroism.

And if that dude can’t even get Bruce Wayne’s respect what chance does Damian Wayne have

honestly ra's a ghul would stab someone if they called dick grayson "nice funny but he's like a himbo" bc he is not gonna accept being defeated by someone others call a himbo. like if someone defeated me yall better acknowledge that it takes SKILL to defeat me stfu i will not take this disrespect–

one thing i think is so Neat about atla is how all the main bender characters have an arc that corresponds to their "opposite" element. zuko's arc is about the capacity to change yourself and your worldview, and the culmination of his arc is learning a move inspired by waterbending. katara is all about passion and drive, wanting to become a great waterbender and fight for what she believes in, and over the course of the show she comes into her power. toph's arc involves getting free of her restrictive family and connecting with a community, and aang's arc is about learning to stand fast in his beliefs and confront difficult issues head-on. it's a beautiful bit of symmetry that reinforces the show's point about the illusion of separation

Consider: Post-canon Zuko wakes up in the body of his childhood self, the morning of That War Meeting. Would he still speak against the plans, knowing his fate? What do you think he would do differently the second time around?

"Turned away at the doors, Zuzu?"

"Shut up, Azula," her brother sulked. But sulked weirdly, after staring at her too long and too wide-eyed, not like she'd surprised him but--

But like he hadn't expected her to be there. At all.

He turned away. ...He turned back. "Hey, Lala? Do you think you could help me practice that one set?"

He didn't meet her eyes.

She narrowed hers. "Which set?"

"The one I'm bad at."

She scoffed. Pushed away from the wall she'd been leaning against. "That's all of them, Dum-Dum."

He didn't shout or stomp or yell about the nickname. His lips twitched.

"It's okay," he said. "If you're afraid you won't be a better teacher that my instructor..."

It was the most obvious manipulation ever.

Perhaps if he proved an adequate firebending student, she'd work on his courtly survival skills next. Honestly, it was good that not even Uncle Gets-Cousins-Killed had been fool enough to take Zuko into that war meeting. She could only imagine how terribly that could have gone.

"Keep up," she said, and turned her steps towards the training grounds.

He did. There, and during the katas she ran him through.

Azula kept her eyes narrowed.

"Hey," he asked, "do you know how to bend lightning yet?"

As if he could have missed it, if she'd been able to get more than sparks. "I will soon," she said.

"You will," he agreed, and flowed through his next set. The one she'd only just mastered.

Father didn't notice how weird Zuzu was being. Uncle never noticed anything. Zuko ate dinner and asked a servant for seconds and didn't stutter or flinch or lose his appetite when father asked, coolly, what he'd done with his day. Azula's shoulders tensed, because one mention of how she'd squandered her own training time teaching him--

"Azula hogged the training grounds. For hours," Zuzu scowled, exactly like a petulant thirteen year old.

Exactly like he hadn't been acting all day.

By the time Father was looking her way, Azula had her usual smirk in place. "I'm sure there would be room for both of us," she said, "you're not afraid of a little friendly fire, are you, brother?"

Zuko sulked. And ate his seconds, like he was enjoying each bite. There was something in his eyes, like a joke no one else was getting.

---

Father died that night. A heart attack. There were the faintest of burns to either side of the treacherous organ; the royal physician hypothesized that he'd grabbed at his chest, fingers burning hot in his final moments; so hot they'd only exacerbated the problem.

The royal physician would never have been brought any victims of lighting strikes. Those that occurred in the capital did not generally require a doctor in the aftermath.

Zuzu ate a hearty breakfast.

He didn't order seconds. Azula gave him points, at least, for not being tacky.

---

The sages named Iroh as regent.

They named Zuko as Fire Lord.

"No," the tiny Fire Lord in his perfectly miniaturized Fire Lord robes said, sitting at the head of his war council. "We're not doing that. And I'll be reviewing all recent battle plans, as well. What's this I hear about a division of new recruits being deployed to the front?"

He did not mention how he'd heard of the 41st Division. No one asked.

"Prince Iroh, surely--" one of the generals tried to appeal.

The young Fire Lord's regent was looking as startled as the rest of them, for a moment. Then he sipped his tea, and smiled.

"Your Fire Lord is correct, of course. A change in our leadership--a change the other nations may mistakenly view as weakness--will necessitate a change in our strategy."

"Now," said their lord, "what, exactly, is our overall objective in this war?"

War, the new Fire Lord decreed, was not an end unto itself.

---

The new Fire Lord continued to have time, to pretend to be trained by her. Azula watched him. Adjusted her footwork. Did not tolerate, and was not offered, any commentary on who was teaching who.

"What did you do with my brother?" she asked, as they flowed from one set to the next. As her hands, poised to throw fire, just so happened to be pointed his way.

He missed a step. It didn't look like an act.

"I'm, uh. Right here?"

She didn't bother to dignify that.

He didn't bother to look worried about her hands, one movement off from a true attack.

He looked around, then grabbed her sleeve, and tugged her further from any walls that may hide ears. The royal family's private training grounds were wonderfully large, and wonderfully open.

"It's me," he said. "It's still me. Just. More of me? Longer of me?"

She narrowed her eyes. A familiar expression, by this point. "Explain."

"...I found the Avatar," he said. "And this is definitely his fault, but--but I guess it started at a war meeting, when I was thirteen."

Azula listened. It was a very Dum-Dum story.

i truly do wonder if zoro’s lack of emotional vulnerability will ever be addressed in a serious way.

we have the strawhats who give him a hard time every now and again for his stern opinions in places which may need a considered touch, e.g. vivi’s disappearance, but it’s never something that’s explored with the intention of character development which is something i find interesting.

zoro is one of my favourite characters of all time, of all media, and i have no qualms in saying his lack of acceptance towards emotion can be a flaw. he is coarse at times and while it serves a much needed purpose on occasion, such as the fight between usopp and luffy where his plainspoken, blunt words were necessary. there are other occasions where that's just not what's needed- such as luffy unable to stop crying after he found out sabo was alive, and zoro (framed humorously) scolding him.

zoro’s emotions are worrying, and something i believe stem from his lifelong isolation. for zoro, who’s never had a home before the strawhats, to stare blankly at the going merry as she burned down. zoro who notably smiles less as the series progresses, who never got closure for the trauma between thriller bark and post marineford. i find it so worrying, and it's something i very much want to be addressed.

zoro is the manly man, he is beloved by gym bros and has a large male fan base. he is the protector. and that trope has been placed upon his shoulders among a lot of categories that the strawhats fill out respectively. but zoro feels insecure no matter how people may interpret him, no matter what trope he fits, “if i fail to become the world’s greatest swordsman you’ll be disappointed, right?” zoro often feels a disregard for his own life and has a flippant relationship with injury which is a huge red flag in regards to the perception of himself, his self worth, and even more than that. he pushes himself in ways which can only be explained by an unhealthy desperation. zoro is human. but he won't let himself be.

and that's understandable given what he's surrounded by, given his role and his trope. but that drive without the ability to accept 'weakness' (emotion) is a terrible combination, which in any real life scenario would be an impending mental crash.

zoro needs to accept his own emotions, he needs to allow himself to feel them, or else he will crumble under constant stress. and maybe he will, maybe something similar to marineford will happen where zoro completely collapses under the weight of the world, but god bless, that is the last thing i want to happen. and equally, something i cannot see happening from oda currently.

i want, desperately, for zoro's emotional constipation to be a plot that is addressed through someone who is well emotionally adjusted and guides him through that development. or maybe a small, personal loss that hits deeply and he has to accept the fact he needs support through it, anything. even a scare with the crew, luffy, in danger that teaches him the importance of openness with loved ones. anything will do.

i just worry for him and hope for his happiness truthfully. please oda, zoro emotional processing arc?

thinking about how none of the strawhats have ever known a luffy without zoro.

everyone joined the crew to witness this oddly content and peaceful, terrifying duo. their dynamic is sweet and funny, almost gentle, something you would expect from childhood friends who have been next to each other for so long they don’t always need words. and then again, they are something else when they are in battle.

they trust each other like they are extensions of themselves, they know each other inside and out like they are telepathic, they get each other so completely.

i’m sure everyone who joined the crew looked at them and must’ve thought at one point that there has never been a time where they have not known each other. until nami tells them, oh, they met a few weeks before i joined.

the shock that must come from learning their bond is nearly as young as all of theirs, and not a product of existing next to each other for years.

how baffling it must be to watch them save each other like it’s breathing, to rely on each other without question or thought in fights, and to realise they only spent such a marginal time alone before everyone else began to join them.

to never know a luffy without zoro, or a zoro without luffy, it must be hard to ever imagine a time where they weren’t by each other’s side.

zoro spending most of his waking hours in the company of the moon (himself). his vigilance when in solitude, his natural inclination to the night being a reflection of himself.

zoro sleeping with the sun (luffy). the hours he allows himself to relax and let go of his alertness. always on the deck, bathing in sunlight. his sleeping hours being a reflection of the vulnerability he allows himself with luffy, with the crew.

sun and moon zolu you have my heart

today i am thinking about zoro and luffy both having two constantly depicted scars. one on their eye each and one on their chest each. so intrinsically intertwined they have matching mortal wounds.

and i know it’s silly, and coincidental, but i like to think it symbolises them understanding each other more and more as time passes.

zoro got his chest scar clambering and falling on the way to his dream, being defeated by mihawk so easily then swearing to never lose again. and luffy who got his chest scar clambering and falling in a different way. they understood ultimate defeat respectively, loss and something that hit, quite literally, over the heart. their chest scars are their most important reminders of strength, the need for it. and loss, the need to avoid it.

and then luffy, who’s eye scar is a self-inflicted wound as he tried to convince shanks he could be a pirate too- he was strong enough. and zoro who got his eye scar during the timeskip, in a way we still don’t completely know, in the height of his self loathing for not being strong enough. they both got the scars around their eyes for the future ahead of them, and in trying desperately to get there. luffy asking shanks to take him onboard, and zoro asking mihawk to train him. the scars around their eyes are ground zeroes, an ask, a plea, complete determination.

one piece started and zoro quickly learned to understand loss, knew loss, while luffy would learn loss so deeply in marineford. one piece started and luffy understood the need helpless desperation, growing up with shanks refusing him. and zoro learned that later, so horribly, after thriller bark turned into the sabaody incident turned into marineford where he couldn’t do anything.

zoro and luffy understand each other so completely, they’re soulmates. but there are still parts of themselves which are obscured, different, simply because they are two different people with two different histories. and those things that are missing come with age, experience or being together. they understand one another more each day, somehow that’s possible, and i think their scars are a good example of it. them learning things which they may not have understood before, connecting to parts of each other they may not have connected to before.

zolu being married feels right on the basis that luffy is selfish/possessive and zoro is prideful alone.

luffy likes having things, he’s wonderfully selfish, he could be nothing other than the captain of a ship. he would call zoro ‘husband’ one time and never stop because, yes, zoro is his husband.

and of course, zoro is his swordsman, his first ever crew mate, but there’s something that makes him feel perfectly content when calling him his. additionally, luffy’s possessiveness paired with zoro’s elation to be his, to worship and follow him. zoro himself would feel delighted to be wanted by his captain so completely, and luffy would bask in that.

and then zoro would reciprocate, not calling luffy his husband out of harmless possessiveness but out of pride. because what is zoro if not too proud to admit to weakness, vulnerability? what is zoro if not in a clamber for ultimate strength, to be best, to never lose again?

zoro being able to call luffy his husband with a puffed chest, because yeah. his husband is the king of the pirates by the way; stronger, kinder and cooler than anyone. his pride in his captain is unparalleled, to zoro there is nothing that nears his perfection. and that’s all his. he’s so proud to be loved by him, to love him; that’s his husband.

it’s funnily sweet how their pride and selfishness appease one another, intertwined so perfectly that they soothe each other’s nagging feelings by simply being themselves and being together. husbands and soulmates

zoro unlocking conquerors/supreme king haki while having a flashback about luffy, explaining him as the reason he did so, was insane narratively.

zoro’s devotion is as unquestioned as humans’ need for oxygen, his loyalty is as sure as the need for ground beneath our feet. but to place luffy at the center of even his willpower and ambition, that’s something.

supreme king haki is an unteachable, one in a million power that’s tied with having ‘kingly’ qualities. but zoro doesn’t want to be a leader, he relishes in following. he states, with a picture of luffy in his mind, luffy commenting that he needs no less than the world’s greatest swordsman, that he made a promise. his promise to kuina and luffy is at foundation of his drive.

zoro’s supreme king haki does not stem from the ambition of a king, it comes from wanting to be his king’s very best soldier. he wants to be the greatest, and he wants to be no less than that for luffy. a king, sure, but in the way that a king would answer to a god.

when asked “so you intend to be a king, then?” zoro’s initial instinct was simple, “what?” because that had never even crossed his mind. but he agrees shortly after, with the image of luffy in his mind, “that’s right.” and he became the king of hell, serving a god of the sun.

zoro doesn’t have ambition to conquer, not in the same way luffy does, but he wants to conquer whatever stands in luffy’s way. his ‘kingly’ attributes are accelerated by devotion, like a king would devote his life to his country, his everything. while becoming the world’s greatest swordsman is a convoluted example of a king, sitting atop a throne of symbolic power, i think it’s more accurate to call what zoro unlocked ‘supreme soldier’ haki. ‘conquerors’ haki in the way a marshal would lead an army for his king, and not the king himself. conquering the battlefield as a victory for not only himself, his ambition interconnected with others (those he loves).

i don’t mean to diminish zoro’s ambition, to be the world’s greatest swordsman is a king in itself and that should be recognised. but nothing can detract from the fact that as he unlocked this power, the power of ultimate will, his mind was full of luffy and his smiling face. luffy has always and will always be at the base of zoro’s goal, since the day he met him. becoming the world’s greatest swordsman was no longer solely tied to kuina but now equally his captain, who could have no less than the world’s greatest swordsman.

and what an interesting development we saw happen in front of us. comparatively, the reason for every strawhat’s dream is born from their past, but we witnessed the reason behind zoro’s dream evolve in present time. he no longer strives for kuina alone. he will be a king, because it is what luffy needs as well. he will be the world’s greatest swordsman because he’s got a promise to keep to his captain and his best friend.

a one in a million power, unlocked as a result of a promise. zoro’s devotion is indescribable, his loyalty and his love is quite literally one in a million. if not even rarer as we have never seen an instance of supreme king be activated for someone else. i cannot articulate the beauty of it

My last dissertation proved definitively posited that Zoro does not get jealous over Luffy, except in the live action where he is hilariously transparent and insecure. But what about the other way around?

[For a delightful representation of the sentiments conveyed within this rant, I highly recommend the fic good things take time by cosmosthistle. It’s a beautiful piece of writing that exactly embodies my understanding of Luffy as a maturing MC with naive yet complex feelings. It’s a pretty popular fic but give it a read if you haven’t had a chance!]

Can we all agree that Luffy has abandonment issues? For a happy-go-lucky guy with no inner dialogue, he’s genuinely afraid of losing those closest to him. He can’t go on without his crew. This was my number one takeaway from Sabaody. Luffy is inherently possessive over his entire crew. They make up a key part of his identity, and he will fight the world for all of them.

Out of his entire crew, I’ll dare to say Zoro is probably the most of the most important to Luffy. Again, Zoro is Luffy’s voice of reason, moral support, enabler, and rabid attack dog rolled into one muscular package. Luffy holds him in high regard. He is 100% possessive of Zoro. But is he insecure about Zoro’s feelings for him to develop feelings of jealousy over his swordsman?

My answer is, yes, at times. And it sounds crazy because why would Luffy be insecure?! Who is more loyal than Zoro?! The crazy part is, Luffy can be too naive and vulnerable at times to see Zoro’s complete devotion.

At Water Seven when Zoro prevents him from welcoming back Usopp, Zoro actually threatens to leave if Luffy doesn’t hold his ground. And while there is no way Luffy would sacrifice Zoro to get Usopp back, the fact that Zoro voices the threat at all shocks Luffy to the core. Luffy already can’t deal when a crew member leaves (Nami, Usopp, Robin, Sanji). I can’t even fathom what he’d do if Zoro left him.

While Zoro has shown his loyalty time and time again to the audience, to Luffy, his initial promise was if Luffy stood in the way of his dreams, he’d cut Luffy down. And Luffy will never know what Zoro did for him at Thriller Bark. Luffy doesn’t know the extent of Zoro’s devotion (and I think he’d be furious if he ever finds out). Luffy thinks Zoro and him are equals; he doesn’t realize Zoro has placed his captain above his own ambitions, that Zoro is his. He may feel it, but he doesn’t know it at his core.

Because of this unknown, Luffy has the potential to feel insecure should something/someone else take away Zoro’s attention. If someone appears able to offer Zoro something Luffy can’t/hasn’t, Luffy would be confused, unable to voice his frustration, and generally drown in a jealousy he cannot explain. This is more of a potential pre-time skip.

In summary, Luffy, especially early One Piece Luffy, definitely has the potential for jealousy. I hope we get to see more of that in fics as writers become more confident at portraying Luffy as a complex, multifaceted character.

I’m ready. I’m ready for my ZoLu jealousy rant. Part 1 of 2.

[BTW, this rant is also a behind-the-scenes look at the madness that came over me when I wrote the unsubtly titled fic, “Four Times Zoro Did Not Get Jealous (and the One Time Sanji Confronted Him About It).” Prior reading of the fic is not necessary for enjoyment of my insanity analysis.]

At its core, I believe jealousy arises from 1. a special regard and 2. insecurity. You don’t get jealous over someone you don’t care about. And if you’re confident in the other person’s feelings for you, there’s not much to be jealous about.

With our resident swordsman, he definitely holds Luffy in high regard, meaning there would be reason to feel jealous over Luffy. The question then becomes, has Zoro ever been given a reason to feel insecure about his place in Luffy’s life?

My stance on this is a solid NO.

I believe Zoro knows his worth, partly because he has ALWAYS worked hard to earn his place beside Luffy. He trains constantly and goes above and beyond to do everything he can to stay by Luffy’s side and be Luffy’s “wing.” And Luffy has shown time and time again that he trusts Zoro implicitly in pretty much everything except for directions. Zoro is Luffy’s voice of reason, moral support, enabler, and rabid attack dog rolled into one muscular package. Luffy appreciates the crap out of Zoro, and he has never hesitated to show it. He calls for Zoro first, is always delighted to see him, and gives Zoro the Sabo face-glomp treatment (TM) after just two weeks apart. Yes, all Straw Hats are created equal, but I’ll fight every One Piece fan to defend my view that in the eyes of canon Luffy, Zoro may just be a tad more special.

My point is, Luffy has never given Zoro a reason to be jealous, and Zoro is secure enough in his position within Luffy’s life that he doesn’t feel threatened by anyone else. He’s been petty, sure, like his insistence that he is worth twice as many men as Sanji, but I do think that is just Zoro’s competitiveness. Because why on earth would Zoro be jealous over Luffy? Who can even come between them??!

Don’t get me wrong, I like to indulge in a jealous Zoro fic any time. In fact, if you know any, send a link my way pls! At my core, however, I don’t think Zoro is the jealous type. Not over Luffy at least. Shippers of other Zoro pairings? You do you.

However! There’s always a caveat. I do believe Zoro gets possessive, but in the way that all Straw Hats get possessive over Luffy. Because Luffy is theirs. And when Luffy nearly kills himself to save a whole kingdom, I think they get a little protective over their captain, and they’d want to keep him to themselves for a while. Ultimately, they know they can’t. Luffy is meant for the world to love, and all the Straw Hats know this. Zoro knows this more than anyone, having been THE FIRST.

So at the end of an adventure, when the fight is over and adrenaline leaves him, I think Zoro frets and anguishes so much that he wants to lock up his captain in a room where nobody else can take another piece of him, because Luffy has given enough, dammit. But Zoro doesn’t do that, because Luffy would not want him to.

In summary, the conclusion of my book report is that no, Zoro doesn’t get jealous.

(But what about Luffy?! That’s coming in Part 2. I need to first write another 1000 words of my next fic.)

(I’m allowing myself one rant for every 1,000 words I write. It’s partly self-motivation, but mainly it’s a preventative measure against how annoying my ZoLu brainworm is becoming.)

It is terrifying that I’ve been shipping ZoLu longer than some of y’all have been alive. I don’t recall how I got so old.

But I am glad for the chance to experience One Piece and ZoLu slowly through the years and view them from different stages of my own life. Because when I was a young adult, they were just silly boys who got along and matched each other’s crazy. Then I grew up, got married, and realized Zoro and Luffy’s CANONICAL relationship is actually one that I want to have with my own spouse. Allow me to rant explain:

Loyalty is, of course, probably the number one aspect of their relationship that all fans can agree on. Trust is possibly a second. You can’t have a long-lasting relationship of any type without either. Sure, they take it an extra EXTRA mile with all the almost-dying and you-and-me-versus-the-world shit, but the general point stands.

If you dive deeper, they’re also best friends. They enjoy the same crazy adventures, know when to let loose, share the same values, tease each other (without malice), support each other in their goals, and watch each other’s back. Their personalities might be different, but their friendship is SOLID.

Then you dive even DEEPER, and you realize they’re also PARTNERS. When one of them faces a tough challenge, the other will step in and help shoulder the burden (Duel with Mihawk; Usopp’s departure; and yes, it did in fact drive me insane when Luffy took a nap while fighting Kaido because Zoro was there to buy him time.) When Zoro wants to pursue something, Luffy fights for his freedom to go after it (duel with T-Bone). When Luffy needs a sanity check, Zoro is there to provide it, and Luffy ACTUALLY LISTENS! (Punk Hazard, you’ll always be famous.)

It sometimes baffles my mind how non-problematic Zoro and Luffy’s marriage relationship is. Although as Sanji points out in a recent chapter, Zoro does enable Luffy too much and that might not be great for their health, but hey, he just wants to spoil his captain with fun adventures, okay?!?

I guess the point of today’s rant is: if you’re gonna get hitched for life, I hope your relationship is as solid as the one between Luffy and Zoro.

[I really want to rant about the role of jealousy in ZoLu. Gotta write another 1,000 words! I’m pumped!]

Do you think Zoro has ever looked at Rayleigh and felt his insides freeze from fear? Do you think he sees a version of his own future where despite everything he’s tried, despite all the blood he’s shed and would go on to shed, his captain would still slip away from his hold — and he’d be left adrift for the rest of his days, drinking to oblivion, alone, bereft of any and all purpose?

Or do you think Zoro would be filled with contempt instead, and disgust at how the peerless Dark King failed to save his own captain’s life, even though it was no fault of his? Do you think Zoro, possessing the stubbornness and bravado of a much younger man, would insist that if it were him, nothing — absolutely no man or force in the universe — would be strong enough to rend him from Luffy’s side, and if Luffy had to die like Roger had to die, that Zoro would simply follow him to the afterlife?

Or do you think perhaps he’s unable to picture it at all — a life without Luffy’s warmth — so he ignores the many parallels between them and avoids contemplating the matter entirely? Perhaps he rather pities Rayleigh, because the former right hand man of the Pirate King should be free, but Rayleigh will never again know the meaning of the word, haunted as he is by a ghost he can’t bear to exorcise.

i find it so fitting that luffy met (and freed) zoro at his weakest- starved, restrained, with his execution impending. i find it equally fitting that the moment zoro was free of those restraints, he almost immediately blocked luffy from a fatal attack.

their relationship, from their very first meeting, has always been a reliance on each other without shame. luffy didn’t move when that axe was coming down on his head or a hoard of marines ran towards him, trusting zoro to stop them, and he didn’t turn the other way when he saw the infamous pirate hunter he sought out to be his first crew mate helplessly tied to a cross either.

they are unbeatable forces of nature but with each other they show weakness, in fact, they often allow themselves to be weak. their unconditional trust to cover each other’s backs gives them the rest they need in a battle to allow them to finish it.

it’s truly such an astounding thing to me to be so completely vulnerable in someone’s hands. to not block, or flinch, or move, because you know someone will save you no matter what. to fall asleep on the battlefield with two yonko because you need a minute, and you know harm will never come to you if the other person is there.

one of the foundations of zoro and luffy’s dynamic is vulnerability at the most important times. and hugely, their comfortability in that vulnerability because they are by each other’s side. from their very first interaction they showed what could’ve hypothetically been life-ending weakness but they saved each other. and from that moment they never stopped doing so

sometimes i sit and wish zoro had a ‘hat moment,’ like nami’s in arlong park, usually just as an extension of me wanting zoro content. but i’ve been thinking about it, zoro and luffy’s straw hat, and realised just how many times he has either caught it or been trusted to hold it.

zoro doesn’t need a shifting character moment that impacts his relationship with the crew because he doesn’t have anything in his backstory that hinders his openness with them. as far as we can tell, there is nothing subdued and hurting in his past that needs addressing. if any of the strawhats asked, i think he would easily tell them about kuina, his parents, the dojo, if they don’t know already.

zoro being trusted to hold luffy’s hat, to catch it over open waters when it’s dangerous for luffy to, etc, it speaks so hugely about zoro and luffy. zoro doesn’t need the anchoring support it has, instead he acts as a person luffy trusts to protect it.

in a lot of ways, luffy’s strawhat is an extension of himself, his strawhat is him. it’s what makes the moment in arlong park so special, it makes every moment it’s in danger so terrifying. he’s straw hat luffy. in fact, many enemies, friends and acquaintances refer to him as just that- straw hat.

luffy’s trust in zoro to hold his treasure, a piece of himself, is so special. it perfectly sums up their relationship, their trust and their willingness for vulnerability with each other. luffy allows zoro to protect him, and zoro would catch him every time.

zoro not having a ‘hat moment,’ instead having multiple where he holds it in tricky situations instead, it makes sense. luffy leans on zoro, he allows himself to be supported. though not shown, i am sure zoro would be equally comfortable for luffy to hold onto wado if he couldn’t.

luffy physically handing over a part of himself to zoro, a part that i am sure he values over a limb if need be, it’s so telling. he repeatedly trusts zoro with his life many times, yet somehow giving him his straw hat feels just as special.

zoro doesn’t need the comfort of the hat, he’s able to offer the opposite instead. luffy is comforted with the knowledge it’s in his hands.

luffy’s colours being white & red and zoro’s colours being black & green is so perfect to me.

white and black, they directly link to lightness and darkness. it relates to luffy’s relation to the sun god, his angelic gear 5 form, his vastly kind personality and unburdened joy. whereas that darkness relates to zoro’s sinister fighting style, ‘king of hell’ and the demonic references integrated from the beginning of his character to present. his capability for deadly aggression and more serious tone.

yet contrarily we have red and green. red, the colour of blood and fire, passion and warning, it is boldness as a colour, and often used in a way to represent urgency. like luffy, his goal steers his everyday, he is driven and determined, terrifying and powerful. his gear 5 red eyes sting in the memories of enemies, luffy is boldness and passion. and we have green; peace, nature and luck. zoro and his passiveness, his gentle relationship with the people he loves, his tendency to sleep through the day and protect when no one is awake. zoro has a distinct softness to him that, in my mind, is best described as mundane tranquility. zoro is green like grass swaying in the spring time breeze, he is peace.

they are opposites, they are two halves of a whole. where luffy is light and heaven, zoro is sinister and demonic. where luffy is danger, zoro is peace. they fit like a jigsaw, completing each other, while it is the fact they are opposites that allows them to fit so seamlessly.

luffy’s light and zoro’s green interact on a personal basis, gentle and happy, heaven and peace. luffy’s red and zoro’s darkness meet on the battlefield as unstoppable and terrifying allies, danger and hell.

their associated colours intertwine as perfectly as they do as characters, i really love it so much.

The amount of people calling nightwing pretty boy is actually insane like

He will literally shove his escrima into someone’s ears, electrocute them, and then give em a round house kick for good measure and somebody in the distance will be like, “who’s the pretty boy?”

Gojo Satoru is the prime example of a character whose very existence is rooted in weaponisation. His dehumanisation is so severe that it serves as a point of origination for who he really is. And while it is a fact that Gojo, as the strongest sorcerer, cares very little for his inherent weaponisation, it still doesn’t make his character any less tragic. Canonically speaking, Gojo used his weaponisation to bring his long term goals into motion, without his dehumanisation, the narrative would be very fractured. This is why the hidden inventory arc was the rawest, most jarring arc of the entire series because not only does Gojo get a taste of normalcy but gets hooked onto it to the point that he, a weapon of the Jujutsu society, lets a mass murderer roam freely for ten years. Gojo’s weaponisation is tragic when you see it from the lenses of a viewer. Because at his very core, he is human, which is why his blue spring of youth serves as the point where the entire trajectory of the manga changes because it is when he experiences something akin to normalcy. Obviously this doesn’t take away from the fact that Gojo himself uses his weaponisation to his convenience and often asserts himself a weapon to fulfil his motives but it just gives a lot more dimension to his character. He is not someone who pities himself for being a weapon, because he has honed himself as a weapon, along with the very narrative but that doesn’t take away from his innate humanness.

From having a bounty on his head from the moment he was born to experiencing a taste of youth, to loving and living and losing and then dedicating himself to give the next generation of sorcerers the youth they deserve, to fighting and dying by the hands of the strongest. Gojo fulfils his role not only as a weapon but also a human.

Can we all just take one second to admire this giant brute of a man hyping himself up after being the first person to get an exclusive interview with Dick Grayson? Clark Kent, you are so loveable.

Superman: American Alien #4

Now that I have the confidence to send you asks, fully expect me to bug you periodically from here on out

Anyways- do you think Dick qualifies as a scapegoat? Cause I 100% think he's a scapegoat. People always try to shove the 'golden child' role onto Dick, and it always confused me cause like. He doesn't fit it at all if you actually look into what a golden child is.

Dick is definitely one of the scapegoats of the batfamily (Jason being the other) and it makes me sad that people always label him a golden child when he's the exact opposite. Seriously- he's hit, beaten, unfairly blamed, lashed out at, not told about important things (Jason or being replaced, Jason dying, Jason's funeral, probably other things, i wouldn't be surprised), etc. Definition of a scapegoat to me.

It's also why I hesitate to label him the 'favorite' even when the comics try to say otherwise. Mostly because... favorite children aren't really treated this way. Favorite weapon, maybe, as I've said in a post I've made before, but that's it. Bruce wouldn't kill for him or any of his kids. He's come close, yeah, but he's also come close to killing the Joker too after Jason's death and had to be threatened into not doing it. Every time, it's in a strong surge of emotion, and the second Bruce thinks rationally- well, he doesn't do it. Dick isn't at all unique, Bruce wouldn't kill for him either.

I think Bruce is the most proud of Dick, and has a unique relationship with him due to knowing him the longest and the parentification, but I don't think that makes him the favorite. Maybe to the other batkids, but probably not in reality.

I don't think Bruce really HAS a favorite- Dick is probably the closest to it, but still.

Though, if you wanna play around with angst and fanon ideas, maybe both Dick and Jason are the favorites and that's why Bruce treats them the worst? Dunno, it'd make a fun fic, even if it's not really grounded in canon (though I ignore RHATO and Comic UTRH).

Idk. Just,, gestures. Dick is a scapegoat to me.

Hope my 2 am rambling made sense lol

Okay, I see you, but I'll argue:

Dick Grayson is both the scapegoat and the golden child.

Now, you might not believe this since he doesn't tend to be both at the same time, and it isn't common for these roles to exist within the same individual. But Dick Grayson is praised and favored as much as he's blamed and pushed.

A golden child is the one who carries most of the expectations in the family. The parent expects them to be perfect, make no mistakes, take on roles they're pushed into with no issue (thus parentification can happen), and continue on and on to be good enough and meet the criteria so they don't make the parent disappointed.

The love is conditional hence they develop this unhealthy perfectionism and self-esteem and self-worth issues that will follow them till adulthood even when they're out of that environment and living their own lives.

The reason why a parent might choose a specific child (or children) to be the favored one is because they tend to see this child as an extension of themselves. And consequential to this, they will project their insecurities onto said child and force them to improve—be the best—where they fall short. All of their capabilities are overvalued, making the parent see them as special and much better than the rest, causing the unrealistic expectations a child must hold and fulfill so as not to “fail” their parent(s).

Although this child might seem like the favorite and who could do no wrong on the outside, the love they receive isn't something they can take for granted.

When a golden child underperforms or isn't as good as they're expected, the parent’s demeanor might change. They will feel the disappointment and fear this might cause the treatment they get to change. Sometimes the child might even fear abandonment or rejection from their parent as a result of their failures.

The mix of all this turns into a person who's over-competent, hard-working and someone that tends to take charge of things so they aren't at risk of failing, making them ‘natural’ leaders in any group they might be part of.

Sounding familiar yet?

Now, let's move on to the scapegoat:

A scapegoat child is the one that is blamed by all the things that go wrong in the family. They are constantly criticized and shamed by things they might've not even been part of, but somehow they're now involved and taking all the blame for the others so there are no consequences for anyone but them.

(All the blame also messes with their perception of certain events, making them prone to self-blame for the problems that occur in the family or their behaviors towards them.)

The scapegoating in the family may be due to subconscious projection from the parent when they're dealing with difficult emotions such as shame, guilt, rage, etc. They feel threatened by their own feelings and therefore they will try to escape from them by externalizing those feelings and making them their scapegoat’s problem.

Because of this treatment, the scapegoat might become an outsider in the family, feeling excluded and isolated from the rest. And for this, when push comes to shove and they're going through a rough patch, they will not have any reliable support they can go to inside the family as they'll be ignored or otherwise unfairly treated, having their feelings be invalidated.

Like the golden child, there's some aspects the scapegoat shares with the former:

Being treated differently by the parent/family.

Having unrealistic expectations placed upon them.

Being pushed into roles or responsibilities the child isn't meant to take.

Fear of expressing how they feel.

Self-worth issues and low self-esteem.

Although they're usually roles that are considered opposites, they aren't as incompatible as one might think. A child can alternate between being a scapegoat or the golden child, and this usually happens when the parent is very emotionally unstable, commonly due to a disorder such as narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) or borderline personality disorder (BPD).

(I have so many thoughts about the latter applying to Bruce, but I will refrain from elaborating to not make this longer than it needs to be)

Having all I've said until now in consideration, I'm sure you've noticed how Dick meets both criterias—dare I say the golden child more often than the scapegoat.

Bruce is always speaking about how Dick is “better than him” and “the thing he's ever done right”, but in both of these statements you can see he's taking who Dick is and making it as something that's part of him, comparing Dick's accomplishments to his and putting him in this pedestal, and because of this projection happens and Bruce starts seeing Dick as an extension of himself.

This is why, when he or Dick fail, Dick will suddenly become the scapegoat, contrasting with the former golden child position he was in.

Here you can see the high expectations, praise for his accomplishments, his siblings feeling like Dick is better than them (i.e. treated differently than the rest), and you can also see how when he doesn't meet the expectations, he's met with disappointment (see: Alfred disappointed he's not as bright as he usually is) or judgment (see: Bruce angry at him because he isn't committing to his cause as much as he expects him to).

And these are examples of Bruce being too harsh on Dick and expecting him to do better, blaming him for his brother's death, and in result Dick having a habit of blaming himself and accepting mistreatment, thinking it must be his fault.

More often than not, Dick is put on a pedestal by his family and even his friends sometimes. They praise and love him, but when there's occasions in which he's acting less than perfect, the treatment towards him can change.

Dick Grayson can be the golden child as much as he can be the scapegoat.

The AMOUNT of Dick Grayson character ERASURE…

…that occurs to prop up the Bruce Wayne that exists in everyone’s head is just…baffling to me.

Lemme point out that the #TiredDad chasing after everyone, and trying to force them in a get-along shirt so they can actually get shit DONE…who probably has done the most wellness check-ins and evaluations…who gives a stern talking-to when someone has gone off the rails…and gives chances to those who don’t always deserve it…the guy who has heart-to-hearts on rooftops and has the tough talks with people about things not everyone wants to hear…the guy who puts himself LAST and keeps the wrongs done to him to himself…basically the unsung Knight figure in his group and the difficult brooding parent who’s loyal enough and supportive enough to let people make their own choices that either fail or succeed on their own merit, but he’ll be there Regardless…

Dick is HANDS DOWN the Batman that lives Rent Free in everyone’s noodle.

Every time a fan has a headcannon about Bruce as a Dad…about 7/10 GUARANTEED that Dick either has in CANON-ly DONE IT as either Batman or Nightwing.

And that’s the TEA NO ONE on this HELLSITE can actually handle.

A lotta y'all be writing Dick as this terminally lonely man with no friends like 3/4s of the DCU isn't fighting over who gets to be his emergency contact

also i think about Crime Alley as both the physical source for bruce’s loss and also a sign of gotham’s renewal — leslie’s clinic as one example, or bruce’s dedication to social reform in park row. how after twenty years he is still tethered to the cinema, the alley, the gutters. he knows each brick by touch alone, in the dark he can find his way unaided. like the manor it is the foundation holding him upright. does he find comfort there for himself, knowing that he can always return?

but the graysons died in a field, in the ring. the ring is not stationary, it moves as haleys does. its sawdust floor is discarded after the show, its bleachers disassembled, the big top packed away for the next town, the next country, the next show. the graysons died at haleys, but it isn’t anywhere their son can return to. he can stand in the field, knee deep in grass, but the crowd will not be there, nor the tent nor the jugglers. he could travel the world and never truly find the place his parents died. the only way out is through.

i like dick best when he's stylistically handsome and not just... a man who is handsome. does that make sense? i don't want the usuals that combine to make the average handsome man. i don't want the regular european niceties that create a man you'd pass on the street or see on tv and think handsome. dick should be stunningly normal guy handsome. there should be a certain style or fashion about him that makes you look back, take a second look. you should see him and recognize that there's something there, something eerily beautiful, but by the time your brain processes this, he's already turned the corner, or his face is looking a different way, or he's just out of sight. there should be something in his essence that does make you want to look but also something that's a bit hard to grasp in the second he's in your view. there should be something there that lingers in your brain, like some kind of hauntingly ethereal after image

I need people to be aware that Dick was an absolute menace to criminals when he was Robin, ok? 

Could u elaborate more on what u said about how dick is the linchpin of dc?

Sure! People refer to Dick Grayson as the linchpin of the DCU largely because of this quote:

“Just in terms of links to other characters, though. Dick has so many connections to other characters. In many ways, even more than Superman or Batman, Nightwing is the soul, the linchpin, of the DCU. He’s well respected by everyone, known to the JLA, the Titans, the Outsiders, Birds of Prey – everyone looks to him for advice, for friendship, for his skills. He’s the natural leader of the DCU. His loss would devastate everyone and create ripples through the DCU.” - Phil Jimenez 

For context, Jimenez is one of the people who worked on the Infinite Crisis comics. This quote is from one of the interviews where he (along with other DC creators like Geoff Johns, Eddie Berganaza, and Jeanine Schaefer) explain why it wasn’t a good idea to kill Nightwing off in those comics, despite Dan DiDio’s plans to the contrary. It’s interesting to hear everyone’s perspectives, you can see more of the interview here. 

But yeah, as Jimenez describes, Dick is connected to pretty much every single hero in the DCU. Have you ever heard of ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon’? Because you could easily play that game with Dick lmao. Many of the JLA see him in a motherly/fatherly way, since they were at the very least there when he was Robin. At the most, these older heroes, Superman in particular, actively had a hand in raising Dick into the man he is today. 

In addition, he is very close friends with his generation of heroes because he formed the Titans. That alone gives him connections to so many people: Donna, Wally, Garth, Roy, Kory, Vic, Gar, Raven, Joey, etc. But it doesn’t even stop there! He often acts as a mentor to the next generation of heroes as well: specifically Tim, Kara, and Conner come to mind. And he helps out the Birds of Prey. And the Outsiders. And the Batfamily. The amount of characters he has influenced and interacted with is frankly a little ridiculous. 

The Brave and the Bold (2007) #15

Dick had such a great reputation, and so many people trusted him because a) he had worked with them before and had proven his mettle b) he had been a leader for a team they were on or c) he had mentored them. Like, not to say he was universally liked, but. Even when people hated him or disagreed with him, they usually respected his skills and expertise. And he kind of acted like the bridge/commonality between the old generation and the new:

Teen Titans (2003) #6

He used to be considered such a capable and valuable member of the superhero community…which is one of the reasons why it is so frustrating to see how he is treated in the newer comics/continuity. But really, I am only scratching the surface here on why Dick is considered to be so important. This post by @theflyingwonder goes even further into detail. They also explain what the fallout for Dick’s death should/would have been considering his connections, it’s worth a look.