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“toldja not to overdo it,”

Hi, hope you have been having a great day! Your posts have always been my favorite, and they never fail to brighten my morning. I'd say it's the perfect way to start the day for me ^^

Today I have a question! Penny for your thoughts on Law and the Revolutionary Army? What might his stance and opinions about them be, and if he wasn't a pirate, would he consider being in the RA? (since there's little to no chance he would want to become a Marine)

Oh, hi! Now I do have a great day, because I read your ask ❤ Sorry that lately I don't post every day. Sometimes something else steals my attention, like sudden inspiration for a fanfic or some of my friends in need of quality time together :D yesterday it was an impromptu pokemon battle on discord with self-invented pokemons lol. I will take this opportunity to (again <3) thank you so much for enjoying my posts, I'm always so excited to see your reblog tags each time! :D

Law and Revolutionary Army, okay, let's go! *rolls up sleeves* I actually watched some analysis and theory vids about RA before, and I had a lot of my own reflection on them lately, so I already have an opinion about it. At times this might go slightly political, so a fair warning!

First of all, let's start with Dragon and his Revolutionary Army. Thanks to Robin, we know their goal is most likely the World Nobles (Celestial Dragons) and we know they have some longterm goals planned. They're basically gathering supplies, allies, weapons and information, and waiting for a good moment to strike. I don't think their attack on Marie Geoise was one of their ultimate goals in itself, because we learned they did it just to get Kuma back (their valuable ally and friend). Everything else was an extra, but they made sure it counts: destroying the symbol of Celestial Dragons (to declare war), cutting them off the food supplies and getting rid of their stock, freeing as many slaves as they could.

They're apparently still making sure the food supplies can't reach Marie Geoise, which we learned from chapter 1126. Interesting thing to note here is that they actually have an agenda behind "riling up rebellion in nations": it's to limit nations that will pay celestial tribute and hand them resources, in other words: to weaken their enemy.

Dragon declares he literally wants to collect his own army to fight for the better world, whatever that might mean to him. He was part of the marines once, but "found no justice there", so he left and created his own army instead. We can't really talk about Revolutionary Army without taking into account his stance on justice.

Seeing from his reaction to Luffy becoming a pirate ("Not bad!") and him and Akainu disliking each other, we can take some guesses here. Dragon's goals are probably: freedom for people, not allowing innocent people to suffer, making sure people in power do not abuse it (an army for hire sure sounds like a good method to at least make them think twice before overusing their power).

And what's their modus operandi when trying to reach these goals? Many people in fandom are frustrated with Dragon and Revolutionaries, because it feels like they're "just there", waiting all the time and doing nothing. They don't go around the world freeing kingdoms and fighting oppressive reigns, after all. What they do instead, is reach out to normal citizens and "ignite the flame of rebellion" in their hearts.

That's because Revolutionary Army doesn't want to be the ones who will win the war, they want the citizens to be the ones who will win their own country and freedom back, and RA will simply help them achieve that, remaining as support.

They're so interesting exactly because they try to empower those that are on the lowest steps of the hierarchy's ladder, they want to give power back into their hands, but for this to work those citizens have to wish for that themselves, try to fight back, and it needs to be their own decision to do that. The power they give them is the power to fight back, defend themselves and demand their own rights and independence. Revolutionaries show to people that common folk are also part of the system and so they have the right to decide how they want the world to look like, even if it's only in their small kingdom. And those of them that want to join the cause and change the whole world to become a better place, are invited to join the Revolutionary Army. That's how Dragon operates. He even makes it clear that it's his rule not to assassinate kings or overthrow them himself, because that's not his job to do; it's up to the people of the nation.

We can deduce that Dragon would rather avoid direct conflicts, bloodshed and anarchy (after all regular kings are not his aim!). What he offers people in need instead is that: an army for hire, and for free! But only to those powerless people who are oppressed. Now we should ask this question: as much as this all sounds very good and noble, is it really a good thing to do? Let's look at the consequences of the attack on Marie Geoise. It was aimed at Celestial Dragons, but who suffers hunger as the result? The nobles?

No, their slaves and servants instead. They would have to go around hungry because there's no way CD would go around hungry instead (and they make a huge deal that they miss ONE meal a day and snacks). And they're still as spoiled as ever! If anything, this only angered them and nothing more. For now, Revolutionary Army achieved only this: to make the life of slaves in Marie Geoise even worse.

Now let's look at Lulusia. Sabo getting involved with them caused the whole kingdom to vanish from the map (yeah, it wasn't his fault, but the fact this kingdom was before freed by Revolutionaries had influence on Imu's/Gorosei's decision). And then let's look at what they did to help Dressrosa: oh wait, actually, they didn't help much. Yes, they supported ciitizens, helping the injured ones and gathering them in safe places (not that there were any real safe places in Dressrosa's disaster).

They also did research and gather evidence from the underground port Mingo was running, which is interesting. Does it mean RA is gonna present evidence in a court against World Government? Or do they just want to trace back their sources so they can steal it for themselves? Anyway, RA did not fight Donquixotes though and did not fight the Marines, with exception of Sabo (and he got heavily scolded for involving himself in the conflict). Was that really the correct course of action? Is that what heroes should be doing? What would happen to Dressrosa if Luffy lost? Would Revolutionaries just allow everyone to die, despite being right there?

Which points me to my own conclusion: Revolutionary Army has lofty, noble goals, they want to help people who are oppressed, but they're not heroes. And they can't be ones. If you have an army, you're automatically disqualified as a hero, because you fight violence with violence, power with power, no matter how you try to sidestep that fact. I'm not saying Dragon is in the wrong, but... what he kinda yearns for is a form of utopia. People should be encouraged to step up and fight for their own good, they should have the means to do that, but what if what they fight for is a mistaken cause? What if years of resentment will lead the people to just keep on oppressing others as the result? It's a logical conclusion to that: you don't want to be oppressed, be sure to raise to the top so everyone is below you (and now you can opress them back). What if those previously powerless people will start to get back on the class that used to oppress them, like what the common folks did to Homing?

Giving power to common people is great, but it will not erase their hatred they collected for centuries, their rage for all the pain they and their close ones had to experience. If you want the world to be truly a better place, then it needs also education, damn, a collective therapy, besides just manpower in an army. But, you know, it's at least *something*, that's why I'm personally not judging RA. They do what they believe is the best thing to do, a first step in the right direction and they mean well, but I think it will backfire, because it's definitely not enough to overturn the world. And power has a tendency to corrupt.

And then we also have Sabo, who kinda went against Dragon's principles when he accepted to be called a Flame Emperor and used the fake news of King Cobra's assassination to encourage people for rebellion.

This might seem insignificant, but it's anything but: Sabo is part of Revolutionary Army, his actions affect RA's public image. If he didn't deny that he killed King Cobra, then it means killing King Cobra was RA's aim.

We will see how it goes in the future, but the recent "fractions" double spread Oda did (above) foreshadows that Dragon and Sabo will kinda go their seperate ways. Sabo took his stance, he wants to fight, not only watch citizens fight. Even if he did that mostly for Luffy, the consequences of that will be longterm.

Now finally I can switch to the actual question you asked: what would be Law's opinion on Revolutionaries. Remember my analysis on how Law taught Luffy what's "the right thing to do"? It was a lesson to always think of the consequences of your actions, to see the big picture. If you want to liberate a whole nation, you need to choose your battles, to strategize the damage, recognize the oppressor's structure of power and strike down the fillars of it so it collapses on itself. Law is a fighter, a commander, a leader. He will not avoid a fight or a war if that's what needs to be done, he won't leave those people to their own fate and will fight with them for the cause (not just offer support!), and he will do what he can to lead them to victory. And he will never accept credit for it. Officially, it's like he was never there, or just part of a nameless "pirate" crowd, no one important.

But if he can, he will avoid conflict and arrange things in such ways it's not even needed. That's how he wanted to get rid of Doflamingo, simply forcing him to give up his warlord status which meant he would have to leave Dressrosa. Just like that, without any blood spilled. But for achieving that, he doesn't shy from doing things that RA would never approve of: kidnapping people, making ransom demands, forcing people to give up their titles by his own actions. Also Law doesn't rile up any citizens, he leaves that up to others. Dragon would not approve of Law's methods, we can be sure of that. And I think Law wouldn't approve of Dragon's actions over Marie Geoise either (starving off slaves), because Law's MO is to always care about the consequences of the actions. In other words, I think Law would think there are better ways to achieve greater results, without hurting oppressed people even more in the process.

Wait a second, you might ask now, but what about Dressrosa? We get the Wano, but in Dressrosa Law didn't care even for a second about the citizens! Well, actually, I think he did initially, his actions and plan were meant to avoid any harm to them, let's never forget that. Later on he did throw it all out of the window for Luffy's sake, I won't deny that. Law might be hero coded but he's not a hero, at the end of the day, and he knows that, he's not a naive idealist like Dragon is.

Dragon voices no regret about starving the slaves for his cause (at least for now), Law on the other hand seemed to make a guilty face expression at the end of Dressrosa, seeing the injured people and ruins everywhere. And that's actually a good thing, that "reality check" is what keeps Law aware that everything he does and every decision he makes will have consequences, and sometimes you need to choose between lesser evil, because world isn't a pretty place, especially the world in One Piece. And idealism often isn't afraid to kill people for it's cause and not only doesn't call it a wrong thing, but calls it A Right Thing To Do. Remember Death Note? That's your unrestricted idealism 101.

Law might tell the Strawhats to just ignore the assault on one of the Flower Capital's districts, but he will never call it A Right Thing To Do. In fact, when Sanji says he can make it work, Law instead trusts him to do his thing. He's flexible in his ways, he always questions, but when it's needed he's firm in his decisions. He just knows sometimes he isn't doing the right thing, but he never loses the direction he aims towards, because if he always questions and seeks and rethinks it from multiple angles it's always for that purpose: to make sure he isn't on the wrong path and if he is: to change it or do better in the future. And seeing the consequences of Dressrosa and how the waves from that spread over the New World, it actually caused a lot of good changes: wars stopped, underground black market took a huge blow, and in longterm: warlord status got erased. And all of that? Is actually thanks to Law and his plan, that was literally the catalyst here. That's why it's 1:0 for Law when compared to Revolutionaries.

Now we enter speculation territory. I do think Law actually might be supporting what RA is doing. Let's think about it: how did RA know that Dressrosa has an underground port?

We learn they sent agents to Dressrosa before, but "they were all turned into toys" (that's revisioning what actually happened - they wouldn't know anything about the toys, because the existance of their agents would be erased from their memories). And they never answer the question: why Dressrosa? And my answer here is: someone had to give them that intel (anonymous intel, most likely) in the first place. Coincidentally they arrive in Dressrosa exactly when Law's plan is taking the stage. I don't think it points towards Law being a Revolutionary, because Sabo has no reaction towards Law, and Revolutionary army has no reason to hide their identities from each other, that's not how they operate at all. And I don't think Law actually cooperated with them either, because the conclusion after Dressrosa clearly took RA by surprise. They got weapons, they gathered important information, it's like this all was gifted to them by someone. And I think it's likely Law was the one who send them the intel, anonymously, or through someone else. Maybe he does support their goal of declaring a war on World Nobles (even if I think he would be kinda disappointed at some of the results of their actions). We saw at Sabaody already that Law isn't really fond of Celestial Dragons, human auctions and slavery; he was pleased with what Luffy did and he also took a stance by freeing Jean Bart.

Would Law join them in the future? I think he doesn't like to work under anyone. Luffy might be also the only person Law ever worked on equal level with. He acts and behaves like a lone wolf, especially when he says things like this:

That doesn't sound like a person who's on a leash, be it Revolutionary Army's, Navy's or Government's. Being a pirate gives Law freedom. If he's somehow with any of those fractions regardless of my analysis, it's just to use them to reach his own goals, just like he took and discarded his warlord status.

And like I said, I doubt Dragon would like Law's methods so Law would have to change them to be part of the RA (and I doubt the main problem here is that he's a pirate, if he wanted to he could have joined them anyway, they did accept former slaves that were pirates before). Also Dragon is playing the long game, and it feels like Law doesn't have that much time to play along with it, because his plans are always moving fast and cause really big ripples. It's not that he's impatient, but it seems like he can't really afford the slow game here.

As for the question you didn't ask: I actually think Law might be part of the Marines, in some way or form. Let's consider this: if he is aiming to overthrow such a big organization, what's the best way to do that? From the inside. Assuming his hate towards government and marines would stop him is not taking his resolve seriously enough, imo. If he is out for revenge, he will stop at nothing, because he is the last person to carry the memory of what truly happened to Flevance. His own resentments would not stop him, he would do that even if he would end up hating himself as the result. "Everything was for that moment", he could declare at the end of it (just like he does in Dressrosa), when he pushes the final blow from the place the Marines expect it the least: their own most trusted people.

Thankfully though he still didn't lose his heart, that's why he does have at least some brakes intact. That's why he cares for people. That's why he cares for consequences of his own actions. That's why he would throw his own plans away or tuck people dear to him to safety over reaching his goals. But he can never forget those goals or throw them away for good. We will see where his storyline will take him in the end.

Of course that's only considering the somewhat popular theories that Law is a member of Sword. I do think those have some really good observations, but the interpretation part falls flat. They got the dynamics completely backwards imo, because Law would not be an underdog to Drake. There, I said it!

Why is Law more stressed, more serious and often grumpy and annoyed in Wano? Thought he would be relieved after Luffy defeated Deflamingo 🤔he couldn't even relax at the banquet 😑

Broody Law is actually my favourite Law, which means I enjoyed him so much in Wano ❤ But why is he delivering behaving like that, indeed? Let's summarize the Wano experience from his side, shall we?

his alliance with Strawhats gets sidetracked because Luffy went to Big Mom to retrieve Sanji. He barely avoided a conflict (not really)

he's stuck at Wano, worrying his ass off for Luffy, hoping he's not left with half of Strawhats crew to take care for forever now

everyone is dying of hunger and getting sick in Wano, because they can't stop drinking water from the polluted river

Luffy finally arrives, Bepo gets sick, Luffy in the meantime does The Worst Thing Possible and Law's efforts to patch up the situation do not work out

Luffy snaps and runs off to fight Kaido

Kaido bombs away Strawhats and Hearts crews while Luffy and Law are already near town and can't do shit about it

he fails to stop Luffy from fighting Kaido

he fails to stop Kaido from putting Luffy in prison

freaking Hawkins getting in his way

crews turn out to be fine, but freaking Kinemon soon leaves to find remaining Akazaya samurais. Now the whole raid plan and making sure it's not exposed is Law's job. On top of that, he needs to take care not only of his Heart Pirates, but also Strawhats, because their captain is in jail. Two crews, a raid plan and the weight of 20 years of revenge is all hanging on Law's neck.

freaking Germa (he's a Sora follower, ok)

he almost throws it all away when Hearts get put in prison

he's got accussed that his crew is crap and he should just kill them off, all that coming from his very own allies he's been taking care of for last couple of weeks!

freaking Hawkins again

getting tortured (just another monday morning amirite)

finding traitor and making sure the raid doesn't fail in the process. Is Luffy finally out of that prison, what is he doing there? Or maybe, that's for the best, he can't make the situation even worse...

Luffy arrives late to the raid and late to the rooftop battle

Luffy brought freaking Eustass Kid to the raid

Luffy is ordering him around in front of freaking Eustass Kid

Luffy tells him to get along with freaking Eustass Kid

Zoro-ya almost died on his watch

Kurashi-ya (literally) caught him in a middle of an embarrassing blunder

Eustass Kid is behaving like a newborn baby and Law has to babysit him

LUFFY BROUGHT FREAKING BIG MOM TOGETHER WITH HIM

now it's Law's job to fight Big Mom. He didn't sign up for this!

Luffy nearly drowned in the sea while fighting Kaido

Luffy lost and died while fighting Kaido

Luffy got revived and won against Kaido

Law had to make bigass room, bigger than anything he made in Dressrosa, probably cutting down on his lifespan in the process

Law has to take care of stuff no one cares about after the raid succeeds, which is taking care of the ships, searching for the poneglyphs (no one but him cared for that in the middle of the raid!) and probably patching many, many people up

he ends up stranded with Robin in some moldy underground chamber for hours, while being seriously exhausted, sleep deprived and in the middle of recovery from his injuries

he doesn't join in the banquet out of spite (no one told him about Jimbei joining the Strawhats. Is Law a joke to them?!), besides just in case a certain Luffy would assault him there, make him go all night long eating and playing around and celebrating, all the while probably bugging him to become a 100% part of the Strawhat crew or at least extend their alliance to together forever status.

And that's just the major things listed! I'm sure I missed some details here and there.

Overall, I think he was stressed and exhausted, because he was carrying a lot of responsibility (and the stakes were extremely high!), at certain points almost the whole raid plan's success was depending solely on him, while others merrily ignored the dangers. He also had two crews to take care of for the whole arc, constantly worried himself over Luffy, got pissed at Eustass Kid and had to cooperate with him (he hates that dude!), and at the end of it his world got almost turned upside down in worst possible way (Luffy dying and raid failing as the result, and the vision of all of them dying flashed before his eyes).

As Bepo reveals to us in the midst of Winner Island escape, Law wants to stay behind with his crew even if it kills him and needs to be reassured that no one is dying there. That suggests Law doesn't deal well with people close to him dying, which shouldn't surprise us after what happened in Flevance and later also to Cora-san. I'm sure Wano hit Law harder than we expect, because there he was, finally believing in people again (Luffy), only for Luffy to die on him as well. Old issues must have resurfaced and his fear of losing people worsened as the result.

I think we should cut him some slack, shouldn't we? Wano was definitely not a walk in the park for Law, especially psychologically-wise. Though to be fair, he could relax and laze around a bit, we see it happen, right before Strawhat Luffy waltzes into the country. That was the last time we saw him actually calm and resting, so I guess that alone gives us another answer to your question as well ;)

And then his alliance ended, and we know Law doesn't like dramatic things, which also means overly emotional goodbyes. It was probably pretty difficult for him to part ways and maybe he thought it would be easier if he avoided Luffy for most of the time after the raid finished. And then Chopper went and almost blew all his efforts up with his warm send-off! Law owes a lot to Strawhats and his debt is only getting bigger, but it won't change his withholding personality.

Did Law find peace after Mingo was defeated? Not exactly, because I don't believe Doflamingo was Law's end goal. Just take a look at his reaction when Luffy finally wins:

Everyone is crying and celebrating, but Law's face looks like this instead. Does this look like a face of a person who finally got rid of his demons and is set free? What about Flevance, are we forgetting that? Law has a lot on his plate, Mingo was simply one of the obstacles in his way (but an important one!). If you want to know more about what I think about Law's end goals, I wrote about it here: https://www.tumblr.com/l-in-the-light/761556630027616256 (the topic starts somewhere around the second picture). That's why I don't think he is at peace or that his revenge is over and we shouldn't expect him to completely "move on" or reach perfect closure just because Mingo is now out of the picture.

There's one exception though. I do believe Law is showing his emotions more openly after Dressrosa. And I think it's actually a sign of him healing and partially moving on.

Because just look at this. Law was always annoyed with his beloved Cora-san as well, and yet we never doubt he loved him dearly. In Wano Law is acting the same way towards the Strawhats, openly showing when he's annoyed and angry. That's how he shows affection and worry. Compare it to Punk Hazard, when he's always holding back, stoic and cold, keeping his comments and reactions to bare minimum. Dressrosa changed everything in Law's emotional department. And the result is that he did open up to his allies.

Also I feel like it's my duty to remind the world about this, often overlooked, fact: so far Law celebrated in the feast exactly one time, in Dressrosa. He didn't join in on Punk Hazard, Zou or Wano. So it's not really a "Wano thing", but more like Law almost always choosing other things over feasting ;) personally, I think it's because of that "30 minutes on festival" rule he had in his household as a child. He's probably not used to just playing around for hours. Besides, we should never underestimate Law's pettiness. Not joining the celebration might have been as well just a petty payback of his, for every offense that happened to him in Wano, lol.

I'm not sure if you liked my answer, anon, but I hope you at least smiled a bit when I tried to mimick Law's grumpiness in this post :D

One thing I found oh so fascinating, is how Law was the first D we met who didn't really have a huge appetite. It was something that so far had been a collective between all of them. Gol. D's, Monkey D's even Marshall D's. All them that we have gotten long enough to know, had a huge appetite, chowing down on inhumanly sized portions. Except Law. in fact Law was an outlier for a lot of traits up to this point we had assumed was unanimous with D's Out going personalities, friendly smiles, positive attitude. But Law was none of those things so he felt sort of like an enigma.

But thats not to say Law isnt a D. Rather the opposite really. If anything Law helps shows what traits are actually unanimous. Smiles of grit teeth, stubbornness, lofty goals and the strange inhuman ability to draw people to them. We see that trait the strongest with Luffy, but we also see it with Ace and the Whitebeards, Teech and his ability to rally criminals, Roger and his crew and Law with his. Law is the wettest blanket of a man who seems to avoid socialising and teams when possible, but he still has a crew that follows his every word with cheers. It’s almost impressive. If anything Law was just the first introverted D. We have met.

Your time travel fic is so sweet, I love it!! I think I have a crush on your future Law ~\(≧▽≦)/~

Hi anon! I’m so glad you like this story. It’s really my best so far, and I adore the warm, tender vibe of it all.

With your crush, I gotta say MOOD. It’s not like future Law is happy-go-lucky or anything, but he’s undoubtedly a handsome DILF, all daredevil smirks, and just generally more chill and free, given how much he must have worked through to reach to that point.

A fun fact for you: when it comes to his appearance only, I imagine it would look like Blackbeard in this little pirate show called Our Flag Means Death lmaoo (very ironic, coz you know, Blackbeard, but he’s a sweetheart in this show I swear) What can I say? I do love pepper gray hair pulled into a half ponytail.

Thank you for such a lovely ask, and have a fun, whimsical day 🥺✨❤️

ALL THE TIME IT'S JUST *CHEFS KISS*

AHHH THANK YOU. THIS IS SO SWEET 🥺

You really made my day with this fr like I'm giggling twirling my hair kicking my feet over here

Hope u have a nice day 🥰🥰🥰

Hi! Do you watch any One Piece youtubers? If so, which ones do you like the most and what are your favourite vids of them? ❤

Hey!! I love watching analysis videos and reading meta posts. So far, my two favorite channels are of course MelonTeee and GrandLineReview.

When it comes to my favorite video, it has to be this one right here. It's the first Trafalgar Law-centric video I ever watched, and I couldn't imagine a better introduction to my understanding of him. It genuinely lays down a pretty good foundation for me to work him out better during my writing process.

With GrandLineReview my favorite are all of the tier list videos haha

Have a lovely day anon!!

Are there some law and lami doodles in your drafts that we haven't seen 👉👈

There hadn't been, but you made me think about them all morning, so here are some sketches!

The Straw Hats wake up one morning to find a stranger standing on deck, with gray hair and familiar golden eyes. The symbol on his long coat reveals his identity—none other than the Captain of the Heart Pirates. Oh, and he is married. Meanwhile, minding his own damn business on the Polar Tang half an ocean away, Law has no idea that he will have to answer to a very indignant Luffy on their next rendezvous.

(Or: The Straw Hats meet the Law from twenty years into the future.)

So invested in the idea that Luffy is so chill in his free time like he's fishing. He's sitting on Sunny's figurehead. He's in the kitchen asking for food. He's lying down on Sunny's lawn. He stays still and doesn't move around much.

On the other hand, in his free time, Law is the type to actually touch grass, breathe some fresh air, and be active outdoors. He's taking walks. He's hiking. He's exploring the downtown business district for commemorative coins.

Their dates would be so interesting because people expect it's Luffy's idea to go out and about but nope, it was Law who suggested it. Meanwhile, Luffy is more likely to persuade Law with home dates with lots of food and they'd even play card or board games.

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Please save my life's son, Donate & Reblog

Thanks 🙏

Donate or reblog if you can!

A present for someone who's been with me high and low, helps me be a more understanding and kind person and has been an amazing friend and a loving partner

Thank you for being here and for making life brighter for me and those you've met in your life

@ayuventi Happy borth!!!!!

Some thoughts on the relationship between Law and Corazon? Is Law obsessed with Cora? Are there romantic vibes (maybe Law would chose a partner that reminds him of Cora 🤔)? Sometimes I have the impression he values him more than his dead family🙄 I mean we never hear him saying he wants revenge for Flevance.

Tbh I see why you would think that, because I also used to think this way. Like everything Law does is for Cora-san, but never for Flevance, for his parents or his sister. This won't be the usual analysis post, but more like me trying to put everything Law did so far into a bigger picture, to reveal what his actual, longterm goals might be. But first, let's start with Law's love for Corazon.

Who is Cora-san to Law? Many people say a parent, a sibling, a religious figure (because of his devotion and obsession), but I think it's actually none of these. I think Corazon is for Law what Oden is for Yamato. Yamato idolizes Oden, wants to be like Oden, but Oden also gave him hope, a dream, a heart (you could say), because before Oden all Yamato had was Kaido and Kaido took away Yamato's freedom long before Oden even happened. He expected Yamato to be the next ruler of Wano for him, to continue in his footsteps, ever since Yamato was born. Yamato's own wishes didn't matter. But the moment Yamato saw Oden everything changed. It's exactly how Ace says it "you're imprisoned by cuffs, but why would you let him cage your heart as well?". Oden was that light for Yamato he finally saw in the darkness, passion, love for the country and people in it, freedom. And he wanted that too, probably for the very first time, for himself. That's why Yamato carries Oden in his heart wherever he goes. Because Oden just by existing and loving his country gives Yamato hope and strength to keep going. Just like Law carries Cora-san in his heart wherever he goes as well.

Cora-san is his saviour, without him, Law would not be alive anymore. But more importantly he saved Law's heart, he showed him love, compassion, he treated him like a person, not a monster. And he gave him all that when Law needed it the most, literally like a hand of salvation. In that case it indeed feels a bit religious. Does it mean Cora-san is more important for Law than his parents? Not neccessarily, let's not forget Law still has at least one tattoo in memory of Flevance, also he still keeps his hat with him at all times and that's his only memento of his family, most likely. But Cora-san is the one who gave Law a "new life", the same way Yamato received "new life" from Oden, even though they didn't even talk once. And that new life is definitely like a new (re)birth for both of them, that's why Cora-san and Oden will never get replaced in their hearts. Taking away Oden from Yamato will leave him with nothing, and while maybe it wouldn't be as drastic for Law, it would still remove the core of who he believes himself to be and cause a major inner crisis.

In another translation of this line, Law says "It's thanks to Cora I'm what I am now". Cora-san is indeed always on Law's mind, just like Oden is always on Yamato's mind. They both try to live like their idols, Law even called his crew the Heart Pirates in honour of Cora-san, but he also mimicks Cora in many ways: how he walks, how he sits, not to mention that silencing spell he used in battle. Yamato as well, even to the point of him changing his gender and wearing Oden-like clothes. Those hearts on Law's clothes also resemble a bit Cora-san's clothes that always had some heart-like motifs. Would you call it idolatry to the point of obsession? Personally, it reminds me of fans behaviour towards their boyband/girlband idols, especially in Japan. I know it, because I'm also part of that fandom. One of my idols has a special place in his hometown and he talked about it in one of his concerts. Next time he knows he hears from his friend reporting him that fans are now flooding that spot, because they all want to see it. They all want to experience that special connection and treasure it inside their hearts. That's devotion and obsession, sure, but you know, I also think it's really beautiful when the love you have for someone expands to places and things they love, cherishing them like they're special now to you as well. And it doesn't matter if that love is romantic, platonic, family-like, worshipping, because love is just love. If you feel it, you get it. It's that special feeling, the warmth, you carry with you everywhere you go and want to share with the world (or keep it close to your heart, or, sometimes, even both?).

So do I think Law has romantic feelings for Corazon? Nope. But he does love him the most in the world. Would Law want his partner to remind him of Corazon? That's a tricky one though. I basically think Law has a thing for cheerful people (Heart Pirates are cheerful, Bepo is joyful, Luffy is also full of smiles and joy), because he surrounds himself with them. But then one thing doesn't really leave my thoughts: why is Sanji the only one who is called by his title "Blackleg-ya" besides "Strawhat-ya"? Zoro, Nami, Chopper, they're all called by their names or surnames, not counting the few exceptions who get no name/title at all. I can understand why Luffy is privileaged considering the importance of their Sabaody meeting, but why is Sanji? They seem to have no connection. And then I realized what LawSan shippers probably did forever ago already: Sanji is a caring blond guy who smokes like crazy. And that must remind Law of Corazon. And that's the only reason why Sanji gets the extra respect (the onigiri though probably helped as well, ngl!). So I guess I have to reluctantly agree that maybe he has a soft spot for smoking blond guys, because they remind him of his beloved Cora-san. Law seems to be a pretty sentimental guy, so it does make sense.

Now let's move on to the question you didn't ask but sort of asked: does it all mean Flevance or his family doesn't matter to Law anymore?

For starters, Law's goals are very obscure and not really explained well in the plot. But let's look at "waves" that are the result of his plan to defeat Kaido and Mingo. Just the news of Doflamingo quitting warlords put the whole New World in a state of panic. It kickstarted rebellion in Dressrosa. Rulers of kingdoms in the middle of wars started to feel anxious, because they got their weapons from Doflamingo. Kaido was also in trouble, ofc. But it's not just that: right after Dressrosa Big Mom suddenly became interested in Germa... seems she was also benefitting from her deals with Doffy (it shouldn't surprise us, he did say he was holding reins to every emperor and monster there is in the new world!) and with Doffy out of the picture, she was in emergency to find a new business partner. Why Germa? Because of his scientifical research. Many of those kids of Big Mom might also not have been "naturally" born, who knows.

In the end those who benefitted the most from Law's plan were Revolutionary Army (they gained weapons, many nations stopped wars and they could instead influence them for rebellion), Blackbeard (unfortunately) and Buggy (his business was suddenly flourishing). After Wano repercussions for the world grew even bigger, but especially in one direction: World Government. We were told Kaido and Orochi did business with World Government, that's how they got their weapons. Now they're kinda in a pinch, aren't they? They can't get them from Kaido, they can't get them from Doflamingo. This was a huge blow to the Government.

And then we also have Sword, which is rumoured to aim it's blade against World Government or at least Marines in some way. Law clearly has some connections to Drake, whether we believe he's part of Sword himself or not doesn't matter (I know those theories are floating around, and I personally think they're just scratching the tip of the iceberg).

Now let's go back to Flevance. Who was responsible for the tragedy?

World Government. And let's not forget for Law World Government means also Navy. They're both guilty. Taking down Kaido helped Wano, ofc, but it also hugely impacted World Government's sources for supplies of weapons. Taking down Doflamingo freed Dressrosa, sure, but it also eliminated a person that was Government's errand boy, basically. That's another blow aimed at Government. It's all about weakening them, they're extremely strong enemy that no one can take on alone, overpowered, cutting them off from supplies sounds like a good first step towards taking them down, wouldn't you agree? That's a similar thing to what Revolutionary Army did to Marie Geoise, btw.

But then, Law said he only cared for taking revenge on Doflamingo, didn't he? That he has been living only for that purpose. Actually... that's not true, he says some really contradictionary things about his own goal:

Let's sum it up: his goal is to fullfill Cora-san's wish, to free himself (because that's what Cora-san wanted for him, to be free), to pull the trigger Cora-san couldn't on that day 13 years ago. If he thinks Cora-san wanted to pull that trigger himself but couldn't then that would make sense. But that's disregarding the fact that Corazon probably never wanted to kill Doffy, he even said it himself that dying is the only option for him. Law knows it. When he says the line about the "trigger" it's about Law's own wish, he thinks Doflamingo should have died instead of Corazon after all. Cora-san's actual wish was for Law to be free, but Law thinks it was something else: stopping Doflamingo. There are like multiple different wishes clashing here, obscuring the truth from us. And let's not forget the most crucial information: Law never planned to take down Doflamingo by himself! The whole plan was about making Doflamingo resign from warlords so he leaves Dressrosa. Law didn't even care what will happen afterwards to him (though it's clear he wished Navy would take care of him, more so than he cared for Kaido to take care of Doflamingo).

And then we have this:

"I've lived the past 13 years so I could strike Doflamingo down" which sounds suspiciously close to what Kyros was saying before and Law was there to hear it. Yeah, I think he "borrowed" that reason from Kyros, because he didn't actually want to voice his real intention here. We never doubt Law in this scene, because later on he repeats the same thing to Sengoku, and we don't expect him to lie to Sengoku, right? But I think what Law said was aimed just to make Sengoku feel better (he can relate to that, Sengoku is just mourning Rosinante!), and Law keeps quiet and hesitating what to say before Sengoku literally pushes an answer out of him. Law is hiding things from us, many many things, and most important one of all: what's his ultimate objective.

Whatever Law's true goal is, it must be related to this conversation he has with Cavendish. "You will be in the eye of a storm", and Law's answer: "That's my intention".

Of course as we learn from his conversation with Sengoku, Law has perhaps some doubts whether going around and causing chaos (and perhaps aiming for Government's neck) is the thing he should be doing, and he voices his concern like this:

Is this what a D. should be doing? Is this what Law should be doing?

And then in Wano we learn that his next goal is, curiously, to find out the meaning of the D. He still wants the answer to this question (is this what he should be doing?), that's why. But I believe Law is already setting a plan in motion to take down the Government somehow. That plan is very dangerous and can swallow his life in the process. He never told Luffy about it, because he wants to keep him out and away from it, not to "drag him down" together with Law (trying to finish alliance early was probably also partially a prevention of this). I wouldn't say what Law is aiming for is suicidal, but he is ready to put his life on the line and die if that's what it takes. And I hope we will finally find out the full scale of this and his ultimate objective, before this guy does something extremely stupid and reckless.

Last, but not least: Law is basically the person pushing the new era (after Whitebeard's death) forward: he destroyed the gears in Punk Hazard, he announced the deaths of the emperors, all those moments carry symbolic meaning. But is Law trying to make a world a better place or is he just trying to get revenge on World Government? I guess only time will tell us. I have faith in him and I think he cares more about the world and people than it seems. But he definitely also wants to give them a payback, for Flevance, for his parents, and also for himself. And now that he's free, truly free (in his own words: he stopped Doflamingo so he's free to do whatever he wants now), what's stopping him? Probably his own heartbroken ass at the moment, because of what happened to Heart Pirates, but ugh. I really think it won't stop him for long. We will get that revenge, Law will be the vigilante we hoped he will be and it might break us.

I could ramble more about Law's plans, but it would enter highly speculative territory and basically I would be grasping at straws at every corner. But I think I did catch on to some obscure foreshadowing, once again. Anyway, anon, not sure if this is the answer you hoped for, but those are my honest thoughts based on overthinking a lot about plot, story and stuff like that, as well as about Law, like always.

as far as one piece antagonists go Crocodile truly gets absolutely scooby-doo’d at unmatched levels

He immediately falls for a phone scam and from basically little garden to rainbase he doesn’t even know the strawhats are alive (and clowning towards him at incredible speed). As soon as he does, they’re in his house tearing at his walls and bringing marines into his villain lair.

He uses a literal floor trap door over a gator pit to catch them, gets phone scammed again, full scooby-doo chase scenes after Chopper through the streets while still missing him, and suddenly his prisoners have escaped his impossible cage, and his giant bananagators are dead. and Nico Robin saw it all happen.

He then spends rest of the arc complaining about those meddling kids and their dog “strawhat pirates and their weird pet” and at no point does he even know how many strawhats there are.

Like yeah he keeps having plans on top of plans to stop everything Vivi can do but also she keeps coming up with a new thing to do (Tom and Jerry ass dynamic).

Part of it is that he’s underestimating them and keeps grandstanding villain monologuing but also teens keep killing hundreds of his grand line bounty hunters and he straight up does not know what is happening.

Cause he IS trying to kill them he’s sending top assassins after them and ripping out luffy’s organs, the whole time he’s yelling HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?? DIE. as whack-a-mole Luffy keeps inventing new ways to hit him.

Imagine a room, a sudden glow.

He's just realised he's going to miss him.

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The most embarrassing series of posts about Lawlu you will ever read: edition Zou (part 10)

This time around, your teeth might rot. Lawlu are absolutely over the acceptable sugar levels in Zou!

Back to business! If you liked my theory from the last part of the series, you know that Law is probably patting himself on the back mentally here. He figured Luffy out by now: all he needed to do was to involve the food. Luffy would do just about anything then, lol. (Before the feast Luffy was like whatever about the guys in his fleet and refusing the idea. Now he likes them!)

Law also takes charge on their way to Zou:

Because who else would? Look at the chaos, Franky is like "I can steer the ship, but I need navigator's guidance!!" meanwhile ofc Barto Club has no navigator at all. Everyone's in panic. So who do you think took over, if Franky, Luffy, Zoro (we saw what happened when Nami told him once to keep an eye on their direction lol), Kin, Usopp and Robin do not seem to be up to the task? And who has the vivre card and actually probably helped Bepo when Bepo was learning navigation himself? Yes, I think we're all betting on the same man here: Trafalgar Law. No rest for him!

Luffy is already excited, Usopp of course wants to stop him, and who comes to the rescue? Law, but of course. Luffy can be as crazy as he wants around him, doesn't he.

Please mark what Luffy is the most excited about here: "Your friends must be up ahead!" It's not even about the new adventure, nah, Luffy's just happy Law will see his crew. He says it with such a bright smile too.

Same reaction, both standing in front. And again putting a short finishing blow to Usopp's panic mode. Law blends in quite well with the Strawhats and their dynamics.

Again same reaction, despite both of them being determined and brave, they're also both slightly taken aback by the sight.

Here I need to point something out: Law apparently didn't tell the Strawhats that Zou is an island on top of the gigantic elephant, despite knowing about it all the time. Only now he is explaining it (or actually sharing tales and background info about it). You could see it ofc as Law being a little shit trying to prevent them from panicking before they even reach their destination, so it becomes too late to turn back, but...

Just look at Luffy's reaction. He's loving the rollercoaster of emotions he's been experiencing as the result. He's having the best time of his life right now, his mouth open in awe, that's probably the most genuinely excited and surprised he has ever been when visiting a new place. Law keeping all that intel till the very last moment is actually perfect for Luffy: he often says he dislikes predictable adventures, he doesn't like to know too much about the place before visiting it. Law's withholding personality and Luffy's love for the unknown is actually perfect match. No one has to change their ways and their behaviour for the other, they're loving each other exactly for who they are.

It also seems Law might be one of the few people Luffy would listen to a lot, just to hear him tell tales. He's enjoying himself so much here.

Again, Law taking charge, naturally and almost casually so. He's thinking of food because he's not sure if the minks will be friendly or not, so in worst case scenario he doesn't want Luffy, his crew and himself to starve to death. Thinking ahead of everyone else, because he feels responsibility over them: again, they went to Zou because of Law.

This time around Law doesn't even wait for Luffy to ask him a question directly. He can see Luffy is a bit worried so he tries to reassure him with a logical conclusion in this situation. It doesn't matter if he himself is worried or apprehensive (he probably is a bit, look at his clenched fist here), but he will always put on a strong front so others won't worry. It doesn't matter they're not Law's own crew, he would do the same for the Strawhats that he would do for Hearts.

It looks like Law is as interested as the rest of them in Kanjuro's odd creation. He even took a position to get a good look at the head.

They're all ninja-crazy. I can't blame them. Robin's the odd one out tbh. Ninjas are freaking awesome! Law showing his excitement so openly is so rare as well, like, Luffy's influence definitely rubs off on him.

Despite Law protesting later that it's stupid to get overly emotional over a painting, he stays quiet here. And I bet you anything it's not because he is thinking to himself "what a stupid bunch of people". If he truly wanted them to go back, he would have said it now. And yet he didn't. Also notice Zoro's face! He's also like "it was just a stupid painting" later, but here? Ryunosuke's struggle gets him right in the feels, just like the rest of them!

How curious Law's face is hidden from us. He's clenching his fist again though, which signifies his inner struggle, trying to keep himself strong.

Putting it all into context, neither Zoro or Law are actually honest here. They just both act cold, because they don't like things being too dramatic. They definitely felt empathy for Ryunosuke tho lol.

The very moment Law points towards the guard tower, Luffy's already on it to get there, proving once again he always listens to him. Probably trying to impress Law with his speed haha. Even Usopp, who is so used to Luffy's antics, is surprised at that speed.

Luffy's having the best day of his life, and it's all thanks to the adventure Law basically gifted to him :) That scream was so loud that I'm sure everyone below them also heard Luffy.

Funny how Zoro thinks Luffy isn't just out for adventure, covering up for his captain. Law on the other hand is all business. There's no annoyance in him though, despite Luffy basically catapulting himself and leaving everyone behind. If he was mad about it, he would express it somehow, with a face expression or a sour comment. Nah, Law thinks Luffy deserves his adventure and just, lets him enjoy himself and do whatever he wants. Besides Law's heart wouldn't even dare stopping Luffy, not after hearing that extra big excitement from just a moment ago, probably reaching half the island. I told you your teeth will rot reading Zou together with me.

Meanwhile, Law knows that with Luffy gone, it's now his own responsibility to take care of the crew. Like always he's trying to play it cool and confident, because someone is already panicky ;D He's also immediately ready to defend them all, staying on alert.

Oh, this scene makes no sense, unless you know what's on Law's mind here. First, the context: a mink just attacked them, other one stopped them, they both were really worried about some trespasser ahead and trying to catch up to stop them. There's only one more outsider right now on Zou, and that's Luffy who catapulted himself some time ago. Law, the worrying cat that he is, obviously must be thinking about that. Thoughts are probably racing in his head, that's why he's so quiet and isolating himself from the rest. He might be even regretting allowing Luffy to just spring ahead like that.

And exactly because he's so worried inside his head here that he says such a stupid line "Oh, right, I forgot I have this vivre card". No, he didn't forget it in general, because he was using it all the time before they reached Zou and he remembered about it in Dressrosa. It's exactly because he's panicking here that it slipped his mind and only now he reminded himself of that. He's actually so distressed and distracted that he ends up speaking everything that's on his mind outloud without even realizing that.

"I didn't expect to ever see them again" is also a slip up from him, normally he would never voice any sentiment like that outloud. This shows us that despite having a poker face, Law internally worries a lot. And he totally went bonkers inside here, again because of Luffy.

While Law takes care of the Strawhats, Luffy manages to meet up with Heart Pirates! He's so happy to see them (especially Bepo). He realizes Law's crew misses him a lot and it's probably true for Law as well.

And of course I have to mention that Luffy is a little shit who remembers Law's name properly, he just loves to use his nickname for him <3 again what's with the special treatment??

Now let's take a look at this sequence of events. First, Luffy's disappointment when Bepo says he can't leave the whale forest and asking Luffy to tell Law to come to them. Luffy's face expression there is quite outstanding. He clearly thought Law is looking forward to seeing his own crew again, as we remember from the beginning of this post: that was Luffy's first thought when Law showed them the vivre card. Luffy apparently also wanted to meet them so badly, but he also went on ahead on his own thinking he can bring Heart Pirates to Law so they can reunite faster! Sadly, that part didn't work out.

Then Carrot mentions Nekomamushi and that coincidentally becomes the only person in Zou arc whose name Luffy will remember properly, before even meeting him! And why? Because he associates seeing Nekomamushi with meeting up Heart Pirates again!

And finally we have Chopper asking where's Law and Luffy answers he's in "Bear Forest" (Kujira, Kuma, yeah, close enough Luffy, at least you got the "ku" right). Luffy couldn't bother to remember the name of the forest (whale forest) so it became "bear forest" because that's where Law's bear is waiting for him, lol.

Again, Law's so worried here, he even starts to think Zou is in the middle of infighting. Luffy's safety must be constantly on his mind, so no wonder he reacts so quickly and transports them (probably without any warning) to where Usopp spotted Luffy being potentially in danger. Just look how clumsy that teleportation point was, so high up in the air! Someone was clearly in a hurry when shambling here lol.

We only get a look of his hand as he does that, which feels like a small callback to Sabaody: when Law makes his decision there to save Luffy, we only see his body, but not his face. Later Iva-chan said "sometimes body moves on it's own/by instinct" and I think this is exactly another example of that here. Law didn't even think of doing that, he just automatically reacted the moment he heard Luffy is in danger.

Btw it's not that Law only cared for himself and Robin to stand properly on landing. Robin is seen falling upside down, she stabilized herself using her own devil fruit power to land properly. Meanwhile Law always lands in style haha. Mr Steady Two Legs No Matter How Shaky the Ground Is.

Luffy's very happy to see them, his eyes are shining. It's not like he already started to miss them or anything, they seperated not that long ago, and Luffy was completely unaware of Strawhats worrying for him. I think Luffy's reaction here can be explained differently: he's happy to see that Law clearly took care of the Strawhats for Luffy! He's happy to see them all together. He probably wouldn't have expected Law to run off on his own, but it made him super happy that Law stayed despite missing (and worrying about) his crew so much. Luffy knows by now that Law worries a lot, after all. But he's also just happy to see Law again.

And they finally reach the other minks. Law's very confused, because just moments ago he thought minks are infighting, but they're apparently all cheerful instead. We're not really shown when Law seperates from the group or if Luffy relayed the message from Bepo, but if he did, this would be the moment. Just look from one frame to another, Luffy's in front at first, but suddenly in next frame he's close to Wanda again. We know already that Luffy can't sit still for even 5 seconds, so he was probably turning around to tell Law that his crew is waiting for him!

There we go, finally a reunion. Judging from Law's relieved face, Luffy was right and Law was indeed worried about his crew (but he's also just simply happy and touched to see them. He kinda looks like he's saying something akin to "Sorry I left you for so long guys" in his mind).

Luffy knows him pretty well by this point huh. Of course Law also denies taking any credit for their achievement of beating Mingo, instead saying it's all thanks to Luffy. At least in Sabaody he took half the credit, but here he decides himself unworthy of any. Is it because of his gratefulness to Luffy?

Just Luffy looking out of the window, nothing unusual right? Except it's yet another rare whimsical Luffy frame and they're all very suspicious by nature. He's peeking outside curiously, kinda like he's awaiting to see something there. That window we see is facing the entrance to the minks base. Curiously enough, it's most likely the entrance that Law took to go and meet up with his crew (retracing Luffy's earlier steps!). Do you get it?

Yes, Luffy is checking up if Law is already coming back with his crew, clearly impatient to see them. They probably seperated not that long ago, but he already can't wait to reunite. He wants to spot them even a second faster so they can be together again, because every second away from Law feels like eternity.

And then suddenly, Luffy turns his attention back to Wanda. Unusual, Luffy actually listening to anyone else rambling than Law, right? But it's because of what Wanda said here: "Bepo's group". Yep. Luffy realized Law and his crew didn't see each other for at least a month and a half. Luffy knows what this means, he was also seperated from his crew at Sabaody and he missed them so much it hurt him. He can clearly relate. From this point on, he will do his best to be patient and allow Law to take as much time as he wants and needs with his Heart Pirates. He understands.

Luffy taking Kaido seriously? What a big change from the first time Law and Luffy discussed alliance! Back then Law told him "you're not taking the emperors seriously". Well, now Luffy clearly does. It all changed when he saw Mingo defeating Law twice, and Law claimed Mingo will be a difficult opponent as well. Someone learned his lesson here and it's again, thanks to Law and also only because of Law.

Luffy declaring "we'll go quietly to Big Mom". This is also Luffy trying to take the things seriously. He is trying to prove Law he can be serious and trustworthy! (despite Law not being here to hear it haha)

And then Luffy refuses to meet up with Heart Pirates. Sounds cold on the surface level, right? Not so much anymore though when we remember Luffy peeking out of the windows, awaiting Law impatiently. It's only because Luffy already decided to give Law all the time he wants with his own crew. In other words, Luffy is actually holding himself back here and he's doing it for Law's sake. He wants Law to find him by himself once he's satisfied with the reunion. He cares about both Law and his feelings.

And that's all for this part! Zou's the shortest arc (not counting Reverie and Return to Sabaody), and yet it's so full of Lawlu that I couldn't fit it all into one post! Second post on Zou soon! Meanwhile, here's a bonus:

Let's analyze Luffy's vivre card. First piece was taken by Sabo, second by Bellamy, then Cavendish, Bartolomeo and the rest took their own bits. And yet while boarding Barto Club's ship, Luffy's card seems to be missing an extra piece.

I will leave you with that thought <3

Forehead smooch

Trafalgar Law, the Don Quixote brothers, and why Doffy takes such personal offence to the existence of Lawlu (Part 1: Faith)

1. How can you trust Straw-hat so much?

Doflamingo kicks up a huge fuss about Law forming an alliance with Luffy from the get go, and continues to go on about it till literal moments before he gets put down by Luffy at the end of the arc. 

Up until this point we’ve seen Law act pretty casual about his relationship with Luffy – he saved him at Marinford on a whim, he’s forming an alliance out of convenience, “this doesn’t mean we’re friends”. It isn’t until we see Doflamingo’s reaction to this development that we realize the importance it holds for Law’s character, and stop to think about what it might represent, given the context of his past. To Doflamingo, who’s seen Law at his lowest – who’s seen the kid who’d stopped believing in anything, and wanted to destroy the world – Law’s faith in Luffy, who seems to stand in antithesis to all that Doflamingo stands for, is a huge fucking deal.  

Doflamingo already knows, of course, what changed his heart all those years ago. But he asks anyway, because Law showing up here with Luffy, even after all this time, feels like salt being rubbed in the wound; Doffy’s pride can’t take it. Law gives him the easy answer – the simple, surface level answer. He trusts Luffy because he believes in the will of D, because Cora-san believed in the will of D. 

But we all know there’s a lot more to it than that. 

2. Why did you choose him, Law?

Keep reading

Honestly nobody is doing it like Trafalgar D. Water Law. He's German. He hates bread. He keeps to himself. He gravitates towards extroverts. He has a nasty reputation. He doesn't kill people during fights. His first appearance resembles Salad Fingers who smokes weed. He's weak to cute things and one of his best friends is a fluffy bear. His moniker is the Surgeon of Death because people thinks his power is creepy. He wants to become a doctor like his parents. He looks emo and edgy with his tattoos. The DEATH tattoo on his hand is the reminder he gave himself during childhood of what's at stake while treating patients, and the rest is to honor a loved one. He's stressed 24/7 like he's a workaholic. He spends all his time napping against his emotionally supportive bear and wandering to collect coins. He flips people off. He loves comics and geeks out amidst a battle. He's a smart strategist and he knows it. He has never talked down on anyone. He comes off as sadistic and dangerous. He never betrays his ally and gets bullied constantly by the crew of said ally. He wears tragedy like high fashion. At the lowest point in his life he finds out that he has always been loved and never been alone.

( 🔍 top activities to do with your ally| )

The most embarrassing series of posts about Lawlu you will ever read: edition Dressrosa (part 9)

The last Lawlu randezvous in Dressrosa, country of love, let's go!

Law did it! And Luffy is just standing there and watching. Kinda reflects their Amazon Lily dynamics, doesn't it? Back then it was Luffy making ruckus and Law just sitting there quietly and waiting for him to calm down. Wait, why do I call it a ruckus? It's a big moment for Law, it's his revenge! Well, I actually don't believe Doflamingo and I'm on Law's side here: he called it "wanting to fullfill Cora-san's wish", not taking revenge. Whatever this here was, was a mix of a rampage and desperation. Luffy's witnessing Law on his lowest. To be fair, Law deserved to give Doflamingo a payback. He freaking severed his arm.

I feel like Luffy just understands. Their support for each other so far was always rather quiet and from a distance, after all.

Luffy is saving Law again. It's second time already (or third even, since he stops Mingo twice here!). Law's spirit meanwhile just broke into tiny pieces, he has "nothing left in him" anymore, not even his unyielding will from mere moments ago. It even takes him a moment to realize Luffy stepped up to protect him here and it kinda shocks him (it really shouldn't by this point but oh well). This all feels extremely emotional and personal.

Also correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the Very First Time Luffy uses conqueror's haki like this? Like yeah, he can knock people unconscious but nothing else at this point. To even "coat" himself or "punch" someone with conqueror's he had to learn how to use Ryuo in Wano. But here? Here he does something special with his conqueror's that we never saw him do before that. And of course he was able to do it because he wanted to protect Law. Must be unconscious thing, just like I suspect he had a tiny moment of future sight in this arc. Both times for Law heh.

Getting out of the way so Luffy can go all out (anime suggests both him and Trebol got swept away by the gust, but for me it always looked like Law just rolled himself away). Just moment ago Law didn't even have the tiniest will in him, but now he has it again thanks to Luffy. Must have been a confusing feeling, perhaps despair mixed with gratitude, but bottom line is: it pushed him to keep going on.

Also Law already suspected Luffy has conqueror's haki despite never seeing him use it before. He says "yappari" here which translates to "as expected". He's very doting for Luffy, isn't he.

Time for reflection. Do you all remember Wano? Everyone called Kaido and Big Mom monsters who can't die. Everyone except Monkey D. Luffy. He said they're humans and if they're humans they can be beaten down and defeated. Here, we have Trebol's narration going on presenting to us Doflamingo as a literal demon. You really think Luffy buys this here and thinks Mingo is a demon or a monster? If he didn't think this way about emperors, there's no way he would think that about Mingo. But he doesn't deny because he thinks this matters a lot to Law and he's on Law's side here. But I guarantee you Luffy thinks this is bullshit and Mingo is just a human, as in: he wouldn't villainize him, he wouldn't deny him his humanity either. That's just not a Luffy thing to do.

Which leads us to this conclusion: Luffy is acting differently because he still is doing everything here for Law. Law called Mingo a devil just moments ago, Luffy is not gonna say anything to contradict that, no matter what he personally thinks on the matter. Luffy will always be on Law's side.

"Torao can't even move an inch!" Luffy's very protective and worried, tries to make Mingo focus on him instead, but all he can do is talk because Trebol caught him. Law meanwhile is indeed in a very bad spot.

Law: I will lose my face if I leave both of you to Mugiwara-ya. There's no way Trafalgar Law is gonna listen to Luffy saying "Torao can't move an inch and defend himself" (and not just once but twice!), he just had to prove him wrong, right? Petty bastard. Still, it was thanks to Luffy that fire and will to fight even ignited inside of him again here.

Luffy tries to free himself from Trebol and Law says a curious line (that guy's an empty marionette is how this line was translated in my native language), which is a hint for Luffy about Trebol's trick. Luffy doesn't get it though and realizes it only after Law takes care of Trebol himself (seems he doesn't even hold it against Luffy that he couldn't figure it out). Turns out Law doesn't even have to move an inch. All he needs is a finger.

Luffy is just so impressed beyond belief. Law managed to defeat an enemy while not even being able to get up. No wonder Luffy is always in awe about Law.

Sadly he couldn't make Trebol fall unconscious so the latter did his last deed to try to explode Law. Luffy reacted fast to rescue him (we can see him escaping the explosion just in time, Mingo as well). His concerned face when he looks at passed out Law hits right in the feels. He even remembered to grab Kikoku and Law's severed arm!

Also when did Law became "Lawland", because that's so hilarious to me for some reason. He didn't even meet the tontattas. Must be the result of some of Usopp's tales, I guess? Though it's noteworthy that Law was super close to meeting tontattas on Green Bit, I wonder how the plot would have developed if he did end up talking to them back then.

Curious wording from Luffy here. "Torao did his part to put pressure on Mingo". Not "he fought well", not "I will finish what he started". It's almost like Luffy is aware that Law was only there to stall Mingo, to buy time for Luffy to fight him. Hmmm. Also bonus miraculous intuition from Luffy here: telling Cavendish he counts on him. Because that will lead directly to Cavendish making sure Torao doesn't do anything stupid and will end up protecting him for a while. It's kinda thanks to Luffy again.

Standing in-between Mingo and Law again, with his body, words and resolution.

Here we go again, Luffy's motivation for this final stage of the fight. He's not gonna let Law's efforts go to waste. But he still doesn't admit that he does it only for Law, he claims "Mingo's cage is in his way". It's not entirely true.

And again, Luffy's withholding himself from stating his true reason of why he wants to beat up Mingo. "You made my friends cry, my crewmates mad! And you won't go down!" And yet none of those include Law who didn't cry or wasn't mad (he did have a rampage moment tho). Luffy's still holding himself back, because before he can do what he wants to do the most, he needs to "take it all on himself" and do stuff for Law first.

Law's biggest love confession. I mean, this is the moment when I finally thought "Damn, I was so wrong about Trafalgar Law, he cares so much it's overwhelming". We had him super cold all the time, and suddenly this emotional bomb drops. It hit me like a truck. I never doubted Law's caring heart from this moment ever again.

One important thing to note here. I think Law got inspired here by what Robin said earlier when defending Luffy, she said it's worth dying for Luffy's sake and that Luffy is always their trump card. This is Law's version of it. But he can't bring himself to say "die for him", probably for many reasons, but the most important one I believe to be this: both Law and Luffy had someone dear to them sacrifice their life so they can live. Law knows how's it's like to be the one left behind and he knows Luffy knows that feeling as well. He wouldn't want to force Luffy to go through that again, especially not now that he knows Luffy does think of him as his friend (he had his shocking realization about that when Luffy ran to rescue him from the Heart Throne). That's why "we either live or die together" is the only option he can give here. It's because they both understand the pain.

Law's words "I dragged him into this" hold a lot of weight as well. He was in that situation before, he believed Cora-san got beaten up by Vergo because of Law. He would do anything to avoid a similar situation happening ever again, and yet here he is, having to face it again. No wonder his reaction is so big and emotional that he even says to Cavendish "he's counting on him" to respect his choice. (thankfully Cavendish acted like a chad who said "no suicides on my watch" and stayed with him instead).

There's again an Ace parallel going on here. At Marineford Ace told Luffy to go away and mind his own business because he couldn't bear "dragging Luffy down with himself". Both Law and Ace had to face this situation turning out to be true. This time around, Law made sure to take the most consequences on himself to the very end, didn't he? I swear it feels almost like Ace is watching over those two.

Again, everyone's reactions to G4: "is that really Luffy??" "what is that bouncing ball??" "I heard he's a 25 feet tall monster!!"

Law's reaction to G4: "Oh great, he still had an ace up his sleeve (casual compliment). But he's using too much haki"

He can't just be impressed without also noticing *immediately* the biggest weakness of G4, right? Of course it's out of concern, but still, Law, come on... He's also one of the few if not The Only Person not weirded out (though my bet is Sabo also wouldn't be fazed heh).

Still, it shows how much attention Law pays to Luffy and his fights. He would know of so many ways to help him improve his techniques, wouldn't he? He just cares so much and I wish he just allowed himself to, you know, live a little, and do the things he probably yearns to do, like the thing I just mentioned: help him improve. Enough of keeping the artificial distance all the time!

They both notice the most important thing at the same time: birdcage is still up, the fight isn't over. Same mind, two bodies.

Luffy lost his G4 and people around him just run away, quite a sad sight. He's practically the only hope for them to survive but they instead ditch him in fear. Meanwhile Law is making another important decision, the fire to fight slowly burning back again. He's still not done with his "fight" in Dressrosa.

This happens in chapter titled "My Fight". But Law's not fighting anymore. Yeah, not against Doflamingo. But there's still one more fight he can't afford to lose. It's the fight to not let Luffy die. That's why he shambled himself all the way here, risking losing his arm for good (it's excessively bleeding again because of all the strain he put on himself just now!). Law saved a life back at Marineford, he's not gonna just lie down there and watch that life vanish again.

It's exactly because of this moment that I believe Law's always fighting to save lives ever since he lost Flevance and Cora-san. That's why him ready to give up on kids in Punk Hazard or on people of Dressrosa is huge, he was basically giving away something that mattered the most for him, just to keep Luffy safe. That's how much Luffy matters to him, which is More Than Anything Else, apparently.

Guarding him as Luffy is recovering. He positioned himself between Luffy and Mingo's position on the street below, he's literally protecting him with his body, just the same way Luffy did before when he dragged cuffed Law all over Dressrosa. They don't even have to communicate, one look, "go!" (said already after shambling him, mind you) and Luffy's back in the game. But Law still didn't finish doing his part, he's still keeping guard, shambling Rebecca and Viola out of the way and risking Mingo finding out his hiding spot. Doflamingo is still taunting him "watch me kill all your hope again by getting rid of Luffy".

Finally Luffy tells Mingo what he wanted to do for the whole arc. "You're suffocating me with your attempts at controlling everything and everyone!". Luffy's no longer fighting for Law, now he's finally doing it for himself (and he even has Law's support in this!). And he expressed it only before his very final punch. All the other ones? Those were all for Law.

It doesn't mean he didn't care about his crewmates wishes or Rebecca, but those flew all out of the window the moment Luffy almost believed for a moment Law is dead. Perhaps seeing Law there coming to his rescue really calmed down Luffy so he could actually think of something else. Dressrosa is indeed a country of passion and this fight was also full of it. Emotions constantly got in the way.

Law's still keeping guard, almost like he knows Luffy won't be able to get down from there on his own. The moment he notices him lose G4 he's ready to save him, despite the fact he's wheezing and his lungs are probably collapsing on him.

He saved Luffy, but look at what cost. Law himself is looking like not only his lungs but his heart are giving up on him there. Few moments later we can barely see him in the background, but he's lying there, most likely passed out just like Luffy. Also that extra huge room he did there to save Luffy from all the way up in the sky. How big was it? Was it as big as the one he did before to trick Mingo in the palace? Or even bigger? It was said it cut down on his lifespan significantly, but seems Law didn't cut down on his lifespan just once, but twice, and in Dressrosa alone. Again just to save Luffy's life.

Resting finally. They both freaking sleep in the same way with opened mouth. Law's also extremely injured and in bad shape, but it's Usopp together on the bed with Luffy, not Law. Maybe because of his touch trauma. But also maybe Law just didn't think he should be on that bed; we know that in Zou he will tell his crew that Mingo was defeated by Luffy, not giving any credit to himself. It might be the same here.

I wonder who patched them up. The only doctor around was Law himself...

I know this isn't Luffy-Law, this is Sabo-Luffy. but did any of you notice what Sabo is thanking Luffy for? "Staying alive" and "not leaving him alone for good". But that wasn't Luffy's achievement. That was actually literally thanks to Law, who dragged Luffy's dying unconscious body inside his submarine and operated on him for probably like hours, and then monitored his situation for a while. And the first thing Luffy did after waking up, having his life miraculously saved, was go on a self-punishing rampage. No, that feat Sabo is talking about, isn't thanks to Luffy.

Luffy could meet Sabo again, who told him not to blame himself. And I'm sure Luffy is aware how much of that is thanks to Law, he was the one who kept him alive, fullfilling Ace's wish.

Luffy stuffing himself silly and doing some stupid shanenigans. Law is just sitting a bit away from the table, but has a good view on him. I wonder what is he thinking about right now when witnessing Luffy acting all silly, heh. He for sure doesn't turn his eyes away even for a moment.

Also he's staying right next to the door, almost like he's guarding them all from danger, because he would be the first one to react and the closest to potential enemy arriving!

Both making the same decision: escape be damned, they have important business! And then they will make others wait for them heh. They're both as insufferable lol.

Rebecca "thank you!" Luffy "Shup up! I don't want to hear that!"

Yeah, I wonder why. Usually Luffy has no problem with hearing people thank him. Or at least wouldn't mind it, even if he doesn't care much about it. But telling Rebecca to shut up and not even letting her finish saying the thanks? I wonder why. Oh, maybe because he did not do it for Rebecca. He didn't beat up Mingo or save Dressrosa for her. Actually, he did it for someone else.

Meanwhile now making sure Rebecca's actual wish is fullfilled (staying with her father) is Luffy ultimately repaying his debt. And after she thanks him for it he just says "no problem". Completely different reaction all of sudden :)

Unexpected parallel that I will be surprised if any of you ever noticed. Remember how Luffy felt bad fighting against Fujitora because Fujitora can't see so he was shouting his moves outloud before making them? Yeah, turns out Law pulled off a Luffy long before Luffy himself did that. He called out to Fujitora that he's about to escape, lol.

And so we won't think it's just a coincidence, Law earlier confirmed to us that Fujitora's lack of eyesight/handicap was weighing actually on his mind heh. Law is smarter about that, but it's adorable they both acted basically in same way.

Let's talk about the grand fleet for a second. They all magically got along and decided to form a grand fleet dedicated to Strawhats. Their explanation for it is super vague, it's basically "so we stayed at the palace all together when recovering for two days and we got along". Like I bet you *anything* that's probably not what happened and there ain't no way they just blabbled together happily and conveniently arrived at this conclusion by themselves. We saw how they were, competing with each other and Luffy on who will beat Mingo. If they had the grand fleet idea it's only because someone planted it in their heads. Bartolomeo? If it was him he would brag about it. Cavendish? I highly doubt it since he's a narcisstic ego-maniac. Don Chinjao? Maybe, but last time he tried to voice his wish to give Luffy his fleet, he couldn't even said it outloud, too full of emotions. So my bet's here also on "no".

So here's my crazy take, run with it or leave it:

It was Law's initiative. He saw all those people feeling indebted to Luffy (he was forced to tag along, dragged all over Dressrosa after all). The only reason they ever did anything together was because of the said debt to Luffy and the heat of a crisis, but that never prevented them from fighting over it, even with Luffy himself. But if he approached them, for example through Bartolomeo (who constantly visited Kyros's hut where Strawhats and Law were hiding) and told him there is a way that they all can repay their debt and also that would fullfill Bartolomeo's own deepest wish (to be Luffy's subordinate), then now we're talking.

But why would Law do that? Because he also is grateful to Luffy, duh. He wanted to repay the favour and make up for dragging Luffy into his personal matters. Also do you remember what Cavendish told Law? "What you did here in Dressrosa is huge. Taking care of Doflamingo will put you two in the eye of the storm". Later Fujitora also says something similar: "Your life will be in peril from the Yonko now that you've eliminated Joker. Your future is hell!" which is exactly what was the main subject of Law's quarrel with Luffy in this arc: bringing Kaido's wrath on them. Obviously it was all still on Law's mind. And the consequences will go way beyond just Kaido. Ensuring that Luffy has a grand fleet (always ready to help) is the first step of Law's plan of keeping Luffy away from the said consequences. Law will be in the eye of the storm for sure, but he is already taking measures to make sure Luffy is not, pushing him away from the centre, giving him extra power and protection.

But if that's the case why didn't Oda just tells us, the readers, that this is the case? Well, it wouldn't be the first or last time Oda hides things from us. And I hope it will all have a payoff in the final arc!

Law's surprised and maybe even slightly disgusted impression here is so hilarious. He clearly expected Luffy to be thrilled, but surprise surprise, Luffy doesn't want subordinates. What Luffy wants is freedom. I'm sure Law will remember that from now on.

Law actually takes part in this feast. This is the first and the only feast so far he was part of (he didn't celebrate with others in Punk Hazard, Zou nor Wano. Wano's especially strange because it was the success of their alliance and yet Law decided not to celebrate, but he does here, hm. Dressrosa is so different somehow. Is it the passion?!). He's smiling and I bet you anything his eyes dart to Strawhat Luffy here.

And with that we mark the end of Dressrosa. Zou's next (as well as the trip to it), but we might take a fast post stop elsewhere before or after that :D still contemplating to include Wano's anime once we do reach Wano's arc in this series!

The most embarrassing series of posts about Lawlu you will ever read: edition Dressrosa (part 8)

Oh boy, here we go! Lots of love suffering for Law up ahead! And deep self-blaming for Luffy, ouch. By the end of this post there will be some Important Decisions to be made, which will leave unerasable trace on the story from now on.

Perfect beginning, Luffy is already not listening. Law is pissed, but he's pissed because he's worried heh.

Luffy broke a promise apparently, lol. I'm surprised he even promised to behave, because Luffy knows he can't behave very well. Geez, I guess he feels here really disappointed about himself. I love his panic, he looks just like Shanks from chapter 1. Law is yapping though, it's how he deals with his own worry and stress I guess, it seems he didn't truly expect Luffy to listen and be calm anyway. He's got Law to constantly blabble about it to him, like a walking reminder device.

It's interesting to me that Law presents it to Luffy in this way, because this is not the reason why Law himself fell for the provocation trap. It's because of his own worry that he lost his calm. Mingo didn't even do much back on that bridge. All it took was one call to strenghten security of the smiles factory. Not that he would ever admit that ofc.

Law is right though, Mingo will try different ways of provoking them, but he will focus mostly on Law. Luffy will also get one moment tho.

Scolding Luffy again. Get used to it, it will happen a lot lol.

I like this co-op of theirs here. Since Law's now got an opponent for himself, Luffy is choosing his enemy to fight with as well (and ofc he's going straight for Mingo). Or maybe is that his competitiveness from before? Honestly could be both!

Law, despite being in the middle of his own fight, still keeps his attenton on Luffy. What dedication! Luffy of course listens immediately. He might be misbehaving and breaking promises despite his efforts, but you can't blame Luffy for not *listening* to whatever Law is saying.

Bellamy's situation. Law's like "I don't know who he is to you, but knock him unconscious", but upon hearing Luffy declaring Bellamy as his friend, Law shuts up. He's not gonna tell Luffy to fight his friend, especially not after Doflamingo declares "one good punch might finish him", even if he's aware it might be a bluff. Law actually doesn't complain about it even for a second afterwards, not even after Luffy's struggling leads to Law's arm being severed. No, what Law does instead in the end, is to make sure to bring that unconscious guy to their hideout so they can fix him up, because he heard Luffy call him a friend.

Law didn't need to be told to do that, hearing Luffy's declaration was enough for him to know what should be done. How can anyone still doubt that Law is actually a good person after that? If Luffy's trust in Law isn't enough for people, logical argument like that should do. Law had no personal business rescuing Bellamy, he actually would be completely justified if he ended up having a grudge against that guy, he almost lost his own life because of him. But no, Law is a better person than that.

That's exactly one of the reasons why I think Luffy and Law complement each other, they don't have to communicate stuff like that, they just work it out because they feel the same way about important stuff!

Luffy falls for Mingo's provocation and undermines Law's ultimate strategy for the fight at the same time. This is The Second Moment in which he completely ignores Law. First one was when punching Caesar. This time it's for Bellamy. This won't fix the situation, but both times all Luffy cares about is punching bad guys for the people he loves. Of course Law's not happy about that.

Law is petty here and he did keep his word later on, lol.

Despite the sudden turn of action, Law is composed enough to control the situation on the spot in the midst of the chaos. Truly a surgeon, even in a fight, always keeps himself on steady legs and with composed mind, ready for quick and unexpected decisions. Funny and curious, because privately he is anything but that, stalling whenever he doesn't feel mentally ready for things.

Luffy kinda deserved to hear that. And took it as a compliment, that cheeky bastard :D he even remembers to give it back!

This is probably one of the snarkiest remarks Luffy has ever said in the series. And it's no surprise he serves it to Law, seeing as Law is The Person he wants to impress so badly. But don't think Luffy came up with it all on his own! Because...

...Luffy kinda stole it from Cavendish lol.

Also Luffy heard about worst gen twice before, but ofc he didn't remember. The first time he actually showed any interest was when he learned it's something he has in common with who? Oh right, his new favourite person, Law, back on Punk Hazard.

He retained that info in his brain just so he can impress Law later on that he knows the term. Yep. It's adorable.

But don't worry, Law is trying to impress him back as well. Just look at this showy pose he's presenting lol.

Funny thing here: I think Law actually said it on purpose to mislead Doflamingo. Law is already plotting in his head how to use that trick again and a bluff like that is already setting the ground for it. Law's a strategist through and through. I like how natural he is at it, it just looks like any other time he's scolding Luffy, heh.

Meanwhile Luffy is kinda satisfied, probably overplays it because he must be aware he made Law mad.

Downed at nearly the same time heh. Luffy's worrying over Law on the battlefield. Not the first or last time it will happen haha. You don't see Luffy screaming like that for Zoro, for example. And it's not because Luffy doesn't believe Law is strong. He literally just can't help himself, the worry is killing him inside. Dressrosa is indeed a country of love and (unstoppable) passion.

This is interesting, because in each of those panels Luffy and Law react exactly the same way. Law already knew that Doflamingo was a celestial dragon, but it still hits him hard. Then both of them react to the "witnessed both heaven and hell by the age of ten" line. For Law, it's self-explanatory, Flevance fell when he was 10 years old, before that it was probably close to heaven in comparison to what happened next. For Luffy though, I guess it's about losing Sabo.

And then there's the most puzzling line. "You can't escape the nature you were born with", Luffy and Law clearly snap at that, they disagree. For Luffy it's easy to understand, his grandpa wanted him to be a marine, perhaps because their family were all marines, but Luffy became a pirate instead. For Law, it's not as clear. Perhaps he was meant to be a doctor and became a pirate by circumenstances. After all, by now, Law is more than just a doctor.

Luffy's getting beat up and thrown one level below, but Law is for once too distracted to even react to this in time. Why? Because Doflamingo is talking about something very disturbing. What would humans do to a fallen celestial dragon, indeed? Law isn't feeling pity for Doflamingo, for sure not at this point, but Mingo had a brother once and that brother must have been also a celestial dragon. Law is thinking of all the hell Cora-san must have endured, because he never heard about it before. That and accepting the fact Cora-san was a celestial dragon in the first place, must be a lot for Law to process.

Freaking doting on each other in the middle of the life or death battle, ffs. Go get a room you two, you're completely embarrassing to me!

Even Doffy thinks it's disgusting at this point. Also he saw right through Law's words: he was totally bragging about Luffy and adding on top of that "I'm just like him!" proudly. I swear Law gets like that only if no one important is actually listening. Yes, Mingo, you're no one important in this scenario.

Luffy also worries a lot about Torao through the whole battle. It comes up so often I lost count.

"Don't make me die in vain here, Mugiwara-ya!" he might be thinking, but Luffy did save him in this moment actually.

This carries a lot of weight, because earlier Luffy was humiliated by receiving help from Mingo. Now he asks him to stop Bellamy. This really matters a lot to Luffy. Mingo does the favour because he knows it won't matter anyway.

"He won't be able to save you", that's how the master manipulator Mingo chose to make fun of Law. It's almost too true. Meanwhile Law just flips him a finger, he's not having any of it. Is it the faith in Luffy or just his affection speaking here? We might never know. Either way, it's one of the two most dedicated to Luffy moments Law shows.

Not even Mingo truly understands Law's symbol on the back, *just saying*, it's getting a bit hilarious :D

The heartbreak is real. "What happened to your arm?!" you would think that's nothing, but remember Shanks also lost an arm for Luffy, Luffy really didn't like that. He doesn't want another important person to him losing their limbs for Luffy. He probably also blames himself here "if I just didn't take so much time with Bellamy!".

That's the first time Luffy heard that Law considers him "a miracle worker", probably thinking himself he doesn't deserve to be called that. That's a phrase that proves that Law is ultimately impressed with Luffy and his feats, but Luffy isn't happy to hear that at this cost! Not to mention Luffy doesn't consider himself impressive if he just lost another dear person to him (or is about to lose one).

Luffy refuses to believe Torao is dead. He hates Mingo using "Mugiwara-ya" (are they both super possessive about each other's nicknames? oh ffs!).

And this is Law's payback. He could have shambled himself so both him and Luffy do a combined attack, imagine! But nah, since Luffy freaking wasted their plan at the very beginning of the fight, Law's not collaborating. Petty bastard! Luffy doesn't mind, he just tells him to "Go!" and that's kinda wholesome actually. Also doesn't happen often with Luffy, does it?

Communicating through whispers or are those whispers? Hm :) I love how Torao already expects Luffy to turn around and tells him not to before it happens haha. He knows him well.

Protecting and supporting Torao. Believe it or not, this is The First Time it happens in the whole fight. Before that they just fought side by side, now though? Luffy is alright being Law's backup. And people still push the agenda of "Law would never become Luffy's subordinate!", well, Luffy had no problem acting like a subordinate for Law here. Take that, powerscalers! And it's not the only time Luffy will do it in this fight. Law can take the spotlight and Luffy just won't mind. But he would do it only for Law. It never happened before or for anyone else.

Luffy's all ready to beat up Mingo into a pulp for Torao, but Torao isn't done yet. Luffy is taken so much aback. If Luffy wonders how he can still move, while he's the zombie himself usually after being defeated multiple times and always standing back, then that speaks volumes about Law's outstanding resilience and unbreakable will and stamina. Also Luffy is just impressed and super worried at the same time.

Anime in Wano played with this beautifully, in the "playing chicken" challenge. Luffy calls Law "weak-willed" to provoke him to accept the challenge. He knew Law is anything but that. He also knew Law wouldnt let it slide. It's all thanks to this moment in Dressrosa.

Stay out of this! - Luffy scream and just watches over Torao. He's not gonna interfere anymore, he's just a backup, he gives away the spotlight, and that despite the fact he wanted so badly to beat Mingo himself! Remember how many times he screamed that when they were racing to the palace's plateau? He even quarreled with Torao who will be the one to defeat Mingo. What about Luffy's crewmates? Rebecca? Right now nothing else matters, only that Law can get things even with Mingo.

Everything changed after this fight for Luffy and things will never go back to how they were before. There will be no more Luffy wanting to take the credit all for himself anymore or be the only one to beat up the bad guy. In Wano Luffy promised he will defeat Kaido, but even before the fight started he asked Momo and Kin'emon to announce to people that the whole alliance achieved that, not just Luffy in particular. Dressrosa changed everything.

Next part will be probably the last one of the Dressrosa arc!

can never really stop thinking about the core difference between zoro's sacrifice at thriller bark vs the other major crew sacrifices (robin and sanji) but i can never really articulate it either like. idk. despite all three coming from a place of 'you mean so much to me that im willing to die in exchange for your safety', robin and sanji are both clearly acting under the influence of decades of self-worth issues and being told the world would be better off without them in it, and wanting to be useful in their final act, whereas zoro is...something else entirely.

it's in the way zoro's is an act of defiance right until the end, vs robin and sanji's capitulation. and thats not to say that their sacrifices were lesser or that they just 'gave up' or whatever. robin and sanji were both in awful situations where they were undoubtedly boxed in and had to make snap decisions, but there is something to be said for how they both feel like they have no choice but to shoulder the burden alone and in silence, without giving the crew even a chance to have a say. conversely, zoro makes the offer to kuma when every other avenue has been exhausted and the crew is totally out of commission (though they all made it explicitly clear theyd rather die themselves than hand over luffy).

there's something about luffy (and the crew)'s life being as important to zoro as his ambition, vs luffy (and the crew) being more important than robin/sanji's own lives. as in, the most important thing in zoros life has always been his goal, and he raises the crew to that same level (and luffy even higher) of value, which speaks volumes given his character, as opposed to the others who have never really learnt how to value themselves, thinking of themselves as the outsider that can be easily cast off for the greater good. like...bringing someone up to stand where you are vs pushing someone up above yourself yknow...