The most embarrassing series of posts about Lawlu you will ever read: edition post-Punk Hazard (part 4)
This one will definitely live up to it's title. The "love is a hurricane" tale continues~
Luffy again showing interest in what Torao is doing. This is already like third time he shows his unusual interest in him (and it will happen a couple more times in this post as well). He really wants to know more about him. Despite the fact he's usually sleeping through backstories of his own crewmates, like Nami. His unusual interest isn't because he doubts Law, we already know he deeply believes him to be a good person. No, this scene exists purely to show us how big and special interest Luffy has for Law. Luffy is also a bit concerned here, we saw the switch happen in Punk Hazard, from now on Luffy will also worry back for Law.
Someone's trolling Luffy here and it's not Usopp, lol. I wonder if this is how Law was as an older brother to Lammy, telling her fake tales just for amusement. He's a teasing older brother type, isn't he? And now all of that is directed towards Luffy. That's so sweet.
Luffy, you were supposed to tell them before, why are you telling them only now?! Take things a bit more seriously!
Law though is so displeased. Not only a hand was slammed into his arm (he secretly liked it despite everything), he was told to get along (he doesn't want to!), and Luffy disappointed him for not sharing about the alliance before.
But let's stop at the "get along" complaint for a bit. Luffy, you goofhead, you didn't introduce Law to your crew?? (and please, don't you know Luffy, ofc Luffy didn't do it "offscreen", this is Luffy we're talking about! He doesn't do introductions! At all!) Poor Law doesn't know their names! How is he supposed to get along with them?? You think Law would ask them about their names? Definitely not! Can you even imagine Law asking about anyone's name?? (yeah, I can't either lol) So to save up his face, he would have to utilize all that info he gathered beforehand (he already knew who they were all the way back at Sabaody after all!).
So he recognized Robin, Nami, Zoro, Sanji, Chopper (and so is able to call them by their names, tho it's worth noting Sanji being a special case and referred to by his title), but he didn't apparently know about Brook, Franky or Usopp (because they got called Bone-ya, Robo-ya and Nose-ya instead of their names+ya). Brook got recruited in Thriller Bark so there wasn't any wanted poster for him back then in Sabaody, so that's understandable. There was one for Franky already, but before timeskip Franky looked completely different so Law didn't recognize him. And...
wait for it...
He didn't recognize Sniperking as Usopp that's why he became "Nose-ya". Yes, the joke lives on! LOL.
Oh Luffy, you really don't make Law's life easier for him, do you? And this way Law got exposed that he did research a bit about the Strawhats before, enough to memorize them. (I mean not like Bartolomeo, but... but! It kinda looks a bit like that here, doesn't it).
Law will get back at Luffy in Zou for that, no worries. Now you will never see the "Law didn't introduce his crew" in any other light from now on, haha. It was a payback. Luffy didn't care tho lol.
You don't have to believe me on that one, but you can't really deny it does sound suspiciously consistent, doesn't it? :3
Law: Why is everyone telling me that?
Also Sanji, we appreciate it, but you're a little bit late with that warning there lol.
To be honest, I think Law is actually perfectly aware of that, but at the same time he wouldn't mind to be called a friend anyway. He only minds it now because he wants to keep his distance and not form any attachments on his way. And doing poor job at it too.
Luffy looks so happy sitting there next to Law, he looks like he's having the best time in his life. He's probably having a lot of ideas of what to do together with Law now that they're friends in alliance. (many of which would not be met with Law's enthusiasm probably lol).
Luffy: Did you just say dinner will happen 5 times a day from now on??
Luffy's level of excitement here is absolutely stunning. And one more thing very important to note: remember how Luffy usually acts when someone yaps a lot? He might for example ask Nami about something difficult, but quickly loses interest with the answer. He often sleeps through explanations. But here? Law's got his full attention! The one who is actually napping through this is Brook, not Luffy. Luffy thinks Torao is cool and he *wants* to listen to him.
Law, where are you looking? Clearly at your favourite Mugiwara-ya grinning over there. His eyes are always tracking Luffy.
A moment later Luffy turns to see Kin and Zoro fight. Do you all think he noticed Law staring at him right there? You two need to stop being so cute. I can't even believe Oda actually drew a scene like that in shonen, even if he didn't make it obvious. I mean, look at it, Luffy's eyes are shining, I bet their eyes met. I told you all that One Piece is a story about love. Omg I'm disgusted with how this scene tugs on my heart right now. To be fair, I'm not even the first person to notice that Law is staring at Luffy there, I saw people pointing it out before.
Luffy: Hey look Law, we're famous!!
Law: But ofc we are, what do you mean?
Luffy is again trying to get any sort of reaction out of Law directed just for him (did he feel encouraged after he noticed Law staring at him the day before?). Luffy, please, stop, this is getting more and more embarrassing to watch you craving for Law's attention like this.
Law though always gives him that attention, curiously enough. There's not even one frame of Luffy calling out to him and Law just ignoring him. Which shouldn't be surprising, Law always seeks out Luffy as well, rarely with words, but at least with his stares.
In this regard, they're a really good match. Luffy wants to be pampered, and Law wants to pamper. I would usually say it's gross, but it's actually really heartwarming. They both get something out of it that they were both craving.
Law: Hey, am I not providing you with enough entertainment? Forget those boring fellas!
Someone's a bit jelly...
And Brook is again watching over them. God, I swear, it feels like he just *knows*.
Again, Luffy listening to Law talking. He would listen to him no matter what Law is saying, wouldn't he? Luffy is known for his terribly short attention span, but for Law he is capable of unusual feats.
(Also notice Law is always grabbing Caesar by his clothes, never in direct contact)
Time for the ransom call. I know that everyone is screaming there, but Law is suspiciously quiet, this is when he should be firm and confident, but instead he's just standing there. I think it means he was actually pretty anxious about this call, kinda taken aback (and it's not because of people screaming around, he had enough time to get used to that with the Strawhats, also usually it doesn't actually faze him). Luffy on the other hand is excited and thinks this is all super fun lol.
And then Luffy goes and takes over the call. Of course we all think he did it just because he's Luffy and that Law is displeased/angry here, but let's do uno reverse. I might turn your worldview upside down from this point on.
What if Luffy actually sensed Law's anxiety and decided he will help him? Luffy is after all really good at reading people's emotions, right? And of course he would want to help his beloved Torao.
Law looks displeased, but that's because of a sudden closeness. Those of you that followed my series on Law's fear of touch and closeness know what I mean. He can stand Luffy when he's close to him, but not out of a blue like that - he needs to brace himself first. That's why his first instinct here is to try to move away. Sure enough, right in the next moment we see Luffy holding the transponder, which means Law lets him do that actually. If he truly was so displeased and angry, he would have reacted faster to take it back or shouted at him.
Luffy's fuming here for no reason whatsover, Doflamingo didn't actually say anything bad to him yet (or at all really). Sure, Luffy got mad over Caesar, but the conversation already changed to something else, and Luffy is still showing an attitude. He's doing it for Law, isn't he.
Law meanwhile is just standing there, still not attempting to take the transponder back. He's not even trying or talking at all. This really doesn't support the idea of "he's so mad at Luffy for doing this", it actually seems to be the exact opposite: he's kinda overwhelmed here and was ever since Doflamingo picked up his call. Ofc he's also more and more distressed now, bracing himself mentally, because he knows he needs to do something and can't leave it all up to Luffy.
Law realized he needs to stop it, because Doflamingo is trying to bait Luffy, and everyone knows Luffy is weak to baits. In a way, stepping up just to prevent Luffy from getting into dangerous scenario, helped him overcome his own helplessness and anxiety. Luffy meanwhile indeed is losing it lol.
Let's look more closely to Law and Doflamingo's conversation here. Law is trying to make the talk very short, down to business and finish it off quickly. Doffy though stays confident and even tries to mock Law a little bit. It's almost like he's saying "Law, kid, you forgot to show me that my subordinate is fine, you need to step up your kidnapping game a little", he's kinda having this patronizing vibe here. "First step of a ransom call, remember? I taught you that myself".
Putting it all together can explain why Law is so anxious, he expected to hear Doflamingo all devastated, angry even after giving up warlord's title, instead Doflamingo is relaxed, mocking and confident, generally acting like he has the upper hand here. Law is worried, did he miss something, because this is not how it should look like, and he is right. Also he can't stand Doflamingo's confident tone, it's most likely making him feel weak, remembering the past. In their fight in Dressrosa Law will try his best to overcome this feeling by mocking Doflamingo back, but right here he was surprised and unprepared. He probably felt again like a kid, still part of Doflamingo's family, and Doffy's mocking tone like a mentor/parental figure scolding his clumsy subordinate truly added salt to the wound.
Law grits his teeth and continues, attempting to finish the call as soon as possible, full of bad feelings. And this is when Luffy snaps back to reality, gasping and reminding himself "I need to help Torao!" and so he does, by doing actually the best thing possible: cutting off the call.
This seems not-canon to you I bet, but I truly think Luffy tried to actually support Law here and it DID work in the end.
Of course Strawhats don't catch up to it and think Luffy just straightup ruined everything, but look at Law's reaction here. He's suddenly calm and does not blame Luffy for anything, in fact, he goes as far as to declare this is all fine. Would he really say something like that if he was truly angry? No, of course not, we have seen him angry everytime he truly believes his plan was just kicked out of the window by a Strawhat Luffy. This is simply not the case here.
Law is still looking pretty anxious there, probably thinking over multiple scenarios in his head. What did he miss? Why is Doflamingo so confident? This is crucial, after all it's not only about his own safety, but safety of Luffy and his crew.
Luffy meanwhile shows his interest in Law again, wanting to know about Law's adventures. He's probably trying to make Law think of something else instead of overworrying, put his mind off of it. Luffy really sticks with his resolve here of taking care of Law as well.
Also it's ultimately cute how Law is mechanically correcting Luffy on the name of the island (helpfully pointing out only the part he got wrong so it's a shorter word to remember for Luffy, awww), but he does it without even an exclamation mark there. He's not angry or irritated about it. In fact, it just shows he understands Luffy has problem with long and complicated words. He probably knows that's the reason he became "Torao" as well. He gets it, he accepts it, in fact he has no problem with it whatsoever.
Even when distressed and lost in his thoughts Law makes sure to still respond to Luffy when he asks something from him, and Luffy this time uses it to bring him out of his thoughts instead of just seeking attention.
Luffy: Yay, so if Torao has never before been to that island, it means we will have an adventure together! And not just one, there's no way I will let you leave me right afterwards. We're so gonna do more adventures! Dressrosa and Wano! Two adventures with Torao!
Law: This isn't an adventure, be serious!! Our lives are on the line!!
Luffy: Breakfast time!
Law: Breakfast time! *gasp* fuck!
Someone got caught up in someone else's pace. 1:0 for Luffy, he did manage to make Trafalgar Law take a break from his worrying.
Now to understand Law's exaggerated reaction here as something more than just a comedy moment we need to first elaborate a bit on the chapter's title that sets the tone between Doflamingo-Luffy-Law interactions and honestly spans through the whole of Dressrosa arc. This is chapter 700 titled "his pace", the next round chapter is 800 which wraps up Dressrosa. Chapters with round numbers tend to have a huge impact on the whole storyline happening (because Oda really loves his number games).
"Pace" from the title means someone dictating how fast the events are going or swaying things to move in their preferred fashion. Doflamingo does it in this snail talk by playing confident and trying to bait Luffy and undermine Law's confidence. Later he also showers his subordinates with compliments so they will do what he asks them to do - that's also setting pace by keeping everyone in line.
Law's pace in this chapter (and in whole of post-punk hazard transition) was him spiraling the things to move where he wants them, his first snail talk with Doffy was just Law having an overwhelming victory over him. Then through the span of one night things move very fast exactly towards the result Law wanted (Doflamingo resigning from warlord's position). Law usually doesn't use his power of controlling pace to make people do what he wants (unlike Doffy), that's not his style, they're just forced to stick for the ride, but he always leaves liberty in their own hands. For example, when he told Luffy to kidnap Caesar or assemble back Kinemon, he didn't tell them exactly step by step how they should do it: instead he left it to their judgement. In other words, he tells them what to do but not *how* to do stuff, he instead trusts in their ability to figure it out on their own.
And then we have Luffy, who selfishly chooses islands they visit and what enemies they're fighting, so he's also "setting the pace" for others. He controls it to a minimum as well like Law, he just makes sure to take care of the biggest danger himself and trusts the others to do whatever they want, he gives them freedom. His crew do their best out of their own free will to deserve Luffy's trust, every chess piece on the board moves according to what they believe is right, so Luffy's board isn't actually a game of one vs one, but instead of one versus many, because every player has as much liberty as Luffy has.
In this chapter Law lost to Doflamingo's pace, but restored himself, and lost to Luffy's pace and this time declared defeat. Doflamingo won against Law, almost won against Luffy, but then Luffy defeated him in one neat swipe. And why? Because Luffy actually wasn't playing alone, Law and Luffy supported each other there. So in the end Doflamingo lost to both of them.
You think Law didn't take a defeat against Luffy here? Then let's rewind back:
Remember this scene? Law was amused that Smoker would even think that Law can overpace Luffy (after all Luffy punched Caesar instead of kidnapping him and did a feast instead of leaving immediately), but he wasn't going to always allow Luffy to do that. Here he declares he's gonna set the pace and make Luffy follow his plan. He does it because it's neccessary or he won't be able to protect him, but also because of his petty pride or "saving up face", if you prefer that term here. He's not gonna just sit there and let Luffy do everything he wants and wait for him to finish off enemies. Law is throwing a challenge, he's gonna compete with Luffy in that regard.
But before they even reach Dressrosa Law already declares his defeat. Let me show you how: remember how he always loses his hat when he's losing?
Like here. Or in Dressrosa, or Winner Island.
Wait, where's his hat here? And this is the next frame after Law's big comical "gasp" moment, when he got dragged into Luffy's pace of "enough worrying, time for breakfast!". Yep, he knew he lost there, allowed himself to loosen up and took off his hat by himself as a sign of his defeat and Luffy's victory. But that's also because he's just a good mannered boy who knows you don't eat with your hat on.
It truly is a 1:0 for Luffy and Law is actually okay with that (losing to Luffy's pace is actually not a negative experience, because Luffy doesn't manipulate people with evil agenda in mind, like Doflamingo. He did it only because he wants Law to relax). And this sets up how the events went on in Dressrosa.
Also can I just point out that all it took for Luffy to sway him was to declare with a smile "Yay adventure with Law! Can't wait! And now breakfast!" and Law was already dragged into his pace? I mean... Law, Luffy didn't even do anything special. He was just basically himself there. Law's so smitten with him that it's all it took, honestly. Of course the support he got on that call from him also counted into that, but Law didn't declare defeat then yet, after all he also supported Luffy back in that call.
In later arcs Law will still attempt to be petty about this ongoing "competition", not wanting to leave it all up to Luffy, lol. He migth have lost once, but the war is ongoing! He's such a petty loser, I adore that flaw in him.
Luffy butting-in, making sure Kinemon doesn't just steal Law away for the Wano adventure. Hey, I'm gonna be part of that adventure as well!
Law's attempt to stop him there is really miserable. He can't bring himself up to deny Luffy when he sounds so happy, huh. My heart can't take it.
Law's already back to worrying again haha. His neverending journey of worrying when together with Luffy continues! Let it never end honestly.
He's also conflicted, because everytime Luffy acts so excited he thinks back to Lammy, as she was the exactly same energetic type of a person as Luffy haha.
i don't think Luffy gets it that this time around he's only making Law worry more and not less, awww.
That's all for now. Dressrosa will come up next (I might take a break from this series to answer some asks first :D). I hope you enjoyed seeing this chapter through different lens, it's fine if you still prefer it as just a comedy moment of Luffy acting like a complete menace and Law regretting his life choices. I think it's neat that the manga supports actually both interpretations, one on more casual level and the other more in-depth.
There is something I want to share about World Seeker Law's dlc, it's not really a spoiler, just one line that Law says that relates to the previous part of this series of posts (if you want to skip it then just don't read from now on! There's nothing more to this post afterwards).
This is what Law says in the game. I know that games are not considered 100% canon, but Oda DID work on both World Seeker and Odyssey, and honestly many lines and overall feeling of the game goes along with the canon. Law's complicated relation to closeness is definitely a part of this DLC, for example.
And here he says he doesn't mind what people actually call him! He never complained about "Torao" when Luffy called him this way, not even once. But he does make this one sour face when Nami does that as well. Makes one really think why is this such a special case for him, doesn't it? :D Again, he wants it to be a special name only from Luffy, doesn't he.
Oda's left enough back hooks that Law could be revealed to have the Voice of All Things at any moment and it would make not only complete sense but explain a confusing scene in Dressrosa that stuck out as being rather odd, both in manga and anime.
There have been a bunch of scenes that can be interpreted at hinting at VOAT for Law, but the thing that definitively made it stand out as plausible if not soft-confirmed is how the Dressrosan rooftop scene happened compared with Luffy's fall from Onigashima. Law communicates with Luffy in what appears to be telepathy, considering his mouth is closed and neither Doflamingo nor Trebol overhear anything. When the chapter first came out, people were wondering if it was perhaps the prelude to a flashback because it did not look like whispering. Weird, but ultimately ignored considering there were a lot more pressing things going on at the time and we'd yet to have Zou elaborate further on the Voice of All Things.
Then years later, Luffy falls off from Onigashima.
And suspiciously similar formatting appears. A telepathic communication that only the other can overhear in the exact same style of bubbled text. Law (unknown-speaker) and Luffy (VOAT-only listener) had communicated in the exact same way as Luffy (VOAT-speaker) and Momo (VOAT-only listener) did. Going even further, Law might've overheard Luffy talking to Momo as well (unknown-only other listener).
In Chapter 1015, when Luffy was telling Momo he's going to come back and kick Kaido's ass and Momo was translating that, only Kid reacts during this. Oda usually pairs him up with Law when doing this type of reaction scene so the exclusion is a notable choice. Immediately after that, Law's submarine and crew find Luffy. Then Law pops up and doesn't doubt it for a second, believing Luffy will be back up soon. It would make sense if he had heard it from Luffy already and knew he was fine.
It explains why Law wasn’t worried that time Luffy went down but then next time in Chapter 1043 he was, because Luffy wasn't saying anything. And there's the fact both Law and Momo are shown reporting very specifically that Luffy's voice has gone out in that moment. It could just be observation haki but its incredibly suspicious to be tied together with Momo like that and the different reactions Law had despite Luffy, by all means, going down the same as before.
On a more meta level though, it's incredibly interesting that we have learned that Roger had a special way of hearing Poneglyphs that Luffy doesn't seem to replicate, meanwhile Law is off in the corner not saying anything and being a secretive D. who doesn't share with the class. Especially since Law has demonstrated the capacity to sense seastone since Punkhazard and "coincidentally" found the Ponegylph in Kaido's massive, sprawling castle.
Sensing seastone is probably the weakest point to mention since Poneglyphs are not made of seastone, but it is an interesting facet of Law's perception that I can't recall anyone else having. Since the VOAT is all about a unique talent of hearing both animals and objects, it is worth pointing out in my opinion.
This also explains how Law knew what chains on Punkhazard were safe to be enchained in if he is able to HEAR sense it. He can feel the energy of seastone and sneakily swap the chains about to be put on him with the identical non-seastone variety. He was able to send that note to Chopper without any noticeable Room or movement after all. Law is a sneaky dude.
Regarding hearing the Poneglyphs themselves, one of the odd things about Law instigating the Rockyport incident is that he was originally motivated by rumors of a Poneglyph being present on Hachinosu. Law having a prebuilt capacity to hunt down Poneglyphs by hearing them would give extra context to what he was doing looking for one, especially if he can glean anything from the voices within them like Roger could.
Shout out to the first scene that demonstrates just how shifty this bastard is and began to cause people to wonder; where Oda chooses to show he is conspicuously saying literally nothing ("....") while confirmed VOAT people are hearing things. Damnit Law! Telling us nothing and standing there suspiciously...
The evidence is not conclusive and most of it can be explained as different coincidences, but the allusions to Law potentially possessing it keep happening and that Dressrosa moment is suspicious. Trying to explain it away as "just whispering" isn't quite right, and seeing something similar occur between confirmed users of it made me genuinely believe Law has the Voice of All Things.
The subtle thing that absolutely melts my heart about Trafalgar Law every time I think about it is the way the humour around his character changes before and during/after Wano.
He has been a very entertaining character since introduction but during Punk Hazard and Dressrosa the gags are always about the things happening to him (reacting to the Strawhats for example). He is never an active participant, more so a crash dummy or, well... a puppet on strings.
And then we meet back up with him in Wano and what is the very first thing he does? Troll Luffy. And then he disguises himself with the stupid bucket hat, he fanboys about his favourite childhood comic, he sits on Sanji, teleports a step in front of Robin, uses Haki to de-feminize himself!
He's no longer just a passive sufferer of whatever fate (Oda) has in store. He's his very own clown.
Though the latter images of Law and Luffy are related to the answer of a different D. question, it does raise a good point that not everyone might catch about how Luffy and Law's dynamic works.
Luffy calls Law "Torao" but not because he doesn't actually know his name.
In fact, Luffy knows the full thing! That's where the nickname came from in the first place—the fact that Luffy can't pronounce Trafalgar for the life of him. Torao (or Traffy, for English) is as close as Luffy can get to Trafalgar.
So it's a bit weird to think about how Luffy doesn't call him Law. Luffy clearly loves the guy! He willingly agreed to a shady alliance where he didn't know details of the plan or what it would entail because Luffy liked the guy who was asking him for a hand. Luffy, when first spotting Law after two years, introduces him to his crew like this:
To be named the same as a crewmember that the crew just helped and saved an island for last arc is a bold play by Oda showing us exactly what Luffy was headed towards, considering the standoffish fellow captain nakama. Hell, the official translation makes it clear that Luffy thinks of Law as one of his people by going the extra step and clarifying to English speakers that Law is closer to crew than not now, even if he verbally disagrees.
So why wouldn't he call Law his name? He cares enough to know it! That is the standard Oda himself has set for if Luffy will call them by name! Luffy has put in the effort of caring and remembering Law's name, so it isn't that.
It is because Law doesn't.
Law maintains that distance and only addresses Luffy with "Mugiwara-ya" rather than his name. Not only is it not Luffy's first name, but Law keeps the ambiguous -ya honorific attached.
So Luffy returns that, respecting one of Law's boundaries in his own way by keeping the nickname of his surname. Both of them address the other as peers rather than close companions. It's a bit of a mess, since Law stringently attaches -ya to keep that distance and Luffy has mangled Trafalgar into "Torao", but it works despite being unorthodox. Both of them are ok with that.
It's almost a microcosm of their alliance as a whole—completely removed from the normal idea of a "pirate alliance" actually is. Where they operate in a way that is perceived as weird but it works almost only because of that. In a normal pirate alliance, they would've betrayed each other and worked only for themselves but instead they work together and care about the other. It was continuously hammered in that pirate alliances end in betrayal and it didn't happen. Even when Law tries to break the alliance, Luffy doesn't let him because this isn't your normal pirate alliance. It's the Straw Heart Pirate alliance, and that means there's going to be chaos and madness but we're getting through this together no matter what. It works because they're both weird, disrespectful pirates who care more about doing their own thing rather than fitting into the norm.
Luffy and Zoro got a little lost for a while but have finally found their way back to their navigator! Still just as protective over her tangerines but now that she's here, finding the rest of the crew should go by much faster!
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(It's been so long since I first made the baby Luffy comic when I was still in the fishman arc and now that I'm far into Wano the need to make the rest of the crew into babies is strong! Going on a vacation so sadly won't be able to work more on these while away but hoping to have the OG 5 crewmembers done soon after I get back!)
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