"A senior member of Adventurers Guild, a wandering mercenary, a benevolent saint - all these impressions form a mosaic in minds of others and her own. And now she must question the truth of her 'self'."
my lovely genshin oc (some rambling under cut)
"When do we become ourselves? When does 'borrowed' become our own? ...Anyway, even sprouts only become distinct with time". - musings of a farmer from Natlan
funnily enough she's a mix of 4 things:
khaenri'ah uses celtic and sometimes bysantine motifs, so I wanted to include those in her designs. tho I mostly focused on the bysantine side of things. the piece of armor + the silhouette of the upper half (the belt under the chest + they are often depicted in hip- or knee-length tunics with embelishments on the hem). also the knot on the belt was often really intricate so I feel kinda smart by adding a keltic knot there. a visual pun
also since she's kinda a travelling mercenary, I've also referenced landskneights who wore puffy colorful and extravagant clothes (the sleeves + the stockings, and the fact that shes wearing shorts)
and well she's obviously an abyssal mimiflora so it affects her color palette+some textures and details+the 'patterns' on the chestplate. the mimiflora already somewhat mimic 'biblically accurate' angels, so it felt natural so a more ancient and powerful mimiflora would fully take advantage of the whole angel thing, i've just moved the 'halo' from the core (in her chest) to her head. i'm also really proud of her top wings looking like horns at a glance
in coordination with khaenri'ah+mimiflora theme, her armour is referenced from abyssal lectors and such. I love me a girl in armour....
she's basically meant to be this trustworthy and charming travelling knight. she enjoys being 'herself' (hence the make-up - it's not something copied from others, but something fully belonging to her and made tu suit her specifically). it's kinda hard to show it purely from design, but all her clothes were tailor made for her and carefully collected throughout the years as proof of her 'authentic self' (see the title: Mosaic of Memories)
since she didn't have her own identity at first (both her name and constellation 'Corvus Maritimus' being stolen from some guy) at first she sought to find herself through the impressions of others. and of course these impressions spiraled out of control, almost crowning her as a 'saint'.
either way, I don't want to write any more THE TSARITSA was revealled, I'm going to go draw her
Idk if this was done before or not, but I wanted to take some notes on Sabo's fighting style: I think it's really interesting, fun and rather unique!
Let's get the obvious out of the way first - he's very strong, agile and fast. That’s a given. He breaks metal and bones with his bare hands. His speed(both physical and of reaction) is something I especially want to commend – because it was emphasised a couple of times in the story! First in Dressrosa colosseum, as he was able to act against fighting fish and Burgess’ attack, and second, intercepting Burgess’s attempt to kill Luffy quite literally in a second!
Similar thing happened in the Reverie flashback: in an instant he evaded the guards. We don’t even see the jump itself – he notices the guards and in the next panel he’s already up on the rafter!(? Idk if thats the word) Not to mention, in that little time he managed to pick up Bonney as well!
Now, while I did say that he’s strong, he doesn’t usually rely solely on his strength to defeat his opponents. The first time we see him fight is the most fun one. The colosseum! Because in that fight he used a clever strategy - if you noticed he was actually directing Burgess’ attacks to destabilise the arena’s foundation and take advantage of it when targeting the colosseum’s core! Like - if you’ve seen hnk you should remember how Antarc broke down the glaciers - they first set weak points in the ice before dealing the final blow! (doesn’t only apply to fictional glaciers but I’ve seen a man ‘cut’ a solid piece of rock this way but I couldn’t find a video to show as an example😔) (no major spoilers in the video! only like. antarc's existence?)
He then used the broken arena to win the mera-mera no mi by a technicality! He didn't need to win by rules btw! The whole thing would be demolished anyway! He just decided to be witty and show off! He’s so silly, you can tell he is having a lot of fun. Literally being :D the whole time.
And using strategy and weak points in battle is the whole point of ‘finding a core’! His primary thing, that he even wanted to teach Robin ^^ And while even in childhood he was more level-headed and thoughtful in fights than, say, Ace, he’s still rather brash and daring. So it could very well come from his strategic and rational mentor - Dragon!
Ooh and look at him stealing that knife! And while that was to cut Luffy's ropes, in adulthood he often targets people's weapons first! That actually seems to be the RA’s signature - rather than overpowering their opponents with violence, they help and encourage regular people to stand up for themselves. Another reflection of Dragon’s disdain for war and likely also Kuma’s pacifism! The same way none of the captains use ‘normal’ weapons or conventional fighting methods, sometimes even preferring support roles. Hehe, you can see how the army and Dragon influenced Sabo’s character even through the fighting style! (actually, there’s a bit more about pacifism, but for now please just believe me that babo isn’t really allowed to kill)
But also Sabo doesn’t just get rid of their weapons in the fight with the marines, he uses the gun against the marine! The same way he takes advantage of Burgess attacks to destroy the colosseum. He uses these things to indirectly cause harm to his opponents! A roundabout way to bypass his mentors' pacifism "I didn't hurt them, they brought it upon themselves 🙄".
Also fun fact - Sabo’s dragon claw functions kinda similarly to Cipher Pol’s finger gun - they focus all the strength in singular points instead of spreading it on a wider surface. I vaguely remember this from a physics class - it may seem silly but it kinda does make sense?
And another thing which… may or may not be true depending on the interpretation. As I said, both his mentors are pacifists, and as someone who literally grew up surrounded by the RA’s values, I think Sabo actually doesn’t kill people.
Well, first of all, the main point of evidence - he originally intended to let Burgess go. The man whose actions led to Ace’s death. The man who tried to kill Luffy in front of Sabo. And yet Sabo lets him go and leaves with a smile. (Before Burgess intentionally riles him up, and Sabo loses his temper which he tends to do when his loved ones are involved. And that guy still survived didn’t he?)
Secondly, the Revs were so mortified at the news of Sabo killing king Kobra that it made it seem like it was the news of him dying again. Even with king Kobra being the good monarch that he was, the reaction seems too drastic for someone who has a history with killing people on impulse/driven by emotions/for fun.
And thirdly, he prefers to threaten people instead. In the sense he wants to appear threatening to his opponents. He tells Bastille that he can crush skulls easily without directly saying that it’d be his skull (well. Could depend on the translation) And after Fujitora’s meteor wiped out the marines he decided to aurafarm in front of the admiral with Bastille’s mask, even though it wasn't even him who actually defeated the guy.
He is really similar to Usopp in that regard - but Sabo actually has the strength to go through with his threats. And while he certainly enjoys enacting violence and frightening opponents, he tries to not take lives. He tries to be a bigger person (which may or may not be a part of his willingness to become a symbol for the revolution, he tries to push many ‘unnecessary’ or ‘unsightly’ things down)
Notably, the two times when he faces his opponents head on is with Fujitora and the second fight with Burgess. Both times included stalling the other side
To conclude this part, we can see that what he lacks in raw strength Sabo compensates with wits, agility and observation skills - he targets weak points and takes advantage of the environment. But his fighting style also has some flaws: mainly is that he mostly has single-target attacks, and the only one which allows him to affect/impact a large group of people is heavily dependent on the battle ground and can be used only once in the same area.
And now to his mera-mera no mi abilities. In short: they suck- cough couhg I mean they could use some work, compared to Ace’s.
You can see that he’s really inexperienced with his devil fruit. In Dressrosa he’s only getting used to it, be it attacking or turning into fire. He mostly uses fire fist as his main offensive skill, but he does try experimenting - with… questionable results? Burning dragon fist flame dragon king tries to combine fire fist and dragon claw, the things he has on hand, probably the first things that came to his mind.
And while we see him practicing on the Baltigo, the next time he didn’t really improve or came up with any fun attacks. ’Rook check’ is really just a ‘fire fist’ with a fancy name so Sabo could be witty and show off his understanding of chess and strategy in front of the most important people in the world.
But all jokes aside, the mera-mera no mi complements his existing fighting style nicely, in where he lacks range and power his fire powers fill in. You know, the way Ace and Sabo would’ve covered each other’s blind spots and weaknesses. And I think that Ace is the very reason that someone, as intelligent, creative and strong as Sabo, didn’t make much progress with devil fruit abilities. Mera-mera no mi is not just a weapon, but also the only connection Sabo has left to his brother. And if Ace had freedom to explore his fire abilities and be as flexible with them as he wanted, Sabo needs to overcome his grief first before he could see the mera-mera as an extension of himself, not just a memento from his late brother which he just barely deserves to use. The reason Sabo uses ‘fire fist’ so much is because it’s the only ability he knows for certain Ace had - it is in his very moniker.
All in all, I hope this analysis helped you get a better look at Sabo! And one more thing - Oda, please please please let him out to fight more he needs enrichment (and I need more material on him to dissect)
Came back to reread this after seeing a 'Sabo's actually a psycho who loves crushing sculls' post on twi.....
Thinking how it's his decision to spare Burgess that led to Baltigo (not only the HQ but his home🥲) being targeted... A plot point that wouldn't happen if he were killing ppl left and right...........
(Like even though he still attacked Burgess afterwards, Sabo still didn't kill him. If he didn't attack, of course, the guy wouldn't feel as much animosity/desire to get revenge(?) but I doubt that the outcome would change much)
I wonder if this would be explored some time in the future, considering two other pacifists in RA having their ideals turned upside down, like mr. Monkey D. "I hate war" Dragon declaring a war, or Kuma being turned into a "Pacifista" - a living weapon...
I do think that it'd be a choice for him - to get rid of a horrible person and give in to his violent side, or to follow his teachers' ideals🤔🤔
What do you think Dragon and Sabo talked about when Sabo regained his memories? After regaining his memories, do you think Sabo was surprised to learn that Luffy is the son of Dragon (his mentor and the leader of their army)?
this ask was in my inbox for. exactly a year..
tbh I kinda don't know... probably about the Goa kingdom and Sabo's place in the RA. Since Koala was worried that Sabo would leave, so maybe Dragon also told him that it would be completely fine if Sabo wants to resign, no pressure. (given enough 'are you going to leave?'s Sabo might suspect that they just want him gone actually)
I bet it would also be really embarrassing, Dragon is Sabo's something-like-father-figure, so Luffy is another point of connection between them. Obviously, Dragon didn't know this at the time, but this could put nepotism into question and kinda damage Dragon's reputation? And well also Sabo probably discussed whether it would even be okay to contact Luffy, or it would just put him in more danger than he already is in.
Im gonna be so real can yall actually talk about ways we can support trans women in the UK instead of giving all the attention to fucking JKR. I already know that Harry Poter sucks, I wanna know how to actually HELP people. Something something you have to love the oppressed more than you hate the oppressor
Adding some from Scotland I have experience with and afaik take donations, some are broader but with good trans inclusion:
Scottish Trans - Trans advocacy, information and social events. Run by the Equality Network, a broader Scottish LGBTQI advocacy group.
LEAP Sports Scotland - Sports charity that advocates for queer inclusion in sports, runs trans sports groups (Trans Active) in at least Glasgow and Edinburgh that I can absolutely recommend.
LGBT Health & Wellbeing - Not trans specific but includes trans specific, trans led and trans inclusive support and social events, and supports a variety of smaller community-run subgroups.
And another couple UK-wide:
Gender Identity Research & Education Society - Trans led charity supporting research on trans matters and education/training on trans inclusion. Does consultancy for public and private sector organisations.
Trans Kids Deserve Better - Trans advocacy and activist group led by and for trans kids. They do good work.
it's been like almost 2 years since i drew this, but i finally get to post it! i drew this spread illustration of what is currently my favorite post timeskip arc for @sanji-zine !!
leftovers are open rn, so pls go check it out if u're interested 🐟🐟
Sabo's birthday! An au where he couldn't leave the Goa Kingdom even after The Incident, so he has to try to live his life with the never ending feeling that everything is Wrong
vaporwave
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discoholicmusic
origamiaround
pixelskylines
