Pleasantly surprised about your return... 👀 I was just rereading one of your fics in A03 and was wondering: "Hey, I wonder when's the last time this author posted on tumblr?" And searched your user to find this lovely acc still here! I hope your health is doing better these days, from this post (https://www.tumblr.com/gildedmuse/818501368875778048/and-oh-my-god-you-guys?source=share) I was sort of happy that you still had an interest in One Piece because I like your works on it 🥹
And yes I also agree that when it comes to swords, Zoro has a very obvious addiction/obsession with them. The man is clearly a sword nerd ( Not like Tashigi who knows most of every name and class of each sword but more instinct/experience related y'know? ) that has an unnatural headstrong attitude when it comes to swordsmanship and swords in general.
In short I'm happy that you're still posting here and this post reminded me just how much I love how you communicate what you feel/think with words. Stay safe! 🙏 🤍🤍
Oh my goodness, this was so sweet, thank you! My apologies for the radio silence — health stuff (kidney disease) knocked me out for a while. But good news: I've got more free time now and I've been diving back into One Piece properly, which has been really nice honestly. (To tell the truth, I'm thinking of doing a reaction series for youtube starting with the end of Wano. Well, I've already started, so keep your fingers crossed my health holds out which it better seeing as I've already recorded three epiodes!)
And since I've started watching again, I'll be blogging here again too! probably slower than before since I'm still managing my health day to day, but I missed this and I missed you guys.
Also, yes!! Exactly!! Zoro's whole thing with swords is unhinged in the best way; it's not academic knowledge like Tashigi's, it's pure instinct and obsession, like the swords are an extension of him rather than tools he studies. that contrast between them is so good actually.
Tashigi's the academic; she can give you a sword's name, maker, class, provenance, the whole lineage, because she learned it, systematically, the way you build real expertise. (I've actually got a whole post brewing about how the OPLA version reads as autistic to me, the categorizing, the special interest depth, the way she relates to swords through structured knowledge — hopefully I'll finally get around to writing it now that I'm back.)
Zoro is not that. Zoro is the kid who grew up with nothing formal, no teacher walking him through theory, but the second he got a taste he was sneaking into every fight he could find, then specifically every fight with swords in it, until by like age 9 he's lying his way into duels with grown men because he has to be near it. It's not education, it's hunger. So when they stand next to each other it's not just "expert vs instinct guy," it's two completely different roads to the same obsession — one built on study, one built on starving for it until it became who he is.
Thank you for still reading and for this ask, it genuinely made my day
