User blog:DancePowderer/The Bringer of Storms

An adrenalin rush and an awesome thunderstorm last night has spurred me to write this. I got to thinking during a short break in the paper I was writing about storms in One Piece. I tried writing it last night while I still had the buzz going, but my internet tanked before I could publish it. Anyway. I got to thinking about storms in One Piece like I said. There was the Aqua Laguna...That's about it for actual storms. I then got to thinking about Nyon's metaphor of Luffy being an ant in a storm. I then delved deeper into that. What was the storm she was talking about? The Battle of Marineford, yes. Who was the tempest of this storm? Marshall D. Teach, yes. And how did he churn the waves to bring the tides of war? He captured Portgas D. Ace, right. That is the prelude to my overall point.

What else has Teach done in the series besides set the series of events in place for a war? He captured Jewelry Bonney. Let's talk about that for moment. I think the initial red flag to indicate I was in danger of possibly overlooking something was that Akainu was completely calm when talking to Bonney, a pirate. First off, I thought Akainu's emotional dial hadonly three settings: Annoyed, furious, and envoy of the fiery apocalypse. If his past relations with pirates are any indication of his opinion toward them, he should have wasted Bonney on the spot. But no, he talks to her calmly and mentions how he was worried when he heard she escaped from the World Government. The last thing I thought Akainu could ever feel was compassion for another human being. My thoughts then turned to two people, Sabo and Fisher Tiger. Let's look at Sabo first.

Sabo did not want to be made into something he did not want to be, so he ran away and became a pirate. Bonney appears to also have something she wants to run away from. Now, for this theory to work, let's assume that Bonney pulled some stunt with the World Government that caused her to escape again. The two are pretty similar, minus one of them being potentially dead. I think of Fisher Tiger because it involves someone escaping the government, or people immune to the government, and I imagine it would be on the same scale as his invasion of Mariejois, minus scaling the Red Line. Basically, someone escaped and something else was set on fire (at least one thing always gets set on fire in these epic stories, ever notice that?). If people were as happy with Fisher Tiger invading Mariejois, I'm sure the government is just thrilled that Bonney escaped from them for whatever reason, possibly again. She has a backstory that really needs explaining.

My point is this, Blackbeard declared that the new age is his, and with good reason. He is single-handedly responsible for creating it. He also has had varying influences on Luffy. Who strengthened his resolve to find Sky Island, made him change his plans and go to Impel Down, and by extension change them again to go to Marineford? Blackbeard. And Luffy said that no one decides his next destination. Uh-huh. Interesting fact, had Ace been a girl, he and Bonney would have been named after the same pirate. Anyway, Blackbeard set up the era that he claimed for his own. Ace's execution, Impel Down, the Battle of Marineford, Luffy arriving at Marineford, being able to easily infiltrate Impel Down to land some new crew members, allowing for an untold amount to escape, going to Marineford, killing Whitebeard, and taking his power. He laid the groundwork for all of that. He caught the flame, that sparked the powder, that blew to all hell the powder keg that is the battle of Marineford. For some reason Franz Ferdinand comes to mind (not the band, the archduke who got iced in Sarajevo), only he was killed and Ace was captured.

Blackbeard also tends to leave a wake of destruction or unpleasance where ever he goes, ever notice that? He and his crew annoyed the hell out of the people in Mock Town, turned that town on Banaro Island into kindling, beat a dead horse in Impel Down (metaphorically, not Stronger), caused a majority of the heavy damage in Marineford, and beat Bonney's crew like they owed him money. Blackbeard is without a doubt the character that has had the most influence in the story so far. We'll have to wait and see what happens with Bonney. But for now, nail down the shutters, there's a storm coming.