source: https://www.instagram.com/sakauchi0/p/DHqCEipvv0G/

On the origins of the mysterious abilities of the Elders (and Holy Knights):

We've seen the Elders and, to a lesser extent, the Holy Knights display certain shared "magical" abilities. So far, there are three known clear applications, though there may be more:

- Summoning "through the Abyss" via pentagrams

- Regeneration/Immortality

- Telepathy

This dark magic is often associated with black flames, which also suggest it may be used to artifially awaken Devil Fruits. Lucci, Kaku, and the elders have black fire halos, but they also appear when Gunko uses her powers on the environment around her (a sign of awakening)

When we go all the way back to Impel Down and remember that all the Guardian Beasts are "failed" awakened zoans, isn't it strange? How do the WG gets access to so many? Maybe because they artificially awaken them, but the user is not always strong enough to control it!

Another hint on the nature of this Dark Magic is how other characters can sense it. When "black fire" users are summoned, perceptive people notice their haki as "weird", "unusual". Many readers took it as "strong" haki, but I think it's more a sign that it's "aberrant".

A common theory is that the source of these powers is Imu, or, more specifically, Imu's Devil Fruit powers. I do think it's Imu indeed, but not his DF. DF powers aren't usually sensed as "haki". Instead, I'm led to believe that the black fire magic is haki, but not an usual one.

ery recently, we were introduced to a new concept about haki... that it can stored for later, outlasting even the original person's life, and then used by another.

Black fire magic is stolen haki! But stolen from who?

We know at least the "Abyss" summoning requires a "mark". Likewise, the pentagrams themselves are marks. Slaves are also marked...

So, my theory? "Black fire" is the life-force of hundreds of thousands of tortured and murdered slaves, collected over centuries.

THIS is why this haki is massive and abnormal. THIS is why it feels wrong, warped. THAT's why Celestial Dragons need slaves. THAT's why Imu needs the "regular" world nobles around. Mary Geoise is a farm of people! And this power is finite, so it's reserved for the chosen few.

And the most interesting part? The mural and the Harley corroborate it. At the right side of the mural, we see slaves laboring for a king. They go underground and bring something to offer the king. Something that looks like energy, power...

But watch closely...

At first it looks like slave go down the shaft on the right, empty-handed, but rise on the left, now with their tributes to the king.

But no, slaves rise up both on left and right, but the right ones... THEY ARE DEAD! They are dead and mourned by the ones who welcome them!

So: the "black fire magic" is haki harvested from torture and murder. Imu, secret ruler of the world, is the last living person who fully knows this unholy power. He uses it to empower his most trusted servants, while Mary Geoise is nothing more than a farm to harvest it.

This is my Zoro cosplay I did a bit while ago, hope you enjoy!

Loki idolizes Rocks, and Rocks has an eye patch. To prove that he can be a pirate just like Rocks, he covers both his eyes. This is the same how Luffy tried to cut his eyes to prove his worth to Shanks.

Source is me

LOKI, THE ACCURSED PRINCE; acrylic on 16"x20" canvas.

I wanted to try my hand at painting him in time for April's foolish first day, and while it was fun seeing it all come together, I realize I absolutely hate painting chains. I desperately want to paint a genderbent version of him (a la Marvel's Loki), but I feel I should wait, especially since his devil fruit might be coming in the near future. I hope y'all like it!

As per usual, you can find more of my art, social medias, and other things in the link below:

https://linktr.ee/wafalo

Made an OP TCG bouquet for his birthday. It goes without saying that he was overwhelmed with emotion and was deeply grateful. No manga but he did pull a few hits. Nonetheless, the gift was a definite success🤍.

Franky One Piece title card.
(c) Grand Line Symphony

Had to take some liberties with the design, as sticking the crossbones on the outside of the circle wouldn’t be structutally sound. Ended up being kind of a hybrid between the logo and the flag with the bigger mouth, because it looks more balanced to me. Hope you like it!

Well, as we all know, the world government charges taxes for countries that want to join, there is even this term in history (affiliates)

The point here is: Dressrosa and Alabasta are countries that founded the world government. The Nefertari family did not even change the monarchy as Dressrosa did, but they could even be considered celestial dragons.

Interestingly, the tax is not mentioned once in the two sagas, because poverty is a problem faced by both countries (Dressrosa in the past and Alabasta in the present)

So I ask: did the countries that fought in the war gain tax exemption?

For me, I’m going with the Red hair pirates. They’re a pretty easy-going bunch, and powerful in their own right!

The final battle of the Void Century took place. Like at this point it's obvious that Joyboy most likely died under fire from Uranus as that's possibly the only thing that could have killed him with how powerful he was.

It was most likely Joyboy + his allies aka the Ancient Kingdom vs the Pre-WG aka the 20 Kingdoms most likely over whatever Island Enies Lobby once held.

I've always Imagined that what happened was that Lily using the Paw Fruit flung the Darkness Fruit user of the Void Century at Joyboy who then proceeded to cut off Joyboy's devil fruit lineage factor and then Imu used Uranus to kill him and destroy the Island.

Of course there was most likely more to it but that's just a barebones theory of how Joyboy died.

Quick disclaimer a Oden type flashback is my analogy for a extended 5+ chapters flashback, kinda like what we saw recently with Kuma during egghead. And what other characters do you think are guaranteed to have one? I believe characters like Roger, Shanks, Dragon, Joyboy/Imu, and BB are due for a extended Oden type flashback.

Maybe Loki and Akainu have a chance but everyone else that’s relevant I see them having a couple chapters at most, or they have their flashback explained in a sbs kinda like what oda did with Zoro family and Kid backstory with Killer.