@Deicide:
I wonder who the people who vote "Other" or "a Supernova/a Red Scabbard" expect to join.
I've hinted mine. What about others' bets?
Well, my "other" is partially "none of the above", in that, while I do think we're gonna get one more (hence not voting for "Jimbei's the last one"), I'm seriously doubtful that it'll be any of the available choices on the poll based on everything we've seen so far. None of them feel right, certainly not the way Jimbei did. I could be quite wrong about that, and I'm sure part of that is my own bias because, by the time I started reading the series, Fishman Island was already complete and Jimbei had promised to join eventually, so him being official at some point has been a given to me for the whole time I've been reading weekly. But that doesn't change the fact that none of them have made the same impression and given the same vibes he did.
The one possible exception there is Yamato, whom we've just met and hasn't had the chance to leave much of any impression at all, but I'm not bandwagoning on him at this point. I suppose I could have waited a few months before casting my vote to see if he becomes more convincing and appealing as a possible Straw Hat, or if the hype for him dies out completely. Maybe after he's been around longer, I'll end up wishing I'd voted for him and feel much more optimistic about his chances. But eh. I'm friggen lazy and wanted to get my vote-explaining post out of the way before things start devolving in here, and Yamato, though he leaves me with a stronger first impression than several of the other options, seems perfectly viable as just an arc ally as well. I would rather just place my bets now and admit I was wrong later.
For whom I think it will be? No idea. Could even be a new character. Whom I'd like it to be? Vivi, who has far better chemistry with the Straw Hats–and I mean all of them (minus the three she never got the chance to meet), not just one or two–than any of the other choices. Hell, just the possible interactions between Vivi and Robin (whom she knew as an enemy) alone sound more interesting than everything we've gotten from some of these other choices combined. And for those who believe "Vivi already is a Straw Hat", yes, I believe that too, and still do consider her to be at least an honorary Straw Hat member regardless. But I'd literally prefer her coming back and sailing on the Sunny with them as a full-time member than any of the other choices joining. If one of them does, I won't love it, but it'll be whatever. If Vivi comes back, I will love it.
but yeah no way Oda is gonna have a guy who was a homicidal maniac who "killed people" and abandoned his crew join, even if he's reformed
