@electricmastro:
Not sure how Yamato is really being developed in having more close Wano-centric ties and bonding with Momo when all she has been mostly talking about to him is Luffy, Luffy's brother, and lore from an island Luffy is trying to get to, and can be pretty laughable when just chalking it up to admiring samurai and being friends with Momo is enough to claim that one will always stay in one place. I think I'd even laugh at myself if I thought that way.
They are both important, but I consider what Yamato is doing more impactful that what he's saying. Meeting Momo after thinking him dead, protecting Momo, bonding with Momo, working together with Momo. Now Momo trusts him enough to confide his deepest fears, that he might go against what Oden wanted, and Yamato is clearly reacting to that.
Yamato had bonded with Ace, but that doesn't equate to a bond with Luffy. Hearing Luffy's story, reading about him, even meeting him, those don't equate to a bond that can carry him through as a Straw Hat. That can't coast him over the finish line. Just being told “I'm joining, get used to it,” that doesn't cut it for me.
And that's the sort of thing I'm referring to. Zoro vocally expressed his feelings about wanting to go with Luffy as his captain, regardless of what he said beforehand. I can see more lending to the point of Yamato staying in one place with Momo if she was vocally expressing her feelings to do so, but hasn't as far as I'm concerned.
Exactly, “Regardless of what was said beforehand.” Yamato will ultimately do what he feels he should do, regardless of anything he said before. If he sails with Luffy, it'll be his choice. If he goes with Momo, that's his choice. Saying he will sail specifically with Luffy locks him down just as much as Zoro specifically saying he never will.
Of course I'm willing to change my mind and have my own feelings swayed to the contrary if Yamato was presented wanting to be with Momo more and expressing what greater purposes she'd have with him in the story as opposed to never being with Luffy, but until then, I'm currently of the opinion, and I think reasonably so, that Yamato seems more set on being with Luffy after Wano despite not having an extremely high amount of panel time with him so far.
Likewise, I can, and have, acknowledged that Yamato may join despite all my misgivings, and that Oda will make it work however it goes down. Maybe as otakufan said, Yamato is connecting to Momo now because he'll be too busy later.
However, I think it's important not to discount the time Oda has devoted, is devoting, to showing Momo and Yamato together. Likewise, I can't ignore the drip feed of proper bonding with Luffy himself rather than the idea of Luffy, not to mention the utter lack of any development with his crew. Those elements or lack thereof are Yamato's biggest obstacles to joining.
@Monquito:
If Yamato backed up from Luffy and switched to Momo, it certainly would mean the end of her dreams tho.
How, exactly? Which part of Yamato's dream fails by going with Momo rather than Luffy?