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sideblog for @crossguild. punkhazard @ao3

[battlefrankies]

amazing things happening in the cross guild server (:

[battlefrankies]

I think there's a misunderstanding about luffy in op fandom (maybe exacerbated by the live action). and it's that luffy intuits a person's goodness based on 'vibes' and 'gut feelings' and chooses to trust or help people because of some innate goodness that he can sense in them because of his special luffyness. and that's not true!! zoro has the exact same ability to clock whether or not someone is trustworthy, he knew nami didn't truly betray them in arlong park and bet his life on it. they look at another person's ACTIONS to draw their conclusions, they never simply draw a conclusion based on vibes. luffy decides he likes zoro because he saw him being kind to rika, he chooses to trust nami because she put out that fuse on the buggy ball cannon with her bare hands rather than let it shoot him, he allowed robin onto his ship because he saw her save people and undermine crocodile every time she had an opportunity.

luffy's not judging people based on something innate and unique to only him-- he just uses what he can observe of a person's actions to make his mind up about them. and that should be really encouraging, because it means you don't have to be luffy to figure out who you can trust. you just have to look at someone's actions, regardless of what they say, and draw your conclusions based on that.

this theme pops up repeatedly in fishman island, so it's kind of sad to see luffy's intuition being chalked up to some mystical force that he can use the first time he meets someone. his first impulse is to take people in good faith and unless he's given a reason to dislike someone, he usually will! whether or not that person continues to prove themselves deserving of that good faith is up to them.

[metazanni]

The thing is, Intuition and Gut Feeling is what we call it when we have become so quick at observing someone's behaviour that we can't exactly explain our process for coming to the conclusion, but that doesn't mean the process isn't happening.

So Luffy, who has barely any education, would call it My Gut and Intuition and I Just Know, because when would he have been taught how to explain observation and deductive reasoning and all this stuff we're using to describe his process with all this technical jargon?

The regular word for it is Intuition though.

Some people think it's a magical mystic force, sure; people think that in real life too! But that doesn't mean it IS.

[battlefrankies]

it looks like your canon basis here is the live action, which is exactly the misinterpretation this post is taking about. there's a lot that's condensed or cut from the opla mainly to time constraints and one of them is the many times a character does something that ultimately decides whether or not luffy chooses to trust someone.

it's actually a pretty slow process, and at no point does luffy ever explain himself (for example, he never says 'I know this person is good, I just feel it'-- that's a frankly kind of annoying thing they put in the live action. he helps vivi because nami decides that they're helping vivi and he trusts nami). luffy's 'intuition' actually kind of sucks because he WILL believe evil people who give him food, and he WILL suspect and dislike secretly nice people who are dicks to him regardless of their motivations if that's the only exposure he has to their behavior. he has a strong emotional intelligence that lets him look beyond someone's words to catch their true intent, but only when he knows them well.

when he chooses to help or trust a stranger despite their first impressions, that's a deliberate and conscious choice based on observable evidence that he would be able to cite if he were the type to explain himself. the only character in the first two seasons of opla with a special intuition is nami, and it's about how in tune she is to the weather. incidentally when luffy makes a judgment about someone, the crew doesn't go along with it because of his special luffy gut feeling-- it's because he's the captain and what he says, goes.

opla luffy is a different luffy from the manga, who is the subject of this post. I really recommend checking out the manga! it's a much deeper and more complex world than the opla has the opportunity to depict (although they do a very good job with the time they're given), and manga!luffy is a ton of fun.

[battlefrankies]

'competent buggy' is the wildest op tag to me. u might as well name the tag '[character who is not] buggy'

u know people should do whatever they want but it's like watching someone pour ketchup on ice cream. the APPEAL is that he's an incompetent loser who somehow continually manages to fail upwards, and if he'd been a less self-serving greedy person and believed in the power of friendship, he'd be in a far better position than he is. which is the point.

despite how terrible the circumstances of someone's upbringing might be, they have every chance of turning out okay and making choices that help themselves and others, just as much as the trauma might subsume and destroy them. the flipside is that no matter how well someone was taught and no matter how positive their role models, they might still choose to be a bad person. and that's buggy.

which is fine. one piece is fiction and buggy isn't real. he's not a real life bad person so it's fine to like him even though he ransacked a village in east blue and burned shushu's last memento of his dead owner to the ground. it's literally okay to just like the horrible clown despite and even because of his atrocities. the impulse to sanitize villainous characters because they're stylish and funny and we like them is my least favorite part of interacting with fandom tbh

[battlefrankies]

so i don't think ace has narcolepsy at all. if he had narcolepsy, it would've acted up during marineford, probably the MOST stressful and emotional few hours of his life. the times we've seen him spontaneously fall asleep are all when he's eating, so rather than narcolepsy it kinda just looks like he's so comfortable and happy to have food that he just falls asleep in his bowl. like a 6 week old kitten.

I know people love giving ace narcolepsy for the angst factor, which is fine. but if ace has narcolepsy then so do luffy and garp, who also fall asleep from 'not giving enough fucks to stay awake' or 'tasty yummy food'. it's just not a factor at all in how I read ace

[battlefrankies]

shanks's relationship with the whitebeard pirates is soooooo interesting (dodging tomatoes as people shout you just want to talk about shanksmarco again!) cause he thought of ace (who he hadn't met yet) as a little brother. and he liked luffy so much that he gave that kid his hat, he saw so much potential in him. and then years later he finally meets ace and gets a little nibble at the back of his mind like, captain named his son after his sword?!

but ace wasn't looking for a connection to roger, actively resented him, and shanks isn't the kind of guy who'd force his perspective on others (that would, after all, make him just like a celestial dragon which is the last thing he'd ever want), so he doesn't bring it up. but he does his best to watch out for the kid who's (checks notes) going to try and kill whitebeard?!

but shanks, who grew up on the oro jackson and has personally gone after that old man, knows whitebeard. whitebeard did not instantly one-shot him and buggy when they had the nerve to try and attack him as teens. he knows ace is gonna meet that great pirate and get parented, which sounds like exactly what he needs. tbh. and when he gets the news about whitebeard's new recruit, a rookie who tore up paradise and hit the new world at breakneck pace, who then became his second division commander...

so this kid who's his little brother in spirit has been in the care of the whitebeard pirates for (i wanna say two?) years, and those are really the most capable hands he could've ended up in so shanks doesn't worry too much about him. until he goes after teach, who capably scarred shanks when he wasn't even off-guard. and then got captured by the marines.

and whitebeard, being whitebeard, mobilizes his WHOLE FLEET to go save that kid who is as good as family to shanks. and then LUFFY shows up-- which shanks probably only found out about after arriving at marineford. luffy, a rookie, would've died countless times throughout the war at marineford if the whitebeard pirates hadn't stepped in on his behalf and he still got majorly beat up...

it says a lot about shanks that he arrived to back up the whitebeard pirates at marineford, but it's also worth considering how much he thinks of the whitebeard pirates as having acted on HIS behalf in protecting ace and luffy when he couldn't be there himself. i think a lot about why he'd step in and handle whitebeard and ace's funerals, and even if we never find out anything else about his relationship to the WBPs, it's obviously because they've looked out for people who were important to him first.

it STILL doesn't explain why marco would LET shanks step in like that. maybe for ace, now confirmed to be the bio son of the man that shanks also considered a father, who disowned that father and now considers himself the son of a man who is also marco's dad... but that marco would step back and let shanks do that for whitebeard... that speaks to an immense amount of trust and history, which we have gotten ZERO of!! 😭 why was teach at mary geoise??? was the rest of the crew there as well?????? why is marco so sure that shanks 'isn't the type to do stupid things'??? WHAT HAPPENED!!!!

[battlefrankies]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

"You know," the Phoenix said matter-of-factly, "we're pirates. We're all living on stolen time. However much of it you get, you should try to enjoy it."

"Guess you would say that," Zoro commented blandly, returning to his drink, "at your age."

[battlefrankies]

I think there's a misunderstanding about luffy in op fandom (maybe exacerbated by the live action). and it's that luffy intuits a person's goodness based on 'vibes' and 'gut feelings' and chooses to trust or help people because of some innate goodness that he can sense in them because of his special luffyness. and that's not true!! zoro has the exact same ability to clock whether or not someone is trustworthy, he knew nami didn't truly betray them in arlong park and bet his life on it. they look at another person's ACTIONS to draw their conclusions, they never simply draw a conclusion based on vibes. luffy decides he likes zoro because he saw him being kind to rika, he chooses to trust nami because she put out that fuse on the buggy ball cannon with her bare hands rather than let it shoot him, he allowed robin onto his ship because he saw her save people and undermine crocodile every time she had an opportunity.

luffy's not judging people based on something innate and unique to only him-- he just uses what he can observe of a person's actions to make his mind up about them. and that should be really encouraging, because it means you don't have to be luffy to figure out who you can trust. you just have to look at someone's actions, regardless of what they say, and draw your conclusions based on that.

this theme pops up repeatedly in fishman island, so it's kind of sad to see luffy's intuition being chalked up to some mystical force that he can use the first time he meets someone. his first impulse is to take people in good faith and unless he's given a reason to dislike someone, he usually will! whether or not that person continues to prove themselves deserving of that good faith is up to them.

[battlefrankies]

are you normal or are you thinking constantly about that scene in the ace novel manga that wasn't in the novel itself that oda personally added and sketched out for the artist where thatch was asking marco to stop ace from fighting whitebeard for the 100th time (after thatch was shown worrying over pops's health and the damage he was starting to take) and marco was just like 'nah, i can't do anything about that'

and very interestingly how in marineford it wasn't mentioned at ALL that marco was a doctor, much less THE ship's doctor (which was revealed in 909), which the fandom (including me) understandably took and ran with to mean that he was always trying to control whitebeard's drinking-- but we never see him in the series itself ever trying to do so, even though the nurses try (234)

and in fact we have seen him chilling with pops while he's drinking without saying anything about it even after he lost his hair (1023 and 1121, while he's talking about the 'race of gods on top of the red line', which we learn in wano is something he does when he gets drunk)

do u ever think about. marco knowing that if pops decided to take it easy, stay on land, fight less, drink less, and pay more attention to his health, he'd probably have a few more years to live but asking him not to do the things that make him happiest (sailing around, partying and drinking with his family) would be torture for that stubborn old man, so marco doesn't say anything. just quietly watches his dad who he devoted the last 30+ years of his life to die slowly (and quickly) and simply does what he can to make him comfortable

and in his FINAL MOMENTS, the last person whitebeard thinks of and addresses is marco-- the viz translation makes it sound like [his crew] gave him everything [they have], but the raws are more explicit in that he says 'everything [i have], i received from you guys'.

oda's processing a lot of his feelings about parenthood through kuma and bonney and the giants on elbaf but he's definitely also at the age of going through adult child of elderly parent emotions, so i'm excited to see that pan out.

which all leads me to the question of. who the fuck is polo gram???????????????????????

[battlefrankies]

(leans into the mic) marco getting pops's terminal diagnosis after thatch's death cause the combination of stress about ace, grief over thatch + not having the same level of personalized diet anymore is making everything worse and marco immediately stops nagging his dad about his health and his drinking etc etc

pops asks him one day, no lecture this time?? and marco just says 'you should do whatever makes you happy, we [the medical team] will accommodate it' and that's when he knows its SERIOUS. marco's given up. he'll do everything he can, but he doesn't see a way back, he just wants his pops to have the best quality of life with what little life he has left because there's no cure, but being pain-free is more important at this point. anyway do you think whitebeard had to take a minute to think about that. do you think he knew how hard marco would take it when he died.

dumb question, of course he did. that's his right hand man who has been with him for his entire captaining career, but as hard as it'll be for him, that's his strong reliable clever son, he's gonna be okay, and he'll make sure his other kids are okay too, somehow or another.

[battlefrankies]

are you normal or are you thinking constantly about that scene in the ace novel manga that wasn't in the novel itself that oda personally added and sketched out for the artist where thatch was asking marco to stop ace from fighting whitebeard for the 100th time (after thatch was shown worrying over pops's health and the damage he was starting to take) and marco was just like 'nah, i can't do anything about that'

and very interestingly how in marineford it wasn't mentioned at ALL that marco was a doctor, much less THE ship's doctor (which was revealed in 909), which the fandom (including me) understandably took and ran with to mean that he was always trying to control whitebeard's drinking-- but we never see him in the series itself ever trying to do so, even though the nurses try (234)

and in fact we have seen him chilling with pops while he's drinking without saying anything about it even after he lost his hair (1023 and 1121, while he's talking about the 'race of gods on top of the red line', which we learn in wano is something he does when he gets drunk)

do u ever think about. marco knowing that if pops decided to take it easy, stay on land, fight less, drink less, and pay more attention to his health, he'd probably have a few more years to live but asking him not to do the things that make him happiest (sailing around, partying and drinking with his family) would be torture for that stubborn old man, so marco doesn't say anything. just quietly watches his dad who he devoted the last 30+ years of his life to die slowly (and quickly) and simply does what he can to make him comfortable

and in his FINAL MOMENTS, the last person whitebeard thinks of and addresses is marco-- the viz translation makes it sound like [his crew] gave him everything [they have], but the raws are more explicit in that he says 'everything [i have], i received from you guys'.

oda's processing a lot of his feelings about parenthood through kuma and bonney and the giants on elbaf but he's definitely also at the age of going through adult child of elderly parent emotions, so i'm excited to see that pan out.

which all leads me to the question of. who the fuck is polo gram???????????????????????

[battlefrankies]

one piece pirate crews (aside from big mom's for obvious reasons) being a little in love with their captains is so funny in the context of the whitebeard pirates. cause they absolutely are. but i think pops is fully committed to the dad bit and is just enjoying the hell out of gentle parenting all of these grown ass men

whitebeard, oblivious: my beloved children!! his crew, tattooing his symbol onto their bodies: dadd--

[battlefrankies]

impel down said drag queens will free you from the gender binary. and also prison

[touchmycoat]

obsessed with the idea that whitebeard's old man situationship dies one inopportune day and is reborn as his eldest son

[battlefrankies]

one of the main mischaracterizations i see in fic re: shanks and marco is every time marco calls shanks an idiot, that's explicitly something he's never said and that he pushes back against. i think marco (a smart guy) is INTENSELY aware of how intelligent shanks is. shanks is a guy who likes to undersell his actual ability, and i think masking his intelligence is a part of that. although he honestly isn't fooling most people LOL

during shanks's meeting with whitebeard, marco tells the rest of the crew to stand down because shanks 'isn't the kind to do anything stupid'

even when they're kids, when marco's 19 years old and shanks and buggy are 13, he says they've 'got the attitude of grown men!' imo that shows a pretty high level of respect and acknowledgment of their relative maturity and resilience, even if he finds him annoying as hell sometimes LOL

this comment is a little bit rude, but rudeness from marco (a polite guy...) is a sign of closeness. moreover, he's drawing direct parallels from shanks to his own family by calling him a big-time pirate who needs to be babysat 😆 he was right hand to a high maintenance captain of his own, he saw beckman go gray in the span of 10 years. he knows shanks isn't an idiot, but he knows that man will stress him out!!

[battlefrankies]

I always get excited when I see a wall of text from you! Your ruminations on Marco and Shanks are so well thought out and I'm happy that you share them.

Thank you!!

thank you i'm glad you enjoy it!! i jus love them 😭

[battlefrankies]

i was already reading him this way but the confirmation that shanks feels guilty about being descended from celestial dragons makes me like the way he interacts with marco even more. he clearly wants that bird on his crew! but the most he'll do is make an offer, and he accepts the rejection with a smile and a laugh.

it really puts into perspective why shanks is known for taking in weak crews, why he's so beloved by his territories and fleet, why children are so obsessed with him. he's gentle BECAUSE he's so powerful, and he's seen what power (political and physical) can do when it's used to harm others and take away their agency. he's so conscious of the possibility that he's coercing others with his influence or his strength that he won't even take the finishing blow against higuma kid (x2) and barto.

he's been to marygeoise, he was implied to have been the one to facilitate fisher tiger's uprising, and he was so repulsed by what he saw there that he willingly sacrificed his arm to the lord of the coast to get rid of the mark that imu had left on him. he was a kid who was raised on roger's ship, a ship where freedom is so paramount to their way of life, and as an adult he commits himself to never taking that freedom from others, and stopping anyone who intends to.

no matter how much he likes marco, no matter how much he wants him for his crew, he'll never force him. and he doesn't even mention it when he saw to whitebeard and ace's funerals, primarily because it would be really inappropriate 😭 but also in that moment, marco owes him EVERYTHING. shanks stopped the war, shanks made sure the crew and fleet got back to the new world, shanks arranged the funerals.

if he'd said 'in exchange, join my crew', marco's in such a vulnerable position that he would probably feel obligated to say yes. so shanks doesn't ask.

there's this impression in OP fandom, esp among newer/younger fans, that shanks is stupid or careless or immature, and imo that couldn't be farther from the truth. he can give off a carefree vibe because that's the life he wishes he could live, but he's always shown an extraordinary amount of restraint, and he's also shown to be a calculating, deliberate person. even his kindness and generosity are deliberate, like if he gave in to his selfish impulses that would make him just like the celestial dragons he's related to, and that's probably one of his most deeply-rooted fears.

[battlefrankies]

anyway that's what makes shanks/marco so compelling to me!!

the most deliberate choice that shanks makes for himself, to put freedom above his pride and ambition, is the choice that buggy and mihawk disdain him for. but marco served under and deeply loved a man who also had all the strength in the world to take what he wanted, who used that strength to uplift and free others, and that's the same quality that allows him to trust shanks to the extent that he does (notwithstanding the fact that he's known shanks since he was a little kid and probably babysat him LOL. that little punk will never be scary to him)

[battlefrankies]

i was already reading him this way but the confirmation that shanks feels guilty about being descended from celestial dragons makes me like the way he interacts with marco even more. he clearly wants that bird on his crew! but the most he'll do is make an offer, and he accepts the rejection with a smile and a laugh.

it really puts into perspective why shanks is known for taking in weak crews, why he's so beloved by his territories and fleet, why children are so obsessed with him. he's gentle BECAUSE he's so powerful, and he's seen what power (political and physical) can do when it's used to harm others and take away their agency. he's so conscious of the possibility that he's coercing others with his influence or his strength that he won't even take the finishing blow against higuma kid (x2) and barto.

he's been to marygeoise, he was implied to have been the one to facilitate fisher tiger's uprising, and he was so repulsed by what he saw there that he willingly sacrificed his arm to the lord of the coast to get rid of the mark that imu had left on him. he was a kid who was raised on roger's ship, a ship where freedom is so paramount to their way of life, and as an adult he commits himself to never taking that freedom from others, and stopping anyone who intends to.

no matter how much he likes marco, no matter how much he wants him for his crew, he'll never force him. and he doesn't even mention it when he saw to whitebeard and ace's funerals, primarily because it would be really inappropriate 😭 but also in that moment, marco owes him EVERYTHING. shanks stopped the war, shanks made sure the crew and fleet got back to the new world, shanks arranged the funerals.

if he'd said 'in exchange, join my crew', marco's in such a vulnerable position that he would probably feel obligated to say yes. so shanks doesn't ask.

there's this impression in OP fandom, esp among newer/younger fans, that shanks is stupid or careless or immature, and imo that couldn't be farther from the truth. he can give off a carefree vibe because that's the life he wishes he could live, but he's always shown an extraordinary amount of restraint, and he's also shown to be a calculating, deliberate person. even his kindness and generosity are deliberate, like if he gave in to his selfish impulses that would make him just like the celestial dragons he's related to, and that's probably one of his most deeply-rooted fears.

[battlefrankies]

(marco voice)(affectionate) youre so fucking annoying ,