^_^

pfp: op26262

[no1onepiecefan]

the idea of marco finding izou’s body breaks my heart every day. of course, one of the first things marco would do after the battle of onigashima is look for his crew mate of thirty years, and all he finds is a cold body. or maybe he doesn’t look for izou; whisked away in post-battle duties as a doctor and trusting he’ll turn up. but he never does, he never comes back. marco being the character to find izou is so probable it haunts me, and marco being notified is just as likely; hands stilling, shaking, and turning ghastly pale with a patient’s blood already coating his hands.

marco entered the fray of onigashima with a neutral opinion regarding his own survival. the one thing that marco could’ve possibly lost, the one wound that could hurt him, the worst case scenario managed to happen. he had to bury another loved one. it’s like the world plays a sick game with him.

while i know marco would never regret alerting izou about the raid in onigashima, he did alert him and that’s something. marco who sombrely and plainly stated, “i survived again,” in front of izou’s memorial, marco who likely battles incomprehensible survivor’s guilt and ptsd given his canon reaction to marineford, and who led the payback war which miserably failed. marco has so much weight on his shoulders, and indirectly, he’s now the reason izou’s dead. marco has zero blame in izou’s death, god absolutely no, but i know his brain wouldn’t work like that at its lowest moments. on his worst days i’m sure nothing more plagues his mind than how it should’ve been him, how he shouldn’t have let him out of his sight. shamefully, maybe it crosses his mind before he quickly takes it back that he wished he never brought izou to onigashima at all.

we don’t know if marco has a family however given the age he joined whitebeard and the life he chose in retirement, the educated guess is no. additionally, the remnants of the whitebeard pirates scattered or died. marco doesn’t have much left, but izou did; marco stares that in the face as he meets the harrowed and now amputee little sister he always gushed about. hell, maybe kiku was the one to tell him as marco tended to her arm, and the world just shattered at his feet. maybe marco wordlessly knew from the grief in kiku’s eyes; they look uncannily similar to izou’s post-marineford after all. something so horrible hangs in the air when he tries to explain how much izou loved and missed her in all the years they never had. and maybe some part of marco wished he was six feet under instead

[battlefrankies]

man. when the moby dick goes down and everyone's yelling and understandably upset, marco and whitebeard are the ones whose reactions are emphasized, and they don't really have anything to say. u think they watched that ship get built together? way back when marco was just a little kid and he was setting out in the world with his pops and pops said 'this is gonna be our home'... the straw hats' connection to the merry was already so strong after less than a year, they were a family just as much as the whitebeard pirates are, then you take that bond with their home and multiply that by 30+ years. another stepping stone to the new age, but this one really hurts

[no1onepiecefan]

something which never fully leaves my mind is the scene where garp punches marco in marineford, and how they parallel each other in that moment.

garp’s involvement in ace’s death is regularly summarised as omission; he sat and watched it happen. however, him punching marco turns his involvement into something much bigger. that small moment means garp wasn’t guilty by omission, he was guilty in an active way. an abettor. garp helped kill ace not just by doing nothing, but by voluntarily and violently stopping an effort to save him. and that was shown through marco which i always found so interesting.

garp is a man who chose his job and professional affiliation over his family. marco is a man who values his family over everything and ultimately ended up retiring as a result.

in that moment when marco was depicted racing towards ace with tunnel vision, there is no world that could’ve made him anticipate garp as an obstacle in his path. marco values family so preciously that for a moment it became a flaw- not realising ace’s grandfather would value family any different.

garp, directly after, commented how if whitebeard & co ‘want to get past him, it’ll be over his dead body.’ promptly followed by ace putting his head on the ground and saying he doesn’t want to die. he heard his grandad loudly threaten his loved ones that he will personally ensure his execution will be carried out.

marco and garp parallel each other so horrifically in that moment. marco was punched to the ground after rushing towards ace, and after noticing his pops’ health concerns from across the battlefield, that moment of weakness allowed him to be shackled in seastone.

garp punched marco to the ground, unflinchingly threatened that he will fight anyone who tries to save ace, and simply gritted his teeth while ace cried that he still wanted to live.

family is both of their weaknesses, and we see two sides of the same coin in their short altercation. marco’s protectiveness is directly to his own detriment (and indirectly to his family’s as he can no longer defend them in the aftermath of momentarily losing his edge). garp’s passiveness is directly to his family’s detriment (and indirectly to his own due to the mental torment he inflicts upon himself in opposing them, furthermore losing them).

they are action and inaction, protectiveness and passiveness. they have a shared, main weakness of family in exactly the opposite ways. it is so interesting to me

[no1onepiecefan]

i love the idea of marco on the red force and as the only devil fruit user on the ship, he has fifty pirates ready to jump into the sea for him at all times.

shanks & co who watch marco like a hawk whenever he’s on the deck like he’s not a veteran of over thirty years. marco who subsequently taunts them all with their kind concern; gestures of jumping off the ship and pretend stumbling. there’s hushed specific instruction for whoever’s on watch to keep an eye on him whenever he’s close to the edge, and if it wasn’t so amusing it would be so sweet.

none of their concern would be expressed openly, no way. they all think they’re being casual and nonchalant as they collectively tense up watching marco kick his legs while fishing. they all think they’re unnoticeable and smooth when someone always conveniently needs a bath at the same time marco does. shanks thinks he’s hilarious and charming whenever he puts his arm around marco’s waist, wiggling his eyebrows, like marco didn’t notice the quick intake of breath as he leaned a little too far over the edge of the ship admiring the scenery.

marco doesn’t mind it. he just laughs at their antics and enjoys the harmless attention. he never digs into why they’re so jumpy, why would he assume anything deeper than a crew full of non-df users orientating a df-user? however, after enough shared drinks and lips loosened with alcohol it’s revealed that none of them ever shook that day in the east blue. they all remember when luffy was dropped into the ocean and their captain returned with one hysteric anchor in his hold and one less arm. shanks bet his arm on the future but there’s no doubt he’d sacrifice another for a friend. he really is such a high maintenance captain. the horrid fear of losing luffy and the catastrophic aftermath of the event lives with them all; and for their unfortunately infinite love for shanks, and their growing care for marco, they’re not trying to repeat the past.

i don’t think the drunken confession would shake marco, his captain was whitebeard after all, and his family included the likes of portgas d ace and oden to name a few. he knows recklessness, he knows fear, and he knows loving concern maybe more than anyone on the sea. however, the confession is something, and maybe marco stays more central on the red force, invites people to bathe with him and lets others do the fishing. maybe when shanks wraps an arm around his waist, he reciprocates with an arm around his shoulder, laughing at the shock on his face

[wtfforged]

i grin whenever that shy zoro post gets a little traction again. he has the evilest face, the most murderous glare, the meanest mug in the whole grand line. and hes shy.

[no1onepiecefan]

there’s something so sweet and so fitting about whitebeard’s right hand man being a doctor. it’s unusual in the status quo of one piece- zoro, beckman, killer, rayleigh, king, katakuri, etc, but of course. whitebeard became a pirate to build a family; his lifelong dream was soft, gentle and full of love. what else would be whitebeard’s right hand if not a doctor? who else would be his second in command if not marco?

[no1onepiecefan]

i know that zoro looks at marco and feels indescribable.

because isn’t he just zoro’s worst nightmare, his worst case scenario, all his fears personified? the second in command, the right hand man, reduced to a living memory after his crew was killed repeatedly in front of his eyes. then in retaliation to his captain being mercilessly slaughtered, he waged a war on the murderer and he lost terribly. marco walked out of the payback war with less family than he walked in with and their fight of revenge became a scramble of retreat. marco who lost izou in wano as if the world would not allow him a second of respite from grief. marco who in present time has to sit with the knowledge that the scattered, remaining remnants and allies of the whitebeard pirates are being hunted for sport, and he can’t do anything about it. marco who never stops losing what he loves even when it's doubted that he could lose any more.

i know that zoro looks at marco and feels fear, genuine terror, at that fate. the strawhats are zoro’s world, his love for them is boundless. his love for his captain? nothing could hope to compare. zoro losing any one of his crew mates would irreversibly destroy him, and he looks at a man who has lost it all. thatch, oden, little oars jr, ace, whitebeard, izou; well: sanji, brook, franky, usopp, nami, luffy. does he feel pity? does he feel kindred? what does zoro think when he sees marco?

marco is so powerful; the whitebeard pirates were untouchable pinnacles of the pirate world. marco was the righthand man of the strongest man in the world for (over) thirty years, a man who stood shoulder to shoulder with gold roger himself. does zoro train harder knowing that or does it momentarily cause him to falter in worry about the futility of strength? marco the phoenix, first division commander of the whitebeard pirates, lives alone on a secluded island with the company of villagers and graves. he spent thirty years aboard the moby dick and it came crumbling in months. zoro must look at that, and think about how his world could slip through his fingers if he lowers his guard from threat for a moment. worry must claw at his throat as he struggles to find what to say; staring at the embodiment of strength, intelligence and kindness and who's fate is a quiet life he never asked for.

i know that zoro looks at marco and feels indescribable

[no1onepiecefan]

asl brothers as wealth, fame and power is something i find so interesting. it’s them but it’s opposite, it’s all wrong. ace & fame, something he was unwillingly cursed with due to his lineage and something he hid from until his anonymity was ripped from him against his will. sabo & wealth, former rich kid turned revolutionary who strives to dismantle the world’s leading authorities; their wealth hoarding and corrupt luxury. luffy & power, the boy who’s dream is solely fuelled by the idea of ultimate freedom despite the inherent power behind what he strives for. ‘the king of the pirates’ who scoffs at the idea of superiority or control over anyone. asl brothers as wealth, fame and power but it’s everything they’re not, and everything they hope to never be

[no1onepiecefan]

a niche part of one piece i'd adore to see explored is the dynamic between sabo and marco.

on a very objective level, they must know each other as sabo was seen at ace's grave, something only the whitebeard pirates, allies and shanks knows the location of. at the moment it's unconfirmed whether even luffy knows. the graves are alluded to be in marco's vicinity, and i don't doubt he has a watchful eye over them, making their meeting at least 75% likely, and i'm choosing to believe they have.

more than that though, this is ace's brother, just like luffy is. marco dropped everything to help luffy when he needed it in onigashima, and while that was as a result of whitebeard's order, i am sure that protection extends at least partially to sabo as well. he's ace's brother too, and that means something to the remnants of the whitebeard pirates; but to what extent and how their dynamic would form is something i am hugely curious about.

did ace ever mention him is something i often wonder, but my answer always leans on the side of no, because if marco heard the name sabo he would instantly go, "oh, sabo, second in command of the revolutionaries. are you sure he's dead?" marco as a character is an information network, he is the glue and the branch between so many different corners of the pirate world as we see in wano especially. he's a doctor, a navigator, he's the brains, there is no doubt in my mind that he knows of the revolutionaries, while in small broken pieces like the mystery the revolutionaries are shrouded in, i think he'd know the name sabo at the very least. which leaves the sombre realisation that ace never mentioned sabo, never in name at least. the grief that shrouded ace lived with him until he died.

marco and sabo have similar characteristics. in the present they are very much shaped by their grief and their love, memory is what fuels their actions when a specific and situational goal doesn’t. goodness is at the core of them both; they are both so kind. it’s almost like two sides of the same coin at times, and i would just adore to see how their dynamic would shape in light of everything they share

[no1onepiecefan]

there is nothing i love and dislike more than the headcanon that marco is the sole user of the phoenix devil fruit throughout history.

the idea of him seeing centuries, reincarnating with every death, is so incredible and so horrid. it reminds me of toki, and her holding onto her devil fruit for eight hundred years as a person who can travel to the future but never go back. marco being reborn, constantly anew again, the same person in so many different lives, it breaks my heart and it's genius.

and when people play with his memories, whether they are intact or not; tragic! does he meet the whitebeard pirates in every lifetime he is reborn, or does he remember them eternally, never to meet again, yearning for something irreplaceable and already gone? does his memory slowly return to him in flashes, or is he a blank slate, an eternal amnesiac in a cycle he’ll never know? does he form relationships with other potentially immortal characters such as brook, or is he isolated and wandering in perpetual aimlessness?

the idea of its canon applications is something i often think about too. marco in the void century, a past life he will never know, but he was a part of it. marco’s life just before this one; just before roger’s time. did he fear pirates, was he on the opposite side? how many lives would he have lived; is this his first, and he is unknowingly doomed to eternity? or is this his twentieth, and the cycle is long in motion? would seastone kill him permanently? can anything truly erase him? a phoenix is reborn from as much as ash, and the sea will weather and tear at a body but it will wash ashore one day. would the government know him- ‘the marco of this lifetime has become a bar owner in the east blue.’ what would happen if someone from a life before laid eyes on him again, what would that do to the person, and what on earth would it do to marco?

marco being the eternal user of the phoenix devil fruit is a concept i’m not sure if i like or not because of what it means for him, but wow is it incredible

[spacer-case]

trying out new brushes

[no1onepiecefan]

something that breaks my heart is how easily thatch died. thatch, the fourth division commander of the whitebeard pirates, must’ve been incredibly powerful. the whitebeard commanders we know in detail: marco, oden, ace, izou, jozu, vista, etc, are renown as some of the most powerful characters in their respective fortes each. the whitebeard pirates were titans of the pirate world, and to hold a position of power in their ranks is placing you easily among some of the most powerful in one piece almost inherently.

but thatch died without a fight to our knowledge, thatch died quietly, found in a pool of his own blood, body already cold. thatch died very literally stabbed in the back, in the middle of the night without last words that would reach anyone’s ears. it’s brutal and more than anything, it’s so unpleasantly bitter.

i think how he died is very symbolic of the whitebeard pirates as a crew. a man who, while we don’t know in combat, is at least comparable to the commanders we do know. his faith and family-orientated love was so unwavering it caused a man like that to die swiftly and silently. while blackbeard’s power pre-devil fruit is nothing to undermine, especially given the wound he gave shanks, i refuse to believe thatch wouldn’t of at least been able to defend himself briefly; long enough to be heard. thatch died with unquestioning love in his heart, not for one second was his guard up, and only in teach’s gross abuse of that trust did thatch succumb. thatch died so easily, and nothing hurts more than that.

all the whitebeard pirates died for love. oden died, tortured and shot, after holding his loved ones above his head for an hour so they wouldn’t boil alive alongside him. thatch died with unquestioning adoration, stabbed in the back by a member of his cherished family. ace died indirectly as a result of trying to avenge thatch, and directly by defending luffy in the pinnacle of marineford, protecting his little brother until his last breath. whitebeard died attempting to rescue ace, falling victim to hundreds of wounds in his path as he clambered to save his son. ultimately, the bullet that would kill him was from the gun of the son that betrayed him. izou died in sacrifice, telling his younger sister to live. he died fighting against enemies who intended to hurt ace’s little brother and who would’ve doomed his homeland if they succeeded. whitebeard pirates are so kind, love is as natural to them as breathing. i am hoping, in some way, there will be a resting conclusion to all the suffering they have been dealt so horribly. they are so full of love, and that makes their story so tragic.

[no1onepiecefan]

with the plot point that shanks recurrently asks marco to join his crew and marco has comically declined each time for years now, do you think it will ever develop further (marco joining the red haired pirates temporarily/permanently/etc) or do you think it will remain a sweet, stagnant bit?

do you think marco will join the red haired pirates at any point?

yes, permanently

yes, temporarily (e.g. for the final arc/against blackbeard/etc)

no, it will remain a harmless joke

other (pls lmk!)

Voting ended onApr 8, 2025

[no1onepiecefan]

one piece fan letter marco you will always be famous

[no1onepiecefan]

i really adore just how loved marco is in the one piece universe, and what that means for his character.

marco is so beloved. as the first division commander of the whitebeard pirates, a veteran of over thirty years and three wars, he has unparalleled connections. marco knows many of the most famous, renown men in one piece, and they equally know of him.

figures like whitebeard, oden, shanks, ace, luffy, etc; everyone who has ever meant anything in the larger scope of the one piece world. every man who has left an unimaginable mark on history, for lack of better words, really likes marco. every icon of piracy that the plot frames in a positive light loves him, all by varying degree of knowing him but nonetheless. and i really think it speaks hugely of his integrity when you have that many figures loving you dearly. if their opinion of him is positive, then who's opinion can be trusted more?

(near) every enemy he's faced: admirals, big mom, king, queen, etc, many of whom you would doubt have the capacity for civil respect do just that. even marco's enemies seem to have a baseline respect as they face him, and just that level of universal likability, or at the very least admissibility, is something that i don't know if we see in any other character to that extent. everyone hates someone and everyone is hated by someone, but oddly, everyone really seems to have the time of day for marco.

maybe it's his supportive role; he's as pacifistic and gentle as an infamous pirate gets. his flames cannot burn, and while he is incredibly competent on a battlefield, that's not where his name is usually found; he's a doctor. the whitebeard's reach as a crew of thousands is far and wide as well- tales of his kindness must have been carried across every ocean, but that's all assumptions and educated guesses. regardless, everyone’s opinion of marco is lacking malice, even when they’re on opposite sides.

everyone likes him, and it's just a detail that i find really sweet. it says so much about his character; there’s a level of trust that can be placed in the opinions of these great man, and it's an opinion they all collectively share. marco is lovely, with everyone's agreement

[no1onepiecefan]

thinking about how the last thing ace ever felt before he died was luffy’s strawhat. his last tactile memory was of red ribbon and coarse straw, of his brother's most identifiable feature, a very encapsulation of luffy.

luffy’s strawhat is a symbol of his dream as much as it is a symbol of liberation. true freedom was a notion that ace felt only fleetingly in the moments before he passed but he felt it nonetheless, mirroring how he held onto luffy's strawhat before plummeting to the ground. ace, in his final seconds, felt free in every sense of the word. he embraced freedom both figuratively through his realisation and literally as he held onto luffy’s strawhat, knowing he saved him.

[no1onepiecefan]

i adore rayleigh and zoro as somewhat looming grim reapers to anyone who threatens their captains and crews. they’re like 'promises of death,' shadows that follow behind, with presences that feel only like unforgiving finality. the dark king and the king of hell, demons devoted to heaven-sent angels and gods, darkness that worships the light it's interconnected to