ace’s understanding of his own innocence/youth is so interesting because luffy is A Kid to him in a way he’s never gotten to be but also luffy and him are the same in every regard. father who is reviled/persecuted same neglectful upbringing same violence after a point . ace never got to be a kid the way luffy was and he’s dedicated to protecting luffy’s innocence without ever resolving the cognitive dissonance of his own










