Oh! Here's a question! In the Mer AU how does Deuce fit into the crew? I know he's in a similar vein of Zoro in he designation Lifeguard for Ability users with less than 1 braincell and occasional mount, but how does he fit in the crew as a whole? Because he's basically creative free reign for you. How does he get on with the OG crew? Does he have a role other than co 1st mate and life guard? How's his relationship with Luffy? (This is an "everyone likes luffy au") aaand I've gotten carried away
Thanks so much for sending this in, I know it was literally ages ago *SWEATS*
I actually had this in my drafts for months, and was using this ask to kinda brainstorm how I wanted to answer this, because you’re absolutely right! Deuce IS in many ways creative free reign for me! Like we do get a decent amount about his personality/past from the Novel A’s, but we only ever see his interactions with Ace and the Spades and WB, not even any direct interactions with Thatch I don’t think. And he’s most certainly never met Lu or the other canon Straw Hats!
But the more I thought about it, the more complicated my answer got, because Deuce actually is, in many ways, the exact kind of figure who could really change up crew dynamics. This isn’t to say that Ace and Thatch don’t! But some things to consider about Deuce:
1) He’s a strategist. He was the brains behind the Spades, and a GOOD brains too. He may not have Nami’s genius navigation skills, but he has experience using everything and anything around them to win, and is used to being in a leadership position (first mate of the Spades). Every single time the rookies think “WTF DO WE DO,” they now actually have someone to turn to.
2) He’s a doctor. Or well, specifically a med-school dropout, but he’s had formal medical education, which is more than most doctor charas have, and that knowledge was enough for him to act as medic of the Spades, and for him to later be a part of Whitebeard’s medical division. He may not be a genius like Chopper (tho tbh, I kinda feel he is, he just doesn’t think of himself that way), nor does he necessarily dream of being an amazing doctor, but he’s more than capable of patching up his crew.
3) He’s got impressive construction/shipwright skills. He’s probably nowhere near a professional like Franky, but he still designed and helped build Striker out of nothing with Ace, and that is impressive. Both in terms of the actual skills needed to construct it, but also in terms of sheer creativity. He could probably help fix and assess Merry’s damage far better than Usopp alone.
4) On top of the above three points, which makes him extremely well-rounded and versatile, he’s a self-proclaimed non-combatant. Like sure, he can hold his own in a fight, but generally speaking he would prefer to leave that stuff to Ace and the other fighters. But he’s also CLEARLY, undeniably useful and depended upon. Just imagine what this could mean for Usopp in particular.
5) He’s a permanent member of the crew from the start. Thatch’s role is a bit more ambiguous, as you’ve probably seen from other AU posts, as are Sabo and Koala’s. But Deuce has already long decided that where Ace goes, he follows. So even though Zoro is very much Luffy’s personal right hand man, in terms of actual crew authority, even Zoro will defer to Deuce as the “first mate.”
So taking these things into account, I feel like Nami, Usopp, and Chopper would be especially close to Deuce. He’s a voice of reason, he likes planning, and he values preparation and information, unlike the two Captains, and he has the experience and rank (if you could call it that) to use it all. True, this means he often comes off as a nagging mother-hen figure, but someone’s gotta be responsible here, and at first Deuce may have had hopes that Sabo could fill that role, but turns out the Revolutionary’s just as batshit crazy as the rest o them.
Are I guess so me really loose thoughts! ^ ^;
I also started a little Deuce-centric story series that I’ll be posting the first part of tonight, to help people learn a bit more about him especially if they haven’t read the novels, and to allow me to explore his role in the AU deeper! I hope that’ll be of interest <3
Thanks so much for sending this in!!
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~This ask has been added to the Mermaid AU Text Headcanons Compilation post~
