Re: anti-X fics?
anonymous
March 20 2009, 19:11:15 UTC
Because he is the captain
For what it's worth, this anon has seen several sources claim that historically, pirate captains really only had ultimate authority in battle and other rough situations. They had to be respected, yes, but it doesn't seem like the power difference would have been quite as severe as higher rank/lower rank in the military (which is the closest thing most of us have to compare it to).
He was elected as a sort of president of this shaky democracy, someone already respected for their leadership and navigation skills who would be level-headed and decisive with the pirate crew in the heat of battle.
It was during engagements that this pirate of pirates would be expected to rise above and help bring victory, but in most other occasions on ship, he was more or less another voting member in the pirate crew, delegating most of the everyday tasks to the quartermaster or other junior officer. In these times, he was to be an even-tempered father who maintained the barest level of discipline necessary to hold the family venture together. This father could be voted out and even thrown off if he became passive or wavering, went against the majority vote, became too brutal, or simply no longer performed his duties to the liking of the pirate ship crew.
Of course pirate crews each kinda did their own thing to some extent, and the OP world is not historical Earth, but I can see a lot of this going on with the Strawhats. Nami has some quartermaster duties (particularly dealing with money and treasure), and she does seem to kinda run things to some extent when Luffy's not being srs bidness in combat.
Disclaimer: this anon doesn't actually ship Luffy/anyone, or Strawhat/Strawhat pairings in general, but finds this sort of thing way interesting anyway.
Re: anti-X fics?
anonymous
March 20 2009, 20:48:35 UTC
The above description doesn't really fit Luffy's role to me. They wouldn't be a crew if it wasn't for him, so he is more like the absolute authority of the navy captain, even if on a day to day basis their interactions are more casual, and Nami runs the regular happenings aboard ship. I agree that it would be a clearer position for abuse of power if it was the military, but it could still be an issue, especially with his strength thrown in.
Re: anti-X fics?
anonymous
March 20 2009, 21:05:27 UTC
The strength issue definitely doesn't help. I just wanted to point out that there's a possible real-world-based interpretation of Luffy that's not "complete power over everyone else 24/7" and kinda softens the issue. It doesn't negate it, but a relationship with a friend whose orders you follow 100% when the shit hits the fan is somewhat better than what people may be thinking.
I guess it also depends on who he's being shipped with. Everybody's kinda got their own dynamic, based on how much authority *they* have on the ship, whether they're older or younger than Luffy, and that sort of thing.
Re: anti-X fics?
anonymous
March 20 2009, 21:16:10 UTC
Oh, I agree that it's easy - probably easier - to see it as not a problem. But I think it'd be interesting to get a view of it as a problem occasionally. I think that would be fun.
Generally speaking they all interact near enough as equals that it's easy to ship anyone with anyone. But there are hints of other tensions and I'd like to see those a bit more than I do.
For what it's worth, this anon has seen several sources claim that historically, pirate captains really only had ultimate authority in battle and other rough situations. They had to be respected, yes, but it doesn't seem like the power difference would have been quite as severe as higher rank/lower rank in the military (which is the closest thing most of us have to compare it to).
He was elected as a sort of president of this shaky democracy, someone already respected for their leadership and navigation skills who would be level-headed and decisive with the pirate crew in the heat of battle.
It was during engagements that this pirate of pirates would be expected to rise above and help bring victory, but in most other occasions on ship, he was more or less another voting member in the pirate crew, delegating most of the everyday tasks to the quartermaster or other junior officer. In these times, he was to be an even-tempered father who maintained the barest level of discipline necessary to hold the family venture together. This father could be voted out and even thrown off if he became passive or wavering, went against the majority vote, became too brutal, or simply no longer performed his duties to the liking of the pirate ship crew.
Of course pirate crews each kinda did their own thing to some extent, and the OP world is not historical Earth, but I can see a lot of this going on with the Strawhats. Nami has some quartermaster duties (particularly dealing with money and treasure), and she does seem to kinda run things to some extent when Luffy's not being srs bidness in combat.
Disclaimer: this anon doesn't actually ship Luffy/anyone, or Strawhat/Strawhat pairings in general, but finds this sort of thing way interesting anyway.
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I guess it also depends on who he's being shipped with. Everybody's kinda got their own dynamic, based on how much authority *they* have on the ship, whether they're older or younger than Luffy, and that sort of thing.
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Generally speaking they all interact near enough as equals that it's easy to ship anyone with anyone. But there are hints of other tensions and I'd like to see those a bit more than I do.
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