I Have Maybe Stupid Thought/question. It’s Thought That Changes Into Question. And It Could Be Dumb

Hello! I'm curious to hear your thoughts on Shanks's morality, especially with regards to Chapter 1126 (also Chapters 1079 and 1) where his crew attacked the Barto Club (also the Kid pirates and the mountain bandits). One observation is that Shanks didn't make the killing blow himself and neither did he give an explicit order to kill. But I think that if Shanks really wanted to, he could have stopped his crew from going too far. So, what do you think goes on in his head during those scenes? Did he mean for his crew to kill those people? And how does he feel about killing people to save his friends?

Thanks in advance for your answer!!!

This is such a great question! Part of what makes Shanks so interesting is how he handles conflict; he has a very even temperament, and his priorities during any dispute are always A.) the safety of those he cares about, and B.) de-escalation. A takes precedence over B, of course, which we see firsthand in the mountain bandits incident.

When Higuma breaks a bottle over his head, Shanks' initial reaction is to be concerned on Makino's behalf, and to take the burden of the conflict off her shoulders by keeping her uninvolved. It's just plain ol' good character writing, because it shows exactly the type of person he is through the subtlety of his actions. Hell, he doesn't even let her touch the broken glass, instead choosing to pick it up himself -- a great visual to sum up Shanks, who is constantly the first to clean up the mess and take responsibility, so long as no one else gets hurt. (Note that Oda draws attention to the very same hand that Shanks ends up losing when he saves Luffy... nice foreshadowing.)

Then of course we get this gem of a one-liner from Shanks, which is just so effortlessly cool. As a pirate, Shanks knows conflict better than anyone, which is why he explicitly tells Luffy not to resort to violence in situations where it is unnecessary. I really like this too, because it shows how Shanks is always walking the middle ground; he's not "above" violence, but he's not going to go around punching every guy he sees, because that proves nothing but incompetence. In a battle of egos, Shanks is the man with the level head; he knows exactly how powerful he is and refuses to stoop any lower for the sake of pride. It's not vanity -- it's just the truth.

However, when the mountain bandits target Luffy, Shanks' crew does not hesitate to use violence in order to protect him, as well as the village. Something I also find interesting is that Shanks does not lift a finger up until the brush with the sea king; his crew is always willing to step in on his behalf when needed, and this is because of who he is as a person and a leader.

Shanks is not hot-headed, but he's certainly no pushover. As an emperor, he knows what he must do when someone invades his territory and burns his flag -- otherwise, he wouldn't have territory to begin with. Note here how he mentions who specifically it would impact if he let Bartolomeo's actions slide: friends and allies. Again, in any conflict, the safety of those he cares about takes precedence. So, naturally, he has no choice but to teach them all a lesson.

As you mentioned, he did not give explicit orders to sink Bartolomeo's ship, but given the nature of Shanks' relationship with his crew, I highly doubt they would ever do something that Shanks actively disagreed with. It's really just a matter of lightening the load by handling certain matters for him. (Which is really thoughtful, actually, when you consider how bogged down by responsibility Shanks is. Gives him one less thing to worry about.)

We should also remember that this is One Piece. If Oda makes it unclear whether or not a character has survived, there's a very good chance they're alive and well. So I don't think that Yasopp was shooting to kill, and I don't think we've seen the last of Kidd or Barto either. But, hypothetically, I do think Shanks would kill to save someone he cared about if he knew there was no other way out of the conflict. While Shanks mostly aims to de-escalate, he does not hesitate to retaliate against anyone who harms friends or allies. But for Shanks, figuratively speaking, I think it's less about the act of killing and more about putting himself in the line of fire. Violence (with the intent to kill) reads as an extension of his self-sacrificial tendencies to me, because Shanks does not enjoy it.

The first time we witness any serious, violent action from Shanks, it is directly triggered by the stress/anxiety from seeing a sudden vision of his allies and crew getting blown to bits. I would say he panics, even, but others might disagree. (Check out chapter one again, though -- Shanks totally freaks out when he loses sight of Luffy, too. He loses his cool when the people he cares about are unexpectedly put in danger.)

So, if Shanks were to kill, I would imagine it would be in a very dire situation where the threat is imminent and the consequence of not acting fast enough would be many, many deaths -- or perhaps just the death of a friend/ally. Then it is likely that he would put himself in harm's way instead, either to deliver the killing blow or die trying.

may 15th - baby 5

debut chapter: 682

recent chapter: 881 (cover story)

current age: 24

affiliation: happo navy

bounty: unknown

...did luffy basically just debunk the "shanks and buggy see each other as brothers" theory lol

I sent you an ask about shanks hiding his scars in more than the chapter you posted and I’m not sure you got it?

hi! yes i did get it, don't worry! i'm still writing my answer cause it's a bit long and in-depth, but i should post it soon if all goes well :)

I really didn’t expect shuggy to be this popular :o like yeah I guess it has more fans but it’s one of the three op ships there??? I really thought they weren’t like that

yeah me too honestly!!! it was a big surprise (positively). i knew shuggy nation went hard on tumblr but i expected other ships to take their place in the top 100, for example i really hoped namivivi would be included.

i think the live action really helped shuggy become more popular and that's great!! praying for the ship to grow even bigger with season 2...

Please more thoughts about Penguin x Shachi 🤩😋

of course anon!!!

penguin x shachi!

god i just cannot be normal about them. they make me insane. paradoxically, the more i'm fixated on a ship the harder it seems to find the words to talk about them. seeing them or even thinking about them at all just makes my mind shut down lol. but i'll try my best to write something that isn't a nonsensical ramble about how they make my brain short circuit <3

something i love about them is how insanely close they seem to be. actually, that's the main reason i ship them. every moment one of them is on screen, the other is there too, right beside him. it's something so comforting but also so concerning, not in a bad way of course, but in a "what the fuck is wrong with them /affectionate" way. and the thing is, nothing's wrong with them, they're just like that! they've spent their whole life together, never a moment apart, so of course they're going to keep spending every waking moment attached to each other's hip. and the whole crew has just accepted it. no one ever questions it, it's just a given that they'll always be carrying out their missions together.

actually, we saw someone questioning it once, in the first chapter of law novel's second installment. i've been meaning to talk about this in a (long overdue) separate post, so i won't go into detail on it, but this is the gist of it. when something kept the two of them apart for the first time, it was an actual disaster. both of them almost cried in front of the rest of the crew because they were made to sleep in separate rooms, and they weren't used to it; penguin was the more mature one about it, but when shachi started to complain about the decision, penguin almost cried. law, bepo and hakugan laughed at shachi, because the whole thing was so stupid to them: i mean, a 17 year old crying about not being able to sleep in the same room as his buddy? but penguin didn't laugh. he made fun of shachi a bit, but then there he was, trying his hardest to keep his composure and not end up getting ridiculed like shachi did. yeah. i can't believe this moment is canon either.

what i'm trying to say is, they've both proved, in different ways, that their bond is very, very important to them. it's essential to their wellbeing, i'd say. they just work better together, and no one is allowed to come between them. that's exactly what i love about them.

💜

belo betty x doll!

i unfortunately don't have a lot to say about them, because most of my thoughts about them are for my bf and i's modern au, but i really wanted to include them in here because i think they deserve to be more popular and i want people to know this ship exists!!

i mean, revolutionary x marine? and it's two girls? perfect dynamic. and their relationship starts exactly like you'd imagine it to: they hate each other's guts. but they're also insanely attracted to each other. so they start telepathically playing a game of "who's going to fall first" except they both fall at the same time. and then they would have to keep their relationship a secret, because they obviously don't want anyone finding out about the fact doll, a marine, is kind of seeing a revolutionary army executive. that would be catastrophic for the both of them.

so, yeah. enemies *and* lovers. the inherent romanticism of having to hide your relationship. and also the fact that belo betty would be able to open doll's eyes on the damage the marines are doing. love wins

I asked about straw page and I will get to it! I promise! I didn’t had time! But I WILL get to it!

thank you so much, you're so sweet </3 and please take your time!! i don't check my strawpage often at all so there's no rush!!

BEPO!!!! BEPO IS HERE!!!!!!!!

this is our first time seeing a member of the heart pirates in more than one year if i'm not mistaken... i'm so happy i could cry... it fills my heart with joy seeing bepo safe and bandaged up. i can't wait to find out who's taking care of them, and most importantly i can't wait to see law again </3

smitten

a silly doodle i made to celebrate my one year anniversary with sabolaw 🎉 which was yesterday to be exact but life got busy and i forgot to post it :P

inspired by the color spread who made me consider them in the first place. thank you chapter 771 <3