prismatica | [Video]

[Ace and Luffy are sitting together, and Ace has a serious expression on his face. This is kind of important in his opinion, they've got to figure out who their potential allies and enemies are here. Not that being a pirate is a promise of alliances, or Marines a promise of a threat, but it's still good to have a base to go off of. And to Ace and Luffy, piracy is freedom. And the Marines stand for things far worse.]

So this is a roll call. If you're a pirate, let us know. If you're a Marine? Let us know faster.

[Luffy laughs, waving at the camera. He sticks his little finger into his nose, and thinks for a second.]

I haven't seen marines here, or other pirates. Do people here know what a pirate is? [He laughs again.] We're pirates! And brothers!

[Ace's expression softens considerably, and he smiles. He's weak against Luffy's antics, even more so now that they've been separated and reunited.] Yeah, that's right. And we wanna know who else lived a life of piracy back in their home world. Especially if you're from our home world.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The pirates I've heard of would raid and pillage villages and towns. Although in my world, there was no world government. There were daimyos who led various regions, and youkai simply don't follow mortal laws period.

Some pirates do that. But then again, a lot of the Marines do worse. My captain was an honorable man who left the weak out of his battles, and didn't prey on people who were already hurting.

The World Government sets the laws, the Marines enforce them, and anything else the government wants.

What do the marines do that's worse than theft?

They'll kill anyone in the way, no matter how young or innocent, if it means getting what they want done. They support slavery, because their bosses do. They'll defend whatever the government wants, when it comes down to it, no matter how awful. Most of 'em, anyway.

[A scowl forms on Kagura's face as she listens.]

They sound like good candidates for stabbing.

[He's decided that he likes Kagura already. She's got the right idea.]

If anyone is, they are. They're pretty terrible people. There's a few of 'em who wanna do well, who don't realize what they're getting into when they join up, but otherwise they're bastards.

Are they strong?

The regular marines are pretty pathetic. But when you find a strong one, they're scary stuff. So it depends on the person.

At least most of them are weak. It would be annoying if everyone like them was strong.

Even the weaklings can do a lot of damage in groups. It's rough for people who get in their way.

Are they reasonably intelligent or are they simple-minded thugs?

Most of 'em are pretty average people. You get some smarter ones sometimes, but they just basic thugs as a rule.

At least outwitting them should be easy enough for clever people who want to oppose them.