#building snake

Hi!! Wanted to share my first wip of the Red Force's headcanon layout I've been working on lately because i'm loving how it's turning out!!

I intend to make it as realistic as possible, because I want to use it as a guide for future fics, mostly involving Beckman. My take on his role is that as the first mate he almost runs the ship himself, specially the crew's logistics (e.g. watch rotations, discipline) and cargo's and supplies management (tho I think Lucky could take care of the food supplies management).

Since it's looking this good already, I wanted to share it in case it could aid any of you in your writing process. We have an idea of the Sunny's layout but the Red Force's remains ✨ a mystery ✨, and giving it is a much bigger ship (and more realistic in itself) i've always wondered about its logistics.

Some other comments on it:

About the rookies' area. The Red Force is a huge ship and I simply cannot imagine the senior officers et al. handling the situation on deck all the time by themselves. I'm saying basic course adjustments, the watches, etc. A ship of those dimensions in real life may need a crew of 50 only to handle the navigation and all the chores required to maintain the ship. Given this is One Piece, I'd propose 25 deckhands, which could be called rookies, since I think they wouldn't be that apart from the core crew. I mean, if we were historically accurate maybe they wouldn't even mingle, but knowing Shanks' character I highly doubt he'd promote such a rigid division in the crew. Also, some of those deckhands or rookies could actually learn directly from the higher ranks, as apprentices, so the rookie term would be even more adequate. This could also explain Rockstar's place in the crew. I see the deckhands as people than can fight too if there's need to do so, even if it's not at the officer's level.

About the umbrella situation in the middle of the main deck... That's looking like the party deck. I can see it. I bet they have karaoke nights there when there's nice weather. And lots of alcohol, of course. I think they could also use it for big, relaxed meetings. Barbecues. I just know it in my heart.

And lastly, the fore beak situation. It's just ornamental, since there are no elements to be adjusted from there, so it's simply a secluded zone. That's why I propose it to be the official cruising spot. Half-joking. Or not.

Then we got this adorable cover

Lucky roux so cute. Also! Look at LimeJuice hongo yasopp and building snake awwww 😭

AND LIMEJUICE IS DRINKING LIMEJUICE LOOK HE IS ADORABLE

"Red-Haired Pirates"

Shanks

Swedish/Sámi

Has a soft spot for Amarula and other crème liqueurs. He also likes indulging in a cocktail or two on special occasions

Has central heterochromia (his eyes are blue with a yellow-ish hue around the pupil, but because he unconsciously emits Conqueror's Haki a lot of the time, his eyes are often red) 

Sees Collun as a little brother 

Additionally, part of the Red Force’s design acts as a tribute to his relationship with the Giants of Elbaf (some of whom he considers as family)

Other than English and Swedish, he can also speak French, Spanish and Russian (learning Southern Sámi as well)

Has pierced ears, but doesn’t wear earrings consistently due to the risk of injury

Benn Beckman

German/English/South African

Worked as a bartender (and occasional bouncer) before joining the crew

Was taught how to use firearms by his father

Almost got the crew arrested by sleeping with the daughter of a notable official (everyone ended up being fine, but they were in hot water for a solid minute)

Rolls his own joints

Aside from English, he can also speak German, Afrikaans and Zulu

He has a complicated relationship with his father, which bolstered his desire to leave his home island

Went grey in his 40s due to genetics (he’ll claim it’s because of the stress of being part of the crew, but the others will find their receipts and make it very clear that Benn is just as, if not more, in on the fun -and sadistic - than they are, which ofc he is)

Yasopp

Jamaican

Occasionally overthinks about Banchina and Usopp, often tries to motivate himself by saying that it's all in the past and he's made his choices (Shanks tries to support him on those days, especially when they’re bad)

Conversely, whenever Shanks has bad days thinking about Uta, he’s there for support

Can play the guitar 

Likes to fish

Sometimes steals joints from Benn when he's not looking

Accessories his outfits (ie gets the belts, jewellery, etc that he needs himself). As a result, he has quite the cool collection.

Heard countless tales of the high seas as a child, which would go on to inspire his dream of becoming a pirate

Is a good surfer

Lucky Roux

French-Caribbean 

Youngest of four siblings

Sees Shanks as an older brother

Was a cabin boy for another crew when he met the redhead, and escaped his former crew to join him

Has barred most of the crew from the kitchen (except Shanks, Benn and Hongo; Benn is on very thin ice because he fiddled with some chilli Roux was making and burned it)

Likes to go out of his comfort zone when cooking, and always likes a challenge. Be it something that most wouldn’t eat or a small quantity of food that wouldn’t normally be enough to feed the whole crew, Roux will find a way to turn it into a meal

His secret talent is that he has a knack for playing steel pans

Limejuice

Polish

Secretly sees Shanks as family, but was teased by Benn and Yasopp for his initial excitement so he doesn’t openly voice it

When mad at crew members, he curses in Polish because he thinks it's funny (plus he can talk as much shit as he likes because he knows that they can't understand him)

Learned how to sew from his mother 

When having a particularly bad day, he and Shanks break out the brännvin and get hammered (they have the highest alcohol tolerances out of the entire crew)

Helped design the crew's jolly roger

Has a knack for embroidery

Likes to trip the other crew members whenever they make fun of him for being the shortest (the usual suspects are Benn and Gab)

Hongo

Finnish

Initially hated Shanks because he thought he was too reckless, but warmed up eventually 

Was an apprentice for the village doctor when he met the crew

Joined because he wanted to see the world beyond the island he lived on

Whenever the crew stop on a new island, he likes to document the plant life and their medicinal properties

Is immune to most snake venom due to allowing various species to bite him (in a controlled environment ofc), allowing him to gradually develop immunity. Shanks and Limejuice would always be on standby with anti-venom and other medical gear should things go south 

He and Shanks both have a soft spot for reindeer meat

Bonk Punch

Cuban

Rescued Monster from the illegal wildlife trade and the two have been inseparable ever since

His favourite food is tamales 

Got his scar from picking a fight with a Marine

Taught Monster sign language

Can play several instruments (bongos, guitar, and violin) and is a very good singer

Sings in both English and Spanish

Building Snake

German/Vietnamese

Has a slight dad bod

Used to work as a performer in a travelling circus, and incorporated the techniques he learned into his fighting style

Aside from being a juggler, he was also a sword-swallower (likes to do that trick at parties)

Got his arm tattoo because he lost a bet with Yasopp. Eventually, he got the second one on his chest because he thought it would look cool (it does)

Loves raves and underground parties (may or may not have dabbled in LSD at one of these parties)

"Howling" Gab

Norwegian

Liked telling stories to Uta when she was little

Gives very good hugs

Very particular about hair care (he has very nice, luscious hair)

Feels a little insecure about his appearance because he frightened other children when he was young, but has become much more confident as an adult

He learned how to create air blades with his mouth when he was young so that he could chop down trees faster and get more firewood back to his village

Likes to play-fight with the crew (a favourite past-time of everyone, even if Benn doesn’t admit to it)

Got his nickname due to his abilities and fighting style

Rockstar

Italian/Ethiopian/English

Loves punk rock 

Likes reading fashion magazines in his spare time

Joined the crew because he read about them while he was part of his second pirate crew and grew curious

Became a pirate because he wanted to see the world (and has a grudge against the Marines for raiding his home town for seemingly no reason)

Imagine being 15 the youngest in the crew of the red hairs and sole female (presumably). For the most part they all treat you like a little sister. They annoy you, pick on you, tease you about boys, open the cabin door to your room only to stand there for a couple seconds looking at you and then walk away leaving the door open. But you have a weird quirks where sometimes you will go ridged and put on the type of poker face you would only see on nobles or you would squint and the sea and back away never turning your back to it or how you would mysteriously hide and a couple minutes later marine could be spotted. You get tease no end for it well except the marine part that was found to be useful for Building Snake who connected the dots and could sometimes navigate them away from them. One cruel dare later where some of newer members decided to sneak into your quarters while you were a permanent resident of the infirmary with hay fever and look through what everyone thought was your dairy.

It was not.

What it was a messy scribbles of writing and questions. Things written included stuff like “Yassop stole Limejuice magazines. What is playboy?”, “Why boobs.” One reprimand later as Beckmann found them huddled in a corner reading through it and Shanks laughing it out. Limejuice pointed out that some of the stuff you had written about him, he had never vocalized it only thought it. Any and all laughter stopped.

Benn was the victim that was chosen to interrogate you after you got better. And you cracked within minutes. It was Benn Beckmann stern face 😔. It also didn’t help that most of the senior officers and Shanks tumbled into the room after “covertly” trying to listen in. You could read minds. It was an ability that didn’t come from a devil fruit but one that was passed down in your family. A curse or blessing depending on how you see it. And sometimes you really couldn’t control it no matter how hard you tried. And these men have seen you learn and control armament haki within 2 months. So all those times you would stiffen was because someone was thinking something out of pocket or you were bombarded with lewd imagery. Needless to say this revelation caused a commotion and a lot of embarrassment. You knew their deepest secrets and never said anything. But it made sense to them then why you would refuse to look ANY of them in the eye when they would dock at an island with a brothel and they came to and from.

The men in their panic asked a lot of questions and you did your best to answer them. (The most important ones)

No I can’t hear you all the time, well you can but you would need to concentrate. You have never used the ability to cheat in card game with the crew, only with strangers. Yassop and Hongo are the worst offenders to thinking inappropriate thoughts and you will never fully snitch on what Shanks thinks of. The ocean is very very loud and says some scary things. Marines thoughts have different volume settings.

When they were done you were asked one final time by Ben if you were hiding anything else from them. And well that left them in a different kind of tizzy.

“When I was 13 I was supposed to marry a world noble. He was like 50? But I kinda ran away not because I didn’t want to do my noble duty and be happy at getting the honor to marry above my station but because the guy looked to suspicious looking with those glasses. Being a pirate was an oppsie I was aiming to take shelter with the revolutionaries. Their are still entries in the news on the marines keeping an eye out on the missing equatorian princess.”