#shanksmarco

it really puts into perspective why shanks is known for taking in weak crews, why he's so beloved by his territories and fleet, why children are so obsessed with him. he's gentle BECAUSE he's so powerful, and he's seen what power (political and physical) can do when it's used to harm others and take away their agency. he's so conscious of the possibility that he's coercing others with his influence or his strength that he won't even take the finishing blow against higuma kid (x2) and barto.

he's been to marygeoise, he was implied to have been the one to facilitate fisher tiger's uprising, and he was so repulsed by what he saw there that he willingly sacrificed his arm to the lord of the coast to get rid of the mark that imu had left on him. he was a kid who was raised on roger's ship, a ship where freedom is so paramount to their way of life, and as an adult he commits himself to never taking that freedom from others, and stopping anyone who intends to.

no matter how much he likes marco, no matter how much he wants him for his crew, he'll never force him. and he doesn't even mention it when he saw to whitebeard and ace's funerals, primarily because it would be really inappropriate 😭 but also in that moment, marco owes him EVERYTHING. shanks stopped the war, shanks made sure the crew and fleet got back to the new world, shanks arranged the funerals.

if he'd said 'in exchange, join my crew', marco's in such a vulnerable position that he would probably feel obligated to say yes. so shanks doesn't ask.

shanks & co who watch marco like a hawk whenever he’s on the deck like he’s not a veteran of over thirty years. marco who subsequently taunts them all with their kind concern; gestures of jumping off the ship and pretend stumbling. there’s hushed specific instruction for whoever’s on watch to keep an eye on him whenever he’s close to the edge, and if it wasn’t so amusing it would be so sweet.

none of their concern would be expressed openly, no way. they all think they’re being casual and nonchalant as they collectively tense up watching marco kick his legs while fishing. they all think they’re unnoticeable and smooth when someone always conveniently needs a bath at the same time marco does. shanks thinks he’s hilarious and charming whenever he puts his arm around marco’s waist, wiggling his eyebrows, like marco didn’t notice the quick intake of breath as he leaned a little too far over the edge of the ship admiring the scenery.

marco doesn’t mind it. he just laughs at their antics and enjoys the harmless attention. he never digs into why they’re so jumpy, why would he assume anything deeper than a crew full of non-df users orientating a df-user? however, after enough shared drinks and lips loosened with alcohol it’s revealed that none of them ever shook that day in the east blue. they all remember when luffy was dropped into the ocean and their captain returned with one hysteric anchor in his hold and one less arm. shanks bet his arm on the future but there’s no doubt he’d sacrifice another for a friend. he really is such a high maintenance captain. the horrid fear of losing luffy and the catastrophic aftermath of the event lives with them all; and for their unfortunately infinite love for shanks, and their growing care for marco, they’re not trying to repeat the past.

Marco let out a hiss of pain as he tried to move into a more comfortable position. It had been days since he had been taken from Sphinx, shackled in sea prism stone. It had been a surprise attack, in more ways than one. In the middle of the night, Sphinx was attacked by a man with Shanks' face. It had understandably caught Marco off guard. That along with him being a bit rusty when it came to fighting, gave the other man an opportunity to get the best of him. Marco cursed as he looked around the cell he had woken up in, hoping to find a way to escape, but like every other time he found nothing. Marco sighed, the peaceful life on Sphinx had made him soft and that had resulted in him being thrown into a cell. Marco was left in the dark, wondering who the man that shared Shanks' face was.

~~

Marco opened his eyes to the sound of boots walking down the hallway. His eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden light as the man who shared Shanks' face stopped in front of his cell. The red haired man handed the lantern to one of the servants accompanying him and opened the cell door. Marco tensed as the cell door creaked open and the man stepped inside.

"Marco the Phoenix." The man looked down at Marco coldly, "I am Shamrock Figarland, commander of the Knights of God, and I have a few questions to ask you."

Marco had sat up, wanting to maintain a sense of composer. "I have questions for you as well. Why do you have Red Haired Shanks' face?"

Shamrocks' eyes narrowed. "It is not his face. It is our face. Unfortunately, my brother rather play pirate than claim his birthright."

Marco froze, trying to process the new information. Brother!? No, that would make Shanks a noble- Marco's thoughts were cut off as Shamrock continued to speak.

"Now what is your relation with my brother?" Shamrock asked, watching Marco closely.

"Relation? Both of our crews were on decent terms."

"Just decent?"

Marco was taken aback. "Yes?"

"Then why is my brother so interested in you?"

Now Marco was confused, "He wanted me to join his crew, for my abilities."

"Do not lie to me." Shamrock glared, reaching out and grabbing Marco's chin."

"I'm not!" Marco tried to pull his head away, but Shamrocks' grip was firm.

"My sources say otherwise. They say that he is quite fond of you. You'll be a great help with getting my brother to return to where he belongs." Shamrock released Marco's chin.

"Like hell I'll help you!" Marco glared.

"I don't need your cooperation." Shamrock turned to one of the servants, "Clean him up, then bring him to me, the smith says his collar is ready."

I made some art for my 70s AU Marcoshanks fic! I decided to pick up writing for it and now it has almost 20k words. Woops!

Read it here (and mind the tags):

Rated E

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

@crossguild has burned this ship into my mind with their really great fics and their fucking perfect characterization of Marco (and their lovely appreciation for Marco as a weird bird man) so I had to make a little date for the boys. They have brownies and beer cause why not (i literally got the beer mugs specifically for Shanks and Marco so it's gotta be there when there are both of them). I also put the flowers there cause I really do like the ship. Does it fit their aesthetic? Not really. Did I wanna make it explicitly a date and not a hang out? yes, yes I did.

i'm pretty sure shanks has had more interactions with marco than he has basically any other character, they're constantly in and out of each other's orbits, doing each other favors, they're relatively close in age, have a decent overlap in their social/friend circles and shanks has invited marco to join the RHP two out of the three times they've met.

shanks spent at least two weeks with the WB pirates after marineford, escorted them back to the new world... when he came around after wano marco (a guy who doesn't seem to accept favors easily) just decided that shanks would be the perfect chauffeur to get him back home ???? i'm still waiting to find out what the HELL is going on with those two, but what we DO know is that shanks is simping for marco 24/7 and there's probably a good reason. for that. and marco, who is so polite and kind to everyone else, is friendly enough with beck for both of them to gang up on and tease shanks???