#because nobody gives him valentines really and he'll take the thought over anything

[gumpistol]

hc + insecurity

hc + insecurity ( reading literacy )

   first and foremost, there is very little that luffy feels insecure about, which is made clear by the way he regularly acts. he says and does things without thinking, without care for what other people think, and without concern of the consequences any actions might be. he is confident in his strength, in his crew and friends, and in his ability to achieve his dream. luffy has and always will move to the beat of his own drum, he is a free spirit, free from even caring about the opinions of others ... mostly. 

   if there's a skill that luffy lacks, and something that he would feel insecure or unsure about, it's his reading literacy level. luffy lacks a proper education even at the most basic elementary level. he never went to school and definitely never had a private tutor. any reading skills he was taught early on were mostly from makino during his time in foosha village, or from attempts made by garp to teach him. however, garp likely lost patience in doing this frequently, because if there's another thing that posed as barrier for luffy in learning, it was his own inability to pay attention and sit still ( due to adhd, which is something i will go into at a different time ).

   that being said, luffy's reading level is very low, likely no higher than a 2nd or 3rd grade level ( by U.S. standards ). he can manage to read some text if very determined to, but most of the time he won't bother because it frustrates him. additionally, any sort of reading in front of other people causes him stress and embarassment — though he would struggle to identify it as such. thus, because it's a negative emotion that he doesn't enjoy, he will just avoid feeling it altogether.

   what does this look like? well if someone tries to hand him reading material, he'll probably just brush it off with a "nah, i don't want to do that, it's boring." or if it's a newspaper of any sort, he'll just say he doesn't care about it. which honestly? he probably doesn't unless it has something to do with people he cares about. on some occassions he may pretend to very briefly read something, but more often than not, he'll just pass it off to another person, because he's "distracted" or more interested in something else.

   luffy has gotten very good at hiding that he can't read well. though, he's not even actively trying to hide it most times. he doesn't like how frustrated it makes him or that it makes his head hurt or that to do it in front of people makes it that much worse, so he just treats it like an acivity he doesn't care about. but he also won't just go telling people that he struggles with reading, in the same way that he doesn't really talk about his past and childhood.

   so that brings me to who would know about luffy's actual literacy level and how they know. pretty much anyone present during luffy's childhood on dawn island is aware, because they saw how he was educated ( or not educated ) growing up — namely garp, ace, sabo, makino, dadan, shanks, etc. as for the rest of the straw hats? they all know. yup. luffy does a good job of hiding it, but when you live with him everyday on a ship, there are patterns that get picked up on. so yes, they all know, but no one says anything about it and neither does luffy. they all fell into a routine of reading and/or summarizing things for him if he shows interest or gives them something that he decided wasn't worth trying to read ( like very nice notes from certain very tall blonde mime-lookin guys ). there is also the possibility that law knows too, thanks to an extended period spent aboard the sunny, but other than that, pretty much everyone will be made to think that luffy just finds reading laaaaaame.

@ferromagnetiic / hc + a word prompt