#wonder if theres a fic where someone saves a wbp because its the right thing and it quickly spirals from there

[mamamittens]

Because I'm still on this, here's more thoughts on the "edge lord on main softie on the inside" dark au.

I don't particularly like totally dark takes. Just being upfront with y'all. So I'm not going for the idea that everyone's an irredeemable bastard except the canon bastards that are now bastions of morality. There's fun to be had with that idea but seeing my sweet cheese favs be total pricks doesn't tickle my fancy if I'm being honest.

So I'd like to approach this more pragmatically. There's a lot of politics in OP already, limiting even the Yonkos from doing whatever the hell they want. So I imagine a dark au pushes this a little more.

The Marines are a lot quicker to act on perceived weakness. So their opponents (pirates, RA, ect) have to lead with a stronger front if they want to limit the amount of conflict they face. Which is really what you want to do IRL since any fight is a gamble.

So this means that to outside eyes they can't leave cracks. They're more tightly bound to their respective crews. More merciless when provoked. Used to eyeing everyone but each other with suspicion.

I imagine for already tough crews this leads to more cohesive sadism. Big Mom Pirates also heavily imply they take after their mother's 'appetite' for example. They show unapologetic greed so that any strike against outside forces is less obvious among their eccentric demands. Harder to see how close the enemy has struck home if everything is a trigger if it's in their way.

Kaido sticks to his own place and idk much about his crew but there's probably a more aggressive line around Wano and the border islands frequently get raided for good measure.

Shank's crew... That's tricky. He's pretty relaxed in canon. But a darker take would probably lead to him lashing out at aggression in his vicinity. As long as you keep the party vibe, he's happy. But anxiety is zeroed in on, probably either until they relax or he gets bored. If he likes them, he teases until they stop being afraid, but if he's annoyed he prodes until they lash out and he has an excuse to do the same. A lot more like a pacing predator looking for an excuse to use his claws.

This would likely lead to Luffy being more relentless and brutal. He wants to have fun, not this arguing shit. A fights nice and all, but unless you're entertaining about it, you're wasting his time. Probably quicker to actually kill rather than grinding their face into their own inadequacies. Not a problem anymore, are they?

Buggy's crew is surprisingly brutal when we first see them, teetering between entertainment and sadism. But I imagine they use more 'volunteers' for fatal attractions more often. Dissenters and the like. Like a circus of horrors? And in smaller, more loved audiences, it's genuinely fun without horrifying acts of brutality. But the wider public sort of expects some folks to die.

As for Whitebeard's crew, I imagine they lean heavily on that "father/child" dynamic like Big Mom. Comes across very mafia and disingenuous but it's an act. They really do mean it, but emphasizing it means outsiders know how serious their loyalty is and how dangerous "just one WBP" is because there's no such thing as "just one". It's always a family outing, you just haven't seen the others yet. They also build up a large network of favors from their "kind acts" (that are meant genuinely but it's a hard world out there and you never know when you need to call in a favor or three). So to the un-initiated they're this horrifyingly far-reaching crew constantly on the lookout to have you owe them something. And there's no telling how they'll cash out. Assuming they don't just take you to join their massive family as payment.

So all these people have to present "bastard face first" or risk far more than their street cred. Just one moment of weakness could mean a surprise attack from the Marines or rival crews. Everything down for them is paid in kind and vice versa. There is no "no strings attached" move here. There can't be. Or someone else will smell weakness like blood in the water. And small fry can't afford to bleed just as much as the big fish can't afford to fall.

In a world like this... I imagine the pirate king, the freest of them all, is the only one that could change that. Because it requires burning out the rot and hair triggers that constantly force this world to teeter on the edge of all out war.

But in private they're just as dysfunctional and warm as in canon for brief moments of time. Shanks still teases Luffy about drinking juice. Brulee admires Katakuri. Marco means it when he calls Whitebeard "oyaji". It's just jealously guarded in fear of being blackmail or signs of weakness.

I enjoy the random, naturally spawning "edgy au" that always ends up in fandoms. Particularly how different characters can be while still retaining a distant spark of their OG self.

I'm a filthy fucking heathen so my best examples of this is Hetalia and Undertale and I am so sorry if you're having war flashbacks right now but the aus for these were unreasonably good. Hell, Hetalia's low-key became canon and I'm still not sure how that happened.

But I do kinda wonder what that'd look like for One Piece. It's such a massive world that I genuinely haven't seen a cohesive au version outside of swapping roles or like, color variants for a few very specific characters.

Is dark au Marco just goth and low-key pretentious about being a Phoenix? Is dark au Luffy way more interested in killing his enemies (mayhaps some cannibalism if we're going particularly dark)? What the hell does dark au Thatch look like? The dark dark fruit and weirdly menacing "let's be friends" with mob boss vibes???

Is Whitebeard... What does Whitebeard look like??? Is he just straight up yandere or does he front really hard like he's "pretending" to do the family thing while being much more genuine in private. Just really fucking vicious about his recruitment to maintain an image that keeps outsiders away and on edge.

I feel kinda bad at this cause all my ideas just feel like mafia vibes, but that might be the point, idk.

I guess I just like the idea of a world so suffocating that everyone's wearing a cruel mask while maintaining small kindness in their private lives. Ready to lean into that dastardly persona but the minute you prove worth keeping there's hard earned warmth and sincerity. Maybe they hate it. Maybe they kind of like it. But the posturing dictates an alarming amount of their lives.

And then I like dumping Genuinely Just A Good Person in and watching the bafflement and horror that this person is just... Doing That. Being nice. Like they can't fathom someone having decency for everyone they meet. And... Maybe if I'm feeling spicy they get Feelings about that.

I'm also a slut for the protective/possessive thing (as though it's a secret at this point) so maybe that's not very surprising to hear.