Ace & Luffy And Greek Tragedy

Ace & Luffy and Greek Tragedy

Ace and the Marineford summit war is essentially a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice where Ace is somehow both Orpheus and Eurydice.

Like don't get me wrong Luffy is very Orpheus coded

Like of course Luffy was going to descend into Empel down, a place where no one is ever supposed to come back from, to save his brother just as Orpheus descended into Hades to save his lover (Empel down is also literally underground as well). Of course, his love for his brother is so strong and his cause so moving he can't help but rally the world; friend and foe alike, around him. And of course before the eyes of gods and men, he gets Ace back, of course he does! his love for his brother can and has shaken the world.

But Ace has a bit of his tragedy too.

Because just like Orpheus, no matter how much you yell at him to keep going or get frustrated with the perceived stupidity of the choice, Ace was always going to look back, of course he was! How could he not? everything he loved was behind him.

And they'll tell the story a million times a million different ways but no one can deny that love was there. Love was there, and it wasn't enough to save Eurydice then and it won't be enough to save Ace now but it was there and to them that was enough, this proof that they have loved and been loved in turn is enough.

Orpheus and Luffy will carry this love turned anger turned grief everywhere they go, to the ends of the world and back again, they will never outgrow it. But one day they might find poeace in it, one day it will be enough for them too, this knowledge that they loved and they loved well.

Love can not save any of these characters from their fates but i can offer them comfort there at the end and give them courage to face it.

And isn't that proof enough?

I think there's a lot of evidence in canon to suggest that Mihawk doesn't want to be lonely. But he doesn't know how to be around other people without expecting too much of them and always ultimately ending up disappointed when they fall short.

Sometimes when he looks at Shanks, all he can see is failed potential and broken promises he made with no one but himself.

Even now he tries not to linger longer than he has too;

Shanks' future no longer has any room for him and so Mihawk remains stagnant stuck 10 years in the past, alone. He doesn't know how to be anything else.

That is until a couple of pesky cotton candy haired children barge into his castle and into his life and drag him head first into the future too

I do love the way Toji, a man who’s been dead since the beginning, haunts the narrative.

Like he was a man doing his best to survive in a world that didn’t want him, everything he touched turned to poison. He had ruthlessness down to an art form, everyone’s life is worse off for having known him.

He is the holy grail, he haunts every single person he has ever met, he’s the reason for all of this, this has nothing to do with him. he will come back again and again and again the narrative isn’t through with him.

established mishanks… guy utterly obsessed with his wife x beautiful elegant goth girl wifey

Akainu has to be the only person that left Marineford feeling even mildly good about how that all went down. Like the Marines technically won but the absolute silence and horror in the face of all that brutality must have left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. Except Akainu.

Suddenly watching Akainu rip his molten arm out of Ace’s chest all the marines present are glaringly faced with what “absolute justice” looks like. And it looks a lot like a kid grieving over a dead brother and a hundred sons grieving a dead father. And that just doesn’t sit right.

But in the end it doesn’t matter Akainu has his absolute justice and his promotion and the marines have their hollow victory. Nobody is happy.

Something about the first time Mihawk swings a sword it’s as a means to protect himself and escape

And everytime after that it’s because it makes him feel strong and he never wants to feel weak again.