piratejournal | [Voice & Written]

You know, I think I'll just stay up here.

[Maybe his voice wavers a little and he grumbles.]

Weakling.

[Hear that scoff?]

[Yeah that's at you.]

[Pansy vampire.]

[Sure the island is driving him insane, but he's still facing it like a... bird.]

I'm not a weakling!

[You just don't understand Marco. Every inch of him is screaming get out, get out, get out.]

[But he's giving you the way out!]

Oh?

[It's a testament to how fucked up Marco is right now that he said that exactly like Shanks does.]

[And didn't even notice that enough to react with revulsion to himself.]

[At least Thatch wasn't around to catch it.]

[At the cost of touching a Holy item.]

[No thank you, Marco.]

I can't explain it, and I can't go near the island. That's all there is to it. Or anything from the island, I can bet.

The flowers aren't holy, don't worry.

I'm a phoenix, not a heron laguz. I'm the destroyer of [..........] currently flowers.

In any event, they aren't holy. The only reason they're making Nam-chan sneeze is because he has shark antibodies that don't recognize the pollen as safe. Want to to find specifically darker bad flowers?

[He'll do it :|]

I wouldn't know, I really am not going to get any closer than this to the island. I really don't know how it works, I didn't even know if it would apply to me.

At least that question has been answered.

[He sighs.]

Do whatever you like, but if I can't touch them, don't be offended.

Okay, you have yourself a deal, yoi.

I'll get you black ones.

Black flowers are never holy.

[.... He's still way too fucking into this.]

There's probably some truth to that, although I can't recall ever seeing a black flower.

They're technically dark purple or red, like dahlias or queen of the nights.

But even pansies and orchids have strands that can get that dark. Like human hair colors, nature tries a lot of variation to figure out what's best.

Bat orchids would probably be best, but it's not hot enough for them yet, yoi.

[He will find you enough black flowers for a crown though.]

[Because his dedication is insane.]

I can honestly say I don't know that much about botany. It wasn't something I was particularly ever interested in. Aside from the examples referred to in my Biology texts about genetics, I never really put much thought into it.

[His dedication isn't the only thing.]

Knowledge is strength.

And my brothers Vista and Izou respectively know more about flowers than I do, but I tried to keep up with them both. Vista's known as Flower Sword Vista, he can do anything with flowers. I wish he was here, eh.

And Izou is an expert in the ways of the taikomochi. Flower arranging included.

[He lets out something mixed between a groan and a sigh.]

I remember flower arranging.

[Natsuno shakes his head a bit, although Marco can't see him.]

I always preferred academics, mind you that didn't get me very far.

Heh, most pirates don't get any education at all. Except through experience.

In my world, usually only nobles have all that extensive an academic background. Is it more common in your world?

[He would be surprised, but Zeff asked him all about it when they met.]

Incredibly common. Children are required to go to school until they are about fifteen or so, at the end of middle school, and then they can choose to work or continue their education into high school. I suppose they could choose the alternative, meaning they do nothing.

[He might be a tad judgmental on the subject.]

At least that's the case in my country, and many around the world where I am from. Piracy is something of a distant past. The world is much more modernized than this place is.

Anyhow, after high school is where it gets a little more complex. You can choose to continue your education, or again split off and go to work, but generally people who are continuing onto high school are looking to go to some college or university program. Otherwise, why bother?

Education isn't free, but it's relatively reasonable. Most people go to school based on their level of knowledge, usually a test is involved. The high school in the Sotoba region however was secluded and was the only choice. I'd rather have gone to a prep school in the city but my parents moved us out there.

What kind of fields was there to study?

More fields then you can imagine, probably. They go from vocational training, like the people that join religion, to things like tradespeople who do things like cooking, repairing vehicles and electricians for example, or the more academic pursuits of law, medicine, science and engineering. Schools tend to specialize one way or another, beyond high school.

Sounds practical. So there's specializations for whatever anyone wants to learn?

Provided you put forth the necessary devotion and money, that's pretty much true. It depends on how high you set your goals. I was aiming for Todai, which means little here, but at home that would be a big deal. It's the top university in the country.

So it's a fame thing?

Prestige?

Education is so common that fame wouldn't enter into it, but it would definitely be a matter of prestige. They only take the smartest students, and to say you've come out of Todai is a huge boost to your resumé when you are looking for work.

Interesting.

In my world, I guess that's sort of like where you're from. Certain oceans and islands are regarded as more dangerous than others.

But rookies working their way up as pirates can be pretty desperate to get attention.

The foolish ones at least.

I suppose that makes sense.

What do they want attention for? I mean, if it's not true, why bother lying about it? Is it difficult to become a pirate?

[A small laugh.] No, it's the same as becoming one here. You can just decide to.

The rookies don't usually lie about their achievements, unless they're really young and stupid, and then they would only do that to try to scare off other weaker pirates either to avoid a fight or because they weren't strong enough.

Usually the ones desperate to stand out though aren't going to lie about what they've done, just do incredibly stupid shit to stand out.

Let's say a brand new pirate crew here got together and thought that the way to gain Davy Jones favor was by standing out. How would they do that? Well, if they were as foolish as some of the crews in my world there's a few ways they could try it. Exclusively hunt down the marines, purposely target something too big for them to handle, anything that sounds like a big deal, even if it's stupid as hell, and doesn't actually accomplish anything.

As for why they want that attention, some of the young kids think the bigger the bounty from all that attention, the stronger you must be. Really it just means the more of a nuisance of yourself you are to the marines, but it's a point of pride with a lot of pirates. Still a bit silly seeing as the man with the largest bounty in the world isn't even a pirate, he's a revolutionary.

And Pops was the strongest man in the world, but marines didn't want to fight him until they cornered us. [And there's a pause in his stream of talking at that. Yeah that's a good place for him to quiet down again.]

Well logically speaking if you're going for notoriety, hunting down the marines is the worst idea. Strictly speaking tactics, you're far better off terrorizing the people you find because they'll contact the marines for you.

I'm not really sure what makes a person strong. I can't really say. I'm not really sure anyone can answer that empirically.