I Got The Most Wonderful Package Delivered Today. The First Of Many BSD Orders I Have Pending.

Looking for treasure at the Hattifatteners' island

moominmoominmoominmoomin

Alternate Universe HS Chuuya calling Dazai "Osamu" when they were young being so important to Dazai that he wrote it down and put it in a time capsule

....is not the craziest soukoku info thats ever dropped into my lap

but it blindsighted me nonetheless.

live laugh luffy

going back to my old ways

Chapter 1073 really had this:

And I am so happy.

Since practically the very beginning the World Government has been presented with their negative side.

Captain Morgan was The Marine at the beginning but we quickly learned he was not a man of the people. He was only in it for himself, and was 100% willing to 1-lie and go back on his word and 2- step on anyone to keep a strangle hold on power. (A great foreshadowing for the whole WG throughout the series and their void history). This was also the first time we saw the WG flag and I looked at it, thought about the fact I was committing to watching a Pirate Show, then I tilted my head sideways about 45 degrees:

Look at that hidden Skull and Cross Bones design. It’s like some modern deconstruction that is supposed to be edgy and simplified.

There are some exceptions in the Marines (like Bell-mere or Garp or Koby or Tsuru-even Smoker and Tashigi) but for each of those they also have Morgan, the rat faced man from Arlong Park, Spandam, and this guy in 1073 (off the top of my head). Plus all that went down for the Buster Call. They (and the actual CD/World Government) are only around for what they can get for themselves. They do not care about the people. They do not care about who is hurt. They fit the classic idea of a pirate; liars, prying on the weak/defenseless, selfish, lawless, cruel.

And these are the characteristics the WG pushes on the pirates we know. (Kidd was known to kill people, Gold Roger hoarding treasure/wealth, Pirates send many scrambling, the legal slave trade, not to mention all the reactions people in the East Blue and early Grand Line had when they learned about Luffy being a Devil Fruit eater) But the narratives are opposite. Yes Luffy is all about personal desires and governments are all about imposing rules on society (in theory to complete a just social contract). But! Luffy has a strict moral code and rules he follows and makes sure his crew obeys (dreams, not beating people up for nothing, making sure they know HE is the Captain) These Marines actively disobey the laws they are supposed to be enforcing and don’t care about the chain of command they are under to the point where characters shouldn’t even trust their words.

Plus there is the rest of the 1073 story:

Can I just point out that Whitebeard’s island is not part of the World Government, and so, like Wano or Fishman Island, you would think that the Marines have no actual jurisdiction. These people the Marine is asulting/terrorizing are actually the ones with rights, and the Marine is invading. But he doesn’t see it like that, and his overwhelming use of force only helps him impose his own will. Besides, the WG would never tell him to not. (Especially after WB’s death, and that they would probably consider the island “hostile.”)

and thinking about WB, the fact that his (redesigned) flag is similar to the WG flag makes me think there is an argument that WB was more of a fair government to his people, actually upholding a just social contract for those under his protection.

tldr; The World Government/Navy are “Just Like Pirates” and were established to act as such from the beginning of the story. Their Flag and many Marine characters help push this point time and again in the story.

What is Buggy's Endgame? A Post-1082 Analysis

Since the release of chapter 1082, we’ve gotten more insight into Buggy’s character than ever before, especially regarding his dreams and thoughts on past events. So, given our new information, I thought I’d revisit Orange Town Arc to see if 1082 re-contextualizes anything. What’s in the cards for Buggy as a character? What direction does Oda plan on taking him in?

To give you my answer, let me begin in a bit of a random place: the relationship between Shanks and Buggy. 

From the moment Oda first introduced their relationship in chapter 19, Shanks and Buggy already solidified themselves as character foils. Their first panel together is literally a fight over whether the North or South Pole is colder, which is pretty on the nose if you ask me (sorry… I had to). Their red-blue color contrast is also pretty self-explanatory; although green is technically red’s complement, red and blue are often used as visual “opposites.”

Beyond all that surface level stuff, though, what makes these two foils of each other are their opposing values. As a pirate, Shanks wants to “make time to see the world." He has no sense of urgency and no inherent desire to conquer the world — at least, not right away. Buggy, of course, calls this a “soft way of thinking.” Unlike Shanks, he views treasure as the sole purpose of being a pirate. And not just any treasure, but material wealth, gold and jewels which "make its possessor a king."

Shanks and Buggy’s contrasting viewpoints also embody the underlying themes of Orange Town Arc. One man's trash is another man's treasure, and Oda takes great care to emphasize this point, from Chouchou to the mayor.

Luffy's hat ends up taking center stage in Orange Town, however, which I think is a great decision. The straw hat is what tethers Luffy and Buggy to Shanks. It's a weighted symbol, one that helped shape both of their characters — albeit in antithetical ways. Thus, when it’s used as a tool to explore their relationships, it works really well.

Take Luffy, for example. In his youth, Shanks was a pillar of support, friendship, and sacrifice; the straw hat is his treasure because it reminds him of Shanks, but also because it symbolizes what Shanks gave up for him. He owes his life to Shanks, but he uses that gratitude to fuel his own ambition, and to hopefully reunite with Shanks one day as a great pirate.

Shanks allowed him to go after his dream. Luffy knows this well.

Now look at Buggy. He sees the straw hat as worthless, and it’s clear why he does: it’s a painful reminder of the dream that Buggy gave up on, a representation of everything he lacks in comparison to Shanks. And to add insult to injury, Shanks gave that straw hat away to what Buggy sees as an insignificant kid. Of course that would hurt. Seeing Shanks give up Roger’s legacy so easily, abandoning his potential to become Pirate King, when that’s all Buggy ever wanted in life… I mean, wow. It's an amazing role reversal. Buggy gave up on his dream for Shanks, but Shanks gave that dream to Luffy instead.

I think 1082’s context adds some much-needed character depth, and explains a lot of Buggy's rationale. We know Buggy does not value sacrifice or friendship like Luffy does, nor is he the type to go out on a limb for someone. He’s greedy, manipulative when it suits his interests… I could go on forever. So to see that Buggy once sacrificed his own dreams for the sake of Shanks’ — only to have it backfire — makes so much sense. Of course he became a bitter, cynical, and selfish adult. One of the people he believed in most broke his unwavering trust, and he never healed from that experience. (Not to mention that this happened directly after Roger's execution. His faith was already shaken, and it was just one heartbreak after the next.)

The impact of that betrayal only feeds into his greedier tendencies; Buggy is a character who keeps things close to his chest, figuratively and literally. He learned to fear trust, and it shows. All of his adult relationships (Alvida, Galdino, Crocodile, Mihawk) are strictly rooted in business and mutual, self-serving interests. Nothing more.

Just take a look at Buggy and Luffy's reactions to the Bara Bara no Mi story. Buggy can only focus on the things he lost, instead of what he had: a friend who was willing to jump overboard for him in a heartbeat. But Luffy, a character who values the people he loves, obviously has a different perspective. He concludes, “So Shanks saved your life?” Where Luffy sees hidden treasure, Buggy sees nothing but loss.

So why am I bringing this all up? Well, I don’t find it surprising at all that two of Buggy’s most prominent arcs — Orange Town and Impel Down — emphasize his struggle between selfishness and altruism. The internal conflict is played off as a joke in Impel Down, but Buggy has always been simultaneously comedic and complex. He actually parallels Luffy in that sense, but that's another meta for another day.

The position Oda has placed Buggy in is rife with potential. He's now closer than ever to the things which would fulfill his materialistic nature: the One Piece, Captain John’s treasure, and the title of Pirate King. Yet, at the very same time, he's closer to one of his most honest connections in life: Shanks. If there was ever a time for a character to be forced to make a fateful choice, I’d say it’s right about now. People have been wondering why Oda made Buggy a final contender for the One Piece. Why has he “failed upwards” for so long? Comedy aside, I think the answer is a lot simpler than we’re all making it out to be: Buggy’s story just isn’t over yet. 

Oda still has something he wishes to impart to readers, and he clearly believes it will be told best through Buggy’s character. Based on what we know about Buggy — his greed, his guilty conscience, his past with Shanks — I think that story will lead his character to some very interesting places.

Do I think Buggy is going to have a change of heart? Maybe, maybe not. In that regard, he’s already been in a gray area since Impel Down. I wouldn’t be surprised if he accidentally ends up allying himself with Luffy again during One Piece’s conclusion. But with the Cross Guild putting bounties on marines, a (potential) three-emperor interest in going after Blackbeard, and an open-ended Shanks-Buggy plot thread about going to Laugh Tale... Well, there's a lot of places this could go. Would Buggy be willing to give up the greatest treasure in dire circumstances? For Shanks? For the world? Will he become king, and then lose it all? Will he make a sacrifice that parallels Shanks' when they were kids? Who knows!

What do you guys think? Is Buggy going to play a larger role in One Piece’s third act? What is your ideal conclusion for his character in the story? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

snufkin: melody of moominvalley moments that have made me bark out an ugly laugh (so far)

Hanako's mental age

Just little Hanako playing with his toys or learning from Tsuchigomori that he can't sell objects that don't belong to him.

Or just being silly.

A 50+ year old baby

(same anon as before)

-PREPARE THIS ONE IS LONG-

Even though we all dislike the ending to some degree, BIA's ending still brings an interesting layer to the their relationship. It's a flaky plot-twist, sure, but we must not forget that:

a) Daffy isn't acting b) Most of Bug's reactions of/for/about Daffy must be genuine ( the inmediate ones at least)

So Daffy does want to leave for good (The stakes for Bugs are real), and Bugs does not believe Daffy is there just to highlight him(the emotional misunderstanding is real). He is actually surprised by this take, but unable to tell him how he feels. He can't go off script on in a meta, literal or personal level.

Uhm some other stuff, when Kate (the human co-star) and Bugs are driving on las Vegas, Bugs recognises Daffy by laugh alone. He looks up as soon as he hears it, Kate only hits the brakes after he is right on front.

They are all doing improv to some level. Daffy really had excellent timing for the joke, so Bugs really is just enamored with the perfect time Daffy came in. And Daffy in general

All in all, if Bugs orcheastated the whole bit, it means he really did all that to get Daffy on the movie, movie in which he praises Daffy constantly and goes far and beyond for…

At the end, the movie is for Daffy. Is Bugs VERY convoluted way of expressing his feelings without being direct or telling him to his face. funnily enough, this just bring back Bugs real issue, he can give the world to Daffy, but is it anything if he doesn't say so? works in meta too, the movie is fun, but the ending brings a lot of people a sour taste. and for some it ruins the experience.

TLDR: Uhhh...Bugs' gay, a menace, deserves the "least probable to open up about his feelings" award.

-👻

The shorts have always been in this weird limbo where it could be things happening to the Tunes in real time, we the audience are just there to witness it, or it’s actually a skit and the tunes exist as actors. sometimes the shorts don’t reveal it’s being filmed until a 4th wall break gag comes along and (kinda) changes the context of the short. I feel that Joe Dante might have risked the movie taking itself too seriously as “this happened to Bugs and Daffy outside filming” if it actually ended with Bugs and Daffy walking off into the sunset (hallway?) and so the ending we have was put in as “this was all a film ordered by execs and Bugs was in on it”. It doesn’t come as a surprise to me now and looking back it seems like a cop-out for the notoriously tumultuous experience of filming it anyways. Like a given up, hands in the air kinda “it was all just a movie. so there, the end”

It’s funny that although everything about the movie wasn’t “real”, the emotional conflict between Bugs and Daffy very much was, and that ends up being like, this entire movie’s saving grace jfkfjdhd