my heart is an old castle

Tokay Gecko (Gekko gecko), entered the house to snack on tasty winged termites, family Gekkonidae, Bali, Indonesia

They make cute, and surprisingly loud, high-pitched barks.

This is a large gecko, growing (on average) to a total length of around 30 cm (12 inches)!

"Ah, she was pretty. But I was too young to know how to love her."

- Excerpt from "The Little Prince."

Saving Luffy has always been just that: Sacrificing his arm for a kid he cares about. But the recent flashbacks have confirmed that, despite obviously doing so out of care and concern to save Luffy, there's also this strategic element about him using that moment to get rid of his arm on purpose. This doesn't take away the real meaning of the scene and the relationship btw, but it does give a new perspective.

Shanks has his heart in the right place, but there's always this self-entitlement that comes with it... Even his own dream of sailing with Buggy directly contradicted Buggy's, and he prefers to drown in self-pity over how they went their separate ways instead of trying something else. In RED he leaves Uta on her own despite not being her choice, but thinking it's the right one... He doesn't really think twice about how it would affect them and just accepts their hatred because he gets it.

And you can see it so much in his actions, how he doesn't take pride in them and drowns in that self-imposed responsibility, thinking he's doing the right thing and what he should, but always self-sabotaging. It's like he's burning bridges in the name of self-hatred because he feels like it's what he deserves. He takes that role of nobility and grandeur that was thrown upon him as a child and rebels against it while also never quite letting it go.

I think they expected him to be Roger's successor, despite his dream being the complete opposite, and losing Buggy really did make a difference there. Because if his best friend sees him as selfish and a coward for wanting something else, then he will become exactly that. But then, even his actual blood expects something from him too.

And it's a constant pity party for Shanks, someone who has been forced time and time again to fill a place of importance he despises, but he doesn't really try to get out of that sadness, always mourning what could've been instead of actually doing it.

You can paint Shanks as this powerful, god-like legendary king, but he truly is just... So sad. And that sadness is low-key self-imposed at some point. Like, you don't have to be this way if you don't want to, but he believes he has to.

So what I'm saying is that there are so many nuances about his character, but the one I find the most interesting is how he's just very selfish whenever he thinks he's making the right choice. Because it comes from his self-entitlement to feel sad, and he drowns in it (potentially hurting others), instead of just trying to get out of there.

Thank you for liking my humble little offerings!! Every day I toil in the shuggy mines ⛏

In this spread, if Oda really did intentionally put a mirror parallelism between opposite forces, then it might imply that Buggy and Shanks would clash in the future because of their differing ideologies.

I’ve also seen people worrying that the parallels might signify a battle to the death, where only one side can come out on top. Basically pairs with contradicting desires that conflict with each other.

So I’m thinking, what kind of conflicting ideology between Shanks and Buggy would put them on this level?

Out of all people in this race - his arch-nemesis Blackbeard, the authoritarian government who slaughters innocents - it’s Buggy who mirrors Shanks as his polar opposite.

What’s interesting to me is that Shanks seems to have his own plans for the One Piece.

Since Buggy is about materialistic greed and wants to find the treasure for his own gratification (not for any grander scheme involving the fate of the world), when I think about the opposing side, maybe Shanks wants to destroy the One Piece so no one can have it, which would put him in direct conflict with Buggy’s interests.

Imagine there’s a big pile of treasure and priceless artifacts, and Shanks says ‘well I’m going to destroy all of this so no one can have it’. That would be enough to piss Buggy off and start a fight.

When Shanks uses the word ‘get’, the word he uses has the implication of ‘take by force’ or ‘steal’, almost as if someone else has it.

If I consider the possibility that Shanks plans on destroying the One Piece, this wording could imply he’s going to ‘take away’ the One Piece from anyone trying to possess it.

Since Buggy’s goals are selfish, as his direct opposite, Shanks’ goals might be selfless. Shanks doesn’t want the One Piece for himself, and if anyone does want to claim it, they’ll have to defeat him to do it. So in that way, he’s safeguarding it.

Just from how different Shanks’ expression is from the other Emperors, it’s like he’s the only one who’s not having a fun pirate adventure hunting unknown treasure.

Compared to every other ‘opposite parallel’ in this spread, Shanks vs Buggy seems very different. They’re the only opposites who actually care about each other despite their differences. Compared to the other matchups, their conflict seems kind of petty and personal.

I don’t think Shanks and Buggy will truly have a fight to the death. I’m not sure Shanks would even be able to fight Buggy seriously.

If they ever were to face off against each other, it might end up being like the challenge between Dorry and Brogy, where it’s a match between two people who care for each other and in the end won’t be happy seeing the other person lose. Unlike everyone else who’ll probably have to kill each other to stop their opponent, Shanks and Buggy have the desire to save each other. So their outcome won’t be the same as everyone else.

Honestly, besides comic relief and leading characters like Mihawk and Crocodile to the One Piece, Buggy doesn’t look like he has much of a role in the final battle royale. He isn’t important to the main plot or Luffy’s development, he isn’t strong and doesn’t have useful information, he doesn’t represent some moral good or ideology, even as a villain he’s not so evil that he needs to be defeated. So what is his purpose, why did it have to be Buggy with this important role in the finale? It’s likely that Buggy, as a character, exists for Shanks’ endgame.

Whatever Shanks’ endgame is, Buggy will play an important part in it, because narratively their fates were written to be intertwined. They were set up as narrative foils from the start, and even more so now they continue to foil each other. Buggy was written for Shanks, though we don’t know for what future purpose it’ll be. Whether they’ll cause each other’s downfall or save each other’s lives, some kind of redemption arc for Buggy or character resolution for Shanks, they’ll both have an effect on each other’s fate.

It’s all just me speculating, of course, because I crave analysis.

But there's such a depthful conversation to be had about the fact that Shanks probably had this plan in the making before logue town, but was willing to throw all this away if Buggy had just said yes.

Like, Shanks really tied his freedom to Buggy damn.

That feeling when you know you have larger than life responsibilities on your young shoulders. The child of Destiny, they called you. You know exactly what your role is and what your next steps need to be. You're entire life is basically decided for you, with no regard for your own wants, but that's OK! You're not a selfish person! You like helping people! You like making others happy! What greater honor could one hope for, than to be a martyr of the highest order? He should be greatful for the opportunity, right?

Yes, you're not typically a selfish person, but when you look at the one who matters most to you in this world, the person you want more than anything, perhaps the only thing you've ever actually wanted you're suddenly feeling more selfish than you ever have in your entire life. Suddenly nothing else matters except you and him. Nothing else exists.

So you decide to turn your back on those responsibilities, on the hopes and expectations the people you respected/idolized had for you your entire life. The role they forced you into. You want more time. You need more time. Time to run away & pretend to be someone else. Someone free. Time with him.

So you outstretch your hand, more than ready to be with the person you love and live the life you used to fantasize the two of you having together as adults. A life where you both are completely content & fulfilled, even if the rest of the world has to suffer for it....

Only for him to slap your hand away and call you a coward He's right though, isn't he? How can he argue against that? and crush all your hopes and dreams in an instant. He rejects them. Rejects you.

So you don't even try to fight back. You stand there like an idiot because you are one as you watch the center if your world scurry away from you, out of your life and putting as much distance as possible between you two. You don't even allow yourself to move until you're so cold from the rain you're numb, because that's what you get. You should've know. You should've know. You. Should. Have. Known.

the last time I reblogged this post right before I got a great job, in a permanent work-from-home position, with benefits, retirement, and a salary literally 3x what I was making before, doing something I really like. 

So you know. 

from the observations of a british diplomat in the ukraine in 1912, quoted in Bini Adamczacks Beziehungsweise Revolution

He lost his twin at a very young age and although he may not have remembered Shamrock, his subconscious did.

So I bet he was constantly searching for something to fill that void, and I think Buggy did just that.

Buggy became the other half he was missing.

(Shipping rant. Sorry if it sounds negative, just needing to put my foot down about some things I’ve been getting)

P.s: sorry for interfere with your rant. Read if you like cultural explaination. If not, pls allow me to use it as a chance to organize my thoughts.

兄弟分 just means "apprentices under the same master". Confucius ideology compares school hierarchy to family hierarchy. Even today, students are encouraged to treat teachers like parents, classmates like siblings. So even though there's "兄弟" in 兄弟分, it's doesn't mean they're brothers, or consider each other to be brothers, it's just a title you are given once you're resigned under a same teacher (like the whole class is officially known on paper as your siblings-in-school, that doesn't make u feel brotherhood to all of them)

And in history and literature, this type of siblings in school fall in love and marriage all the time. It's not only considered moral but encouraged by their teacher & families (in the past, it's to protect the secret of the martial arts sect, today it's just aww childhood sweetheart)

As siblings-in-school, Shanks & Buggy growing up together is a normal thing. Traditional martial arts school raised their students from toddlers to adults in dormitories. Orphans or having families, they barely saw their blood families anymore, and they train or rest together 24/7. It's nice if they grow up and build a sibling hood that fit their 兄弟分 title but if some of them want to marry each other, it's even better lol.

(Also there's a phenomenon that kids feel entitlement to be their 兄弟分's future spouses, not some random stranger who appear from nowhere seduces their 兄弟分 from them. Like they see their teacher's wife is also his 兄弟分 so they had unreasonable expectations. Jealous gatekeeping 兄弟分 is a classic novels stereotypes lol.)

Married 兄弟分 still called each other "Brother/sister (in-school)", not because they feel like siblings, but because it's their TITLES & the only way to get rid of it is their teacher disowns them. (Also bc many of them feel entitled, it's a way to implied "I'm his 兄弟分, I have more right to be his spouse than you")

.

I saw a lot of people comparing Shuggy and AceSabo, in my Sinosphere eyes, it's not the same thing. ASL had a drinking "alcohol" ritual that makes them swear brothers. This ritual is usually carried out by grown up (manly heterosexual) men to establish their brotherhood, & there's almost no case they fall in love or married each other after that. (At least to my knowledge)