#or at least their opinions and theories

[sweetblossoms]

god AP 8 was so good, easily my new favorite adventuring party episode just of all time. yes yes the "zoom era energy" bits are funny (i was full on cry laughing and had to pause to collect myself) but also then the seamless transition into actually talking about the episode??? was so good?? they seemed like they genuinely were trying to gush about everything that happened that episode and were enjoying themselves and it just *felt* like a bunch of friends taking a load off after playing a dnd session and gah, what a great episode, kudos kudos

[telling-tragedy]

henry and richard’s back and forth throughout this scene is absolutely addicting. richard isn’t having it

[transingthoseformers]

Just read most of your scientists fighting posts and I'm sitting here, working in an irl science lab, like "they would fight over papers and Whomst TF Contaminated X Thing" but also I think of them all Wheeljack would commit the Greatest Scientist Sin and get the shit kicked outta him for his crimes: pouring Mystery Chemicals down the drain bc "that's where the water goes" bc NO there's PROTOCOL it'll contaminate ALL THE THINGS

Meanwhile Shockwave in his evil little corner doing his evil little experiments not giving a fuck bc "even though I am objectively Evil, I do not pour waste material down the drain." That's Lab Safety. Evil Scientist has Proper Lab Safety as a treat

YES

I'll admit that's more along the line of thinking I was thinking of when putting the scientists from VERY different spots in the factions together

[goingbuggy]

I loved your idea for film blue & reading your response reminded me of a theory I have about the shuggy dynamic & since I love your meta I'd love your take.

Do you think Oda is trying to imply that the Shuggy fallout is not only a personal loss, but a loss for the world as a whole? There's a lot of talk lately about Shanks' personal failings with interpersonal skills & coincidentally that's where Buggy's strength lies.

In fact the Shuggy dynamic is sort of written in a way where they make up for what the others lack so I wonder if the miscommunication with them is also supposed to make us believe the world would've been better had they stuck together?

Buggy was the first of the two to recognize the danger with Blackbeard and it's when he isn't in Shanks life anymore that Blackbeard was able to hurt him. Buggy didn't rise up in the world until way later in life despite his charisma, but Shanks did fairly quickly. We can see how Buggy being a warlord/emperor is setting into motion big events at a seemingly quicker pace than Shanks ever did (intentional or not). Imagine if they had set out as co leaders way back when? Would Shanks be as passive or would Buggy's ambition & anxiety push him to be more proactive in whatever it is he's supposed to do on behalf of Roger.

With the anime finally animating the loguetown breakup/fallout and to be reminded of Buggy being pushed to reclaim his dreams because Shanks is also heading for the One Piece I'm starting to think Oda is writing them as a delayed destiny type of thing. That they were always supposed to carry on Roger's will together & the biggest mistake of the past is anyone thinking only one of Roger's apprentices was supposed to be his heir so to speak. They were supposed to be a team not rivals.

Last thing I want to bring up is how Luffy keeps being put in Shanks' shoes when it comes to his crew except where Shanks failed Luffy didn't. The Usopp conflict in Water 7/Eneis Lobby especially plays like a 2nd Shanks & Buggy fall out to me.

Not only are Buggy & Usopp both extremely insecure in their own power, but they too interpreted their friends words/actions as a slap to the face. However Luffy was able & willing to do the work to close the distance between his Nakama & resolve the miscommunication while Shanks just...gave up essentially. Being not only an example of how Luffy can do what Shanks never could, but also the new generation succeeding where the last one failed. I can't help but think when we learn Shanks & Buggy's history Oda intends for us to think about this parallel and view it as mistake.

So I wouldn't be surprised if we got at least one more reunion between Shuggy & when we do they come to this realization that they have a chance to correct the mistakes of the past and team up for something significant in terms of plot. That their destiny's lie with eachother not against.

thoughts?

I think this is the first time someone has sent me an ask that's not anonymous. This made me really happy, so thank you, and hi!

Is "I agree and disagree" a proper answer? I don't know. I think you're right in that the "evolved" (emotionally mature, post character-growth) versions of Shanks and Buggy could have accomplished a lot together. But that's just it -- in order to evolve, you have to start somewhere. It's like expecting Luffy to still be able to protect his crew the way he does now without going through the tragedy at Sabaody and Marineford. Shanks and Buggy were always fated to part, because they needed to grow separately to meet back up again as true and equal counterparts. To change, you've got to experience things that make you realize you need to change.

I think there is a world where Buggy would've followed Shanks and been on his crew, but in that world, he also would've never addressed the root of his problem: his own insecurity. He needed to go out on his own to find himself. "Would Shanks be as passive?" "Would Buggy's ambition and anxiety push him to be more proactive in whatever it is he's supposed to do on behalf of Roger?" The questions you're asking are insightful and fun thought experiments, but in my opinion, a narrative impossibility. Loguetown Buggy would never follow a Shanks that fell back on Laughtale, and Loguetown Shanks will always prioritize his idea of the "greater good." So when you say the world would be better "had they stuck together," I half-disagree, because I don't think this hypothetical world could ever exist. (Also, from an author's standpoint, it feels like cheating your way to the end without earning it -- bypassing all the juicy stuff about character writing, like the internal and external conflicts which push characters to change.)

However, the idea that they're destined to carry on Roger's legacy together is such a great idea -- I love that! It warms my heart. I've always viewed Roger's will as something split between Buggy and Luffy, but what you proposed is something I can totally get behind. And I could 100% see Oda going in that direction.

[waiting-for-a-sunny-day]

Sometimes I feel like a silly weirdo for shipping Satosugu so hard, but then I hear a clip of “my heart and my soul know otherwise” and I remember that I am not at fault here.

[dollypopup]

y'all can all cancel me (again) for this, but if there's even a SHRED of 'who should I pick?' from Penelope in season 3, I am tuning out SO fast because like. . .sorry not sorry, there IS no choice. Debling is some crusty OC suitor she barely even knows and Colin is a man who she has been so supposedly in love with to the point where she'd ruin her entire family's reputation to have a potential love story with him. Penelope and Colin have background, years of knowing each other, intimacy that few people in the Ton can boast of having (letters, conversations about purpose, fights and arguments and makeups) and her and Debling have. . .a dance or two at a ball because he's a rebound for Penelope's broken heart. he means nothing. he has no nuance, he has no weight to the story, he is such an afterthought to me. either I wanna see Penelope going 'you know what? I don't even LIKE this dude. he's. . .fine, but I don't care about him even a shred as much as I care about Colin' or the INSTANT Colin's like 'you know what? we should get married' if it's not an immediate 'say less, you're already my husband, try returning me without the receipt, Debling whomst?' then I don't want it!

like. . .it's just so frustrating to see all the 'I hope Debling sweeps her off her feet and she rejects Colin's proposal and she makes him work for it and and and-' nonsense from the fandom and it's always tagged and no matter how many times I block it, it just keeps popping up. I go into the Polin tag for POLIN. I don't give a SHIT about a male love interest other than Colin. Not one. Not a shred. Not an iota.

and also. . .Debling has the 'benefit' of not having depth, or character traits, or HISTORY, so peeps can project onto him however they want, but I'm calling it now, there is NOTHING he could do or be that would make me like him more than Colin. Colin will always hit different, and I will always love him more. and if Pen's not on that same page? lol bye

you want me to believe Penelope and Colin are soulmates and it's romance for her to hem and haw about how difficult a decision it is for her to marry a stranger who knows barely anything about her. . .

when Marina was out here dropping banger lines like 'You were the only man with which I could see myself being happy' and 'I do not care about any of these men, where is Colin?'? like hello??? and she wasn't even fully in love with him!!!! but we'll demonize her until the cows come home in our fandom and make her the villain in Polin's love story for DARING to get in between Polin, yet Debling, a white man, is a darling dear perfect prince for getting in between Polin? existing in our fandom solely so Penelope can be like 'lol, Colin ain't shit, let me entertain any and everyone else'?

if that's the direction it goes then, ten toes down and on my mama, she doesn't deserve Colin and she can move because I'm on my way to court him my damn self

and that's that on that

[ultimateinferno]

I think the big issue with Harris is that they used up any enthusiasm they had at the outset. When Biden dropped out and Harris stepped up, there was quite a bit of enthusiasm, maybe a hope that something would change. Then Walz was picked as VP, and once again, people were excited because Minnesota was seen as pretty progressive compared to the more institutional democrats. Then, as Novemeber approached, things started to fall apart. Harris started talking about being the most lethal military and securing borders. She got approval from Dick Cheney. And for the lot who were hoping to hear something in favor of brokering peace with Israel Palestine, there was a fake Biden Ultimatum against Netanyahu and nothing was done even while Trump bragged he was talking with Bibi and actively sabotaging Biden's brokering efforts.

I've seen people blame ID politics for their failure, but feminist and queer issues weren't unpopular, per se. Many states—even red states—passed abortion and queer marriage protections. A trans woman was sent to Congress, and this is the first time two black women are senators at the same time.

I think people are tiring of institutional Democrats. There's no excitement with the DNC. Their biggest selling point they keep giving is occupying seats to keep Republicans out of it. Anyone who may have an issue with institutional Democrats are told to fall into rank to keep Trump away. So, even if logically, Trump is a massive blow to a lot of these positions, people don't want to vote for "Not Trump^tm" for the third presidential election cycle in a row. They want and needed someone to get excited about.

I was a sophomore in high school during the 2016 election. By the time Trump leaves office, I will be approaching my 30s. I know there's a lot of finger-pointing right now about who dropped the ball on the presidential election, and we can blame any minor faction we want. "It's the Latinos! It's the progressives! It's the straight white men!"

Honestly, I don't think it's any of the major voting blocks, but, as I've said, the DNC as a whole. For their stuffy suits and constant attempts at reaching across the aisle with people who spit at their existence, demean their identities. When Harris called Republicans weird, people thought we were out of the woods with overly cordial negotiating and finally got someone who was willing to play ball.

I'm in progressive spaces, so it's certainly obvious that my observation that the DNC was too moderate is biased. That said, I think it was a one-two punch of being made to fall into line then losing because of a stark drop in turn out has lead to many believing someone else didn't do their part, almost a resentful "I had to give up my aspirations for the next administration to not be Trump, why couldn't you?"

[lanaevyssmoved]

i really don’t like the sorcerer gale theory. we should love the prodigy wizard not try to take that away from him

[irrigos]

bad news: im at it again

[shakingparadigm]

Would the human pets be capable of basic tasks like washing their clothes or preparing food? I can see some pets knowing how to prepare food as like, a fun little party trick to impress others, but as a basic survival skill I don't think it's commonly taught to humans anymore. There's most likely a line drawn between pets that are helpful and reliable, and pets that are too capable, to the point where certain owners may feel threatened by their level of intelligence and independence. I wonder just how helpless the humans would be without their aliens.

[operafloozy]

.

[smoke-glass]

QSMP Rant #1 -

So I just clicked on Fit's stream right when he was talking about how Ramon can't break the purple computers but he can break Federation buildings and I wanted to throw my hat in the ring as to why Ramon can't break those computers and my own theories around those Computers.

One obviously being proves that the computers were not built by The Federation and were built by someone else, my thoughts being that Luzu/Arin built them but why?

Well we know in some capacity that the computers are linked to Arin in some way (obviously being that the first computer we saw was at Luzu/Arin's house) but we don't really know why The Code gave the coordinates to the (first) computer to Phil and Fit in the first place. Was it just b/c the code wanted to warn us about something or was it just red herring leading us away from the true danger - The Codes. Now the whole entire reason I'm saying this is b/c we know as the audience that Arin and The Codes don't have a good relationship i.e. they basically hate each other, so it makes sense why The Code was trying to make this computer (which is obviously linked to Arin) look like the bad guy.

Now I don't really know why The Code attacked Phil and the 3 eggs that day, I'm not entirely sure. Maybe b/c The Code was trying to get Cellbit, Maxo, Bad, and Foolish to stop investigating the train area and to stop them from going through the portal i. e. attacking Phil and the 3 eggs to thwart there attention else where and threaten them to not go through the portal. At least that's my theory but idk.

Now back to the question at hand what are those computers for and why? Well in my opinion those computers are Arin or in a sense a part of him. Before we only had one computer and then that computer was destroyed and we didn't hear from Arin for months and know out nowhere we are hearing from Arin a lot more than we used to. And I think that's b/c of these computers. B/c of these computers Arin's Power/Strength is increasing and allowing him to communicate with the islanders and to warn them probably about the codes/the federation i.e. meaning that Arin isn't with the codes or the federation, he's against them and is probably with the islanders and maybe has his own motives as well but that remains to be seen.

In conclusion these computers have nothing to do with the federation or the codes. It has everything to do with Arin and Arin only. And who knows maybe we'll see Arin sooner than we think.

[alternativeulster]

swiftie mutuals please know that i still love you i just cant help but be a hater

[gomacave]

I love how Vincent looks so out of place w the cast. Everyone's front the same universe except this vkei edgelord

[gamebunny-advance]

Baseless NSR Theory #82: Gigi & Mystery Man

Y'all should know better than to get me hyped up about my own theories, but let's run with this since I haven't done one in a while.

---------

After thinking about it some more, I feel pretty confident that Gigi is NOT Mystery Man (MM). The stained-glass portraits are a little abstract from the characters they represent, but the broad strokes are always there. No character is depicted with a completely different skin hue, and Gigi's face and features are a little round for the angular MM.

Granted, given the mysterious nature of MM, I can't completely rule out that his portrait is an outlier. Let's consider that the only (human) characters depicted with gray skin are also the nameless NPCs: the ones that are almost literally supposed to be a part of the background. If MM's nature is truly about secrecy and blending in, then having a giant accurate portrait of him in your main office would probably work against that.

Still, in other "official" pieces of art depicting MM, he's always shown with sharp, angular features that Gigi just doesn't have, so I'm going to go forward with the assumption that Gigi and MM are not the same person.

(Art by Ddaddystar, a concept artist for No Straight Roads, Source: 1 | 2 | 3)

However, they could still be related in someway. It's possible that MM has underlings that help him with whatever he does. Even though we never see them, we know that DJSS has at least one other person working under him related to his work as a rocket scientist, so it's very possible that all or most of the other Megastars also have staff directly under them for their non-music roles in NSR.

If MM's role in NSR is related to secrecy, perhaps spying, given his stereotypical spy outfit, it's possible that MM has set several spies around the city to aid in that work.

(duckduckGo image search of "cartoon spy")

And since this is a setting that works on "cartoon logic" where the spies might have a uniform, it's possible that MM's underlings have calling cards connecting them to him. Perhaps, something like a hat and glasses and a toothy smile.

Oh, would you look at that.

Of the evidence that Gigi is working for NSR under MM, there isn't a lot to directly connect him to them. However, he has a few of the same, "he knows more than he should" moments that also implicated Kliff as untrustworthy in the opening parts of the game, so I do believe that the player is supposed to have some doubts about him even if it's only to be a red herring.

For starters, he's one of the few NPCs that force-triggers an interaction to continue the story. The same thing happens when Zam stops you to join the revolution. This implies that in both instances, it's the NPC stopping you to talk instead of vice versa. Given how casually they all talk to each other, the implication at this point is that he was friends with B2J before the events of the game, but as will be revealed later, this isn't actually the case.

Mayday and Zuke later mention that neither of them are actually familiar with Gigi and just assumed he was a friend of the other. This never gets commented on further, but it does confirm that Gigi is just so naturally charming that he infiltrated their friend circle without either of them really noticing until much later.

Mayday isn't even certain about his name while Zuke doesn't know it at all, implying that he may have never directly told them, or didn't tell them unless asked. This would be natural behavior if he assumed that they already knew his name, but then is this a case of Gigi also thinking that Mayday and Zuke are supposed to know him, like they've met in the past and B2J just forgot him, or is he purposefully concealing his identity?

Let's also consider the meaning of his name. "Gigi" in Malay translates to "teeth/tooth," an obvious reference to how his teeth are always showing. While it's possible that this is his real name, it's more likely that it's a nickname or an alias. So the matter is if he told Mayday that that's his name, or if she and others just started calling him that when they realized they didn't know his real name. Something like people originally calling him, "That guy who's always showing his teeth." then morphed into just calling him "teeth." Either way, he's concealing his true identity, which would be necessary for a spy.

I do assume that most of the time the characters are actually speaking Malay, but is shown in English for the benefit of the player. When Mayday encounters DK West, she doesn't ask why he speaks a different language, she asks why he speaks with a different accent, possibly implying that all the characters are actually speaking Malay, DK West just has a different dialect.

Both times Gigi stops you, it's to talk about how he's seen what B2J have been up to (first their audition and later their battle with Sayu) and to offer them a drink. He seems really insistent on giving them those drinks he offered, since after he was turned down the first time since B2J were busy, the next time he prepared for another rejection by having the drinks with him and just inviting himself to the underground hideout, which is supposed to be secret.

Granted, (I lost the source, but I swear this is at least *80% true), the reason why Kliff found out about the hideout without being directly told is that Mayday apparently posted that info online, so it's not impossible that Gigi found out about it the same way. B2J didn't react to him knowing about it the same way they did Kliff, but it's possible that by this point they realized that their hideout just wasn't as secret as they originally thought.

*I can't remember if it was just that she posted her phone number online so that's why Kliff was able to text her, or if she posted all their info. Either way, she's unintentionally created a paper trail that could lead people to her.

However, after he enters the hideout, Gigi is effectively written out of the game as he has no other interactions with B2J besides seeing them off when they leave.

This seems odd as the other two guys who join the hideout but do nothing (Robot and Yiruk) still appear above ground to talk, whereas the two guys that actually do something (Zam and Kliff) only appear underground after they're recruited. If Gigi also wasn't doing anything important in the sewers, then you'd think he'd also stay above ground to talk like the former group.

Unless he is doing something.

It's possible that Gigi is collecting intel in the hideout. Since Kliff is apparently already monitoring how the fights are going, Gigi could theoretically just get the info he needs from Kliff instead of directly watching himself as he appeared to do earlier. That would also give Gigi the time to focus on other areas of interest. Perhaps something like leaking B2J's main source of outside communication: Zam FM.

When Tatiana calls into the radio show, she admits that she's been spying on them the entire time, though by what means aren't elaborated on. At the time, the implication seems to be that she was just listening to the show, which theoretically could be listened to by anyone who knows their signal and wouldn't necessarily need additional spying to achieve, but that doesn't exempt that she could have had other spying methods.

Let's consider that Tatiana didn't consider B2J a threat until after DJSS's defeat, but doesn't get actually angry about them until Sayu's defeat. Gigi's first attempt to get info from B2J was directly after DJSS, but he failed to stop them from meeting with Kliff who gave B2J the tools to defeat Sayu. After Sayu, he finally just forces his way in, possibly as a response to Tatiana's rising stress over the situation.

However, I must concede that if Gigi truly is a spy for NSR/MM, then why wouldn't he report about Kliff's involvement? Even if he didn't know the personal history between him and Tatiana, I think it would be pretty important to report that they have a significant ally that they should keep tabs on and then naturally Kliff's involvement would make it to Tatiana.

But also keep in mind that in this theoretical, Gigi is still reporting to MM first. So if MM disregarded anything he deemed irrelevant and then sent that revised report to Tatiana, then Kliff's involvement could have been lost even if Gigi made note of him. The message could have been diluted from, "Kliff is an ally of B2J." to, "An information specialist is an ally of B2J."

It's not like NSR was trying to destroy B2J from the inside. NSR's main goal was to have B2J defeated by a megastar to strengthen NSR's political support/make an example of B2J, as to maintain order. To do this, they needed to prove EDM's superiority over rock by its own power. Using any sort of foul play to defeat B2J would conflict with those ideals and likely lead to chaos irrupting in the city had they won or even significantly hindered them in this way.

For example, an easy way to discombobulate B2J could have been to shut down Zam FM, which they actually tried to do before he got in contact with them. However, after he was able to get set up, there wasn't much they could do without rousing suspicion. Gigi theoretically could have taken down the show while he was there, but if something had suddenly happened to cut off B2J's communication with their fans, then the fans might suspect NSR of foul play and start revolting on their own or at least spread the word that this happened, which could weaken NSR's support.

With that in mind, Gigi's orders might have been to report on B2J's activities and plans, but not to directly interfere, thus explaining why B2J didn't have many major set-backs and why NSR didn't have any meaningful advantages over them even if they had someone on the inside.

In conclusion, I think there's a strong case that Gigi is actually an NSR spy, and a weaker but still compelling case that he's also connected to Mystery Man, who might be the director of NSR's spies.