#this isn’t LITERALLY about shuggy but in spirit… yes it is.

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

Emotional damage aside

How do you think buggy arc, assuming we will get one, can play out without him interacting with shanks? And do you think buggy just getting over his past friendship would be having equally satisfying impact on the story as them becoming close again?

well, my shuggy bias is 100,000% at play here, but i think a version of buggy’s arc that doesn’t involve shanks in the end just can’t be as satisfying as one that does involve him, whether it’s a proper reconciliation or just confrontation/closure. the way buggy thinks and feels about shanks has been such a huge part of the way buggy talks about his life and thinks about his goals, it would feel imbalanced to me if he wasn’t there at the end, somehow.

but what could a buggy arc without shanks in it look like? that’s an interesting question. two options (one a hurt no comfort version of my lt fic still pretty shanks-oriented, one an honest attempt at a shanksless buggy arc) below the cut.

if we’re just saying no interactions, shanks can still be part of buggy’s story in absentia, as he has been for much of canon. something to strive for, the measuring stick of buggy’s life, always frustratingly out of reach… until now. now buggy can practically taste the look of shock and awe on shanks’ face when buggy beats him to the one piece! it’s gonna be so good, getting everything he wants and rubbing it in his stupid face. but then shanks dies. shanks is dead. he never got the one piece, and he never got to see buggy get the one piece, and buggy’s never going to see him again, and— the one piece is within buggy’s reach, and so is the person who killed shanks. what does buggy want more: riches or revenge? what does he value more: treasure or an old friend?

buggy wants the one piece for two reasons, right? one: because it’s the biggest most valued most legendary treasure on the planet, and buggy loves treasure. and two: because it’s captain roger’s treasure, and buggy wants to inherit that legacy, if shanks won’t do it. so i think we could manage a satisfying no-shanks arc for buggy if it involves him proving himself worthy of roger’s legacy. not by getting the one piece—i may be engaging in buggy-centric speculation but i think we all know that thing’s meant for luffy—but by gaining the respect of cross guild, and of the other emperors, and of the wider pirate world. the marines are wary of their misapprehension of buggy’s charisma; let’s see his real inspirational ability used for a good purpose. let’s have half the world call him a hero and half call him a monster, and either way mean that they consider him roger’s successor! let’s have rayleigh show up and tell buggy he’s proud of him!!!