Some Moomins And Their Snufkins

You have a lot of thoughts about Sanji and how the Germa modification may come back to bite him later in terms of his own free will (& I agree that it will eventually come up)—but do you have any thoughts about Luffy having a mythical Zoan and whether Nika might be bleeding over into him? Zoan fruits supposedly have a will of their own especially after awakening, and I’m guessing mythical humanoid ones might take that a step further.

I remember being super unsettled by Gear 5 up until Luffy officially reiterated that he’s Luffy, going to be the pirate king, etc. There was something really eerie about it to me, like I was legit concerned that we were looking at something that wasn’t Luffy anymore.

What does it mean for Luffy, who ultimately is a personification of freedom and free will to be potentially a reincarnation of Joyboy/some sort of prophesied person with a destiny? Does it run kind of counter to his whole character? Is it fine so far because Luffy and Nika/Joyboy are so similar, and could that change?

Interested if you have any thoughts about it! Love your character analysis videos.

I've said this on twitter ages ago BUT somehow I don't think joyboy is gonna be a reincarnation or anything. I feel it's just the gum gum fruit itself has a will that it couldn't carry out 800 years ago with its previous user, and it's now found Luffy who can help carry out its will with Luffy's own. Ie, Luffy has not been forced on a path as the chosen one, he's simply so strong of mind and soul that the fruit has found someone to help it reach its peak form and power.

People like Luffy are a rarity, in terms of their pure determination and guts. Luffy makes his own path, and now he's yanked into the soul of his devil fruit, and has forced it to awaken for his own gain. But, since one piece is about continuing wills, it also makes perfect sense that either joyboy or the fruit itself has a will that Luffy is picking up. This is by no means fate, and is instead Luffy tearing the world apart due to who he is.

I also do think there's a possibility of devil fruits overtaking someone's mind and soul, but I don't know! Haven't seen that happen yet I think, so I'm keen to find out!

Also thank youuuu! 🫶

Most of the TBHK swap AUs I’ve seen involve the Minamoto brothers as the Yugi twins or Nene as Hanako or just the Yugi twins swapped and those are all fantastic but hear me out

Aoi as Hanako and Sumire as Tsukasa

The translation for bsd wan chapter 137 😌

The Cup bros :D

Thoughts on Dazai, Fyodor and manipulation

In the latest chapter, we get to hear Dazai & Fyodor talk about their methods from their own mouths. They both are masters of manipulation, but their ways of going about it are entirely different.

Fyodor suggested that they had a peaceful “discussion” on the current situation, but it was really just a way for both of them to assess each other’s information while keeping their own to themselves as much as possible. Fyodor acknowledged that being equals in terms of intellect, they were the only two people who were able to understand and keep up with each other, and Dazai agreed, after a moment of suspicion.

Fyodor asked Dazai for “advice” on how to make his subordinates more independent. To me, this sounds like Fyodor was trying to get information on how Dazai’s colleagues operated, and how they knew what to do. Dazai then gave a very Dazai-like response, telling Fyodor that he basically acted like a lazy ass all day, which gave his colleagues a reason to act on their own because no one wanted to rely on a “good-for-nothing”.

Dazai then asked Fyodor for a way to make the cafe waitress fall for him (again, very Dazai-like). This, to me, is Dazai’s way of asking how Fyodor won over his “allies”, such as Hawthorne and Mushitarou. Fyodor promptly replied that he basically got hold of their lifeline, found out their weaknesses, and gave them an “offer” they couldn’t refuse.

And there we have it, the two “demons” revealing how they manage to make people dance around them and do their work. Fyodor lured people in with promises of a better life, or safety of a loved one. At the end of the day, he would just be watching from a safe spot, casually sipping tea. Dazai, while pretending to do nothing, gave people room to act on their own will. Sure, his methods are questionable, and there are times when he cornered people into cooperating with him. The case of Ango, for instance, was Dazai acting selfishly to satisfy his own silent wrath, while achieving his bigger objective at the same time (he was so furious at Ango he even willingly put himself in danger. This angry child and poor Ango need a talk). But most of the time, Dazai’s deals made room for a win-win situation (Kyouka and Kouyou’s case, for instance). He also put Atsushi and Akutagawa in danger without their knowledge, but at the end of the day, they both had the chance to grow thanks to that. Dazai is also ready to step in when things get serious, the most recent example being him getting arrested on purpose to see through Fyodor’s plans.

While Dazai and Fyodor undoubtedly are similar, they differ in the way they see people. They both have people wrapped around their little fingers, but while Fyodor sees them as pawns to be moved around and thrown away once they fulfill their purpose, Dazai sees them as valuable lives, each having their own potential.

Since we got to see a glimpse of what moved Dazai to see the world the way he does, I hope we will one day get to know Fyodor’s story, as well. To me, they are both alienated individuals who chose their own ways to find meaning to their lives. It seems to me that Fyodor, in his own way, is trying to understand people, what moves them, and what causes them to become the “sinfully stupid” creatures he so looks down upon. Perhaps he wants to witness the brilliance of people’s lives at their brightest moments, the same way Dazai was trying his luck in the Mafia. Perhaps he never made any friends, and never had the chance to see himself as part of the sinful mess of human beings, the way Dazai did.

they’re literally so stupid like

this panel has quickly become a contender for my favorite of the series so far

large tsukasa bias heads up for this post lol, but mostly marvelling at the narrative and evocative power one panel can have because like. god. this panel is SO good. it's so simple!! and yet!!!! even my first time through it made me pause because there's such a palpable energy to it--which, having finished the chapter like 7 times over now haha, i can now say is very strong calm before the storm energy.

i love how this panel functions as like, a thesis statement for tsukasa. he's so perfectly centered, looking head on, his koku joudais on either side of him, the panel cut off right under his stab wound. this panel reads like a portrait.

and the feelings this one single expression evokes!! he's so at ease, and it makes the audience so not at ease.

because we know what "tsukasa" means. we know what tsukasa can do. and the panel immediately proceeding this tells us: akane and the clock keepers don't know what "tsukasa" means. this panel is like a stinger score in a horror movie as a character heads straight into a threat they can't see, while the audience sees the threat plainly but is helpless to warn them.

i especially love this panel coming off of all the chapters we've just gotten. we've seen so many shades and states of tsukasa in the past few chapters, including a very new state:

i've been puzzling over these panels all month, trying to figure out what felt so... distinct? about them, and 109 gave such good context for them. 108 tsukasa feels new because he is a tsukasa we hadn't seen before! this is a tsukasa who lost. but the energy in these 108 panels is really illuminated by the above panel from 109. this is not only a tsukasa who lost, but a sore loser! yet, not actually too deeply bothered; honestly, the best term i can think of here is butt hurt lmao. like. he's not actually scared, he's just sulking. 108 tsukasa looks like he lost a board game, or like he came up against a video game boss he's having trouble defeating--and in this panel from 109, he looks like he just figured out how to win. he's been puzzling over how to get out of this situation, huffy over not getting it immediately when normally he blows through challenges like this, and now he sees his checkmate.

in fact, i think there's a comparison to be made between this 109 panel, and this 92 panel:

the same symmetry, the same smile. centered in the frame, looking head on, undaunted, his koku joudai on either side of him. in his element. putting all his puzzle pieces together, and having fun with it.

i love the line "tsukasa. my name is tsukasa." coming right after such an out of character loss, and right before his return to how we first meet him, how he's been this whole time.

and one last panel comparison, just for the sake of breaking my own heart:

by himself, just tsukasa. not yugi tsukasa, no official title of yorishiro given to himself like the other three get, just tsukasa. this is not the first cage he's had to break himself out of, and he knows he'll find a way out of this like he found his way out of hanako's boundary, even if he has to figure it out himself, just tsukasa.

and he does!--because, like he says: he's tsukasa.

going back to my old ways

This entire chapter was a fever dream

happy episode 1071 day !!