#in which malice begs the internet for money

[malicemismanager]

*scuttles in* hi yeah don't mind me just sharing a link to my kofi in case anyone's feelin generous and not at all out of anxiousness over the single digit number in my bank account ok bye *scuttles out*

[thoughtfulturtleprincess]

A non-OP fan’s (slashy/romantic)take on Buggy and Shanks’ relationship

Disclaimer: I’m not a One Piece fan by any stretch so I don’t follow the manga or anime but I’ve seen clips of it here and there on the internet, and got intrigued by the one and only Buggy and his relationship with Shanks. I’ve been thinking a lot about them recently and reading a lot of fics/reddit theories so here’s my take. I’ll most definitely miss stuff so actual fans please jump in and correct me/add things!

Warning: My interpretation is that there is some romantic undertones to their relationship. If you don’t agree with this please don’t read! Thanks :D

1. Shanks and Buggy grew up together on the same ship. Some have suggested that they were only 1 when they were picked up by Roger’s crew, although the youngest we’ve seen them tgt was when they were 9 years old. Regardless, they probably didn’t have much of a chance to form long lasting friendships with other children outside the ship, so their peer group consisted only of each other, and that’s crazy. 

2. I feel like these circumstances would’ve led to a form of closeness that supersedes modern friendship. Some have described their bond as a brotherhood, and many have stated that they love each other.

3. However, I feel like brotherly love doesn’t fully explain their dynamic(in the anime version of their Marineford reunion). While it explains why Shanks took care of Buggy when on the Oro Jackson despite their squabbles, why he invited Buggy to go with him after Roger’s execution, and why he seemed quite happy to see Buggy at Marineford aged 39, it doesn’t quite explain why his first instinct there was to make a fool of Buggy, only to brush it off as a whim afterwards. And it most certainly doesn’t explain the most SUS thing about that interaction, which was Shanks’ facial expression and tone of voice. There’s just something very sus about that in particular because it doesn’t feel brotherly, but more like flirtatious teasing??? which Buggy is totally confused by btw.

4. I watched the Japanese version of their reunion. During most of it one of Shanks’ eyebrows was slightly raised in a sort of mischievous way, and just before he walks off he says ‘I know, so don’t be angry.’ in a tone that’s borderline flirtatious???? Does Shanks know that he can placate Buggy with flirtatious teasing?? In that case I wouldn’t call this brotherly love anymore. Does that mean he’s done that in the past and it’s worked???????

5. Perhaps these are artistic liberties that the animators and voice actors have taken, but I assume this is also approved by Oda? Maybe this is a trap for yaoi fangirls and I’ve fallen into it lmao I am not sure how this works - someone more well versed in the mechanics of this please chip in :D In any case, we’ll see where this takes us:

6. There’s 2 things to address here: the trickery, and the borderline playful flirting that happened towards the end. Firstly, the trickery: there’s a power dynamic here and Shanks is the one on top. He’s thinking about how to stop the war, Luffy, and probably other bigger things. When he sees Buggy he probably felt a lot of things then but because of the circumstance, he decides to use him as a way to get something done. 

7. It was a funny interaction, and I’m going to over-analyse it. When Buggy refused to help Shanks with the strawhat, it’s interesting that the latter decided to trick him with the false promise of a treasure map, rather than to just say sth along the lines of ‘why not help for old times’ sake’ etc. Perhaps he thinks that Buggy would be too prideful to be swayed by those types of arguments. But perhaps this is where Shanks miscalculated, and why Buggy was so offended lol just a while ago Buggy had helped Luffy because he had been touched by his innocence and resemblance to young Shanks, and here Shanks is basically saying that even after all these years he still thinks Buggy is below matters of the heart. 

8. Shanks probably also thinks he can trick Buggy into doing things for him without incurring any real consequence. It’s almost like the ‘I’m just going to say this first and then deal with his reaction later’ type mentality. Let’s face it, what can Buggy do? Fighting is out of the question: the disparity in their power levels seems too large for this to be a concern for Shanks, and Buggy is highly averse to fighting battles that he knows he can’t win. Cutting ties? Well, that’s been done: Buggy rejected Shanks’ offer to join his crew years ago, and they haven’t really met since, so the worst has already happened. Shanks has had years to get over that.

9. Perhaps over time Shanks has become more focused than his easy smiles let on. Ironically, Buggy was the one to criticise Shanks for being soft hearted when they were younger, but ultimately it is Buggy who tears up at the sight of Luffy’s innocence and decides to fight alongside him in Impel Down, and it is him that calls out Shanks’ name in the middle of the battlefield, seemingly without a care for their surroundings or consequences, just to be taken advantage of by the other.

10. Some may say I’m making Shanks sound a bit evil, and that perhaps all of this happened subconsciously. Maybe the sentiment behind tricking Buggy is half a funny way to greet his old comrade, and half a sign that he still remembers a lot about him and on top of that trusts him with his hat.

11. While I agree with the fact that Shanks basically does not have any true malice towards Buggy, I can’t ignore the power dynamic between them. The trickery was funny only to Shanks, not to Buggy, but I think this dynamic fits perfectly with Shanks’ role as the Emperor and Buggy’s as the Clown.  

12. Alas, Emperors maintain an indestructible reputation, and Clowns make themselves look bad for laughs. So mb Buggy is just fulfilling that role for Shanks in the story. After all, Shanks is portrayed as a flawless man: he is selfless, ambitious, righteous, protects the weak, stops wars and has never lost a battle in his life. On the other hand, Buggy is portrayed in the complete opposite manner: he is self-serving, duplicitous, scummy, money-loving and lazy. 

13. It’s kind of sad that Buggy was basically born into(afaik his nose is natural) this role though and is forced to make the most out of it.

14. Secondly, the playful flirtatiousness(I keep using this word because I feel like that’s the vibe he gave off at the end of one of the clips I saw lmao): Shanks is not really treating Buggy as an adult in his own right, but acts as if Buggy is a child(or capricious lover??) that has to be coaxed into doing the right thing. That’s also borderline disrespectful, but it could just be a matter of them having been apart for such a long time that Shanks automatically defaulted to their old, childish ways because he hadn’t really had the chance to get to know Buggy as an adult.

15. But then this begs the question of what exactly is the nature of their relationship? Brotherly love doesn’t fit with the flirting, so perhaps it’s a different kind of love? Some possible reasons for why Shanks would ever be flirtatious could be 1. there’s some romantic elements to their relationship in the past that he’s taking advantage of now e.g. maybe Buggy was attracted to him and he is taking advantage of it? or 2. it’s a new thing he’s trying because he thinks it’s funny and Buggy would be too confused to keep retorting so it’s a fun way to end the conversation and at the same time to plant a seed in the clown that might make him follow Shanks later? (Buggy did immediately think about doing that lololol) Is this Shanks’ way of getting Buggy to come back to him lmao without explicitly asking loooool 

16. Judging by Buggy’s reaction it seems like number 2 is more likely but this is all anime-only afaik

17. All in all, I feel like Buggy is a special person to Shanks and vice versa, and even though Buggy is just one element of a much bigger picture for Shanks (whereas for Buggy, Shanks seems to have a much bigger presence in his mind), the fact that they spent their childhood only having each other as peers enabled them to form a deep mutual trust and closeness that didn’t seem to have dampened after twenty odd years of separation.

[hklunethewriter]

But seriously, why do I never hear about Irene Iddesleigh around the Internet? It’s practically The Room of late Victorian literature! I have to tell y'all about this book. See here:

Got published because Amanda McKittrick Ros’s (the author’s) doting husband paid for it, but not for the “I want to have more control over publication/don’t need the traditional system” reasons—no, she simply thought her writing was too amazing for that

Mark Twain called it “one of the greatest unintentionally humorous novels of our time”

C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien would deadass have reading parties where whoever could go the longest without laughing won

“Hope is like a shimmering oaken ship on the turbulent seas of discord, fear, and impertinence, cast by the hollow winds of despair. The sun’s rays of goodness and victory tumble down from the heavens, but lo! The clouds of uncertainty beat them back as though"—ALMOST EVERY PARAGRAPH IS LIKE THIS. Metaphors and similes and alliterations and melodrama is the entire book.

a humorist from that era named Barry Pain (lmao) called it the book of the century. At first he found it funny, but then apparently he “shrank before it in tears and terror”

When Ros read what Pain said, she called him a “clay crab of corruption” and then claimed he did it because he was secretly in love with her (my gosh. her mind)

And for all that, it’s not even just the outrageously

🌌 purple prose 🌌

that’s the whole issue here. The plot is basically just

Act I: I’m going to willingly marry a man I hate, and I hate him because he isn’t my secret lover >:(

Act II: I hate him even more each day but we have a kid, oh and I’m having an emotional affair with my secret lover

Act III: husband discovers affair and locked me in a “cursed” room for a year (Charlotte Brontë is literally shaking) but I escape to America with my lover. Huh? I have a child? Never heard of him

Act IV: I somehow legally marry my lover in America and will live there the next fifteen years, but whoops! Suddenly he’s super bad with money and also a drunk and abuser and hits me and then dies by suicide

Act V: I go back to England. Nobody recognizes me even though I’m, like, 35, but they all hate my guts and love my dead husband. My son got the whole story from his dad and hates me the most. I’m sad. I walk to a cottage my lover used to use and literally drop dead. The end

So if you’re looking for something ridiculous to read and be entertained by, I can heartily recommend Irene Iddesleigh. It’s about 100 pages, so it isn’t a slog (somehow)—I read it in an afternoon. You can read it storybook style here or find it over at Project Gutenberg. It’s what Tolkien and Lewis would want.

In case you aren’t convinced yet, though, allow me to show you.

Until now he was inclined to be prejudiced against the snares and allurements of women, but he strongly resolved to try gradually and abandon every unkind thought harboured in his mind against them, fearing lest all his conjured imaginations were both unjust and selfish; and determined to drown them for ever in the clashing gulf of fate, felt a prouder and happier mortal than before.

But time would solve the problem and heal the wound which penetrated so deeply his bosom. Yea, a short time he hoped would bring his creeping fever of endearment under the binding stay of appointed authority, and heal its weakening effects with the sacred salve of truth.

Aka “my long-worn misogyny has just been reversed by a pretty woman”

Great

Chapter IV: When on the eve of glory, whilst brooding over the prospects of a bright and happy future, whilst meditating upon the risky right of justice, there we remain, wanderers on the cloudy surface of mental woe, disappointment and danger, inhabitants of the grim sphere of anticipated imagery, partakers of the poisonous dregs of concocted injustice. Yet such is life.

Chapter VIII: A word of warning tends to great advantage when issued reverently from the lips of the estimable. It serves to allay the danger pending on reticence, and substantiates in a measure the confidence which has hitherto existed between the parties concerned. Again, a judicious advice, extended to the stubborn and self-willed, proves futile, and incurs the further malice and fiery indignation of the regardless, the reckless, and the uncharitable.

Chapter XIII: It is astounding to view the smallest article through a magnifying glass; how large and lustrous an atom of silver appears; how fat and fair the withered finger seems; how monstrously mighty an orange; how immeasurably great the football of youth; but these are as nought when the naked eye beholds the boulder of barred strength—a mountain of mystery.

Every chapter has a paragraph like this. I won’t spoil them for you.

Such is life.

“My dearest and much beloved, I assure you your remarks have astounded me not a little! Your words sting like a wasp, though, I am quite convinced, unintentionally. You are well aware that within a short period I will be marked  out publicly as mistress of Dunfern mansion—an honour revered in every respect by me; an honour to which I at one time dare never aspire; an honour coveted by many much more worthy than I, whose parentage is as yet bathed in the ocean of oblivious ostentation, until some future day, when I trust it shall stand out boldly upon the brink of disclosure to dry its saturated form and watery wear with the heat of equality. You are about to place me in a position which cannot fail to wring from jealousy and covetousness their flaming torch of abuse. Yes, Sir John, on me you have not ceased to lavish every available treasure and token of your unbounded love. You have been  to me not only a loyal admirer, but a thoroughly upright and estimable example of life’s purest treasures. You have resolved to place me by your side as your equal, whilst wealth in boundless store is thirsting for your touch. You have elevated my unknown position to such a pitch as to defy taunt or jeer, and at any time if I may have, seemingly, ignored your advances, it was purely want of thought, and not through any underhand motive or scheme whatever.

“I assure you your allusion to my verbal answer last night is very pronounced, and may be overlooked on the ground of pure disappointment. Our time of singleness  is now short, and begging your forgiveness for my seeming neglect or indifference, I hope the tide, which until now has flown so gently, may not be stayed on the eve of entering the harbour of harmony, peace, and love.”

At the commencement of Irene’s answer of lavishing praises and flimsy apologies, her affianced moved to the opposite corner of the rustic building to scan the features of her he wholly worshipped and reluctantly doubted. Every sentence the able and beautiful girl uttered caused Sir John to shift his apparently uncomfortable person nearer and nearer, watching at the same time minutely the divine picture  of innocence, until at last, when her reply was ended, he found himself, altogether unconsciously, clasping her to his bosom, whilst the ruby rims which so recently proclaimed accusations and innocence met with unearthly sweetness, chasing every fault over the hills of doubt, until hidden in the hollow of immediate hate.

Ros is so close to being self-aware at the start of the last paragraph here, but then it’s lost in the same circular language found throughout. Ah, well.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

SO IT'S ANNOYING THAT WE KEEP GETTING CALLED AN INCUBATOR, BUT PERHAPS INEVITABLE, BECAUSE THERE'S ONLY ONE OF US SO FAR AND NO WORD YET FOR WHAT WE WERE PRACTICING FOR

Startups are stressful, and this, unfortunately, is also taken to an extreme. Dressing down loses appeal as men suit up at the office writes Tenisha Mercer of The Detroit News. Instead of depending on some real test, one's rank depends mostly on one's ability to increase one's rank. Are you overlooking one of the biggest threats to a startup we'd seed funded. But starting a company was an alien idea to them; it was just an artifact of the respective contributions of everyone involved. Fourteen-year-old kids are intrinsically messed up. It means that a programming language should, above all, be malleable. I started writing the essay, and Maria Daniels for scanning photos. You might get it.

They will be the only kind that work everywhere. Partly because some companies use mechanisms to prevent copying. There's an initial phase of negotiation about the big questions right, but not rules that matter. Now everyone knows that this is hard for us to believe, but till just a few hubs. The trade press, we learned, thinks in version numbers. A bad bug might not just crash one user's process; it could crash them all. And yet this guy will be almost as good returns as actually being able to pick winners. Painting was not, in Leonardo's time, as cool as painting now, we should train more Americans to be programmers. For example, our PR firm often pitched stories about how the Web let small merchants compete with big ones.

The somewhat more surprising force was one specific type of innovation: social applications. What should you think about? Users will like you because your software just works, and you can ask each for advice about the other. Why did desktop computers take over? And so although we were constantly hoping that one day in a couple months everything would be stable enough that we could reproduce the error and release a fix. The amount of cutting is about average. Though the most successful alumni, so we are now three months into the life of a hypothetical very fortunate startup as it shifts gears through successive rounds.

In other words, the readers are leaving, and they're begging not to be cut out of the deal. But if you have the luxury of choosing: the top tier VCs, meaning about the top 20 only because they haven't been around long enough. If we want to keep an eye on things you've changed recently. Some angel groups charge you money to pitch your idea to them. We were all just pretending. You just know someone knows something, and then have to call them back to tell them. What's scary about Microsoft is that a company so big can develop software at all. Most successful startups get money from more than one of the big successes have two or three. It's hard to find a bug in something you wrote six months ago the average case if you release once a year is a lot more than you spend. The SEC defines an accredited investor as someone with over a million dollars worth of stock will not, as of this writing, be able to help with technical as well as writing ad copy for garbage disposals. At least, it seems likely enough that it would be hard to start a company. A good PR firm won't bug reporters just because the client tells them to; they've worked hard to build their credibility with reporters, and they can't judge those just from meeting you.

Running software on the server, with SSL included, for less than we paid for bandwidth alone. The customer is always right, that's a sign of something you need to make technology, and all the other makers, the painters or the architects, I would have realized that there was no rational basis for their decision. If Internet startups offer the best opportunity for ambitious people, then a lot of startups that end up going public didn't seem likely to at first. At most software companies, support is offered as a way to distinguish ourselves from competitors who either because they sold desktop software, and it's hard for the copiers of the day to reproduce. So far I've been finessing the relationship between the founders what a dog does to a sock: if it can be very useful. Let them write lists of n things is easier for writers as well as writing ad copy for garbage disposals. In fact, when we took users onto our server. And the strange thing is, this nightmare scenario happens without any conscious malice, merely because of the legitimacy it confers. And partly for the same reason readers like them. With Web-based software is that a company so big can develop software at all. Fortunately, there were few obstacles except technical ones.

It helps if you use a Web-based applications. The best way to get at your data from any computer. As a result, of the company. Being able to release software immediately is a big opportunity here for a new fund to break into this group. It's derived from a guest lecture at Harvard, which incorporated an earlier talk at Northeastern. And the Internet makes copies easy to distribute. Nearly all the greatest paintings are paintings of people, for example, there is no automatic place for Microsoft. Someone probably will eventually. Writing mainframe software required too much commitment up front. One of the most important skills founders need to learn. Someone probably will eventually. It was something to do together, and the top management were real butt-kickers.

Why should any of your data be trapped on some computer sitting on a server somewhere, maintained by the kind of things most people use computers for, a tenth of a second for a click to get to the point where they can put a lot of them wrote software for it. I've described is that they all closed. When an investment scores spectacularly, as Google did for Kleiner and Sequoia, it generates a lot of traditions that are now obsolete, but extremely deeply rooted. In fact, a high valuation can be a really good deal. I did not program this way. Currently the way VCs seem to operate is to invest in the earliest phase. It looks as if server-based software, you can create an enemy if there isn't a real one. 7 secrets of success. It's not mystery meat cooked up out of scraps of pitch letters and press releases, and pressed into molds of zippy journalese. But they usually let the initial meetings stretch out over a couple weeks.

[malicemismanager]

I found better instructions on how to do the fabric yardage math for the underskirt, and it turns out I'll need less than I thought I would. Taking that in mind with the rest of what I'll need, and what I've already got (sometimes having a fabric hoarding problem is a good thing actually i will not accept criticism at this time), I decided to update the goal amount to better reflect what I think I'll need. I mean, it's still just a guess, but it feels like a more accurate one, y'know? XD

So if anyone's feelin a bit generous this holiday season and wants to send a few bucks my way to help me fulfill my probably ill advised cosplay shenanigans, I will love you forever.

Or at least as long as my terrible swiss cheese memory allows. I'm doing my best, I promise. 😅

[malicemismanager]

Hey look you can share kofi goals directly now! And surprisingly it did not take me two months to find out this time. 😂

[malicemismanager]

I've decided to document my next sewing project on my kofi, trying to actually be active on there and not just pop in every few months with a shop update. 😅 I don't know how well this is gonna go, but if anyone wants to follow along, there's the link.

I'm still gonna talk (ie: complain XD) about sewing shenanigans here, but I'm hoping to make a habit of posting the bigger updates, as it were, there.

[malicemismanager]

Still really hate doing this (mostly cause it basically never bears fruit, which is not surprising since we’re all broke here lol) but my bank account is running dangerously low in relation to keeping my shop open (and also in general, I guess, but that’s the only thing in real danger), so now’s as good a time as any to bring attention to the existence of my Ko-fi. If anyone has at least $3 to spare and wants to help a dude out, I’d be eternally grateful.

Seriously.

Eternally. 👁_👁

[malicemismanager]

So, ko-fi has a shop section now (I say ‘now’ but it’s probably been there a while I'm just oblivious lol), so I think I’m gonna throw the fandom-specific shinies I’ve kept as con-exclusives that have been collecting metaphorical dust (fuck you, ‘rona) up on it. Might possibly put the drawing prompt inspired stuff I made last October too, if I can. I dunno. All I know is I got stuff that needs selling and con isn’t ‘til next year, plague permitting, and this looks like a viable option in lieu of putting these things on my shop, which I’ve admittedly had some reservations about.

Still gotta take pics of the things tho, so if this happens it’ll probably be tomorrow... ish...

[malicemismanager]

Would y’all believe I completely forgot I had this thing? Because I totally did. I’m really bad at asking people for money for nothing lmao

Anyway, I finally replaced the old cosplay-and-increasingly-more-irrelevant goal for a significantly more pressing issue:

So the post office managed to lose an order of materials, the delivery prick marked it as 'delivered' presumably after driving by my building (wouldn't be the first time), and they conveniently didn't have the tracking number in their system because ??? Basically I threw $40 away and had to reorder the shinies, which... is not great for my finances. It was definitely more than I expected to spend so soon, so if ya feel like helping me get that back, I'd greatly appreciate it.

I’m still pissed about the whole thing, but mostly I just worry what the loss will mean for the store. 40 bucks is almost two month’s worth of the subscription to keep it open, so that’s two months I can no longer guarantee. Fun times! Really picked a helluva year to open a business. 🙃

[malicemismanager]

Hey, guys. Sooo... y’all know I opened my jewellery webstore this year (I mean I assume so, I think I’ve spammed it enough lol), and, well, it ain’t exactly doing so great. Which is fine! I expected that! Ain’t a pessimist for nothing. The not so fine thing is that it’s growing increasingly difficult to justify the cost of keeping it online to myself, if I’m not going to be selling anything. I know it’s only been, like, three months and that these things take a while to pay off, if they do, but it still sucks, y’know?

Anyway, that’s not my point. My point here is that I would really appreciate a little help right about now, and while I would love for people to buy my jewellery, I realise that may not be the most practical/wanted thing for everyone. But! A few tips would go a long way towards keeping me afloat. Especially given the possibility that my con will be cancelled, the way so many around the world are being. I’m not sure I’ve really talked about that, but I really count on the con for my income, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried. Now, I’m not exactly at risk of being homeless any time soon, I live with my mother and she has a steady-ish job for now that pays the rent (fingers crossed it stays that way), but that doesn’t mean money ain’t tight.

Anyway this is getting rambly. Sorry about that, I haven’t had breakfast yet. If you have $3 to spare, consider helping me out? (Ignore the cosplay thing goal, I don’t have the spoons to change it rn >_>)

[malicemismanager]

So, I got an email that my con has been rescheduled for August. It’s a huge relief, even though I’m trying not to get too optimistic just in case. Still, that’s... that’s one less thing to stress me out, so that’s nice.

It also means I gotta get my ass in gear and finish the stuff I’ve been procrastinating on where booth prep is concerned, but that’s neither here nor there. Look I’m doing my best okay. XD

In the meantime tho, I would greatly appreciate if any of y’all could maybe buy something from my store or donate to my ko-fi? Or even just reblogging this would really help me out. And I know I still haven’t changed the goal on the ko-fi, but tbh the thought of doing that is depressing, so... yeah, I just haven’t done it. I do have new pieces to put up on the store, I just haven’t taken pics yet because in case you haven’t noticed, I procrastinate like that’s my job. Plus this fic I’m working on is sucking up all my time and attention.

Seriously, I haven’t even had lunch yet and I’m fucking hungry. I should... probably go do that. >_>

[malicemismanager]

So, I added a goal for a cosplay project to my ko-fi, because that is apparently a thing one does. I dunno. It’s been crickets on that thing thus far. I’m not sure I’m doing it right. I really don’t expect much to come of it, but I lose nothing except my self-worth for trying, and there’s really not much of that to go around to begin with, so. It’s happening, folks! 😂

I’m not sure if my price goal is perfectly accurate to what I’d end up needing, but I’m trying to keep sales tax in mind because I don’t even know what we’re up to these days. I think it’s, like, 12% or something. Fun.

But, yeah. If you want to help me with the steady decline into insanity that is cosplaying, consider buying me a coffee?

[malicemismanager]

Don't mind me, just dropping a link to my Ko-fi, just in case anyone can generously spare $3 my way...

(I've been too lazy to update the goal to my current priority of keeping the store open, just ignore it XD)

[malicemismanager]

I was working on a necklace last week and as I was assembling it, I found the biggest jump rings I had were just slightly too small to work, which was very annoying and made me realise I really needed to restock the damn things. So I caved and just placed an order that I’m trying not to feel too heavily in my heart (and wallet), and figured this might be a good time to point towards my ko-fi in case anyone feels generous. XD

And while we’re here, Pro Tip! to anyone intending to start making anything that involves jump rings and/or pins: Always get more than you think you might need, budget permitting. You might think it’s too much at the moment, but it never is. 😬