Happy Birthday To The Best Boy And Cutie, Sanji 😍

Lucy should get to have a crush on Yosano, as a treat.

She's her favourite customer at the cafe. At first she was too shy to directly talk to Yosano about anything other than her order and couldn't make eye contact without going completely red.

Yosano is one of the prettiest women Lucy has ever seen, smart and confident, she admires the way Yosano walks into any room and looks like she belongs there. Lucy would find herself idly watching Yosano's hands, they're always so well manicured and look like they'd be so soft to hold. The hands of a doctor, they move with skilled purpose, even when just holding her coffee cup.

It was Yosano who started talking to Lucy first. Just casual topics, "Has it been busy today?" type of thing and Lucy nearly fell over herself to answer at first, but it quickly became easier to talk to Yosano. She has such an inviting smile and her laughter is like music to Lucy. Even when Yosano is complaining about her work load, Lucy can't help but be enthralled.

Yosano starts coming in to the cafe more regularly, taking her lunch breaks down there, or stopping in after work. She always sits near Lucy and waits to be served by her. Lucy has her order memorized so they get to talking immediately.

Yosano has invited Lucy out, she suggests they should go shopping together and get lunch out sometime, that way Lucy doesn't have to be distracted by her work whilst they talk. She wants to take Lucy sightseeing, show her more of Yokohama and build up her confidence about living in a new city.

Lucy can't help but feel like half the places Yosano suggests are dating spots, but that must be her imagination. Surely. The compliments Yosano pays her and the way Lucy's also caught Yosano watching her when she thinks she's not looking, must be a coincidence.

happy birthday to our strongest warrior

Divine Being Amenogozen and the horror of the wrath of God

I wanted to talk about the current main threat to the BSD cast because I feel like not many people talk about him and how terrifying he is and also what he symbolises.

His creation/abilities:

So Divine Being Amenogozen was created via the 'Tripolar singularity' - a combination of 3 abilities/ability infused items. These are the Amenogozen sword (or the Space-Time sword), The Holy Sword Soluz Levni and Fukuchi's ability Mirror Lion. In short, Amenogozen can stab/move through space and time, the Holy Sword can infuse people's abilities into their bodies, and Mirror Lion strengthens any weapon by 100 times.

In terms of skills, Divine Being Amenogozen (who I will now refer to as Gozen) possesses the abilities of the Space-Time sword (liquification/absorption of people/abilities and energy blasts), as well as superhuman speed/swordsmanship, Levitation, self-healing and the ability to generate blades from himself to match his sword. He's already a powerhouse of an oppenent with just these skills that makes him an insane enemy for the characters to fight, but it's some of his other skills I want to draw attention to - mainly, spatial manipulation and his higher-dimensional existence (although I may bring mention to the others too).

As opposed to the others, I single out spatial manipulation as it is one of the things that makes him most intimidating alongside his physical appearance/actions. He's able to disappear and reappear in various places in the blink of an eye, something which really adds to the general horrifying nature of him as an antagonist.

The main aspect I want to talk about is him existing on a higher dimension than every other character in the series. Fyodor specifically says that Gozen is a fourth-dimensional being, whereas the rest of them are third-dimensional, and that Gozen's form is simply a shadow of his true self. Essentially, Gozen exists at a higher level of existence that is inconceivable to the rest of the cast, operating at this higher level not only in consciousness but also in ability/skill. It is why all of his skills are so heightened that they surpassed perhaps every single character in the current BSD canon.

To simplify the idea of dimensions, i'm pretty sure that a three-dimensional object is something that can be specifically located via 3 units (or dimensions) - usually this is the scales of height, width and depth in a physical space. A four-dimensional object also adds another variable scale (usually time I think) that you can see. In essence, Gozen is able to perceive the scales of height, width, depth and time (which implies that he can see through time itself).

[I want to clarify that this is not a topic I am very knowledgeable on, and I am kind of teaching myself the basics as I write this. So please feel free to correct me if I've got this wrong.]

So Gozen is able to travel across space and time, as well as manifest himself in multiple places at one via the past and present versions of himself (as if writing with two hands on a piece of paper, as Fyodor describes it). Fyodor describes Minkowski Space as part of his skills, a concept that I can't quite figure out how to explain so I recommend you give it a bit of research tbh). And Fyodor uses that to essentially kill the ability users that stand in his path and intimidate Atsushi into leading him to the book. It's also important to note that Fyodor, due to the seal marked on his hand from the Holy Sword, has seemingly complete control over the actions and abilities of Gozen. It is interesting to combine these concepts of Gozen's character with the general ruthlessness of his actions because it to me acts as a visualisation of the wrath of God.

Religious connotations and the wrath of God

Fyodor as a character has always been associated with religious imagery from his introduction. I don't know what specific sect of religion he's usually associated with, but for the sake of this post I'll talk about Gozen and his links to Christian imagery (since Christianity is the religion i'm most familiar with).

[My understanding is also quite limited so please don't take what i say is complete fact in case i'm completely wrong 😭]

Gozen as a higher-dimensional being to me brings associations with the concept of God and his omnipotent power. God is often said to know all, see all and have immense power (enough to create, for example, worldwide flooding). Gozen also exhibits similar concept:

- when he faces kunikida he is aware of his previous injuries (his hands being destroyed by the explosion in escape from the Hunting Dogs), despite not having been known to exist until much later.

- Gozen uses huge blades to chop down any buildings in a large area around the airport, showing he has power on a huge scale.

- Since he can present in multiple places at the same time (by manifesting past and present versions of himself at the same time) he can perceive through time.

Now, Gozen is not specifically like the Christian God. The christian God is said to have created the world we know and have complete control over it. Gozen doesn't show any evidence of this. Gozen seems more similar to a God present in a religion with multiple Gods that are worshipped by different people for different purposes. I seem to bring this towards the Christian God because often I know more about it (Christian primary school core) and see many depictions of the Christian God as one who is surprisingly ruthless - weather it be in stories surrounding Adam and Eve or The Great Flood for example. It's the inherent horror associated with this wrath (great anger and/or a desire to punish) that I bring to attention.

It is the inherently horror of being punished by someone of a higher existence and power that I focus on. I can see how Fyodor summoning Gozen to rid of his enemies here and his plan to unite humanity via the removal of the 'curse' of ability users can feel similar to the concept of Judgement day, where God is to come down and judge humanity for their actions and send them either to heaven or to hell. Fyodor however is more about force and violence in his methods, suggesting that he has perhaps invoked the more violent aspects of Gozen's wrath.

And there's a huge element of horror in fighting against a being who exceeds you in every single aspect and is at a completely inconceivable level and has so far basically killed anyone it has come in contact with before you but yet it decides to spare you and intimidate you instead because you serve, in its opinion, a greater purpose. Because that's what Atsushi is facing. Gozen is drawn in such an intimidating way at many points when facing atsushi too - I'm adding some because I think his design is so interesting too (might make a separate post on that because this is getting long).

Essentially, Gozen is terrifying because he is above and beyond everything any of these characters have ever known and possibly will ever know. He is a godly being who is ruthless in his directed pursuits and operates with such an intimidating air because of his inherent power and higher-dimensional existence. He is terrifying because he is so inconceivable and invincible in the eyes of the characters in universe, and to them Fyodor has essentially invoked the wrath of a God upon them for the 'crime' of being ability users that dare oppose him.

[This post started to fall apart towards the end because I only have a limited understanding of God's presentation in Christianity but I wanted an excuse to talk about how interesting and terrifying Gozen is as a character concept... I kind of love him as an antagonist despite him being so overpowered.Sorry that this became a bit of a mess towards the end but feel free to add anything to this idea - whether corrections or new ideas!]

Ages ago I went to a flying tiger and saw these..... and I was like "the universe is giving me a skk sign"

Can I talk about the fact Akutagawa doesn’t understand why Atsushi saved him, even though he did the exact same thing for Atsushi. Him using the word 'protect' rather than save is also so powerful to me because that's inherently what Akutagawa always has been- a protector. He was born with his ability and he protected his sister, the other kids in the slums with it. He sacrificed himself so Atsushi could leave the ship. And now, we've yet to see how Bram's wish will play out, but he was asked to protect Aya. Rashomon is shaped like knight armour on him at this exact moment.

And yet he can't understand why someone would do the same for him???? Absolutely INSANE. He's spent so long protecting others and then trying to better himself for approval, to be able to survive on his own by sheer violence that he can't fathom anyone doing the same for him. It was probably the same when Higuchi and the black lizards saved him when he was comatose.

And likely, he knows Atsushi views him as immoral and his actions as abhorrent, and is stuck on the fact Atsushi has had a sudden switch (sudden to him) in such a huge way that he'd die for him, since Atsushi has never been shy about telling Akutagawa just what he thinks of him. He can’t fathom Atsushi seeing his violence and hatred toward him and knowing him so deeply without understanding him and also choosing to save him.

Asagiri you're insane for this truly.

Happy Birthday Chuuya!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Apparently people are going crazy with theories over Queen's updated Vivre Card, and while those, as I've complained before, tend to be extremely untrustworthy and full of retcons and decanonized errors, IF it is to be trusted there's so much funny shit to unpack here. I don't even know where to begin. Like.

-The information that MADS was formed 39-40 years ago. The idea that those three stooges (since the other two known members are like, 1-2 decades older) were actual minors when they started building literal chemical weapons of war (16-17 years old) is fucking wild. Lu Feld out there creating new exciting ways to do child labor. Loosing my mind. But it's OK because these are the world's Most Evil Teenagers and they yearn for the unethical science mines.

-It also, apparently lasted for 10 years. Those guys were working together for a decade. Which honestly makes a lot of interactions they have with and about each other both make more sense and way funnier. I guess Vegapunk feeling the need to keep Caesar around even during the Punk Hazard days, despite the fact that he's. well. himself, makes more sense considering he had already worked with the guy for a decade. That will numb you to a lot of red flags lmao. It also makes the Neo MADS cover story of Judge initially not recognizing Caesar, absolutely hysterical. Who the fuck are you (directed at a guy he worked with for ten whole years).

-Yeah let's get it out of the way, if this vivre card information is canon, Mr. The Plague has a son he's abandoned. People are going wild trying to figure out who it is and everyone's either banking on Weevil (which feels like, he's more likely to be just a failed clone of Newgate, so I'm not sure if it's him? Still could work I guess.) and. let's get it out of the way. Franky. And unfortunately for everyone, not only does the timeline line-up perfectly, like, too perfectly (his son is stated to be 36 years old and abandoned at the age of 10, when Queen was already with the Beast Pirates). Franky is 36, abandoned at the age of 10, and stated his parents were pirates. But also, Franky never saw Queen in his human form (only in his dino form) back at Onigashima so like. so he couldn't have made any comments about him. I have no idea if it's true. But like, can you fucking imagine. Can you imagine. Not one. Two. Two Strawhats that were abandoned by their MADS fathers. That's so funny. And tragic. Can anyone in this organization be normal about children for ONCE I am begging you. I'm including Vegapunk in this; what the fuck is going on with the Seraphim. Heartbreaking: the last five people on the planet that should ever be having any kids keep having and/or picking up kids. Anyway yeah, this could easily be a bait and switch but the fact this is a possibility is haunting me. I don't know if I believe it, but I kind of want to.

-Oh yeah, his real name is Scien. You know. like Science. Apparently. Which is very stupid but also kinda fun. Honestly if it was romanized as something like "Psien" or "Saien" or "Psion" or "Scion" or "Cyan" it'd probably feel less goofy.

That's it that's all the new info. It is completely useless but mildly entertaining to me in extremely funny ways. Have fun and do what you will with it.

CHUUYA NAKAHARA + SONGS

-> (insp)

I did quickly go through the manga, with the help of the fanwiki, to see how much that "Atsushi's orphanage headmaster visions have been caused by Q" twist holds up (as sometimes, new plans come up as you write, especially if your series is over 10 years old)

In the first chapter, Atsushi has a flashback of the orphanage staff kicking him out, but they do not have individual identities. The first apparition of the headmaster as himself is when Atsushi is under the influence of Dogra Magra, in chapter 25, "Q":

His next apparition is in chapter 28, when Atsushi is being held in the Moby Dick, right before Lucy comes in and chooses to help him (note: that scene also compares Atsushi's abuse is to another person's, Lucy's.)

After that, there's chapter 39, "Portrait of a Father", where Atsushi doesn't hallucinate him, but we learn about who the man was to Atsushi, and witness his funeral.

His next hallucination is in chapter 52, at the very end of the Cannibalism arc. He explains to Akutagawa that the headmaster has been been haunting him less since (the final fight on) the Moby Dick, but has been silent since the funeral.

There are a few more mentions of the headmaster that I haven't mentioned, but a very notable one is that Atsushi saw becoming stronger and his upcoming fight against Akutagawa as a way to free himself from the headmaster's influence, much like Akutagawa saw it as a way to gain Dazai's approval.

I don't think we see Atsushi hallucinating the headmaster after this until chapter 122, but the Dazai hallucinations start showing up in chapter 63, so really not that long after the previous one. The next Dazai ones I could find were in chapters 78, 105 and 121.

The conclusion is therefore that Atsushi hallucinating the headmaster has been a very active and purposeful part of his journey as a character since very early on. It started manifesting after Atsushi's breakdown while under the influence of Q's ability, and it's taken various approaches as Atsushi faced different struggles, but it's always been there.

While wearing Dazai's face, the hallucination was given more credit in Atsushi's eyes, but its words were barely less sharp and hurtful. However, they did tend to push Atsushi into acting, rather than cowering and giving up.

We're seeing Atsushi heal in real time, no matter how messy it is, and I'm so proud of him.