Happy Birthday To Our Strongest Warrior

"friends don't look at each other like that" well okay you coward you do whatever you want however i WILL look at my friends like they're the most important thing in the world. i love them with my whole heart and i will hold their hand and stare at the stars not because i wanna fuck them but because they mean the world to me and i care about them. fuck you

florist sigma i love u

It’s been clear that the Tanizakis aren’t siblings from the very beginning

here’s some evidence now that it’s been confirmed canon…

everyone who’s read irl Tanizaki’s book knew that Junichiro & Naomi weren’t siblings as soon as they introduced themselves

BUT just because the Tanizakis aren’t siblings doesn’t mean you can’t feel uncomfortable about them. if you feel uncomfortable, GOOD. that’s exactly what they want

the Tanizakis, Mori— they all use these disturbing ruses to disarm or distract people in order to protect themselves, or to accomplish their goals. this is a writing device that asagiri commonly employs as a way to parallel the irl literature (it’s actually ingenious)

there are 4 main indicators that have always made it clear to me that Junichiro & Naomi are not siblings:

1. most obviously— their character designs. Harukawa is extremely intentional with character designs, & she very intentionally made Naomi & Junichiro look nothing alike

their eye shapes are purposely different

their color palettes are contrasting

even their differing styles of clothing have meaning

this was all done so that the audience could PLAINLY see that they’re not related— so that WE know that they’re lying when they say they ARE related

2. how the people around them respond to their act.

the general reaction is “don’t question it”— which is exactly what they want. “be distracted by how uncomfortable you feel so that you look away from what we’re hiding” (this is likely a protective measure)

3. most importantly, this is meant to parallel irl Tanizaki’s book “Naomi,” where the main character Joji picks up Naomi to raise her into his ideal woman, but since she's so young (& a minor) they call each other cousins (Joji makes no sexual advances on young Naomi btw)

however, his plan backfires because when Naomi gets older & they get married, she flips the script on him & manipulates HIM so that he's under her thumb (which is why bsd Tanizaki is at a domineering Naomi's mercy). Joji let her have her way because of his masochistic tendencies

4. lastly is the emphasis that Asagiri and the Tanizakis themselves put on calling each other siblings.

over & over, it’s “my brother this” & “my sister that”

like they’re desperately trying to convince us that it’s true (“don’t let your lying eyes deceive you”)

here are just a few of many examples from the light novels…

again, if you’ve read “Naomi” you knew that Junichiro & Naomi weren’t siblings as soon as they introduced themselves

just like if you’ve read irl Mori’s works, it’s clear that bsd Mori isn’t a pedophile

just like if you’ve read No Longer Human you know that Dazai’s an unreliable narrator. he makes you think he’s a bad person bc he believes he’s a bad person, but those around him see him differently (btw this doesn’t mean he’s never done anything “bad,” though bsd isn’t about morality— but that’s another discussion)

anyway, i’m so excited for the Tanizakis backstory to be revealed so that we can better understand why they use this defense!!

also let this be a reminder to READ THE LITERATURE if you’re able to!! even reading synopses & analyses of the coordinating books makes bsd make much more sense 🥹

reminder that this how you’re supposed to react while reading bsd:

also, if you’re interested in a post explaining how Mori isn’t a pedo, i wrote this analysis on twt. OR you can read this document that one of my moots sent me (remember: analyzing a character does NOT mean you condone any actions they may or may not commit!)

hey bsd fans! who else jumping off a cliff with me in january 2025

i think chuuya would really like the offsping tbh (and crazy taxi)

thank u asagiri for proving I can believe in you and people were WRONG when they keep ragging on the current arc and oh my god IM GOING CRAZY. more coherent thoughts later maybe.

SPOILERS FOR ONE PIECE CH. 1138

Vibes for this chapter:

Now that my hands have stopped shaking, here are my main take aways. This is gonna be a super long word vomit, so just be prepared:

Shamrock is aware of Shanks (they might have met) and seems disappointed that Shanks likes chilling with ✨the commoners✨

If Shamrock’s sword has the Cerberus-Cerberus Fruit, that means that the theory of Blackbeard having it is debunked

The Shiki-looking figure made a reappearance when Luffy was talking about Shank’s family and seems to be approaching the castle, so we might meet them soon

THE MURAL AND HARLEY

I wonder if there will be a specific character that made the mural, who we’ll be introduced to later. Ripley’s line about “a child’s dream” stood out to me

Due to the “Three Worlds” that Robin reads about, I’m assuming that it’s basically confirmed that there have been 3 holders of the Nika fruit, that coincided with the 3 world-changing events (the first Nika, Joyboy, and now Luffy)

There are 3 demon-like figures, one for each world. I assume they represent the foe that each Nika rose up against, but are they different? Are they the same? Are they all Imu? Only Oda can tell

And here’s everything I took note of on the mural:

The First World

The forbidden sun — power source? Devil Fruits???

Seems like it caused the separation of the earth and the sky/heavens

Lots of factory imagery

Who were the slavers?

The figures (the slaves) carry sun/starburst things. Are these the forbidden sun? Devil fruits? They seem to be throwing them toward the Second World part of the mural, where “embers of war” are mentioned

BIG SNAKE, SERPENT OF HELL, WHO ARE YOU???

The Second World

“The God of the Forest sent forth demons” — is this about devil fruits? Fruits grow on trees (duh) and then obviously demons = devils. And later, it talks about the Sea becoming enraged

Mentions of people belonging to the Half-Moon and the Moon. What is the difference? Is this referencing the Lunarians?

“Humanity killed the Sun, and then ascended to divinity” — they killed Nika or Joyboy? Seems to be about the Celestial Dragons

“The God of the Sea became enraged” — about the rising of the sea levels?

bruh, the boats look like Enel’s ship. If Enel comes back, I’ll lose my mind

The Third World

Where we are now. The final arc. What we should expect. The future.

References the Void Century and how the Elders and Imu remember what happened and what might happen (“the day of promise”)

“They will surely meet again” Who? The reunion of everything that was separated in the First and Second Worlds? The reunion of all the gods that were mentioned?

The mural is amazing and there are so many details throughout, but especially in this section

Obviously there’s Nika/Joyboy (Luffy) leading an army against a figure that’s probably Imu

Under Imu, there’s a boat with figures in white uniforms — Marines/the World Gov

In Nika’s army, there are figures that represent: giants, minks, lunarians, mermaids and fishmen, samurai/ninja/people from Wano, a robot (Emet?), dwarves/tontatta, Sea Kings/Laboon (the whale), and a ship with a flag that looks like the Alabasta kingdom’s flag (@sabo-torao’s post brought my attention to that, shoutout to them)

There are so many details that I probably missed and so many things that Oda probably hasn’t explored yet, but will and I’m so excited

But TLDR: Oda cooked, Lore Piece is real, this chapter was fantastic, and the final war arc is gonna blow my mind

"Don't try to find a reason for somebody's love!"

chuuya scene redraw..are you guys annoyed of my rapid posting yet i swear soon ill just start yapping eventually 💔