Nakahara Chuuya Does Not Dream

Regarding the mark mentioned by Kiringham, I am convinced that this is the tattoo we see on Sommers' arm. The pattern looks a lot like the Summoning circle, and since this mark is what allows someone to use this circle, it makes sense for this tattoo to be the mark.

Gunko's angry reaction to Kiringham's statement that only people with this mark can pass through the "abyss", and that's why they would have to take the children with them by ship, makes me wonder if she has some kind of bad story with that. If she really isn't a World Noble, could it be that whoever had the ability to give these marks to someone (probably Imu), didn't want to give this mark to her at first, perhaps because they didn't consider her worthy of it? So she would be the only one of the Holy Knights who had to travel by ship. Thus, Gunko, who we have already seen to be a very defensive person when she punished Loki for refusing such a "wonderful" offer as joining the World Nobles, would have taken Kiringham's speech as insulting her in some way, even though Kiringham doesn't seem to think so.

I also saw some people talking about how Shanks could have let his arm get eaten when he saved Luffy to lose that mark, so no one could summon him, since we see that the person doesn't need to agree for the summon to work. I find this theory quite interesting, mainly because Shanks was already a year old when he was found by the Roger pirates, so it is likely that this mark had already been placed on him. Maybe it was because of this mark that Roger found out about Shanks' biological family? It is possible that Roger discovered this mark along with the rest of the Void Century story, and, knowing that he was going to die, decided to tell Shanks the truth so that he could find his "family" and decide for himself what he would do with his life.

The Holy Knights get more and more interesting with each chapter! Honestly, I'm loving them as antagonists!

I have more questions about Gunko every time she appears because so many things about her don't seem to add up. She is the only Holy Knight who has not received the title of World Noble or had her family name introduced (she also does not have a Saint in her name, but neither does Shamrock). She's also the only "celestial dragon" we've seen who has the power of a devil fruit (and we know from Hancock's story that they despise devil fruits), her uniform is very different from the others, and her eyes having different colors seems like it's going to be important in some way. Her powers are very similar to Imu's aesthetically, so I don't think it's a coincidence that she is the one who summons the "abyss" (the pentagram "portal"). Also, her name means "army child", which may imply that she was recruited (perhaps as a child) and trained to be part of the Holy Knights.

Kiringham being introduced in his hybrid form immediately catched my attention. Does his normal appearance reveal some kind of secret about him? He's the only Holy Knight introduced so far who wears the same bubble on his head as the other World Nobles, and the one he wears even appears to have something to help him breathe, so it's possible he has some sort of respiratory illness, or was only recently recruited, so he may have never actually left the Holy Land, which would explain why he was so nervous about being late even though he was already dressed and transformed. Personally, I feel like he could be quite young? As I said, he seems to be very nervous and curious about Elbaph, which probably means he has never been outside of Mary Geoise, and the bubble could be to prevent him from being corrupted by the air from the “filthy world”, also, the way he talks reminds me a bit of a teenager, but that could just be the translation I read.

Having a Holy Knight from one of the Gorosei's family is really exciting, and I hope this helps us answer some questions about the elders. Sommers also seems to be the oldest of the four, and it's the first to take responsability after finding out that Shamrock needs to go back to Mary Geoise, so he probably has been a Holy Knight for a very long period before the current time. He's also the first person we see actually concerned about the food thing in the Holy Land (which is kind of crazy, but okay).

And I don't even need to start talking about the whole Shamrock situation.

Also, the fact that Sommers so casually asked if Shamrock and Gunko were visiting Harald's grave is pretty weird. Like, we know what World Nobles are like, why would they care about Harald? He wasn't even affiliated with the government (and they wouldn't care about him either if that were the case), so why would they travel such a great distance just to see his grave? Why is this a possibility?? Was Harald also a Holy Knight? That's the only way I can see it being reasonable. We can see from their interactions in this chapter that the Holy Knights seem to get along pretty well, so two of them visiting the grave of a deceased colleague would make sense. This could explain why they tried to recruit Loki specifically and not another insanely powerful individual, since he would be the son of a former member, and we know how much they care about bloodlines.

Gifs of all of Lucy’s ability animations in mayoi

The resource on the mayoi wiki has them all sped up so I slowed them down to what I think is their original speed. Sharing is caring so here you go

To me, what is so fantastic about One Piece Fan Letter is the emphasis on the way the Straw Hats have created these connections in the lives of people they have never met. The ending scene, with all the hands putting together the puzzle pieces, and the way that all these connections came together in one dazzling way-- I loved that. I teared up at that. Wherever the Straw Hats go, they leave behind all of these puzzle pieces for people to put together and create bonds that would not have existed had the Straw Hats not shown up!

And it also just... Makes me so in love with the concept of the world after Luffy becomes King of The Pirates. I know that Oda has the final chapter planned in his head, and I doubt we will really see the long lasting effects of Luffy achieving the title of Pirate King + his dream, and I really do not want a sequel series ala Boruto or Yasahime, but.... I want to see a world in which children believe they can become a Brave Warrior of the Sea thanks to Usopp, I want to see more children look at Nami and realize they don't NEED to have a Devil Fruit or Haki or muscles to have adventures. I want to see the next generation of the One Piece world believe so strongly in their dreams, that they set out to accomplish them.

One Piece Fan Letter really opened the door, I think, for more and more stories about the "regular" people in the world of One Piece, the people you don't see in the arcs because they're the nondescript background characters, and how the Straw Hat Crew has changed them. And I want that. To me, that is fantastic.

Does Brook even know that the One Piece is a treasure? Like, he died before Roger even became a famous pirate, and the One Piece (and being the Pirate King) only became a thing after Roger's execution. For all Brook knows, One Piece could be the name of an island full of pirates, like Hachinosu, that Luffy is trying to find so he can become the king of this place, and therefore, the King of the Pirates, or something like that

I miss her dearly

So I just realized everyone's horny for Shanks' evil twin except me. I have never felt more like a lesbian than I do now

the most beautiful ending was for sukuna (and uraume) because not only did we get a good afterlife scene of him going north for and with uraume but gege also showed in the epilogue how he was always destined to go north because he was always a chill guy and had depth, despite keeping an aloof demeanor. He took uraume and raised them like he was always meant to be an amazing father. What he did was a reaction to how he was treated but at the very core he always carried light. Ending the manga with "how did YOU not grow cold with me uraume?" to uraume's first "how are you not cold next to me sukuna-sama?" was the most beautiful way to describe their relationship, they both might have seemed cold to others but they were a source of warmth for each other, both of them kept the other intact in some way. Ride and die for eternity.

It reminds me of the quote, "when is a monster not a monster? Oh when you love it"

for atsushi to so fully and completely recognise akutagawa's sacrifice and what it means for the person akutagawa is at heart, echoing it back to him so powerfully—akutagawa felt another see him so thoroughly, know him so deeply, that it overwhelmed him into remembering who he truly is. what other recognition could outdo this?

OK correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like the main 'yin/yang' parallel with Atsushi and Akutagawa is not something like 'this one is bad but secretly has a good side and this one is good but secretly has a bad side'.

I feel like it's more about 'who they are at their core vs who they choose to be'.

At his core Akutagawa is kind and at his core Atsushi is not. But despite this Atsushi tries every day to make the kinder choices and I love him so much for it. He has to work so hard to be good.

He wants to be a bitch SO bad I know he does but he tries his best to help people and be nice (sometimes he fails but that's OK <3)

Atsushi doesn't always WANT to help people, a lot of the time he's selfish and scared, but he does help people anyway. He keeps helping people over and over again. There's still some selfish motivation to it, and his initial motivation for helping people was because the headmaster told him that's all he was worth, but overall he does care about the people he helps and it weighs on him if he fails to save them. And of course, as the series goes on he starts helping people more because he can rather than because he feels like he needs to.

In Akutagawa's case, he's still capable of being kind but his environment led him into being someone who chooses to hurt people. But he's always been a protector at heart. In the start he was bad compared to Atsushi because he was choosing to hurt people and keep the cycle of abuse going. Just like how Atsushi developed in why he saved people, Akutagawa starts to get redeemed when he chooses to not just act on his rage. Not only does he start to spare people, but he speaks more kindly to them (apologising to Higuchi and telling Kyouka he's proud of her). It all culminates into the moment he chooses to help Atsushi and sacrifice himself for him, going back to his core value of being a protector. Even when he's finally revived, he keeps this role in his new position as Aya's Knight.

I kind of see the streaks of white in Akutagawa and the streaks of black in Atsushi not as their 'hidden sides' but as their fundamental selfs. That's who they are at their core, and their main colours (black for Akutagawa and white for Atsushi) are how they're presented to everyone else and how they try to have people see them as.

For those who haven't seen it yet, the official translation is already on mangadex!

MangaDex

Bungou Stray Dogs - Ch. 122 - That Which Pushes Us Forward - MangaDex

Read Bungou Stray Dogs Ch. 122 "That Which Pushes Us Forward" on MangaDex!

Bsd chapter 122 - translation

(this translation may be incorrect, so if you read this remember to check the official translation! This post only has the pages with dialogue, also, read from left to right)

Dazai: Think about it. It's what people do to remember the past.

Atsushi: H-here is... the agency?!

Dazai: Physical distance doesn't matter in the fourth dimension.

Dazai: To get from point A to point B on this sheet in the quickest way... what should be done?

Atsushi: ? Go in a straight line, of course...

Dazai: Normally, but we are in a higher dimension.

Dazai: Just do it like this.

Dazai: It is possible to intercept all the places here... and attack the origin point, which is ame-no-gozen.

Atsushi: Will you do the same with me?

Dazai: If you understood, let's fly.

Dazai: Focus.

Atsushi: Dazai-san! You...!

Dazai: Just look...

Past Dazai: I want to recruit you for the Port Mafia

Akutagawa: Jinko...

Akutagawa: Why did... you protect me?

Dazai: I want to recruit you for the Port Mafia

Akutagawa: Why am I... remembering this now?

Akutagawa: I just... hated... this world that let my street friends die for nothing.

Akutagawa: I wanted revenge... for being born into this world.

Dazai: If you're ready... I'll give you what you want.

Akutagawa: What I want? Are you... able to give me a meaning to live?

Dazai: I am.

Atsushi: Akutagawa...

Dazai: It's taking too long to activate your ability! You won't survive like this in the organization!

Akutagawa: I didn't feel any pain. Dazai-san was the one who gave me a meaning to live. But...

Akutagawa: ...He disappeared without any explanation

Akutagawa: And when we met again, he had a new subordinate.

Dazai: "My new subordinate is much better than you"

Akutagawa: Jinko! Jinko! Jinko! Jinko!

Akutagawa: Feeling humiliated and resentful… I feared I would never be accepted. This motivated my heart. And I bet everything on the tiger's execution.

Akutagawa: And then.. then...

Akutagawa: Fool... go now

Dazai: We arrived.

Dazai: The true body of the god is beyond this door.

Atsushi: Where are we?

Atsushi: It's big. And it's completely sealed…

Atsushi: It doesn't work, it's too heavy. It doesn't even move.

Orphanage director: You stupid brat. No one will save you.

Orphanage director: You don't deserve to live.

Dazai: I can only get you this far.

Atsushi: Thank you. I couldn't have gotten this far alone.

Dazai: I was the one who called you to the agency. Who brought you into a dangerous world. It's the least I can do.

Atsushi: No. You are not Dazai-san.

Atsushi: Because of the nullification ability… he couldn't become an illusion and talk to me. And you sometimes… didn't behave like Dazai-san.

Atsushi: You thought I wouldn't listen to you… if it wasn't in this form, didn't you?

Atsushi: You're right…

Atsushi: Director. When your illusion disappeared… I started seeing Dazai-san. Then…

Director: It was… the only way.

Director: I don't have… the right to talk to you. That's why…

Atsushi: You are just a shadow… created as a consequence of Q's ability.

Director: Yes. The real me is already dead. But…

Atsushi: Enough. I don't want to talk to you.

Atsushi: It's no use. It's not moving at all. But… if I don't defeat the god behind this door, everyone will…