I Think These Last Chapters Are Underwhelming For Folks Because There Was This False Feeling That Shinjuku

Atsushi and nikolai after not drawing for months

smth smth bsd’s recurring theme of your past not defining who you are but facing your past being necessary to move on anyway. the symbolism of atsushi’s abuser being the one to push him forward despite atsushi’s dislike for him—you cannot get rid of him. you cannot stop caring. you will cry when your father dies and you will hate him for it. you will never get rid of the ghost that haunts you but sometimes acknowledging it is the first step to healing. can anyone hear me

fishman island

So something that caught my attention with the Dragon symbolism stuff with the world nobles vs how it’a used in the RA led me down a rabbit hole that I found interesting enough to share.

So the whole thing stems from two instances of dragon claws being depicted in One Piece.

So! First we have the Celestial Dragon Claw, four clawed, used as branding to mark word noble “property”. Then we have the Dragon Claw Fist, three clawed, a fighting style that we can assume was developed by the RA using the Finger Pistol of the Six Powers as a base.

The difference here is the number of claws, which is what lead me down the rabbit hole in the first place.

The consensus is that the claw number of a depicted dragon is actually a class indicator. Bear in mind that these observations stem from Chinese folklore and its place in Imperial Chinese law, so it might not hold water. And as always do correct me if I’m off in any of these points.

The number of claws and the colorations of dragons in Imperial China was an extremely important thing, and misrepresentations of these could quite literally get you and others executed for acts of treason.

Five clawed yellow or gold (or red during the Ming Dynasty) dragons are a symbol of imperial power for the emperor alone to use. It was illegal for nobles and civilians to wear anything depicting a five-clawed yellow or gold dragon in Imperial China. It was considered- as stated above- an act of treason, and offenders (and their families) could be imprisoned or executed for the crime.

Four clawed dragons are a symbol of nobility. Lesser in the hierarchy than the imperial dragon, but still a mark of high status. It was illegal for civilians to wear depictions of four-clawed dragons. Again, a treasonous act punishable by death or imprisonment under Imperial law.

Civilians could depict dragons with three claws. This was allowed.

So, we can make an assumption here that through these observations, the RA use the three clawed dragon as symbolic of the class warfare that is happening in the One Piece world. But there is another thing!!!

There are these things called Dragon Dance Competitions, where a nine-segmented dragon puppet is manipulated by a team of dancers and musicians to have the dragon chase a pearl- a symbol of wisdom- across the allocated space. These are very interesting to watch, and I highly recommend giving one a watch, since there are plenty of them to see on YouTube. Do take care if you are photosensitive or sound sensitive, as they are bright and loud.

A tradition for these competitions and others (such as lion dances and dragon boat races) is called an “eye dotting ceremony”, which happens at the beginning of the competition. An authorized party comes by to paint the pupils on a dragon to symbolically awaken or- relevant to this post- empower it.

The Celestial Dragon’s Claw is a symbol nobility, and likely has high amounts of regulation on how it can and cannot be used, with infractions on those regulations met with imprisonment at best, and cipher pol or a buster call at worst. It would be highly guarded, and was used to brand people to mark them as property, as we know.

The dragon depicted in the introduction to the Dragon Claw Fist that Sabo utilizes? Three claws, no pupils. It is an unempowered civilian dragon- a weakling by dragon standards- and it is beating the shit out of a World Government official.

Class warfare symbolism. Revolutionary symbolism.

This truly was our Jujutsu Kaisen

thats THEIR arc thank you very much

"today is christmas!" wrong, today is the death anniversary of this two mfs

HAPPY LATE BIRTH LUCY MAUD MONTEOGMERY BUNGO STRAY DOGS ILY I AM SO SORRY PLEASE FORGIVINE ME

whole cake island🎂

this arc was truly a rollercoaster!!! i loved the part where they baked cake together<3! also im coming out as a pudding fan

i got so so crazy over details bc i wanted to give them the rococo period vibe, it was super fun but took forever!

Crack concept: Akutugawa hears Dazai’s “my new partner is better” speech and is righteously pissed.

Because Kunikida is a respected enemy and one Akutugawa approves of as Dazai’s partner at the Agency.

And now this random person with no spine has replaced him?!

Inconceivable.

Atsushi’s very confused until he untangles the reason Akutugawa hates his guts and why he wants to see what he’s made off.

He reassures him he’s not going to replace Kunikida.

Akutugawa, begrudgingly accepts this and they both bond over how outrageous Dazai is for trying to replace Kunikida like that.

Kunikida finds out about of all this from an encounter with Chuuya who’s rather sympathetic to his situation.

“He try and blow your car up too?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about but I believe I know who you’re talking about.”

They bond over their mutual annoyance and get coffee.

Dazai finds out way too late and quickly tries to reassure him that’s not the case. And that it’s all a huge misunderstanding.

Kunikida brings it up every time Dazai fucks up.

Dazai: Heyyy Kunikida you ready for our case?

Kunikida, passive aggressively typing: That sounds lovely, I’m sure your new partner will be happy to go with you.

Dazai, in despair: I would never take a case without you. Atsushi, back me up here!

Atsushi, side eying him: I dunno you did take me out for that meeting the other day.

Kunikida: I suppose I should just retire now then. I trust you’ll carry my torch, Atsushi.

Dazai: Ahh! No! Okay, okay I’ll do my report first.

Kunikida: Be quick we have a case soon.