lotusflw3r

[lotusflw3r]

[lotusflw3r]

[lotusflw3r]

decentralize and clean up your life!!!

use overdrive, libby, hoopla, cloudlibrary, and kanopy instead of amazon and audible.

use firefox instead of chrome or opera (both are made with chromium, which blocks functionality for ad-blockers. firefox isn't based on chromium).

use mega or proton drive instead of google drive.

get rid of bloatware

use libreoffice instead of microsoft office suite

use vetted sites on r/FREEMEDIAHECKYEAH for free movies, books, games, etc.

use trakt or letterboxd instead of imdb.

use storygraph instead of goodreads.

use darkpatterns to find mobile game with no ads or microtransactions

use ground news to read unbiased news and find blind spots in news stories.

use mediahuman or cobalt to download music, or support your favorite artists directly through bandcamp

make youtube bearable by using mtube, newpipe, or the unhook extension on chrome, firefox, or microsoft edge

use search for a cause or ecosia to support the environment instead of google

use thriftbooks to buy new or used books (they also have manga, textbooks, home goods, CDs, DVDs, and blurays)

use flashpoint to play archived online flash games

find books, movies, games, etc. on the internet archive! for starters, here's a bunch of David Attenborough documentaries and all of the Animorphs books

burn your music onto cds

use pdf24 (available online or as a desktop app) instead of adobe

use unroll.me to clean your email inboxes

use thunderbird, mailfence, countermail, edison mail, tuta, or proton mail instead of gmail

remove bloatware on windows PC, macOS, and iOS X

remove bloatware on samsung X

use pixelfed instead of instagram or meta

use NCH suite for free software like a file converter, image editor, video editors, pdf editor, etc.

feel free to add more alternatives, resources or advice in the reblogs or replies, and i'll add them to the main post <3

last updated: march 18th 2025

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[lotusflw3r]

Blue Exorcist Character Guidebook 2: Mephisto

Info on Mephisto from the new guidebook! Each character has a profile followed by relevant questions from fans, and then there's an interview section later where Kazue Katoh gives commentary on each major character and each manga arc. I have more guidebook than time, so I'm skipping the parts that are just like...summarizing who he is and stuff. So this will mostly be fan questions and Katoh's commentary

Biographical info

Gender: Male Age: (°w°) Rank/Titles: Director of True Cross Academy and head of the exorcism cram school, Honorary Knight for the Knights of the True Cross, King of Time Anniversary [T/N Katoh gives demons these in lieu of a birthday]: August 28 Blood type: ( ʹ - ʼ ) Height: 195 cm (184 cm without the "horn") Weight: 74 kg Skills and interests: movies, manga, anime, games, music, toys, miscellaneous subcultures

Fan Q&A

How do members of the Knights of the True Cross usually find out that Mephisto is a demon king?

I think some people might find out from books, the internet, etc even before they become exorcists. They do publish demon field guides that you can find at regular libraries, and Mephisto seems like the type to mention it in online interviews. Rin was the only one who didn't know.

How long has he had his current body?

About 200 years.

Which media from Assiah has had the greatest impact on him?

I imagine he would have been shocked the first time he saw a cinematograph.

Mephisto really likes all sorts of entertainment; has he ever tried making something himself?

Demons in general (not just Mephisto) tend to be bad at creative pursuits, though there are exceptions. Mephisto has a certain respect for human creativity.

Why is he so fond of Beelzebub?

Beelzebub just kind of struck a chord with him. Meanwhile, Beelzebub also likes being spoiled by Mephisto.

Which other demon kings get along with Mephisto the best?

In order: 1. Beelzebub 2. Amaimon 3. Egyn 4. Astaroth 5. Iblis 6. Lucifer [T/N it took me like an entire minute to work out that Azazel is the one missing from this list. Presumably because he's a rock]

Has Mephisto ever altered the past?

He sure does say a lot of things that imply that! [T/N: Katoh. Katoh. Katoh.]

How rich is Mephisto exactly?

He's actually one of the world's top businessmen and investors. His total assets are probably over one trillion yen [T/N: Jesus f*ck][T/N: that's about US$6.7 billion]

Author interview

Mephisto is a character who can solve just about anything; does that make him hard to write? Honestly, he's super easy to deploy. Mephisto has the plot in the palm of his hand and can fix stuff behind the scenes; he's the one pulling the strings. For adaptations and spinoffs, I just say "if you need to fill in a plot hole, make it Mephisto's fault" (laughs). But I do think it's dangerous to overdo it.

He even took on a sort of narrator role in chapter 44, didn't he? Around Volume 10, I was trying to treat each chapter like its own self-contained oneshot. Mephisto didn't even feel out of place as an omniscient narrator for one chapter, and for me that really drove home what a convenient character he is. Though I'm always wondering when and how to show Mephisto's own serious motives and inner thoughts, since he does fall into that eternal comic narrator role.

He can suddenly turn terrifying just when you were thinking he was comical. Hidden depths. Fundamentally he's on the humans' side, and he's often in charge of comic relief, but I do want to show his demonic side too. Same with the familiars; I want to portray the demons as something humans are afraid of.

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[lotusflw3r]

You love ALL transgenders?? Even the ones who do anti trans propaganda like Blair White & Caitlynn Jenner???

Can people just be normal on this website for five minutes

[lotusflw3r]

happy pride

[lotusflw3r]

before pride month ends does anyone wanna admit they have a crush on me

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I hate how people will look at popular indie artists who had one or two songs go viral on TikTok and start making fun of anybody who listens to them. "Oh you listen to Lemon Demon, Will Wood, Jack Stauber, Glass Animals, and Mother Mother? Tsk, don't you know that is stupid TikTok neurodivergent white transmasc preteen music? It's so mid and bad you should listen to real music–" you are a pit of misery

[lotusflw3r]

#PBS teaches kindness and inclusion, which are threats to abusive paternalism.

[lotusflw3r]

they say you can't pour from an empty cup but i've been doing it my whole life and aside from all of these mysterious ailments it's working out great for me

[lotusflw3r]

ANE 158 or how to do character developments right

It's no news that I'm a big fan of Kato-sensei's writing [x][x][x] but the current arc is full of great examples that she specifically rocks dynamics between her characters. :D

Starting with the tumultuous friendship between Izumo and Shiemi that really blossomed throughout the story, ending on full sorority and support from one girl to the other.

But also Izumo's friendship with Shiemi helped her getting closer to the other members of the Exwires, which really gives a different vibe to Izumo's character compared to the beginning of the story.

Obviously, the fact that we targeted her family issues during the first Illuminati arc is also part of the explanation, but Sensei spent a lot of time giving focus to Izumo's developing friendships (and love of romance and drama haha) since then.

Then, we finally reached an understanding between Rin and Shiemi vis-à-vis their romantic feelings for each other and how they have so much on their shoulders and riding on who they are (origin wise) that it always takes a long time for them to fully confront each other, eyes to eyes.

Considering, where we started, with a bigger bond between Yukio and Shiemi than Shiemi and Rin, Kato ends up speaking throughout the story about youth pressure in a very adult world, but in the end, true feelings prevail and war matters less than love.

Rin even asking for consent, what a guy ! (◕‿◕✿)

Thanks Mephy for good advice for once !

(could have fooled me)

And lastly, the complex but beautifully heartwarming bond between Rin and Yukio. Personally, reading the chapter, I was particularly glad about two things.

First, Yukio realizing he's not jealous, because he's not in love with Shiemi (anymore ? never was ? it's probably hard to define) :

In my opinion, there has always been a genuine friendship between Yukio and Shiemi but, because Shiemi was his first real friend with whom he could be himself and with whom he found understanding, he put a lot expectations on how special it was to him, without realizing that what he needed was to find more friends to lean upon and share his burdens with (because, despite all his achievements, he's still 16).

So what Yukio probably mistook as romance was simply enjoying the friendship of someone who could appreciate who he truly was, when he was starting to immensely detest himself. In this chapter, after everything he went through, I'm very glad he realized that he's not hurt nor envious and that he can be happy for Rin and Shiemi, because he's a good guy.

Second thing, a part of me actually wonders whether or not Rin probably didn't understand what Shiemi was trying to say at first because inwardly, and probably unconsciously, he was scared it would hurt Yukio and their latest reconciliation :

But when Yukio told him "actually I'm not angry at all", Rin became emotionally available to finally truly listen to what Shiemi was trying to say (even if she did indeed try harder to confess to him, haha, good for her ! What a Queen !).

It's all up in the air, but I enjoy this idea that Rin was scared to understand what Shiemi meant if that led to more conflict with Yukio, because sibling love is different but as important as romantic love, and Rin was never going to be happy if it came at the cost of Yukio's own happiness (again, they're 16 and they went through a lot).

It's like, for a chapter or two, the battle against Satan going berserk and the Illuminati doesn't matter anymore. Well done, as always, Kato-sensei !

To quote Izumo & Mephy:

they're such a #mood

And very important last panel :

#cuties

[lotusflw3r]

breaking point

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I was rereading poa and got carried away

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[lotusflw3r]

pingu is so ugly tho

you're a broken person for real