#OUT OF SPACE. have to end it here!

[llycaons]

okay I've had breakfast. mtefil 37 - 41 midpoint

OH I THINK I KNOW WHO THIS IS

honestly I don't even think lust should be a woman. this is a general thought, not a specific critique of this story, which I think does it well. obviously women are capable of sexual violence, but it's not they're usually the primary beneficiaries or the people who maintain the systems of power that its involved in. also lust isn't even a bad thing, it's about power abuses. it's complicated given other factors ie race, class, etc. but like if you want to embody sexual predation for whatever reason I just think it makes more sense to be a man. but ig we already had mannon with his white-heteropatriarchy-as-greed thing. but really. every single depiction of lust that goes for hot woman with big boobs is missing a chance. out of universe, it's centering the het men who are responding to the lust depiction and not everyone else who's at risk of being victimized by the het men themselves.

also I saw a defense of fma lust by saying 'she's not lustful herself, she's BLOODLUST' as if that's not just semantics or 'she INSPIRES lust' as if that's an argument that makes sense for literally any other homunculi. does wrath inspire wrath? not really, unless he's doing something to piss you off. does sloth inspire sloth? no, unless seeing him sleepy makes you sleepy. does pride invoke pride? only if you're his mom. it's a stupid argument defending a choice made for a shonen adventure story based on a DEEPLY flawed and misogynistic mythos. which THIS story is deconstructing (well....maybe?) and examining with a lot more insight and thoughtfulness than fma ever did, ha. BUT big boob lady is a better chance for a character design. and in this story it'sthe actual sins tempting people, not just a homunculous being cheeky

she IS a high schooler. good for her!

SCHOOL ARC!!!

hm 🤔

escort means something in english that it might not in japanese....also how does priest know how to speak japanese? I thought this manga started somewhere in europe. oh well it's not important. also I just checked and the opening scene w the priest (in northern italy, bc that's near rome, duh) is him quoting bible verses at some kids who are bullying him and using the scripture to explain why he wasn't fighting back. aw buddy

WEEPING

OH NOOOO. and just when I was thinking aw it's so nice that priest has a non-exorcist friend his age who's a human 😭

sometimes it feels like the series doesn't leverage the horror of the youth of its characters against the backdrop of violence enough. also I've only ever seen this done by hisoka :(

why is he like thi- oh you know what I know already

oh help I thought this was verge doing a picture of dante and I was like oh I believe this of him but dante's not even here rn so who's he doing this for

im already sick of this bitch. he's officially passed my tolerance level for using the word 'cute'

he just wants to wait until dante is there right. using the public is an odd excuse tho - why would witches care about that?

I didn't screenshot this back then but like...this isn't always technically true I think :( in terms of a body's purely physical responses to stimuli, as far as I know it's a really well-documented phenomenon. this IS a technicality tho and I get why the author included it

oh my god she thought she'd have to be the girl in between two yaoiboys. no imuri, the yaoi is happening elsewhere it seems

just by body language you can tell how uncomfortable he is....he's so little and they're all just looming over him

ah, the odious locker room talk....little do they know....and it's not like priest would ever join in on this even if he didn't have trauma AND guilt around this topic. after seeing so many anime treat women/girls and their (and others'!) sexual harassment like a joke (...yyh) this is such a breath of fresh air. even if it is painful obvi

LIARRRR

well if that's how it works....then yeah. the incarnations as temptation etc. that makes sense. I looked up gravure models and they're more mature/sexual than high school idols tend to be

oh...? makes it even easier to see why he ripped out his own eye. aw man :( also this is the same trauma that firo from baccano has shoutout to firo from baccano. being mistaken for a woman made him kind of misogynistic tho...back to the trauma. 80 years later and he still hasn't slept w his wife who loves him which is a bit sad honestly....alas. he's immortal so he has time. this is all light-novel stuff btw, nothing made it to the anime

OHHHHHH IMURI....

genuinely one of the best-case scenarios for him. leave the church and reorganize his relationship to himself and the world and sex. demonic seduction as a salvation and liberation rather than corruption and loss...wow...

imuri IS pretty suspicious isn't she. everyone's picked up on it except for priest. priest sees her as a victim, but only a threat has been issued....and then nothing. satan should probably attack her again to keep the defenses up and priest around

they're so cute they're like a lesbian pirate and robo-nun

:(

oh? church reforms to prevent abuse? now that IS bold

the priest is right under the pop himself, huh. and yeah, everyone IS cute hehe. I like how he included dante's scar

and not just for you guys

ngl I'm surprised that the catholic church disapproved

[wybienova]

dream visit (distant stars)

(happy birthday, forgotten land! here’s to the game that changed my life 💙🩷)

[evercelle]

2024 art summary! it sure has been a year

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 239

Y'know what I think would be hilarious for a DP and PJO crossover? Percy & co finally getting to Kronos, straight up ready for anything after they pass through magic and portal of green and-

There's the smell of cookies. Freshly baked cookies, a warm oven, something about it reminding them of home in this strange place of floating gears and ticking clocks.

And there's a long, serpentine tail twisting through the gears, twisting up and down and across in a size that could hides yet reveals just how large this entity is. There's power soaking into every inch of this place, every centimeter nearly sending lightning up their legs with each step.

The ticking is getting stronger, a distant gonging of the hour echoing through a place that should feel cold and empty like the ringing of bells in the end of times.

And suddenly there's a kid- a teen like them, human yet not- with a cookie half in their mouth and hair flickering like the cosmos as they peer down from above them with a frown, eyes brighter than the sun yet darker than the moon.

"Oh great, what did my half-siblings do this Time?"

[lazylittledragon]

not to be Anxious on main but i've got my performance review for my apprenticeship in a few weeks to see if they're going to keep me on permanently and i am gently shitting myself hnhhhhh

[castillon02]

“The bad news,” Tim said, “is that you’ve probably been avoiding the whole retirement fund thing because you’ve consciously or subconsciously realized that you aren’t financially solvent enough to do it. The good news is that there are a lot of ways to diversify your revenue streams.”

Jason grimaced. “Branding.” 

“Branding,” Tim agreed. “Who does your marketing?” 

“Two high-schoolers, a PTA mom, and Velma at the senior center.” 

“Nice range of demographics.” Tim nodded approvingly. “We’re gonna do a line of merch—Red Hood t-shirts, water bottles, gas masks—but we should start other efforts at the same time. How do you feel about short-term investments? Crime Alley has a lot of small businesses, right?” 

“Uh, yeah?” Jason said. “Franchises never make it there.” 

“So, the laundromat could probably use a new washer,” Tim said. “Summer is coming up; one of the bodegas could probably use a slurpee machine. And one of the food trucks could probably stand to upgrade its fryer capacity. Do it like Shark Tank. People can come up with their own upgrade proposal and show you that they’re a responsible investment, and then they’ll have ownership of the idea instead of having Red Hood come down from his throne of duffle bags full of heads to ask if they need better lighting for their OnlyFans.” 

Jason opened his mouth, closed it again. “You want me to do Crime Alley Shark Tank.” 

“I want two of your lieutenants and two well-respected community members to do Crime Alley Shark Tank,” Tim corrected. “You’re a wanted felon and people’s attempts to kill you would be distracting. You can be a guest judge on the finale.” 

[goldkirk]

I don’t know how to explain any more clearly that it doesn’t MATTER if it seems legitimate to you. You have got to fact check every single headline and post and claim on the left just like you need to do on the right.

The left is NOT immune to misinformation and rushed reporting. And the more emotionally polarizing or shocking the talking points, sound bytes, and headlines are, the worse it is and more frequently it happens.

Learn to verify through multiple independent sources. If you can’t do that, you can’t trust it.

If you have to wait extra hours for the real information to come through vetted channels—NOT just one individual somewhere everyone links to, and not just one single media source either, EVEN if it’s a major news network—thats just how it has to be. What news outside of genuine local disasters near you TRULY needs your outrage and post-sharing in the next hour specifically?

Misinformation works best by not seeming like misinformation and by fitting in with the rest of what you already expect to see. It doesn’t help anyone to not be able to recognize and avoid the stuff.

[ulteri0rm0tives]

It's every iteration.

It's every iteration of V that will always find Johnny. Every iteration of V that Johnny grows to care about. It's every iteration of each other, in every universe, that will always find each other. They'll always become inseparable, tied together in unfathomable ways. Ways they could never truly unravel from each other in the end, no matter the end.

They'll always be destined for one another. No matter what face is worn. No matter what universe. No matter what, they're always meant to be. No matter what, the stars will always align for them, just to come crashing down from the sky.

[nayruwu]

full entire analysis of The Shinya Scene in chapter 83

... because in all my years of being here i've only ever talked about it in bits, but now that he's back and my demons have caught up to me i guess it's time to look at the whole thing combined.

and yes, i will be talking about guren. a lot. because whether you like it or not, guren is the main character, and shinya's role to an extent revolves around him. yes, i also wish we knew more about him outside of that, but it is what it is. i'll work with what i've got.

i actually recently saw someone who was wondering why people shipped gureshin, or why they believe shinya is in love with him - and since this chapter was my personal 'awh fuck i guess this is what i'll be constantly thinking about for the next 6+ years'-moment, perhaps when you see someone wondering the same, you can send them this.

let's start with the basics! in case you forgot it all starts off with shinya asking byakkomaru for more power to try and save guren.

yay for character exposition!

normal people's personality traits aside, shinya largely turned out the way he did because of childhood trauma. if your friends are constantly taken away from you, eventually, you're gonna stop caring about others. if emotions like sadness or fear of death will make you more vulnerable to attacks, you're gonna stop being afraid out of pure necessity. the training facility required shinya to care about no one but himself and go through there with an absolute calmness and rationality that protected him but also turned him into an empty unfeeling husk that doesn't really know why it's even alive.

also, lovely touch that it's just always raining inside his heart. i'm sensing he might have experienced sadness of some sort.

don't really appreciate the "yet you still hold burning desires" without any indication of what they might be, although you can guess looking at the following pages.

i'll talk about this topic some more a few pages down, but it's quite interesting how shinya believes reaching for impossible goals is meaningless, pretty much says 'no one cares that you tried if you don't succeed', while simultaneously admiring guren so much for never giving up.

"Though you never managed to make mahiru yours, you still feel nothing." shinya expressed some jealousy in catastrophe about having his government assigned fiancée constantly talking about another kid, but he seems to acknowledge that such a feeling is useless, and eventually drops it. which is also probably how he could talk about it so freely to guren instead of letting it fester and turn into bitterness.

"It is believing that way which fulfills your desires." he knows it's not the only way to think, but it acts as a sort of defence mechanism which spares him a lot of the pain people that experience emotions normally go through. i imagine it feels quite relieving, to be able to save yourself from it.

and oh! byakkomaru asks him a question about himself and shinya grins and tells him he doesn't need to ask these things, because he's his demon, he already knows everything about him! how interesting. let's call back to that later.

interesting comparison here. i think what it really comes down to in the end is passion.

to be quite frank, shinya's entire existence is downright miserable. he was entirely on his own for most of his life, having no one to depend on, being constantly reminded of his worthlessness and stuck in that horrible place he knows he can't get out of. but that's just it. he knows there's no way out, and he doesn't question it anymore. he's accepted it. he doesn't outwardly want or strive for anything. (although of course, byakkomaru needs to draw power from somewhere. so we can assume those other 'burning desires' are sitting somewhere very, very deep inside to the point where he can't even put them into words - considering that when asked about his biggest wish in the official fanbook, he can't think of anything, and instead chooses something that might make guren happy. whatever he wants himself is probably so impossible to him he wouldn't dare reach for, or even dream of it. if you can't get it, 'the effort is meaningless'.)

meanwhile guren, despite the general degradation of the ichinose clan, starts out with much more, a clan that supports him fully, a parent that loves him, devoted followers and a beautiful home - which is all violently ripped away from him one after the other. he suffers so so much within the story, and yet he never stops trying, never falls into that sad routine, never accepts defeat, always burning 'like the sun' in a way shinya can't. and because he knows he can't, never could, he tries to help. he bases his entire self worth on supporting someone he believes to be good.

i do appreciate a good Guren Roast. guren acts strictly on his feelings, which is confusing but incredibly endearing to shinya, who would be long dead if he'd acted the same. which i suppose is why he's looking at him like... that™. a little reminiscent of shinoa longingly staring at yuuichirou and thinking "teach me more", except shinya is a guy, so he's not allowed to blush about it.

he then very casually mentions that he hates idiots, so therefore he hates guren. note this down.

and here we have it. the fucking "person who is a stone cold rationalist but suddenly throws all logic out of the window when it comes to love" trope. in MY shounen manga. fucking wow. all that talk about shinya not feeling anything and only ever acting logically but when it comes to guren he starts contradicting himself. that's certainly not suspicious at all.

alright here we go fuck you fuck you fuck you.

i've yapped on an on about this page way too much, but just for completion's sake:

byakkomaru uses the word "恋" (koi). and i'm not japanese, i don't speak japanese, but my embarrassingly extensive research has concluded that as opposed to "愛" (ai), which is the stable, general and intentional feeling of love you hold for family members or your actual romantic partner, koi is an exclusively romantic term for when you've fallen in love with someone without meaning to, and whom you're not in a relationship with. or - oh dear! - "It can also have a meaning of longing for something or someone." sounds oddly familiar, maybe?

because what shinya actually responds here in the japanese original is "it's just 憧れ". and while this little fucker of a word can be translated to 'deep admiration' (which, of course, fits quite well), it can also be translated to 'longing' or 'yearning' - which is a word that has also been used to describe guren and mahiru's feelings for each other, in which case it has always been translated as longing. huh. funny that.

other than that, let's look at it in relation to what else has happened in this scene!

first off - "you're my demon, you know that!" byakkomaru doesn't need to make assumptions about him. he knows shinya better than anyone else, probably even shinya himself. knowing that, it seems more like he's trying to make shinya acknowledge it, perhaps to pull out more of that desire that he needs out of him, rather than an actual 'well MAYBE you're in love just saying. it's entirely irrelevant but it kinda popped into my mind right now'.

secondly, shortly before byakkomaru's statement, shinya does that cheerful intentionally-lying-through-his-teeth, stating that he hates guren because he hates idiots. which is obviously fucking bullshit, and everyone knows it. he knows it. byakkomaru knows it. guren knows it. hell, my fucking grandmother that i haven't seen since i was seven years old knows it.

but seriously - he spouts obvious lies in a sing-songy voice and laughs off everything byakkomaru throws at him. and we know smiling is shinya's way to deal with stress. (it's quite obvious, but was also explicitly mentioned in catastrophe). acknowledging something like this outright, that you might be in love with your best friend who's also your ex-fiancée's ex boyfriend, that'd be incredibly stressful, perhaps even scary, wouldn't it? especially for someone like him who we just established has survived by not growing attached to people and locking away all strong feelings for most of their life. who's to say that his "it's just 憧れ" isn't also just a lie meant to avoid a direct confronation about his own feelings that is obvious to byakkomaru but not to the reader?

once again we're talking about guren's passion and the fact that shinya really, really wants to help him. awesome.

what's also interesting to note is the part where he says "i completely understand why mahiru chose him over me". something similar is said multiple times in catastrophe, where he goes on about finally understanding what mahiru sees in him and why she loves him. could be 'girls love this guy that's so much better than me i wish i could be like him'. could also be kagami trying to sneak "SHINYA'S FEELINGS FOR GUREN = MAHIRU'S FEELINGS FOR GUREN" past censorship. who knows. not me. i'm just cleaning personell. anyone seen the broom closet?

"Do you intend to die here?" - "Good question." Thank you Shinya very cool.

he really just doesn't give a shit does he. insert another paragraph about how he doesn't have anything to wish for or look forward to. guren come get your passively suicidal emotional support animal.

the statement of never having had a reason to live despite him outright telling guren that his life had meaning because he got to meet him implies that this realisation only came as he was dying. he had to die to be able to see any meaning to life. which is really fucking sad if you ask me, but it lines up with his development in the novels - as soon as you accept weakness you accept that it will kill you. as soon as it all makes sense, it's over. can't have shit in owari no seraph.

despite everything, shinya hates losing to guren. this is something that's always been difficult for me to understand because i can't relate at all and it just seemed kind of childish, but we can actually explain it pretty easily by looking at the circumstances of his upbringing once again. shinya grew up in an environment where not being the smartest, fastest and most talented, where losing meant immediate death. if he's the best, he gets to survive. if there's someone better than him, he'll be disposed of. of course someone close to him that's a better person, is easily loved by so many different people (especially mahiru, who from shinya's point of view was the only reason he was even allowed to exist), can feel like a threat. it's what makes his characterisation so fun to me, because if i just look closely enough, i can explain most of what he does and says. i am nowhere near as good at understand whatever is going on in guren's mind.

aaand this actually concludes my little essay! thank you very much for coming everyone. it was a blast. feel free to leave some marzipan in the tip jar by the door. toodles!

anyway. do i think shinya is in love with guren? yes. i don't think any author would put this much thought into something that in the end is just there for shits and giggles. there's the drama cd too, where shinya uses a phrase that is commonly used in writing to subtly confess to another person (i actually only recently realised it was used in The Stranger by the Shore as well, which is straight up queer literature). his fanbook entry states that he is not interested in women. he can neither sit nor stand up fucking straight. there are so, so many hints if you just look for them. now, do i think it will lead anywhere? although i wish it would, nope. everything that nods to romantic feelings is from shinya's side exclusively, and he's far from the only one that fell for guren. but what i am certain of is that he is meant to be read this way.

my personal interpretation of him and his feelings in general is that he is aware of them, and although initially it might have been terrifying, he eventually came to accept it as Just The Way It Is. i don't view it as unrequited love in the "senpai will never love me back😭💔" way, because i don't think in this universe he'd ever allow himself to even consider the thought of his feelings being reciprocated (and in the end he is loved back, just differently), but perhaps they're an assurance that deep down he is still human and able to feel like everyone else. of course it's natural that you'd want to be loved back, so we can put that on the "and yet you still hold burning desires" shelf. but well, this isn't based on facts, it's just what i personally find the most endearing to think about!

[germaaaaaaaaaa]

moooore peter and norm swap stuff

I did not bring that up last post but the main idea was by @redtalics ^-^ yapping in tag. If you are curious. Hi

[satosray]

I do not think people actually realize how plagiarism works in fandoms or in gen and i will stand by that. The general consensus is that if a headcanons goes far out of your reach and almost everyone is talking about it adding to it it, it is not your patterned bs. and when i said basic, i meant what i meant, you are thinking about the most ideal man that almost everyone is thinking about, and then you are saying omg how dare you say he is obsessed with you, that is my thing. If i made some original claim let's say, and someone saw that and spitballed it and everything i would not be going around saying thief. that would be dumb. no literature is free from "stealing" let's say. and i am saying "stealing" because that is all how these people will understand what inspiration, allusions, thematic influence is and never bother to know it works.

please credit artists yes, painters, writers, graphic designers alike when you are using their works—what i am saying is that it is simply dumb to sit there and shade people and then send army of people to harass someone because you think they stole something when that is not the case.

[vaguely-concerned]

idea: mourn watch student beds are often basically just repurposed or leftover coffins and sarcophagi. (omg. younger novices sometimes sleeping communally in unoccupied catacomb niches like they're bunk beds.....) the only thing that makes emmrich's romance scene remarkable as to the usual sleeping arrangements of a watcher is that a) they're sleeping and ahem enjoying other activities on like. just the naked bedframe with no sheets or mattress or anything. rare L for emmrich's rizz going on here unless he thought the full coffin experience would add something for rook (they are dating him specifically; he might be right in his priorities here honestly) and b) it's emmrich doing it (by the time you've reached the seniority he's at most watchers have taken steps to make their quarters more comfortable and easy on the joints and back than the equivalent of the sad folding bed from your college days. i fully believe emmrich has a luxurious double bed with silk sheets somewhere further up in the necropolis but such is his commitment to sweep rook off their feet goth style and by all means it seems to be working flawlessly, I won't embarrass myself by presuming to teach a master how to practice his art, as you were professor volkarin)

[mishy-mashy]

Hhhouhggghhhh

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: THE GREAT CITIES DUOLOGY by N. K. Jemisin.

[quins-makeshift-menagerie]

As most of you know I try my best to be civil and kind. I’m too exhausted and the world sucks too much for me to go about making other people feel like shit, it’s not really something I see worthy of my or anyone’s time really. I try to keep things positive not only because it might brighten someone else’s day but for my own sake. I curate this space because I know a lot of you feel and experience the same things I do. Do not twist this into me being delusional. I am fully aware the internet can be an unkind place, but that doesn’t mean my blog, my space, has to follow that example.

Be kind, be patient, and be respectful, not that the majority of you haven’t already been doing so. Asks are open again. Anonymous will be turned on again when I feel comfortable.

Apologies to those who used anon because they were nervous/anxious. I completely understand where you’re coming from and this is nothing against you. Regardless I do hope you stick around, and maybe one day work up the courage to be open with me. Or continue to keep your distance, I completely understand that too.

[theygender]

This story idea is coming to me completely backwards and it's so frustrating to me. First the idea for the dynamics between the characters came to me. And then the characters came after that. And then the setting came to me. And then the subplot. And then word building. And now I've even got the central theme of the story but I still don't have the main plot